These are not the kind of photos you should be uploading on your profile. Meet twelve funny Facebook pictures we've found around the world's most popular social network."
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
12 Funny Facebook Pictures
12 Funny Facebook Pictures: "These are not the kind of photos you should be uploading on your profile. Meet twelve funny Facebook pictures we've found around the world's most popular social network."
These are not the kind of photos you should be uploading on your profile. Meet twelve funny Facebook pictures we've found around the world's most popular social network."
Activists' Statement on the Ottawa Police
Activists' Statement on the Ottawa Police: "
"
Tuesday, 30 Nov 2010 - Ainfos
Many of us come from communities that have long been targeted by police forces, and continue today to be harassed by and experience violence from those same forces. We are queer, poor, non-status, trans, racialized, sex-workers, indigenous, disabled and homeless. We have been victims of violence, wrongful arrests, sexual assaults, intimidation and ridicule by the police.
"
Graphic User Interface
Graphic User Interface: "
[Phoebe Cates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, carrots in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, dir. Amy Heckerling, 1982]
[Embedded yet non-functional suction cups.]
[David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth, dir. Nicolas Roeg, 1976]
[Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich in Der Blaue Engel, dir. Josef von Sternberg, 1930]
The problem with touchscreens is that you have to touch them. Little ones are ok, you can peck at them in a utilitarian manner and get it over with. But the bigger they are, the more you need to stroke your fingers the length of the surface, not just once, but over and over. It’s mildly unpleasant; they’re just not smooth enough. But instead of proposing digital Zambonis to go, carefully, carefully, depositing a microscopic layer of something wet yet gently viscous over which to glide (with one of Apple’s morlocks installed as driver, no doubt); Microsoft is going in the other direction, nice and rough.
Because touchscreens are also not rough enough. They’re not fibrous, or furry, or rippled — no, they just sit there, a machined monotony, not enough information to interest the fingertips. HiLobrow co-editor Matthew Battles, blogging over at gearfuse.com, has drawn our attention to Microsoft’s drafted rough GUI. Instead of pre-protruding buttons, these sensitive areas will simply “swell from under the surface.” And no annoying buzz — Microsoft has detached the vibro- from the tactile in favor of activation by light.
A certain industry with an interest in being very user-friendly might find this line of approach to be quite lucrative. Boys, now your doll can do more than sit there. Or (worse) sit there and talk… And finally, perhaps, a more interesting robot for the ladies? Fruits and vegetables may cease to be nervous.
[Phoebe Cates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, carrots in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, dir. Amy Heckerling, 1982]
But it gets more interesting when we swivel our attention away from our automata and back to us. In this era of augmentation and blended reality, implants that can be programmed to swell will glide smoothly by the 19th century’s blunt hydraulics, and will render obsolete the encapsulated instruction manuals of the 20th.
Need a little extra help? Things a little hard to find? Forget botox and tattoos, we’re talking functional aesthetics! Work it, baby.
[Embedded yet non-functional suction cups.]
And why stop there? Polymorphous perversity need no longer remain in the imagination, or out on the playa. How about buttons in the palms of the hand, à la Bowie’s alien, or tracing along the spine, or collarbone? Or they could be placed in strategic waves of hair. Or eyelashes…
[David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth, dir. Nicolas Roeg, 1976]
In fact, why follow bipedal form at all? Code your own in spiraling lines around your torus with intersections and approaches and divergences, activated in sequence according to the latest erotic calculus… math club is about to become very popular.
You see how we’ve been limited. Welcome to your new life as a (probability) cloud.
It could be a shadow play as well. If the embedded action areas are activated by light, one might imagine a complex patterning of silhouette and shadow building from greyscale to dappled to pixilated to posterized to hot white light. Neither should one rule out a few strategically-placed mirrors.
[Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich in Der Blaue Engel, dir. Josef von Sternberg, 1930]
A subtle music, played in the air without touching the instrument. One can see immediate applications for the space program and other long-distance relationships.
And once we’ve gone that far, we may even consider bringing back the buzz. The vibrations might actually be quite… good.
