HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Friday, October 31, 2008
North Hollywood Installs “Talking Cameras”
North Hollywood is going the way of Baltimore, Martin County, and Middlesbrough, England. It has installed “talking cameras,” ostensibly to ward off taggers and people who dump trash.
“Los Angeles police are using motion-activated cameras to warn vandals that they’re being watched,” reports WOAI for NBC News. “The motion triggers a recorded voice that states, ‘This is the Los Angeles Police Department. It is illegal to spray graffiti or dump trash here.’ The voice warns vandals that they are being recorded and will be prosecuted. The camera provides a high-resolution image of the tagger and the vehicle. It can capture an image of a license plate from 250 feet.”
Most people will likely not have a problem with these barking cameras if the devices prevent miscreants from vandalizing private and public property. However, once the public accepts this technology government will as a matter of course begin installing thousands of them at taxpayer expense.
Recall the 70 year old woman arrested for not watering her lawn, or the man arrested because his lawn was brown. Police and city governments find all sorts of reasons to fine, arrest, and even imprison people.
In the not too distant future, cameras may do this job. Imagine every neighborhood in a city with talking cameras monitoring citizens. “Citizen at 1200 Main Street, your lawn is too long. Cut it or face criminal penalty.”
Outrageous? Consider Britain, where the plebs are monitored by trash bin police. In a recent case, a woman was fined £265 for taking her trash bin out to the curb 24 hours early. As the Mail Online reported in May, the government is forcing British families “to name somebody to be in charge of their rubbish under a council’s ‘zero tolerance’ approach to bin collections. The named individual faces £100 fines and a criminal record if their household then puts the wrong rubbish in its wheelie bins, puts them out too soon, or puts them in the wrong place.” In addition, the individual will be obliged “to give officials a breakdown of everyone who lives in their home, together with intimate information including details of medical conditions.”
Of course, this has nothing to do with garbage bins. It has to do with the state intruding on the lives of citizens under the flimsiest of excuses.
Same mindset applies to the installation of cameras that bark orders and make threats. Today the cameras ward off taggers, tomorrow they will be put everywhere and used to monitor and control the behavior of citizens.
As Orwell’s Winston Smith knew, the telescreens watched the citizens constantly. “He sat as still as he could on the narrow bench, with his hands crossed on his knee. He had already learned to sit still. If you made unexpected movements they yelled at you from the telescreen,” writes Orwell.Thursday, October 30, 2008
bailout
This (below) is in the bailout package--read the words carefully. Keep on believing the left is good or the right is good. How about the whole system is corrupt from the top down? Your elected officials passed this bill.
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
can you imagine taking 700 billion from taxpayers and not allowing oversight?
Paulson should be locked up in the town square in stocks like the pilgrim days.
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
can you imagine taking 700 billion from taxpayers and not allowing oversight?
Paulson should be locked up in the town square in stocks like the pilgrim days.
32 years
If you would like to think in terms of a billion in regards to bailouts etc....if you count one number every second for 32 years you will reach a billion...something to chew on...I would like to try to spend it...I would buy a lot of oil paints and brushes.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
purple sun
I am not sure why but if you stare at this piece it grows on you--at least it grows on me..
quote of the day--hunter s thompson
"SECURITY"---: "Is security a utopian goal or is it another word for rut?....Where would the world be if all men sought security and had not taken risks or gambled with their lives on the chance, if they won, life would be different and richer?"
"who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of live and lived, or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?"
Hunter wrote this in high school and it is still one of my favorite quotes of all time...
"who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of live and lived, or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?"
Hunter wrote this in high school and it is still one of my favorite quotes of all time...
flower of life print
I made this today. It is Krylon spray paint I sprayed through a handcut stencil of the flower of life geometry. It is on fabriano Pastel paper and painted with opaque white guaoche. This is three in a series of 100. I like the marriage of low fi and hi fi.
mcsorleys watercolor
I made a sketch on pastel paper today using ink and opaque white at mcsorleys..the entire time I had two jabbering girls across from me and the kept standing up and blocking my light and talking in some strange language--totally oblivious that they driving my crazy and up a wall. They were not concerned what I was doing or if the were inconveniencing me...as sartre said--"hell is other people."
man in mcsorleys
Here is a quick sketch I made in Mcsorleys today..it is ink and opaque watercolor on colored Fabriano pastel paper.all these are for sale if anyone wants one.
mcsorleys--man with crossword
after the jabbering girls left a man sat across from me intensely doing a NY Times crossword. He had no idea I was drawing and left none the wiser. This drawing has some good pints and some weak points but it really does look like the guy..very often once the person leaves it doesnt matter because no-one can say if it looks like the subject or not....this was a pretty good likeness.--then again you have no way of knowing if I am lying.
never give up
World's Worst Boxer' to Hang Up His Gloves After 256 Defeats
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Boxing fans will gather in Birmingham, England, on Friday night to witness the final fight of a man who could be remembered as Britain's most spectacular loser.
