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Visual Art And They Shall Have Art in Windows
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Visual Art And They Shall Have Art in Windows
posted by Jen Graves on August 7 at 10:00 AM
From a work by Thom Heileson and Wyndel Hunt, seen last November at SOIL and headed to 4Culture’s windows.
The latest at 4Culture is e4c--an “electronic storefront gallery.” This means four LCD monitors in a window facing Prefontaine Place South, with art playing on them from 7 am to 7 pm, starting as soon as September.
The artists chosen for the first round are listed after the jump.
More art is always good. I do not know why 4Culture’s is obsessed with numbers attached to letters in combinations impossible to remember, but these things do not particularly matter.
What does matter is: What’s going on with the roof! Spill it, Jeppe and 4Culte4c2hhkhsj!
History Laughing ‘Til It Hurts
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
History Laughing ‘Til It Hurts
posted by Bethany Jean Clement on August 7 at 10:00 AM
It’s funny because it’s hysterical!
And, related: Humor: The International Journal of Humor Research: It’s funny because it doesn’t sound funny at all.
Thanks to Slog tipper and erstwhile Stranger writer Thadius Van Landingham III.
Books Reading Tonight
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Books Reading Tonight
posted by Paul Constant on August 7 at 10:11 AM
Three readings and an open mic tonight.
At Elliott Bay Book Company, J. Edward Chamberlain, who is a breeder of horses, reads from his book about the horse in history. The book is titled Horse. Even if you’re not into horses, this looks like the best reading of the night, but that’s not an endorsement.
First, at the University Book Store, Eldon Thompson reads from The Divine Talisman: Book Three of the Legend of Asahiel. I understand that it’s bad form to judge a book by its title, but you could not drag me to this reading, although I would attend it on a bet.
Third Place Books has a reading that you could not pay me to attend. Vaishali, who is a “part stand-up comic and part spiritual teacher who makes Eastern mysticism accessible to Western minds,” will read from YOU ARE WHAT YOU LOVE. Here is what Vaishali’s website says:
Friends don’t let friends go into the light … without a spiritual road map to enlightenment. Vaishali
Who do you know who can talk about the spirituality of Homer Simpson, Jimi Hendrix, James Dean, or Cheech and Chong with as much aplomb as she can talk about the worlds great mystical traditions or major religions?
Join Vaishali, the author of You Are What You Love, as she provides her uniquely Vaishali perspective to the big questions in life: Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose?
Oh my God.
The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here.
Books Empire
posted by Charles Mudede on August 7 at 10:16 AM
American endurance:
In the summer of 2002, the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment (ONA) published an 85-page monograph called “Military Advantage in History”. Unusual for an office that is headed by Andrew Marshall, the Pentagon’s “futurist in chief,” the study looks back to the past--way back. It examines four empires, or “pivotal hegemonic powers in history,” to draw lessons about how the United States “should think about maintaining military advantage in the 21st century.” Though unclassified, the study was held close to the vest; a stamp on the cover limits its dissemination without permission. Mother Jones obtained it only through a Freedom of Information Act request. Though the report is far from revelatory, it provides a window into a mindset that unselfconsciously envisions the United States as the successor to some of history’s most powerful empires.
In the way the German intellectuals of the 19th century saw in their language and practices evidence of a continuation with ancient Greece, American military power has always imagined itself, and justified itself, as the true continuation of the Roman spirit.
“The Roman model suggests that it is possible for the United States to maintain its military advantage for centuries if it remains capable of transforming its forces before an opponent can develop counter-capabilities. Transformation coupled with strong strategic institutions is a powerful combination for an adversary to overcome.”
Who you think you are (and how you think you are who you are) has always to do with where you imagine yourself to come from.
Religion Losing Her Religion
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Religion Losing Her Religion
posted by Brendan Kiley on August 7 at 10:20 AM
From the LA Times:
Opening arguments were set for Thursday in a civil lawsuit that accuses Victoria Osteen of assaulting Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown before the start of a 2005 flight from Houston to Vail, Colo.
Victoria Osteen is co-pastor at Lakewood Church, where her husband, Joel Osteen, preaches and where about 42,000 people flock each week. Joel Osteen’s weekly television address is broadcast nationally and internationally.
[Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown] alleges Victoria Osteen threw her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the left breast during an outburst over a stain on her first-class seat. The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member.
The best part?
Brown claims that she suffers from anxiety and hemorrhoids because of the incident involving Victoria Osteen and said her faith was affected.
Let’s hope Ms. Brown wins because her “faith was affected.” Then those of us who were raised Christian can start a class-action suit against all of the snake-oil theologians.
Politics Black Man
posted by Charles Mudede on August 7 at 10:51 AM
Another statistic:
More black men in the United States are behind bars than are in higher education, according to a new study by a Washington DC thinktank.
Following a boom in prison construction and an increase in the numbers of people being incarcerated for non-violent crimes, there were 791,600 black men in American prisons and county jails in 2000, and only 603,032 enrolled in colleges and universities, according to the Justice Policy Institute, which favours alternatives to imprisonment.
