easily mused

Time 2021-11-04 19:30:43

Web Name: easily mused

WebSite: http://johnglenntaylor.blogspot.com

ID:221954

Keywords:

easily,mused,

Description:

keywords:
description:

easily mused

August 29, 2019 The Good Works of God and MankindI sometimes like to imagine God filling in the colorless canvas of a new Earth with the products of His imagination. It must have been a labor of Love. Acts of pure creation always are.

Picture a barren hillside, at once teeming with a billion blades of the greenest grass. Endless varieties of insects and animals, each producing their own distinctive song, springing from the mind and heart of the First Artist.
God's palette contained all the senses known to mankind, and many more besides. A human could draw a flower, but only God could delineate its aroma, the taste of its nectar, its graceful motion in the morning breeze.Georgia OKeeffe, Red Canna, 1924 (Georgia OKeeffe Museum)I find that there is nothing inherent in the belief of God that conflicts in any way with science or any other form of rational thinking. Evolution might just be another of God's masterpieces, a temporal tableau. Why must one preclude the other?
Organized religion is totally corrupted, of course, just as most institutions run by humans tend to be. Religious texts, though they contain much wisdom, are all dubious for the same reason. Every atrocity ever committed in the name of God was actually committed at the direction of a person or persons who claimed they had the authority to speak for God.


I find that all I need to really know about God can be found in His artwork. The colors of a sunset, for example. It is just not possible that anyone who could fill a canvas with such a splendid and constantly changing aerial display could signify anything different than peace, joy and benevolence. In those qualities are all the lessons that mankind could ever need to know about the meaning of life.


God gave humanity a special power, one that He did not bestow upon the bumblebees or rabbits or any other living creatures. This power was the ability to transcend instinct and experience a full range of emotions with freedom of thought and expression. How else could we fully appreciate the wonders all around us? We have been taught to have faith in God, but it is self-evident that He had faith in us first.
Auguste Rodin's The Thinker was originally named The PoetThe legacy of mankind, as of this writing, seems to betray God's faith in our potential. Authoritarian leaders, seen and unseen, throughout the course of history, manipulate the destinies of all, a deadly mixture of ignorance and hubris condemning the people of the world to a terrible and wholly unnatural fate.


But there is hope. And that hope lies, as it always has, in the imaginations of artists. For millennia, these brave individuals have stood outside of an oppressive system, often paying a heavy toll, to bring inspiration and enlightenment to the oppressed people of the world. They have starved, lived in exile and even walked the fine line between sanity and madness to present the gifts of their imaginations to the world.
Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889.
That's why the people I admire the most are artists. And that's how I perceive the difference between good art and bad art. Good art has some redeeming value. It is not done merely to placate one's ego or make money. Good art illuminates the human condition and heals the wounded spirit. Good art encourages us to dream and turn dreams into reality.
One doesn't have to be a Picasso or Shakespeare to create works of lasting value. Any time a person sets out to create something, they are making a conscious decision to not destroy. Any act of creation is an act of redemption for the soul of mankind. That quilt your grandmother made for you? Yeah, she knew what she was doing.


This blog is about vintage popular (and sometimes, unpopular) art and culture. I don't dispute that there is great modern culture. I do think commerce has gotten too much in front of art in this cynical age. I believe we are overdue for a Renaissance, and I am trying to do my little bit to facilitate its arrival.

Stay attuned...

Posted byJohn Glenn TaylorNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest August 23, 2019 Ulcer Culture

I'm in great shape for an uninsured man who has sought medical care all of three times in the last ten years. I'm usually hesitant to even take an ibuprofen for headache, relying instead on hot washcloths and Tibetan singing bowl videos. There's just something about the pharmaceutical industry I don't like. I think it's the greed and cruelty.

On two separate occasions, flu made me so dehydrated that I sought help at my friendly neighborhood emergency room. I don't know what kind of rehydrating solution they used, but, judging by the bill I got later, this magical concoction was made from unicorn tears. I'm a little surprised IV fluids haven't replaced the gold standard. The doctor popped his head into my room and said hello. That was another thousand.

About five years ago, I popped down to an Urgent Care to get some medicine to treat a stomach ulcer whose status had changed from "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" to "Maneater." The doctor sent me away with a prescription for some antibiotics and Prilosec, warning me that - goofy Dracula voice - someTIMES they come BACK! Blah!

One year later, just like a Girl Scout selling cookies (or in this case, an ulcer), the little pest returned. This time, money was more scarce than usual, so I simply masked the pain with Prilosec. Prilosec is amazingly effective at letting you eat whatever you want without pain, even tomatoes, to which I'm allergic. So, it's very tempting to go beyond the recommended 14 day limit. Never one to pass up a hot slice of pizza, I took them for four years, up until about a month ago.



