Art Show Hero

Two of my pieces were selected for a Minneapolis student art show! One's a pen-n-ink portrait of Lee Marvin; the other's an oil paint monoprint.

I'd scan them, but I won't get them back until after April.

Draw like the Depression's back on!

SaveLoomis has got a great collection of Loomis's drawing manuals. I like how the "Fashion" male model (in his most famous book) has a mustache and pipe.

Rodd 'n' Todd

So, our local newspaper, the Star Tribune, has recently been defending one of its columnists, Katherine Kersten. KK (one short!) is first of all a terrible writer, and, secondly, a terrible thinker -- see for yourself.

But I had to laugh reading a letter from one of her de- diddly-fenders.

What does a shoulder separation feel like?

Not good. I'm looking at 6 weeks of physical therapy!

Thus I have neglected the blog.

Text Me

As a kid, I was addicted to those Infocom games. Here's one of my faves!

What remains of old Detroit?

See for yourself...

You never hear about...

Flagpole sitting anymore.

Check it out!

Pix of the inside of our new house! That's not our stuff in the pictures. We haven't moved in yet.

Victory on the Homefront!

Yesterday morning, we received the good word: our offer on a house was accepted!

It's really a gorgeous house. And it'll be ours after an inspection and appraisal!

Gunrack Sightings

Time for my favorite pastime: Gunrack sighting. For those of you who aren't familiar with Gunrack, it was the early-90s punk-a-billy band that made Ann Arbor famous. Gunrack sighting is the practice of finding information about Gunrack on the web and linking to it from somewhere else so as to futher the world's familiarity with the Gunrack legend.

Here's my favorite. It's a Russian site that appears to be about beer. They've reproduced the the complete lyrics to Gunrack's hit song, Drink Sum Beer, and have even provided a Real Audio recording of it.

http://www.nubo.ru/songs/texts/drink_some_beer.html

My Planet X Names

1. Osama (where is it?)
2. Jackson (creepy. the further away the better)
3. Hasil (R.I.P)
4. Bendy (hell, why not?)
5. Zelda

Planet Naming Contest?

Chris, you're exactly right about the bullshit names they give planets. "Bush" is plausible enough to scare me.

So let's brainstorm! Here's some ideas:
1. Elvis
2. Nusic
3. Wellstone (*sigh*)
4. Leslie
5. Eegah! ("The Name Written in Blood")

House hunting

We've been looking for a house for a month (in northeast Minneapolis), and bad luck is keeping us looking. We've lost 2 right out from under us... It's not unusual: the market here is just crazy. At least we aren't getting caught up in condo fever!

So why are we looking to buy in one of the worst real estate markets in the country? Because it's better than renting in one of the worst real estate markets in the country.

Free cookies to whomever finds us a winner.

Planet X

Every few years, it seems like astronomers find a new candidate for the 10th planet in our solar system. And each time I get excited. I'm such a sucker. Again.

Good Times!

Got hooked in to the "Good Times" marathon on TV Land... Temporary layoffs. Good times.

Hockey! Part 2

The players' union voted to support the new CBA. This was the last significant hurdle to hurdle, so from now on it's all icing and 5-minute fighting penalties!

The hockey market

Every problem has a solution, and I guess every solution has a problem, too.

Can I get an amen?

Yes. I can get lots of amens. Don't let the narrator hypnotize you with his powerful voice.

Coolest Keyboard Ever

So far, that is. Man, that's cool. It's got LEDs for each key that change according to the program you're using, or any template you put in.

Rutgers is bad for politics and writing.

This upsets me as an American and an editor. Saw this on DailyKos.

Hockey!

Finally! Here's the details:

1. A salary cap (both a minimum and a maximum)
2. Salaries tied to league revenue (54%)

Both things the players' union had rejected for almost a year.

No word yet on if this means reduced ticket prices, or if the draft order has been sorted out.

Beanball Biggio

A favorite player in our household, Houston's Craig Biggio set the record for being hit by pitches yesterday.

Don't wanna holiday in the sun

The Russkis lost the solar sail.

Yeah, the coverage sucked...

But the cycle's passed, so it's too late now.

At least, that seems to be the media's reaction to the Downing Street Memo at this point.

I'm especially disgusted byt this paragraph in the Strib's response:
"I love a good campaign in which informed, engaged citizens come together eagerly to debate issues. But there's something about these e-mail campaigns fomented by political websites (and Downing Street is just the most recent -- they erupt across the spectrum of politics and issues) that smacks more of Astroturf than grassroots. Ombudsmen around the country chat regularly about the latest campaigns; the technique isn't fooling anyone. It's also important to remember, however, that some of the Downing Street reaction, such as the e-mail from Bootz, was genuine and spontaneous -- although Bootz says he later went online to urge others to contact the media."

Sorry, but my outrage about the silence over this wasn't part of a "campaign." I also don't think that Bootz stopped being authentically outraged when he encouraged people to ask the media to cover the story.

Boo, strib, boo.

Suburban art

There are people living outside of Minneapolis? I know nothing of Minnesota outside of the Twin Cities (and a few blocks of Duluth and St. Peter). Lucky for me the McKnight Foundation just released a snazzy little interactive map to arty places outside the cities.

