culture – Page 2

Madonna

I woke up early this morning and I started scrolling Twitter and almost every other post was Madonna’s concert in Rio last night. She had a free concert to close out her tour and it was attended by over a million people. The stats say from 1.5 to 2.5 million people – all singing and dancing, in peace, I might add, at Copacabana Beach in Rio. You can see videos of it all over Twitter and other places today including right here, part 1 and 2.

I started clicking and watching clip after clip because it all brought me back to my youth. Whether we think about it or not, Madonna was a large part of our lives from the early 1980s and on.

I remember I was in a club back then and my friend Javier, who I’m sill friends with today, said to me as I was leaving one Saturday night, “Aren’t you staying for the show?” There were free shows in the clubs back then. I asked, who is performing? He said, “Madonna.”

“Who is that?” I asked. He replied, “You know, she sings ‘Burnin’ Up’ and ‘Holiday.’ ” I remember saying, “No, I don’t like that.” Which I did, I just meant to say, it’s getting late, the show was starting at 2 am, and I was tired and wanted to leave. Of course I regret that now because I would have been mere feet away from Madonna on that night as she performed.

I saw her in person many times after that – in concert, at the movie theater and driving in her car, where I almost gave her the finger! And ironically, it was a block away from where I live now. She lived down the block, next door to Sylvester Stallone. Remind me to tell you about the funny story when Javier and my friend Peter were caught almost stalking her and she went to Stallone for “protection” right in front of them.

Anyway, she was driving erratically and I was rushing to get downtown to meet my friends at Happy Hour on a Friday night and as drove by her, I put my hand up and gave her dirty looks. She seemed nervous behind the wheel, she was alone, in a black Mercedes. As I looked, I said to myself. “That looks like Madonna.” And then she turned onto her block and I was sure of it. I’ve felt embarrassed about that all these years, as if she know who I was. That’s how much she was in our lives – we felt we knew her (and she knew us).

The Rio concert is worth checking out, the music brings back so many memoires.

I have three favorite Madonna songs, that I’m sure people don’t expect me to say. In this order I love: “Live to Tell,” “Cherish,” and “True Blue.” I love all her stuff, but these are my three favorites. I noticed Debi Mazar in the True Blue video today, which I never noticed before.

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Larry Fine isn’t fine

I wasn’t sure if everyone would get today’s cartoon, mostly the younger generations. Do people know who Larry Fine is? If you don’t he’s one of The Three Stooges. You know, Moe, Larry and Curley, or Moe, Larry and Shemp. When I was younger, The Stooges were all over tv. I remember in high school I worked in the stockroom at Sears and at 3 pm, everyday, we took our break to watch The Three Stooges on tv in the break room.

I noticed this image online, after I drew this cartoon and it made me feel a bit better, especially since I hate to explain cartoons. It’s a large mural of Larry somewhere in Philadelphia.

Not too long ago I was towed. I should have been fined/ticketed, but the City of Miami thought it was a good idea to tow me.

I was in a parking space that I had parked in for years. I paid the meter and wandered off. Apparently the city changed the parking hours at that space and rather than just ticket me so I would know the new rules, they felt a towing was in order.

I had visions of Parking Wars, the tv show, where people are towed and eight hours later they are still at the towing location, trying to get their cars out. But I was pleasantly surprised. I Ubered to the car lot and I was the only one there, which was surprising, since Miami tows anything at any time for no apparent reason. But it was just me. I was in and out in three minutes! Really! It made the whole experience less painful.

One thing did bother me though. On Parking Wars, a lot of the hold up is that people don’t have their insurance card with them. When I asked the attendant if she wanted to see my insurance card, she told me that was not needed. That explained Miami drivers in a nutshell. No car insurance proof needed?

As for the cartoon, I’m not sure where I came up with the concept of “Larry fine isn’t fine, etc.” It just popped into my head. I didn’t see Larry on tv or hear his name or anything, like where a lot of my ideas come from. It almost reminds me of these memes that show why the English language is so difficult for foreigners trying to learn English.

Like too, two and to, and he’s fine with the fine and read and read (Read to me, I read it).

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Visiting the 16th century

We went to the 32nd annual Florida Renaissance Festival on Saturday. I hadn’t been for years. I went with some of my family this past weekend, but in the past, for many years, I would go with my friends, maybe two or three carloads of us would head to Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach to attend.

It was just as I remembered. You travel back in time to the 16th century, it seems they want a lot of things paid in cash this year, I remember paying with “MasterCard and Lady Visa” in the past.

We ate a lot, we drank a lot, we spent a lot. After having such a cool/cold winter (for Florida), Saturday seemed to be the hottest day of the year.

Vendors for food and items made by artisans who are on site, are set up all over the forested park, around the lake, and there are performances and performers everywhere from horse jousting (my favorite) to archery, a maze, the human flying carrousel, glass blowing, minstrels, magicians and so much more. The king and queen are just a few of the “characters” who wander around the park.

The Festival runs until March 24, weekends only.

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Digital Van Gogh

I’ve been thinking of going to Paris. And Italy. But this is a perfect reason to visit Paris.

I saw this report on CBS Sunday Morning about Vincent Van Gogh and a new digital feature about him and his art.

The Musee D’Orsay in Paris has a new exhibit of Van Gogh called, “Hello Vincent.” Anyone can go up and ask Vincent anything they would like to know about him.

