Photo of the Week

Is by Lara, whose blog is here: http://laragoesblogging.blogspot.com. This one's called Sunday Morning.

Where are all the revolutionary women artists?

Lately I've been romanticizing the bohemian lifestyle. Checking out places to live in Jerome and Bisbee (bohemian centers both), daydreaming about escaping the killing routine of office life. It usually works like this - I join the bohemians, and in a year am daydreaming about working in an office where they hand you lots of money just for putting up with really inane stuff. ("It'll be ok, I'll just do my stuff on the side.")

I've been through this before. I had my first go at bohemia in the early 90s. It's a lifestyle with a ton of perks, but is really hard to maintain in an obsessively capitalist society. I lived in an old cowboy shack on a ranch, never wore uncomfortable clothes, got to live and work on the navajo reservation for a month at a time (making and selling jewelry with my navajo buds), worked my own hours, went to artist 'salons' every Friday (read, happy hour for artsy types), had a bunch of artists for friends, went to AMAZING parties, and made a meager living at "art". We basically started First Fridays, had a gallery on Art Walk, and I did everything I set out to do except, well, to keep doing it. Everything you hear about artists - that they're flaky, unreliable, and self-centered? Mostly true. It was a hard life. Especially being involved with another one.

At that time I discovered all these great women artists that somehow got left out of the art history classes I had at college. People who made me want to stick with it, maybe even become a real artist. Like Frida Kahlo.

Everyone knows Frida's story - her horrible accident, her lifetime of pain, her pain in the ass husband, Diego Rivera. But she was also a great surrealist artist and a political revolutionary. She housed Trotsky when he was being hunted by Stalin, and supposedly had an affair with him. You know how any type of rebellion now is really just eclipsed by glamour? She didn't give a rip about her unibrow or clothing style - she never caved to critical New Yorkers when she landed there. She was relentlessly, unapologetically, Frida.

Or Remedios Varo - never heard of her, right? She lived in Mexico City and Paris in the 30s and 40s - her work was completely overshadowed by male contemporaries like Andre Breton and Max Ernst. She too was an amazing surrealist painter, arguably better than any of her contemporaries, but she never became famous. She was a revolutionary as well, participating in the dada debates that informed so much of the surrealists' work at that time and later.

And Niki deSaint Phalle. She, her partner Jean Tinguely, and a group of friends built this enormous "Cyclops" sculpture in the middle of a forest outside Paris - it took 20 years to make this incredible piece of work. They never even kept track of their expenses - they just devoted 20 years to developing a sculpture.

Where are these women now? Where are revolutionary women artists? They have to be out there. Now it seems that the only 'revolutionary' women are performance artists whose shtick is a whole entertainment package, or couched in feminism, rather than in just living an authentically revolutionary life and having their art reflect it. Even in music, people who may have started out as somewhat revolutionary, like Chrissie Hynde, they cowtow to mainstream canonization like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Niki deSaint Phalle, she would spit on zis hall of fame craziness... The only woman I can think of that could rise to that level is Bjork. She is not gonna be upstaged by Matthew Barney and seems impervious to criticism. (Yet what do people focus on? Her swan dress. Sigh.)

But anyway. Are women so afraid of being labeled unfeminine, or even, unfemale, that they no longer have the capacity for free thinking? Has art become a commodity that is only valued when it is sold at Sotheby's for upwards of a million? Where are all the bohemians?

Maybe it's just too hard.

Photo of the week

I'm going to start putting in a photo every week by one of my fab photo friends.

Today's is Contemplation, by Carolyn Ryan English.

New web design feedback

What do you think for the front page of my new site? Too flowery/summery for mosaics? Should I do something that has actual pics?

Selfportraitr

The Pace/MacGill Gallery in New York is doing a combination online/in-house photography exhibit aligned with flickr.com. Anyone can upload a photo to flickr.com and tag it with "self-portrait" - the photo then automatically becomes part of the show at the Gallery, which has large monitors set up around a room, and online at www.pacemacgill.com.

The photos appear in rows of thumbnails that enlarge when you click them. There are already over 115,000 photos in the show and it doesn't close until August 25.

You can choose "best of show" by voting for your favorites.

Mickey Mouse as Paul Simonon

A Japanese company, ROEN, is selling a Mickey Mouse figurine inspired by the Clash's London Calling album cover (which was in turn inspired by an Elvis Presley album cover). Thanks, Dave!

LaLa

LaLa is a CD club where you create on list of CDs you have that you don't want, and a list of ones you want but don't have. You browse the database and pay $1 per CD. The thing that makes LaLa stand out is that they give the artist 20% of the sale. Here's what one of the founders, Bill Nguyen, says:
"I'll be the first to advocate that artists should make a lot more from each CD. 'la la' is taking the unprecedented action of giving artists 20% of our revenues from used CDs, no used record store or online site does this today. I'll also promise to work tirelessly to reduce overhead in marketing costs across the industry, so artists can make more from selling their music.

