Please, please, dont go....R.I.P. James Brown 1933~2006

..."During his career, Brown adopted the nicknames "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business," "Mr. Dynamite," "Soul Brother No. 1" and "the Minister of Super Heavy Funk."






BBC NEWS
Public burial for soul star Brown
A public funeral service for soul star James Brown, who died on Christmas Day, will be held this weekend in Georgia.

The 73-year-old "Godfather of Soul" will lie in state at New York's Apollo Theatre on Thursday.

The singer made his debut at the venue, and friend Al Sharpton said the queues outside were "his greatest thrill".

Meanwhile director Spike Lee is to make a film about the late US star, Variety reported, with Brown having approved the use of his music on the soundtrack.

I couldn't even begin to describe it, to walk around his house and he not be there
Reverend Al Sharpton

The project is being overseen by Brian Grazer, the Oscar-winning producer of A Beautiful Mind, with production likely to begin in 2008.

Two posthumous films about singers Ray Charles and Johnny Cash - Ray and Walk The Line - have reaped awards in recent years.

'Disbelief'

Brown's public funeral is due to take place on Saturday at 1300 local time (1800 GMT) in a 8,500-seat arena bearing his name in the city of Augusta.

The ceremony is expected to draw a significant number of figures from the entertainment industry.

Reverend Sharpton, who will conduct the service, said he felt disbelief, sadness and pride after seeing Brown's body at a funeral home.

"I couldn't even begin to describe it, to walk around his house and he not be there," he said.

A separate, private service for family and friends will be held a day earlier, on Friday, at an unspecified location.

'Going away'

Brown died early on Monday from heart failure, less than 48 hours after being taken to hospital with pneumonia.

He also had diabetes and prostate cancer, which was in remission.

He was a difficult man to live with, but he was a great man
Tomi Rae Hynie
James Brown's partner

Shortly before he died, Brown had described how he was "going away tonight", his friend Charles Bobbit said.

"I didn't want to believe him," Mr Bobbit added, saying that a few minutes later, Brown sighed quietly, closed his eyes and died.

Meanwhille Brown's lawyer has claimed that the late star and his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, never legally married, meaning that Ms Hynie was locked out of his home in South Carolina while "appropriate protocol was followed".

Ms Hynie, who is the mother of Brown's five-year-old son, found the gates to the singer's home padlocked and she was not allowed to enter.

"It's not a reflection on her as an individual," lawyer Buddy Dallas told the Associated Press.

Ms Hynie was already married at the time of her wedding to Brown, he added.

Even though she later annulled the earlier marriage, he claimed another ceremony was never arranged.

But Ms Hynie has argued that she had a legal right to live in the house and held documentation proving that the couple's marriage was legal.

"He was a difficult man to live with, but he was a great man," she said. "I was the only one who could handle James."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/6211589.stm

Published: 2006/12/27 10:24:11 GMT

© BBC MMVI

















...SAdly


Mr. Brooks

Street Works~ Goons Omg Crew

Uncut
In A Rut
Jail Brek
Jail Bail




Brooks

Dread Serious

So, I recently decided that after about 15 years of envy for anyone with dreads that I would once again go for it...In that 15 years I kinda built a visual reputation with my drawings, you could say that ive created clues that ive used to inform the viewer that under certain circumstances that the following combination of physical characteristics indicates that this that they see is in fact a self portrait:(moles that are kitty corner on my face, glasses,the CURLY HAIR, and that oh so surprised wrinkled brow)...
Let the demonstration begin:












With these given examples, I was thinking about how this hair change then changes how dramatically my self portraits become...Has the curly "kramer"mop become me?...or have I become it?...I have been told virtually every time I get a haircut that my hairstyle is/Has essentially become my default trademark, which I always shrugged off as pointless and meaningless, maybe some of my friends were on to something?
..Ill post the first dread serious portrait that I produce, Im super interested to see that....

A few more examples...










..Worse case scenario, I will have some new inspiration and brand new task trying to learn to draw my new natty self...stay tuned

Images ~Hale Woodruff

Artist Hale Woodruff...




"Woodruff was a founding member of Spiral, a group of over a dozen African-American artists who joined together in New York City in 1962 to explore their common cultural experiences as black artists. He proposed the name to suggest the group's need to reach out into broader circles. Woodruff was promoted to professor of education at New York University in 1957, and in 1967, the university honored him with a retrospective exhibition of his paintings. During that time (1966), He showed slides of his Amistad murals in Sierra Leone to descendants of the mutineers who made African and American history."