How a Burnt Lady Gaga CD Helped Leak 250,000 U.S. Embassy Cables to WikiLeaks
How a Burnt Lady Gaga CD Helped Leak 250,000 U.S. Embassy Cables to WikiLeaks: "
I find this to be a good reminder for conspiracy theorists how seriously incompetent governments can be. From a fake Lady Gaga CD to a thumb drive that is a pocket-sized bombshell — the biggest intelligence leak in history… David Leigh writes in the Guardian:
The US military believes it knows where the leak originated. A soldier, Bradley Manning, 22, has been held in solitary confinement for the last seven months and is facing a court martial in the new year. The former intelligence analyst is charged with unauthorised downloads of classified material while serving on an army base outside Baghdad. He is suspected of taking copies not only of the state department archive, but also of video of an Apache helicopter crew gunning down civilians in Baghdad, and hundreds of thousands of daily war logs from military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
It was childishly easy, according to the published chatlog of a conversation Manning had with a fellow-hacker. “I would come in with music on a CD-RW labelled with something like ‘Lady Gaga’ … erase the music … then write a compressed split file. No one suspected a thing … [I] listened and lip-synched to Lady Gaga’s Telephone while exfiltrating possibly the largest data spillage in American history.” He said that he “had unprecedented access to classified networks 14 hours a day 7 days a week for 8+ months”.
Manning told his correspondent Adrian Lamo, who subsequently denounced him to the authorities: “Hillary Clinton and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart attack when they wake up one morning and find an entire repository of classified foreign policy is available, in searchable format, to the public … Everywhere there’s a US post, there’s a diplomatic scandal that will be revealed. Worldwide anarchy in CSV format … It’s beautiful, and horrifying.”
He added: “Information should be free. It belongs in the public domain.”
Read More in the Guardian
"WikiLeaks’ Plan To Take Down A Major Bank
WikiLeaks’ Plan To Take Down A Major Bank: "
Julian Assange, perhaps THE man of the media moment, says that early in 2011 WikiLeaks will disclose documents so damning that their release could “take down a bank or two.” Finally perhaps, some retribution for the Plunder of America by the banksters? From Andy Greenberg’s interview with Assange for Forbes:
Julian Assange
Forbes: Is it a U.S. bank?
Assange: Yes, it’s a U.S. bank.
One that still exists?
Yes, a big U.S. bank.
The biggest U.S. bank?
No comment.
When will it happen?
Early next year. I won’t say more.
What do you want to be the result of this release?
[Pauses] I’m not sure.
It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume.
Usually when you get leaks at this level, it’s about one particular case or one particular violation. For this, there’s only one similar example. It’s like the Enron emails. Why were these so valuable? When Enron collapsed, through court processes, thousands and thousands of emails came out that were internal, and it provided a window into how the whole company was managed. It was all the little decisions that supported the flagrant violations.
This will be like that. Yes, there will be some flagrant violations, unethical practices that will be revealed, but it will also be all the supporting decision-making structures and the internal executive ethos that cames out, and that’s tremendously valuable. Like the Iraq War Logs, yes there were mass casualty incidents that were very newsworthy, but the great value is seeing the full spectrum of the war.
You could call it the ecosystem of corruption. But it’s also all the regular decision making that turns a blind eye to and supports unethical practices: the oversight that’s not done, the priorities of executives, how they think they’re fulfilling their own self-interest. The way they talk about it…
[continues at Forbes]
"Hear, Here: Get a Taste of the New Cave Singers’ Album
Hear, Here: Get a Taste of the New Cave Singers’ Album: "
2010 is winding down, and that means fewer and fewer good releases make their way too the public as labels and publicity companies make their push for everyone’s “best of” list. That being the case, it’s never to early to look toward what next year will bring. We’re definitely excited about the upcoming record from Seattle’s woodsy folk-rock outfit, the Cave Singers. Hopping from Matador to JagJaguwar for their third LP, the trio will release No Witch on 2/22. To give you a preview of what’s to come, we’ve got a stream and download of “Swim Club.” It’s got that backwoods, mystic vibe that the Cave Singers do so well, complemented by the production from Randall Dunn, who has worked with the likes of Black Mountain, Sun O))), Boris, and more. Get psyched for next year and check out the No Witch tracklisting and the Cave Singers’ tour dates after the jump.
