People from high school who are more successful than me

And this is film-related

I started rooting around on Facebook, looking for old high school friends. Hit paydirt. Found one guy who had "friended" a bunch of other people I had known. Well. People I had sort of known.

I knew them in junior high. I would hang around with them at school. They were actors---creative types. I thought I was part of their group. But they'd start talking about the parties they had on the weekends. They never mentioned any parties in front of me until after the fact.

I don't know how much it bothered me at the time.

There was an episode of Dragnet where a teenager crashes a party with a hand grenade: "They never invite me to their stupid parties! Turn on the music! Dance! Dance!"

That always seemed absurd to me. That and all the comedies about teenagers trying to become popular.

The school had two lunch periods. So the group arranged their schedules so they'd all have second lunch so they could hang around together. They somehow neglected to tell me. I ended up with first lunch.

Now where are they

Well. They all look old now. All seem to be fairly successful. They were bourgeois to begin with. Half of them had university professors for parents. There's not much social mobility in America, up or down. I'm surprised at the careers some of them chose. One was an actor in high school, part of that clique. Now works on rural water planning.

Another one started out in high school as an actor type, then he became a conservative columnist on the school paper. Said we should all be drafted. He wanted mandatory military service. He thought teenagers owed it to America---he didn't say why. Of course, he never joined the army himself. He didn't spell it out in his profile, but I think he's gay now.

There was another one. Runs a graphic design business in Europe. His father was an architect. Their house he designed was featured in a national magazine in the '70s but is terribly dated now. His parents were bourgeois creative types. They did things like they gave him a hundred bucks a year to invest in the stock market when he was in grade school. A hundred dollars then was worth several hundred now.

In high school, his parents apparently gave him about a thousand bucks to make a movie. That was in the late '70s. Shot in 16mm. A short film. Not really worth it. He and his friends stole routines from Monty Python and old Rainer Beer commercials. The film went over quite well at the school talent show. Kids today would shoot it on video and not think twice about it---back then, it was a major undertaking.

And there was another guy...

He's bald now. I'll call him "AP". He was an actor in high school. He starred in every play the school put on.

I had a friend who kept trying out for plays and was either rejected or got small roles. My friend lived in a run down rental house with his single mother. He was angry that AP got his choice of roles in every single production.

One time, AP and his wealthy family were touring Europe during the tryouts. Fine! My friend tried out for a role thinking he had a chance now! But AP came back long after the try-outs were done, and the stinking teacher STILL cast him in the lead.

Now that rich bastard is running a theater, directing, writing plays. There's a lot about him on the internet. Doing a lot of plays based on the work of an Israeli author. Turns out he's friends with Stephen Colbert. There was an article which presented him as a colorful character because he went to a library housing rare books and he casually flipped through the pages of a centuries-old copy of a work by Shakespeare. Those frumpy old librarians failed to recognize his genius and stopped him from damaging it.

At least the high school drama teacher got what he deserved: Unemployment. They cut that rotten bastard's job.

It turned out that the teacher was a movie actor himself! Appeared in what by all accounts was a TERRIBLE low budget "western". About an environmentally conscious cowboy who rides around on a buffalo. The cowboy goes into a saloon. The other cowboys pick on him because he rides a buffalo. So a fight starts and the buffalo comes in and beats up the bad cowboys.

And now Dennis Hopper

Dead at 74.

I think Hopper became a Bush supporter. Like Jon Voight.

Here's a clip from the right-wing "comedy" he made, An American Carol, directed by Zionist David Zucker, with Jon Voight and Kelsey Grammar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDvpPGvMEY4

Perhaps not surprisingly, even critics in the right-wing press thought it stunk. It was promoted by Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck.

Well, it's probably rude to talk about Hopper's failures now that he's dead. Although it might also be rude to talk about what he came to regard as his shameful past as a counter-culture type. Is it polite to talk about the druggie days of a reformed drug addict?

Bush himself said that no one could talk about anything he did before the age of 40, or whenever it was that he became born again.

Truth is though that there was a stodginess about a lot of people in the counter-culture. A lot of them were basically conservative. There was a scholarly biography of Jack Kerouac which focused on this very thing. Hopper's father worked for the OSS---the precursor to the CIA---and he grew up in very conservative towns---Dodge City, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; San Diego and Los Angeles, California.

He said he voted for Obama only because he didn't like Sarah Palin.

I know an artist who knew Hopper in L.A. back in the early '60s. Hopper was working as an artist. They had studios in the same building. Hopper would ask him to look at his work.

"Gee, Dennis. I think Jackson Pollock already did that," he would say.

Hopper's work tended to be rather derivative.

You might look at Charles Bukowski's novel, Hollywood, about the making of Barfly. Bukowski was friends with Sean Penn who apparently hated Barbet Schroder, and poor Hank and Linda Bukowski were in the middle of this.

As I recall, Hopper came over to Bukowski's house. Sean Penn was there. They were drinking except for Dennis Hopper, of course. Linda told Hopper she admired him for getting off drugs. Hopper laughed more than he should have at something. When he left, Barbet was angry. "Did you see that fake laughing!" Linda said it wasn't easy being the only one not drinking and Hank didn't seem to understand Barbet's problem.

