11/23/08

Safe and Sustainable Sanitation

Check out the Worldchanging article on a new sanitation system in Kyrgyzstan which is low-cost, sustainable, and takes into account the immediate environmental conditions in the area.

Sunday Series



Jaime Lerner: Sing a song of sustainable cities.

11/16/08

Sunday Series



This week's Sunday Series features a sort of hero of mine, Stefan Sagmeister. Here he talks about moments in his life that made him happy, and how that relates to good design. He's funny, honest, and every bit the eccentric.

11/11/08

Memorial Day



For Memorial Day I will post a video featuring The Perceptionists and their excellent, excellent 2004 track titled "Memorial Day." It's rare to find a song that criticizes the leadership of our country while supporting the troops, and it's even more rare to find it in a hip hop song, but they do a beautiful job. And they did it at a time when public criticism of the war was not popular.

Also, props to secondtoughest for providing the compelling art to compliment the song.

11/9/08

Sunday Series




This Sunday I am posting a TED video of Dave Eggers. Please enjoy.

11/4/08

November 4th

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just might go down as the most important day of my life.

11/2/08

Sunday Series Part 2



Bill Strickland. Amazing and inspiring.

10/29/08

Real Men of Genius












Attention: Campaign! Badly losing....must try more dirty tactics...must spread fear...my face is getting fuzzy...reception weak...the maverick must find kryptonite....uuuuhhhh.

This is so good, I had to forward it on. Here's a post from someone named "Tom" on the CNN Political Ticker concerning the McCain pushes Obama connection to Khalidi story:

It's true: Obama has voted against puppies and rainbows on NUMEROUS occasions. His grandfather's neighbor's former college roommate was once seen "palling around" the same hemisphere as terrorists. Indisputable. REAL Americans know that flag pins are our guarantee of an afterlife, and that peace in the Middle East will only postpone the Second Coming.


Whoever you are Tom, I salute you. You are a real man of comic genius.

10/26/08

Sunday Series



I am now posting a video from the TED Lecture series in order to provide you with something constructive to view on Sundays. The Sunday Series is a response to the usual political slice-and-dice negativity you get on TV. It covers the positive, inspiring and constructive things going on in our world. The first video is of my hero, William McDonough. His talk is amazing. Watch.

10/21/08

The MAM









If anyone in Milwaukee or Chicago has time, I recommend going to the Milwaukee Art Museum to see Unmasked and Anonymous: Shimon & Lindemann Consider Portraiture, which is on display August 14, 2008–November 30, 2008. Really nice photos by the Wisconsin duo. The MAM has a nice online gallery of the exhibition you can peruse. Also, I have to say that you must see my friend Santiago Cucullu's installation, MF Ziggurat, which is running until Jan 4, and is part of the ongoing On Site exhibition series. He's got really terrific work up.

Freelancing

Freelancing is a battle with your own mind.

10/18/08

Six weeks on one tank - Week 1

Week one has not gone as well as expected. Well, technically I'm 10 days into this experiment, and I'm over my permitted usage for the week. My tank stands at 5/8 today. I had a business meeting in which I had to travel about 40 miles round trip, along with some other errands that ate up my tank. At this rate, I'm barely going to make it a month. It's important that I try to group all of my business and personal tasks into as few trips as possible, eliminating inefficient and/or redundant trips. Pimping out my routes using Eulerian circuits would help, too.

First Fire









Last night was the first fire of the fall season. It's pretty hard to beat sitting in front of a fireplace on a cold evening. I've been using fire logs from log jam, which are 100% natural hardwood logs made from compressed wood shavings. No creosote or wax buildup, and no petroleum binders. They burn hotter than cord wood, and are cleaner.

They are made by Log Jam, a company in Michigan. Every time I buy them, I think of Jackie Treehorn, which makes me happy.

