"The Arts Are Not a Luxury. They Are a Necessity."

Not everyone looks at it that way, but all patrons of the arts do.

I bought a $40 ticket to a Dance NOW! Miami event, and there was an opportunity to add a donation.  So I rounded up to $100.  I don't go to as many of their productions as I used to, because scheduling doesn't always permit it, and they don't have a fixed and reliable season.  So I deal with it this way.  Two days ago, I went to a spectacular event presented by Martha/Mary Concerts, and I donated $100 to them, too.  The ticket was only $25, and they couldn't figure out (and I didn't remember) if I had already paid in advance.  So I paid either $100 or $125.  It was worth it either way.

Today, I got an e-mail from Dance NOW! Miami, essentially thanking me for my donation.  The e-mail was as follows: "Thank you for your donation of $60.00 on February 4, 2025.

As we celebrate our 25th Anniversary Season, Dance NOW! Miami remains committed to inspiring, entertaining, and educating our community through the transformative power of dance. For a quarter of a century, we have thrived, and, despite the current funding challenges, with your support, we are planning a season to remember!

The arts are not a luxury; they are a necessity. They create jobs, drive tourism, foster community engagement, and enrich our lives in immeasurable ways. With your support, we can continue to bring exceptional performances to our stages and provide invaluable opportunities for artists, students and audiences alike. THANK YOU FOR BELIEVING, AS WE DO, IN THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF THE ARTS!"

We've probably had this conversation before, but the arts are under siege in Florida. Ronnie DeSantis cut off all grants to all arts, reportedly because he thinks they have something to do with sex (he did not publicly clarify what he thinks something like classical music, for example, has to do with sex).  Why Ronnie, who is married and has children, is terrified of sex is a mystery.  But he appears to be.  The state legislature is now accepting public comments as to whether or not they should try to overpower Ronnie.  Yes, of course I sent them a comment.

In addition, the County said it was going to withdraw support for the arts.  They got such overwhelming blowback that they canceled their plan.

ALL arts organizations meet a maximum of 30% of their budgeted expenses by selling tickets.  The rest is various grants (federal/NEA, state, county, and local municipality, as well as private granting sources like the Knight Foundation, in our area) and donations from people like you and me.  It simply doesn't happen without that.

If you think the arts are a luxury, maybe you don't care.  And if you do think that, you've clearly never been in my house.  As I've been getting older, I've been giving some things away, and I'm willing to sell some that cost too much to walk away from.  My first offerings were to my offspring.  My son declined (at first), saying he doesn't like art.  I have no concept of what this means.  Categorically not liking art is to me like categorically not liking food, or sex (sorry, Ronnie.  Some of us, you know...).  But my son and his girlfriend visited me a month or two ago, and she picked out some things she wanted.  So I gave them to her (and told her that if things didn't work out between her and my son, the things I gave her were hers).  There was just one thing she wanted that I wasn't yet ready to part with.  When the time comes...  It was then my son spotted something he wanted, so he took it.  I had already given my daughter the things she wanted.  One of my friends owns an art gallery, and he himself is an artist.  I had some things for him to try to sell for me, so he came to the house.  He also said he wanted to buy back something I bought from him years ago.  I'm willing, but he hasn't done it yet.  It's not expensive.  I think he might have wanted it for himself.  But he took the things he thought he could sell.  Another of my friends expressed an interest in buying something that cost me too much just to give away.  I said I was willing, but I haven't heard back.  It's an outdoor sculpture, and if you think art isn't a necessity, you should try coming home to that piece every day.  There are few people on earth whom I'd let have that piece, and this friend is one of them.

Or go to concerts, and dance shows, and plays.  See how often you think about them.  Just a "luxury?"  Something you could do without?  You might want to reconsider, if that's what you think.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Karen Peterson Dance company (she always uses some disabled dancers, in wheelchairs, etc: cleverly choreographed and inspired shows) is performing at Sandrell Rivers Theater at 2:00 Saturday afternoon, March 8.  It's close enough, at NW 61st St and 7th Ave, ticket prices are always low, parking is free, and the staff are as friendly as possible.  If you want to go, you can get tickets through the website, at sandrellriverstheater.com, or just buy them when you get there.  They're $20 each. Possibly with a $2 per ticket "convenience"/"facility"/junk fee.  If you want to know if a Karen Peterson show is worth $20, it's worth twice that.  And more if you don't have to pay for parking, and the staff treat you either like beloved friends or royalty.