Buckley has lost more fights than any other boxer in the world. Throughout his 256 defeats, he has remained magnificently undeterred. While the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) remained concerned that he could suffer serious injuries, Buckley persisted, losing fight after fight.
In the past five years he has put together a particularly impressive losing streak, failing to win in 88 successive bouts. He has lost to 42 future world, European, British and Commonwealth champions, including Naseem Hamed, and has fought more bouts than any other boxer in the world. But this one, No 300, will be his last.
"I've had my eye on the 300 mark for a while, and it's a little milestone I want to achieve, but I don't want to fight on," he said. "People keep saying to me that I'll get a call in a few weeks' time offering me a fight and I'll say yes, but I mean it when I say this is it."
There was a time, in the early 1990s, when Buckley did not seem destined for so luminous a career of defeat. He was a talented super-featherweight who won the Midlands area title. Then he discovered a more lucrative calling, as an opponent for boxers with hot prospects. He rarely won but had a good defense and took few punches. Over time, his reflexes slowed and he became easier to hit. Now 39, he has matured into a consistent loser.
Buckley has fought so often that he has turned up with a black eye before a bout. Though the BBBC continues to send him for medical tests, Buckley continues to pass them. Throughout his career, he has kept himself in a constant state of readiness, ready to lose a fight at a moment's notice anywhere in England. Buckley has been known to agree to bouts as late as 8 p.m. on the night of the fight.
orwell diary oct 28th 1938
October 28, 2008
One egg. Many black beetles squashed in the road. Inside they are brilliant vermillion. Men ploughing with teams of oxen after the rain. Wretched ploughs, with no wheel, which only stir the soil.
orwell diary oct 27th 1938
October 27, 2008
On Tuesday afternoon (25th) tremendous rain, much as in the tropics except that it was very cold rain. Everything has flooded feet deep, the earth not yet dry. The Oued Tensift is now quite a considerable stream & low ground all round it has turned into marsh. Today near the Oeud Tensift came upon a large pool where there were° a flight of wild ducks swimming about. Managed to scare them onto the wing & after much circling around they came straight overhead. Sixteen in number, & evidently mallards, same as in England, or very similar. Saw another larger flight in the distance afterwards. Almost the first game birds seen here.
Ordinary sparrows fairly common in the garden here. In Marrakech itself one used not to see them.
Large numbers of black beetles, about 1” long, crawling everywhere, evidently brought out by the rain. Have sowed sunflowers, sweet peas & marigolds. The other seeds not up yet, as it has been much cooler (we are having fires every evening.) The ground here is lumpy & unpleasant to work, but at present not many weeds – more when this rain has taken effect, perhaps. Some weeds as in England, eg. bindweed & twitchgrass, but not growing very strongly. Silver poplar or some very similar tree grows here. Tomatoes here are grown in large patches without sticks. Very poor floppy plants & smallish tomatoes, but plenty of them.
Yesterday on milking the brown goat found her milk had gone sour & came out quite thick. This is because she is only being milked once a day & had not been fully milked for two days owing to her restiveness. Squeezed the bad milk onto the ground & tonight her milk was all right again. Another hen bad in the legs this evening. Examined & found enormous black lice. Hope treatment will be effective as before. The stripey goat’s milk increases, but very slightly, still not much over 1/2 pint a day. She is very thin, though she eats well. The present ration of hard food is 2 handfuls of barley & 2 of bran morning & evening, with a mash of boiled maize & bran about once a week.
The doves readily eat maize if it is broken.
Today saw some doves in an aviary which had eggs.
The fountain in front of the house filled up after the rain & mosquito larvae are multiplying rapidly.
One egg (the first) yesterday, none today.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
barter
I need 125 pounds of white chocolate for a secret sculpture project. I will trade my last supper painting for this or consider other possibilities. Chocolate quality is not overly important.
I was in a cab ten minutes ago..the TV in the cab would not shut off..it kept playing and playing and playing...If you read 1984 you will remember that in 1984 the TV never went off--you could only turn it down. I am so sick of this kind of stuff--I am sick of cameras every where, I am sick of thumb scans, eye scans, brain scans and the whole big brother surveillance society..If your view is that I am not doing anything wrong so I dont mind the government watching me then do me a favor---dont log into my website..I cant stomach people who are that dumb and simple. I dont care about anything these days except the fact that I dont want to wind up in a surveillance society. People get mad that I am not voting for Obama---If obama told me he was going to stop our march towards an orwellian New World order I would vote for him in a second and the same for Mcain..For now I hate both of those liars and will not vote. I will not go gently into the dark night of 1984 dystopia, you are more than welcome to worship some false messiah and to keep in soaking the cathode rays of mainstream news. I am disturbed that people are just "going along to get along." Privacy is an ideal worth fighting for.
brooklyn
I have to paint the brooklyn bridge again. starting today.
I am going to paint the waterfalls into the picture so I do not have to paint the lower structure...
