Gangster Squad -- One Hell of a Book!

     I just finished reading this tome and hated that there wasn't more!

     By the time I got to the last page, I felt as if secrets that had been kept for decades has been revealed to me personally. If Mickey Cohen came alive again, I'm sure I could recognize him -- and know him for what he was. With all his idiosyncracies, there was humor and absurdity mixed into the brew. The other gangsters were equally three-dimensional and fascinating.
     Paul Lieberman spent 20 years putting this book together. It was a labor of love by a top notch writer/reporter. He went after his story and chased down every living member of the Gangster Squad -- hard-nosed cops who bent every rule to go after the mob. It was a war of wits. They did whatever it took to find out what the gangsters were doing and risked life and limb to stop them.
     Relatives of the gangster squad filled out details of the past that only family would have known. Lieberman didn't let go of his story. He was clearly in love with the people who cared enough to be good cops. With the tenacity of a born reporter, the author sought out every shred of information, every detail anyone alive might have known about the police and the gangsters.
     What gives the book extraordinary color and richness is the tone of it. It is history, but it doesn't read like history. It is a conversation -- a long conversation -- full of juicy details we might have heard if we were standing behind these guys and listening to them plot and plan. Thanks to Paul Lieberman, their stories will not get lost or buried.
      As a post script, I have to add that I wrote for the L.A. Times a long time ago -- before Paul Lieberman joined the staff. I wish I had been around later and had the pleasure of meeting him. He is an example of the first class people that I worked with at the Times. They were the best.
   

We need to make our welfare system work!

I just posted a message on the Obama/Biden website. They asked for opinions and I tend to have a few of those. Among the many issues that concern me, one of the most glaring is dealing with poverty in our country. It impacts the future of our children and unchecked recidivism in our prisons.

Sooo, this was the message I sent which is not likely to be read. However, some of us never let that deter us:

We need a drastic overhaul of the way welfare is handled in the U.S. It prevents people from working instead of encouraging it. Get a job, even a temporary one, and the family is off the rolls without a safety net. Have a man in the house? That is usually the kiss of death. No welfare. Families split up. There is no incentive to keep a father and mother in the household to raise their children together. Men are diminished in status and responsibility.

As a social worker in South Central L.A. in 1966, I saw this and was disturbed by it then. If anything, with the limits that were installed under Pres. Clinton, the system became even more horrific for those who live at its mercy.

A change in the welfare system could mean a radical, uplifting opportunity for our underclass. Make it a safety net for those who work, not a walk of shame for those who can't make it. If Pres. Obama wants a legacy, this could be it. In addition, of course, to healthcare reform.

Paper Dolls -- Hands that rock the cradle rock when they paint

Jill Kettles put together "Paper Dolls," the art exhibit that is opening at Defoor Centre this Sunday night, 5-7 p.m. "No one is drawing with their blood, no one is slitting their wrists," she promises. "There is a lot of hope, a nice colorful group in a good mood."

Helen Ferguson Crawford leads the pack of emerging women artists selected to star in this summer show. Her sophisticated work teases the eye with abstract landscapes that are built on wide open spaces and lush, gentle colors. Trained as an architect, there is hardly a building in sight. Perhaps that is the ultimate in escape, open fields where it's okay to run and shout. Pinks and peaches feed her palette and warm the soul.

Casey Olsen, a self taught artist who knows her bayous captures the beauty of, again, the wide open spaces. Hers are more conventional, but also inviting to the spirit of adventure. It is hard to resist the sheer beauty of the scenery she has selected. Her presentation makes you want to be there. Olsen has a definite gift for pairing color and composition.

But it's Terri Levine's work that welcomes you into the centre. Her paintings laugh and sing and shout at you. "Jazz Man" plays loud, wonderful music that you can almost hear. 

And her series of small, almost raucous paintings are conversations and events in themselves. These are another example of how less can certainly be more. The lively, active inventions that Levine shares with us could be acquired separately -- but like separating a flock of ducks -- why would anyone want to do that? They are so wonderful together.

 

An exotic guest, Adriana Antequera is flying in from Venezuela. She and Kittles found each other on the internet. Paintings she has packed in her suitcase -- landscapes from her part of the world will be part of the show.


Kittles shares that she found most of the participating artists online. And, I found her and this interesting show online, too.

Artists leave something behind when they go...

Maurice Sendak left us this week and I listened to him being interviewed on NPR this afternoon. I was spell-bound by his insights and deeply emotional responses to the world around him. Children at a book signing? He stopped signing their books because he realized he was scaring them. They were told not to write in books and they, essentially didn't want him to mess them up. The old man was taking their books away from them. He understood what it was like to be a child long after most of the rest of us detached ourselves from that concept and moved on to the scary world of adulthood.

