SUNDAY #3349

One Of My Very Own

EMAIL: ralph.henry.at.folio.olio@gmail.com

Van Morrison, “Brown Eyed Girl”

NEWSY BITS

On May 18, 1927, a man named Andrew Kehoe blew up the school in Bath Township, Mich. Most of the 44 killed were children. It remains the deadliest attack on a school in U.S. history. It is also regularly left out of accounts of terrorism in America.

Kehoe, an electrician, had previously worked on the school and had rigged explosives through the buildings in the weeks leading up to the attack. His timer device in one part of the building failed, so children in those rooms survived. In the immediate aftermath of the school explosion, Kehoe set off another bomb in his car, killing himself and several others nearby. Prior to the school explosion, he had murdered his wife and set his own farm on fire. His motive was anger at a foreclosure on his farm, and the taxes levied by the township to pay for the new school.

Anchor Lawrence O’Donnell said on his show Thursday night that “a bullet fired from an AR-15 travels 3x faster than one from a handgun…and yet the president and the NRA think giving teachers guns will stop a school shooter.”

Fucking idiot.

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(ATLANTA) — Police in Atlanta say a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employee has been missing for more than a week.The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday that 35-year-old Timothy Jerrell Cunningham was last seen Feb. 12. Police said he called in sick from work that day and hasn’t been heard from since.

WSB-TV reported his parents arrived from Maryland at his Atlanta home and found his car, keys, wallet and phone. They said he also left his dog at home.

He worked as an epidemic intelligence officer and has been deployed for public health emergencies.

[ RH: Time to buy another shotgun cause this is the exact headline I'd expect to precede the zombie apocalypse.]

Oh holy shit.

ART AND ARTISTS

I remember the day I called myself an artist instead of art student. I was akin to a PhD introducing herself as a Doctor for the first time - akin, not the same. I believed and believe that I simply didn't deserve the title until I received my first commission. And remember, in conversation they can't see the difference between Art and art. That capital A has to be earned, not just declared.

As you know I was a muralist. I will admit that I entered that field because at that time (1976) that was where the money was and I had a wife and two kids to feed and house.

I became an excellent problem solver. Once I sold a mural to the CEO of a bank and he asked me how many of that type mural (mosaic) had I done. I just smiled and said, "None. But I'm a fast learner." And I, of course, learned how to create art with tile and went on to do dozens more.

From my two graduate level photography classes I learned that quality photography is much harder than a layman would think. I do not take art photos anymore, but I can recognize quality when I see it.

Photographs have to follow the same elements of design as paintings, prints, and any other form of art.

It is even allowed to manipulate the subject IN ORDER to create an image.

I will be the first to admit that a huge part of quality photography is pure dumb luck.

As much as anything else, this was just lucky.

Of course you have to place yourself in a position to capture that lucky image when it happens.

SCULPTURE

Sculpture influences a space.

Lucifer (Morning Star)

Unlike painting and other 2D art, you have to walk around sculpture, and as illustrated here the art changes as you do.

Almost all sculpture is public art.

I can't discern how the physics works on the levitation.

This one, of course, is held aloft by the hair and dress touching the ground. But the house above doesn't seem to touch the ground and I see no cables.

Many artists like to play with physics.

I think it adds an element of tension.

It used to be the "job" of sculptors to capture a likeness of people, usually famous people. Now I think it's popular to take that one step further.

And talk about altering your whole environment...

COMPUTER AS AN ART TOOL

I used to oppose to calling any computer generated image "Art."

Then I had an epiphany brought about by comments to this blog from a very bright young man. He showed me that a computer is just another art tool, like a paint brush or chisel.

By it's very nature, the computer's possibilities are infinite.

PERFORMING ARTS

I know very little about the performing arts, but we all have enjoyed them since a very young age.

HUMOR

Can serious art be humorous. I sure hope so. You have to admit there is something funny about boxes who sole purpose is to tote dollar  bills around.

Does anyone not see the humor in this?

FOLK ART

I once taught a university art class and on day one I told my students that there was something each student does that could be considered art (note small a). This display of a collection is an example.

I further told them of their course project was to give a demonstration of their art at the end of the course.

One brought in a pie that she obviously spent a lot of time on, and not only was it delicious, but it was beautiful. My favorite was the young man who took us out to the parking lot to show us the chrome plated motor he had rebuilt. All of the students had something they made that went far beyond the mere utility of the finished product.

I came upon a series of images depicting computer set-ups from around the world.

Then I came upon this one.

Is it art? Hell, yes it is.

So is this. 

And this...

It's call "Folk art."

I'm going to go out on a limb here by giving you my definition of the difference between Art and art.

The one crucial ingredient of Art is the creation of something totally unique; an object or concept that has never existed before. And within reason, art is same old, same old.

Lastly this image.

It is probably a painting, maybe a mural, but it is teeming with drama.

SOME PEOPLE ARE TRULY REMARKABLE

Bitching Betty, the voice messages of fighter jets. 

Leslie Shook’s voice was recorded and uploaded into the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet’s audio warning system, pilots called her voice ‘Bitchin Betty’. For the last 20 years, her southern accent has accompanied every Super Hornet pilot through their flights. 

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As a matter of fact we and the tree are made up of the exact ingredients that make up the universe, and within reason, in the order of it abundance in the universe.

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Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden was born in 1872.

She was considered beautiful back then also.

She was an actress.

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Blackhawk pilot and Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth hugging President Obama. She is now a Senator.

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Altered Carbon

The rest of the cast were pedestrian at best, but that lady was great and we should all watch for her in the future. She is also extraordinarily beautiful.

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Want to guess what this is?

Two year old tried to run across a freshly poured concrete driveway.

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