Friday, May 17, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Observations on the Art Market 5.15
Sometimes it seems as if the goal of every artist isn't to create art but to own a gallery to hang their still yet to be created art in. Jonathan Grossmalerman has said that artists today ask themselves what good an artist is without a gallery and the answer is always not much. He sarcastically added maybe the fact that no one wants to show your work is a sign.
I can't say the thought of owning a gallery has never crossed my mind but I always leaned towards dreams of curating in a museum of some sort. If I did open a gallery I know just the place to do it. Seoul, as in Korea. There is a total lack of galleries in Korea supporting local artists. Even the vaunted Larry Gagosian doesn't have a gallery In Korea and it seems every time I open an art mag he is opening a gallery in some dark alley somewhere. At a time when Asian markets are exploding (China, Hong Kong) Korea is the most isolated art market in the world. As an example Hwang Dal Seung is one of the largest gallery owners in Korea and the driving force behind the largest Korean art fair yet the Asian Hotel Art Fair is held in Hong Kong.
There are a few reasons for this. The first is the unique philosophy of many Korean artists. They are more interested in the creation of the art and the personal meaning it may have than any public reaction. It's unique in that it's not the prevailing philosophy today but it's something I totally understand because often I think the same way.
The other reasons have more to do with the traditions and legalities of the Korean art market, or maybe I should say lack of legalities. A few years ago it was found Shin Jeong-ah, an art professor and curator, had forged her academic record and embezzled gallery money for which she spent two years in prison. At the same time works by artists such as Kwon Ok-yeon and Do Sang-bok were put up at auction but than exposed as forgeries. The auctions were canceled at the last minute. These are just a few examples but there are many others.
Samsung, LG, and Hyundai and three of the largest corporate sponsors of art in the world but in Korea itself art transactions are very secretive. Until 2011 there were no taxes at all on works of art or art transactions, now any work over 60 million (approx. $50,000) is taxable but not if involves a Korean artist. At the same time the law also allows works of art to be regarded as corporate assets so in most cases individuals aren't responsible for the taxes the very same law levies. Korean art collectors don't release specific price or transaction information so I have no clue how taxes are going to be collected.
Traditionally art is a favorite form of bribe in Korea because there is so little oversight. One of the more prominent cases involved Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee who resigned in 2008 and was convicted of operating a bribery slush fund. He was later pardoned by the South Korean government and returned to his position at Samsung.
More recently art has become the favored way to launder money* in South Korea. This has become a world wide problem, The New York Times ran an article on it just days ago, but South Korea's tradition of secrecy aggravates the problem.
So upon further review maybe my Seoul gallery is a bad idea.
*A non-Korean example happened in New York last month when charges were filed against the New York dealer Helly Nahmad charging that he worked "to launder tens of millions of dollars on behalf of the illegal gambling business." Also there is a book being published this month on this subject, "Money Laundering Through Art: A Criminal Justice Perspective" by Fausto Martin De Sanctis. De Sanctis has a Doctorate in Criminal Law from the University of São Paulo’s School of Law and is currently on a Brazilian court specializing in money laundering.
I can't say the thought of owning a gallery has never crossed my mind but I always leaned towards dreams of curating in a museum of some sort. If I did open a gallery I know just the place to do it. Seoul, as in Korea. There is a total lack of galleries in Korea supporting local artists. Even the vaunted Larry Gagosian doesn't have a gallery In Korea and it seems every time I open an art mag he is opening a gallery in some dark alley somewhere. At a time when Asian markets are exploding (China, Hong Kong) Korea is the most isolated art market in the world. As an example Hwang Dal Seung is one of the largest gallery owners in Korea and the driving force behind the largest Korean art fair yet the Asian Hotel Art Fair is held in Hong Kong.
There are a few reasons for this. The first is the unique philosophy of many Korean artists. They are more interested in the creation of the art and the personal meaning it may have than any public reaction. It's unique in that it's not the prevailing philosophy today but it's something I totally understand because often I think the same way.
The other reasons have more to do with the traditions and legalities of the Korean art market, or maybe I should say lack of legalities. A few years ago it was found Shin Jeong-ah, an art professor and curator, had forged her academic record and embezzled gallery money for which she spent two years in prison. At the same time works by artists such as Kwon Ok-yeon and Do Sang-bok were put up at auction but than exposed as forgeries. The auctions were canceled at the last minute. These are just a few examples but there are many others.
Samsung, LG, and Hyundai and three of the largest corporate sponsors of art in the world but in Korea itself art transactions are very secretive. Until 2011 there were no taxes at all on works of art or art transactions, now any work over 60 million (approx. $50,000) is taxable but not if involves a Korean artist. At the same time the law also allows works of art to be regarded as corporate assets so in most cases individuals aren't responsible for the taxes the very same law levies. Korean art collectors don't release specific price or transaction information so I have no clue how taxes are going to be collected.
