Observations on Art 4.22

I've posted a few timelapse videos over the years, they're something I really love, a love I probably picked up from my roommate in State College who was a film major. I never did anything with that love but maybe that will change next year. At the moment Geoff Tompkinson is one of the best timelapse video producers in the world and one of the few good hyperlapse producers. The now defunct website Inspiredology once called him the man who controls time. Next year he and his wife Liz will be giving one of their workshops in New York and I'm seriously considering attending.

The Independent described hyperlapse as basically "shorthand for large distance stop motion timelapse," hyperlapse is a much easier word to use. When asked the difference between timelapse and hyperlapse Tompkinson answered; "It’s quite similar in that the footage is a series of photographs that are put into sequence and sped up to play at 24 frames per second only, with timelapse it’s normally from a single static position or incorporating a small rail-based move. With hyperlapse, I’m moving the camera long distances during the sequence to offer a very different experience as we can journey around a place or through a building, as opposed to just seeing everything unfold all from one spot." The trick is to transition from photo to photo without the video looking jerky.

Below is Tompkinson's latest video, Moving Through New York.


Moving Through New York from Geoff Tompkinson on Vimeo.
Posted April 8, 2014

Here is a link to the Tompkinson film The Lake which was the overall winner of the 2013 Chronos Film Festival. The festival celebrates the art of altered time perception cinematography including time-lapse, slow motion, and stop motion photography.

Observations 3.13

If you're just a fan HBO's Game of Thrones it would be a dream job. Throw in being a fan of Annie Leibovitz, or just a fan of photography, or just a photographer and it becomes simply a dream. The cover story of the April issue of Vanity Fair, available March 13^th, is a GOT preview called "The Gathering Storm" and the cover was shot by Leibovitz in Northern Ireland.

One bit of trivia in the article is that President Obama, always known to be a GOT fan, receives early screenings of the show. In an e-mail to Vanity Fair the creators of the show replied, "One perk of being the most powerful man in the world: yes, you get to see episodes early."

Above the Leibovitz video is a link to a fourteen minute trailer for Season 4 of Game of Thrones which premiers April 6^th on HBO.

Game of Thrones Season 4: Ice and Fire, A Foreshadowing

link

Published on Mar 10, 2014
Watch Annie Leibovitz photograph the cast in Northern Ireland.
Subscribe to the all-new Vanity Fair channel here.

Observations on Sochi 2.9

Andy Wong, Associated Press

I haven't written in some time but I'm not going to get into that. I'll just say I've been busy with other things and leave it at that for now. It isn't surprising that a combination of two of my loves, sports and photography, snapped me out of that non-posting funk.


What I want to share is quite possibly the coolest thing ever. With the start of the Olympics in Sochi The New York Times launched what they call The Firehouse. It's a real time live stream that streams still photos instead of video. The stream includes photos from the Times along with the Associated Press, Reuters, Getty Images, Agence France Presse, and the European Pressphoto Agency. The name derives from the fact that the photos can stream by quickly and they have no caption or description other than the photographer's name and agency.

I have no idea if it's a one event trial or if the Times will use it for other things. Either way it's pretty damn awesome.

Sunday Observations 8.4

So you should know by now I have a thing for movies where things go boom but rarely if ever has that included French films. Live and learn. I watched a movie called Forces Spéciales (Special Forces) which is about a fictitious hostage rescue mission into Pakistan. I have to admit I did enjoy it even if I was bit confused at times because it's in French but also English and Persian. As for the plot, well if you have ever seen the Bruce Willis movie Tears Of The Sun you get the idea, just substitute the Hindu Kush for Africa. What's also funny is that the French reporter who is taken hostage by the Taliban is played by Diane Kruger who also happened to play Marie Antoinette in the movie I mentioned last week, Farewell, My Queen. For the record Kruger is a German actress.

