Art or Vandalism?

Wikipedia: Banksy is an anonymous England-based street artist, vandal, political activist, and film director, active since the 1990s. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humor with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique. His works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.

I've known of and been interested in the work of Bansky for years, so during a recent trip to Las Vegas it was a nice surprise to find an exhibit of his work in town at the same time. I thought it would be one more nice break from the lights and action of the "strip." We had already gone on a wonderful hiking excursion the day before in Red Rock Canyon, about a thirty minute drive from the city. So this was another chance to experience something other than the quest for the legendary (and elusive) Royal Flush or three Jackpot symbols lined up in a row. I thought I had a pretty good idea about what examples of his work I would see, but I was not prepared for the entirety of it. 

There were the expected displays of murals on alley walls that were pretty cool, but didn't provoke any deep thoughts. 

 

The anti-capitalist themes were prevalent.

 

Of course plenty of anti-authority illustrations.

 

And a touch of irony. Like this comment on closed circuit television ... with a video camera positioned near it in the top right corner. It was not part of the actual work and I'm not sure if its presence was intended to be so prominent. I looked at the camera gave it a nod of approval just in case.

 

I was maintaining a mostly casual and lighthearted attitude while enjoying the subtle, or obvious, political messages and sarcasm scattered throughout the displays. But my mood changed drastically when I came upon the piece called "Holocaust Lipstick." 

I have seen close-up paintings by Monet, Picasso and Van Gogh. Photographs by Yousef Karsh, Gary Winogrand and Ansel Adams. A few of them have affected me personally and emotionally. But this one really got to me in a way like no other work of art I've seen. In the description was an extract from the diary of Lieutenant Colonel Mervin Gonindso, who was among the first British soldiers to liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during World War II -

 

I apologize for it being slightly out of focus but I was a little unsteady after reading it.

Here is the accompanying artwork -

 

I can't imagine anyone seeing this and not being moved by it in some way. This is art. Unexpected and somewhat out of place in the context of the rest of the exhibit. Maybe even what could be considered out of character for this particular artist. But that's what happens when you are inspired. You move out of your comfort zone and explore new concepts and ideas. That's when something like this can happen. I'm glad I was able to see it. 

Roger O'Dea    2/7/2020

 

 

 

Happy Birthday To Me. I Quit.

Today is my birthday. I am 65 years old. I've had a plan for several years to retire when I turn 65. Looks like it was a good plan, my last day at work is December 31st. I've been working steady part-time or full-time since I was 13. The past 29 years have been in my current position. But now it's time to turn in my name tag and pen. Well, my name tag anyway. I kind of like the pen so I think I'll keep that.

Kris will keep on working for now so I need to find things to do on my own. That has never been a problem for me before so I'm sure I can stay busy. I'd like to sail around the world, camp out in the forests of Oregon until I find Bigfoot, and ride my motorcycle to South America. I'd like to do those things, but I don't have a boat, the forests can be cold and damp for extended periods in Oregon, and I'm a little concerned about that stretch through El Salvador. What I am going to do is teach a community education class, start a podcast, and take a lot of pictures. I will also continue to do the advertising for the dealership. I'm happy about that. I enjoy doing it and I like the media reps I work with. I might become a temporary census worker and I've applied to be a part-time outdoor tour guide in the Black Hills and Badlands. I hope that happens. 

I will miss my co-workers. Some more than others. But it's time to move on. There is still so much I want to do while I am still able.  Maybe Jack Kerouac said it best....

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.”  

So that's what I intend to do ... go climb that goddamn mountain. Hopefully I will run into some of you up there.

Roger O'Dea     12/18/2019

My Essential Playlist - WWS

For several years I have been visiting the website What We Seee (spelling is correct). I particularly enjoy a feature with a link on the main page called WWS Weekly.
You can find it here:    https://www.whatweseee.com
A couple of weeks ago there was an article titled My Essential Playlist. I have been thinking about it since, and finally decided to complete the activity. This post is a copy of what I submitted. I am not posting it because I think anyone will find my choices particularly interesting or relevant, but because I think you should also write down your own essential playlist and this might inspire you to do it. I will add that it could also be quite therapeutic, as it was in my case. No need to submit it online if you would rather not, but you might discover some insights into your own personality just by completing the exercise for your own enjoyment and perhaps even some introspection. And, sometimes it's good to just get things out.
You don't have to post it on your Facebook page... "but it'd be a lot cooler if you did." (Wooderson- in Dazed and Confused. I can never resist an obscure movie quote).
It would help me, and others, get to know you a little better. Plus, who knows, you may actually inspire someone.
Here's mine -

whatweseee   
www.whatweseee.com

It is an opportunity for you to talk about the things that have moved you or had a massive influence on your life and outlook. And also a chance for others to be inspired by things they may have never experienced, or to experience it in a whole new way because of you.
Can you tell us:

My Essential Playlist

Your name: Roger

Where do you live? South Dakota

Where do you feel most yourself? Going off the trails in the Black Hills

A few films, or scenes of films that have had a significant impact on you. As well as a few notes about how.
Almost Famous - the entire movie but especially the bus scene where they all start singing Tiny Dancer after an all night party at a random teenage fan’s house in Topeka.  William, “I have to go home.”  Penny, “You are home.”  I had some similar experiences around that same time period in which the movie is set. Even recognized a few of my friends. Some I’m still in touch with and some I’m not, but I’ve not forgotten them.

