Taos Artists

In the summer of 1980, Packaw invited me to join him on a tour of New Mexico and Arizona to learn about his love – southwestern art.  Just months after his first quadruple bypass surgery (he has had two), the normally conservative guy bought himself a toy.  At 16, I didn’t know what to think about an art tour, but being able to drive his new blue/silver Datsun (now Nissan) 280ZX through the mountains sounded great to me.  The map below shows the route that we took.  I came away from the trip having a much deeper understanding of southwestern art and a deep appreciation of American Indian culture.

• B – Santa Fe, NM
• C – Allan Houser Foundry
• D – Bandelier National Monument
• E – Taos, NM
• F – Taos Pueblo
• G – Santuario de Chimayo
• H – Chimayo, NM
• I – Albuquerque, NM
• J – Acoma Pueblo
• K – Petrified Forest National Park
• L – Springerville, AZ
• M – Morenci Copper Mine
• N – Silver City, NM
• O – Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Mimi and Packaw’s art collection was varied.  They liked French impressionism, oriental carvings and a variety of pieces that just “spoke to them”.  They concentrated, however, on paintings by the Taos Society of Artists (or “Taos Founders”):

• Joseph H. Sharp
• E. Irving Couse
• Ernest L. Blumenschein
• Bert Phillips
• W. Herbert Dunton
• Oscar Berninghaus

These artists were from various parts of the world, studied in France and were drawn to Taos by the culture, the mix of Hispanic, Anglos and Indians and their boyhood fantasies of the wild west.  The focus of this yearning was the Taos Pueblo and its inhabitants, the Tewa Indians, who had inhabited the large pueblo for hundreds of years.  The six artists who formed the Taos Society of Artists in 1915 felt that their art could be marketed and sold more easily as a group than individually.  Their paintings traveled the country in tours and they gained widespread recognition as a result.  Their work paved the way for many southwestern artists including Nicolai Fechin which Packaw particularly liked.

While we were in Sante Fe, Packaw purchased his first and only Blumenschein.  I’ve always loved this painting.  Initially, it was because I was with him when he bought it.  Later, I learned to appreciate its composition – with the subdued colors of the shaded landscape in the background, the brightness of the hay as a dramatic contrast and the vibrant colors of the clothing in the foreground.

Today, this painting is displayed opposite another Blumenschein (donated by the Fleischaker family) at the Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art.  You can see that he used a similar compositional style in both paintings.

Packaw donated all of his art to the University of Oklahoma.  Half went to the school when Mimi passed away (see Thams Collection) and the remainder will be transferred when Packaw dies.  We are so lucky that the collection that he assembled for over 30 years will remain in-tact and accessible to us forever.

Appreciating Jazz

I used to hate Jazz. I mean, I really hated it! I didn’t like the repetitive and obnoxious saxophone solos that seemed to go on forever. I didn’t like how each member of the band took turns showing off how quickly they could “play” their instruments. I didn’t like how hard it was to listen to since no one seemed to get into a pattern and stick with it. It just didn’t make sense.

But like so many things in life, I’ve grown to appreciate some of what I used to hate (broccoli, wine and Asian food). Don’t get me wrong, there are still some Jazz songs that I just can’t listen to for very long. I’m not knowledgeable enough about music composition to know why I love some Jazz arrangements and hate others, but I’ll focus on the good stuff here.

This video clip helps you understand what Jazz is as a music form. It is a clip from a Ken Burns documentary. I love Wynton Marsalis‘ description of what Jazz is to him at the beginning of the clip.

There are some big take-aways from this clip that I’d like you apply in your lives:

• Know your instrument – You can’t even participate as a Jazz musician unless you know your instrument. Knowing the fundamentals is critical in everything you do. You have to have stick skills in lacrosse and foot skills in soccer before you can even participate at an interesting level. As your priorities change throughout your life, be sure that you continue to hone the basic skills necessary to play.
• Listen – It’s not enough to know how to play an instrument in order to be a Jazz musician. You have to be able to listen. Listen to the other musicians, listen to the audience, listen to your heart and soul. The genius of a Jazz musician is their ability to adjust what they play and how they play it based on the factors that are affecting them at that moment. The same is true in sports and business. You start with the fundamentals and dynamically adjust them based on what is happening around you. Take the time to slow down and “listen” – be aware – and then make your own genius come alive.
• Experiment – No Jazz musician becomes great by doing the same things over and over. How boring! You will never grow as a person if you aren’t constantly trying something new. Experiment. Fail. It is critical that you trust your ability to “play” and “listen” in order to experiment. It is typically the fear of failure that prevents people from trying something new. Never let that fear overtake you. Thomas Edison said, “I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”
• Humility – You may have heard that there is no “i” in “we”. As you get older, think less about yourself and more about the group. It is the success of the group that makes beautiful “music”. Sure, I’ve heard some amazing individual piano solos, but nothing is more moving than a symphony played by dozens of people. Realize in everything you do that meaningful things come from a coordinated group of people. Our society seems to focus on the individual (Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Tiger Woods), but greatness really comes from those who can strike the balance between leading and responding to those around them.

