The current exhibition is a retrospective of work by Gary Lang. He has combined his poetry painted on canvas creating interesting statements and works of art.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard
I visited the Carnegie Art Museum on Thursday. This Greek Columned building was formerly the town library but a beautiful newer library was built a couple of blocks away and the building was converted to an impressive art museum.
The current exhibition is a retrospective of work by Gary Lang. He has combined his poetry painted on canvas creating interesting statements and works of art.
The current exhibition is a retrospective of work by Gary Lang. He has combined his poetry painted on canvas creating interesting statements and works of art.
A Hike on Santa Cruz Island
Colleen and I took a boat ride to Santa Cruz Island National Park on Friday for the day. 'twas a smooth crossing and a beautiful day with sun in the afternoon.
We hiked up to an overlook of the cliffs and sea to the North where we ate our sack lunches. A large school of dolphins with a huge gathering of fish swam by in the distance. This former sheep ranch is being restored to some of it's original flora and fauna including a thriving fox population. On our trip home we were surrounded by dozens of breaching dolphins and several Gray Whales.
We hiked up to an overlook of the cliffs and sea to the North where we ate our sack lunches. A large school of dolphins with a huge gathering of fish swam by in the distance. This former sheep ranch is being restored to some of it's original flora and fauna including a thriving fox population. On our trip home we were surrounded by dozens of breaching dolphins and several Gray Whales.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Scenes from vacation
Santa Ynez winery visits to Curtis, Roblar, and Gainey on a beautiful Spring day with Colleen.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Broadway Festival & Chamber Music at Bradbury Bdg.
Colleen and I attended a Broadway Festival and a Tallis Scholars concert program at the historic Bradbury Building. Before the concert, we took a shuttle provided by Mount St. Mary's College down to view two historic theaters on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. Below are pictures of the beautiful Los Angeles Theater that was built in 6 months in 1931 for an opening of a Charlie Chaplin movie. We went to a wine and cheese reception a new restaurant across the street called Los Noces du Figaro Bistro where a band with a banjo provided musical entertainment.
"Why Some Children Succeed..." Paul Tough
Paul Tough was at the Center Scene program at the California Endowment on Thursday evening talking about "Why Some Children Succeed While Others Lose Their Way." He is a journalist who has written about Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone in his book "Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem" and his new book "How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character."
He has studied the work of professionals such as Nadine Burke Harris M.D. who set up a pediatric clinic in a poor area of San Francisco and has identified that people are sick due to trauma and stress in an environment like a war zone. He said that research has shown the effects of childhood trauma that include increase incidents of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and suicide. He said that toxic stress damages a persons systems. He said the antidote is secure attachment and talked about experiments with rats with those doing better having mothers who licked and groomed them a lot....we all need licking and grooming. The caring, rocking, and cuddling is important in early childhood but also in adolescence when life is particularly stressful and when teenagers are thinking deeply about themselves in their environment.
He talked about the character measurements of the following traits as the most important predictors of success...more that academic performance: Optimism, Zest, Curiosity, Self Control, Grit and Perseverance.
Angela Duckworth, PhD, University of Pennsylvania has written that self control "not doing something" is a better predictor of success than I.Q. She developed a test to measure Grit and Passion. High levels of these characteristics lead to greater success at spelling bees and military academies.
Carol Dweck, PhD, Stanford, has written that we need to help children develop Grit to work harder and try harder. Grit and self control are built on overcoming failure which leads to resilience. Some children have too much adversity and some don't have enough...a moderate amount can make them stronger...to manage failure.
He gave the example of a chess championship from a public middle school in central Brooklyn that teaches the students how to handle failure. The teacher is hard on her students but also supportive to help them manage failure. Parents and teaches need to pull back sometimes and let the children deal with failure and problem solve. Those individuals who succeed in spite of a difficult environment do so because of Grit.
He recommended some helpful programs: "Tools of the Mind" for prekindergarten and kindergarten children, "Expeditionary Learning" and meditation with mindfulness training.
He has studied the work of professionals such as Nadine Burke Harris M.D. who set up a pediatric clinic in a poor area of San Francisco and has identified that people are sick due to trauma and stress in an environment like a war zone. He said that research has shown the effects of childhood trauma that include increase incidents of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and suicide. He said that toxic stress damages a persons systems. He said the antidote is secure attachment and talked about experiments with rats with those doing better having mothers who licked and groomed them a lot....we all need licking and grooming. The caring, rocking, and cuddling is important in early childhood but also in adolescence when life is particularly stressful and when teenagers are thinking deeply about themselves in their environment.