Traditionally art is a favorite form of bribe in Korea because there is so little oversight. One of the more prominent cases involved Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee who resigned in 2008 and was convicted of operating a bribery slush fund. He was later pardoned by the South Korean government and returned to his position at Samsung.
More recently art has become the favored way to launder money* in South Korea. This has become a world wide problem, The New York Times ran an article on it just days ago, but South Korea's tradition of secrecy aggravates the problem.
So upon further review maybe my Seoul gallery is a bad idea.
*A non-Korean example happened in New York last month when charges were filed against the New York dealer Helly Nahmad charging that he worked "to launder tens of millions of dollars on behalf of the illegal gambling business." Also there is a book being published this month on this subject, "Money Laundering Through Art: A Criminal Justice Perspective" by Fausto Martin De Sanctis. De Sanctis has a Doctorate in Criminal Law from the University of São Paulo’s School of Law and is currently on a Brazilian court specializing in money laundering.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Observations on Art 5.13
I don't think I've ever seen a video quite like this before. I've seen music videos done to art and art videos with soundtracks but this is a classic format music video that was painted. Canadian artist Carine Khalife created the landscape by painting on glass while an overhead camera captured the changing images of flowing oil. The images were than transferred to her computer where she edited them with Stop Motion Pro. Khalife explained the process on her website.
BLOWN MINDED from Carine Khalife on Vimeo.
'Blown Minded' is from the album SHAPESHIFTING,
by YOUNG GALAXY on Paper Bag Records!
Produced, directed, animated and editited by Carine Khalife.
Carine Khalife
Young Galaxy
Paper Bag Records
Paint on glass animated short film
BLOWN MINDED from Carine Khalife on Vimeo.
'Blown Minded' is from the album SHAPESHIFTING,
by YOUNG GALAXY on Paper Bag Records!
Produced, directed, animated and editited by Carine Khalife.
Carine Khalife
Young Galaxy
Paper Bag Records
Paint on glass animated short film
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day
It's time for my Mother's Day post again and if you've been reading for any length of time you've seen it before. As I said last year it's was what I felt when I first wrote it, what I felt every year since than, and what I feel now. It just seems to get a little longer every year. Last year I added a quote from Mitch Albom's novel "For One More Day," the story of a man and his mother and how one might spend one more day with a lost relative. "But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin."
This year I'm going to add this quote from John Lennon which I think explains so many of today's problems. "When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life."
This year I'm going to add this quote from John Lennon which I think explains so many of today's problems. "When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life."
Here is my original Mother's Day post from 2010.
"I was reading a Mother's Day blog post today that had me thinking. As you all know by now thinking is not always a good thing for me to be doing. But I could so relate to this girl because her mom had died of cancer at a young age.
I owe my mom so much. She was the first one to see something special behind my dark eyes. She would drag me around Philadelphia museums when I was barely old enough to walk. She was the first one to stick my fingers in paint, which was something that ended in quite a mess if I remember it correctly. And the first one to take me to wander the streets of New York and to visit MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) which was one of her favorite places in the world. She always praised my art but was also never afraid to criticize it.
When, as a teenager, I suddenly informed my parents I was gay she just hugged me and went about her business like I hadn’t just changed her life forever. From than on I knew I would be fine. She was the one who, in my rebellious high school years, kept me grounded when things could have gone so wrong.
She was always there for me until one day she wasn't.
Everything I’ll ever be as an artist I owe to my mom and every time I look at a painting I wonder what she would have thought of it. Every day I wish I could thank her somehow.
I’ll leave you with a very fitting quote from the blog I read.
'This mother’s day be sure to tell them how much you care for all they have done for you, for you may never get another chance. Learn about their lives and you may learn something about yourself.'"
Happy Mother's Day
Friday, May 10, 2013
Observations from the Coffee Shop 5.10
I tend save way too many links to articles I want to read later, sometimes I do read them and sometimes they just clutter Chrome until I delete them. The coffee shop is where I do most of my catching up so for the hell of it here is a selection from this week.
There was an article in New York Magazine about NYU Abu Dhabi, a satellite campus that opened in 2008. Their website says it was built because of "a common belief in the value of a liberal arts education" which isn't exactly something that comes to mind when I think of Middle Eastern states. It might have more to do with the $50 million NYU Chancellor Sexton pried from the UAE, a major reason Sexton is known as the Emir of NYU at it's New York City campus. What intrigues me is the new campus they are building on Saadiyat Island, a satellite of a satellite if you will, which is scheduled to open in 2014 and will be located next to the Louvre and Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi of course.
Last Sunday the Daily Mail ran a Piers Morgan interview with Lindsay Lohan. Normally I wouldn't have cared at all but the headline caught my eye so I saved it and ended up reading it. When I finished I quite literally pitied Lohan because the girl has absolutely no clue. In it she says she only did cocaine ‘four or five’ times, that rehab is a joke, and that she doesn't consider herself a heavy drinker. The interview than ran with copies of her six mugshots including the two for DUI. Morgan notes that the interview was done a few weeks before Lohan was scheduled to begin a new court ordered stay in rehab which will be at least her fifth visit in the past six years. Lohan also takes Adderall which, in my un-professional opinion, explains so much..
