Polish Need Not Apply

In doing some research for a project I am working on, I found out that 5 million non-Jewish people were executed during WWII, under Hitler's command. 100,000 of these people were killed in Auschwitz alongside the Jews. I remember my grandmother telling me that a lot of Polish Christians died during the Holocaust, but I always thought she was exaggerating. The ones they didn't kill were put into labor camps. Many of those imprisoned were forced to make artillery for the Germans to be used in the war. If a Polish child looked "Arian," he was likely to be snatched up by the Germans and handed over to a German family to be raised. The child's mother was usually killed.

(Note from the author: With all due respect and sensitivity, I am not taking anything at all away from the 6 million Jewish people who lost their lives so devastatingly during the Holocaust. As someone with Polish Christian roots, I find it hard to believe that I am just finding out, for the first time in my 35 years of living, that there were 2-3 million Polish Christians killed, also.)

Papelbon-bon-bon

From Boston.com (at 2:15 PM):

RED SOX UPDATE: The Red Sox are expected to announce that Jonathan Papelbon will be named the team's closer after today's game, according to broadcast reports. - Developing

A Sign of Spring

(for you locals ...)



The Urban Gourmet on Broadway took the boarding off their windows! Looks like they aren't far from re-opening. Soon, we'll be back to enjoying their yummy delights!

Man eBay

Check it out, people - Manny is selling his grill on eBay.



The current bid is $3050.00

(Cubby sent me this link, so if it's out there on dirtdog or something, please know that she is my real source.)

The Brain, Cont.

I think my review of The Brain that Wouldn't Die was somewhat rushed. I forgot to post a couple of quotes from the film:

You're nothing but a freak of life! And, a freak of death!

Oh, come on now, Doris. Do I look like a maniac who goes around killing girls?

I also loved how obviously strapped the budget for the film was. Too many poor splices to count. Evident reading from cue cards. Latex meant to suggest deformed skin not glued on well enough. I adored the lounge music and the "strippers" who, by today's standards, would never be considered slutty.

Escar go-go : Funny Local Blog

So, I came across this guy's blog, which I think is pretty amusing. He doesn't allow comments, unfortunately.

Kara Muise at The Fuller!

Yesterday, I attended my friend Kara's group show at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA.

She's a graduate student at UMass Dartmouth and her piece was part of Fresh Fibers: Work by student artists from RISD, MassArt and UMass-Dartmouth (March 10 – June 17, 2007)

Here be the cool piece entitled Dark Currents:


(click on the image to enlarge, especially if you want to see the stitching detail on the giant lily)

It was situated right next to the window and this really soft natural light cast on it during the show. It was quite lovely.

Here is another piece I liked a lot, but was un able to find the artist. It was called, "Homeland Security, Simple as ABC" or something like that. I love the concept and the simple execution.



After work, I just went nuts and spent a lot of cash at Newbury Comics. As part of the purchase, I picked up the old cult classic The Brain that Wouldn't Die. I watched it when I got home. Not bad. Your typical cheese ball horror b-flick. I get sucked into these types of movies pretty easily. I also got Le Tigre's Feminist Sweepstakes. Not nearly as good as their self-titled album. Like the self titled album, there are lots of f-bombs, but it's not as good musically. I mean, it's not bad or anything, just not as good. I also picked up The Fall's Bend Sinister. You might say that all of their stuff sounds the same. You'd be right, but I happen to like the way it all sounds, so it works out for me. I got a few other things, too, but I won't bore you with the rest of the list. Lord knows, I've been boring you with my cat damage pictures.

The Sox play the Twins tomorrow. Followed by the birds, the fish, the argh maties and the evil rays. And then, THEN, we get to watch real baseball.

Latest Painting

Caution
Oil Stick on Paper

Does this seem like it ought to be an article in The Onion?

An Eye-Opening Day

This is what happens when I'm bored and (as described below) lazy. I do lots of web surfing, instead of painting.

So, on top of discovering (via a yahoo headline) that Stephen King's son is a chip off the old block, I found out that he lives in or around the Portsmouth, NH area. The image of him in the article shows him leaning against a table in the very diner that Jere and I were in, like, a little over a month ago. During this trip, a very sporty and attitude-y male backed into us without looking. He was a pretty stand up guy, though, as it turns out he admitted fault to his insurance company and they compensated me for the damage. Anyway, it's just weird that we were just there and all. It's a REALLY awesome place - if you are ever in the area, you should che-che-check it out. It's called "The Friendly Toast" and it's all retro-like with those rock-a-billy looking waiters and waitresses, all tatoo-clad and pierced. The whole restaurant is covered with super crazy vintage signs and trinkets and enormous things are suspended from the ceiling.



