dropping the exclusionary rule from criminal justice was not a manoeuvre i expected from justice john roberts. perhaps i just can't remember it as a goal warned about in the papers when he was elected years ago. certainly, the exclusionary rule has changed over the centuries, specifically being applied at state level after a warren court ruling in the landmark case mapp v. ohio, but the rule has been applied in other important u. s. legal cases since the 19th century. it is a means of protecting 4th amendment rights, specifically written into the constitution in reaction to the general warrants or writs of assistance that allowed british soldiers to search the houses of colonists before the revolutionary war. let's remember exactly what the 4th amendment says (i think it's always important to go back and look at the constitution once in a while): "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issues, but upon probable cause, supported by oat or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." certainly, the exclusionary rule creates obstacles for law enforcement and prosecution, but the rule seems necessary, natural, and historical. my favorite part of this article: "Justice Scalia cited the work of a criminologist, Samuel Walker, to support his point about increased police professionalism. Professor Walker responded with an opinion article in The Los Angeles Times saying that Justice Scalia had misrepresented his work. Better police work, Professor Walker said, was a consequence of the exclusionary rule rather than a reason to do away with it."
and i think this is a great idea: power bills that compare how much energy your home is using versus those of your neighbors. we need to know. it's one more way to become conscious.
last night i continued to take it easy. i've had a slight head cold, which hasn't been horrible, but has made me tired and sluggish. booth and i ate at esparza's, which was interesting. the food was good. i played it safe and stuck to a burrito. but the buffalo meat enchilada might be interesting? i don't know. after eating, we had a beer at beulahland while waiting to see a movie at the laurelhirst theatre. we saw tell no one, which i've been wanting to see a little. it's a french thriller that sounded interesting and received okay reviewed. i thought it was entertaining. not particularly artful, as cache was. it has a weird 70's look to it, slightly yellowed, many of the characters dressed in outfits that could pass as 70's, except the few arab thugs who help the main character avoid the police.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
the walkmen at the wonder ballroom
booth and i walked two miles north to the wonder ballroom last night to see the walkmen play. i was pretty excited. i spent nearly twenty dollars on a ticket, a sum i generally don't dole out for many bands, but to be honest, i was a little disappointed by the performance. the walkmen weren't untalented. they were played well, and of course i love their most recent album, so it was enjoyable to listen to them. but overall, the show was lacking, mostly from the deficiencies of the venue. the crowd acted horrendously. they jostled each other, talked loudly, didn't pay attention to the performance. one girl put an empty pbr can in the hood of a stranger's jacket. when he turned and discovered the can, he turned around and asked if i had put it there; i pointed to the girl already running away from his vicinity.
to overcome the volume of the large crowd, whoever was running the sound just turned the volume louder. this just made the band sound sloppy; the loudness causing too much echo and cancellation in the large space. the wonder ballroom looks like it was originally a church in its first life, and the large room out of which the venue operates was not designed with acoustics in mind, so there was a loss of fidelity in the performance. one of the best aspects of the walkmen's latest album is the crispness and precision of the instrumentals, yet all that was lost at the wonder ballroom.
and really, i was slightly disappointed in the band itself. the band members deviated every now and then from the structure of their recording, but sometimes these deviations seemed to surprise the other band members and this led to several awkward moments when an instrument seem to abruptly end the theme it was playing to carry on with something different. still, the improvisations weren't even daring. when grizzly bear experiments with a song, the rendition ends up sounding radically different, almost as if a completely different band were playing it. during one ill-fated song, the singer seemed to be unable to hit the correct note; his voice sliding into several flat notes before saving himself too late. this occurred during only one song in which the singer was sliding between notes during the entire piece, but apparently this was just straining his voice, or he couldn't hear himself well enough to pull it off.
all in all, i love the walkmen, and enjoyed seeing them last night, but this was far from my favorite performance.
to overcome the volume of the large crowd, whoever was running the sound just turned the volume louder. this just made the band sound sloppy; the loudness causing too much echo and cancellation in the large space. the wonder ballroom looks like it was originally a church in its first life, and the large room out of which the venue operates was not designed with acoustics in mind, so there was a loss of fidelity in the performance. one of the best aspects of the walkmen's latest album is the crispness and precision of the instrumentals, yet all that was lost at the wonder ballroom.
and really, i was slightly disappointed in the band itself. the band members deviated every now and then from the structure of their recording, but sometimes these deviations seemed to surprise the other band members and this led to several awkward moments when an instrument seem to abruptly end the theme it was playing to carry on with something different. still, the improvisations weren't even daring. when grizzly bear experiments with a song, the rendition ends up sounding radically different, almost as if a completely different band were playing it. during one ill-fated song, the singer seemed to be unable to hit the correct note; his voice sliding into several flat notes before saving himself too late. this occurred during only one song in which the singer was sliding between notes during the entire piece, but apparently this was just straining his voice, or he couldn't hear himself well enough to pull it off.
all in all, i love the walkmen, and enjoyed seeing them last night, but this was far from my favorite performance.
