Michael Storrings has a number of new hand-painted Christmas ornaments this year, and he will be signing them again at Saks Fifth Ave. (5th Ave. at 50th St.), on the 8th Floor from 1:00-4:00 each day. The dates for this are 11/23, 11/24, 11/25, 12/8, 12/9, 12/22, & 12/23. A selection of his new mugs, dessert plates, coasters, placemats, and stationary will also be available at Saks.

He will also sign his ornaments and mugs at the Lincoln Center Tree Lighting on 11/26 at 5:00 (located in the Metropolitan Opera Shop at the Metropolitan Opera).

Additionally, he has a new, limited edition book of watercolors depicting various sites of Christmas throughout all 5 Boroughs of NYC. This is available exclusively at the Top of the Rock Shop at Rockefeller Center and Saks Fifth Ave.

I am planning to attend most of these signings to assist and offer support, so perhaps I will see some of you there as well?

These are the postcards he created to promote the events:

Technorati Tags: Michael Storrings

I missed seeing Fernando Botero’s Abu Ghraib paintings when they were in New York last year, and just learned about them in the current issue of GQ Magazine (sorry, there is not an article on their own site about this; how odd). Wow, they are strong. Amazing how the pain in the normally playful figures central to his work is depicted, and after reading about the struggles he had early in life in the violent Colombia of his youth, I can see how the depiction of the prisoners in the Iraqi prision moved him to represent this through his art. The juxtaposition of his style and this subject matter is disturbing, just as are the photos of the soldiers humiliating the prisoners themselves. I find it interesting that the painter has chosen not to sell any of the fifty or so works in this set; quite telling of how he views torture and those who profit through it.

Technorati Tags: Botero, Abu Ghraib

I wrote about how much I liked the production of Verdi’s Macbeth I saw Monday night at the Metropolitan Opera, and I am glad that the Times shared in my asessment. The voices, the acting, the costumes, scenery, and interpretation of Verdi were wonderful. Even the scene when the army was being armed, loosely set in Post World War II Scotland amidst poverty and mass fleeing the nation due to its war mongering leader (Macbeth), I could not help but recalling Myanmar, Iraq, Rwanda, and so many other places around the world where the simple citizens would rather flee their homeland than live with the constant threat of terror.

The Times especially loved the conductor, James Levine, as they saluted his work within Verdi’s masterpiece:

It was hard to resist the overall production and variable vocal performances when Mr. Levine was conducting the work so splendidly.

Leave it to Beth Kantor, the innovative web guru of nonprofit social media and low-cost technological wizardry to raise enough money online to send not one, but now almost two students in Cambodia to college. Beth has long been involved with working with the needy in Cambodia, and with her large network of admirers and colleagues and associates, she has raised thousands of dollars in a day or so, all through small donations and via word of mouth (with some Twitter and Facebook support). Keep up the good work, Beth, and glad I could pitch in at least a little bit!

Technorati Tags: Beth Kantor, Cambodia

I saw the new production of Verdi’s Macbeth at the Metropolitan Opera, and have to confess that I was blown away by Maria Gugleghina, the soprano who dominated the opera as Lady Macbeth. She sand standing still, walking, laying down in bed, and even nearly face-down on stage–all without any decrease in vocal delivery or richness of sound. As I have only recently started to attend the opera, I have not seen more than a handful of performances over the past three years, but last night was the first time I heard a performer fill the full house with her voice. The Met’s blog has some great pictures of the opening night, and I am eager to read about what the NY Times will say tomorrow about this.

Technorati Tags: Macbeth, Maria Gugleghina, Met Opera, Metropolitan Opera

The Chronicle had an interesting article on the increasing number of books that are written by philosophers for ordinary folks. While this is anathema in the discipline that often focuses so inwardly that those outside it have no idea what they are talking about (who else considers if perception and emotion can be cognitive attributes?), it is refreshing to see ery smart people writing about cultural phenomena that are often more complex than at first noticed. I hope Bill Irwin continues with his almost all-consuming commitment to this.

After writing about the Matrix and Philosophy, how about George / Rudy / Hillary / Barack and Philosophy? What, not enough substance for takers?

I went hiking last week for the first time. Bought new Merrell hiking boots and even rented Leki trekking poles. Had a wonderful time. Great changes in scenery over the 3.2 miles, which gave me a workout in nature without filtered air nor with an iPod. What a nifty idea. I loaded some other pictures on Flickr.

Keep this up, and I just may lose weight and get into shape. Once again, what a nifty idea!

On the other hand, there is no better place to clean the mind while studying Kant’s Third Critique. Where better place to see art than in the woods? Not quite like Thoreau, but I did come out of them.

Today is Blog Action Day, which I learned about from Beth and Andy and Tom and Howard and Wendy and Darren and Stephen (I read some really interesting blogs!). I know, a little late in the day to learn about this, but that is just part of how technology seems to be changing how we operate and work.

What does this have to do with the environment, which is the point of Blog Action Day? Technology should help us be more efficient, but when we are not using it, there hardly seems any efficiency to keeping all of it on and using the electricity when we leave the office. To this end, I will begin turning off my monitor at work at the end of the day, rather than leaving it on as I was always taught to do with the old, large monitors. Mind you, my monitor at work is still large and thus uses a lot of power, and while I do turn my computer off, I never touched my monitor.

Furthermore, I will look into saving power from a corporate social responsibility perspective, and will look at work for whomever directs this initiative about saving power when computers and monitors are not in use.

How is that for a simple piece of action that can have large possible effects?

Congratulations to Al Gore for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to raise awareness about the issues surrounding global warming, or what I like to refer to as Global Climactic Change.

In the company of Desmond Tutu,  Muhammad Yunus,  Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, and Mother Teresa, Al Gore seems to have accomplished more after his “official” role in the government than while he was vice president. I wonder if that is at all significant?