That night, I'm going to South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center (now known as the Moss Center: mosscenter.org) to see the Spanish Harlem Orchestra at 8:00.  It's $55 (yes, plus $2) for those, but hey, it's my fucking birthday, so what do I care?  And I'll spend the evening with people who have become like good friends.  And I get the same interpersonal deal there that I get at Sandrell Rivers: there's my friend, Eric Fliss, who is the premier impresario in the world, and a super, super nice guy, his wife, Roberta, who calls him an impresario, because I do, and to razz him, Dora, if she's not stuck back in the ticketing room somewhere, Rico, Karin, Tom, various other employees whose names I don't know, but we know each other, and any patrons I know or who are familiar to me because we see each other there a lot.  I hope I see my older friends, Don and Magda, my new friends, Enrique and Lindsey, and it's been an age since I've seen Andi.  I hope she's OK.  It would be great to see her there.  I don't think I'll be at Sandrell Rivers before March 8, but I'll be at SMDCAC twice before then.

Feel free to let me know if you want to join me for either or both.  The Olive Garden is a few blocks away, inexpensive, predictable, reliable, and I always get the same thing.  Sometimes, I see Eric and Roberta there.

The Greatest Movie Ever Made

If you're going to tell me I'm very much the wrong person to form an opinion about this, because I am not a movie-goer, and I just endlessly rewatch the movies I like and own, I already know that.  I know people who can't get enough of movies.  They go to the movies A LOT.  And they like the whole movie theater ("cinema") feel of it.  I have one friend who goes to the movies EVERY Monday.  And when I have said I suppose she must see every movie that comes out, she tells me she's not even close.  Apparently, way more than 52 movies a year come out.  I know people who talk for weeks or months in advance about the Oscars, and they watch every movie that's nominated for an Academy Award.  Let me be very clear: I am not in any way one of those people.

On the radio a couple of weeks ago, I heard discussants talking about Stanley Kubrick's "Dr Stangelove."  I saw it very many years ago, and I mentioned this conversation to my friend who sees a movie every Monday.  So she did me a favor, and she brought over Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," so we could watch it together.  It was decades after "2001" came out that I decided to watch it, and I forced myself through it, so I could say I watched it.  It was one of the very worst movies I have ever seen: idiotic story, terrible acting, poor directing, caricaturish special effects.  The music was good, but that had nothing to do with the film-makers.  Once had been way more than enough, so I refused to watch it again.  The next time I saw my friend, she had acquired from ebay a copy of "Dr Strangelove," which we watched, and which she gave to me, since she doesn't have a DVD player.  It was a somewhat good movie, enhanced by the fact that Peter Sellers played three very distinct parts, with different accents, and was to play a fourth, but he couldn't pull it all off.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, which is the title of this post.  The easy answer, which would have spared me from writing this post, is "how should I know?"  But if I had wanted it to be that easy, I wouldn't be doing this.

A year or more ago, I wrote a post which I called "The G.O.A. T."  It was about the best professional basketball player ever, and I said there was sort of no such thing, because basketball is a team sport.  That's less true of movies, because there's a fixed finished product, and a collection of people work hard together to make it whatever they want it to be.  A basketball player can be good with any team, or s/he can be better with one group of teammates, and coaches, and trainers, than with another.  In the old movie days, they used to list a few people (cast, writer, director, and maybe a couple of others).  Today, credits go on for minutes.  The viewer doesn't even know what some of these people (the "grip," etc) do.  But somehow, they're part of the end product.

And there's the question of who decides, and how, what movies, directors, writers, composers, costumers, etc, are best.  Do you want to ask the "experts?"  In 1979, the "Best Actress in a Leading Role" Academy Award went to Sally Field, who was Norma Rae in "Norma Rae."  If you want to know who didn't get that award that year, it was Bette Midler in "The Rose."  As it happens, I've seen both movies.  You show me any actress who was ever better, in anything, than was Bette Midler in "The Rose," and I'll be very curious.  It wasn't even close.  But that's not how "The Academy" voters saw it.  

