Il Pittore: Art and Coffee Amalgamation

A happy synchronicity. The reason I am saying this is to attest that such circumstances really exist though very few and far between. Here I was with my bosom friend Liza pining for something out of the ordinary to visit and chill in; as we mosey on to this café situated at the backdoor and definitely off the beaten path - no sooner did we become enthralled.

Exterior mural

It was this genuinely artistic creativity that drew us to the place to be sure, murals with German expressionist leanings, monochrome posters outlining Paris mixed with industrial furniture and Provęnce-themed bric-a-brac completed Il Pittore's 360 degrees exterior. 

cool poster de París

With our curiosity piqued, we enter through the 1950's wooden and glass door, et vóila, a pastiche of Picasso, Magritte and DaVinci with a Van Gogh backdrop on the wall and to the left side of this - a Chagall.

Magritte, Picasso, DaVinci & Van Gogh in one.

Rey, the owner and the artist is the man responsible for all these, see, art is his passion and the way he can share it with others is through his café. All around and over, one's senses will be heightened because vibrancy and novelty permeates through the walls, ceilings and floors. 

Cheesecake with vanilla bean ice cream. 

Another highlight to experience in this joint was to make our own "3rd wave coffee." Epicureanism these days occupies the palate, mind and fingers do they not? With the use of gadgets that look more for a chemist than a barista, 3rd wave coffee begins with your pick of coffee beans which are then measured with precision, grounded and having the steam pressed through to extract the flavors at it's optimum, and again all these - timed to precision. I quite like it of course for it's new! Also, because one has become intimate with the conception of one's coffee while third-waving it, well, it's practically drinking one's offspring though not in a gross sense. Check out the process below:

Do come and try  Il Pittore when you get the chance. It's quite remarkable. 

Van Gogh and I:

When did I become fascinated with Van Gogh? Well, it was the time when my sister Grace imparted to me the subject of the song “Vincent” by Don McLean. In my 12-year old mind I felt a pang of sympathetic sadness for the artist when he was yet alive and as years passed on I would make it a point to recognize that when people said “Van Gogh” with paintings, it would be about this painter. It wasn't long after that that Newsweek reported one of Van Gogh's paintings named “Irises” fetched $53.9 million at Sotheby's in New York, in 1987, it was the one with the white vase and was labeled as the most expensive painting ever to be sold at the time. “A painting of oil on canvass done by a man who was penniless and mad trounces the world of the arts and culture.” Said I back then.

So it goes that in an immense sense, Van Gogh became my doorway into studying paintings; his style which was “post impressionism” in my view is the most genius and innovative of all the movements in paintings. Even after having delved into other forms like the Rococo, impressionism, German expressionism and the vast morphologies of abstract and surrealism, I am still most captivated by the originality of Van Gogh's strokes and vibrancy. So intimate did I become with Van Gogh's work that I even began to pronounce the “Gogh” as “gokh” like the Dutch, instead of the usual “gow.” In connection with this, I did dabble on paintings and sketches because of the man's ability to evoke artistry even to the ones who aren't so inclined.“Starry Night,” “The Sower,” “Sunflowers,” his still life(s), along with paintings of Van Gogh's peers like Paul Gauguin and Paul Cezanne moved me.

As I grew older and as life continued to present reality to me - in flagrante delicto, such idealistic and dreamy times of my personal belle epoch was set aside. However, when I finally came face to face with one of the painter's “Irises” and one of his self portraits with the straw hat at The Met, I literally thanked the Lord God in Heaven for taking me to that place. Yes, we all have our own Holy Grails. 

Most recently, I ran into a video-documentary about Van Gogh based on the correspondence he had with his brother Theo. The film was called: Van Gogh: "Painted in Words"; it was very well presented and stars the luminescent Benedict Cumberbatch as the painter. The subject was about Van Gogh's emotional journey paralleled with the evolution of his craft. As it happens, there are more stories to be told about him besides the madness, and self-mutilation. There was his admiration for the working class, his desire to be a clergyman and his innocent belief in love. What was revealed in his letters was a tender-hearted man behind the bold and decisive genius of the art. 

