From: les@jmdl.com (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V4 #557 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk JMDL Digest Saturday, December 11 1999 Volume 04 : Number 557 The Official Joni Mitchell Homepage is maintained by Wally Breese at http://www.jonimitchell.com and contains the latest news, a detailed bio, original interviews and essays, lyrics, and much more. ------- The JMDL website can be found at http://www.jmdl.com and contains interviews, articles, the member gallery, archives, and much more. ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- powell's njc ["Wally Kairuz" ] RE: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) ["Wally Kairuz" ] Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) [TerryM2442@aol.com] Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) ["Patricia O'Connor" ] The Angel Jimi and more Joni paintings ["Kakki" ] Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) ["Mark or Travis" ] Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) ["Kakki" ] Mc Joni?? ["Russell Bowden" ] Sad News Indeed - Rick Danko - NJC [Scott and Jody ] Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) [TerryM2442@aol.com] dog eat dog (was blue cd) [some millers ] Re: Mc Joni?? ["Kakki" ] re: McJoni? ["Ray & Cathy" ] dave alvin/greg leisz [some millers ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 23:07:51 -0300 From: "Wally Kairuz" Subject: powell's njc catherine! i'm a powell's fan too!!! and now they have free shipping if you spend $50 or more. this is such a blessing for someone who buys books from argentina like me! i usually pay more for shipping than for what i buy!!! wallyk - ----- Mensaje original ----- De: Catherine Turley Para: Enviado: Viernes 10 de Diciembre de 1999 16:43 Asunto: Joe Jackson (vljc) > Hello Joni Friends, > > My Powell Books (the holy grail of all bookstores, amongst whose stacks > I grew up) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 23:11:17 -0300 From: "Wally Kairuz" Subject: RE: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) catherine confesses: > God, I'd kill for > those cheekbones! rising scorpio at birth, dear. gorgeous cheekbones guaranteed. wallyk ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 21:54:08 EST From: Dflahm@aol.com Subject: Re: Rolf, Blossom, and even some Joni content I'e been disturbed reading the posts saying Blossom Dearie played "for drinks" in England; she is a well-respected artist in the States and this is a distressing and demeaning suggestion about her status. Then it dawned (or dusked) on me that we could be in an American English/English English confusion here. In America "playing for drinks" suggests she wasn't good enough (or enough of an attraction) to be paid money, so they just poured booze for her in recompense. But (lightbulb)...maybe in England it means "she played in the early evenings while people drank cocktails before dinner." How am I doing?? D LAHM ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 22:34:31 EST From: TerryM2442@aol.com Subject: Fwd: Jonatha On VH-1 (NJC) - --part1_0.ac13b81b.25832047_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit - --part1_0.ac13b81b.25832047_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: Received: from rly-yb05.mx.aol.com (rly-yb05.mail.aol.com [172.18.146.5]) by air-yb05.mail.aol.com (vx) with ESMTP; Fri, 10 Dec 1999 18:16:10 -0500 Received: from percepticon.com (percepticon.com [192.41.22.119]) by rly-yb05.mx.aol.com (v66.4) with ESMTP; Fri, 10 Dec 1999 18:16:04 -0500 Received: (percepti@localhost) by percepticon.com (8.8.5) id QAA09376; Fri, 10 Dec 1999 16:16:07 -0700 (MST) Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 16:16:07 -0700 (MST) Message-Id: <199912102316.QAA09376@percepticon.com> To: Terrym2442@aol.com From: jonatha@jonathabrooke.com Subject: Jonatha On VH-1 Hi Everyone: VH-1 will be airing a very short profile piece on Jonatha on Tuesday, December 14th. The piece will run in their video show airing between 8:00am-9:30am EST. (look for it about 15 minutes into the show). If you can't watch in the morning, the show will be repeated at 2:00pm that afternoon. VH-1 will also feature an article on Jonatha on their website, http://www.vh1.com. So tune in if you can! Happy Holidays! - --part1_0.ac13b81b.25832047_boundary-- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 19:39:10 -0800 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) > OK, I've never never heard that Joni changed her name to Joni instead of > Joan because of the abstract expressionist Joan Mitchell. Is this true? > > In looking at the LA review, and seeing the self-portrait reversed and in > black and white, I immediately thought of Edward Hopper (who is one of my > favorite artists). The way Joni painted her face and used the green for > the coat reminds me of his shop girl paintings of the 40s. > I thought the same thing about some of the paintings in the TTT booklet. Especially the paintings that have people in them. Something about the way she renders faces and human forms really makes me think of Hopper. I'm curious about something. Did some of you who have studied art find this article informative? There was so much jargon about various styles, sometimes I got the feeling the author was just stringing adjectives together that sounded impressive. It sort of turns me off to ever making any kind of serious study of painting. Not that I was really considering doing this but I have found myself increasingly interested in painting as I get older. Seeing the Van Goghs in LA, a few O'Keeffes here in Seattle a couple of years ago and the more recent Chuck Close exhibit really opened my eyes to how vibrant and beautiful the real thing can be as opposed to looking at prints in a book. Does criticism and/or the study of art really have to be so technical and