The Big Lebowski - The scene where he’s driving an old clunker car and tries to throw his roach out of the window but it bounces back into his lap and he ends up crashing into a dumpster. I laugh out loud every time no matter how many times I’ve seen it. And I’ve seen it a lot.

A few songs, or parts of songs that have very personal meaning to you. And please tell us why.
Into the Mystic - Van Morrison. Reminds me of my friend. She’s gone now. But I still think of her sometimes, and always when I hear this song.
You Turn Me On I’m A Radio - Joni Mitchell. It’s fun. Reminds me of my days in radio - “Call me at the station, the lines are open.”
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere - Bob Dylan and the Band, without overdubs, from The Basement Tapes Raw, 3-record set from the Bootleg Series.  Simple, basic, pure. Makes me sing along. And I can’t sing. It’s a gift from my son. He knows me well. That’s something not every father can say.
If I Could Only Remember My Name - David Crosby. The whole album. Every song. It’s one I can’t explain, but I listen to it over and over. And over.
Cowgirl in the Sand - Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Because the lyrics can mean anything you want them to mean, and because Crazy Horse rocked. And Neil’s guitar…well…just listen to it.
Poems, Prayers and Promises - John Denver. Entire album. Guess you could say there’s a lot of my life in those songs.

A piece of art or a photograph that has lodged itself in your consciousness and why.
Portrait of Audrey Hepburn by Yousef Karsh.  I saw this photograph in March of 2016 as part of the Icons of the 20th Century exhibit at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art. I spent more time with that picture than probably any other piece of art I’ve ever seen, other than one particular Monet. It illustrates what photography can be at its highest level. It’s perfect. It inspired me to be more serious about my own photography.

A Monet painting from his Charing Cross Bridge series. An impressionist painting, but it strangely came clearly into focus as I viewed it in person. I saw details that weren’t actually there. Or that were there but were hidden by the brush strokes.

Saoirse Wall - Gesture 2. Digital HD video self portrait. Statement from the exhibit: “In this portrait, the artist used video to show that one person can be many things. During the video she moves and poses in different ways, and looks at the camera to communicate with us and lets us see her portrait unfold in real time.” I had never seen anything like it before, and have never seen anything like it since. A modern art medium I was totally unfamiliar with, and it struck me like a hammer.

A piece of writing – a book, poem, play or quote – that is a touchstone for you, and why.
Lost Horizon - James Hilton. I can imagine being Conway.
On The Road - Jack Kerouac. I can imagine being Jack Kerouac.
Trout Fishing In America - Richard Brautigan. It’s not actually about trout fishing, which is fine. I don’t do much trout fishing. But I think it would be cool to know someone named Trout Fishing.

Quote - “Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.” Jack Kerouac.  It’s what I try to do as much as possible.

Is there a smell or food that takes you to a special place... and why?
Well, I like nachos. I’ve been searching a long time to find the perfect nachos. Haven’t found them
yet. I believe they’re out there somewhere.



                                                        Roger O'Dea     11/9/2019

High Weirdness - A Book Report

I don't remember how I heard about this book. I just knew immediately I had to get a copy. So I did. It was not an easy read. I'm an educated man, but there are words in this book that I did not understand. Hell, there were some I couldn't even pronounce. I looked up a few, came to understand others after further reading put them in a context that allowed me to draw some reasonable conclusions, and simply ignored some that I figured I still wouldn't understand even after consulting a dictionary. It was even more frustrating when I encountered entire sentences that might as well have been written in Swahili. For example - 

"Ontological anarchism posits an aboriginal source of spontaneous variation..." 

The sentence continued on but that's where I gave up. My point is - the book was not what I thought it would be. I was hoping for some first hand insight into the cultural shifts and various influences on society that shaped the decade which had a huge impact on me personally. Instead I got a deep dive into the life, work and psyche of Philip K. Dick, Dennis and Terence McKenna, and Robert Wilson. Those are the people the author gave credit to for the massive shifts in the culture of the time. I did have some interest initially in finding out more about Philip K. Dick since I was somewhat familiar with his work. I knew nothing of those others. 

