Geography is not my strong suit, but that's pretty much how I envision California as seen from space.

Well, I live in a pretty small town now, but "inner city style" is codified language for high poverty rate and over 70 percent African American. I started teaching in Chi-town, though.

So, a coast, but with a super long beach.

You have a coast of some sort around there, right?

I teach visual art. It's going to be awkward if you turn out to be a student of mine. I salute you either way!

They go crazy in a drought, though. They come a-boilin' out of them hills.

We also have the black widows and cow ants (velvet ants) Actually a wingless wasp!
I found 13 black widows in one day tearing down a loose stone wall in our back yard. Want to compare venomous snake species? You aren't in Australia, are you?

Inner city style high school.

I don't know if this will shed light on the subject or not, but I live in GA where we have fire ants. The ants do wind up inside a/c units here, where they bridge connections on circuit boards with sand or clay granules or their own conductive bodies, and fry them. Then you wait for plant services to come by and replace your a/c unit.
Also, they sting like hell.
Lore has it they are attracted to low frequency wave emissions or something but I don't think that's proven.

...Yes...Trying my hand in the public school system.

You are correct, Tenn. Sometimes the quick fix is more tempting than sticking it out for the long haul, especially when one is concerned for friends and family.
We need some kind of deep cultural examination and subsequent effective action to change this crap. By crap I mean the old man's inhumanity to man.

I know, I know....

Ragehol, that's a heartless comment. Some of your own medicine.

This is a sticky issue. I lived in Chicago for about ten years and in some bad neighborhoods, too. My brother lives in Englewood. When I go back to visit, I do notice the strobe-light monitors in the intersections....I have to say not in a bad way.
My current town also has a surveillance system up and running to catch drunk frat boy shenanigans. I am not a fan of the police state and I sure do love Orwell, but I have noticed lots of Americans unable or willing to behave in a civil manner. Some of this makes sense.

DUHHHH. I should have watched the video before commenting. Good rule of thumb.. Part of that has previously been released...

Blu is pretty awesome. You should check out his frame-by-frame animations done with charcoal on the walls of abandoned rooms (search Youtube).

Dude. Sticky Molecule.

For some reason my comments aren't going through....I'll try again:
Anyone grow up near Ellicott City, Maryland?
Remember the "Enchanted Forest"?
Here is a link to somebody's Flickr set of the now abandoned site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crowolf/sets/72157594269099376/show/with/499387624/

Anyone grow up near Ellicott City, Maryland?
Enchanted Forest memories?

There's a couple Flikr sets up (none are mine).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crowolf/sets/72157594269099376/show/with/499387624/

... I'm totally guilty of blog art criticism.

I loved Alphaville as well. I agree with the previous posters about the look and feel of the movie compared to the art work here. You just had to believe there was a zone for time travel and a supercomputer running the show. There was no attempt to make anything look futuristic.
That said, criticizing art posted on a blog is like executing swimmers doing laps in an indoor pool.

I often find myself yearning for evidence that supports the notion that there are more positive people than negative in the world.

This card is expired. The new ones include "conceptual", "contemporary", and "performance" categories.
"modern" is so 1920.

The Henry wounds still run deep...
My favorite album might be the instumental: "Process of Weeding Out", anyway.

Was Raymond Pettibon really in the band or is he included for the sake of album art?
My wife says she no longer remembers what kind of hair they had when she saw them play. With the Minutemen!
She's so cool, still.

The new tattoo.

Is there a Kafka version?
I gave up hip tees (or any logo tees) for plain ones years ago, but this one is tempting me.

I'm too late again, but here goes:
I'm 37 so "emo" for me has to do with splinter groups rom the Dischord DC hardcore scene in the Eighties (Rites of Spring in particular). And even back then everyone hated the term, even the "emocore" kids.
Cutters and the like are not popular at all as far as I can tell. People love to put down emos at the school where I teach. I can't tell where the animosity comes from, but basically if you are emo that means you are too sensetive, too emotionally fragile, and worthy of nothing but contempt. Hide, ye poets, artists, and vegans!

for the recored, #35, in the 2.5 years I taught abuse cases, it was never encouraged or allowed to refer to anyone as a victim, though that was difficult at times looking into scarred faces, cigarette burned arms, or dealing with emotional outbursts.
I hope you are right about most abuse victims, but I know many of the ones I saw ended up in group homes or jail.