He talked about the character measurements of the following traits as the most important predictors of success...more that academic performance: Optimism, Zest, Curiosity, Self Control, Grit and Perseverance.
Angela Duckworth, PhD, University of Pennsylvania has written that self control "not doing something" is a better predictor of success than I.Q. She developed a test to measure Grit and Passion. High levels of these characteristics lead to greater success at spelling bees and military academies.
Carol Dweck, PhD, Stanford, has written that we need to help children develop Grit to work harder and try harder. Grit and self control are built on overcoming failure which leads to resilience. Some children have too much adversity and some don't have enough...a moderate amount can make them stronger...to manage failure.
He gave the example of a chess championship from a public middle school in central Brooklyn that teaches the students how to handle failure. The teacher is hard on her students but also supportive to help them manage failure. Parents and teaches need to pull back sometimes and let the children deal with failure and problem solve. Those individuals who succeed in spite of a difficult environment do so because of Grit.
He recommended some helpful programs: "Tools of the Mind" for prekindergarten and kindergarten children, "Expeditionary Learning" and meditation with mindfulness training.
Friday, March 22, 2013
A beautifuly Spring day at the Getty Center with Jim
Getty was showing it's Spring on Thursday where my friend Jim and I roamed around admiring the art, architecture, and the foliage. I enjoyed the exploration of the Baroque paintings (years 1600 to 1750) in the collection. Baroque art is "characterized by great drama, rich deep color, and intense light and dark shadows....when the action was occurring." Baroque painters also includes Vermeer whose 30 paintings that exist today are paintings of everyday life, less dramatic and with milder colors that we witnessed by viewing the visiting Vermeer.
We also reviewed the Impressionists and Post Impressionists and other 19th century paintings that are a part of the collection.
We also reviewed the Impressionists and Post Impressionists and other 19th century paintings that are a part of the collection.
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| The Wisteria was beautiful and showered us with scented petals as we ate our lunch. |
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| "Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" 1663-64 by Johannes Vermeer, Dutch, 1632-1675 |
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| "Saint Bartholomew" 1661 by Rembrandt Harmensa, von Rijn, Dutch, 1606-1669 The Saint is dressed in 17th Century clothes with only the knife, the instrument of his martyrdom, as a hint that he was one of Christ's twelve apostles. |
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| "An Old Man in Military Costume" 1630-31 by Rembrandt.... |
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| "The Card Players," about 1625 by Jan Lievens, Dutch, 1607-1674 |
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| "Head of a Woman," 1654 by Michael Sweerts, Flemish,, 1618-1664 I like this woman very much....perhaps she lived up the block on Cornell St. in Des Moines when I was growing up. |
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| "Christ Crowned with Thorns," 1620 by Gerrit van Honthorst, Dutch, 1590-1656 This is a good example of the dramatic use of chiaroscuro light effects that Caravaggio initiated in Italy. |
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| "The Eternal Feminine," 1877 by Paul Cezanne, French, 1839-1906 This sightless eye sockets, this woman dominates the entire room including the bald headed artist painted in the foreground. |
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| "Study of a Model, 1818 by Theodore Giricault, French, 1791-1824 The model is depicted with a directness and empathy. This model was later used in the artist's painting "The Raft of Medusa." |
Thursday, March 21, 2013
"An Energy-Independent United States" at Rand
Last night I attended a lecture by Keith Crane who is the director of the RAND Environment, Energy, And Economic Development Program and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His primary interest is developing and evaluating policy options for addressing climate change, energy production and consumption.
Dr. Crane does see an oil independent future for North America, U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The U.S. oil imports are down, below China's, primarily due to energy efficiency. The auto and truck fuel efficiency laws are working with our peak consumption being in 2007. Our oil production is up due to sandstone and shale deposit extraction. We are now doing horizontal drilling and also Fracking....forcing sand, water, diesel fuel into the ground to break open the oil deposits.
Fracking is also being used to extract natural gas with concerns about water and air pollution. He said they are improving the methods to reduce the risk. He said this has much less environmental damage that coal mining. We have major oil and gas resources in the U.S. with places like North Dakota, Wyoming, Texas and Pennsylvania having some of the greatest. California is also a major player.
