More new art, no Below The Fold this week, Music from 1969 as I head to CO.

Below the Fold below is where lies controversial stuff, if you don't want to go there, stay above.

The link to my website: Claude Lyles Art Works  , recently updated. Best view is on your desktop, tablet or laptop; if, however, you view on your phone, the menu is in the "hamburger" in the upper left of the opening screen. It will give you several viewing options.

My only social media is Instagram. I use it to keep track of all the wonderful art being created every day, all around the world. Artworks without the blog! You can see a more current version of my comings and goings, art in progress, friends visiting SW Florida, etc. Instagram link, then to estudiocieloazul, or Claude Lyles

Reminder that you can click on photos to enlarge and pinch open even further. And, if you are curious about possibly purchasing a piece, contact me and I will quote you a price framed/ unframed. They are surprisingly affordable.

New Art:

8 x 10 oil on canvas, Mound House, Ft Myers Beach

Art Purchased:

12 x 15 signed print found in a consignment shop. I reworked the framing. It was a promotion for a Liberty Mutual Achievement meeting in Bermuda in 1996 according to the placard on the back. Diana Amos is a well-know watercolorist in Bermuda, it turns out. "Queen's View, Southhampton."

Not Purchased, But...

Remember the Woodie I did a month ago, featured in an earlier blog? Saw this on the wall at my mother-in-law's place. I like their version better.

Tweaked Art:

Thought I was finished but nooooo. I added a little more sunlight on this 9 x 12 oil on canvas board of the view out our window toward the preserve.

Listening To:

Listening AND watching: Country breakout artist Filmore - MIZ ZOU on the Today Show.
https://www.today.com/video/watch-filmore-perform-slower-live-on-today-59662405577

50 years ago music:
Abby Road; Let It Bleed (my favorite RS album); Tommy ( have other WHO favorites, like Live At Leeds); Smash Hits by Jimi Hendrix (yes, I have it); Crosby, Stills & Nash debut album; Hot Buttered Soul - Isaac Hayes; CCR - Bayou Country, Green River, and Willy and the Poor Boys; Stand!; With A Little Help From My Friends, thank you Joe Cocker; a shocking debut 1 -2 Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin II (I still love these); Santana by Santana; Neil Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Cowgirl In The Sand is one I could actually play on my 12 String and "sing"); Blind Faith (I listen frequently); Last Exit by Traffic; In The Court of the Crimson King; Soft Parade; The Band by The Band; The Allman Brothers Band; Box Skaggs; somebody help me!

Watching:
Want to see some fun? An Art YouTube video link:  Link to Where Have Al The Bob Ross Paintings Gone?

Reading:

 Another element of my Leonard Cohen reading and listening...all the lyrics and most of his writing. Stranger Music.

Quick read: Howard Stern's newest Come Again. The reason it might be relevant, another guy who came up with a way to make money and entertain a segment of the US. Forbes reported that he grossed $93 million last year. That is a LOT of money. One year. 

In reviewing the Top 100, think about Kylie Jenner, out of nothing, she has the drive and mental acuity to come up with ways to earn money - $170 million last year. I did not stutter, $170. What was the last Kanye West song/rap you have heard? What else does he do? Produces, ...$150 million. A kid , who at 19 started working as a producer for local rappers in Chicago. How did he do that? Where else in the world could he have done that? Masterminds Jay-Z's ($81 million, Beyonce' $81 million) seminal The Blueprint in 2001, age 21. There are those who are telling you that this is a horrible, discriminatory country; income inequity, rich and poor. Well I see a Jewish guy, a young woman, a black kid, a black couple all making good by making the effort. They had help, but they asked for help and most of us would help those who sincerely ask us, and show us that they are willing to do the work. Think of all the jobs this small group has created, the wealth that has been shared at the top of their empire, the satisfaction of achievement. Don't listen to the "progressives" who want to turn back the clock. The world is moving forward without them. 

My neighbor (kind of) Judge Judy $49 million. And, I am looking in Forbes at 20 "Next Billion-Dollar Startups 2019" Yes, many have advanced degrees and are scary smart, but not all. For some it is their first shot, for others 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. There is a couple, he gave up a nice paycheck from corporate America, she a stay at home mom who recognized a need in the insurance industry and they started their own company and are not only succeeding but have their sights to pass State Farm. One woman filed bankruptcy twice, but third time is a charm to fantastic wealth. Moreover, they create jobs for others, create off-shoot companies, and donate large sums to non-profits. 