I ask you to do your part by doing the right thing: remove songs from your iPod or PC if you've agreed to send the CD to another member.

If you want to listen to that CD again, just add it to your Want List and help us support that artist you can't get enough of. You'll have access to plenty of good music to enjoy in the meantime. We'll make sure of that!

Respect the artists and Karma will be on your side."

It's pretty cool. http://www.lala.com

A Scanner Darkly

Starts today!! Just a reminder.
MSNBC says it's style over substance. ummmm, duh!

Mexico pics

Mexico is fun. It's like the 70s, but with better beer. Actually, better tequila too. The only way to do Mexico is with good friends and good tequila. I tried it once with just neighbors and beer, and trust me, it's not the same. :-)

Puerto Penasco is the closest ocean beach to Phoenix, for the uninitiated. I hadn't been for years and years. In fact, I had sworn I would never go back in like 1993. But the beach, it's hard to resist. And indeed, Rocky Point has improved in many ways. In fact, we stayed in a resort that had a wide-screen plasma tv and dvd in each room. Not exactly the trailer accomodations I had last time. And I think the beach is whiter. Is that possible? You can still go completely local, but you can also choose escargot in hazelnut cream sauce (oh, yes!) off a wonderful French menu. Just like the real cities in Mexico.

Here are some pics. Actually, Lara took most of them b/c a. she was paying closer attention, b. did not drink as much tequila, and c. has a better camera. (OK, and she's a great photographer too!)

That's Judy, Claudia, and Lara. And the snails. yummy.

Carolyn Ryan English, photographer -- click on title

So my friend Carolyn struggled for years as an artist (of the photographer type) trying to make a living in corporate America. She was unceremoniously relieved of her position on April 20 (4:20!). Because they didn't have any reason to terminate her, considering she won international awards for her work, was featured on most of the company's collateral work, and is well-liked by co-workers and the mucky-mucks, her basically insane boss found a way to eliminate her position. No one is sure why, but as we all know, that's how it sometimes goes.

Her family, friends, and co-workers responded to this "crisis" by congratulating her. In fact, I got this email from Carolyn late in the day after it happened: "Funny, I get layed off and lose my job and EVERYONE says congrats!"

Since then she has been developing a new career as an art and portrait photographer, and has traveled - even fulfilled a lifelong dream of exploring Ireland. AND Paris. Not to mention meeting her birth family, and let's see, what else? Anyway, she has had a busy couple of months.

We are collaborating on a website, and her enthusiasm, and pretty much her work, is inspiring me to get going again on web design. It's fun! I forgot. So I'm showing you a few of her great pictures, and at the bottom is the link to my portfolio of sites (the ones that are still up, anyway).

Congrats again to Carolyn!!! And if you want to drop her a line and tell her how much you like her stuff, email her here.
http://www.estreetgirlphoto.com





here's my portfolio page

Bisbee

I spent the last few days in a cottage right outside Bisbee. It was great - beautiful scenery, cool weather, relaxing. And Bisbee is great. Tons of areas to explore. Here are some pics. There are more at the Flickr link.

Favorite flicks in June

Film of the month:
An Inconvenient Truth - go see it!

Syriana
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Duma
Cache
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Ushpizin

Disappointed in

The White Countess

New stuff

The pots may be veering off into ugliness, but I was hoping for ugly-cute, like Mick Jagger. OK, Mick Jagger when he was 25.

Calvin Trillin's new book

Here's an excerpt from Heckuva Job...

This one is based on Bush's speech of 10-05 to "Brownie."

A qualified guy, I wish I had added.
Your resume's super, even if padded.
We wanted the best to lead FEMA's forces,
And who would know more than a man who knows horses?
You saw that the storm was more than some showers,
And sent off a memo in four or five hours.
You found out that life in the Dome was not Super —
And only a day after Anderson Cooper.
A heckuva job! You know how to lead'em.
We hope to award you the Medal of Freedom.

Sedona fire

I spent the weekend in Jerome, and on Sunday Greg and I decided to go hang out in Sedona for a few hours. We strolled around Tlaquepaque, which is an artsy, open-air shopping place modeled after old-style Mexican markets. Greg and I both used to sell jewelry there, and it's always fun to see what kind of stuff is popular now. I was taking a picture of this tower when I looked to the right and saw smoke billowing overhead.


I went running into Cocopah to get Greg. (Cocopah is a bead store that sells kits to the designed-challenged, but every once in awhile they have some great prices on individual beads. Like yesterday, big pieces of cinnabar for $3.) I calmly stammered, ummm, there's a big fire. And the store owner goes, oh no, that's like miles away. !!!! Ok, to me, "miles" is not a huge distance to cover, and I think fires agree.

So we kept shopping. About an hour later we headed out b/c it was just too hot. Even 7 degrees makes a difference when it's over 100, so we were heading back up the hill to cooler Jerome. Suddenly we could see the source of the fire - behind the hills, looking like it was out in the middle of nowhere.
We pulled over to take pictures and get a better look. So did about 10 other carloads.

