Please Vote Blue

Even though Trebuchet and Times are similar fonts, I opted to write this post in Trebuchet for its actual meaning. Those who don't know may look it up.  This is to launch ideas.  I'm adding this image by Jayme Odgers because I love it. Click on the image. 

Get about a foot from your monitor, then cross your eyes to make the images come together. It should become 3D! Cool...

I was amazed to be called 'demented' by one dear old pal and then there was another high school classmate asking (rhetorically?) if I was 'f***ing nuts' when I sent a "reply all" response to an email addressed to all of the participating members of my old high school class. I asked for whom they'd vote for president. I said I was voting blue. On looking up synonyms for 'demented'.. I found 'deranged' and have to admit that I'll cop to being an element to 'derange' or move around or change things now and then. 

On Facebook I sometimes post observations regarding the coming election. Some of my FB pals are so upset by what the current president has done to divide our country that they might weigh in with epithets that match the vitriol of my old high school republicans.  I just delete those comments because I think that this president is doing enough already to reveal himself. To me, chiming in with 'tit for tat' is a waste of energy.

Do I want Biden / Harris to lead our country back to compassion, some form of civil discourse and maybe even find a way to health in this time of crisis?  Yes.

Do I want for these old high school classmates... some of them are loyal and thoughtful.. for them to lose? To be losers? Absolutely not!

And, here's why.  The country has been deliberately divided .. I think.. all to boost the ego of one person.  How intelligent and educated people got pulled into this maelstrom is not hard to figure out.  It has to do with a phenomenon called 'Cognitive Dissonance'. Caps mine.. That's when we fall into a behavior that seems okay at the time: not harmful?  then, things change and that behavior may still seem like the right way to behave, but because of the change, it's not healthy or good for us. Republicans used to be conservative and for strong business practices (and for rich folks..).. Now.. the tenor of the times is not the same as before.

Some folks compare our current social scene to the Germany that bubbled up in the 1930s.  Germans had a strong and charismatic leader who wanted to cleanse the land of folks he did not like. A blustery presence.  He told half truths and lies that charmed the thoughtful upstanding Germans to turn on the Germans who were Jews and gay folks and thus began a reign of terror.   I'm not enough of a scholar to cite all of the steps that Hitler trod as he climbed to power. But.. the 'feeling' that may have permeated Germany is beginning to feel similar, at least in my imagination.. to what those good people fell for.  

Power.  

Power over those whose self defenses were overwhelmed because the charm of the leader made the majority want to expand power. 

Power is a rush! Ask me about "Private Life of the Master Race" Brecht has a way with words!

When I asked my former classmates whom they'd vote for in the election.. initially, I just wanted to see if the conservatism that I was aware of in the demeanor of many of these people was as conservative as they appeared to be several years ago.  Epithets and derision bloomed like anything!  I was just asking for Pete's Sake.

The really wonderful thing was that some of the classmates I polled contacted me privately to let me know that they see the issues that liberals are raising about the lack of empathy and the deliberate derision and division that's been going on for three years and pledged to Vote Blue.  Some of them are  even former supporters of 45 and were adamant  that it was time for change.  The business of sticking with a bad idea had fled!  To me, that is a good thing.

What about calling out these critics who opted to call me names and for some of them to demand that politics not be part of the communication that we all share as classmates? Truthfully, I'd totally forgotten how old we all are.  I'd forgotten that this cognitive dissonance of being firm in one's beliefs sticks strongest when you get older.  I still see the women as dewy cheerleaders and prom queens. The guys are football heroes and great wrestlers. We are all in Levi's and live surrounded by alfalfa and cows and sugar beets. In our high school hints of politics ran only to school elections.  One classmate (the president of our senior class!)  responded with research listing all the 'good' that 45 has done. He failed to mention thousands of children separated from their parents and the millions of dollars of tax payer monies for one golfing trip to Palm Beach.  Of course, Stormy Daniels and the grabbing issue is long swept under the table.

