Consortium of Seven

Recent Tuesday posts have been on the topic of books which became movies. Today, a book which became both movies and cartoons.  It was Betty MacDonald's sister Mary who dragged Betty into becoming the family's best-known writer. All the Bards were creative, intelligent, and active. A few had what Charlotte Bronte called "scribblemania." For example, Betty's mother, Sydney, a widow who needed money for her family, wrote  scripts for radio soap operas during the Depression years. This was work Sydney got through connections Mary had through her own career in the production of  radio commercials.  Mary herself wrote books about her life (as the wife of a doctor, for instance) as well as the "Best Friends" series of books for girls. In Anybody Can Do Anything , Betty wrote about her mother typing soap opera scripts at the kitchen table and (lovingly) about how bossy Mary was about Betty writing books. Betty ...

I love imagery from my childhood in the Fifties. Many of the cars were works of art. The architecture of the cities and towns reflected a different time. A time when things were often built to last. The Art Deco and the building and art from the WPA period cause my heart to swell. These are the images my young mind recorded. Streamline Modern architecture can still be found throughout the US and Frank Lloyd Wright's creations are museums unto themselves. I acknowledge that socially these times were horrific for people of color and all poor people, but progress was happening and opportunities were expanding until we elected an actor to be President in 1980. At that point, progress reversed.  I don't look back on the Fifties with longing as many my age do. I know it was a bad time for many. I do love many of the creative evolutions of art and architecture and car designs we created though, and I wish I was sharing pictures of vintage trolleys and other mass transit that was s...

A neighbor's charming garden patch spied through the foliage on my walks. I find this statue to be cheer inducing. A few weeks ago none of us had any idea how much the world was going to change. As things unfold day by day, we are adapting to new realities, some very uncomfortable, others enlightening as we wonder what's around the bend and where these changes will lead us. In the past, I might have gone full-in hypochondriac over this pandemic. But, more than fear of this virus, I feel awe and amazement in watching this transformation of society. Just watching... So far I am able to look at it from a distance, though that could change any day. Local laundromat, taqueria across the street. Still open! I do hope you are well, safe, reasonably happy. It would be wonderful if you are also finding amusement and being productive in some meaningful way (to you) during this time, that you're taking care of yourself and your loved ones, maybe even better than befor...

There is something about night time that fascinates artists. Perhaps it’s the darkness holding the unknown or the excitement of imagination. Whatever it is, some of my favourite artists, visual, musical & literary have been inspired by night. Just as the bright colours & wildness of psychedelia  attract me, so does the calm & quiet of the night. Or indeed the nightmares, the creepy unknown.   The Nightmare (Henry Fusili) In an urban setting at least, there can be something seditious about being out at night knowing that everyone else is tucked up in bed. It’s colder somehow, clearer & crisper. Sounds feel amplified & streetlights give everything an odd colour. The darkness of the countryside is a potentially fearful matter. How many horror films take place in a rural setting where not only can’t you see the danger, there is no-one to help, nowhere safe to run? The treatment of night in art varies wildly, despite its a...