10/16/08

ShopDropping









It's the holidaze already in retail stores, so I want to share with you (again) a cool site called shopdropping.net. It's a place to get our culture jamming fix. Their latest project involves modifying Hallmark cards, sharing them, and then of course dropping them back in circulation at popular retailers.

Chewie Loves Playing Records In His Spare Time

My New Glamor Shot





















I have decided that I am going to offer hair-care services to help make ladies silky-smooth.

10/15/08

Tips For Our Candidates









John McCain:
1. Sarah Palin's son has Down syndrome, not autism. She's your running mate. Get it right.
2. Senator Obama's wife is Michelle.
3. Lose Joe the plumber. It's condescending.


Barack Obama:
1. Just Say No to cavalier sexual activity?

By simply remaining cool and confident, Obama wins post-debate polls and focus groups by 2:1. CNN just posted a a story stating that Obama crossed the electoral threshold. 277 to 174.

Campaign Update

















From Oliver Stone's "W" premiering across the street from John McCain's hotel in NYC last night to Christopher Buckley's resignation from the conservative National Review days after endorsing Barack Obama's White House bid, to Lilibet Hagel-the wife of Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel-accompanying Michelle Obama at tonight’s final presidential debate, the bad news for McCain continues to pile up.

The Straight Talk Express just careened over a cliff, and is flipping end-over-end, like a "Toonces" skit on SNL, with hockey gear flying out of the windows and tremendous amounts of rouge exploding in a mad symphony of crimson dust.

When David Brooks says your running mate "represents a fatal cancer" to your party, it's time to pull over, buy a 6-pack of PBR, and put on Willy Nelson for the long drive home.

There are now no less than seven polls that show Obama with a double-digit lead (with CBS giving him 14 points), and he's surpassing all expectations for early vote returns.

Celebrity Look-Alikes














Flo Evans from "Good Times" (Esther Rolle) and David Ortiz.

p.s. - I'm not the first to make this connection. After some searching it turns out that one of David Ortiz's nicknames is "Flo," and several blogs have pointed this out. Still, when I saw a photo of Esther Rolle recently I couldn't help myself. It needs to be posted. As much as possible.

Here's another shot:


10/13/08

This thing is over









I have been following our election rather closely over the past month. Last week I came to the conclusion that this presidential race is officially over. I refrained from making any declarations for fear of sabotaging the outcome, but then realized that I'm not superstitious. Obama wins big. Anytime you hear pundits talking about Indiana being a possible swing state, you know that there is a lopsided victory in the making. It will be pretty historic, and McCain is digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole by going negative. Essentially he's saying: "I have no real economic plan, well, wait–I have a plan, but it's for the rich, and I can't get elected on that plan, so I'm going to attack the character of my opponent to try to cast some doubt." Maybe his campaign is confusing tactics with strategy. They trot out a lot of tactics, but they seem to have no real strategy.

One week it's about the economy, the next it's about character, then it's about abortion, and this week it will be about experience. But it's all based on fear, and I think people are tired of hearing it. I look for the McCain campaign to trot out about two or three more tactics before this is over, and I don't think it will make much difference. Their decisions have proven disastrous to the campaign, making Obama's look consistent and stable.

According to the polls (and my new favorite projection site, fivethirtyeight.com), McCain will have to win ALL of the swing states up for grabs, and then a current projected blue state or two to win. Thanks to Obama, McCain now has to spend a lot of time in traditionally red Virginia and NC, which cuts into his appearances in other swing states.

Overcoming a double-digit deficit late in the game isn't impossible, but it hasn't been done since Reagan over Carter in 1980, and that was the ONLY time since Gallup polling (1936) that it happened this late in the season. It looks like Obama's riding a wave that's bashing McCain. No matter what the Maverick does, he buries himself deeper. Where's Goose?

It's over, folks.

10/12/08

Six weeks on one tank of gas

I am undertaking a challenge to see if I can go six weeks before filling the tank on my Nissan Maxima. First of all, you should know that I live in the metro area, so everything is close by. I freelance out of my house, so I don't commute to work. Daycare is a mile away. School is a mile away. I have three grocery stores, a Walgreens, US Bank, Chinese take-out, 3 pizza joints, and a few liquor stores all within blocks of our house. So the challenge isn't as steep as it may seem.