Visual Art I Had A Dream
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Visual Art I Had A Dream
posted by Jen Graves on August 7 at 11:00 AM
Back in November, I had a simple dream, when I heard that Seattle Art Museum curator Michael Darling was putting together a survey of Northwest video to be shown at Art Basel Miami Beach: My dream was to see the show of Northwest artists in the Northwest.
My first step in realizing this dream was to ask Darling whether he’d considered showing the art in its home. No, he hadn’t, but yes, he would. I rejoiced.
Then, in April, I heard the glorious news that the survey would be shown at SAM itself, in that otherwise weird little space off the main lobby on the third floor. Sure, the lighting is not perfect. But walls can be built! And this is a FREE ZONE. No admission charged. Yes. You can imagine my happiness.
Yesterday morning I received an email from SAM spokeswoman Cara Egan about my dream. It said that the show I’d been waiting for all this time had opened Tuesday. Nevermind that this meant that I couldn’t put the information in print because this week’s paper had already gone to bed. I was prepared to overlook such trifles. For the good of the dream.
This morning I mounted my bike. I rode to Pioneer Square, where I saw several other shows. Then I hustled up to SAM for the big event.
The screen was blank. The guitar part to “Stairway to Heaven” was playing in the speakers, but nothing showed. Crazy artists, I thought--giving me audio when I expect video. Those wild-eyed mind-bogglers!
Except that this went on for at least 15 minutes, way past the end of “Stairway to Heaven.” I began calling SAM staffers. The first one I got on the phone told me the show wasn’t opening until next week. The next one told me the show had been working fine yesterday. The curator told me he’d noticed it hadn’t been working earlier in the day, but apparently, he hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. I was starting to feel like I should be on the SAM payroll: I’d asked for the show, I was scrambling to let people know about it because SAM didn’t, and now I was motivating the AV department?
Two hours and 20 minutes after I arrived at the museum, the blown bulb in the projector was fixed, and I--and everyone else--could see the new show! (I did other things in the interim.)
Everything went so well for about 80 minutes. Then, at 5, the projector, on a timer set to shut off when the museum closes, shut off. By the time someone was called and got it back on, the last segment of the penultimate video, Shannon Oksanen’s little boat (2007), and the entire final video, Terry Chatkupt’s First Snow (2006), were scrambled beyond comprehension, and finally, the DVD just gave up and froze.
I’ve never had such a strong desire to look at paintings.
No, neither I nor anybody else at SAM yesterday got to see the complete new video survey at SAM.
But I have to say that what I saw is worth seeing. A few of the pieces are even instant classics.
I can also report that I had a serendipitous interaction with a fellow named Kevin Schwarz during those golden 80 minutes when I was actually viewing video.
Schwarz is an 18-year-old Marylander here on vacation, and he sat down right as one of the aforementioned instant classics was starting. The video was Kevin Schmidt’s Long Beach Led Zep (2002), which involves the artist on a beach at sunset with a Marshall stack hooked up to a generator on a cart--playing the entire guitar part of “Stairway to Heaven,” down to every note, to the last thrashing chords.
Schwarz happened to be wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt with the lyrics of “Stairway to Heaven” on the back. He was very deadpan, and very moved. “I’m feeling quite special,” he announced, as someone else pointed out his shirt. “I was not expecting this.”
When it was over, he said, “It was quite epic. The sunset, the beach--he brought the generator. I want an encore.”
At which point Hadley + Maxwell’s video 1+1+1 (2007), including footage from the studio recording of the Rolling Stones’s “Sympathy for the Devil,” started up. “‘Sympathy for the Devil’ is my favorite song by them,” Schwarz said. “I’m having a good day.”
The video after that one, Ron Tran’s The Peckers (2004), involved a recording and video of pigeons pecking at musical instruments set down on a pier. Schwarz said: “My dad hates pigeons. He got a super-soaker, because they always eat out of his bird feeder.” He reported that he did not like this video as well as the others. I had to agree that it went on a little long.
As I said, more later. But for now: THERMOSTAT: VIDEO AND THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST IS UP, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD* (*except for about 7 minutes at the end). AND IT’S FREE. (I’m trying to help you out here, SAM.)
Hallelujah.
The Stranger Suggests
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
art
Sometime in the '90s, a Boston antique dealer bought a huge oil painting titled Lucy in the Field with Flowers—something, everything, was terribly wrong with it. He showed it to friends, who started collecting their own awful paintings, and the Museum of Bad Art was born. Museum of Bad Art: Masterworks is its catalog. At this book signing, you can find out from whence these visions sprung and nominate new candidates for the collection. (Stir, 216 Alaskan Way S, 264-0260. 6–10 pm, free.)
JEN GRAVES
News State School Superintendent Bergeson Fails WASL, Has Serial Killer Handwriting
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
News State School Superintendent Bergeson Fails WASL, Has Serial Killer Handwriting
posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on August 7 at 11:01 AM
By now, most of you you have probably read and reread the Stranger Election Control Board’s mind-blowing primary endorsements a few thousand times. Which means you would’ve seen this:
[Current State School Superintendent Terry] Bergeson has consistently defended the WASL as a high-stakes requirement for graduation. We decided it would be funny to present Bergeson and her challengers with a few sample questions from the WASL and she bombed the test. Bergeson only answered two out of the three questions we put to her and both her answers were wrong.