Actually the waterfalls will be a cool pictorial element so the fact that I do not have to paint the lower structure is just a bonus.
I am going to paint the waterfalls into the picture so I do not have to paint the lower structure...
Actually the waterfalls will be a cool pictorial element so the fact that I do not have to paint the lower structure is just a bonus.
I have a novel idea---- the democrats and the republicans have screwed up this country beyond recognition, congressional and presidential approval is lower than it has ever been in history..I think we need a third party so we can go beyond the good cop bad cop thievery and step out of this false paradigm. Throw all the bums out (as they say) turn off the controlled corporate media and do not vote for lawyers and career politicians. I think enough people are disgusted with both parties that we can bring in an independent candidate and pull the weeds out of this garden of greed and corruption.
Monday, October 27, 2008
on newton and reality
..I have been studying a lot about Isaac Newton theses days...He is often viewed as the scientist who led us out of the dark shadows of magic and into the light of scientific reason. His theories on gravity and laws of motion etc were as profound as any discovery made in the history of mankind. There reason I am writing this is in response to many people I personally know who worship only at the idol of reason and are blind as a garden mole when when it comes to seeing or believing anything outside the visible spectrum...I find it incredibly interesting that so many people I know personally accept only the black or the white and refuse to believe in the "third side of the coin" (I coined this expression). Isaac Newton was a genius beyond genius wrapped in an enigma--He was so far beyond anyone I ever read about including Leonardo, plato, vitruvius, tesla, Hawkings etc etc. Now the point of this entire post is that Newton spent 25 years of his life one hundred percent devoted to studying alchemy...the most esoteric and strange art known to man. The same guy who gave us the principia mathmatica--the single greatest achievement of a human mind--ever. Yet, my skeptical friends know better than this genius who spent 25 years studying the proportions of ancient temples from the bible and cooking metal in crucibles in search of the esoterica and elusive philosophers stone. They are rationalists, they are too smart to fall for anything that is beyond the eye..I am humbler than they, I am not that smart I have learned that my mind is just a small thing, a minor star and my opinions shine very little light on reality. I am smart enough to know that newton was a genius of the ages and for him to look beyond the visible spectrum into the unknown realm esoteric thought is enough for me to believe there is more to to reality than meets the eye. There is much more than this. My friends idea of newton is that he is a fig and comes in a cookie. By the way did I mention he created calculus? I know one thing, Isaac newton never chased fools errands if he was chasing something there was something there, what that is I am not sure...He never found the philosophers stone but he opened doors that are still open today as to the nature of reality and he played Descartes like a cheap violin.
scribble of the day
I am still studying the school of Athens by Raphael...These are just rough sketches as I am interested in layout etc at this point...observation 1: The foreground figure Heraclitus is significantly larger than the figure behind him, it is a forced illusion as the back figure is only a short distance behind him.
frog teeth
Most frogs do in fact have teeth of a sort.
They have a ridge of very small cone teeth around the upper edge of the jaw. These are called Maxillary Teeth.
Frogs often also have what are called Vomerine Teeth on the roof of their mouth.
They don't have anything that could be called teeth on their lower jaw, so they usually swallow their food whole. The so-called "teeth" are mainly used to hold the prey and keep it in place till they can get a good grip on it and squash their eyeballs down to swallow their meal.
Toads, however, do NOT have any teeth.
They have a ridge of very small cone teeth around the upper edge of the jaw. These are called Maxillary Teeth.
Frogs often also have what are called Vomerine Teeth on the roof of their mouth.
They don't have anything that could be called teeth on their lower jaw, so they usually swallow their food whole. The so-called "teeth" are mainly used to hold the prey and keep it in place till they can get a good grip on it and squash their eyeballs down to swallow their meal.
Toads, however, do NOT have any teeth.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
daily scribble
Here is a quick study of Michaelangelo as Heraclitus in Raphael's School of Athens. I am studying this painting piece by piece.
adirondack photo
Here is a photo I took in the Adirondacks. No photoshop was used, it is a reflection of trees in still water.
Barter Frog
I am proud to announce the upcoming launch of my new creation--Barter Frog dot com...I am creating a website for anyone who has anything cool (goods or services) they would like to trade or sell. Another crazy idea from the ADD mind of alex that he is working on. The site is FREE! and if you wish to advertise on it let me know it will get a lot of press and is debuting in The Brooklyn paper next week. The website will go live very soon although I think you can use it a bit now and sign up if you wish. My web frog is awesome and he is working away. Barter is a very interesting concept I have become interested in and as usual I take things as far as I can.
http://www.xinghosting.com/dannyho/barterfrog/index.html
http://www.xinghosting.com/dannyho/barterfrog/index.html
Nancy Talbott said...
Hi, Alex...
You're right on the money, the crop circles are NOT made by two old guys with sticks....or two (or more) young guys with sticks. In fact, not by anybody with sticks...or boards....or planks. In the real phenomenon the plants are NOT mechanically flattened.
