In two bits of irony, on Friday:
A) at 12 noon I got a frantic phone call, the Las Vegas Art Museum needed help finishing the installation of a show opening at 6:30 pm because their head art installer went to the hospital. What little that needed to be finished was done in time and they all seemed happy.
Why ironic? Because I got hired by the LVAM as the head art installer in 2001 when I got a similar panic-stricken call. But that time the then-newly hired director fired the same guy that fell ill on Friday. What kind of director fires their only main guy in the middle of an extremely brief turnaround? But it got me a job until I left for the Guggenheim Las Vegas. Which closed a year and a half after it opened, and now got turned into this.
B) Same day I met Diana from Global Art Transport (Vegas based? Maybe.)
Why ironic? Hers is the kind of company I wished I could have worked for instead of the non-art related job that I had for the last 2 years.
My wife commented on the irony, told me to get over it and keep packing! Whoophah!
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Midtown Mist: Atlanta as seen on Flickr
A nice shot of the Atlanta skyline, a soon-to-be-daily view. Anyone know the names of the buildings shown?
Bouncy Balls: They've got the Bounciest Balls of Them All
I have a love of foolish ideas well executed. This was seen in some street in San Francisco, a huge collection of superballs dumped from a high distance. Originally found on Boing Boing
See SF Superball Swarm and Other San Francisco Stories at Gridskipper for more details.
See SF Superball Swarm and Other San Francisco Stories at Gridskipper for more details.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
It's Hot: Hey It's Hot In Atlanta, Too
The folks in Atlanta are complaining about the temp (Metroblogging Atlanta) and giving advice on what to wear (Metroblogging Atlanta again).
But take a gander at the Vegas temps during the month of June. Why June? Why that's when the 6 month-old air conditioner crapped out, taking a week to replace. Yes, damn hot, indeed!
Current temp. - 93 at midnight.
I can't wait to experience seasons again.
So, Muse, what's your take on Vegas v. Atlanta in the summer?
But take a gander at the Vegas temps during the month of June. Why June? Why that's when the 6 month-old air conditioner crapped out, taking a week to replace. Yes, damn hot, indeed!
Current temp. - 93 at midnight.
I can't wait to experience seasons again.
So, Muse, what's your take on Vegas v. Atlanta in the summer?
Monday, July 25, 2005
What Vegas Needs: A Cool Bar for A Warm City
Vegas has a love of themes: in the beginning it embraced its western roots, later Steve Wynn helped disassociate local casinos with the desert locale (resulting in England in the time of King Arthur, Gotham, waterborne Italy), and currently it's back to the down and dirty (burlesque and ultrabars offering up hot girl-on-girl action in their advertising).
So what better addition than an "ice" themed bar for the desert gaming mecca? Below Zero London is an English drinker's frozen refuge, and the Icebar Milano has an ice-sculpture version of the Last Supper.
Vegas should have a crystal-clear frozen caddy with showgirls and gangsters floating down a river of vodka.
And let's hear it for drinking and blogging, 'cause that's what I'm doing right now.
So what better addition than an "ice" themed bar for the desert gaming mecca? Below Zero London is an English drinker's frozen refuge, and the Icebar Milano has an ice-sculpture version of the Last Supper.
Vegas should have a crystal-clear frozen caddy with showgirls and gangsters floating down a river of vodka.
And let's hear it for drinking and blogging, 'cause that's what I'm doing right now.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
The Best Photographs the Federal Government has to Offer - 1
The National Archives and Records Administration has a large collection of great images to be found through its search-engine (ARC Basic Search.) Unfortunately, there is no way to link to each image's full description page. So if you want the complete low-down on each image, plug the ARC Identifier number in the search engine to track down the details.
Enjoy!