It’s totally true. Here’s the evidence:
As you already know, the SECB endorsed Bergeson’s opponent Randy Dorn. Mostly because Mr. Dorn’s tidy handwriting does not indicate a predilection for the taste of human flesh.
The three sample questions--from grades 3, 7 and 10--are from the Port Angeles School District’s website.
Answers after the break.
Film / Housekeeping Letter of the Day
permalink: http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/q_and_a
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Film / Housekeeping Letter of the Day
posted by Paul Constant on August 7 at 11:04 AM
Oh, we get letters. This is going to be a long one, so get your scrolling fingers ready and prepare your bitchy comments about why I didn’t put this after the jump. Everything below is (sic), but emphasis is mine:
Thursday, August 7, 2008 Dear Ms Wagner/Mr. Savage:
We read with great interest this recent film nutice in your aptly named publication The Stranger, insofar as The Stranger is a greater degree of The Strange. We define “nutice” as a message alerting us to any nuts possibly being involved in a given event, either by its content or its drafting:
THE REFLECTING POOL A group of 9/11 conspiracy nuts presents this “investigative drama” about a reporter. It’ s heartening to see 9/11 “Truth” movement (sic) is finally giving up on the inconveniently truth-oriented documentary format. Screened with A Tribute to Fresh Kills, a seven-minute “poetry video” about 9/11. Trinity United Methodist Church Gymnasium, Fri. August 8 at 7 PM.
Although we are not amused that you even posted this nutice, we are presently acting as hiring consultants for the Bush White House and Hannity & Combs, as well as The O’Reilly Report on Faux News.
We are looking for hotshot twenty- and thirty-somethings with advanced degrees and/or experience in the new field of jeernalism, which reflects the new unprofessional standards which we in thecorporate community heartily applaud, and from which we manifestoly benefit. We define jeernalism as the current corporate media practice of substituting the reporting of boring information with ill-informed opinion repeatedly, crudely and incivilly expressed without proper investigation or proofreading, of which the above-cited nutice is a nutable example.
We would therefore appreciate your providing us with contact information of the above-cited author and editor, so that we might cite them as well. We would like to thank you in advance for this unprofessional courtesy.
We would also like to point out in a hopefully helpful way that, with the above-cited nutice, you have left yourself open not only to lawsuits for slander, but worse, to someone pointing out the obvious: that just as you have urged the 9/11 Truth movement to revert to just portraying fiction, you as an alleged alternative newspaper might be urged to revert to just reporting fact.
Yours all too truly,
Prisis Wright-CEO
I don’t have much to offer by way of analysis except to say that I gave 9/11 Truth groups more of a chance to impress me than just about anybody in the mainstream media. After the piece came out (and was reprinted in the UTNE Reader), people bashed me left and right for being too easy on Truth groups, but I felt that the point in my article--that they developed a huge political organization out of virtually nothing in just a few years--was pertinent. They could have been a major force in the 2008 election, and instead they put all their money toward buying a fucking blimp for Ron Paul.
I’m fucking done with 9/11 Truth groups and their stupid misspelled e-mails and their dumb “confrontation” videos. I’ve read your books and seen your movies and you have fuck-all. Hundreds of people have written rational, compassionate arguments against your stupid theories (hell, get Jonathan Golob drunk and ask him about Building 7 and he’ll go on a tear that’s alternately hilarious and enlightening) and you don’t buy any of it because you’re not about reason, you’re about being the heroes of the stupid fucking conspiracy movies in your fucking heads. Talk to me when you come back to reality and we can get some shit done. I won’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen.
??!! That Cloned Pit Bull Story Gets 10,000 Times Weirder
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
??!! That Cloned Pit Bull Story Gets 10,000 Times Weirder
posted by David Schmader on August 7 at 11:04 AM
On Tuesday, Dan slogged about the kooky lady who spent $50,000 to clone her dead pit bull.
Today the UK’s Daily Mail follows up, with a splashy story suggesting the kooky lady might be significantly kookier than we thought.
The heart of the the story: The distinct possibility that the woman who recently cloned her dead pit bull is the same woman who once kidnapped, bound, and repeatedly raped a Mormon missionary, then attempted to avoid prosecution by fleeing the country disguised as a “deaf-mute mime artist.”
Read the whole weird thing here.
Chow Road Food
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Chow Road Food
posted by Dan Savage on August 7 at 11:07 AM
If you’re driving between Seattle and Portland, I recommend timing your trip so that you hit Kalama, Washington, roughly around lunch time. Right off I-5 in downtown Kalama you’ll find the Antique Deli & Pastry Shoppe.
The sandwiches are huge, delicious, and cheap. And the cookies--one comes with your sandwich--are awesome. The frosted almond cookies are my favorite.
Media Why, KUOW?
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Media Why, KUOW?
posted by Gillian Anderson on August 7 at 11:10 AM
Since I must read text closely all day for my job, I can’t listen to talk radio. The only time I get to listen to KUOW is in the morning while I am getting ready and eating breakfast. I want to know why KUOW has discontinued the local news in the midmorning. This is my prime listening time.
