A Big Black Lady Stops the Show

 

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to knock off another one of my “must do’s” while living in Houston: going to the gospel brunch at the House of Blues!!!  My gallery neighbor, Yvonne, recently celebrated her birthday and her husband put together a surprise party at the venue and I was lucky enough to get an invitation.  As the moniker “gospel brunch” might suggest, there is live gospel ensemble that performs while you eat your delectable brunch (oh you’d better believe there were chicken and waffles to be had!!)

Yvonne and I with Geri, owner of Hooks-Epstein Gallery, who is actually making that face on purpose

 

Open mouth, unhinge jaw!  Oddly enough, I’m referring both to how I ate my lunch and how fabulously these gospel singers manage to perform

 

For those of you who do not know, I am a huge fan of gospel music and for the hell of it here is one of my fav’s  Jennifer Holliday (she of the original Effie-ness—deal with it Jennifer Hudson!)

WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO MY EARS (and her vocal chords)!!!!  One of my favorite user comments on this video: “[Girl] ain’t got jaw tension… [girl] got HEAD tension!”

 

I would also be remiss to not make mention of Our Lady of Gospel Music, Mahalia Jackson, in an entire post on the genre.

THE QUEEN!

 

I also happened to notice a picture of Lightnin’ Hopkins on the wall, which quickly reminded me of a statue of him that resides in Crockett.  In reading over his wikipedia page I discovered that, at least as far as I can tell, there’s no connection between him and my home town… I had always assumed he was born there or something. Count that as the new something I learned for the day.

 

Picture at House of Blues and statue in Crockett, TX

 

Artist: Martin Short / Album: Fame Becomes Me

The Last Picturehouse

 

I’m sure all of you remember my previous post about the Hirschorn gallery from my trip to Washington D.C., right?  Specifically about how one of the works was reminiscent of a certain row of houses outside of Crockett near Grapeland.  To catch you up:

This next piece reminds me of a row of dilapidated buildings on the outskirts of Crockett.  I wish I had a picture of them to show a comparison but, unlike other random photo holdings I have, it’s not hiding in the bowels of my computer’s processor.  I even told Mary Anne something like: “The sad thing is that a part of me wants to call someone in Crockett, have them go to Grapeland and take a picture of them and email it so I can use it for the blog.”  Yes, folks, that’s what my life has come to these days.  Those of you in my Houston County entourage will hopefully know what I’m talking about!

Siah Armajani’s “Fibonacci House Bridge” (1986)

 

WELL, readers… today I got an e-mail from my sister-in-law, Joanie with the following:

Joseph! When we were driving home from Crockett this weekend we stopped in Grapeland to take these pictures for you, so now you have them in your stock to use in your blog.

A.) How awesome!!!  B.) What a great memory she had to even think about taking the picture.  C.) Here it is!

You can see it, right?

Artist: Sandi Thom/ Album: The Pink and the Lily

When the Suns Come Out

 

At one point we had to endure a brief, yet quite torrential, downpour.  If it were June I would have called it a summer shower but, you know, it’s still February.  Lucky for us it only lasted about ten minutes and the sky remained stunning for the remainder of the day.

When I was a senior in High School our church choir took a tour to Washington D.C. to perform with other choirs from around the country.  As Congressman Turner is a member of our church were were able to get a group picture taken on the steps on the Capitol building with him and Ginny!

 

With such a short span of time in the area I had to pick and choose which buildings/museums to delve into and which to just take at what essentially amounts to “face value.”  This go around the Capitol happens to fall into the latter of the two.

And, for a further insight into how my mind works, I took this picture from here because the view reminded me of one of Renate Aller’s photographs now on display at the John Cleary Gallery in Houston. You see the resemblance, right? RIGHT!?!?!

 

I dunno… some statue of some guy on some horse.  It’s probably historically important?

 

“There it is,” as David said, “your tax dollars at… something.”

 

Artist: Judy Garland/ Album: The Capitol Years

Modern Times

 

Fair warning, you’re most likely going to be inundated with lots o’ posts over the next couple of days due to the incredible amount of museums, sites and events I am trying to pack into my mini-vacation.  I’ll try and vary them a bit so it’s not an art post after an art post, but no promises.

With the morning and large portion of the afternoon free, Mary Anne and David were kind enough to act as tour guide to some of the Smithsonian museums and the first stop on our list was the Hirshhorn Museum of Contemporary Art.  As with future posts from the other museums I will do my best to limit the pictures to those of only my favorite pieces, a process that seems almost unfair due to not only the breadth of instillations, but also because I liked so many.

