Today’s Rhapsody is from the exceptional guitarist Al Di Meola playing Rhapsody of Fire.
Comments Off on Tuesday Rhapsodies
Finally going to see the Avengers was an entertaining comedy of errors. I had planned to go see it in the U-District on a 1:00 clock showing and based on what I had heard about sold out showings I wasn’t particularly optimistic about getting in to what was a very small theater. Unfortunately in my online schedule check I got the Metro, which is in the U-District, mixed up with the Varsity, which is in neighboring Wallingford. So you can imagine my surprise after giving myself a half hour and getting to the Metro with time to spare to discover that it was closed (by the look of it permanently) In desperation I made a bee line it to the mall theater figuring if I was late for one showing the next one would not be too much of a wait. I realized my Varsity/Metro mix up just when I passed the point it was too far to turn around, which was frustrating, but I made it to the mall theater right on time A little crowded but not as if I had wasted my time trying to get there.
So back to the Avengers… It was fun… A lot of fun… nothing that I would call high art in any sense of the imagination but fun. Joss Whedon, as always wrote a script with extremely fun dialogue that took full advantage of his characters and like he did in Thor, Tom Hiddleston owned every scene he was in. I sincerely hope he gets as much work as he can handle.
And all in all it did an excellent job on taking a comic book. The effects are spectacular and as long as you keep your suspension of disbelief cranked up to the nines you’ll have a great time. Keep in mind when I’m say this I’m not talking about believing a man can turn into rampaging green juggernaut… I’m talking about things like SHEILD’s nonexistent security protocols, the tendency to treat anyone not wearing spandex like a victim or at best in the way (I counted a good 20 planes on the Helli-carrier which didn’t get blown to bits during the first attack. Care to explain why they weren’t out there shooting aliens?) I can go on but really in the end in a movie like this that isn’t important. You go to films like this for the roller coaster ride and Robert Downey Jr’s snarky remarks. Asking questions make the plot fall apart.
In short for everybody who is not a chronic nickpicker, like your’s truly, Avenger’s is a wonderful bit of fluff that you will all enjoy.
Comments Off on Avengers
I’ve done this sketch before. In fact I’ve done it several times. And why not it’s one of the nicest and most challenging pieces in the Seattle Asian Art Museum’s collection of Indian sculpture. One of the things I like best about the Indian sculpture room along of course with it’s spectacular selection of Greco-Buddhist art from Northern India and Pakistan is that it all in a nice central area which frequently double’s as the museum’s event hall… for a while it even had a small bistro. They still usually have chairs there, sometimes even tables. Very convenient for laying out your kit and creating especially good and accurate sketches.
Anyway this sculpture, representing the Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati, is from the famous temple site of Khajuraho in north central India. This is a frequent image in Hindu sculpture. What I really like about this piece is the sculptor created a really convincing feeling of affection between the two figures.
Comments Off on Friday Museum Sketches
A very happy birthday to Miles Davis with one of my personal favorites, “So What” For some reason I keep finding myself trying co come up with lyrics for this but never get farther then a couple of phrases.
Comments Off on Happy Birthday Miles!
This is another one that probably doesn’t count as a Rhapsody but it does fit most of the criteria: i.e “Irregular in form and improvisational” so I’ll run with it. This is “Seven Angels” by the band Avantasia (Lead singer Michael Kiske) from their Metal Opera collection. (done up as a Justice League fan video)
I’ve enjoyed this piece for some time. My tastes tend to be pretty eclectic. Everything from chamber quartets to Metal. But one thing I tend to lean towards longer and more complex pieces. It’s always great to hear modern music that starts to lean this way. Regrettably most of them tend to be fairly short feeling very much like musical phrases. Snarky remarks about modern attention spans aside I see no reason why they can’t be more ambitious.
Anyway here I think this is one of the better attempts so far. So enjoy.
Comments Off on Tuesday Rhapsodies
Let’s all raise a toast and wish a very happy birthday to the great Duke Ellington. So sit back and enjoy a rare filmed version of his signature piece “Take the A-Train” done in 1943 with a vocal accompaniment by Ella Fitzgerald.
Comments Off on Happy Birthday Duke!
