Happy New Year, My Friends

Here's where I spent New Year's Eve when I was 13, 26 years ago. I drove past the Love Club today, it's a community garden now.

The Secret History of Hurricane Katrina

Here's the "A"s

abandon
abandonment
abduction
aberration
ability
abomination
absence
absolution
absorption
abstraction
absurdity
abusive
acceleration
accept
access
acclaim
acclimation
accommodation
accomplishment
accountability
accuracy
ache
aching
acknowledgement
acquiescent
acrimony
activate
activity
actualization
adamancy
adaptation
addiction
adequacy
admiration
admonish
adolescence
adoration
adorning
adrift
adroit
adult
advance
adventurousness
adversity
affability
affect
affection
affirmation
aggravate
aggression
aggressive
aggrieve
aghast
agitate
agitation
agony
agreement
aimless
alarmed
alert
alien
alienated
alienation
alive
allied
allow
allowed
allure
alluring
alone
altruistic
amateur
amaze
amazed
ambiguous
ambition
ambition
ambitious
ambivalence
ambivalent
ambush
amenable
amiable
amorous
amuse
amusement
analysis
analyze
anchored
anemic
anesthetized
anger
angst
anguish
anhedonic
animate
animation
animosity
anonymity
antagonize
anticipation
anxiety
apathy
apologetic
apoplectic
appeal
appease
applaud
appreciation
apprehension
approach
approve
ardent
argue
argumentative
aristocrats
arousal
arouse
arrogance
articulate
articulation
artificial
ascetic
ashamed
asocial
asphyxiate
assault
assert
assess
assuage
assurance
assure
astonish
astonishment
astound
astounded
astute
asymmetrical
atrocious
atrophy
attached
attack
attentive
attraction
authenticity
authoritarian
authoritative
authority
autocratic
automated
avenge
average
aversion
avoid
avoidance
awake
awakened
awareness
awe
awfulness
awkwardness

I've got a lot of work ahead of me.

The personal is political
and the political is personal.

Ashley Flynn Gets Liberta Award for "Artist to Watch"

And she deserves it! Check out Ashley's second solo show, Expelled from Eden, at the Knapp Galley.


Ashley Flynn : Expelled From Eden
January 8, 2010 – January 31, 2010


THE KNAPP GALLERY
162 NORTH 3rd STREET.
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106

GALLERY HOURS: Wed – Sun 11:00am – 6:00pm




Clown
Ashley Flynn
from Expelled From Eden

Regarding Tralfamadorian books...

"...each clump of symbols is a brief, urgent message-describing a situation, a scene. We Tralfamadorians read them all at once, not one after the other. There isn't any particular relationship between all of the messages, except that the author has chosen them carefully, so that, when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is surprising and deep. There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time."

From Slaughterhouse Five
by Kurt Vonnegut

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas, my friends! Happy holidays all around! Christmas was a great success here. A literary Christmas was in effect on Dickinson St. in the morning. The Dickinson St. xmas starred Hallie Savannah, Cosmo Baker, Sydney Tova Peck, Lynn Bloom... and introducing Ilene Baker as "Mom." Not sure if you know this, but my family is the best. Plus there was a great Christmas dinner at my cousin Sue's. Well, I heard it was a great Christmas... they have cats and I took a benadryl that knocked me out so I slept through the dinner. I did manage to get up and eat an entire place of spaghetti that my loving lady had put aside for me, then I fell asleep in the car on the way home. Here's to Colin and his gravy! And to Sue and her whole Christmas!

If you only know me a little bit, you might be thinking that it seems odd that I celebrate Christmas full force, what with my being a Jew and an atheist and an opponent of rabid consumerism. The winter holidays are a time when my "complexity" is full blown "hypocrisy." Whatever. I am a true anarchist and live as I want and don't really give a shit about reconciling ideology and desire.

So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas from Target in South Philadelphia

Woman Shopping in Target on Christmas Eve







Man Dressed as Santa Shopping at Target on Christmas Eve

I have been thinking a lot about anhedonia and the many ways it seems to manifest itself in people's behavior and sense of self.

I am the opposite of anhedonic and am like when those Amish kids got a crappy wooden horse in Witness. You know, Witness starring Harrison Ford. I am thrilled and excited by everyday things all the time. Yesterday I was walking in the snow to get coffee and I was so happy to be alive. Because I was walking in South Philly getting coffee! Also, I was cleaning the house yesterday and thought " I love art!". With an exclamation point.

