Family, feminism; a rambling discourse

Wednesday evening found me at my Mother’s house out in rural Illinois. The television was full of coverage of the death of Senator Edward Kennedy and I came across – accidentally – a documentary on the local PBS channel about the Kennedy family; namely father Joe, Senior, Joe, Junior, John, Robert and Edward/Teddy. There was occasional mention of the women in the family but the focus was on the men. It turned out to be a fascinating program. I learned a lot about that period of American history, as well as some of the less known, less savory aspects of the famous family. Mom joined me a few minutes into the program and got interested as well.

Lilkes retro heaven

Found via Adam & Andy, Lilkes.com is an amazing collection of images by journalist, collector and serious blogger Jim Lilkes. His website offers everything from daily updates (the Daily Bleat) to vintage matchbooks, comic book covers, everything you ever wanted to know about Minneapolis, extremely bad mystery movies and his regular column in the Star Tribune.

But it is his impressive collection of vintage postcards featuring motels and diners that stirred the very cockles of my 50’s typeface loving heart.

The intrepid Jim Lilkes not only features images of the trendy establishments of yesteryear, but also – when possible – includes photos of the modern day addresses for contrast and comparison.

How to Sneak into a Museum Without Paying

Via the unfortunately named ArtFagCity website:

“Offering sage advice for the penniless and pocket-heavy alike, artist Peter Coffin’s “How to Sneak into a Museum Without Paying” project features hand drawn maps from contributors around the globe. Thus far he’s culled a handful of floor plans and museum maps instructing readers how on how to beat the system and avoid museum fees for a forthcoming bookzine published by Printed Matter.”

Visit the site for more hand drawn maps and details.

Those of us fortunate enough to be in the St. Louis region have been spoiled by the world class St. Louis Art Museum which has no admission fee to enter the museum.

Merciless Tread

“Seven guards were shortsighted enough to wind up in my way. Five were lucky enough to be knocked aside with a few broken bones. Two ended up under my feet, and their body armor cracked and their vulnerable biological bodies squished beneath my merciless tread.”

The Automatic Detective, by A. Lee Martinez

Quote of the Day: Scott Bateman

“Keep government outta my Medicare! Oh, wait.”

From Scott Bateman’s video comic “Newt Gingrich vs. healthcare”

Orwell Diaries online

George Orwell’s diaries have been converted into a blogsite.

Tim Dorsey: Atomic Jellyfish

“You never want to be tied up by a obsessive compulsive person. We over-engineer everything!”

Tim Dorsey’s Serge Storms, educating two henchmen as he gift wraps them with duct tape in the incredibly educational, entertaining and culturally enlightening novel Atomic Jellyfish. Dorsey’s books are often described as a roller coaster ride of one sort or another, but the analogy is true. When you take a ride on one of his stories you never know what is happening next, which way is up and where you’re going to end up. That you learn more than ever conceived possibly about Florida history and culture is just gravy on the killing spree.

If you’re having a so-so day, the dialog will lift your spirits as the bodycount rises.

Today listening to Atomic Jellyfish in the car (I read the book a year or so ago) I learned about all sorts of great places I should have visited when living in Lauderdale. Like the Wreck Bar at the historic Yankee Clipper hotel on Lauderdale Beach. Dorsey claims that the windows behind the bar show the interior of the hotel pool. Is this true? Why didn’t I ever visit such a place? Ah well, lost opportunities.

From Bill Moyers Journal

“…and I walked through the fairground gates. And I didn’t know what to expect. I just assumed that it would be, you know, like a health– booths set up and people just getting their blood pressure checked and things like that.

But what I saw were doctors who were set up to provide care in animal stalls. Or they’d erected tents, to care for people. I mean, there was no privacy. In some cases– and I’ve got some pictures of people being treated on gurneys, on rain-soaked pavement.

And I saw people lined up, standing in line or sitting in these long, long lines, waiting to get care. People drove from South Carolina and Georgia and Kentucky, Tennessee– all over the region, because they knew that this was being done. A lot of them heard about it from word of mouth.

There could have been people and probably were people that I had grown up with. They could have been people who grew up at the house down the road, in the house down the road from me. And that made it real to me.“

Wendal Potter, former PR executive for CIGNA Insurance, interviewed by Bill Moyers, journalist. For the full interview, including why Potter finally left his incredibly well-paid job and is speaking out about the travesty that is our health care system, go here.

Soylent Green Is Not Coming!

Good news, everyone! According to Virginia Fox, Republican from North Carolina, speaking from the floor of the US Congress, the Republicans have a health care plan that will GUARANTEE that elderly people will not be put to death.

Whew! Cause we all know that the current Democratic plan going through Congress is based on mandatory euthanasia for everyone over a certain age. Go figure. Wonder if Obama’s mother-in-law knows what he has (deviously) planned.

Seriously. I know I have friends who vote Republican. WTF? First this birther lunacy. Now Democrats want to put old people to death? Is there a big batch of LSD in the water that I’ve missed?

Quote of the day

“If the financial media couldn’t predict the worst recession in a generation, why would you rely on them for advice about what the future holds?”

Dan Smolin, Huffington Post, as reported on Dangerous Intersection.

This is one of the reasons I rarely listen to the happy chattering voices on Marketplace on NPR. Mr. Smolin nails it.

Library book

Cover design by Abner Graboff. Paperback book courtesy of the St. Louis Public Library. There are more recent issues of this book online, but the covers on those volumes feature a cute, excessively floral image of a little old lady and little old man. I actually prefer the funky cover shown above. Who is Abner Graboff? Funny you should ask. Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog asked the same question and looked it up for us.

