Oh, Well

The good news is that the site is now officially up and running.

The bad news is that I have all but lost my entire archive, meaning that I have over 500 entries that are in my ftp in html form. In order to re-post them I would have to re-enter them all, removing the html code. So, I have decided that maybe it is time to just give up on this blogging thing.

I actually I have been mulling this over for awhile, really. Losing the archives certainly makes my decision easier. Hot Gun Spy wasn't getting very many hits as it was and I was spending several hours everyday keeping the site updated. It really just doesn't seem worth it.

However, that being said, I have not given up on blogging altogether. My wife and I are launching a new site imakebooks.com, which will launch this Monday, August 1st. The new site will be a blog of sorts, and will act as a resource for Self-Publishers. I hope that any and all of you will come visit us at the new site and let us know what you think.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with this site. It may just become a personal home page, or a place for me to sell my books. Then again, a week may pass and I may get the itch to blog again and then Hot Gun Spy will rise again.

For now, though, I am going to let this site sit dormant until I get imakebooks.com up and buzzing and then I will make an ultimate decision on the future of this site.

As You Can Tell....

As you can tell, I'm still working out some glitches in my switch from MT 2.64 to MT 3.17. So, just one more day of patience and I am optimistic that I will be up and running again.

Rovegate Cartoon

You've got to see this Mark Fiore cartoon on Rovegate.

It is easy to lose perspective as to why this Rove investigation is so important. Oftentimes partisans tend to look at controversies as an aid to hold the other guy down so that their ideology gets positive treatment by default.

However, it is important to remind the American people to keep Rovegate in perspective. Rove's behavior is made all the worse by the fact that the outing of a CIA agent's identity was used to discredit a report that hurt the administration's case for war.

With the Bushies it was always, War or Bust.

Posted by Paul Hina at July 25, 2005 09:06 AM

Murat Kaboulov

Murat Kaboulov. Nude.

I was immediately mesmerized by the work of Murat Kaboulov. His images are always elegant even when the paint has been put on thick with seemingly chaotic brushstrokes. I have only chosen three of his works to place on the site. However, I highly recommend making your way over to his website and checking out more of his work.

Murat Kaboulov. Lady in White.

This from Murat's artist statement:

"When I am looking at a painting, I realize that it attracts me much more than a beautiful landscape outside. Why? Perhaps viewing a piece of art is similar to a dialogue with its creator, who must have felt and experienced a lot before he picked up a brush and dipped it in paint. Of course, nobody can compete with nature, which works miracles of beauty. Even art fails if it tries to surpass it, but as an artist, I am bound to keep attempting the impossible, for it is the supreme temptation of creativity. The images that I reflect in my art often come to me with the ephemeral streaks of sunset and with the tremulous shadows of night, but even more often they are born of the long and crowded days that line up, striving to linger in my memory. Nothing fascinates and inspires me more than human nature. Storms and calm of the human soul are the preeminent subjects of my art."

Murat Kaboulov. Ballerinas.

I noticed that when I right-clicked on his images a window popped up stating, "Please don't steal my pictures." Well, I hope Murat doesn't think I have stolen his pictures.

William Coronado

William Coronado. Transmogrification, 2005

The paintings of William Coronado portray city-dwellers absent from their routines, white space or black space embodies several of these individuals. The cities become haunted in the presence of this absense, something surreal takes place in the other characters that exist in these cities. You get the sense that no one knows where they are going. In one case, the city-dwellers actually follow the absence.

William Coronado. Follow The Leader, 2005

This from re-title:

"The colors in the paintings are vibrant and whimsical with the sole purpose of luring the viewer into a world that at first glance is decadent like candy with saturating colors while, simultaneously, being a visual metaphor for the bright hues, which are intrinsic to digital environments. The paintings tell a visual story about a world that seems rather remote but at closer inspection is psychological, apathetic and haunting, a place where logos, brands, and structure seem to be absent. Some of the forms in the paintings are blurred, distorted, displaced and contradictory from what reason dictates. The compositions are trickery to the eye because they give the impression of what some considered realism but are rather metaphorical ideas on the mental condition of humankind."

William Coronado. Where Are We Going?, 2005