I said I have a collection of movies (mostly DVDs, and a bunch of videocassettes, too).  I've acquired more over the years, but I don't keep the ones that don't interest me as much.  I should also say I have "requisites" in movies I like.  (I put requisites in quotes, because I don't always honor them.  For example, I don't like violence, horror, too much swearing, and gratuitous sex in movies.  But as it turns out, I love some movies that violate some of those restrictions.  Many years ago, I watched "Snatch" every day for a week, because I love it, even though it's loaded with violence and bad attitude.)

So, what's the best movie ever made?  Even if the question was narrowed to "in my opinion," it would be hard to answer.  Some are commonly talked about, like "Citizen Kane," which didn't do much for me.  There are great classics -- well, more modern classics -- like "Chinatown" and "The Sting."  Fabulous.  But I had gotten myself somewhat comfortable thinking of "Big Fish" as the best movie ever made.  Sure, the animation or engineering of the huge catfish was not as perfect as it could have been, but overall, the movie was so spectacular that I have been comfortable to let it take the top spot.  Amazing story-telling, acting, directing, and whatever else goes into all those credits.  Sort of until... I just rewatched "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."  I'm captivated by any role Frances McDormand acts (and this one wasn't even Coen Brothers), Woody Harrelson was spectacular, Sam Rockwell was totally obnoxious, in a very engaging way, the directing was as good as it could have been, and every other part of that movie was...I don't know...perfect.  Even with the violence, bad attitude, and swearing.  And Peter Dinklage had a part that was very unusual for him.

I love my old Sherlock Holmes movies (Basil Rathbone, mostly from the '40s), and my new ones (Benedict Cumberbatch, from the '00s), but they all have imperfections.  Except for Basil Rathbone.  He was never imperfect.

If you suggest that "Micmacs" should be up there, I won't argue, assuming you're willing to read subtitles.  The same goes for "Tous Les Matins Du Monde."  "Mrs Henderson Presents?"  Or "Philomena," or anything else with Judi Dench and/or Bob Hoskins and/or probably even Steve Coogan?  All up there.  And "Chinatown," as annoying as I often find Jack Nicholson to be, and "The Sting."  I don't mean for an instant to slight "The Birdcage," "The Big Lebowski," "Butcher Boy," "Farinelli," or probably anything touched by Terry Gilliam.  There are really lots of great movies.

But I'm sticking with "Big Fish" and "Three Billboards..."  If you think there's something better, you can let me know what it is.

Seriously, What Are You Doing With Your Life?

Tonight at SMDCAC, it was the Andrew Collins Trio.  The trio was Andrew Collins, Adam someone-or-other, and James MacKay.  They're from Canada.

As is weirdly true of Canadians, they have a penchant for southern US bluegrass and country music.  They even sing some of it with what approximates southern US accents.  (The Canadian members of "The Band" also had a penchant for southern US bluegrass and country music.  In case you didn't know, Garth Hudson, the last surviving member of "The Band," died last week.)

Andrew, Adam, and James sort of rotated instruments.  Andrew mostly played mandolin, although he also played mandola (a mandolin with a slightly different tuning, and an undetectable, to me, different sizing, which he likened to a viola) and "mandolin cello," which is an eight stringed instrument that looks otherwise like a guitar, and has four pairs of strings, like a mandolin does.  Adam played regular guitar and both the mandolin and the mandola, I think.  I couldn't always keep track of which mandolin-looking instrument he had.  James played upright bass, but also mandolin cello.  Andrew and James sang sometimes, and Adam sang with them on one song.

Andrew and James have been in the same band together for about 13 years.  Adam is newer in this band.

The music was totally captivating.  Andrew wrote some or most of it, although one piece started out with Bach, and another started with Debussy's "Clair de Lune."

And Andrew is also a great talker.  He introduced pieces, told a few jokes, and added some depth to the presentation.

It wouldn't have meant anything to you, but the young woman at my table, sitting with her boyfriend, recognized me from Sandrell Rivers Theater.  I had gone to a couple of "The Moth" events there, and told some stories (if you know what "The Moth" is about).  And another couple I know from SMDCAC and Sandrell Rivers was also there.  So I gave the younger couple my card, in case they want to go to some events with me, or come over for dinner, and I'll see the older couple again soon enough anyway.

Andrew was eager to sell CDs, or some book he had, or a tee shirt he had, so I got two CDs as souvenirs, and because the music was terrific.