But there are a lot of little trips. And those trips all add up and eat away at my tank. Right now I'm going about three weeks between refuels on what I would call "normal" usage. I think I can double that average if I plan out trips and eliminate unnecessary excursions around town.

I filled my tank on October 8th. That means I have to make it to November 19th before refueling. Look for super exciting weekly posts on my progress, because I know that this will be a compelling and gripping saga.

10/11/08

The Beekeeper

My wife wants to keep bees with Queen Latifah.

John McPenguin



This clip needs no introduction, nor does it need any explanation.

9/3/08

Is This Love

I wanna love you and treat you right;
I wanna love you every day and every night:
Well be together with a roof right over our heads;
Well share the shelter of my single bed;
Well share the same room, yeah! - for jah provide the bread.
Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that Im feelin?
Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that Im feelin?
I wanna know - wanna know - wanna know now!
I got to know - got to know - got to know now!

I-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i - Im willing and able,
So I throw my cards on your table!
I wanna love you - I wanna love and treat - love and treat you right;
I wanna love you every day and every night:
Well be together, yeah! - with a roof right over our heads;
Well share the shelter, yeah, oh now! - of my single bed;
Well share the same room, yeah! - for jah provide the bread.

Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that Im feelin?
Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that Im feelin?
Wo-o-o-oah! oh yes, I know; yes, I know - yes, I know now!
Yes, I know; yes, I know - yes, I know now!

I-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i - Im willing and able,
So I throw my cards on your table!
See: I wanna love ya, I wanna love and treat ya -
Love and treat ya right.
I wanna love you every day and every night:
Well be together, with a roof right over our heads!
Well share the shelter of my single bed;
Well share the same room, yeah! jah provide the bread.
Well share the shelter of my single bed

7/10/08

Sausagegate

I was just made aware of this video. It pretty much sums up our news coverage in Milwaukee, and is yet another reason why I love it here.


How about that Russ Kirkpatrick coverage? My favorite part:
"... as the sausages passed the pirates dugout, the first baseman Randell Simon took a swing at the Italian sausage. Now the Italian sausage tripped and fell under another sausage as you can see there..."

7/3/08

Little Silvio



So I get into the 4th season of The Sopranos to find that all of this time I somehow missed the fact that Little Steven plays Silvio Dante. I was floored for a minute. I knew the guy looked familiar. I never put two and two together because Little Steven is the last person I would think of as a serious actor. How the hell did David Chase pick him? Was he watching an old Springsteen video and thought, "you know, I bet that guitarist that's dressed like a gypsy would make a good capo."

Unbelievable. What's more, Stevie does an admirable job. By the way, don't post any comments on how I am 8 years behind on my t.v. dramas.

7/2/08

The Bad List

Back in the day (we're talking 1989) my buddy Stack and I came up with something we called "The Bad List." It was a list of all things we thought were cool. Back then, when you saw something like a cool car, you would say "Man, that car's BAAiAD." The list included diverse things like people: Christopher Walken and Muhammad Ali; music groups like A Tribe Called Quest (that's right, I represented back then); and inane stuff like Mountain Dew and dualies. Anything that sparked creativity. Well, here's the first installment of the resurrected Bad list: A list of Badasses I know. It's not comprehensive, it's not ranked in order of badness, either. It's just a taste.










1. Anthony Bourdain - Travels all over the world, gets loaded with the locals, and eats good food. He once dedicated a show he did on Mexico to all of his Mexican employees at his restaurant, saying something like they formed the backbone of the restaurant industry. Congrats, you made the bad list, buddy.


















