Tuesday, February 24, 2009
and the winner is... number 16
Holy Northanger Abbey!
Monday, February 23, 2009
The "Must Know" List
John Gossage:
This American photographer was born in 1946 in Staten Island, NY. He became interested in photography extremely early, and now photographs places and sites that tell an everyday story: paths worn through abandoned tracts of land, corners where debris collects, markings on a wall, a table after a meal. By asking us look at what we have misplaced or abandoned he brings us face to face with the present as it becomes history. I would assume Gossage is an influence in Wascovich’s work and interests, as common themes are present in the work he has done at the toxic waste sites.
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Art Sinsabaugh:
From New Jersey, and made his big break in 1961 after creating images with an enormous view camera that produced 12 X 20 inch negatives. Using this format, he then created similar pieces of American locations, such as Chicago and Baltimore to farms and deserts. Sinsabaugh was one of the first photographers to finish his work in small editions, usually not more than three prints at a time. Because of this, his exhibitions are rarely seen by the public.
"At some point I became aware of the unbelievable infinite detail on the horizon; this is what drew my attention. So I set about to pursue the distant horizon." -- Art Sinsabaugh (1924-83)
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William Klien:
As a photographer and film maker, Klien insisted that his models “act”, and never “pose”. His innovations have not only been technological, but a philosophical element is considered to be consistent throughout his images. His street style opened an enormous door into the realms of fashion photography.
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Robert Heineken:
Robert Heineken uses technically sophisticated photographic methods to mingle erotic images with visuals from TV and advertising. He takes an interest in the audiences' ability to respond to images without necessarily knowing how they are created.
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John O’reilly:
Using razor blades, paper clips and an old Polaroid camera, O'Reilly has constructs visual passion plays and elaborate fantasy scenario. O'Reilly produces aesthetically dazzling, thematically rich body of work that addresses issues of sexuality, creativity and self-definition. By piecing together Polaroids of himself with pictures from family photo albums, beefcake shots from porn mags, and reproductions of paintings by the likes of Vermeer, Corot and Degas, O'Reilly reflects upon his own experiences as a gay man drawn to disparate cultural traditions. "I love the clash of pornography with the righteousness of a beautiful masterpiece," he says, adding that he relies on magazines for his hunky subjects because "I'm too embarrassed to hire models to pose for the photographs."
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Chuck Close:
Painter, photographer and printmaker. His work is based on the use of a grid as an underlying basis for the representation of an image. This simple but surprisingly versatile structure provides the means for "a creative process that could be interrupted repeatedly without…damaging the final product, in which the segmented structure was never intended to be disguised." It is important to note that none of Close's images are created digitally or photo-mechanically. While it is tempting to read his gridded details as digital integers, all his work is made the old-fashioned way—by hand. While a painting can occupy Close for many months, it is not unusual for one print to take upward of two years to complete. Close has complete respect for, and trust in, the technical processes—and the collaboration with master printers—essential to the creation of his prints. The creative process is as important to Close as the finished product. "Process and collaboration" are two words that are essential to any conversation about Close’s prints.
(The color pic to the right is a self portrait)
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Gary Winnogrand:
Winogrand was known for his portrayal of American life in the early 1960s, Many of his photographs depict the social issues of his time day and in the role of media in shaping attitudes. He roamed the streets of New York with his 35mm Lecia camera rapidly taking photographs using a prefocused wide angle lens. His pictures frequently appeared as if they were driven by the energy of the events he was witnessing. While the style has been much imitated, Winogrand's eye, his visual style, and his wit, are unique. Winogrand died of gall bladder cancer in 1984 at age 56. As evidence of his prolific nature, Winogrand left behind nearly 300,000 unedited images, and more than 2,500 undeveloped rolls of film. Some of these images have been exhibited posthumously and published in an exhibit catalog entitled Winogrand, Figments from the Real World, published by MoMA.
Two quotes of his that I love:
" A photograph is the illusion of a literal description of how the camera 'saw' a piece of time and space."
"Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed."
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Sally Mann:
Sally Mann was born in 1951 in Lexington, Virginia, where she continues to live and work. She received a BA from Hollins College in 1974, and an MA in writing from the same school in 1975. Her early series of photographs of her three children and husband resulted in a series called “Immediate Family.” In her recent series of landscapes of Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, and Georgia, Mann has stated that she “wanted to go right into the heart of the deep dark South.” Using damaged lenses and a camera that requires the artist to use her hand as a shutter, these photographs are marked by the scratches, light leaks, and shifts in focus that were part of the photographic process as it developed during the 19th century. Mann has won numerous awards, including Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. Her books of photographs include “Immediate Family,” “At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women;” and “Mother Land: Recent Landscapes of Georgia and Virginia.” Her photographs are in the permanent collections of many museums, including The Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.
