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A great song for you all...

Ex Guru by David Byrne

Poeetry excerpt #1

I lose my self in laanguage when the words come from a place that is
without languuage. I have trouble moving the spirit through the flesh
through the mind through the fingers. Though, through this all, with
periods of unease, I delight in the words. Languishing on each added
vowel, each stroke of the keys, to provide me one more moment to
connect with an uncertain thought.

Clay's Birthday Dinner

A few shots before Clay's delightful birthday dinner...



Sunflowers next to the grill




Clay getting things ready




Soldiers




Getting the sideboard ready




Setting the gran table





Going over the menu with Chef Bravo



Hopefully, someone has images of the actual dinner, as once it started, I didn't take any shots. Please, pass them along my way.

Artwork

Untitled (23 September - Ramon Emeterio Betances, Segundo Ruiz Belvis, Filiberto Ojeda Rios), 2005-8

C-print, unique, 48 x 32 inches each

On the anniversary of El Grito de Lares (which, led by Ramon Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis, attacked the exploitation of the Puerto Ricans by the Spanish colonial system and called for insurrection in 1868), Filiberto Ojeda Rios was killed by FBI agents. Some groups are framing the death as the unwarranted assassination of a key player in Puerto Rico's anti-U.S. colonialism movement. This work speaks to the cyclical (Spanish colonialism vs. U.S. colonialism) and arbitrary nature of history and historical dates.

Click on images to enlarge them as they are intentionally blurred:

Tunnels

When I was in Montenegro, we traveled through the Sozina (Созина) tunnel from Podgorica to Bar on one of our excursions. The tunnel was placed into service on July 13, 2005 (incidentally, my birthday). The tunnel is 4,189 m long, and is the longest and most modern vehicular tunnel in Montenegro. I found the tunnel to be a symbol of the progress of the nation as well as a psychological referent to the 'birth of the nation.' This has started an interest in the mythology of tunnels and their place within the human psyche. This is from an interpretation of dreams about tunnels:

Seeing a tunnel in your dream, represents the vagina, womb, and birth. Thus it may refer to a need for security and nurturance. Dreaming that you are going through a tunnel, suggests that you are exploring aspects of your unconscious. You are opening yourself to a brand new awareness. Alternatively, it indicates your limited perspective. Seeing the light at the end of a tunnel, symbolizes hope.

While I am not much of a subscriber to notions Fruedian and/or Jungian, I still enjoy entertaining the idea of pseudoscience (in dream and subconscious interpretation) as being relevant to our understanding of the world. In other words, whether or not there is 'truth' to the meaning of, say, tunnels, we attribute meaning to them through our construction of mythologies surrounding them.

Here are you nice images of the modern tunnel; well-lit, clean, futuristic, yellow and full of richness and meaning:

Image for Upcoming Artwork

I have been working through some ideas regarding Kosovo and Serbia vis s vis the US-born Olympian Milorad Čavić. Above is an image of him holding the Serbian flag and text regarding the act follows.

Cavic endeared himself to Serbs in March when he was suspended from the European Championships for wearing a T-shirt proclaiming "Kosovo is Serbia"—a reference to Kosovo's controversial declaration of independence from Serbia on Feb. 17.

After returning home from that meet, Cavic was greeted by hundreds of fans and met with Serbian nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who called the swimmer a "hero."

At the Euros, Cavic made his political statement on the podium after winning the 50 fly, displaying a red T-shirt with text in Cyrillic. The European swimming federation ruled the message a political slogan and ejected him— knocking him out of his remaining two events.

"I had to help my people knowing it could be a big risk for my swimming career. I'm proud of what I did," Cavic said then. "I had to do it to help the (Kosovo Serbs), knowing how hard it is for them there."

Cavic became an inspiration among Serbs who object to losing Kosovo, an ethnic Albanian-dominated territory which many Serbs consider the historic cradle of their nation.

Kosovo's independence has been recognized by the United States and most European Union nations.

Cavic, who was born in Anaheim, Calif., to Serb parents and trains in Florida, said he was just trying to send "positive energy" to the country he represents.

I will post more often