Monthly Archives: September 2013
Once that Bassline Starts…
Queen’s former frontman Freddie Mercury would have been 67 today, so below is a video of a little gig he and his bandmates played in a modest soccer stadium in London some years back.
For those who have felt “under pressure” this week, at least we’ve all made it to Friday and the weekend!
The Art of Serendipity
I was in a bank recently and as I approached the counter, the tellers were all fixated on a new painting from a local artist hanging on one of the walls. Some of the tellers were standing close to it, others from a distance behind the counter. Each of them was transfixed on deciphering all the shapes. One of the tellers nearby was quite stunning, so I made every effort to sound artistically insightful around her.
It was a large piece, several feet by several feet. The shapes and figures were mostly recognizable, but not completely. For instance, some people saw a jazz band, like myself. A golden saxophone, cello and the suits stood out most prominently. Then, one of the tellers pointed to a potential drum set and, after looking more intently, I concurred. However, I “saw” too large of a drum set because then she pointed out three heads of people sitting in the front row. I completely missed them as did she at first glance. We thought the “head” in the bottom left hand corner was the kick drum…
We had a good laugh about that one.
Turns out, it was a painting of a jazz band. One of the tellers was told so by the artist himself. Still, as the tellers informed me (and as I experienced personally), everybody had their own interpretation of the painting and/or some of the distorted shapes. People were still seeing different things here and there. Not everybody saw the jazz band, but then others did see the three heads of people in the front row.
Either way, the painting is very cool, it’s hanging inside a nice bank and the artist successfully sparked a conversation about his work.
Win-win-win.
Interestingly, the journey to finding the “girl of our dreams” is much like looking at a beautiful painting. Most everybody sees the obvious beauty, but it takes that one special, right person to discover how and why it’s (she’s) a masterpiece.
The first step, in some situations, is casually starting a conversation with a stunning bank teller despite the crowded presence of her fellow female tellers, perhaps about a piece of art hanging inside a bank. Then, it’s about asking her out to dinner as smoothly as the strokes of paint in a prominent wall decoration.
Afterwards, maybe she’d find it fun to catch a set at a jazz club…
If so, talk about life imitating art.
TV’s Circle of Trust
Last night, I watched (not for the first time) the series finale of “Frasier,” which was followed by the series premiere of “Frasier” on the Hallmark Channel (11:00 p.m.-midnight). Seeing the popular and witty sitcom come full circle in this fashion was a surreal experience, partly because most of the same sets were used for both episodes. Without question, witnessing the journey of all the characters was worth every second of every show.
A sight to see for sure.
This sequence of events begs the questions of the who, what, when, where, why and how of our own lives? Perhaps the most fascinating quality about Dr. Frasier Crane was his insistence to plan, plan and plan his life’s events with his overly analytical mind. And yet, his life was so much more fulfilling and enjoyable (and funny!) when the unexpected occurred without warning.
In the series premiere, Frasier took a chance at disturbing his new bachelor lifestyle in Seattle to reacquaint himself with Martin, his polar opposite father, by asking him to move in with him. Frasier was clearly a man of habits and preferences (“the chair”), so this provided quite the challenge for the famed psychiatrist. Still, the audience could see that Frasier’s life was going to benefit greatly from the unknown.
The series finale (spoiler alert from 2004) saw Frasier engage in a classic psychological dilemma of certainty versus mystery. In the end, Frasier chose mystery. While standing in his apartment for the last time with Niles and Daphne, Martin and Ronee and Roz, it’s safe to say he realized that his genius mind was not the primary source of wisdom that led him and everyone else into that room together after eleven years.
From the series premiere to the series finale, the famed radio psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane was talking and indeed listening…just not from the place he may have expected.
Nine years after signing off the air and it’s still worth a listen or two.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 