Barbet Schroder wanted to make the movie, but Sean Penn was supposed to star in it, but Penn would only do it if Hopper directed.

In the end, Mickey Rourke starred and Barbet directed.

Gary Coleman

Years ago, some friends came over. They wanted to annoy me. They did that now and then. They would come up with some plan, something they thought would get my goat. Then they'd come over and started talking to me, telling me something that was supposed to bother me.

On this occasion, they came over and told me that Gary Coleman was more successful than me even though I was five years older than him.

"Pretty much everybody is more successful that me," I said. "He was more successful than me when he was six."

They hung around for a while and then went away disappointed. I don't know why they thought that would bother me.

And today I heard the news that Gary Coleman had died at age 42.

I can't think of a child star who was exploited worse than he was. He said he wouldn't wish the first fifteen years of his life on his worse enemy. The last twenty-seven years were no picnic either.

He had health problems all his life. He was cruelly exploited by everyone involved in his career, including his own parents who had adopted him as a baby. They would lecture him----he was spending too much on his model trains----while they lived off his labor.

The first time I saw him on TV that I remember was on Fernwood Tonight. A lot of people appeared on that show who went on to bigger things. Robin Williams, Jim Varney. Even the children. There was Gary Coleman playing Martin Mull's son. There was Corey Feldman and Noah Hathaway. Coleman was at ease on the show. Completely natural. He sat on Martin Mull's lap, and Mull made a quip about how the audience couldn't see him.

"You want me to move?" Coleman said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86X3usshQBA

Well, that's a shame. He deserved so much better than he got.

Random Appropriation of the Day! ("Spirit Guides" Tomahawk)

Feast your eyes upon the "Spirit Guides Native American Style Tomahawk Replica" from a company called "Collectibles Today." In case its use was unclear, it's a wall hanging. duh. Besides the obvious stereotypes--tomahawk, wolves, feathers, beading, connection to the mystical, etc, you MUST read the description:

Be guided by the wolf's commanding spirit and remarkable courage with this awe-inspiring sculptural collectible Native American style tomahawk replica. This magnificent wall display combines a rich tradition and wolf artistry. Just look at the custom piercing on the sculpted blade as it creates the image of a majestic wolf howling at the moon on a starlit night.

Celebrate a creature of mystery and great power with this striking handcrafted limited-edition Native American style tomahawk replica, available exclusively from The Hamilton Collection. This tomahawk replica boasts wolf art "carvings" of a pack of wolves on the handle, and is decorated with real feathers, leather cording, "beadwork" and simulated turquoise. Makes unique wall decor and it's a fantastic wolf art gift. Heavy demand is expected, and you won't want to miss out. Order now!

Wow. Just one question: what is "wolf artistry?" I didn't know wolves could sculpt!

This beauty can be yours for the low, low price of only one payment of $39.95 (+$7.99 shipping and handling). It says heavy demand is expected, so you better get on it.

Also, my friend Steven found this from a Facebook ad. If anyone else comes across similar examples, please send them my way.

May the great power and commanding spirit of the wolf be with you!

"Spirit Guides Native American Style Tomahawk Replica": http://www.collectiblestoday.com/ct/product/prdid-901625001.jsp 

(I also recommend clicking on "Native American Style" on the upper lefthand side to see their other great products)

(Thanks Steven!)

Art Linkletter

I was going to post a link to John Waters' short film "The Diane Linkletter Story". It was posted on YouTube. Now gone. Removed because John Waters made a copyright claim. He didn't mind mocking the death of a young woman, but he can't abide copyright infringement.

Waters may have wanted it taken down because he felt bad about it. He expressed regret over a movie he made about the Tate-LaBianca murders. Was it Multiple Maniacs? The matter came up because he was calling for a member of the Manson family he befriended to be paroled (and he made a pretty good case for it.)

But Waters has said that he has no sympathy for Art Linkletter.

Linkletter's 20-year-old daughter, Diane, committed suicide in 1969 by jumping out the window of her 6th floor apartment. She was deeply depressed about her life, that she was unable to achieve anything out of the shadow of her famous father. That's what she told the fellow who was with her. But Art decided it would be a good idea to blame it all on drugs. He claimed she was on LSD at the time, that she panicked and jumped out the window. When the autopsy revealed there were no drugs at all in her system, Art said she panicked because she was having an LSD flashback.

The eyewitness who had been talking with her for hours before she killed herself said no such thing. In fact, there was no evidence at all that she had ever taken any illegal drug ever, at any time in her life. The only "evidence" she did was that Art Linkletter said she did.

Art Linkletter says the darndest things

Linkletter had that show on TV. Was it actually called Kids Say The Darnedest Things?

I had only seen one episode. I was 4 or 5 years old. Linkletter asked the kids, "What do your parents hit you with?"

All I remember was a little girl saying, "A spoon." And Art Linkletter acting like this was the darnedest thing he'd ever heard.

The show was scripted. A fraud. Like Linkletter himself. The kid who went on to play Little Ricky on I Love Lucy appeared on it. He was ordered to say that Santa comes to his house in a Cadillac. It was the darnedest thing Art Linkletter could think of.

But why?