Criticize America and old white guys? David Stickler was a successful businessman, and his wife, born in China has a strong business sense. How did they make use of it years ago? What did they do new? Something old...they started a steel mill. Something new...31 months ago: Big River Steel. In the US. In Osceola, Arkansas. Ever hear of it? Population 7,000, located about 50 miles upriver from Memphis. They are "hands down the most technologically advanced and fastest-growing steel producer in North America". What does that mean to the world? With 513 employees (that means jobs) its cash flow per employee is 8 times that of US Steel. Including bonus pay, the average Big River production worker earned $129,000 last year, 3.5 times (think about that number) the medium household income in the county. Where did they obtain start-up money? In part, from the "Progressive's" favorite business whipping-boy, Koch Industries, plus the Ark Teachers pension fund (so teachers will have more money for retirement) and other private equity funds (it takes money to make money Bernie). With bonus, technicians are pulling in $45 per hour. No need for government mandated wages here. 

It really is the economy, Capitalism, with all its faults is and has been how poverty has been reduced all around the world. Governments seem to only inhibit our desire to improve our life and along with it, those who want to work with us. 

Humor:

How does the English government work, anyway?

Link to satire on YOUR opinions, like Cory Booker talking about YOUR truth...

https://babylonbee.com/news/new-study-confirms-all-your-opinions-are-correct

 What else? Let's see...

Two links, one a repeat from brief articles from the economist, Walter Williams.

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/64447-whats-most-important

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/64291-things-havent-always-been-this-way

Below The Fold---------------------------------------

Enter at your own risk:

See you in a couple of weeks. 

New art, getting ready for fall classes.

Below the Fold is where lies controversial stuff, if you don't want to go there, stay above.

The link to my website: Claude Lyles Art Works  , recently updated. Best view is on your desktop, tablet or laptop; if, however, you view on your phone, the menu is in the "hamburger" in the upper left of the opening screen. It will give you several viewing options.

My only social media is Instagram. I use it to keep track of all the wonderful art being created every day, all around the world. Artworks without the blog! You can see a more current version of my comings and goings, art in progress, friends visiting SW Florida, etc. Instagram link, then to estudiocieloazul, or Claude Lyles

Reminder that you can click on photos to enlarge and pinch open even further. And, if you are curious about possibly purchasing a piece, contact me and I will quote you a price framed/ unframed. They are surprisingly affordable. 

(Lots of) New Art:
8 x 10" oil on canvas board from the Preserve behind the house...#6.

Yucatan Bar and Grille, 12 x 9" oil

Moonlight Garden from Ford Edison Estate. 8 x 10 oil on wrapped canvas. The garden was designed in 1929 for Mrs. Edison. 

Began an auto series, first up is a Woodie, then a '57 T-Bird. The are oils on 14 x 11 wrapped canvas.

Damkohler Cottage, Koreshan SP. 10 x 8"

From the Mound House looking up toward the Caloosahatchee River; 10 x 8 oil on canvas board.

Three more to finish before we head out to Colorado. Looking forward to that trip.

Other Art:
This might be a repeat, but good info for you artists...
William Schneider page.  Such as Why Oil Painters Should Learn Pastel

This is fun and exciting - a Fort Myers artist know throughout most of the art world.
Marcus Jansen movie trailer

This tells you a little bit about him. IF you have Amazon prime you can watch the whole piece for free. He grew up in Brooklyn. Served in Iraq. He has a current show at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in KC until Sept 15.

website is marcusjansen.com

 From a review in White-hot Magazine: ...Historically, painting is genres such as still life, landscape and portrait. The strong aspect of Jansen’s work is that he balances the genres without being stereotyped into one area of art. His variety of themes and his characters are partially responsible for the balance found in his compositions. Elements such as automobiles or military vehicles appear in a painting, details floating through an atmosphere of color and shape. Images like a wrecked school bus half buried in the ground, tagged with graffiti, nose down in the dirt and teetering on the edge of collapse.:...

This kind of chaos is no stranger to Jansen’s psyche as he was a soldier in the Iraq war. His military background is both a character and a shadow in his works. His large portraits are an interaction with this military legacy as well. They appear as apparitions of military men — haunted ghostly figures in official poses, both man and monster....It is through his physical and psychological interaction with surface and an obsession with painting that Marcus Jansen continues to produce images of astounding force.

Cars: 

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

He Calls Himself the World’s Youngest Studebaker Fan

Click on this link for a fun story...I want one too
I think it will work even if you do not have a WSJ subscription.








