Semper ubi sub ubi.

always wear underwear

3x times through a Spanish/English
translator

underclothes to always wear away the absent plain

American Apparel?

Should Al Gore become a Vegan?

Al Gore is a huge, if not the biggest, champion of the fight against global warming. He did get the Nobel Peace Prize for his actions As the U.N. has stated "Raising animals for food, the report said, is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems..." To read more about it download this pdf.
So my question, raised by a video I watched on Youtube, is Al Gore a hypocrite if he is not a vegan or at least a vegetarian? Or has he raised enough awareness and caused enough people to shrink their carbon footprint enough to offset his meat diet?

Dumbledore is gay

Who the #%@%#!@# cares if a fictional character (that might as well be asexual cuz the books are not about his love life) is gay ? Can you say free press? J.K. Rowling is probably worried that she is fading out of the limelight, well is she? I have no idea. I read the first book, thought it was okay and tried the second, but thought it was complete crap, so never finished it.

But dropping a "bomb" like this on the public seems like a way to get people all abuzz about the books again without having to write another one. Maybe there is a kid somewhere who hasn't bought all the Potter books yet and this stunt is a way to squeeze a few more dollars out. This lady must be loaded. Isn't the series over, yet? Are they going to be able to finish all the movies before the actors start having kids? Aren't the actors already pushing their age range?

San Diego Fires

Sounds like Southern California is burning up again. 250,000 people had to evacuate. Some people stayed behind even though they were told to evacuate-
"Firefighters — who lost valuable time trying to persuade stubborn homeowners to leave...Firefighters complained that their efforts to stop the flames were delayed when they were confronted by people who refused to leave their homes. 'They didn't evacuate at all, or delayed until it was too late,' said Bill Metcalf, a fire boss. 'And those folks who are making those decisions are actually stripping fire resources.' "

I say if you have been told to evacuate and you don't that you are on your own. Why should your stubbornness get in the way of firefighters doing their job? Let dumb asses burn. Darwin rides again.
Similar to the people whose houses several years ago burned down in SD county. They didn't want to put up sprinklers as the county wanted them to. They didn't because it cost too much. Then fires come and burn their houses down. If they had spent the $5000 or whatever, they could have saved themselves, the city, the fire department a lot of trouble. (I can't find an article on that, so if anyone finds one please tell me.)

Maybe harsh, but if you've been warned...
I know something about fires. The house I lived in that my great-grandfather built burnt down when I was in highschool. No one died, but we lost the house and most everything in it.

Contemporary dance

Well, I guess there is a definition of contemporary dance. Not sure how reliable that definition is and not sure how good of a term "contemporary dance" is. Definitions that are related to time are tricky. What is after contemporary? Post contemporary? People should drop the time aspect and give dance a name that explains what it is. Contemporary doesn't define anything but time - when it happens/happened. In the definition yoga is part of contemporary dance and yoga is 5000 years old. Yes, it is just one of the things drawn upon. Contemporary dance, maybe should be called "and the kitchen sink dance" because everything is fair game.

How many of those things does one need to incorporate to be a contemporary dancer? If I just use Horton, Hawkins, Cunningham and Humphrey does that make me contemporary? No! Cunningham is the most recent and he hasn't been contemporary since the 60's. Okay, they used Ipods. Making a man a priest makes him neither celibate nor honest.

Couldn't someone use tap and be "contemporary"? Or how about square dancing? Is that not contemporary? I am sure people are creating new square dances all the time. And ballet? New balletic movement is created all the time. Not sure how long it takes before some moves join the canon of ballet.

This definition is another instance of people valuing the tool over the logic or aesthetic. Dance is so much more than techniques about the body. Dance is the art form that uses the body to address various logics (stories, topics). The more I think about the term "contemporary" the more I dislike it. I have contempt for contemporary. Vague, vague, vague.

"What kind of dance do you do?"
"Oh, I do 'of the present time' dancing."
"Interesting"

Labels, labels, labels...we do need them.

