Saddam's Execution

here is a video of it.

What does it mean that someone used a cellphone to film the execution of a deposed despot? My first question was - is this real? Do I need to see this? People used to watch executions in town squares, no? Now those town squares are online.

What kind of shit storm is awaiting us? Won't Saddam just become a martyr? As Obi-Wan said to Vader- if you kill me, it will only make me stronger (okay, not the exact words, whatever, haven't seen the movie in a while, and last time, I was stoned)

Dreamgirls

we are dream girls we are dream girls we are your wet dream girls

gotta love how songs gloss over the topics that they really are talking about. Sort of taking all the sting, spice, and interest out of the topic to make it palatable for the masses.

That is what happened with the movie"Dreamgirls". It had so many possible great storylines in there, too many for 2 hours to deal with, that nothing really stood out. The story of Eddie Murphy's heroin addict could have been great. The story of Effie's drinking and single mother hood could be really intense and then her comeback. The megalomania of Jamie Foxx's character. The squashing of C.C. soul and spirit to make the songs fit into marketable packages could have been interesting. Curtis' realization of fatherhood could have been interesting.

But in the end none of these issues are really tackled, leaving you with not much.

Also what is with Beyoncé's eyebrows? Looks like there is something missing between her eyebrown? is it expression? How much Botox is in there. And why is she up for best actress? Jennifer Hudson is the main star in the movie, not Beyoncé. Once again the curvy chick gets bumped by the skinny one.

Parking

Yesterday, Kelly and I went for a little hike in the Huckleberry Botanic Preserve up in the Oakland Hills.

As we were leaving, I saw a car drive into the parking area and back into a parking spot. From some reason, I have always been suspicious of people who back into parking spots. It doesn't save any time. Back out now or back out later, same diff. I understand backing into a spot at a campground, so that the trunk is closer to your site. I think people who back into parking spots are too occupied with their cars. Or they have some secret knowledge I do not possess.

Jealousy, it all comes back to jealousy.

Nauman

Just got a link to video by Bruce Nauman.

You just gotta love his stuff. The idea is so simple and contained almost like a color, a new color on everyone's palette. Each time I see a video of his that I have not seen before, it is like a section of the refied world is opened up, allowing me new possiblities. What would/could I do with a video of me pinching my neck? I had never thought about a video of me pinching my neck. Aaack, my mind is opening. And then all his walking videos. Damn, just makes you want to do something and then film it. Bam idea bam

new colors new colors new colors

That is what is important, the new colors. Anyone can paint but can anyone make new colors?

Post show depression

The Scenery was wrecked. Guessing some people were thoroughly confused. Received the usual platitudes "Nice to see you dancing", the euphemism for many things - don't like it, didn't get it, you can't dance. Not that people need to have a well articulated opinion after the show, but something.

The houses were filled, not busting at the seams, but more than my last two shows here. So that is nice. Not sure if that is due to Mary and Nina's names or just knowing more people here in town.

One thing I am learning is that most people are not very curious. And how can you be an artist and not be curious? Yes, everyone had busy lives and many obligations, but one of those obligations as an artist, as a dancer, is to see as much work as possible. To see what is going on, what people are investigating/thinking about. You can only poo-poo someone's work if you have seen it. And my show was only $15.

How else are you going to learn about art if you don't go see show? Dance class isn't much of a place, rehearsal isn't much of one either. Well, those are both good places, but not as good as seeing other people's work.

Maybe I am approaching bitterness, but more and more I am convinced that people are not curious.

Canary in a Coal Mine

I must say 21st Century car insurance has been a disappointment for today. Well, not them directly but, the towing services they use. Some guy was supposed to pick my car up about 3 hrs. ago. But one of his trucks got into an accident. Another one broke down. Ironically the name is Secure Towing. Kinda like the Patriot Act, the name is the complete opposite. Homeland Security. Woo hoo...

This is like the butterfly affect. Except I am in a cul de sac when it comes to that. The tow truck gets into an accident, so my car can't make it to the dealer. that's the end. well, though now I get to do laundry and I might walk to the movie rental place. And all that will start a different chain of events. I saw that I am in the cul de sac, because the fact that my car is not towed affects no one but me. Somewhat affects K,M, and N, but we have another vehicle to scoot around in.

What surprised me when I was on the phone with 21st century, was that the person did not know how to pronounce Prius, as in the the car. I would think that someone who works for a car insurance company would know how to saw the name of a car made by Toyota. It's not like it is a fancy unheard of Italian car, or a really old car.

Shit shit shit my car is dead. How much is this going to cost now? Now accepting donations...

To Cater or Not to Cater

That is the question. Whether it is better to cook for your fellow mankind or to hire others to do so, I do not know. Does your personal sweat make the food taste better? Or will a stranger's sweat do? If you can hire someone for the food, can you hire someone for the conversation, too? Or have a friend come over to cook the food, but then pay to talk to a stranger. Conversation catering...