2. Do you know who this guy is? If you don't you should be weeping, because you don't know one of the baddest badasses of all time. Aron Ralston was hiking out in Utah and, well, just read the Wikipedia excerpt: Ralston, a student of mechanical engineering and French at Carnegie Mellon University, was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. At Carnegie Mellon, he served as a Resident Assistant, studied abroad, and was an active intramural sports participant. He left his job as a mechanical engineer with Intel in 2002 to climb all of Colorado's "fourteeners", or peaks over 14,000 feet high. While he was on a canyoneering trip in Blue John Canyon (near Moab, Utah), a boulder fell and pinned his right forearm, crushing it. After five days of trying to lift and break the boulder, a dehydrated and delirious Ralston bowed his arm against a chockstone and snapped the radius and ulna bones. Using the dull blade on his multiuse tool, he cut the soft tissue around the break. He then used the tool's pliers to tear at the tougher tendons. Although he didn't name which brand (other than to say it was not Leatherman), he did describe it as "what you'd get if you bought a $15 flashlight and got a free multi-use tool". After Ralston was rescued, his arm was retrieved by park authorities and removed from under the boulder. It was cremated and given to Ralston. He returned to the boulder and left the ashes there.
BAM! One of the baddest badasses of all time. Think you could do that?


















3. Bethany Hamilton. Probably the 2nd most badass of all badasses of all time. Another Wikipedia excerpt:

On October 31, 2003, Hamilton went for a morning surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai with friends Alana, Byron and Holt Blanchard. Around 7:30 a.m., she was lying sideways on her surfboard with her left arm dangling in the water, when a 14 ft tiger shark attacked her, ripping her left arm off just below the shoulder. If the shark had bitten 2 inches further in, the attack would have been fatal. Bethany had lost 60% of her blood that morning. Her friends helped paddle her back to shore, and fashioned a tourniquet out of a surfboard leash around what was left of her arm before rushing her to Wilcox Memorial Hospital. Her dad was supposed to have a knee surgery that morning but she took his place in the operating room.

Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing. Three weeks after the incident, she returned to her board and went surfing again. Initially, she adopted a custom-made board that was longer and slightly thicker which made it easier to paddle. She has observed that she has to kick a lot more to make up for the loss of her left arm. After teaching herself to surf with one arm, she has again begun surfing competitively. She is now back to using competitive performance short-boards again.

In 2005, with one arm, Bethany took 1st place in the NSSA National Championships, a goal she had been trying to achieve since before the shark attack.


The only reason she ranks 2nd in my book is because she didn't amputate her own arm like Aron, but still was plenty badass enough to not only survive, but to attack the tiger shark, chewing all of the fins off of it with her teeth, then shoving the shark's head up its own ass, leaving it twirling around in a mad circle of misery for eternity. Bad. Ass.

















4. You hipsters done shooting your wad over Amy Winehouse? Good, then meet Betty LaVette. She's the real deal. You want to sing the blues? You want soul? Then how about hearing it from someone who has been screwed over by industry people and dealt with hardship for OVER 40 YEARS. Most wussies like me would have quit a long time ago, becoming a plumber or an HVAC technician by now. Not her. She played every shitty hotel on earth for 50 bucks a night. She has soul, guts and heart. Put on one of her albums and you'll be weeping in your hands like a 4-year old who dropped their popsicle. Plus, she was born in Michigan, which adds badass points, as well as having a last name that includes the classic example of american power and iron: the Vette.

















5. Bruce Lee - Here's a picture of Bruce handing Chuck Norris a plateful of his ass. There's no more to say. Let's move on.


















6. John Cage - This guy had enough sack to put on a performance unveiling his brand new piano composition, in which he sat down at his piano and did jack shit for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. Then he got up and left. If 10% of art students had this much guts, they would be revolutionizing art. Instead, they're ripping off Cy Twombly and Rauschenberg. John Cage: a real artistic badass.

