The scary part of what's been happening over three years' time is that the reputation of our formerly United States has taken a nose dive.  Braggadocio and hubris substitute for articulate speech. It's the inarticulate speech and seeing video of this president exiting Air Force One alone while his wife stands well behind on the steps leading out of the plane. This behavior shows a lack of courtesy that permeates his responses to even mild  questions in a press briefing. He insults reporters and in dismissing them, seldom gives a straight answer to a legitmate question. The man is constantly on the defensive. It's a shame.

Admittedly, I'm really not all that well informed. Sort of on purpose. I have learned a valuable lesson from a well informed conservative pal over the years.  With almost every supporter of 45 whom I've encountered and tried to have a discussion with, the old '"What about You?" retort is on the table.  Is that a 'strawman' response? It's endemic in many of the conservatives I know who are masters at changing the subject.  This is NOT to fault them for this technique.  This goes back to Cognitive Dissonance.. They just can't answer a direct question. They have trained themselves or been trained or are deeply ingrained with that response as a survival technique.  I tease an old pal of mine by saying that getting a straight answer from him is like nailing a Jello mold to the wall! He's good humored about it and that's probably the reason that we've been pals for so long.

Critical thinking and asking questions is vital in our current state of affairs: the dangers facing the USA.. Becoming the laughing stock of the world is pretty embarrassing.  Is our entire country running with the lemmings? 

Of course, we're all caught up in this dampanic.. er.. pandemic. Sometimes I forget that this depressing time, no matter whether it could have been dealt with sooner or not, we are in it.. and it's depressing and working in a really negative way on all of us. Senior citizens are frightened to go out for fear of contracting the virus. This means no visits with loved ones and family.. no social activities.. theatre, movies.. museums: gatherings with others. We missed a really wonderful Pina Bausch dance concert that was cancelled just before the major shutdown.

Yes!  It's a strain on everyone. And, because I think I'm so smart, I forget that not being able to attend theatre and see movies on a  regular basis and am required to shop with others all masked with vacant eyes.. it's an insidious burden. So maybe I need to excuse my old republican classmates? It isn't easy living in the world today.  

Which brings me.. to.. 

being compassionate and kind 

and realizing that some of us have drunk one flavor of Kool-Aid and some of us another and even though our lives literally hang in the balance,  I firmly believe that finding a way back to civility and caring for one another instead of name calling and bullying others into submission, that taking a look at the picture of our situation right now and deciding if it's working or not will guide us back to civility and empathy and respect for one another.

Please.  Vote Blue. 

Michael Sheehan

August 29, 2020

Glendale, California

Wit's End?

How the mind works when under stress and doubt.. it goes wonky.

A friend had to get 'official' fingerprints  made for a visa situation in New Zealand. This put me on the trail of what fingerprint documents look like and a Google search came up with all kinds of forms. As a Boy Scout I earned a fingerprinting merit badge.. and, so the conceptual artist living at my house got busy and came up with some limited edition 'mail art.' 

There are six pieces in all.  One original and an edition of five signed and numbered copies.  Making money from my artwork has never been a big deal. In fact, I've invested a lot of dough in my own work because I wanted to see it up.  How an artist gets sent to "The Show" is a mystery.  I know artists who are world famous and whose work is actually collected! and, they make a living from the work they crank out.  It's fun to see the artwork of acquaintances in big time art museums.. and in local galleries. I'm pretty much local!

My goal with this project is to see if I can send fives pieces of original art work through the now questionable mail to someone who wants to collect it or to just play.  There are five pieces. Each is made up of an official FBI fingerprint page and page of somewhat ambiguous 'official' personal information. 

My main way of turning folks on to ideas and to read my writing has been .. and shall be.. via Face Book. If you are reading this, you have probably clicked through from FB.  If you would like one of the edition of five pieces, please go back to FB, message me your email address and I'll contact you via email for your snail mail address and send the first five participants one of these conceptual pieces.

There's no charge for this, but if you wanted to make a contribution via paypal, I'll include a receipt for your contribution with the snail mail to your mailing address.

I want the post office to succeed and keep up the good work its been doing for all the time that this 'service' has been cooking.  Recent hue and cry regarding locked up and missing mailboxes, along with the Postmaster General eliminating sorting machines points up that there's smething creeping up on our country and keeping the mail active is a way to call that creeping out and ... hopefully we'll restore some semblance of democracy soon. 

