These Things Take Time

It started two weeks ago. Sound Artist and Video Artist were in Venice and talked me into joining them. I thought anything would be better than the unbearable baking I was getting in NYC heat, despite the glories of the extra BTUs of my new unit. So off I went.

Good artworld denizens that they are, those two had seen the Biennale months ago, but they urged me to complete my pilgrimage. (I think they wanted some private time and this was a convenient way of ditching me for a few hours.)

This was my first time, so I had no idea what to expect. Fortunately there was plentiful espresso in abundance, which also helped my jet-lagged self. Not knowing Italian much beyond "scuzzi" and "grazie" (is that how you spell it?) I avoided interactions with others as much as possible--with the exception (of course) of "espresso, per favore."

So an art exhibit seemed to be the easiest way to muddle through linguistic patheticness. I thought it would be some relaxing light entertainment, with maybe a few "huh!" moments here and there. And so, innocently enough, I stepped into the first room and encountered this:


It was an exhibit by the Guerilla Girls, and I guess according to Video Artist the G-Girls have been around for years. I like to think I'm an enlightened guy, but after that room I was reminded of how some battles seem to keep needing to be fought.

That night, when Sound Artist and Video Artist were feeling more sociable towards me, we had a late dinner at one of those ristorantes on the Canal. I asked them what they thought about the issue of male/female representation, and Video Artist pointed out that in the "post-feminist" age we're supposed to be beyond talking about such things, but that actually the situation was awful. Then I thought about my mother, and told them about what a struggle she had climbing the walls of academia in the sciences, the horrible things some of her colleagues would say to her, the pettiness and smallness of their attitudes. She did eventually get her professorship, but after surviving minefields of arrogance and dismissiveness. If my mother taught me anything, it was to never be dismissive of women, never to become one of those brutes she had had to "smile nicely" to.

This is the beginning of my story of What Happened. There's more, but I've got to give my writing hand a rest before I get serious carpal tunnel.

World Blog Day 2005

In honor of World Blog Day 2005, here are my list of blog sites that I've come across and I think are worth checking out:

Sauté
I've been planning to find some new culinary delights to try to create in my closet of a kitchen. There are some great entries from this summer about the ins and outs of white-fleshed fish--what to grill, what to use for ceviche--and accompanying details.

My heart's in accra
Mine is too. My time in Ghana was such an eye-opener and this site is a great resource for so much that is going on in Africa.

Astrology.CA Blog
My guilty pleasure, checking out my horoscope. But what I really like is how this blog attempts to track when and how astrology figures into other news stories.

Buffoonery
A great blog at those moments when I want to reminisce about the time I lived in Seattle. Wasn't it on our way out of Kozue that Mom got ticketed for jaywalking? I'll have to ask her about that. An unbelievably stupid display of official muscle.

i-pets
All animals. All the time. I appreciate the focus. I keep thinking about getting a pet but can't decide about whether I should get a cat or a dog. Or maybe some fish (hmm, interesting choice in light of earlier blog listing). No, I think something with white fur. Maybe I'll head to the shelter again next week to see if any of the animals look like they'll want to hang out and watch the Sopranos with me.

RSVP

I know, I know. It's been over a month. I was reading somewhere online yesterday about blogs, and how most of the people who start them don't keep them going.

I'm determined not to become another cliché, at least not in that respect...

I went to my cousin's wedding a few weeks ago, near Frankfurt. Saw my father for the first time in about a year. Mom wasn't there, she was at some neuropsychology conference, honestly I think that was an excuse.

I haven't been in Germany since I was a kid. It's true what they say, everyone speaks English there, more or less. Although I felt like the clichéd American nonetheless, incapable of even the simplest niceties. What can I do about it? I only studied foreign language in college, it was a requirement. I took Spanish and can say "¡Ola!" now and that's about it. When I was in Ghana I did pick up some Twi, but unfortunately I'm just awful at foreign languages.

Maybe it's not entirely my fault. Apparently there's something called a "substrate" which is your first language, (in my case English)--and depending on what it is, it can make it easy or difficult to learn specific other languages.

Batty

Can't sleep. Too many thoughts are racing around in my head. I just found this creepily menacing bat picture on line. I think this little guy is a good counterpoint to the neo-ninja batman. I didn't have hugely high hopes for Batman Begins. But even with mediocre expectations, I was underwhelmed.

Sound Artist and I checked it out last night. From start to finish it proved itself to be an action-free action movie. Groundbreaking. Sure, there were fight scenes, but they were filmed in such a way as to prevent the audience from having any idea as to what was going on. When fight scenes work, it's because of the carefully choreographed interaction between the participants. But BB just has a montage of close-up quick cuts in almost darkness. It's impossible to tell who's who let alone what they're doing.

And then there's the strange subtext about what is essentially Batman's vigilantism. The movie tried so hard to dance around the fact that he is acting above and outside the law as if that weren't what he were actually doing. If you're going to create a character who considers himself to be answering to a higher justice then don't try to pretend otherwise.

I suppose acting outside the law is a touchy subject these days. I'm still shocked about the London bombings but it's way too late for me to even attempt to write about that.

It's after 3 now. My ambitions to do a long bike ride early tomorrow may have been thwarted. But I've been slacking off for a few days so I really have to get to moving again. Wish me luck. I need to stop sleeping in so late....

Coffee Talk

A Thursday night bender with some friends leaves me lazy and hazed this morning. Spent most of the past few hours looking for my lost tennis racket, tempering the heat with a ben and jerry's breakfast, and attempting to organize my photos from Ghana. Caffeine may be my only hope for steering this day toward a productive path. Speaking of caffeine, I heard a disturbing rumor that not only is walking in between subway cars illegal and will get you a $75 ticket, but apparently the MTA snuck drinking coffee on the train in that bill bag too. Has anyone alerted the higher authorities (that is to say "the man") that nyc's commuters will now be arriving to their cubicles dazed and confused, assuring a drop in productivity and thus a market collapse? Sell now New York!

Brain drifting back to my coffee heath bar crunch here and wondering if that counts in the no caffeine on train rule too. Perhaps it's time we all switch to the Peace Pop? Ponder that over this 4th of July weekend. I'll be heading to the burg for Sound Artist's roof top bbq/fireworks shindig where I'm told Turntablist will be making an appearance. Hoping to sneak in a pick up line between sets and finally land a date for drinks. Must first confirm "single" status.

Free freedom!

This is it! I hung out in Bryant Park today using their wireless. Video Artist and I were meeting for coffee but I had some extra time before we met up. She's been telling me to start a blog for months now and I'm finally starting. The picture I took is a bit blurry but you can see the helpful instructions they address to pigeons.

"Yo pigeons! Listen up! Spread disease, destroy flower beds, and leave leftovers for rats. Whenever you're in the neighborhood."

I didn't realize pigeons got such a warm reception in NY.

VA was really flipping out about the controversy around The Drawing Center. I hadn't heard about it before, but apparently Pataki is trying to tell The Drawing Center what they can and can't do once they move to the new site at Ground Zero. He's afraid they might show art that is Political, i.e. art that includes Ideas. He must want them to show only drawings which say "Freedom isn't free."

What's really disturbing, though, is that there hasn't been much of a response from anyone in the art world. None of the big institutions or individual artists have come forward to defend The Drawing Center. What is everyone so scared of? Being Political?

What is clear is that Pataki is starting early on his 2008 Presidential run. He's playing the 9/11 card early.