Annie Hoffman, who introduced the Andrew Collins Trio, said something about an event tomorrow night, and I didn't have it on my calendar.  But I checked when I got home, and it's Miami City Ballet, which is not of interest.  I only go to Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami and Dance Now! Miami for ballet-based dance.

You really let this stuff get by you, huh?

What Are You Doing With Your Life?!! If You're Not Buddhist, You Understand This One Go-Around Is It.

I'm at South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center (now Dennis C Moss Cultural Arts Center) a lot.  We've talked about this many times.  It's not at all close to here.  The address is 10950 SW 211 St.  I know.  Boy, do I know.

On Friday, January 17, I was there for Cirque Kalabante.  I don't go to circuses that have non-human animals.  I've been to several Cirque Du Soleil shows, and one Circus Smirkus (the latter is in New England).  I would have said no circus is as good as Cirque Du Soleil.  Cirque Kalabante is as good, or possibly slightly better.  Its origins are somewhere in Africa, and I don't know from where all the performers come.  Some clearly had African accents.  The saxophone player had skin paler than mine.  So maybe he's not from Africa.  These people were spectacular.  The drummer, the saxophone player, and the electric bass (guitar) player only did that.  The rest were generally multi-talented.  The acrobatics were unspeakable.  It seemed none of the performers had bones, and all of them were very muscular.  One guy had neither bones nor cartilage.  His ability to contort was unimaginable.  Do it?  I couldn't even keep track of what he was doing.  And he had an amazingly engaging facial expression that left people laughing as much as they were breathless.  The guy who was sort of the MC or ringleader also played hand drums.  There were two women who also did acrobatics.  Another guy did several things, including acrobatics with a very large hoop.  They made pyramids.  They stood on each other three or four people high.  It really was breathtaking, and I felt a wish that it would never end, mixed with a wish that it would end soon, before anyone got hurt.  Which no one did.

Two days later, I was back for Allan Harris, whom I've seen there maybe twice before over the years.  He sings jazz alternating with reciting poetry.  Several of his recitations were Shakespeare, one was Maya Angelou, one Dylan Thomas, and there were others.  This time, he played guitar (great slide) during only one song.  He had a great backing ensemble, and it was different from his prior ones.  He's also a very charming and super friendly guy.  He's very flirtatious with his audience, and the energy is delightful.  He also had a female singer who's from out of town but staying here temporarily, and she was a knockout, singing-wise and in terms of appearance.  And similarly very connected to the audience, and to Harris.

Tonight (Saturday), I was there for Davina and the Vagabonds.  Davina sings and plays piano.  She's loaded with charisma, and charms her audience in a flirtatious way like Allan Harris charms his.  Someone before the show described Davina as being reminiscent, vocally, of Amy Winehouse.  I didn't hear much that put me in mind of Amy Winehouse.  I heard Mae West, Billie Holliday, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Maria Muldaur, Randy Newman, Peter Wolf, a little Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, and Gregg Allman.  I thought Davina might be in her 30s until she mentioned something from 20 years ago.  So she's in her 40s.  Her drummer looked to be in his 30s.  Her bass player looked to be in his 40s.  And her trombonist looked to be in his 50s.  Yes, I know, you want to know about her trumpet player.  OK, also looked to be maybe 50s.  OK, so you didn't care about the age.  You wanted to know about gender.  Do you want me to guess?  I'd say male, in transition.  And an excellent trumpet player.  They were all excellent musicians.  Davina said they were off to South Carolina for their next show.  I caught up with her after the show to ask about her group.  They're all her regulars except for the bassist, who's newer to the ensemble.  And he was a fabulous bassist.

These are all shows you don't want to end.  And I didn't see you there.  You missed these spectacular presentations.  Come with me.  I'll pick you up, and we can either just go to the show, or we can stop off for dinner on the way.  You won't be sorry.  mosscenter.org, pick the shows you want to see, and either let me know, so we can get seats together, or just get your own.

Oh, Really!

I drive an electric car (electric vehicle, or EV).  I have to charge the batteries.  An argument against what I'm doing is that the electricity I'm putting into my batteries comes from an electrical network that relies on burning fossil fuels.  And I agree that's true.  I counter with 1) my electric car is much more energy efficient than is a gasoline car, and results in less production of greenhouse gases than would a gas car, and 2) FPL has the choice to produce electricity by some means other than burning gas, oil, or coal.  People who drive gas (internal combustion engine, or ICE) cars don't have a choice.

