"There's no flinching in the impalement arts."

I think that's a great line - I'm going to look for a reason to say it in my real life one of these days.

Bill Geist said it this morning in a CBS News Sunday Morning report on knifethrower Throwdini.

Picasso at the Seattle Art Museum

Last night I went to the Seattle Art Museum exhibit of "Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso, Paris" with LJ and SOLJ, an exhibit of more than 150 works of art, from paintings and sculptures to prints, drawings, and photographs.

The painting above is called La Danse Villagoise and was painted in 1923. It's an oil with pastel. I like the sturdiness of the people. I also was particularly intrigued by how the color is applied. It looks like it's sitting on top of the painting instead of within the painting. I believe a lot of the highlight color was done with pastels. The blue, red, and white looks like it's been laid on top of the grey/black/white clothes. I think the people are farm people from the village who come into town to enjoy an evening of dancing. During the week, when working on their farm, they are black and white and working. But, on the weekend, they dance and color is added to their lives. That's why the color is laid on top of the black, grey, white. In my imagination anyway!

I enjoyed what I would call the architectural cubist paintings (though I don't have a good sample at this time).

I learned that the distorted images were Picasso's way of showing ALL views of an item at the same time - each angle of an item is presented as a joined unit. Profound way of breaking out of the box - in more ways than one.

Picasso himself picked out these pieces for inclusion in the Picasso Museum as a way to create his own artistic legacy. As a result, I think, the paintings are a depiction of what Picasso was experimenting with - the developing ideas and techniques. Although some of the paintings and drawings weren't finished, Picasso saw their value because it described his journey. I thought that was quite interesting.

I don't trust Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart, Humana Offer Low-Cost Drug Plan to Take Rivals' Sales

This company gives me the creeps - they bully vendors into producing products more cheaply, they encourage the idea that money should be a consumer's only consideration when purchasing goods, they don't pay their workers very much money, they so dominate the marketplace that rural towns (where Wal-Mart began) have lost their unique character - and a lot of Mom and Pop stores.
And now they're going to sell prescription drug insurance?  That seems odd.

They hire people to work for a low wage and their vendors are forced to pay lower wages to cut costs.
Their store caters to the very same people.
They market themselves as a partner with poor people to help them save money.
But...they're the reason the people are poor in the first place!

They've created an economic class, and then cater to it to make money.
A strange cycle.

The Walton family and the WalMart Foundation may donate (to conservative think tanks among others), but the percentage they donate is very small as a percentage of their income/sales.  Less, as a percentage, than  most regular folks.

Peculiar.

P.S.  My image makes me smile.

New show I watch...

This is the one new show I've added to my Season Pass Manager on Tivo.

The FX show is called "Terriers" and stars Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James as two unlicensed (if you have a license, you have to worry about losing it) private investigators in the San Diego, CA area.  Hank (Donal Logue) is a former cop and former alcoholic, and Britt is a former thief. 

The show has a real casual vibe, with a sense of humor.  And yet - it's serious too.  Nice balance.

It has a good heart.

The last event that happened, though, I'm not looking forward to playing out.  Blah, blah.  Secrets.

On the other hand - it was completely believable and honest...a screw up that was unexpected, but now that it happened - it makes sense.

I enjoy the show.  I hope it sticks around.

Getting frustrated...

I'm getting a little frustrated by my photography. All the features and functionality on my camera are confusing.  I am completely overwhelmed by PhotoShop Elements 8.0.
Oh well - I still want to keep trying.

Here are two photos:

This photo was taken by Kevin Fugii via this weblink at the Seattle Times
A bee on a dahlia at Bellevue Botanical Gardens:

And the following was taken by me.

A bee on a ?? at Bellevue Botanical Gardens

Inspiration

Oh! the White Balance setting DOES matter!

White Balance setting is 'cloudy'.

White Balance setting is Incandescent - Daylight.

Current Candy Obsession

These are  my current candy obsession.  When I pop one in my mouth and the chocolatey, caramelly goodness begins to melt, I'm already thinking of how good the next one will taste.
Yes, I think this says something about me - I don't know how to enjoy what I already have without thinking about wanting more.
I also eat these without awareness.  I grab three thinking it will last me a bit of time.  I reach for what I think is my second piece and all I have are three empty wrappers.
I can eat one bag in a day and it's catching up with me.
So, I'm at the end of my obsession.  I choose to practice self-discipline.
I won't buy any more.

I'll always have the memories.  Mmmm-Mmmm Good.

As a sidenote, the image above came from Candy Blog - a great site for all things candy related.

My picture, her words

"Rock bottom is the solid foundation upon which I rebuilt my life."
JK Rowling, Harvard 2008

Project Runway

I'm not clear why Gretchen is so disliked by the fans. I find her to be honest, sincere, and generous. I can see that when she won the first couple challenges she may have started to think herself invincible, but beyond that I don't know what she's done that's worthy of such ire. Although watching her backpedal during the group challenge runway critique was painful and awkward to watch. But honestly, I've been in that position before; you compromise because you want everyone to feel included, and then get excited and stand up for it because that's the right thing to do. But when you are chastised for it you realize it didn't work and you're standing there alone and nobody else will join with you. It feels like crap because you thought you were being generous and supportive of your whole team, and they let you stand there and take the crap. That's doesn't feel fair, so you let it all go and speak the truth. It looks bad, but that's how I see it went down. She could have kept her mouth shut and let people believe she was to blame or she could stand up for herself.

Why is it okay that everyone else kept their mouth shut and are not to blame?

I think Gretchen is sincere and confident and talented. I like her and am proud of her.

Mondo was the star of the episode I just watched because of his personal backstory, but more importantly because he's the designer who just won his third challenge in a row. He started out the series feeling left out and alone, and we've discovered he's one of the more charming contestants.
Valerie has always been a favorite of mine. She has a gem of a personality. Her exit tonight was filled with love and class and generosity. She's good people.