Vote blue and let me know if you'd like to participate.. send me  your email address on FB.. 

Sincerely, michael sheehan

THINNING THE HERD?

 It's a bit unkind and not very generous to make fun of people from other cultures. A dust up last night on Facebook.. (Imagine that!??) ... and today a trail of complaints about a Glendale, California ordinance that requires folks in public to protect themselves and others by wearing a face mask. The FB post by the City included a list of fines for offenders!  Pretty steep!  As though they can ever collect..but it's to scare the scoff laws.. and speaking of scoff laws, a guy with a very long foreign name complained about this 'rule' and wrote this in his ire:

"It’s not enough arresting people of Glendale for speeding and labeling them reckless driving and destroying their lives." 

Not withstanding the incomplete sentence.. it may be that Engilsh is a second language for him..but it made me laugh so hard..  Glad I wasn't drinking milk at the time.

I posted a short retort to the guy and then published his remark in public, sans his name as I did not remember it..  It really doesn't matter if wearing a mask helps. the "powers that be" think that it's a good idea and it seems to me that just to not make waves..and just in case.. it's a good idea. I still favor stocks and pillory for offenders. The fines? Where does the money go? Maybe to build stocks and pillories?

 I have volunteered to the City of Glendale to be responsible for building one or two nice stocks and a couple of pillories to be placed in what is essentially the town square.. though Central Park or The Americana would be okay.. City offices have a big open space with a raised area where the miscreants could be shackled.  I'd even assemble a crew of volunteers who would make sure the bad boys were given water..lots of water, but not allowed time outs. Lots of water.

 

We live in a city being slowly dominated by a culture that seems to think that having a lot of money and a fancy car entitles you to endanger the lives of others and get away with it.  This transfers to the mask business in a way.. The "Entitled" get to have their own rules.. 

 On FB..I did a terrible thing.. I called those who were openly critical of the ordinance and the fines 'republicans'.. (sic).  Maybe they all aren't but the political lines that seem to be drawn and the pissing and moaning seems to be coming from the right side of the country.  

I titled this post "Thinning The Herd" for a reason.  Well, it's not nice, actually..but it seems that in the areas where the scoff laws reside, that the opportunity to prove that masks might work..but folks opt out.. if they die? They die.  

 

I got in  hot water last night with a woman whom I have met only a couple of times.. but we have been in touch for more than twenty years.  This was because of a misunderstanding and the fact is that a typo can change the meaning of lots of things. I've been asking former school mates if they voted for 45 and if they planned to do it again.  These are nice senior citizens who grew up in a conservative little town with a church on virtually every street corner and even a synagogue!  The responses that I got were a bit alarming.  Not only did my old school chums vote Red, they cranked out complaint after complaint about how former administrations have practically ruined our USA.. They cling to God and Jesus and one woman admitted that 45 may have a questionable record morally, but that Jesus would forgive him.  We can only hope and pray.

The missed understanding turned on my insistence that responses to the stuff I post on FB be free from rants and name calling.   I don't want to piss off "The Others" and hope to bring some of them to Blue.. but..this angry woman declared that my Christian friends were NOT Christian and gave reasons. She called the prez a "scicopath"... and I thought she had coined a new word that was an amalgam of 'sick' and pathetic or something..To me: a pejorative.

I asked her to edit the comment per my 'rule' and that set her off.  Sorta hurt my feelings.. but I'll get over it.  There's more, but the end result ..I tried to explain in an email to her what I'd meant.. and she declared that I was supposed to field anything that anyone wanted to say on my FB feed.  She suggested videos of kitties or something might be less controversial..  Of course, she's right.

Eventually, she unfriended me thinking that I'd ruined her reputation or something.  I'd given her my phone number and asked her to call me..  She never did..

E communication is a bitch!  

 I may try again to discuss the 45 issue on FB, but the few classmates who responded were really amazingly upset that I'd even ask! One did declar that they had voted Red in 2019, but not this time! A victory, not for me. but maybe for the USA?  The vitriol on both sides of our country right now is exacerbated by  limited critical thinking and guys like the fellow with the long name equating this mask thing with kids' lives ruined for speeding and being caught.. doesn't exactly give a lot of hope.  