I also have solar panels on my house.  And the argument against my relying on them, apart from what environmental damage is reportedly done to make the solar panels, which is like the argument about what happens to eventually spent and unrevivable batteries for my EV, is that they don't produce electricity at night, or not as much when it's overcast.  So I'm relying on FPL at those times anyway.  That's true, too, but again, FPL has a choice about how to create electricity.  They can burn stuff that will damage the environment and all the living things that rely on it, or they can find some other way of creating electricity.

(I should also note that I have on order a new EV, and it will have solar panels on it, and reportedly enough to put 45 miles of power per day into the batteries.  Unless I take a long trip -- the car I ordered has a range of "400 miles," which will mean about 200-300 miles -- I'll never plug in to charge the car with electricity.)

So, I got an e-mail a few days ago from FPL.  It let me know FPL was making a surcharge of just over $23 to cover for something or other due to hurricane damage in central and north Florida (but not here), and that my regular monthly bill will be going up for another reason.

After I got the solar panels on my house in the fall of 2019, my monthly bill quickly enough dropped to $10.05 per month, every month, all year.  This was FPL's state-permitted minimum monthly bill.  My net usage -- amount used against amount created -- was negative, in the sense that I created more electricity on a daily or weekly or monthly basis than I used.  As a contrast, my daughter lives in Massachusetts, where they do not allow the electric company to charge a minimum monthly amount.  My daughter and son-in-law have solar panels, as I do, although not as many as I have.  Their electric bill is frequently zero, and they occasionally get a small check from the electric company, which is effectively buying their excess electricity, which it sells to other people.

In 2022, FPL greased enough legislative palms to get permission to triple their minimum monthly bill, so that I was then suddenly paying $30.17 per month.  Every month.  All year.  But now, FPL has raised rates again.

The e-mail I got a few days ago mentioned solar panels, but it was a very ambiguous e-mail, and I had the impression FPL was increasing the bill on people like me, who had solar panels, to punish us for not buying enough electricity from FPL.  I tried to contact them for clarification, but they have constructed a system whereby you can't talk to anyone.  But today, I got another e-mail from FPL.  This e-mail reiterated the current increase -- to just over $41 per month -- and said there'd be another small increase beginning next month.  And this time, they explained why they've decided to pick the pockets of their customers.  They're getting solar panels.

After all this time of avoiding doing the obvious, that will be cleaner and cheaper, and overcharging their customers for the fact that they have steadfastly refused to do what they should do, so they can continue to make a great deal of money, they've decided to modernize.  And we, their customers, have to pay them to do what they could easily afford to do themselves.  Because they bribe the state legislature to direct the PSC to let them take what they want.

Helluva system.  Helluva legislature.  Helluva state.

The Very Sad End to a Magnificent Story

 Jose Luis Rodriguez (Jose Luis "de la Paz") has died.  I'm told he was in his 50s, which is probably about right.

Jose Luis was a breathtaking flamenco guitar player.  It's likely he was the best I've ever heard in person.  He was from Spain, as most of the best are, and he lived in Miami.

I used to see Jose Luis at various venues, and he played with rotating flamenco ensembles.  Ilisa Rosal's Ballet Flamenco La Rosa was one of them.  Siudy Garrido is a local flamenco dancer who might have been Jose Luis' agent or helper for a while.  One of his more common "band mates" was Adolfo Herrera, who is a delightful person and a spectacular percussionist.

Jose Luis' English was labored, but he was friendly and humble.  Talking to him, you would never get a sense of the massive talent he had.  If you listened to him play, your mouth would be agape.

One of my friends who knew Jose Luis well called to tell me he had died.  I knew he had a serious illness, but I didn't realize it was so imminently terminal.  Jose Luis did not know me personally well enough to have contacted me about his condition, but if he had, I would have visited him as much as he might have needed.  He died at home.

The effect of the news of his death was not dramatically different from the news of the death of Francisco Sanchez Gomez (Paco de Lucia), who died suddenly of a heart attack in Mexico in 2014.

There are very many flamenco guitarists.  I have heard a number of them here in Miami.  But none of them was like Jose Luis.  He will be deeply missed.