More New Art - October coming, Reading, Listening, and oh yea, there is an election coming...

Enjoy the photos, you should be able to click on to open them up and even pinch open further.

I am making more use of links, music and visual. Click on them and then you might have a second link to search. Some locations, such as YouTube generate revenue for your "free" viewing by running ads, so be patient. On occasion there is a "skip ad" button. Sometimes it will load and start when you go there, sometimes you need to click on the white arrow in the red box.

I hope you enjoy the updates to my art and life as presented in this blog. IF you don't like the political stuff and don't want to receive future blogs just say so, no hard feelings. So far, only three have taken me up on the offer. With that in mind, remember:

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

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present:

New Art:  

Larger format, 16 x 20" oil on canvas board, photo kind of washed out. From my photo years ago in Bandelier National Monument.    

And you call this art?: 

Actully, just part of an advertisement, but kind of neat...

Florida:

An unsourced photo:

Reading:

 Persistence and a common story...

          Ray Charles birthplace      

Pinch open to read, and then...

           

A couple of blogs ago I reported that I read the biography of 

Willie Mays. Then, recently, The WSJ ran a piece on what would be the 90th birthday of Ray Charles. I just finished what, unknown to me would be a wonderful trilogy when I read Nat King Cole's biography. 

All three guys were fortunate to know what they wanted to do in life at a very early age and then went after it. It was a difficult time for three Black men to reach that level of success. WM benefited from the trials of Jackie Robinson, NKC from other performers that loved him, such as Sinatra and his Rat Pack, Jack Benny, and on and on. A common theme is that they did it with grace, most of the time, and dealt with discrimination from individuals, or certain groups.

Over time, their lives intersected, NKC loved baseball. He and WM worked on the same charity to raise funds for Black children, RC spent part of his youth emulating the style of NKC; fortunately he found his own style.

Nathaniel Coles dropped the S and his fans added "King". He left high school to tour, over the next 30 years he toured for months on end, all over the world, in front of a whole spectrum of fans. For years he was known as the best jazz pianist, then found his voice, developed an "easy" style and could connect with fans that felt like it was one-on-one just like the best of politicians. He tried different styles, not caring what the critics said. He pushed through being paid minimum wages and staying in $15 per night Negro hotels, worrying about how to entertain in segregated cities. His weakness? Cigarettes, from waking till turning off the light at night, and women. Both caused a lot of pain, for him and his wives. I didn't know he had five children with Maria, including an adopted son. Lots of battles with Capital Records - like most entertainers. It took forever, but he was the first Black to have his own TV show. In one scene, before going out to perform before a hostile white crowd he, like most guys, fist bumped his associate's shoulder, winked and then said" Let's go out and win them over", which he did. In a sign of the times, he was performing in his native Birmingham, AL in 1956 were there were 5 KKK members intent on stopping the show, if not worse. They charged the stage and...

'Someone screamed as the men dashed past the rows of seated patrons...Nat was sent reeling back against the piano bench...The (white) police ran in from the wings and fought the assailants. As the men tussled onstage and one policeman's glasses got smashed and another policeman's nose was broken, bleeding. Eight policemen held the five men in armlocks and pushed them out of the hall.' After it was announce that Nat was injured and could not continue the show, the crowd called out "Ask him to come back so we can apologize!" And the audience began applauding. He came out "I knew they were trying to show me that they didn't sanction what had happened. So I thanked them for coming to the show and told them I knew they didn't hold with what had just occurred. I noticed some people were even crying." Yes, some of the policemen didn't like NKC performing before a white audience but they (all) did their job. Frank Sinatra "took care" of getting him out of Birmingham. Either he or Vice President Nixon got him on an unscheduled flight to Chicago the next morning. At the airport, more than 50 white fans shouted that they didn't agree with the hoodlums, and apologizing, apologizing..."Those people, segregated or not, white or black, are still record fans. They can't overpower the law of the South, and I can't come in on a one-night stand and overpower the law"

"I still have many friends and fans down here despite this affair." But he would never again set foot in the state where he was born. 