The scientific evidence derived from the examination of crop circle plants (and soils) points to the involvement of (at the very least) various electromagnetic energies, some of which are exhibited by rotating plasma systems. For more info you should check out this research (3 peer-reviewed published papers and a great deal of other material) on the BLT Research Team's web-site.
Nancy Talbott
BLT Research Team Inc.
www.bltresearch.com
I found this on a "chicakboomer" blog...Forgot I said it but I meant it.
Gardega started his dream in August and there are some "rough sketches" on his blog: " I am painting a 4' by 8' replica of Da Vinci's last supper but I will be replacing the disciples with news anchors. Please note this is not meant to be ironic nor is it in any way meant to be anti-christian! I am very interested in religious art and the renaissance in general. To me there has never been art that even comes close to what was painted 500 years ago by my long-dead heroes. Modern/ contemporary feels empty and meaningless compared to the works left behind by Raphael and Da Vinci. I cannot help but think that the over-saturation of media (photography included) has rendered painting impotent and taken away from the magic it once held for people."
Gardega started his dream in August and there are some "rough sketches" on his blog: " I am painting a 4' by 8' replica of Da Vinci's last supper but I will be replacing the disciples with news anchors. Please note this is not meant to be ironic nor is it in any way meant to be anti-christian! I am very interested in religious art and the renaissance in general. To me there has never been art that even comes close to what was painted 500 years ago by my long-dead heroes. Modern/ contemporary feels empty and meaningless compared to the works left behind by Raphael and Da Vinci. I cannot help but think that the over-saturation of media (photography included) has rendered painting impotent and taken away from the magic it once held for people."
Saturday, October 25, 2008
open letter
open letter to the powers that be, to a god, a king, a head of state, a captain of industry...
my painting of the last supper was a simple study of the idea of media figures as icons and the idea of media having more power than religion in peoples daily lives. Nothing more, nothing less...Not meant to offend anyone nor was it a religious statement. the media is the message.
my painting of the last supper was a simple study of the idea of media figures as icons and the idea of media having more power than religion in peoples daily lives. Nothing more, nothing less...Not meant to offend anyone nor was it a religious statement. the media is the message.
flower of life
all geometry is contained in the flower of life. I think it is a symbol of quantum reality, because how you choose to look at it affects what you see. I prefer to stick to the non-esoteric side of geometry. Math doesnt lie, people lie.
flower of life
gardega---flower of life.
flower of life--temple of Osiris, Egypt
flower of life --temple in india
Leonardo sketches
words of the day--bob dylan
The air is gettin hotter, theres a rumblin in the skies.
Ive been wadin through the high muddy waters,
But the heat riseth in my eyes.
Everyday your memory goes dimmer,
It doesnt haunt me like it did before.
Ive been walkin through the middle of nowhere,
Tryin to get to heaven before they close the door.
When I was in missouri, they would not let me be.
I had to leave there in a hurry, I only saw what they let me see.
You broke a heart that loved you,
Now you can seal up the book and not write anymore.
Ive been walkin that lonesome valley,
Tryin to get to heaven before they close the door.
People on the platforms, waitin for the trains.
I can hear their hearts a-beatin, like pendulum swingin on chains.
When you think that youve lost everything,
You find out you can always lose a little more.
Im just going down the road feelin bad,
Tryin to get to heaven before they close the door.
...
Im goin down the river, down to new orleans.
They tell me everything is gonna be all right,
But I dont know what all right even means.
I was ridin in a buggy with miss mary jane,
Miss mary jane got a house in baltimore.
Ive been all around the world boys,
Im tryin to get to heaven before they close the door.
Gotta sleep down in the parlor, and relive my dreams.
I close my eyes and I wonder, if everything is as hollow as it seems.
Some trains dont pull no gamblers,
No midnight/midlife? ramblers like they did before.
Ive been to sugartown, I shook the sugar down,
Now Im tryin to get to heaven before they close the door.
Ive been wadin through the high muddy waters,
But the heat riseth in my eyes.
Everyday your memory goes dimmer,
It doesnt haunt me like it did before.
Ive been walkin through the middle of nowhere,
Tryin to get to heaven before they close the door.
When I was in missouri, they would not let me be.
I had to leave there in a hurry, I only saw what they let me see.
You broke a heart that loved you,
Now you can seal up the book and not write anymore.
Ive been walkin that lonesome valley,
Tryin to get to heaven before they close the door.
People on the platforms, waitin for the trains.
I can hear their hearts a-beatin, like pendulum swingin on chains.
When you think that youve lost everything,
You find out you can always lose a little more.
Im just going down the road feelin bad,
Tryin to get to heaven before they close the door.
...
Im goin down the river, down to new orleans.
They tell me everything is gonna be all right,
But I dont know what all right even means.
I was ridin in a buggy with miss mary jane,
Miss mary jane got a house in baltimore.