Also last Sunday The New York Times ran a story on the U.S. Supreme Court and how the Roberts' court could be remembered more for its pro-business decisions than upcoming social ones. It mentions a report in The Minnesota Law Review which ranked all the 36 SCOTUS justices since 1946 for their pro-business votes and found five of the current court's were in the top ten. It has all been very hush hush so you may not have noticed.
Along the same lines comes a column from The Huffington Post about warehouse workers who are suing Amazon over unpaid time, up to an hour, that they spend in security checkpoint lines at the end of their shifts. I love Amazon but maybe if they paid their workers a little bit more they wouldn't have to stop and frisk them on the way out. Amazon reported profits of $621 million in 2011, they reported an actual loss in 2012 but that was due to investing in new product lines.
So you see sometimes my thinking goes off in weirdly differing tangents. I didn't even mention that the Pulse Art Fair began yesterday or that the Frieze begins today.
There was an article in New York Magazine about NYU Abu Dhabi, a satellite campus that opened in 2008. Their website says it was built because of "a common belief in the value of a liberal arts education" which isn't exactly something that comes to mind when I think of Middle Eastern states. It might have more to do with the $50 million NYU Chancellor Sexton pried from the UAE, a major reason Sexton is known as the Emir of NYU at it's New York City campus. What intrigues me is the new campus they are building on Saadiyat Island, a satellite of a satellite if you will, which is scheduled to open in 2014 and will be located next to the Louvre and Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi of course.
Last Sunday the Daily Mail ran a Piers Morgan interview with Lindsay Lohan. Normally I wouldn't have cared at all but the headline caught my eye so I saved it and ended up reading it. When I finished I quite literally pitied Lohan because the girl has absolutely no clue. In it she says she only did cocaine ‘four or five’ times, that rehab is a joke, and that she doesn't consider herself a heavy drinker. The interview than ran with copies of her six mugshots including the two for DUI. Morgan notes that the interview was done a few weeks before Lohan was scheduled to begin a new court ordered stay in rehab which will be at least her fifth visit in the past six years. Lohan also takes Adderall which, in my un-professional opinion, explains so much..
Also last Sunday The New York Times ran a story on the U.S. Supreme Court and how the Roberts' court could be remembered more for its pro-business decisions than upcoming social ones. It mentions a report in The Minnesota Law Review which ranked all the 36 SCOTUS justices since 1946 for their pro-business votes and found five of the current court's were in the top ten. It has all been very hush hush so you may not have noticed.
Along the same lines comes a column from The Huffington Post about warehouse workers who are suing Amazon over unpaid time, up to an hour, that they spend in security checkpoint lines at the end of their shifts. I love Amazon but maybe if they paid their workers a little bit more they wouldn't have to stop and frisk them on the way out. Amazon reported profits of $621 million in 2011, they reported an actual loss in 2012 but that was due to investing in new product lines.
So you see sometimes my thinking goes off in weirdly differing tangents. I didn't even mention that the Pulse Art Fair began yesterday or that the Frieze begins today.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Observations on Art 5.7
 |
| Madame Jeanne Lanvin, 1937 |
The fragrance is called Me and was created by the artistic director and head designer of Lanvin in Paris, Moroccan born Alber Elbaz. For years I've had a habit of wearing a men's cologne from Ralph Lauren so it take something special to intrigue me. In this case it was the main tone (highly technical term) which in Me comes from the zest of sparkling blueberries.
The history lesson comes in when you start to look at Lanvin itself. Founded by Madame Jeanne Lanvin in 1889 Lanvin is the oldest fashion house in Paris. Madame Lanvin was heavily influenced by art and the walls of her Paris apartment were covered with works by Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Eugène Boudin, and Edouard Vuillard.
During a trip to Florence, Italy Lanvin saw a fresco by Fra Angelico, an Early Italian Renaissance painter, in which he used the shade of blue now known as quattrocento. The word quattrocento comes from the Italian word for 1400 and refers to the art and culture of 15th century Italy. Lanvin developed her own variation of quattrocento blue, now known as Lanvin Blue, that became the signature color of her fashion house and the Coke of color. To this day Lanvin blue's formula is secret and since 1923 has only been manufactured in Lanvin's own dye factories in France.
In the review the designer Alber Elbaz describes the woman he thinks would wear his fragrance. "She is, or would like to be, a Parisian, because our house is so evocative of France's capital and because the city is so synonymous with sensuality and elegance."
Blueberries and Paris, yes I was intrigued and maybe now you understand why.
