May 22, 2013

Bernie Taupin 5.22.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite
English: Bernie Taupin attending the premiere ...

English: Bernie Taupin attending the premiere of The Union at the Tribeca Film Festival. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Don’t let the sun go down on me.” — Bernie Taupin

Bernard John Taupin was born on this day in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England in 1950. He is 63 years old.

Bernie was the middle son born to Robert and Daphne Taupin. His father was a farmer and stock man, his mother a nanny. He has an older brother, Tony. Little brother Christopher (aka Kit) came along 11 years after Bernie was born.

Bernie credits his mother and paternal grandfather for instilling him with an appreciation for literature, nature, history, music and poetry. Although Bernie didn’t have much interest in traditional education, he demonstrated an uncommon flair for writing.  [Bernie Taupin Biography]

At 15 he dropped out of school  and spent two years hopping from one dead-end job to the next in rural England. Then, in 1967, he saw an ad in New Musical Express. Liberty Records was looking for talent. He answered the ad. So did Reginald Kenneth Dwight (aka Elton John). The two joined forces to become one of the best song writing teams in the history of rock and roll.

Publicity photo of Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

Publicity photo of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With a musical partnership that has lasted longer than many marriages the John and Taupin have released 356 songs (more than “Lennon/McCartney and Jagger/Richards combined” [Elton John.com]  According to John Taupin makes it easy…

…He’s a very cinematic writer. I get a piece of paper [from him] and it has as story on it. Then I sit down at the keyboard and hope and pray that something is going to come out. Because the story that he’s telling affects what I’m hearing. [Ibid]

Although Taupin wrote with other musicians (Alice Cooper, Melissa Manchester and Heart to name a few) it was the songs he forged with Elton John that became the sound track to a post Beatles generation.

Their first hit was  1970′s Your Song. 

[OK I'm going to stop writing for a while and just let you listen to some of the best of Bernie and Elton... feel free to sing along and play air guitar/piano or drums as you wish]

Here’s Tiny Dancer

and Benny and Jets 

and Yellow Brick Road

and Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting

and Philadelphia Freedom

and Sad Songs (Say So Much)

and Daniel

and Sun Go Down On Me

Bernie lives with his family on a working ranch in southern California where he breeds and trains cutting horses, hosts his own radio show, Bernie Taupin’s American Roots Radio, on Sirius/ XM Channel 30, and pursues a successful career as a painter. This year, “Beyond Words: An Exhibition Of Contemporary & Extraordinary Artworks By Famed Lyricist & Artist Bernie Taupin” has been touring select art galleries across America. [Elton John.com]

Leave a comment | posted in Bernie Taupin, Elton John, Music, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, Writing

May 21, 2013

Albrecht Dürer 5.21.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

“What beauty is, I know not, though it adheres to many things.” – Albrecht Dürer.

Self-portrait, 1498. Museo del Prado, Madrid. ...

Self-portrait, 1498. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Oil on wood panel, 52 cm x 41 cm. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Albrecht Dürer was born on this day in Nuremberg, Germany in 1471. Today is the 542nd anniversary of his birth.

Dürer  was the third child born to Albrecht and Barbara Dürer. Although the family name “Dürer” means door maker, his father was actually a successful goldsmith. It was from his father that young Albrecht learned to work with gold and to draw. His talent for art led him to an apprenticeship with Michael Wolgemut at 15 and then to travel throughout Europe to study with various artist.

Durer self-portrait at the age of thirteen. , ...

Durer self-portrait at the age of thirteen. , Albertina. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dürer’s skill set grew to include woodcuts, water colors, print making, drafting, and oil painting.

 Dürer revolutionized printmaking, elevating it to the level of an independent art form. He expanded its tonal and dramatic range, and provided the imagery with a new conceptual foundation. [The Metropolitan Museum of Art]

He came back to Nuremberg in 1495 and opened his own workshop. He did three woodcut series, Passion, Apocalypse and Life of the Virgin  in the next few years. His work included both sacred and secular subjects.

