The Arts Project

On Thursday, June 16, 2011, the company I work for held it’s very first employee art show.

The idea came from an employee as part of a leadership course she was taking.  Part of her task was to do something that would engage at least twenty-five people.  She came up with the idea of the art show because of her love of photography.  She felt that if this was a big part of her life, away from work, there were probably other employees that were the same way.

The turn out of employees was huge, for a first time event; so big that the organizers decided to put a cap on the number of entries each person could have. In all there were 125 entries from 44 employees; and this didn't include those that were turned away after the entry deadline.

After a lot of planning and hard work, the day of the art show finally arrived.  A large room in one of the company’s buildings had been transformed into an art gallery, to display the art submitted by employees.

The art itself was quite varied.  Employees submitted photos, paintings, drawings, jewelry, pottery, fabrics, and everything in between.

I’ve never considered myself an artist; I just like playing on the computer and coming up with things, using Paint Shop Pro 7.  A friend convinced me to at least submit some of my stuff though, so I did.  This is one of my entries, under “Graphic Arts”.  I got the idea from my son, and because my parents collect Santas.  My son said they didn't have a "Camo Santa".

 

 On the day of the art exhibit, a co-worker and I went to check it out.  When we got there, I discovered as an “artist”, in the show, I had a special badge to wear.  I have to admit, the littlest things make me feel special; enough so that I’ve scanned the badge for this post. 

 It was really cool to see all the different items on display at the exhibit.  Our company definitely has some really talented people working for them.

One of my favorite photos was of a Rock Squirrel; it’s just sooooooooo cute!

 Another piece I really liked was done by one of my former co-workers.  It’s a painting she did for her grandma, and is from a photo of the co-worker when she was 2 years old.

 One of the textile entries really caught my eye also; and was done by another former co-worker.  It’s a scarf that has combined felted wool with silk.  The title of the piece is “Undersea Garden”. 

 These are just a minuscule part of all that was on display at this first art exhibit.

The feedback from this one-day event was so positive, it was turned into a week long showing.  Even though this was the first employee art show our company has had; I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last.

GUESS WHO?

In another blog I mentioned how I don’t like “cookie cutter” voices.  Those artists who are so generic you can’t tell one from the other.  They could be interchangeable on any song played on the radio, and I doubt anyone would know the difference.

I also said how I like voices that stand out. The minute you hear a song, even if you’ve never heard it before, you instantly know who’s singing.  To me, that makes the music on the radio much more interesting.  It adds flavor to what would otherwise be bland and boring.

Then there are the newer artists who’ve come on the scene lately.  It seems there are quite a few that sound like other, established artists.  The person most people think of first is Easton Corbin.

Easton has always been compared to George Strait; which he doesn’t like.  In some ways, I understand why he resents the comparison.  He’s a new artist who wants to make his career based on his own merits.  Yet, he keeps being compared to George Strait; those are big shoes to fill, especially as a new artist. 

On the other hand, in this case, I see it as a compliment to Easton also.  To me, George Strait seems to have a wide range of styles he plays off of.  So, if people are comparing Easton Corbin to George Strait, which style?  If it’s all of them, I see that as a good thing. It’s worked for George, why wouldn’t it work for Easton?  I’m not sure there will ever be another George Strait, but there are worse artists Easton Corbin could be compared to.

  Awhile back KUPL was playing a song, “If I Run”, by the Harters.  Until I looked the song up, I would have sworn it was Steel Magnolia.  Even though both acts are new to country music, Steel Magnolia is known a bit more than the Harters.  The nice exception to thinking the Harters and Steel Magnolia sound alike is, neither have that cookie cutter sound.

Then there’s Joey+Rory.  I’d heard music by them before, most notably, “Cheater, Cheater”.   They’re another duo without a generic sound.  However, the first few times I heard the song, “That’s Important to Me”, I thought the Judds had put out new music.  The song has the Judds “feel” to it, and Joey’s voice, (on this song at least), sounds like the Judds. I like that this song has that “familiar” sound to it; yet Joey+Rory still have their own style and sound.