It used to be at the hour mark there was a break for national and local news, now… no local news! Instead I get to listen to Marketplace Morning Report?! Guess what? I don’t need to know the price of a barrel of oil every single fucking day. I don’t care about that or the stupid Dow Jones Industrial Average. I want local news!
I am vexed.
2008 Got a Question for Gregoire and/or Rossi?
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
2008 Got a Question for Gregoire and/or Rossi?
posted by Eli Sanders on August 7 at 11:25 AM
This week YouTube, through its YouChoose ‘08 feature, is soliciting questions for the candidates in the Washington State governor’s race.
The top five YouTube questions will later be answered by Gregoire and Rossi. Come on Sloggers, I know at least one of you can crack the top five. Here’s a sampling of your competition:
Deadline is August 12th.
Housekeeping Slog Happy Is One Week Away
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Housekeeping Slog Happy Is One Week Away
posted by Megan Seling on August 7 at 11:30 AM
Have you been to the Hideout yet? It’s a great bar. There’s tons of pretty art on the walls and vending machines with little treasures and affordable art instead of snacks. And while the lack of candy would usually get me in a tizzy (I like candy), instead you can order yummy treats from the bar including cheese and spreads platters, chocolate, and nuts. And they also have free pretzels for you cheapskates.
Join us, won’t you?
Teh Internets Sneezing Panda Is So November 6, 2006
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Teh Internets Sneezing Panda Is So November 6, 2006
posted by Jen Graves on August 7 at 11:35 AM
Now, a tracker of Internet memes, so you can belly-laugh and reminisce with a snifter of brandy at your recent past. Or, if you are me, so you can see precisely how tragically outdated you are, because most of this is new to you.
Video of the Day Lunchtime Quickie
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Video of the Day Lunchtime Quickie
posted by Kelly O on August 7 at 12:01 PM
And now a word (or two) with Sarah! Supreme Chavette, our unofficial Sponsor ofFun With Chavs WeekTM… If you can translate whit she sayin’, you can win THIS, THIS, THIS, and/or THESE*.
* not really. unless ya bee me a plane tick ta goe steal ‘em, aye.
Media All This Senseless Death
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Media All This Senseless Death
posted by Paul Constant on August 7 at 12:28 PM
Apparently, newspapers are dead because they’re not cultural currency.
Good thing we have blogs. Wait, apparently they’re dead, too.
Now everybody should get excited about Lifestreaming.
Politics Gregoire “Racist” Comments Cause a Stir
posted by Erica C. Barnett on August 7 at 12:22 PM
In the Stranger Election Control Board’s interview with Gov. Christine Gregoire, she blasted a Building Industry Association of Washington-backed ad as “racist.” The ad implied Gregoire gave the tribes a sweetheart deal on a slot-machine gambling expansion compact in exchange for donations to the Democratic Party, which later made their way to her campaign. Gregoire told us:
They made stuff up about the tribes and the ad, by the way, I think is racist. I think this whole thing is racist, and I’m totally offended by it. But it just shows you how low they’ll go. It shows you that it doesn’t matter what the truth is, they’re going to trump stuff up. So I’m not afraid of making decisions independently and standing by them.
Gregoire’s comments are making it all over the Northwest (and nation—last night the story was featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”) Here’s a sampling of the coverage.
Spokane’s Spokesman Review: “Gregoire Calls Campaign Ad Untrue, Racist.”
KOMO News: “Gregoire Calls Campaign Ad ‘Racist.’”
The Seattle Times: “Gregoire decries ad by foes as ‘racist’”
Tacoma’s News Tribune: “Gregoire charges racism by critics of gambling deals”
KING 5 News: “Gregoire declares campaign ad ‘racist’”
The Bellingham Herald: “Gregoire charges racism by critics of gambling deals”
The Associated Press (printed all over the Northwest, and here in the Oregonian): “Campaign ad declared ‘racist’ by Wash. governor”
The Everett Herald: “Campaign ad called ‘racist’”
Here’s the original ad:
And here’s the Stranger’s interview with Gregoire (she starts talking about the ads at the 3:24 mark).
What do you think, Slog readers? Is the governor right that attacks on her relationship with the tribes are “racist”? Or is she blowing the ads out of proportion?
News Seattle School District Moves Forward With Controversial Tree Removal
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
News Seattle School District Moves Forward With Controversial Tree Removal
Neighbors in North Seattle have been locked in a heated battle with the Seattle School District over a plan to remove 92 trees on Ingraham High School’s campus, to make way for new classrooms. The project has been slowed by permitting and environmental studies but a recent move by the district to circumvent the city process has caught neighbors off guard, and perhaps without recourse.
Neighbors protested the tree removal plan at several planning meetings this winter and had hoped the city’s Department of Planning and Development would refuse the district’s permit requests. But today, neighbors received certified letters from Seattle Schools, informing them that the district has rescinded its permit applications. The district now claims it doesn’t need permits to remove the trees and plans to send in construction equipment sometime next week.
“They decided they cant win the process and are cutting the public out of it,” says Steve Zemke, who lives two blocks from Ingraham. “They dont care what the public thinks about this. Theyre cutting down a park like area thats been used by the community for years.”