Ive been all around the world boys,
Im tryin to get to heaven before they close the door.
Gotta sleep down in the parlor, and relive my dreams.
I close my eyes and I wonder, if everything is as hollow as it seems.
Some trains dont pull no gamblers,
No midnight/midlife? ramblers like they did before.
Ive been to sugartown, I shook the sugar down,
Now Im tryin to get to heaven before they close the door.
watercolor of the day
I woke up in a foul mood this morning and painted this to clear my mind. This is the Flower of Life---- one of my favorite symbols. They are very confusing to construct and I always find myself struggling to make it right. I can tell you this--whomever is making those crop circles I know not but I do know it is not two guys with sticks...This is only 6 inches across and it took me two hours to make. A large one in a field would take days and nights. I am not saying UFO's make them but it isnt guys with sticks. Here is a video of sacred geometry crop circles. The people who laugh at me about this idea have usually never held a compass in their hand.video:
http://v.ku6.com/show/gKn1EuxOuTSAowss.html
Gardega on Political Correctness
For hose who care about art and freedom of expression there is a cloud on the horizon, nay it is not on the horizon but looming directly over head like a bad hangover! Orwell spoke of thought control and its origins lie in speech..control the speech and you can mold the thoughts. As I look at my bookshelf and the writers I admire I think of the books that would not be published today. I could take down all my Twain books and chuck those into the trash as well as half my Hemingway books. I could pretty much throw out a third of my books. Political correctness was sold to us as something nice, something warm and fuzzy, another step up the stairs towards some distant utopian monument. "Never offend" is the motto etched in the shining marble at the top. Even satire has been gutted and cleaned like a fish. I am waiting for a time machine to be built so I can go and sit in Lenny Bruce's final show.
Imagine a clean and squeaky future-world of neutered art and stories---would it have that new car smell?
Imagine a clean and squeaky future-world of neutered art and stories---would it have that new car smell?
Friday, October 24, 2008
dali
As outrageous and mad as these claims may appear, Dali’s obsession with the centre of the universe was genuine. He met Thom, was well aware of Einstein’s discoveries on the laws of physics and was specifically fascinated with quantum mechanics and how this would change our understanding of the universe. In 1958, he wrote in his "Anti-Matter Manifesto”: "In the Surrealist period I wanted to create the iconography of the interior world and the world of the marvellous, of my father Freud. Today the exterior world and that of physics, has transcended the one of psychology. My father today is Dr. Heisenberg" –the person who created the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. In seeing the connection between quantum physics and the mind and how it will supersede psychology, he was decades ahead of his and our time. Specifically, he not merely understand, but was able to visualise this in his surreal other world that he created on his canvases.
Dalà could indeed have been a true alchemist. In 1958, he painted a “meditative rose”. For an alchemist, mastery of divine geometry is the first step towards mastery over the elements. He noted that the rhinoceros horn grows according to a logarithmic spiral, which he then began to incorporate into his paintings. But the element he wanted to capture seems to have been Air. Before buying the castle Pubol, Dali had set his sight on Quermanco, between Figueras and Cadaques. In the end, the sale did not go through and he had to abandon his plan to use the castle as the stage for the installation of the Organ of Tramontane, a northerly wind. Dali wanted the organ's music to be heard by the people of the region. Locals believed the wind could drive people mad – and it seems Dali was about to test the validity of that claim.
He was fascinated by DNA and the hypercube; the latter, a four-dimensional cube, is featured in the painting Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus, 1954). On his return from New York, Dalà announced that he was going to paint a picture he himself termed as sensational: an exploding Christ, nuclear and hypercubic. It would be the first picture painted with a classical technique and an academic formula, but composed of cubic elements. To a reporter who asked him why he wanted to depict Christ exploding, he replied, "I don't know yet. First I have ideas, I explain them later. This picture will be the great metaphysical work of my summer."
Once completed, Dali defined it as "metaphysical, transcendent cubism”: "It is based entirely on the Treatise on Cubic Form by Juan de Herrera, Philip II's architect, builder of the Escorial Palace; it is a treatise inspired by Ars Magna of the Catalonian philosopher and alchemist, Raymond Lull. The cross is formed by an octahedral hypercube. The number nine is identifiable and becomes especially consubstantial with the body of Christ. The extremely noble figure of Gala is the perfect union of the development of the hypercubic octahedron on the human level of the cube. She is depicted in front of the Bay of Port Lligat. The most noble beings were painted by Velazquez and Zurbaran; I only approach nobility while painting Gala, and nobility can only be inspired by the human being."
Observers have noted that this work is actually a marriage between faith and science and sits rightly within the series of Dali’s 18 masterworks. This marriage by Dali has been labelled “Nuclear Mysticism”, in short, a marriage of Christian imagery with modern forms and depictions. Dali was hence a modern alchemist.
Last Supper Painting
It seems I was presumptuous in assuming the Palm Would be hanging my painting..Given certain circumstances, it will not be hanging. The painting was not meant to offend it was good natured caricature.
George Orwell diary october 23 1938
Soil here is extremely deep, at least 4’ without any change of substance. Rather light & reddish, though it dries into a kind of brick, & said to need a lot of manure.
Some of the small oranges (“mandarins”) are yellowing. Some lemons almost ripe, others only in blossom – different kinds, perhaps.¹
Today the first day we have had when it was cool all the time. Overcast, windy & some rain rather like a damp day in September in England. The day before yesterday a little rain with much thunder.
The doves come to the house from time to time & are very tame, eating from one’s hand with a little persuasion. Saw a partridge in the grounds yesterday.
Today sowed seeds of nasturtiums, phlox D.² & pansies.
Flytox very good & kills flies by the thousand. Otherwise they are utterly intolerable.
Red chilis° spread out to dry in the fields, like huge red carpets.
moonlight flight
For a few years now I have been painting pictures of creatures (angels?) taking off from mountains and flying up into the sky..I am not sure why I paint these..I painted my first one two years ago on the beach in Lost Angeles (alone on thanksgiving.) I recently received an illustration assignment for a magazine to paint the exact same picture--life is strange..here is one of my studies...this is called "strange world: moonlight flight"
click below to bid/ buy:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290270156794
painting of the day---raft of medusa 1818–1819
This is one of my favorite paintings. It is painted by Gericault and is a very important work because it was a psychological break from the neo-classical style (which had become stale and lifeless as a plaster cast) and led to a movement of romanticism which is a great period of art (in spite of its own faults)..this is a painting about politics and what really led to the shipwreck of the Medusa. The ship that eventually saved them was called the argus--I am seeing a greek theme here. On the raft is a portrait of Gericault's student Delacroix who became a very famous artist in his own right. I think there are two kinds of artists, those who like neocalssical and those who like the dark underbelly of romanticism..I prefer storms to calm weather..this picture has life and energy and that is what art should have.
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Alice in Winter Watercolor
12 x 16 inches on arches paper to purchase https://tendollarart.com/products/alice-in-winter-watercolor
An Irish Christ, huh? I bet he will have to fight Padre Rivera for that title.
Comment by Roger C. — August 26, 2007 @ 8:45 am
all the loyal fox news viewers could put that up in their homes and every night before everyone begins dinner they can pray to Billo LOL
Comment by don — August 26, 2007 @ 9:22 am
If Bill is Christ, that means Olbermann is Satan!
Comment by jmkaib — August 26, 2007 @ 10:01 am
I think this dude might have something. FNC is like a cult machine. Its viewers take everything as it is the Bible. I still don’t get what draws people to watch FNC. Maybe it’s because FNC does the thinking for its viewers therefore the viewers don’t have to waste their energy thinking. I don’t know…
Comment by Me — August 26, 2007 @ 10:12 am
#4, eh, I guess I’ll say I am an exception to that since I still watch CNN and don’t care for much of FNC’s opinion programming. Still, I always find it scary how much people go nuts over FNC and the whole “liberal media” idea, I mean, come on!
Comment by Chris (clind) — August 26, 2007 @ 11:01 am
You people took a non-humorous idea and made it even more inane.
While I watch Fox a lot, I apparently have the wisdom to turn it off when they’re reporting on something trivial, since I seem to watch CNN, CNBC and MSNBC as well. And it sounds like the majority of those on this site do as well, since most of us are conversant on all cable networks.
While I disagree with O’Reilly at times, the majority of his programs are in fact dedicated to going after corrupt people who are either criminals, or are in authority positions and not doing their jobs. What’s wrong with that?
I appreciate O’Reilly trying to hold those in authority accountable, just as I do Lou Dobbs in his crusade for the preservation of the way of life for the middle class. So instead of you people just letting Media Matters tell you why you hate O’Reilly, let’s have some specific examples of what you’ve observed personally. And then tell us why it’s wrong for him to present those stories to his viewers.
Comment by Missy — August 26, 2007 @ 11:08 am
Missy,
I think all that any of us want in a journalist, anchor, reporter, or commentator is fairness and the truth. When they begin to show shades of hypocrisy, that’s when their integrity gets called into question.
And just about all the big names have questions beside them. O’Reilly rails on sexual predators, but sexually harrasses a female producer…Olbermann professes objectivity yet never allows an opposing view on his show…etc.
A little integrity and consistency would be nice….like my wife said about Ted Haggerty, Jimmy Swaggart, Tom Delay, Rush Limbaugh and Mark Foley…
Its the guilty dog that barks first.
Comment by bill — August 26, 2007 @ 11:22 am
Well, since we’re going for “The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day” —
Since Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code claims the person on Christ’s right is Mary Magdalena, Gardega could substitute Ann Coulter.
Comment by Grandpa D — August 26, 2007 @ 11:30 am
I think this dude might have something. CNN is like a cult machine. Its viewers take everything as it is the Bible. I still don’t get what draws people to watch CNN. Maybe it’s because CNN does the thinking for its viewers therefore the viewers don’t have to waste their energy thinking. I don’t know…
So Christ would be Larry (hey they are the same age!!) and Judas would be Anderson Cooper, Klein as Satan and Mary Magdalena = Kiran? Hey this is fun and works for any channel.
Comment by Mary Snow — August 26, 2007 @ 12:32 pm
All joking aside, I think the usual band of haters have it right on this one… well, kind of. The artist is painting this as a representation of the crazy way in which some people treat media figures.
“I’m painting it to explore the concept that media has become our new religion.”
There is no doubt that some people put news broadcasters and the people on FOX on a pedestal where they can do no wrong and receive no valid criticism. And while I don’t believe that FOX fans are the ONLY hardcore fans (just look at some of the documenting J$ & Ed have done about KO’s hardcore fans), I can understand why this guy picked FNC first… talking about FNC gets you press. It will be interesting to see, however, how many people pick up this story, and how many of them treat it as “a critique of modern media” instead of the juicier, “someone showing ridiculous devotion for FOX.”
Comment by ImNotBlue — August 26, 2007 @ 12:46 pm
Bill nailed it. Great comment. Agree 100%.
Comment by Alison — August 26, 2007 @ 12:52 pm
OT quibble - Spud, I presume when you title these kinds of posts, you mean ‘Oooo-kay’, and it’s true that ‘okay’ is also correctly rendered as ‘OK’. But when I see ‘ooook’, I automatically parse it as ‘ook’, as in ‘ook-ook’, or monkey-noises. That either interpretation is usually appropriate for the post only adds to my confusion. Just saying - ‘oooo-k’ or ‘ooookay’ would be less ambiguous.
(/pedant)
Comment by Arthur — August 26, 2007 @ 1:42 pm
Arthur, I agree. I am thinking he means something yucky.
Comment by elmonica — August 26, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
I think Roger C. says it best in post #1. And Spud’s “Oooooook…” means one thing: “I bet this post will get lotsa comments!”
I think many of you underestimate your fellow citizens. In America, we don’t go out in the world with the exact same ideas about what is going on in the world as the rest of the population. That is the beauty of a free press. Even if someone subscribes only to the CNN view, the MSNBC view, the FNC view, the Bill O’Reilly view, or the Keith Olbermann view, they still can’t go out into the world unchallenged. Americans are not the drones/zombies some of you think they are; because the rest of us won’t let them.
About Bill O’Reilly, even some of you conservatives fail to see that he is not a true conservative. He is way more of a populist than a conservative. That’s why he goes after the big bad bigwigs; and good for him.
In contrast, John Edwards is also a populist; but he’s much more liberal than populist.
Comment by erljr — August 26, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
Bill, nowadays just looking at a woman can constitute sexual harassment. Whatever happened to you libs’ belief in “If it feels good, do it?” BTW, all of you Fox Haters should get a grip. All other tv news outlets are left-wing. You can’t call FNC biased without ceding to the fact all the others have obvious biases. And yes, MSNBC is the biggest piece of crap to hit the airwaves since QVC.
Comment by jmkaib — August 26, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
ah, the right wing, left wing thing. still can’t how coverage of a flood, murder, or other NON-political story can turn into a right wing, left wing thing. If certain personalities on fnc wanna promote all the other media as being MSM and Liberal, I think it’s time for FNC to come out of the closet and declare what everyone knows, it’s the mouthpiece for the repubs. AND is this not true, FNC watchers are the angriest people on earth. Always declaring they are RIGHT (pun intended) and everyone else is wrong and they don’t wanna hear what you have to say. Try it out, and you’ll find it’s true.
AND gotta love Mary Snow’s comments. AC and klein are satan. AND saying bad things about Kiran. Mary, wonder how your client John Roberts would like what you say about the person he works with everyday….huh?
Call mary snow today(212) 765-3040
Comment by Me — August 26, 2007 @ 3:54 pm
Me, there you go, claiming that FNC is the mouthpiece for the GOP. If you are going to claim that FNC is the mouthpiece for the GOP, than at least have the decency to disclose you get all your information form MediaMatters and Newshounds. FNC is biased to the right, but that does not make them a “mouthpiece” for the GOP.
Comment by jmkaib — August 26, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
^ Please read this link and get back to me with an explanation.
“It got exactly one mention in prime time on FOX News during a news cut-in.”
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/iraq/war_news_is_depressing_lindsay_lohan_is_hot_65770.asp#email
Comment by Terance — August 26, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
Fred Barnes explained this best. Basically, the MSM overreacted. John Warner has been a critic of the surge since the beginning. It was no surprise! FNC reports bad news from Iraq. BTW, yes FNC is biased! But so are all other outlets, in one way or another. News Anchors choose which stories to air and which to not. MSNBC and CNN refuse certain stories, and FNC refuses certain stories. BTW, this comes from Howard Kurtz, who repeatedly cheers for CNN. Did he have any conservatives on his panel. I doubt it. Reliable Sources must be the second-worst show on CNN, after Larry King. While FNC barely mentioned it, CNN kept talking about it. CNN overblew the story.
