Parker at the Pageant

Saint Louis, MO: At the Pageant on November 23, 2016 are Parker Millsap and his band mates on stage supporting J J Grey and Mofro

Parker Millsap is back in Saint Louis and he is playing the Pageant in the loop of University City. I've seen Parker and his band mates three times now (The Rock House, Off Broadway and The Pageant), Michael is playing a base guitar. Daniel is playing his fiddle. Now Parker's band has a drummer too. It was a pleasure to chat with Parker a bit back stage. He will be traveling to Indianapolis next where he will connect with Megan for Thanksgiving. We talked a bit about his new found friendship with fellow musician Sir Elton John. We talked about the weather. We talked about the bra-wall backstage. Parker keeps up the pace and the expenses down, He has an easy conversational style and is used to amateur smart phone photographers like me. It was great to see Parker again.  

    

Parker grew up in the tiny town of Purcell, OK where he regularly attended a Pentacostal church with his family for most of his youth. He doesn’t consider himself very religious but the experiences with religion have have had an impact on his songwriting and his sound. He blends fire and brimstone with rock, country and blues. He is a story teller.  

I stayed to hear JJ Grey and Mofro as well. Grey and his current Mofro lineup offer grace and groove in equal measure, with an easygoing quality to the production that makes those beautiful muscular drum-breaks sound as though the band has set up in your living room.

Robert Christopher and Lindsey begot another Robert

Photo by Ben Morgan taken on November 20, 2016 

In Palma Ceia, what we got is as good as it begets;

No ifs, ands, buts … no regrets.

Robert Lawton Dewey does what babies do;

He cries, fusses, eats, sleeps…but laughs and smiles too.

Register R. Lawton so his name with teachers and peers is set;

Hail sweet little Lawton,  a fellow well met;

See him on social media or in a text

But to see him in person is really the best

Our baby girl and her little boy made be a Grandpa in July

She makes me very happy --- I’m not gonna lie

The campaign is just beginning

Lawton keeps winning

Thankful Song

We began the day on a thankful note;

Grateful for so many things.

So I took it upon myself to be the one who wrote;

Friends, family, places, feelings…

For what are we thankful?  
Teachers teach, students learn;

Policemen protect, dogs bark, nurses and doctors heal…

If not for firefighters, our world might burn.

If not for Art and Music, how would we feel?

For what are we thankful? 
A winter coat? Good health? A happy home? A library full of books? 

“Sugah, there are smiles all around.”

Sleep well in a fine hotel. Take your pick.

Visit a new restaurant in town.

For what are we thankful?

Parades and fireworks from here to the ocean.

Finding funds for those who are forlorn;

Sunshine. Flowers, Rainbows, Emotion;

Ice Cream, Cheddar Cheese Crackers, Popcorn.

                                                                                           

At the end of the day – be happy and pray;

Count your blessings. Treasure everything;

Look, listen, laugh, let it be as it may…and sing.
Like a two year old child - on a brand new swing.

Halloween Jokes 2016

Q: What school subject is a favorite for witches?

A: SPELLING!

Q: What did the skeleton order in the restaurant?

A: Spare Ribs.

Q: Why do vampires go to caves?

A: Oh, just to hang out.

Q: Who did Frankenstein take to the dance?

A: His ghoul friend,

Q: Why didn’t angry witch like to ride her broom?

A: She was afraid she might FLY OFF THE HANDLE.

Q: What kind of monsters have two heads?

A: Two headed monsters.

Q: What kind of street did the zombie live on?

A: A dead end.

Q: What is a ghost’s favorite desert?

A: Boo-berry pie?

Q: Why did the policeman five the ghost a ticket?

A: He didn’t have a haunting licence.

Q: What do witches put on their hair?

A: Scare spray.

Q: Why was the mummy so tense?

A: He was all WOUND UP.

Q: Why didn’t the skeleton go to the dance?

A: He had not body to go with…

Q: Why are ghosts so bad at lying?

A: Because you can see right through them.

Q:Why did the vampire’s lunch give him heartburn?

A: Because it was a stake sandwich.

Q: Why do ghosts make good cheer leaders?

A: Because they have a lot of spirit.

Q: Why didn’t the scarecrow eat his desert?

A: He was already stuffed.

Q: Where do mummies like to go for a swim?

A: The dead sea.