Ps- I think her work is absolutely amazing. She has taken the king of the mountain as my new favorite.
Maybe this is the photograph that Wascovich was thinking about when he sawAmelia's shoulder showing? How cool is this picture?! The kid in the back out of focus on stilts so so great.. I want this picture framed in my home. Hey, you! Girl! Don't you know cig's bring out ugly in a gal?!
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Photo-Eye
You gotta check this out! The main page gives you catagories to chose from, like books or galleries, mag's or newsletter feeds, etc. Under Gallery, I discovered Carl Burton. How absolutely amazing is this picture!? You should give his stuff a looksie, the colors are fab.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
a more colorful world for a blind man
It has been quiet the revelation – discovering a person that has every reason in the world to give up on his passions, but instead utilizes that enthusiasm and hones in on and channels his frustration to create beautiful art work. It makes my excuses somewhat flimsy, and is a humbling realization.
The coolest part? He lives in Dallas! He has shows quiet frequently, so if you get a chance to take a slight trip down I30, go check him out.
Also, I urge everyone to check out this amazing video that goes deeper into who he is, and what he can do.
the stupendious scientists... cough cough
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/science/17isla.html?ref=science
So, a group of scientists decide to take the natural order into their own hands, and venture off to the (previously)beautiful Macquarie Island — halfway between Australia and Antarctica.
It all started in 1985 when the Australian scientists decided that the cats living on this island were not native, and that meant that they obviously should, after have been living there since the 19th century, not be there anymore. The cats are eating a specific species of bird that appear to be scarce, so the “logical” thing to do is wipe out the cats. (?!@%!?) Now with the cats gone, the islands ecosystem is wreaking havoc.
Among one of many issues, with the “non-native” cats gone, the island’s rabbits (also non-native) are breeding out of control.
One of the scientist’s responses: “Our findings show that it’s important for scientists to study the whole ecosystem before doing eradication programs.”
My thought: “Wow… did it take your enormous education to come to that conclusion kind sir?”
Sunday, February 15, 2009
strangers
Here are the two owners of Jalapenos. Interesting faces.
Locals outside of the bank. Very friendly.
Bank Teller. Check out the vault in the back!
Two of Mable's friends enjoying a float. Check out the "out of order" jukebox in the background.
An unsuspecting stranger walking toward Delta Super Market.
Dear, sweet Mable with her scrumptious ice cream treats. mmm.
The hands of hard work.
The Parent and Her Picture
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The Scholar and Her Satchel
If with light head erect I sing,
Though all the Muses lend their force,
From my poor love of anything,
The verse is weak and shallow as its source.
With faith superior to hope, More anxious to keep back than forward it;
Such is the Muse, the heavenly maid,
The star that guides our mortal course,
Which shows where life's true kernel's laid,
Its wheat's fine flour, and its undying force.
Be but thy inspiration given,
No matter through what danger sought,
I'll fathom hell or climb to heaven,
And yet esteem that cheap which love has bought.
Friday, February 13, 2009
the sightseer and her sidekick
"There is no remedy for love, but to love more."
I knew a man by sight,
A blameless wight,
Who, for a year or more,
Had daily passed my door,
Yet converse none had had with him.
I met him in a lane,
Him and his cane,
About three miles from home,
Where I had chanced to roam,
And volumes stared at him, and he at me.
Late in a wilderness
I shared his mess,
For he had hardships seen,
And I a wanderer been;
He was my bosom friend, and I was his.
What's the railroad to me?
I never go to see where it ends.
It fills a few hollows,
And makes banks for the swallows,
It sets the sand a-blowing,
And the blackberries a-growing.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Cooper Te-ha-z
"What Delta County lacks in size is fully made up in fertility." — Sheriff Sam B. Turbeville 1904
(I am going to go ahead and assume he meant the soil - what with the small population during his time and all.)
* post office was established there in 1871
*1885 reported 300 residents
* in 1896 Cooper comprised 1,000 residents, two churches, and a school, as well as a bank, a shoemaker, a hotel, a grocery store, a wagonmaker, two blacksmith shops, two feed mills, two steam cotton gins and corn mills, two weekly newspapers (the Delta Courier and the People's Cause), three drugstores, and seven general stores.