Speaking of che-che-checking (and rah rah replicas) ... I just found out that Adam Horovitz married Kathleen Hanna last year! Holy mind blowers, Batman! How did this one get past me? It's funny, too, because I recently caught the end of "Say Anything" and I was wondering what the deal was with A-Rock since he and Ione Skye parted ways. I think that Hanna is a better match, personally. They were probably traveling in the same circles back in her Bikini Kill days.

Did you know?
The name for Nirvana's hit song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was inspired by Kathleen's spray painting “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit” on one of Kurt Cobain's walls. Also Ian MacKaye produced Bikini Kill's first release. Lastly, Hanna was clocked by Courtney Love back in '95.*

*from Wikipedia

Lazy and Bored

I am pleased that I found a little lampshade to cover the up the naked bulb in my bedroom. It was made locally by some lady who, I guess, likes to make little lampshades.





Any ideas on how I might be able to repair this before I move?

Almost Forgot

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you Irish people.

I think the Polish should rise up and demand a holiday. Wait, they already did. March 4th is Casimir Pulaski Day (enacted into law in Illinois and some parts of Wisconsin. Indiana recognizes it, also). I missed it by a couple of weeks (typical me).

Oh, and hey, check it out (from Wikipedia): Chicago-based rock band Big Black had a 1987 song titled "Kasimir S. Pulaski Day". I have seen Casimir spelled with a K, also. I guess it can go either way. For the record, Big Black was hardly a rock band.

Sleater-Kinney Is EveryWhere

It was "Sleater-Kinney Week" on the M.I.T. station's morning program, "Breakfast of Champions," which was cool. Last night, while perusing through some very old CDs, I discovered a random SK song. Now, as I sit here in the local coffee shop, there have been 4 back-to-back SK songs. Currently, they are playing a typical indie repetitive style song from a band I don't recognize.

I always liked that SK were ever-so-slightly off-tune. Do you think they did that purposely?

So, I walked here in the half frozen slop. It wasn't as bad as I expected. Jere told me that it was especially sloppy in NYC last night, so I was expecting the worst. I think this is where the colder than New York temps work in Boston's favor. It's not super, freeze-your-face-off cold, but it was cold enough to make the snow and slush easy to walk on. It is lumpy and crunchy, so slippage is minimized.

I saw a dude from my old softball team on the way here. He was shoveling out his car with his girlfriend. I remember now that it's too late for me to sign up for softball this year. Damn.

After this, I think I'll head next door to pick up a small lampshade. I need to replace the one my cats recently broke.

Why you need to know this, and how this is relevent to you is beyond me. I apologize for not having anything more interesting to say.

The Morning After

Eeewww. Slush Town. Should be a fun walk to the coffee shop. Why I didn't buy those rubber boots in Northampton, I don't know. How will my chucks survive in this? Beyond that, I've got a few pairs of Mary Jane's. Did I not grow up in New England?

So, here are a few other pictures, while I'm at it:



My boys, Larry (orange) and Danzig (black). I had a very sweet cat for 13 years who died in his sleep this past summer. He was passive and affection. These guys would probably be spending lots of time in Juvenille court if they were human beings. But, in this pic, they look all sleepy and cute (because of the flash). Danzig, like many cats, enjoys a good roll of toilet paper. I tried keeping in a basket, smooshed between a bunch of magazines to deter him from grabbing it and shredding it all over. Recently, he created a procedure for getting it out. He's crafty. I'm now keeping it in an ice bucket next to the magazine basket.



Here's a cool snapshot from New Haven. I am going to paint this. Someday.



Likewise, with this one.

Half Way There

This storm could be somewhat substantial.

Kristin Hersh

Occasionally, I check in on bands/artists I enjoyed from back in the day to see (a) what they are up to and (b) if they are touring. I always have the WORST timing, to the point where I nearly cringe before the tour date page loads. Most times, I just missed them.

Well, I guess this makes up for it.

