David Lynch, Weatherman

The David Lynch daily weather report is just a Quick Time movie that lasts only 10-12 seconds, but it is worth it. The movie consists of Lynch, the eccentric filmmaker, telling you the date and the weather in Los Angeles. Of course, I live nowhere near Los Angeles. So, I just go to see something as bizarre as David Lynch reporting the weather.

Thanks to the Metafilter.

Happy Anniversary, McDonalds

This from The Billboard Liberation Front via Wooster Collective:

"McDonalds is virtually ignoring its own golden anniversary with the modesty and humility of a king, even though McDonald’s 50th is an event of colossal significance for shareholders, staff, customers, and indeed, all of mankind. Thus, the Billboard Liberation Front (BLF) and Ron of the East will provide our most inspirational client with a gratis improvement in honor of McDonalds campaign 'To Serve Man.'”

Here is ia closer look at the figures:

In other words: 'Eat it, Fatty!'

You might recognize the title 'To Serve Man', which is the title from one of the more famous episodes of The Twilight Zone, when a crew of aliens charm a bunch of humans onto their ship, where they are unexpectantly about to be on the aliens' menu.

I really like what this group is doing on a creative and a social front. However, I can't say that I subsribe to the theory that it is McDonalds' fault for serving us bad food when we have been so eager to eat it. I, for one, still partake of a Quarter Pounder every now and again, and I am a spare 150lbs. at 6 feet. Go figure!

Janice Caswell's Mental Maps

Cherryville, New Jersey, 2004

This from Caswell on her website:

My drawings and installations are representations of mental maps. The impetus for this work is a strong desire to capture and catalog experience, a desire that has its origins in a transient childhood. Moving often—as my family did—alters the connection between memory and place. In leaving places behind, one loses the chance to relive experiences by revisiting a space.

I really enjoyed what I saw of Caswell's work online. The only problem that I have with viewing mixed media pieces in a more or less two-dimensional space is that you are always unsure how the work would strike you in a gallery setting. Nevertheless, these pieces look great in two dimensions and I am sure they are even better in person.

The Time Traveler's Wife, 2004

Rummage Through The Noise Closet

If you ever wondered what noise telegraph wires make, or if you ever wanted a recording of a livestock auctioneer, or if you are curious about the technical history of ice cream van music systems, or if you are just looking for music/sounds you probably won't find anywhere else, then:

Rummage Through The Crevices is a weekly community radio segment (Friday mornings, 2SER-FM, Sydney, Australia) devoted to offbeat and outsider music, less travelled paths of global pop, interesting re-issued treasures, music-sharing activists, notable and unusual online mp3 repositories, etc. This webloggy thing is its online companion.

Thanks to taz over at Metafilter for the link.

Unofficial Museum Audio Tours

I am sure that you are used to museum's selling headset devices as an aid to guide on a stale, and often pompous, audio tour through some of the more prominent museum acquisitions.

Well, over at Art Mobs they are rethinking this tradional museum option with an unoffical audio guide for MoMA that they are offering through podcasts, or you can download and listen to the audio portions provided for paricular works of art here.

This is a brilliant idea, one that I wish I'd thought of.

History Behind Closed Doors

There is a fascinating article from the AP on the talks that eventually ended threats to eliminate the minority's right to use the filibuster to halt voting on extremist judges.

Here is a blurb:

"The crucial negotiating sessions took place around a coffee table in the memento-filled inner sanctum of Sen. John McCain's office. A small glass bust of Theodore Roosevelt, one of the Arizona Republican's heroes, gazed down from the mantle."

This was a major coup for McCain and a very public misstep by the other presidential hopeful Frist. However, let us not diminish the historical importance of what McCain and the other 13 senators accomplished in these meetings. Whether or not McCain was trying to acheive a power-grab is largely irrelevent because good work was accomplished in the process.

This is more evidence that what I have been saying privately to friends for months about McCain is true: If he runs for President he will win. The only thing that can stop him now are those on the radical right, and they will most certainly try.