Amistad Mural


"View of Atlanta" Woodcut


"The Lynching" Woodcut




text was taken from http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1101/Five_decades_of_greatness_Hale_Woodruff


Brooks

~Saturday studio fun

Brooks

So, I gots my hair did?

This simple goes to show that nothing gets folks talkin like a man changin his hair...I had a woman from work twist my hair into small twist, order for me to get dreadlocks...Im excited since its been like 14-15 years since i last had dreads...I heard things like "you got good hair","That works on...YOU", I finally can say that "I got my hair did"..and I thinks I DID alright...I got called Kriss Kross and Bone Thugs amongst other things in jest....



THE INSPIRATION




THE COMPARISONS














Brooks

Daily quote 1

A poem written for me by a friend of mine in 2005...I keep it on my fridge
as a constant reminder , a lil daily affirmation...



Seven

compulsary days

a week

all of them

creation

and his work

is still not done

- Liat Mayer


Brooks

Images ~Henry Ossawa Tanner

Im a firm believer in the power of positive influences, I had some wonderful cultural influences in my home , First and foremost my father, who instilled in me a real sense of my self and a strong male role model....There could of been a few images present, that under speculation would have changed me dramatically...heres the first of many......


Henry Ossawa Tanner's: The Banjo Lesson






The son of a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Henry Ossawa Tanner was raised in an affluent, well educated African-American family. Although reluctant at first, Tanner's parents eventually responded to their son's unflagging desire to pursue an artistic career and encouraged his ambitions. In 1879, Tanner enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he joined Thomas Eakins's coterie. Tanner moved to Atlanta in 1889 in an unsuccessful attempt to support himself as an artist and instructor among prosperous middle class African-Americans. Bishop and Mrs. Joseph C. Hartzell arranged for Tanner's first solo exhibition, the proceeds from which enabled the struggling artist to move to Paris in 1891. Illness brought him back to the United States in 1893, and it was at this point in his career that Tanner turned his attention to genre subjects of his own race.

In 1893 most American artists painted African-American subjects either as grotesque caricatures or sentimental figures of rural poverty. Henry Ossawa Tanner, who sought to represent black subjects with dignity, wrote: "Many of the artists who have represented Negro life have seen only the comic, the ludicrous side of it, and have lacked sympathy with and appreciation for the warm big heart that dwells within such a rough exterior." The banjo had become a symbol of derision, and caricatures of insipid, smiling African-Americans strumming the instrument were a cliche. In The Banjo Lesson, Tanner tackles this stereotype head on, portraying a man teaching his young protege to play the instrument - the large body of the older man lovingly envelops the boy as he patiently instructs him. If popular nineteenth-century imagery of the African-American male had divested him of authority and leadership, then Tanner in The Banjo Lesson recreated him in the role of father, mentor, and sage. The Banjo Lesson is about sharing knowledge and passing on wisdom.

The exposition-sized canvas was accepted into the Paris Salon of 1894. That year it was given by Robert Ogden of Philadelphia to Hampton Institute near Norfolk, Virginia, one of the first and most prestigious black colleges founded shortly after Emancipation. Hampton lent it the next year to Atlanta's Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895, where it hung in the Negro Building. Contemporary critics largely ignored the work. Tanner painted another African American genre subject in 1894, The Thankful Poor, but then abandoned subjects of his own race in favor of biblical themes. When Tanner returned to Paris in 1895, he established a reputation as a salon artist and religious painter but never again painted genre subjects of African-Americans.



Henry Ossawa Tanner's: The Thankful Poor




text was taken from.."http://www.artchive.com/artchive/T/tanner.html"
Mr. Brooks

Chicago fun fact 1

WELCOME TO CHICAGO....FOOL!

This starts on the basis that I thoroughly believe that Chicago is the best city and everytime I find out a interesting fact I have to share....So, with that said.....One of the cities worst and once most infamous Housing projects,Cabrini Green,was actually named after Americas First saint Mother Cabrini (Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini)...How different saying or even thinking about Cabrini Green feels, knowing a Saint helped build orphanages here and then went on to be named after it....I wonder what she would think of the plight in the projects?

"...Mother Cabrini was not a strong person physically, but she had a great inner strength. She had an unbending belief and trust in God. Throughout her life and in all her many undertakings, she always knew that God would provide for her and the many schools, hospitals, orphanages, and missions which she founded.

In 1909 Mother Cabrini became an American citizen. Mother Cabrini died in Chicago on December 22, 1917. Her remains are laid to rest in Mother Cabrini High School at 701 Fort Washington Avenue New York, New York. It is now a place of pilgrimage.