Hersh is playing 3 dates in Massachusetts in April. It's hard to imagine acoustic versions of Counting Backwards and Not Too Soon, not to mention Bright Yellow Gun. But, hey, I'm totally down for it. She'll probably perform some stuff from 50 Foot Wave, too.

If you are into Throwing Muses, or 50 Foot Wave, you ought to check out her site. She's writes a pretty good blog, too.

Are You Into Chatting or Not?

I don't know why, but when it comes to getting my hair done (or nails, or whatever), I am not big on conversation. My current stylist understands this. She's not huge on it, either, so we keep it friendly, but pretty business-like. I've had stylists in the past who weren't as well matched with me on this front. Once, I had some woman telling me her entire life story, including bits about an abusive ex-husband who was attempting to molest her children. Do I want to hear about this? Another time, I got an earful about my stylist's waning sex life. She owned the place and eventually, her husband "popped in" to drop off their son. Awkward.

I always had this idea that when you go in for a cut (or manicure or massage), you fill out a little card and on that card there are 2 boxes. One box says, "I love to talk!" next to it. The other one says, "Not today. I've got a headache." That way, the stylist isn't sitting there feeling you out the whole time or dumping his or her problems on you. Does this idea make me a bad person?

A Solid, Well-Rehearsed, and Committed Rock Band

You ever have an idea in a dream that seems completely genius during those first few moments of waking up? I once came up with an entire movie plot, from start to finish, in what seemed like 5-10 minutes of sleep. When I was fully awake, however, I not only lost key pieces of the plot, I also realized that what was left was a hunk of poo.

So, you can imagine my excitement when, after a pretty extended post-waking period, I realized that the name I dreamed up for my next a cappella punk band was actually sort of cool: Extra Medium. You know, because it's impossible. There's no such thing. I was pretty happy about this until I found out that some cheeseball metal band has this name. And they've got a really bad logo, too boot.

Here are some excerpts from their "bio" -

Extra Medium is a solid, well-rehearsed, and committed rock band that is constantly pursuing their potential as individual musicians and as a unified band. They have continuously refined their live performances by playing over 150 shows in 3 ½ years. They are not only comfortable on stage, but they thrive there. Feeding on the energy of a crowd and giving everything they have in order to make the audience experience an amazing rock concert. Stage presence and interaction with the audience makes Extra Medium shows exciting and more personal than your average rock show. The fans always seem to appreciate that and they come back time and time again.

I like that bit about not only being comfortable on stage, but THRIVING there. Oooohhh! More personal than your average rock show. Imagine that? The fans come back time and time again. Wow.

Extra Medium focuses on writing quality songs that could very well be hits on modern rock radio. Their songs grab you and draw out your inner emotions. Whether it jerks a tear from your eye like "Next Time Around," makes you nod your head and give your ex girlfriend/boyfriend the finger like “Obsessed,” or if it gives you the sudden urge to break something like "Abused," their songs will without a doubt make you feel something.

If you want to know precisely what Extra Medium sounds like then give them a few minutes and listen to a song or two. Essentially Extra Medium plays middle of the road modern rock music. It isn’t hardcore scream metal, and it certainly isn’t Third Eye Blind or Matchbox 20. The aptly named Extra Medium is not too hard and not too soft. They play in the sweet spot of rock ‘n’ roll and it is just right for any rock music fan.

This is just the icing on the cake. Who bills themselves as "middle of the road modern rock music?" The sweet spot of rock 'n' roll. Cool. Why didn't they just call themselves that, then? Instead of taking MY awesome band name and applying it to some icky, wimpy, mass-produced sounding garbage? There's no irony in this dude's explanation of what Extra Medium means. It's completely lost on this crappo band. Ugh. I guess I've got ASBCIH of using this band name in the future.

Tonight is the first and only Red Sox-Yankees Spring Training game. I'll probably watch most of it.

ASBCIH

I've decided that I'm going to use the term "a snow ball's chance in hell" as much as possible. It doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as you might think and it's got a ton of applications. I might even abbreviate it when using the phrase in writing.

Examples:
I think the Yankees have ASBCIH winning the division title this year.
I've got ASBCIH getting a parking spot on Newbury Street.
There's ASBCIH my cats will ever calm down and stoop breaking all the things I own.

New Piece

Do Not Enter
Acrylic and Rubber on Canvas