*There is a good selection of quattrocento art work on The Metropolitan Museum of Art's art history timeline. Also the Met's Costume Institute has a large collection of vintage Lanvin designs. And some trivia, in January 2010 the French postal system, Le Post, issued limited edition Lanvin stamps.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Observations from the Window 5.6
This is out of nowhere but I opened the paper yesterday morning and there was a full page ad for a new Woody Allen movie. I do not like Woody Allen or his movies, enough said.
A bit of trivia I didn't know until recently. Malala Yousafzai's father Ziauddin named her after Malalai, the Afghan Joan of Arc, who died during the 1880 Battle of Maiwand carrying ammunition to the Pashtun fighters at war with the British in 1880. If you somehow don't know anything at all about Malala this article from the Vanity Fair is a good place to start.
Deloitte’s 2013 Art and Finance report was released last month and 83% of the collectors said emotion was the most important reason for their buying art. Nothing surprising there but 59% rated investment as one of the primary reasons for buying art, up 20 points in just two years, and 29% think art is a good place to keep their money in troubled economic times. This is something I have never quite understood because if the economic times are troubled who has the money to buy the art that you invested too much of your own money in? Worldwide auction prices have actually declined in each of the last two years. Art investment funds are growing in popularity too with 7% seeing them as their primary investment. So as their primary investment they invest in the volatile art market and the volatile stock market at the same time. Good luck with that.
Anthony Weiner, even the name seems to bother me now. It's not so much what he did that bothers me but that he was stupid enough to do it at all. Now he may run in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York pitting him against Christine Quinn which which means his name is everywhere lately and that doesn't help at all. But worst of all he did what he did while married to Huma Abedin, former and future top aide to Hillary Clinton, and her I just adore. Just another reason I think Hillary should run for President. Here is a link to an old Vogue article about Abedin, pre-Weiner, which suits me just fine.
I was reading a review of a new fragrance, yes such things exist and yes I wrote that, but you are going to have to wait until later for that story.
It was a full weekend and I hope you had a happy Cinco de Mayo and a winning Derby Day. I also hope you didn't drink too much tequila and bourbon, it's not a good combination. Not that I would know.
A bit of trivia I didn't know until recently. Malala Yousafzai's father Ziauddin named her after Malalai, the Afghan Joan of Arc, who died during the 1880 Battle of Maiwand carrying ammunition to the Pashtun fighters at war with the British in 1880. If you somehow don't know anything at all about Malala this article from the Vanity Fair is a good place to start.
Deloitte’s 2013 Art and Finance report was released last month and 83% of the collectors said emotion was the most important reason for their buying art. Nothing surprising there but 59% rated investment as one of the primary reasons for buying art, up 20 points in just two years, and 29% think art is a good place to keep their money in troubled economic times. This is something I have never quite understood because if the economic times are troubled who has the money to buy the art that you invested too much of your own money in? Worldwide auction prices have actually declined in each of the last two years. Art investment funds are growing in popularity too with 7% seeing them as their primary investment. So as their primary investment they invest in the volatile art market and the volatile stock market at the same time. Good luck with that.
Anthony Weiner, even the name seems to bother me now. It's not so much what he did that bothers me but that he was stupid enough to do it at all. Now he may run in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York pitting him against Christine Quinn which which means his name is everywhere lately and that doesn't help at all. But worst of all he did what he did while married to Huma Abedin, former and future top aide to Hillary Clinton, and her I just adore. Just another reason I think Hillary should run for President. Here is a link to an old Vogue article about Abedin, pre-Weiner, which suits me just fine.
I was reading a review of a new fragrance, yes such things exist and yes I wrote that, but you are going to have to wait until later for that story.
It was a full weekend and I hope you had a happy Cinco de Mayo and a winning Derby Day. I also hope you didn't drink too much tequila and bourbon, it's not a good combination. Not that I would know.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Observations from the Coffee Shop 5.3
Yesterday afternoon the Rhode Island House voted 56-12 to approve the state's same sex marriage bill and it was almost immediately signed into law by Governor Lincoln Chafee. Rhode Island becomes the tenth state to allow same sex marriage and completes a continuous block of states in New England where marriage is now legal. Now it's up to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware to link that block with Maryland where marriages began this year. Delaware's house narrowly passed a same sex marriage bill this week and a vote in the Delaware Senate could take place as early as next Tuesday. If the bill passes the state senate Governor Jack Markell has said he will sign it.
The Rhode Island law will take effect on August 1st and one of the first weddings could be between Rhode Island Rep. Frank Ferri and his partner who will be celebrating their 32nd anniversary that same day,
In a sign of the quickly changing times when the Rhode Island Senate voted on the bill it marked the first time a party caucus had voted as a unanimous block in any of the ten states.
The Republican Party caucus.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Observations 5.2
I hadn't planned on writing anything about Jason Collins but I find myself needing to. I'm sure you know by now that I can be a passionate sports fan at times so I understand what a historic moment Collins' coming out is. The first out gay athlete in one of the testosterone fueled major sports leagues, and in the NBA at that. With everything that has happened recently in the gay community it's easy to understand why some people might not think of it as a big deal or why others might think the story didn't get the coverage it deserved. There is some truth in both of those thoughts.