Quote of the day

Finally, an explanation for all those damn drop shadows…

“Many desperate acts of design (including gradients, drop shadows, and the gratuitous use of transparency) are perpetuated in the absence of a strong concept. A good idea provides a framework for design decisions, guiding the work.”

Ellen Lupton, from Quotes On Design

Graphic Gandhi

“This stamp was issued by India in the year 2000, showing Gandhi’s flowing cape taking on the shape of India. Gandhi, a firm believer in self-reliance as well as non-violence, would have spun that cape himself. His choice of weaving by the masses as an act of non-violent resistance wasn’t as curious as it seems: it required discipline, involved women and inspired his countrymen and -women to spurn British-made textiles.”

Found on Strange Maps (also in blogroll on right.) Simplicity is the epitome of design. Great design is often a simple image that manages to convey multiple meanings. Like ice skating, ballroom dancing or ducks gliding serenely across the surface of the water, the genius is where it looks easy and effortless. Like a line drawing that manages to convey both Gandhi and the nation of India.

For Saturday night at the bar

Bear trap necklace

“Whether it’s ‘Oxidised Black’ or ‘Polished’ sterling silver, this articulated necklace (stick your finger in! It works!) is a bane to miniature bears everywhere.”

From the online store at Lost At E Minor. Is it art, jewelery or playtime after the club?

“…Oarios! Almoazin! Arios! Membrot!”

“There was hidden meaning in the names he must call, the letters he must chant. That didn’t mean he had to approve or even be impressed by them. As he recited the Grand Conjuration, he thought that some magicians might have better served the world by writing crossword puzzles.”

From Johannes Cabal The Necromancer, by Jonathan L. Howard.

Sculpting with shadow and light: Fred Eerdekens

I found the above image on the blog James In Space . The artist is Fred Eerdekens, who sculpts space with objects, lights and shadows. The words on the wall are written by the shadows cast by what at first look like random pieces of wire.

“Holy Spirit Come Home” is created with two light sources and arranged objects. The words are formed by the box tops and shapes that cast the shadows on the surface. The words change with the different lights

Light shining through trees to form the words on the wall. Note that the words are not projected: they are formed by negative space in the sculpture. His website has even more amazing examples. I truly admire the way his mind works. It reminds me of watching Todd Davis at work in the photo studio – manipulating light into unexpected creations.

Speaking of James In Space; visit his site when you have a spare few hours to refresh your mind and inspire your imagination. It’s a roller coaster ride of creativity – appropriate since he is, among other things, a designer for theme parks and movies.

A Reporters Life

Somewhere buried in a small storage room in Ft. Lauderdale (where I have all the stuff that would not fit in my car when I moved up north – and which I’m still paying rent after all these years) is a copy of A Reporters Life; an autobiography by Walter Cronkite

I found the book while on vacation years ago. I picked it up, looking for something to read while on the beach or eating dinner and thought it looked interesting. I spent the next two days pouring over it.

Quote of the Day

“Painting: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic.”
Ambrose Bierce (1842 – 1914), The Devil’s Dictionary

Inspired by a Friday evening visit to the St. Louis Art Museum (open til 9 on Fridays, free admission to special exhibits).

Quote of the Day

“The whole Sarah Palin “phenomenon” has been pretty weird. I’ve tried to figure out why she’s so loved in wingnut world, where even they have to occasionally pick up on the fact that she’s pretty absurd. And I guess I come back to what I usually do: they love her because they thinks she pisses off liberals.
We’re not angry, we’re laughing.”

Atrios, Eschaton news & commentary blog

I’m Allergic To Nature

Shown above is the very prolific Poison Oak – which apparently grows riot in Southern Illinois and around my Mom’s home. Thanks to my former landscaping gig, I’ve become quite allergic to poison ivy, oak and sumac. I still remember my erstwhile employer, as I returned after a miserable weekend and three lost work days (unpaid) still reeling from the toxic steroids used to rid my system of the poison, remarking, “Oh, it’s a good thing you still have the scars so we know you weren’t faking it!”

Dogs, Dragons, Death and Damp

It’s a transliteration week, and it’s only Wednesday.  I realize my mind – and postings – are wandering all over while I use the ridiculous heat as an excuse to hide inside with Minnie the Houseplant (you water her, feed her, she sits there), Cosmo the Escape Artist, Webster the Endless Appetite and Laverne the Bird. Thank you Charlie for having cable TV and a working AC.

Dragon In The Tree

The Dragon In The Tree lives on the edge of perception, coiled about our reality by the slightest grip of translucent scaled claws. The Dragon In The Tree waits for prey distracted by shadows and sunlight playing in the leaves, unaware of the creature lurking among the patterns of light and dark.

A man died several weeks ago

Just before Memorial Day Weekend of 2009 I heard that Perry had been found dead at his home. He had missed a weekly breakfast date with a friend who called, got no answer, so went to investigate as Perry probably assumed he would do.

A note on the door of the house said simply, “Don’t come inside. Call 911.”

A bit muggy…

Monday morning I opened the door in Illinois and was greeted with a blast of fetid, soggy air too wet to qualify for a sauna. Acres of land covered in rainwater – the rain won’t stop these days – and high heat combine to make misery in the key of damp. Arriving in St. Louis (dog sitting for Charlie again) it was less humid in the urban zones. More buildings and pavement offer less saturated ground to exude damp.

Great online comic

From the archives of the webcomic XKCD:

True genius lies in making a point with a few frames and speech bubbles instead of pages of speechifying.