What's Really Bothering Me

We actually already covered it below.  In a nutshell, it's my Hamlet-like stance on my crowd-funded European painting initiative.  But quick, scroll down to the post below the one below this one and double click on the Modigliani painting.  I don't know about you, old sock, but it never fails to make me feel a little bit better about the world.  The color of the background -- the sofa on which she sits -- is enough to make me cry with joy.

Which makes me think of this...



Anybody who paints knows that sometimes the biggest moments are the littlest things.  For me, it's the moment early on when the woman with the bassoon (which, at first glance I thought was a RPG launcher -- but that would be a different video indeed) comes out of the door.  Because that's the moment when you realize the game's afoot.

And of course there's the moment when the little girl on the lamp post puts her hand over her mouth.  And when the chorus really kicks in hard.  Honestly, the whole thing is so wonderful that you can even step past the obvious fact that it's a public relations stunt for a Viennese bank.

I say Godblessum.

And as regards "The Ode to Joy" in general?  I would rank it right next to The Floating Men's song "Poacher's Daughter" as one of the greatest accomplishments in Western art.