General, Laura Grimes, Visual Art

Just for kids: Museums with a real draw

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By Laura Grimes

One fabulous day recently at the National Gallery in London a whole class of schoolchildren wearing matching blue uniforms were sprawled on the floor drawing intently. They chatted and giggled quietly, but they were focused.

They attracted me like honey. I edged closer and watched them. Some of their drawings were just spindly stick figures. I watched them show each other their work and point to the giant painting they were studying.

A young man sat on a cushioned bench behind them and drew in a sketchbook. I thought he was with the group. A teacher chatted with him. And then she asked all the students for their attention.

She introduced the young man and asked if he would talk. I realized then he just happened to be there. He smiled to all the kids, leaned forward, turned around his sketchbook and held it up. Then a bit shyly but cheerfully he told them all about it.

Continue reading Just for kids: Museums with a real draw →

General, Laura Grimes

Home again, home again, jiggety jog

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By Laura Grimes

“How’s JoJo dealing with jetlag?” his grandmother asked with not even a hint of a chuckle in her voice.

He hasn’t missed a beat. He was out the door first thing to track down his neighborhood buddies and tell them all about his travels. See for yourself, with kudos to the Small Large Smelly Boy for doing most of the clicking and a silent thank you to the neighbor with the seductive garden nozzle who has no idea how much time JoJo spends in her garden or that we carelessly splash photos of her menagerie:

JoJo and Gnome Friend

JoJo and the Troll Bridge

This is the Small LSB’s very own gnome garden he planted by himself and has been carefully tending. It’s JoJo’s favorite place of all. He’s leaning on a magic bean that’s coming up!

JoJo and the Gnome Garden

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The tackiest souvenirs known to civilization have been a smashing success. Literally. The mini catapult that really mini catapults has repeatedly launched a Hobgoblin beer cap at little metal soldiers that are placed in a variety of formations. Then the Small LSB counts how many times it takes to knock them all down. This is what we call capital entertainment on a rainy day.

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And … we are hard at work on the model of a beheading that really beheads. The package tells us that it is easy to assemble and that “time, attention and concentration are required.” What we have learned so far:

  • So much time, attention and concentration are required that we should be done by the time the preteen LSB is ready to get married.
  • I see London, I see France. The executioner wears no pants.
  • This makes a raucous tune by which to build beheading models.

Bob Hicks, General, Visual Art

Warhol and Van Sant: peas in a pod?

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By Bob Hicks

Larry Fong, curator of American and regional art at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Eugene, has assembled a provocative and aesthetically stimulating exhibition that brings together Pop icon Andy Warhol and Portland movie director Gus Van Sant through the unlikely lens of the Polaroid camera, a populist aim-and-shoot wonder that both used prolifically.

Gus Van Sant, "boys," 2010 digital pigment print, edition of 5 16.5" x 11.5". PDX Contemporary ArtI review the exhibit, One Step Big Shot, in this morning’s Oregonian. The show is smartly conceived and well-executed, and it looks good in the gallery, coming up with some creative design responses to the museum’s problematically long and narrow main display space.

Gus Van Sant, "boy and girl mystery," 2010 digital pigment print, edition of 5, 46" x 37". PDX Contemporary ArtOne draw: A big-screen version of Warhol’s infamous 1964 film Blow Job, which I hadn’t seen in many years.

Caught somewhere between blatant sexuality and demure tease (it’s a landmark in the gay underground movement that exploded into the mainstream after the Stonewall Riots of 1969) the six-minute film plays breathlessly with the ideas of Adonis and Narcissus. Even now it’s a powerful cultural transgression. It was an absolute mind-blower in 1964. One Step Big Shot continues through Sept. 5, and it’s worth the trip to Eugene.

Meanwhile, you have only a week left to catch Cut-ups, a smaller but intriguing related show at Portland’s PDX Contemporary Art. In it, Van Sant explores photographic collage, creating odd and sometimes discombobulating fusions of gender and personality. The two pieces shown here are from Cut-ups. We are all, apparently, one another. Worth catching, and up through Saturday, May 29.