Comment by jmkaib — August 26, 2007 @ 4:40 pm
Terance - I actually saw Reliable Sources this morning. This was an out of context comment from one of the panelists(Michelle Cottle). The “one mention of Warner’s comments” during just three hours (8pm-11pm ET) was actually one more mention than CNN had in that same time period(CNN had a Larry King rerun and God’s Christian Warriors).
Comment by erljr — August 26, 2007 @ 4:52 pm
Ooooooooooooooooook…
Comment by Spud — August 26, 2007 @ 4:53 pm
Did I say AC and Klein were Satan? Do you have someone at the “special home” you live in read these to you and with them having lesser comprehension problems than you got it all wrong? Now John Roberts is my “client”. What happened to Aaron? Well you should hear what he says about Kiran to her face that she doesn’t understand. The things he says about you and the emails you send to Anderson are crap-tasticly funny!
The guys in the 360blog area have almost got Me and all the Ann’s comments matched up.
Comment by Mary Snow — August 26, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
Thanks for the responses! But, the point is, FNC’s notorious for pushing bad republican news to cut-ins. And no, I’m not saying CNN or MSNBC’s perfect either.
Also Erljr, I recall you posting something about CNN not identifying the latest democrat in whatever scandal he was involved in. With that said, whats worse.. misidentifying party affiliation or just reporting him as a Representative?
Comment by Terance — August 26, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
Ok “Me”, Mary Snow, and everyone else engaging in this stupid little back and forth…
It ends now. Either you end it or I’ll end it for you…
It takes two to tango. It takes a troll and someone to feed the troll. I’m not going to waste time figuring out who started it becuase you’re all keeping it alive.
Comment by Spud — August 26, 2007 @ 5:15 pm
Terance - the Democrat was Brian Baird and he is a representative - a member of the US House - and he wasn’t misidentified by anyone that I know of. He also just returned from Iraq. He voted against the war originally, but - on the same day Warner spoke - said the surge needs to continue, and reducing force levels would send the opposite message to the Iraqi government. All I said was that his statements were omited from the coverage on CNN and MSNBC.
Comment by erljr — August 26, 2007 @ 6:04 pm
Ok, Erljr. In reference to “misidentifying”, I was speaking about FNC’s track record of labeling republicans as democrats. And wondered whether omitting party affiliation was worse in your opinion than mislabeled chyrons.
Comment by Terance — August 26, 2007 @ 6:11 pm
I’m missing something Terance. Yes, I know about “FNC’s track record of labeling republicans as democrats.” But how did “omitting party affiliation” come up?
The answer to your question: I think it is better to omit than to mislabel. If the person running the chyrons doesn’t know something, they shouldn’t guess. What do you think?
Comment by erljr — August 26, 2007 @ 6:22 pm
Silly me, I meant Ted Haggard, not Haggerty.
Oh, jmkaib…since when does seeing all sides of an issue make me a ‘lib’? Incredible! But if being objective makes me a liberal, I’ll wear that badge proudly.
Comment by bill — August 26, 2007 @ 6:27 pm
Erljr, recently when CNN omitted party affiliation while reporting on a democrat… I thought that’s what you were talking about. But, I now realize after reading this, “All I said was that his statements were omitted from the coverage on CNN and MSNBC.” that I’m confused and talking about either something different entirely or not exactly relevant to your original post. Sorry.
Comment by Terance — August 26, 2007 @ 6:30 pm
Let me see if I have this right Me. FNC viewers are too dumb to think so that’s why they watch FNC. Ergo, all the intelligent viewers watch CNN, MSNBC, etc. No wonder this country is in trouble. If we are to believe the ratings, we hardly have any intelligent people “left” in the land!
Comment by Dee — August 26, 2007 @ 8:00 pm
No wonder this country is in trouble. If we are to believe the ratings, we hardly have any intelligent people “left” in the land!
No duh? Check out how many people could point to Iraq on a map. Or blame everything on conspiracies because they can’t understand complex interlocking systems. I was talking to a guy the other day who insisted Hurricane DEAN was a government hoax. I forgot to ask him what news network he watches, alas.
Comment by Arthur — August 26, 2007 @ 8:22 pm
Maybe he doesn’t watch any channel, Arthur. Such people do exist and they react that way because no matter what they see, read or hear, they ignore. It has nothing to do with stupidity. It’s more like tunnel vision - I know what I know because I know it.
Comment by Dee — August 26, 2007 @ 11:04 pm
thanks for paying any attention guys. My point with the painting is neither left nor right. It is about the emptiness of modern culture and what has taken place of religion and religious art and feeling. I am fascinated by the importance we give to media figures in our world. I am flattered that you guys discussed the work.