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Annual Mermaid Parade in Coney Island
This has been a hectic but productive weekend.
Yesterday I saw an MIT art exhibit about astronauts the went to Space 242 for a gallery for an artist talk.
The I had a drawing in the group show about sideshow freaks and carnival called Get Your Freak On.
Then I went up to new Hampshire for a caricature gig after a high school prom from midnight to 3:00AM. I recently drew some new caricatures seen below.
I was drawing Tom Brady who plays in Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. I think its funny that the star quarteback for the New England patriots plays in a stadium named after a razorbalde comapny...and hardly ever shaves.
Anyway the night at the caricature gig was going pretty well. Then around 2:00 AM this heavy metal guy and his girlfriend with wild hair sat down to be drawn. They had interesting faces and were dressed in black and it inspired the best caricature I've ever done in 20 years. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera and had to give it to them.
You hear about jazz musicians who will play in dingy clubs every night for no money. Why do they do it? They keep trying to hit the high note and sometimes even years they achieve it making all their efforts worthwhile.
Today I was interviewed on Newton Cable TV about my movies, animations, and film festivals. My latest movie is part video/part animation...a visual interpretation of a surreal poem called Don't Spill the Eggs.
Recently we premiered the Mermaids of Atlantis movie at the Somerville theater.
Friday was opening night @ Boston International Film Festival with the red carpet and opening night movies.
http://www.bifilmfestival.com/
My movie
The Dreams of Leonardo Da Vinci screened @ AMC/LOEWS Boston Common: 175 Tremont St. Boston
I just got back from 3 days of screenings of movies form Boston, Chicago, Nigeria, UK, Australia, and 30 other countries. One rather interesting movie was Immigration Tango. They are going to screen it again Sunday night.
Since Friday I've been in the theater immersed in the movies world for 6-7 hours at a time @ the Boston International Film Festival Some are dreary. Others are funny, dramatic, and exhilerating. There are a few movies that you get really entranced with.
Afterwards when the actors walk up on stage in real life there is something about that after just after seeing them on the screen. They are of course regular people just like you and me. But movies create magic...Just like music. What is magic? We know when the guy in the tux pulls the rabbit out of the that that its not real.
Magic...it's when something grabs you and transcends everyday life into something more than that. Some of these movies have that magic. On sunday night The Dreams of Leonardo Da Vinci won the award for best Animated Film.
The Surreal Cafe is a new movie about urban dwellers searching for the ultimate cafe.
The search for the Coffeehouse that will transform their lives.
The Surreal Cafe won the audience award at Boston Open Screen in February.
Here are some scenes from the recreation of a circus sideshow called Carny Knowledge a dazzling array of carnival-inspired plays and carnival-style performances — using new-timey production methods to evoke old time-y interpretations. Drawing its roots from the sideshows that spread across the nation from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, Carny Knowledge conjures up that mysterious thrill that would envelop curious onlookers every time the circus came to town, accompanied by the cacophony of sideshow barkers promising the wonders of the world to those who had never strayed far from home.
Silvia Graziano & Marc S. Miller, Impresarios
There was an amusing story recently about a lady in red and her husband crashing the White house dinner party and posting pictures on their facebook page.
We all know certain people who get into events they aren't invited to by dressing up and acting like they belong. I remember several people like that at the Cannes film festival sneaking into events where they had no business. The phenomenon deserves study by some sociology grad student.
Anyway here is a cartoon for the season.
In a recent New York Times science article the Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass calls for the return of the Rosetta Stone, the bust ofNefertiti and other artifacts in the possession of European and American art museums. Egypt, Italy, and Turkey have demanded the return of ancient art objects as part of their cultural and national heritage.
Several museums the Louvre and Metropolitan have returned some of their objects. James Cuno the director of the Art Institute of Chicago doesn’t agree. He believes that museums who legitimately acquired these objects years ago should keep them. The modern governments of Italy and Egypt didn’t exist 300 years ago and certainly not 2000 years ago. Cuno in his book Who Owns Antiquities advocates the return of the concept of partage where archaeologists give some of their finds to the host countries and get to take some back home to their museums.
You have probably seen Zahi Hawass on many of the History Channel and Discovery Channel programs about Egypt. He’s a bright educated guy.
Interestingly enough when I was doing research on the Tomb of Alexander the Great fiasco in the mid 90’s Hawass sang a different tune. He then said that it was fine that Western museums kept Egyptian art as ambassadors to the world. After all he said that Egypt barely had the resources to store and exhibits all the artifacts they have as it is. 
How many artifacts does Egypt need? They already have the Pyramids, the entire treasure from Tutankhamen’s tomb, the many tombs in the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Karnak, and the Sphinx.
How far do countries have to go to return antiquities to the countries of origin? Should Sicily have to return their Greek temples to the land where the culture came from? Does Libya have to return their Roman temples to Italy? The next thing you know Greece will demand the return of the Elgin Marbles.
Mermaid movie stills. Film shot Aug. 2009 at Plum Island MA
In 1984 a group of poets called the Fire of Prometheus got together and performed all over Boston. For several years the group performed shows that either entertained or tortured the audiences depending on who you listen to.
They also performed in the east Village, Soho, Toronto, London, and Paris.
The group is doing a one night reunion show featuring the 84 year old Billy Barnum, RU Outavit, Kasara, and Mick Cusimano @
SQUAWK Coffeehouse open-mike Thursday night Aug. 13, 2009 from 9:00 pm to 12 midnight,
located in the Harvard Epworth Methodist Church, 1555 Mass. Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge, Ma
https://www.angelfire.com/music/squawk/weekly.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvb29xxhle8&feature=channel_page
https://mcusiman.tripod.com/fire.html
https://mcusiman.tripod.com/und.html
Last night
I went to Fenway Park with 3 friends. Ortiz didn't score any runs, Wakefield didn't strike any one out. In fact the Red Sox were in Florida. behind 3rd base this guy began singing Baby you can drive my car. Guess you're going to be a star.
Yes Paul McCartney was amazing doing many of his legendary songs...Eleanor Rigby, Helter skelter, Hey Jude, Yesterday, Band on the Run, Paperback writer, I saw her standing there, Back in the USSR, etc. they played 2.5 hours. It was a unique experience. you can't underestimate the effct of the Beatles on late 20th Century America and in many ways the world.
Here is a comic strip of the show.
