AlbGlinka's TV Pick of the Month: "The Bachelor; On The Wings of Love"

Living the dream!

Art and TV

I have a new painting instructor this semester who is challenging, very knowledgable... we have to do assignments even in the Advanced section. Our current assignment, which is just wrapping up, is to do a single-panel Expressionist painting. By Expressionist, he means: a piece that evokes some strong emotional response in the viewer. I will show all y'all the results in my next post.......

I have come to the conclusion (finally!) that I need to cut back on my TV viewing, especially RE:Ality TV. Oy Oy Oy! It was just getting to be too much. So I am just doing The Bachelor, American Idol, the end of Top Chef, and most likely SNL. Oh, and Survivor when it starts up again. Plus some brief TV news watching-- the national stuff mostly. (I heart Katie Couric ever since she took down Sarah Palin.)

So: no more Wife Swap, The Nanny, True Beauty, assorted sitcoms, Oprah, Dr. Phil. No Celebrity Apprentice! Sorry, The Donald!

How embarrassing are these lists? Sheesh!

Last night I listened to an opera music CD that a friend burned for me eons ago that was gathering dust in my Bachelor Pad. It was quite pleasant! Tenor Arias by Juan Diego Flórez.

The "Crazy Edit"

I sometimes wonder how I would be "edited" if I were on RE:Ality TV... more specifically: would I get the "Crazy Edit?" You know what I'm talking about: the crazy cast-member is rambling on and on about something insane, or is doing is something very foolish for an extended period of time, and the editors splice in some background music with a funky melody and a TUBA solo. And then directly afterwards there is a reaction "Talking Head" shot from a second non-crazy RE:Ality TV contestant going: "What the F?"

The latest example of this RE:ality show staple was on the first episode of "The Bachelor" which as you all must imagine, is one of my very favorite entertainment programs on the Boob Tube. There was this young lady who was all bug-eyed and was sitting on one of the sofas going on and on about how she creates these Vision Boards based on the book "The Law of Attraction" and how she cuts out all these words and pictures for her boards and then all her visions come true and how one of her visions is to marry the nice Single Daddy Bachelor, etc. etc. Some of the other girls listening to her were subtly rolling their eyes. You know that if a "Bachelor" contestant thinks you're crazy, then you REALLY must be crazy. And then when Jason The Single Daddy Bachelor heard the whole rap, he was like, "Um, okay..." And he promptly gave her the boot. They showed more of his reaction last night, which was "I don't get it."

I guess he doesn't have much of a chance to watch "Oprah."

The "Law of Attraction" (Snake Oil) authors/seminar leaders, as well as the manufacturers of Glue-Sticks must have been pissed to get all the negative publicity.

I hope to get back to posting about my life and art soonish. :-)

"Mama's Boys" Update:

I may be the only person in America watching this show. Even TelevisionWithoutPity only reviewed the pilot episode. You know a show is bad when even TwoP snubs it!

Anyway, on last night's episode, the firefighter dude kept the silicone-enhanced blonde bimbo on the show despite his mother's strong wishes to give her the boot. It didn't bother him that the blonde bimbo had gone into debt by $162,000 in order to get two boob procedures, botox, lip collagen, hair extensions and trips to Neiman Marcus-- all of which she said were for "maintenance," at age 25. Methinks that the Firefighter Dude is making all his relationship decisions from his lower region and not from his brain. I fully support him!

The bigoted, anti-semitic, racist, insane Mom's son, Jo Jo made a different choice however: he ended up rejecting the girl who had posed for Playboy and wherever else all over the Internets. He wants a wholesome RE:Ality TV girl who is only showing off her boobies on a TV show.

The Jewish Mom's son continues to be chased by the African-American beauties on the show, which I find interesting... but Jewish Mom is trying to push this NICE JEWISH GIRL on him. Unfortunately he doesn't seem interested-- perhaps because NICE JEWISH GIRL doesn't have large silicone-enhanced boobs? Even her skill at making matzoh-ball soup didn't appear to sway him. Go figure!

Oh, and there was a big wooden crate with files in it about all the girls' secrets. Each mom got to look at one girl's file. That's how all the stuff about debt and hair extensions and posing for Playboy came out. Since the casting directors seem to have done a majority of their casting from Playboy, Penthouse and InternetFloozies.com, many of the files were quite thick.

Next week: Mrs. B. goes ballistic when Jo Jo gets jiggy with a black girl in the hot tub... and Miss Penthouse 2008 continues to try and keep her secret from Firefighter Dude's mom...

Art and RE:Ality (TV and Other Stuff)

Here's my latest masterpiece (sorry no scratch and sniff, Remo!). The instructor had the same model sit with the same pose for four class sessions, which was a great opportunity to do a more finished piece.

This painting was completed in three sessions, so about eight hours total. I prepared a canvas with a pinkish ground, and then painted the figure with whatever colors struck my fancy. Fauvism is the genre that is most like this. I wasn't a slave to correct proportions, although my one self-criticism is that it's not far enough removed, like let's say a Modigliani, yet not completely anatomically correct either. This is partly because I just don't paint from RE:Ality very often these days, and figure painting is one of the hardest technical challenges there is in art.

I really enjoyed painting from the model this semester!

My friends who I've shown my lastest work to are all encouraging me to aim for having a show in 2009. I definitely have enough work, it's just a matter of where and how. I have a lot of trouble with self-promotion in my offline life. BELIEVE IT OR NOT! Fear of rejection. Ugh! But I definitely feel like it's time. Even if it's in a little cafe somewhere.

Onto RE:Ality TV: "Momma's Boys," NBC, Monday night. Be there! It's sick and awesome. I'm not sure if it's politically correct to stick a racist, bigoted, anti-semetic, ignorant, hypocritcal Momma into a house with a bunch of demographically diverse and randomly silicone-enhanced bachelorettes, but it definitely makes for great TV.