On the subject of of acts sounding like others, but only on some songs, there’s the Dirt Drifters.  Every time I would hear “Something Better” on the radio, I thought it was Toby Keith.  I wondered why Toby had two songs out at the same time.  When I found out it was the Dirt Drifters, and that they were going to be in Portland, I HAD to see them.  I wanted to know firsthand whether all their songs sounded like Toby Keith, or just that one.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Dirt Drifters are a very talented band, with their own distinct sound.  They did say that others had thought their first single sounded like Toby Keith, and they were okay with that.  They took it as a compliment that people wanted to find out more about them, because of the comparison.

On a slightly different path of voice comparisons, there’s Glen Templeton.  This new country artist definitely has his own style and sound, and is great at what he does.  At one point in time though, Glen was the star in the traveling play about Conway Twitty’s life.  He had been personally chosen by Twitty’s family for the role, because he sounded so much like Conway.

 Right now, KUPL is playing a song by Bradley Gaskin called, “Mr. Bartender”.  The first time I heard it, I instantly thought of Travis Tritt in his early days.  Yet, while the song reminds me of Tritt, Gaskin actually does hold his own, with his own sound, on the song. 

And then there’s this year’s American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery.    McCreery definitely has his own style and voice, as evidenced by his single, “I Love You This Big”.  While on Idol though, his “signature” song was Josh Turner’s “Your Man”.  Scotty was a dead ringer for Josh Turner; which was especially noticeable when Turner showed up to sing the song with Scotty at McCreery’s homecoming concert for American Idol.

I think there will always be comparisons of groups and artists in all genres of music.  Whether it’s someone like Easton Corbin, who has that “voice” all the time; or it’s a band, like the Dirt Drifters, who just happen on one song to sound like another artist, the comparisons will always be there. 

Likewise, whether, like Corbin, artists resent the comparison, or like the Dirt Drifters, embrace it; there will always be both as long as there’s music in the world.

A Hairy Predicament

Everyone has hair.  Whether it’s a lot, or a little, we all have it.  As we get older though, it seems, the hair we have tends to forget where it belongs.   

For example, some men, as they get older, start going bald.  What they’re missing on the top of their head however has been found in abundance in their ears and nose.  My (il)logical theory for this is gravity.  As men get older, the hair falls from their head, landing in their nose and ears.  I could be totally wrong about this of course, but for now that’s my theory, and I’m sticking to it.

It’s different for women.  While we don’t typically lose the hair on our head, we do seem not to have to shave our legs and under arms as much the older we get.  Sounds good, until you start finding where that missing hair went.

It starts out gradually, you look in the mirror one day and you see this little black spiky thing sticking out of your chin.  You don’t think much about it, just pluck it out with a pair of tweezers and go about your business.

A day or two later, you find another one, or two.  Okay, not a big deal; pull those, and move on. 

This continues for awhile; until you discover the hairs keep coming back, and bringing their friends.  Shaving is not an option; this only encourages the hair to continue to hang around your chin area.  It’s even been known to attract more hairs.  The tweezers are still doing a good job; it’s just taking a bit longer to weed the hairs. You continue with this pattern of hair elimination.

Next you get a magnified mirror.  The hairs are getting smart; they hide then pop out full grown.  Seriously, you can look in the mirror, see nothing, and an hour or so later, you have this inch long thing sticking out of your face!

The magnified mirror helps with finding the hairs that do that.  With a good mirror and pair of tweezers, you can catch the little buggers before they can spring out of your face.  This is good, you’ve got the situation under control; at least as much as you can, and still have a life.

Then one day you notice, there are less hairs on your chin than before.  You begin to rejoice in your victory; until you discover all of the hairs are still there, they’ve just gone incognito.  They’ve gone white or gray, making it almost impossible for you to see; yet being very obvious to anyone near you.

The magnified mirror and tweezers are doing an okay job, but it’s getting harder to see the hairs you’re trying to get.  Add the fact that by now your eyesight is going bad, (whether due to age, or all the hair hunting you’ve been doing); things just aren’t looking good overall. 

You keep up the fight though, knowing if you don’t, the hairs will take over your chin.  And they’re getting tough.  While at first you could pluck a hair out easily, now each one holds steadfast, trying it’s best not to be uprooted.