Q: Why did the twin witches always confuse people?

A: Because no-one could tell which witch was which.

Q: Why did Frankenstein go to the Mall?

A: Because he heard there was a MONSTER SALE.

Q: What do ghosts like to serve for desert?

A: I scream!

Q: Why didn’t the vampire have any close friends?

A: Because he was a pain in the neck!

Q: Where do vampires keep their savings?

A: In a BLOOD BANK!

Q: What do you call a witch who lives at the beach?

A: A SAND-WITCH.

TricorBraun Exclusive Art Tour

In 1902, Samuel Kranzberg founded TricorBraun in St. Louis as a used-bottle company.Today, TricorBraun is headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri and one of the packaging industry's largest suppliers of glass and plastic containers, closures, dispensers and tubes. At home in what was once Jefferson Smurfit perch on the 10^th floor of City Place Six overlooking a sunny warm first day of fall (September 21, 2016), Ken and Nancy Kranzberg graciously share with us a tour of the eclectic art collection that adorns that workspace. Happily, bottles have paved the way for their ongoing passion and patronage of art. We get a peek at the collection and some insight into dozens of stories about the acquisitions over time.

Ken and Nancy offered a few opening remarks that demonstrated the power of a partnership that has thrived. They demonstrate with smiles and stories about encountering art and artist over years of joy in sharing their love of art. Our group of art fans who share a connection to the Laumeier Sculpture Park are fortunate to witness this --- up close and personal. And we are able to view  and enjoy some of the fruits of their pursuits.

Jim Dine (b.1935 in Cincinnati) is an American pop artist. He is sometimes considered to be a part of the Neo-Dada movement. He studied at the University of Cincinnati and received a BFA from Ohio University in 1957. We were able to ponder a Jim Dine in an outer office waiting area while contrasting it with the bronze sculpture of Pinocchio among works at St. Louis City Garden downtown.

Ernest Tino Trova (1927 – 2009) was a self-trained American surrealist and pop art painter and sculptor who is best known for his signature image and figure series, The Falling Man. Trova's gift of forty of his works led to the opening of Laumeier Sculpture Park. We stood in front of a large falling man painting in one of the offices and it was only one of the remarkable images we were able to enjoy this day.   

Tom Huck (b.1971) is an American printmaker best known for his large-scale satirical woodcuts. He lives and works in St. Louis, where he runs his own press, Evil Prints. A stunning example of his work is on display outside the lobby in the form of a large format Triptych entitled Death Rattles. We were familiar with Huck since in April 2015 Laumeier installed 3 playground "spring toys" designed by Huck and fabricated based on his series of "Death Bug" prints.

Mildred Howard (b. 1945) is an African-American artist known primarily for her sculptural installation and mixed-media assemblages. Bottles, in various African cultures, have represented vessels of protection and safekeeping when placed in front of homes. One such installation is proudly displayed in Ken’s office – It was a gift from his wife. Like larger scale bottle projects by Mildred Howard, this piece is deeply rooted in personal narrative. It seems fitting that this piece is at home in a place where bottles are very much a part of the narrative.

Jerry O. Wilkerson was a lifelong painter who received a Bachelor of Science in Commercial Art from Lamar University in Beaumont Texas in 1966, and a MFA in painting in 1968 from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He served in the United States Army from 1968-1970, upon his completion of military service he made St. Louis Missouri his home until his death. Wilkerson is recognized for his pointillism style of painting and use of everyday images of food (hamburgers, soup, sandwich, fruit etc). The Kranzberg’s like the St. Louis connection. 

Craig Norton (b 1972) is a self-taught artist. He draws on images from history books and contemporary media, recomposing them into collages of doll-like figures arranged alone or in small three-dimensional dioramas. Martin Luther King is featured in a Norton assemblage on a wall between offices.

A break area has an extremely rare four-sheet German Art Deco period poster for the Hamburg-Amerika Line, transatlantic liners "St. Louis" and "Milwaukee." Art Deco image from1929, created by Ottomar Anton, features one ship jutting out into the center foreground of the poster. In 1939, the St. Louis set sail from Hamburg across the Atlantic to Havana, Cuba, carrying over 950 Jewish emigrants fleeing Nazi tyranny. Unfortunately, the passengers of the St. Louis were turned away by officials of both Cuba and the United States, forcing the liner to return to Europe and the dangers of Nazi persecution.

