| Common farm memories become artwork
GALESBURG - A man who is nationally recognized for creating artwork out of common farm memories is in town through today. Farm artist Charles Freitag is at the Maple City Antique Tractor Association's annual Indoor Tractor Show in Sandburg Mall. At center court, Freitag is painting, signing autographs and displaying his Norman Rockwell-inspired work, which primarily is nostalgic tractor art that includes either John Deere or Farmall tractors from the 1930s to 1970s. That era of tractors also surrounds him at the mall, where 51 antique tractors are on display through 5 p.m. today. Freitag has sold tens of thousands of prints of his approximately 50 farm paintings across the United States and around the world. His artwork, which portrays farm life, commonly decorates Midwestern farmhouses and farm and agribusiness offices.
Neighbors' feud takes a deadly turn
About the size of a tombstone and scarred with sledgehammer blows, the rock squats to one side of a fork that divides a steep driveway in a Carmel Valley canyon. The fork to the right climbs to a sprawling artistic home with piles of '60s psychedelic albums and broken antique clocks, collected by a popular lawyer and his wife. The fork to the left leads to the more austere wooden-framed, book-filled home of an oil geophysicist. The rock stands as a monument to the final moment of a long and bitter feud. It began when the affluent neighbors began arguing over dog poop, a septic tank, a solarium and legal access to a strip of ground no bigger than a surfboard. It ended Monday when they argued over the rock and geophysicist John "Jack" Franklin Kenney allegedly shot to death Mel, 58, and Elizabeth Grimes, 55.
Gratuitous word violence
Some weeks ago I was editing a magazine article - a lifestyle feature on young families in the suburbs who were spiffing up their backyards with the help of a local landscaper. One of the backyards was said to afford a "killer view" of the skyline of the major city nearby. Hmm, I thought. "A 'killer view'?" After years at the Monitor, I find it's second nature to question gratuitous violence in an article, even rhetorical violence. And after all, this is a lifestyle feature, not a report on the Mehdi Army. Let's make it a "stunning view", instead, I thought. Well, the cliche police should have nailed me on that one. My own editorial musings continued along another track, however: "Stunning" has long meant "strikingly beautiful".
How is Your Stupid Today?
In order to prepare for what columnification I do here, I read far too much news and save bits and pieces on scraps of paper and electronica. One of those bits: Panels with wires sticking out of them depicting a cartoon character making the gesture popularly known as "the bird" sparked panic in Boston, resulted in charges against two men who distributed them, and may lead to further charges against the company that put them up to it. Some people around here have tried to make out like Seattle is way cooler than Boston in this regard. After all, we got paneled too, at the same time, by the same broadcasting company, and we didn't go bat-spit freaking Stupid and arrest people and turn on the sirens and redden our terror alert signs. Upon closer inspection, however, Seattle is not that much different from Boston, just out of temporal synch with it.
Ronayne: Philharmonic tribute; artists' Valentines for AIDs
What a tribute to former Boise Philharmonic bass clarinet and saxophone player Bill Rankin! Last Saturday's all-American-composers concert, sponsored by Chris Davidson and Sharon Christoph, was dedicated to Bill. Before the program began, Philharmonic executive director Tony Boatman introduced Bill and announced that the Whittenberger Foundation will underwrite the Philharmonic's bass clarinet chair for five years in honor of Bill's service as chairman of Whittenberger's board and 26 years with the Philharmonic. Conductor Jim Ogle recalled high points of Bill's performances, adding, "We appreciate all you've done for the orchestra and the community, both as a performer and a member of the Whittenberger Foundation board." Orchestra and conductor rose to the occasion with a delightful mix of music by John Williams, Aaron Copland and Charles Ives.
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