1. Bob Dylan interview, some more
When you think back to the Civil War, one thing you forget is that no battles, except Gettysburg, were fought in the North.
Yeah. That’s what probably makes the Southern part of the country so different.
There is a certain sensibility, but I’m not sure how that connects?
It must be the Southern air. It’s filled with rambling ghosts and disturbed spirits. They’re all screaming and forlorning. It’s like they are caught in some weird web - some purgatory between heaven and hell and they can’t rest. They can’t live, and they can’t die. It’s like they were cut off in their prime, wanting to tell somebody something. It’s all over the place. There are war fields everywhere. . . a lot of times even in people’s backyards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
What do you think of the Stones?
What do I think of them? They’re pretty much finished, aren’t they?
They had a gigantic tour last year. You call that finished?
Oh yeah, you mean Steel Wheels. I’m not saying they don’t keep going, but they need Bill. Without him they’re a funk band. They’ll be the real Rolling Stones when they get Bill back.
Bob, you’re stuck in the 80’s.
I know. I’m trying to break free.
Do you really think the Stones are finished?
Of course not, They’re far from finished. The Rolling Stones are truly the greatest rock and roll band in the world and always will be. The last too. Everything that came after them, metal, rap, punk, new wave, pop-rock, you name it . . . you can trace it all back to the Rolling Stones. They were the first and the last and no one’s ever done it better.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The character in the song reminds me a lot of the guy who is in the song ACROSS THE BORDERLINE.
I know what you’re saying, but it’s not a character like in a book or a movie. He’s not a bus driver. He doesn’t drive a forklift. He’s not a serial killer. It’s me who’s singing that, plain and simple. We shouldn’t confuse singers and performers with actors. Actors will say, “My character this, and my character that.” Like beating a dead horse. Who cares about the character? Just get up and act. You don’t have to explain it to me.
Well can’t a singer act out a song?
Yeah sure, a lot of them do. But the more you act the further you get away from the truth. And a lot of those singers lose who they are after a while. You sing, “I’m a lineman for the county,” enough times and you start to scamper up poles.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Back then I guess most of my influences could be thought of as eccentric. Mass media had no overwhelming reach so I was drawn to the traveling performers passing through. The side show performers - bluegrass singers, the black cowboy with chaps and a lariat doing rope tricks. Miss Europe, Quasimodo, the Bearded Lady, the half-man half-woman, the deformed and the bent, Atlas the Dwarf, the fire-eaters, the teachers and preachers, the blues singers. I remember it like it was yesterday. I got close to some of these people. I learned about dignity from them. Freedom too. Civil rights, human rights. How to stay within yourself. Most others were into the rides like the tilt-a-whirl and the rollercoaster. To me that was the nightmare. All the giddiness. The artificiality of it. The sledge hammer of life. It didn’t make sense or seem real. The stuff off the main road was where force of reality was. At least it struck me that way. When I left home those feelings didn’t change.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the song I FEEL A CHANGE COMING ON the character says. . .
Wait a minute Bill. I’m not a playwright. The people in my songs are all me. I thought we talked about that?
What exactly makes it you?
It’s in the way you say things. It’s not necessarily the things you say that make you who you are.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009
1. I recently posted about the goldfish in blenders for art. Here's another controversial one (by Guillermo Vargas):
In August, 2007, Vargas displayed his "Exposición N° 1" in the Códice Gallery in Managua, Nicaragua. The exposition included the burning of 175 pieces of crack cocaine and an ounce of marijuana while the Sandinista anthem played backwards. The work also included an emaciated dog tied to a wall by a length of rope with "Eres Lo Que Lees" ("You Are What You Read") written on the wall in dog food. The work attracted controversy when it was reported that the dog had starved to death as part of Vargas's work. [...] The outrage triggered by the photos and the allegations that the dog had been left to starve to death quickly spread internationally via blogs, e-mails, and other unconfirmed sources, including internet petitions to prevent Vargas from participating in the 2008 Bienal Centroamericana in Honduras that received over four million signatures. Vargas has endorsed the petition, saying that he, too, has signed it.