The Breakfast Club Reunited

I haven't watched MTV in ages. I don't even turn it by the channel out of an intense fear that I might encounter Lil' John. Anyway, I might have to check it out soon:

Don't you forget about "The Breakfast Club." At the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, to air June 9, the network plans to reunite the cast of the classic '80s movie, the cable channel said Friday.

This year is the twentieth anniversary of The Breakfast Club. I've personally seen the movie at least fifty times and that is a conservative estimate. Of course, I can't really sit through it now without being embarassed for what was an incredible lack of taste on my part as an adolescent. Regardless, quality of the movie aside, it does represent a great source of nostalgia for me. Maybe, it wil bring back the hidden John Bender that was buried inside me for all of those years.

So, yea, I'll proably TiVo the awards and then watch all ten minutes of interesting footage from the show.

It's Evolution, Stupid.

It is absolutely shameful, and an embarassment beyond words, that Americans are even have to defend evolution, but that is what is having to be done. Even I have found myself defending evolution against the Christians in my family. It seems to me that all the Christians that don't believe in evolution unintentionally prove it by showing the rest of us how far we have evolved beyond them.

Well, Scientific American has put together a list to help all of us explain that evolution is indisputable.
Here is the preface to the list:

" When Charles Darwin introduced the theory of evolution through natural selection 143 years ago, the scientists of the day argued over it fiercely, but the massing evidence from paleontology, genetics, zoology, molecular biology and other fields gradually established evolution's truth beyond reasonable doubt. Today that battle has been won everywhere--except in the public imagination.

"Embarrassingly, in the 21st century, in the most scientifically advanced nation the world has ever known, creationists can still persuade politicians, judges and ordinary citizens that evolution is a flawed, poorly supported fantasy. They lobby for creationist ideas such as "intelligent design" to be taught as alternatives to evolution in science classrooms. As this article goes to press, the Ohio Board of Education is debating whether to mandate such a change. Some antievolutionists, such as Philip E. Johnson, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley and author of Darwin on Trial, admit that they intend for intelligent-design theory to serve as a "wedge" for reopening science classrooms to discussions of God.

"Besieged teachers and others may increasingly find themselves on the spot to defend evolution and refute creationism. The arguments that creationists use are typically specious and based on misunderstandings of (or outright lies about) evolution, but the number and diversity of the objections can put even well-informed people at a disadvantage."

I was shocked, but sadly not surprised that the Ohio Board of Education was considering teaching an alternative to evolution. This is particularly sad for me because my kids will soon be of school age and living in Ohio suddenly puts us in a rough spot. Where will we move?

Anyway, if you want to read the list Scientific American has compiled, check it out here.

Joan Mitchell. Wha?

I just recently became familiar with the work of the abstract expressionist Joan Mitchell. I started receiving Art News a few months ago and there always seems to be some advertisements for an exhibition of her work at this or that gallery. The truth is, I was immeditely troubled by her work. Not because of its power but because of its absolute lack of any quality whatsoever. I have searched the pieces for a developing aestheitic, a sense of rhythm, or anything resembling what I understand to be art. I have found nothing.

I think Mitchell is the perfect example of how modern art gets a bad name. She gives fuel to any naysayer that wants to illustrate a point about the meaninglessness of modern works.

It is not as if I need a pretty picture to appreciate art. Art is often just something you recognize when you see it, and even if it is not to your personal liking then you can at least understand what someone else might see in it. I get none of that with Mitchell.

To compare her to the most famous of the arstract expressionists, Jackson Pollack, is a fair comparison. Pollack is often the subject of derision for his "drip" paintings. Often he is used as an example for what is wrong with modern art. However, I defy anyone not to see rhythm in his work, not to accept that there is a mindfulness to the patterns. It is not as if I believe that Pollack went into his work with a deliberation of concept in his mind, but I can accept and apprecate his in-the-moment stlye. At least in Pollack you can see a developing aesthetic. In Mitchell I have found nothing to develop other than confusion.