Download: The Cave Singers – “Swim Club”
No Witch:
Gifts and the Raft
Swim Club
Black Leaf
Falls
Outer Realms
Haller Lake
All Land Crabs and Divinity Ghosts
Clever Creatures
Haystacks
Distant Sures
Faze Wave
No Prosecution If We Bail
Cave Singers on Tour:
12/02 – Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theater*
12/03 – Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre*
12/04 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel*
12/06 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club*
12/07 – Charleston, SC @ Music Farm*
12/08 – Jacksonville, FL @ Free Bird Live*
12/10 – Birmingham, AL @ WorkPlay Theatre*
12/11 – Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall
*w/Cold War Kids
The Misfits Are Still Doing Stuff Without Danzig
The Misfits Are Still Doing Stuff Without Danzig: "
Last time anyone checked in with the reconstituted Misfits, they were but a feckless trio being lead across the globe on a never-ending tour by founding member Jerry Only (now handling bass AND vocal duties). A new single, the very meh “Land of the Dead”, arrived in October of last year, suggesting the band were on the cusp of releasing their first full-length since 2003′s abominable Project 1950. A whole year went by with no real news, and most die-hard fiends assumed Jerry had made enough scratch from touring to pay his second mortgage.
Well, wouldn’t you know it, the Misfits are not about to fade into the ether Marty McFly-style. A couple weeks ago, Jerry Only spoke to BlairingOut.com, making it clear that the Misfits are stronger than ever and a new album entitled The Devil’s Rain is on its way. Unfortunately, beloved Misfits/Black Flag drum god Julio Roberto Valverde Valencia—Robo for short—will not be along for the ride. According to Only, Robo’s ongoing passport issues made touring a nightmare.
“We had to let Robo go because of his Colombian passport,” Only told BlairingOut.com. “It’s bad…it’s like a rain cloud that follows us around any time we go to different countries, especially in Europe. All at once certain countries won’t let him in. That immediately cancels shows and immediately changes all our flight itinerary and things like that, and it’s a big loss of money…it came to a point in the road where we just couldn’t deal with it.”
Replacing Robo is Eric “The Goat” Arce from Murphy’s Law, although from this point forward, Arce will be known as “The Chupacabra.” As Only puts it, “[Eric] needs a monster name now that he’s with us.”
Newsflash: Jerry Only is not a monster name. Dez Cadena is not a monster name (although I guess Dez gets a pass because he wears all that stupid corpse paint now). The Misfits isn’t even really a monster name. Just let “The Goat” be “The Goat,” Jerry! Come on already with this nonsense! Oh, and stop saying you chose The Devil’s Rain as a title because it was a Shatner movie. Everyone knows your original singer used that phrase in “Skulls”, a.k.a. the most popular Misfits song Metallica never covered of all-time. If you’re gonna piggyback, just admit to piggybacking. Sheesh.
"Made of Metal: Judas Priest’s Rob Halford Sings On
Made of Metal: Judas Priest’s Rob Halford Sings On: "
As frontman for heavy metal acts Judas Priest and Halford, Rob Halford is known as the genre’s most unapologetic defender. But on the 14-track Halford IV: Made of Metal the legendary vocalist delivers a more diverse sampler, alloying expected heavy weight tracks with bombastic hooks and riveting guitars such as “Undisputed”, “Speed of Sound”, and “The Mower”, with the auto-tuned “Made of Metal”, country-fried “Till the Day I Die”, Latin-infused “Matador”, and balladic “I Know We Stand a Chance.”
Produced by Halford guitarist Roy Z and recorded over recent downtime between shows, Made of Metal is perhaps Halford’s most intimate release. Songs like “Fire and Ice”, “We Own the Night”, and “I Know We Stand a Chance” chronicle romantic highs and lows, and “Twenty-Five Years” delineates the singer’s ongoing fight to remain sober after a quarter century.
Halford is currently treating fans to their new material on a 30-date tour—their first outing in eight years. I spoke to Rob Halford, just back from several successful dates in Japan and South America, and on the heels of the North American leg of Halford’s co-headlining tour with Ozzy Osbourne, about life on the road, the new album, and his 25 years of sobriety.
Crawdaddy!: You’ve been touring pretty relentlessly since summer. How is touring today different than it used to be?
Rob Halford: I’ve just come back from doing a number of shows all over the place. I played Japan and South America in just under 21 days. Of the venues I played in South America, some were clubs, and others were theaters and larger event spaces. I just experienced something last week that encapsulated everything a band does when they just begin. Most bands start off in clubs or pubs, and then as they progressively grow the venues change shape and size. But as you move forward, the essence of what you do doesn’t change. I’ve been in a dressing room smaller than a closet, and I coped with that. I’ve been in dressing rooms the size of a penthouse. But none of it matters. All that matters is what you do when you get onstage. Some stages are tight and restrictive and some are the size of Madison Square Garden. You’ve got to prepare for every possibility. I love it all, quite frankly. The tight intimate club can be very electric and smell good… or bad. When you play big venues to 40,000 in Japan, it becomes distant. But music is still happening, and the band has to connect with every person.