Sendak had an imagination that connected with kids. He knew how to reach them and I am so very sorry that he is gone. He was only 83! I would have liked to learn that he had lived to at least 100. Think of how many more books we might have had. I could never get enough of his wild imagination.

Another artist -- Thomas Kinkade -- also died this week. Of the two, this turned out to be the more tragic. He was only 54 and it was a combination of alcohol and Valium that destroyed him. I had always assumed that Kinkade was more of a businessman than an artist, that he had designed his work to hit sentimental collectors in the gut and make himself a fortune. Apparently, that was doing him a huge injustice. It has been said that he was deeply hurt by critics remarks about his paintings. Of course, it might not have been so bitter had his business not gone bankrupt -- it would have at least proved that his fans still cared -- that they were still buying his Points of Life.

Sorry, Thomas.  Goodbye Maurice.

Art and Artists on the Cheap

Taking advantage of artists and their passion for what they do is at the level of pitiful. There is a little advertised program run through the U.S. Department of State called Art Embassies. The ambassadors and curators attached to the embassies put up exhibitions and sponsor programs to bring a few artists overseas to meet and greet. Do they pay the artists for their work? No, how could we expect them to do that? The embassies also "borrow" artists' work for -- maybe -- three years at a time. This is the shocker: They don't even pay the artist a rental fee. If it were a sofa instead of an original creation, of course they would have to pay for it. No one expects a sofa for free! Not unless it's being thrown out. Original art, oh, that's different. Sure.

Just a few minutes ago, I saw an email from a local artist. I won't give you her name because...well...this is a small town. She is advertising for interns -- people to work for free. Again, that really irritating word. However, to apply for the non-paying jobs -- get this -- there is a $10 fee! Wow!

I don't even want to get knee-deep into the subject of artists being asked to donate their work to charity auctions. How glamorous to have the artists there in person, too. They are teased with the possibility of getting "known." Been there, done that, won't do it again. Years ago, an art teacher told me to NEVER give away my work for free. Anything given for free is considered of little or no value. True.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel -- give it a bag of stars

It was one of those nights -- other things to do -- but I had a pass to see a screening of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (also known as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful). It is is a 2012 British comedy-drama directed by John Madden and written by Ol Parker. Based on the 2004 novel, These Foolish Things, by Deborah Moggach, the film stars an ensemble cast, consisting of Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Penelope Wilton, as a group of British retirees staying in an elderly retirement hotel in India.


What a sweet movie it is. Pardon the syrup, but it was the answer to a day that had its rough edges. I am the biggest fan of Maggie Smith and she didn't disappoint. Neither did Judi Dench. They are the royalty of English actresses and they brought their usual punch and style to the roles they played. 


The plot has -- with no apologies -- multiple deus ex machinas, the convenient rescues in the nick of time -- but it all works and is a total delight. In fact, I want to see the movie again -- perhaps on a DVD -- so I can slow down the dialogue and catch every nuance. 


There is also a great impression of the color and zest for life in India. The ability to survive comes through and inspired. This is definitely a feel-good movie and I highly recommend it.

Is elegance enough?

Yesterday our WCAGA book club looked at Ann Truitt's work. So minimal. She said in her writing that she was expressing her emotions. Whew! That had to be her version of what it was like to be emotional. Elegant?
Yes. Definitely elegant in the simplicity of her lines, the avoidance of a curve or a random spot. But emotional? That emotion could be strength, but a canvas with only off-white paint on it, what is that saying? There was a time decades ago when that was original. It makes me wonder whether original is enough. And, yet, I was not in the majority at this gathering. Most of my friends seemed to think that Truitt's work was powerful and did something for them.

Along these lines -- today is supposedly Shakespeare's birthday. It was a shock to hear that major literary figures like Tolstoy had no respect at all for the bard's work. It's hard to imagine anyone dismissing the author who wrote "to be or not to be..." and making small of him. As an English major, I think I need to cover my ears.

As the collectors of "Points of Light" mourn the passing of their famous and extremely wealthy creator, it does give one pause. Does history really sort it out? Maybe, we all agree the ancient cave drawings were brilliant.

The painting below -- an unfinished escape from the tedium of doing what I was supposed to do today. If it says anything, I'm not sure what it is. All I know is that there is joy in the process and it is my ultimate escape. I don't smoke, drink or do drugs...probably need an addiction of this sort.