The reason that I even put this tirade on my blog is not because I want to be cruel to Mitchell or her work, but rather I want to understand what I can not understand about her work. If this work is as accepted as it seems to be then someone is finding something in it. What is it? What am I missing?

By the way, you can see her work at the Cheim and Read Gallery in NYC.

The Emerging Thrush Holmes Empire

"you call this an empire"

If you haven't made it over to the Art MoCo site yet then you are missing out on some great stuff. Today, they pointed me in the direction of Thrush Holmes and his brilliant work. I went over to his site and found at least half a dozen images I wanted to toss up on this entry. I limited myself to three, but you should go to his site and look at the paintings yourself.

"old man holmes, a self-portrait"

Here is a blurb from the Art MoCo write-up:

"His paintings are layers of nostalgia that bear further investigation. Thrush Holmes also goes by the names Truman Couture (to bring out the French minimalist) and Herman Weiss (for his German expressionist side), while allowing these alter-egos to join him in his empire of creation. Especially noteworthy are the titles of his (their) works and the clown ruffle motif that recurs from canvas to canvas.

"things have really changed since we first met"

Rauschenberg's Scenarios

I recently read a really good profile on Robert Rauschenberg in The New Yorker(conicidentally, they have a piece on Jasper Johns in this week's issue), the piece was written by Calvin Tomkins, the author of The Bride and the Bachelors. I have always been fascinated with Rauschenberg's Combines, those bizarre "sculptures" he was making in the early sixties, and I have always enjoyed the overall energy in his work.

Unfortunately, he suffered a stroke a few years ago and has to have aides help him create his new works. I find that the pieces are simple in their linearity and blocky, but I don't find them clumsy. There is nice flow to their patchwork effect.

There is an exhibit up right now of Rauschenberg's Scenarios, as he calls these new pieces, at the University of Louisian-Lafayette. Here is a quote from their site:

For more than five decades Robert Rauschenberg has worked with unrelenting energy, inventiveness, and curiosity to create works of unparalleled depth and breadth. His fusion of imagery and objects has blurred the boundaries between traditional art-making genres and methods, redefining conventional notions of painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, and performance, and distinguishing him as one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century.

Why The Long Face?

There are only a few short days left before the Amedeo Modigliani exhibit comes down at The Phillips Collection museum in Washington D.C. If you are not familiar with Modigliani by name then you may be familiar with his famous elongated faces. Some of my favorites are his reclining nudes, which I find to be some of the most beautiful of that variety. This was an exhibit that was put together by The Jewish Museum in Brooklyn, and it was about time a Modigliani exhibit was put together again. I only wish I had been able to see it.

Here is a blurb from The Jewish Museum's website:

" When Modigliani died in Paris in 1920, at the age of thirty-five, he became the standard-bearer for the myth of the bohemian artist — the unappreciated “artist-genius” consoled by wine and drugs. This celebrated myth is based on details of the artist’s colorful life. As captivating as such biography may be, it does little to further our understanding of the man or his art. The story of Modigliani’s life has eclipsed his work, severing it from the ideas and cultural traditions that might otherwise reveal its many meanings. Such mythmaking has made one of the best-known early modernist artists one of the most misunderstood.

"The Jewish Museum presents the first major exhibition of Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) in New York since his 1951 retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art. An anomaly among the many foreign Jewish artists who lived in Paris during the early 1900s, Modigliani remained independent of any movement or style, and was known primarily for his reclining nudes and portraits with elegantly elongated features. Modigliani: Beyond the Myth shows the full range of the artist's oeuvre — painting, drawing and sculpture — in an effort to reevaluate his position within the development of twentieth-century European modernism."

Posted by Paul Hina at 10:49 PM

Stallone Vs. Poe

This is unbelievable:

Sylvester Stallone is to direct his own script about the life of Edgar Allan Poe.

****

Stallone wrote a screenplay back in 2002 but the project did not come together until this week. Filming is now planned for this autumn in Europe.

Unfortunately for posterity, Stallone will not play Poe. Robert Downey Jr is apparently his first choice for the part, though it is not known whether the actor has agreed.

