Good Monday morning Friends, Romans, Countrymen … oh wait … forget those last two … I don’t know what got into me … I didn’t come to bury Trump Caesar, honest. Well, Jolly has returned from his mission … a mission in which he was unsuccessful, so he’s a bit feverish and under the weather today, however he wants to do his part for Jolly Monday. Just overlook him if he’s a bit … erm … out of sorts.
Well, let’s have a little snack to start our visit … don’t worry, I didn’t let Jolly help with the baking this morning … and then lets find us some chuckles!
The value of a banana?
How can you not click on a headline that reads …
Banana artwork that fetched $120,000 is eaten by ‘hungry’ artist
Now, I had no idea what “banana artwork” was before delving into this article in The Guardian, but when I saw it … my jaw hit the floor. No, I wasn’t amazed in the way that I might be over a Monet or Van Gogh. I was speechless in the way of … well, take a look for yourself …
The piece, titled Comedian, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was on show at the international gallery Perrotin at Art Basel in Miami. It was hailed as “a symbol of global trade”. And somebody paid $120,000 to own … an overripe banana duct-taped to a wall. Only one question, really, comes to mind:
On further investigation, I find that there were actually three of these “limited-edition” pieces, each sold for between $120,000 – $150,000, and each accompanied by a “certificate of authenticity” and instructions for installation. Just goes to prove what I’ve been saying for years now … some people have more money than good sense!
But back to the story …
Shortly before 2 p.m. on Saturday, a New York City-based performance artist, David Datuna, peeled the taped banana from the wall and devoured it, raising the half-eaten banana as if making a toast.
Gallery officials replaced the banana with another one, saying that the artwork was not destroyed and that the banana was simply an “idea.” Okay, fine, but what about the poor fool who paid $120,000 for that banana?
And speaking of art …
A Florida city unveiled an unusual beachfront artwork — a life-sized recreation of a traffic jam sculpted from sand.
The City of Miami Beach commissioned Argentinean artist Leandro Erlich to create Order of Importance, an installation consisting of 66 sand sculptures of cars and trucks lined up on South Beach. According to Erlich …
“It’s a poetic version of a traffic jam, and it’s open to the public in a public space. It addresses an issue that is linked to our relationship to the natural order, the environment and how important it is to remain in balance in order to survive.”
Hmmmm … I’m not so sure I would call a traffic jam “natural order”, but I acknowledge both the effort and skill it took to make all those sand sculpture cars! It took Mr. Erlich two years, and 330 tons of sand to complete this scene, and there are 66 life-sized sculptures of cars and trucks stuck in an imaginary traffic jam on the oceanfront of popular Lincoln Road.
The installation cost over a million dollars, but the city paid only $300,000 thanks to sponsors and donations.
Weary Willie …
Today is Weary Willie Day … this came to my attention as a result of the nightly email I get apprising me of the next day’s ‘National Days’. Never having heard of Weary Willie Day, I was intrigued and had to go check it out … I did so with some trepidation, figuring there was a chance it was something a bit kinky. Don’t worry – it’s not.
Weary Willie Day on December 9th recognizes the art of clowning and the impact it has on our lives. This holiday was named for the character made famous by Emmett Kelly, who was born on this day in 1898.
Weary Willie was a unique character in the art of clowning. Kelly had developed Weary Willy at a time when the white-faced, goofy clown was the norm, and selling the idea for a sad, down-on-his-luck clown did not fit the formula most circuses were seeking. For the time being, Kelly put back on the white face and the brightly colored costume.
Times and attitudes changed when the country was in the depths of the Great Depression. Downtrodden and world-weary was the face of the nation. People could identify with Weary Willie like never before. Weary Willie, his frowning, whisker-shadowed face and his dirty, torn and worn costume, went on to become an American icon.
His son, Emmett Kelly, Jr. carried on Weary Willie’s persona well into the modern era until his death in 2003, at the age of 83.
Are you in the mood for some ‘toons today (not the political kind, just the make-you-laugh kind)?
I thought this guy was just too cute to pass up …
And of course, I cannot wrap up Jolly Monday without a cute animal video, now can I? Let’s take a look at some adorable baby … elephants!
And, that’s about it for another Jolly Monday folks! I hope you have a wonderful week ahead, and remember … your smile goes such a long way toward bringing joy to others … please remember to share it this week! Love and hugs from Filosofa and Jolly!!!