That's when I noticed that I was having heartburn even with the Prilosec. "This can't be good," I thought, swallowing a mouthful of lasagna laden with ketchup and salsa. I knew that the time had come to face the almost unthinkable prospect of - goofy Dracula voice- eating HEALTHY and making SENSible LIFEstyle CHOICES! I owed it to myself, and I owed it to the people who really cared about me, all three of them.

The first thing I did was cut out soft drinks. Oh, what a cola nut I am. I'm a root beer drunk. A Mountain Dew disciple. A Coke addict. I believe my mother filled my baby bottles with Dr. Pepper, which would explain the rubber walls in my nursery. But I did it. No soda, no cry.

Next, I stopped taking Prilosec, replacing it with Zantac, which works differently. I stopped eating all dishes with tomatoes. Incidentally, that is 90% of all dishes. Instead, I have been eating sensible foods, like yogurt with blueberries and honey, washed down with aloe water. I am down to half a cup of coffee a day and, after quitting smoking ten times in the last month, I'm... almost certainly not smoking as much.

You might wonder why I haven't just returned to the doctor to get some more antibiotics. Well, besides being on a budget (and on top of that, broke!), apparently the little buggers that cause ulcer, h. pylori, become more resistant to antibiotics every time you use them. That means if I use antibiotics and the ulcer comes back, it's going to have brass knuckles and a Hitler tattoo.

After a week of up and down days, I feel pretty solid. My hope is that I have extricated the h. pylori from my stomach lining with a steady stream of cranberry juice, bone broth and Pepto Bismol. I am going to take one more round of Prilosec so stomach acid won't interfere with the healing process. In 14 days, my gut should be as good as new, or at least, certified refurbished.

Until then, I'll try to post as much as I can. I'd like to post here every day, preferably a few times an hour. I want to be around a long time, at least until the End of Days.

Stay attuned...


Posted byJohn Glenn TaylorNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest August 17, 2019 Woody Allen's First Real Movie Turns 50


I think most people agree that What's Up, Tiger Lily? doesn't really count as Woody Allen's proper directorial debut. It has Woody Allen stamped all over it, but it's basically an overdubbed Japanese spy movie, bought on the cheap by American International, who gave Allen the freedom to MST3K it, twenty years before MST3K.

This makes tomorrow the 50th anniversary of the release of the first film Woody Allen made from scratch, Take the Money and Run. I somehow suspect this occasion will come and go with little fanfare. Allen is currently persona non gratis in some circles, a result of serious, and seriously icky, allegations that have dogged him for years.

If you, like me, can appreciate brilliant art made by flawed humans, then I highly recommend Take the Money and Run. I think it's one of the funniest of his earlier films, and that's saying something. If you like Bananas or Sleeper, I predict you'll like this one.

Like most of his early work, this film is told in a series of vignettes. If you don't find one gag funny, there's always the next one. It's framed in a documentary format. Allen believed the seriousness of documentaries created a fertile environment for comedy. He liked the concept enough to use it again in Zelig, which I like a little better.

There are a lot of memorable bits in this, the story of an inept criminal named Virgil Starkwell. Botched bank jobs, bungled prison breaks, even a guy in a gorilla costume, which is ALWAYS FUNNY. The romantic subplot is sometimes tedious, but Janet Margolin is endearing as the somewhat naive love interest, Louise.

I think the main reason Take the Money and Run gets overlooked is that the film has frequently been out of print. I wonder to what extent Allen himself may have had it suppressed, perhaps not being totally satisfied with the results.Thankfully, the good folks at Kino Lorber released it on DVD and Blu-ray in 2017. I put the links at the bottom of this post. You're welcome.



Take the Preview and Run!



DVD


Blu-ray


Posted byJohn Glenn Taylor2 comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest August 14, 2019 The Last Superman StoryFor many years, I've been of the opinion that Crisis on Infinite Earths, the sprawling mini-series that sought to streamline the DC Universe, was a tragic mistake, a prime example of trying to fix something that is not broken. At the time, of course, I snapped up each issue as soon as it was available, right off the spinner rack at my local drugstore.

Marv Wolfman's story and George Perez's art were top shelf, but the premise itself was wrongheaded. I was not confused by the proliferation of multiple universes and their inhabitants, and I suspected that even new readers could catch on fairly quickly. I kinda figured the onus was on new readers, if they wanted to be regular DC readers, to do their homework and catch up on what had happened prior to their arrival. Wasn't that part of the fun anyway?