Democratic campaign gaffes

I tell ya. Those swift boat vets claimed Kerry had shot himself in Vietnam. Now we know it's not true. Kerry shot himself in the foot last year.

Guliani on ice

Lordy. I guess he wants to up his profile before he runs for president or senator or something.

Spinnin' Nixon

Rewriting history is nothing new for repubs, but why doesn't anybody notice that Gerald Ford was the one in the oval office?

Pass the puck.

The NHL might play next season, but will we be able to watch the games? Fortunately, the league will air some games on NBC, but it looks like they'd do that as often as ABC did in the past. Which is to say, they'll air the first game of the season, and then nothing until the playoffs. Sigh.

Also, I like that ESPN posted this article about how they won't be offering a sports service to fans. But I don't like that it's an AP article, and not an explanation from the network itself.

Pawlenty of articles about our guv

The City Pages today ran two really good articles about our guv, one outlining his nascent presidential campaign and another discussing his recent missteps, focusing on the state budget fight.

Pawlenty for quite a while had garnered a lot of good will just by not being Jesse Ventura -- Pawlenty hasn't been great, but he hasn't been crazy, either.

But as memories of Ventura fade away, Pawlenty's ambitions put him forward into the spotlight. And it turns out he ain't so great.

Erato, look away

So our guv just vetoed the creation of a state Poet Laureate -- despite it being an honorary, unpaid position. What a jackass, that Pawlenty. Still, there's hope for an override.

Erato, by the way, is the muse of love poetry. I think when republicans like pawlenty dismiss the arts, they think mostly of work that would come under Erato's sway. But the rest of us know that Calliope, muse of epic poetry, records offenses like these in the histories of states.

Pawlenty, even more by the way, is pretty moderate for a repub (we're a purple state), and pretty unconvincing to everyone on every topic. And yet some beleive he may run for president in 2008. Silly.

And Deep Throat is...

Yo momma.

No, wait...

Actually it's retired G-man W. Mark Felt. Probably. Weird how Woodward & Bernstein won't confirm it.

A second Newsweek surprise

Newsweek wasn't lying. Of course, if you believed the white house's complaint in the first place, you won't beleive this, either.

Downing Street Memo Article

An honest-to-god story in a US journal about the downing street memo! And it's the best I've read about it yet.

Mein dome

Secrets of my city. I'm still not convinced this one was on purpose, though.

Music Software

I'm lookin' for some music software (PC-type) -- something that acts as a multitrack recorder, at the very least. I've used Cakewalk products before (an older version of Home Studio, especially), but frankly I don't like their stuff. Too tuff.

I'm leaning toward Ableton. Heavily. It's mighty nice (at least the demo is). Anyway, I wonder if some of my friends who record music on their computers have anything to add?

Bears!

Too much nature in my city.

Even Ridge thinks those terror alerts were phony

USA Today reports that Ridge opposed a lot of those hinky terror alerts, but doesn't note that they occurred during the presidential election season.

Republicans lie about judges. Again.

God bless Media Matters. I hate how the Republicans haven't stopped lying about this. Plus, I don't get how they can be so critical of the judiciary in principle (recall Delay and Frist and Justice Sin Sunday? No, really -- recall them!), but still be so crazy about getting these terrible judges in.

Maybe they're just modest?

No confirmed time-travellers. I'm subscribing to the theory that admitting you're a time-traveller is a social gaffe in the future.

It's still appropriate to arrive a little late

Time travellers' convention. No need to RSVP.

Freak - o - nomics

I have to say that while I enjoy the anecdotes, Freakonomics just ain't that big a deal. It's also incredibly short -- just a few hours of reading.

There's a new Roger Nusic CD!

As my first post on Bendy Bendy, I'd like to just reprint a portion of a CD release announcement for a CD that I'm not connected to in any way, but that I know Ben will appreciate:

Hey Lova Playas,

The new Roger Nusic cd "Burn Or Save?" Produced & Recorded by the great Torry Ward (of www.jusfamilyrecords.com ) will B released (by me) on Wed. May 11, 2005 at my show at: Neurolux 111 N 11th Boise, ID.

I'm planning a June USA tour & lots of dates need 2 B filled in yet, but I'll get back 2 U on that soon. Hopefully there'll B a show close 2 U. Please check my web site (Latest News & coming Shows) at http://www.rogernusic.com

Hope 2 C U really soon.

4 U O, Holla

Roger

Scholars' Scholars Walk

I'm happy to report that the University of Minnesota made the right decision in dropping the apostrophe for its Scholars Walk. It both follows the U's building-naming style guide and avoids the implication that the walk is only for scholars. The apostrophe lovers may be technically correct, but as an editor (and clever fool) I like the extra meaning attached to the absence of the apostrophe. There's nothing there but a story.

Another smoking gun...

Rep John Conyers has posted on DailyKos his dismay at the discovery of more direct evidence that Bush et al cooked up the Iraq situation. Of course, most of us are already convinced. So Conyers is right to wonder why the media won't touch the story.

Houston in May

We're headed back to Houston at the end of the month for my brother-in-law's graduation!


This pic is from our last trip in January, in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.

Bendy Bendy: A New Hope

A new hope that I'll keep blogging, that is.