What have you all been up to lately?

[Stormrider]

Ardo:

No, the story was not boring or confusing. I figured out that it was not your own art when the other guy said he recognized the work or was it style?

There is a tv show about an auction house or is it a pawn shop company? They show people bringing things in to sell in hopes of getting big money for them. The shop owners are a grandfather, son, and grandson. They always call in experts to appraise the stuff (especially weapons--rifles, guns, swords) for authenticity. Sometimes refurbishing things may cost more than they can get, too.

They bought an old coca cola machine that was in bad shape and missing inside parts. They took it to a friend who refurbished coke memorabilia and paid him $2,500 to fix it up but the friend told him after fixing, it was worth $7,500 so that was worth it if he can find a buyer.

[Ardo Whortleberry]

Hello, Stormrider! --

Actually, this guy's first words were:
"Hey, I know those birds!"
( the subject matter of the drawing ) --
then, he went on to explain that the artist was an Art teacher at a local junior high school that he had attended, and I presume that he studied Art under this teacher's tutelage when he was there --
I assume perhaps she gave him the artwork, at one time or another, as a gift, and that he then donated it to the
White Elephant Sale, or something along those lines...
( I still haven't contacted him to find out the whole story yet )
On the note he left us, he mentioned that some of this artist's other works had been shown at local galleries ( at one time ) and that had sold in the $500 range -
( but we don't want to sell the work, anyway ) ==

I think there was a PBS show on for a short while
( and a little while back )
that was an off-shoot of "Roadshow",
that was primarily concerned with "behind the scenes"
looks at auctions and the processes
leading up to taking an item to an auction,
& then finding out how the item fared
in the auction at the end of the show -
but I'm not sure if that's the same show you are talking about,
or not - actually, it sounds most likely like not!....

There's yet another British TV show, called "Lovejoy" -
sort of a Comedy - Drama - Mystery - Adventure affair, that revolves around the character "Lovejoy" who works in the Antiques & appraisals business - "Lovejoy" is the younger
( handsome & dashing )
partner in an Antiques warehouse business, but the other partner is more of a cantankerous old character --
( sort of "rough around the edges", but still loveable ) --
I had only seen a couple of episodes of this series, so I just now did glance at the wikipedia article about the show --
there were some other regular characters who were either part of the "team" of Antique-ers, or at least
were informal associates...
( apparently, the series was "toned down" quite a bit from the
way the stories were presented in the original novels ) ==

There was another PBS "spin-off" of "Antiques Roadshow",
where appraisers would be invited into people's homes, ( ones where it was already known that there might be a wealth of antiques or collectables inside ) and they were sort of
"let loose" when they got there, to run around the place and
examine furniture and other items, and give their opinions as to the various values...

Even the PBS show "History Detectives" could be considered a kind of spin-off of "Roadshow" --
Where people are invited to send in requests for an investigation of certain items they own, [ sometimes, it might be the very house the person lives in, itself ] which might have some story of historical significance behind them, which can be revealed
( to one extent or another ) by the researchers, the findings of which are presented by the hosts of the show
[ the "Detectives" ] =


P.S. -- I'm afraid there has been so much going on lately, that I have not been doing my "homework" --
that is, reading that book I mentioned in the "Appreciation Of Music" thread, about the History of the Phonograph -
and now it is overdue! ( & too late for renewals )
I will have to return it & check it out again... ===

[Stormrider]

Those Brits come up with some interesting shows, don't they? I watched my second video of Hetty Wainthrop this week. I still like it!

The show I'm thinking of is more of a pawn shop setting than what you have described above for auction houses. Next time it is on and I see it, I will make a note of what it is called! I don't even remember what channel it is on or the day.

[Ardo Whortleberry]

Hello, Stormrider ~~~

Yes, the quality of the "Hetty Wainthrop" episodes remained high throughout the series...
I enjoyed every episode, myself! --

[Ardo Whortleberry]

Hello, Once More ~~~

My wife & I have been a bit too distracted lately to enjoy our
DVDs ( checked out from the library ) & also, in general,
my wife has been too tired to stay awake to watch any of them, anyway, but last night I enjoyed another Brit show -
"Agatha Christie's Poirot" --

This time, I watched "The Cornish Mystery" -
taken from one of the A. Christie short stories, assuredly;
& I enjoyed it very much...

Of course, David Suchet is wonderful as Hercule Poirot -
I feel his is the "definitive" portrayal of the character...