While Zemke and his neighbors are fuming over the district’s tactics, Seattle School District Spokesman David Tucker says the district provided adequate public process and are moving forward with the tree removal for the safety of students. “Theres been a public process all along.” he says. “We looked at all the best possible designs for the school. This design is the most academically and environmentally sound.” Tucker says the district will plant three trees for every one removed, which could add nearly 200 more trees to the school’s campus.
It’s unclear whether the district can move forward with the tree removal without city approval--DPD’s spokesman was not available for comment--but Tucker says the district needs to move forward now so the process can be finished before the beginning of the school year. “The ideal for us it to have the trees removed when there arent students on campus and to avoid using heavy machinery during the wet weather,” Tucker says. “Were doing this because we want to make sure we do this in the safest fashion possible.”
Zemke and his neighbors are now scrambling to find a way to halt the impending tree removal, and are planning to protest at Ingraham next week. Zemke also says neighbors will fight any future plans for construction at the school.
Drugs Sorry About Killing Your Dogs
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Drugs Sorry About Killing Your Dogs
posted by Dominic Holden on August 7 at 12:52 PM
Here at Slog, your all-drug-raids-all-the-time headquarters, we get your tips. And we love your tips. Even when they exacerbate our pot-induced paranoia.
Today, we follow up on two panic-inducing emails about the mayor of Berwyn Heights, a D.C. burb, whose house was raided by a SWAT team last week. Officers burst through the door, forced the mayor to kneel in the corner, bound his mother-in-law in the kitchen, and shot his two black labs. Cops were there over a box of pot that was shipped to the mayor’s home, addressed to his wife. We posted about it last week over here, but new details emerge.
The pot was delivered by a police officer dressed as a FedEx delivery man. The sheriff for the county, Prince George’s County, had applied for a warrant to search the house, but, as it turns out, the judge who granted the warrant hadnt issued a no-knock, guns-drawn, battering-ram warrant. But when Calvo brought the package inside, a fleet of officers burst through the door with guns drawn. As everyone knows, the only way to tame a pothead is not with milkshakes, but with weaponry. And, as everyone knows, the only way to handle two grinning black labs is not by petting them and tossing them a squirrel, but BLAM!
Neighbors hung a We Support You banner on the couples fence after the mayor and his wife claimed that they werent drug dealers--and it appears they were telling the truth. The Washington Post reports this morning that police arrested a delivery man and another man, both of whom they say are involved in a scheme to smuggle marijuana by shipping packages addressed to unsuspecting recipients.” This should all be very embarrassing for the Prince George’s Sheriff’s Office, right?
Unbelievably, no.
Sheriff Michael A. Jackson won’t apologize for the raid, which he said was “conducted responsibly,” and Police Chief Melvin C. High (what a name) told the Washington Post his department still hadnt cleared the couple of charges. He reportedly said, From all the indications at the moment, they had an unlikely involvement, but we don’t want to draw that definite conclusion at the moment. Jeezy Creezy on Cheezit, man, what else do you need?
Theres more. The mayor just asked for an investigation by the Department of Justice, which marks the second time in as many days that drug raids are becoming a federal issue. So while Slog may seem overwrought with crazy-ass drug-raid shit, the issue is suddenly getting huge. Well smoke to that.
Visual Art Isaac Layman on In/Visible: “Photography’s not right or wrong, it’s just this thing.”
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Visual Art Isaac Layman on In/Visible: “Photography’s not right or wrong, it’s just this thing.”
posted by Jen Graves on August 7 at 1:00 PM
Isaac Layman’s Medicine Cabinet (2008), 73 1/2 by 59 inches
Standing in front of the above image of his and his wife’s medicine cabinet just the way he found it one day, Isaac Layman talks about photography as a form of gossip:
(*To hear the entire podcast with Layman, click here.)
Chow / Housekeeping A Couple Notes on Slog Happy
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Chow / Housekeeping A Couple Notes on Slog Happy
posted by Paul Constant on August 7 at 1:14 PM
I’m excited for Slog Happy. I also love the Hideout, and I don’t go there nearly enough.
But I know that some of you have been complaining about the lack of sit-down meals, and I’d like to suggest that, before, during, or after Slog Happy, you stop by Thai Star, just next door to the Hideout. It’s really great, cheap Thai food, although the ambiance leaves something to be desired. I recommend all the soups and the curries. You won’t regret it.
Also of note for some of you: In an effort to class up Slog happy with some old-fashioned book-learnin’, I’ll be bringing some advance reader’s copies for anyone who’s interested. They’re not for resale, but they’re perfectly good for reading. I’ll try to bring a mixture of genres and interests.
Actually, now that I’ve written this, I can’t tell if the free books will bring new people out or inspire more people to stay home. I guess we’ll find out.
Sports What do Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and Brett Favre Have in Common?
Thu, Aug 07 at 09:03 PM
Sports What do Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and Brett Favre Have in Common?
posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on August 7 at 1:36 PM
Sports fans, in case you spent your morning under a rock: Brett Favre is now a New York Jet.
Favre’s also the Madden ‘09 cover boy, so a career-ending injury shouldn’t be too far off. Perhaps at the hands of a Jersey crime family.
Hopefully Ol’ Man Favre will play long enough to rack up a few more highlights. I’m so fucking tired of seeing this clip every time ESPN talks about his “legacy.”
