Here’s my favorite contemporary Christmas song, sung by my homeboy from Chapel Hill— James Taylor. Enjoy, and Joyeux Noel, BW3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR5vupwpRJc Read more

CREATURES OF HABIT Creatures of habit, Day after day Go about life, The same old way. Nothing disturbs Their orderly routine All must be neat, And all must be clean. They’re making their lists And checking them twice, Trying to make sure Their work will suffice. Impatient by nature They don’t suffer fools Gladly or otherwise Because of the rules. A place for everything For all there’s a place Don’t touch the guest towels But please wash your face. They... Read more

THE BONDING A cold and listless season, And full of cheerless cheer, When hopes are raised and dashed again And joy dissolves in tears. The search for endless family The search for one true Friend Leaves questers tired, disconsolate With questions without end. Best find some potent pleasure quick Some superficial thrill Than search for everlasting love When none can fill that bill. So hide yourselves in shopping And eating ‘til you burst, Use endless entertainment As shelter from the... Read more

Since we are close to Christmas, I’ll close this section on the Denver museum with a few of Rembrandt’s sketches from the early life and ministry of Jesus…. And here’s the angels wowing the shepherds…. And here’s an interesting composite scene, taken from various of the stories about Jesus’ healing people…. And finally, Jesus teaching folk, in this case those who look like rather Dutch folk, and note there are various women in the scene…. Read more

There are a few sketches of saints…. for example St. Jerome (and his lion)…..in an odd setting… And here’s St. Francis in a more familiar and believable setting…. Notable for their absence are any sketches of St. Paul, or for that matter any of the apostles, but here is one of Sts. Peter and John healing someone near the Temple in Jerusalem Read more

One of the few paintings of Rembrandt in this Denver exhibit is the painting of the circumcision of Christ…. This painting was done in about 1661, not long before Rermbrandt’s demise. This sketch of the boy Jesus wowing the scribes in Jerusalem in the Temple can be compared to Rembrandt’s sketch of Joseph telling his brothers about his dreams… Not surprisingly, there are more NT than OT sketches, but there are a few of the latter that are quite striking.... Read more

Perhaps the most family friendly Christmas time movie in years has just popped into the theaters. I’m referring to Mary Poppins Returns with its All Star cast, including great cameo appearances by Dick Van Dyke, Angela Landsbury, and Meryl Streep, only the first of which was in the original film in 1964. But the stars of this Mary Poppins: The Next Generation (of Banks children) are Emily Blunt in the title role (and who knew she could sing that well)... Read more

Most commissioned art in Europe, from the Middle Ages until modernity, was either portraits or Biblical scenes, both done on commission so the starving could survive. Rembrandt, it appears, did alright with his commissions, unlike other Dutch masters such as Vermeer. Here are various of his sketches of the crucifixion, including the aftermath… This last sketch may have been the prompt for El Greco’s very famous painting of ‘El Espoilio’ the taking of Christ’s robe just prior to the crucifixion... Read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2ssaMI03pg You can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times an animated film has been nominated for picture of the year on several award platforms. But this movie is not just another animated feature. It’s not even just in the league with say Toy Story or Up or some of the Ice Age films, and for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that you’ve never seen animation like this before— this is... Read more

The Denver Art Museum. The Rembrandt special exhibit at the Denver Art Museum featured Rembrandt as a sketcher and etcher, with only a few of his paintings thrown in for good measure. This however was very interesting because it demonstrates how good he was in various mediums, like Da Vinci. Apart from the usual self-portraits, the exhibit was dominated by Rembrandt’s sketches of Biblical scenes and persons, but it also included an oddity— Rembrandt’s only still life of an object,... Read more