Regarding prices, they will go up. The international oil market means that if we reduce consumption here, India and China are increasing the demand so the prices go up.
He sees a continued reliance on natural gas and oil with less on coal. Regarding electric cars, he says it depends on where the electricity comes from....if it is from coal fired plants...it still pollutes and uses fossil fuel. He does not see a future in more reliance on atomic energy due to the high costs.
He sees that the renewable energy sources as being important....particularly wind. Solar power is still expensive. Regarding the oil from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, this is a heavier oil and it requires a lot of energy to get it out of the ground. Rail cars are being used to transport to refineries and to export.
Bottom line: Our best steps to energy independence is increased efficiency.
Dr. Crane does see an oil independent future for North America, U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The U.S. oil imports are down, below China's, primarily due to energy efficiency. The auto and truck fuel efficiency laws are working with our peak consumption being in 2007. Our oil production is up due to sandstone and shale deposit extraction. We are now doing horizontal drilling and also Fracking....forcing sand, water, diesel fuel into the ground to break open the oil deposits.
Fracking is also being used to extract natural gas with concerns about water and air pollution. He said they are improving the methods to reduce the risk. He said this has much less environmental damage that coal mining. We have major oil and gas resources in the U.S. with places like North Dakota, Wyoming, Texas and Pennsylvania having some of the greatest. California is also a major player.
Regarding prices, they will go up. The international oil market means that if we reduce consumption here, India and China are increasing the demand so the prices go up.
He sees a continued reliance on natural gas and oil with less on coal. Regarding electric cars, he says it depends on where the electricity comes from....if it is from coal fired plants...it still pollutes and uses fossil fuel. He does not see a future in more reliance on atomic energy due to the high costs.
He sees that the renewable energy sources as being important....particularly wind. Solar power is still expensive. Regarding the oil from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, this is a heavier oil and it requires a lot of energy to get it out of the ground. Rail cars are being used to transport to refineries and to export.
Bottom line: Our best steps to energy independence is increased efficiency.
The acrylic and ink on paper art piece below is called "Delaunay in Mind" by Nina Bovasso, 2004. It is one of many works of art loaned to the RAND for display at their headquarters by Peter Norton who is on their board.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
"Migrant Mother" in new novel by Marisa Silver
On Tuesday night, I attended an interview with Marisa Silver who has recently authored a new novel, "Mary Coin" about the subject of the famous "Migrant Mother" picture from the dust bowl days in the '30's. Marisa read from her book and then was interviewed by Meghan O'Rourke at the Aloud program at the L.A. Central Library. The original photo was take by Dorothea Lange and the real name of the woman is Florence Thompson. Silver did research on Thompson and the photographer, changed their names and developed a story about their lives.
Evidently, Florence Thompson chose to remain anonymous until the last weeks of her life when she needed money for medical issues. Over $30,000 was contributed by individuals which helped pay for her medical costs and her burial.
"Mary Coin" sounds like an interesting book. Marisa Silver is a focused writer of fiction whose mind develops stories of how people must of felt and the motivations of their behavior. She wrote this novel in 3 years.
Evidently, Florence Thompson chose to remain anonymous until the last weeks of her life when she needed money for medical issues. Over $30,000 was contributed by individuals which helped pay for her medical costs and her burial.
"Mary Coin" sounds like an interesting book. Marisa Silver is a focused writer of fiction whose mind develops stories of how people must of felt and the motivations of their behavior. She wrote this novel in 3 years.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
"Education Under Arrest" with Tavis Smiley
Last night I attended a screening of a PBS film by Tavis Smiley at Center Scene at the California Endowment. The film will be shown on PBS stations around the country next Tuesday night at 8:00 PM PDT. The documentary film was about the "school to prison pipeline" that is occurring particularly with the advent of specialized schools for special interest and gifted students like Charter and Magnet Schools. Also, since class sizes have grown, the teacher and principal can get rid of the challenging student by kicking them out...calling the school police...and the student begins his criminal career.
The film shows alternative high schools....run with great control and discipline...for the kicked out students. These probation like schools have been successful.