Financial Savvy:
10 Things Wealthy People Do To Keep Wealthy
And wealthy people who give to those in need are our angels.

Sports:

Did you see the two Saint Louis area players at the All-Star game? Max Scherzer (MIZ) and Jake Odorizzi; one Fort Myers Bishop Verot grad Vogelbach (Mariners). Luke Voit probably should have been there. 

Then there is this, pre-season comments in the Post-Dispatch from coach Ford at SLU: 

Freshman point guard Yuri Collins is a throwback PG. "Old-school," Ford said. The Billikens knew the St. Louis native (Go Dragons!!!!!!!!) had promising point-guard intangibles. He's both quick and fast — there's a difference — with a great first step and an ability to see passing lanes before his peers. "He makes everybody around him better," Ford said. "He always seems to make the right play, passing." What has surprised Ford early on is Collins' ability to score on top of facilitating scoring.

Mother vs Son: Right here in Fort Myers...November 25 At FSW's arena, the second half of the early-season tourney will put Northwestern vs Mo Valley Tournament champion Bradley. The championship game vs either Pitt or K-State will take place on the 27th. All games will be televised on FS1.

Watching:

Three collages from A Year In Space taken off my TV screen, about Mark Kelley, the twin astronaut who stayed in the Space Station for a year so he could be measured against his twin who remained on earth. I wrote about this in an earlier blog after I read his book. Quite interesting. As I said then, I don't see Mars happening in the next 30 years, and probably never. Six years in space will wreck the astronaut's body, and by the way, no one will volunteer for what could be a one-way ticket. 

Did not realize that the movie is about, among other topics, Alzheimer's. I thought it played out well. Good ensemble. 

 Crazy animation. Very creative. 

So, are you a clone? Do you think you are the real deal? What if...Interesting premise, and interesting solution, if I understood how the dilemma was resolved. 

Listening To: 

 I like much of the Shins music. These were recent additions, one is a "normal" CD, the other is "flipped", that is the songs are the same but played back in reverse order, and recorded with more studio tracks, or fewer, depending. Did not like the flipped edition.

And, their first CD.

 Various artists, but it has a Shins song in the mix.

 Plus three more by Steven Halpern. Purchased a single be Delerium, so kind of Dance or Electronica music but the feminine voice adds a layer. 

Cakes By Linda: Ever heard of a Fault Cake? Big in California?

Humor:

From Babylon Bee, Patoot Post and....

I do like this one. 

If you have ever heard Ben talk, he goes pretty fast...I can see the bidding break out during his presentation

Reading: 

I started this about a year ago and decided to get it off my nightstand. Pretty funny, as usual for DB. You might be in Florida, but this is not the Magic Kingdom...I got a Glock in my 'rari Malibu Maxx wagon.

Some great backstories in the industry, musical recoding and comedy clubs, plus all those years with Howard Stern. His schtick was sexual humor to the edge, how bad can it be and still get it on the air...so, not for the faint of heart. And not deep, quick read - even for me.

In earlier blogs I have mentioned how much I like to read Walter Williams, a black economist who reeks of common sense. And, he is older than me so he has a better perspective on the black (particularly) journey. For example, if you think Blacks are discriminated against, and held back economically, what do call their situation in, say, 1950?

Walter Williams, economist


Just Wondering:
Some of you know that I have been following the messages to Medjugorje for over thirty years. With rare exception, Mary points to her Son, love, acting in a peaceful manner, prayer and fasting, and the need to pray for our shepherds.  Never to herself. Something, however, changed the month. What do you think she means by "new times"? And why is this message important for the renewal of the face of the earth? June 25, 2019 Message to Marija:

"Dear children! I am thanking God for each of you. In a special way, little children, thank you for having responded to my call. I am preparing you for the new times that you may be firm in faith and persevering in prayer, so that the Holy Spirit may work through you and renew the face of the earth. I am praying with you for peace which is the most precious gift, even though Satan wants war and hatred. You, little children, be my extended hands and proudly go with God. Thank you for having responded to my call."​

All Our Lady's messages: http://www.medjugorje.org/messagesall.htm

                  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I have referred to Suzanne Venker's blog in the past; found this interesting
Breakdown in family is killing civilization

Below The Fold---------------------------------------

Enter at your own risk:



Just gotta say:
The women would have to take a pay cut to earn the same % as the men...