His replies and his image are AI generated and the answers come from the over 900 letters he wrote in his life, where he told (in the letters) about everything from his health, personal life and art. You just walk up and ask him anything, and he’ll look at you and answer.

*Seth Doane (and Vincent) on CBS Sunday Morning.*

It works along with the art because people ask serious questions of Vincent; things that they really want to know about.

Maybe the exhibit will travel to the U.S. and I won’t have to go to Paris, although I still want to go to Paris. And Italy.

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Throwing soup on the Mona Lisa

I’m sure you saw this in the news. A couple of activists threw soup on the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum in Paris over the weekend.

“What is more important?” The one activist asked the shouting crowd. “Art or healthy sustainable food?”

The protest had something to do with France breaking its climate commitments and they want France to give people access to more healthy foods. I’m sure it was a good cause, but it’s a case of alienating the people who are on your side by doing something stupid to bring attention to the cause.

I’m not sure how this involved trying to destroy the Mona Lisa, luckily she is covered with glass. But wouldn’t it make more sense throwing the soup on Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can Art? Which I hope never ever happens. I’m just sayin’.

I remember the first time I saw Starry Night, my favorite painting, so many years ago. It wasn’t covered in glass, as it is now. You could literally put your face right up to it. Luckily it’s protected with glass now.

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Sharon Stone, artist

CBS Sunday Morning did a profile on Sharon Stone, the actress. But it was all about her artwork. She’s a painter/artist.

I love her work, some of it is on display in a gallery in Greenwich, CT these days, which I would love to see. Maybe when the weather gets warmer I’ll check it out.

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Paul on the tube

With The Beatles’ new song out, “Now and Then,” there seems to be a lot about The Beatles online now. I’ve seen a bunch of memes along with news stories. One meme, shown below, reminded me of this old Paul McCartney cartoon I did awhile back. Tube vs. Tube.

I guess it should really be is he on the “tube,” meaning subway or “telly,” meaning television? But tube and tube seems to work.

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At the MET in the rain

It was raining Saturday, so I headed to the MET Museum, which I probably would have done even if it was sunny. But since it was raining, it seemed like the whole city showed up, The lines to get in were endless. But since I trudged up there via subway and walked around in the rain a bit to get there, I stayed.

I did miss a couple of cool things which is weird because I’m usually in the right place at the right time, but in these two instances I was not where I should have been.

The first was a wedding proposal. I heard a loud applause in the next gallery and when I walked over, it saw that a guy proposed to a girl. I missed it, I only caught the applause and happiness part.

Then I walked into the Temple of Dendur area of the MET and I just missed a ballet performance, right up near the temple building.

Otherwise it was maddening with all the people there, but it was more fun than being out in the rain.

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How often do you think of the Roman Empire?

How often do you think of the Roman Empire?

There is this TikTok video which started this conversation. A girl asks her boyfriend how often he thinks of it, and oddly enough, he thinks of the Roma Empire quite often. Now others are asking their boyfriends/husbands and these guys say they think of it a lot.

Do you?

I think I do, but honestly, I think of ancient Egypt almost daily.

Seriously.

I’m obsessed with ancient Egypt and I think I probably would be an Egyptologist if I did my life over. I have been thinking of the Roman Empire lately because I keep trying to think of a cartoon that is Coliseum-related.

I have done quite a few cartoons related to Egypt over the years and maybe that’s why I think of it a lot – to get cartoon ideas. But I do watch a lot of tv shows based on Egypt, but also ancient Italy, including Rome.

I know that the Rosetta Stone was found in 1799 during a war. A soldier found it in a fort. It had hieroglyphics at the top portion and an ancient Egypt translation on the bottom portion. People were able to decipher the hieroglyphics from that. It was the first time they were deciphered.

The first word they deciphered was Ptolemy – which was Cleopatra’s family/dynasty. And who was Cleopatra? The last pharaoh of Egypt, which was then taken over by the Ancient Romans – when Augustus invaded and that ended the Ptolemy dynasty and all of the centuries of pharaohs and Egyptian rule, which became the Roman Empire.

I learned some of the alphabet from the Ptolemy hieroglyphic – a P is a square, a T is a half circle, an L is a lion and so on.

See how it all fits together?

Just last night I watched a tv show on Cleopatra on Mysteries at the Museum.

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A Messi, Barbie weekend

It’s a pink weekend. Between the new Barbie movie and Lionel Messi. the soccer superstar’s USA debut, it’s all pink. You can swipe back and forth for both cartoons here.

Pink is of course the theme of Barbie and Messi’s color is pink. Messi’s pink a little bit lighter in color, but still, I think this deep, bright pink makes the point (cartoonwise).

I first did the Barbie cartoon and at the last minute I thought of Messi. Here in Miami, it’s Messi all over the place. Murals are appearing on buildings, soccer tickets have zoomed up in price and that’s all you hear about – Messi, Messi, Messi.

On the national news, I’ve seen lots of reports on Messi, so I thought I would add it to today’s cartoon as a second option, to add to the pink theme of the weekend.

The Oppenheimer movie is opening this weekend, too, and people are buying tickets for both Barbie and Oppenheimer and will do a double feature, sort of like the old days. The big debate there is which one to see first so as to set the tone for the next movie.

I couldn’t fit Oppenheimer into the pink theme. It’s anything but bright and pink.

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