It may seem like a weird quirk but when I read a magazine article about a woman I always look to see if the writer and photographer were men or women. What made me think of that? Currently a short bio of Kate Upton in the June issue of Vogue which mentions her breasts quite a few times. Both the writer and the photographer were women. The same issue has a nice fashion layout by Peter Lindbergh, "Stardust." I can't say I've ever really wanted to do fashion photography but if I did I like to think it would look something like that. Maybe it's just the motorcycles, or Edie Cambell's eyes, or her short dark hair, I'm not sure.

Who says an advanced art degree is worthless? It seems more and more people are willing to pay to have someone give them a private tour of a museum or a 'cultural excursion' as it is called. A couple of examples are Art Tours in Europe and Art Smart in New York City. The going rate in New York, about $200 per hour with a two hour minimum. I could handle that kind of money but I wonder how much I would have to talk to people because, well, anti-social.

Something in the same line of thought, art degrees not money. It's that time of year when everybody comes out with a list of worst college majors. I wont bother with links but just say that there is a common thread in all of them, art degrees. All the worst ten degree or major lists include Fine Arts, Film, Photography, and Theatre. None of the lists include Art History which either means they think it's a good degree to have, highly doubtful, or they don't even want to admit it exists.

Finally my sister is off on a fishing expedition this weekend. She texted me a photo of her holding a bass she caught and I'm terribly jealous. For a change that isn't sarcasm.

Father's Day

It's become a habit of mine to post the same Mother's Day post every year. It isn't because I'm lazy but because whenever I read it I realize I couldn't say it any better than I already had. I was surprised when I looked back and saw I had written more than one Father's Day post but once again after reading them I'm stuck with the same thought. I can't say it any better now than I did than and so here is what I wrote three years ago.

"I suppose I never mention my dad much, not nearly as much as he deserves. The quiet one of the family, just sitting back and watching as his crazy kids grow hopefully into something worthwhile. If my mom was my early inspiration my dad was the rock I leaned on. The one I go to when everything seems destined to fall apart.

I was the first, and I don’t think he wanted to wait years for ‘the kid’ to come along, so I became the pseudo jock artist at an early age. Of course I hadn't yet thrown lesbian into that mix, even I wasn't that young. I played all kinds of sports before settling on field hockey full time and he was always there. He was always the quiet one but always there for the games, the tournaments, and would drive me to Philly to go to a cool sports shop for sticks.

I am a lot of things because of my dad and a few things despite him, yeah try and guess that last one. I suppose that is how it is with anybody. I’m totally passionate about my sports and at times I am a voracious reader. I have been known to fish, yes fish. While my mom was taking me to New York and museums my dad was sneaking me off to Phillies games and sharing the shear sloppy joy of a cheese steak. I love to play ice hockey, skate, and I always wear hockey skates.

He bought me my first camera telling me, with a wink, that I couldn't paint everything.

And he pushed me to get my masters when I had had just about enough and was ready to give up. Though, to be honest, I always thought he steered me into Art History because he figured I would have a better chance of getting a job and getting out of his hair.

Like I said he is always there."

Happy Father’s Day Dad

Observations on Art 3.24

We stumbled onto a good list in the Art and Design section of Complex magazine's website, "100 Museums to Visit Before You Die." Like I said it's a good list but it doesn't say if it is in any kind of order. I don't see how it can be with MoMA at 56 while the Met is at 3, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is at 4, and the Louvre is at 7. I love the Philadelphia Museum but more than MoMA and the Louvre? No way. Another sure sign of no order is that something called The Simone Handbag Museum in Seoul, South Korea is in the first spot.

Of course everything becomes a competition so we had to compare who had been to what museum and I came out the winner at twenty four. The Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, The Drawing Center, Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, International Center of Photography, Brooklyn Museum, MoMA PS1, The Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Arts and Design, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Phillips Collection, MAD Museum, Andy Warhol Museum, New York Historical Society, Centre Georges Pompidou, New Museum, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, American Museum of Natural History, Musée du Louvre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

A few museums not on the list that I think should be are the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, the Shaanxi History Museum, and Shanghai's Museum of Contemporary Art. I think the list totally neglects Chinese art, the art and culture with the longest history, and concentrates on Japanese art.