Crawdaddy!: This time around you’re focusing on Halford. What considerations are present when you choose to release an album and tour as Halford, as opposed to Judas Priest?
Halford: The source of the ideas is different. When I’m writing with Priest, it’s more “Ok, ok, ok,” but Halford is more as a single writer. Normally I collaborate more, and I haven’t written on my own in a long time. I would let Roy Z know what is going on and after he’d hear the early ideas, would say, “These are great, keep writing and when you think you have enough to lay them down as demos, we’ll see where we go from here.” What was unusual for me with this release was that I told myself, “Let your heart lead you and don’t think about anything else,” with what I wanted to say, and instrumentally, with the arrangements. Then it’s very pure and uncluttered and not tampered with. It’s important to listen to criticism and other points of view and let the reins go.
Crawdaddy!: I read that this was one of the fastest albums you’ve ever recorded.
Halford: It can take two months or two years. But I was doing some shows as Halford for the first time in several years, and thought, “Who wants to hear songs from seven years ago?” I wanted to play songs that are relevant to what I’m doing now. So I went into writing mode in between everything else, subconsciously waiting for this to come out.
Crawdaddy!: The album is named after the track “Made Of Metal.” What does it mean to you to be made of metal?
Halford: I suppose it’s a determining point of who I am, what I embody, and what most people know me for. I’m a musician, who writes and records heavy metal music. It’s all those attributes combined.
Crawdaddy!: Listening to the album, I felt like you were shedding your metal armor and getting to the heart of who you are as a person.
Halford: That’s a cool way to think about it. I would suggest that metal armor is probably part of the overall mix of things. Even now metal has its detractors. But we’ve survived by uniting behind the shield of heavy metal. That’s where the armor plating comes from. We use music as a wall and protective force, which is kind of peculiar to the heavy metal genre. Of course the realms of metal are filled with that sort of imagery, as well.
Crawdaddy!: The song “Made Of Metal” seems to be about heroism. Who are your heroes?
Halford: I would say, musically, John Lennon, because of what he stood for with his music and peace ideas. In terms of perseverance and determination, Ozzy, Lemmy [of Motorhead], and the late Ronnie James Dio—people who have gone through the fire… People like Lady Gaga, who stand up for their beliefs with a daring attitude. You have to have balls of steel to survive in the entertainment industry. And you can’t forget Michael Feinstein, who’s a tremendous hero in the music world. Michael is a wonderful musician, with a wonderful voice, who’s committed to preserving American culture, musically.
Crawdaddy!: I don’t think that most of your fans would ever imagine that you’re a Michael Feinstein fan.
Halford: A true musician should be open-minded and have their blinders off. I’m just as motivated by heavy metal as I am by Cole Porter and George Gershwin.
Crawdaddy!: In “Twenty-Five Years”, in which you open up about your sobriety, you sing, “They say it makes you stronger / But I feel so weak.” Is it still so difficult for you to remain sober after all these years?
Halford: I think that any of us who are addicted to booze, drugs, porn, or food, try to control it, but can never completely control it. But acknowledging your sense of failure helps you stay more focused. If you don’t feel fallible, you’re going to make a mistake. I know that, because I’m still around booze and drugs. It’s like having an angel and a devil on each shoulder, with the angel telling you to stay sober and the devil telling you that you’ve been clean and sober for 25 years and can have just one drink. You have to deal with that on a daily basis. Most people acknowledge that, and I do it with my words, which was not as painful as I thought it would be. But with my solo activities, I can be more personal. It was time for me to do this one, to give people another insight into who I am.