RE:Ality and Non-RE:Ality TV: Jumping the Shark and Jumping the Grande Jeté

It's that depressing time of year when several Re:Ality TV shows wrap up their seasons and RE:Ality TV Addicts have to wait until early January for new seasons to begin. (Bachelor and American Idol, f'rnstance!)

I have been a rabid fan of Survivor since Day One, but I have to say, I was pretty disgusted with this Gabon season. So many unlikeable contestants, headed up by the Horrid and desparately in need of Long-Term Therapy Corinne and the Alcoholic Curmudgeon and Dog-Fancier Randy. I had trouble deciding who to root for. The H.S. Teacher dude who won deserved it, but he was a bit crusty for my tastes. "Sugar" was cute, but that's about it. I liked the Video Gamer... what was his name again? I guess the fact that I can't remember sums up everything about the season for me. Ken. Just looked it up on TelevisionWithoutPity.

Corrine reminded me of myself a few years back, when I thought that being sarcastic and mean was "interesting" and that nice people were boring. Hopefully she'll grow up one day and realize how ugly her attitudes are and how much they hurt others and herself.

Moving on to Stylista, my other guilty pleasure these past few months... Johannna won. She seems like the editorial type. I spent a few days freelancing at magazines back in the day in NY and those offices are full of gals like that. I think that DeShaun's downfall was that he couldn't spell or copy-edit for shit, and that is an important job-skill at the entry level. This show may be a one-season wonder, I'm not sure, but I enjoyed it. I so want to be "ON TREND" these days myself! The bitchery on this show was hard to take at times too, but at least it was comical, and everyone in the Fashion Biz is kind of like that anyway.

Last but not least, I wonder if any of my loyal blog-readers caught the PBS Dance In America Broadcast last night of my beloved San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker? It was exciting to see so many of my fave dancers on TV, and I thought it was very well-filmed. I see The Nutcracker just about every year. What I enjoy the most, aside from the gorgeous music and dancing, is seeing the all little girls in the audience in their velvet frocks, white saggy tights and black patent leather maryjanes.... the dressed-up mommies and daddies are fun too.

Happy Holidays all y'all! Only four more days of Retail Hell for me until my break next week, wooohoo!

Sunday RE:Ality TV Korner

I don't have to be at work until 12:15pm on Sundays, so I can chill a bit when I wake up.

I am in a state of bliss when Project Runway is in full swing. I luff that show!!!! This past week, Madame Glinka considered whether or not she should purchase Gay Mormon Keith's "T.P. Caught in a Windstorm" dress.

The whole "Holla At Cha Boy" scenelet between Blayne and Tim Gunn reconfirmed my belief that RE:Ality TV has better dialogue than any scripted program on the tube.

Dying Brain Cell Alert

Yes indeed, I am still very much into the Re:Ality TV scene... Big Brother 10: what can I say? The license plate veto challenge last night: so sad! Was it edited to make the contestants seem dumb or are they truly dumb? Is that a dumb question?

Where is Janelle when we need her???

pictured: Michelle, channelling her inner Glinka!

Watteau Landscape, and BBBLLLAAAKKKEEE!!!

I'm working on a landscape assignment in painting class-- loosely based on a painting, Pilgrimage to Cythera, by one of my favorite Rococco painters, Jean-Antoine Watteau. He often painted society people enjoying the pastoral countryside while being feted by commedia dell'arte performers and musicians. Here's a pic of my painting in progress; there's a couple under tree and statue of Venus on pedestal still to be worked on, blank right now. I'm enjoying some luscious greens, umbers, turquoise-y yellows, inspired by the source painting I'm looking at.

Tonight I am going to the ballet with my balletomane friends to see Don Quixote, looking forward to that.

RE:Ality TV Korner: I am trying not to obsess over a certain American Idol contestant...!

Tchaikovsky II, and Idol Gives Back

Here's the full "Hero" painting that I described two entries ago. The Tchaikovsky head is pretty complete; the two dancers and border still need work.

The larger ballerina is taken from a photo of the famous Bluebird Pas de Deux, part of the ballet "Sleeping Beauty" which I was priviledged enough to see S.F. Ballet perform this season. A most yummy and glittery production.

The figure on the bottom left of the painting is one of the Snowflake maidens from the very first production of "Nutcracker"-- in the historical photo I have it looks like she has gigantic cotton balls all over her head and tutu, plus to make sure you get the point, she's carrying a scepter with: gigantic cotton balls! Production values were a little *primitive* in those days.

The ballerinas in these old photos all look around 75 pounds heavier than today's rather anorexic standard (S.F. Ballet is not quite as bad in this department as New York City Ballet; Balanchine set the standard for the rail-thin dancer you see in that company.)

Admit it: you've missed my balletomane musings!

So, in the Grove/Alb. household we're all waiting impatiently for tonight's two-hour extravagaza of "Idol Gives Back." Mainly, we're waiting anxiously to make sure that our hundred or so votes last night helped keep Blake Lewis in the competition. We are unhealthily obsessed with that boy!

And if some poor and hungry children in Africa and the U.S. are helped as well, that's a good thing, although Idol's smarmy self-promotion can't help but be kind of creepy. Truthfully, I don't really trust huge fundraising efforts like these-- I never really believe that the money lands in the right place. There are always horror stories of funds not being spent, etc.

It should be interesting to see the big names trotted out. Any chance to see Kelly Clarkson-- she's another one who totally activates my 13-year-old girl gene.

Okay, I guess that's enuff rambling for one day. I disappear for months and then reappear and can't shut up. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging.