NEWS FLASH--Bruncheon of the Boating Party

This is huge!!!!!!

Do you recognize the painting on the right? It's Renoir's masterpiece the Luncheon of the Boating Party and it's my little way of announcing that our boating party will be having a luncheon of our own a week from tomorrow (Saturday June 14th). Show up at Chez Henley around 10 a.m. and the fun will commence.

I think everyone already knows this was in the works, but we just heard that Colleen will be able to make it after all, and that means the entire gang will be there. Hooray!!!!!!

Since we live in six different cities in four different states, this will almost certainly be the only time all 11 of us will be together as a group before we head off on our adventure next June. So don't even think about being a no-show

In addition to food, conversation and available "hair of the dog" for any who might need it, there will be a short "business" meeting with a few items on the agenda.

1. We will need to take an "official" group picture. But don't dress up. We'll be heading to City Stages after lunch, so come as you are.

2. We simply must come up with a name for the group. Think about names that might work. Here are a few bad ones to get the inspiration flowing--Middle Aged Crazy, Les Onze Sales (the dirty eleven), Barging In, La Peniche Social Aid and Pleasure Club, Makes Sens to Me (if you don't get that one, it's time you spent a little more time exploring the links on this blog). We'll have cards available for you to submit any nominations you may have and we'll all vote on the winner. Once we have a name, Teri will design a logo for us and may even have T-shirts made. How cool is that?

3. We need to assign titles for every member of the party. Here are a few of the titles we need to assign: videographer, photographer, diarist, chaplain, sommalier, master of the fromage, sergeant at arms, tour organizer, transport director, dining coordinator, etc. A few of these are real jobs with real duties and we'll need real volunteers.

So be there or be square!

And, art lovers, let's close with a bit more on the painting. I've been fortunate enough to see this painting and it is indeed a beauty. Anyway here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry:

Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881, French: Le déjeuner des canotiers) is a painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is currently housed in the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.
The painting depicts a group of Renoir's friends relaxing on a balcony at the Maison Fournaise along the Seine river in Chatou, France. The painter and art patron, Gustave Caillebotte, is seated in the lower right. Renoir's future wife, Aline Charigot, is in the foreground playing with a small dog. In this painting Renoir has captured a great deal of light. As you can see the main focus of light is coming from the large opening in the balcony, beside the large singleted man in the hat. The singlets of both men in the foreground and the table-cloth both work together to reflect this light and send it through the whole composition.
It was featured prominently in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain released in English as Amélie (2001). The most prominent reference is a comparison between the film's protagonist, Amélie, and the woman in the centre sipping a glass, seemingly gazing out of the canvas, uninterested, while everyone else is enjoying the day together.