From The Sketchbook- Saturday Night Doodling

It's another fun Saturday night here at Rancho Ramirez. As usual we're enjoying an evening of super heroes, sci fi, fantasy and horror courtesy of Batman, Lost In Space and Star Trek the original series which we are presently watching. I drew these two sketches as I watched the shows just like when I was a kid.After Star Trek we'll be enjoying the latest Svengoolie offering "Phantom of the Opera"starring Claude Rains.

American Workday Stats

Talk about needing the "beach vibe", I just saw this over at the Geeks Are Sexy blog on how we, as Americans, spend our time. Informative but not so surprising.  Use the link below to check it out.

http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2012/08/31/what-american-people-do-all-day-infographic/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+geeksAreSexyTechnologyNews+%28[Geeks+are+Sexy]+technology+news%29

From Way Back When- The Doors: The Ghost Song (1970, 1978)

Beach Vibe!

Our home on the island for five wonderful days.

 This whole week back from our five day visit to South Padre Island for our dear friend Christy's wedding has been unlike any we've had in years thanks to that trip. 

The wedding was beautiful and fun as only Christy could make it. At the reception we sang, drank and danced like we haven't done in ages. The day after the wedding everybody spent it on the beach taking sand castle building lessons from Amazin' Walter (Christy's dad and master sand castle builder among other things) and his  wonderful and talented friends.We were surrounded by so many artsy-minded souls. We loved that! It felt so good to be amongst so many of our own kind. It's been too long.

On the island, apart from the rest of the world, Pammy and I found ourselves again. The sand, surf and wind washed away all the nonsense we've lived through since we returned to San Antonio back in 2002, allowing us to see the world with clarity and peace again. We spent our days before the wedding at the beach swimming, relaxing, making sand castles -playing all day with our kids and our friends. No t.v. No cell phones. No internet. It's funny how five days away from town gives one a different perspective on life.

And people on the island have such a different attitude that, thankfully, we've brought back with us: love life, family and friends and have fun...don't sweat the little stuff. Amazin' Walter taught us a one-word island saying: "Manana", which doesn't necessarily mean tomorrow, just "later". We utter that like a mantra daily now.

The tension here is all around us. Rush, rush, rush, work, grumble, grumble, etc., but we deflect it with the "beach vibe" and "manana" mantra we now have.  We went to see our friend start a new chapter in her magical life and came back with a little of her magic too. Happy accidents. Wow!

So, congratulations Christy the Pirate Queen, Darren (Christy's hubby) "Thriller" boat captain.  Have a great married life on your island paradise as we're certain you will. Thank you for making us a part of your special day.

Manana everybody.        

I Think That I Shall Never See...

Trees have good vibes.

Martial ArtSlam Time!!

 

Its official kiddoes! I'm in for the next ArtSlam scheduled for September 15th at 7p.m. down at the White Rabbit. This month's theme is martial arts which is full of good, ol' chop- socky fun. My mind is racing with ideas for what I'll paint that evening. I'm thinkin' Power Rangers...Avatar The Last Airbender...Ninja Turtles maybe...Jet Li, Bruce Lee... so many possibilities! Bring On The Villains was a blast and this next one should be no different and I'll be better prepared . Sure I'll be painting something on site that evening but I'll also be bringing along some finished art for sale too. I can't wait. It'll be fun and I hope to see you there!

The Circus Is Coming! The Circus Is Coming!

This year's poster.

The Alzafar Shrine Circus is coming to town this weekend. Once again it appears that the Carden Brothers Circus will be playing under the Shrine banner. I hope it's a new show. Last year they had a number of the same acts as the 2010 edition including Clown Johnny and Mini-Bo, which is a fun act to watch but it seems a lot of shows are reproducing that act so it's getting a little stale. The floor looked a little empty too. It looked like they tried to fill the empty space with a variety of lights and goboes rather than use floats or banners or some other set piece. Ringling does that too.

A few years back, the Hanneford Circus was brought in by the Shriners and quite honestly I thought that was a stronger show by far than the last two Carden Brothers productions put together. The production values were higher, the acts were strong, the show flowed better and overall was very entertaining. I wish they'd bring them back. 

The Shrine shows always seem a little too long and this year's show might no be any different. Always leave 'em wanting more. That's holds true for any circus. At least they haven't tried to re-invent the circus every year like Ringling. This past summer we didn't catch the Ringling show. We just couldn't see ourselves spending all that money to see a shadow of what was once a grand show... the greatest show on Earth.

But we always look forward to the Shrine Circus when it comes to town and  loading up on popcorn, hotdogs and over-priced toys. It'll be fun. Going to the circus always feels like we're coming home. 

Last year's poster.

Slapstick Theatre- Geraldine Jones and Ray Charles

Sunday Morning Matinee- Stop Motion Animator Dave Allen Interview