Friday, January 23, 2009
portland hearts its mayor: a rally
i just returned from the rally in support of portland's mayor, sam adams, the first openly gay mayor in the united states. there was a pretty large turn out, nothing ridiculously massive, but it was a circus. in case you don't read the news, sam adams recently confessed to having sex with an 18 intern years ago after lying about during a campaign in 2005 and his recent mayoral campaign. he says that he and the boy, beau breedlove, only had sex after breedlove turned 18, though they first met when breedlove was still 17. adams confession hit national news tuesday during the inauguration, and he admitted the truth only after an article in the willamette week concerning the scandal was going to press. some people think this affair will render the newly elected mayor ineffectual, but from the rally it looks like he still has a lot of support from the city, though to be honest, the rally looked more like a gay rights event than a rally in support for the mayor. it may be that certain people don't understand the difference between supporting someone because he or she is homosexual and because they believe a person who would excel in his or her position. there was exactly one protester against the mayor i saw there.
just so you know, "just out" is a free gay publication for the portland / vancouver area. in an opinion piece, one of its writers thought the mayor should resign.
this is a sticker someone gave me at the rally.
this is the t-shirt of the friend of the person who gave me the sticker.
this rally was documented for you, antonio urdiales.
just so you know, "just out" is a free gay publication for the portland / vancouver area. in an opinion piece, one of its writers thought the mayor should resign.
this is a sticker someone gave me at the rally.
this is the t-shirt of the friend of the person who gave me the sticker.
this rally was documented for you, antonio urdiales.
noozles
i saw my doppelganger on the train today. in a strange moment of unheimlichkeit, i turned around and literally thought i was looking at my reflection in the window, 'til i realized it was not my mirrored imaged at all but rather another short, skinny boy with short hair standing a car's length from me. i mean, really we didn't look that much alike, but it was such a shock to think i was looking in a mirror then suddenly realize i was looking at another person completely. the boy came and sat next to me, on the other side of the plexiglas fom where i was standing next to my hanging bike. i wanted to introduce myself, but how does one say, "listen, do you think we look like one another?"
often, my sister and i find songs or televisions shows or pieces of art that with which we explain ourselves and how we think, such as the television show "pete and pete" or the song "dance this mess around" by the b-52's. and here's another cultural treasure that seems to explain a lot about me. this one was of my favorite shows when i was little: does anyone remember noozles?
here's the plot synopsis from the last episode as given on wikipedia:
"Sandy's grandfather, who had discovered an entrance to Koalawalla Land while in Australia, purposely becomes trapped in the Crystal Place; and when Sandy finally locates him, only his spirit remains within the orb, trapped in a limbo-like state. She is able to communicate with him empathically by placing her hands towards her grandfather's, palm to palm, with only Pinky's protective bubble preventing direct contact with the orb. He informs Sandy that he entrapped himself there because he knew that he would need to live long enough to someday relay to his progeny, the fate which awaited both Koalawalla Land and Earth: in something akin to a conjoined-twin scenario, the two realms were born as one, but would be destined to naturally separate at a time of "cosmic maturity". Unfortunately, they had begun to separate far ahead of reaching this point; and as such, the unravelling of the forces which bound them together, would cause a cataclysmic reaction such as would obliterate both worlds.
The only way to prevent this catastrophe, once the worlds had begun to separate, would be for a skilled "chosen one" to mechanically override and then engineer the separation, via the use of two crystal levers, known as "Wiseman Crystals". Sandy's grandfather had already found one of the Wiseman Crystals, and her father (by the time of the last episode) had unwittingly found the other. It turns out Blinky, now able to see through his amnesia; is the chosen engineer. In the final seconds before Earth and Koalawalla Land destroy each other; the Noozles ascend the slopes of Ayers Rock and place the Wiseman Crystals in a predisposed altar, where they absorb the forces of the impending separation; and allow Blinky to guide the separation of KoalaWallaLand away from Earth in a joystick-like fashion.