intellectually convoluted to be valid? Or is the author of the LA review really full of him/herself? I find this type of thing occasionally in movie reviews also. Especially Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly. Some of his reviews annoy the hell out of me. Mark in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 22:56:13 EST From: TerryM2442@aol.com Subject: Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) In a message dated 12/10/1999 10:43:37 PM Eastern Standard Time, mark.travis@gte.net writes: << Did some of you who have studied art find this article informative? There was so much jargon about various styles, sometimes I got the feeling the author was just stringing adjectives together that sounded impressive. >> Mark, I find most art reviews annoying because so many of the writers seem to want so much to impress their readers. I've studied art all of my life but still can't understand some of the references presented in this article. I think part of it is my not knowing the first thing about the California art scene- the galleries, curators, etc. There is something romantic about over intellectualizing the artist's intentions, I suppose. I know some who think deeply about- and before- every brush stroke, while others paint from some primal area within their soul. Maybe it's unfair to say, but my take is that most artists don't care much about reviewers and just call them artist "wannabe's". Most people I know claim that the reviews written about them are usually totally off base anyway. Guess someone's gotta write them. Terry ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 22:59:27 -0500 From: "Patricia O'Connor" Subject: Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) >I'm curious about something. Did some of you who have studied art >find this article informative? There was so much jargon about various >styles, sometimes I got the feeling the author was just stringing >adjectives together that sounded impressive. It sort of turns me off >to ever making any kind of serious study of painting. I have "studied art" and found the article to be full of jargon. I find most art reviews to be so. I think your description of "stringing adjectives together" is a good one, it all sounds like a wine tasting..." Renaissance, yet Baroque". One comes away from a reading thinking, what is it? is it beautiful? is it art? I have been racking what is left of my brain to think of what painting, the future cover of Both Sides Now is a semi-copy of. I know that I have seen that composition of someone slumped over a bar with smoke clouds swirling over, and alot of background/space at the top. At first I thought it was Degas' "Absinthe Drinker" but it isn't, does anyone know? Thanks Anne for placing the photos on your web page, thank you Phyllis for taking the photos. POC ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 22:58:48 EST From: TerryM2442@aol.com Subject: Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) P.S. And while this reviewer is obviously a huge fan of Joni's artwork, I personally disagree with what he says about her early pieces done in markers. But I must say, I do like the self-portrait for her new album cover, other than the heart shape part on her sleeve. Terry ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 20:15:25 -0800 From: "Kakki" Subject: Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) Mark asked: > Does criticism and/or the study of art really have to be so technical > and intellectually convoluted to be valid? Or is the author of the LA > review really full of him/herself? I find this type of thing > occasionally in movie reviews also. Especially Owen Gleiberman in > Entertainment Weekly. Some of his reviews annoy the hell out of me. Funny, I read the article a few times and could not really find any review at all of Joni's paintings, as far as analyzing or describing them or telling the reader what he liked or disliked about them. That's what I usually think of as a "review". I interpreted the whole article to be more of a plug for giving some so-called "celebrity" artists more serious consideration than they usually receive from the arbiters in the "art world" who usually dismiss them. I thought his tone was pretty scathing but kind of enjoyed it coming from someone who seems to be on Joni's side. Kakki ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 20:22:53 -0800 From: "Kakki" Subject: The Angel Jimi and more Joni paintings I went back to LACE this afternoon to *really* look at and smell the paintings (thank God I was the only one there!) I noticed a small painting by the reception desk that I missed the other night. It is Jimi Hendrix posed in his famous kneel before the burning guitar, but he's kneeling on a billowy cloud up in a starry sky and has angel wings and is wearing a halo-like, starry crown. It's very cute. Inspired by Debra's posts, I studied and noticed a lot more of Joni's "tricks" this time (like who was really paying attention to the ahem, paintings last week?) The Snowy Landscape painting (on the back of the TTT CD) that looks so brilliantly white is really not white at all. The road is actually painted a flat magenta and the snow piled up along the side of the road is various shades and outlines of blue. Great trick - set off against the gold sky background. The painting of Donald wearing glasses and reading a book (I call it the "lightbulb" painting) is glossy/varnished in the upper half of the canvas only. She appears to overwhemingly use either titanium or zinc white in all the paintings but does appear to sparingly use teeny bits of the flake white to illuminate the painting of Donald and her on the riverbank and the flowers in the painting of her cat, Nietzsche. The other snowy landscape that I thought looked "yellowed" actually is yellow snow. More neat tricks