November 14, 2011 Gerhard/Zeck mash-up

From our friend M.E., who picked up and ran with the idea of having Gerhard retro-draw awesome backgrounds on huge character pieces. Here's the latest. Ger can probably fill me in on whether this is the first time for a mash-up piece with anyone other than Dave. Brilliant idea, M.E., and stunning in its execution (sic). And don't miss the movie!

November 10, 2011 A Small Circle of Friends

In dishonor of the horrendous events coming to light at Penn State, I offer up perhaps the most cogent commentary on the general topic of social irresponsibility, from a musician little-known today. I was introduced to Phil Ochs by a dear friend, during college, about 2 years before Ochs' suicide.

Phil Ochs (1940-1976)

Ochs was inspired to write "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" by the case of Kitty Genovese, who was stabbed to death outside her home in Queens, New York, while dozens of her neighbors reportedly ignored her cries for help. The song was released in 1967.



"Outside of a Small Circle of Friends"

Look outside the window, there's a woman being grabbed
They've dragged her to the bushes and now she's being stabbed
Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain
But Monopoly is so much fun, I'd hate to blow the game
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.

Riding down the highway, yes, my back is getting stiff
Thirteen cars are piled up, they're hanging on a cliff.
Maybe we should pull them back with our towing chain
But we gotta move and we might get sued and it looks like it's gonna rain
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.

Sweating in the ghetto with the colored and the poor
The rats have joined the babies who are sleeping on the floor
Now wouldn't it be a riot if they really blew their tops?
But they got too much already and besides we got the cops
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.

Oh there's a dirty paper using sex to make a sale
The Supreme Court was so upset, they sent him off to jail.
Maybe we should help the fiend and take away his fine.
But we're busy reading Playboy and the Sunday New York Times
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends

Smoking marihuana is more fun than drinking beer,
But a friend of ours was captured and they gave him thirty years
Maybe we should raise our voices, ask somebody why
But demonstrations are a drag, besides we're much too high
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends

Oh look outside the window, there's a woman being grabbed
They've dragged her to the bushes and now she's being stabbed
Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain
But Monopoly is so much fun, I'd hate to blow the game
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends

[ Additional verse, 1974]

Down in Santiago where they took away our mines
We cut off all their money so they robbed the storehouse blind
Now maybe we should ask some questions, maybe shed a tear
But I bet you a copper penny, it cannot happen here
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends

November 7, 2011 Texas (take II)

Wish me luck:

Newspaper Article

Robert Foster Cherry Award

November 4, 2011 Texas

I just spent an interesting week at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. More about that in a few days.

While I was on campus, I was touring the Art Museum (small), which was in the same building as their Art & Design School. This was a great tour because I got to meander through the galleries and studios and classrooms. Those artsy smells are extremely evocative and make me want to have pursued more of that side of my brain than I have been able to find time for.

This pair of characters, from a junior undergraduate in the ceramics class, really caught my eye. They were on display:



In addition to the inherent humor, I think these faces recall so strongly the late 19th C British editorialists whose drawings I like so well. I made the comment to the Director, who was my guide, that if she found out that the artist ever put a price tag on these that I would be first in line with my wallet open.

"Seriously?"

"Absolutely. I do not kid about stuff like that."

She made sure to take me by the ceramics classroom because she thought that the professor whose student did these would be around. He was (and he had a small class there). I expressed my enthusiasm, as I had in the hallway, and he lit up like a Christmas tree.

He turned and announced me, and what I said, to the class. A teaching moment.

And best of all: the artist was sitting there.

And, it turns out she had been a bit mopey because she had received a bad critique in another class, that day, and a letter, that morning, that had been a rejection from some program or another.

So I got a chance to express my enthusiasm in person. The professor got a chance to make a point to his class. And the artist got a chance to think about my offer, directly from me.

I got a note passed to me the next day, from the Director, with a price on it.

Score.