Memorial Day

Busy weekend! Our internet connection keeps coming and going.

friday my INR was 2.0 Yeay!
Friday we went with Betsy's church group to see "The Da Vinci Code" with discussion after. I didn't like how the movie ended. SPOILER ALERT: I am about to give details, so if you have not read the book or watched the movie, stop now!!Go down to Spoiler End-
OK, why make grandpa not grandpa? Why get rid of the brother, he just doesn't exist? And while I like the "Jesus" humor what happened to Sophie and Langdon getting together? No romance/sex for Jesus's many times great grand-daughter?
SPOILER ENDS
But otheerwise ok movie. The Unity folks read way too much into it , btw. And why didn't more of them read the book? Oh well.

Saturday was kind of a wash.

Sunday we went to the zoo-twice. The first time there was a kid who wouldn't honor our volunteer free passes without our volunteer badges. I felt like saying "Badges, we don't need no stinkin badges!" but I doubt he'd get the reference, so we came home and got the badges. We got to pet stingrays and sharks!

Then Monday over to Helen and Jay's for kind of a picnic on their porch. Nice but too hot1 Whew temps in the 90's. Biggest news was Helen quit smoking for 9 weeks now. Yeay!

So now dramatic drumroll..... I wasn't feeling totally 100% this AM, tired and a little odd. Took my pulse and BP> BP fine, pulse 120!! Called cardiologist who had me come right over for an emergency EKG. Left work, got that done. Yep- back in atrial flutter. DAMN! And my INR was only 1.8 today. So another INR on Friday 09 Jun , and another visit to the cardiologist on 13 Jun for cardioversion ASAP after. DRAT!! Of course, I may just snap out of the flutter. Not likely, but possible.
Stay tuned,
Roger out.

EUCLID'S CIRCLE

Sculpture by David Black. Located at the southeast corner of Euclid Ave. and Mayfield Rd.
In front of the Triangle Building, so we have squares, circles, and triangles, oh my!

http://www.davidblacksculpture.com/index.htm

THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS

(37) His disciples said: On what day wilt thou be revealed us, and on what day shall we see thee? Jesus said: When you unclothe yourselves and are not ashamed, and take your garments and lay them beneath your feet like little children, and tread upon them, then [shall ye see] the Son of the living One, and ye shall not fear.


http://www.webcom.com/gnosis/naghamm/gosthom.html

CHAOS

Hmm, where to start. Well, Betsy and her boss had a row Thursday almost 3 weeks ago, and she gave her two weeks notice that Friday. Betsy worked her last on Friday the 19th . This of course is not a good time financial wise but Betsy was having more and more problems. Due to financial constraints we had no phone service for the last two weeks, and yesterday got it back- only to have cable shut us down! Troy has been living back at home but visiting more and came with us to visit Betsy's parents for Mothers Day. We had a fender bender on the way home Sunday- at 60 mph! A young woman changing lanes plowed into us. There was minor damage to both cars and no injuries, which is pretty amazing. We got the estimate on "Alice" this AM, they will allow $530 and change.
Work has been chaotic: two weeks ago Jonnie was on vacation and Michael was ill. I was doing two three or four things at once. Wednesday the 10th I had my INR done, only 1.6, most likely due to the new diabetic meds (back on Glucophage). Then we had a lunch with Risperdal reps. Jeeze- Louise, Risperdal is a pain in my butt. Friday was nurses' day, and we had a ceremony. Sunday we went to Hamilton and I was exhausted from the drive down on Saturday the 13th and back Sunday the 14th -we got a late start back and the accident made us later. We got home after dropping Troy off at about 11:30 PM.
Monday if Janet knocked on my door once about the Consta she must have about 6 times. The entire last week was crazy, with Linda being off d/t her car accident. So again I was two people, and sometimes, like Friday morning three.

Thursday night the 18th we went to the Memphis Drive-In to see a special drive-in movie showing of "Targets" , the last movie starring Boris Karloff and the first directed by Peter Bogdanovich. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063671/ Good little thriller about a young man who becomes a sniper and starts shooting people, ending up shooting people in a drive-in. There were also old movie trailers, a Crazy Kat cartoon, and a Three Stooges short. Lots of fun! It had started out drizzling rain, but that ended a few minutes after the movie started.
On Saturday 20 May we went to the Hessler Street Fair and spent a few hours there, then that evening went again to the Mayfield Road Drive in to see "Over The Hedge" and "Mission Impossible III". "Over The Hedge" was good, and very funny at times. "MI-III" predictable.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIR ARTUR CONAN DOYLE !

Thank you for Holmes!