I'm not sure why I'm attacking Art Linkletter. The poor guy's dead. He was extremely old. A friend and contemporary of Ozzie Nelson. They both believed that their personality on the radio and TV should be about the same as they were in real life. Worked pretty well for them. They were the antecedents to Jerry Seinfeld, Woody Allen, Larry David...all those guys.

Since I just posted a blog about an old friend who died of a drug overdose, you'd think I'd be more sympathetic to Linkletter's anti-drug thing.

Come to think of it, David Lochary, who played Art Linkletter in Waters' movie, died of an overdose of PCP in 1977.

Ivy League Graduation Appropriation

Sunday was "Class Day" at an Ivy League university, and I sat with 5 of my family members, watching my little sister graduate. Class Day tradition at this school dictates students wear "funny hats" along with their graduation robes (the traditional mortar boards are saved for commencement the next day). As I waited for my sister to enter through the gates (she was wearing a flower wreath), my dad grabbed my arm and said "AJ, look at the jumbotron."

Yep, a student decided it would be a great idea if his "funny hat" was a full on warbonnet. Then, a few seconds later, this girl walked by:

(I apologize for the photo quality, if anyone who was there has better photos, send em over)

I had to seriously pick my jaw up off the floor. I mean, imagine--dragon hat, football helmet, captain's hat, glittery baseball cap...warbonnet?! I felt completely disrespected and embarrassed.

To these graduating students' credit, I will point out that out of 1,300 graduates, there were only two headdresses that we saw. Considering how "trendy" the headdress look is right now, and the fact that they were told to wear "crazy hats", I'm actually surprised there weren't more. But I would still argue that two is too many.

Especially when another student who was at the ceremony told me that one of the Native graduates asked a girl in a headdress to please remove it because it was embarrassing him in front of his family. She refused.

There are many issues with the students wearing the warbonnets, which I've discussed when Ke$ha first wore one on MTV, and again at The Bamboozle, the headdresses at Coachella, and at Bay to Breakers. And for the manifesto, as always, But why can't I wear a hipster headdress?

This is also the perfect illustration of how Natives are placed in a "fantasy" category, along with wizards, magical creatures, and other forms of "dress up" costumes. Indians aren't "real". They are imaginary people, perfect for playing pretend--they can't possibly be contemporary people sitting a few rows behind you at a graduation ceremony.

This particular school has a very small, but strong, Native community with only a handful of graduating students. What an additional slap in the face to my sister and her fellow Native students to see this on a day that was supposed to be celebrating their achievements. To already be in an environment where you feel invisible and marginalized, and to see someone outright disrespecting your culture? Upsetting, to say the least.

And, as an aside, we went to a celebratory graduation dinner at a well-known seafood restaurant about 15 minutes away from campus, and I was greeted by this:

Our restaurant? "Lenny's Indian Head Inn". Located in a town called "Indian Neck". It just doesn't stop, does it?

(Thanks Dad, MPK, and Kia!)

PS--Can I take a minute to say how proud of my sister I am? She worked her butt off for the last four years to get her degree, and I know it was not easy. She studied Art History, and did her senior thesis on Edward Curtis photography--looking at the issues with his philosophies on Indians and his methodologies, but also how they have begun to inspire contemporary Native photographers to reclaim the images.  She's got an awesome internship for the summer working with the Native collections at a local museum in Boston, and coordinating tours for a visiting Native youth summer program. This girl is awesome and is doing our family proud. Congrats Sees! :)

Wayne Rooney reveals new tattoo

Wayne Rooney has revealed a new tattoo in honour of his son Kai. The Manchester United striker applauded the Wembley fans after England's 3-1 triumph over Mexico in a friendly game and took the opportunity to take his top off and reveal the new tattoo to the fans and the press. The new tattoo is on his back his and it's his son's name underneath an eagle motif inked between his shoulder blades.

Now we can hope that the new tattoo will give him wings during the World Cup in South Africa which starts for England on June 12th.

It's not the first tattoo for Wayne Rooney as he already has other tattoos on his back and arms but not has many as Beckham who is really passionate about tattoos and has so many all over his body. Victoria even had to warn him to leave some bare skin left for her as the whole of David's body was gradually being taking over by tattoos.

A punk rocker I used to know

Well, it's not cinema, but it could have been if they had played their cards right.

In the 1980s, I worked in an drug and alcoholism treatment center. Many of the employees were recovering drug addicts and alcoholics. And one of them was a fellow I had known in junior high school. I'll call him X.

I remember X before he knew anything about drugs. We were in the 7th grade and an older kid in art class drew a picture of a bong, of a bong in use. I assumed it was something like a burrito. The drawing wasn't clear. I wasn't going to admit I didn't know. But X showed greater intellectual curiosity and demanded an explanation. "What's a bong? What is it? Do you know what it is? What's a bong?"

A couple of years later, we were still in junior high. X had drawn a diagram. He had a built-in desk in his bedroom. He took out the drawers, put in false drawer fronts, and placed a marijuana plant and some plant lights in the empty space. All carefully arranged so his mother wouldn't find it.

In the '80s, X had gone through treatment for drug addiction. He seemed happy, and like most recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, he was very nice. Alcoholics and drug addicts are horrible, horrible people when they're on drugs or on the sauce. But when they get off it, when they go through treatment, are the nicest people you'll ever meet.