That's my problem with the book...way too much time spent on Wilson and the McKenna brothers, and not enough on Mr. Dick and his 2-3-74 story. (You'll have to look up the 2-3-74 thing. No way I can explain it in a few sentences, or perhaps even explain it at all). 

My other problem is that I feel like the book was written for a very specific audience of academics and intellectuals. They were really the ones most affected and influenced by all that high weirdness.  People who were not the intellectual type and not a part of academia...like me...were left to our own devices and had to figure things out on our own without the benefit of guides, gurus or mentors. 

All we had way out here in the sticks were Pink Floyd, the Doors and Bowie. (You could add John Denver, James Taylor and Joni Mitchell to that list for some of us). We didn't have the luxury of traveling to some jungle in South America to meditate, experiment and explore the psychedelic mysteries of life like those aforementioned McKenna brothers. We were confined to our friends' basements and attics or an occasional road trip up the canyon. But we did alright. 

I should probably offer up an explanation for all those colorful page marks in the photo above, since you've probably gotten the impression by now that I wasn't thrilled with the book. Those tabs mark observations, quotes or specific points that piqued my interest and warrant further consideration. 

For example - 

"...the weird does announce the appearance of something like anomaly, or at least deviancy---inexplicable, aberrant, or unsettling events or encounters that pull or twist against the norm. Statistically, such deviations may be perfectly routine. But they never feel that way. So we don't know where to put them. Many of us forget such events, or sweep them under the carpet. And by using the label weird, we acknowledge them, but also trivialize them."

Another one -

"This is how many of us deal with weird shit: in the rear view mirror, an unnerving synchronicity or deja vu can be relaxed by writing it off as a meaningless hiccup of neurons."

Think about THAT for a minute. As they say...deep. Way deep.

So, to summarize, it was a difficult read. Over my head often, but sometimes making a lot of sense and it did provide some good food for thought. Plus - it's the first book in which I can recall seeing the word desultory used in a sentence. I've seen it in a song title, though. But that's something else you'll have to look up if you want to know more. I'll give you a hint - the song is kind of weird.

Roger O'Dea      10/15/2019

Episode 7

I just finished watching the Ken Burns film Country Music on PBS. His best one yet. If you haven't been watching you should know there's a lot more to it than you may think, so don't let the title cause you to ignore an incredible documentary because you may not like country music. Do you like history? Do you like folk music? Or rock? Drama, comedy, action or adventure? It's all in there. If you have been watching you know what I mean.
This blog post is about one part near the end of Episode 7 that I believe is the most profound and exquisite comment ever written about a particular piece of music since the Lester Bangs review of Astral Weeks in Rolling Stone Magazine. It is where the narrator (Peter Coyote) says this about the wildly successful Willie Nelson / Merle Haggard recording of the album and song Poncho and Lefty -

"The song was Poncho and Lefty. The album would shoot to number one on the country charts, cross over to pop and sell more than a million records. To get there, the song had traveled a long, meandering road. Two of country music's legendary songwriters...the musical outlaw from Texas and the poet of the common man from the hardscrabble streets of Bakersfield...had listened to an album recorded by a former hippie folk singer who had been converted to country music by a cosmic cowboy and in doing so stumbled upon a song written by an eccentric vagabond who spent his days trying to write the perfect song and some of his nights crashing with friends at a home where the focus was on art, not commercial success."

The musical outlaw and the poet of the common man were, of course, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. The former hippie folk singer was Emmylou Harris. The cosmic cowboy was Gram Parsons. The eccentric vagabond...Townes Van Zandt. And the home was that of Guy and Susanna Clark. That paragraph could be a movie itself!

The entire series that makes up the film is 16 hours long. I don't watch that much TV in a week. But I  could have watched this show in one sitting if that's how it was presented, rather than over several nights. I still might. I'd like to see it again. It's streaming online now.  I want to see that Poncho and Lefty part one more time. And the part about when Marty Stuart was 13 years old he rode a bus from his hometown in Mississippi to Nashville at the request of Lester Flat to play mandolin in his band.

I thought I knew a lot about country music, but I learned so much more by watching this show. For example - I learned that a now famous country star was in a Bluegrass band hired to be the opening act for KISS at a concert in the 70s. They were booed off the stage after three songs. I could tell you his name...but I won't. You'll have to watch to find out. Hey ... if you can binge watch all 62 episodes of Breaking Bad or all 7 seasons of the Gilmore Girls you should be able to catch all 8 episodes of Country Music. But if you only have time for one - make it Episode 7. You'll be better off for it.

