theme suggestion+

In the New York Times {Friday, January 4, 2008} is the story:
The Killing of John Lennon (2006)
Review Summary

“I was nobody until I killed the biggest somebody on earth.” Those are the boastful words of John Lennon’s assassin, Mark David Chapman (Jonas Ball), who shot Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980, in front of his home at the Dakota, the Manhattan apartment complex at 72nd Street and Central Park West. Everything Mr. Chapman says in “The Killing of John Lennon,” Andrew Piddington’s devastating re-enactment of events leading up to, including and immediately after the murder, is taken from interviews, depositions and court transcripts. Because much of the dialogue is voice-over, the film takes place largely inside Mr. Chapman’s feverish mind. Lennon appears in the movie but only briefly, and in shadow: a phantom to be slain. Shot in a quasi-documentary style at the actual locations where the events took place, including the sidewalk outside the Dakota, the movie is extremely uncomfortable to watch.” — Stephen Holden, The New York Times
Full New York Times Review » http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/movies/02lenn.html

I wrote a {review} on the New York Times titled the killer as social object+

41.

January 4th, 2008

Rating:

the killer as social object+

Your on your way to dinner and you see Britney Spears. At dinner the conversation is about Britney Spears. Britney is the social object.Your on your way to see this film. You see the film. You blog about it. You talk to your friends about it. A conversation is started and will it ever end?

The killer is the social object. What does that say about a society’s underlying culture?

Frankly, I do give a damn about this. It concerns me because I see our culture fading into a whisper where we are so desensitized to seeing things and reading about things on the Net like the decapitation of terrorist captives on You Tube and the hanging of the US’s no.1 public enemy and threat to US security, that I wonder if we truly are a society in economic, social, cultural, political, environmental and spiritual VERTIGO?

This movie is symptomatic of the push of information to be consumed rather than meeting the demand of consumers for information. There is a big difference. Or perhaps we must recognize that there is a market for this and thus we are in a VERTIGO world where the fallibility of human nature has run amok.

- snytcafe

The theme, are we in a VERTIGO world where the fallibility of human nature has run amok+ or not, I present.

{Michael}

Sixth Grade Camp

Ah, the memories of early romance. A week away from the parents, liberating all the young little hearts. I remember my best friend taking long walks in the woods with her boyfriend. So much to giggle about.

There was one boy who had a crush on me. Tom, maybe? He was outside our cabin one afternoon, waiting for me to come out and talk to him. I was far too shy, especially with twenty girls looking on. So, I watched him out the window, as the sun set, and his heart sank into his shoes.

There was a special dinner at the camp a different evening. I was in a panic. Dads were supposed to come. I hadn’t even asked mine. I really didn’t think he’d show. But he did.

I adored my dad. I have very few pictures of him, and the ones I have I can’t seem to find. I pulled out an old high school sketchbook today. I knew this drawing of the camp photo was in there, but still, it took me by surprise:

–With my dad and little brother, drawn in 1986 from a photo taken in 1979.

by Shelley

Dear Cafe Crem Friends

I must be away all day tomorrow for a funeral so I won’t be able to post again til Saturday. So with Miki and Kevin gone I hope someone will keep things moving here on our topic. Also, dear artist friends, please remember that all forms of expression about Parents and Children are invited here. The photos have been great. Is there any artwork at all that might be forthcoming? Warm wishes to all.