The band

X was in a punk rock band at the time he was working at the treatment center.

I had brothers and a sister who were musicians in school, so when someone I knew was performing, I had the idea that I should go hear them no matter how little interest I had.

So I went to hear X's band.

I was completely out of place. It was in the basement of an old house. It was an unfinished basement. Meaning, in this case, that floors and most of the walls seemed to be made of dirt.

X was in his mid-20s. He had long hair which was thinning on top.

The rest of the band? I remember three of them.

They had two singers. One was tall and slender. Probably 15 or 16. I couldn't tell. The other was 14. He was little, cute, blond. Walked around smiling and he would say "Fuck you," to people he passed. He came in and some young women hugged him. He was adorable and the girls wanted to mother him. They thought he was a cute little boy---he thought he was Cary Grant. I thought it was strange that his parents let him do this. For one thing, the seam on the side of his pants were torn---it was fashionable among punk rockers at the time. You could see his underwear. His parents let him out of the house like that? I imagined his mother saying, "Honey, put on your good pants."

There was another guy who was a drummer? A bass player? He had the sides of his head shaved. He looked to me to be 15 or 16. I later saw him playing miniature golf with his mother and little sister. Made him seem like less of a rebel.

Anyway, they performed. The people started "dancing" which meant smashing into each other.

The young kid singer began drinking a large bottle of Coke. He drank with gusto, although he complained that it was flat. Seemed odd. Someone explained later that it was likely spiked with alcohol.

The kid sang a song. The lyrics seemed to be "I say ____ fuck!" over and over. I couldn't understand the word I left blank. Two syllables. And, apparently no one else could understand it, either. Because the kid would be singing this, screaming it into the microphone, and then he would scream "And you say---" then he'd stick the mic in the face of an audience member expecting him to yell the lyric, whatever it was. They would hesitate very slightly, mumble the first word and say the second word plainly.

How he ended up

I wondered whatever happened to X. I knew he had relapsed at one point and started taking drugs again. One of the other people I worked with had seen him dumpster diving. He called, "X! Hey X!"

X seemed enraged and yelled obscenities.

"Okay, X!" the guy smiled and waved.

I started doing some internet searches for him. He wasn't on Facebook. I found nothing.

I finally found out what happened to him. It dawned on me to do a search for his band. I found it on My Space. I listened to a few "tunes". They had a certain appeal. Having a singer whose voice hadn't changed gave it an interesting sound.

But the band had no future. You can't get a record deal when your singer is a teenage runaway. It said that the band broke up when the kid got in trouble and was sent home to his parents in another state.

The kid had a MySpace page, too. He's 38 now.

The other singer now works as a caterer. One of the others went on to play with another band and had gone on tour with them for a couple of years.

And X. I found out what happened to him. He died of a drug overdose in the 1990s.

He was like most drug addicts----an extremely nice person when he was off drugs, but horrible when he was using. He had been a very nice kid when I knew him in school.

NCIS

I didn't actually watch it. It was on TV in the next room. And it sounded terrible!

The investigation consisted of them going around and directly asking people if they did it.

Here is some actual dialog (to the best of my recollection)---

"Did you rape her?"

"No."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because it's the truth."

There was some "wit" in it. One of the fellows couldn't understand why the woman wouldn't report it if she was raped. The woman investigator said she wouldn't report it, either. She would torture the rapist.

Of course, if she could capture and torture the fellow so readily, how would he be able to rape her in the first place?

A terrible show. Just terrible.

Breaking Bad

Breaking bad. Breaking bad. Not a bad show. Bryan Cranston stars as high school chemistry teacher. He has cancer. He wants to leave his family money if he doesn't survive. So he starts producing meth.

Now they're in trouble. They have to produce meth and plenty of it. And they have no margin of error. Not with the violent criminals they're dealing with. If they don't get it done, they're finished.

Reminds me a little of a pretty good Russian movie I saw recently. I don't know how long ago it was made. With a great Soviet comic actor appearing uncredited.

It was inspired, apparently, by Pulp Fiction---it was that sort of thing.

A couple of young fellows in Russia have a suitcase full of heroin stolen from them. They track it down. They go to the first person they suspect, torture him until he directs them to the next person, then they kill him and go to the next one and do the same thing.

In the end---this is a spoiler now---one of the fellows is shot. They bring in a doctor who must get the bullet out. He does this without anesthesia. He does this without anesthesia even though they now have an entire suitcase full of heroin. Couldn't they give him a little?

In the same way, couldn't the guys in Breaking Bad work round the clock producing meth if only they would use some of the meth they were producing?

Right now on the show, they're screwing around trying to kill a fly in the lab. It sounds like they need to get to work.