Watch: “Made of Metal” [at youtube.com]
Halford Tour Dates:
Nov. 29 – Baltimore, MD – 1st Mariner Arena with Ozzy Osbourne
Dec. 01 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden Arena with Ozzy Osbourne
Dec. 03 – E. Rutherford, NJ – Izod Center with Ozzy Osbourne
Dec. 04 – Allentown, PA – Crocodile Rock
Dec. 05 – Cleveland, OH – Quicken Loans Arena with Ozzy Osbourne
Dec. 07 – Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena with Ozzy Osbourne
Dec. 09 – Chicago, IL – House Of Blues
Dec. 10 – St. Louis, Mo Scottrade Center with Ozzy Osbourne
Dec. 12 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center with Ozzy Osbourne
Dec 13 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
Dec 15 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theater
Dec. 17 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
Dec. 18 – San Diego, CA – 4th & B
Dec. 19 – Anaheim, CA – The Grove of Anaheim
'Rogue' officer pleads guilty to trafficking
'Rogue' officer pleads guilty to trafficking: "A former Vancouver policeman who was once described by the chief as a 'rogue officer' has pleaded guilty to three of four charges in provincial court in Vancouver."
'Rogue' officer pleads guilty to trafficking
'Rogue' officer pleads guilty to trafficking: "A former Vancouver policeman who was once described by the chief as a 'rogue officer' has pleaded guilty to three of four charges in provincial court in Vancouver."
Interpol issues "Red Notice" for arrest of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange over "sex crime"
Interpol issues "Red Notice" for arrest of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange over "sex crime": "
Kevin Poulsen at Wired News: 'The international police organization Interpol has issued a Red Notice for the arrest of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, in connection with a sex crime investigation in Sweden.' Certainly sounds simpler than arresting him for the leaks.
AO News Summary: Paris – 217 unknown Picasso works worth over $79 million found, Picasso family to sue over ownership
AO News Summary: Paris – 217 unknown Picasso works worth over $79 million found, Picasso family to sue over ownership: "
A Pablo Picasso work unearthed in the recent discovery of 217 of the late artist’s work in Paris, France. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
In September, a couple boarded a train to Paris with a suitcase full of works by Pablo Picasso, including, as the New York Times reports, “several watercolors, dozens of lithographs, more than 200 sketches and 9 Cubist collages, in the hopes of having it authenticated by Claude Ruiz-Picasso, the artist’s son and the administrator of the Picasso estate.” The trip was at the request of the artist’s son after reading a letter Mr. Le Guennec had sent him requesting authentication.
The works’ owners are Pierre Le Guennec, 71, and his wife Danielle, 68. Mr. Le Guennec had worked as an electrician at three of the famed Spanish-born artists’s properties in the French Riviera in the early 1970s. The couple had kept the works in their garage for the past thirty plus years, but after Mr. Le Guennec’s recent surgery, they thought it best to evaluate the works for their children’s inheritance.
Instead of giving the authentication the Le Guennecs anticipated, Mr. Ruiz-Picasso contacted the Fight Against Traffic in Cultural Goods and his family’s lawyer, Mr. Jean-Jacques Neuer. Among heirs Mr. Neuer represents are Mr. Ruiz-Picasso, Picasso’s stepdaughter Catherine Hutin-Blay, and four others. A law suit was filed on September 23 claiming the works as stolen goods. Two weeks later, on October 5, the Le Guennecs were stunned to find the artworks seized from their home by police.
Pierre Le Guennec, retired electrician to Picasso, from whose house the works were seized by French police. Image courtesy The Guardian.
More story, images, and video links after the jump…
Pablo Picasso in front of one of his paintings. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
Many of the works, which date from 1900 – 1932, are unsigned and undated, but this did not raise suspicion in minds of the family’s or their lawyer, who defend the works’ authenticity. “There is no debate over the authenticity of the works,” stated Mr. Neuer. “There is no possible doubt.”
The two men were, however, shocked at the quantity of works unearthed. Although Picasso was tremendously prolific, having produced an estimated 40,000 works in his lifetime, a discovery of this size is unprecedented. The works’ lack of previous documentation is cause for reserve, causing Mr. Ruiz-Picasso to think they may have been taken from the artist’s studio. According to the family’s lawyers, Picasso kept very tight inventory and control over each of his works, and rarely parted with works without documenting it. According to the New York Times, Mr. Ruiz-Picasso stated, “He always dated, signed and dedicated his gifts. I leave it to the justice system to shed light on the matter. We ourselves are certainly not acting for our own profit. We’re not in need.” In a statement to the French newspaper Liberation on Monday, Mr. Ruiz-Picasso stated, “To give away such a large quantity, that’s unheard of. It doesn’t hold water. This was part of his life.”