I remain hopeful, though.. and the exercise of getting some of my own frightened angst out by telling  you my story is healing to a degree.

I hope the unhappy FB friend comes back. In my memory, she is a very lovely person. She may have been so unhappy that I didn't know that scicopath was supposed to be sociopath.. that it's unlikely she'll want anything to do with mean old me.  If I was to coin a word and be into name calling? Scicopath is a pretty good one. 

Ask questions. Question authority.  Take a deep breath.. and be well.  

The Times

 Of course, Dylan's song comes to mind, considering The Times.. they are a changin'..  

Someone posted a photo today of Jack Kerouac's book "On The Road".. sitting on another copy of "On The Road" sitting on a road.. It reminded me of reading the book "On The Road" years ago and hoping that I can find my copy. Ah.. here it is.. underneath "Tristessa" another novella by the author.. under books by friends and others. A growing stack .. my bedside reading. Tim Hallinan, Lisa Segal, Lafcadio Hearn, Tom Hanks, Thomas Savage...

Kerouac was the voice of a generation that I missed. Capote criticized his freeform style.. but  stream of consciousness is a style, that .. if we are lucky.. comes to us when we are putting words to paper... hah.. who puts words to paper these days? Well.. in fact.. I still do.. and I find that even though this form.. the ease of simple corrections and  a nice keyboard that doesn't make you smack the keys.. is nice.. when committing to an actual sheet of paper and in Kerouac's case, a roll of paper for a teletype.. another long gone device.. just let his story unfold.  I did that one time for an art installation and wonder what I did with the long roll of that hole punched dot matrix recounting of the art we had at The Brand Galleries in 1997? 

Reading Kerouac is a smorgasbord of images and sounds and even the smells of an old Chevy revving across the country, streamline moderne gas stations, tired guys who washed your windshield and pumped the gas; twilight...  headed west to California to the edge of the continent.  

My intention right now.. to share Kerouac's last paragraph that I looked up on line when I saw the silly photo of the books on the road.. and.. that'll be it. for now.. 

"So in America when the sun goes down and I sit on the old broken-down river pier watching the long, long skies over New Jersey and sense all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast, and all that road going, all the people dreaming in the immensity of it, and in Iowa I know by now the children must be crying in the land where they let the children cry, and tonight the stars’ll be out, and don’t you know that God is Pooh Bear? the evening star must be drooping and shedding her sparkler dims on the prairie, which is just before the coming of complete night that blesses the earth, darkens all rivers, cups the peaks and folds the final shore in, and nobody, nobody knows what’s going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old, I think of Dean Moriarty, I even think of Old Dean Moriarty the father we never found, I think of Dean Moriarty."

 

write what moves you.. for you.. for goodness sakes. 

michaelsheehan

The Ship of State is listing

Oh boy.. I just got a survey from REDCAT, the Music Center adjacent arts center hiding under the Disney Concert Hall. They want suggestions regarding our current state of affairs.. But! Before addressing that situation, I realized today that the Shoot from the Hip attitude that many folks I know when posting of Facebook often do can be rude and intrusive.  

Today, Amie Hill,  a friend from Renaissance Faire days, posted a memory that included a photo of some old pals: Sandey Grinn, William Barrett and Jeff Briar, fondly recalled as Cock and Feathers.  They enacted bawdy and some pretty amazing shows on the Main Stages of both the Northern and Southern Faires starting back in the early seventies or maybe even earlier.  Talented and audacious, they were!  Grinn and Barrett did their own routines later that were groundbreaking and gut busting. What I  forgot was that Amie Hill's memory was to heighten and celebrate Cock and Feathers contribution to the Faire. Another celebrated Faire guy, Robert Shields, the well known mime from Union Square in San Francisco, posted a tribute to the C&F boys that was heartfelt and kind.  I was surprised to see that he was even on FB and I followed his tribute with my fond recollection that it was Robert who first treated me to the Northern Faire. Of course, it was Cock and Feathers's time to shine in Amie Hill's memory and thoughtlessly, I just added my own memory.  

