HuffPo Quick Read: "Attorney Steven Eggleston was suspicious when his boss pressed him to attend a weekend male retreat, but refused to tell him what would be happening there, saying participants were sworn to secrecy.
So he did a Google search and found out why.
Men would be holding hands and walking naked, blindfolded, through a forest. Then they would sit nude in groups of 30 to 50, passing around a wooden dildo and giving lurid details of their sexual history. Eggleston said he found out that the men will grab each other's penises if they wish."
Peter Max has an exhibition going at a gallery here, and this weekend they had a couple of "meet the artist" events. I haven't attended any events like this before even though the opportunities arise. As we walked in, the crowds were still fairly light, and there he was, Peter Max, sitting right there on the window display ledge!
The entire gallery was filled with gorgeous color. He paints many very similar paintings, and the one above was there twice, both originals. I believe it is (they are) from 2007 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love. This is the style of his that I love, the psychedelic pop art that was animated in Yellow Submarine. He also has a style that is Fauvist/Expressionist that is much more unconstructed-looking than the ones I generally associate with him, and you can see several examples of those here.
I think what really inspired me to go see his work in person was picking up the "ACL 2010" special issue of the Austin Chronicle. He created this art especially for the ACL Festival [more on that], and I really loved it. It captures a very important part of the festival experience, in that there are 2 sides to Zilker Park, each with a headlining stage, and the acts on those stages will be playing at the same time. Then there are 2 smaller but-still-pretty-big stages at each end that are going when those are not. You can stand in the middle and get a cacophony of both at any one time. (I will reserve the rest of my usual sound-bleedover rant for another time) While we were visiting the gallery (red circle) we could easily hear the music coming from one of the big stages (larger red shape).That's OK. I love loud music. I just don't like being able to hear several bands at once (they have 8 stages, not 4, it's way too many in my opinion) [must. not. rant.]
I thought beforehand that autograph-seeking might be considered tacky, and that was so true... nobody did it, he did not really mingle while we were there (although he walked right past me at one point), and I believe that the security people would have prevented such a thing. I found out the next day that at another show he was signing copies of his coffee table book if you brought them with you. If I had known that in time, it would have happened. A Peter Max art book would be delightful to have, especially with an added doodle. I did bring my copy of the Chronicle, just in case, and hoped that they might be selling posters that could be autograph-able. As it turns out, there were posters, but the posters were there as a gift to anyone buying a piece of art. If you bought something, then he would sign a poster for you and even pose for a photo with you and your prize.
As for these prizes, they were well out of our price range. Most of the big attention-getters and ones I'd love to own were priced between $20,000 and $50,000. There was another level of much smaller or lower-profile things that you could get for about $5,000. There were many delightful things in that range, but some others that bring on a different kind of rant when it comes to art. For example, there was a series of paintings of the Texas flag, which is very simple and highly recognizable. I think that when it come to establishing the value of art, so much of it is merely the who and not the what. Here is a series of paintings depicting the Texas flag. Some of them are quite expressive. Some are less so.
One of these can be had for about $5,000, and the others, I would imagine, for quite a bit less.
The question of what is art/not art, and what is valuable/not valuable is a very loaded question that you can stay up all night talking about but will never resolve it. There is no right answer. Sometimes, it's just about the signature. Sometimes, it's so much more!
* title is a reference to a song from Yellow Submarine.
Took this video Thursday morning, 9:30AM, at Threadgill's (Morning radio party with lots of bands). It's a laid-back pop ballad from Charlie Mars called "Listen to the Dark Side." Charlie has played here many many times but this was the first time I saw him.
ACL (Austin City Limits Music Festival) starts today (Friday) but we are not going this year. There is really a lot going on though. The side events that orbit the festival are growing every year. Lots to do and see, paid events, free events, and perfect weather predicted.
On Saturday, MrB saw these gorgeous moths, motionless in this position, and just an inch away was their eggs were deposited (which look like very tiny green grapes). I was very careful not to disturb anything, because I love having these creatures, they are so big and beautiful. From head to head in this picture, it measures about 2.25 inches. The next day, I noticed that they were still motionless, so I was rather touched by how they had mated, produced eggs and then died mating. Awwwww. Well, on Sunday afternoon they both moved. It was only a few inches, so at least one of them is not dead yet (I guess theoretically the live one could have nudged the other one's position). By Monday they had moved even further apart, but they are taking their time. I guess they are just hanging out with the family unit. Bugs! It will take an "insect communicator" to figure this one out. These are called "Giant Leopard Moths" (or "Great Leopard Moths") and they favor hanging out on this exact part of the porch. I'm just going to try not to disturb this little family and see what happens.
