Quotations Weblog

The nominees for the Oscars have been announced.

• CNN.com – ‘Mountain’ looms over Oscar nominations – Jan 31, 2006

I always feel a little strange when I look over the list of movies nominated for Oscars. Most of the time, I haven’t seen any of them. This year is no different. I don’t really care for movies about cowboys. If I did, I’d live in Herriman, Utah instead of Salt Lake City. I don’t want to see terrorists kill people. I don’t want to see horrific crashes that change the lives of several people. I’m sure Truman Capote and Edward R. Murrow are very interesting people, but I prefer to get my history from the History Channel instead of the movies. None of the nominated movies really appealed to me.

Am I so far away from the “art” that I can’t even enjoy the “Best Picture”? Why do the nominees have to be so depressing? Why do they never nominate comedies? The only appeal of the Oscars was an Oscar Party that we used to go to, but those friends moved away long ago and I have no desire to take their place by hosting the party.

I guess I should just watch the MTV Movie Awards.

Today is Self Portrait Tuesday. Many artists with weblogs are participating in this weekly exercise.

“Self Portrait Tuesday is about self expression and exploration. The idea is each Tuesday you post a self portrait on your blog, give a brief explanation of the picture – you may include your state of mind, what you were trying to do, technical information about the image etc. Link back to the list of other SPT people – thus enabling everyone to share and explore each others self portrait experience.”

As you are going through your day, ask yourself, “What is it that I do that paints a portrait of myself to the world?”

They have found the longest cross-border tunnel ever made and have arrested a Mexican citizen in connection with it.

• CNN.com – Mexican arrested in border tunnel case – Jan 30, 2006

So many of our freedoms have been impinged upon in the name of the “War on Drugs” or the “War on Terror” that it doesn’t surprise me that it was a profitable option to tunnel under the border. If we had taken a different approach in the Eighties, would we have a tunnel now? If drugs were legal and easily accessible, would we be living in a different world today? It makes me wonder.

We now live in an era where we artists don’t need to choose record labels or galleries or publishers. Using the Internet, we can find audiences for our art without having to placate or pay a middleman. For photographers and painters, there is Flickr. For writers, there is Blogger. For musicians, there is Better Propaganda. If you want to create, there is a way for you to get your art in front of people looking for it.

What are you waiting for?

Creativity Quotes – The Quotations Page

In 1973, Time Magazine named Flip Wilson as television’s first black superstar. I was four years old. From my point of view, I didn’t really understand that Flip Wilson was a black man. He seemed like a funny guy and he made my parents laugh when they watched Laugh-In.

He later got his own show, The Flip Wilson Show. I remember my parents being really excited that he got his own show and we sat down to watch it each week. Now, I can see that he won a Golden Globe for that show. Back then, I paid no attention to accolades and awards. I just watched what my parents thought was funny.

I barely remember seeing Flip Wilson say any of his funny tag lines, but they are so ingrained into our language now that many of you probably quote him every day and didn’t even know it.

As a child, I remember quoting Flip Wilson whenever I got into trouble, “The devil made me do it.” As long as the transgression wasn’t too foul, it was always enough to get me out of trouble. The adults would laugh and I would try to blink my eyes like Flip Wilson did. I know now that he was performing the universal “innocence” look with those eye blinks, but all I was doing was copying a great man.

To learn more about Flip Wilson:

• Flip Wilson Biography – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Flip Wilson Biography & Filmography – IMDB

• Flip Wilson – Museum of Broadcast Communications

See all of Flip Wilson’s Quotations Here:

• Flip Wilson Quotes – The Quotations Page