7. Yep.



















8. Eastwood. Yeah, a little typical to be on this list. But he's not on here because he was Dirty Harry, or because he was in all of the Spaghetti Westerns. He's on here because of Unforgiven. Not only does he play a reluctant badass, but his writing and directing reveals a character with human flaws and displays the frailty and sense of helplessness that comes with aging, overcome only by digging deep down to expose the badass that still lies beneath. That and the fact that he is a politician and an accomplished jazz pianist. Renaissance man. Badass.
















9. Lauryn Hill - After spanking everyone with "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," she stepped away.

"For two or three years I was away from all social interaction. It was a very introspective time because I had to confront my fears and master every demonic thought about inferiority, about insecurity or the fear of being black, young and gifted in this western culture. It took a considerable amount of courage, faith and risk to gain the confidence to be myself. I had to deal with folks who weren’t happy about that. I was a young woman with an evolved mind who was not afraid of her beauty or her sexuality. For some people that’s uncomfortable. They didn’t understand how female and strong work together. Or young and wise. Or Black and divine. People need to understand that the Lauryn Hill they were exposed to in the beginning was all that was allowed in that arena at that time. There was much more strength, spirit and passion, desire, curiosity, ambition and opinion that was not allowed in a small space designed for consumer mass appeal and dictated by very limited standards. I had to step away when I realized that for the sake of the machine, I was being way too compromised. I felt uncomfortable about having to smile in someone’s face when I really didn’t like them or even know them well enough to like them. I had to fight for an identity that doesn’t fit in one of their boxes. I’m a whole woman. And when I can’t be whole, I have a problem. By the end I was like, I’ve got to get out of here."

Badass move.

















10. See the lady in the middle? Don't mess with her. Her name is Nell Hamm. Know what she did? She was hiking with her husband when a mountain lion attacked her husband. While the lion was eating his face and peeling back his cap, she picked up a 4-inch log and clubbed some lion ass - that is - when she wasn't stabbing it in the eye with a bic pen. She then strung it up and skinned it with her teeth, cut the strips of meat from its body and dried it on the open boulders, turning it into jerky which she then used to feed the mountain lion's children before stomping their colons and all future colons of that particular mountain lion family.

















11. Peter Voulkos - In case you were clueless, the badass in the picture is shirtless and has a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He was a famous ceramic artist. So famous he can stand around without a shirt on with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth while he tells an assistant what to do to his clay. I could tell you that he is the father of the abstract expressionist movement in clay, and that he started the ceramics culture in California when he had a ceramics firing in the parking lot of UC Berkely which prompted the fire department to show up, or that he once bribed an entire city council to commission him with a public sculpture by taking them out to a strip club and getting them drunk (the strip club had a high-wire act, too!) But that might take away from the badass picture you see above. Oh, and he was from Montana, which doubles his badass rating.

















12. He is from Jersey. He is nicknamed the Boss. And in my opinion he stomps serious Bob Dylan ass. He is my hero and a hero for all blue-collar, working class people in America, because time and time again he stands up for us. He needs no name. He is the Boss.


















13. The Zohan - Anyone who does push-ups without using his arms, catches flying things with his ass cheeks, sports the world's biggest bush, catches bullets with his nostril, and "services" old ladies at the salon while making them "silky smooth" is a badass. Bonus points for pounding rednecks and swimming like a dolphin. Supporting badass nomination for John Turturro, who sports his best role since "Jesus" from The Big Lebowski.

That's all for now. Think you have a Bad List nomination? Send it to me or post it here and I'll consider it.

6/30/08

The Curmudgeon

I have been a curmudgeon lately on my blog. And I sort of like it. But today I am going to push that attitude aside because it's time for a list!