Eventually, the concept of multiple universes would come back. To be sure, DC has continued to publish great books by talented creators in the last three decades. But to me, some characters have never recouped the prestige of their pre-Crisis versions. Especially Superman.

To that end, let's have a look at Matt Draper's video essay on what I still consider the last story featuring the Superman I knew and loved so much. Even though it was billed as an imaginary story - aren't they all? - "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow," written by Alan Moore and pencilled by Curt Swan, gave Kal-El an emotionally-charged sendoff that I doubt could be bested.

Look, up in the sky...




Posted byJohn Glenn Taylor3 comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest August 13, 2019 More Puppetoons Coming!George Pal's Puppetoons are a wonder, and the methods employed in filming them required great craftsmanship and patience. Arnold Leibovit recently sat down with Joe Dante to discuss Pal's cinematic oeuvre and plans to release a sequel to The Puppetoon Movie. Leibovit iscrowdfunding to raise money for the project, so you can play a role in preserving animation history!






Posted byJohn Glenn TaylorNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest August 8, 2019 Zappa For Newbies



Frank Zappa was a prolific composer, and his discography is dense and diverse. If you haven't yet delved into this unique world, Treble contributor Wil Lewellyn has a few suggestions onwhere to begin your journey. Be careful not to eat the yellow snow!Posted byJohn Glenn TaylorNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestAlfred Hitchcock In The Bay Area
Brian Hackney brings us this report on Alfred Hitchcock filming locations, specifically those in the Bay Area. Of special interest is his sit-down with Edna May Wonacott, who was just a young girl when she landed a role in Hitch's 1943 thriller,Shadow of a Doubt.



Available on Oct. 1, 2019, The House of Hitchcock Blu-ray collection features 15 iconic films from the acclaimed director's illustrious career including Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window, Vertigo and North by Northwest, plus a range of limited edition extras including blueprints of the infamous Psycho house, movie poster art cards for all the films, and a booklet about his work. It's sure to be the best Hitchcock collection ever produced!




Posted byJohn Glenn TaylorNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest July 25, 2019 Ain't Got No Home(This is the final installment of a recap of goings-on in my life while I was on hiatus from this blog. Here isPart OneandPart Two.)




Contrary to the title of this post, I do have a home. Since the beginning of June, Heather and I have been renting a studio that is actually a converted garage in a nice house in a quiet neighborhood in Salem, Oregon. The only trouble is, we have actually been in Salem since last September.

So where did we stay for the eight months before we found our apartment? When we got here, we divided our time between staying at motels and staying in our car. This is not an uncommon occurrence in present-day Salem. There is a housing crisis here, and it is not unusual to see tents set up under bridges or an unshaven fellow taking a nap beside the 7-11 dumpster.

Thankfully, we had a car. I probably could write a whole book about the experience of living in a car. For now, I will just note that it was not altogether unpleasant. The warm glow of being in a new place softened even the harshest effects of our circumstances. We were not bothered by anyone, and we rarely, if ever, felt unsafe.

After several frustrating weeks of job-hunting, it struck me that being a musician for twenty years is not necessarily the kind of thing that looks good on a resume. I think there are several reasons that finding a job here is difficult. At one group interview for a major supermarket, I counted about 150 other applicants, most of them a whole lot younger than yours truly.

One day, Heather and I got a bite to eat at Taco Bell. Salem is a pretty hilly place, and she didn't notice that the parking lot exit was a steep grade to the flat street below. As a result, the belt and pulley system under the hood was fatally compromised and, in a few weeks, we were sans auto. Thankfully, by this time, we had moved all of our stuff into a Motel 6.

I'm not sure why Motel 6 is called Motel 6. Were the previous five motels flops? I digress. To me, the "6" in Motel 6 will always represent the number of months Heather and I ended up staying in one after we moved to Oregon. They left the light on for us, all right. In fact, they had to replace the light several times.

It is here that I gratefully note the financial help we received from a dear friend of mine and from a group of interested Christians. It bought us several weeks in the hotel until we could get in a more stable situation financially. That stability came when I was again accepted into the ranks of the United States Postal Service. Don't get excited. It didn't last.

Believe me, there is a lot more to the Post Office story. It's another book, but I think Bukowski already wrote it. Nevertheless, the Oregon Unemployment people determined I was not fired for a particularly good cause. The extra money enabled us to stay at Motel 6 until we finally got into the nifty garage studio apartment in June.

And that's my story. I plan to blog regularly, and I hope that this blog will be a regular destination for those of you that are curious about music, comics, film, and whatever else is on my radar.