Having known Sandey, William and Jeff for many years and having contributed to one serious accident for Sandey and then, a boon.. and having enjoyed the friendship of Mr. Barrett and his family for a long time and appreciating Jeff Briar's work and his support for a fund raiser we cranked out several years ago.. these guys deserve their time in the spotlight..Amie's spotlight!And, though I had no intention of spotlight bombing them, I was brought to task by Sandey and though I've deleted my brief note to Robert Shields, the sting is still embarrassing and this is to apologize again.. in my own forum. Here. 

We are in the Hard Times now. It's a lousy excuse to remind us that we are all under the gun, classic confinement, no end in sight, depression.. but we are.. and I feel its weight every day a little like the addition of a pound or two that is more difficult to bear up day by day.. 

To that end.. I write.. because I have no theatre reviews to write..this personal stuff helps to lighten the load. There are other personal issues to discuss, but that's for later.

To  Jeff and Sandey and William: apologies.  I'd be happy to insult you to your faces in the spirit of good humor, but it was never my intention to be an interloper on Amie's sweet tribute to you on Facebook today.  And, I'm really, really sorry about the sliding glass door!

// 

If you are still with me?  Today I got a survey from REDCAT, the local arts venue. They are making efforts to bring back their art to Los Angeles. The survey is pretty standard.  They asked about our degrees of comfort should venues re-open. There was no real space for an expanded opinion about our current dampanic going on. So, I got some of my frustration out by sending the following letter to whomever composed the Redcat survey:

To REDCAT:

Your survey may be helpful.. but.. what human beings need right now is nourishment for the Spirit.  It won't come from streaming or any other E form of 'entertainment'.  The human experience comes from being with human beings.  

Entities like Redcat and The Broad and MoCA and the Music Center and LACMA and every playhouse, large and small, in the Los Angeles area ..must.. we must find a way to come together and reawaken. Our human element is dying.. literally.. Art understands  that the human spirit withers when confined or locked in solitary confinement.

We are all confined, even when with our bandanas pulled up and washing our hands.. we can no longer look at one another.. we are embarrassed and afraid.  We may smile with our eyes, but in some cultures to even make eye contact is forbidden or impolite, thus.. we are masked intruders: eyes widen as in the market an older Hispanic woman quickly sidles as far away as possible.  On the street a neighbor veers away and adjusts his mask.

It is the absolute duty of The Arts to find ways to bring humanity and the warmth of applause in an auditorium: the Sanctuary of Art..  again to life. It is the absolute duty of The Arts to find a way to usher patrons through an art museum where that amazing photo of two little girls in awe of a Rothko at MoCA was taken.. so that we can, once again observe each other stopped in our tracks by the art.. or stroll on by with that often asked question about how THAT got into the friggin' art museum.

It is the duty of established arts institutions like Redcat to sit down and bring us back to sanity... because these days ..each day.. is more and more insane as the Fear Factor is crammed down our throats with  telecasts interrupted by public officials.  What they might be doing is encouraging us to be practical and responsible. The statistics are so vague. The threat of death.. the Plague.. is on us, when..in fact, as serious as it is,  it is a situation that will find its way and leading the way should fall to the Arts.

This is not to casually dismiss the seriousness of our sad state, but finding a way to not condemn the naysayers, and either just avoid them, or ease them back to the fold may be done with Art.

As reasonable folks we must find a way to elect an intelligent and thoughtful president.. move forward to #46 who may still have time to begin to make us care enough about one another and  to bring our whole culture back to an even keel.  

The Ship of State is listing. 

Art must find a way, and shall, when we respond to the challenge and behave again like human beings. 

 

Michael Sheehan

 

 

 

X is for X Ray

For years I've hoped to find a facility to X Ray three ukuleles that I've had ... for years.  

Today, I visited Andre Shakh at his imaging facility in Glendale where I was greeted and treated to new experiences! 

Blatant Plug:  

Andrey Shakhbandaryan, BSRT (R)(MR)

Co-founder /Technical Director

Glenoaks Imaging Professionals

1731 W. Glenoaks Blvd. Suite 101

Glendale, CA 91201

P: 818-230-3400

F: 818-937-9182

The three ukes that Andre was kind enough to xray for me are not unique, but important in the evolution of the instrument in modern culture. 