Off the top of my head the museums on the list that I hope to get to are the Tate Modern, Palace of Versailles, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, the Vatican Museums, Museo Reina Sofia, and the Hermitage. I suppose I need to spend some time in Europe unless I go to China instead. To bad I didn't win that big lottery last night.

Yes I have been busy but that still leaves 76 museums to visit. One less than that if I skip that purse museum in Seoul.

Sunday Observations 2.10

Friday I had just wanted to write a quick post to get my other drone thoughts out of the way before Nemo hit and my mind spiraled elsewhere. I started with following paragraph so you can see my mind always spirals elsewhere.

But speaking of Nemo, who the hell names a winter storm after a fish? Or maybe it's named after Captain Nemo or maybe I'm just putting too much thought into it and it's nemo as in the Latin word nemo. A storm named "no man." So you see how fast my mind spirals out of control. And now I have a Nemo post started ... but I never finished it. In the end the storm dumped a foot of snow on the Village on its way to terrorize New England where it left almost three feet of snow in some places. After the last few blizzards we had here, not to mention Sandy, a foot of powder on a weekend actually called for some fun. One lasting thought did come out of the storm though and that is damn the Weather Channel. Damn them for starting to name winter storms, damn them for naming a storm Nemo, and damn them for no longer having the hottest weather girls.

Nemo did teach me one thing. You really haven't lived until you have seen Fashion Week people trying to walk in snow in stiletto heels. It was totally worth the trip uptown just to see that rarest of social events.

Have you ever noticed Russian photographers are obsessed with big chunky furniture and Victorian settings? Do they teach that in Russian art schools or are they born that way? I mean seriously, simple and easy to look at they are not.

I was reading an article about population and found a bit of trivia. If it was concentrated as densely as it is in New York City the entire world population would fit in the state of Texas. There really is a smart ass comment in there somewhere which probably involves Rick Perry and contraception but at the moment I can't think of it. Now you might be wondering why I was reading an article from a two year old National Geographic and you would have good reason to. It was because the same month had a good article about the libraries of Timbuktu, the same libraries burned by jihadists retreating from the French in Mali. This too is how my mind spirals out of control but it seems perfectly rational to me.

Finally, Kate Upton is the cover girl for this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, it's her second time on the cover and yes this is important to know.

update - This photo is from Victoria Beckham's V.B. show at the New York Public Library earlier today. I'm only posting it because it could possibly be the only fashion line I've seen that looks like it was designed with me in mind. (Vogue)

Observations on Art 1.30

Two art posts in a row and it's not even Armory time! This may be something totally new. It has nothing to do with a lack of interesting things on my mind, or interesting things pissing me off, just my trying to finally get that balance between art and politics I've been after in both my blog and my mind. I'm not even going to bring up sports today.

I saw this column by Michael Reid in Art Market Monitor and I wanted to share part of it. Reid, who at one time worked for Christie's, is an Australian art collector and dealer. He is writing about the idea that we are all photographers now and by we he means everybody on the planet. It seems an obvious idea but it isn't something I've ever seen thought out before and it's amazing to think that within five years the entire human race will have the ability to take photos or video. What that means to art, not to mention politics and just human existence, is a thought that boggles the mind.

Below are the paragraphs that really had me thinking. In the rest of the column Reid goes into a more collector related slant but as he is a dealer/collector that's to be expected. This should be more than enough to get you thinking but it's worth reading the thing and you can do that here.

"The world of technology and imagery has changed almost every aspect of our lives. Every child born in the world today is a potential photographer. Irrespective of geography or wealth, it is projected that within five years all will have access to a communication device that takes photographs and films. And when I say “all of us” I mean the nearly 7.4 billion projected “all of us” – from the first of the First World, to the new telecommunications boom market of sub-Saharan Africa.

That’s is the killer idea. We are now all photographers, almost every single person on the planet.