I feel no remorse in including Edward Hopper’s “First Row Orchestra” at the top of the heap.  If, with a gun held  to my head, I had to choose a favorite artist, Hopper would undoubtedly be the name that would immediately pop out.  It’s certainly audacious to assume a pistol bearing miscreant would take the time to inquire about my taste in the visual arts in the midst of, you know, robbing me an all, but stranger things have happened I guess.

She is NOT in the mood for Bartok tonight

 

This next piece reminds me of a row of dilapidated buildings on the outskirts of Crockett.  I wish I had a picture of them to show a comparison but, unlike other random photo holdings I have, it’s not hiding in the bowels of my computer’s processor.  I even told Mary Anne something like: “The sad thing is that a part of me wants to call someone in Crockett, have them go to Grapeland and take a picture of them and email it so I can use it for the blog.”  Yes, folks, that’s what my life has come to these days.  Those of you in my Houston County entourage will hopefully know what I’m talking about!

Siah Armajani’s “Fibonacci House Bridge” (1986)

 

Our next piece comes from Mr. 15 Minutes of Fame himself, Andy Warhol; though, to be honest, I found it to be lacking something and took it upon myself to add the finishing touches to his piece entitled “Marilyn Monroe’s Lips.”

Even movie starts need a little help from Burt every now and then

 

I’m ashamed to say I failed to get the name of this instillation piece and it’s artist, but it’s getting awfully close to encroaching upon DOUBLE RAINBOW territory. (Watch here if you are unfamiliar with this viral video deliciousness).

IT’S SO BRIGHT AND VIVID!!!!!!!!

 

And finally, the tail end of a much longer (22 minutes, I think) video by Belgian artist Hans Op de Beeck entitled “Staging Silence.”

They should TOTES get a job with the Pottery Barn design team

 

Artist: The Black Keys/ Album: Magic Potion

Second Hand Rose

[via BoingBoing.com]

I know all y’all are probably recovering from a Valentines Day induced chocolate hangover, so I thought the Consumerists article on failed flower deliveries, aptly entitled Valentine’s Day Garden of Discontent, might lift your mood a bit.  Each year they compile a “…collection of flower or gift deliveries that aren't what the recipient had in mind—and sometimes aren't even close,” as the article states.

One year for mom’s birthday I had some tulips sent to her in Crockett and apparently the vase got broken somewhere along the way in transit— probably in Conroe.  (God I hate that place)  At any rate, she called them and just let them know it had happened and they were kind enough to send her another bouquet, thank goodness the flowers didn’t arrive looking anything like these!!

Included below are selections from both this year and years passed.

 

I paid almost $40 to ship $39 worth of flowers w/ guaranteed valentine's day delivery. Glad they showed up looking like this!

 

 

Well she got them and she was happy but something seemed off from her description of them. I said how did you like the Stargazer lilies (as she is getting Stargazers tattooed on her) when she said there were none.

Most ridiculous for last, of course!

 

My wife likes all things related to Curious George. So for Valentine's Day, I ordered her the "Crazy for You" package from 1800Flowers. I've attached an image of the package since it's no longer listed on their website. It comes with a plush monkey holding chocolates and a red rose, two red heart helium balloons, two helium balloons with "Crazy for You!" written on them, and a giant mylar balloon shaped like a monkey. I really wanted my wife to feel special, and I was picturing her walking through her office with all the balloons as she brought the gift back to her desk.

Well, she called me at 4:30 on Valentine's Day to thank me for sending her flowers. She said they were lovely - some tulips, a daisy, and some roses. I paused and asked her what she got. She told me she received a small red vase with about 7-8 flowers in it. That's it. No monkeys, no balloons, no candy. I called 1800Flowers to ask what happened. They told me that the florist asked if he could "substitute an equivalent product" to ensure delivery. Equivalent? See the attached photo of what I actually got, and tell me if that seems to be equivalent to you.

Upon viewing the photos, a friend of mine commented, "It's lovely ... but there is a distinct lack of monkey."

To their credit, they didn't even argue. I got a full refund plus a $20 credit on my next order.

Yeah ... somehow I don't think I'll be using that credit any time soon

Artist: Barbra Streisand/ Album: A Happening in Central Park

Away in a Manger

 

Okay, so let’s just check in with our local KTRE 9 (your east Texas news leader, of course!) website and see what’s going on:

Let’s deconstruct this, shall we?

1. I know Judge Lonnie Hunt, the photographer of the picture and there is a high possibility I went to school with and/or was taunted by Sergeant Romero at some time.