It seems Stallone has hung up the boxing gloves and the red bandanna for good and turned to more serious toles. His next project is to direct a film, called Notorious, about the murders of rap stars Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. Based on his own screenplay, he will play the part of the real-life Los Angeles policeman investigating the killings.

I am still not convinced that this is isn't a joke. I don't know which is more unbelievable, the fact that Stallone wrote and is set to direct a film about Poe, or that he is planning a project about Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.
Too funny to be true. I guess I'll believe it when I see it.
Thanks to Bookslut for the news.

The Thiebaud Buffet

Confections, Wayne Thiebaud

This from Art MoCo:

"Wayne Thiebaud’s signature food paintings of the 1960’s began with his oil on canvas study of French Fries which he followed up with a variety of desserts. Thiebaud’s fast food fixation has placed him among the pre-Pop art pioneers, but this is based purely on subject matter as his painterly style marks him as more of a realist."

It would be hard for any artist to complain about their place in art history. The glut of artists throughout history leaves behind only a select few for us to keep in our memories, or our textbooks. However, it does Thiebaud a disservice to remember him only for his paintings of food. If you venture over to the Allan Stone Gallery and look at some of his other work you will see the breadth of subject is much larger. The rich pastel colors and knowing, unique textures are present throughout all of his work.

River Farm Study, Wayne Thiebaud

Neck Face

I have to admit that I have been hesitant to say what I think of Neck Face (Read Guardian interview here). So, far, I have not been his biggest fan. I am not quite sure I get people's fascination with the graffitti artist turned gallery artist. I am not so sure this guy is the heir apparent to Basquiat, but you can make your own determination. Just because I don't understand him, doesn't mean that he is no good.

This from Protein:

"The enigma of Neck Face has intrigued many in the States, now in his first visit to the UK, the dpmhi gallery stages an exhibition of his twisted work. Please see the attached press release for details.

"His scrawls on the streets of his hometown of San Francisco and elsewhere in New York and LA, have led the 20-year-old Neck Face to be described as the 'the new face of urban blight'. A disembodied hairy arm with a clawed hand is his central motif, while his other works are populated with the likes of vampires, horned fiends and even Satan himself. Grim statements such as 'Crack Pipe For Sale' and 'Retards Ain't Special' often accompany his shakily drawn pictures, displaying his dark sense of humour.

"Neck Face is a mysterious figure who has no clear stylistic predecessor and shuns connections with the graffiti scene. As well as a growing underground buzz, he has also attracted attention in mainstream press such as The New Yorker and and The San Francisco Bay Guardian but, despite this fame, has only put on a handful of exhibitions so far. When not bombing the streets of American cities, Neck Face works in a variety of media, for example, engraving his characters on salvaged metal and using it to sculpt masks."

Update: Here is a link to the Neck Face exhibition in London at the dpmhi.

Laugh 'Til You Cry

You've got to visit Crying, while eating. It is probably the only site I have ever ran into that has actually made me laugh out loud multiple times. It is a site that is better appreciated with broadband, but the video clips are not necessary.

Basically the site allows you to watch video of someone who is both crying and eating. The site tells you what the person is eating and then what they are crying about. Hilarity ensues.

Here's an example:

Ben

What he's eating:
Adrenalin Rush energy drink and nachos Vera Cruz

What he's crying about:
Will never have as much fun as he used to have

Thanks to Internet Weekly for the heads-up.

Posted by Paul Hina at 10:36 PM

Compromise Is A Good Thing

From Reuters via The Huffington Post:

"Fourteen U.S. Senate moderates struck a deal across party lines on Monday to avert a historic showdown vote over President Bush's stalled judicial nominees.

"The bipartisan compromise -- which includes a commitment to clear the way for confirmation votes on three of five disputed nominees -- was reached less than 24 hours before the Republican-led Senate was to decide whether to strip Democrats of their power to block Bush's candidates for federal courts."

The Senators behind the compromise should be extremely proud for their victory in allowing cooler heads to prevail over what would have been a monumental mistake of historical proportions by radical conservatives.
I have to admit that I have been optimistic about the outcome of this battle for the past week. Wehn the country has gone as crazy as the U.S. has these past years it is hard to be anything else. There is nothing left but optimism.

Keep Marching

I just found this photo over at the Wooster Collective. It is from Hac-One in Johannesburg, South Africa. I liked it so much I thought I'd toss it up. It might seem a little like adolescent rebellion, but I thought it was interesting.

Secret Wall Tattoos

Over the past week I have run across several blogs talking about secret wall tattooing and didn't take much interest in it. But it kept popping up on other sites. So, I thought it was time I checked it out for myself. It seems that secret wall tattoos are drawings or paintings that are created in hotels behind headboards, mirrors, or other paintings. Go visit the website for some interesting mouse-over photos.

The Art of Gum

This from Art MoCo:

No standing on the corner, chewing bubblegum for Jason Kronenwald, the Toronto artist who creates pop cultured portraits out of masticated gum and plywood. He leaves the chewing to other, more eager mouths, freeing himself up for the forty to fifty hours necessary for each portrait. No paints or dyes are used: all colour mixing takes place behind closed mouths and the only tools needed for the application of the medium, other than a Swiss Army knife and a plastic roller, are fingers and thumbs. The final product is sealed in epoxy resin.

It is hard not to be impressed by this guy's craftsmanship. His work looks very good from the photos. However, I would still really like to see one of these up-close. My one problem is that I find the subject matter of the pieces too derivative and poppy. It is true that the project is called "Gum Blondes", but I hate to see such talent wasted on subjects like Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson.

Yahoo! Music Has Some Work To Do

I was pretty excited when I first heard that Yahoo's new music program was offering an unlimited download plan for under $5 a month. Then I downloaded the software and saw that they offer very little in the way of selection. There is a good reason why it is difficult for other companies to compete with iTunes. iTunes actually has music.

Another problem with Yahoo! music, as well as other Yahoo! downloads, is that they always try to dump their other software on you. It is impossible to download their music program withgout also getting their messenger. There is nothing more annoying to me than software dumps.

The good thing is that they offer a seven day trial period. So, I am going to download a load of Jazz(which is one thing they do seem to offer in abundance), and then cancel my subscription.

Bansky Is At It Again

This from the Wooster Collective:

One of the earliest recorded pieces of graffiti has gone on show at the British Museum in London.

However, closer inspection reveals this Neanderthal man pushing a shopping trolley may only actually date from a few weeks ago when Banksy found the rock on a building site and stuck it in Britains most prestigous archive of historical antiquities.

In case you are not familiar with the work of Bansky, you should really check him out. He has pulled stunts like this before in New York.
Even if you don't like the fact that he is displaying his work in museums without their knowledge, you at least have to admire his effort.
Not to mention the fact that it is funny as hell.

The Philosophy of Cannes

A still from the film Hidden, which played today at the Cannes Film Festival

I was just over at Roger Ebert's homepage checking out his latest report on Cannes, and was intrigued by this snippet:

Michael Haneke's "Hidden," which is also being mentioned for the Palme d'Or. He plays a Paris TV host whose happy family (his wife is played by Juliette Binoche) is also disturbed by unwelcome visitors -- in this case, videos indicating the family is under surveillance. Who is sending these, and why? Answering the mystery has become a festival obsession, and Manohla Dargis of the New York Times writes brilliantly: "My guess is that the videotapes were not shot or sent by anyone; rather, they simply exist, ontologically, as evidence." Yes, but if they were not shot or sent by anyone, how do they exist? Is ontological evidence visible to physical characters? In this movie, maybe.

Boy, that is quite a riddle. I'll bet it is an amazing experience to be in Cannes at this time of year, screening movies around lots of people who really, really love film. I would be willing to bet you wouldn't normally get that kind of freeform reaction to a movie from a critic who had seen the movie under normal circumstances. I am sure that the whole Cannes experience is a pretty incredible and heady scene, one that brings forth some great ideas from otherwise stale critics.