This bug scared me a little. He was over an inch long and looked intimidating. I wasn't sure if he was a giant fly, wasp, or what. Turns out, he's a "Robber Fly." It will bite you if you handle it, but apparently is is not looking to bite humans. They eat some bugs I'd like to get rid of (like wasps) but also others I want to keep, like bees and dragonflies.
This fly will not get swatted, he is just part of that backyard jungle, survival of the badassedest.
(I think I just made up a word. Hey Sarah Palin, does make make me similar to Shakespeare?)
Since Henry has asthma, I am in a Yahoo group for that ailment. There is some useful information sometimes. Asthma kitties need steroids, 2 kinds of inhaled meds, and "trigger" controls (chemicals, dust, bad cat litter, etc.).
Generally, people on these kinds of lists are pretty religious (just like the general public), and I always cringe when they insist that their deceased cats are looking down on them, and that they are angels and are now waiting for us in Heaven (so, are they watching us or waiting in Heaven, or watching us in Heaven via big brother cam?).
However, usually the people coming in with new age, homeopathic remedies, or anything that is used as an alternate to the pharms are generally firmly scolded and corrected. In the following example, though, the cat's mom is using inhalers, but also using the services of an animal communicator.
OK, I am the skeptical type but I won't say that there's no ESP because I have sort of experienced it from time to time - it's unexplained, I can leave it there - a lots of things in nature are unexplained, it doesn't mean they don't exist, doesn't mean they do either. I also always think I know what my cat and husband are thinking. Am I right? This particular cat whisperer is also doing "crystal healing." Some excerpts from one person's postings:
I've been using an animal communicator and [my cat] told her his chest feels tight all the time, even though we're giving him a lot of flovent inhaler. It occurs to me that if I gave him a little Albuterol on a regular basis that it might make him feel better.
When she does the communication she writes down everything she said, the cats response, the emotional responses, etc. This time she also did an energetic healing session and the result was DRAMATIC. I think [my cat] benefitted both by talking to her about his feelings of frustration at not feeling well as much as by the energetic healing she did.
And quoting the healer herself:
I worked on [your cat]'s energy for a few minutes. I sensed that his life force energy was degraded and low because he's been feeling badly for a long time. He didn't have any reserves left to tap into. I've been taught that our bodies have energetic crystals in a number of places, so I removed and replaced the crystals in his lungs, heartspace, and stomach, and sent soothing, healing energy to his digestive tract. OK, just going back now to send more energy and oxygen to his bronchioles and other structures inside the lungs. Low energy can come from low blood oxygen level that doesn't provide enough oxygen to the cells. I cleared out the debris from his faith, trust, hope, etc. crystals that reside in the chest area, and polished them to make them clean and sparkly. I also changed out his entire crystalline spine to uplift his life force energy, and re-oriented the crystal in his crown chakra because it seemed like his divine connection was not entirely intact. I'm not sure whether or not all of this will be enough. It feels like we will know more in the morning, after he has a chance to sleep and restore his body and spirit. I will ask angels to attend him in the night, and to stay as long as he (and you!) need them. Please let me know how he's doing when you get a chance, and we'll go from there.
(please don't itemize that stuff on the invoice. It will look silly.) No. Really. Actually I have some friends who really believe in alternate healing methods like this, and I have to say, at least it's not dangerous (unless you go off your meds), and you aren't ingesting mega-vitamins or herbals that will have side effects. Also, I am very jealous of this cat in the video below. Can I be next in line?
Here's what I've got stuck in my head, and I don't even want it to leave. Maybe it will improve your morning like that first slug of that wonderful mug.
I believe this is a photo of my dad's family, and possibly my Grandpa there in the middle in the WWI uniform. I never met my real Grandpa and have very few pictures of him, Grandma married him around 1900 but was already twice-widowed when I was born, so husband #3 was my Grandpa for all I cared (she outlived him too). Those really unhappy-looking kids are probably some of my aunts and uncles, but this was before my dad and probably a few siblings were born (there were 9 kids). I like the hats. The man on the far left looks like he's wearing an old Civil War era hat, and love that ten-gallon hat on the man next to Grandpa (with the dog)... and yes, for some reason, there is a pig in the picture.
They were from Southern Illinois around Makanda [late 19th century gallery of that tiny town] and you can see Grandpa's old Red Crown gas station circa 1924-1925, and a couple more old relics here.
[LINK] The author of "More Guns, Less Crime" was scheduled to speak at the UT law School tonight, an event that must now be postponed because a man firing an assault weapon on campus ending up shooting himself in the Library. They are still looking for a possible 2nd suspect or involved person, and all events on campus have been canceled.
The lecture was hosted by Libertarian Longhorns, the UT Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, the UT Objectivism Society and the UT Federalist Society.