As always, stay attuned...

Posted byJohn Glenn TaylorNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Older PostsHomeSubscribe to:Posts (Atom)SearchFair Use Notice: This web site contains some copyrighted material whose use has not been authorized by the copyright owners. We believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Fair Use notwithstanding we will immediately comply with any copyright owner who wants their material removed or modified, wants us to link to their web site, or wants us to add their nude photo.
Archive 2019(10) August(7)The Good Works of God and MankindUlcer CultureWoody Allens First Real Movie Turns 50The Last Superman StoryMore Puppetoons Coming!Zappa For NewbiesAlfred Hitchcock In The Bay Area July(3) 2017(1) January(1) 2015(9) November(3) September(1) August(1) May(1) April(1) March(1) January(1) 2014(39) December(1) November(1) October(2) September(15) August(6) July(1) June(1) May(2) April(4) February(1) January(5) 2013(22) December(11) November(7) October(1) August(1) June(1) March(1) 2012(16) November(3) October(1) August(1) July(2) May(1) March(1) February(1) January(6) 2011(34) December(1) November(3) October(4) July(4) June(5) May(6) March(2) January(9) 2010(114) December(9) November(1) October(1) September(2) August(9) July(6) June(20) May(14) April(10) March(13) February(13) January(16) 2009(260) December(19) November(9) October(11) September(21) August(17) July(19) June(33) May(29) April(22) March(23) February(29) January(28)Blogs of InterestSuper-Team Family: The Lost Issues!Vixen and Hercules in: "Crisis of Infinite Hercs!"News From METoday's Video LinkBy Ken LevineEP249: Writer/Producer Clyde PhillipsAquarium DrunkardThe Aquarium Drunkard Show: SIRIUS/XMU (7pm PDT, Channel 35)Joe Torcivia's The Issue At Hand BlogAdventures in Comic-Boxing: A First... From 1951?A Shroud of ThoughtsJoAnna Cameron Passes OnDave SundstromThe Truth About LYDIA CORNELL and Her Relationship with Ted KnightSitcomsOnline.com News Blog2021 Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas Schedule - The 25th Anniversary; The Simpsons in Plusaversary SpecialMike Lynch CartoonsPBS News Hour: How Brian Fies Used Art to Process a Devastating WildfireThe Comics JournalComix Experience Talks The Good Asian with Pornsak Pichetshote Alexandre TefengkiIt's About TVTV Jibe: The post game analysisLeft and to the BackAnji Cakebread - Dear Computer/ Simple SongPappy's Golden Age Comics BlogzineNumber 2571: Magno and Davey, and their personal magnetismSteve Does ComicsThe Marvel Lucky Bag - November 1971.Stars and LettersPaulette Goddard and her relationship with Diego Rivera Frida KahloGrace Kingsley's HollywoodUnable to Move with the Times: November 1-15, 1921Classic Movie Hub BlogCharles Boyer: The French Lover Book Giveaway (Nov)BOOKSTEVE'S LIBRARYHG Wells on Orson Welles-1938Comfort TVThe Unshakeables: Rob Petrie and The Walnuts from SpaceLeonard Maltin's Movie CrazyTHE FRENCH DISPATCH: QUEL FROMAGECinema EssentialsThe Amicus Horror AnthologiesStrictly Vintage HollywoodLe Giornate del Cinema Muto - Pordenone Diary Day 8John K StuffChimpsDiversions of the Groovy KindStill Truckin'/Sad Sack in "The Grudge"The Magic WhistleMagic Whistle Radio Hour 000Funky16CornersGet Your Groovy New Funky16Corners Swag!THE HORRORS OF IT ALLClassic Television ShowbizAn Interview with Jack Blanchard - Part FourWhirled of KellyBack-to-School CampaignBig Glee! The Albert Bryan Bigley ArchivesAnt-Man! The Step-By-Step Making of a Sensational Silver-Age Cosplay!Patrick Owsley Cartoon Art and More!NEW FLINTSTONES SKETCH COVER FOR SALE! ED BENEDICT TRIBUTE!Four-Color ShadowsThe End 2010-2020Sequential CrushThe EC Archives: Modern LoveSO MANY RECORDS, SO LITTLE TIMEThe Wild Tchoupitoulas / Robert Palmer / Aaron NevilleThrilling Days of YesteryearA Piece of Shat: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The Project Strigas Affair (11/24/64) and 12 OClock High I Am the Enemy (11/08/65)Cartoon Research

TAGS:easily mused 

<<< Thank you for your visit >>>

Hot Websites