OK, this love of life does sometimes get tempered with aggravation. Like last week when I had to get out of our car and come at some lady for her misbehavior... which included some aggressive language on my part and included her saying "you're a lunatic." It ended up with her running toward Walnut St.

Oh friends, I see what I'm doing for my 40's.

working on something where I have 3435 words and I'm getting it down to 10 words.

"Mom Posing by Green Wall and Dad Watching TV," 1984, photograph by Larry Sultan




'Practicing Golf Swing" 1986 photograph by Larry Sultan

26 Asian Students Attacked at South Philadelphia High

Asian Students Boycotting South Philly High

Asian Students Suspend South Philly High School Boycott

Hooray for Spiral Q and Pig Iron, or, John McCain is an Idiot

Taking up the mantle of Jesse Helms I see. I thought we were done with McCain.

John McCain Expresses Distaste For Pig Iron Theatre Co. And Spiral Q Puppet Theater

La Casa Encendida en Cultural.es

I support La Casa Encendida. Video en Espanol.

Happy Holidays from the 10th and Reed CVS!

I love this piece... and I also love the video where you can hear someone singing "Flyin' High Now."

Congratulations 2009 United States Artists Fellows

Ai
Diana Al-Hadid
Rahim AlHaj
Terry Allen
Cruz Angeles
Cyro Baptista
Charles Burnett
Scott Carrier
Vija Celmins
Sophiline Cheam Shapiro
Heather Courtney
Nilo Cruz
Neil Denari
Perry Eaton
Delores Lewis Garcia/ Emma Lewis Mitchell
Anthony Hernandez
Gilbert Hernandez
Lin Hixson/Matthew Goulish
Hokulani Holt-Padilla
Dan Hurlin
Ella Jenkins
Joan Jonas
Kim Jones
Danongan Kalanduyan
Laura Kurgan
Beth Lo
Hannibal Lokumbe
Dona Look
Lionel Loueke
Rick Lowe
Ruth Maleczech
Martin Mazorra/Michael Houston
Dave McKenzie
Elizabeth Meister/Dan Collison
Kate and Laura Mulleavy
Antonya Nelson
Tere O’Connor
John O’Neal
Judy Pfaff
Daniel Plonsey
Dario Robleto
Sapphire
Mary Shaffer
Anna Deavere Smith
Renée Tajima-Peña
Justin Torres
Brian Turner
Kukuli Velarde
Reggie Wilson
Kevin Young

It's Official- Our Greatest Holiday Window Ever

There are a few more things that will pop in before the holiday window is complete, Kwanzaa and Solstice will represent as well as a La Befana figurine that's late in arriving. This year celebrates a South Philadelphia holiday connection with Mario Lanza and Marian Anderson in the mix.

Most Disturbing Xmas Celebrations/ Tradition: Krampus

History Channel

South Philadelphia Holiday Recommendations

Holiday Lights


2700 block S Smedley St.
Difficult to find... enter from Moyamensing


and


1600 block S 13th St.


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Christmas Decorations



Kindy's Christmas Outlet
2900 South 20th St
Yes, it's owned by Jews, the Kinderman family.


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Cheesesteaks

Pat's
Tony Luke's
Cosmi's

NOT GINO'S... AVOID GINO'S


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Houston, as in Houston, TX, Elects Lesbian Mayor

Aok by me.

Congratulations Whitney Biennial Participants

I hope you all bring it. Congratulations!


David Adamo
Richard Aldrich
Michael Asher
Tauba Auerbach
Nina Berman
Huma Bhabha
Josh Brand
The Bruce
High Quality
Foundation
James Casebere
Edgar Cleijne and
Ellen Gallagher
Dawn Clements
George Condo
Sarah Crowner
Verne Dawson
Julia Fish
Roland Flexner
Suzan Frecon
Maureen Gallace
Theaster Gates
Kate Gilmore
Hannah Greely
Jesse Aron Green
Robert Grosvenor
Sharon Hayes
Thomas Houseago
Alex Hubbard
Jessica Jackson
Hutchins
Jeffrey Inaba
Martin Kersels
Jim Lutes
Babette Mangolte
Curtis Mann
Ari Marcopoulos
Daniel McDonald
Josephine Meckseper
Rashaad Newsome
Kelly Nipper
Lorraine O’Grady
R.H. Quaytman
Charles Ray
Emily Roysdon
Aki Sasamoto
Aurel Schmidt
Scott Short
Stephanie Sinclair
Ania Soliman
Storm Tharp
Tam Tran
Kerry Tribe
Piotr Uklański
Lesley Vance
Marianne Vitale
Erika Vogt
Pae White
Robert Williams

Happy Chanukah!