How about the reverse of a restaurant? A place where you go to cook with people you don't know, instead of going to a place to eat with people you do know.

Identify the variables and then reverse them.

posture and poise

Without good posture, sexiness is impossible. Have you ever seen a well built wo/man and noticed that s/he had bad posture? Kills the appeal. Have seen a couple women at the yoga studio where I practice. They're tan, fit, maybe a nip here and a tuck there. They could have saved themselves some dough and gone to Alexander lessons instead. Hunched shoulders,rounded back...not sexy. Add a few years and some osteoporosis and you're looking at the floor. Why is something as fundamental as posture too often ignored?

Poise- a particular way of carrying oneself : BEARING, CARRIAGE as defined by Merriam-Webster. Poise is also important. I don't mean that one should be ramrod straight, like a drill sergeant with a stick up his ass. But considering the money people spend on lotions, trainers, matching outfits and shoes, yoga classes, and organic vegetables, you'd think that people would spend at least a dollar on how they stand and carry themselves. Or if they slouch and galumpf through a room, do it consciously so that it is a choice, not a default mode.

Is thinking about posture and poise shallow? If you are going to think about what you are wearing, you should think about how you are wearing what you are wearing.

Slacker

Just finished watching the movie "Slacker" by Richard Linkletter, is that his name? Anyway, it is a brilliant movie. At first I thought it was kinda boring, not much happens, nothing to follow as the characters keep changing etc, but what sticks out is the format. The format is different. If anyone were to make another film with different dialogue, actors, costumes etc people would say - Oh, it;s just like "Slacker." Yes, it might be just like Slacker, but then also very different.

As Keith Johnston says, Content lies within the structure. Then if that is true most movies have the same content. As I would say the L word and Grey's Anatomy do. People having sex breaking up, getting mad at each other, changing partners. One group is artistic lesbians and the other is heterosexual surgeons except for the gay bartender. But same shit, different package.

But Slacker offers a new door to walk through, a "new" format. New to me because I am so behind the times. So backwards, I am retro and then flip around and end up cool, yeah that's it. Kinda like that article in the Onion I read a while back.(find the reference yourself, I do not know how to add links to this stupid blog)

How can this format be used to "say" something other than the format? Would be nice to see a movie of this format in Baghdad.

Why do things/art pieces of vastly different formats become marginalized and then stuck out in the unreified universe? Guess they are waiting for the rest of us to ketchup.

Is there a grand unifiying theory for all of Art? Kinda like what Einstein was looking for in physics...

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning yesterday and I must be moving
Goodbye angel goodbye heart, I best be moving on
Some say they will, some say they won't

Those are not the lyrics, but that is how I am hearing them right now, to a Supertramp song. At least I think it's a Supertramp song. I was first introduced to Supertramp, not by hearing their music but by reading lines from their lyrics in the yearbook of the school where my father taught- www.polytechnic.org. The seniors, on their pages would have quotes from Supertramp. For acouple years that band was quite popular with graduating classes. Long hair and big glasses.

"who is this tramp and why is he super? Does he have a cape? What powers does this tramp have? Super B.O. or super wine breath?" I was mystified as a child, looking at all the seniors' pictures. Seniors were really old then. Parents were old but that was another class of old. In a way seniors, even 8th graders were old, older than parents, because they weren't parents, kids but of an unattainable age.

The wikipedia site doesn't have info as to why the band was called Supertramp.

When will time travel be possible? I have times I need to be.

Past, Post, and Now

Just went to the faculty dance concert at Mills College. What does it say that a dance piece from 1957 did not stick out?

Rumsfeld is out

Rumsfeld's out! Rumsfeld's out!

He is the fall guy. He's the fall guy. Taking the heat for the rest of the team. Now Dem's think something has happened. They're gonna let their guard down. That is the plan.

Now there is going to be grid lock in Congress. Instead of bad things spewing from Congress, nothing will. At least here constipation is a good thing.

Congress won't be able to get a veto override with the Senate so close, if they even get the Senate. And I doubt many Republicans will cross the aisle to override Bush's veto. They're too scared of losing their futures in the G.O.P. to do what is right. That is something I have never understood- politicians doing the wrong thing just so that they can stay in office. If they justify it by thinking that by staying in they can eventually do some good, they just then have to stay to correct the wrongs they did stay in. A zero sum game.

And remember this- IF YOU DIDN"T VOTE, DON'T COMPLAIN!

