The Halls of Warship Welcome W

Faces blurred to protect the "innocent"

To juxtapose images is an effective way of conveying otherwise overlooked ideas. But many have already made the parallels between todays crazies and past crazies.

U.S. Weighing Readiness for Military Action Against Iran

In a speech Monday, Gates said Iran "is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons." He said war would be "disastrous" but added that "the military option must be kept on the table, given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat."

Gag me with a Big Gulp of Blue Gold

Back in 1971 one lone activist, Richard Chambers, was able to convince lawmakers to pass the Oregon Bottle Bill, but back then there were no plastic bottles. Today from mexico to china ( with a huuuge detour thru USA) the global thirst for oil produced no-deposit-no-return plastic water bottles is just more proof that the crazies are in charge.

"In just America alone, we are using 29.6 million barrels of oil a year to have the convenience of plastic bags and plastic water bottles. This could literally provide enough oil to fuel 2 - 3 million cars in the U.S. every single year. Bottom line, the production of 31.2 billion liters of water for the U.S. bottled water market took roughly 17.6 million barrels of oil."

Spotted Dick and Cock Flavored Soup

When food shopping at Publix, be on the look-out for new or interesting products from the ethnic section. These two provocative items may be tempting to try but i prefer to give them as gifts. The soup mix is a jamaican staple sure to cumpiment any meal. Wonder if Kerry's dear wife is responsible for the sponge(bob) pudding.

Frozen Tsunamis and Painting Elephants

Somedays I want to un-plug the endless political coverage circus noise because november is a long ways off and january 09 is even further away. When I tune out for a 15 minute distraction, it's off to Cliff Pickover of Reality Carnival where we find infiniate mind-bending science trivia. From giant frozen waves to painting elephants, the truth is more fantastic than we can imagine.

Michigan has had the coldest winter in decades.
All that ice looks nice with another miami summer approaching.
But it is another sign that the weather is freaking out.


Reality is truly amazing when we see this skilled artist wow the crowd.

pass the passover pipe

I believe the popemobile has left the country and the passover observance is ended because nyc is back to 'normal' and all the kosher food is on sale at publix. The coconut macaroons are plentiful and for bread lovers the matzo was particularly crisp this year when topped of with a gentile apostate schmeer of underwood deviled ham spread, jum.



In the book of Exodus, Moses knew a good thing when he saw it and a way out of oppression is still a good idea today. But to free ourselves from the heavy hand of creeping tyranny we have to talk the talk and walk the walk. For the jewish diaspora here, spring cleaning is serious business, follow the rules or risk getting 86'ed from the club.

"...Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; howbeit the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses;

for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel..."

"...ye shall do no manner of servile work. And ye shall bring an offering made by fire..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover

Did somebody say fire offering to jah?
Who among us has not grooved to Bob Marley on the album of the century EXODUS -

"Movement of Jah people...
Open your eyes and look within:
Are you satisfied with the life you're living?"

whatever happened here... Sobe It

I was lucky to have spent time with the father of Flabbergast architecture Morris Lapidus in 1998. He couldn't get out much then, so we would visit and listen to him for hours. He gave me this old book by Harold Mehling (1960Harcourt,Brace). The book jacket blurb closed with this comment:

"Mehling draws a incisive portrait of a city that is part in our time, but - fortunately- is not typical of america or americans. He also takes a startlingly dim view of the city's future as a resort: America has grown-up, while Miami Beach has not."

But is the past 50 years america has grown dumb and Miami Beach has just grown crass. Mehling writes:

"Tourist bring the notion that they can't take it with them, and this notion stimulates a spirited game. Not everyone can win this game, of course, but everyone can have a good time playing."

That "hook" has not changed, it's the 'whatever happens here' cliche.

"In Miami Beach a first-rank hotel makes available immense public spaces in which to show-off, and smaller private spaces in which to drop-off. There are people for whom these two requirements are not reducible, for a number of social and emotional reasons. They make up a way of life."

Fast-foreward 2008. This "princess" was strutting along Ocean Drive happy as whore in baghdad.... flabbergast indeed.

Canned-Doo Attitude

I can not find another local blog that reports on substantive matters like Eye on Miami does. In a town of 3 million somnambulant taxpayers Eye blogger is a wide awake watch-dog for public interest and serves the corrupted/inept a heaping-helping of canned...

Black Like You

Hangin' in Harlem you will find Jumel Terrace Books and John Strausbaugh's book with the low-down on the raceology of humor.

So take it from "another fancy licker" Shirley Q. Liquor is a must-have on your playlist.
NewTimes has a bit on Shirley aka Charles Knipp. Catch her at the Exxxotica convention.


Tell your mama i said how's she durn.

Performance Extraordinaire

Dr. Whoops and staff.