The Stained Glass Artwork of Judith Schaechter

Here is a statement from Schaecter about what drives her work:

"My interests are not particular to me and my thoughts about them not necessarily original (until, hopefully, they become stained glass panels!). My main interests are sex and death, with romance and violence the obvious runners up. I'm trying to be as cliche, sentimental, and decorative as possible--not as a strategy for ironic commentary about how stupid sentimentality and cliches are, but because this is the stuff, that time and time again, I am obsessed with, in love with, and that I have faith in."

I find this statement particularly interesting because I am dealing with some of these very same issues right now in my work. There seems to have been a war against sentimentality in art during the 20th century. I really think those walls may be breaking down as the 21st century begins to define itself. I think cynicism will eventually become the new sentimentality. I hope so. I am sick of the cynical and intentionally ironic--it's so low rent.

Anyone Can Build A House

The TomaHouse company is a company that makes prefabricated modular homes that they claim anyone can put together with only a socketwrench and a dream. The buildings are constructed into 4x4 sq.meters, and you can build onto them as you desire. The buildings are predesigned for electricity and plumbing. The company's presentation is pretty convincing. They had me believing that I could build my own house. At the very least, it is worth a look.

Arrested Development Renewed

This from the TV Squad blog

Thank you, Peter Liguori - thank you. Days before Thursday's "upfront" presentation of the fall schedule, the head of Fox Entertainment has announced that Arrested Development will definitely be back in the fall for a third season. E! Online's TV gossip Kristin had inferred last week that the network had perhaps ordered two full seasons - all this from a cryptic reference made by star Jason Bateman to "twins" - but, uh, no matter how much we love the Bluth family, that would have just been insane, and today's statement suggested a standard, 22-episode, one season pickup.

I am surprised at how many people, including myself, who were waiting on pins and needles for this decision. Well, Rejoice. I, for one, didn't think it would be renewed, but it looks like Fox did something right (for once).

When Moyers Speaks, I Listen

I was an avid viewer of the PBS program Now with Bill Moyers until last year, when Moyers left the show. It was one of the few programs that seemed to notice that the United States was falling apart at the hands of right-wing ideologues, from the warmongers to the religious right. Moyers had been calling these guys out for their hypocricies well before the election. But now he is off the airwaves, basically shoved out by new right-wing leadership at PBS.

The program is still going, at half its length and half its strength. However, Bill Moyers is not done fighting PBS. He gave a compelling speech this past weekend to a group of media activists. Here is a blurb:

""The more compelling our journalism, the angrier the radical right of the Republican Party gets," he explained. "That's because the one thing they loathe more than liberals is the truth. And the quickest way to be damned by them as liberal is to tell the truth."

The broadcasting giant was greeted with cheers when he declaration that "the quality of our media and the quality of our democracy are intertwined. But the loudest applause of the day came in response to his invitation to the crowd to join him in the fight to "take public broadcasting back from threats, from interference."

"It is," Moyers said, "a worthy goal."

Moyers has endorsed a call by Free Press, Common Cause, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and Media Access Project for town hall meetings nationwide that would allow Americans to speak directly to PBS station managers and policymakers.

That call came in the context of a broader appeal for media reforms and a fight against manipulation of the news in the public and private sector.

"An unconscious people, an indoctrinated people, a people fed only partisan information and opinion that confirm their own bias, a people made morbidly obese in mind and spirit by the junk food of propaganda, is less inclined to put up a fight, ask questions and be skeptical," Moyers said. "And just as a democracy can die of too many lies, that kind of orthodoxy can kill us, too."

A video of the speech is available here.

An audio recording can be found here.

Get Your Firefox On

Mozilla is starting to get aggressive about promoting their Firefox browser. Check out these new ads. They're pretty funny.

Street Art

A trip over to the Wooster Collective blog might be all you need to see how significant street art is right now in the art world. I get a daily dose of street from the WC and I always find something that amazes me, like the piece above from G in Paris.

