"First Down And Four More Carols To Go!

 Can you believe it? It's the "Day Before Christmas Day, y'all!

"No-oh well, No-oh well, No-oh well, No-oh well"

"It's a first down and ten, the referee-ee did say,"
"Green Bay on the twenty, Four minutes to play..."

"No-oh well, No-oh well", the-ee Angel did say..."

Even before we were married forty-nine years ago, I was invited to attend "Moo-Mas" which was Therese's second eldest brother's birthday celebration on December 23rd.

There's always lots of food.

There's lots of dips, too! Creamed spinach dip, tuna salad dip, crab dip, cheese dip, pepper jelly dip, spicy bean dip... dip dips! There's chicken and andouille gumbo, sashimi and sushi, sliced smoked turkey and ham, pigs in a blanket, three different salad combos including potato salad, weenies in barbecue sauce, mini muffalottas and more! 

Cake and ice cream, for later!

Over those many years, children have grown and gone their separate ways. Priests, aunts and uncles who used to run the party or at least, assist in making the celebration fun, over time, sat in senior spots and then, in time, faded away. Now, we sit in those same spots and watch children open gifts and play.

But, no matter what year, one thing throughout the ages remains the same. That is, singing Christmas carols while watching the game!

There were those who loved to sing and relished each note, and then, those that acquiesced and pretend to sing along by rote. Some tried to harmonize while faking the words. Some mumbled along singing in Latin like lost birds.

But, it is hard to sing a song when the game is on the line,
The notes all seem so flat, and there's no rhythm or rhyme!

"Yet we all are here together, feeling great and feeling fine,
Celebrating one man's birthday, so close to Christmas time!

Copyright 2021/Ben Bensen III

"It's Hard To Not Personify An Appliance."

 

Our 32 year old Amana

Our icy pal is slowly giving up giving us the cold shoulder after thirty-two years of service. It's hard to not personify an appliance. But giving the really sad options offered to replace it, including a repair contract paid for by the consumer before you take delivery, is criminal.

I'm really sad to let her go especially since she is still working, but struggling to do so!

You know I've mentioned our toaster, that was given to us, forty-nine years ago, as a wedding present. It still works!

No repair contracts or upgrades needed!

Also, another still working wedding present is our "Ostarizer" Blender. The black base/gasket that attaches the glass container to the machine cracked about two years ago, but still worked.

No repair contracts or upgrades needed!

Last week, we decided to replace this gem with a new Osta blender... It sucks!

But, I decided to see if that base/gasket would fit the original glass container. I mean, why not? Tee thought it was worth a try and "Lordy, lordy"... it fits.

So, for thirty bucks we found a replacement part that we couldn't find online. Sweet!

Now, we have to decide what to do with the cheapo/sucko blender that has been replaced by the new old replacement...

Copyright 2021/Ben Bensen III

"It will be interesting to see if he actually follows through with the offer"...

 "Little Deuce Coupe" was blasting on the stage PA system as I sat down with my friend Al to have my first cup. I don't know if Frank was a Beach Boy fan, but I was sending GiddyUp and a few "community papers" car crazy hints all week long.

Halfway through my first cup, Cathy Rodriguez, dropped by with En Plein Air intentions, so we walked the back driveway to check out the classics and find a spot in the shade that would work for the four hour cruise.

There were some great setups with a wide variety of cars to paint.
But, I found a shady place between two blue SS Chevelles and a 1937 delivery truck.

One of the fun things about painting at shows is the people that come by to see what I'm up to and the comments they make.

"Can I, um... can I look over your shoulder?"

"No," I'd say, quoting a Talking Heads song entitled, "For Artists Only"... "You can't see it till it's FINISHED!"

You know, I could've finished the painting, maybe not to my satisfaction, but completed if I hadn't spent so much time entertaining myself with the many visitors. It was so good to see people I haven't seen in years or, at least, since Covid.

One ten year old boy, who, I assume was the son of the owner of the delivery truck would come by every hour or so to see my progress.

"Sir, when you finished, can I have the painting?"

"I don't know, man. I don't give away paintings until I sign it and I only sign it if I am satisfied with it," I replied.

"It looks good to me now," he said.

"You'll have to wait till I start putting some paint on the sketch, first!" I said.

"And, thank you," I said. You can't make a good painting from a bad drawing!"

My instructional comment about the arts fell upon deaf ears!

In between the many stories and wonderful kudos I received from the visitors as well as the classic car owners, the boy would return to peruse and once again ask if I was finished.

"Mister, mister, he said. Are you gonna put the writing on the door?"

"It sure is looking good to me," he later commented.

After about the four or five visits over a period of four hours, I caved in.