At the same time, I most enjoy the episodes where all of the
"regulars" are involved in the story...
( which is usually the way it is, but not every time ) ==

Hugh Fraser as:
Captain Hastings ( Poirot's friend and "sidekick" - the
"Watson" to Poirot's "Holmes" )

Phillip Jackson as:
Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Japp --
Often one or two steps ( or more! ) behind Poirot at solving a murder or other crime ( & sometimes he must rely on Poirot to show him the way )-
Poirot & Japp can sometimes be at odds with each other,
& yet everyone is really just good friends,
when all is said and done...

And Pauline Moran as the redoubtable Miss Lemon -
Poirot's secretary; receptionist; and sometimes
private detective for Poirot ( as is Captain Hastings )...

Each of the actors play their parts to a "T" -
{ or, should I say, "To a Tea"? } --
And I like to see them playing off of one another, and
"keeping the ball rolling" along smoothly...

Occaisonally, there have been episodes I have seen which did sometimes seem to "drag" a liitle, as though things were getting "drawn out" too much ( perhaps these were later episodes ), but this one I watched last night seemed crisp...

As an aside, the actor who plays Hetty Wainthrop's husband
had a small part in this episode ( when you watch enough
British Television, you can't help but be "Actor Spotting"
all the time )

I may go enjoy another episode of "Poirot" right now! ~~~

[Stormrider]

I saw a preview not too long ago about a Sherlock Holmes remake with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson. It is to come out on Christmas of this year. Here is the update from IMDb www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/
It looks like a pretty action packed version compared to the old movies that have been made in the past.

[Stormrider]

The show I was talking about is on the History channel -- 120 in my area. It was on Sunday night and I know at least one other night during the week but I can't remember which night that was. It is called Pawn Stars and they are in Las Vegas. I didn't catch the Grandfather's name, but the son is Rick, and the Grandson is Corey. They have a young girl helper named Peaches who is always late for the morning shift and they keep making her go on the night shift as punishment for being late.

[Andorinha]

Hullo, hullo...

Finally started reading the Harry Potter series (have seen the movies 1 - 4 so far, will try to catch movie 5 this weekend), liking the books a good deal, though I find the "movie vision" tends to prevent the formation of my own images -- so the books now "look like" the film sets/ characters. Rather pleased with the films themselves, think I actually like them more than the text versions?

Not much else going on here, basically waiting for cooler weather so we can get out on a daily basis. Did find some "black sand" drifts not too far from the house in the aptly named Canada Del Oro, may try my hand at panning it, sigh, probably nothing more than carbon washed down from the fires several years ago...

Hot days here, 100 to 107F, some relief from the monsoon rains in the afternoons, but not as much lightning this year, so we have less spectacular storms, but also fewer power outages. Lots of rain this year, no wild fires in our district, so far. Maria is still convalescing, so our hikes when we get up on the mountain are fairly short, 2.5 to 4 miles -- but the weather is always 25 to 30 degrees cooler there, and we can still find some un-parched flowers in the meadows (yellow-columbine, lavender-allionia, and a few red-cinquefoil). Drove up the narrow dirt road on the backside (north) of the mountain, the old van did well though at times the clearance was not much more than a foot on either side of us, and 600 foot slopes below -- good for squeezing the adrenals nearly dry. Bet we use the commodious front-side highway from now on! Luckily we had the track all to ourselves the whole 3 hour journey (29 miles, so you can figure how slowly we inched our way up from 3000 feet to the peak, 9100). Narrow, winding, switch-backs, lots of washes to ford, but the undeveloped scenery on these northern slopes was quite beautiful -- whereas the front-side (south) highway goes through 20 miles of city before it lifts you above the suburbs.

Hmm, now getting nostalgic for the harder, northern path, maybe we will do it again? Maybe after I pan enough gold to replace my two nearly-bald front tires? LOL!

[Stormrider]

Andorinha:

I'm glad Marie is feeling better and the two of you are getting outside and going on some adventures again. It is lousy being couped up.

It seems strange to me to hear someone speak of heat, parched flowers, cooler temps in the mountains. I like Arizona a lot but I don't think I could live there permanently--especially with the horses. I could see me as a snow bird though!

Up here in the Chicago/Rockford area we have had a cool summer with frequent rain this year. It seems the past 3 or 4 summers have been rainy. This year has been mostly cooler because of the frequent rain. At least it has been more comfortable without the high temps. I like it about 70 to 75 myself but it has gotten into the 80's, too.

