Saturday, October 22, 2005

"Stars, They Are"
10:07pm

What a lovely day! We watched, "The Fire Within", the first CD of a documentary series about the Cirque du Soleil. I had no idea just how complicated their creations were. The planning for a new show is so sketchy, it is all unknown just how it will be. They loosely get people for different skills, and they come up with their own routines, which must meet the approval of the director. Meanwhile, there is a search for singers, a theme and title, and it all sort of evolves in those various arenas separately until it comes together.

All art is like that. It begins in the gray space of the unknown. Then a line is drawn, a sentence is penned, and all else follows from that first step.

We followed that DVD with "American Bellydancer", which is a documentary about the Bellydance Superstar troupe, and how they were formed. There is a music CD with that, and it is playing now.

Earlier today, we went to a arts and craft show in Old Town. It was kind of small, and sparsely attended. But it was still fun.

Julia wanted wine from the wine Cellar, so we stopped there. She suggested I take a picture of the interesting door:

After that, she suggested I take a picture of her! I didn't think the lighting was right, but the photo is interesting none the less:

You can see the American Indian pots on her dress, which I made her a couple of years ago. There was a dealer of American Indian artwork there at the arts and crafts show, and the 'Great Bear' pendants intrigued me. I indulged myself:

The bear is fascinating to me, for there are many 'bear cults' through out the world, not just in Northern America. The Greeks, too, have an interesting myth regarding the Ursa Major and Ursa Minor constellations, Great Bear and Little Bear. Theoi.com has many versions, told by the ancient Greeks themselves. Zeus, the Greek God of thunder, liked to 'play the field', even though he was married. He had a dalliance with Kallisto, and she got pregnant. Hera, his jealous wife found out. In revenge, she turned Kallisto into a bear:

"Wounded Juno [Hera] rages, and changes the girl’s shape. Why do this? She was Jove’s [Zeus’] unwilling victim. When she sees her rival with a beast’s hideous face, Juno snarls, ‘Go, sleep with that, Jupiter [Zeus]!’ A shaggy bear loped across the scrubby hillsides, who recently was loved by supreme Jove. The bastard boy whom she conceived was now fifteen, when the mother and son came face to face. Indeed she halted, as if she knew him, frantic, and growled. The growl was her parental speech. The ignorant lad would have bedded his honed spike in her, but both were whisked to homes above."–Ovid Fasti 2.155

Zeus turned them into constellations to keep them safe from Hera's wrath. Hera wasn't happy, "She whom I forbade to be a woman, made a goddess!"-Metamorphoses 2.401. But stars they were, and Hera could not touch them.

It is a nice thing to think of when looking at the night sky.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 A

"Remotely Retro"
12:21pm

True confessions! I mixed up this week's Friday Illo and Photo Friday themes! Friday Illo's is REMOTE and Photo Friday's is RETRO.

So I sent the link to this PHOTO conveying the theme of 'Remote' to Photo Friday! The door, marked 'Private', reflected a remote scene behind me, as well. The bridge in the distance and what is beyond the 'private' door both are remote. After the link was there, I blinked, looked at the screen, and realized the theme was 'Retro'. I found a way to save it, since there just happened to be an old building from the Art Deco period in the door's reflection:

Old town Yuma, reflections in a PRIVATE door.

Now the old 'Hotel San Carlos' MIGHT count as 'retro' if it were an affectation of Art Deco buildings. But, no, that hotel really hails from those times. The fact that it has been preserved through all these years might be called 'retro', though.

I decided to re-interpret my original concept for the Friday Illo, as well:

What's beyond that door is remote, indeed...

Sunday, October 23, 2005 B

"Julia Gets Inspired"
8:36pm

The DVD on Alfred Stieglitz was most interesting. It is always, ever, the artist 'rebelling', seeking her own unique vision. He seems to have been an argumentative fellow, but he got a lot done for the cause of art...

Even Julia was inspired. She spent some time at the other computer with Picture Publisher. She would have done watercolor, but I can't find the watercolor box! Still, she's obtained some rather painterly effects digitally:

larger version available for the click through.

She says this is called Fanaticism, and was inspired by the protesters we saw earlier today across the street from India House restaurant. They were protesting abortion, and had huge placards.

The next one is called Elysium:

larger version available for the click through.

The text below is Arabic for "There is no God but Allat". It's a word-play saying "There's no God but the Goddess".

There is a lot of fanaticism out there in the world, so many shouting their way is the right, the only way for all. It's sad, and there has been so much blood shed over this.

Meanwhile, I've been reading old archives of mine. Some pieces were found rather disjointed and poor, so I removed them. Others, however, surprised me with their power. I rather like these words from November 1, 2003:

"But I say let them have those images, I will play with my archetypes like a child plays with dolls and think of the REAL MYSTERY and POWER behind them. That's where the real fascination lies. Everything else is just a doll-image of the Real Mystery. And yet, it's the best we humans can do.

And it's not too bad at that, as long as we don't take the doll-images too seriously and mistake THEM for the real Essences. And we must not forget that we, too, are the real Essences. That's what I've been trying to say with the exaltation of ourselves to Godhood..."

And, ever, I am seeking the Mysteries...