Because Earth and Koalawalla Land now exist as completely separate dimensions, Pinky's magic is no longer able to bridge the ties that formerly bound them; meaning Blinky and Pinky must now forever remain in their home, separate from Earth. They are last seen as an image in the sky, wishing Sandy well, and knowing that she has the maturity to live a happy life without them. During the final episode, Sandy's mother also learns the truth about Blinky and Pinky."
insane right? what were we thinking in the nineties? this has to explain why i'm so insane sometimes.
often, my sister and i find songs or televisions shows or pieces of art that with which we explain ourselves and how we think, such as the television show "pete and pete" or the song "dance this mess around" by the b-52's. and here's another cultural treasure that seems to explain a lot about me. this one was of my favorite shows when i was little: does anyone remember noozles?
here's the plot synopsis from the last episode as given on wikipedia:
"Sandy's grandfather, who had discovered an entrance to Koalawalla Land while in Australia, purposely becomes trapped in the Crystal Place; and when Sandy finally locates him, only his spirit remains within the orb, trapped in a limbo-like state. She is able to communicate with him empathically by placing her hands towards her grandfather's, palm to palm, with only Pinky's protective bubble preventing direct contact with the orb. He informs Sandy that he entrapped himself there because he knew that he would need to live long enough to someday relay to his progeny, the fate which awaited both Koalawalla Land and Earth: in something akin to a conjoined-twin scenario, the two realms were born as one, but would be destined to naturally separate at a time of "cosmic maturity". Unfortunately, they had begun to separate far ahead of reaching this point; and as such, the unravelling of the forces which bound them together, would cause a cataclysmic reaction such as would obliterate both worlds.
The only way to prevent this catastrophe, once the worlds had begun to separate, would be for a skilled "chosen one" to mechanically override and then engineer the separation, via the use of two crystal levers, known as "Wiseman Crystals". Sandy's grandfather had already found one of the Wiseman Crystals, and her father (by the time of the last episode) had unwittingly found the other. It turns out Blinky, now able to see through his amnesia; is the chosen engineer. In the final seconds before Earth and Koalawalla Land destroy each other; the Noozles ascend the slopes of Ayers Rock and place the Wiseman Crystals in a predisposed altar, where they absorb the forces of the impending separation; and allow Blinky to guide the separation of KoalaWallaLand away from Earth in a joystick-like fashion.
Because Earth and Koalawalla Land now exist as completely separate dimensions, Pinky's magic is no longer able to bridge the ties that formerly bound them; meaning Blinky and Pinky must now forever remain in their home, separate from Earth. They are last seen as an image in the sky, wishing Sandy well, and knowing that she has the maturity to live a happy life without them. During the final episode, Sandy's mother also learns the truth about Blinky and Pinky."
insane right? what were we thinking in the nineties? this has to explain why i'm so insane sometimes.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
oh, and i forgot to mention...
i saw lucky dragons talk about their work/music at PSU last monday.
this project is called "make a baby," in which the audience contributes the sound for the live performance. a wire with a very low electrical charge is connected to a speaker in a way so that when a person touches the wire and other people around the wire, the sound the speaker creates changes in pitch depending on the configuration of people touching each other. it's a sort of manipulated circuit.
they had a lot of amazing projects, a few of which i've already posted to facebook including the open book project. they also host "sumi-ink club," in which any one can come to the meeting and draw in sumi-e and anyone after that can draw and alter until the end of the meeting. this really reminded me of all the sumi-e assignments i had at asfa and jim neel talking about, well, not technique exactly, but rather talking about lines and how we should paint with our wrists. i remember having to draw portraits in sumi ink without looking at the paper or using pencil or anything for weeks on end. wow, that was a long time ago.
this project is called "make a baby," in which the audience contributes the sound for the live performance. a wire with a very low electrical charge is connected to a speaker in a way so that when a person touches the wire and other people around the wire, the sound the speaker creates changes in pitch depending on the configuration of people touching each other. it's a sort of manipulated circuit.
they had a lot of amazing projects, a few of which i've already posted to facebook including the open book project. they also host "sumi-ink club," in which any one can come to the meeting and draw in sumi-e and anyone after that can draw and alter until the end of the meeting. this really reminded me of all the sumi-e assignments i had at asfa and jim neel talking about, well, not technique exactly, but rather talking about lines and how we should paint with our wrists. i remember having to draw portraits in sumi ink without looking at the paper or using pencil or anything for weeks on end. wow, that was a long time ago.