"I tell you what, here's my business card with my email address," I said, handing over to him one of my cards.

"In about a week, when the paint dries and I can fix the wheels, you send me an email and we'll see if I like it enough to sign it."

"Okay?"

With the enthusiasm only a ten year old can possess, he smiled, put the card in his jeans front pocket and skipped back to his parents and the 1937 delivery truck. It will be interesting to see if he actually follows through with the offer.

Looking back over yesterday's activities including the many bands on the stage as well as Frank's harmonizing with his daughter's wonderful vocals, I wanna thank all those who came by to visit and said such nice things to me about the painting.

That was awfully sweet!

I never got to complete the car wheels, but people loved seeing the progress over the three or four hour attempt. I later finished, at home, the wheels in the spirit of the original effort.

Later in the day, after cleaning myself up and wiping the paint off my forehead, I sat down with some friends from Gus's and had a beer and the best fully loaded hamburger I've had in years. Thanks Scott Penton!

Copyright 2021/Ben Bensen III

"Adapting To Their Surroundings...Easily!"

 

Good “non throwback” Thursday Morning, all bodies!

Yesterday evening, after the rains, I decided to pull a rather long and large pine branch out from the entanglement of a magnolia tree. Our hurricane debris has still not been picked up and I’m taking every opportunity to rid the property of all the trash, scraps and fragments of Ida as possible… and then some.

In an effort to not get distracted by the dog, when I returned home, I did not go inside the house, but took my briefcase and strapped it onto the fence post. Although it took me a few minutes longer to do so, I used my pruning saw to cut up the branch into manageable pieces and throw it into another pile of other crap to be discarded in the morning.

Happy with my handiwork, I headed back toward the house forgetting that I left the briefcase hanging on the post. It wasn’t until I needed the laptop that was inside the bag that remembered what I forgot and where I forgot it.

Opening the briefcase inside the kitchen, a roach scampered out and down to the floor… Big mistake!

Seconds later, a frog hopped out from the bag and hopped all over the kitchen with me in hot pursuit. I guess he felt that this was a great place to spend the night. How thoughtful!

Eventually, I cornered the green monster in the living room but he jumped from the lampshade, ricocheted off of my right shoulder, then, bounded unto our entertainment center. If he got into and behind the stereo equipment, I feared he’d probably never come out. Who knows what terrible things lurk between the wires, plugs, connectors, spider webs, and lint balls!

I almost caught him in mid-flight as he lunged from the encyclopedias onto a large leafy house plant, but I did manage to grab him before he could bury himself into the bowels of that rather huge green shrub. With as much care as I could muster, I escorted the squirmy little reptile out to the back patio safe and sound.

The briefcase must have been out there hanging on the fence for about two or three hours, max. Ain’t it funny how quickly Mother Nature’s creatures can adapt to their surroundings… Ha!

Second homemade CDM, y’all.

Copyright 2021/ Ben Bensen III

"My men wear English Leather or they wear nothing at all."

High Karate won't do...

It's Friday again... Good "TGIF" Morning, all bodies.

Had a great time yesterday talking to my SoCal friend. Ninety minutes sure flies by when you are having fun. But after that, I had even more fun.

In an never ending struggle to rid myself of stuff, I chanced upon a used up bottle of men's cologne. I've seen it shuffled around in the medicine cabinet behind one medication or another as if it really didn't want anyone to notice that the bottle was empty and had been for many years.

Looking for something to sketch between cups of coffee, I grabbed the ultra-hip, pseudo woodsy bottle of manliness from the top shelf and took it with me.

Just about 10:30, after finishing my sketch, I packed up my laptop, sketchbook, coffee cup and square bottle of "The Sixties" to walk out the front door, but just as I did, a voice called out my name.

"Ben, it's Tanya... Where ya going?"

"Oh wow, Tanya. What you doing so far away from Mandeville here at Giddy Up?"

Apparently, she was entertaining an artist friend, Kathie George, from Ohio and on the friend's last day, decided to check out the hill country of Folsom.

With a giggle and a smirk that only Tanya Dishler can do, she invited me to come back and I join them and as she did, she inquired about my bottle of cologne.

"What IS that?" she asked.

"It looks like a bottle of English Leather." "What ARE you doing with that old bottle," she inquired in such a sordidly curious way.

I started to show her the pen sketch I created from the bottle and to recite that promo line about getting naked, but she turned back toward the front door and headed for the barista.

I closed the sketchbook and followed her back in.

Once I was introduced to her friend Kathie, Tanya offered me a coffee or something to knosh on, but I declined. I was kinda coffee-ed out!

Eventually, we got around to talking about men and colognes and those halcyon days of peace, love and bellbottoms.