Mother Cabrini was beatified in 1938 and canonized a saint in 1946.

During her life, Saint Frances Cabrini founded sixty-seven schools, hospitals, orphanages, and missions, one for every year in her life."

Brooks

Land of the lost comments

~Sometimes disclaimers or instructions are ignored....I like to cherish the comments people make on my default pics/other pics...Im always changing my default pic, it stays fresh, and hopefully interesting...heres a few precious comments Ive managed to save.....


I love erin...shes a multiple offender...

and here...


One from Mr. Ivan


and lastly, a special comment from my supercrush Lady Miss Kier From Supergroup DEE LITE...i was honored....haha




with that said thanks again to everyone who bothers to comment, its appreciated....
Later
Mr. Brooks

Cripes sake almighty?

... I got a chance today to hear some great Midwestern Dialect..in the form of...
The word CRANS and SCOOCH...who can tell me what those mean??

And my personal favorite...BUBBLER...aka Water Fountain







Wisconsin Dictionary

Before anyone can graduate from a Wisconsin High School
they must be able to speak Wisconsinese. This primer is used by all students to help them prepare for an examination.

INTRODUCTION
"Ain't dis da trut"...RS'DA WISCONSIN DICTIONARY
Hey dere! C'meer once you gots to read dis couple-two-three words on how ta talk likeyer from Skahnsin, hey. It's a humdinger! Sit down witch'er brat an' brewski in yerblaze-orange and, cripes sake, in the spirit of Bart and Vince, take a gander, yahhey?


1. AIN-A-HEY: placed at the end of a profound statement, as in "isn't it?"

2. BART: a Green Bay institution who doesn't need a last name; see VINCE

3. BELIEVE-YOU-ME: attached to the beginning or end of a statement and makes it more credible, as in "really!"

4. BLAZE ORANGE: what deer hunters and cold-weather Packer fans wear at Lambeau Field. Also a popular color for jail uniforms.

5. BORN IN A BARN?: a sarcastic question which usually means you left the door open or could not correctly differentiate between an alewive and a 'schmelt'.

6. BORROW: used in place of lend, as in "Could youse borrow me a couple two-three bucks, yahhey?"

7. BRAT: a sausage; a Wisconsin tailgate favorite; doesn't have anything to do with a spoiled kid.

8. BUBBLER: to the rest of the world outside Wisconsin's borders it is known as a drinking fountain..

9. BUDGE: to merge without permission; cut in; as in "Don't you budge in line for a brat. I was here first!"

10. BY: to; near, as in "Let's go by One Eyed Jack's" or "She'll come by da house tonight."
11. CHEDDARHEAD: someone from Wisconsin; see CHEESEHEAD

12. CHEESEHEAD: someone from Wisconsin; see CHEDDARHEAD.

13. CHEESE CURD: small pieces of fresh cheese that squeak when you bite into them.

14. COMEER ONCE: a request for the presence of another Cheddarhead.

15. COUPLE-TWO-THREE: more than one; as in "Delmer and I drank a couple-two-three beers."

16. CRIPES: a Wisconsin expletive.

17. CRIPES SAKE: a mild Wisconsin expletive.

18. CRIPES SAKE ALMIGHTY: a wild Wisconsin expletive. ..

19. DA: substitute for words beginning with "TH", as in "Da guy over dere in da Bears shirt dere".

20. DAVENPORT: what your mom called 'the sofa'; a couch.

21. FAIR-TA-MIDDLIN: not bad or great; just "O.K."..

22. FISH FRY: a Friday night dining ritual in Wisconsin..

23. FLEET FARM: a Cheddarhead's answer to Bloomingdales.

24. FROZEN TUNDRA: Lambeau Field

25. GEEEZ: another Wisconsin expletive.

26. GOAHEAD: proceed, as in "Goahead and back up your car dere."

27. GOTS: used in place of "have"; as in, "I gots my tickets to watch da Packers play on da Frozen Tundra."

28. GOL-DURN: another Wisconsin expletive

29. HEY: placed at the beginning or end of phrases to emphasis, as in,"Hey, how 'bout dem Packers?" or "How's about dem Packers, hey!"

30. HOWS BY YOU: a greeting; the same as, "How's everything?".

31. HUMDINGER: a beauty; as in "Dat croppy youse cought up-nort is a real humdinger."
32. JOHN DEERE: a Cheddarhead's other vehicle.