Later, after dinner (the Haunted Hamburger - props to Matthew for the best burger and service ever), we sat and watched the smoke, at this point, way out in the distance, and started seeing bright orange flames. By the time it was very dark, the flames covered the entire side of a hill. It was very disconcerting.

This morning I headed back into the valley. Apparently the fire raged on, although all I could see was a small bit of smoke and the haze that covered the red rocks.

Here is the CNN link.

100 Most Inspirational Films

OK, just to show you how little I pay attention sometimes, I was channel flipping last night when my hands were too cut up to do any more mosaics... and I stumbled upon the AFI list of inspirational movies. I kept thinking, where are all the foreign films... so... considering that perspective on the AMERICAN Film Institute, let me just ask some questions.

First, what are YOUR five most inspirational flicks? Seen any that changed your life? And just to really mess with you, it doesn't have to be 5. And if you're not too shy, tell me a little about why they are inspirational.

But first, I just have to ask these other questions.

What is inspirational about Thelma and Louise? Don't get me wrong, I loved it. But when women finally break free of whatever oppressive rut they were in, why do they have to die? Who exactly is inspired by this? The oppressors? Is it about girl power? I don't get it.

I get most of them on the list, even the ones I haven't seen, because you don't have to actually SEE Rocky - it's an icon for the American Dream, which I'm guessing, they assume inspires most people. I don't get why 2001 is inspirational. Can someone explain that? Considering it is open-ended, essentially modern art upon which we place our own meaning, wouldn't it depend on the person watching it to decide if it's inspirational? Is there some objective standard for "inspirational?" Isn't a source of inspiration completely subjective?

Why is Harold and Maude 72? Harold and Maude is 72 and Hoosiers is 13. Perhaps because Harold and Maude doesn't just retell the American Dream? I just need to make my own list.

But you guys first.

An Inconvenient Truth

This Al Gore film is one that everyone should see. It doesn't matter what your politics are. The issue of global warming is above politics - how to get to a solution may not be, but its effects and the things that individuals have within their power to change is unrelated to one's political position. Participation in a solution is a moral, not political, issue.

The film has a measured tone, not at all preachy or histrionic, like Michael Moore can get. (Ok, Michael Moore LIVES in histrionic town.) It's broken up with a bit of history (a certain election) and humor. Gore CAN be funny. No, seriously. The facts are easy to digest, and suggestions for what individuals can and should do are not presented until the credits.

Yet I could not sleep the night I saw it. While the message was not "We are doomed," we definitely are "in deep doo doo." And the images of all the glaciers melting, and the fact that as we speak, animals are DROWNING because they have no ice floes to camp on - that is a fact that does not need much digestion to understand. Polar bears cannot swim far enough to reach new ice floes as their habitats melt.

And yes, that does affect more than the polar bears and penguins. If the melting continues at this rate or increases, the shorelines of every continent will be affected by rising ocean levels. It would place lower Manhattan and at least 1/3 of FL and California underwater. And that is just one problem. The tsunami of 2004? That's nuthin. The film does not even address rising temperatures in places like Phoenix, where even a degree or two per decade could make the entire valley uninhabitable in our lifetimes.

So as you watch the coverage of yet another horrible hurricane season, do yourself a favor and pay attention to the things you can do to avert total global disaster. Do research or go see the flick. Don't stick your head in the sand. Without your participation in a solution, doo doo becomes doomed. Especially those with children, or those who expect to have grandchildren. There's more you can do than just trade in your SUV. Although if you don't do it soon, you won't be able to. Once the masses catch on, we will catch up with Europe and Asia and all be driving teeny tiny cars, or at least, hybrids.

Do the Evolution

Dedicated to Bush, and his clones

I'm ahead, I'm a man
I'm the first mammal to wear pants, yeah
I'm at peace with my lust
I can kill 'cause in God I trust, yeah
It's evolution, baby

I'm at peace, I'm the man
Buying stocks on the day of the crash
On the loose, I'm a truck
All the rolling hills, I'll flatten 'em out, yeah
It's herd behavior, uh huh
It's evolution, baby

Admire me, admire my home
Admire my son, he's my clone
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
This land is mine, this land is free
I'll do what I want but irresponsibly
It's evolution, baby

I'm a thief, I'm a liar
There's my church, I sing in the choir:
(hallelujah, hallelujah)

Admire me, admire my home
Admire my son, admire my clones
'Cause we know, appetite for a nightly feast
Those ignorant Indians got nothin' on me
Nothin', why?
Because... it's evolution, baby!