Claude Ruiz-Picasso, the late artist’s son, who is suing Mr. Le Guennec over the works’ ownership. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
Picasso’s estate is managed by the Picasso Administration, whose head spokesperson, Christine Pinault, recognizes that unknown works by the artist have surfaced occasionally in the past. But never has such a sizeable collection come to light: “There are only questions in this whole story, for the moment,” Ms. Pinault said to the New York Times. “Everyone is wondering how such a thing could happen.” The estate estimates the works to be worth at least $78 million.
Jean-Jacques Neuer, the lawyer on the case. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
The couple denies that they did any wrong, but when Mr. Le Guennec’s story changed during investigation, some questions were raised. Initially, Mr. Le Guennec claimed that Picasso had given them directly to him as a gift. Later, however, he related that the works were given to him by Picasso’s second wife Jacqueline Roque (1927-1986) for installing an alarm system on one of the properties. Picasso himself died in April of 1973, making him 90 years old at the time Mr. Le Guennec claims he was given the works. In a statement to the Washington Post, Danielle Le Guennec said, “My husband was well-regarded by the master. [Claude Ruiz-Picasso has] put a knife in our back, taken us to court and accused us of theft – he’ll have to prove it.”
The works are currently being held in a vault in Nanterre, outside Paris at France’s Central Office for the Fight against Traffic in Cultural Goods, which is part of the Interior Ministry of France. Their fate remains unclear.
A Picasso work recently revealed to be in Le Guennec’s collection. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
One of Picasso’s sketchbooks of which Le Guennec was in possession. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
A Picasso work in dispute. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
A sketch of Picasso’s first wife, Olga, from Le Guennec’s garage. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
A vibrant Picasso sketch from Le Guennec’s trove. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
Two drawings by Picasso. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
One of the drawings whose ownership is in dispute. Image courtesy The Telegraph.
Pierre Le Guennec, retired electrician to Picasso, from whose house the works were seized by French police. Image courtesy the New York Times.
- J. Lindblad
Related Links:
Trove of Picassos Surface, So Do Questions [New York Times]
Hundreds of unknown Picasso works discovered in Paris [The Guardian]
Picasso trove turns up in France [The Washington Post]
VIDEO: Picasso’s electrician reveals artist’s ‘treasure trove’ [BBC News]
VIDEO: The retired electrician and the Picasso haul [The Independent]
VIDEO: [Associated Press]
271 unknown Pablo Picasso paintings and drawings discovered in France [The Telegraph]
Leaked cables reveal America’s ‘profound hatred of democracy,’ Chomsky declares
Leaked cables reveal America’s ‘profound hatred of democracy,’ Chomsky declares: "What does the release of over 250,000 secret US State Department cables by WikiLeaks ultimately reflect? 'What that reveals is the profound hatred for democracy on the part of our political leadership and of course the Israeli political leadership,' Noam Chomsky, renowned American linguist and political dissident, told Democracy Now's Amy Goodman on Tuesday. In the [...]
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Cave of Forgotten Dreams: "
Werner Herzog's new film is in 3-D; it's a documentary about the 30,000-year-old drawings recently discovered in the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc cave in southern France.
Herzog gained extraordinary permission to film the caves using lights that emit no heat. But Herzog being Herzog, this is no simple act of documentation. He initially resisted shooting in 3D, then embraced the process, and now it's hard to imagine the film any other way. Just as Lascaux left Picasso in awe, the works at Chauvet are breathtaking in their artistry. The 3D format proves essential in communicating the contoured surfaces on which the charcoal figures are drawn. Beyond the walls, Herzog uses 3D to render the cave's stalagmites like a crystal cathedral and to capture stunning aerial shots of the nearby Pont-d'Arc natural bridge. His probing questions for the cave specialists also plunge deep; for instance: 'What constitutes humanness?'
Herzog pursued the film after reading Judith Thurman's 2008 piece about the cave drawings in the New Yorker.
Tags: 3-D Cave of Forgotten Dreams movies Werner Herzog"Parole denied for serial killer Clifford Olson
Parole denied for serial killer Clifford Olson: "The National Parole Board has denied parole for serial killer Clifford Olson after a one-hour hearing Tuesday at Canada's highest-security institution in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Que."
AO On Site fair and event preview: Art Basel Miami Beach 2010 begins today through December 5th
AO On Site fair and event preview: Art Basel Miami Beach 2010 begins today through December 5th: "
Tiermetabolismus V (Katzchen) by Jonathan Meese at Bortolami Gallery, Art Basel Main Fair, Hall B, Booth I-09.