With billions of people, hourly taking images, there will be more photographs made in the next five years, than say in the last one hundred years. Digital photography’s chief selling points, the abilities to see the finished product instantly and to take countless pictures without incurring any additional charge, have turned out to be mixed blessings. With effort and cost excised from the equation, photos have become plentiful. And at the same time, as more and more pictures are taken on smartphones, “shared” on social media to all, then lost to the cacophony of the digital universe, meaningful images have become too scarce. However, those photographs that are very good, that are meaningful, those rare few amidst the hundreds and hundreds of thousands, will be greatly valued. Enormously valued for being what they are, much better than the mediocre rest."

Sunday Observations 1.27

Have you ever read a magazine article and get to a point where it says continued on page 46 but when you get to page 46 it says continued from page 46 and the missing section is nowhere to be found? That just sucks. I needed to get that out of the way first.

In the mood for something a little different this morning I watched Ultraviolet on my Kindle while we were had breakfast. To be more precise I watched Milla Jovovich, read the Times, and ate waffles all at the same time. It seemed like a good idea to stay away from any of the Resident Evil movies because that might just seem impolite of me.

Here is some Penn State trivia for you. If you had to guess which sport has won the most national championships which would it be? Don't even guess football, there have only been two. I didn't know the answer so I guessed the women's volleyball team but even they have only won five national titles. It seems like they won more than that because four of those championships were consecutive, 2007-2010. No the correct answer would be the men's gymnastics team that has won twelve. I never knew that.

Something else I never knew is that both Nikon and Canon DSLR chassis are made by the same company, Ju Teng International Holdings of Hong Kong. The thing is I discovered this fact while skimming articles about a new Sony technology that originated in Canon film SLRs but was dropped when Canon went totally digital. The technology is an eye following autofocus that to me seems like more trouble than it is worth because of the need to calibrate your eye to the camera. You can read about it here if you want.

There was an article in The New York Times today about those end of the world as we know it, have your bag packed, I will survive even when the zombies attack type people known as preppers. So maybe the zombie attack is a bit of an embellishment but you get the point. The full extent of my prepping is to keep a full tank of gas and a camera in Foxy to avoid a repeat of Sandy when I didn't have enough gas to get off the island. Somebody in the article does mention the possibility of the bridges and tunnels of Manhattan being closed, which did happen during Sandy, and the need to raft across the river if it should happen again. A raft would be problematical but I remember old beetles supposedly floated so maybe I should just keep an oar in the trunk.

I started the day with Ultraviolet and finished it with Blood Diamonds. I'm not sure what, if anything, that says about me.

Observations from the Window 1.21

Today is Inauguration Day, along with Martin Luther King Day, and President Obama will be sworn in yet again followed by the official celebration of the beginning of his second term. Confused because you thought he was sworn in yesterday? Under the Constitution the president automatically begins his term on Jan. 20. This year the date fell on Sunday so President Obama and Vice President Biden followed tradition by being sworn in at a private ceremony. President Reagan did the same in 1985 which was the last time the inaugural fell on a Sunday. Never let it be said that I didn't teach you something.

Yesterday The Telegraph posted a gallery of photos chronicling President Obama's first term which is totally worth looking at. This photo from the 10^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks just jumped out at me when I saw it. I may have seen it before but I didn't remember it if I did, either way it's just a gorgeous shot. The angles, the broken light falling on the waterfall, the way the leaves frame to top of the shot, it's just one of those photos you look at and nod because you know it's exactly what you would have done in that situation or like to think you would have.

Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy
Tumblr link

Observations from the Window 1.9

You may or may not have noticed but I am never satisfied. It shows when I'm seriously paint because as I have said before I can lock myself away for days until I look at what I'm painting and decide it's finished. I am constantly tweaking the code of this blog in ways you will never see and probably wouldn't see if I told you what I did. I play with embed codes down to the pixel so they are centered, something that can be frustrating because I realize it is all going to look different on a comp with resolution settings that aren't the same as mine. More than once I have changed the whole design only to change it back before ever posting it.

Lately I've been seriously toying with the idea of changing over to a complete dynamic view template. Serious to the point of learning some of the code. One thing holding me back is that there are some things I can't do with a dynamic view that I can with this one. Another problem is everything in this blog is fitted to this template, some of which I wrote myself, so if I change over videos, photos, and other embeds could be totally out of whack, out of whack being a highly technical term for totally messed up. One option is posting dual blogs for a period of time and than gradually phasing out this one. That also has a downside because even with links between the two a new blog is just that, a new blog, with all the problems of a new blog.