I am ahead, I am advanced
I am the first mammal to make plans, yeah
I crawled the earth, but now I'm higher
2010, watch it go to fire
It's evolution, baby
Do the evolution

Eddie Vedder and Stone Gossard

Class act

Dave and Yvonne (from D&D Tile) were teaching a class out at Desert Botanical Gardens, which is a fabulous setting for art/craft classes. Early in the morning, while it's still relatively cool, you see and hear creatures scurrying under the mesquite and cacti, and everything looks so crisp and clear. And then when you are into the class and starting the physical work, it's blissfully air conditioned while you look out the window at the exotic plant life. And the cafe there has great food - and if you're there at the right time of day you have hummingbirds buzzing around you while you eat.

So I volunteered to help with the class, and didn't realize the volunteer got to make a piece too. It is really amazing to see what first-timers can come up with - to see people working out their designs and color with no previous experience, and just diving in - it's incredibly fun. It's even a little intimidating to see all the talent and feel all the energy in the room.

But holy cow- it's physical labor! I had no idea... To load multiple concrete tabletops, the tile, the tools, in the heat. And then Dave individually grouts and starts the clean-up on each piece. So for 16 people that is a TON of labor. Dave and Yvonne never stop working because there is always something to be done. And they are also super friendly and spirited - it's just a really good experience all around. I want to volunteer once a month because it is just such a different thing to do from the every day, and it is just so positive.

Check out their website - you have to sign up very early for classes because they sell out quickly.
http://www.mosaicguys.com

Here's the setting:


Here's my piece:

Apocalypse Wow

Now, I'm not going to get up on a soapbox and start talking about global warming, b/c this here is Entertainment Cartridges, not Scientific Cartridges, or Beware Cartridges. But we are having some weird ass weather in Phoenix.

Yesterday, on 6-6-06, we were revisited by the dreaded haboob. That's right, haboob. At least the morning disc jockeys had something to talk about besides American Idol. Haboobs are dust storms that kill an average of five people on Arizona roads every year. They can be miles-wide, and the dirt and debris can travel up to 50 mph and choke highways and blind motorists. Now, I'm not a believer in any kind of omen-y special dates, but I don't know what the haboob believes.

And now Sky Harbor International Airport has issued a full ground stop for the next 60 to 90 minutes, meaning no planes are landing or taking off. The National Weather Service says "this storm contains damaging winds, destructive hail and potentially deadly cloud-to-ground lightning". They suggest seeking shelter.

!!!! Ok, there are many things wrong with this.

1. It doesn't usually rain in June. The monsoons don't start til July.
2. HAIL? It's like 1200 degrees out there.
3. Telling Arizonans to take cover - this is the weirdest part, because these fricking people JOG when it's 115 degrees, ok? So this is some serious shit.

I was sitting here checking email when it became as dark as night. Things started blowing around like during Dorothy's entrance into Oz. I've only seen this one other time, when huge metal trash cans blew through the air. Take shelter? I'll go one better and become a Catholic.

Please, do not let the haboob blow my house away.

Mural installation

So I finally got to help Yvonne and Dave install a mural... Dave runs a great speciality tile shop in Phoenix with an equally-named guy (Dave) and Yvonne is the intrepid help and general, all-around wonder woman. The Daves run the kind of shop that you don't visit so much as slip into when your friends aren't looking, b/c didn't you just go there last week? and didn't you buy stuff you haven't even used yet and now it is piling up on your back porch? and you bought more?

Yes and yes and shut up.

So Dave #2 let me tag along to help and learn. You can learn a lot in class (see website - gratuitous plug!) but you learn even more on a job. We installed a huge mural with a sea theme, including a mermaid and some awesomely crabby, what are they called - crabs. Dave put the mural together on tile backing board at the studio and installed it in panels at the site, which was the backyard of a lovely home in north central Phoenix. Genius. I pictured laboring for hours and hours in the hot sun, placing tile upon wall like I do on the porch. But no. This is so much better, working at your own pace at your own place, in air conditioning, and then installing in one swoop. Well, three swoops but it was hot.

So check out the website and see if you think YOU could resist the fabulous designs and the great tile.
http://www.mosaicguys.com/index.html

Here are the mural pics.

This one has two main panels up



This one has all the panels up, pre-grout

Concert week, 2006

What started as a lock on a front row situation in DC for the Bruce show ended in chaos, confusion, and blisters, but we still were right up close, about 5 feet away. Doesn't do any good to be the first there or to know the others that are first there if the venue ignores the list... But after not trying at all, I ended up in the same spot, one more row back, in Phoenix last night. Landau management must have heard the complaints from last Sunday, because in Phoenix there was a very well-run lottery system, which ended with everyone forming a line and being escorted in.

They needed to do something, b/c it was 112 when we were outside waiting for the drawing. I went with Fran and we did not get there until shortly before 5, which was great... We spent only about 10 minutes in the direct sun while they were creating the line to go in. The lottery number drawn was 766 and we were 892 and 893, so out of 450 let into the pit we did very well. Like DC they let us in and then bottlenecked us for 1/2 hour while Bruce did the soundcheck. Fortunately, it was inside, and the air was killer. Unlike Sunday, Bruce could not hear us when we yelled to be let in...