Art Observed will be on site as of today for the ninth edition of the America’s biggest contemporary art fair: Art Basel Miami Beach which will open to the public on Thursday December 2 and will run through Sunday, December 5.
The main section of the fair will house over 180 galleries and over 40,000 are expected following the December 2nd opening. Annette Schönholzer and Marc Spiegler are the main fair organizers alongside its main sponsor UBS with Cartier, NetJets and AXA Art as the associate sponsors. While Art Basel is still the main draw, the NADA Fair (the New Art Dealers Alliance) up the road at the Dauville Beach Resort will open to the public Thursday December 2. It will run through Sunday December 5 and also should not be missed.
Untitled (Art Fair Floor) by Ryan Reggiani. Kate Werble Gallery at Nada Art Fair, booth 312.
The fair week is notable for its bridging of the Latin American buyers with American and British art centers as well as its uniquely intense amalgamation of social, media, fashion and other spheres of influence into the business of selling art.
The global art market seems to have stabilized this year and the main fair, along with its very significant satellites, should be met with lively buying this round. Beyond this, all around Miami, the social calendar will be infused with events to the point where there is little chance to avoid regretfully missing something.
A view of an installation by Terrence Koh at The Island, an event during the week (see bel0w).
More text and related links after the jump… .
The Soho Beach House, a newly opened venture of the Soho House chain, will feature an impressive array of private events during the days of the fair.
Centers of Gravity:
Art Basel – The Main Fair: Still the focal point for the week and the gate through which just about everyone will pass. The amount of world class art within these walls is difficult to process in one visit.
NADA Art Fair – The Deauville Beach Resort - If the main fair is blue chip, this art fair brings a bit of art’s edge to the week. NADA is up on the beach but the character of this fair is bit more more downtown. Last year this fair brought many great works and energy and this year will likely be even more robust.
Soho House Beach Club: This newcomer brings a solid list of events to the week and serves as an anchor the Northern reaches of the fair. It may not be not as big as the monolithic Fontainebleau next door, but it brings the energy of the global Soho House brand, which recently opened lauded clubs in Los Angeles and Berlin. This hotel will host events for Nadja Swarovski and Craig Robbins; Jay Joplings’s London gallery White Cube; Blum & Poe Gallery; Victoria Miro Gallery; a Chloe fashion show; and W Magazine Event (hosted by Stefano Tonchi & Daphne Guinness).
W Hotel: Its lobby boasts museum-grade art from the likes of Damien Hirst, Christopher Wool and Tom Sachs and, in Mr. Chow’s, a restaurant with a strong art pedigree. As a major collector, Aby Rosen seems to have built a hotel made for Art Basel Miami Beach. This venue will host events for Larry Gagosian, Cecilia Dean’s V magazine, Aby Rosen, Vito Schnabel, Alex Dellal & Stavros Niarchos, and a reading by Steve Martin from his new book Object of Beauty.
The Raleigh: Chef John DeLucie of newly opened The Lion in New York City opens a restaurant at The Raleigh this week that should help to keep this classically beautiful hotel in focus after the departure of Andre Balazs. This year the hotel will host a Vogue Lounge cocktail reception and Jeffrey Deitch will also reprise his Art Basel Miami Beach party under the aegis of MOCA Los Angeles with performance by LCD Soundsystem.
The Mondrian Hotel: The Mondrian, though on the bay side, is a huge resort with great views and a steady roster of events for the week, including those from Charlotte Ronson (with music by Alexander Dexter-Jones) and a Paper Magazine event for Shepard Fairey.
The Standard: The impact of Andre Balazs’s new Standard in New York on the scene is unquestionable and its sister property in Miami Beach, the Standard Hotel and Spa, keeps the momentum going during Art Basel Miami Beach. This property will support some of the most exclusive and significant events of the week within its expansive grounds such as the US sea launch of The Aquariva by Marc Newson and a party thrown by Marina Abramovic and Another Magazine’s Jefferson Hack.
The Delano: The godfather of the Miami boutique hotel movement will host parties for MoMA PS1 and Interview Magazine as well as late night revelry from André Sarraiva’s Miami outpost of Le Baron in the Florida Room in collaboration with the Misshapes and Jalouse.
Birch Cube (2010) by Anthony James. Exhibited by Patrick Painter Gallery at the Art Basel, booth B20.
Petrified Petrol Pump (2010) by Allora & Calzadilla. Shown by Lisson Gallery at Art Basel Main Fair, stand 101.