Hey RJ I've been there! Like outside of ATL a little bit?
I know I can tell Piggly Wiggly from Whole Foods...

#14
(To those who would say that "the victim has to live with what happened the rest of their lives," well... wah. That's life, deal with the hand you're dealt rather than expecting everything in your life to go perfectly.

"Wah"? Are you suggesting rape victims are whiners?
Traumatic experiences are not shrugged off easily. Look up post traumatic stress disorder in vets or children for starters.
One can "deal" with having one's car stereo stolen much better than being raped, repeatedly beaten, tortured.

Adults "taking liberties" with children are rapists who damage kids physically and emotionally for good. I worked at a school for such victims and I can tell you, once a kid is shown he or she can't trust adults, their social skills spiral in a big way. Pedophiles earn trust, then destroy the trust-that kind of damage is extensive to young minds.
Plus, abused kids grow up to become abusive and continue the cycle.
However, branding a person with this kind of signage invites torment as much or more than it serves to warn others. It's no solution.

Dude. If I were your friend and you invited me over to eat described meal, I would probably white lie my way through it politely, and thank you for sharing your food and company.

BUT I would know I had not just eaten some chic, high end foodstuffs. See if you can get those folks over again next weekend.

Sorry, but the difference between crap and the finest foods available is detectable by nose and mouth, not just the wallet.

ElectroPsychometer v1.0?

pls see Oliver Herring's sculptures:
http://ragandbone.com/bloggerimages/2007_06_20_herring/05.jpg

#1
"I hope there's some irony there that didn't come through in the text. I think it's nonsense that anyone has some sort of superior view on what is and what is not worthwhile art, and even more nonsense to say that that superior view is the result of merely having bought a lot of art"

There has to be expert opinions in these matters or there would be no great art, pure and simple. But you are right about the second part; collectors aren't the one's determining value or greatness, especially not just by investing.

RJ the star of David was hijacked by the gangster disciples- more Chicago than west coast I believe...It's a pretty popular gang tattoo these days.

Pop culture is the only culture, says Cory.
Hey, was that a "Breakdown of he Bicameral Mind" reference, freshfromdetox? You crazy.

Artists need critics before fans. Critics steer the blue chip investors and sundry wealthy dabblers to the appropriate galleries, where they are further herded by the dealers inside.
International art is commanding record prices:

"In a sensational auction of contemporary art held at Sotheby's on Wednesday evening, 54 works realized an aggregate £95 million, or $189.42 million, the highest total in the category ever achieved in Europe."
link:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/28/arts/melik29.php

Excuse, the middle school kids were critically injured, but from the article I just read, did not die from their gunshot wounds.

Since the last BB post about handguns, a man killed five college students and then himself in Dekalb with his cool gun, and somebody killed a bunch of middle school kids in LA with his awesome piece, while shooting at gang rivals. Those two stick out for me, but there were others.

I used to have a S.C. Lizard Man t-shirt...So cool...

I always post too late.
In the Nineties artist Katrina Fritsch made a huge rat king sculpture, with eight foot tall rats. I vaguely remember there were some storage issues with the piece. Art storage must be a daunting business these days.
link to "Rat King" pics:
http://www.diachelsea.org/exhibs/fritsch/ratking/

Look.
This kind of thread is JL's life and/or job. Do a search.
He's in blog after blog, turning up after someone makes a negative comment about guns, gun ownership, gun obsession, etc. etc. etc.. He chastises the poster and identifies himself as a liberal, then the fight is on. And he sticks in there until the last post, or he is booted.
You can refute the ridiculous claims (guns in gym class are beneficial, action beats reaction every time), or spend hours fact checking them (I don't suggest WIKI-too many uncited references). But revealing the spin won't really matter.
Or you can stop posting and let him be on his way.

#14
I'm thinking something like a cross between a mechanic's "creeper" and a recumbent bike (wheels go on the top rail).
When do the time trials begin?

