Okay, maybe it’s not ironic, per se, but just plain bizarre. The other day, I was driving home listening to my Alanis Morissette CD. It was on the song “Head Over Feet” when I popped it out, and, to my surprise, I was still hearing “Head Over Feet”. Hmmm. I looked at the CD case, and there was the CD. Double hmmm! It turns out, that at the exact time I was listening the “Head Over Feet” on CD, it was playing on the radio station I was tuned to, so when I popped out the CD, the radio came on and the exact same song was playing! Even weirder, it was at the exact same place in the song, so I didn’t miss a beat!
Archive for the ‘The Arts (music/poetry/art)’ Category
Isn’t It Ironic?
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011The Giant Toilet Paper Roll
Friday, March 18th, 2011For the NCAA Tournament games, we received, compliments of the NCAA, giant blue, green, and red cardboard tubes to be used as shuttle stops. To me, they look like giant toilet paper rolls or giant paper towel rolls, whichever you prefer.
As the Traffic “point man”, if you want to call me that, I spent the day driving around downtown making sure are variable message signs were working, were displaying the correct messages, and monitoring traffic flow to make sure that our out-of-town guests were finding their way to the BOK Center okay. In driving around, I noticed that I didn’t see any of the giant toilet paper rolls we had had in our yard and which were to be used to indicate shuttle stops. Finally, in the Brady Arts District, I found what had been eluding me- one of the giant toilet paper rolls!
Of course, being as that is was in the “Arts” District, I thought that they should have set it up next to one of the porta-potties that had been leftover from the St. Pat’s Day parties with one of the foam hands they sell at the BOK extending from the porta-potty to the giant blue tube. That would be art!
Anger (A Poem by M. H. Schrader)
Friday, January 28th, 2011It causes war
It causes hate
It causes one to feel bad
It causes one to lose his head
Nothing good comes from it
Nothing at all
It’s a waste of time
It’s a waste of energy
It causes you to hang your head in shame
It causes grief
It causes misery
It damages
It destroys
It is easy to get and hard to lose
It is the source of much suffering
It causes woe
It causes regret
It is pointless
It is part of us
It defines us
It is what makes us human
It is wild and untamed
It causes itself in others
Why can’t we just get along?
It won’t let us
We must control it
We must
Victoria’s Big Adventure
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011I completely revamped the website with Victoria’s photos, as the photos were way too large and took forever to download, if they did at all. I also added some pages to her photo album, splitting out the New England photos and the New York City photos. If you get a chance, revisit it and let me know what you think!
Victoria’s Amazing Photos
Friday, January 7th, 2011I downloaded the 482 photos from Victoria’s digicam, and I was blown away with the quality of the photography. She, humble as she is, refuses to believe that she has talent. So, I have posted some of them up on a page and want your opinion. I think she should take some photography classes as she has a gift. (I have added the page to the “links” section of the blog.)
If Roger Ebert Likes It, It’s Got To Be Good! Right?
Thursday, December 30th, 2010Prize winning journalist (I think it was a Pulitzer, but I’m not for sure, all I know it that it was a very important prize) Mike Holtzclaw’s favorite movie critic, Roger Ebert, received a You-Tube video about the NYC blizzard of 2010 and thinks it is “Oscar worthy”. Among other things Ebert likes is the technical craftsmanship. Here is the video, check it out-
<object width=”640″ height=”390″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/_kD_M50-V6s&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3″></param><paramname=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/_kD_M50-V6s&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowScriptAccess=”always” width=”640″ height=”390″></embed></object>
I have to agree. Much of what you see on You Tube is, well, garbage, this is not. Thumbs up to video creator Jaime Stuart! Oh wait, I can’t say that, that is copyrighted by Roger Ebert. A hand raise? No, that was the jingle for “Sure” deodorant, and that is probably copyrighted as well. A stomp of a foot? A flick of the hair? (Wait, I don’t have any hair!) Anyway, it’s good, and I felt sorry for the poor dog just trying to do the bizness.
Unrecorded Song #4
Friday, October 15th, 2010ON MY WAY
(A song by Darryl & The Living Prunes)
As I look down the road,
I really cannot see,
What lies ahead just a half a mile from me.