Out of the three shows I saw this week (don't ask!) last night's was definitely the winner. Sure, it helps to be up close, in a real pit, inside, with air, but the show just kicked ass. Our Pearl Jam seats Tuesday were nosebleeds, which doesn't matter usually with Pearl Jam, because it's so intense and so loud that it fills the place. But we were not surrounded by the biggest fans and not only were they not into it, a few were following some season playoff and were incredibly rude with their glowing white cell phones (when I protested the constant checking and yelling about the score I was answered with a string of screamed profanities and told I could leave if I didn't like it - it was a free country - ???? - so you get the neanderthal-ness of our row. When they played Better Man I told profane boy's girlfriend -this one's for you). Note to self: get better seats. But anyway, didn't ruin it.

Perhaps Bruce was trying harder last night to convince the 3/4 full house that they should have brought more friends, but for whatever reason this show was at least 50% better than Sunday's. The setlist was better, the reworked versions of old songs were amazing - this is definitely the way to hear Johnny 99 and Atlantic City. Don't even get me started on Open All Night. Still not crazy about Ramrod but I realize I am alone on this. After a haunting version of City of Ruins I could have left happy, but there were still 4 songs to go, including a great, extended version of The Band's Rag Mama Rag, which I don't think I'd heard since the 70s.

About halfway through the show I left the front and went to the back of the pit because I was surrounded by tall white guys who danced, well, like tall white guys. It was almost dangerous. I ran into my old friend Diane and hung out with her and her friends in the huge, wide open space that was the pit in front of the regular GA crowd. Nils Lofgren was there and joined Bruce for Pay Me My Money Down. About 5 minutes later, Diane nudged me and told me to look to my left, and Nils was standing right next to me, and then he and his wife started dancing to You Can Look (again - GREAT) - I mean, dancing, like swing, with arms flailing and all. It was great. People left them alone too, except to stare a little, because these are some seriously short people, dancing like crazy. :-)

So all in all, I'm in a shirt-eating situation with this side project, as in, if I like it I'll eat my shirt. Don't get me wrong, they were NOT e-street shows, but great nevertheless, and I may even buy a tour t-shirt to replace the one I had to eat.

Has anyone heard if you can still get PJ tickets for Vegas?? ;-)

Motordog

What I'm Loving Right Now

Got tagged by I Digress and Lara Goes Blogging to do a list. Don't you guys know I hate lists unless I create them? :-)

Would it be too lame to say I'm loving everything right now? Probably, huh.

OK. Here's the short list:

1. Pearl Jam provides downloads of shows 24-48 hours after they're through. You can even get them in loss-less files for a scant $5 more. Every band should do this. As soon as I'm finished here I will go download the show I saw Tuesday night. So for that reason, I'm also loving the internet right now besides loving Pearl Jam. I used to get excited about set lists being posted. Now shows are posted. When they post Eddie as a hologram that I can project in the house, I think the internet will top the best invention ever on the planet at any time. Or wait! when we can DOWNLOAD ACTUAL EDDIE. See, I'm never all the way happy. If we downloaded Eddie, would that be a virtual eddie, a clone, or a transported through time and space Eddie? (Ryan, this is an example of stream of consciousness writing, ha.)

2. I'm loving my David Foster Wallace list. Where else can you post a weird question like, can novels exist without a protagonist, and have a list of said novels within an hour. By the way, they can, and probably only in the postmodern sub genre of modern fiction.

3. Also, I'm loving that I have a co-worker that would bet me that a novel couldn't exist without a protagonist, and would even argue that point during a work meeting, and will probably continue arguing that point even after reading said list. Ryan is the best.

4. Am loving that 4 days after the worst cluster ever, commonly known as General Admission, the Springsteen staff has come up with a new method that does not encourage waiting outside for hours, and yet does reward the die hard fans. Kudos for listening to the complaints from Sunday's show in Virginia. Too bad it wasn't done in time to save Columbus, but it is not 110 degrees in Columbus.

5. Am loving the fact that despite having to wait for Bush again on the tarmac ( I think he's following me, or perhaps he is following someone who is following me, or perhaps he was lost, because it was BWI ) I only had to wait 1/2 hour this time.

6. Am loving loving loving the fact that despite being out $6900 in two months, the plumbing and electricity will be finished tomorrow. And that I could save up that money no matter how long it took, because I ain't no saver.

7. Am loving movie club and movie club buds.

8. Am loving the psychedelic mexican bird of paradise flowers that line the freeways every summer. Orange and yellow blasting your eyes while the heat blasts your skin. Can it get any hotter? Oh yes, it can. 102? 102 is for wusses. One time when Zoe was trying to find something she liked about Phoenix, she mentioned those plants.

9. Did I mention going to see Bruce again Saturday? Really, it's an embarrassment of riches. I'm saving up memories for my inevitable unemployment.