"How long have you had it and does it still smell like English Leather?" they both asked.

"I don't know. I guess so. I've never tried smelling it since it all dried up, but I guess it still does," I replied.

I then unscrewed the wooden top and took a sniff, and then, with a satisfied smile, handed it over to Tanya.

A smile appeared on her face as if, for one fleeting moment, she was reliving a romantic encounter so far away in the Sixties. As she gave me a bit of a sly look, she handed it over to Kathie and said, "Yes... that's English Leather!"

Karen giggled in agreement and handed it over to Frank Richerand for a whiff.

"Yeh, that's the smell," he said. "I used to wear English Leather before I switched to another kind."

"Me too, Frank, for the longest time," I replied and managed to get in a little dig... for fun.

"Oh man, Frank, I always thought you were a "High Karate" kind of guy!"

Frank had dropped by to chat and after Tanya and Kathie finished their lunch, planned to give the ladies the grand tour of the place including the Paddock grounds and the gallery.

I've been on that tour many times, so I dismissed myself from the get together and headed for the car with my laptop, sketchbook, coffee cup and a square, wooden topped bottle memories.

I passed by a trash can en route to the car and stopped momentarily to contemplate the fate of my fragrant youth. I don't know, maybe, I'll just keep it a little while longer.

I had been at the coffeehouse for over four hours and had a great time avoiding the realities of life with an impromptu special "Throwback Thursday", though, I was never in the position to incorporate into any conversation the familiar line...

"My men wear English Leather or they wear nothing at all!

First cup! 

"Mexican Food and Art!"

 

"Thoughts Of Elizabeth"

Dropped off some of my larger paintings after picking up one up at Armbruster Artworks and visiting Gretchen. It's always a treat to catch her in the early AM when she is not so busily preparing for another class.

This morning, she was busily preparing for another class, but took the time to spend a few minutes with me.

I dropped off four of the six paintings to the Unitarian Church Extravaganza happening this weekend. In the process of helping to hang a few of pieces, I got to spend time with a host of artists I had not seen in quite some time.

On my way back to the car, I saw Emily Keller, and invited her to join me for lunch. On my way out of the car to the Mexican restaurant, Carol called to say she was hungry. So, I invited her too.

Together, we just had a good old time yapping about every subject under the sun. I learned a bit more about the woman behind the extraordinarily peculiar interpretations she creates.

I did not know that Emily was a teacher for nineteen years or so. She doesn't look that old and worn out as one would expect having to deal with our "school board!"

Eerily familiar to what my wife experienced.

It was a great day of visiting and though I probably won't make it to the show in Lacombe today, the fun will continue tomorrow, I am sure.

One of my entries to the "HOT ART in a COOL SPACE" show is entitled, "Thoughts of Elizabeth" which is an unframed 20"x30" oil painting for sale... Come by and check it out with all the other wonderful art on display this weekend.

Second cup at Giddy Up. The first cup was earlier this morning designing a fruit salad for Therese.

Copyright 2021/Ben Bensen III

"Baseball Trading Cards... Repurposed!"

Trading Cards...

 Where did the "weekend" go?

Well, okay... Good Morning, Monday, all bodies!

Nick Pechon, created a fun project and asked me to participate. When he explained his concept to me, I thought it was hilarious and just had to play the "Junk Era Gems" game.

The concept is to repurpose old and at one time slightly valuable baseball "trading" cards. Nick sent me a Frank Viola card ( I remember him! ) in the mail to trade one of his abstracts at 2.5"x 3.5" with one that I'd create on a gessoed card that he also provided for me.

I remember the Twins and Met's Pitcher, Frank Viola!

Nick's abstract offering for a trade!

I thought about painting a kid's bicycle wheel with trading cards clothespinned to the spokes, but it was too difficult to do at that size. I definitely wanted to keep my vision baseball oriented. I decided to paint from my "little league" files a scene that kids, who played the game, created to pick sides and win home team status.

Leave it to kids to invent a game within a game. Anyway, I named my creation, "Pickin' Sides" and mailed it back to Nick. It seemed to arrive in good shape.

Nick showed in his original post some of the boxes of baseball trading cards he knows not what to do with...

"Hey, Nick, checkout my son Brian's collection!"

Man, he was SOOOOooooo, into it. The three long cardboard boxes in the upper left of this photo is completely filled with cards... baseball, basketball as well as football...

Our little entrepreneur!

Copyright2021/Ben Bensen III

"Wow, Safe At Home Again."

Safe at Home!

 Good Friday morning, y'all.

Gotta find a way to get into the studio today. I spent one afternoon rearranging work stations to make things easier to move around in. But, I have to crack open the tubes of paint to find out if it truly works.