Monday, January 12, 2009
have i mentioned...
although i was apprehensive about the art i've been seeing in portland, i have seen a couple exhibits this month that left me in awe. the first was at mark woolley gallery, and unfortunately the exhibit is already closed; i saw it on its last day. but it was really interesting, stephen scott smith's work is matthew barney meets twin peaks.
stephen scott smith, bunnysmith
smith confesses that his art focuses on narcissism in his artist statement, and i far from doubt his narcissism. smith looks like a good looking, intelligent gentleman and i probably don't. he says, "I am basically making fun of the whole fame-obsessed world that I am of, not above." which is fine. we know all about narcissism. as cal would point out, christopher lasch wrote a whole book on it and i've heard enough driveling essays on narcissism and facebook while i was at college to last me a lifetime. stephen scott smith then adds that he believes "what we see in others is really ourselves." interesting, but an idea still not fresh of face. so let's see, he connects narcissism with facebook and then with voyeurism (maybe?) with identity. okay, nothing new.
stephen scott smith, zebrasmith
but what was interesting about this exhibit was the craftmanship. everything was perfectly crafted. and you know jess marie has turned me and i know believe in craftmanship over concept. it's like pretending you're writing the best novel ever while you can't even put a grammatically cognizable sentence together. the technique and form carries the concept, even the conceptual artists (with a captial 'c') understood this. so even if smith's work is conceptually shallow, the execution was flawless. each photograph was blown up to large proportions, the focus right on the tip of the nose of each self-portrait. extraneous material to the photograph, such as frayed rope, meticulously worked into the portrait and displayed. the videos were edited very well. the whole exhibit was visceral and visually stunning.
stephen scott smith, video still from hyenasmith
in the end, smith's musing about narcissism fall a little flat, except that it is interesting, or at least i find it personally interesting, the ways in which narcissism manifests and what it produces when not denied. if we suppress our narcissism through facebook by calling it "social networking," what if we were to call it just what it was and be unabashed?
anyway, more impressive and stunning and interesting is an exhibit i happened to catch at IGLOO saturday morning. the exhibit, or rather i should say, on-going installation/de-installation will continue through to the end of january. gary wiseman with meredith andrews present "where am i."
they're working on a project that builds on relational aesthetics and takes those principles in a different direction. let me describe my experience: when i entered through the white metal front door into IGLOO, my eyes immediately fell onto gary wiseman himself sitting at a small table in the middle of the gallery. the table was cluttered with papers and books and computers and cables and a large scanner. to the right of wiseman's table and the door were scraps of fabric and paper and other samples sealed into ziploc bags, neatly and evenly spaced pinned to the wall. to the wall to the right of this display, a web of strings hung connected various points in the corner. on the far wall another display of drawn and printed images as well as a map of portland. in the right window, a multicolored disco ball; in the left various objects and artifacts.
wiseman asked how i had found the event, handed me a hand explaining the project, and then explained that the abstract matrix of string to my right corresponded to the pins placed in the map of portland on my left which themselves corresponded to places he had held exhibits or events in portland in the past. he explained that the objects in the window were left from past events of his, and that each visitor to the gallery was invited to take one of the objects as a gift. he was then taking the address of each visitor and was plotting where the gifts went to in relation to where they had been used in his art ventures. they plan to use the information to create a book and further art projects. i inspected the various displays and objects in the gallery, nearly speechless. not only was i impressed and interested in his project, but it was exactly the sort of idea i jot down and analyze in my own sketchbook. in fact, the entire exhibit looked like my sketchbook had become large and three-dimensional. especially the web of string.
this sketch was from my sketch book and used as the title slide for my senior project in art history titled "Relational Aesthetics and the art of creating space." gary wiseman's project reminded me of felix gonzalez-torres, who everyone knows i love. i even own a piece of licorice by the late artist, tucked safely away with the reason of my possessions in alabama where it can't be eaten.
and i wanted to tell this all to gary wiseman but i was just struck dumb for some reason until his friend meredith came in. she was nice, helped me pick which gift i should take. we settled on a ball of blue yarn to match the jacket and sweater i was wearing.
i sat while gary took my photo, chatting with meredith, sometimes looking nervously at the camera. and all i could think was how this was the sort of art i've been waiting to find and how much it reminded me of my own art and how i wanted to make more art.