Zits

everyone has popped a zit, at least everyone over 12. I just had one on my head, the right side near the forehead. I have been scratching it all day, irritating it. That irritation where it hurts if you touch the spot but for some reason you can't leave it alone. I guess it had been irritated enough as it finally formed a head, ( I can't really see it to tell) but just a little but ago, I squeezed it and it popped. Did I hear it, or feel it happen? or both? Such a visceral experience popping a zit. When it happens, you know it. Maybe a little blood, some lymphatic fluid. Pus is always exciting. But is it the skin breaking that you feel/hear? The opening of your fleshbodywaterbag to exposure to the outside elements, the ripping of your largest organ? I am sure that there is some noise made by a zit popping, how ever quiet it is.

Bastard Zen Koan- what is the sound of one zit popping?

Audition

Hey, that just reminded me of a freaky Japanese movie called Audition. This guy has a fake audition for a commercial or something. The real purpose of the audition is to find a wife. Then the whole situation turns around and bites him in the ass. I wonder if anyone one has written a dissertation on national character analysis through the lens of the type of movie that tends to come from different nations. Well, violent action movies and the USA. Hmmm....

But just was at an audition for Project Bandaloop. Probably didn't get it which is fine. But sure was fun!! Flying around bouncing on the wall. I wonder if it would be possible to make a cube of that bouncy wall stuff, suspend it and then bounce around in it. Or make a gigantic jungle gym of different angled surfaces and then bouce down it. kinda like a roller coaster, but no rolling or coasting, just bouncing.

Would be great but the insurance!!! Oy vey

Hang Over

Well, do not do yoga then go to a party and then drink 5 margaritas, or was it 4. See, bad...Especially if you have rehearsal the next day. Also bad if you smoke a cigarillo and you usually do not smoke. One guy ended up in the hallway for a while, head near a bucket. Later he was in the bathroom, his gf coming out every now and then to talk to people. Poor guy.

Other than the hang over party was good. Food folks and fun to quote McDonalds.

Matthew Barney
Time travel
jeff koons
poker
pin the tail on the donkey
wax lips
dance department gossip
style vs. formula

Where is my cell phone???????

L Word and That's My Bush

Just watched some of each show today. That's My Bush is an irritating show, don't bother to watch it. A spoof on sitcoms from late eighties early nineties and on Bush. There is no Cheney character in the show, guess he is hiding in an undisclosed location.

As for the L Word, after watching it for a couple DVDs worth, I have realized it is the perfect show...to watch while paying bills. If you actually have to focus your attention on it, it is boring. The music is really cheesy, and the scene when the group puts Dana's ashes in the waterfall near Camp Winamakalauolaipa and Dana's spirit appears in the water- major cheese.

blog set up part deux

So the blog that no one reads is back up...sort of. I can access it through the site www.andrewwass.com but not through the blog manager. The blog manager thinks the site is andrewwass.com. And the blog does not appear. But if accessed through www.andrewwass.com the blog appears. WTF?

Boring post

Good day yesterday at Mills. Taking with Kelly and Nina about some text I am working on for a work in progress show in January. The text is to be played over speakers while the performer just stands there. The text is to create lenses for the viewer to view the piece through.

I mean, when someone watches a performance, anything, a basketball game, that person brings all sorts of lenses to a performance. What colors s/he likes, kind of movements, what team, people, etc. There are so many, it is almost impossible to view the work in the same way that the artist does. At least an artist of any merit. A work could be made to appeal to most number of people but then you get television. Or television is made, most television, not to appeal to the most number of people, but to offend the fewest number of people.

Talking with the two of them lead me/us to not going to yoga. Stimulating conversation lead to the desire for more stimulating conversation. So I called some friends to see if they wanted to meet us at La Piñata #3 in Alameda for happy hour.

Oh...too great of a tangent

New site

Not sure if this will all work. Maybe I should add a picture for good luck.

Identity

If you weren't you, who would you be?

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society- Mark Twain

Photo by Fred Covarrubias

Utilities

The building in which I live is a nice building. Great location, quiet neighbors, but the parking sucks. The utilities are kind of funky. The renters pay for the gas and electricity, which is fine. The bill for the water, garbage, and heating goes to the landlord, who then just divides the bill by the number of apartments. And instead of charging the renters that amount, the landlord charges $100 per month. This amount does not change if you happen to begone 2 weeks out of the month. This is not fair. In our last apartment, we never paid that amount for our utilities. We are getting ripped off. And if we are paying the right amount I would like to see the bill!

Drive Through Liqour Stores

I mean, how cool is that? Does that mean people be more likely to drink while driving? I don't think so. Getting beer into your car is pretty easy otherwise. Just went to one here in Marfa, Tx. www.marfa.org El Cheapo the place is called.The one bad thing about a drive through is that you cannot see everything, so you better know what you want to buy. Tequila and Triple Sec for margaritas, tonight.