are in the painting of Donald and her sitting in a diner booth. This painting has a very vintage, 30s feel to it (golden glow and Donald in a hat with a cigarette) On close-up you can see that she used a lot of fluorescent, "Day-Glo" green and orange all over their faces and in the fire of the cig. This painting is not in the TTT booklet, but is available with the promo single of Crazy Cries of Love, and also on Wally's site, I believe. On the new album cover painting, all I could make out on the coaster was a doodle of a flower - maybe a rose - next to a fence or ladder-like doodle. What is really interesting about this painting is that what appears to be the "blue T.V. screen light" smoky background is actually made up of many Van Gogh-like swirls of various shades of orange, brown, blue and green. I must say that whether you like her style or not, there can be no dispute that she is a very fine painter and her use of color is exceptional and very creative. You can't really see this unless you see the paintings in person. I've seen many of the "best" in person, and I'd say she ranks right up there with them as far as technique in a number of her paintings. And they all smell and are all oil paintings! But the smell was more pungent and almost harsher than any oils paintings I've ever smelled. Debra?! I also learned a bit more about Amy Adler. There was an article there about an exhibit she had in L.A. last April. Said she was born in 1966 and grew up in New York and earned her MFA from UCLA in 1995. Her exhibit consisted of around 20 or so self portrait photographs of her in various poses. She takes the photographs and then makes drawings from them. After photographing the drawings, she destroys them and only exhibits the photographs of the drawings. Kakki NP: Frank Sinatra - Young at Heart ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 21:00:52 -0800 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) I interpreted the whole article to be more > of a plug for giving some so-called "celebrity" artists more serious > consideration than they usually receive from the arbiters in the "art world" > who usually dismiss them. I thought his tone was pretty scathing but kind > of enjoyed it coming from someone who seems to be on Joni's side. I did get this and I agree with you that what you're saying did seem to be the point of the article rather than it's being a review. I followed the link to the website and read the entire review. There are some descriptive passages about the individual artists' works. Here is one phrase in particular that I thought was pretty outrageous: 'Alpert began painting in the early '70s, gradually evolving his own version of gestural biomorphic abstraction, the transitional style between Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.' Now just what the hell does 'gestural biomorphic abstraction' mean? Does anyone know? Does anyone besides the author of this article know? Does the author of the article even know? I sometimes just have to wonder. There were a few other places in the article in the same vein. I am perfectly willing to admit my ignorance of this subject. But I really wonder if all of this artspeak really means anything. Mark in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 21:07:25 -0800 From: "Kakki" Subject: Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) Mark wrote: > Here is one phrase in particular that I thought was pretty outrageous: > > 'Alpert began painting in the early '70s, gradually evolving his own > version of gestural biomorphic abstraction, the transitional style > between Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.' > > Now just what the hell does 'gestural biomorphic abstraction' mean? > Does anyone know? Does anyone besides the author of this article > know? Does the author of the article even know? Geez, I'm not sure what the hell he means, either, nor does it seem helpful or productive at all to figure it out! I see what you mean, now, Mark! Kakki ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 21:27:34 PST From: "Russell Bowden" Subject: Mc Joni?? Fellow Disciples, After a paricularly rotten evening dealing with my messed up brain and freezing my ass off in the netherlands of Eugene, OR....I stumbled to the door of a McDonalds......please chastise me later, OK?? just not up for it now...... So I am sitting there stewing in my own misery and through the screaming kids and parents straight from 'Village of the Damned', I hear a very familiar, high, long uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggge!!! My super size fries go flying and the Mc nuggets are on their way to some remote island.....yes!!! It is the Queen herself serenading me in my sorrow......Refuge of the Roads (another one where Joni incredibly is narrating my own life to me) I fly to the counter, killing several patrons on the way; demanding to speak to management IMMEDIATELY!!! A very nice gentlemen refrains from flogging the staff to attend to my query...which kinda went something like this: IS THAT A RADIO STATION CASSETTE TAPE WHO PICKS THIS MUSIC DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU JUST PLAYED JONI MITCHELL IN HERE I HAVE A NEW RESPECT FOR YOUR ENTIRE ORGANIZATION THANK YOU SO MUCH SLOBBER FAWN ASS-KISS ORDER ANOTHER CHOCOLATE MILK SHAKE GET THE ADDRESS OF CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS To which he replied somewhat nonplussed: Ummmm..thassa MUZAK station programmed especially for McD's.... After I beat him within an inch of his miserable, pusillanimous existence.......HE CALLED HER MUZAK!!!! I thanked him as icily as possible and made a rather flimsy exit...... Has anyone thought that the vase in the yellow roses/Klein painting shows a slightly distorted face of Joni...sorta right next to Klein? If this has been mentioned already, forgive me. Sticking my head in the microwave...the damned thing doesn't work with the door open!!! Did anyone know THAT?? Love, Russ NP Kathleen Battle Mary Had a Baby. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 23:55:12 -0600 From: Scott and Jody Subject: Sad News Indeed - Rick Danko - NJC Les , Ken, Steve and everyone, " Rick Danko, who went from Bob Dylan's backup band to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a bassist and singer with The Band, died this morning in his home." Thank you for your posts. I was driving home from work and just caught the tail end. As long as I live, I'll remember that glorious night in November of 1983, when we had the extreme pleasure of watching such accomplished musicians plying their trade...not to mention years of listening to The Band prior to '83. Another Great voice silenced. Take a load off , Annie. I shall be released. jody ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 01:06:27 -0500 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Homemade car Someone described the small car in the Shadows and Light video version of "Coyote" as looking suspiciously like a homemade car. It was a Porsche 356. This is the car that James Dean, the actor died in. Sorry it took so long to post this....... All the best, Jim *** Get well Wally *** ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 01:29:16 EST From: TerryM2442@aol.com Subject: Re: LA Weekly Art review (LONG) In a message dated 12/11/1999 12:38:15 AM Eastern Standard Time, kakkib@att.net writes: << Now just what the hell does 'gestural biomorphic abstraction' mean? >> Oh, I think he means big ol' messy blobs. Terry, always to the point ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 01:44:36 -0500 (EST) From: some millers Subject: dog eat dog (was blue cd) howdy strangers- de-lurking long enough to add that the DED cd is presently only $5.99 at the same site. note that the shipping is free with purchase of 3 or more cd's, and that you can also get $10 off a purchase of $24.99 or more until the morning of dec. 14th. however, even this particular purchase won't be "tax free." buenas noches- paul s.bethlehem, ny >Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 09:41:21 -0500 >From: Jerry Notaro >Subject: Blue cd > >The Blue cd is on sale at CD Now for $8.38 with free shipping. >As soon as anyone sees LOTC in Gold please let us now. > >Jerry ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 22:46:17 -0800 From: "Kakki" Subject: Re: Mc Joni?? > To which he replied somewhat nonplussed: > > Ummmm..thassa MUZAK station programmed especially for McD's.... After I beat > him within an inch of his miserable, pusillanimous existence.......HE CALLED > HER MUZAK!!!! I thanked him as icily as possible and made a rather flimsy > exit...... Russell, this is so funny!! I also find myself getting a little irate and snappy in similar Joni-esqe situations. > Has anyone thought that the vase in the yellow roses/Klein painting shows a > slightly distorted face of Joni...sorta right next to Klein? I really peered at this one tonight because the last time I looked, I almost thought she'd painted Larry to look like a goofy clown and wonder if there was a small dig going on there. On second look, what is actually happening is that Larry is holding up someone by their feet (maybe Joni, but looks more like a small child's legs) and their feet are almost wrapping around his neck. You know how it is when you pick someone up like that and you are straining so your face contorts? That's what is happening. The person being lifted up is wearing red and white striped socks - almost like something the Cat In The Hat would wear. Kakki ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 23:10:46 -0800 From: "Ray & Cathy" Subject: re: McJoni? Russell in Eugene, Oregon writes: >After a particularly rotten evening dealing with my messed up brain >and freezing my ass off in the netherlands of Eugene, Ore......I >stumbled to the door of a McDonald's...please chastise me later, >OK??? Oh, Russell...........Cathy in Oregon here..........be gentle on yourself! This is your first Oregon winter. The time to worry is when you drive to the local Texaco station, order Chester-Fried Chicken and rent "The Munsters Go To London".................THEN you have reached the scary place. Joni bailed you out on this one. Take a deep breath, and start again....you are with friends! Love, Cathy ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 02:46:34 -0500 (EST) From: some millers Subject: dave alvin/greg leisz as long as i'm de-lurking... another epistle that may be of interest to others who were lucky enough to catch jm at last year's "a day in the garden" or any of the centerpiece tour stops (i.e., jm as centerpiece between alvin and dylan). i recently obtained dave alvin's '98 release "blackjack david" and was really interested to see that greg leisz produced it and also provided a wide variety of stringed accompaniment (at least 9 different instruments cited in the liner notes). as i indicated in posts last fall in response to some negative reviews of mr. alvin's part of those '98 shows, (imho) all of his solo releases are well worth acquiring. i was lucky enough to see dave alvin perform solo in a little place in these parts (pauly's hotel) several years ago, and have enjoyed his recording efforts ever since. hopefully, the jm connection to mr. leisz's work may somehow serve to help expose more jmdl'ers to mr. alvin's stalwart songwriting as well. enough for now... back into the weeds. buenas noches- paul s. bethlehem, ny p.s. best wishes to wally b. with much gratitude for his amazing efforts. ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V4 #557 ************************** The Song and Album Voting Booths are open! 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