His Point of View

This week I was able to attend a performance of  the one man play “Thurgood” starring Laurence Fishburne.  This was a magnificent performance.  I often had to remind myself that Fishburne was only playing a role.  The play is near the end of its run at the Kennedy Center in DC, and unfortunately its sold out for the remaining performances. If you can I would advise you to go to make sure you see this show when and if it comes to a theatre near you.  I did not know until I began doing a little research for this post, that this play has been on going on and off broadway since 2006, when the role was performed by James Earl Jones.  I only wisht that I would have known about the show so that I could have seen what Jones brought to the role.

As can be expected the play details many of the highlights of the life of former US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.  The performance focuses on his early years as a budding attorney, and his fight to win Brown vs. The Board of Education, as well as a few other cases that were crucial to the civil rights movement of the mid 1900′s.  Surprisingly there was quite a bit of humor which I did no expect, it just goes to show that there is a human side to everyone, no matter what their public image may be.  The was much I did not know about Thurgood Marshall, and I now have a desire to do more research into the life of America’s first African American Solicitor General and Supreme Court Justice.  I hope that the 90 minute show continues to shine a light on a man who did so much to change America.

Yesterday I made the trip to the Library of Congress after work (as I have wanted to do for almost a year).  The room that I was most interested in exploring to research a topic of interest had closed for the day, so I decided to read some old newspapers from the week which I was born in the year 1980.  To my surprise a majority of the articles in the Atlanta Journal and USA Today could have easily been written this week (the week of July 27, 2009).  If the newspapers had not been dated, and the advertisements not been for stores long gone out of business a large portion of the stories could pass for this week’s news if only a few names were changed.   It’s almost as if we could recycle the old newspaper stories from the 1980′s if we just updated the photos and change the names of the players of the game.  For example:

1. The July 28, 2009 USA Today ran an article titled “Cash for Clunkers” detailing an article about trading in gas guzzlers for cars that get at least 22 miles per gallon.  The Atlanta Journal ran a story the week of May 1, 1980 titled DOE Fails to back New Car Fuel Plan” and this story is about congress’s failure to pass a bill to require that cars get 27.5 miles per gallon by 1985 and 40 miles per gallon by 1995.  Imagine how much change there would have been in the world if that legislation had passed.

2. The Atlanta Journal ran a story on May 1, 1980 titled ” Bad Health Habits Expensive” this article claims that 1.3 % of the US population consumes 50% of US healthcare spending and the majority of those costs are related to complications of being overweight or smoking tobacco.  This week the USA today paper(July 28, 2009″Weight and Cigarettes Increase Healthcare Costs”) and CBS news (July 27, 2009 “Obesity takes 9% of Health Spending”) ran reports detailing how weight and cigarettes smoking are the leading causes of healthcare costs.

3. Sunday May 4, 1980 the Atlanta Journal ran a report titled “ Bank Holding Firm Rescued From Speculation Bonds” This article is about the Federal Govt. bailing out a bank in Pennsylvania due to the banks bad business practices. Similar articles to this one have run in a variety of US papers over the last year.

4. The Atlanta Journal ran a story titled “ New Sunlamp Rules” on May 7, 1980.  This was during the time when sunlamps (tanning beds as we now call them) were first determined to play a role in causing skin cancer. On July 29, 2009 the Atlanta Journal Constitution and CNN.com both ran reports that take the 1980 article farther by claiming a definite link between sunlamps and skin cancer.

(Also while browsing the advertisements I was reminded of all the stores I used to be dragged into as a child with my mother such as Davidson’s, Richway, Zayre, Service Merchandise & Rich’s.  If you are not from the South you may have to substitute the names of long forgotten retailers in your area in this stroll down memory lane.  Oh yeah and to the person who doubted me there is evidence in the May 1-5 Atlanta Journal that Rich’s Department stores did at one time have a hair salon and a bakery… LoL  )

These examples above are only a few of the many issues that existed in the world during the month of May 1980 that still exist today.   The US was dealing with a ground war in Afghanistan, just as we are today.  The US President was dealing with a massive recession and economic meltdown in 1980, just as a different US President is dealing with economic turmoil today.  There was a war going on in 1980 involving US interests in Iran and Iraq, just as there is today.  There were bodies of US soldiers being flown back to the US in 1980, just as there are today.

So you may ask what does this all mean?  Or why should I care?  Well if you were to ask me those questions I would say that either history is destined to repeat itself, or our leaders in the past have not effectively managed the major issues of the past.  There is basically nothing in the news today that was not in the news in 1980, so the question is; why have bad decisions not been corrected in almost 30 years?   Well a possible reason is that those same folks who voted for the wrong decisions in 1980 are still in congress they are even more powerful now, and they are still making the wrong decisions or they are afraid to vote opposite of their stance 30 years ago even if they know they made a bad decision the first time around.  It saddens me to know that people vote the wrong way due to political pressure, financial pressure, or to save face when they know what the best vote or a better solution really is.

Perhaps another cause of these similar situations is that we as a people have not changed.  Americans are still rather uninvolved in the political process, unless the issue directly affects our families.  We do not lobby as hard to get what we want as the companies that are seeking a payday.  We do not press our elected officials to move in a way that is best for their constituents, therefore they are free to move in ways that best fit themselves by helping those companies who promise them high paying jobs and high consulting fees once their term is expired.  By and large most folks in the US simply don’t care much about what goes on in their state capital or the US Capitol until its much too late, and even then once the news sound bites fade away and there is another sex scandal our memories quickly fade, and our will to push for change dies.