Lord Krishna Mantras

Lord Krishna Mantras

Lord Krishna is one of the most popular and worshipped deities of the Hindu religion. Krishna represents strength, beauty, knowledge and opulence. Shri Krishna is the very embodiment of love and divine ecstasy that destroys all pain and offense. Shri Krishna Mantra forms the part of prayers offered to the lord. Lord Krishna Mantra / Mantras for Krishna are given below:

Yam Brahmavarunainder Rudermaruka Satuanvanti Divyaa Satvaavedaai Sans Pad Karmopanishadaaegarayanati Yam Samga I
Dhyanavasthittagatain Mansa Pashayanti Yam Yogino Yasyanatam Na Vidu Surasurgana Devai Tasmai Nama II

Meaning: Lord Krishna is the one, whom the creator Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Rudra and Maruts admire with divine hymns. Krishna is praised by the singers of Sama all through the Vedas and Upanishads. Krishna is observed by the ascetics (Yogis) with their minds engrossed in the divine through perfection in meditation. The limit of Krishna is not even recognized by the Gods (Devas) and Demons (Asuras). We bow to the divine Lord Krishna.

Tavamaksharam Paramam Vaideetvayam Tavamasya Vishwasaya Param Nidhanam I
Tavamvayaya Shashvat Dharam Gopta, Sanatan Satayam Paursho Mato Mai II

Meaning: Krishna's art is immortal and this is just one thing to be known. Lord Krishna is great and his art is the supreme refuge of this universe. The art of the Supreme is the eternal protector of the morality and dharma. We bow to the art of Lord Krishna, the Ancient Purusha.

Photoshop Glowing Edges Art - Fashion

Photoshop Glowing Edges Art - Fashion

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.
~ Richard Avedon

I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything.
~ John Steinbeck

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn.
~ Charlie Parker

An artist cannot talk about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture.
~ Jean Cocteau, Newsweek, 16 May 1955

Digital Sketch Of Female Model (Gold Dust)

Digital Sketch Of Female Model (Gold Dust)

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.
~ Edward Elgar

A subject that is beautiful in itself gives no suggestion to the artist. It lacks imperfection.
~ Oscar Wilde

Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

If one looks closely enough, one can see angels in every piece of art.
~ Adeline Cullen Ray

More reviews of Precious on Konch Magazine

There were a few interesting reviews of Precious on Ishmael Reed's online Konch Magazine.

http://www.ishmaelreedpub.com

I haven't actually seen the movie. Maybe if I did, I'd like it. Maybe I wouldn't think it was the least bit racist. I doubt it, but it wouldn't be impossible.

Hariette Surovell writes a long review, very interesting. Discusses the racist elements of the movie, of course, and also goes into just how bad it is otherwise. Anachronisms abound. It's set in 1987, but Bill Clinton is president of the United States. And she points out how lousy the writing is.

... Her first child, a girl with Down Syndrome (or, as Precious informs someone, “ Sinder”-- an arbitrary and completely false note--why would she not know the word “syndrome”?...

And...

Despite being so illiterate that she is unable to read a sentence from a children’s book, Precious is a “ninfe”-grader, who is “good with numbers” (except, apparently, the number “nine.”) ...All the other students in Precious’ math class are not only svelte, they are fashionable and attractive…

Isn’t there anyone as unattractive as Precious out there? Not even one other overweight person in Harlem, other than Mary?....

When the principal, Mrs. Lichtenstein, calls Precious to the office. Points out that she is pregnant with her second child. "The audience is confused," Surovell writes, "how ever could she tell?"

Precious tries to attack the principal and flees the school.

We hear Precious’ thought process, such as it is. Not, “Oh no, I’m in real trouble now, I tried to attack the principal and she called the guards on me” but:

“Nosy ass white bitch mad ‘cause
she can’t come over my house.
I don’t be coming to this
bitch’s house in Weschesser.”

I didn’t buy it. First of all, why would she think she would be entitled to visit the principal in her home under any circumstances? Secondly, how would she ascertain that Mrs. Lichtenstein lives in “Weschesser”? Precious doesn’t know the word “syndrome”, even though she is the mother to a Down Syndrome child. It’s all illogical, arbitrary writing, i.e., bad writing.

The principal tries to get Precious to enroll in an alternative school:

Precious doesn’t know what the word “alternative” means (why not?), and Mary wants her to stay home and collect Welfare, but Precious is nonetheless inspired to go. We’re not quite sure why she is so determined to take advice from a principal whose lily-white ass she so recently wanted to kick. The confusion mounts when about ten minutes of screen time is devoted to Precious making numerous attempts to discover the meaning of the word “alternative” (an office worker finally fills her in.) Why did she want to go there so badly if she didn’t even know what it was?

Precious enrolls in her new school. In just a few months, she goes from being unable to recognize the letter E to being "so super-literate that she is asked to explain what Ms. Rain means when she discusses 'a protagonist’s unrelenting circumstances.'"

The teacher writes notes to Precious:

“Dear Precious, You are not a dog. “ (Whew! Whatta relief. I was worried for a while…) “You are a wonderful young woman who is trying to make something of her life.

"I have some questions for you.

"1. Where was your grandmother
when your father was abusing you?

"2. Where is Little Mongo now?”

I had some thoughts about this, too. I wondered, ‘One, where has Ms. Rain been throughout all this?’ and ‘Two, why is Ms. Rain deliberately disobeying the New York City law mandating that teachers report suspected child abuse cases to the authorities?’

