Arts & Letters

Farrah Fawcett, RIP

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I was never a big fan. I liked Cheryl Ladd way better.

I paid no attention to Farrah whatsoever since the ’70s, other than noticing tabloid headlines in the grocery store, from time to time, that indicated she was having a rough go of things.

So I was surprised to find myself a little sad when I heard she died.

It took me way back to the ’70s, and made me think of all kinds of long-gone people, places and things. I don’t miss those times. But they are part of me.

I liked this video that I saw on Ann Althouse.

There is another one on there with the BeeGees singing. That is the correct decade, of course, the ’70s. But the Archies doing “Sugar Sugar” goes better, since there is something sweet about many of these images of the young Farrah that goes better with the ’60s pop song, that the ’70s disco song does not capture. I like especially where she is dancing at :31 and at :49. She looks young, normal and happy, except, of course, also being incredibly good looking. I get a kick out of seeing her with Danny Partridge, too. I grew up on the Partridge Family and the Brady Bunch, like a lot of people did.

She was only on Charlie’s Angels for one year, and made one iconic poster, and she became this massively famous person. Everyone in the world knew her name and her face … and her hair. She really was the American face of the ’70s. A very Warholesque 15 minutes.

Fame and youth and beauty and all worldly goods pass away.

Rest in peace. We will remember you as young and beautiful forever.

Watch The Goode Family

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ABC has a new animated comedy by “King of the Hill” creator Mike Judge that takes a  satirical  look at faddish leftism. Even if you don’t usually watch these kinds of shows you should watch this one. It’s a riot. This trailer doesn’t begin to do it justice.  

My son and I watched the first episode and we had to pause the DVR every couple of minutes so we could stop laughing so hard we couldn’t hear the dialog. The show starts with a shot of a bumper sticker on the back of a Prius that reads, “We support our troops… and their opponents” and just gets more and more humorous from there out.

Judge does a good job of gently poking fun at his subjects without dehumanizing them. Yes, the characters and their views are  exaggerated  but only compared to real life. They’re not exaggerated compared to most characters on TV. They’re certainly not more  exaggerated  than the bizarre depictions of  social conservatives that one routinely sees on TV, especially on animated shows.  

You should watch “The Goode Family” and let ABC know you appreciate some balance in TV’s depiction of various parts of the social spectrum. You can watch the first episode online at ABC’s website.  

Some Neat Things

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Just some neat things I’ve found recently randomly surfing.

Near-perfectly preserved traditional Russian wooden houses with elaborate woodwork. I think these actually predate the Soviet era.  

“Drawings” I guess you would call them, created only by folding paper.  

The world’s 20 most  beautiful  libraries.  

Sculptures made by revealing the interiors of books. I’m a little conflicted about this art. I like the results but I have a visceral  aversion to defacing books. Still, I would like to have the anatomy one.

Book Review: Cork Boat

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One of my coworkers was so taken with Cork Boat: A True Story of the Unlikeliest Boat Ever Built that he shoved his copy into my hands and demanded that I read it. He came to regret that decision.

The book is a memoir from John Pollack, a man whose talent as a writer is without question. I just wish such ability resided in a decent human being.

Pollack starts his tale in the conventional way by talking about his childhood, but his early years were anything but conventional. The scion of a Liberal political activist mother and father who was a professor of geophysics, the family was constantly traveling the world to poke and prod into the remote corners of the Earth. The author attributes this upbringing as having instilled in him an unquenchable desire to strive for achievements less ordinary. This manifested itself in a childish plan to build a boat from used wine corks, which is certainly nothing less than less ordinary. As far as writing a memoir is concerned, so far so good.

He also relates the sad tale of losing Sara, his sister and constant companion. His father took the family to the Himalayas on a research project when Pollack was 12. His sister was swept away in a mountain stream, along with one of the native guides who selflessly plunged into the torrent in a rescue attempt. Neither were ever seen again.

It was at this point that I began to have a faint stirring of unease. One of the guides willingly gave his own life in a futile and heroic attempt to save his sister, and Pollack barely devotes a single sentence to this selfless act. Admittedly, the loss of a sister would be a monumentally greater tragedy then the death of a man who he had met only days before, but Pollack never even mentions the name of the hero. I get the distinct impression that he never even bothered to ask.

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This is Your Brain on Yarn

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A couple of interesting artists.

Scientifically correct  depictions  of neurological subjects done in yarn and fabric.  

An artist who works in pigeon feathers.  

I think it important to remember that even though the majority of art out there today is just random noise, there are some people doing thoughtful stuff.