Roger O'Dea     9/26/2019

Sunday At The Memories

I was going through a box of old photos and listening to records on this lazy Sunday when a light dose of deja vu hit me. The album I was playing was by Stories, and I suddenly realized I could very well have been listening to the exact same record on the exact same day in June 46 years ago. I know it was the same one because I bought it right after it came out and the original release did not have the song "Brother Louie" on it. That song was added to the album on later versions after it became a hit single. So the record I have now I'm sure is the same one I had then. But that is the only thing that remains the same. My life is different now. A lot different.
After graduating high school that spring my summer job was as a bag handler at Baroid bentonite plant. It was a great job. The guys on my crew were pretty damned good at loading 100 lb. bags of bentonite into train cars for 8 hours a day. Except...we didn't actually work the full 8 hours. Crews on each shift were given a quota and if the quota was hit we could slack off for the rest of the shift. Except if the foreman was Virgil. He made us sweep the floor or do some other minor tasks to keep busy. But he wasn't always around, and we always hit our quota early. Like I said - we were pretty good at throwing those hundred pounders. I don't remember their names but I remember a few details about my crew mates. One guy looked a lot like Toad in the movie American Graffiti, which came out later that summer. Man, that guy could run the packer. That's the machine that blew the clay into the bags, sealed them, and dropped them onto the conveyor belt which fed them down the line to us for loading into the boxcars. We had a four man crew but only three of us worked at a time while the other one rested. We were that good. One guy on the packer, the other three of us taking turns rotating in and out throwing the bags so only two of us were throwing at a time. That was our operation. The other man might jump in if there was a bag jam or if one fell off the conveyor, but that didn't happen very often.
The other co-worker I remember best was a square jawed jock on summer break from college at Black Hills State. He was one tough sonofabitch. One time I actually saw him throw a 100 lb. bag from the door opening all the way to the back wall of the car and land it perfectly in position to start the row. And, every now and then, he would one-hand a bag from the conveyor into the car just to show off. I wonder what happened to those guys.

 

It just got quiet. Another record I was playing ended. Rocky Mountain High by John Denver. That one came out some time in the Fall or Winter of my Senior year in high school. A lot of memories associated with John Denver music, too. Some a little melancholy, but mostly good. He had a song for every event in my life...major or minor. There's a lot more I could say about that. And maybe I will some time. 

Roger O'Dea     6/23/2019

Kids These Days

The other night I had the opportunity to hang out with a great bunch of kids. I didn't know any of them, but that doesn't matter. I had a great time watching them have a great time. It was an album release party for Someday Best - a pretty dammed good punk rock band. The venue was Black Hills Vinyl, my favorite record store. Occasionally they host live music featuring Indie bands and solo artists...many from right around here. It's very cool for them to do that. It gives the bands some exposure and gives local kids a safe place to hang out with friends and enjoy the music. I've been wanting to go to one of the shows to check out the area music scene and do something new. I am happy I picked this one. The music was good and the crowd was diverse. Mostly teenagers, but also some older people, including a few parents. I was probably the oldest person there. But I didn't feel out of place.
Everyone was nice, and polite. Almost too polite at times. Not sure if that was out of respect or sympathy...especially when the mosh pit revved up and spilled over into me standing on the sidelines. I was bumped into a few times. Well, not really bumped. Slammed is more like it. A couple of the kids had a look of "...oh no! This guy is going to get mad." Or "...hope I didn't hurt him!" I wasn't and you didn't, so no worries.
In spite of the music style it was mostly pretty chill. Kids just hanging out doing what kids do these days.

 

 

Also, I liked the music, which should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. Remember - I'm the guy with several Ramones albums in my collection and even a Sex Pistols record. 

A lot of talent on stage that night. Skull Kid went first.

 

Then it was Mud the Cosmonaut, with Someday Best closing the show. A lot of energy in that room and the vibe was positive. I sensed that everyone was welcome and I enjoyed the diversity and acceptance regardless of dress, sexual orientation or age. I was also impressed with parents of the younger kids who didn't get involved or hover. They waited patiently in the back or outside in the car. That's how to do it. 

There's a line in the movie Almost Famous where Penny Lane says to William "... and if you ever get lonely, you just go to the record store and visit your friends." 

It's true. I hadn't been there ten minutes before running into this crew! Two great friends and pretty much the cutest couple I know with their family and friends, who are now also my friends. Things work like that when you go to the record store. Although, to be completely honest, I didn't take this photo at the record store. We took a break and went next door to another favorite place of mine...a downtown hangout where adult beverages are served. Good times...good memories.

 

So what have we learned?  

1. Support Indie music.

2. Go to the record store if you're feeling lonely. Or if you're not.

3. Embrace diversity.

4. Be the oldest...or youngest...or weirdest person there. Anywhere. It will be okay.

And...

5. As long as nobody gets hurt ... let kids be kids.

Roger O'Dea     5/26/2019