And when Precious tells her new social worker played by Mariah Carey that her babies were fathered by their grandfather:

Mrs. Weiss looks startled (as startled as Mariah Carey playing a social worker, or, well, playing anybody, can look), but does nothing. She doesn’t make an effort to locate Precious’ father, nor does she talk to the police or the district attorney’s office about getting a warrant out for his arrest, because in Movieland Harlem, fathers can impregnate their daughters repeatedly without legal consequences.

Check out the review, and check out the link to Hariette Surovell's website.

I don't if that link is working. You may have to copy and paste.

http://www.ishmaelreedpub.com/

Sandra Goodridge's review

Sandra Goodridge worked in the social service system of New York, with victims of crime, abuse and incest and was offended at how such people were portrayed.

The tragedy of this film, Precious, is multitudinous. In the clumsy and greedy hands of Sapphire and Lee Daniels a number of weighty social issues: mental illness, incest, poverty, child-protection, social service delivery systems, race and caste are all given the short-shrift in exchange for some simplistic, "shock and awe" drive-'em-to-the-box-office filmmaking. The film’s plot was slight and the character development of the principals (Precious, her mother, abusive father and nurse characters) were nascent. Film-makers were too busy manipulating the audience to pity Precious and indulge in layers of whiny victimization. This was clearly more important that telling a complex, multi-faceted story of redemption, hope and true recovery.

She tells about an unpleasant encounter with Sapphire, the author of the novel the movie is based on, at Hunter College. An interesting review.

Two movies I haven't seen and an episode of Hill Street Blues

There was sort of a mini-Precious in the middle of an episode of Hill Street Blues.

Renko and Bobby Hill (hey! Isn't that the kid on King of the Hill!) go on a call. An impoverished black family. The mother is holding her unemployed husband and teenage daughter at bay with a butcher knife. The daughter is topless, holding a towel in front of her. It seems the young lady's stepfather has been molesting her. Renko wants to arrest the stepfather and the mother. But Bobby Hill instead starts yelling at them. Stop threating your husband and daughter with a butcher knife! And you there! Stop molesting your stepdaughter! And for God's sake! Put your shirt on! How do you expect your poor stepfather to control himself!

You would never see anything like that on TV with a white family.

It was, in my opinion, a variation on the old stereotype that Southern whites knew how to control black people, but northern whites were ineffectual. You can see it in the old movie, The Prisoner of Shark Island, if you're interested.

The new version of the stereotype was that nominally successful formerly working class blacks knew how to deal with poor blacks, but poor blacks wouldn't listen to whites or bourgeois black.

That was the stereotype in those days exemplified by the movie Lean On Me, the "true" story of moronic thug Joe Clark, praised by the Reagan administration for threatening black teenagers with a baseball bat at the high school where he was principal.

At least Precious went against this stereotype, although the one it used in its place may not have been any better. The black social worker in it was worthless. It was bourgeois whites and blacks who rescue Precious.

Not Again, Ke$ha.

Our favorite warbonnet-wearing-hot-mess of a musician sported another headdress at The Bamboozle (a big  music festival). The photographer calls her get up a "psuedo-patriotic costume of a feather headdress, aviator sunglasses, and the American flag". Right.

Plenty more pictures at the photog's site: http://ishootshows.com/2010/05/21/photos-kesha-the-bamboozle/

A couple of tipsters had sent over Ke$ha's new video for "Your Love is My Drug", a song which boasts the lyric "Do I make your heart beat like a native drum (an 808 drum--I stand corrected!)?", and this seems like an appropriate time to share it:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR_qa3Ohwls)

In the video she's running around in the desert, and sports blue warpaint, a heavy dose of "Native" jewelry (including turquoise, silver, and bone), and feathers:

She even is sitting atop an elephant wearing a feather headdress for a few shots:

and then later in the video she goes into psychedelic neon painted aboriginal mode (same look she debuted on SNL a few weeks back), complete with a boa constrictor ala Britney Spears:

We've discussed it before with her American Idol performance. Girl, get your act together. Cultural appropriation isn't cool. 

Earlier: Ke$ha, the headdress, and the trend that won't go away: http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/03/keha-headdress-and-trend-that-wont-go.html

But Why Can't I Wear a Hipster Headdress?: http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/04/but-why-cant-i-wear-hipster-headdress.html

(Thanks Crystal!)

"The sexiest rain dance ever": Cyanide and Happiness cartoon

It took me a minute to even get the joke in this cartoon. Let's break it down:

We all know all Indians do rain dances, right? (riiiight)

And high roller strip club patrons "make it rain" by throwing money up in the air so it falls down like rain on the stripper. 

Therefore, it's funny, get it? 

When they dance, it's making it rain (cause they're Native), but instead of rain, it's money (cause they're a stripper)! 

ZOMG so funny. 

And all the stereotypes managed to be jam packed in one little cartoon (caution: sarcasm ahead):

• The lovely warbonnet. since we all know ALL Natives wear those (especially the women, duh)  

• The rain dance.  I mean, at least for me anyway, I can't even bust a move outside without running the risk of starting a thunderstorm! It's a real problem. No outdoor wedding for me. 

• The tomahawk. Cause we know Natives are war-like people that like to scalp teh whitez (watch me as I war whoop! Awooo!) 