Jeff Shi, president of UT Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, was quoted saying
"I don’t want to comment on any political aspects of this, I hope everything turns out well and the only casualties are the bad guys."
Uh, yeah, they are acting like this is brand new thing - NEWS, even. Yes, it's very bad behavior but this kind of thing has been going on for a long, long time. It's not all autoworkers who are inebriated at work, but I think it's enough to matter.
I was an auto assembler from 1976 to 1979. It was damned hard physical work and in summer it got up to 125° at my station/part of the line (and it wasn't the hottest area there). It's not only hard work, it's really, really boring. You are stuck in the same place doing the same thing over and over and over again. In this place a car went by about once a minute, so there was time to do whatever it was but falling behind couldn't happen. We put in 53 hours a week for 3 weeks, then 45 hours the 4th week (when we would have Saturday off). Like I said, it was hot, and also really filthy - everything was covered in grime, there were mice and roaches, very poor ventilation and heavy machinery going everywhere, hydraulic tools, forklifts, sexual harassment, pranks (those were usually OK), loud noise and lots of crap. Mostly, the biggest problem was boredom.
I was in my early-mid-20s, and was having as much fun as I could, working hard and partying hard.
During our half-hour lunch, a lot of people hit the nearby bar or convenience store, and guzzle or smoke as much as possible within the time limit. Then, if that wasn't enough, during the shift many had flasks, liquored thermoses, cocaine, whatever could be sneaked.
We got a week off for Christmas, and on that last work day there would be approved parties in some of the work areas - and there would be a punch bowl. It would end up spiked at the source or in the cup. I remember a Christmas party where one guy was so drunk they had to practically carry him to the time clock at the end of the shift, and with his time card placed in his hand, someone else held his hand to clock him out. It was strictly against the rules to clock out another person. We all knew that if you were buying a Big-Three car, it would be wise to make sure it wasn't assembled on the last day for Xmas break.
The foremen were not in on this. They knew about a lot of it, but none of it was officially tolerated. They could look the other way - or not - depending on how they felt like dealing with it. See, if they sent you home, they had to get somebody to do your job NOW. It was a hell of a lot worse for a worker to not be there, because a job on the assembly line can't wait. The line has to keep moving to keep up the profit$.
The guy a couple of stations down from me was a hard-core drunk (and by that I mean he was a lot drunker than anybody else at any given time). He could easily drink a whole bottle of something (and now I can't remember whether he preferred whiskey, gin or vodka) in the course of a day - every day. One day he came in so drunk already that he leaned over to do a job and just kept going... passed out. The foreman was mad as hell, and he got him up and sent him home. The guy left and crashed his car. He wasn't killed, just banged up pretty good. His job was to install the passenger-side seat belt.
I was already a carouser when I started working there, but it was during that time that I started to snap out of it. I got religion for awhile (substituting one damned thing for another one) and eventually gave up the weed and cut the booze waaaay down. The only thing that kept me from ending up as a laid-off factory worker with no skills was the fact that I got myself back in school - taking classes in my spare time. At first I decided to become a draftsman (a "skilled trade" they called it), then set my sights higher on technical illustration - figuring I'd probably have to move to Detroit at some point, as that kind of work was only done at World HQs. (Thanks to the layoffs and plant closings, I never went to Detroit.)
My skilled trade studies and eventual 4-yr degree (even though acquired at age 40) and the smarts I was born with turned out to be the things that saved me better than baby jesus, because the auto industry did not end up providing a future for me. Ever since my first office job in the mid-1980s, I've gotten by without excessive back-breaking work and in fairly safe and pleasant working conditions.
I know that the Obama administration has been an occasional disappointment in varying degrees for progressives. Any moderate is not going to match my ideals because I'm a liberal, and there were no liberals in the Presidential race after Kucinich left it... and I doubt that a liberal will ever make it to Party nominee again in my lifetime, but... that being said, let's look at McCain here.
With his hot temper and belligerence, he is absolutely unfit to hold the office of POTUS (and plenty of lesser jobs too), imagine a President so old, incompetent, flying off the handle in fits of rage, and not in the best health, and if imagining him as Pres isn't frightening enough then there's the prospect of Vice President Palin. Let that thought simmer, and then boil.
My frustration with current events has been mostly with Congress, mostly with the childish and infuriating tactics of the Republicans, but also with quite a few Democrats. Yes, a lot of them in both Parties need to thrown out, but this "throw 'em all out" sentiment is causing the surge of the extreme fringe nuts (generally lumped together as the Tea Party) to actually make it to the (R) nomination. The only way to prevent these extreme freaks from taking over it to VOTE. Just do it. Get your butt to the polls. Vote against them.