Po Mo

anything goes ≠ anything is good

Reunion

First word- bizarre...walking around campus remembering how much I have forgotten. And remembering the things I remember- where I sat in chapel; where I lost my virginity; where we would builder around the dorms; where I took Honors history freshman year; where M. and I finally consumed alcohol on campus the day before we graduated. Probably a couple years later than everyone else.
Bizarre...one guy's got a hedge fund; one guy works for a big hotel chain; another guy is a Hollywood agent. Everyone's got kids and more on the way. Some people rounder, some people thinner. Car seats and minivans (O.K, so that was a rental).
If I tally up the drinks I had that day ( 7 beers and 5 glasses of wine), make me think that my alcoholic genes are kicking in.
The state of the climbing wall behind the gym is sad. Looks like no one is using it. The ropes course is also gone. I guess after Mr. Patterson died, no one was teaching that. The glue-ons on the side of the gym look like no one has touched them in years. Guess I'll have to find another place to donate my holds to.
Bizarre...it was almost as if I had never left. Conversations weren't as awkward as I had feared (well, a few drinks never hurt one's sociability). Talked to some people more at the reunion than I did when we were in school together.

again in 5?

Gore and Airplanes

Too thoughts twoday- If people didn't carry anything on to a plane, boarding and getting off a plane would be much faster. Less time would be spent going through security. Today all I carried on was the NY Times (It had been sitting outside our building since Wednesday, so I figured it was fair game.) and a book. Getting on and off a plane always takes so long because everyone is blocking the aisle cramming or yanking out their over-sized luggage into the overhead bins.

I vote for banning all carry-ons except for reading material. And water. And something to eat, cuz the bastards are now charging for food. And a sweater. And my laptop and camera because they would never survive if I checked them.
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Also Gore, why did he get the Nobel Peace Prize? Yes, he has drawn the world's attention more to global warming, but he hasn't solved or worked to foster peace directly. Global warming will probably lead to massive conflicts- food shortages, people migrating due to rising ocean levels, fighting over water in areas of drought. But Gore hasn't worked on any of those problems. Maybe he will in the future but give the Prize to him then.

"In 2004, the Nobel Peace Prize went to Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai, which Brende said shows the award committee's focus on ecological problems as a source of conflict."

Maybe the Nobel Committee needs to make another prize, one that is dedicated to environmental work. Seems like the Peace Prize is going to anyone who does something nice on a large scale. Don't get me wrong, I think Gore is doing good stuff, but I don't think he is doing peace work directly.

Better Complexion due to Global Warming

Recent studies have linked global warming to increased humidity. Increased humidity is good for the skin. Therefore as the globe gets warmer, everyone's skin will look better.
Global warming ain't all bad. Maybe GWB is looking out for everyone's complexion when he is resisting doing anything about global warming.

Craigslist Ad

A friend forwarded this to me.

THE AD
What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy. I'm not from New York. I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don't think I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won't get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won't hurt my feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I've seen really 'plain jane' boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What's the story there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being up front about it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 432279810

------------------------------------------------------

THE ANSWER
Dear Pers-431649184:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I'm not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here's how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a crappy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity...in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold...hence the rub...marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful" as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn't found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way. Classic "pump and dump." I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

Oh, the...

I'll grant you the photoshopping isn't the best but...

Bittsa Maniac

This guy was found to be sane by "[e]xperts at the Russia's main psychiatric clinic..."

Later in the article he is quoted as saying - "For me, a life without murder is like a life without food for you."

Maybe he is trying to sound nuts so he gets off on an insanity plea. But even if that is the case, how can anyone who kills people for no reason be considered sane?

Remembering when you could remember

Found some footage of a couple old pieces. My favorite one, Zamboni, came from an exercise I did during the first workshop I did with Mary Overlie. Workshop was in Montana. Boulder I think the town was called. Tiny place. Maybe 300 of paved road. The only intersection had just a stop sign. The other piece, very similar, I thought I had lost the footage of it. But there it was. An old badly labeled Hi8 tape. Labeling is very important. What is knowledge if you don't know here it is.