The first 9 trials recorded in Delta County: (you can click on the links for more info on each trial case)
Abb Barham vs. The State.
Sale of Intoxicating Liquor (Timely Notice in Newspaper)
Samuel Bittick and John Williams vs. The State.
The Murder of J.H. Verner
W. M. Busby Alias Mat Bersma v. The State.
Past conviction comes back to haunt Mr. Busby- denys perjury
Eliza Davis vs. The State.
In 1877, Mrs. Eliza Davis stands trial for the murder of Miller, the peddler
Jim Fisher vs. The State.
The Murder of Austin Hardy
E. C. Misso vs. The State.
E. C. Misso plays cards and tells.
James C. Ray vs. The State.
The Murder of Alfred H. Bledsoe
St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company of Texas v. J. K. Hall.
Hall's Team of Horses Spooked by Train
Jim Walls vs. The State.
Horse Theft
There is really, hardly anything to dig up on this place using the internet. Neat to know we were standing in a post office that is 132 years old, eh?
"1864" by Charles Flood
By JANET MASLIN
Published: February 8, 2009
It was in 1864, perhaps the most punishing year of his presidency, that Abraham Lincoln made one of his most unforgettable admissions. “This war is eating my life out,” he said on Feb. 6, even though the grueling challenges of that year were just beginning. During the following months Lincoln would navigate the political pressures of a tough election, fend off a Confederate military invasion of Washington during which he was a target for snipers, and back up the Emancipation Proclamation with a constitutional amendment. He would also thwart attempts at domestic terrorism and deal with a steady parade of citizens who could freely visit him at the White House, often telling war stories that brought this already melancholy man to tears.
Charles Bracelen Flood
1864
Lincoln at the Gates of History
By Charles Bracelen Flood
Illustrated. 521 pages. Simon & Schuster. $30.
Lincoln Monuments (February 8, 2009)
Times Topics: Abraham Lincoln
One of his secretaries, William O. Stoddard, tried to shield Lincoln from the worst of his hate mail. “Stories of partisan bitterness and personal hatred; of the most venomous malice, seeking to shoot with poisoned arrows of abuse; of low, slanderous meannesses; of the coarsest, foulest vulgarity to which beastly men can sink; of the wildest, fiercest and the most obscene ravings of utter insanity” — Stoddard helped keep all this away from him. Even so, Lincoln was well aware of being savaged by detractors whose commentary amounted to a 19th-century version of talk radio.
By focusing a book entirely on the tactical maneuvers that got Lincoln through 1864, the historian Charles Bracelen Flood makes a smart tactical choice of his own. The bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth will occur on Thursday, and it has brought forth a tidal wave of new opining about Lincoln. Some historians have opted for overviews of Lincoln’s life; others have cordoned off specialty areas like Lincoln’s writing, military leadership, marriage, staff members and pre-presidency. But the survey books can be superficial. And the narrow-turf studies can suffer from tunnel vision. Mr. Flood’s “1864” compresses the multiple demands upon Lincoln into a tight time frame and thus captures a dizzying, visceral sense of why this single year took such a heavy toll.
It takes many different kinds of expertise in order to do 1864 full justice. And Mr. Flood’s versatility is impressive. He analyzes Lincoln’s consummate political canniness in benching potential rivals for the presidency like Salmon Portland Chase (who eventually became chief justice of the United States and wound up swearing in his rival for a second term). He relives the great battles of 1864, with particular emphasis on how difficult it could be for the commander in chief to know where his armies were or what they were doing. He conveys Lincoln’s versatile approach to crisis management through broad and anecdotal evidence. Mr. Flood describes how Lincoln could physically eject annoying visitors from his office — even, on one occasion, when the annoying visitor was Mary Todd Lincoln, the president’s high-strung, shopaholic wife.
This book is no exercise in hagiography. It addresses Lincoln’s wartime suspension of the right of habeas corpus in order to silence antiwar protesters. It describes the political patronage that Lincoln wholeheartedly dispensed to allies and friends. Part of the immediacy of “1864” stems from its many uncomfortable parallels between Lincoln’s time, when the government could overpay its contractors outrageously for useless cavalry horses or shoddy muskets, and our own. The real threat of domestic terrorism (engineered by antiwar Copperhead Democrats loyal to Clement Vallandigham, a Lincoln antagonist living in exile in Canada) is another link between 1864 and today.