Update, no foul play

Apparently the electricians left a note that blew away - they are finishing tomorrow. The plumbers are there today. It's all good...

Favorite flicks in May

I saw shockingly few movies in May.

United 93
once more - The New World


disappointed in

DaVinci Code

made it through 20 minutes of

The Chronicles of Narnia

Disappearing electricians

Up til this week the electricians did everything they said they were going to do. This week they were supposed to finish wiring the guest house by Weds. They showed up on Thurs but I was not paying attention b/c they were in the back. I came home after happy hour to find full, to-go coffee cups sitting on the back porch, no work done, and no sign of them.

Never one to abandon a full cup of Mama Java's joe myself, I have to suspect either an emergency or foul play. They usually call even if they are going to be late. I have heard nothing since talking to them Tuesday night. Hmmmm.

This creates a chain of events that could prove calamitous, or rather, slightly inconvenient. ;-) Postponing their work means postponing the plumber. The handyman is only available for two weeks following the plumber, which should be enough time to finish, but then he goes back to his regular job. I could be doing the drywall and tile myself on vacation in July instead of heading south o' the border. Handymen are harder to find than landscapers. Electricians have to be inherited from friends. What is going on? It's not THAT hot out.

A year ago tonight

A few years ago I stopped telling myself that this or that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, as justification for a trip to see a show or spend the weekend in some weird locale. I just realized that I had upped the ante for what a good time was. Not from being spoiled, or making more money, or even from being jaded. Just from finally realizing that life really IS short, it's not a platitude or a concept, it's a reality. So when I got laid off 3 weeks before a trip to Europe in 2003, I went ahead and went. I stayed on the island in the Seine where the rooms were 250 euro a night, I went ahead and splurged on dinner at a nice boulangerie and bought expensive t-shirts at the National Museum in London. And it worked out - worked out to be some of my best memories ever. Going to the Louvre during the day, pogoing with Parisians at night while Bruce played in the pouring rain, and being right at the stage in Dublin - it really doesn't get much better in my little world.

So last year when my friend Karen called to ask if I wanted to go see U2 in Dublin, I said sure. That was it. Very simple. And then later I talked my friend Joann into going - using the "once-in-a-lifetime" ploy still works on other people. Well, one year ago tonight we were standing right at the stage, ahead of 80,000 other people, just from the simple luck of first getting tickets, and then having someone mishandle a queue, letting latecomers in first. People had waited in line for 3 days to be in front. We waited 3 hours.

At the time Karen called, I wasn't even that thrilled with U2. The last tour was eh, the new cd so - so. But I had always wanted to see them in Dublin, from the mid-80s when I was obsessed with them. So it was a no brainer. Then we went to the show in Phoenix, and I fell in love with them all over again. The songs - so much better live!

So rather than bring it all back up again, which brings sadness, I just think of certain moments that will always stick with me. Because of course, it WAS a once-in-a-lifetime, singular experience, being right at the stage, facing down 95 feet of blazing lights and monstrous speakers pounding out song after song. Being surrounded by people who poured out energy, having that energy pour back out from the stage. Jumping up and down in pouring rain in sync with thousands of other people, uninhabited, wonderful Dubliners, who care nothing about how they appear or what people think of them. Seeing a series of artistic images and statements that are so intuitive and chillingly true that you can't even blink, afraid you'll miss something. Having music be played so loudly and in such a right way that you don't so much hear it as feel it enter your body and rearrange your very cells.

So here's to my NEXT once-in-a-lifetime experience this weekend in DC, seeing Bruce and Pearl Jam with my great friend Anna and the DC posse. Retirement be damned. Life is now.

x marks the spot

Middle season

In Phoenix we have 4 seasons. Spring, uncontained trash, summer, and eggnog latte. Right now it's the middle season - uncontained trash. Uncontained trash here is like Indian summer back east. Everything is same old same old, but then for a few days the atmostphere changes before you head into the worst part of the year. The air smells like spring, it's crisp, and expectations are high. You feel unreasonably optimistic. Uncontained trash is just like that. You wander into the park or down an unmarked alley, knowing that things could change at any time, so you just stay in the moment.

It was supposed to be in the high 90s and it's 79 degrees. Big, fluffy clouds are floating through the sky. The lower park is filled from Sunday's irrigation, and all sorts of birds are wading and worming through the water. Even ducks. It is dog and duck heaven. And Bella, fully recovered after only 3 days, charged in after the smaller birds (she is terrified of ducks).

And I just scored my best uncontrained trash ever. Walked half a block down, watching the birds and the water, and suddenly - 3 wheelbarrows full of different kinds of marble tile. Black, green, travertine, tumbled, terracotta, everything!!! I made 2 trips in the car before I was too exhausted to carry any more. Translated into reality this much marble is worth about 6 backsplashes, or 2 murals.