Suffice it to say, while enjoying our post tour lunch at Il Bel Lago, our group of art enthusiasts were so very happy to toast our hosts Ken and Nancy Kranzberg and most fortunate to have them as friends.

The CURIOUS Doctor Beegle

Associate Superintendent Dr. Paul Bauer was prepared to introduce the speaker but planned to rely on a formal bio. He stood in front of the full house at Southview’s gym when from stage right the speaker interrupted him, “Don’t read that. Just say why I’m here,” she pleaded with some degree of humility. Bauer placed his notes to the side and assured the audience that Dr. Donna Beegle had a long list of academic credentials and an important message. He indicated that it was great to have such a large group of teachers, staff and employees gathered in anticipation of a great school year here to listen to our distinguished speaker.

With this, Dr. Beegle took the mic and showed all of us at the Special School District (SSD) of St. Louis what it means to be passionate. She wasted no time diving into the content. She is on a mission to provide life-changing information that shatters myths about people who live in poverty. She herself lived in Generational Poverty – dropping out of high school at age 15. She described a cycle that left her with deficits in the use of language. Her story from that point showed how she was inspired and motivated by people who believed in her and how she herself managed to get her GED, move on to college, earn a Masters degree in Communication and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and so much more.       

She reminded us that Albert Einstein said - If you expect a fish to climb a tree it will spend its life thinking it’s stupid. She went on to explain that so much of learning depends on the context of which they can build. The characteristics of different life experiences labeled poverty she advises fall into different segments: Generational Poverty, Working-Class Poverty, Immigrant Poverty, and Situational Poverty. Millions of Americans live in poverty and it remains a barrier to education. She only briefly mentions Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) and Abraham Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs (1943) but it is clear that her remarks are both intensely personal and very well researched.

Her own story is the subject of a one hour PBS special entitled The Invisible Nation which is soon to air. The filming of this documentary has been ongoing for 20 years. The producers began filming in 1996. Several books were available in the back of the room of which the author graciously offered to sign. She signed my copy of SEE POVERTY…Be The Difference! with these words: Wes – Change Lives! Donna M. Beegle.     

She concluded her speech with what she referred to as her one and only poem. (It appears on page 142 of the signed book I now own.)

CURIOUS

I find myself more late with every crisis

more angry with every injustice

more greedy with every deprivation

more rude with every judgement

more disorganized with every eviction

more negative with every untreated illness

more unstable with every insecurity

I find myself more civil with every bite

more respectful with every kindness

more hopeful with every chance

more grateful with every opportunity

more ready to learn when I am safe

more motivated when there is hope

more happy when I am valued

I find myself like the 37 million people in poverty

responding in very human ways to my environment

Poem published in SEE POVERTY...Be The Difference! (2006)

Neri Near and Far

My Kind of Pokémon Go – Manuel Neri Figurative Sculpture

I’ve have been a docent at Laumeier Sculpture Park for a few years now. The volunteer job involves introducing visitors to the permanent collection and various more temporary installations. It is a natural thing to do for lifelong art junkie like me. One point I frequently like to suggest to people I meet on tours at Laumeier is to study art they admire, look the artist up online, read about their work and become familiar. If you are fortunate enough to travel and make it your business to seek out art you will surely encounter them again.

Here’s an example of what I mean. I was in Tampa visiting my new grandson. My daughter, son-in-law and barely 3-week old newborn grandson found ourselves in the award winning  architectural edifice known as the Rivergate Tower. On the ground floor stood proudly an imposing figurative sculpture called Espana by Manuel Neri. Neri also created a sculpture, of which I have become fond. Aurelia Roma is on display seasonally at Laumeier Sculpture Park facing south from the estate house. 

Manuel Neri (b. 1930) is an American artist best known for his uniquely painterly figurative sculpture. A member of the “second generation” of Bay Area Figurative Movement, Neri was a prominent figure in the San Francisco art scene. He went on to marry another member of the second generation of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, the painter Joan Brown. Neri was honored by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1984, and was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the International Sculpture Center in 2006. His work is included in numerous public collections, such as the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Seattle Art Museum.(Source: artnet)

Photos: Espana by Manuel Neri at Riverwalk Tower in Tampa and Aurelia Roma by Manuel Neri at Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis in 2016.