Last night went go see the local football team play in their Homecoming game. Only went to one football game when I was in highschool. I am confused about the game, it is so #$%#$ slow. Most of the game the players are just standing around. Soccer, or the real football, is a much more active game- just look at which players are in better shape. Had some nachos. Whatever the sauce is, the same lab is churning out that same orange goo. Tasty though!

After the first half of the game we went to a local art gallery, www.ballroommarfa.org, though is it local as it is not there for the locals, well the locals who are there 2 weeks of the year. One of which I might become if we ever build our place, but I hope to be here for more than 2 weeks a year. Anyways...the two crowds were very different. Clothing, ages, etc different. I wonder how many people feel equally comfortable or drawn to both settings. Both camps can learn from each other.

Road Kill

While driving out to Marfa from El Paso, I hit a couple animals. One was a rabbit and the other I think was a badger. It definitely made a larger sound that the rabbit. The rabbit ran right out in the road. Are they attracted to the light? Is it a hazing ritual for a leporidian fraternity? well anyways, neither of those animals' genes got passed on to the next generation. Unless they already mated. But it got me thinking-how come I don't feel bad when I eat a chicken or a can of tuna? Is it because I am not directly involved with the killing of the animal? It has become so sanitized, wrapped in plastic or in a can, no blood and guts? People should have to kill the meat they eat, at least once. It would make them appreciate it.

There should be meat licenses. Only after you show that you have the ability to catch/raise, kill and clean a type of meat, are you then awarded the "license" to eat that kind of meat. A license to kill, if you will.

The amount of meat eaten would just plummet. Yes, I know...one more thing to regulate and enforce. Not that I think those licenses should really exist, but people should appreciate where it comes from more.

The Pope and Islam

So the new Pope from Germany makes some bad remarks about Islam. Uses a quote in the wrong way. And then some people blow up grenades verifying his the Pope's point.

Just how stupid are those people?

Friends with Money

Don't bother to see it. waste of two hours. Can I get them back? Sex scenes but no sex. And bad acting on the part of Scott Caan not wanting to look at Jennifer Aniston during sex. R rated for pot smoking and swearing. At least it wasn't a PG-13. There are too many PG-13 movies. No one has the balls to make a real R rated movie. Everyone wants to appeal to the Wal-Mart red state crowd. Too many pg13s is another sign of how dull and spiceless we are becoming as a whole. Stay in the middle, don't stick out. Be bland, be fat white and bland. Don't really have a good time. Just try to not have a bad time.

Why are so many movies made like this? ---Oh we are all messed up and we are not really friends but everything will work out. Life is good in the end. What i want to see is a movie that is cheesy and bland for the first 75% and then everyone dies in the end. Kinda like if they took that terrible movie Steve Martin was in when he had 12 kids and have an ending where the house burns down and everyone dies. OR he loses his job and kills himself and the whole family. That would be interesting, kinda like an alternative ending in the special features on the DVD.

Trash/Art

Well, well, well...

Can't say it was a resounding success. Don't think any one noticed anything. Only had 9 people. Hoped to get 50, about 15 email responses and then 9 people. Part of the problem was meeting people in the YB garden b4 hand to get them the shirts. But people came and would do it again. Gonna wait for the next exhibit at SF MOMA. and have 20 people!

Though got to see work by Matthew Barney. Something about that guy rubs me the wrong way. Not sure what he is working on. But that video by Sam somebody, a woman from England, with the video that is of people holding still. You can see them blink and the cigarette burn. That is GOOD. I know what she is working on. Barney...he just makes shit, or has people make it for him. Where is all that plastic stuff going to be in 2 years? in 10 years? sitting in a warehouse somewhere. and what is the idea behind it all?

Hell, i'm probably just jealous...

ART/TRASH

Well, the day is finally here, and not many people have responded. I figured that a month time would be enough time for people to clear there schedules and do it. Either not enough time or people are not into the idea. Who wouldn't want to walk around the museum on a free day?

Kelly said that not many people want to be a spectacle or part of a spectacle. But that is why I sent the invite to people who i thought liked being looked at DANCERS, but not many of them responded either. I mean all it is, is walk around with a shirt on, not hard.

People walk around allday with stuff on their shirts, advertising this and that. Frikken hipsters and their vintage shirts advertising athletics programmes from the midwest in the 70s, advertising someone else's past. Guess that is what you do when you have no past worth mentioning, went to art school in the big City and spend most of their time looking for the next band/bar/cheap beer/piercing.

So got about 15 people, a FEW shy of the 50 I had hoped for. but I think 15 will still be enough for it. Who knows. now I just gotta figure out how to document it. Maybe just some photos on the sly. I mean video won't be much better.

Need some Bond glasses with video cameras in them or something like that. How about an eye patch that is really a camera?

pina bausch and Yerba Buena

Dropped off a proposal for a show at Yerba Buena. I do not have a rejection letter yet from Yerba Buena, so that will be a nice addition for my file! But it is a great piece. Not very dancy, but who dances anymore? Ha ha ha ha. pushing, sweat and shattering glass, what more do you need?