"FIFA, the international soccer organization, will give about $400 million to male players in the World Cup, while female players will make around $30 million." That sounds bad, but not when revenue is factored in. The Women's World Cup earned in the neighborhood of $130 million. That's great, but the 2018 Men's World Cup brought in more than $6 billion. So the women's slice of the pie (20% of revenue) is far larger than the men's (7%), relative to the whole. But Rapinoe wants that $30 million for the women to be quadrupled to $120 million.

                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For the record: "A call to ban the Confederate Flag due to its association with slavery is akin to banning the Democrat Party's Donkey and Islam's Crescent, as both of those institutions were involved in the enslavement of Africans." —William Federer

                       ***************************

Newt's World says: The Fourth of July is the most important political holiday in the world. In fact, it should be a universal holiday.Independence Day commemorates not just an American revolution but a revolution in the relationship between people and their government. Most of human history has been a story of the powerful controlling, dominating, and exploiting the weak.

Even today, in Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, and North Korea, the old models still exists.

...The great break in the relationship of normal people with their government came on July 4, 1776. In the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers not only declared their freedom from King George III of England, they established a framework of freedom for all people everywhere.

...It is important to use the Fourth of July every year to reassert the importance of universal rights endowed by our Creator for every human being. It is important to use this holiday to remember how exceptional America is – and that everyone on the planet has the opportunity to apply this exceptionalism to their own countries and governments.

This is why Fourth of July is the most important political holiday for every human.

                  ****************************

Antifa is Naziism:

From Babylon Bee - satire that exposes the truth laid bare...

Antifa Shatters Mirror In Attempt To Punch Nazi from satire Babylon Bee...pretty funny

July 1st, 2019

PORTLAND, OR—A member of Antifa, Dustin Day, injured himself over the weekend while attempting to punch a nazi he spotted.

“So I had my mask on and was ready to fight any nazis that came to Portland -- because I guess the city is full of them -- and then I saw one,” explained Day. “You could tell from just one look at the guy that he was a crazed sociopath looking for any excuse to get violent.” That’s when Day said he ran up and attempted to punch the nazi, but instead his fist hit some sort of “invisible shield.” He then screamed, “Advanced nazi technology!” and ran away.Further investigation of where Day says he encountered the nazi revealed only a broken mirror hanging on the wall.
This all comes on the heels of three Antifa members looking down into a lake, saying they saw three nazis in the water, and promptly drowning in the confrontation.

        ********************************

The press will not give President Trump credit when due. They either ignore the good that he has accomplished to distort at the view of it. One area is the tax cuts enacted last year. This article (link) refutes and clarifies all of that:
How tax cuts are helping the middle class

This is particularly effective...

Did you know that Megan Rapinoe has a twin sister who also plays soccer? Played at college level.

I'll end with something sent by a friend, and successful businessman. I trust that the numbers are accurate, but it sure makes you think about what a Mizzou grad built from nothing, and how it compares to the financial mess enveloping our country, and what kind of priorities do we have?

Wal-Mart vs 535 (Be careful for whom you vote)

1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart Every hour of every day. WHAT?
2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!
3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year.
4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target +Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.
5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private employer.
6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.
7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined and keep in mind they did this in only fifteen years .
8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy.
9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.
10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers. This is 1,000 more than it had just five years ago.
11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at Wal-Mart stores. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)
12. 90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.
You may think that I am complaining but I am really laying the groundwork for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys who run Wal-Mart to fix our debt.

To the 535 voting members of the Senate and House :
a. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 244 years to get it right and it is broke.
b. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 84 years to get it right and it is broke. SHOULD be at least close to break even.
c. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 81 years to get it right and it is broke.
d. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.
e. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 54 years to get it right and they are broke .
f. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 49 years to get it right and it is broke.
You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars.
AND
Someone please tell me what the HELL's wrong with all the people that run this country! We're "broke" and can't help our own Seniors, Veterans, Orphans, Homeless etc.
In the last few months we have provided aid to Haiti, Chile, and Turkey…And now Pakistan, previous home of bin Laden. Literally, BILLIONS of DOLLARS!!! (And you can’t agree to a simple $5B for a wall to help secure our southern border and keep us safe?!!!)
Our retired seniors living on a 'fixed income' receive no aid nor do they get any breaks…
AMERICA: A country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed hungry, elderly going without 'needed' meds, and mentally ill without treatment - etc, etc.
Imagine if the *GOVERNMENT* gave 'US' the same support they give to other countries. Sad isn't it?