Hello Dali - Part Three

Hallucinogenic Toreador

(This is Dali's work about bull fighting. The female in upper left corner is wife Gala who disapproved of the sport. You night be able to see the faces formed by the Venus de Milo statues and one is crying. There is a dead bull in the lower center you might be able to see as well. The blood coming from the nose forms a pool that symbolizes a lake that he loved near his boyhood home. A lady is on a raft which symbolizes growing tourism. The flies represent death and the markers at the top represent the fallen bullfighters. The green cloth is a tie and the red garment is a red cape. See the faces?)

Discovery of America

(The young man pulling the ship onto the shore was a waiter at the coffee shop Dali went to regularly. The lady on the large pennant is Dali's wife Gala. The many crosses symbolize the divinity of America and/or its ideals. The round orb at the lower center didn't sit well with Dali's patron and most prolific buyer of his art and he expressed as much to Dali. Dali told him when he understood what it was he could call with complaints. It was 10 years later while looking at an eclipse the man suddenly knew what it was and excitedly called Dali. "I know what it is! It is the place place of America and earth within the planets and how it may evolve through time." Dali responded by saying, "It took you long enough." And then he abruptly hung up on him.)

Ecumenical Council

(Again many things are going on here, too. Gala once again is the model for the kneeling figure. In the upper right corner he used an octopus to get the effect he was looking for. The central upper figure is God flanked by the divinity of Christ and a dove on the left represents the Holy Spirit, thus the trinity.)

While Mackenzie and I were dazzled by the weird, mind-numbing other-worldliness of Dali's surreal work, we ultimately loved the more traditional "masterworks". Huge, upwards of 14 feet high canvasses of classical works done later in his life, these took a year to do and are breathtaking. Paintings filled with all kinds of things going on: paintings-within-paintings, symbolism, hidden faces and objects. Most artists would have used a ladder system to paint such large paintings - not Dali. He cut a hole in his floor and raised and lowered the canvas with pulleys.

You all get an A for patience. Admittedly Dali is not everyone's cup of tea. It would have been interesting to hear a conversation between Dali and Norman Rockwell, two seeming opposites.

We are actually planning another trip soon.

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Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless. Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001. It was one of those things that can generate crime: two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job. Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things. Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold. But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find. His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead. He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds. He will be paralyzed for life. None of this is pleasant. Reading the facts of the murder and attempted murder are most unpleasant

Summer Swim

It's Monday and the start of another work week. Except for me. I have the week off because the parents of my daycare charges are taking the week off, too. This is one of those wordless posts I love on Mondays so I can put my laziness in full view of loyal readers. These pics need no words. Why muddy the waters? They were taken at the pool at Sinkhole Estates aka Death Valley. The nice thing about this pool is it is heated in winter. If one must find positives in one's situation, I suppose that is one. But, please, no more.

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida. There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife. In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride. He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much. He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A. But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here. If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying. He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed. Note the propeller

Existing In BFE

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