News The Morning News
Thu, Aug 07 at 03:55 PM
News The Morning News
posted by Dominic Holden on August 7 at 7:52 AM
Micro-Protests: Chinese police scramble to sweep up decentralized demonstrations against human-rights abuses.
The Great Firewall: China Internet police scan online activity; Olympics reporters bemoan hamstrung Web access.
Impeachment: Pakistan’s ruling parties want to impeach Musharraf for unpopular economic policies and refusing to step down despite sketchy election, require two-thirds majority.
Bad Grades: Audit finds Seattle Public Schools programs for students learning English is one of the worst in the country.
Bar Tab: Sims suggests that King County cities each build their own jails.
Belltown Crash: Collision of pedicab, scooter and van leaves one dead and five injured.
Crazy Junta: Mauritania’s new government promises free elections, but also fires teargas at citizens holding signs.
500: Afghanistan death toll hits milestone.
Maverick Moment of the Week: Obama picks up the maverick message in ads and speeches.
Screwy: Malaysia charges opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim with sodomy as he runs for parliament. He faces 20 years in prison.
The Surge at Home: Jobless rates hit a six-year high.
“Dressed for Dinner”: Festival in Peru involves dressing up Guinea Pigs and then, well…
The Audacity of Hope: Delusional Hillary backers plan to march through Denver during the Democratic national Convention to demand her delegates are counted and win the nomination!
Olympic kick-off week: Nadia Comaneci’s perfect 10s in 1976.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
UPDATE:
Thu, Aug 07 at 03:34 AM
UPDATE:
What happens to this…
…when Favre goes to another team? I know this is a ridiculous question, but still.
Books Somebody Might be Offended, Somewhere
Thu, Aug 07 at 03:34 AM
Books Somebody Might be Offended, Somewhere
posted by Paul Constant on August 6 at 4:05 PM
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books brings news (along with Galleycat) that Random House is stopping publication of The Jewel of Medina, a book about one of Mohammed’s wives that was supposed to be released this week. Apparently, they’re frightened of Islammyfascists.
The book by Sherry Jones is a work of historical fiction based on the life of Aisha, one of the wives of the prophet Mohammed. Random House paid a $100k advance for the work but when UT Professor Denise Spellberg read an ARC, she denounced the book as a very ugly, stupid piece of work (note to authors: Dont ask her for a cover quote. Ever.) and said, I dont have a problem with historical fiction. I do have a problem with the deliberate misinterpretation of history. You cant play with a sacred history and turn it into soft core pornography.
Wait, wait, before you pound your head on your desk, theres more. Ms. Spellberg alerted Shahed Amunullah, a guest lecturer and editor of altmuslim.com, who spread the word to a listserv of Muslim graduate students. From there that email appeared the website Hussaini Youth, and within three hours, a person published a seven-point strategy to ensure the writer withdraws this book from the stores and apologise all the muslims across the world.
I wonder if The Satanic Verses would be published by any major New York publisher in this day and age? Somehow, I doubt it.
(Thanks to Slog tipper Sweeney.)
Arts A Coney Island of the Mindfuck
Thu, Aug 07 at 03:34 AM
Arts A Coney Island of the Mindfuck
posted by Brendan Kiley on August 6 at 4:10 PM
New on Coney Island, as reported in the New York Times:
It looks at first like any other shuttered storefront near the boardwalk: some garish lettering and a cartoonish invitation to a delight or a scam -- in this case theres SpongeBob SquarePants saying, It dont Gitmo better!
Inside, artist Steve Powers has designed a “Waterboard Thrill Ride” where you stuff a dollar into a slot and watch animatronic figures torture each other.
The whole recreational waterboarding thing is as old as the hills, whether for the purposes of kink (hello, ancient Japanese porn) or publicity (hello, Christopher Hitchens). Just a few weeks ago, Jen Graves wrote about Jon Haddock, an artist from Arizona who makes animatronic torture figures.
But that’s the point--torture is nothing shocking.
Remember the days--circa Halloween, 2004--when people got all worked up about this?
Those days are done.
Back to the Coney Island article:
I love it, said Ricki Rosen, the mother of the family. Hilarious! Her daughter asked what it was all about, and Ms. Rosen responded: Waterboarding, Sweetie, is a kind of torture where they pour water on peoples faces so they feel like theyre drowning. But then there was a big controversy because a lot of Americans are saying you shouldnt torture people even if they are terrorists. She paused. The baby is hilarious!
“Waterboarding, Sweetie, is a kind of torture.”
That phrase is now burned on my brain.
Sports If It Wasn’t Official Before, It Is Now
Thu, Aug 07 at 03:34 AM
Sports If It Wasn’t Official Before, It Is Now
posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on August 6 at 4:37 PM
According to some bloggers in Oklahoma, a technical slip-up on the NBA’s team schedule homepage has revealed that the Team Formerly Known as The Supersonics has officially been rechristened as the Oklahoma Thunder.
It was rumored before, now it appears to be official.
And now, some real thunder!