Other Selected Events:
Tuesday November 30:
- Miami Art Museum official groundbreaking of the new Herzog & de Meuron-designed facility in Downtown Miami’s 29-acre Museum Park.
- Galerie Perrotin opening featuring Daniel Arsham, Kaz Oshiro, Paola Pivi and Xavier Veilhan (of recent château de Versailles installation).
By Nick Van Woert (2010). Yvon Lambert at Art Basel, booth L07.
Wednesday December 1
- Miami’s own OHWOW Gallery, in partnership with The Standard, Miami Beach opens its new store within the Standard including works by Scott Campbell, Dan Colen, KAWS, Terence Koh, José Parlá, Agathe Snow and others.
- The first major solo US exhibition of German artist Jonathan Meese opens at Miami’s MOCA.
Centri de pensiero by Alighiero e Boetti (1982). Gladstone Gallery at Art Basel Main Fair, booth H13.
Thursday December 2
- Miami’s OHWOW reprises It Ain’t Fair in a 6,000 square feet of gallery space featuring Scott Campbell, Dan Colen, André Ethier, FriendsWithYou, KAWS, Nate Lowman, Barry McGee, Neck Face, José Parlá, Aurel Schmidt and Lucien Marc Smith.
A mural by assume vivid astro focus.
- Soho New York’s The Hole Gallery presents the the completion of Phase I of Wynwood Walls with four new murals by Ryan McGinness, Ben Jones, Dearraindrop and assume vivid astro focus (seen above).
- Artists John Baldessari and Analia Saban in conversation moderated by Glenn Phillips of the Getty Research Institute, presented by Pacific Standard Time at the Rubell Family Collection.
- The Billboard Project launch: Reception for the artist Liam Gillick, who has been commissioned to produce artwork for billboards and bus shelters in and around Miami’s Design District and Miami Beach, at Locust Projects.
- SKINS Opening reception, curated by Alex Gartenfeld 81 NE 40th Street Miami Design District.
- New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) party with Canyon Ranch at the The Deauville Beach Resort.
- BOFFO presents a night of music and performances by H.U.N.X.hosted by Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Arden Wohl, Casey Spooner, Johnny Misheff, Todd Eberle and others at the Lords South Beach Hotel.
Friday December 3
- The “Island”: a one night, site-specific exhibition on a small island not far off the Mondrian Hotel organized by Shamim M. Momin, and Al Moran and Aaron Bondaroff of OHWOW gallery featuring works by Terence Koh, Justin Lowe, Hanna Liden and others.
The Last Bird Runner by Jon Kessler (1994). Salon 94, Art Basel Main Fair, booth G-06.
Most of the Week:
- The Rubell Family Collection will host a serious of breakfasts that will not doubt continue the tradition of artistically abundant food styling.
- Creative Time will be presenting its Oceanfront Nights events beginning with its first theme, Detroit, on Wednesday night and will continuing on to Saturday with the themes Mexico City, Berlin and Glasgow respectively at the Oceanfront at Collins Park, between 21st and 22nd Streets. Turner Prize winning artist Martin Creed‘s band plays on Saturday.
- Broken Hearts Club: this Berlin-based ABMB newcomer takes a cue from Le Baron and sets up a pop-up party residence in the Townhouse Hotel through the week and into the late night featuring DJ sets by Peaches and nights hosted by the likes of Sam Keller.
Related links:
Art Basel Miami Art Fair Homepage
NADA Homepage
Thomas Struth, Drydock, DSME Shipyard, Geoje Island (2007). Marian Goodman Gallery, Art Basel Main Fair, booth J14.
News Summary:
Art Basel Miami: 10 party (and Art) Spots [NYTimes]
In Miami Beach, a More Daring Art Basel [WSJ]
Art Basel Miami Beach [Financial Times]
Art Basel Miami Beach 2010 Preview [ArtInfo]
Art Basel Miami Beach has boosted artists, collectors in Latin America [Miami Herald]
The Best Gems of Basel: Where You’ll Party This Week! [Art Ruby]
Basel’s Best Bashes: Part Two! [Art Ruby]
A Map and Itinerary For the Miami Fairs [Art Fag City]
Jeremy Dean’s CEO Stagecoach, courtesy of the 21c Museum Hotel Collection in Louisville, KY, which will circle the Wynwood section of Miami during fair week.
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