THE SPENCER TUNICK CODE

THE SPENCER TUNICK CODE
CHAPTER ONE
A small crowd of people followed the docent into the gallery. They were here to see the exhibit of the famed artist, Spencer Tunick. As they entered the dimly lit, almost gloomy room, except for the track lighting highlighting the works of the extremely controversial artist, a woman screamed "A body!" "Yes, madam" said the docent with a sneer, pointing to the wall-sized mural photo of hundreds of people "several bodies". "No !" she shrieked, "That body!" pointing , and the collapsing in a faint. The docent turned to see the nude body of an older bearded man, with a prominent belly, covered in red. He was in the vitruvian man position but with one arm pointed to a photo taken at the confluence of two mighty rivers in France. Beside him in red on the parquet floor was a number scrawled using the same red substance in which he was covered. A dozen cell phones had whipped out, but due to security measures in place in the gallery, none were working."Quick, go call the police and report the murder of this man-and the fainting of this woman." One of the men broke away and ran blindly to find a phone somewhere in the vast set of rooms that made up the Museum de Prestigious Modern Arte. But there were many winding halls and dead end passages, and it would be a while till he returned. Meanwhile an alarm sounded, though no one had tripped it , oddly enough. It was loud and ragged, like a mighty snore. Bringing up the rear of the group of people were a small family of three: Girac Stoneworker, Enaid his partner and model, and little Mylie, their nine-year old daughter. Mylie had run over to the body and stuck her finger in the red substance oozing over the body."Don't touch that, little girl!" shrieked the docent, "That is evidence of a crime which is so lurid it will rock the world of Contemporary Art" He always spoke of art in capitals.The little girl returned to her mother , sticking her finger in her mouth absent mindedly as she did so, saying "But Mum, isn't that .... "Yes, dear, but hush and let the docent speak.""Ladies and gentlemen, while we await the police I will unfold for you my theory of the crime and why it contains the secrets of The Spencer Tunick Code!
CHAPTER TWO

(Note to editor-insert quote here from Margaret Starbird about Marija Gimbutas finding the sacred "V" painted on cave walls, as lifted, um, borrowed, um cited as reference, from the book "Secrets of the Code" by Dan Burstein.)

The docent went on, rather loudly to be heard over the alarm, which seemed oddly ragged and occasionally growing louder then fainter.
"You can look at the various prints we have here in the gallery and see examples of Spencer's works showing the hidden male and female symbols , the Chalice and the Blade. Look at his clever use of perspective in "Cleveland 1" or "Barcelona" to show the "Chalice" or "V" while the very buildings themselves are the "Blade" And look at the "V" he formed of the nude women in Cleveland, carefully concealing the "Hidden Feminine". And what are they in front of? A ship, a vessel! And what is the symbolism of the cargo containers in Lyon? Yes, containers. Also standing for the ultimate vessel the ultimate container - The Holy Grail ! The Ultimate Vessel !Yes, ladies and gentlemen, and the hand of that body is pointing to the ultimate "Hidden Feminine" again at Lyon, "The Confluence", the sacred "V" or "Chalice". This man was killed trying to tell us a secret. Note the code number written in his own blood ! I am sure it will give us the key to the great secret of Contemporary Art, that Spencer Tunick is the new leader of the Priory of Scion!!!! At this Girac snorted, Enaid laughed behind her hand, and little Mylie just giggled and said "But mum, he's not.....'"Yes, dear, we know, but give the docent a minute more to talk"

CHAPTER THREE
At long last the man who had gone to fetch help returned. He'd been delayed by the winding, unmarked halls of the museum, and once had picked up a telephone, which only repeated back to him what he said into it. It took him a minute or two to realize it too was an exhibit. But now he came into the group, breathless, "The police are right behind me!" At this Girac said to Enaid and Mylie "We must act fast!" He went over to the body on the floor, unnoticed by the docent who was pointing to yet another image, and nudged it with his foot. Enaid leaned down and whispered something in the ear, and the body moved!! The body sat up, abruptly, and with the help of Enaid, Mylie, and Girac, began to dress in clothing scattered in the nearby shadows. The alarm, which was only a very loud snore, had stopped. Quickly the little band of four made their way to an emergency exit, pausing long enough for Girac to smudge the number on the floor, and for little Mylie to pick up a jar of the red substance. "Raspberry" she said happily to herself .The also heard the police enter, asking what was going on.
CHAPTER FOUR "So, daddy why didn't you tell them it was our friend Regor, who had fallen asleep after Spencer's last pose where he had covered us in raspberry jam?" "Because little one, the docent was a pompous art fraud who needed to be exposed. The police will want to know why they were called for a non murder. Let him tell them about his silly theories. Come on Regor, walk faster." And later out of earshot of Mylie and Regor, Enaid asked Girac "What was that number you smudged out by Regor? " "I think it was the phone number of that little German girl Regor was next to in the very last pose, and not having any paper and being very tired he used the only medium he had." "But why erase it?" "Because if Regor's wife, Steby, found out he had that number, he would be a dead body!" and they laughed and went on to join Regor and Mylie, eating raspberry jam.

___________________________________________________________________
The docent was arrested for making a false report and placed under observation for his bizarre ideations.
Girac, Enaid, Mylie, Regor and Steby went on to pose in many more Spencer Tunick photos, though Regor had some large bruises inflicted by Steby after she read this story and found out about the number anyway.
And Spencer Tunick who really might be the successor to Leonardo, just keeps on taking great images.
No animals were hurt in the making of this story, but the parquet floor was a total loss.