For this road is very hilly and it twists and curves and bends,
And it takes a long, long while for it to finally end.
Now this road is sometimes smooth,
And it’s sometimes very rough.
And sometimes traveling down this road can be oh so tough.
Now I pass into a smoggy valley where I find it hard to breathe,
And I’m looking all around, in vain, for a way to set myself free.
I’m thinking to myself,
“Hey, this must be the end of the road for me.”
I say to myself,
“It can’t be, it’s too early, it’s only ten-oh-three.”
Lo and behold,
There is that road.
Come on let’s go.
Don’t move too slow.
Where am I going?
Only the road knows.
Here I am,
up in the beautiful mountains.
Where I can breathe fresh clean air.
Where there are clear springs
that run just like fountains.
Where there are even some bears.
I look down upon the valley,
oh what a glorious view!
All I know is I’d like to stay,
Don’t want to leave here too soon.
I know in my heart
That I really can’t stay
And so I proceed
On my way
I don’t know if there will be mountains,
or valleys.
But it’s a risk I am willing to take.
So much to see,
So much to do.
So much to be
before I’m through.
Who knows what’s ahead?
It could be better than before.
But if I stop now,
Then I will never really know.
I do not know what’s up ahead on the road for me,
But the road is my life, my future, what I am to be.
No, I’m not gonna stop, won’t stop,
I’m gonna travel that road until it ends,
And see what life has to give me.
On my way.
(©2010 BY M.H. SCHRADER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
Things Seen On The Road Less Travelled
Saturday, February 6th, 2010Right now, I am driving every street, alley, and byway in the city of Tulsa searching for guardrail, as one of my current projects is to inventory, classify, and evaluate all of the guardrail the city maintains, and no one really knows where it is all at. Yes, the record-keeping is that sporadic and poor. While I am out on the roads less travelled, I will see unusual things. Yesterday, for example, I saw chickens in a yard, a guard goat (a goat sitting on a front porch blocking the front door), and an organic lawn mower (a horse in the front yard of a house in the middle of a subdivision eating the grass!).
From time to time, I will also stumble across unusual yard art that shows the creativity of the average Tulsan. Take, for example, this “running man mailbox” –
When I see creative things like this, I smile because I know that someone actually spent the time and effort to brighten the quality of their surroundings. Given that this house is in a blighted area that is very depressing to drive in (less than a half-mile away I saw corpses of dogs that had been in dog fights), it was refreshing to know that at least one homeowner refused to give in to the general malaise and “why bother” attitude affecting the surrounding neighborhood. If only more people in the neighborhood cared about the appearance of their property and the neighborhood, I wouldn’t have stumbled upon half-eaten dog carcasses…
Accidental Art
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009I was making a copy of one of our old, old map books, and I accidentally hit the “COPY” button and Xeroxed it before it was correctly on the machine. I found the resulting Xerox to be rather, well, artsy and cool looking, with the curved map lines and the dog-earred page corners. It’s “Accidental Art” at its finest!
What Were They Thinking?
Monday, November 16th, 2009Travel & Leisure magazine has posted its list of the World’s 10 Ugliest Building.
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-30322161
I am posting my thoughts on several of the entries here for your enjoyment.
This is the headquarters of the Longaberger Company of Newark, Ohio. Longaberger makes, you guessed it, baskets! While it is unique for your building to reflect your product, if other companies followed suit, this could be, well, ahem, rather embarrassing. Could you imagine if the company that makes feminine hygiene products did this? Or how about the condom manufacturer?
Here are some unusual houses from Holland. I’ve heard of James and the Giant Peach, but Hans and the Giant Onion? Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. How do you tell the pizza delivery guy how to find you? (“It’s the second onion on the left!”)
Finally, from merry old England, a cathedral, yes, a cathedral in Liverpool. When I saw this picture, the word “jousting” kept popping into my head. It kind of looks like a lance and a shield. (“We are going to joust God!”) Then again, it kind of reminds me of one of Madonna’s bras. Of course, she did sing “Like A Prayer”, and it is a house of prayer…..