[Ardo Whortleberry]

Hello, Stormrider, Andorinha, Fredegar, & Everyone! ~~~

We are not up to much of anything these days ( & especially today - it feels like a very lazy Saturday here so far today - my wife and I are both lounging around the house - I just spent about an hour perusing the "flickr" photo site & now I am listening to that Celtic Music radio show { "Thistle & Shamrock" }
which today's "theme" ( appropriately enough ) is something along the lines of "myths & legends & imaginary lands"...
The San Francisco Bay Area ( at least, on this side of the hills, that is to say, to the west of the East Bay Hills ) is renowned for its mild & ( often ) damp, cooler weather ( even during the summertime ) but I've got our window model AC on today anyway - we've had a bit of a hot spell on over the last few days - yesterday was the
"kicker" - with temps up in the 90's - even around the Bay - even in
San Francisco! ( there was still some moisture coming in in the late afternoon - clouds and a small breeze - although it was still muggy, and the non air-conditioned busses were a drag to be on - they felt even hotter inside than it was outside! ) --
In general, it's starting to feel more like early autumn, around here - some very dry, fairly hot days, with that certain "feel" in the air -
Often, the hottest part of the year sometimes come around this time - and sometimes, even well into September - ( perhaps even the beginning of October ) - sometimes called "Indian Summer"
( by us native "old timers" ) it sometimes has days when the sun blazes brighter & hotter than in the actual summertime period -
( even if the official temps do not always reflect that ) -
often, the air becomes very dry, & on a windy day,
the fire danger is very real --
( as you know, Southern California is having some nasty wildfires right now ) ==

Andorinha - you guys must be pretty hardy souls to live in desert conditions - ( although it also sounds quite beautiful where you are, and where you can get to, as well ) --
I'm too "soft" to handle extremes of heat or cold, myself - I grew up in this area where there usually aren't too many "extremes" to speak of, really
[ & when we have experienced some "extremes" - like a winter back in the mid 1980's where the temps dipped into the 30's in the daytime and the dry wind created a bit of a "wind-chill" -
there is always someone from "Back East" ( or from the Midwest ) who will tell us that "this is nothing!..." ]

When I was six & seven years old, I lived for a while with my aunt & uncle and my cousins out in Pleasant Hill, which in those days was still a half-rural suburb on the East side of the
East Bay Hills - where the weather is always hotter in the
summer & colder in the winter than it ever gets around here
( next to the Bay ) - the heat never bothered me then, but in later years, whenever we had reason to visit the communities in that region, the heat I have always found oppressive, & desired to stay inside ( & in air-conditioned comfort ) as much as possible...The further into the Sacramento Valley you go, too, of course the heat goes up...
On a couple of occasions, we did have an opportunity to travel up to Ashland Oregon ( for the Shakespeare Festival ) - we had a ride, and I also recall those rides are being so dry, dusty and hot
( although, when you got out of the car for a rest stop or for for a
meal break, the heat was more humid, although still very hot ) --
The last time we were in Ashland itself ( 1996 ) the weather in that part of southern Oregon was the same as the in the
Valley of California - only even worse!
I think it was over a hundred degrees -
I would hide inside an air-conditioned shop before braving the hot sidewalks & all that muggy heat
( we took a day-trip to Medford, a few miles north of Ashland, while we were there, & that place felt even hotter! )
I actually got a little sick from the heat, after we arrived in Ashland that time ( nothing serious ) -
At night, there was a little bit of light rain & some thunder & lightning...

My wife and I have sometimes made extensive, ambitious plans to go on some long walks, ( there are a lot of "walking paths", long stairways, and such, in various neighborhoods in the East Bay Area )
maybe even do a little hiking in the East Bay Hills --
( there is also an extensive system of Regional Parks, with many hiking trails up there ), but unfortunately, most of our plans have never come to fruition...
Work, shopping, obligations & our sedentary lifestyle ( perhaps even sheer laziness as well ) always seemed to get in the way...
What we did finally wind up doing is sometimes taking the dog
around the neighborhood for walks - usually headed "up the hill" aways and around the neighborhoods up there...
In general, the longest of these walks might be about 2 miles
( there and back again ) - although I think we deserve extra
"points" for the uphill part of the excursion...
[ except we can't take him out in the heat of the day - it has to be when it's cool outside ] ==

Stormrider - Pawn Stars sounds like an intriguing show -
unfortunately, we do not have Cable ( or Satellite ) TV -
[ but we feel like we have plenty enough to choose from already, simply with the over- the - air broadcasts we do watch ]
However, there is always the possibility that the show may sometime "crossover" to regular TV - or else, it may have come out on DVD, ( in which case, I might come across it at a library ) ===