This is me, but if you read about these three men and their life's achievements, I don't think they would agree with the current trend that America, which gave them so much, has a systemic race problem.

From there, I would encourage you to read about Tyler Perry's story, from nothing in the New Orleans area to (according to Forbes Magazine):  The 51-year-old entertainer owns the entirety of his creative output including more than 1,200 episodes of television, 22 feature films, and at least two dozen stage plays (that's how he got started), as well as a 330-acre studio lot at the edge of Atlanta's southern limits. He used that control to leverage a deal with ViacomCBS that pays him $150 million a year for new content and gives him an equity stake in BET+...Forbes estimates that Perry has earned more than $1.4 billion in pretax income since 2005 which he used to buy homes in Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, and Jackson Hole, as well as two planes. They estimate his net worth at $1 billion. Doing his own stage productions, and I mean everything, lighting, sound, set up, etc., and before his first film or TV show he hauled in more than $100 million from their ticket sales, moved $20 million worth of merchandise, and collected another $30 million selling videos of the stage performances. Oh, and he hasn't started to syndicate his work outside of the US. You can do it if you try. If you really want to. It should be noted, however, and it is especially true for WM, NKC, and RC, the cost to your personal life is enormous. It might even kill you. 

Back to persistence, from this month's edition of Forbes...

• The best way out is always through - Robert Frost
• Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared - Tupac Shakur
• Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent-Calvin Coolidge
• Claude notes for you artists...Keep a little fire burning, however small, however hidden-Cormac McCarthy

Listening:

The Rough Guide to the Roots of the Blues. Includes Saint Louis Blues by Bessie Smith, who some think was the best of the best singer of the blues.

For those who aren't aware of NKC:  (remember, you might have to work through or "skip" ads on the YouTube station

Some links to NKC performances

Remastered recording

Through the miracle of editing. He died in 1965, his little girl at 65.   

Marty will know:

Link to Central Park performance

and, a different version of one of my favorite Paul Simon's songs. In the attached clip, he let his grade school friend, Art Garfunkel sing his song, aka Kathy's Song while he accompanied on the distinct guitar accompaniment: Link to Live performance

Do you know Sarah Jarosz? I just discovered her...

Link to studio cut

Scary (and sad...and dangerous):

Humor:

But not so funny slanted headlines

Back to funny

   

       

I have said it before, I love Babylon Bee satire site:

       

Not humor, but RBG... 

For thought:

Sent to me by a friend...

 As I had my morning coffee, I realized that everything is about to change. No matter how I vote, no matter what I say, something evil has invaded our nation since “9/11”, and our lives are never going to be the same.

I have been confused by the hostility of family and friends. I look at people I have known all my life--so hate-filled that they agree with opinions they would never express as their own. I think that I may well have entered the Twilight Zone.

You can't justify this insanity. We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind!

• If a guy pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.

• Somehow it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.

• Russians influencing our elections are bad, but illegals voting in our elections are good.

• It was cool for Joe Biden to "blackmail" the President of Ukraine, but it’s an impeachable offense if Donald Trump inquires about it

• Twenty is too young to drink a beer, but eighteen is old enough to vote.

• People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.

• People who have never been to college should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.

• Immigrants with tuberculosis and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.

• Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate to the US must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcome.

• If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you go to college for free.

• People who say there is no such thing as gender are demanding a female President.

How much time? must see video link if you care about the life of our policemen and women. Six minutes. It will almost surely change your opinion.

Link

Below The Fold---------------------------------------
Or, as I have learned from your input, Preaching To The Choir vs Unbelievers

Enter at your own risk:

The hi-lighted links will take you to the rest of the story.

That should read more, not mo...even the editor makes mistakes.

Still Sad Updates on the mental deterioration of Hidin' Biden...

     

                

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What do YOU think?

And finally

NEW ART IN SEPT

I am making more use of links, music and visual. Click on them and then you might have a second link to search. Some locations, such as YouTube generate revenue for your "free" viewing by running ads, so be patient. On occasion there is a "skip ad" button. Sometimes it will load and start when you go there, sometimes you need to click on the white arrow in the red box.

