August 2008 archive

First, I believe some one has the opportunity to leave others green with envy.

The image in the header is a mystery image. I promise it is not manipulated, to change it, regarding color, shape, original form, number of “portholes” etc etc.

If anyone can guess what it is, I will send them a large format print of their choice, from the series this image is from, which I will post tomorrow. Good luck & stay green.

I`ve been a little slow to post lately, but I believe it`s because I caught something from tonight`s post subject.

I feel like crawling into my shell, & if I do, I`ll keep an eye out.

Don`t run with shears & be careful out there….please.

A clue: The header object is familiar. Everyone has seen one growing up. It`s an “ugly duckling”, but does not quack.

It has feet, but does not paddle. It can see where it goes, butt not where it`s from, even though it constantly “looks” back.

The header is at the top of the page at the link below. (if the above was confusing)

By clicking on the main post image, you can see more of this slow shoot.



http://frenchpirate.blogspot.com/

Original article, by Simon Assaf, via www.socialistworker.org.uk:

The occupation of Afghanistan has entered a new and deeper crisis. A rising number of sophisticated attacks on foreign troops, combined with a growing rebellion in Pakistan and Russia’s crushing of Nato ally Georgia, have raised the prospect that the occupation is heading for defeat.

Things sound like they’re going swimmingly in Afghanistan, don’t they?

Forty-five years ago tomorrow, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke these famous words on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial:

Public art, particularly sculpture in public spaces, is the most democratic of art forms: no admission required, you just have to go and look at it.

Today, a few pics of perhaps the most obscure public work (because it is generally submerged)–Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson.  Constructed in April of 1970, it extends into Great Salt Lake in Utah, and is a bravura work.  Although the lake covered it for about 30 years, by 2004 it had re-emerged due to drought.

For nearly three decades Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” lay underwater in the Great Salt Lake. Since 1999, as drought has lowered the water level, this famous American earth sculpture — a 1,500-foot coil of black basalt rocks — has slowly re-emerged. Now it is completely exposed; the rocks encrusted with white salt crystals are surrounded by shallow pink water in what looks like a vast snow field. [snip]

“The trip to see the artwork brings people to a place they would not normally experience,” said Nancy Holt, Smithson’s widow and executor, who lives in New Mexico. “The ‘Jetty’ is a vortex that draws in everything in the landscape around it.”  

NY Times

Below the fold are some pics I found at photobucket, plus a nifty video.

Open thread: be excellent to each other.  And remember: don’t REC the pony party!

Last week I publicized the extraordinary appeal campaign for Guantanamo detainee Mohammad Jawad initiated by his military attorneys. Jawad, who was arrested as a teenager in Afghanistan in December 2002, is the first child soldier to be tried as a “war criminal” in modern times. In U.S. custody, he has suffered beatings, threats, physical isolation, sleep deprivation, been subjected to 24-hour bright lights, and more. His attorneys have called for letters to be written to the Convening Authority at Guanatanamo, asking them to withdraw and dismiss the charges against Jawad.

Now, his attorneys have initiated an online petition campaign in his behalf. You can follow this link to go straight to the petition. Please sign it and pass the info on to whomever you can.