David Rohn, one of my favorite local Art-Geezers, is showing us how it's done... at Carol Jazzar opening tonight.

for the love of logs

Shopping for logs today was a bit like walking in a celluloid grave-yard.
The place looked so rich in the golden morning sun I thought of diane arbus cacabre, of peter beard's elepant bones...



and then i saw this odd ready-made tree-crotch and lightened up.

something about mary's likeness

The pope is in the USA with much fanfare... so no one has noticed the likeness of mary that appeared on a concrete post on the intersection of Biscayne Blvd. and 79 Street adjacent to an INS building. The road work has turned this sidewalk into a no-mans-land for about two months and counting. This is a busy place where normally many humble new-comers form a line outside daily to get immigration matters resolved inside. some welcome!

spirituality vs materialism

Vanity Plates are embarassing but ok... until now.
Can you see any day-light between church n state? Our elected officials do not.

They also want to force the teaching of "the scientific theory of evolution" in all science class curricula in public schools.



For more breaking news on god go here.
And for superior analysis go here.

Taxman Cometh

The Beatles knew exactly how to portray the tax collectors.



Harrison

Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman

Should five per cent appear too small
Be thankful I don't take it all
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah I'm the taxman

If you drive a car, I'll tax the street,
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat.
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat,
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.

Don't ask me what I want it for
If you don't want to pay some more
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman

Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman
And you're working for no one but me.


Dear Sir or Madam:

After careful consideration of the consequences and balancing them with my strong feelings against contributing fully to the illegal, unethical, and unnecessary war presently being waged by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, I hereby declare myself a War Tax Objector and am withholding 15% of my total tax liability for the 2007 tax year. The 15% amount is intended to represent a compromise or median point between the percentage of U.S. income tax revenue currently spent on the military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan (7%) and the percentage of revenue targeted to military expenses in toto (31%). I simply cannot justify making a full contribution to the deaths of thousands of U.S. and coalition soldiers and exponentially more Iraqi and Afghan citizens, nor to the destruction of the rule of law in America by the regime presently in power....

There is more to this suggestion letter from blast-off.

quiet storm preparedmess

Is it hurricane season again already?
This article in todays New York Times is sure to pacify those who prefer a sunny picture of the FEMA solution to disaster releaf. But beneath the cottage charm is a plot to prepare for less happy days. plans that are missguided, expensive and out of the public concern.



" GULFPORT, Miss. — After the federal government announced in February that it would no longer use travel trailers to house the victims of future disasters, there was an initial sense of relief along the hurricane-scarred Gulf Coast.
The flimsy little white boxes are unpleasant to live in and tainted with toxic formaldehyde fumes. And they cost the federal government billions of dollars.
But that relief quickly turned to exasperation when it became clear that the government did not have an immediate backup plan. Without the trailers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has no reliable way to rush immediate shelter to thousands of victims of an earthquake, or a wildfire, or another catastrophic.... FEMA is considering several new ideas...."


An search for 'fema internment camps' gets plenty of out-there results:

"There over 600 prison camps in the United States, all fully operational and ready to receive prisoners. They are all staffed and even surrounded by full-time guards, but they are all empty. These camps are to be operated by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) should Martial Law need to be implemented in the United States....."



"Makeshift internment camps for non-Mexican detainees. These camps, like the one pictured here in Raymondville, Texas, are Kevlar tents erected on cement slabs."

This camp is in TX but there is probably one near you, ready for occupancy.

Out of Dining

If you dine out at restaurants you know it can get pricy. If you eat food then you probably know that the cost is going up-up-up. Never mind the wholefoods and epicure, we are talking rice n beans. Reporting appetizers abound on the condition of our nutrition and the global appetite.

Haiti is a one place to start.
Suffice to say hunger for some is a game, but for others it is the life.

Here is another perculiar take from the montreal gas-ette. Why they choose a photo if these two 'champs' smiling to illustrate such a dire report is disheartening.

"...They called on the IMF and World Bank to stand ready with emergency funding to help the poorer nations of the world in case financial market woes spread to their economies and the food crisis worsened. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned of "more bumps in the road." "It took time to build up recent excesses and it will take time to work through the consequences," he told the IMF's policy-setting International Monetary and Financial Committee. A year ago, finance ministers and central bank chiefs were basking in five years of strong world growth, unaware that a U.S. housing boom was about to go bust, triggering what may be the biggest financial shock since the Great Depression."

It has become abundantly clear there is a looming crisis of diminishing global food yealds and many mouths to feed. Bucky Fuller talked of all this in "Grunch of Giants": "There exists a realizable, evolutionary alternative to our being either atom-bombed into extinction or crowding ourselves off the planet. The alternative is the computer-persuadable veering of big business from its weaponry fixation to accommodation of all humanity at an aerospace level of technology, with the vastly larger, far more enduringly profitable for all, entirely new World Livingry Service Industry. It is statistically evident that the more advanced the living standard, the lower the birth rate."

starcube gallactica

Is it second-saturday again?

