All my concerts had no sounds in them; they were completely silent. People had to make up their own music in their minds!

- Yoko Ono

If only I had thought of this! Think of the ticket sales...it is a Ticketmaster dream! You have to wonder if the audience actually goes to a theater to sit and think their music....or just buy a ticket and stay home in bed?

In The Music Man, Professor Harold Hill got into some hot water selling music lessons in Gary Indiana based on the think-system. His idea - scam as it was - was that if you think the music, you can play the music. I lived on this theory for a long time, and as the result I think I can play about twenty instruments. Unfortunately what comes out the other end is not really all that pleasant. The benefit however is that if you have thought long enough on it, you start to hear it anyway. It's at that point you either succeed - as apparently Yoko has - or you get carted off by men in white suits.

So, Yoko, after all these years I applaud you. Silently, in my mind.

Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway.

- Mary Kay Ash

Last evening Mary and I took an art class together. It revolved around the idea of transferring ink-jet images to wood panels and removing the paper, then embedding it all in coats of beeswax. I used photocopies of one of my icons, and also embedded some watch parts in the wax just to see how it would react to the heat process that liquefies the surface. Somehow I managed to not embed anything not wanted, like flies, dog hair food crumbs etc. The final product is actually pretty intriguing, but the downside is that while the process itself is fast the result can't really be seen for two days. The panel has to sit and cure, the surface is hazy and dull. After two days it can be buffed which will reveal the details and bring out the color. The instructor warned not to get impatient and do it too soon...she obviously knew it was going to bug me - it sits there waiting, and I walked by it this morning and itched to give it a run top see what was under the golden-hued haze. Okay I have to confess, I did buff up a little corner- and the result is fascinating. The thickness of the wax gives it a deep glow I brushed on a total of seven thick coats of wax, and there is a kind of moody, murky opaque quality I really like. Mary's project is more vibrant, a combination of her writing and photos and I really admire it for its joyousness.

This seems like a really perfect shared art-class for us. We both really have an affinity for bees - Mary is a latent bee-keeper and I spend a lot of time out in the yard digging around the flower beds and am really happy to see that the Honey Bees have come back. I was worried that they had disappeared earlier this year, but the lavender has brought them out. The wax we used is all natural and locally harvested, and while there is a filtered white version available I really can't imagine using anything but the natural stuff - it's the golden glow that is really beautiful on these projects. Then there is the smell - the room was filled with the aroma of warm honey; it was hard to leave, and when we got home I was starved, I know it was the honey that got me going.

The next step for us would be to learn Impasto, which adds a hardener to the wax, and allows a heavier buildup. We may try it. I'll be taking a candy bar with me though.

God's always got a custard pie up his sleeve.

- Margaret Forster



I have been watching the debates between the first-round candidates on both sides with some interest. Politics has always been a venue for not-so-guarded name calling, and I have to wonder what the air is like backstage both before and after the on-camera snipes fly. As much as anything, it is often the case that after the primaries one of the candidates on the stage is going to be the front-running choice for the campaign, and another may well end up as his (or her) running-mate. Just how do you walk up to someone you just finished calling a bowlegged weasel and put out a hand to say welcome to the ticket?



It seems to me that part of the problem is the forum; we see the candidates all lined up standing behind tiny podiums trying their best not to move around too much lest they be marked as nervous. Furthermore, I have noticed that the podiums have indeed been getting smaller and smaller - maybe for the express purpose of spotting a Herve Villachez clone lurking there feeding answers to a faltering candidate.



Genuinely I think the idea of the debate has seen better days. The answers are all pretty canned any more, and there just is not enough fire in the insults. I have been considering suggesting an alternative forum in the form of a pie-throwing contest. Certainly it would allow the candidates to vent their feelings in a very real manner, and act as a throw-down to ensure that we are truly getting a candidate who has a steady arm and good aim. Given the fact that no politician is ever going to give an answer from the podium that expresses his/her genuine feelings, at least with a good old-fashioned cream pie in the face we might get a valid impression of what each candidate is made of. Do they flinch? Do they get even? Do they laugh maniacally and pull out a shotgun?

I know, I know, some would consider this crazed. After all wouldn't it tend to sway the public toward anyone who looks particularly good with a face full of custard? But then, it would not be the first time a clown got elected.

People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history.

- Dan Quayle


....Who knew he was such a brilliant prophet?