To all people: 'Happy Veterans Day!'

Today is an important day in our culture. It is Veterans Day. I was in the Air Force during the Vietnam Era and I believe veterans and their contributions are a tremendous part of our overall culture. Young people now are just as important as older veterans who were a part of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Be kind to all those who are veterans, today. They are great people. The Lord bless our veterans.

Utamaro: A Japanese Art Individualist!

The art of Japan is amazing because of its rich variety of styles. I find it very interesting to delve into some of the more intricate Japanese esthetic artistic traditions. One man who is truly unique is the famed painter and printmaker, Utamaro Kitagawa. In my opinion the man is a powerful figure in art because of his exquisite sense of profound traditionalism and yet his rather abrasive modernism that he intellectually embraces at the same time. He started some of his truly powerful art projects when he went to the city of Edo (now Tokyo). Edo was the great urban center of its time. Finally, Utamaro stopped his working on prints for books and began making single portraits of female subjects. His art is fascinating because it captures in a poignant way the intense beauty of Japanese women. It is marvelous to contemplate the wonderful works of the man called Utamaro because in a brilliant way Utamaro brings us into the eyes of the soul and one can enjoy the great beauty that is indicative of most all things Japanese.

Good fish, Coleman Hawkins and 'Bird'

Eating good fish like grouper, bream or trout is so much fun. Tasty and so perfect. Kind of like diggin' good tenor saxophone playing. A favorite sax man of mine is the immortal tenor guy, Coleman Hawkins. It is hard to get a beautiful tone from a tenor, sometimes. But Coleman Hawkins could beautifully nail it each and every time. Listened today to an elegant number called 'Ballade' with Coleman Hawkins and the grand Charlie 'Bird' Parker on alto saxophone. Most people know Charlie 'Bird' Parker for his high-flying alto solos, but Mr. Charlie Parker could get mighty interesting with a slow composition, also. Good fish and super saxophone from Coleman Hawkins and his friend, Charlie Parker...well that's a "somethin' else" scene.

Clifford Brown: Trumpeter with Style

Great Sunday, today. Had fine shrimp and oysters for lunch. A short time ago, I relaxed and listened to some fantastic jazz trumpet. The horn man was the inspiring Clifford Brown. He was not around for long but he had a gigantic impact on bebop. His conception of jazz was so polished and his improvisatory approach had poignant freshness that was so superior in its burnished gold interpretations. I especially have always been impressed with the appealing approach Mr. Clifford Brown had with ballads. His work with another super horn person, Art Farmer, is quite super, also. The Lord bless Clifford Brown the truly great trumpet man from quite a while, ago. Clifford Brown and Art Farmer...two jazz greats, indeed!

Cameron Diaz, Jimmy Fallon: 'Cool' Duo

Cameron Diaz was so super "cool" on the Jimmy Fallon show last night. There is nothing quite like the great Cameron Diaz. She is one of my faves. Beauty, energy, style. She is a grand movie star. Jimmy Fallon did a wonderful interview job talking with Cameron about her new film, 'The Box' and also he chatted about the film Cameron has been making with Tom Cruise in Boston. A great portion of the show was in a charades segment. Cameron did a high-energy dance imitation of the great woman singing star, Shakira. What a fabulous night, the grand Wednesday. Two super "cool" people, the beautiful Cameron Diaz and the marvelous man of comedy, Jimmy Fallon.

Willem de Kooning: Dynamic Art in Action

I love the kind of art that is startling. For that reason I am particularly interested in the works of the abstract expressionists. One of my favorite people in this category is the Dutch-born American painter, Willem de Kooning. It is unique in the genius of Willem de Kooning that he broke through the rigorous confines of cubism and ventured out into a vivid sphere of the profane and the terrific aura of irony that tends to grab us and turn us into members of his esthetic fan club. The slick delicious aspect of the art of Willem de Kooning is his approach to comprehensive interpretations of the brisk mind-set that is indicative of contemporary anxiety with all of its odd manifestations. His series of paintings of women produced a lot of conversation because of the rather bizarre, violent imagery that he brought to his works. Much like the somewhat sardonic tone of the literary works of Henry Miller, the unusual excitement that is profoundly explosive in Willem de Kooning's works is truly fascinating for its "action painting" clever esthetic interpretation. Henry Miller was so sophisticated in his cleverness. And William de Kooning, also, is a man who has a strong intellectual dynamic that has a tremendous amount of strong appeal in our turbulent American world of the 21st Century.

Shakira generates wonderful, great times

This Sunday afternoon I got real musical excitement from one of the energy singers, the one and only Shakira. This performer serves up a grand, super-excitement meal of fantastic whoop-it-up sounds. Her slow numbers and certainly her high-speed tunes just put a gigantic smile on one's face. One super song occurs when she joins forces with the marvelous Carlos Santana. Having this kind of merry music on a Sunday is truly a fun thing to experience. Of course the creative musical technique of Carlos Santana is grand, also. The Lord bless Shakira, the wonderful woman from Colombia!