Juanita Bermúdez, the director of the Códice Gallery, stated that the animal was fed regularly and was only tied up for three hours on one day before it escaped. Vargas himself refused to comment on the fate of the dog, but noted that no one tried to free the dog, give it food, call the police, or do anything for the dog. Vargas stated that the exhibit and the surrounding controversy highlight people's hypocrisy because no one cares about a dog that starves to death in the street. In an interview with El Tiempo, Vargas explained that he was inspired by the death of Natividad Canda, an indigent Nicaraguan addict, who was killed by two Rottweilers in Cartago Province, Costa Rica, while being filmed by the news media in the presence of police, firefighters, and security guards.
Upon conducting a probe, the Humane Society of the United States was informed that the dog was in a state of starvation when it was captured and escaped after one day of captivity; however, the organization also categorically condemned "the use of live animals in exhibits such as this."
from http://nomoremisternicepoet.blogspot.com/2008/05/pagan-fire-art.html, and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Habacuc_Vargas.
His(?) blog is here: http://artehabacuc.blogspot.com/. Unfortunately it's in Spanish: looks like there are some interesting interviews, but alas I cannot read it.
An interesting work he did is as follows (translated by Yahoo's Babelfish):
It is a photography of an video-installation, “Installation No.1 ", of 2004, in which real plants were supposedly watered by a subject, that is an actor as well, in this case I am I. After the days, the plants were dried by the incapacity of being watered, beyond the illusion that produced the video.
(Sorry, the Chuggo video below is extremely out of place.)
In August, 2007, Vargas displayed his "Exposición N° 1" in the Códice Gallery in Managua, Nicaragua. The exposition included the burning of 175 pieces of crack cocaine and an ounce of marijuana while the Sandinista anthem played backwards. The work also included an emaciated dog tied to a wall by a length of rope with "Eres Lo Que Lees" ("You Are What You Read") written on the wall in dog food. The work attracted controversy when it was reported that the dog had starved to death as part of Vargas's work. [...] The outrage triggered by the photos and the allegations that the dog had been left to starve to death quickly spread internationally via blogs, e-mails, and other unconfirmed sources, including internet petitions to prevent Vargas from participating in the 2008 Bienal Centroamericana in Honduras that received over four million signatures. Vargas has endorsed the petition, saying that he, too, has signed it.
Juanita Bermúdez, the director of the Códice Gallery, stated that the animal was fed regularly and was only tied up for three hours on one day before it escaped. Vargas himself refused to comment on the fate of the dog, but noted that no one tried to free the dog, give it food, call the police, or do anything for the dog. Vargas stated that the exhibit and the surrounding controversy highlight people's hypocrisy because no one cares about a dog that starves to death in the street. In an interview with El Tiempo, Vargas explained that he was inspired by the death of Natividad Canda, an indigent Nicaraguan addict, who was killed by two Rottweilers in Cartago Province, Costa Rica, while being filmed by the news media in the presence of police, firefighters, and security guards.
Upon conducting a probe, the Humane Society of the United States was informed that the dog was in a state of starvation when it was captured and escaped after one day of captivity; however, the organization also categorically condemned "the use of live animals in exhibits such as this."
from http://nomoremisternicepoet.blogspot.com/2008/05/pagan-fire-art.html, and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Habacuc_Vargas.
His(?) blog is here: http://artehabacuc.blogspot.com/. Unfortunately it's in Spanish: looks like there are some interesting interviews, but alas I cannot read it.
An interesting work he did is as follows (translated by Yahoo's Babelfish):
It is a photography of an video-installation, “Installation No.1 ", of 2004, in which real plants were supposedly watered by a subject, that is an actor as well, in this case I am I. After the days, the plants were dried by the incapacity of being watered, beyond the illusion that produced the video.