Hooray, I Won This Award

Seriously, thanks to every person who voted for me. Congratulations to all of the nominees and thanks to Philebrity!

Bad News-

Global Warming Is Not Slowing
Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water



Will it be possible to drink the runoff from Antarctica's ice melt?

Last week's Eagles game

Tomorrow off to Ohio for the day, to the Wexner Center for the Arts. When the hell did I become a lady who flies to Ohio for a day? What the hell is going on?

Rondell's People: Getting-2-know-u, Gettin-2-know-all-about-u, Issue 1, Vol. 1: The Zoe Strauss Interview at High Jenks

Bacon Brothers Mummers Concert

Tune in to Phl 17 right now for the Bacon Brothers and Friends Mummers Benefit Concert at the Electric Factory. Seriously, put it on. It's spectacular local television.

And visit Save the Mummers at www.savethemummers.com

Art

Artists' Parents Meeting- Darius Miksys

Siemens_artLab at Pulse Miami

and


Siemens_workLab at Auschwitz

Prisoners at forced labor in the Siemens factory. Auschwitz camp, Poland, 1940-1944.



"Preceding World War II Siemens was involved in funding the rise of the Nazi Party and the secret rearmament of Germany. During the Second World War, Siemens supported the Hitler regime, contributed to the war effort and participated in the "Nazification" of the economy. Siemens had many factories in and around notorious concentration camps to build electric switches for military uses. In one example, almost 100,000 men and women from Auschwitz worked in a Siemens factory inside the camp, supplying the electricity to the camp."

10th and Reed CVS

New Blog Feature

A new and exciting component of this blog is popping up... for the enjoyment of readers, I will occasionally post random images I have saved to my desktop. The first installment of "Desktop Images" will feature ten images.

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Talkeetna, AK
View from Lodge


Mongolian Prisoner in a Box
Photo by Stéphane Passet 
July 1913


Uncredited image from internet


Queena Bass Flyer


Uncredited image from internet


Me and Jill in High School
Uncredited Photo


The Eye by David Altmejd


Photograph of Patty Hearst in front of the insignia of the Symbionese Liberation Army holding an assault rifle.
Photographer Unknown


Eva Rubinstein Baseball Card
Thanks to Sonja Thomsen



Alexander McQueen Boots

There's no order to these images... they're just images I have saved for any number of reasons, some interesting, some not, but all things to help me think.

Seriously, please vote for me in this poll. Seriously, please!

click above to go to the voting site.

So my lady called and said I have something important to tell you... Meredith Baxter-Birney is gay.

Great News: HelioSphera Plans 160MW Solar Factory in Philly

China! What the Fuck!?!

Thanks to Jonathan Lipkin for the heads up that this blog is now blocked in China. Really? Why does the Chinese government have such issues with me?

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For real, the issues with Tibet seem to be ongoing.



Tibetan Monks Tell Tale of Escape From China

So many changes in the world, so many changes in my own life, and yet Dick Cheney still remains in the top 5 of my most hated people. How is it possible?

Here's to Chris Bartlett!

Chris, I'm proud to know you.

Welcome to Gay Networks in Philadelphia

Here's to Gia!

Have I become a woman who uses exclamation points too liberally? Maybe. I find that I use them when I would normally be "exclaiming" something, but that's a problem because I'm always yelling. Perhaps I'll find a way to tone down my "speaking to writing" voice. Or maybe not!

Also, I'm all for the serial comma... and the suspension point or ellipsis as a conjunction modifier.

Here's to Felix Gonzalez-Torres!

Untitled (Perfect Lovers)
1987-90
Felix Gonzalez-Torres


Without a doubt, he's one my favorites of all time.

What? Awesome Philebrity Award Nomination!

OK, thanks to Mr. Smithee I have found out about this amazing award nomination. Thanks, Sam!

I encourage all who are reading this to click on the title and vote for me! That's right!