Pollocks Found In Storage

This is an unbelievable find from East Hampton, New York:

"The announcement on Tuesday that a whole group of unknown paintings by Jackson Pollock had been found in a storage locker in Wainscott would normally be greeted with considerable skepticism, but there is no doubt, according to at least one expert, that 32 small "drip" paintings discovered at the Home Sweet Home moving and storage company are the real thing."

There were also some letters found from both Pollock and his wife Lee Krasner. These letters could be extremely important to art scholars because Pollock had not previoiusly been thought to have been much of a writer, even in letter form. The letters could shine some light on some previously dark biographical details, and perhaps give us a further glimpse into Pollock's mind.

Marcel Dzama

Last Winter Here, 2004 by Marcel Dzama
Beck always selects interesting artwork for his albums. I was particularly intrigued by the cover work on his new album, Guero. It was done by an artist named Marcel Dzama. Apparently his work is pretty hot right now, according to the Metafilter.Anyway, if you want to see more, or get your hands on a print, you can check him out at The Richard Heller Gallery.
Admittedly, I picked one of his darker images to display above. So, please don't think that the image I selected is a fair representation of his work. Much of his work is far more whimsical.

More From Satan's Laundromat

I loved this photo so much I had to put it up, from Satan's Laundrmat.

Woody Allen's New Movie

I haven't seen Woody Allen's "Melinda/ Melinda" yet, but I have heard mixed reviews of the film. I am looking forward to it since I have been very interested in exporing the blurry line between comedy and drama in my own work as Allen does in "Melinda/ Melinda". However, I have been losing faith in Woody the past few years. He hasn't made a really good movie since "Sweet and Lowdown" was released in 1999. But it looks like my worries might be over.

If you love films and don't visit Roger Ebert's website then you are doing yourself a disservice. This week he is posting direct from the Cannes Film Festival, and today he saw Woody's new picture, "Match Point". This is what he had to say about it:

" Oh, it was sexy all right, and violent. It was also literate, hard-edged and seductive in its story of an Irish tennis pro who settles in London, marries the boss’s daughter, impregnates the former girlfriend of his new brother-in-law, and then grows desperate at the thought of losing his big job and chauffeured car and the weekends in the country."

Ebert goes on to say:

"For years it was said that a Woody Allen picture cost $3 million and grossed $9 million, and then he got to make another one. 'Some of my films have never played south of the Mason-Dixon line,' he once told me.

"'Match Point' has a good chance, I suspect, of being his biggest box office success since 'Annie Hall' and 'Hannah and Her Sisters.' It’s commercial, it will wrap audiences in its grip, and yet it’s a Woody Allen picture."

That is great news for Allen fans, filmgoers, and me. "Annie Hall" and "Hannah and Her Sisters" are two of my all-time favorites. I hope Ebert is right. Now, I just have to wait until the film's American release.

The Photos of Miroslav Tichy

Untitled n.d. by Miroslav Tichy

This from The New York Times about Tichy:

"At Nolan/Eckman in SoHo, an artist just this side of 80 is making his debut. Miroslav Tichy, born in 1925, is a self-taught Czech photographer who makes his own cameras. His preferred subject, women in bathing suits, might wear a bit thin, but the images, taken between the 1950's and the 70's, have a distinctive combination of dreamlike fuzziness and everyday unidealized reality. They're Pictorialist snapshots. Unfortunately, the cameras are not in the show; the one on the show's announcement might be a sculpture by Dieter Roth."

If you are curious, as I was, about his home made cameras then you can catch some sporadic clues from this tidbit from The New Yorker:

"Tichy's homemade cameras--fashioned from spools, mailing tubes, bottle caps, and scavenged lenses--produce soft, cloudy photos that look like they've been taken in a dream."

Regardless of how he makes the pictures, they are gorgeous photographs. I wish I could make it to the show at Nolan/Eckman. I would love to see more of his work. I have only been able to see the few that the gallery has up on their website. If anybody knows where I can view more of Tichy's work, by all means let me know.

