on saturday karl and i went down to front and mifflin under the i-95 bridge to see a 2-hour only outdoor art show. the photographer, zoe strauss, held an informal art show by glueing several hundred of her photographs up on the columns holding up the i-95 bridge. the subjects were a mixture of people from her and her grandparents' neighborhoods and buildings and signs. the main feeling of the exhibit, the theme of the collection was the bleakness of life in the poor inner city. run-down buildings, run-down people. empty parking lots and garbage-strewn sidewalks populated by jehovah's witnesses, alzheimer's patients, tatooed ladies, and party girls. i'm not sure if this feeling of bleakness and people being stuck in their lives, unable to move up the socio-economic ladder is what the artist intended, but it's certainly what i experienced.

we bought mattress flip, bringing to, um, 3 my collection of original art (not including my own photographs, of course). i've also got a black and white photograph of a huntmaster on horseback, surrounded by the hounds, and a 17th century russian icon of st. nicholas.* i would like to own more original art, but my budget generally prevents it except in cases where original art is on sale for $5.

*extra bonus story in the series about my life before diaryland. i had to sneak this icon out of russia in 1995. mine is not in very good condition, but meant that it only cost me $26, which was a sum i was prepared to lose if the icon got confiscated at customs leaving russia. see, you're not allowed to take antiques out of russia without all kinds of special permission and paying at least 100% tax. so i stuck it in my suitcase and hoped they wouldn't look. i was prepared with a story about how the seller had told me that i could pay the "taxes" directly to the customs agent as i was leaving, and so, kind customs agent, could you please tell me how much i owe? (cue innocent, naive expression). they didn't even ask.

found magazine

03 May 2004 - 2:29 pm

found magazine! a magazine of stuff people have found! mimi smartypants, when you find your severed head, you can send it in!

and we wonder why they hate us

03 May 2004 - 11:42 am

i think mithras has the the right take on this. the abuse of iraqi prisoners shouldn't be surprising, given the treatment of prisoners in american civilian prisons everyday. years ago, the stanford prison experiment showed that within all of us, there is the potential for violence and torture. we should not be surprised, but we should be vigilent against such behavior, and we should punish it quickly and seriously. talk about something that is not going to help "win hearts and minds"...

in other war-related news, there's pat tillman, the ex-nfl player who gave up his lucrative football career to join the military, and who was killed last week in afghanistan. he is, i suppose, a kind of opposite to the soldiers and "independent contractors" who have behaved so badly in iraq. he was apparently an all-american good guy who selflessly gave up his million-dollar job to serve his country. for that, he should certainly be admired. however, i am offended by the media attention and nationally-televised moments of silence and tv specials he's gotten. yes, he was a good soldier. yes, he paid the highest price. but he does not deserve more than the hundreds of other soldiers who have died in afghanistan or iraq.