This is awesome. I love it. But if I don't win I am totally going to Kanye West it by running up when someone is getting this award and be like, "you're great, but Sally Starr should have won this, even in retirement."

Here's to Cookie Mueller!

"Fortunately I am not the first person to tell you that you will never die. You simply lose your body. You will be the same except you won't have to worry about rent or mortgages or fashionable clothes. You will be released from sexual obsessions. You will not have drug addictions. You will not need alcohol. You will not have to worry about cellulite or cigarettes or cancer or AIDS or venereal disease. You will be free."
-Cookie Mueller


Highly Recommended- Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black by Cookie Mueller

Alkim and ZS

I saw some friends from grade school this weekend, including the young Ms. Alkim Tuna pictured above. We went out for lunch at 18th and Chestnut and she brought this photo of us from almost 30 years ago. Unbelievably, we had taken that photo just a block and a half away from where we had lunch, at a state of the art polaroid booth in either Space Port or Supercade.

Everyone seemed the same. I don't know how it's possible, but it's true.

Christmas Wish List

Here's what my lady would like: an entire book about the production of the song "River Deep, Mountain High" Obviously this unwritten book would be mostly about Phil Spector but my lady specifies "not about the murder or the afro," only about the recording.

Did you know that I write to "Action News" all the time? Well, like a crazy person, I do.

Here's what they got tonight...

"Tiger Woods gets into a minor car accident is not a lead story... and I quote Rob Jennings "it's just a rumor" that Tiger Woods and his wife got into a fight. It's not news and it's not any of our business. NJ turnpike melee? That's a lead story. Escaped murderer? That's a lead story. Tiger Woods might have gotten into a fight with his wife? No."

Contact Action News

RIP Al Alberts

My condolences to Stella.

Buy Nothing Day

The Story of Stuff.

Greatest new commercial: "Cash Point Bills"

Thanksgiving 2009

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends. Or, if you're like someone who worked with my lady and you don't "celebrate genocide," Happy "Day to Celebrate the Struggle."

Aside: When asked what you're doing for Thanksgiving by co-workers, don't snap "we don't celebrate genocide."




Here's some thanks for Thanksgiving:

You know what I'm grateful for? My wife. My immediate family: mother and my siblings. And my extended family: genetic, by marriage and by choice.

And I'm grateful to be alive, every day.

Let me reiterate how much I love my lady, I'd be nothing without her.

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Happy Thanksgiving From Oregon Diner in South Philadelphia!

Bruce Flannery will be greatly missed this Thanksgiving. Via phone, Bruce was present at every family holiday. Here's to Bruce and his planned Academy Awards acceptance speech thanking "everyone I've ever met, except for Savannah Roberts."

I am often asked what I "did" before I started working on I-95. Above is one of the answers. My bikini top is made entirely from seaweed harvested from the Jersey Shore and I am modeling it at the tiki bar in a beach house shared with my lady, Ray and Tina. This kelp piece is one of the many works that I produced in my 20s.

Also, I have been thinking about I-95 and the all encompassing focus... it's a pretty major achievement in my life. Shockingly, I have several other achievements that are on par with I-95. Very different than I-95 but I still take great pride in them.

Achievements Before 30

1. Reading the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy aloud, including "The Hobbit," to Alex Mechanick. Brian was in on hearing the first books, but Alex heard them from page one to the last page before the rune index. It took almost a year. This still tops my list of "Greatest Achievements." Did Middle Earth help these fine young men enter into the world? What other answer could there be than "yes?" This is cheating because I think I did this into my early 30s, but it's so good I can't let it go.

2. Whirlforce Medical Research Laboratories... that was pretty amazing, although I wish I had retained more of the Latin I learned for the the production of it. I'd like to give a shout out to my family and friends for coming to see it. I mean, it did involve a lot of difficult things and it meant for over a year my lady had to walk through a room with preserved organs to get to the hopper. Thanks, honey.

3. CVS New Year

4. Collision at Sea.



Please note that the identifying numbers on both boats are my birthday, 4/1/70. There were a lot of secret things in Collision at Sea. I did a lot of work on myself before I started I-95. Then I was ready to go at the end of my 20s and commit to the long, long haul.

Aside- I went to college for about a year and a half, intermittently, and that does not fall into greatest achievement. I found some old papers from college and I did really well, which I didn't remember at all. Still, actually comes closest to "regret" as opposed to "achievement."