6/25/08

Juno


















I was feeling good the other day because Juno arrived in the mail. Every critic known to man has praised this "perfectly clever and perfectly paced" film. Here's a brief example:
"Sweet, perceptive, sharp and near-perfect, Juno is a memorable film that will still be great viewing decades after its release." - Brian Webster, Apollo Guide

So I load the DVD tray with this "near-perfect, memorable film that will still be great viewing decades after its release" and promptly vomit my tostada all over the duvet. I skipped the temptation to blast the opening illustrated sequence because hand-rendered type and illustrations are so ubiquitous now. (Poster idea: "Hand Rendered Type is Faded.") But we get about 5 minutes in and we are graced with Rainn Wilson as a convenience store clerk. As soon as he said, “That's one doodle that can't be un-did, home skillet,” I blew chow all over. Jesus. The next 90 minutes or so chronicles all things Diablo Cody deems cool. "OOh, see, I am going to reference obscure indy-punk artists. Look how clever I am, I am going to have my character talk on a hamburger phone and all girls can call each other 'dude'. Oh, I know - Anti-folk is big in New York, let's have an anti-folk indy soundtrack. I rule!!!"

Hey Cody, here's an idea, instead of blowing your budget on actors, you can just replace them with cardboard cutouts of said actors, BECAUSE THAT'S HOW THIN AND ONE-DIMENSIONAL THEY ARE. "Look, here's Rainn Wilson talking like me, now here's Ellen Page talking like me, now Jason Bateman is talking like me." This is a perfect example of what a former film buddy of mine calls "masturbatory theatre."

The low point came when Page and Bateman are hanging out in the basement naming classic punk bands and then comparing Dario Argento and Herschell Gordon Lewis. Horror is cool! Somehow I forgot. Oh wait, I turned 28 at some point and then had better things to do.

It might not be a good idea to play Too Cool for School for 3/4 of the film and then expect me to give a shit during the final act. See? This is one of the things that got on my nerves when I lived in Minneapolis (guess where Cody lived?): If you throw a rock there, you'll hit a hipster. And that's fine with me. It's the hipsters who try really, really hard to be the hippest hipster that get me. I don't care about Dario Argento or the fact that you talk on a hamburger phone, or that you order the Tokyo Rose at Spyhouse, or that you think graphic designers are cool, or that Rainn Wilson is your poster boy, or that you wear leg warmers. Just admit that sometimes you eat at Arby's, sometimes you have to ride in an SUV, and sometimes you go to the Mall of America, and sometimes you just have to pick your nose. You are not above anyone. You just think you are, which makes you a

presumptuous ass.



And I love the Twin Cities. I love it there. There are so many good things going on. But kids, you are not in New York. No matter how many times you visit New York and how many friends you have in New York, you are not in New York. You are in a city in the middle of a wheat field. You live in the Midwest. Come join the rest of the sweatshirt-wearing, cheese curd-eating, Midwest Airlines-flying, Cubs and White-Sox cheering region of dairy farmers and plumbers.

Maybe I'll rename myself to Demonio Laramie, or Diavolo Cheyenne. Or maybe Djevel Casper, Davo Gillette, or possibly Debiru Rock Springs. How about Satan Madison? Diabolus Memphis? Whatever. I can't stand people naming themselves after state capitals or semi-big cities. Judy Chicago and Robert Indiana were cool when they did it. You are not. And neither is your putrid, self-masturbatory puppet show.

6/24/08

Cock N' Bull










"Hey Frederick, where have you been lately?"

That's right, I was on a week-long photo shoot, visiting some of Indiana's gems. First Terre Haute, then Brownsburg, and finally to Lafayette.

Terre Haute: I will say that I had completely forgotten how people act when they are in a boring environment too long. Just being there with professional camera equipment meant that I was more or less Spielberg. Every person that walked or drove by had to either stop to examine what I was doing, or holler something. Seriously. Every person. Is it that boring there? Nothing else going on? At some point, I was waiting for the mayor and chamber of commerce to present us with a key to the city and a complimentary loose meat sandwich. Instead, I got the douchebag brigade, with squadron after squadron of hecklers and car horns, interspersed with the genuinely courteous and curious citizen. I enjoyed the citizens, and ignored the douchebaggery.

The people of Brownsburg pretty much left us alone. I guessed that since they live close to Indy, they probably have seen a photographer before, and thought my presence was commonplace.

