Henry Louis Gates

Glad to see someone is paying attention to the important stuff, although I kinda disagree with him on Red Stripe.

Rant: Michael Jackson

I'm sorry, but I do not get it. 17,000 people for the funeral of a pop singer, and one who hasn't recorded anything in years, busy molesting kids when he wasn't screwing himself up in a plastic surgeon's office? Ridiculous, don't you think? Only Elvis probably got something on the same scale, and unlike Jackson, he almost deserved it. Frank Sinatra didn't get 17,000 at his funeral -- and that was a pop singer! What is that? Sinatra wasn't innovative? Well, neither was Jackson, but fine -- how about Miles Davis? He didn't get 17,000. And Sinatra wasn't Black? Miles was, as was James Brown, who didn't get 17,000 either. Messed up childhood and adolescence? Try Billie Holiday. She didn't get 17,000. So what gives?

Artomatic

Went to Artomatic - the giant annual exhibit of local artists' work - the weekend before last. I've been meaning to go for several years now, but for one reason or another, haven't made it until now. This year, two friends were exhibiting, and although I've seen the work of both before, I went partially out of a desire to show support.

The exhibit was absolutely enormous - nine floors of a giant office building-to-be, filled wall to wall with displays. There was absolutely no way we could see everything in a single visit, so I focused on photography, partly because one of my exhibiting friends is a photographer, partly because I just love a good artistic photo, but mostly because even among no-name local photographers, the quality tends to be far higher than among their painting, drawing or, worse, installation-creating brethren.

Our group managed to cover three of the nine floors, and even there I could not mention every photographer worth mentioning. Some highlights were Jeffrey Boodman's Ansel Adams-esque balck and white landscapes, Chris Campbell's digitally tweaked mix of shiny, colorful exteriors and decaying interiors, and - perhaps my favorite - Barry Schmetter's series "Memory and Forgetting" - shot with vintage medium and large format cameras, it was dreamy and chilling at the same time. It put me in mind of W.G. Sebald's book The Emigrants.

Of the non-photographic material, though I wasn't paying attention, Amy Combs' charcoals definitely jumped out.

Next year - several visits, no question about it.

Happy Independence Day

I don't have anything even remotely interesting to say about Independence Day and its significance this year, so let me wish everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend by saying that I am conflicted about how, and even whether, to celebrate it. On the one hand, even the slightest display of nationalism is repugnant to me, especially the empty, flag-waving kind. On the other, I do feel very strongly that this is the absolutely best country in the world in countless respects and that I would not want to live anywhere else, and surely the creation of such a place ought to be celebrated, no? Happy grilling, everyone.

Ikea, Slight Return

I guess I should have expected the filing cabinet I bought at Ikea a couple of weeks ago to have been designed for A4 hanging folders. Not for nothing are they known for selling the same exact products in every country in which they do business.