The next stage is, you’re holding your own against the hairs on your chin.  You’re not winning, but neither are they; it’s a stalemate.  Okay, it’s doable.  Not necessarily the best scenario, one you can deal with though.  Until you discover the hair that has migrated to your upper lip.  So not fair!

The chin is one thing; you can pull hairs out with tweezers with little to no pain.  The upper lip however is a different story.  That hurts!!!

Okay, it’s not a major hurt, but it does hurt, nonetheless.  Also, I’m not sure if it’s the location, or what, however, the hair on your upper lip is never small, like on your chin.  For some reason upper lip hair is just instantly long.  And there’s never just one hair.  Upper lip hairs rise up in masses.  Even if your chin hairs have gone gray or white, upper lip hair always comes in dark and long.  If a face was a garden, the chin would have regular soil, while the upper lip would be using Miracle-Gro.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, what happens?  Whatever it is that’s going on with the hairs on your upper lip, the hairs on your chin have caught on.  They seem to have smuggled some of that Miracle-Gro for hair down to their area.  Now the chin hairs are popping up longer, stronger, and more frequently.  Plus, they still have a stronghold on your chin, making it almost impossible to pull them out.

And thus the cycle continues, day in and day out.  I have no idea where this whole chin and upper lip hair deal is heading; I’m just along for the ride at this point.  What I do know is, if I had a choice, I’d shave my legs and underarms every day, if it meant the stupid hairs on my face would go away! 

REVIEW—Ronnie Dunn's Self-Titled CD

After 20 years as one half of the mega-duo, Brooks & Dunn, Ronnie Dunn has released his first CD as a solo artist.

The self-titled CD contains twelve songs, including the first single, “Bleed Red”.   After hearing the CD, I think this was a good song to lead off Dunn’s solo career; it’s not too quiet, yet it’s also not too overpowering.  It’s a song that manages to stay the course of where Dunn has been, and where he seems to be heading in the future.  For those expecting a change from the Brooks & Dunn days though, you won’t find it on this CD.  

What you will find is that familiar, polished, yet a bit rough, voice that brought many of Brooks & Dunn’s hits to life.  I find it ironic that, in the liner notes Dunn thanked someone for pushing him beyond what he thought he could do.  I don’t quite get that, because to me, any of the songs on this CD could have been a hit for Brooks & Dunn.  There’s really nothing I heard that is that different from what Ronnie has been doing the past two decades.

 That’s not to say the CD is bad; it’s not.  Anyone who’s been a fan of Brooks & Dunn, especially the songs done by Ronnie, will probably like this CD.  If you’re looking for Ronnie Dunn to be a “Brand New Man”,  (forgive the pun, I couldn’t help myself!), in his solo career though, it’s not on this CD.

Though the feel of the songs aren’t different from Brooks & Dunn, the songs on the CD are good.

One song that really stands out to me is “Cost of Livin’”.  It tells of a man looking for work, so he can pay his bills and feed his family.  The concept of the song really isn’t that different than other tunes out nowadays.  What sets “Cost of Livin’” apart though is Dunn’s delivery of the tune.  It reaches out, gets your attention and keeps your attention through the whole thing.  If it was up to me, I’d pick “Cost of Livin’” to be the next single from the CD.

Another song I really like is “How Far to Waco”.  This song is the most up-tempo song on the CD; yet doesn’t get as crazy as if say Kix Brooks did the song.  That’s just not Ronnie Dunn’s style.  He can cut loose on songs, though he just doesn’t seem to go totally crazy, like some artists do.  He pulls it off well though, at least on “How Far to Waco”. 

I also particularly like “I Don’t Dance”.  The title would lead one to believe this could be a song about a guy in a bar and he can’t dance, etc.; it’s not.  The song actually tells the story of a guy who makes his living singing in bars, and how even though the girls are pretty, and may hit on him, he doesn’t dance with any of them, or mess around.  Instead, he saves all his dances for the woman he loves who’s waiting at home.  I really can’t do the song justice here, trying to explain it.  All I can say is, I think it’s a really sweet song for a guy to sing to a girl.