My geek side is pretty much just mulling this over in print but you can take it as a warning if you want to. If one day everything looks weird, if it looks like my geek side has suddenly and totally lost it, I have no problem with you letting me know.

I've never had much use for Pinterest, I have enough photo sites with Flickr and Tumblr, but I like the idea of saving what I find online to look at later without making a mess of my browser. I just ran into a newer site called Clipboard that I like. With a browser attachment you can save not just photos but entire web pages or just parts of them to Clipboard. It's CEO and founder Gary Flake says Pinterest is about expressing an aspiration but Clipboard is about getting things done, one of the reasons that the site's default setting is private. As there website says "the Internet is more than two decades old, doesn't it seem strange that the typical way to save something online is to put it into an email or a document?" If you're an online pack rat like me it's a site you might want to check it out.

Did you know the TSA has a job described as a Behavior Detection Specialist? Maybe the Mayans were right after all.

Observations on Art 1.5

These videos always fascinate me, I'd love to do something like it but I know I would never have the patience to finish the year. Years ago Court and I toyed with the idea of my sending her little snippets of video and her editing it into a longer film but neither one of us ever pulled the trigger. Maybe one day.


Just A Second 2012 from Kent Frost on Vimeo

Posted January 4, 2012.
Filmed with the following cameras:
Canon EOS 550D (Rebel T2i)
GoPro HD Hero 2
Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket
Edited using Sony Vegas 10.0 Pro
Music: "Souls" by djSaint (Harold Alexis Remix)

Observations from the Coffee Shop 12.7

I'm hoping to finish an art post later today but I have a few updates to throw out here. The first is just a link to a list of the 38 Senators who voted against the U.N. disabilities treaty, The List: The 38 Senators Who Voted Against The Disabled. As David Badash wrote with the list, "If there is a Hell, these 38 just earned some frequent flyer miles toward a long-term stay there."

by Meryl Schenker

In some better news yesterday was the first day same sex couples could get a marriage licence in Washington and a lesbian couple who had been together 35 years was the first, getting theirs in Seattle just after midnight. They might not have been the first but this couple, 56 year old Larry Duncan and 48 year old Randy Shepherd, certainly has left the most memorable photo of the day. If these two don't become the new poster guys for gay marriage I don't think anybody should. The first day same sex couples can get a marriage licence in Maine is December 29^th and January 1^st is the first day in Maryland.

Finally I know what I said just yesterday about those end of the year lists but this one is just awesome. From BuzzFeed LGBT comes the 60 Reasons to be Proud in 2012. Number has 14 the best photo and number 31 is the best fact but you're going to have to go look yourself.

For now it's back to waiting for those first infallible papal tweets. I can't wait. Happy Friday.

update - The Supreme Court decided today it would hear cases involving both DOMA and California's Prop 8. The DOMA case wasn't surprising because a federal court had ruled a federal law unconstitutional so SCOTUS has the final say. Prop 8 is the surprising one, what they could ultimately decide is whether or not a state can take away a right once it is given. The problem with that is if they say yes same sex marriage is never totally safe. All very confusing but the cases will probably not be heard until maybe March.

Day Without Art

Coinciding with today's World AIDS Day was the 24^th Day Without Art to raise AIDS awareness. Robert Mapplethorpe was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986 and died on March 9, 1989 at the age of 42. Less than a year before his death he took this simple but striking self-portrait that is considered one of his best and most influential works. During that last year of his life he also created the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation which has since raised millions of dollars for AIDS research.