What I can't understand, and I'm admittedly treading on very thin ice here, is why some lesbians just can't be happy about it. I had heard some complaints about the coverage a few times when I saw a post in a blog I sometimes read (I'm not going to say which) and decided to say something.
The complaints I heard and the blog post I read said that there is a double standard in, for lack of a better word, out coverage because there have been out lesbian basketball players, soccer players, and golfers for years now. This fact is always followed by the mention of Martina Navratilova. Navratilova is a hero of any gay athlete of any age, including field hockey players, but she played tennis and not a team sport. Also always mentioned is Brittney Griner who recently came out with very little coverage. Griner was the WNBA's number one draft pick this year but the WNBA is far from a major league and wouldn't exist without the NBA.
The Collins story shouldn't be about some sort of out coverage double standard but about the stakes for Collins who plays in the highest profile league of all. It's about Sports Illustrated, money, exposure, and most of all whether Collins will have a job next year as an out gay NBA player. To put in the simplest terms it's about the fact that what Collins had to say was heard and heard loudly in every corner of the sports world.
Jason Collins coming out is a historic moment for gays, gay athletes, and for the sports world in general. Saying it's a male sports thing or being totally petty by saying women did it first doesn't help anybody at all but is an attitude that I see surfacing at other times. I just let it bother me this time because so many good things are happening right now. The fact that some of us can't seem to relax and enjoy the moment is the hardest thing of all to understand and I think they should actually talk to Martina Navratilova. She seemed to be the happiest person of all when Jason Collins came out.
As I said I'm on thin ice here. In agreeing with the blog post I mentioned the writer of a comment said all real lesbians think the same. If you don't hear from me for an abnormally long time please send a search party.
What I can't understand, and I'm admittedly treading on very thin ice here, is why some lesbians just can't be happy about it. I had heard some complaints about the coverage a few times when I saw a post in a blog I sometimes read (I'm not going to say which) and decided to say something.
The complaints I heard and the blog post I read said that there is a double standard in, for lack of a better word, out coverage because there have been out lesbian basketball players, soccer players, and golfers for years now. This fact is always followed by the mention of Martina Navratilova. Navratilova is a hero of any gay athlete of any age, including field hockey players, but she played tennis and not a team sport. Also always mentioned is Brittney Griner who recently came out with very little coverage. Griner was the WNBA's number one draft pick this year but the WNBA is far from a major league and wouldn't exist without the NBA.
The Collins story shouldn't be about some sort of out coverage double standard but about the stakes for Collins who plays in the highest profile league of all. It's about Sports Illustrated, money, exposure, and most of all whether Collins will have a job next year as an out gay NBA player. To put in the simplest terms it's about the fact that what Collins had to say was heard and heard loudly in every corner of the sports world.
Jason Collins coming out is a historic moment for gays, gay athletes, and for the sports world in general. Saying it's a male sports thing or being totally petty by saying women did it first doesn't help anybody at all but is an attitude that I see surfacing at other times. I just let it bother me this time because so many good things are happening right now. The fact that some of us can't seem to relax and enjoy the moment is the hardest thing of all to understand and I think they should actually talk to Martina Navratilova. She seemed to be the happiest person of all when Jason Collins came out.
As I said I'm on thin ice here. In agreeing with the blog post I mentioned the writer of a comment said all real lesbians think the same. If you don't hear from me for an abnormally long time please send a search party.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Observations from the Road, six months after the storm known as Sandy
A combination of things sent me south this past weekend. The weather was gorgeous, I had a chance to check out the beach house in Stone Harbor, and a friend was already doing some work in the Asbury Park area so we decided to pack Foxy and take her on the road for a much needed drive. I honestly didn't think of it being six months after Sandy hit but that it was.The photo I posted with this isn't the best I have ever taken but I have a reason for using it. The road in the photo is Ocean Drive between Avalon and Stone Harbor and it's a road I have driven every summer since I learned to drive. Actually, like many things at the shore, I drove on it before I learned to drive but that's another story. Ocean Drive runs from one end of Seven Mile Island to the other, through Sea Isle City, Avalon, and Stone Harbor. I have driven it in at sunrise in search of fresh sticky buns, in thunder storms, in pre-dawn fog, and at sunset going to Sylvester's for seafood. To me personally it's one of the great roads in the world and seeing a road closed sign on it was one of the saddest things I ever saw. Supposedly going to be open before Memorial Day but if not I'm going to borrow my brother's jeep and drive it anyway.
