Raymond Chandler

On the list of Must-Read-Before-You-Die books has got to be The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler. Published in 1939, Chandler helped define the hard-boiled private detective and developed dark, but beautiful, scenes throughout the book. A master of extreme similes that fit like a soft-leather glove on a lady’s well-formed hand, Chandler writes like no others, although others write like Chandler. His main character in The Big Sleep is Philip Marlowe, the wisecracking, hard drinking, tough private eye who is also quiet and philosophical, enjoying chess and classical music. Morally upright, Marlowe is not tempted by the femme fatale charms of his client’s two beautiful daughters—even when one of them is naked and beckoning him. Nope, Marlowe would rather eat glass (probably washed down with a shot of rye whiskey) than succumb. The book is easy to read, but Chandler’s crafted language needs to be savored. Cheap copies of the book should be readily available. Even if—as Joe Brody, a bad guy in The Big Sleep says—you’ve “been shaking two nickels together for a month, trying to get them to mate,” there’s always the library. Read the book before you enter your big sleep.

The Visual Dictionary

This site is just plain fun. The Visual Dictionary is a collection of words – which are photographs of signs, graffiti, advertising, tattoos, packaging, menus, writing in the sky, you name it… Created by Matthew Knight, a UK-based freelance technical creative director, the site collects contributions from anyone, anywhere in the world who can snap a photo of a word or phrase found in the real world. It helps if the shooter frames the photo creatively where possible, although that’s not a requirement. It’s a wonderful collection and an innovative idea that can tickle the imagination for the practical to the obscure uses. 

American Made

Every kitchen junk drawer should have a few tools--the basics: hammer, small- and large-size slotted and phillips screwdrivers, and a pliers. Of course, it's a given that the one tool you need from this basic set will not be in the junk drawer when you need it. But the modest goal is there. In my household, the pliers is missing. Has been for some time. I've decided to replace it and I've just spent $10.43 to purchase a high-carbon C1080 steel pair of slip-joint pliers that are made in the United States. Rather than go to the local hardware store and fish through the discount bin for a pair of cheap, Chinese-made pliers that would cost probably a third of what I spent I made the conscious decision to buy American--even if it costs more. Why? I'm thinking that it may help the Meadville, Penn. Channellock Tools Company stay in business. It probably is too little and too late, but everything I buy now is American made. Unfortunately, the reality is that huge segments of consumer products are no longer made in the U.S. Everything with a plug and cord is manufactured, assembled, and packaged offshore. There is no such thing as an American-made toaster, clock-radio, or coffee-bean grinder. But, my campaign will continue.

An interesting video from the California singer/songwriter Jeannette Kantzalis, who records under the name "A Brokeheart Pro." Her most recent CD, The Kitten Next Door, is available from CDbaby. Her promo says:  Rockabilly, Psychobilly, Alt/Country with a punk/DIY twist. Jeannette's amazing vocals will suck you in and what she says will keep you there wanting more. Pure talent, a true artist, the real deal here. For fans of the Horrorpops, Creepshow, Mazzy Star.

The Shaman: Voyages of the Soul - Trance, Ecstasy and Healing from Siberia to the Amazon

There are three reasons to like this book:

[1]  It deals with the mystical and magical. As Western culture adults there is far too little (if any) to believe in that isn’t dry, processed, empirically proven, and documented to death. The shaman, aliens, voo doo, and crop circles represent the mercurial possibilities that deserve space in our thinking.

[2]  The author, Piers Vitebsky, appears to have exhaustively researched the topic and presents all angles including worldview, traditions, becoming a shaman, their clients, and understanding how their practices fit into a culture. Vitebsky covers practitioners from all continents and corners of the planet.

[3]   The independent publisher, Duncan Baird Publishers in London, did a great job with the book production, making it enjoyable to hold, page through, and read.  They claim to be “…committed to innovation, design, editorial excellence and imagination, creating unique books for today's readership.” And with The Shaman, they fulfilled the promise. The book is richly illustrated with photos and graphics, and there are tons of sidebars filled with anecdotes, explanations, historical incidents, and definitions. The page paperstock is heavy, which is great for the illustrations and provides the tactile sensation of an art book.  

Image Maker

Stumbling along the digital highway I came across an interesting photographer, Ian Curcio. He is an editorial and commercial photographer with artistic flare. There is clear evidence in his work of an obsession to capture beauty in the unnoticed and interesting shots of the noticed. He certainly has mastered the technical aspects of photography—composition, lighting, exposure, flash, lenses, and more. He knows his way around f-stops and such. But what makes him special is his creativity. Incredible creativity borne out of necessity…a compulsion…to shoot photos that communicate, tell stories, or stimulate the imaginations of the viewer.
• Look at his “12 Portraits of 12 Strangers on the Streets of San Francisco,” where his self-assignment was to go out and shoot strangers in the streets with a camera and one light attachment—all in six hours. The shots are remarkably wonderful.
• Look at his collection of iPhone photos. Curcio exploits the capabilities of the iPhone’s camera and captures textural details, everyday scenes, and people, with an artist’s eye for color, blur, and light.
• Look at his professional portfolio of portrait, editorial, structures, and food. Food! (According to the pro-shooters I’ve known, shooting prepared food is probably the most challenging assignment a photographer can receive.).
• Look at the tearsheets from his work published in print publications. Compelling stuff.
• Look at his black and white work to see Curcio’s sophisticated understanding of the power of light and shadow. Gorgeously arty.

Deceivingly Simple

Simple, graphical art is appealing. It inspires the “I-can-do-that” in us. Unfortunately, the scale, balance, and execution never looks right from the hands of rank amateurs. A wonderful artist and printmaker is the Chinese artist Tan Ping. Born in Chengde, China in 1960, a retrospective of his deceivingly simple work will be opening May 15th at the Red Gate Gallery in Beijing.

From the press release announcing the exhibit:

“Graduated from the printmaking department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Tan Ping rediscovered abstraction and its essence when he was awarded a scholarship to study in Berlin, Germany. During the years spent abroad, not only was he exposed to European artistic traditions but he also reconnected with his Chinese roots as he strives to interpret and innovate the art of printmaking with an Asian connection. Just as a true artist never ceases to evolve and redefine his artistic perspective, the exhibition will showcase the various phases of his graphic expression over the last twenty years. From the early calligraphic etchings on special hand-made paper to chromatic etchings using his innovative technique of over-layering copperplates to the more recent cellular works, ‘Tan Ping at 50’ is an artistic journey infused with a unique sensibility founded on the marriage between the Western tradition of printmaking and Chinese philosophies and principles.”

Tan Ping is vice president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing. The Red Gate Gallery is located at Levels 1 & 4, Dongbianmen Watchtower,
 Chongwenmen, Beijing.