The most interesting place was Lafayette, which had more activity than the other two towns, and had one of the great motels in America: the Best Western. It had a conference center, and was constructed in the 70's. Back then the Westerns had themes, and this one was English Manor, mixed with Cannonball Run. They had a Polynesian resort thing going on with the pool, the elevator was straight out of New York 1977, they had actual coffee mugs in the rooms (!), and the toilets were killer. I haven't seen such a fine example of 70's preservation. And I haven't seen a toilet like that since I went on the Kohler tour. Even the lounge was cool, which was appropriately named "The Cock N' Bull."

I was going to post a few examples, but the blogger interface is giving me trouble, so I will post them here on my phpgraphy site.

6/11/08

Huh?

Oh, how long was I sleeping?

1/30/08

A Good Time to Leave Minnesota








It's a good time to leave Minnesota. I don't say this because I didn't like it. I love my 'sota, but I don't think I could stand living there knowing that the three most beloved sports figures in the Twin Cities have left in less than a year.

First it was KG, who is legendary in his own time. You know you're good when you pop up in rapper's lyrics. I once went to a Wolves-Nuggets game back in 2002. Denver had a terrible team and the game was pretty much meaningless. I watched in awe as KG basically destroyed Denver. He never took a night off. He was so hyped, he pretty much supplied all of the electricity for the Target Center. Watching him, I knew I was watching a very special ballplayer, the rare breed of athlete who wears his heart on his sleeve, and plays to his full potential night in, night out. He actually cared about the game. He's a baller for life.

Then the beloved Torii Hunter went to the Angels in the off season. I've seen him stretch a single to a two-bagger, then distract the pitcher enough that he stole third virtually uncontested, because he knew exactly when to steal. He came up clapping his hands and shrugging to the Twins bench, his infectious smile and laugh lighting up the dugout. I'll really miss his media interviews. Now he'll be making $90M. Not bad for a poor kid from an Arkansas ghetto.

And the real reason I'm writing this: Johan Santana signed with the Mets yesterday. He is the best pitcher on the planet. No really, he is. Ask the experts. He is lights-out. And I know that the people of Minnesota loved him there.

It kills me to see these guys in other jerseys. For me, Hunter and Santana will always be Twins, and KG will always be synonymous with Minnesota. There is a black hole in the athletic universe, and it is in Minneapolis. What a wasteland. By the way, Randy Moss will be playing in the Super Bowl. Just to beat the dead horse.

1/12/08

HELGUERA’S INDEX







I read Helguera's Index a couple of months ago in Art On Paper, and I thought it was an interesting piece (especially the statistics about art schools) and wanted to pass it on. You can find it in the July/August 2007 issue. Also, you can download a PDF of it here.

Percentage of people in the art world who think panel discussions are boring: 74
Percentage of people in the art world who believe that contemporary art does not contribute to public political dialogues in a significant way: 79

Average tuition cost for a four-year B.F.A. at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, including living expenses: $162,480
Number of years that it would take to repay a school loan in this amount, including interest, with monthly installments of $350: 44
Estimated percentage of artists who still make art ten years after leaving art school: 10
Estimated percentage of art school graduates who succeed financially: 1
Estimated percentage who also succeed critically: 0.2

2006 sale price of Jasper Johns’ False Start, the highest price ever paid at auction for a living artist’s work: $80 million

Number of people in Burundi who could cover their living costs for one year with this amount: 200,000

Number of New York elected officials who defended The Drawing Center against being ousted from the planned International Freedom
Complex after a New York Daily News article stated that the center sponsored “Anti-American art”: 0
Percentage of people in the art world who feel that people in the art world publicly support each other but secretly antagonize each other: 53
Percentage of people in the art world who feel that people are not sincere when they socialize at an art opening: 87

Percentage of those who often pretend they know an artist when they actually don’t for fear of being looked down upon: 50