Also just went to pina bausch's web site.
http://www.pina-bausch.de/auditions.htm

I liked what was written about workshops etc. No ambiguity there. Nice and clean. Kinda like a rock, no questions how to deal with it. Wish I had more of that in me.

Have you seen "Breakfast at Tiffany's"? Watched part of it and was surprised about Mickey Rooney's character.

Toast

aarrggh beware the deadly blogosphere. Bow down before its might!

Everynow and then you see a list of the most visited blogs, which then get more hits, kind of a perpetual feedback. There should also be lists of the least visited blogs. Maybe then someone who is faithfully cranking away at their blog, posting posting posting will then get some recognition. Also could have a list of the blogs that are visited the average amount of times.

Maybe these alternative lists would churn the waters as it were...

toast is done...time for cold toast.

gym

When in Munich on Sunday, we went to a climbing gym there, run by the German Alpine Club. great gym really tall and mostly lead climbing. But the coolest part was that there was no waiver to sign, no test. Just go in and climb. I guess if you hurt yourself, it's your own damn fault. plus the landing there is just a concrete floor, no pebbles, no foam, just concrete. There were routes outside also. Wish there were a gym like that back home.

Why are so there many waivers in the "land of the free"?

Is that just a symptom of a slow erosion of our rights in general?-right to a fair wage, right to healthcare, right to a freely elected government

or are one man's rights another man's privileges?

Yesterday went to Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. Which I think the Disneyland castle was modeled after. We walked up to the castle and found out there was a 2 hour wait to get in for the tour. People had large tickets with the time of their tour on it. Once their tour time was on, they got in line after walking through the turnstiles. Totally Disneyfied.

Disney got the idea from King Ludwig's castle, which now has to manage crowds in the same way.

Is it a bad piece or just not your aesthetic?

Just saw a dance show in SF. Good thing it was short as it was not very interesting. This is not to say that the dancers weren't any good. The dancers were well rehearsed and knew what they were doing, hit their cues, legs were high etc.

But nothing original in any of the pieces, no questions or investigations. Eventhough I did not like the show I am still glad I went. It is good to see what other work is being created in one's artistic community. Too often I have heard dancers in the Bay Area say that they are tired of going to shows because they do not see anything they like.

The point isn't to just see stuff you like. If that were the case, stay home and wait for your next NetFlix selection to show up. The point is to see as much as possible to challenge and define your own aesthetic. You might even get a small nugget from a piece that inspires you in a new direction. The point is too see as much as possible so then you can complain that no one is doing anything good. ha ha ha

Final Friends

Just watched the last friends episode.

What a dumb ending. quite uninteresting. no catch, no surprise, no change.
could have had deformed baby, plane crash, avian flu...

SFADI

Why is so much dance impro just bad theater?

B-Day, August 6th

Kinda like D-Day except for it involves a big H, so maybe it should be H-Day, as in Hydrogen Bomb over Hiroshima.

I remember a few birthdays ago I was taking some summer school classes at Cal and heard a protest march about the Bomb being dropped on August 6th. I've got enough problems with birthdays, and then people protesting. Oh woe is me....

Wonder if anyone was born on August 6th 1945, if anyone was giving birth when the bomb hit....

Random Random Random

Yesterday Kelly and I were walking around Lake Merritt. I looked down in the water and saw a two things I would never imagine sitting near each other on the shells near the edge of the lake.

One was an egg, a regular chicken egg (though maybe it was a duck egg or an egg of some other fowl denizen of the Lake. The second object was a mini disco ball about the size of a tennis ball.

an egg and a disco ball...go figure

how did they get there? were they placed there together? What are the chances? Could you ever thought of that combo?

Random Random Random

Honestly

Just was driving back from the airport this morning, or was it afternoon. Anyways, heard an author on the radio, A.M. Holmes I think the name was. She was being interviewed on that show on NPR hosted by Linda Hunt. The author kept beginning sentences with "Honestly..." or "I have to honestly say..."

If she needs to use the word honestly so many times, is she telling thre truth when she does not use it? It's kinda like grocery stores that have healthfood sections. What is the rest of the food then?

digital replacement

Recently I have been seeing more and more people listening to music playing on their cellphones. The sound quality is horrible, but there they are walking along listening to it anyways.

It must be music they have heard before and the badly reproduced digital version of it triggers a memory of the song they know. So in some sense the song they are hearing is in their head not the one coming out of the tiny cellphone speaker.

References is all we have nowadays. Digital music leaving out all the nuances of analog. Protein powder, Cliff Bars and vitamins replacing the complete nutrition humans used to eat. All the anitoxidants etc. continually being "discovered" which were there all along in a balanced diet.

