According to Sandy

“I Paint My House” by Margaret Courtney-Clarke is a collection of photographs of African women decorating their homes. In addition to pottery and textiles, there is a South and West African tradition of painting the outside of the house with bold shapes and bright colors. The women not only express themselves, but also document family history through their art and design.

Ms Courtney-Clarke has also produced coffee table sized books filled with her photographs of the bright geometric designs of Berber and Ghanaian women such as “African Canvas: The Art of West African Women”.

BTW: “I Paint My House” is actually a book of postcards. But, the murals and decorations are so vibrant and alive, I haven’t mailed any. (I don’t want to tear any of the cards out.)

Read an excerpt from the LeBron James book called “Shooting Stars” in the October 2009 issue of Vanity Fair Magazine. In the article, “LeBron’s Band of Brothers”, he discusses his High School basketball team and their coach and how much they contributed to his success. There is also a DVD that covers the same story –“More Than a Game”. It too focuses on LeBron’s beginnings as a basketball super phenom, but I think it is so much more than an uplifting tale about “having game” on a court. Dreams are wonderful to have, it makes for Technicolor nights and days, but they’re not always enough.

It reminded me so much of a terrific documentary about inner city kids with basketball skills – “Hoop Dreams”, 1994. The film followed two Chicago High School kids as they were recruited by a predominantly white school with an ambitious basketball program. They both struggled, one more than the other- but neither one was really prepared academically and emotionally for the experience. They seemed so alone. It not only takes a lot of support to get as far as the NBA, but it also helps if you have some cheerleaders around to get you thru High School and College.

In the book “Shooting Stars” and the DVD “More Than a Game”, James introduces us to a different set of inner city basketball kids from Akron, Ohio. Both highlights the work of their coach, Dru Joyce, as the engine that drove them to achieve in a Catholic H.S. There were also several family members that gave the kids a way to take advantage of the opportunities available. They all had hoop dreams, but the intensity varied. Basket ball was everyone’s love, but some of the guys just wanted to hang with their friends and meet girls. When the NBA didn’t work out for them as it did for their buddy LeBron, , they were able to use their education and other skills to make a life for themselves. (One of the “brothers” is LeBron’s financial advisor – he majored in business)

The folks who surrounded these young men wanted them to be complete adults, not just ball players. To “have game” in life is a good thing.

“Now Playing: Hand Painted Poster Art from the 1910s Through the 1950s”

At the beginning of the last century, posters that hung in the lobby of the old neighborhood movie palace were simple black and white drawings.  Very quickly, theater owners realized that the cardboard advertisements brought in customers.

The posters then became more artful and sophisticated – pretty, or dramatic (Valentino), or scary (“King Kong”, 1932), or, just high style (Gloria Swanson rendered in Art Deco), to the lurid “Noir” films of the 50’s.

These examples of movie art have been collected into a nice coffee table book:

“Now Playing: Hand Painted Poster Art from the 1910s Through the 1950s”
(Academy of Motion Pictures/Angel City Press – hardcover, 14″ x 11″, 160 pages)

“A HeLa cell is a cell type in an immortal cell line used in scientific research. It is one of the oldest and most commonly used human cell lines. The line was derived from cervical cancer cells taken from a patient named Henrietta Lacks, who eventually died of her cancer on October 4, 1951.” (WikiPedia)

Several books have been written about the HeLa phenomenon and a few about its donor Henrietta Lacks. The most recent was highlighted on “CBS Sunday Morning” a few weeks ago – “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, by Rebecca Skloot.  I have not been able to get this story out of my mind.

Ms Skloot not only gives us the scenario – Ms Lacks died at 31 of cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD.   Her tumor cells were taken and grown and split/ grown and split over and over again to be used for research in hospitals and clinics in this country and around the world – she is able to  humanize the situation by giving a face, rather just a culture slide to the situation.

“HeLa”, from the first 2 letters of Henrietta Lacks first and last names, was sold in test tubes and since it was considered “discarded tissue”, the patient’s family was never notified or advised of the profits derived from their relatives’  regenerated cells.  The book introduces us to the Lacks family, there were 5 children, and their story about how they only recently came to learn of their mother’s cells and their subsequent contribution to research for cancer, AIDS, polio, the effects of radiation on human tissue, etc. 

I find it ironic that the Lacks family, still living in Baltimore, is struggling to pay medical bills in the same city where 60 years ago their mother died.  If not sharing in profits, the surviving family should at least have all their doctor bills waived – as a belated thank you from all of us who might have benefited in some way, no matter how far removed.

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, by Rebecca Skloot

(Photo: Henrietta and husband David Lacks, 1945)

Writer, story teller and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, 1891 – 1960, started to publish right after the height of the Harlem Renaissance.  The ability to support oneself with art that explored the African-American experience waned with the onset of the depression and she fell into obscurity until re discovered by Alice Walker (“The Color Purple”).

Her work gained attention again with the introduction of college Black literature classes during the 70”s.  She was found and embraced by a whole new generation (including me). Her novels, short stories and poetry are now also taught in women’s studies and general literature courses.

Ms Hurston studied cultural anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University.  As a “folklorist”, she wrote and sang in the rural style and dialect of the people she remembered from the all black town of Eaton, FL where she was born and of the folks she met while traveling across the south.

Perhaps her most famous book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, 1937, is about “Janie”, who managed to make her way thru life and find love during a time and in a place very difficult for a woman’s survival. (This was made into a TV movie a few years ago with Halle Berry)

This past January, there was a  “Zora” Festival in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida. Zora Neale Hurston’s life and work were celebrated with readings, panel discussions, local refreshments and a concert – folks being folks (she would have liked that).

Anthony Bourdain continues to question other chef’s skills, write books and still have time to wander the globe in search of good food on his Emmy winning Travel Channel TV series, “No Reservations”.  Now in his 6th season, our host doesn’t use the word “gourmet” – but, he does intone the word “simple” a lot. Plain simple French bistro eats, simple, fiery Indian street food, plain simple family style Italian food, and so on. He feels that the worst thing to be is a “tourist”. We should risk and explore, meet real people and find the good, simple food the natives eat. (It is sometimes unusual/bizarre – rattlesnake in Texas, assorted crunchy critters in a tasty sauce while in Asia, etc.) His favorite lines “this is sooooo good” ‘this is reeeealllly good”.

He has given up his cigarettes, but he still appears to eat tons of food as he explores the sights.  Bourdain samples several courses, just about always has a dessert and washes it all down with the local brew, show after show – but, he doesn’t seem to gain a pound.  Is it his metabolism or just the plain “simple” food? If it’s the food, I want what he’s having.

I also enjoy visiting the interesting places Chef Bourdain takes us – a food market in Thailand, the sewers of Paris, a Dacha in Russia, the bars of Iceland and even the wilds of New Jersey. Whether you are an intrepid world trekker or an arm chair/couch potato traveler, “No Reservations” can be a fun show.

BTW- Seasons 1 thru 4 are now on DVD