Stone Harbor itself is in good shape considering it had record rainfall amounts along with record flood levels during the three high tides of Sandy. I was talking to someone who stayed in Avalon during the storm and than helped friends farther north. He said one thing he will never forget is the sight of people's lives piled up at the curb. Furniture, rugs, shore stuff, all water damaged and covered with sand and muck. One of my favorite shops, the Suncatcher, is just off the ocean on 2nd Avenue in Stone Harbor and had two feet of water inside at the worst of the storm but you couldn't tell now other than the total newness of everything inside. Fred's Tavern was also in good shape but nobody would admit whose idea the new menu item was. I passed on the Indonesian Shisk Kabobs and stuck with the burgers and beer.
The barrier islands north of Atlantic City were much more heavily damaged than those to the south even though Sandy came ashore roughly over top of AC. We didn't spend much time in the north but there was one spot I had to see. To most people one of more lasting images of Sandy is the Star Jet roller coaster sitting forlornly in the surf of Seaside Heights. The coaster is still there now, drawing flocks of tourists along with the flocks of sea gulls, but its removal is supposed to happen before Memorial Day too. I'm not so sure about that one.
Politically one thing I found was how dearly refusing to quickly pass Sandy relief legislation cost the Republicans. So many people I talked to swore it would be a long time before they even thought about voting Republican, they felt betrayed. I should note that two Republican lawmakers from Texas, including Senator Ted Cruz, who voted against Sandy aid now want federal aid for West, Texas following the fertilizer plant explosion. I think the Texans should wait a respectable length of time, say six months.
Governor Chris Christie for one doesn't fall into the same category as Congressional Republicans. In Jersey Chris Christie is still a god on the level of his idol Bruce Springsteen.
Many people are still hurting, they can't afford to rebuild homes, the insurance money they get doesn't begin to cover the cost of building at the shore today, and some places are in areas that no longer can get flood insurance. FEMA was working on new flood elevation maps when Sandy hit and now many older homes are in the FEMA's most restricted zones and must be raised or see their flood insurance rates rise from $1,000 a year to $15,000. In the end I think many people will sell family homes to developers who will build more of the million dollar monsters that even now line parts of Ocean Drive.
Sadly I think one of the lasting effects of Sandy on the Jersey shore will be the acceleration of some parts of it turning into a rich man's playground.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Observations on Art 4.29
A quick Monday morning post maybe which may into the "is it art?" category. I don't know if it is or isn't art, I suppose if a tattoo is art this is art, either way it's pretty damn cool. It's semi-nsfw but just say it's art and wave off whoever is looking over your shoulder.
Calligraphy on Girls // Shura from Fierce Frog Films on Vimeo.
Shura Chernozatonskaya is a Brooklyn painter who was born in Moscow. Shura has an MFA from the New York Studio School, had a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum 2012, and has work on display at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.
Calligraphy on Girls // Shura from Fierce Frog Films on Vimeo.
Shura Chernozatonskaya is a Brooklyn painter who was born in Moscow. Shura has an MFA from the New York Studio School, had a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum 2012, and has work on display at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Sunday Observations 4.28
We finally got a gorgeous spring weekend in the northeast. The way things seem to go now it will probably be the only one we get before the weather jumps right into summer so I decide it was time to check on my shore, the first time I have since Sandy. I knew it was still there but I wanted to see for myself and the need to get Foxy on the road, combined with the weather, made for a good excuse. I'll post more on what we found later.
Last Sunday HBO's Game Of Thrones finished with possibly the so far best scene of the series. I've read five of the books so I knew what was coming but Daenerys' kick ass "I understood every word you said and now you are going to die" scene was done to perfection. Here is a link to the scene, until YouTube takes it down, but the real reason for writing this was I get to use a pic of the mother of all dragons with this post. The problem with GOT is that now we probably wont see Daenerys again for a couple of weeks. Hopefully I'm wrong because that would be such a shame.
On a totally different topic the Out Magazine Gay Power list for 2013 is out and it looks like the news and political people are taking over with Senator Tammy Baldwin, Fox News' Shepard Smith, The New York Times' Nate Silver, CNN's Anderson Cooper, and Rachel Maddow all in the top ten. You can find the complete list here. By the way, I'm not sure if that out pun was intended or not.
A few months ago there was an article in The New York Times T Magazine about a site called Gidsy which I never got around to playing with. As the article says Gidsy "enables travelers and other novelty seekers to find activities organized by what it refers to as "real people." Rather than get into it I'll let you read the article but what is fun is picking a city and searching for tours to see what comes up. Paris has a number of catacomb tours (one called the "Empire of Death" tour), a Monet's Garden bike tour, a chocolate and pastry tasting tour, and to finish the day either a pub crawl or a champagne tasting tour. A visit to New York could be highlighted by the Jewish Gangstas of the Lower East Side Tour, a mobile scavenger hunt, or a paranormal and ghost tour. After any of those tours the three hour historic pub tour, in which you "hear stories of the pubs' histories and the famous drinkers who frequented them," might be a necessary end to your day in New York. It seems like a bargain at $75 but only if drinks are included.
