Happy 5th Bloggoversary to Art Predator!
To the Reader, without whom all is Vanity. —James Hillman‘s dedication to Revisioning Psychology
On the night of the time change five years ago on November 4, 2007, my husband put our son to bed, and instead of returning to watch a movie, he fell asleep.
Not one to sit around idly, while I waited for him, I started to learn more about blogging, and specifically WordPress.
Four hours plus the bonus time change hour later (yes I watched it go from 1:59 to 1:00 again!), I had this blog, Art Predator with this same header, an about page, and a couple of posts including this one about how I became Art Predator.
This here is my 1347 post.
What Wine Predator aka Art Predator is up to in November…
Over here at Wine Predator, last month was hectic with twitter tastings and Champagne Day plus reviewing The Divining Rod for Halloween.
This month we’re harvesting wines like crazy and RSVPing to tastings and other events! I’ve got lots of exciting samples to review including the very festive Enza Proseco ($15) and a number of twitter tastings and events on the calendar. Remember, for these twitter tastings, all you need to do to participate is check out the hashtag# for the event on twitter. (And no you don’t have to be ON twitter to check out what’s happening on twitter!
View original post 937 more words
Mc Money Style: Darth Vader for Pres?
darth vader punk (Photo credit: txerra_c)
I loved PSY’s crazy K-Pop Gangnam Style video since I first saw it a month or two ago and considered posting about it but didn’t feel I had anything new to say about it. Today it has nearly 600 million views but it you haven’t seen it yet, it’s here.
When this hilarious Mitt Romney Style parody showed up (now nearly 7.2 million views!), I knew I wanted to post it on this blog but I was writing about other topics at the time and it just didn’t fit in. When Grant Marcus sent me this post about Mitt Romney, I figured it was time to publish both.
What makes this parody so powerful to me is the way it works with the original. Gangnam is where the 1% live in Seoul, Korea; Gangnam style refers to the lifestyle of the wealthy who live there. This version manages to parody Mitt Romney and the 1% who he represents through clever images and lyrics including references to his Olympic horse write-off, his distinguished hair, his benefit hopping, his call to wealthy ladies, his youthful running mate Ryan struttin’…and more.
Hope this gives you a laugh and motivates you to vote! Tuesday’s election is only a week away!
Guest Blogger Grant Marcus:
AMNESIA? ROMNESIA? OR VOTERMESIA?
DARTH VADER FOR PRESIDENT?
How anyone making $250,000 per year and less can vote for Mitt
Romney (Mc Money) this election makes no sense at all. Read more…
What’s better for a Halloween beverage than a wine made by a real witch? Yes, Marc Mondavi is a water witch and his new wine is called “The Divining Rod.” Read on for our review of the Cabernet Sauvignon and unoaked Chardonnay!
If you listen carefully, these witches seem to say that Winemaker and Water Witch Marc Mondavi’s Divining Rod #wine draws you in to drink! Yes, that’s right–how many wines do you know that were crafted by a bona fide witch??
If you’re looking for a great wine for your favorite witch or warlock for Halloween or other fall festivities, you can’t go wrong with either the Chardonnay or the Cabernet Sauvignon for under $20 (both on sale right now at Vons for under $15!)
After a long day at work, I opened the 2010 Divining Rod Chardonnay from the Santa Lucia Highlands to pair with my pasta and shrimp. It was room temperature but I opened it anyway to have a…
View original post 514 more words
Happy Champagne Day! A toast to you, my readers and subscribers! Come to the Jolly Oyster at the Ventura State Beach and celebrate with me or check out the interactive map in the blog post for Champagne Day events near you!
Corks will pop and bubbles spill from California to London to Sydney during the Third Annual Global Champagne Day Friday October 26, 2012.
Join Wine Predator for our second year at the Jolly Oyster located at the Ventura State Beach off Harbor at San Pedro (take the Seaward exit).
Show off (and please share!) your bottle of Champagne and enjoy 2 for 1 oysters between 3pm and 6pm! The event is free and parking plentiful for $5 per car.
While the best party in the world will be at the Jolly Oyster, you can celebrate the 3rd annual #ChampagneDay anywhere!
To participate, get some champagne (which only comes from the Champagne
region of France–any other bubbly wine is sparkling and lovely but NOT champagne). Share what’s in your glass October 26th 2012, post photos, tasting notes, experiences or videos on any social media site, and be sure to add…
View original post 45 more words
on remembering gauvin 1961-2012
photo of gauvin by Cole Smothers
Late Fragment by Ray Carver
New Path to the Waterfall
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved,
to feel myself beloved on the earth.
If he was listening in with me on Sunday October 14, 2012 to the crowd of 200 at Ventura’s Bell Arts Factory, the late Warren Gauvin would certainly have felt himself beloved.
A who’s who of regional poets, painters, photographers and sculptors joined friends and family to tell stories to celebrate the life of the mixed media and performance artist who went gauvin (uncapitalized) and who died on Monday, October 8, 2012 of Hodgkins Disease, just a few weeks shy of his 51 birthday Nov. 26.