His work was far ahead of his time but hardly any recognized him when he was yet living, however, as if to make up for it, forms of today's pop culture from the "Starry Night” pastiche in Woody Allen's “Midnight in Paris” to Don McLean's song “Vincent” to Dr. Who's episode of “Vincent and the Doctor” pay homage and even seek to rectify the inequity of Van Gogh's living days. But oh dear, not even a Time Lord's time machine, nor a high-grossing Woody Allen film could undo it all for Vincent van Gogh. His art lives yes, but as for the man, McLean's elegy echoes centuries of truth about the artist, “This world was never meant for one as beautiful as him.”  
~~~

Leer!

photo extracted from imgfaves

Ella va en una adventura! (con ella gatina). Ah... que cute.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: Movie Review

"The Jill Come Lately and Jimmy Crack Corn and I don't care" reviewer strikes again:

This film is for all the underdog and top dog fans of Lonely Planet, National Geographic, and all the closet and accomplished adventurers combined.

The beginning is about the humdrum life of Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) who we find out later as one destined to have adventure but was sadly piled into a cookie cutter life of safe living and responsibility due to his father's death. At the point where we find him, his adventures and derring-do are only limited to elaborate daydreams referred to as “zoning out” which sadly, lands him the role of “office idiot”. Unfulfilled and forty two, Walter is relegated to the negative photos section of LIFE magazine. Walter is even unable to muster a plain “hello” to the object of his affection Sheryl Melhoff played by the capable Kristine Wiig.

Through his years of work and routine, he dedicatedly brings pictures of an elusive photographer - Sean O'Connell (played by a Bono-channeling Sean Penn), to the covers. Lending to the current day's relevancy, the iconic magazine is now losing print value and thus will be ushered to the electronic age. To ensure this transition, enter, the jerk-designee of the movie, Ted Hendricks, played by Adam Scott who is so good at making things downcast for Walter. Events ensue when for the last print cover of the magazine, a negative of a photo (no. 25) is nowhere to be found and it is up to Walter Mitty to get this materialized.

As pressure mounts to produce said photo, Walter uncharacteristically leaps on to a quest to find the photographer which will lead him to the negative. With one plane ride, the whole world dramatically opens up for him and his reveries become reality.

With Ben Stiller at the helm, his signature is visible in this film, it has the tendency of being noir, but the core message is romantic and positive. The pastiche of the written word mixed with the visuals is clever and pays homage to the advent of subliminal messaging. The entire film declares that that creative force named Ben Stiller we found early in his career is alive and well, when he allows it.

LESSON:

How this film speaks is the way that it strikes a chord on us ordinary people and the possibility of something awe-inspiring taking place even just once in our lives. Whoever we may be, whether living in New York City or Tacloban City, single or married, personable or paltry, we are prone to sticking to our safe zones because we are such creatures of habits and comforts and before long, we have created and trapped ourselves inside our own barricades.

The movie dazzles with the sites of the vast tundras of Iceland and Greenland, boisterous waves of a sea in the Arctic and Great White sharks. When placed in perilous circumstances, Walter is very “in the moment,” brimming with adrenalin and taps into one of his childhood skills, namely skateboarding, to get to the objective. With that, I was reminded of that booklet by Robert Fulghum, “Everything I Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten.”

When Walter finally comes to the figurative and literal summit of it all, namely the Afghan Himalayas, a golden nugget is obtained. The slippery photographer is found at last and when he resists taking an ethereal money shot of a snow leopard in exchange for just being there, it teaches us that adventure does not mainly constitute its corybantic nature, but rather, it is completed when one enjoys the stillness as well. The sequence of the two of them playing soccer with the Himalayan natives towards the sunset also wins with the message that there is joy when humans are interconnected with a common ground.