Kinda like pornography. A stimulation that triggers a larger inate response within the human animal. Not the real thing but a reference to it. How much more removed from real experiences and expression are we going to get? To what extent does this reach in our collective psyche? To other people dying (IRAQ). It has definitely infiltrated the food chain. People, myself included, have no appreciation for where MEAT comes from.

It is all so sanitized.

CI class

Hmm....revelation today-you can do what you want but how people respond determines the outcome. If I try to slide but my partner goes with the impulse it is not a slide but a static point moving through space.

You can't always get what you want...Like a CA$H grant, or a residency...

If not me, who? If not, now when?

blog blogbloggg bbbblog bloog blogblllog bblloogg.

Zoos- the few for the many

Went to the Oakland Zoo today. kinda like going to the mall, instead of people watching it's animal watching, which is basically animal watching (unless you don't believe in evolution). But a friend was telling me about a movement that is trying to prevent zoos from restocking their aging animals. Belief is that it is bad for any animal to not be in its natural environment. ( wonder if any of those folk have pets?) But I am sure it sucks to be in the zoo as opposed to the real world. So what is the function of a zoo? Prevention of species depletion, showcasing animals to create empathy in a mostly urban human population, spectacle? so are these people, who are against zoos, doing much to prevent loss of habitat, to prevent species from dying out, to create sympathy for wild animals, in a manner to replace the function of zoos.

Or are zoos just such a horrible place? If they are horrible, but the end result is good-sympathy, awareness etc- is it okay to then sacrifice the few for the many?
Or is that rather Machiavellian(sp?)?

Yahoo! is a bunch of wankers

Well...Yahoo! still hasn't fixed the blog yet. Still an ardous (sp?) route to get to be able to post something. Is it that hard to fix it? Come on people now smile on your brother. Hmm... the r key is better but my typing still sucks. Hot enough for you today? and why will jobs be lost in the US if we curb greenhouse gases? I mean if we make everyone get smaller cars that would mean that we would have to build more cars. And if we revamp the infrastructure ( freeways, highrises vs. single family home) that is a lot of jobs there in rebuilding. Dammit why can't I rule the world? Or at least why can't everyone listen to me?
What this country needs is a few good wars to blow up all the housing so we can build it better. Or maybe not wars but earthquakes/hurricanes etc and clean up the bad housing mess.

So who's with me for a rain dance?

Times Square

God, is it ugly! Talk about the grand temple to American Capitalism. Lights buy shoes watches tours Broadway movies buy. Why didn't Al Qaida hit that instead of the Twin Towers? I think that would have had a stronger affect on tourism etc. I wonder now that I have typed that, Big Brother is going to come after me. Well, at least then someone will have looked at my site.

But to me it seems to actually stop terrorist attacks is pretty hard. Why not prevent the events/situations that lead to the attacks. How about large amounts of water soluble THC in water supplies in tense parts of the world. Then business would increase...more demand for McDonalds and black lights. I mean isn't that what Bush and Co really wants? People fat and happy, too stupid to do anything but consume?

That would be a great movie. Some kids in college make a water soluble form of THC. One of the kids brothers is in the Israeli Army, another kid has family in Palestine. They take the formula/process to Israel, dump some of the product in the water supply. For a week everyone is too stoned to shoot each other. All they want to do is eat, dance, listen to music, have sex...

Consumption and destruction...both the easy thing to do. That is why our country seems to do only those two. Easier to bomb a house than build it. easier to eat a burger, than raise the cow kill it, clean, make the bun etc...

Urinals

Flew to NYC on saturday and used the bathrooms at a couple airports, DC and NYC. Noticed something for the first time though they have always been there. Why the little dividers between urinals?

Is it for splashing? Not sure about that. How many people have that severe of aiming problems? If they are that bad, they probably have problems standing.

Is it for wandering eyes? So you don't look at the Johnson of the guy next to you? Hmm...are you that curious? But then again other people's genitals can be like traffic accidents- you don't wanna look but you just do.

Lake Merritt Wildlife

Lake Merritt is kinda scary. Walking home from BART today by the lake, and saw something moving in it. At first I thought it was a cigarette but being moved by the wind, but then it repeated changed directions. Maybe it is a tadpole- I thought. But it was to colorful to be a tadpole, at least like any one I have ever seen.

The larger hind section was pinkish and rotated around its long axis. The front shorter end was whitish and round. It swirled aimlessly, up and down until it hit the wall and stuck in the algae, feasting it looked like.

I wonder what weirdness lurks at the bottom of our local cesspool, mutated by years of exposure to oil, antifreeze, Cheetos and Gatorade bottles. Is it steril due to birthcontrol hormones washing down drains or overgrown?