UPDATE:
"woah, we all got artzitudanized last night, it was good for all persuasions."
DASH had their annual Seniors Showcase across from BooksnBooks in the Design Disrict.
There are probably 70 galleries is Wynwood (no sight of parkingauthority, yeih)

mama and the mooks

Nationally-syndicated talk show host Stephanie Miller and her mooks, Jim n Chris, knock my socks off daily on Air America AM 940.

Arshamized and Folded

People might think that most young artist types are not morning people, they stay up late to get all creative. It's probably so but Daniel Arsham gets up early and goes to work as professionally as a banker. When we work together, he is my motivational guru and ball buster. Too heads are better than one when pulling ideas out of the ether of serious art.


Drapes and Folds are classic treatment of shape in space where light is captured in an instance.


When things come together it's Mission Accomplished...
this old chair has been Arshamized for your comfort n amusement.


Dance is universoul expression of the body . Old Movie Houses are temples to film and popcorn. Their marquees are the hook that brings you in. For the stage set we made for the Merce Cunningham company performance at the Carnaval (arsht) Center, Arsham sliced n diced architecture into forced prespectives for the dancers.

Euclidian Spaced Balls Times 3

If one is good... three is better.

These wall sculptures were made for Bhakti Baxter hand-crafted in american marble (aka styrofoam) chewing gum and spit. The geometrics have been around since the golden greeks but the claming hypnotic effect is still amazingly creamy. who doesn't like round things.

playdo and artsitotle

Standing tall high above the courtyard at Design and Architecture Senior High school are the modern day versions of Plato and Aristotle made in the like-ness of the kids. The Kids sculptures at DASH in the Design District were made for R & R Studio in 2003. They are hand-crafted from a single block of american marble (aka styrofoam) chewing gum and spit and have survived tropical storms katrina and wilma. Schools like DASH and New World provide the knowlegde and support needed to ensure the next generation of artists. Some motivated kids commute for hours to attend magnet schools, to get the education needed in today's creative industries.

anonymouse looser wins, kinda

The Sun Post has the low-down-kill-joy on a mural by Serge Toussaint in Little Haiti.
As if things arn't F'ed-up enough already, it appears that the spoiler is good ol' FDOT fuddi-duddies (same chumps that are about to make i95 traffic slug like mollasses to install 'lexus lanes' for the haves n havemores):

".... an anonymous caller who said, “if the Obama painting was to remain, then he should be allowed to paint a picture of his candidate.”

If anonymous is an obamapublican, you know who you are, go ahead and paint, i would love to see Serge do a portrait of SaintJohnMcSame/Reagen, it may not be flattering .
Anonymity my arsh, any number of jerks can be anonymous but is there really any such privacy today. It takes real pride to sign your work as artist like Serge will find ever clever ways to deal with the systematic-bullpucky from officials and still come out a-head.

to the swamp and beyond

In an up is down world....
smart, disciplined, inclusive, organized and visionary is what we can expect in the future of this 'new' miami blog.

Rise n Shine n Beans

Graffiti is a very effective communication tool for artist wanting to connect with regular people, but authority does not take it too kindly. In contrast Art in Public Places is loved by all (officials with 'hands-in-the-cookie-jar') . Public art is another good way to connect with mass culture (those who take pride in being art-illiterate) those who are put off by the snobby art elite and bohemian freaks.

Here are two amazing sculptures that speak for themselves.... whatever the cost/benefits are to the city. First, the Chicago "BEAN" by Anish Kapur is an a-m-a-z-i-n-g dont-miss if you are in that windy place. Another is this "orangeman" by Xavier Veilhan in Lyon, France, again amazing. Both are not without controversy in terms of public funding and or style but there is no substitute for world-class art.

I'm glad to prop 305, but the point is where has all that 1% construction dollars for public art in miami gone? Far as i can tell, mostly to MIA (where no locals hang) and Brittos (few respect). Miami Art in Public places is in shambles last i read, and new MAM park is following the pre-construction model of the Carnaval Center in it's seemingly endless need for more public dollars... for what..... the promise of a shinny tomorrow. Publicly funded cultural institutions should be open to the public with no admission fee. They may not get much more traffic, but at least they would appear respectful to the community that feeds them.

FYI MLK USA OMG

Think Martin Luther King would have liked this painting called "U.S.A. ToStay" ARS '85
could remind us of the power of collective action, the power of bottom-up organizing, the power of seeing a world where everyone is in it together, where everyone has a stake in one another.

"The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the Vietnamese people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways." mlk 1967

You probably already know John McCain voted against making Martin Luther King's birthday a holiday in 1983. FYI today we got an official apology from McSame... he said he made a mistake, i say too little too late.

let the good times roll-over

Even in wartime people gotta have a good time so what's more fun than disco roller skating at Gold Coast in Ft. Lauderdale. Thursday nights is best with pure disco dream glide... no blades please.