Besieged as he was by war news and election strategy in 1864, Lincoln also had to deal with many auxiliary problems. The sheer weight and complexity of these matters, ranging from the efforts of Napoleon III to establish a French presence in Mexico to considering conditions under which the South might someday re-enter the American political process, are all part of this book’s overview. So are the big battles of 1864, most notably the July Confederate assault on Fort Stevens in northwest Washington This dramatic fight was made even more so by its taking place within sight of the Capitol, and with Lincoln watching from a parapet at Fort Stevens, making himself a visible target. Among the other battles vividly described here are those of the Wilderness, the Crater, Cedar Creek and Cold Harbor.
“1864” tries to effect a balance between Lincoln’s intensely pressured inner life and the huge, sweeping events that occurred around him. And Mr. Flood, whose other books include “Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War,” brings a ready assurance to describing the major external events of 1864. He writes knowledgeably yet intimately, and with a vigorous sense of what it must have been like to experience such serial crises each day. His close-range glimpses of Lincoln are more insightful than his larger sense of how the war and election unfolded beyond him. Mr. Flood succeeds in making Lincoln’s headaches his own.
Mr. Flood is never didactic. He appreciates Lincoln’s acumen without attempting to extract lessons and homilies from the Lincoln story. Mr. Flood establishes his subject’s greatness by contrasting it with the same man’s weaknesses, among them his sometimes ill-timed levity, a counterpart to his deep melancholia, and his harsh ideas about American Indians. (These were even harsher than some of his early, opportunistic calculations about how and where to resettle onetime slaves.)
The Lincoln of “1864” is engaged in a nonstop balancing act. The book is as adept at analyzing Lincoln’s choices as at showing what they meant to his ravaged nation.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Trinity Hall - temptin' for the taste buds!
5321 E. Mockingbird Lane
Dallas, TX 75206
Phone: 214-887-3600
Hours: Mon-Sun 10:30am – 1:00am
As you walk up the stairs that lead to the grand oak doors to Trinity Hall Pub, you’re greeted with the delightful smells of seasoned meat, and the sounds of upbeat Celtic music. Trinity Hall creates a new notion for pubs with its buoyant atmosphere, and personable staff. The restaurant was named after the Trinity College in Dublin, and everything you see from the 32-foot bar to the sturdy wood tables and chairs were brought from Ireland.
The atmosphere is not the only aspect that surpasses pub expectations, as the food is a mixture of traditional Irish recipes paired with modern cooking to create the ultimate dining experience. The chefs are prepared for any appetite, as the menu has a wide variety of options. They offer unique appetizers such as the pleasing harp beer and green onion queso ($3.95) that has an interesting Mex-Irish twist with creamy piquant white cheese and chorizo oil. Crab cakes($7.95) are also a big hit, rightfully so, as they are served with a delicious rémoulade sauce for dipping.
A few of the local’s favorites are the classic fish and chips ($11.95) that consist of brick size cod lightly beer battered with a side of seasoned fries, and the traditional shepherd’s pie ( $9.95) that contains layered beef mixed with carrots, peas, gravy and topped with crisp potatoes sprinkled with cheese in a crock for one. Trinity Hall even accommodates Texas taste buds with their large Texas Rueben ($9.95) with fresh corned beef, Texas sauerkraut laced with onion & peppers, 1000 island dressing, rye toast and a hint of Irish seasoning. If you’re hungry for something more upscale, try the delectable eight ounce aged black angus beef filet mignon tenderloins ($26.99) served with buttered vegetables, roast potatoes and crispy onion strings. Among the other 30 main-course selections are exceptional salads, Irish stews, burgers, and chicken.
Their famous bread pudding desert ($5.25) is made with an Irish rum sauce, and sided with fresh berries topped with thick whip cream. Trinity Hall offers 10 deserts from homemade cheesecake ($6.95) to appetizing Irish coffee pie ($5.95).
The real fun starts with the enormous beer, wine and whiskey selection. Strong on the Irish accent, Trinity Hall offers more beer on tap that any other bar in the area. Ciders, wheat beers, golden lagers, ales, porter and stout are among only a few of the 170 types of beer that the pub carries. A personal favorite is the Rogue Hazelnut Elixir, a European brown ale with a nutty twist, a satisfying hazelnut aroma, and a smooth malty finish. There are over 22 blended and single types of whiskey, and over 25 kinds of wines to be sold by the glass, or bottle.
The owners scout out Celtic inspired musicians whose sets often include violins, fiddles, and bag pipes for Thursday through Sunday shows. The service is kind and diligent at this cultured pub, and is a great place to spend your date, family gathering, or evening indulgences with a pal.