The whole movie is symbolic that if we let go of the trappings commonly deemed as important by everyone else in lieu of indelible memories to keep, we become fulfilled.

Walter Mitty is ***** for me, despite what everyone else says. Capice?

The Doctor, Doctor Who?

David Tennant (10) in many ways...

See, the thing is,  I have been very secretive about something; I have been reluctant about whether I should share this guilty pleasure  I have here in this linear progression through time. 

However, dignity is a bit wibbly-wobbly anyway, might as well come clean with it and here it be, it's...

The Doctor! 

The 900 and something-year-old Time Lord from Gallifrey.  Since my first and favorite Doctor is David Tennant, his photograph is the one I chose to feature because he defines the fun-loving, youthful, brilliant "tongue in cheek," Doctor in my eyes.

I even argued one time that to be the Doctor is cooler than to be James Bond (to rousing disagreements) because, The Doc transcends through time, passes through worm holes and dimensions, faces and fights aliens, saves planets and wait for it.. regenerates!

We all have our eccentricities and that's what makes for great horse races yeh?. 

There has already been 11 Time Lords (12 if you count Peter Cushing) called "The Doctor" since 1963. I won't be remiss and will say that Matt Smith (11) is a great Doctor, so was Tom Baker (4) and Patrick Troughton (2), they are all are notable to me. It is the opinion of the Whovian hoi polloi that no matter the era, each Doctor is special, original and possesses the ability to endear all ladies, gentlemen and other variations thereupon.

Allons-y!

Teapot Lamps

I spotted these teapot lamps designs from Jaimie Says Dream which she extracted from °•● ! ☺°ppomme. Being nuts about tea pots myself, I just marveled at the originality and artistry of these dainty little pieces!

One Resolution Reminder

Love this photo of wall art from Mr. Perswall. I indeed resolved to read more this year - and make time for it because I miss it. 

My only stipulation with this resolution is I have to do my Bible devotions - firstly and completely - before I delve into secular books...

A Southwest Flair

I saw this piece of metal sculpture of a horse in Scottsdale, AZ, around the premises of Bischoff's Shades of West. 

This is a very unique specialty store/studio in that part of the west and I enjoyed photographing the iron works, statues and other arts and crafts.The exterior was quite noteworthy, true to southwestern design and architecture - iron grills, Southwestern-style house, vibrant colors and teak doors.

This horse above must have been meant to be an Appaloosa or a Silverdust, 2 of the breeds of horses I really admire because of the distinct specks and patterns.

And, here are more photos of the exterior and other pieces...

Listening With Eyes and Feelings

I chanced upon this short film created by Todd Selby about a hearing impaired performance artist named Christine Sun Kim who has found such creative avenues of communicating. Creativity is inspiring especially if it has clarity where one does not expect it.

And now, the film:

London

Finally went to that place with the, with the . . . oh the clock! and the people with the accent!

It's not cliche to me because I have always dreamed of coming here, working here and living here. That was of course until I saw her current state, to which I was saddened by. 

Nevertheless, despite the dirt from Heathrow to Warwick to Bromley-by-Bow and the absence of the old chaps with the Chapeau and umbrella, London is still a destination worth visiting because depending on your perspective, every one I saw there, whether indigenous or transplanted - were trying. 

Whilst there I got to:

Eat fish and chips the traditional way at "The Anchor"
(built in the 1600's)

Mess around with the red phone booths:
(I needed a quid...) 

Hear London Calling:

(it said "Vrooomm!")

See a Shakespeare Play:
(w/ the English Patient as Prospero)

Photograph Monet:
(well, figuratively speaking.)

 

Sample Punk Sweetness:

(ah, life's ironies...)

Meet the Invisible Man:

(w/ visible neck)

and,

Soak up the Thames at night.

- Among others anyway...

A Key & the Spoon

 Husband: Honey, where's my key?

Wife: Honey, you're eating with it!