• The casinos. Cause we ALL are super rich and make lots and lots of untaxed money! And we steal it all from you!

And on a serious note (/sarcasm):

• The bikini and stripper theme generally, cause Native women haven't been sexualized enough throughout history. Makes me so mad. 

Don't you dare get on my case about "it's a comic, it's just a joke, it's satire"--it's not. Images like these are what create the false stereotypes to which Native people are expected to ascribe. Because if all of the world thinks that Indians wear headdresses, carry tomahawks, do rain dances, or own casinos; it erases our current existence as a diverse group of contemporary people living contemporary lives and trivializes the continued struggles of Native peoples. Just because a tribe has a casino doesn't mean everything is all better after 500+ years of mistreatment and historical trauma.

And if anyone is still confused about "making it rain," the first time I remember hearing the term in pop culture was this song from Fat Joe and Lil Wayne (I put the clean version, but there's still lots shots of strippers, so perhaps NSFW? I mean, unless you work somewhere where watching music videos of bikini clad girls on stripper poles is accepted viewing...):

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0MBUpLkd4w)

The original cartoon: http://www.explosm.net/comics/2048/

UPDATE: For information on the "satire defense" see this piece from Rob Schmidt over at Blue Corn Comics: http://newspaperrock.bluecorncomics.com/2010/05/okay-to-stereotype-in-satires.html

(Thanks Leah and Yazzie!) 

Justin Bieber Says He Enjoys His Childhood | Video

Young pop sensation Justin Bieber says he does not have a lost childhood. All of 16-years-old, Bieber says that he was not noticed for his talent until 13-years-of-age. He attended regular school for most of his life.

Check out the interview below. Bieber tells us what he will be doing 10-years from now.

Fancy Printed Churidar

Indian Model posing in Fancy Printed Churidar Dress

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

Perishability in a photograph is important in a picture. If a photograph looks perishable we say, "Gee, I'm glad I have that moment."
~ John Loengard, "Pictures Under Discussion"

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
~ Ansel Adams

I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all times and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality.
~ H.A. Overstreet

Artistic growth is, more than it is anything else, a refining of the sense of truthfulness. The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is.
~ Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark, 1915

Digital Sketch of Sexy Angelina Christina

Digital Sketch of Sexy Angelina Christina

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.
~ Henry David Thoreau

The true painter strives to paint what can only be seen through his world.
~ Andr? Malraux

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.
~ Ludwig van Beethoven

An artist never really finishes his work; he merely abandons it.
~ Paul

Shiva Parvathi

Shiva Parvathi

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech.
~ Simonides

The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.
~ Alfred Hitchcock

Music is the medicine of the breaking heart.
~ Leigh Hunt

To make us feel small in the right way is a function of art; men can only make us feel small in the wrong way.
~ E.M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy, 1951

F1 Tattoo - Faith in Rubens Barrichello

Rubens Barrichello has a tattoo on his right arm. He'd alwasy wanted to have a tattoo but never dare tell his father. At the time, it was seen as something really agressive and not right for Rubens Barrichello. Then at the end of 2005, his dad came to see him and proudly revealed he had a new tattoo he had just done! It did not take long for Rubens Barrichello to decide it was time to have his tattoo done as well and the following day, he was off to the tattoo place to have his tattoo. He had waited long enough.

His tattoo is 2 letters - F for Fernando and E for Eduardo, his two sons. And you can also read it as Fé, which in Brazilian means Faith.

Rubens Barrichello is very much a family man and he is proud to have the 2 letters for his two sons with him through every race.

Plenty of "Indians" and Equal Opportunity Racism: Bay to Breakers 2010

Bay to Breakers is an annual San Francisco Bay Area tradition, now in its 99th year. Technically it's a 12k race, starting downtown (the bay) and ending at the beach (the breakers). I don't know the exact history, or how it has (d)evolved through the years, but I can tell you it is now one part serious road race, and about 100 parts drunken costumed debauchery.

Early sunday morning I positioned myself on the side of the road, ready to capture what I figured would be a few rouge headdresses. I quickly spotted one, then another, and another...and before I knew it, I had to stop because there were just too many and it was getting redundant. My album on my computer has 53 pictures, and that was in about the course of an hour and a half. yikes.

Below, a few of the many "Indians" to grace B2B:

These guys were the worst offenders of the day.  They were in a group of about 10, all dressed up and painted, and were running in circles around the racers waiting for the port-a-potties, war-whooping and waving their tomahawks.

Cowboys and Indians.  Creative.

Ok, a few more points for creativity. A headdress and...batman?

Me (as these guys walked by a few inches from me): "Hey, can I take your picture?!"
Them: "Yaaaaaah! Why?"
Me: "For my blog, is that ok?"
Them: "Aweeesommme."

This dude: "Hey, you were taking my picture!"
Me: "yeah, is that ok? I wanted to get a picture of you and your friends in headdresses for my blog."
Dude: "you're wearing a snuggie! Can I snuggie in your snuggie?!"
Me (wearing a leopard print snuggie at the time): "um, ok?"
Dude (as rubbing his face on the sleeve of my snuggie): "so soft."

She and her friends were a bit more caveman-esq, with bones in their hair and such. No less offensive.