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ILLUSTRATIONS, from top:

— Gus Van Sant, “boys,” 2010 digital pigment print, edition of 5, 16.5″ x 11.5″. PDX Contemporary Art

— Gus Van Sant, “boy and girl mystery,” 2010 digital pigment print, edition of 5, 46″ x 37″. PDX Contemporary Art

Cities, General, Laura Grimes

London, Part 10: Cheerio, it’s been lovely

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By Laura Grimes

Urn

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“Cheese! Where’s the cheese?”

The Pantsless Brother and I say this nearly every time we scurry through the mazes of the Underground trying to find the right train. We feel just like rats.

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It’s time to say goodbye to all the fun we’ve been having. It doesn’t look like the ash cloud is going to favor us with another return to cancel our flights again. I miss Mr. Scatter and the Large Smelly Boys anyway, and JoJo is looking forward to seeing his buddies in the hood.

As I type, The PB and I are sharing one last beer together — the Hobgoblin. Only one beer tonight, not four. And as he put it, “None of that foreplay stuff with the lousy beers. We’re going straight for the (insert sexy word that sounds like origami, but it’s not).”

Continue reading London, Part 10: Cheerio, it’s been lovely →

Bob Hicks, Cities, Food, General

Political pork and pugilistic pigs

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By Bob Hicks

It’s the morning after the election, and Mr. Scatter has done his level best to tend to his civic duties by turning in his ballot (and Mrs. Scatter’s, since she’s off to London to visit the queen). As usual, he voted for a few losers (or as he prefers to put it, solid candidates who did not persuade the electorate of their worth) and even a few who emerged triumphant.

Baba Yaga riding a pig and fighting the infernal Crocodile. Russian lubok. Early 1700s/Wikimedia CommonsTrends and counter-trends popped up. Former NBA center Chris Dudley beat Alvin Alley and John Lim in the GOP race for the governorship nomination, and former governor John Kitzhaber waxed former secretary of state Bill Bradbury for the Demo nod. The lesson: being tall is a game-winner for Republicans, but not Democrats. Trend confirmed: Earl Blumenauer and Ron Wyden would have to be caught canoodling with drunken donkeys on reality TV to lose an election in Oregon.

Conjecture: Could be that Mayor Sam Adams‘ graceless smackdown of commissioner Dan Saltzman the week before the election actually helped Saltzman get reelected without facing a runoff: How many people voted for Saltzman out of sympathy for the way he was treated or as a way to take a jab at Adams? Then again, with eight other candidates splitting the anti-incumbent vote, Saltzman probably would have won no matter what. Either way, keep an eye on those city council meetings. Looks like the gloves are off, and things could get a little testy.

But enough about politics. Speaking of fisticuffs (and speaking of canoodling with drunken donkeys), the real headline-grabber in this morning’s Oregonian was Leslie Cole‘s front-page report Iowa Pork Sets Off Ham-fisted Brawl, about a knock-down drag-out fight between local chef Eric Bechard (Thistle in McMinnville; ex-Alberta Street Oyster Bar in Portland) and Brady Lowe, an Atlanta-based foodie who tours the country arranging friendly food and wine smackdowns among the locals. Seems Lowe offended locovore Bechard by importing an Iowa pig for the cook-off. And the brawl took place in front of the Magic Garden, an Old Town strip club. That’s the sort of energy Oregon politics needs: passion worthy of a Wilbur Mills or a Huey Long! More on the fracas from Food Dude and Willamette Week.

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Books, Cities, General, Laura Grimes, Visual Art

London, Part 9: Help! I need somebody!

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By Laura Grimes

The Pantsless Brother and I have had lots of fun encounters in London, where everyone has been friendly and helpful. Here are just two, which both happened today. Others deserve their own posts.

At the end meet the umpteen friends JoJo played with today. So many! He was a busy little monkey!

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TPB and I visited the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, where The Royal Collection is on public display and exhibits rotate a couple of times a year. The collection is made up of pieces that have been acquired by British monarchs for more than 500 years.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in court dress, about 1854/WikipediaVictoria & Albert: Art and Love is now on display through Oct. 31. A couple of pieces are worthy showstoppers, but it’s the personal stories behind the exhibit that are memorable. Victoria and Albert often gave thoughtful gifts of art to each other and went to great lengths to secretly commission pieces that were of special significance.