While based on real people, this story is fiction and should be treated as such, like the news releases from the White House, the Congressional Budget Report etc.

GOODBYE CLARABELL

Goodbye Lew Anderson.

One of My Favorite Unknown Artists

DRUM CIRCLE copyright T.Blum

This is a painting by Troy Blum, my step-son and a favorite artist of mine . Here is his website and a sample photo.http://www.imaginaryrealmstudio.com/index.htm

Betsy having a good time. 

Very somber bit. 

One of many of the puppets. 

Getting set up. 

Bread and Puppets Circus 

Bus for Bread and Puppets 

Stained Glass Window Mayfield Methodist Church 

Todd, first violin/cocertmaster Lakeland Civic Orchestra

Busy Cultural Weekend ;-)

Betsy and I had a busy cultural weekend and now I'm in a silly mood 'cause I'm tired. So first here's something silly. http://www.michaelhodges.com/missing.html

Ok, the serious stuff next. Betsy and I went to see Todd in a concert for orchestra and organ on Saturday night. As Todd is first violin he played the violin solo in the "Adagio in G minor" by Thomaso Albinoni. I'll put up a photo of that. We got to see Todd and Troy, and Betsy's former husband and former mother-in-law. Other music played were: "Epic March" John Ireland for brass ensamble, "Toccata" by Theodore Dubois and the "Symphony no.3 in C minor, Op. 78 " "Organ" by Saint-Saëns

Then on Sunday we went to a outdoor event the very left-wing Bread and Puppet Circus from Vermont. http://www.theaterofmemory.com/art/bread/bread.html

Very funny except when it was very serious. An excellent bit was bringing out several huge cardboard chairs, empty and then someone held up a board with the death count in Iraq. Very solemn.

But so as not to end this entry on a sad reality, we will end on absurd one. On Thursday some of the Tunick forum group met up with ST in London. To a select few he gave out his business card-and who's photo is on that card? Betsy and I centered in a triptych of his singles! This I will not post, untill ST sends me the one he said he would, which he said I could post except to not show his address, etc. But if you want to see it email me and make sure you specifiy as is or censored and if I'm in the mood I'll send you a copy of the scan I was sent.
Roger

Eitetsu Hayashi, Japan's premier solo taiko drummer

Waetjen Auditorium
Organ  

Cleveland State Symphony Orchestra Waetjen Auditorium 03 May 06
 

Your Roger, Right Away.

Ok, get your own advertising slogan here http://www.thesurrealist.co.uk/slogan.cgi

Gossamer for Their Birthday

When we got home this evening there were hundreds of tiny spiders who had just hatched and were launching themselves onto gossamer lines to float out into the world. I could not get a good photo and the one I did get is only so-so and I enlarged them many times, at least 10 to make them visible. The were in constant motion. I took a movie which I plan to up load to my space if i can, but it is prety poor. Within an hour of our arrival they had all left on their new lives. Happy Birthday! little spideys. Live long and prosper!

Taiko Drumming

http://www.eitetsu.net/eng/
We got a chance to see this last night. More later!

Cleveland State’s Department of Music Presents Eitetsu Hayashi, Japan's Premier Solo Taiko Drummer, on May 3
The Cleveland State University Department of Music will present the internationally acclaimed artist Eitetsu Hayashi, Japan’s premier solo taiko drummer, in a special concert performance on Wednesday, May 3 at 8 p.m. in Waetjen Auditorium, located in the Music and Communication Building at 2001 Euclid Ave.
The concert is free and open to the public. Eitetsu will perform on stage with students in the CSU Orchestra, Chorus and Chorale and Cleveland School of the Arts. Cleveland State music professors Victor Liva and Betsy Burleigh will conduct.
The evening will feature performances of Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnole and Tokuhide Niimi’s Fujin-Raijin for Japanese big drum organ and orchestra soloist.

ROBERT NATHAN

"Give exceeding thanks for the mystery which remains a mystery still -- the veil that hides you from the infinite, which makes it possible for you to believe in what you cannot see." ~ Robert Nathan



http://www.tachyonpublications.com/author/Robert_Nathan.html?Session_ID=new&Reference_Page=/authors.html

A Quiet Mayday

Betsy and I went for a drive late Saturday as I was down, and she wanted to be "Ooouut" as Odin said once upon a time.Then she had to work on Sunday.
Today Betsy and I both had busy days. Her's started off not so good when she left Spiderman at home. She was doing that as a theme this week, as Spiderman 3 was filming here the last two weeks. I went back and got him and that put me at work about 1 hour later than usual-just in time toi meet my boss coming in on the elevator. My day was busy with two unscheduled clients and a couple of samples in the afternoon that Mike asked me to field for him. I had one of my own in the AM.
I had a headache most of the day, as did Betsy, so when we were coming home she said she would like to skip exercise, maybe do something else. So we went to see a movie, "Nanny McPhee". We ruled out "16 Blocks" as not headache suitable.
Emma Thompson was terrific as were the rest of the cast, and Angela Lansbury is still going strong. Now home with Betsy sleeping and me on the computer.
No further tree damage.