(Sorry, the Chuggo video below is extremely out of place.)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
1. Artist Marco Evaristti, several years ago, had put goldfish into blenders and invited gallery goers to hit "on" if they did so choose. The following article outlines the court case that ensued, and is quite the thing to read.
"It was a protest against what is going on in the world, against this cynicism, this brutality that impregnates the world in which we live," he said.
Hmmm...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3040891.stm
"It was a protest against what is going on in the world, against this cynicism, this brutality that impregnates the world in which we live," he said.
Hmmm...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3040891.stm
Friday, April 3, 2009
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3954847.stm
Wow, that was funny.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2. The Tomatina festival. This is also funny!
At around 10 a.m., the first event of the Tomatina begins. The first feat is for the crowd to figure out how to get someone to climb up a greased pole with a ham at the top. Whilst this is happening, the group works up a frenzy singing and dancing whilst being showered from hoses. Once someone is able to release the ham from the pole, several trucks haul the bounty of tomatoes into the center of the town, Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes come from Extremadura, where they are less expensive and are grown specifically for the festival as they are not of good taste for consumption. The signal for the beginning of the fight is firing of water cannons, and the chaos begins. Once it begins, the battle is generally every man for himself. Those who partake in this event are strongly encouraged to wear protective safety goggles and gloves. In addition, they must squish the tomatoes before throwing for safety precautions. Another rule is that no one is allowed to bring into this fight anything that may provoke someone into a more serious brawl, such as a glass bottle. Although it is forbidden to tear someone else's clothing, the crowd tends to ignore this and invariably will rip the shirt of any clothed person, man or woman. Typically, foreigners are often targeted by this, not to mention are prized targets of tomatoes as well, including any cameras happening to cover the event. After exactly one hour, the fighting ends when the water cannons are fired once more to signal the end. At this point, no more tomatoes can be thrown. The cleaning process involves the use of fire trucks to spray down the streets, with water provided from a Roman aqueduct. The authorities seem more concerned with cleaning the town than cleaning the visitors, so some people find water at the Buñol River to wash themselves, although some kind residents will hose passers-by down. Once the tomato pulp is flushed, the ground is clean due to the acidity of the tomato.
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomatina
Wow, that was funny.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2. The Tomatina festival. This is also funny!
At around 10 a.m., the first event of the Tomatina begins. The first feat is for the crowd to figure out how to get someone to climb up a greased pole with a ham at the top. Whilst this is happening, the group works up a frenzy singing and dancing whilst being showered from hoses. Once someone is able to release the ham from the pole, several trucks haul the bounty of tomatoes into the center of the town, Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes come from Extremadura, where they are less expensive and are grown specifically for the festival as they are not of good taste for consumption. The signal for the beginning of the fight is firing of water cannons, and the chaos begins. Once it begins, the battle is generally every man for himself. Those who partake in this event are strongly encouraged to wear protective safety goggles and gloves. In addition, they must squish the tomatoes before throwing for safety precautions. Another rule is that no one is allowed to bring into this fight anything that may provoke someone into a more serious brawl, such as a glass bottle. Although it is forbidden to tear someone else's clothing, the crowd tends to ignore this and invariably will rip the shirt of any clothed person, man or woman. Typically, foreigners are often targeted by this, not to mention are prized targets of tomatoes as well, including any cameras happening to cover the event. After exactly one hour, the fighting ends when the water cannons are fired once more to signal the end. At this point, no more tomatoes can be thrown. The cleaning process involves the use of fire trucks to spray down the streets, with water provided from a Roman aqueduct. The authorities seem more concerned with cleaning the town than cleaning the visitors, so some people find water at the Buñol River to wash themselves, although some kind residents will hose passers-by down. Once the tomato pulp is flushed, the ground is clean due to the acidity of the tomato.
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomatina
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