Number of pages of advertising in the Summer 2007 issue of Artforum: 400

Ratio of advertising to editorial pages: 2.8 to 1

Monthly salary for a curator at the Centro Wilfredo Lam in Havana: $55

“Representation fee” that Agora Gallery in New York charges artists: $3,000
Average amount a performance artist gets paid to perform in the United States: $500
Average amount writer Malcolm Gladwell requests as a speaking fee: $30,000
Fee that the Guggenheim Museum charges to conduct a feasibility study for a Guggenheim in any given city: $1,000,000,000

Commission percentage that Damien Hirst’s Mexican gallery takes from the sale of his works: 5
Estimated number of people working at Jeff Koons’ studio: 50
Total staff at Bronx Museum of the Arts: 30

Number of assistants James Rosenquist hires to help make his paintings: 0

Number of Google hits for the Venice Biennale: 1,200,000

Number of Google hits for the Museum of Bad Art, an online museum: 9,510,100

By Pablo Helguera. Sources: artcritical.com; artnet.com; Bloomberg.com; Ford Foundation museum stats; Hermetic Lounge art world poll, 2004;
New York Times GDP stats; ocregister.com; Saatchi Gallery forum; SAIC’s tuition costs from the institution’s website.

1/11/08

The Urban Forest Project








My buddy Sunshine sent me this link yesterday for the Urban Forest Project.

"Basically, it's sponsored by the AIGA, and in each of the 3 cities they had a contest where all designers and students in that city could submit a design featuring a tree. The tree is a metaphor for sustainability, and whichever designs won, they would print onto huge banners and hang throughout the downtown area to raise awareness about sustainability and reforestation. After the banners were taken down, they sewed them into bags, using old seat belts from cars, and old bicycle tires as the straps and handles."

In short, it's right in my wheelhouse. I'd like to do something like this in Milwaukee.

I also found out that the Urban Forest Project is partly sponsored by Worldstudio Foundation, an awesome nonprofit that offers mentoring programs to underserved youth and scholarships that enable economically disadvantaged students of art, architecture and design to continue their studies.

They believe that creativity is able to affect tremendous social change. And they don't just talk about doing good. They actually do it.

So a big shout-out to Sunshine for sending me the Urban Forest link, because I never would have known about Worldstudio. Information rules.

1/9/08

Alewife quote of the day

I think I will start a daily quote post, all featuring actual quotes from my co-worker, who I'll call ALEWIFE JUROR (a half-assed anagram for her name,) just to protect her online identity. Alright, here's day one:

"Well, DON'T steam my thing."

1/8/08

Wanted: Green Workers








The sprouting of green businesses has been growing so fast, there is a shortage of qualified workers. Check out the NPR Story about what companies are facing in terms of filling these positions. Also, I found the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, which has a listing of courses, workshops and certification courses that educate and train the next generation of "green collar" workers.

1/4/08

Barack!








Congratulations to Barack Obama, who won Iowa. You're my hero.

1/3/08

Dinner!!








Um, my guess is that this guy has a DUI.

1/2/08

The Holidaze

I can tell that we're still in the holiday mentality.

An imagined conversation in the cafe at work:

Guy: "What's this?"
Me: "Oranges"
Guy: "Are they made of chocolate?"
Me: "No. They are natural. They came off a tree."
Guy: "Do they have nougat in them?"
Me: "Dude, it's fruit."
Guy: "How about caramel or peanuts?"

Silence.

I go back upstairs.

ShopDropping








During the crazy holiday season, you may have encountered strange things in retail stores. Shopdropping has become a more popular activity in recent years. I remember reading things about it back in '02 and '03, mostly on anti-advertising blogs and in art magazines. It is becoming mainstream.

Shopdropping.net is a great place to learn and share information on this popular form of culture jamming. If you are an artist, this may be an important and useful method of getting your message out there.

Here's a New York Times article about it from Times Daily.com.

1/1/08

It's January 1

Happy New Year! May this year be happy and fruitful.