…Such as the so-called Master Engravings featuring Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513; 43.106.2), Saint Jerome in His Study (1514), and Melancholia I (1514; 43.106.1), which were intended more for connoisseurs and collectors than for popular devotion. Their technical virtuosity, intellectual scope, and psychological depth were unmatched by earlier printed work. [Ibid]

Dürer’s time abroad, especially in Italy, influenced his ascetic chiefly in the areas of persepective, proportion and human anatomy. He wrote the Four Books on Human Proportion.

c. 1490-1493

c. 1490-1493 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In 1512  the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian 1 became Dürer’s patron.

What Dürer was angling for was a lifetime imperial pension, and he got one, though at the price of taking on hackwork. Along with other court artists, he was ordered to design an array of ceremonial stage props to enhance the emperor’s status visually. Most of this stuff — chariots, arches, froufrou armor — was just shiny, expensive junk, and a waste of creative energy. [NYTimes.com]

That didn’t stop him from pursuing Maximilian’s successor, Charles V., as his next patron. About this time he also became interested in the teachings of Martin Luther.

Late in his life he painted his final masterpiece,  two large panels for the Nuremberg town hall, The Four Apostles. In one panel St. John is in the foreground with St. Peter in the background, in the second panel St. Paul takes the foreground with St. Mark in the background.

The Four Apostles

The Four Apostles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Four Apostles

The Four Apostles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

He died in 1528 at the age of 56.

Dürer's Rhinoceros, a fanciful 'armoured' depi...

Dürer’s Rhinoceros, a fanciful ‘armoured’ depiction. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2 comments   |  tags: , | posted in Albrecht Dürer, Art, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday

May 20, 2013

Summer fun with Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

By ritalovestowrite
The BSF's Summer with Shakespeare: Performance Workshops take place July 29 - Aug 16.

The BSF’s Summer with Shakespeare: Performance Workshops take place July 29 – Aug 16.

If you:

  • live near Baltimore, Maryland,
  • are kid about to start 3rd to 12th grade,
  • and you like Shakespeare

… boy do I have a deal for you!

The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory is offering three, one week long workshops that will allow kids to experience what it might be like to travel back in time to the 1600s and be a part of the fun and excitement of Shakespeare’s acting company–The King’s Men. The BSF’s  “Summer with Shakespeare:Performance Workshops” will help students develop acting skills, make friends, build confidence, and develop an appreciation and understanding of Shakespeare’s work.

The campers will:

  • Work one-on-one with professional actors and educators
  • Learn and practice the same acting techniques Baltimore Shakespeare Factory uses in its productions
  • Study Shakespeare’s poetic language in ways that make it easy to understand, and learn how to use to enrich performance
  • Bring some of Shakespeare’s most famous characters to life!

“Shakespeare is a wonderful platform to get the kids active and engaged in group activity that stretches their imaginations as well as their ability to interpret complex language.  And it is a ton of fun!” says Wendy Meetze, Director of Education for the BSF.

This is the second year for the camp in Baltimore City (the camp is held in the Meadow at Evergreen House on Charles). The group, which began in Carroll County, hosted a similar camp starting in 2006 and have taught over 500 students. That Carroll County camp is still going strong on the campus of Century High School.

Students come in all shapes, sizes and from various backgrounds and skill levels. “Kids who are interested in theatre are especially attracted to the workshops” says Meetze, but “we truly believe there is no “typical” Shakespearean student or audience member. Shakespeare wrote for EVERYONE in his time, from peasants to princes.”

The camp will offer a small group setting with lots of one on one coaching. As a non-musical theatre performance camp the focus is squarely on the script, something that sets this camp apart from other performing arts camps in the area. “While the outcome is a production, the curriculum is a healthy mix of various skills needed to make that production a reality,” said Meetze. The campers perform their production prior to the professional company’s Friday performance. “We find the kids learn so much more by comparing and contrasting their version to a full production. There have certainly been occasions where our professional actors have discovered something new during the student’s performance!”