The image of home plate on a sidewalk brings back so many memories. There are lots of allegorical stories, plays, poems and such about the game and the symbolism of being safe at home. The one that sticks in my mind involved my older sister.

It was a time when kids played with jacks, fiddle-sticks and marbles... and hopscotch.

To me, hopscotch seemed a girly game. At the age of five or sixth, that was my perception. To my sister, as long as she had girl friends from the neighborhood around to play, she was fine, but she always recruited me when there were no friends around.

I didn't want to play and I didn't want to play until she came up with an idea. I don't know if mom was a part of this devious scheme, but it totally changed my attitude when Adele took a piece of chalk and drew a home plate on the sidewalk to replace the number one. What a great way to start and finish the game.

Wow, safe at home again. The trials and tribulations of life, All those numbers, maintaining one's balance and trying to hop over the white clam shell that marked the square you couldn't step on. Home was the place to be!

If baseball is life, maybe... hopscotch is too!

First cup...

"Happy Independence Day-2021"

One of many fruit salads I make for my wife...

 Happy 4th of July, everyone.

Although I parked too far away from the park, the Fourth of July celebration called, "Sparks in the Park" was worth the trek. En route, I saw Tim Lantrip waving to me on Columbia Street as he drove by.

"Haven't seen you in a while. Why don't you drop on by," he yelled.

He's right. I've been kinda incognito for a while now!

The park was packed with lawn chairs facing in the direction of the bandstand and with good reason. The Covington Concert Band was phenomenal playing stirring patriotic classics by noted American composers including John Phillips Sousa.

Since I had never been to the park, I grabbed a beer and strolled around. There wasn't anyone I knew, which was alright with me. Mayor Mark Johnson with the assistance of Amy Tucker did a bang up job putting the show together.

As the evening grew darker, kids with glow sticks and necklaces became more noticeable as they seem to run in and out of the trees and the audience. People in their seats also lit up their faces blue messing with their cellphones. All we needed to further light up the night would have been fireflies.

Later in the night, the sky would be all lit up!

One man dressed completely in black was wandering to and fro with his iPad. Willing to give up my spot next to a large tree, I walked over to see what he was doing.

It turns out he was the band's sound engineer using his iPad as a mixer board. Eventually we got to talking about the music and the genre of marching music. He told me of all the songs that were played so far, Richard Roger's "Victory At Sea" gave him goosebumps.

Though I could have, I refrained from telling him how I was as a seven or eight year old, starting my summer vacation listening to the main theme of that NBC soundtrack. With my clothers folded and put away and having made my "bunk" military style, hung my "Fanner Fifty" pistol and holster on the bedpost.

Dusting away the dust bunnies from under the bed and setting my shoes perfectly under, but in line with my bed, I'd finish up with a salute, at attention, as the main theme of the soundtrack faded away with that great rolling wave ending.

I don't remember when it all stopped. It was probably the start of school or a hurricane... or whatever. I just remember the feeling of being disciplined and having my day starting off in the right direction.

Ah, the Fifties.

Copyright 2021/ Ben Bensen III

"Not Really, I Just Like The Color!"

 

Good "bottom of the ninth" Monday, y'all.

So funny. A few days ago, I happen to pass by a dude headed into the Covington City Hall ostensibly to pay a bill. He looked at me and I looked back at him, nodded and said, "Good Morning!"

We both stopped momentarily in the parking lot as if one of us was gonna say something important.

Looking at his retro Cincinnati baseball cap, I said, "You a Reds fan?"

"No, I just like the color."

"From that part of the world?" I asked.

"No man, I'm from Bogalusa," he said with a smile.

The dude had the baseball cap placed on his head kinda off to the side. I could tell he wasn't much into the sport by the brim of his cap. The brim was flat like if he had to catch a fly ball, the cap would certainly not help him.

He was wearing an untucked, collared white shirt with loose fitting red basketball shorts that stopped at the knees. The rest of the look included white calf length socks and bright red Nikes.

"Don't watch baseball much?"

"No... I just like the look!" he said with a bigger smile.

We then just stood there... in the parking lot... with nothing else to say.

"Well, I said as I was slowly walking toward the car, "Have a good day!"

But then, a thought popped into my head that I just had to convey. Besides,"Have a good day?" Really?

With a smile, I turned back around and said, "Well, you really look like the ultimate Cincinnati Reds fan. Did you know that they are the oldest franchise in baseball?"

" I didn't know that!"

"Yeh, I said. They were formed back in 1881 as the Cincinnati Red Stockings!"

After another momentarily awkward brain freeze, he said, "Cool, I didn't know that, but...

"I just like the color!"

Copyright 2021/Ben Bensen III