Neon paint war paint and Rayban wayfarers. hipster at its best.

Fringe and a 40. Definitely honoring Native culture, right?

So, a mere sampling of the hundreds of "Indians" to grace B2B. They ranged from just a headdress to full-on buckskin and floor length warbonnets, and were everywhere. This image even made it to the SF Gate web coverage of the event:

(source)

Before anyone gets on my case for posting these photos, a few disclaimers:

1) As you can see from the dialogues below the pictures, anyone who made eye contact I asked permission to take their picture "for my blog." No one cared. Most of them probably don't remember talking to me anyway. Also, it was a public event, with news/media cameras everywhere. People knew they were being photographed. (I hate that I even have to include this, but you know)

2) Indian costumes were by no means the only form of racist costumes. There were plenty of "Mexicans" in sombreros and mustaches, "Asians" with kimonos and stereotypical rice paddy hats, even some "Tibetan monks" (I have a picture of those):

 All equally racist, all equally offensive. But considering my blog is on Natives, I thought I would focus on the Indian appropriations. But I did want to point out that the images of Natives are the not only instances of this behavior at the event.

In fact, next year I plan to print up about 5000 of these stickers and running around putting them on everyone dressed as any of the aforementioned costumes:

Good idea? or GREAT idea?

Still want to know why wearing a headdress is wrong?: But Why Can't I Wear a Hipster Headdress?

and earlier, showing it's not just exclusive to B2B:

The Hipster Headdress Abounds at Coachella: http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/04/hipster-headdress-abounds-at-coachella.html

(Thanks to Bill for sending over the sf gate pic, and to Q, Freeman, EJ, and Katie for putting up with me playing "spot the Indian" all morning, and Annie for the idea!)

Random Appropriation of the Day! (International Pow Wow)

I was browsing twitter trending topics this afternoon, and saw that #powwow was a trending topic--way far down, but still! So I investigated, only to find out that none of the posts had anything to do with any powwow I had ever attended.


Apparently this weekend was the 39th annual "Orlando International Pow Wow," a travel trade show. read the description in the screenshot above.

An image of this "powwow":

They don't seem to appropriate any images of Native culture, other than the name, but it does seem weird to associate a travel trade show with a "powwow." I know there is the business-y "let's have a powwow about this" reference (which I always bug my friends not to use), but it's not like powwows don't exist anymore and the term can be reused to represent a trade show.

here's the website: http://powwowonline.com 

Random. I wonder if the participants think about the connotations of the name? Or if anyone ever get's confused? "Eh, I hear theres a big powwow in orlando this weekend! International! maybe we can get some Italian frybread? aye." :)

Michelle "Bombshell" McGee

When she's not busy sleeping with Jesse James and creating another divorce in Hollywood with Jesse James and Sandra Bullock, Michelle McGee let's her tattoo artist take a close look at her bum. Here's the result -


She does have a lovely body.

here's the video to view the tattoo design in more details

Designer Bridal Wear - Ghagra Choli Dress

Photoshop Art of Indian Female Model posing in Designer Bridal Wear - Ghagra Choli

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

We live in a society that has no adequate images anymore, and if we do not find adequate images and an adequate language for our civilization with which to express them, we will die out like the dinosaurs.
~ Werner Herzog

The discovery of song and the creation of musical instruments both owed their origin to a human impulse which lies much deeper than conscious intention: the need for rhythm in life? the need is a deep one, transcending thought, and disregarded at our peril.
~ Richard Baker

Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression.
~ Isaac Bashevis Singer

I can't change the fact that my paintings don't sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture.
~ Vincent van Gogh

Short Top Churidar Dress

Short Top Churidar Dress

Short Top Churidar Dress

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance.
~ Ansel Adams

Everyone wants to understand painting. Why is there no attempt to understand the song of the birds?
~ Pablo Picasso

Music that gentlier on the spirit lies,
Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes.
~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.
~ Charles Horton Cooley

Sexy Female Model Digital Sketch

Sexy Female Model Digital Sketch


FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things.
~ Henri Matisse

We all steal, but if we're smart we steal from great directors. Then, we can call it influence.
~ Krzysztof Kieslowski

A good painter is to paint two main things, men and the working of man's mind.
~ Leonardo da Vinci

Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.
~ Duane Michals

Photoshop Art of Indian Female Model

Photoshop Art of Indian Female Model

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

Paint a rainbow inside of you, paint a rainbow, let your smile shine through. When it's cold and gray, push the clouds away, paint a rainbow in your heart.
~ Author Unknown

We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.
~ Pablo Picasso

I have often thought it was very arrogant to suppose you could make a film for anybody but yourself.
~ Peter Greenaway

My whole trick is to keep the tune well out in front. If I play Tchaikovsky, I play his melodies and skip his spiritual struggle.
~ Liberace

Printed Salwar Kameez Dress

Printed Salwar Kameez Dress

Printed Salwar Kameez Dress

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist.
~ Schumann

For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake.
~ Alfred Hitchcock

Music can noble hints impart,
Engender fury, kindle love,
With unsuspected eloquence can move,
And manage all the man with secret art.
~ Joseph Addison

One never knows what one is going to do. One starts a painting and then it becomes something quite different.