Friends covered the walls of the community room with his artwork to raise funds for expenses; the celebration featured video of his performances, slide shows of his artwork, singing by his brother, and remembrances. Read more…
gauvin: “i couldn’t see the bored”
I always loved this mixed media artwork of gauvin’s …the inventiveness of it and the message…
It was my favorite so you can imagine how pleased I was when he gave it to me as a thank you for believing in him… and for being his friend…and for all I had done for him.
that’s Eartha Kitt in the right corner sitting in for gauvin’s mom…and there’s a red rooster in the far right bottom…
My nearly nine year old son is fascinated by the mixed media–how he incorporates the pieces of toys and that he’s actually painting, screwing, and gluing the parts onto a chalkboard.
You can imagine my disappointment when he told me he wanted it back. I was afraid he’d try to sell it to get drugs. He finally told me he wanted to give to his mom…that’s her down there in the right corner at the house (probably sitting on the edge of the bed with her red bedspread).
We made an arrangement for mutual friends to ship it to his mom. But that didn’t happen before he died.
I so can relate to this piece that I selfishly still want it. I will offer it to his family on Sunday at the Memorial. If they want it, I will freely give it to them. If they don’t want it, I will offer to buy it back.
I spent much of yesterday afternoon researching this post–taking photographs of the piece, looking for the original of the Eartha Kitt image, listening and watching videos of gauvin, Earth Kitt and Chuck Willis to choose which to feature in this post. I also listened to hours of Nina Simone today: gauvin was a huge fan.
Here’s gauvin doing a piece about his mother:
And here’s Earth Kitt doing the St Louis Blues:
Finally, Chuck Willis “What’s Your Name”:
3150 Loma Vista Road, Ventura, CA 93003
Related articles
- r.i.p. mister warren gauvin b.11/26/61: celebration of life this sunday (artpredator.wordpress.com)
- renee zellweger & basquiat hit the road (artpredator.wordpress.com)
…now i didn’t know anything bout what had
become everything. all i did know is it was a big bad
and was behind me so i moved mighty fast forward.
i did not look back. that’s when i noticed my feet was wet.i didn’t knock nobody down, but i did push a few
forward, who by being in my way weren’t moving fast
enough and looked like they needed the only help i could
offer running for my life…a good push. yes i did jump
over a few but they was already down, didn’t look like
they were in a getting up way so i leapt over em. i
screamed to mattie may’s old man. the nice one never
did nothing to nobody. roll if you can’t run but get to coming…excerpt from “Damn Dam” by gauvin
gauvin
On Monday Oct 8, 2012 my friend gauvin passed away from Hodgkin’s Disease. He was nearly 51 years old.
I’m at a loss for words. Even posting this is difficult as it reinforces the truth that my friend is really gone for good: no more poems, no more paintings, no more performances, no more songs. We had been friends for nearly 20 years, and we were very very close friends for several of those years. We even traveled together to the Taos Poetry Circus where he lost the big slam due to a time penalty.
On Sunday October 14 at 11am, friends and family will gather for gauvin’s memorial and life celebration at the Bell Arts Factory 432 N. Ventura Ave. Ventura, CA 93001. The announcement read in part:
For gauvin, life and art were obviously one,
and all expression
was prayer.His performance art embodied his capacities for
improvisation, poetry and song.gauvin’s visual art is immediate,
dark, humorous, and powerful
in both its execution and impact.
All are welcome to the Memorial; gauvin’s paintings will be on display and available for sale. Donations are being solicited to help the family raise the funds to assist with transportation, funeral and burial expenses. Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura is handling arrangements and is willing to accept donations on the part of the family. Donations may be made directly to the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, 3150 Loma Vista Road, Ventura, CA 93003 or by calling (805) 643-9977.
I have three mixed media paintings by gauvin in my collection and I intend to post them here soon. I will try to write more then as well.
There’s a lot of life to live. And some weekends you need more than one life to live it!
This Saturday’s competing events in Ventura County and LA include LA Decompression (1pm to dawn), the Ventura Oysterfest at the Ventura State Beach (11-6pm), the Highland Games at Seaside Park (also Sunday), StoryFest (at the ESC from 9-3pm), Leo Kotke at Libbey Bowl in Ojai as well as the Ojai Studio Artists self guided tour (also Sunday)…and I am sure I am forgetting a few things!
Starting Thursday, Burners from SoCal have been setting up for Saturday Oct. 13’s 10th Official Los Angeles Burning Man Decompression Arts and Music Festival featuring a large art installation created by the burner community “Seraphim: The Spirit of Unification” with four angels guarding a vortex. The installation was supposed to burn but because of fire hazards, the burn was cancelled. Of course, then it rained like crazy in LA but the fire was already cancelled.
Even without the inaugural burn, the event has so much to offer there’s an app for it: LA Decompression 2012! Read more…
Next Monday, 10/15/12 is Blog Action Day: The theme this year is The Power of We! Get your posts written!
 Coming soon, to a blog near you–BLOG ACTION DAY! I’ve participated on several of my blogs over the years, and encouraged my students to register and write as well. This year, I hope you will participate too! It’s easy–the directions follow from an email I received from organizers: |
This time next week, thousands of bloggers from around the globe will come together on October 15 to talk about one topic – The Power of We.We would love to see your blog, once again be part of Blog Action Day as an official participant. All you need to do is:
|
View original post 200 more words
art predator 