You’ve all gotten a chance to see my work here at CHARRON’s CHATTER; today I’d like to share just a sampling of my late sister’s artwork: Diane Caroline Robiscoe. She could work in many mediums, as evidenced below.
Sculpted Clay
Diane Robiscoe
Colored pencils
Diane Robiscoe
Pencil Sketch…Pointillism?
Diane Robiscoe
Acrylic
Diane Robiscoe
Watercolor
Diane Robiscoe
Pastel
Diane Robiscoe
Watercolor
Diane Robiscoe
Sculpted Clay
Diane Robiscoe
Glazed Clay (thrown, etc.)
Diane Robiscoe
Glazed Clay (thrown, etc.)
Diane Robiscoe
Watercolor
Diane Robiscoe
Watercolor
Diane Robiscoe
The Divine Watercolor
Diane Robiscoe
I hope you enjoyed these images as much as I do. To see more great artwork by Diane Robiscoe, click: Gallery II
Post advisory: By reading the following you agree to laugh at: abortion, pedophilia, gender stereotypes, 911, NDE’s, ethnicities, and if there’s time: rape. No need to thank me, though. I’m just quoting a caveat comedian Daniel Tosh relayed in his opening monologue for his 2012 comedy tour that Jim and I attended last night.
These are front row, too!
Along with at least 4562 fellow Santa Barbarans—the 1 percenter’s, as Daniel dubbed the members of our fair though elite community—that headed over to the Flintstone-themed arena that is the Santa Barbara Bowl. To be fair, the rocky amphitheater has undergone some sprucing up since last I’d been, its seats re-cushioned and its security staff austerely attired in dusty blue jerseys and khakis; looking more country club attendant than concert staff, frankly, but hey. This is Santa Barbara, and we march to our own drummer.
The rabble…
And in a fashionably late manner, as well. As the 8 o’clock start time drew near & passed, a surge of late-coming college kids merged with us thirty, forty and fifty-somethings, exchanging catcalls and bounced beach-balls, and grabbing a seat under the stars. The crowd’s gestalt was exuberant, the balmy twilight pleasant, and no one seemed to mind waiting until a more comedic version of star popped out of the amphitheater’s eaves around 8:15.
Opening act: Dwayne Perkins was worth the trifling delay. A regular on Comedy Central & Conan O’Brien, the engaging African-American relied on some standard racial taboos to illicit laughter from the audience, but his material was David Greer lighthearted—rather than Chris Rock angry—and fresh for all the saturation of that comedic angle. Don’t take my word for it. Check out this YouTube video below. Continue reading →…
August 15, 2012 by Charron's ChatterComments Off on Potent Quotables
4 Favorite Phrases from 4 Awesome authors.
Warning! This post has received a TripleM rating by the Idiom Council of America. (many mixed metaphors) In compliance with international simile laws, and consumer reading caveats particular to the U.S., I’m obliged to inform you of the following: You’re reading on thin ice, here, and if your Spidey sense starts seeing double at any time during this post, you better hang ten, and write it off between the lines as a straight-up, rinse-repeat.
I never met a 4 I didn’t like, nyuk-nyuk…
Glad that’s out of the way. Now we can get down to the brass chase of it. The raison de blog, and the raison is quite simply this: my recent post about favorite audio books brought to mind some other favorite, book-borne goodies, and I bet you can’t guess what those are. Hint: it isn’t forgotten but stylish bookmarks, library fines under the double-digits, or made-from-the-book movies, either.
When fellow tribe member and blogger friend, Ellie Heller, asked me to write a post featuring my five favorite audio books, it took me less time to jot down those titles than it did for WordPress to process my user name & password so I could keypunch my reply: “I’m in.”
Oh! Oh! And this one, and that one…and that, one, too!
That’s how near and dear my little nuggets of “Once Upon a Time’s” are to me, and it was tough to narrow it down to just five. I listen to audio books at least four afternoons a week at my job as a personal chef. While my hands slice and dice, my mind leaves the building as sneakily as Elvis ever did, wandering along spoken footpaths or hurtling down multi-tiered, L.A. style freeways…And sometimes footpaths that merge with such freeways in the same breath! Literary–if not literal journeys–I embark on effortlessly, letting the narrator take the lead on vistas carved by author imagination.
Synapses TrailHead
In the case of audio books, the voice is everything. The same book enjoyed in hardcover can be an excruciating assault to author, listener, and the work itself as easily as it can be a mesmerizing escape into the delightful place of: “Tell me a story”. Conversely, a book that’s only so-so in print can become sassy and engaging when read aloud by a favorite narrator. It’s no small skill to modulate your voice from character to character, and convey action and emotions with only inflection, timing and words—musicians appreciate this nuance, I’m sure–but the best of them do it seamlessly. Like a smooth ride in a fine-tuned car, the method of conveyance falls away and the listener simply experiences what becomes the listener’s story as it unfolds. And the first narrated tale I’d like to note is…ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta —(ta—koff, koff—ta!)