I hope you enjoy the updates to my art and life as presented in this blog. IF you don't like the political stuff and don't want to receive future blogs just say so, no hard feelings. So far, only three have taken me up on the offer. With that in mind, remember:

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

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present:

New Art:  From photos of years ago, when we lived in NM. Oil on 10 x 8" wrapped canvas.

I saw this '39 Pontiac at a Shell station on my way to the library.  #3 in my auto collection. A 12 x 9" oil on canvas board.

Future Art:  I have prepped twenty canvases...

Art Purchased: Well, not quite; traded for this 6 x 6" print on a metallic plate. Just love it. Never had seen this before. Kathy Cory is a St. Louis/Key West artist. 

Florida: Saw these mushrooms one morning during my walk. Never noticed this brand before. Looks like a shuttlecock. 

Kind of... 1,000 piece puzzle for Linda to work on.  Another one coming next blog. 

Humor:

Link to Babylon Bee funny: anonymous-white-house-source-claims-trump-punched-a-baby

I suppose NOT funny...shame on Jill Biden for letting her husband be embarrassed like this, almost every day.

Still NOT funny: Link to usc-professor-placed-on-leave-after-black-students-complained-his-pronunciation-of-a-chinese-word-affected-their-mental-health/

Below The Fold---------------------------------------
Or, as I have learned from your input, Preaching To The Choir vs Unbelievers

Enter at your own risk:

Thought: 

WHAT IS GASLIGHTING?

The term originates in the systematic psychological manipulation of a victim by her husband in Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 stage play Gas Light, and the film adaptations released in 1940 and 1944. In the story, the husband attempts to convince his wife and others that she is insane by manipulating small elements of their environment and insisting that she is mistaken, remembering things incorrectly, or delusional when she points out these changes. The play's title alludes to how the abusive husband slowly dims the gas lights in their home, while pretending nothing has changed, in an effort to make his wife doubt her own perceptions. The wife repeatedly asks her husband to confirm her perceptions about the dimming lights, but in defiance of reality, he keeps insisting that the lights are the same and instead it is she who is going insane.

We are living in a perpetual state of gaslighting. The reality that we are being told by the media is at complete odds with what we are seeing with our own two eyes. And when we question the false reality that we are being presented, or we claim that what we see is that actual reality, we are vilified as racist or bigots or just plain crazy. You’re not racist. You’re not crazy. You’re being gaslighted.

New York State has twice as many deaths from Covid-19 than any other state, and New York has accounted for one fifth of all Covid-19 deaths, but we are told that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has handled the pandemic better than any other governor. But if we support policies of Governors whose states had only a fraction of the infections and deaths as New York, we’re called anti-science and want people to die. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

We see mobs of people looting stores, smashing windows, setting cars on fire and burning down buildings, but we are told that these demonstrations are peaceful protests. And when we call this destruction of our cities, riots, we are called racists. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

We see the major problem destroying many inner-cities is crime; murder, gang violence, drug dealing, drive-by shootings, armed robbery, but we are told that it is not crime, but the police that are the problem in the inner-cities. We are told we must defund the police and remove law enforcement from crime-riddled cities to make them safer. But if we advocate for more policing in cities overrun by crime, we are accused of being white supremacists and racists. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

The United States of America accepts more immigrants than any other country in the world. The vast majority of the immigrants are “people of color”, and these immigrants are enjoying freedom and economic opportunity not available to them in their country of origin, but we are told that the United

States is the most racist and oppressive country on the planet, and if we disagree, we are called racist and xenophobic. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

Capitalist countries are the most prosperous countries in the world The standard of living is the highest in capitalist countries. We see more poor people move up the economic ladder to the middle and even the wealthy class through their effort and ability in capitalist countries than any other economic system in the world, but we are told capitalism is an oppressive system designed to keep people down. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

Communist countries killed over 100 million people in the 20th century. Communist countries strip their citizens of basic human rights, dictate every aspect of their lives, treat their citizens like slaves, and drive their economies into the ground, but we are told that Communism is the fairest, most equitable, freest and most prosperous economic system in the world. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

The most egregious example of gaslighting is the concept of “white fragility”. You spend your life trying to be a good person, trying to treat people fairly and with respect. You disavow racism and bigotry in all its forms. You judge people solely on the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.