ARC Identifier: 522883
Title: Like girls from Mars are these "top women" at U.S. Steel's Gary, Indiana, Works. Their job is to clean up at regular intervals around the tops of twelve blast furnaces. As a safety precaution, the girls wear oxygen masks., 1940 - 1945
Monday, July 18, 2005
Immanuel Temple - Lincoln, Nebraska
Seen during a recent visit to Lincoln, Nebraska . . .
. . . This googie-style coffeeshop/restaurant reclaimed as a house of worship with an enthusiastic/discriminatory embrace of Jesus and his teachings.
Amen and fantastic.
. . . This googie-style coffeeshop/restaurant reclaimed as a house of worship with an enthusiastic/discriminatory embrace of Jesus and his teachings.
Amen and fantastic.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Liberal Stupidity. Seriously!
Just as many conservatives despise neo-cons and their highjacking of the republican party, there are a collection of apologists that reside in the liberal camp, excusing all sorts of behavior as a product of bad environment. My future home has one of these folks.
Attack on trucker spotlights troubled community
"At 2 a.m. Tuesday, a tanker carrying 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel was ambushed by a group of kids who pelted it with rocks and fireworks.
Police say a bottle rocket blew up inside the cab, injuring the driver and causing him to lose control of the massive tanker. It rolled over on the side of the road.
Investigators still are trying to determine exactly what happened next. But friends of the driver say he told them he prayed for help as some of the youths broke out the windows of the cab, hauled him out and beat him. Others danced on his truck."
Local Councilwoman Felicia Moore responded in this manner...
"I'm hoping this is an isolated incident," Moore said. "I don't see it as a group of people who want to terrorize truckers. I see this as a few teens who need to find something productive to do. It is obvious that they need programs in here, especially for the teenagers. I am going to work to get some programs in here."
Low income communities need all sorts of programs to give capable and deserving people the tools to work and contribute. But these guys aren't those people. Ms. Moore is using environment as an excuse for the absence of a moral compass. What are the lessons learned for all those people that reside in that neighborhood that find this behavior completely reprehensible and not representative of their beliefs?
Insulted and condescended to is what I would feel like if I was one of her constituents. And as a liberal, I don't find my beliefs so inclusive that criminal violence is allowed in the tent. Hers are the sort of comments that allow conservatives to rightfully point out an unwillingness to make people responsible for their actions on the part of some liberals. If anyone takes exception to a white, college grad guy coming to these conclusions, I'll be happy to respond with my short history of the couple of co-workers, convicted murderers, that I worked with while in New Orleans.
Attack on trucker spotlights troubled community
"At 2 a.m. Tuesday, a tanker carrying 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel was ambushed by a group of kids who pelted it with rocks and fireworks.
Police say a bottle rocket blew up inside the cab, injuring the driver and causing him to lose control of the massive tanker. It rolled over on the side of the road.
Investigators still are trying to determine exactly what happened next. But friends of the driver say he told them he prayed for help as some of the youths broke out the windows of the cab, hauled him out and beat him. Others danced on his truck."
Local Councilwoman Felicia Moore responded in this manner...
"I'm hoping this is an isolated incident," Moore said. "I don't see it as a group of people who want to terrorize truckers. I see this as a few teens who need to find something productive to do. It is obvious that they need programs in here, especially for the teenagers. I am going to work to get some programs in here."
Low income communities need all sorts of programs to give capable and deserving people the tools to work and contribute. But these guys aren't those people. Ms. Moore is using environment as an excuse for the absence of a moral compass. What are the lessons learned for all those people that reside in that neighborhood that find this behavior completely reprehensible and not representative of their beliefs?