And tomorrow the electricians are coming to start the guesthouse. AND the plumber is coming for an estimate. I'm in that sweet limbo between potential and broke ass.

Ah, sweet middle season.

DaVinci Bored

I had heard the DaVinci Code was getting negative reviews, but ignored that fact when I signed up to wait in line an hour early to see the movie in the valley's best theater. I rarely agree with critics, especially those usually cited, like Roger Ebert or the mustachioed man from the Today Show. They have an old white guy perspective that I never share, and many times, let's face it, films go over their heads.

But this time they're right. (Well, I didn't read them, but read reviews at the Rotten Tomatoes site.) One of the people I went with was worried he wouldn't "get it" b/c he hadn't read the book. I reasurred him that Ron Howard would never make a film that would go over his head. This film would not go over a 3-year-old's head. Everything is explained three times, and there are visual aids like you're back in high school. Those sequences are like a lame history channel documentary, with some misplaced Coen Bros-type, washed out cinematography. Think Oh Brother Where Art Thou crossed with oh, I don't know, something supremely boring.

I read the book right after I got home from Paris in 2003 - I had been to the Louvre and it was a nice way to end the trip. It was a page turner but obviously not without flaws and some supremely silly set-ups. It was amusing to see Christians falling out all over in regards to a fictional story, especially considering all the trouble the catholic church gets itself into without outside help. Why worry about the origins of Catholic creed, pagan or otherwise, or its effect on women of history when the church doesn't even seem to care about living, breathing kids? Many traditions that became Christian originated from pagan rituals, including Christmas, originally the winter solstice. The point is, they did evolve that way, and the Christians have pretty much won over the pagans. Why try to rewrite history? Anyway.

There were protesters outside the theater, holding up signs that say "We love Jesus Christ." Now, I'm pretty sure the movie was not saying that Jesus Christ was not loveable; in fact, I think the point was that he was loveable too much, or with the wrong person. But turning Tom Hanks' character into a skeptic to mollify the church made the film seem cheesy when it should have felt edgy. Too much cheese in anything makes it bloated and bland.

Sigh. I'm thinking about protesting too. Holding up a sign that says "BEWARE, VERY BORING, BRING CAFFEINE!!"

OK, more mural

Yesterday when I got home from work, Bella was walking really funny, like she was going to moonwalk but couldn't quite pull it off. I gave her some doggie aspirin and she seemed to do better. But then this morning she couldn't walk at all and I had to carry her to her bowl and to go outside. We went to the vet, who did not know for sure what was wrong with her but said it could be a muscle spasm, b/c she had a tender spot on her back.

So with some advice to give her OTC treatment for arthritis, if she's not better by Weds she'll get some x-rays and see what else is going on. She got some pain pills and is content to supervise whatever I'm doing. However, I'm not allowed to go out, b/c when I started getting ready to go out, she started crying. She is not above manipulating me this way. I am not above falling for it. So we made some progress on the mural.
The Supervisor

That's it for now

Each of these progress pics represents about 2 hours' work. I'm starting to bore myself with it. I will post more pics when significant progress has been made.

And yet more mural

Mural progress

Here's a picture of the mural in progress:

Raconteurs video

Jim Jarmusch directed it - very good, check it out:

Windows
http://exodus.interoutemediaservices.com/?id=139699d2-c784-4ced-a1ea
-6a8c6d480691&delivery=stream

Quicktime
http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/v2music/raconteurs_ref.mov

Good new, bad news

Well, it's official. On the DVD for the Seeger Sessions Bruce closes with "It's a Hootenanny!" I thought I would fall off the couch. Yesterday was a Bruce-themed day beginning with trying to get the pit for DC on the cell phone while sailing down the HOV lane, and ending with watching the video with Fran. If you are a fan at all you have to watch the DVD because Loose Bruce is everywhere, including a long period of time he spends quite drunk, and drunk dancing. His 50s have done wonders for removing the corn cob from his butt ("I'm gonna do ... Joad again! I'm gonna do ... FOLK, yeah... in some fashion ... SEEGER, yeah, that's it! I'm gonna have some .... WINE, yeah yeah yeah ..."), although they have not improved his dancing. And there's nothing like watching a video like this with someone just as obsessed with details, here's Fran.. "Oh, that's his house... is that wall not painted? Is that his real cat? Who picked out that clock. Awww, they're outside! They WALK on that land. That's THEIR land. That's in Colts Neck. Patti is lighting candles! Look, they're putting on coats, long walk back to the main house..." Sorry Fran, but it is just too adorable.

So the good news is - Anna got the pit for DC so we are in. I got lame section 202 seats after being on hold for 20 minutes (which have already been cheerfully unloaded to Anna's boss...). So front row here we come... And I'm thinkin we should bring shot glasses for Himself.

But then, bad news came in the mail - got the bid from the electricians. I had thought the prior bid was for separating the panel and then rewiring the guesthouse. I thought that when I came home from work a week ago Weds that the 7-month wait for electric work would be over. Next step, plumber, then tile, then Jerome. Wrong!