I love the piano and one of my favorite Jazz pianists is Oscar Peterson. He died last December after an incredible career. Listen to him work with his band in the following clip – great coordination. Also listen to his humming. I have a number of recordings where his humming bleeds over onto the piano mic. Now when I hear an Oscar Peterson recording without it, something seems to be missing.

Another Roman!

I got an e-mail yesterday from my biological step brother, Brett. He and his wife, Kelly, had a beautiful baby boy and they chose to name him Roman. Brett told me that he has always liked the name and I didn’t know that he and Kelly had agreed on it until I got the e-mail. Here’s a picture of little Roman with his big sister Claire.

The weird thing is that Brett and I have never met each other face to face. While he’s known about me being his step brother his whole life, I only learned about him when I was 23. That’s when I found out that Papa Bob actually adopted me and that I had a different biological father. I know you’ve heard parts, but It’s an interesting story that I’ll save for another post.

Brett has a brother named Chad and they both live in Kansas City, MO. They live about 15 miles away from each other with Brett on the north side of the city and Chad on the south. They continue to be very close to one another and to their dad, Jim. Chad is an elementary school teacher and is an assistant wrestling coach at a high school in the area. Brett works in commercial construction in the Kansas City area.

Chad and his wife Jenni had a baby last summer. Her name is Ella. I need to get an updated picture…

Here’s a picture of Jim with Brett (left) and Chad (right).

And now for something completely different. I’ve always liked the song that they play during the Geico commercial where the caveman is on the moving sidewalk through the airport. The song is Remind Me by Royksopp and the video for the song is awesome.

Appreciating Bugs Bunny

What self-respecting father could feel his job is complete without first endearing his boys to the greatest comedian of all time – Bugs Bunny. You’ve heard me say many times that when I was younger, cartoons were a luxury that we were only able to enjoy between the hours of 8:00-12:00am on Saturday mornings. The choices were few, but the pleasure was immense. I never slept past 8:30am because I didn’t want to miss my favorite show – The Bugs Bunny / Road Runner Hour. I was in the 6th grade and living in Phoenix, AZ when the following clip was made. Check out the quality McDonald’s commercial!

I grew to love most of the characters in the Looney Tunes series, but none as much as Bugs. His sarcasm, casual approach and innate ability to expose the stupidity of those around him made him a hero in my book.

In researching this post, I discovered that the famous Bugs phrase “What’s up, Doc?” was introduced by director Tex Avery in the 1940 cartoon A Wild Hare. Tex was raised in Taylor, Texas (home of the award-winning Louie Mueller’s BBQ) and the phrase was used often among his friends. He didn’t think much of the phrase, but theater audiences rolled with laughter when they heard Bugs use it for the first time with arch nemesis, Elmer Fudd. It’s been in every Bugs cartoon since.

My favorite Bugs cartoons were those made between the late 1930′s and the late 1950′s. After that, I thought they lost a lot of their quality – both in animation and creative writing. I’ve included a couple of full-length Bugs cartoons that are in the public domain. We’ll have to buy the complete set to see more.

Fresh Hare (1942)

Bully for Bugs is one of my favorites. There are a number of lines from this cartoon that I still weave into conversations on occasion, including:

• “I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque…”
• “gulla-bull” – pun on the word gullible
• “nin-cow-poop” – pun on the word nincompoop
• “em-bessle” – pun on the word imbecile
• “ultra-maroon” – pun on the words ultra moron

In fact, “nin-cow-poop” has become so integrated into my vocabulary that I sometimes forget that not everyone knows the reference. Of course, the scene that makes this cartoon in my mind is the Mexican hat dance. Enjoy!

Bully for Bugs (1952)