A panel discussion followed with Tavis, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and Manuel Coriollo, Community Rights Campaign organizer sponsored by the Labor Community Strategy Center in L.A. Manuel advocates for kicked out students and demands services instead of jail. Randi stated that what we need are resources....alternatives to juvenile prison such as counseling, restorative justice services and front end preventative programs to help the students to succeed and deal with the anger they are carrying inside because they feel hurt and ashamed of their poor skills. They said that "Zero Tolerance" has sent youth to jail and it needs to be reviewed and challenged.
The Community Rights Campaign Demands:
. Decriminalize tardiness, truancy and school attendance.
. Decriminalize all student discipline: end all zero tolerance discipline policies and reduce the role of police and courts in schools.
. School police accountability though community oversight.
. Transform school climate with supportive pro-active, mental health centered, ethnically relevant school-based supports and interventions, including counseling, peer mediation and restorative conflict resolution.
Below is a photo of Dr. Robert Ross, President of the California Endowment, introducing Tavis Smiley. Tavis has had a nightly interview program on the L.A. public television station for 10 years and has co-authored a recent book on poverty in American with Dr. Cornell West.
The film shows alternative high schools....run with great control and discipline...for the kicked out students. These probation like schools have been successful.
A panel discussion followed with Tavis, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and Manuel Coriollo, Community Rights Campaign organizer sponsored by the Labor Community Strategy Center in L.A. Manuel advocates for kicked out students and demands services instead of jail. Randi stated that what we need are resources....alternatives to juvenile prison such as counseling, restorative justice services and front end preventative programs to help the students to succeed and deal with the anger they are carrying inside because they feel hurt and ashamed of their poor skills. They said that "Zero Tolerance" has sent youth to jail and it needs to be reviewed and challenged.
The Community Rights Campaign Demands:
. Decriminalize tardiness, truancy and school attendance.
. Decriminalize all student discipline: end all zero tolerance discipline policies and reduce the role of police and courts in schools.
. School police accountability though community oversight.
. Transform school climate with supportive pro-active, mental health centered, ethnically relevant school-based supports and interventions, including counseling, peer mediation and restorative conflict resolution.
Below is a photo of Dr. Robert Ross, President of the California Endowment, introducing Tavis Smiley. Tavis has had a nightly interview program on the L.A. public television station for 10 years and has co-authored a recent book on poverty in American with Dr. Cornell West.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Favorites at LACMA Today
While roaming around the museum, I met an artist by the name of Aaron who showed me his sketches and art work. He works included drawings from Viet Nam when he was serving during the war, his designs while employed at the L.A. Times Sunday magazine including layouts for photos of the 1984 Olympics, and his most recent sketches and photos.
I visited the contempory art on the third floor of the Broad building and then strolled around the third floor of the Ahmansen building enjoying the European art. Below are some favorites.
I visited the contempory art on the third floor of the Broad building and then strolled around the third floor of the Ahmansen building enjoying the European art. Below are some favorites.
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| "Vinyl that already looks wet," 1986 by Haim Steinbach, Israel, b. 1944, active in the U.S. Love those lava lamps! |
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| "Male Aggression Now Playing Everywhere," 1986 by Jonathan Borofsky, U.S., b. 1942 |
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| "The Swineherd," 1988 by Paul Gauguin, France, 1848-1903 |
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| "Still Life with Cherries and Peaches," 1885-87, by Paul Cezanne, France 1839-1906 |
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| "Boy with a Straw Hat," 1896, by Paul Cezanne |
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| "The Kiss" by Auguste Rodin |
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| "In the Woods at Giverny: Blanche Hoschede at Her Easel with Suzanne Hoschede Reading," 1887, by Claude Monet, France, 1840-1926 |
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| "Fruit Dish on a Garden Chair," 1890 by Paul Gauguin |
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| "Two Girls Reading," 1890-1891 by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, France 1841-1919 |
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| "A Philosopher," 1637 by Jusepe de Ribera, Spain 1591-1652, active Italy (Naples) |
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| "Saint Augustine," 1650 by Philippe de Champaigne, Netherlands, 1602-1674 |
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| "Portrait of Dirck Jansz, Pesser," 1634 by Rekmbrandt van Rijn, Netherlands 1606-1669 |
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| "Adoration of the Shepherds with Saints Francis and Carlo Borromeo, 1628 by Antonio d'Enrico, Italy 1575-1633 |
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