the unlikely orange

don't know if you're following along with my creative retelling of the esther story or not, but just in case you are jumping in late, this 10-day look at the book of esther is a kind of celebration of my 40,000 visitors here at agentorangerecords.  you should probably all be showering me with gifts, but since i'm in a good mood, i'm giving you a gift!  just click here and follow the simple instructions for a chance to win one on my handmade collages.  thanks again for stopping by! esther five has two scenes.  first we find esther risking her life by appearing before the king unbidden.  however, he extends the golden scepter to her, which means he isn't displeased.  she then "touches the end" of his scepter, which results in him offering her whatever she wants, up to half of his kingdom.  hmmm.  perhaps this story isn't as PG as many like to imagine when thinking about the bible.  i'm just sayin. anyway, esther is delaying asking the qu...

the fourth chapter of esther brings a couple of the most famous moments of the book.  basically, mordecai mourns this edict that the king has sent, and he gets to word to esther about it.  afraid for her life, she basically says, "what am i supposed to do about it?"  and mordecai tells her that perhaps she has risen to favor with the king, "for such a time as this."  she takes mordecai's words to heart, and agrees to petition the king, saying, "if i perish, i perish."  you can read it here .  esther 4 paper collage on vinyl lp; paper collage on album cover gregory a. milinovich esther (four) ashes and tears.  gnashing of teeth. we are all going to die. mordecai mourns. where is our hope? where is our promise? where is our future? (WHERE IS GOD IN ALL OF THIS?) mordecai mourns. "only my niece can save us. esther!  save us now, at such a time as this." remembering the queen before her, remembering the price of saying no, esthe...

the third chapter of esther brings us more fully into the conflict of the story. the king has exalted his servant haman to a high place in the king's court, and made everyone at the gate bow to him. but mordecai, the jew (esther's uncle), won't bow to him. haman then convinces the king to send out an edict to all the nobles of the kingdom that on a certain day in the 12th month, all the jews should be killed, and their possessions looted. so, this isn't looking good for esther and mordecai and all the jews in exile in this kingdom. tune in tomorrow to see what happens next. read esther 3 here. "esther (three) paper collage on vinyl lp; paper collage on album cover gregory a. milinovich esther (three) where there is power there is pain. everyone wants what he's got. everything seems fine, but everything's not. all seems to be in order, upside up. but there is growing green. every king has a haman, right hand man. fountain of good ideas. "whatev...

esther chapter two tells us about the inner workings of a harem. that's right. a bunch of young women the king had on call for...um...royal relations. in this chapter we meet esther , a jew who is hiding her nationality, and who is obviously a very beautiful young woman. all who see her are taken with her beauty, including the king, who after his royal night with her decides to make her the queen. there is also another part of the story unfolding, involving her uncle and caregiver mordecai , who keeps a close watch on her and overhears some guards planning an assassination plot on the king. he tells esther , who tells the king, and the plot is uncovered. stay tuned for more exciting action tomorrow. read chapter two here . " esther 2" paper collage on vinyl album, paper collage with poem on album cover gregory a. milinovich esther (two) his high, high, highness is lonely. needs a woman (women) to help him fly. flexing his majestic muscles, his mouth makes more laws....

as summer draws to a close, i thought i'd make a quick video collage of our summer through the lens of our own boys of summer. enjoy.

as i mentioned yesterday, the next 10 days will showcase a project i did on the book of esther from the hebrew scriptures. the book has 10 chapters, and i made 10 corresponding collages and poems, reflecting my own study and understanding of this great little story. each collage was made on a 33 1/3 lp, and each poem presented on the album cover. so each day you'll see a picture of the cover with the poem, and then a picture of the collage itself. i will also include the text of the poem, so that you will be able to read it. esther 1 starts off the story by telling us about kind ahasuerus, a persian king, who wanted to flaunt his power by throwing a huge party. you can kind of get the genre of this story right off the bat, as it starts something like this, "once upon a time there was a great king who wanted to throw a great party. and so he gathered all the people of the land, and for sixth months they celebrated. then he gathered all his servants and officials in the p...

well, friends, it's a bit of a milestone day here at agentorangerecords. today i reach 40,000 visits to the old blogstead. and so, to celebrate i want to give something away! -- i have had many visitors to this blog of mine, and i never even thought that would happen. but what is even more unlikely is that some of you who visited came back. i know, its hard to believe, but for some reason you keep reading. i don't know if it is because i make you laugh (at my own expense), or because it's like a train wreck that you just can't stop looking at, but whatever the reason, you keep coming back. forty thousand times. so thanks. -- to celebrate, i'm giving away this collage: it is called sunburst. i've shown it here before . up until today it has been for sale in my etsy shop . but now i'm giving it to one of you. all you have to do is comment on this post and answer this question: -- other than money, what would you like to have 40,000 of? (you can com...