Author: Michelle Arnold

What was Lost is Found!

I follow stories about missing children, now. I don’t think they registered quite as strongly before I was a parent. With the news about Terri Schiavo, the tragedy of Jessica Lunsford (age 9, may she rest in peace) and all the other depressing stuff in the news (What ever happened to the newspaper GRIT ?) This story stood out a bit for me. A bright spot, and something to offer thanks for.

These two kids were abducted in Atlanta by their Mother’s estranged boyfriend. He shot their grandfather and took off with them. Their captor having committed violence in the act of abducting them, I would hazard a guess that their chances were not good. But they are back home, now. They are safe.

Get the story.

In the case of Jessica Lunsford, at least the man was caught, and quickly. Cudos to the authorities responsible for nabbing him. My daughter is 9. If such a thing were to happen to our family, I don’t know that I would ever be wholly sane again. Our prayers go out to her family and community.

The Beast from the Yeast

Blobtop

As if Marmite were not repulsive enough on it’s own (my own sweet wife, who used to live in New Zealand, insists she really tried to like it) some brilliant British ad guys had the nifty idea to try to sell it by doing a TV commercial parody of the old sci-fi movie classic The Blob!, and showing the nasty brown gick terrorizing the streets of London. Now literally thousands hundreds dozens of traumatized British yutes are too frightened to watch telly. Can’t have that, old man. Not Cricket. So the commercial has been pulled from the airwaves and the aforementioned ad guys received a royal growling.

First sold in 1902, Marmite was billed as a "health giving" yeast extract. It is a concentrated brown paste with a "distinctive" somewhat salty/savory flavor. Eaten on toast, and all kinds of other ways.

GET THE "DISTINCTIVE" STORY

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MARMITE!

Art Intro

Many thanks to those who have been responding so well to my first few posts. I really appreciate being made to feel welcome. I thought I would use this post to tell you a little more about myself and what I have been up to lately. Jimmy also thought that posting a picture or two of me might be good, and it would help to dispel any lingering suspicion that I might resemble either a Star-Nosed Mole or the Visage of Elder Madness. The first picture is of me at Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum.Shepherdess2_2

I am gesturing toward The Shepherdess, a masterpiece by William Bougereau, the first one of his I have ever seen in person. I could look at it all day.

The next pic is of one of my recent still life pieces that I currently have entered in a small regional competition. Is it O.K. to pray to win?? I have been really blessed this past year with good response to my art, even though I have only been painting full-time since last August. I have sold almost all of my first series of paintings, was accepted to my first regional show (a ten state area), and was also accepted into the Art Renewal Center’s (ARC) International Salon, which frankly surprised me. There were over 1500 entries from 30 countries, so I am really grateful to have been chosen. I operate a small art gallery in Rogers, Arkansas that I named Green Leaf Fine Art Gallery, influenced partly by Tolkien’s short story Leaf By Niggle, a great story for artists of all kinds to read. I also teach art lessons at my gallery and hope to be a small influence in reviving an aesthetic of beauty in cultural life. As Father Corapi has pointed out, Truth, Beauty, Unity and Life are all bound up together.

Strawbs_cream2

Spam, Wonderful Spam!

I’m sure the cast of the old Monty Python show could appreciate the absurdity of turning their old gags into a Broadway extravaganza. Why not? I first caught wind of the musical Spamalot on NPR. I was driving home and caught part of an interview with some British actor who is also known for animation voice work. OK, mildly interesting… and then I suddenly heard the voice of Nigel Thornberry issuing from my dilapidated car speakers and thought "Oh, it’s Tim Curry!". He was on the program Fresh Air plugging his latest project: A musical stage adaptation of the best bits of Monty Python.

The play is based on a book by Eric Idle and stars Curry, David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria. I have read no reviews, as yet, but the cast is certainly top-drawer. I fear that I would miss the original guys, though.

Find out more at www.montypythonsspamalot.com

Now, if only I can get someone to read this screenplay I worked out for a major motion picture based on Flay Otters, Warty Towels, (oops!sorry…)- Fawlty Towers.

I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing

A character in one of my wife, Martha’s, favorite books makes the observation that one proof of the divine life of the Catholic church is that it has survived so much bad art and music. Bad hymns have always been with us, but I find many of the new "praise chorus" type of songs to be especially mind-numbing.

The other day I was trying to figure out why this was so and, among other things, I realized that there is no harmony to the current songs we use in our local church. None. Melody lines only.

Now, I am an adult convert, so I don’t know if maybe some of you cradle Catholics might remember harmonizing at Mass. When I was a li’l Baptist, singing in harmony just happened naturally. Men took up the bass or baritone, usually, with women and kids grabbing the tenor or soprano parts. Not that we sounded great or anything, but it was kind of neat.

Along with the fact that many of these new songs’ lyrics and melodies sound like they came from a Barney episode, the lack of harmony helps to make them really, well, boring.

There is also another aspect I’ve just recently noted that I will tell you about in the form of the following Song Parody, sung to the tune of "One Bread, One Body"…

One note, for each word,

One syllable,

One melody that’s sung by all.

And we, though many, here in this church,

We all are singing just this one note.

Derriere Garde

Hey, everyone! Tim Jones, here. Jimmy has taken a fever (not really! He’s OK! Do not send Get Well prayers) and invited me to guest blog on his excellent site, which I am only too happy to do, though I are not a righter. I’m actually working at being an artist.

I was raised a Baptist (in Alaska), but during my college years (in Arkansas) I found myself adrift in terms of faith. Apparently my Guardian Angel thought I was in need of some serious help, because I ended up becoming friends with this philosophy major who turns out to be a proto-apologist and theologian and who eventually is a major influence on me and my family coming into the Church. Neat! Jimmy is also, as you know, a fun and interesting guy with a fun and interesting blog, so in the interest of keeping your interest I’ll get to the point of this post…

Art, as you may know, had a hard slog through the twentieth century. It passed, literally, from the sublime to the ridiculous and beyond, becoming downright destructive and offensive. But, there has been a move afoot in the last decade or so (known informally as the "Derriere Garde") to revive the traditional techniques and sensibilities of the Great Masters and bring them once again into the living tradition of the present. In other words, great artwork is making a comeback. More and more artists and critics are becoming emboldened to air controversial ideas, such as to suggest that artists should be able to draw beyond a third grade level. The word "talent" has even popped up on occasion.

One of the bright spots in this new/old art movement is the Art Renewal Center (http://www.artrenewal.org). Though they are located, I believe, in New York, their main presence is on the Web, where they maintain a vast online museum of master artworks. Most of the images are available in a high-res format and can be purchased as prints as well. The ARC website also carries a wealth of educational material and articles of interest to artists. Good Stuff. Their site has definitely been an influence on my current artwork as well as on the small gallery/studio/art school that I operate in Rogers, Arkansas (I’ll post some pictures soon). I am working on my own website, as well as a blog, but I find I am more comfortable with a brush than with a keyboard. Give me time.

Two caveats about the ARC site: First, it is graphics-intense, so if you have a slower internet connection (like dial-up), you might find it equally slow to navigate around the site. Secondly, this site carries all kinds of images of classical (and present day) master paintings including some Nekkid People. Be Warned!!