As for what else I have been up to lately, I can only say that I try to get in a little bit of sketching whenever I go out to take care of some business and do some shopping ( I usually like to sit in a coffee-shop and sketch there ) and I have been taking a lot of pictures with my digital camera ( a gift from an uncle of mine ) & also posting a lot of those at that flickr site
[ FRABJOUS JOY ]
But, that's along with about 157 million other people doing the same thing, so it's not like it's all that inventive or creative =
[ also, not all of the pictures that I upload to the site are really all that "upload worthy", but I go ahead and upload them anyway ] -I think some of my best shots are still the few that I had uploaded back at the beginning, ( pictures which were not even taken with a digital camera, but with those cheap
"One Time Use" instamatic cameras )
Since the "flickr" site seems to arrange the photo stream with the latest pictures uploaded shown first
[ although I suppose I could adjust the setting on that (?) ]
you have to go all the way to the "last" couple of pages
of my photos to see those... ===

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone! ~~~

[Stormrider]

Ardo stated:

[ & when we have experienced some "extremes" - like a winter back in the mid 1980's where the temps dipped into the 30's in the daytime and the dry wind created a bit of a "wind-chill" - there is always someone from "Back East" ( or from the Midwest ) who will tell us that "this is nothing!..." ]

I would be one of those Midwesterners telling you that!

California and the West Coast) has comfortable weather! I really like temps in the 70's and sometimes in the lower 80's.

I have to get my sketch book out...I can't put it off any longer! I want to do some more Hobbit sketches. I've been into reading a long series of books one of the girls from the Drill Team has been giving me and now I've been getting Netflix movies so it is keeping me away from sketching and/or painting. I have a great idea for my first sketch, too.

[Andorinha]

Hi, Ardo!

LOL, yeah, hot here, but (except for rainy hours) very low humidity -- just need to carry a bottle of water with you at all times, sip frequently...

[Ardo Whortleberry]

Hello, Once More! ~~~

Andorinha --
Around here, a lot of people ( including me ) have gotten in the habit of always taking a bottle of water with them whenever they go out, too -
My wife has to have to her water for taking her pills, but I just take it along to stave off dehydration...

Stormrider --
Yes, I know we have long been spoiled around here with our weather conditions - although it feels like we have been having more & more "hot spells" in relatively recent times,
( say, over the last ten years or so ) & the first "drought years" we had ever experienced began just over thirty years ago --
( global warming, perhaps? )
( P.S. - I recall clearly that it was someone who was from
Chicago was one who told me that bitter cold snap in
the mid- 1980's here was nothing to write home about -
he had long been used to cold windy weather worse than that )

It has been a real struggle for me to keep up with my sketching -
when I first determined to finally pick the pencil & pad again
( after a furlough of over 25 years ) it felt almost painful for me in my very first attempts - as if it were that I were a youth again, struggling to master the basic rudiments of drawing...
I think it may have been just about a year now since I picked up the practice again, and what I have to show for it is a couple of sketchbooks, one large & one small, each about 2/3 - 3/4 full of drawings ( and usually with drawings only on one side of each page ) --
Also, ( as I noticed yesterday ) I am still too restless to sit still for a long period of time and really concentrate on a representational type of drawing ( I seem to have an easier time of drawing faces and people, as opposed to inanimate objects )
and I often wind up just "fudging it" when drawing those kind of things ) --
I suppose I could save that kind of difficult study for when I am home, and draw objects in the house, ( and save the day-trips for just "fast sketches" ) - but at home there are always so many distractions ( like the ones that you mentioned -
& here I am on the computer again, ain't I ? ) --
How well I can draw seems to be entangled with how I am feeling at the moment, as well - when I got sick with that flu, that threw me off badly for a while - but it seems like I just have to be feeling a little bit "off" ( or "just not quite right" ) to make it harder for me to do good work ( or, at least, to enjoy my work )...

I guess maybe that's why I've been getting more and more "into" the photography game -
originally, my idea was to take the photos I was taking and then use them to make paintings from ( I always would see so much every day that I wished I could reproduce in paintings ) -
then I sort of fell into posting the pictures on "flickr" -
( and of course, it is still so much easier to just click a shutter, rather than to sit and sketch ) =

[Stormrider]

Progress! I actually started my sketch and pencilled in Bilbo and all 13 Dwarves. Now I need to perfect the sketch by adding more details to it. If all goes well, I want to do it in pen and watercolor.

[Andorinha]

Dropping off-line for a week or so, heading up to northern Arizona to view a few archaeological sites (Canyon de Chelly, Montezuma's Castle, etc) and take in the Meteror Crater/ Petrified Forest/ Painted Desert before it gets too cold and snowy up there. See youse all a bit later!