Ike to Bush: "You Are Stupid"

David Sirota has uncovered one of the greatest political quotes I have read in recent times:

""Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

- President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 11/8/54

That just about gives me chills. It is like Ike were criticizing the current administration from the grave. Either that or he had a time machine that allowed him to glimpse the terrifying truth of the Republican party in the next millenium.

Goin' MocoLoco

You should check out the ArtMoco contempoary art blog. I just recently discovered it and have been checking back daily. I had been searching for a really good art blog for months, andI think this is about the best one I have come across.
The image above is entitled "Still Life with Living Room" from Croatian illustrator Marija Marosevic.

I Am Charlotte W. SImmons

Here is a whole new reason not to read Tom Wolfe's "I Am Charlotte Simmons":

"What's particularly interesting about the photo, which was taken today, is that the book the President's clutching is Tom Wolfe's celebration of the sex-soaked, booze-drenched lives of college students, I Am Charlotte Simmons. In February, NYT's Elisabeth Bumiller reported that Bush had already read the book and was 'enthusiastically recommending it to friends.' Now, three months later, he's apparently still deeply engaged with it."

If Bush is recommending it then it can't be worth the paper it's printed on, and from what I have read of Tom Wolfe in the past, I can't imagine that it is.
Thanks to Wonkette for the quote and the photo.

Ian McEwan's "Saturday"

I recently read in The New Yorker that it was difficult to go anywhere in London without seeing someone reading Ian McEwan's "Saturday". This peaked my curiosity so I picked the book up and am thoroughly enjoying it. It is a novel that takes place during one day in February 2003, just before the Iraq War. This novel, and the novel's popularity, along with the hit Tony Blair took during last week's UK election, is further evidence that English history books will have a much less jingoistic view of the war then will American history books. Just another sign that Americans prefer to create reality around our perverted patriotism.

Reid Is Ready For A Filibuster Vote

This from Sen. Harry Reid on the nucleat option proposed by Sen. Frist:

"I still consider this confrontation entirely unnecessary and irresponsible. The White House manufactured this crisis. Since Bush took office, the Senate confirmed 208 of his judicial nominations and turned back only 10, a 95% confirmation rate. Instead of accepting that success and avoiding further divisiveness and partisanship in Washington, the President chose to pick fights instead of judges by resubmitting the names of the rejected nominees.

"This fight is not about seven radical nominees; it's about clearing the way for a Supreme Court nominee who only needs 51 votes, instead of 60 votes. They want a Clarence Thomas, not a Sandra Day O'Connor or Anthony Kennedy or David Souter. George Bush wants to turn the Senate into a second House of Representatives, a rubberstamp for his right wing agenda and radical judges. That's not how America works.

"I believe there are two options for avoiding the nuclear showdown, which so many of us believe is bad for the Senate, and bad for America.

"But I want to be clear: we are prepared for a vote on the nuclear option."

You can say what you want to about the democrats being scattelogical and directionless, but they sure have picked great leaders in Dean and Reid to run the party since the fallout in 2004. These guys are ready and waiting for a fight.

Thanks to DailyKos for the heads-up.

Why haven't you been to Satan's Laundromat?

Satan's Laudromat is a great photolog that documents the images of "decay, strange signage, and general weirdness" of urban life in New York City. It is one of the few photo blog's I go to and one that is frequently updated as well.

Check it out

Check out The Huffington Post, the new online journal headed by Arianna Huffington. Here is a blurb from the welcome page:

"Welcome to the Huffington Post, which, as our motto says, has been delivering news and opinion since, well, a few hours ago. As you look around, you’ll see that our front page features our favorite posts from our group bloggers -- including Senator Jon Corzine, Larry David, John Cusack and Walter Cronkite -- and the top news headlines of the moment."

Art Blog

I am back from my sabattical from the blog. I really needed some space from politics and the internet in general.

It was time for me to rethink the direction that this blog had been going in, and to decide what would be best for me to do with it.
I have decided that I should return back to what I studied in college: 20th Century Western Culture. This means that this blog will still contain some political material, but the overall theme will be:

Art and Culture for the Emerging Information Class

In other words, and Art blog with some other stuff of interest thrown in now and again.