Have you ever read "Reamde" by Neal Stephenson? If you have you seriously need to read this article in Times about former Phillies and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, "Rhode Island and the Fall of 38 Studios." I swear when I read the article I immediately thought of the Stephenson novel because it seemed like Schilling's company was writing its very own version of T'Rain. If you never read the novel that makes absolutely no sense but the article is worth reading if only for the political side of it.
For some unknown reason the isn't a Sunday Times to be had in South Jersey today and I have no idea how I am supposed to function without one. I suppose I'll have to make do with sticky buns and coffee.
Last Sunday HBO's Game Of Thrones finished with possibly the so far best scene of the series. I've read five of the books so I knew what was coming but Daenerys' kick ass "I understood every word you said and now you are going to die" scene was done to perfection. Here is a link to the scene, until YouTube takes it down, but the real reason for writing this was I get to use a pic of the mother of all dragons with this post. The problem with GOT is that now we probably wont see Daenerys again for a couple of weeks. Hopefully I'm wrong because that would be such a shame.On a totally different topic the Out Magazine Gay Power list for 2013 is out and it looks like the news and political people are taking over with Senator Tammy Baldwin, Fox News' Shepard Smith, The New York Times' Nate Silver, CNN's Anderson Cooper, and Rachel Maddow all in the top ten. You can find the complete list here. By the way, I'm not sure if that out pun was intended or not.
A few months ago there was an article in The New York Times T Magazine about a site called Gidsy which I never got around to playing with. As the article says Gidsy "enables travelers and other novelty seekers to find activities organized by what it refers to as "real people." Rather than get into it I'll let you read the article but what is fun is picking a city and searching for tours to see what comes up. Paris has a number of catacomb tours (one called the "Empire of Death" tour), a Monet's Garden bike tour, a chocolate and pastry tasting tour, and to finish the day either a pub crawl or a champagne tasting tour. A visit to New York could be highlighted by the Jewish Gangstas of the Lower East Side Tour, a mobile scavenger hunt, or a paranormal and ghost tour. After any of those tours the three hour historic pub tour, in which you "hear stories of the pubs' histories and the famous drinkers who frequented them," might be a necessary end to your day in New York. It seems like a bargain at $75 but only if drinks are included.
Have you ever read "Reamde" by Neal Stephenson? If you have you seriously need to read this article in Times about former Phillies and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, "Rhode Island and the Fall of 38 Studios." I swear when I read the article I immediately thought of the Stephenson novel because it seemed like Schilling's company was writing its very own version of T'Rain. If you never read the novel that makes absolutely no sense but the article is worth reading if only for the political side of it.
For some unknown reason the isn't a Sunday Times to be had in South Jersey today and I have no idea how I am supposed to function without one. I suppose I'll have to make do with sticky buns and coffee.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Observations 4.25
Have you ever read something and suddenly have one of those 'light bulb moments' because you realize it's exactly what you thought about the subject? I know it happens all the time but yesterday I had it happen three times and they each involved a different subject. For what it's worth here are the three paragraphs which I'm not going to comment on. Just read them yourself and see what you think.
In HuffPost Arts and Culture John Seed wrote a column called "Has the Art Market Gone Medieval?" In it he wrote; "Just what can you say about a society in which a picture is worth so much when so many are facing poverty? It boggles my mind that one of the four existing versions of Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" sold last year for $119.9 million. Such a vast sum of money could do so much to relieve suffering, but instead it was spent on a painting of suffering. As the prices of famous works of art rise, are we in some way going backwards in history?"
From Foreign Affairs comes "Generation Kill: A Conversation With General Stanley McChrystal." Near the end of the interview, which was done in December, McChrystal says something very timely given what happened at the Boston Marathon. "And although to the United States, a drone strike seems to have very little risk and very little pain, at the receiving end, it feels like war. Americans have got to understand that. If we were to use our technological capabilities carelessly, I don't think we do, but there's always the danger that you will, then we should not be upset when someone responds with their equivalent, which is a suicide bomb in Central Park, because that's what they can respond with."
The third is also Boston related but more related to the NRA's theory that a gun in every hand is the best answer to gun violence. This is from Susan Milligan, "Boston Proves It Takes a Village" in US News and World Report. "And what would an individual do with an AR-15? Go door-to-door, ferreting out a man who might well have another bomb on him? That's one way to wind up dead, perhaps taking a lot of other people with you."
Finally I have to throw in a tweet I just saw as I was writing this. Today is the dedication of former President Dubya's library and in honor of that event I want to share this from the Daily Kos' David Waldman (@KagroX); "Bush says he has "no desire . . . to enhance my standing." I wouldn't sweat it, dude."
Twitter doesn't get much better than that.
