BLOGSCHU

Child Labor of Love

So my dad was up to his old tricks yesterday on the ranch.   Gracie and Eva are on spring break and went overto grandma and grandpa Bundschu's for the day.  Some time around 2 pm I found all three of them down alongthe vineyard planting baby olive trees.  We have olive trees on Rhinefarm that date back to circa 1920, so they are a tradition here.  Another tradition is putting the kids to work in the dirt.  My brother and I grew up working in the vineyard.  Meaning that, under the direction of my dad, we cleared rocks (occasionally throwing them at each other), planted, suckered, weeded, harvested, and every once in a while drove a tractor.  Dirtier the better was the prevailing philosophy.  This scene reminded me of those days, though the laborers were much cuter.    BTW, Dad is doing olive oil. Though the marketing shtick could be pretty sexy, as it is made with a traditional press from hand-selected lots from 90 year old heritage trees, it will probably just have a pretty label and sit in the tasting room with a sign saying Jim's Oil. 

Art Commerce Commerce Art

I have had many late night liquid fueled discussions of late exploring whether unique, ground-breaking artistic creativity and massive commercial success are mutually exclusive.  For something to be commercially successful, does it need to play to the lowest common denominator for it to go big time?  Or is there room in the mainstream system for real ingenuity?   

 

The first opportunity to really dig into this was at the recent Andrew Bird concert in SF.  My good friend DB is a tour manager and was in town with AB for his two sold out shows at the Fillmore.  As is usual these days, it is DB’s engagement with a band that usually turns me on to them in the first place and Bird was no exception.  Bird was in town last fall, and though I didn’t see him live then I did download his latest record.  I was immediately struck by how unique and unpigeonholeable his music was.  I’ll let NPR say it for me- “Andrew Bird makes the kind of music that leaves critics groping for labels. A classically trained violinist, former swing jazz musician and now art rock virtuoso, Bird is one of the most imaginative and distinctive voices making music today.” At the Fillmore show, he stood out there barefooted on a Persian rug rocking his violin, effect pedals, tambas, and his own lips by way of whistling.  I was stunned at how avant garde he was and yet how he had managed to sell out the venerable (and sizable) Fillmore two-nights running.  It struck me hard that AB was both a commercial success and a bona fide unique artist.  This wasn’t any where near the established commercially viable veins of JT (or Prince), or The White Stripes (or Nirvana) or Winehouse (or Aguilera), or even Tool (or Metallica), this was Andrew Bird doing only Andrew Bird, period.   I left there feeling a bit out of my league, musically and artistically (I like JT, the White Stripes, and Tool), but totally energized by the fact that a performer like AB made it that big.  The ‘system’ it appeared is not an obstacle but an enabler of originality!  Just a week or so ago there was Bird looking back at me from the cover of his CD- at a Starbucks!

 

I take heart in the notion that creative quality will drive commercial art, and that there will always be Andrew Birds,  Junos , HBOs, Shepard Faireys etc. for the masses because our ‘system’ (however you define it) allows them to be commercially viable.      But how easily the balloon can deflate.  The Times on Monday ran a piecein the business section focusing on the fact that Pixar’s new movie, UP, (which is garnering massive early buzz from professionals and my children alike for its storyline and artistic wow-factor), according to wall street analysts, is a serious financial concern for Disney shareholders because of fears its characters can’t be leveraged across the company’s other businesses- i.e. toys, games, theme park rides, etc.. So now, Pixar, the most commercially successful art house of all time (in my humble opinion), with hit after hit after hit, is being knocked because the kids who will flock to the movie and experience quality of art and story telling available few other places in mainstream media, won’t be interested in buying dolls of the old man star of the movie.  Ack.  It made me sick to read, and frankly made me think that here we go again- dissing quality because it can’t be effectively leveraged across all sectors, in other words, because it is not playing across the lowest common denominator.  Who is the ‘we’, here though, doing the dissing? Is it us, the actual consumers?  I don’t think so.  But I will let you ponder that.

 

How quickly my mood had reason to swing yet again.  It was just last night that I witnessed something that prompted this entire diatribe- Adam Lambert’s performance on American Idol.  I watch that most commercial of all commercial art shows with my kids most every week, and have no problem celebrating the fact that I really enjoy it.   The talent can be high, and the drama good, and the whole thing entertaining, even if the product (the music) is almost never in my own personal wheelhouse.  The music is virtually never super creative, never super risky, and mostly extremely mainstream. Last night was a breakthrough.  For the third week in a row this kid Adam brought the house down by turning it upside down.  Right there in the middle of the Kodak Theater on the Coca-Cola Stage, just after the Ford video, came this kid killing an original version of an old and brilliant and haunting song- 'Mad World' by Tears for Fears, and getting a standing ovation for it.   Art and commerce, in this case a win for everyone.   You Tube pulled the video for content violation, and the music is not up yet, so you will have to take my word for it.   This version of 'Ring of Fire' he did last month for country week will give you a taste.

 

 

 

Bundschu 151 Winners

After hours of reading and scoring poems on planes, and tabulating results scored by Jim, Liz & Nancy Bundschu, we can now announce the winners of our first annual poetry contest, with a little help from the crew at the winery.

We have named first, second and third place winning poems, as well as honorable mentions in six categories. The nine poems are announced in video form, read by members of our family and our winemaking, operations, sales and hospitality teams online at www.gunbun.com/151.

In addition to the video announcements, all the entries are published on the site. If you haven't already checked them out, please do, there are some great ones. Once again, a heartfelt thank you to all of you who stirred our souls with your words.

April What?

I am sorry to report that our entire poetry contest was hijacked by Hardy a.k.a Dirty South Wine. He came in wearing his Nacho Libre mask and wiped our hard drives clean. All that was left was some Gamay tasting notes and pictures from our 1982 harvest party. Luckily we were able to snap the below photo after he brazenly removed his mask to show us his incisors. The appropriate authorities have been notified, but unfortunately all poems were lost and we are forced to cancel the contest. APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In all seriousness, we will be posting the winners tomorrow, April 2nd, so as not to be confused with anything foolish. As far as Hardy goes, let me introduce you to Mr. Dirty South Wine (www.dirtysouthwine.com). Hardy writes a killer and fun blog, and I had a very provocative and pleasurable conversation with him while I was in ATL for the High Museum auction and festivities. First off, Hardy is a very nice guy who is a blast to hang with. He has an adventurous sense of humor and a passion for wine, and all that shows up in his posts. We spoke of history and sustainability, and he tolerated just enough of my babble that the interview might be survivable to watch. And it was on video. Yikes. Stay tuned for the poetry results!