Even though it was understand they would be doing both these jobs, here were separate bids and bills. I thought I read the bid, I swear I read the bid. I think I saw it through tears of relief that ended up just postponing the inevitable, that it really WAS going to be expensive, and that I needed a transition phase to get to that understanding. Because it is double. DOUBLE!

So it's up to over $5K for just the electric, which was the budget for the entire project. And what about getting other bids, you may ask. After spending 6 weeks at a time waiting for people to even call me back, just trying to get 3 bids... I would probably just GIVE someone the guesthouse if they said they would finish it... The electricians were wonderful, the new panel is bright and shiny, we're all gonna be in the newspaper. I'm not complaining, just sad because... no Jerome this year. Will take til the fall to get the plumbing and tile done now and it is getting hot hot hot.

It's a hootenanny.

Pay ME Your Money Down

Pay me your money down indeed.

So I'm tasked with getting Springsteen tickets for the show I'm seeing in DC with Anna and the crew, b/c there is a 2-ticket limit for the pit - more hands are needed because the whole DC posse is going. It's not like a regular tour that will sell out in 10 minutes, but there is always that possibility, and it's the first onsale, so there is no history to judge by. One time when I was living in Florida I had 10 people on the phones at work (you know, government offices) and still only 1 person got through. That was the day we shut down the phone system at the Pentagon. Ah... good times. (Yes, Anna, the infamous show that you missed, let it go.... :-))

Anyway. So I cruise over to ticketbastard.com and see that there is a PRESALE for the Phoenix show, for Coyotes Club members, TODAY. So I think, after being really taken aback to see any kind of presale for Bruce, what is this club and do I know any members. And can I contact them before 10 and offer outrageous favors and perhaps even beg. Because I now want to be in the front row for the hootenanny, if indeed there are rows, and not just bales of hay separating the have-good-seats from the have-nots. Perhaps the club is a hockey thing that you get with season tickets. Maybe it's a skating club or education promotion thing.

But no. The Coyotes Club is for special seating and treatment at the venue. This club is so expensive that you have to contact an account manager and set up a payment plan, and then sign a promise to donate all your worldly goods upon your 70th birthday. And STILL the good seats are over $200. AND THEY'RE IN THE BACK.

This is the kind of club that if I knew someone that was a member, I would not even be talking to them any more. This is the kind of club that Bruce made fun of the people sitting there DURING the show, at the opening of the Staples Center in L.A. "Mr Staples, can I get better seats?" Yet ticketbastard says the club presale is at the discretion of the artist. Sigh.

So Mr Populist is taking the hootenanny tour to the rich. I read somewhere that this tour was perfect for the kind of folk that listen to NPR and donate to PBS and I thought, hmmm, curious. Those people generally do not like Bruce. The only way I would donate to PBS would be to make them stop Wayne Dyer's daughter from singing. But now I'm seeing the connection.

So I'm thinkin there won't be a lot of tickets sold during the presale. If I didn't know about it, chances are these rich bastards who will only go to people watch and will leave after 3 songs won't know either. And they'll be in the back anyway.

Still.

New Music Tuesday

Happy Anniversary to Claudia and Scott!

The Raconteurs are a new band with Jack White of the White Stripes trading off vocals with Brendan Benson of the Greenhornes, and a couple other band escapees that I hadn't heard of. http://theraconteurs.com/ They just released their first single "Steady as She Goes" - it's the free download at iTunes this week. The website looks like an old DOS menu, which is really annoying if you started on computers back then, and the font, an X-Files green. It's retro, but not in a good way. Hey, at least they're trying. Anyway, the song is great and has really unusual lyrics - retro, but in a good way. The song is like Elvis Costello and Sting's green alien love child.

The Pearl Jam cd finally came out and it's No 1 on iTunes - who knows what that means. It's just the once a year where I actually align with a greater number of album purchasers. In fact, when I first woke up, PJ was No 1 and Bruce was No 2 and I'm pretty sure that's never happened. But anyway. The album is reliably Pearl Jam, with some kick ass stuff and a couple of real losers. It's overtly political, you don't have to stretch to get the point a la , "hey wait, these protest songs are relevant now. hmmmm." Not that I mind metaphor, but most times it's better to get one's ass moving.

Along those lines, my bud Kevin made me a disk of HIM, which is listed as Metal, who knows why. The CD is Dark Light and I love it. It reminds me most of Muse, which was a semi-obsession 2 years ago.

And this may be the only week that I received two Pete Seeger-related ditties, but that's for another blog.

This is the best though: Dave just sent the Dilbert for today:

Favorite flicks in April

Travellers and Magicians
Brokeback Mountain
Everything is Illuminated
Thank You for Smoking
Mrs. Dalloway
Breakfast on Pluto

disappointed in

Paradise Now
Grizzly Man
Sympathy for Mr Vengeance