In summary, if you’re looking for something totally different from Ronnie Dunn, now that he’s gone solo, you’ll probably want to skip this CD.

However, if you’ve been a fan of Brooks & Dunn in the past, and wondered where you’ll get your fix, now that they’ve split, fear not; this CD will have you reliving those times once again.

GANGS & VIOLENCE

Saw a post from Earthquake Jake today on KUPL’s Facebook page. 

So there's been a lot of talk in the news about gang shootings. They're on the rise, I guess? Honestly, I don't put that much thought into it. But SHOULD I worry about it? Is it the media making a big deal of it, or are we all actually in danger? ~Jake

I also read several of the responses.  Over all, it sounds like, yes, most people do think it’s something to worry about; myself included.  At the same time, I also see where maybe the media IS making a big deal of it. 

With that said, the rest of this post is purely how *I* feel about this whole situation.  I guess you can say I’m too wordy to post on Facebook.

As I stated, I do worry about all the shootings, gang related or otherwise.  I worry about the rise in crime in general.  I worry because, as one person posted, there are a lot of innocent people, including children; that sometimes get caught in the middle of these shootings

While I believe these crimes should be reported by the media, I’m not sure it should be blown out of proportion.  That means, yes, report about shootings; just don’t make a big deal about it.  To me, that would cover both sides of the debate.  People would know the shootings are happening; yet, if the stories are buried among others, and not standing out, those doing the crimes won’t get the attention they may be looking for.  One person mentioned in a post, they thought that’s why there’s been a rise in shootings recently, people looking for attention.

I’d like to be able to say it’s because of how kids are raised these days; though that really wouldn’t be a fair statement.  While it's probable that there are those who are a product of how they were raised, it's not true of every child.  You can have a child raised "properly", (by society's standards), and they could still turn out to be a criminal.  Likewise, you could have a child with everything against them growing up; yet they turn out to be an upstanding citizen.

Yes, things have changed a lot since “the good old days”.  Those days when you knew your neighbors, people got along, etc.  We don’t live in “simpler times” anymore. Then again, the world has never been a perfect place.  There's always been crime; the difference is, you just hear about it more now.  It could be a rise in crime, or it could just be news spreads quicker in this era of electronics. It could even possibly be a bit of both.

As far as whether gang related shootings are up, I honestly don't know.  I do know that gangs have been around for eons though.  Why do we hear more about it now?  I'd have to give the same answers I've given earlier in this post; news spreads quicker, there are more people sharing space in the world, possibly how a person was raised; the list could go on and on.

I guess my whole point to all this rambling is:  Yes, there's a problem with gang shootings going on.  Is it on the rise?  Possibly.  Should people be concerned?  Yes, because if we aren't things will only get worse.  As one post mentioned, we can't just sit back and watch it happen.  While we may not be able to fight back literally, we can take precautions to protect ourselves and those around us, and we should.  If everyone opposed to gang violence stood together to help end it, that would be a great start.  There really is force in numbers; if there wasn't the gangs wouldn't be getting such a strong hold on things like they are.  

Do I think it will ever totally end?  Probably not.  That's not to be negative, just realistic.  There are always going to be those people in this world who are no good; it's part of life.  Since it will never totally go away, the best we can do is put up a resistance to what's already going on; try to keep it from getting worse.

As I said, this post is just my two cents' worth on the subject of gang shootings.  I don't claim to be right about what I feel or think, and I don't claim to be wrong; I've simply chosen to post my thoughts here. 


 

MY WORST NIGHTMARE

I don’t know about anyone else, but I get some of my craziest, weirdest, best ideas and thoughts while I’m half asleep in the shower.  This morning was one of those times.

While in the shower I was thinking of what I could post a blog about.  For some reason, my mind kept focusing on a previous blog where I’d mentioned about washing spiders down sinks. 

 I remember writing how I hate spiders.  That thought led to what other things I hate.  I realized there are very few things I actually hate in this world.

 I just can’t bring myself to hate another person.  I think it’s because “hate” is such a harsh word; I don’t use it lightly. There are a few people I dislike as much as humanly possible; but I still don’t hate them.

