THE YELLOW BOX STRIKES AGAIN!

Victoria Abrami & Krzysztof Piatkowski are back at it. There HOPE: GIVE YOURS project won a grant and they went out to Union Sqaure Park in NYC to do it all of over again. I stopped by to show my support and share my hope. When the new video is available, I will post it.

Marcio's in the air from SylVNR on Vimeo.

MARCIO’S IN THE AIR

ILLUSIONS: ADVENTURES OF A RELUCTANT MESSIAH

Usually when someone tells something will change your life, I usually take it with a grain of salt. This book however comes almost close of doing just that. It doesn’t endow you with any ideas you have not heard before but it packages it in a way that is easy to grasp and makes you think.

Illusions storyline follows a biplane pilot, Richard, who travels through middle America selling plane rides for $3. On one of these excursion days he meets Donald Shimoda who shares his profession but not much else. The two join each other is selling rides for a living, while Richard learns how to become a “Messiah” from Don.

There are a pearls of wisdom mixed with a great sense of humor. Its a short read but very engaging. It’s one of those books you can read over and over.

NOW THAT’S CLEAN

PROGRESS: HENDRIX

This is a progress shot of Jimi. So far, I am pleased with where it’s going but I can tell that I wont be able to finish the five pieces I wanted to for the deadline which is this Friday : \ Think it’ll we be Hendrix and Ali at the art show. We’ll see.

HORIZONTAL + VERTICAL =?

WORLD OF IMAGINATION ARTWORK

I signed up to join an art compilation show at APW Gallery. The show is called World of Imagination 2. They do a open call for artists and the theme is limited to the artists’ imagination. Only stipulation is that it has to be on a 12″ x 12″ surface. The plan is to have every square foot of the gallery covered in art. Last I checked, there were 455 artists slated to show.

I have been slowly working on my pieces, but have had difficulty finding sufficient time to really get anywhere. Now I am in the position of trying to get five pieces done in less than two weeks. Here is some of what i have done so far.

Since this is Black History Month and Obama is President, I wanted to do a bunch of portraits of great African Americans. In the pics shown, I have Ali and Hendrix, but I am also doing George Washington Carver, Mae Jemison and Josephine Baker. The project began with Josephine Baker really. I wanted to do a portrait of her from last year and I have had the sketch done from then.

I am really hoping to getting them all done, but at minimum, two. Due to the lack of time, Im not really shooting for close likness in the paintings. Im praying to at least capture their “spirit” (that sounds cheesy, but I can’t explain it any other way). Wish me luck.

HOCUS POCUS

I consider it another failure of the New York Education Department, that until three years ago, I haven’t heard of Kurt Vonnegut. This should be considered criminal and I’m in talks with my lawyer to see if I have a case. In the meantime, I’m willing to share this new found treasure.

Kurt Vonnegut’s Hocus Pocus, is a satire that cover topics like, race, government, war, sex and wealth, and manages to be unbelievably funny. The story follows Eugene Hartke, a vet of the Vietnam War who becomes a professor for the disabled and illiterate. When we meet Hartke, he his currently awaiting trial being apart of a prison break that happens across the lake from the school where he was a professor. The story is told through sporadic recollections of the events that got him in prison but mixed with history lessons, little known facts and unrelated opinions. It is done in a fast paced way that makes it almost playful (caught myself giggling out loud on the subway. yes, men do giggle).

The continuing side story is the lead character spends part of the book adding up the amount of people he has slept with and killed, to only find out that its the same number. There is an awesome mathematic word problem at the end of book to figure out the total number.

Great read. Check this and his other books out!