For more information on the camp, including a link to register  CLICK HERE.

Summer clipping

The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory  is dedicated to bringing the works of William Shakespeare to life for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. In Shakespeare’s time (1564-1616), the theater was accessible to everyone, and The Factory prides itself on continuing that tradition by presenting professional quality work at affordable prices.

This year, the group, which is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, will present Hamlet and Mid Summer Night’s Dream this summer in the Meadow at Evergreen House on Charles Street and at other locals around town.  Click HERE for Hamlet’s schedule. Click HERE for Mid Summer’s Schedule.

Factory productions bring Shakespeare’s works to life in a way that is accessible to modern audiences without compromising the cornerstone of their artistic and literary merit—Shakespeare’s original language. The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory is built on a love of language, and productions are designed to not only help audiences understand Shakespeare’s words, but to love them, too.

This year the BSF launched it’s “4 free, 4 ever!” campaign which hopes to raise $750,000 by April , 2016–the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s Death> This will allow the group to present its shows at no cost to the public the following season.

Play on 4 free

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3 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Baltimore, Baltimore Shakespeare Factory, Shakespeare, Theatre, Thought of the Day

May 20, 2013

Muffin Monday: Rhubarb Delight Muffins

By ritalovestowrite

Rhubarb Delight Muffins

IMG_4969

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 C. Brown Sugar

IMG_4936

  • 3/4 C. Demerara Sugar  (You could just use 1 1/4 Brown Sugar if you don’t have the Demerara Sugar)

IMG_4937

  • 1/2 C. Vegetable oil

IMG_4907

  • 1 Egg

IMG_4939

  • 2 1/2 C. Flour

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  • 2 tsp. Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt

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  • 1 C. Milk

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  • 2 tsp. Vanilla

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  • 1 1/2 C. Rhubarb (finely diced)

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Topping Mixture:

  • 1/4 c White Chocolate Chips
  • 1/2 Almonds
  • 1/2 C. Sugar
  • 2 T. Butter

IMG_4954

Procedure:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Put muffin pants into the muffin tin and spray lightly.

2. Mix the first four ingredients together (the Sugars, Oil and Egg)

IMG_4940

3. Add Flour,Baking Soda and Salt  all at once.

IMG_4947

4. Combine Milk and Vanilla in a measuring cup.

5. Add Milk to the batter and stir until completely mixed.

6. Fold in the diced Rhubarb.

IMG_4952

7. Divide the batter evenly amongst the muffin cups. (This recipe made 12 large muffins.) Set aside and make the Topping.

8. In the measuring cup you used for the milk and vanilla melt the butter.

9. Grind the Almonds in a blender or nut mill.

10. Combine the Nuts, Sugar and ground Almonds together in the measuring cup. Add the White Chocolate Chips.

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11. Spoon the topping onto the muffins, dividing evenly.

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This is what one of the muffins looks like pre-baked

12. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Using the toothpick test to determine if they are done.

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13. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring muffins to a cool surface. Let cool for an additional 5 to 10 minutes before you enjoy.

IMG_4971

Sorry these muffins aren’t very healthy. I’m going to try to make them again with out so much sugar. But every spring the god’s give us rhubarb and you’ve got to do something with it, right?  Your house will smell amazing while these little darlings are baking. And the will power you show by not munching on them the second they come out of the oven will off set the will power you don’t show by  indulging in their sweet wonderfulness (maybe twice.)

These are simply fantastic muffins and would make a great dessert.

They are awesome on their own, but if you want the ultimate treat you could add one to a bowl of black cherry ice cream and just go straight to heaven.

IMG_4973

Serving suggestion.

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2 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Thought of the Day, postaday, Food, Muffins, Recipe, Rhubarb

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