Oh, I think the people upstairs are having sex again!

X-men 3

OK, OK, who is the moron that writes these scripts?

I mean you get the Leech kid stick him near Jean Grey and whammo problem solved. She's not so incontrollable/psycho. She is then just another pretty face.

Kinda like in the second one (in that there was an easy solution but it is not taken to drive the story forward), when all the water is rushing down from the burst dam and Ice Boy just sits there. Hello Moron freeze the water. And maybe he was young and not that strong but he could have frozen some of it around Jean and then get her out.

I know, I know, you're saying that Jean had to die for the next one could be made. But couldn't they, the writers, have made her die in a more inevitable fashion. Such silly problems (if that is the right word) are irritating as a viewer

Also if she calls herself Pheonix, why cry when you kill her?

The Pheonix will rise again...God, I love franchises...

Niece

Just had my niece for several days. 'Twas nice. After comparing mother to child, I asked myself - when do people become close-minded?

Another idea stolen

I was reading the Arts&Leisure section of the NY Sunday Time. ( I do not like that arts are paired with leisure. There is nothing leisurely about them. What about sports? How come Sports get its own section and talk about leisure. Fat men sitting in Lazyboys, reliving their highschool glory watching drug addled millionaires play glorified tiddlywinks ) In that section I saw on page 22 an article about a TV show on Gallery HD, called "ArtStar." "8 artists jammed together into a SoHo loft for a month."

a couple years ago I submitted this idea to the Sundance Channel for a TV show, though slightly different. I wanted to have a range of discipline is the same building--- painter, musician, welder, dancer, playwright, video artist, all in a large building each with adequate workspace and making work; discussing process/product/issues/questions. I think this could happen in a small midwestern town, where propery is cheap. It would definitely be a boon to that town. Instantly on the map.

The focus of the show would not be dating ( ala Real World) but on the work. So whom do I talk to to make this show happen?

Anyone...

Lake Merrit and stop lights/signs

What is with people in Oakland and their(our) casual relationship with traffic signals? Oakland would not be in so much debt if the police actually gave people tickets for running red lights. Most days on the way to the bridge entrance off Grand I see at least 3 cars run red lights (4 if you count me!). It is so common that most people wait a little after the light goes green to let any stragglers through. I was kinda shocked when I first moved up here from San Diego. Is the city too broke to hire more traffic cops? Though there are plenty of people handing out parking tickets. Much easier to give a ticket to a parked car than a moving one.

Just walked around Lake Merritt, the stinky cesspool of Oakland. It merits a cleaning. Is that why a new fountain was put in to aerate the water? Some days if you are downwind...mighty bad smell. If that is the case, then a few more could be put in.

Trying for cardio. baby geese. Saw a bird dive into the lake and catch a fish, saw another one eating one. Maybe it was a heron, tall white skinny bird...pausing mid swallow, looked like it was choking. So much @#@# goose poop. I wish they would go back to Canada. We need to bring in some predators. I wonder if they are edible. Well I guess anything is edible, just ask the Donner party.

Art School Confidential

Saw the movie today. Was aiming for the Code but was all sold out. The first time I saw a preview for this movie thought it was a comedy. Who makes the previews anyways? Not a comedy, only laughed when he puked on the drunk's floor.

Art teachers...dance teachers...are they teaching cuz they didn't reach fame? The question...I think the saying should be changed- Those who can do. Those who can't, categorize.- Is it modern is it PoMo. is it neo post classical...
The movie definitely believes that it is not what you do, but who you are when you do it.

Filmed at Fashion Valley for more Cubic videos. got several clips done and was filming a palm tree when the security cop showed up. He had one of those flat brimmed Bullwinkle hats on. I was informed that I could take a picture of a family member in front of the plant but not film. "that is the managements policy." He had no answer as to why. Poor guy, enforcing things he probably doesn't care about. Just made me think about the mall. Originally designed to increase community/democracy etc. but I would say it has the reverse effect. Makes people buy shit they don't need, giving themselves a false sense of freedom, getting them more in debt so they have to work in jobs they don't care about(MALL RENT-A-COP) and don't make much money but are too busy working to pay off debts to actually do something about their crappy situation.

sleep, but first the New Yorker

clothes/costumes

So after Manhattan, I flew to San Diego and am staying in La Jolla near the beach. Talk about another stereotype of clothing. Flip flops and shorts. White people who are too brown and gonna be badly wrinkled or cancerized in a couple years. Blonde hair and bikini tops.

We think penguins all dress alike. At least they have an excuse, they are terrible at sewing. Well also it's just functionality. So then maybe it is the same for the socioeconomic groups on some level.

People here in La Jolla wear more shorts, sandals etc because of the environment. Penguins are black and white because of light/shadows in the water or maybe black to absorb maximum heat. And rich men on the upper east side wear those silly leather shoes with the tassles because they have special money generating properties.