That is what everyone needs a place to store information...a know ledge! Get it? ha ha ha.

But back to memory. As I was watching "i love the smell of Napalm in the Morning" I remember remembering the some of the moments that happened in the dance. Now I can't remember the movements anymore, but can remember when I could remember. Or do I just want to remember? The last time I watched the piece must have been 2002. I was still living in San Diego. I was staying with friends. M., S., and L. were living together, somewhere in North Park. The dancing looked decent to me then, but I remember that I had eaten a pot brownie and it was kicking in. Watching it now 5 years later the dancing looks a little clunky, but some cool moments. It would be nice to do the piece again, except this time with a lot more flowers, about 1.5 ft deep.

Honesty

Dearborn, Michigan has the highest rate of foreclosure in the US. If you actually read the article to the end you will read about Dave Ehrlichmann. He buys houses for cheap and then flips them for a profit. People who add little value to the world - lawyers, real estate agents- make a lot of money. They create nothing, just pass money around, but make a lot of money.
I remember hearing on NPR a while back that 1/3 of the price of oil is due to speculation.
" One of the main factors receiving little attention in the current “crises” stems from how markets work, specifically how speculation affects prices. While speculation is often passed off as an economic law, there is plenty of evidence of direct manipulation."

I would guess to that flipping houses can increase the cost of houses. Funny, Dave's last name means
"honest man."

Risk & Innovation

I am sure that I have railed about this before, but am currently working on a CA$H grant for TBA. How is your proposal innovative and risky? Risky for whom? for what genre? What direction is risky without violating firecodes and getting arrested? How about doing a piece involving racism and pedophilia while killing goats on stage, but do it in different theater from the audience and have them watch it via live feed. Throw some filters on and PRESTO innovation, risky. Don't forget the dancing dwarf who speaks backwards.


Innovation/risk/cutting edge - all tired terms.

Or maybe it just speaks to my lack of imagination, that I do not know what direction is innovative and risky.

Bionic Woman

Watching TV right now. Bionic Woman to be precise. Watched an episode of Big Shots, Dirty Sexy Money and Carpool. Maybe another show can't remember. One thing that struck me was the title of Big Shots. Similar to Shoot 'Em up, Scary Movie 1-4. Is Bionic Woman now referencing The Matrix, when Neo tried to jump to the other skyscraper? Or is that just me frame of reference. Was the Matrix referencing something else? Funny how the evil bionic is blonde and the good one is a brunette. Betty and Veronica all over again. Who is Archie? Jughead?
But back to my point about the titles. The show Big Shots is about big shots. Scary Movie is about scary movies, Carpool is about 4 men who are a carpool. And Shoot 'Em Up is an action flick. By using the type of movie it is to identify the movie strips of any identity, well maybe that is the wrong word, but something is lost. Identity in that the movie is not named for itself but for a whole genre. This just shows that the film is nothing but a study of that genre but not a creation using that genre as a vehicle for an idea beyond the genre. What Gone with the Wind had been called Love Story (oh, wait, there is movie called that)? How ironic, the po-moness of it all.
People just want a certain slot in their sensory perception filled; jack me in and fill it up. What was that thought? Maybe it will come back to me later.

Tom Cruise is Nuts

Tom Cruise is nuts. He is building a bunker to protect his family against Xenu. Weird, yes, but any different than red heifers and the apocalypse? Or circumcision and Kolob? or transubstantiation (which if you think about it is cannibalism)? Why do we consider Tom Cruise a whack job (or am I the only one?) for worrying about an evil cosmic ruler bent on revenge but think its sane to go to a big stone building and pretend to eat and drink the blood of someone who died but then came back to life?

Jack Handey's Evil Twin

Whenever I am leaving a bookstore or an elevator and someone else is walking in, I like to fart. This way the person who walked by me can have a little experience of me and meet me even if they don't know that they just met me.