Concealed Online launched in 2016, three years after Virginia started allowing people to take online courses to qualify for concealed carry permits. Those permits are recognized in states across the country, and even nonresidents of Virginia are eligible. The company’s owner saw a business opportunity in that. So, he developed an online training course, where people can watch a video on gun safety, take a test, and instantly download a certificate of competency with a handgun for a fee. You can take the test as many times as you need, making it nearly impossible to fail.
I almost didn’t do a Saturday Surprise again this week, for as I mentioned earlier, I’ve been unable to corral my mind and it just wasn’t working. But then, I was going through some notes I had of saved topics and realized I could do Saturday Surprise on a topic I’ve been wanting to do for a while, just never found time … BEES! Don’t worry … I promise you won’t get stung!
These bee sanctuaries or rather ‘bee stops’ are essentially standard bus stops with grass and wildflowers planted on the roofs to encourage pollination. Not only do bee stops support the city’s biodiversity by attracting honey bees and bumblebees, they also help capture fine dust and store rainwater.
This is just one of the many measures Utrecht has introduced to improve urban biodiversity. It also runs a similar scheme which allows residents to apply for funding to transform their own roofs into bee sanctuaries. And as part of its clean transport goals, the aim is to introduce 55 new electric buses by the end of the year and to have “completely clean public transport” by 2028. The electricity used to power these buses will come from one of the Netherland’s most iconic attractions: windmills.
Freeman’s foray into beekeeping began in 2014, where he discussed his new hobby with Jimmy Fallon during The Tonight Show. Freeman had taken up beekeeping just a couple of weeks before appearing on the show and talked about his experience keeping bees and the need to preserve and save wild bees for healthy environments.
Two thumbs up to Morgan Freeman … and a sincere ‘thank you’ from all of us who care about the future of life on this planet.
Be sure to check out their website … if you have a garden and can take part, this is certainly a worthy venture to join! We plant bee-friendly flowers in our tiny 2’ x 4’ postage-stamp ‘garden’ and have for years, but I haven’t got quite enough space to make much of a difference.
In addition to filing suit against Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, he is also suing Ben Crump, who wrote a book titled “Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People,” publisher Harper Collins, Trayvon’s father, Tracy Martin, and various members of the prosecution team and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
And lest you have any lingering doubts about the character of George Zimmerman, let me tell you a bit about what he has been doing since he murdered Trayvon Martin …
In late 2013, after his acquittal, apparently he decided to use his notoriety as a claim to fame, and he took up painting, selling his first one, a U.S. flag, for just over $100,000. On the auction page for the painting, Zimmerman wrote:
In March, he filed a lawsuit for $250 million against Twitter, claiming that two parody Twitter accounts (one called “Devin Nunes’ Cow”) and a Republican political consultant defamed him with mean tweets. Awwww … pobrecito! In August, he sued McClatchy news organization for another $250 million, alleging defamation. And in October he sued Ryan Lizza and Hearst Magazines for $77 million, claiming that a story in Esquire about the Nunes family farm in Iowa defamed him.
It seems to me that Mr. Nunes has very thin skin. As I was writing this post, the thought occurred to me that perhaps it would be fun to mail him a box of tissues to dry his tears. Hey, maybe he would then sue me! That could be fun, for as the old saying goes, “you can’t get blood out of a turnip”!
Sonny Perdue, head of the Department of Agriculture and one of Trump’s many yes-men, aka boot lickers, is a millionaire. Not one night in his worthless life has he gone to bed hungry! This is the problem with too damn many rich people in this administration … they have no concept … NONE … of what the average person deals with.
I think it speaks volumes when one of the Republican Party’s loudest mouthpieces is a man who is implicated in a sex scandal at Ohio State University (OSU). It says much about the values – or should I say lack of values – of the GOP.
Yesterday, he stormed out of the summit in London after seeing a video of a group of leaders, including Boris Johnson, ridiculing him at Buckingham Palace for staging lengthy press conferences. I suppose it hurt his itty-bitty feelings, punctured that thin skin of his, and he took his toys and went home. He fully deserved the ridicule, and those who dished it out … Princess Anne, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French president Emmanuel Macron, and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte … were not aware they were being recorded, nor that the recording would be shown to Trump. But, let’s face it folks … the bully got just exactly what he deserved. As one commentor noted, the conversation wasn’t even newsworthy until Trump made it newsworthy.