I know CI people tend to dress a like. Is it a functionality issue? Baggy cotton pants for good friction and airflow? Tights/spandex too slippery therefore less control. And Jeans to restrictive plus those rivet things could hurt.

Darwinian evolution of clothes...I am sure that at one time in ancient history the tie had a purpose. Now I am not sure what it is. Tieing(sp?) a random piece of fabric around a random part of your body. Man, that makes you look good.

If you had to reinvent the tie, what shape would the fabric be and where would you attach it to the human body?

iPod

As soon as I write this I am guaranteeing that i will get one, but I am glad that I do not have an iPod. Saw so many people on the subway today. only one guy was moving to the music. Could hear the music of several people, made me wonder about their hearing. But hearing loss aside, receiving so much stimulation without a response seems like a bad thing. As with negative emotions, it is bad to hold them in, no? Leads to cancer and all kinds of tumors. So then does that mean it is bad to hold in good emotions, or that it is good to hold in good emotions. But my point about not having an iPod is that, and this is a guess here, music eventually becomes just more noise to people. I know that NPR is kinda like that for me. I have it on all the time even if I am not actively listening to it, but if it not on I miss that stimulation. Does the radio/iPod just become extra stimulation so that my mind can't wander. I know for many people it is a scary situation if their mind wanders...

And then once people are inured to the music they have, they gotta buy more. iPods are like cigarettes- the ultimate delivery system

Costumes

Flew to NYC today for a show at Dixon Place. http://www.dixonplace.org/ Was waiting to meet my friend with whom I am performing (her piece) at Park and 92nd. Sitting on the planter cement thing between the directions of traffic ( there must be a word for that thing ) watching the people walk by. Being the Upper East Side, there was a demographic, and funny to see that. Business men who looked like brooks brothers ads. people actually wear those light brown shoes with the silly tassles. navy jacket and khaki pants. Jogging moms with the newest baby carriage. The mixed race arty couple with the black clothes and thick framed glasses looked severe and sensitive at the same time. Urban hip kids with the thin soled shoes and tight pants, urban hiphop kids with the big shoes and baggy pants. Do they/we not see how they/we are fitting in our roles? Is it conscious? .....I must dress this way....do contact must wear baggy pants and wear a northface vest....must buy organic food...

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society."-Mark Twain

Ratings

So...Bush's rating keep going lower and lower. Great, fine, wonderful...but what I want to know who the morons are who liked him 2 years ago. Has he really done anything differently than he did when he first snuck into office? He is still the same inept bumbling fool now as he was then
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2646755?htv=12.
But for some reason the public is finally waking up. Duh, people, did you finally pull your heads out of your asses cuz the air was getting kinda stale? Lemmings, all of them...

Mmmmm, nachos!

Conan O'Brien

So...the other day I did a performance and some people told me that it would be great on Conan O'Brien. I'm always ready to "sell out" and perform on TV. But getting the show producers is pretty much impossible. They can't accept any unsolicited materials idea etc cuz then they might get sued if they do something like it. But then how to get on the show? I think writing on a 'blog that no one reads is the perfect way.

ohh and if you listen to NPR, please donate, I am tired of listening to the pledge drive.

tax cuts

Tax Cuts...further in the hole America goes...when will the Chinese come to collect? Would you let Prez Bush get a hold of your family's finances?

So in this tax cut, if I heard correctly, middle income (45-75,000) will get $200 tax cut, and people over 1,000,000 get $80,000 tax cut. Now, the rich people are going to squirrel their money away in the bank or Stock market and the poor people are going to spend their $200, cuz we gotta. What would make more sense is to give poorer people more of a tax cut, cuz it'll get spent. That is money directly into the economy, no trickle down there. And usually things that trickle down end up getting dirty.

aaahhhh...we have the government we deserve...no?

Templates for everything at least for stuff I have seen are #$%# ugly. people designing this stuff are trying way toooo hard. Can't they have a template that is just black and white? Is Simple so hard?

I mean, these stupid Zen rocks. Why the bleep would I want to have Zen rocks on my site? Have you seen this ad that is in the NY times Magazine in the back? It's for some swanky apt building and the shower has Zen Garden pebbles? Why do people with the most money have the worst taste? Sometimes I think that if i purposely had bad tast I would get rich.

Entry for May 11, 2006

Well, maybe this template is not so bad. but then the real question is do I even want to have a blog on my site? (do I odd want to have a blog on my site?) Can or when is the word odd used to be the opposite of even? is it only in Mathematics? In terms of personalities the opposite of an odd personality is not an even personality. at least I have never used even in that sense. Well, even-keeled in terms of stable and sane, but that is not necessarily the opposite of odd. "he was really odd-keeled that man." Hmm...