Crack in the 880 South

I have been living in the Bay Area now for about 5 years. Not sure when I noticed this, but there is a long crack in the 880 South in Oakland. I do not know how long this crack has been there, but I freaks me out. Why is there a crack in the freeway? Why is nothing being done about the crack? Yes, it is on a very busy stretch of freeway so it is difficult to repair it, but that is precisely why the crack should be repaired.
Has anyone else noticed this crack? Is anyone else worried about? I emailed the Governator, both senators, Barbara Lee (who speaks for me), NBC, ABC, FOX News, the SF Chronicle, the Oakland Tribune about this with a link to the video I made and put on YouTube.
Repairs needed on the infrastructure in this country will cost $1.7 trillion (saw that on the web somewhere, can't find it now).

Bruce Nauman is a Contact Dancer

Body Pressure

Press as much of the front surface of your body (palms in or out, left cheek or right cheek) against the wall as possible.

Press very hard and concentrate.

Form an image of yourself (suppose you had just stepped forward) on the opposite side of the wall pressing back against the wall very hard.

Press very hard and concentrate on the image pressing very hard.

(the image of pressing very hard)

Press your front surface and back surface toward each other and begin to ignore or block the thickness of the wall. (remove the wall)

Think how various parts of your body press against the wall; which parts touch and which do not.

Consider the parts of your back which press against the wall; press hard and feel how the front and back of your body press together.

Concentrate on the tension in the muscles, pain where bones meet, fleshy deformations that occur under pressure; consider body hair, perspiration, odors (smells).

This may become a very erotic exercise.

© Bruce Nauman 1974

Royalty

Europe has/had royalty. The US does/did not. Whether or not the Bushes/Gores/DuPonts etc are royalty is another topic. Royalty has a history of supporting the arts. Has the state in Europe replaced royalty in terms of art funding? Is the reason the US has such a poor record for funding the arts because the US never had royalty?

Culture vs. Entertainment

Something I wrote a while back, Jan 25th 2005, and was thinking about again recently...

"...leads into my questions of audience. Why are they here? Entertainment, investigation expectation? Do they want to be challenged? If your expectations are not met then do you feel disappointment? But then if you as audience have expectations do we (the performers) need to be there? The audience could pay their money and just sit there and imagine the whole thing.
To be simplistic about it, there are two types of audience members. Those who go to a show with a certain amount of or with expectations. And there are those who go to a show with no expectations at all. But if you have ever seen an artist's work before, it is impossible to go to their show and not have some expectations of what the show will be like. That is why people go back and see certain artist's work again. The previous experience was satisfactory in some manner. The audience enjoyed themselves on some level.

This brings in the question of enjoyment. Do you enjoy having your expectations met? or contradicted/contrasted? Do you want your world view challenged or reaffirmed? Do you want recognizable elements, quotidian events re/arranged related in a suprising manner? Do you want to see something completely unrecognizeable that you cannot relate to at all? Do you come here to be offended? Do you come here for cultural edification? Or is it pure sensational masturbation?

Some might say that the opera, the ballet, the symphony are signs or events of high culture. Of higher value than a baseball game, a monster truck rally, or a wet T-shirt contest. But not the events in and of themselves are important but how the audience members relate to the event is important; is what makes them of cultural import. At the truck rally, people go to hear the roar of the engines, the smashing of the cars to see the huge trucks fly through the air and land or flop over.

At the ballet people go to hear the orchestra and see the lithe ballerina fly through the air and land in the arms of her partner. But @ either event the audience knows what is going to happen. They know the elements that make up the spectacle. They, the audience, are there to satisfy a certain desire, to fulfill an expectation. What would be more of a cultural event is is the typical ballet audience member went to the truck rally and the Nascar Dad went to the Lincoln Center to see the American Ballet Theater retrospective etc. Does the audience want to hide?"

My main point of something being cultural or not is the relationship between the audience and the material. If the audience is going for fulfillment then all events are of the same cultural value - sensational masturbation as I wrote above. If the audience is going to expand its horizons, that is culture."