Insulted and condescended to is what I would feel like if I was one of her constituents. And as a liberal, I don't find my beliefs so inclusive that criminal violence is allowed in the tent. Hers are the sort of comments that allow conservatives to rightfully point out an unwillingness to make people responsible for their actions on the part of some liberals. If anyone takes exception to a white, college grad guy coming to these conclusions, I'll be happy to respond with my short history of the couple of co-workers, convicted murderers, that I worked with while in New Orleans.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
The New Quest?: Arts and Culture in Atlanta
When I/we first moved to Vegas, it was without a job or apartment, and no real idea of what Vegas had to offer. In my 4+ years here, the art scene has slowly grown enough to where the the hipsters complain about the newly boring nature of the art and the bars. My old site, Las Vegas Arts and Culture, was a means to keep discovering what the city had and was sorely lacking, and it lacks so much. But unlike so many American cities, it was never a center for shipping or manufacturing. Its modern start as a stronghold for criminal interests and business meant it never had a collection of culturally minded founders. It now is home to a large population of transient service workers. Casino valets can earn $60,000 parking cars, so getting an education often is not the answer for some.
Getting to know the city worked to my advantage in ways not expected, like being asked to proof Jarret Keene's The Underground Guide to Las Vegas and writing the music section for 2005 Time Out Las Vegas. Vegas' art scene was in a pretty formative state when I first got here and thus it was easy to see new things firsthand. Atlanta's too big and established to allow for that same opportunity. So, I'm curious to see what I get instead.
When I read Erik Schneider's site critiquing the High Museum of Art, it had me wondering what made Atlanta the city that would have a museum like that. The city also has the Woodruff Arts Center, but their website starts blaring Carmina Burana when you open it and Donny Osmond was playing there. So there you go.
Random conversational shrapnel... heard at a screening of "Sin City",
"How did Ashton Kutcher get so famous?"
"Maybe he's bi."
Getting to know the city worked to my advantage in ways not expected, like being asked to proof Jarret Keene's The Underground Guide to Las Vegas and writing the music section for 2005 Time Out Las Vegas. Vegas' art scene was in a pretty formative state when I first got here and thus it was easy to see new things firsthand. Atlanta's too big and established to allow for that same opportunity. So, I'm curious to see what I get instead.
When I read Erik Schneider's site critiquing the High Museum of Art, it had me wondering what made Atlanta the city that would have a museum like that. The city also has the Woodruff Arts Center, but their website starts blaring Carmina Burana when you open it and Donny Osmond was playing there. So there you go.
Random conversational shrapnel... heard at a screening of "Sin City",
"How did Ashton Kutcher get so famous?"
"Maybe he's bi."
Friday, July 01, 2005
Happy Atlanta, Happy Trees
Triumph in Atlanta, for an apartment has been found. My/our second trip to the city resulted in:
1) 5 days, 180 miles on the rental car (a sweet KIA {not an oxymoron} that rented for $15 a day)
2) A tour of the amazing wide range of apartments. Atlanta has no apartments with a perfectly flat floor, or straight walls. The reasons for this are quite unclear.
3) Getting stuck in Atlanta Braves traffic as a result of avoiding Pride Weekend.
4) Krispy Kremes (chocolate glazed washed down with chocolate milk), phenomenal Thai at Mali, good breakfast at Flying Biscuit.
5) A trip to Chamblee's Antique Row where a sweet desk for the new apartment was bought at the Antique Factory. After the slim pickings in the Vegas Valley, we were blown away by the choices there. And we were complimented on our good taste, even before we dropped a bunch of dough there.
And conversely for those looking to find a place in Vegas, this offer came up in the LV Artist Yahoo Group.
"Hi Everyone been in the funny farm for 2 months but at this time I'm running
on all pegs need room mate in the House Of Art to Help me Make It.I'll will
take deposit out in sex $400.00 a mounth thats all ,use artcar can have
partys and really I pefere a good fuck and a good cook love fucking and
eating. pleasa Help thanks House Of Art they took my cell phone in Napa
State Hosp. new # is 8826890"
There used to be a time that I worked at the New Orleans Museum of Art (as well as the Contemporary Arts Center | New Orleans, Las Vegas Art Museum and the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum). When I saw a Bob Ross t-shirt at Target, I just had to get it, envisioning a day that I would be working at a museum (hello High Museum, how are you?) installing fine art while wearing it.
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