Victoria had a portrait made of her for Albert for his birthday. It’s not a formal portrait with fancy clothes and insignia. Her hair is down, her dress is casual and she’s wearing a locket that holds a lock of his hair. It’s sweet and intimate. This was not meant for the masses. It was meant just for Albert.

Continue reading London, Part 9: Help! I need somebody! →

Cities, General, Laura Grimes

London, Part 8: Waylaid by an ash cloud

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By Laura Grimes

“Headline: ‘British air space may shut as ash cloud resumes.’ Would someone please tell my husband I might be late for dinner?”

I put that post on Facebook a few days ago. It was soon followed by a comment from the Small Large Smelly Boy: “Are you going to be home for dessert?”

It turns out I won’t be home for several desserts. My flight was cancelled and I rebooked it for four days later. (The Pantsless Brother, too.)

Oh, to be “stuck” in London. Oh, to have to rebook a flight in a travel industry that surprisingly doesn’t know how to deal with it.

Let’s see … I am flying Continental, operated by United, reserved by Air Canada, booked through Travelocity. Continental won’t take calls, United doesn’t recognize me, Air Canada won’t deal with a Continental flight, Travelocity can’t make sense of it.

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Cities, General, Laura Grimes

London, Part 7: Hello? Anybody home?

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By Laura Grimes

JoJo knocked on a door to see if anyone would play. It turned out to be this place:

350px-buckingham_palace_london_-_april_2009

The queen wasn’t home. Though it’s possible she just didn’t hear JoJo’s little knock. (Photo courtesy of that most excellent of photographers, Wikipedia, who obviously isn’t hampered by The Wimpy Camera.)

JoJo was mildly disappointed, but he was quickly distracted by some guys who wear chia pets on their heads …

Guards at Buckingham Palace

… and assault guns on their shoulders. They switched chia pet guys and then the new guy had to stand there perfectly still for, like, a whole hour. Not the kind of job you want after eating scallops and chocolate milk.

Continue reading London, Part 7: Hello? Anybody home? →

Cities, General, Laura Grimes

London, Part 6: What time is it anyway?

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By Laura Grimes

“What time is it?”

I pulled out my phone and lit it up. “Nearly 8 o’clock.”

“Is it that late?”

“I’m pretty sure.” I stuck out my thumb and pointed over my shoulder behind me. “There was a clock back there.”

We were walking down the hill from this place:

Clock at Royal Observatory, Greenwich

That’s right. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich. As in Greenwich Mean Time. As in the clock by which all other clocks are set. The mother of all clocks. Ground Zero of all clockdom on Earth.

So what time was it? It was time for a beer.

We walked down to the Thames River and turned right. We found the Trafalgar Tavern, a favorite tippling place of Charles Dickens that was built in 1837, the same year a young lass named Victoria became Queen of England.

We ordered a couple of pints and took them outside to a bench along the walkway overlooking the river. And there, we sipped. A sternwheeler paddled down the river. Pug dogs sniffed my socks. And the sun, that great grandfather of all biological clocks, sank slowly over the London skyline and disappeared.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich

Cities, General, Laura Grimes, Theater

London, Part 5: From mayhem to fairies

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By Laura Grimes

Quick! Take a picture! JoJo found a new buddy who was very nice about playing with him, even though it was against the rules.

The Yeoman Warders at the Tower of London aren’t supposed to hold things while their pictures are being taken. Someone snapped a photo a few years back of a Warder holding something and it was photoshopped and turned into something naughty. So sad. But JoJo is small and cute and somehow got away with it, though the Warder first looked around furtively and said I had to be fast about it. Can you find JoJo?

Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London

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The Pantsless Brother and I pulled on our warm clothes and went to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. It was the end of a short run at the Globe before the show hit the road as one of the company’s two touring productions. Through August, the show can be seen in various places throughout England and Europe.

Continue reading London, Part 5: From mayhem to fairies →

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