Plain and simple we all need to be more educated about the recent past, and use that knowledge to form our own opinions and let those opinions be known to those we have elected to represent us.  If they will not let the voices of the voters move them, then as voters our voices need to move someone else into their office as soon as possible.

On another note… below are some camera phone shots of the Great Hall of the Library of Congress.  If you are ever in Washington DC you should check out the details of this building, it has lots of art in the form of statues, paintings, and architecture… in addition to the millions of books, microfilms, and periodicals.

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

Recently I have decided to venture into the world of Independent /limited release films, and I must say that I am disappointed in the fact that I have not done so sooner.  Last night I saw one of the best movies I have seen in a long while.  In my mind Full Metal Jacket is the bar when it comes to military movies and I can only think of one other movie (aside from the movie I saw last night) released in the last few years that comes close to the bar, and that film is We Were Soldiers.  Las night I saw the movie titled “The Hurt Locker” which is about a bomb squad team serving in Baghdad.  The movie has no real “stars” (but it does have a few familiar faces) and i think that is the major reason it is not a mainstream film.  If you like war movies this is definitely a must see, you can go to the movie’s official web site to find a theatre near you that is showing this flick.

If you live in the DC metro area you should check out the E Street Cinema, I will be there frequently this summer and fall, as it appears there are several more excellent Indie films to be released this year.  Even if you don’t live near DC you should check out the link to the E Street Cinema to find an affiliated theatre near you, and to read the description of some of the films currently available.  I must add that many of these movies have stepped their game up tremendously… no longer do independent films have that notorious “low budget” appearance.  Many of these films are shot using equipment of similar if not equal caliber to what major studios use. 

If you ever wonder how you can view some of the films that you hear about or read about winning major awards at film festivals such as those in Cannes and Utah ( Sundance Film Festival) you should find your local theatre which shows Independent films.   If you are concerned about prices,  the admission prices at the E Street Cinema are actually cheaper than the major chains in the area (tickets are $10 after 6pm).  Also, for you film producers many of these theatres have events where you can show your works to the public.

It’s time to expand your horizons, let’s go out and seek entertainment instead of being spoon fed the same repeated themes by the major production studios.  

(If you know of some other venues, especially in DC or ATL that show good independent films please let me know)

These are the films I plan to check out in the coming weeks… (sadly it seems that I just missed the Unmistaken Child, as it’s showin gin the DC area ended yesterday…)

Last fall (2008) I was wandering around the “gas lamp” district of San Diego, CA when a painting in a window caught my eye. I saw that the establishment was an art gallery/studio, and it happened to be open so I decided to take a look inside. What I saw when I entered was a collection of the best oil paintings I have had the pleasure of enjoying. We all know the art of the old standards such as Picasso, Monet, Bacon, Matisse, etc… and I recognize their work as being great… but its not really art that moves me or that I can relate to, with few exceptions. I recognize all of their work as being great… but as far as art that i would hang in my office or home I would place Tim Cantor above all of the previously mentioned artists. When I say that Tim’s art jumps off of the panel that is what I mean. The colors, the shading, the lighting were unlike anything I had ever seen done before with oil paints.
His works appear as if they are computer animations displayed on an HD screen (hopefully that is interpreted as a compliement). In fact I had to ask one of the staff members if the images were paintings or Computer Generated Images (CGI). The images you will see below do not fully capture the brilliance of these paintings as I experienced in the gallery. Tim’s work reminds me of Cirque du Soliel for more reasons than one… but primarily because he has taken something so familiar and put a whole new spin on it, just as Cirque has done with the traditional idea of a circus. Now I say that last statement because his style is new to me, perhaps there are many other artists with a similar style… Tim just happened to be the first I was exposed to, just as Cirque was the first circus experience I have had of that type. And to any reader out there if this style of painting has a name please do share it with me. If you are ever in San Diego and you appreciate art I urge you to stop by:

Ashby Galleries . 527 Fourth Avenue . San Diego . CA . 92101
619.235.6990

If you like the images below please do visit his site at: http://www.timcantor.com Be sure to click on the “Detail Views” link if it exists for the image you are viewing, it will zoom in to show you some of the featured details of the painting.

When you visit Tim’s site please see the “Limited Editions” page for prints which you can purchase (many are under $2000 framed or unframed), or the “Available Works” page for works which range in price from around $700 for a sketch  to $32,000+ for an original oil on panel or canvas.

All images are from http://www.timcantor.com

“En Pointe” Oil on Canvas

“sine qua non” detail close up of bee

“sine qua non”full-painting, oil on linen

“Sword of Damocles”, Oil on Panel

All images are from http://www.timcantor.com

“Ghost of You”, Oil on Canvas

“Grain of Sand”, Oil on Panel

“Journeyman”, Available as a print

“Born Again”, available as a print

“Stalking the Scarecrow”, available as a print

“The Hollows”,Oil on panel & available as a print…This is the image that attracted my attention. The leaves of the tree appear to jump off the canvas toward you if seen it in person. This shows how the artist captures lighting effects in his paintings… I absolutely love this effect (…but I am a photographer so I appreciate attention given to proper lighting).

All images are from http://www.timcantor.com