While still in the shower, I came up with only five things in this world that I truly hate.  At that point, the being half asleep kicked in, melding all those things into what I would call my worst nightmare. 

The whole thing stayed with me all day.  I kept wondering if I was missing anything I might actually hate. At the end of the day, I still had only the original five I thought of in the shower:  Spiders, needles, and what I call my three “B”s, bananas, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. 

Because the idea had stayed with me, the image of my worst nightmare stayed with me also.  I decided I had to recreate this thought, to get it out of my system.  It’s not the best creation I’ve made; however, using the resources I had available, it’s what I could do.

With that said, I now present my brain’s interpretation of “my worst nightmare”. 

Aaron Lewis @ the Ponderosa Lounge-5-31-11

To be honest, before March of this year, I’d never heard of Aaron Lewis.  When the concert was announced, I was iffy on whether I was going or not.

Then a friend started telling me who Aaron Lewis was.  When she said he was the lead singer for Staind, I still didn’t know who he was, although I had heard of the band.  At the time though, I still didn’t take much stock in really wanting to go to the concert.  I guess in the back of my mind I had the “just another rocker coming over to country”, attitude going on.

Then, early one morning on my way to work, I heard this song; the voice was deep and gravelly, and the song was just packed full of imagery and emotion.  It was one of those rare songs that I took an instant liking to.  As I was listening, I heard the line, “a country boy is all I’ll ever be”.  That’s when I realized I was hearing Aaron Lewis for the first time.  My friend had told me his country single was called “Country Boy”; so I was pretty sure that was what I was hearing.

I got to work, checked KUPL’s playlist for the time I heard the song; sure enough, it was Aaron Lewis.  That’s when my interest was really peaked…I decided I really needed to go to this concert. 

Originally Aaron was to be at the Ponderosa Lounge on May 26^th; due to the tornadoes in the Midwest though, Aaron was stuck back east and couldn’t get a flight to Portland. The show was rescheduled for May 31^st, and Aaron was able to make it that day.

Before the show, I was lucky enough to be part of the meet and greet for Aaron Lewis.  Since the friend who had told me about him was also at the show, I took her with me to the meet and greet.  It was so much fun to watch her meet Aaron; he’s one of her favorite artists.  And the picture that was taken of the two of them is just so cute!  I’m hoping she doesn’t mind me sharing it here. (I’m pretty sure she won’t, since she has it as her profile pic on Facebook right now.) 

 When it was my turn to meet Aaron, I told him how I’d heard of Staind; though I admitted I didn’t know that much about the band.  I also told him the first time I heard “Country Boy”, I thought to myself that he sounds more country than some of the country artists nowadays. 

I also asked if he came from a musical family and he said yes; he first started playing and singing when he was about 5 years old, and had learned from watching his father.

What I really noticed about Aaron, with others, and with myself is, he took the time to genuinely connect with each person.  He spoke with everyone, answered questions, joked around, and more.  Aaron just seems to be a really warm, caring, friendly person.  And for as shy as I can be, he was also really easy to talk with. 

 When it was time for the concert to start, local musician, Kurt Van Meter, came on stage first to do an acoustic set.  Kurt seems to be one of those guys that can sing anything, and make it sound good.  I thought he was a good lead in to Aaron Lewis.

 When Aaron took the stage, he began his acoustic set with a Staind song.  Throughout the evening, he played songs from his EP, “Town Line”, and also did some cover songs, one being “What Hurts The Most”, originally done by Rascal Flatts.  He ended the show with his hit, “Country Boy”.

Other than what I had been told previously about Aaron Lewis, I chose NOT to listen to Staind, or dig into any more details about him before the concert.  I wanted to go to the show, and just experience it for the first time; without the possibility of preconceived notions.  I’m glad I did.

What I heard on that stage when Aaron performed was that same gravelly voice I’d heard on the radio.  What I also heard, and saw, was a man with so much power and emotion in his voice and music, it just draws you in.

  

I’m really glad that I was able to go to this concert.  I definitely walked away a new fan of Aaron Lewis.