33. LEAKER: one who lacks the mental or physical stamina to continue partying.

34. M'WAHKEE: Wisconsin's largest city; located just down the lake from T'Rivers and Man'twoc.

35. N-SO: a word inserted at the end of a statement; (sometime pronounced as AIN-SO); used as a substitute for "Isn't that right?" or "Correct?"

36. OH, YAH: depending on emphasis, it's either used as acknowledgment (as in "That's correct!") or skepticism ("That's bull!")

37. PERT-NEER: (sometimes pronounced "PRET-NEAR") in close proximity; just about.

38. POLKA: the national dance of Wisconsin.

44. SKEETER: Wisconsin state bird

39. RUBBERS: protection for your shoes; also known as "G'loshes".

40. SKAHNSIN: the state where Cheeseheads are from.

41. SCHMEAR: a card game; also a term used when someone gets beat in a game of Sheepshead. ( Note )

42. SHEEPSHEAD: another card game.

43. SIDE-BY-EACH: used instead of "next to each other.".

45. START WIT ME LAST: to forfeit your turn.

46. STOP-AND-GO LIGHTS: what everyone else refers to as "traffic signals".

47. UFF-DAH: (from the untranslatable Norwegian phrase); meaning varies with
severity of incident, from "Oops" to "Criminey" to words following" Oh-!" often said when you make a really big "boo-boo" and are "deep doggy-doo".

49. WHEREABOUTS: locality; proximity, as in "Whereabouts are youse guys from?"

50. UP NORT: where Wisconsinites go on vacation.

51. UPSIDE-RIGHT: rightside up..

52. VINCE: the other Green Bay icon who doesn't need a last name for instant recognition; see BART. Recently "Brett" and "Reggie" were also added to this category.

53. WIH-SKON'-TSUN: the way you can tell the speaker is not a real Wisconsinite.

54. YAHHEY: affirmative, but can be added to reinforce a request.

55. YAH-SURE-YOU-BETCHA: yes, you are correct.

56. YOU-BETCHA: affirmative, as in "Yahhey."

57. YOUSE: (var. "Yoose") pronoun, second person plural.

58. YOOPER: someone from even further up-nort' than you. The UP, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

59. UNTHAW: to defrost or thaw.

Idol maker, Idol Breaker Extraordinaires

Disclaimer:I am not interested in converting or swaying anyone in a religious fashion, I am personally intrested in Iconoclastic behavior as it relates to World History...
...I had the pleasure of seeing one of these during a trip to Rome in 2000.....




(taken from Suzar website)


"The Black Madonnas originally all had Africoid features before most of them were destroyed by iconoclasts. When they were replaced, the artists retained the dark skin color but, not being familiar with real Afrikans, gave European features to the paintings. In cases where originals have survived, you may witness Africoid features on Mary and her child Jesus, such as the Black Madonna of Nuria, Spain ..called "the Queen of the Pyrenees." Russia's remarkable legacy of Black Madonnas and other Christian icons of dark skin is evidenced in the book, Russian Icons by Vladimir Ivanov, including the feature story of the Spring 1994 issue of Russian Life magazine, graced with a Black Madonna on its cover."




Brooks B Golden...are my only instructions

Oh my Stomach

So today,i was being hoaxed my local news to stay in and waste my whole day watchin the stupid news..tellin me every half hour about the snow..blah,blah,blah...well, i got outta the house today to spend a great amount of time in the studio workin on some new artwork...




After leavin the studio to have tea w/ a friend I found out I was invited to show some artwork with a fellow artist named Stomache...he's a great chicago street artist,nice fellow and is good at what he does (making drawings of excellent zombies on stickers)..either way, we are gonna show some paintings and other visual anarchy together at an undisclosed location...ill let ya know when its confirmed..for sure....
..its gonna be plenty fun, I cant wait!

Stomache




Brooks Golden




Stomache

Is 105 > 82?

...I was gonna post this yesterday as a half-blog, but here it is as today's thought for the day...I enjoy seeing that someone anyone has not only visited yer profile, maybe even commented or left a personal message...In this way I am not different....If I could just get the rest of you to comment, we'd really have a great set of conversations goin on...oh well





...Disclaimer:...this statistic documentation is for my own need for visuals...

And for everyone,Im not obsessed with this stuff, but its nice to be visited, yesterday if y'all missed the bulletin, i had between 82-86 blog views and it was a funny thing, cuz before a week ago, i hadnt had a blog view, a single one for like 8 weeks..heehehe






Brooks Golden