"Robert Mapplethorpe shows himself in a 1988 self portrait withered and dying from AIDS. He grasps a cane topped with a small skull. It is one of the photographs in which every part is not fiercely defined by sharp focus. In stark, silvery black and white, the shiny detail of the skull is chillingly juxtaposed with Mapplethorpe’s haunted face – floating out of focus, receding into darkness." John Ingledew, 2005.

self-portrait, Robert Mapplethorpe, 1988
The J. Paul Getty Trust and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Observations on Sandy 10.31

ghost on flickr

With power in the Village out for at best a few more days, and the temperature plunging into the forties, it just may be time to activate plan B. I hope my dad is ready for company because ready or not it's going to be there soon, probably for the weekend.

The photo above is one I took of a friend of mine during the storm. We were down near Hudson River Park and the visibility was atrocious so I really didn't think I had any shots worth keeping, including this one. But the more I looked at this the more I liked it, sometimes bad visibility is actually a good thing, the lesson being don't delete your shots on first impression.

The flooding in the subways is so bad that something called the "unwatering team" from the Army Corps of Engineers is in the city, I have no idea what it is but I like the name and I wouldn't mind having one of their jackets as a souvenir. Seriously, one of those blue jackets with "Unwatering Team" across the back in big yellow letters. No?

I haven't been online much because cell phone service is getting increasingly spotty around here. I think one of the reasons for that spottiness is mental; Monday was the day of the apocalypse, Tuesday was the day to look around and take a deep breath, and today was the day to get back into it (Ash started living on her cell again), whatever your it happens to be. Another reason is purely technical, the backup batteries on the cell phone towers are going dead and have no way to recharge. The truly ironic thing is that the POTS lines are working just fine, not that anybody has them anymore.

I finally had some news about Stone Harbor today. My dad has had no info and with the spotty cell service I couldn't find anything out myself. What video I had seen from the shore so sad, places I had been totally devastated. Earlier today I had an email from a friend who had heard an interview from Stone Harbor on NPR and said it sounded good. That was so awesome to hear and I hope I thanked her for emailing me.

Finally a fashion note, I've been getting some rave compliments on my Timberland hiking boots, mountain holdovers that have come in damn handy lately.

Happy Halloween

Observations 10.22

Ash showed me an old blog post she thought I would like and I thought I would do my own version of it. I seem to have lost the link but I remember the quote by Robert Brault it started with; "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." It was a list of the thirty little things that matter in her life, small things that normally get overlooked or are taken for granted. Hers was maybe a bit too faith based for my liking but still it was a good idea, for what it's worth here is my much shorter list. It was off the top of my head so don't give it more weight than it deserves.

The color black. Yeah I know, is black even a color? By definition black is a total lack of color because it absorbs all light and with it all color. I had an 'argument' with a professor once because I said if black absorbs all color isn't it a saturation, or combination, of them all? To this day I stick by my argument whenever I see him.

The color blue. Indigo, turquoise, and all 60 shades in between. Good coffee and music. The smile on the face of a total stranger. A warm bath with candles on a cold night. Cold nights. Art museums, granted this isn't a small thing or always cheap but it's my list and I love museums, all the paintings and the smell of old oil paints. Chili peppers.

I haven't had this happen in some time but that feeling I get when I work on a painting than suddenly step back and realized it's finished. You can't understand it unless its happened to you and photos don't count, I've found it just isn't the same.

A good movie, the kind you watch, go back to the beginning, and watch all over again. The moments before a snow storm when it is totally calm and quiet. Walking barefoot on a wet beach. Books, real paper in the hand type books. Getting the Sunday New York Times before the sun comes up, a weirdly priceless thing. Vintage photos. van Gogh. Paris.

My last two are in no way small things but I can't make any kind of list of this sort without mentioning them. Talking to a small group of close friends that have been with me for years, like my sisters. And finally, my family, always my family, any time I can spend with them. I should add I mean my immediate family and not the conservative branch that thinks I am the devil's daughter incarnate.

Did I mention politics? I thought so.

Sunday Observations 10.21

I'm going to try something a bit different that maybe will continue on Sunday's or maybe not, we shall see. I've mentioned before how I constantly take notes on my comp, phone, and even a tablet I always have in my pack. Some of the things I use, some never are thought of again. Some things are worth mentioning but don't really need a full post and those will be the things I use here.

