Wishing You All The Best!

Some Not-So-Serious Music

And speaking of Bach . . . .

Well, someone's putting on the dog!

And this bunch is putting on the cat!

Here's a handy cheat sheet for identifying composers . . . .

Let's end with some Mozart . . . .

I recently watched the new series remake of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus. To be blunt, it cannot hold a candle to the 1984 film made by Miloš Forman. To the piecemeal extent that the remake's screenplay still uses Peter Shaffer's original script, it attains some depth. But the additional dialogue and scenes inserted into the screenplay to make it more "hip, contemporary and relatable to today's audience" are appallingly superficial and jarringly out of place. Ordinarily, I quite like Paul Bettany (Salieri) as an actor who is capable of great subtlety and depth of portrayal. While he did bring some excellent heart and soul to the climactic moments from the original script, he was otherwise completely wasted here.

Can only give this series 2 out of 5 stars, unfortunately.

For All You Writers Out There

*SIGH* . . . The Latest Insanity

Monday Murals -- Ephemeral Murals: RENEWAL

I'm taking part today in Monday Murals hosted by Sami.

Mae Travels of Mae's Food Blog perceptively commented on my last week's post about a painted-over mural that "murals . . .  are destined to be replaced. Surely the artists know that this is an ephemeral work, and that exposure to the elements will efface the work even if no one paints over them or tears down the wall where they are painted."

Coincidentally, this week I'm posting about the ULTIMATE in ephemeral murals!

In February, the American artist David Popa (now based in Finland) created three huge, ephemeral murals on and beside frozen lakes and rivers here in my province of Alberta, Canada. He is known for creating such nature-based works of art which remain only until they are reclaimed by the land, water and elements. Once gone, his murals live on only in photos, prints, and videos.

His Alberta series is entitled RENEWAL. Working in frigid temperatures, Popa painted these images in two days using charcoal and chalk in household garden sprayers. The murals lasted for one day after completion before being dispersed by the strong winds.

Here is David Popa at work on one of them --

These photos are from an article by Sarah Barnes, Massive Land Murals Portray Portraiture on the Frigid Canadian Landscape, found here.

Plus, if you're interested and have 7 minutes to spare, here's an excellent interview with David Popa about his experience creating these frozen Alberta murals --

Happy International Women's Day!