You don’t discriminate based on race or ethnicity. But you are told you are a racist, not because of something you did or said, but solely because of the color of your skin. You know instinctively that charging someone with racism because of their skin color is itself racist. You know that you are not racist, so you defend yourself and your character, but you are told that your defense of yourself is proof of your racism. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

Gaslighting has become one of the most pervasive and destructive tactics in American politics. It is the exact opposite of what our political system was meant to be. It deals in lies and psychological coercion, and not the truth and intellectual discourse. If you ever ask yourself if you’re crazy, you are not. Crazy people aren’t sane enough to ask themselves if they’re crazy. So, trust yourself, believe what’s in your heart. Trust your eyes over what you are told. Never listen to the people who tell you that you are crazy, because you are not, you’re being gaslighted.

Sophocles said: "What people believe prevails over the truth."

And that's what the media are trying to exploit.

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

John Bolton said if the following episode really took place he would have written a whole chapter on it in his recently published book; now we find out...John Bolton said if the following were true, he would have devoted a whole chapter to it; he was in the room...

The billionaire owner of The Atlantic, a left-wing magazine, is a Democrat megadonor who has donated a substantial amount of money to Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs — who has donated more than $1.2 million to nearly 70 Democrat politicians since 2019 — is reportedly in close contact with the journalist who published the hit piece on President Donald Trump that claimed, based only on anonymous sources, that Trump called dead American soldiers “losers” and “suckers.”

Flip Flop Section: 

Whoops...

Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Sunday reversed her support for a ban on fracking, a policy position she held through her failed 2020 presidential campaign.

Harris said on CNN's State of the Union that she would support her running mate Joe Biden's recent commitment to not ban fracking, saying that it provides "good-paying jobs in places like Pennsylvania."

They can't figure out why the fans "BOOOOO" them...

Drew Brees as an example of so many spoiled, know-nothing pro athletes: For some reason, 'tis the season to be pandering. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and his teammates thought it was brilliant to celebrate a thug with a warrant out for his arrest stemming from an alleged sexual assault on May 3. Whose idea was it to put a "Jacob Blake" sticker on their helmets?

Jacob Blake, 29, was forbidden from going to the Kenosha home of his alleged victim, and police were dispatched following a 9-1-1 call saying he was there. Police were attempting to arrest Blake, but he violently resisted. Seven bullets were put in his back to immobilize the threat. Blake thought it was a good idea to turn his back on police to seemingly reach for a weapon.

Did Brees get the memo? Does he know that he's backing the criminal behavior of Blake? Brees already fumbled once this year. He came out supporting the troops and the American flag but was hit with a whiplash of criticism. He succumbed to the pressure of political correctness. He went from standing to bowing, squatting, kneeling, and pandering as fast as a 40-yard dash.

According to the New York Post, the responding officers in Kenosha were aware that Blake had an open warrant for felony sexual assault, according to dispatch records and the Kenosha Professional Police Association, which released a statement on the incident.

I wonder if Brees will send flowers to Jacob's bedside or pay for physical therapy. Oh, never mind — Blake has a GoFundMe account full of $2.2 million and counting. His victim gets to sit back and watch the man who assaulted her and police get paid for doing so.

Blake is accused in the criminal complaint of breaking into the home of a girlfriend and sexually assaulting her. The victim, who is only identified by her initials in the paperwork, told police she was asleep in bed with one of her children when Blake came into the room around 6 a.m. and allegedly said, "I want my s—t." She told cops Blake then used his fingers to sexually assault her, sniffed his hand, and said, "Smells like you've been with other men."

Blake ended up paralyzed from the waist down due to the shooting and was handcuffed to his bed at the hospital for the warrant. He has since been released from handcuffs.

By supporting this lowlife, Drew Brees has made a public spectacle of himself. He has gone from being patriotic in supporting our troops and the flag to wearing stickers on his helmet of a thug who allegedly assaulted a woman. All in the name of "Black Lives Matter.“