Books Turn That Frown Upside Down
Thu, Aug 07 at 03:34 AM
Books Turn That Frown Upside Down
posted by Paul Constant on August 6 at 5:00 PM
Chekhov’s Mistress, which is a smart, funny litblog, is calling for a boycott of Amazon.com:
Dennis Loy Johnson, founder of Melville House Publishing first explained to me about the difficulties of dealing with the Amazonians several years ago, but it seems their dirty dealings never end. According to The Bookseller.com Amazon is fighting with Hachette Livre to extract more discounts from the publisher and has REMOVED THE BUY BUTTON from their titles on the site (this is, I understand, on the UK Website). Can you imagine walking into your favorite bookstore, picking up a title and heading to the cash register and being told No. We wont sell you that book. The publisher hasnt given us a big enough discount. I would walk out and never come back.
Visual Art First Came Altoids, Then Red Bull, Now Pabst Blue Ribbon
Wed, Aug 06 at 10:26 PM
Visual Art First Came Altoids, Then Red Bull, Now Pabst Blue Ribbon
posted by Jen Graves on August 6 at 10:00 AM
They all want to suckle at the credibility-teat of art. This is the new marketing-advertising, folks, made for people who distrust the old marketing-advertising.
There’s even a clever, clever name! From the press release:
We wanted to make sure you knew about Pabst Blue Ribbons third annual PB-Arts Contest and the upcoming submission dates.
The contest invites PBR drinkers to create unique works of art inspired by the historic brew. Works will be accepted in four categories — photography, painting, sculpture and poetry (new this year) — from September 1 through December 31, 2008. PBR will select one grand prize winner and one runner-up in each category on January 15, 2009. As in past years, the winning artwork will be honored and displayed in cities across the United States in various ways — wallscapes, alternative weeklies, building projections, newspaper racks, bus benches, store displays and other visual outlets. You may have seen this years artwork up around your city.
Grand prize winners will receive $1,893 in cash, symbolic to the year 1893 when PBR won their famous blue ribbon, and a one-year supply of the inspiring brew. The runners-up in each category will receive exactly 1/3 of the Grand Prize: $631 in cash and a four-month supply of Pabst. For further submission and contest details your readers can visit www.pabstblueribbon.com.
The masterwork of last year’s contest:
First, I hated PBR for its newfound hipsterism. Now I hate it for its devious, devious scheme to get me not to hate it.
Visual Art Photographer Isaac Layman on In/Visible: “I wanted to take ceramics, but ceramics was full, so I had to take photography, and I failed that class.”
Wed, Aug 06 at 10:26 PM
Visual Art Photographer Isaac Layman on In/Visible: “I wanted to take ceramics, but ceramics was full, so I had to take photography, and I failed that class.”
posted by Jen Graves on August 6 at 10:00 AM
Isaac Layman’s Stereo (2008), 58 by 102 inches
Standing in front of the above image, Layman talks about the anti-exotic photograph:
(*This is a new feature I’m trying where I break up the art podcast In/Visible into little pieces for those of you who don’t have the time to deal with a 30-minute block. For those of you who love the 30-minute block, the interviews will still be available in that form on the In/Visible home page.)
Savage Love Savage Love Letter of the Day
Wed, Aug 06 at 10:26 PM
Savage Love Savage Love Letter of the Day
posted by Dan Savage on August 6 at 10:09 AM
Written response to the first letter in this week’s column…
I really wish I had known about straightspouse.org years ago. My husband came out after 18 months of marriage, and by “came out,” I mean cheated on me with a college kid he met on facebook the day after Christmas.
Looking back at it all, I know that there were plenty of red flags along the way… from his passion for scrapbooking to the the gay porn on his computer to the fact that he never wanted to have sex with me, but we were both in complete denial. He even cheated on me with someone before we got married, but chalked it up to being curious. We swept everything under the rug because we were young and stupid and caught up in the wedding planning and completely terrified of being honest with our families and ourselves.
Yes, ACK’s cousin’s fiance might be aware of everything and might be into gay porn, but there’s really a good chance that she’s just deluding herself because she’s scared of the alternative. And if the cousin has denied everything to her, or claimed that his homosexual relationships were just a phase, then he could very easily be deluding himself too.
Incidentally, my husband and I got a divorce and we are still quite chummy. I am now engaged to a truly wonderful man and the husband is still dating that kid he met on facebook (who, by the way, is a complete douchebag, but that’s a different letter, I guess).
Straight Ex-Spouse
Books Reading Tonight
Wed, Aug 06 at 10:26 PM
Books Reading Tonight
posted by Paul Constant on August 6 at 10:10 AM
Tonight we have a Poetry Slam. Here is Anis Mojgani at the 2006 Seattle Grand Slam:
“Rock out like you just got a book published.” There’s something in the voice of poetry slam poets--a kind of self-indulgent self-satisfaction--that just makes me want to run away screaming. The above three poems haven’t changed that opinion at all, especially the third one, which is painful.
There’s also a Young Writer’s Workshop Reading down at the Elliott Bay Book Company, in which young writers read the work they’ve produced in their summer workshops. If I had to pick, I would definitely choose this over the Poetry Slam, because I’ve worked in a bookstore during a youth reading and it was actually a lot of fun; the kids were nervous and everybody was very supportive.
Full readings calendar here.