stephen scott smith, bunnysmith
smith confesses that his art focuses on narcissism in his artist statement, and i far from doubt his narcissism. smith looks like a good looking, intelligent gentleman and i probably don't. he says, "I am basically making fun of the whole fame-obsessed world that I am of, not above." which is fine. we know all about narcissism. as cal would point out, christopher lasch wrote a whole book on it and i've heard enough driveling essays on narcissism and facebook while i was at college to last me a lifetime. stephen scott smith then adds that he believes "what we see in others is really ourselves." interesting, but an idea still not fresh of face. so let's see, he connects narcissism with facebook and then with voyeurism (maybe?) with identity. okay, nothing new.
stephen scott smith, zebrasmith
but what was interesting about this exhibit was the craftmanship. everything was perfectly crafted. and you know jess marie has turned me and i know believe in craftmanship over concept. it's like pretending you're writing the best novel ever while you can't even put a grammatically cognizable sentence together. the technique and form carries the concept, even the conceptual artists (with a captial 'c') understood this. so even if smith's work is conceptually shallow, the execution was flawless. each photograph was blown up to large proportions, the focus right on the tip of the nose of each self-portrait. extraneous material to the photograph, such as frayed rope, meticulously worked into the portrait and displayed. the videos were edited very well. the whole exhibit was visceral and visually stunning.
stephen scott smith, video still from hyenasmith
in the end, smith's musing about narcissism fall a little flat, except that it is interesting, or at least i find it personally interesting, the ways in which narcissism manifests and what it produces when not denied. if we suppress our narcissism through facebook by calling it "social networking," what if we were to call it just what it was and be unabashed?
anyway, more impressive and stunning and interesting is an exhibit i happened to catch at IGLOO saturday morning. the exhibit, or rather i should say, on-going installation/de-installation will continue through to the end of january. gary wiseman with meredith andrews present "where am i."
they're working on a project that builds on relational aesthetics and takes those principles in a different direction. let me describe my experience: when i entered through the white metal front door into IGLOO, my eyes immediately fell onto gary wiseman himself sitting at a small table in the middle of the gallery. the table was cluttered with papers and books and computers and cables and a large scanner. to the right of wiseman's table and the door were scraps of fabric and paper and other samples sealed into ziploc bags, neatly and evenly spaced pinned to the wall. to the wall to the right of this display, a web of strings hung connected various points in the corner. on the far wall another display of drawn and printed images as well as a map of portland. in the right window, a multicolored disco ball; in the left various objects and artifacts.
wiseman asked how i had found the event, handed me a hand explaining the project, and then explained that the abstract matrix of string to my right corresponded to the pins placed in the map of portland on my left which themselves corresponded to places he had held exhibits or events in portland in the past. he explained that the objects in the window were left from past events of his, and that each visitor to the gallery was invited to take one of the objects as a gift. he was then taking the address of each visitor and was plotting where the gifts went to in relation to where they had been used in his art ventures. they plan to use the information to create a book and further art projects. i inspected the various displays and objects in the gallery, nearly speechless. not only was i impressed and interested in his project, but it was exactly the sort of idea i jot down and analyze in my own sketchbook. in fact, the entire exhibit looked like my sketchbook had become large and three-dimensional. especially the web of string.
this sketch was from my sketch book and used as the title slide for my senior project in art history titled "Relational Aesthetics and the art of creating space." gary wiseman's project reminded me of felix gonzalez-torres, who everyone knows i love. i even own a piece of licorice by the late artist, tucked safely away with the reason of my possessions in alabama where it can't be eaten.
and i wanted to tell this all to gary wiseman but i was just struck dumb for some reason until his friend meredith came in. she was nice, helped me pick which gift i should take. we settled on a ball of blue yarn to match the jacket and sweater i was wearing.
i sat while gary took my photo, chatting with meredith, sometimes looking nervously at the camera. and all i could think was how this was the sort of art i've been waiting to find and how much it reminded me of my own art and how i wanted to make more art.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
jokes: we've got 'em
gail collin's pieces are generally dull and uninformative, but here's a zinger from a piece about obama's warm reception to the opinions of the senate, writing: "We are rooting for Burris to make it into office, since any Roland who names his kids Roland II and Rolanda is bound to provide a welcome diversion in the gloomy months ahead." what a riot! you know i'm still upset about this whole situation.
and today there is no sunshine to keep me chipper. yet despite the rain, i still have to get my books to the library before i end up paying my next paycheck to the institution.
and today there is no sunshine to keep me chipper. yet despite the rain, i still have to get my books to the library before i end up paying my next paycheck to the institution.
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