The Martin

The first is a legacy from a dear friend, a  Martin Style O soprano uke: the basic one. Mahogany all around. No frills. Great sound.  The Style O was introduced in 1922 and discontinued in 1970. This little guy was probably made in the 1930s. 

There were two options for the X Ray: One was a straight forward shot with a device that looked a bit like a photo enlarger. The ukuleles were slightly larger than comfortable for a full body shot, so we repaired to the scanning device that shoots not only straight down, but from the side as well. 

The Martin was loaded onto the bed the scanner looking a little small. 

This Martin is about ninety years of age. 

Nancy Williams Stanford and her Century Graphic w/ The Martin

The Leonardo Nunes and the Herman Weissenborn are from the 1920s. I estimate each of them to be about a hundred years old. The Weissenborn was a gift from the lady who sold my friend, Tom Hayden (Not THAT Tom) his home in Greeley, Colorado. Weissenborn was a Los Angeles builder of ukuleles and hollow neck lap guitars. The lap guitar was unique in that the hollow neck created a rich tone that was a signature sound for Hawaiian music popular in the early part of the twentieth century.

The Nunes was a thrift store find that I love to tell the story of:

My habit is to cruise any thrift store at any opportunity.  The Nunes was badly damaged and at the time I'd not heard of the Nunes family (story to follow).. but the price was only $3.50!  "I'll take it!" (I did not shout.. ) but, the clerk pointed out that it was "half off day" so.. reluctantly I shelled out $1.75 and cuddled the Nunes in my arms.  Months later, Cary Char in Portland restored the Nunes with some really wonderful binding replacements and it's now in great shape.

Leonardo Nunes was the son of Manuel Nunes, an immigrant who migrated to Hawaii in 1879 from Portugal having built 'taropatch fiddles' and progressed to invent the modern ukulele.  Leonardo kept the business going for forty years. The Nunes is solid koa with the distinctive coat of arms on the peg head.  

These are the X Rays of the three old ukuleles I had made.

Click on an image to get a larger version of the X Ray. 

Leonardo Nunes Circa 1920

Herman Weissenborn Circa 1920

C.F. Martin Circa 1930

The staff at Glenoaks Imaging is eclectic, engaged and friendly. The work they do is important to give medical professionals and clients themselves, literal insights into what's going on with their bodies. Everyone was helpful!  I had to laugh a little, though, because I had not really considered that the clients in the the waiting room for their appointment to be scanned might think it a bit strange for a guy with an armload of ukuleles emerging from the inner sanctum. So.. Andre ushered me out the back door!  

Thank you, Andre! 

michael sheehan

june 10, 2020

Christo dies

May 31, 2020
From CNN the sad announcement that Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, 84, has died. 

My love of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's work goes back for many years. My correspondences with them were infrequent, but always personal and supportive.  One of my pieces of art is in their collection, to my humble pride. 
For folks who were in Southern California in the eighties, you may recall The Umbrellas dotting the landscape up along the I-5 Freeway.. Videos of The Running Fence and The Rifle Gap Curtain are available and for anyone who doubts the power of Art, they are a must see.  We see lives changed.

Credit: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images/Serpentine Galleries

The artists never accepted volunteers. Every person who worked on any of their many installations was paid.  The installations were financed from the sale of Christo's preparatory  works of art that sold to museums as well as to collectors. They donated artwork to be sold to benefit institutions like Pepperdine University where I bought my lithograph of The Umbrellas.

The CNN article below is fairly thorough. If you are outside the art world and have not been exposed to these installations, take a moment. Find the videos. Come back to the analog world and send a note of appreciation and condolences to the artists' son, 
 Cyril Christo 
48 Howard Street
NYC, NY 10013 USA

I am a fan.  Unabashedly so..  and sad for this passing. Make art now!!!  That's most likely what both Jeanne-Claude and Christo would say if asked for advice. Make Art now. Yes.

Michael Sheehan
May 31, 2020 
Please copy and paste the link below or do a search for CNN Christo dies at 84.




https://www.cnn.com/style/article/christo-artist-dead/index.html?fbclid=IwAR26PqJcJAq9ZS9neywb5OJaMeZoRCmyP2xFtlwwmeMZAKNGdXiAUocHwKE