Celeb / Media Madonna’s New Head Gets Its Own Think Piece
Wed, Aug 06 at 10:26 PM
posted by David Schmader on August 6 at 10:42 AM
The meat of the essay from New York magazine:
Through some unholy marriage of extreme fitness and calorie restriction (and maybe a little lipo), women have figured out how to tame their aging bodies for longer than ever. You see them everywhere in New York City: forty- and fiftysomethings who look better than a 25-year-old in a fitted little dress or a tight pair of jeans. But this level of fitness has created a new problem to which the New New Face is the solution--gauntness. Past a certain age, to paraphrase Catherine Deneuve, its either your fanny or your face. In other words, if your body is fierce (from yoga, Pilates, and the treadmill), your face will have no fat on it either and it will be unfierce. It was only a matter of time before a certain segment of the female population would figure out how to have it both ways, even if it means working out two hours a day and then paying someone to volumize their faces, as they say in the dermatology business. As a friend of mine recently pointed out, there is now a whole new class of women walking around with wiry little bodies and big ol baby faces. And they look, well, if not exactly young, then attractive in a different way. A yoga body plus the New New Face may not be a fountain of youth, but its a fountain of indeterminate age.
Read the whole thing here.
In other women-getting-weird-plastic surgery news: Lately I’ve been watching Melrose Place on DVD (it’s a stipulation of my parole, plus I missed it when it originally aired, and thus found myself severely lacking in sexy-blackmail skills) and was shocked when then-20-something Courtney Thorne-Smith smiled and showed cute little crinkly wrinkles around her eyes. This was back in the early ’90s, when such monstrosities were allowed on network television. Fifty bucks says Ms. Thorne-Smith has fewer wrinkles now as a 40-something TV actress than she did back then. RIP, crinkly eye wrinkles.
Politics Interviewing the Gov
Wed, Aug 06 at 10:26 PM
Politics Interviewing the Gov
posted by Erica C. Barnett on August 6 at 10:50 AM
The Stranger Election Control Board’s editorial endorsements for this month’s primary election will hit the streets (and go up online) later today. In the meantime, please enjoy this edited video of the SECB’s interview with Gov. Christine Gregoire, in which the Gov gives us what-for on Sound Transit, tells us what her priorities will be if she’s reelected, and rips into Republican Dino Rossi for criticizing her close relationship with the state’s Native American tribes.
Part I:
Part II:
Books This Is the Way to Handle This Sort of Thing
Wed, Aug 06 at 10:26 PM
Books This Is the Way to Handle This Sort of Thing
posted by Paul Constant on August 6 at 11:00 AM
Over at this librarian’s blog, which is unfortunately titled “My Liblog,” he recounts the story of a woman who protested a book called Uncle Bobby’s Wedding. This is a children’s book about a child who is afraid that her favorite Uncle Bobby, who is marrying another man, won’t have any time to spend with her after he gets married.
The librarian responded to her e-mail with a very long, very thoughtful e-mail that he then posted to his blog. I think that everyone who’s interested in fighting book censorship should read this letter. It’s exactly the way to confront people like this.
You feel that a book about gay marriage is inappropriate for young children. But another book in our collection, Daddy’s Roommate, was requested by a mother whose husband left her, and their young son, for another man. She was looking for a way to begin talking about this with son. Another book, Alfie’s Home, was purchased at the request of another mother looking for a way to talk about the suspected homosexuality of her young son from a Christian perspective. There are gay parents in Douglas County, right now, who also pay taxes, and also look for materials to support their views. We don’t have very many books on this topic, but we do have a handful.
In short, most of the books we have are designed not to interfere with parents’ notions of how to raise their children, but to support them. But not every parent is looking for the same thing.
Seriously. Go read it.
(And a big thank you to Slog tipper Davida, who will hopefully still find time to Slog tip from Librarian School in New York City this fall.)
Visual Art First Thursday Simplified
Wed, Aug 06 at 10:26 PM
Visual Art First Thursday Simplified
posted by Jen Graves on August 6 at 11:00 AM
From the designers at Dumb Eyes, there’s now an official First Thursday Art Walk web site.
It shows you the weather. It gives you make-your-own maps. It is searchable by art medium. It has space for you to leave comments about the art. There are links to everywhere (social networking sites, galleries, press reports on the art), and glow-in-the-dark maps will be distributed. There’s bus, train, ferry, bike, and parking info. The only hitch is that venues have to update their own information, so there are still a bunch of blanks.
It’s the sort of thing you can’t believe didn’t already exist, and it looks good. Give the guys at Dumb Eyes your feedback about how it works this Thursday during Art Walk, at a booth at Art in the Park in Occidental Park.
The Stranger Suggests
Wed, Aug 06 at 10:26 PM
Chow
Now in its 10th year, the Columbia City Farmers' Market may not be the city's biggest, but it is one of the most vibrant. If you make it past the food stalls—tamales, quesadillas, some of the biggest burgers you've ever seen—without emptying your pockets, stop by La Medusa, the delightful "Sicilian soul food" restaurant for its $25 prix fixe market menu, available every Wednesday during market season. (Columbia City Farmers' Market, 4801 Rainier Ave S, 3–7 pm. La Medusa, 4857 Rainier Ave S, 723-2192, 5–10 pm.)
ERICA C. BARNETT