The Grapes of Wrath. Author: John Steinbeck; narrator: Dylan Baker. Dylan Baker does a fine job narrating all the characters in John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It doesn’t hurt that Baker’s sometimes reedy voice is reminiscent of Henry Fonda’s vocalizations, the actor that starred in the movie version of the epic, but in the case of this first book, I simply must focus on the material itself. It transcends any MOD, be it page, audio, film or adaptation, and if you’re a Steinbeck fan, I know you’ll agree. Continue reading →…
JO-JO’s BLUES / Cover Art by Joanna Ballard / Photography by Karen Rozewicz
Recording Artist Joanna Ballard wears many hats. A storyteller first and foremost, the Baton Rouge recording artist also performs her unique blend of melodically crooning poetry for live audiences. Between crafting earth-friendly jewelry, assembling press kits for artists, and staging performance poetry workshops that is, as this Renaissance woman is much in demand. You have only to watch the first few seconds of any of her spun tales to hear and see why. The mixture of Creole folklore and metaphysical poetry compels you. Click below!
Purple Peace Pipe was an instant favorite for this blogger. But is it really possible to learn her one-of-a-kind, narrative style? Or emulate the mellifluous tones she delivers on her new collection of stories titled: Jo-Jo’s Blues?
Jo-Jo’s Blues will be the #2nd collection of performance poetry released by Ms. Ballard. Registered to BMI, and recorded by Hit City Records, the CD and MP3’s are a featured prize for the impending: Art4TheHomeless fundraiser that’s staging August 20th at the Masquerade venue in Atlanta, Georgia. Thereafter, a portion of ALL sales from Jo-Jo’s Blues will be donated to Art4TheHomeless, while the work itself will be available for purchase on Reverbnation and Amazon.
The sales are sure to be strong! It was a treat for both the music and story lover in me to listen to the compilation of a dozen blues-themed poems accompanied by Henry Turner Jr’s blues beat and plucky, acoustic guitar in standard blues progression. (with a skosh of jazz tossed in for good measure) Ms. Ballard’s and Mr. Turner’s ten+ years of experience working together has certainly fine-tuned their combined talents, and after listening to the poetry a few times, the musical accompaniment seemed not just a welcome addition, but the only way to properly convey the sentiment of Ms. Ballard’s stories.
The muse is a mysterious force…
They abduct you! And while I can’t speak for anyone but myself, I love to have a story read aloud. Maybe it’s the stilted child inside that was happy to settle in and let Ms. Ballard weave her magical, phonic tapestry, or maybe it was her sweet-toned inflection that ranged from spoken, to crooning, to almost full-bore singing at times, at least during the first attention-grabbing story-tune titled: The Blues Ain’t Enough.
They were certainly enough for me. As the subsequent stories unfolded, I was swept away with the pleasing combination of music and imaginative wording, each linked one to the other like so many daisies in a chain–or camellias in a chain, I guess I should say. The finger-snapping selections titled: Soul Job & Soul Blues encouraged the plumbing of one’s motivation and impetus in life, and I confess to becoming somewhat introspective myself before Ms. Ballard’s poetic suggestion turned a trifle more extroverted.
The next 2 titles: This is a Moment & Storyteller’s Blues moved me through a gentle caution of carpe diem to a more personal peek inside Ms. Ballard’s mind. The manner in which her dulcet tones amplified the word: moment spoke of a private connection to me, though the commonplace of the noun allowed me to imagine my own “moment” at well…that moment!
A moment that blended seamlessly into the next several stories. Blues, Blues Fix & Blues Song are so well linked it’s near impossible to tell where one ends, and the other begins, and wholly unnecessary to do so. When Ms. Ballard reveals her red dress is coming on–and then off!–during the course of Blues Fix, Blues Song goes on to add symbolic garters to the mix, and all 3 selections made me want to know where the Lady in the Red Dress was going.
I didn’t have to wonder long. Track #9 titled: Have You Ever Been to Louisiana?–expounded on just that, painting the Bayou the way we all imagine it: lush with flamboyant flowers and mysterious, muddy swamps, and while she sketches “Main Street Louisiana” (my term) in this story, too, the reference to her region’s one-of-a-kind topography and dialect hooked this catfish.
Tis brillig..and slithy!
Despite the title of track #10: They Don’t (come to Louisiana for storytellers). I know I certainly would. The title of subsequent jam: Word Movement substantiates my newfound inclination, as did the final and title track on Jo-Jo’s Blues–a treat just aching to spun by her eager audience of fans.
August 28, 2012 
Charron's Chatter 