Rihanna by Annie Leibovitz

I have never been fond of cats, I just don't like them, but in the November issue of Vogue there are some shots of Rihanna where she reminds me of, well, a cat. A sexy cat I wouldn't at all mind having wander around the apartment.


I could have used this is my previous post but didn't. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D) is running for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin. I read an opinion from The Washington Times that calls her a 'radical lesbian' and and all but predicts the end of the Christian world should she win. Baldwin would be the first openly lesbian senator in history. What I wanted to share was a comment from a man whose name I forgot to keep and which is now buried deep in the comments section. "Thanks for letting me know about the lesbian menace. I normally don't contribute to out-of-state campaigns, but your article prompted me to donate $100 towards her election. Keep up the good work, and God bless." Sounds like something my dad would write.

Art Review magazine released its annual 'Power 100' list this week and once again I wasn't on it. I don't know what they are thinking.

If you haven't seen it yet President Obama's "Romnesia" speech is totally worth a look. Too funny and it spawned yet another hashtag at Willard's expense, Romneyshambles was the first and still the best. Little known fact, the Romney campaign has actually purchased the rights to certain hashtags, AreYouBetterOff is one, and has them promoted by Twitter. It backfires every time.

Finally, next Saturday night Ohio State will travel to Happy Valley to play Penn State in a game now known as the Ineligible Bowl. The two best teams in the Big Ten, both ineligible for the conference championship or any NCAA bowl bids. Rather fitting. I'm sure there is some lesson in that but I have no clue what it is.

Observations on Art 10.6

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

Annie Leibovitz celebrated her 63^rd birthday a few days ago and also has a new show, "Annie Leibovitz: Master Set," that runs through the end of the year at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. "Each photograph is kind of a landmark for me or a moment or a place, or represents not only someplace in cultural history but also in photography for me,” Leibovitz said in an interview. The 147 photos in the exibit includes shots of John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Mick Jagger, Hunter Thompson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Miles Davis, George W. Bush, the Obamas, Muhammad Ali and Queen Elizabeth II. Probably be well worth seeing even if it is on the campus of Ohio State University. Her Smithsonian curated "Pilgrimage" is also being shown in another gallery of the museum.


Annie Leibovitz at the Wexner Center for the Arts
from Wexner Center for the Arts on Vimeo.

Wexner Center Director Sherri Geldin, Curator at Large Bill Horrigan, and EXPRESS CEO Michael Weiss discuss Annie Leibovitz.

Observations from the Gallery 10.2

Warning, phone generated mini-vent to follow ....

Ash is tired of listening so I'm going to vent hear. I saw something on twitter that just irritated the hell out of me. I didn't bother replying to it because sometimes that's just what people are looking for and besides 140 characters just wouldn't do the job anyway. Also I really don't use twitter to chat, it's more I micro-blog, empty my mind, this is what I'm looking at, reading, or thinking about at any given moment.

October is LGBT History Month and somebody, who shall remain nameless, evidently tired 'history months' tweeted wanting to know when white history month is. Think about that for a minute, when is white history month?

Well let me tell them something. Whites really don't need a month because they wrote history so every month is white history month. For that matter every day is white history day. The history of art, politics, religion, and any other area you care to name. Except for rare instances whites wrote it because the winner writes the history and I can't think of any time in the last millennium where whites weren't the winners. Now that may sound racist at some level but as you can see by the photo I happen to be white so by definition this can't be racist. Hell I don't even like the term white unless we are talking about photography.

Before you ask about Women's History Month read the last paragraph again, insert men wherever I wrote white.

Vent over, Ash thanks you for listening.

Agony and Ecstasy

A small visual postscript to my last post on yesterday's soccer game. I can't even begin to imagine what it feels like to compete at their level. I never even played in championship games of any kind like my sis has. But over the years I did play in enough close games to totally understand either extreme of emotion you feel when the game is over and you find yourself on one side of the abyss, or the other.

Sophie Schmidt, Canada, Doug Mills/The New York Times

Abby Wambach, United States, Doug Mills/The New York Times