2. My mom actually told me about this last week when I was in town for Thanksgiving and we were driving around the square. To which I replied:

“Oh I’m sure it’s nothing, I bet he shows up in what, like three days or something—oh, oops… wrong holiday.”

She didn’t find it funny then, and I bet she doesn’t find it funny this time, either.

3. If the baby Jesus found in the Wal-Mart parking lot (and just so you know, it ALL goes down in the Wal-Mart parking lot) wasn’t the one from the courthouse, then who exactly is missing one?

3. If all else fails you can always check out NACOGDOCHES TRANSMISSION for what I can only assume, by their logo alone, is a military arms dealer masquerading as an automotive repair shop.

 

Artist: Nat King Cole/ Album: The Christmas Song

Give it Back to the Indians

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

 

This is the first Thanksgiving in a couple of years that I have been able to be in Texas for the holiday, as the last four I was buried in snow in Ann Arbor.  I got in yesterday afternoon and we headed to the Hill Top Cafe (it’s the one on the top of the hill) and I saw this cookbook for sale:

   

I’m probably breaking some copyright law… but it’s my mom’s recipe!

 

For the big feast we had our family friends, the Morrisons, and my granddaddy Dan came over from Kilgore.

 

 

 

         

 

Pam and Mom

Paul, Robert, Worth, Dan, Matt, Ray and Me

 

One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories is from six years ago when I was studying abroad in Italy.  My parents, grandparents and aunt Brynda all came over to visit me and we had a non-traditional dinner at a restaurant in Rome.  Well, except for the fact that my mom, fabulous as ever, brought over turkey napkins for the feast.  Needless to say the Italian waiter was a bit confused. 

"Great, the Americans don’t even trust our linens!”

 

Artist: Ella Fitzgerald/ Album: The Rogers and Hart Songbook

Myths and Hymns

 

This last Sunday I had the pleasure of meeting up with my old youth director from First Baptist Crockett, or as I like to call people like this: those who are allowed to call me J.D.  Jeff is now located in Houston working for Jersey Village Baptist church and he and his wife Marcy were kind enough to take me out to lunch and catch up.  I’ve gotten to see them randomly over the years but it’s nice to know they are so close!

As I don’t really know any of the restaurants in the area (starving artist, remember?) they suggested Yia Yia Mary’s, a de.licious Greek restaurant that is part of the Papa’s family.  Now, for those of you who aren’t aware, Papa’s family of restaurants includes, but is not limited to a Tex-Mex restaurant (Papasito’s), a sea food restaurant (Papadeaux’s), a steak restaurant (Papa’s Bro’s) and a Papa’s Bar-B-Q. YUMMM!

 Look how excited they are to serve me food!

 

I also thought this would be a great opportunity to retroactively blog about my trip to Greece when I was studying abroad.  During our Fall break from classes in Florence I decided to take a trip to Athens, Delphi and the buh-eutiful island of Santorini (or the Greek Pompeii as it is often called).  When I was younger I was extremely enthralled by Greek and Roman mythology and must have read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology at least a dozen times, and there I was in the midst of it all!

Athens:

The Temple of Zeus with the Parthenon in the background

 

At the Parthenon! (Btw… someone stole that scarf while I was living in Michigan and I’m still bitter.  I got it in Maastricht when I went to visit Mallory.  BITTER I tell you!)

 

The Porch of the Caryatids

 

The Athens Olympics were just a couple of months before I went to go visit!

 

 

Delphi:

Temple of Apollo

 

 

The “prophets” would suck on natural gas being released from holes in the ground like this and then use the hallucinations they had to tell the future.  You know… and base wars on them.

                                               Olive tree near the temple for Athena                                              

Wikipedia: Athena competed with Poseidon to be the patron deity of Athens, which was yet unnamed, in a version of one founding myth. They agreed that each would give the Athenians one gift and that the Athenians would choose the gift they preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a spring sprang up; this gave them a means of trade and water but the water was salty and not very good for drinking. Athena, however, offered them the first domesticated olive tree. The Athenians accepted the olive tree and with it the patronage of Athena, for the olive tree brought wood, oil, and food

 

Temple of Athena.  She was always my favorite goddess

 

Santorini:

The overnight boat ride from Athens to the island

 

 

My hostel

 

Greek chirenz

 

A church near the center of the crater

 

Me at the top of the crater…

 

This crater!

 

Album: Myths and Hymns (admittedly this isn’t song name but an album name.  I thought it was perfect for the post, though, so deal.with.it!)