Well, Gary Kleck's study concluded that pistol permit holders hit an innocent bystander 2% of the time, while police hit one 11% of the time. So I'd trust J. Random Permitholder over the police for sure.

Do they shoot the same number of bullets?

I know that the guy I'm looking at with a gun is vastly more likely to be a good guy than a criminal.

It's impossible to know that.

If I did see you and your gun somewhere I would not ask you if you were a permit holder or not.

"People like me"

One can't always trust the police to be rational, but it's worse to turn over a dangerous situation to some random citizen who thinks they can handle it because they have a gun on hand.

I wouldn't trust anyone I knew had a concealed weapon to act in my best interest just because they had a gun. I know exactly how I would respond, though; I would be fearful.

Ever caught a glimspe of some dude's gun but you saw no badge? Did you feel safe or extremely on guard?

Sorry to add this, but just an observation:
check the number of "what if" violent threat scenarios posted here.
You know, "Let's say a young woman is about to be attacked in her home, BUT she has/has no GUN handy."
Revenge fantasies?

(Addressing the causes of bullying? Great idea. Let me know when they get around to fixing the problem of power inequalities in incompletely socialized kids. After that, they can tackle original sin.)

Sarcasm was not the tone I was attempting to set.
Anti-bullying programs are in place becase they are they best answer we have at the moment. To abandon them because they don't eliminate the problem entirely would be irresponsible.

I agree many kids are not getting help! That's part of why I started teaching. My first job was teaching severely disturbed kids, mostly abuse cases, who were bullied (to the extreme) and in turn became bullies. They were the victims of bullies who needed help first...
I don't expect to fix this problem in my lifetime either, but so far I'm in there trying.
I am aware of social injustice and inadequacies of the school system, don't worry.
The cause of helping the bullied is as noble as the cause to help those who bully, even if there is no foreseeable remedy. Without adressing the one you are constantly doing damage control from the other.
Anyway, you restated my original thought by writing:
"Oppressed kids who fantasize about revenge don't have to use guns. The existence of guns may make it easier to enact those fantasies ".

Hi. Responding to these comments from the moderator and jlbraun:

"Anthony (169), I'd rather pay attention to the correlation between revenge fantasies and our consistent failure to protect students from bullying."

I don't understand what you mean by that. Rather than what? There are many programs and seminars in place that address bullying, esp. post Columbine. That sort of training is pretty standard, as are metal detectors and armed security. There's more to it than that, even. We need to address the causes that create bullies in the first place, before high school if at all possible. Bullies and thier victims need help.

"Did you know that target shooting used to be part of gym class? Did you know that target shooting engaged in as an activity reduces blood pressure, increases attention span, and reduces hyperactivity in children? Guns aren't always teh evul. West Virginia wants to teach gun handling and safety in schools again, which I'm in favor of."

Excuse me, but I find your arguments well-worded but insubstantial, here and elsewhere once I googled your name. All gym activities have the effects you describe, except for reducing "hyperactivity". I never saw a report claiming that.
I like the inner city kids I teach, but I would not suggest a program that increased thier interest in guns. It's irresponsible.

I learned to shoot from my step dad, who was in the Green Berets, but I did not retain a fascination for guns. Learned it, left it alone.

American public high school teacher, here.
I can report a high level of interest in the "hobby" being discussed, across a wide spectrum of kids where I teach. Lots of kids enjoy revenge fantasies for being outsiders, and many students are enthralled by gangster culture as well. School shootings aren't all that rare in this country anymore.
Last year I taught at an alternative setting for kids who were removed from the regular system for such things as bringing a gun to (middle) school.
I had a gun pulled on me back in the Eighties when I was in high school.
I'm personally sick of the national obsession.

Thanks for these.

This link leads to a page where someone has posted late sculptor Paul Thek's questionnaire for students of his "fourth dimensional sculpture" course:

http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com/love/thek.php

I'm glad I won't have any moments of silence spent remembering past places and people interrupted by that mess. Can't we have a silent night once in a while?
Not much of a believer, but for Christ's sake...

These are cool, but props must be given to Max Ernst, especially his book of surreal victorian engraving collages : "100 headless woman" or "A Week of Kindness" (circa 1920's)

http://www.spamula.net/blog/archives/000198.html