In HuffPost Arts and Culture John Seed wrote a column called "Has the Art Market Gone Medieval?" In it he wrote; "Just what can you say about a society in which a picture is worth so much when so many are facing poverty? It boggles my mind that one of the four existing versions of Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" sold last year for $119.9 million. Such a vast sum of money could do so much to relieve suffering, but instead it was spent on a painting of suffering. As the prices of famous works of art rise, are we in some way going backwards in history?"
From Foreign Affairs comes "Generation Kill: A Conversation With General Stanley McChrystal." Near the end of the interview, which was done in December, McChrystal says something very timely given what happened at the Boston Marathon. "And although to the United States, a drone strike seems to have very little risk and very little pain, at the receiving end, it feels like war. Americans have got to understand that. If we were to use our technological capabilities carelessly, I don't think we do, but there's always the danger that you will, then we should not be upset when someone responds with their equivalent, which is a suicide bomb in Central Park, because that's what they can respond with."
The third is also Boston related but more related to the NRA's theory that a gun in every hand is the best answer to gun violence. This is from Susan Milligan, "Boston Proves It Takes a Village" in US News and World Report. "And what would an individual do with an AR-15? Go door-to-door, ferreting out a man who might well have another bomb on him? That's one way to wind up dead, perhaps taking a lot of other people with you."
Finally I have to throw in a tweet I just saw as I was writing this. Today is the dedication of former President Dubya's library and in honor of that event I want to share this from the Daily Kos' David Waldman (@KagroX); "Bush says he has "no desire . . . to enhance my standing." I wouldn't sweat it, dude."
Twitter doesn't get much better than that.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Observations from the Coffee Shop 4.23
The past few weeks showed just how strong parts of our society are, the people and law enforcement, and how pathetically weak and short sighted other parts are, many politicians and members of the media. The strong speak for themselves so as I always seem to do I'll dwell on the pathetic but I'll finish with something positive.In voting down gun background checks, if you can call it voting down, many senators showed they were above all afraid of the NRA but also afraid of a minority segment of their own constituency. I don't even think I would say it's money, I think many members of Congress now think of it as a career choice and not an honor to serve. They think of holding their position more than anything else. President Obama seems to despise them so much he doesn't want to deal with Congress at all and that is his weakness because a heavy dose of Presidential arm twisting might have swayed enough votes to change the outcome. Maybe 'we the people' are a little weak too because we don't expect better from Congress so in the end we get we we deserve. Time and the next few elections will tell.
In the days after the surviving Boston bomber was caught the same weakness showed itself in a different way. Senators who just the week before would not even allow background checks because of second amendment concerns were ready to suspend any other rights of an American citizen because, as Sen. Lindsey Graham said, 'the homeland is the battlefield' now. I might have to agree with Graham but not because of terrorism. I would agree because of the 30,000 gun deaths in this country every year, the equivalent of a Vietnam War in the streets every two years.
On the media side CNN showed itself so eager to be the first with information that it was often first but also often wrong. The obvious time was when they, along with Fox News and others, reported arrests had been made in the Boston case, when in fact they hadn't been, than spent all afternoon in meltdown explaining why they had been wrong. Not to be outdone the Rupert Murdoch owned New York Post on Thursday ran a photo on its front page of two men it claimed were the bombers. They were incorrect on both counts. This may be the first time in my life that I wished I was a lawyer because if ever there was an ironclad defamation of character suit this is it.
CNN would have been better served by sending Anderson Cooper to West, Texas where he could cover the fertilizer plant explosion that left 14 people dead. Reuters reported that the plant was storing over 1,000 times the ammonium nitrate allowed by law yet most in the media and Congress shrug it off as a sad industrial accident. The Boston Marathon bombing has been called the worst terrorist attack in The United States since the World Trade Center attack yet in the time since than 300,000 have died in gun related deaths and over 60,000 have died in work related accidents. I'm trying to understand why Boston is a terrorist attack yet Newtown and West, Texas are not.
Now the positive. Last week CNN did most of its reporting live from the streets of Boston. I mention that for a reason because the best reporting last week came from Pete Williams of NBC who did all his reporting from a studio in Washington. If you wanted the first info CNN was the place to look but if you wanted the correct information you waited for Williams. Watching events unfold in Boston last Friday was like watching a season of 24 in a single day yet MSNBC/NBC did a totally awesome job all day with Williams reporting from the studio while Katy Tur and others in the streets of Boston. Tur was doing live reports when I woke up Friday morning and still doing them sixteen hours later when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured in a shrink wrapped boat in a Watertown backyard. They really do deserve any praise they get for their coverage.
4/24 update - To add a little to the pathetic part of yesterday's post I give you Senator Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana. When asked why he had voted against background checks Baucus simply said "Montana." Just two weeks later Montana doesn't seem to matter as much as Baucus announced yesterday that he would not be seeking re-election in 2014. Likely to run for his seat is Montana governor Brian Schweitzer a popular Democrat with a 56% approval rating. Baucus blamed Montana for his vote but a poll released in March showed 79% of Montana voters were in favor of background checks.
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