We Are All Artistic. Artistry = Bob Ross. A New Way to Start Sporting Events. The NFL’s New Rule. It is Already the Beginning of June! Mark Knopfler Rules!
- Quote of the Week: “Art is the perpetual motion of illusion. The highest purpose of art is to inspire.” – Bob Dylan
After the short but important Memorial Day post, and other posts covering some serious and concerning issues, this take looks at various art forms. Many of us state that ‘we are not artistic’ but in many ways that is not true.
There are so many factors and dynamics to being artistic, as art widely expands beyond the paintbrush or software. Being artistic is not just about the canvas or software-generated drawing. Most of us know that feeling of being inspired by a work of art, whether it is a painting, song, play, poem, or novel. These forms of art spur thinking, engagement, and action. You do not have to be defined as an artist to be artistic, whether it is the artful way you manage your money, hit a passing shot, or manage your employees.
Being artistic is a form of self-expression and at a minimum, an outlet for all of us to share experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Whether you think of yourself as artistic or not, there are many reasons why we all have a connection to art. Art encourages us to think outside the box, explore new ideas, and express ourselves in our own unique ways: painting, writing, dancing, playing games, or sports.
Creativity and artistry are both a skill and process. This short video is excellent in the way it explains our everyday lives and how often we use creativity.
- Bob Ross’ art was controversial – maybe because his television show promoted his artistic skill in a mere thirty minutes. I found him both amazing and mystifying, with his voice and stature providing a bit of calm on Saturday afternoons. Bob Ross passed away at a relatively young age, but the memories of his shows will stick with me forever. He was a magician with his paintbrush, especially to me as I cannot paint my way out of a broom closet. An artist who could paint something great in less than thirty minutes while explaining what he was doing.
- There is no doubt that fashion design is artistry. The balance of form and function with clothing and accessories is an ongoing challenge for worldwide designers. I am not promoting or advocating Thom Browne, but this short video gives us insight into the effort and dedication…and artistry found in the world of fashion design.
- Though I consider myself patriotic I have often wondered why the national anthem is played before sporting events. Again, I enjoy the patriotism, though it gripes my ass when some people refrain from removing their hats and participating in the singing of the anthem. With everything that is happening worldwide, it is time to start sporting events with a different type of musical composition. Again, this suggestion has nothing to do with me and patriotism, it is just a way of voicing a way to get everyone together.
Is this song inspiring before a sporting event? Yes, if you can get the entire stadium or arena engaged in singing The Youngblood’s Let’s Get Together -something the world needs right now. Yes, I know, a bit sappy for me, but it is what it is. I would love 30,000 people singing “Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now.” Okay, I said it.
- As we are less than sixty days from the NFL’s Hall of Fame pre-season game, many of my friends start to get ‘football fever.’ Some of them have obviously hit their heads on something as they must think that I am part of the league’s competition committee. A few friends have already asked me about the NFL’s new kickoff rule, thinking somehow that I work at the league office in Manhattan. 🙂
Of course, I looked into the new kickoff rule and here is my short take:
- The player who kicks the ball (it may not be the team’s designated kicker) will kick it from their own 35-yard line, and the other ten players on the kicking team will line up on the receiving team’s 40-yard line. Note: due to this kickoff formation, many NFL teams are going to use a regular player to kick off to reinforce their ability to defend the kickoff…in other terms a regular special teams’ player versus their kicker.
- The team receiving the ball must have nine players lined up between their own 30- and 35-yard line.
- Two returners from the receiving team must be lined up between their own 20-yard line and the goal line. This is called the Landing Zone.
- Only the kicker of the ball and the two returners can move in between when the ball is kicked and when it is received. Basically, other than the kicker and the two receivers, no one moves until the ball is received.
- If the ball touches the ground or a player in the “landing zone,” and rolls beyond the goal line or downed in the end zone, then the result of the play is a touchback, and the receiving team starts at their the 20-yard line.
- If the ball goes out of bounds behind the receiving team’s goal line, hits the goalpost or lands at or beyond the goal line and is downed in the end zone, the play results in a touchback, and the receiving team starts at their 30-yard line.
The goal of the new rule is to reduce the number of injuries on kickoffs and to increase the number of kickoffs returns. The XFL has used the rule and below is a quick video of what an NFL kickoff will look like this year. Thoughts?
Five Top of Mind Thoughts for the Beginning of June:
1.‘Cooling trend’ coming to Central Florida? That was the headline on Thursday morning of last week, after Wednesday night’s 6pm temperature was 97 degrees. As I always keep things in perspective, it was 126 degrees in parts of India last week. Note: it may be time for a trip to Montevideo, Uruguay as the average temperature in that city this time of year is 60°.
2. Jeremy Renner is one of my favorite actors. After not engaging in a streaming series for a while, I have recently watched the first two seasons of Mayor of Kingstown. Renner is fantastic, but fair warning: these episodes have a high level of profanity, nudity, and violence. The third season starts tonight.
3. With Europe’s big leagues done for the season, the soccer world turns to this summer’s two massive tournaments, Euro and Copa America, featuring the national teams from Europe and South America, respectively. Euro is the second-most watched soccer tournament globally, following the FIFA World Cup, with Italy the defending champion. This year’s Copa America tournament includes the ten South American nations plus six invited teams including the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Copa America will be hosted and played in fourteen United States cities. Argentina, the defending Copa America champion, opens the tournament on June 20 against Canada in Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium.
4.Ransomware attacks continue to be in full swing. The most recent data compromise happened to Santander, a global banking group based in Spain. This time hackers tapped into one of Santander’s third-party databases, stealing information of thirty million customers in Spain, Chile, and Uruguay. I find this puzzling due to the level of cyber protection now imbedded in the IT infrastructure of most entities. This hacker group calls themselves ShinyHunters, and has also claimed their attack on Ticketmaster exposed personal financial data from 560 million customers. Does this ever stop?
5. The world has gone mad when a very prominent financial multimedia entity posts a serious article about etiquette…for text messaging. The article discusses how “…tone, volume, and body language can help alter how a message is received…“. I have no other comment on this craziness.
- I started off this week’s take taking a look at art and creativity. To end this post, and for this week’s Pure Talent, we will go with the musical artistry of Mark Knopfler. Underrated as a guitarist, Knopfler is best known for his band Dire Straits, but his wizardry on the guitar is bar none. Mark Knopfler on the guitar…Pure Talent.