Soto Voce

Why couldn't I have been one of those guys who makes late night phone calls to ex-girlfriends when he comes home drunk? Would that be so bad? Is normality too much to ask? Of course it is. Instead I opt to come home drunk and buy art online. Oh well, at least I get something out of it and help out an artist in the process. My latest example is something I bought this week from Jeff Soto. Titled "Spring Bees", this piece is something that I think will look nice on my newly painted bedroom wall. Here, take a look.



Anyway, Jeff was kind enough to send me an email tonight and here's what he had to say about the piece:

"The Spring Bees piece was originally painted as an illustration for the cover of the Boston Phoenix. They left it up to me, but wanted a spring theme since it was their Things To Do in Spring issue. When I think of spring I think of bees and flowers. I gave the painting to my grandparents and put it up on my site. I started getting lots of requests for a print of it, so I decided to get one made. That's it..."

Alright then. See? Art doesn't have to be dominated by complex, elitist language. Bees and flowers people, let's keep it simple. And let's watch out for each other out there.

Dear God

One of the more interesting bylines from the recent Tsunami disaster has been the punditry surrounding God's place in all this. I started following this in a recent Yahoo! article, which featured quotes from everyone under the sun about who was to blame, who wasn't to blame and where their god fit into all of it. But I prefer this sarcastic piece from my old standby, Slate. I simply can't (and won't) imagine what it's like to be in a Sri Lankan's shoes this month, but I've certainly looked up at the sky and said "hey asshole..." at much less than a tsunami.

Death Sentence.

Is the last line in James Joyce's The Dead the most effective and salient closing sentence in the history of all literature? Difficult to say, but read this aloud to yourself in a low, hushed tone and you will wonder:

"His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead."

Last year's New Year's Resolution: learn Golf. This year's New Year's Resolution Until I Discover a Better One: don't answer the phone just because it's ringing.

Last thing: "If MTV were a foosball player, he would dominate the pro tour unmercifully." A really likeable new series of ads for MTV this month. It seems to me that copywriters sometimes play second-fiddle to art directors in this bidness, but these ads succeed mainly on the merit of the copywriting, which is more than worthy of the narration Alec Baldwin contributes. By the way, is he fat in The Aviator because it was for the role, or is he just fat now? Anyway, the unintrusive editing and understated direction really let the central concept of these spots communicate right through the all too familiar production design. Read about them and watch them here.

Before I forget, read Ulalume in a low, hushed tone as well- by candlelight if possible, whilst lying next to her in bed.