doych

Dark side of genius

Charles Bukowski once said "Genius is the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way" - and that he did, with frank, street-level language that put his readers into his moment, in sometimes less than two lines.

This is also the same man who said "Alcohol is probably one of the greatest things to arrive upon the earth alongside of me."

I did not read Bukowski's novel Factotum, but I did catch the movie last night on cable. Note to Indy fans: Comcast digital cable allows you to rent some independent films that are currently out in theaters.

Matt Dillon brilliantly plays Henry Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of Bukowski. Some reviews like Dillon's Chinaski better than Mickey Rourke's in Barfly. But be warned - those who do not know the works and style of Bukowski may be disturbed by a story of a man who is either drinking cheap alcohol or drunk on it from the night before as he gets fired from one meaningless job to the next. And Bukowski would be grateful if you are disturbed.

Factotum (and Bukowski's poems) offers great graphic depictions of alcoholism, but to me this doesn't equate with greatness in and of itself. It's the delivery methods of Chinaski's honesty that's brilliant. Just as fish must swim and birds must fly, Henry Chinaski has to do the things he has to do - drink, shack up with women and write. In no particular order. His needs in life are often unsatisfied by the countless menial jobs that become a cruel imposition of his time.

It's not the Leaving Las Vegas story of a purposeful downward spiral - it's a story of a man who lives life exactly the way he chooses.

I was captivated by the film. It inspired me to look up Bukowski's poems and get lost in more imagery.

This will pump you up

Or give you nightmares. It's Arnold  Schwarzenegger giving you post-holiday workout encouragement, backed by Journey.

Listen, and Lift.

My first turkey

Baked and basted in apple cider-brown sugar-apple jelly mix, topped with garlic and Jamaican allspice, stuffed with peeled, cinnamon-sprinkled apples... I was so proud of my first turkey - and 20 pounds strong at that.

So proud that I twisted myself over my counter and angled my camera phone just right so I could catch a photo of my dog peeking around for a begging glimpse at my tasty accomplishment... without noticing the cheesy product placement I left (quite obviously) in the composition.

Stove Top stuffing. Busted.

I feel old

I just saw the trailer for Rocky Balboa. I'm horrified to admit I watched it, yet more frightened to admit that he looks to be in damn good shape (at least in this photo). He's a bit heavier in the movie - not to be picky.

Not only do I feel old for admitting I'm checking out the abs of a 60 year old man, but his original Rocky movie turned 30 this year. Remember seeing that one in the theater? Ouch.

But in all fairness the AARP crowd, he's only 59 in this photo.

Interactive Fine Art

...was created way earlier than you realize.

I swear I don't know these people. But thanks for the laugh, gentlemen.

OMFG

"Official Meeting Facilities Guide"

Why... what did you think it meant?

It's the horrible name of this publication, and probably the phrase the photographer was thinking when he/she was wondering how the hell they'd color balance that guy's blue suit.

Oh my god, I, like, totally like this!

You must speak valley girl while surfing this site: Like.com.

It's so pretentious that material girls everywhere are wasting their company's time spending their lunch hour surfing for black pumps like Angelina Jolie's, watches like Orlando Bloom's, handbags like Mischa Barton's, and must I go on...

Like.com's superficial displays are what they call a "visual search" site. It uses what I admit to be an impressive Likeness™ technology by Riya. They have thousands of celebrity photos with visible accessories for you to search by that accessory's "likeness." I hate the fact it starts off with the in-your-face-look-at-hot-celebrity-now-and-shop-so-you-can-look-like-them attitude geared towards the low self esteemers and teeny boppers. But I love how once you're in the search results, you can continue likeness searches on any item.

For instance, when I click on "shoes", this search allows me to pinpoint and click on what I like - a heel, a toe, a platform, and the results are visually close to what I must add to my Fall collection like. You can specify the sensitivity to price, color, shape and pattern. Whoa.

Of course some of my shoe likeness results include a $358 pair of Stuart Weitzman, or the $292 Via Spigas, but there's some reasonably priced items as well. I've only spotted a handful of retailers including Zappos, Amazon, 6pm and Yoox. So far there's no blatant advertisers other than the offering retailer, and the site does not offer clothing items.

I'll continue my search as I, like, personally, want to look just like Scarlett Johansson, so maybe these earrings will do the trick.

Purple reigning in Sin City

Prince - live - two nights a week in his Vegas 3121 club. Now that's finally a show for which I'd pull myself away from the craps table. Eye candy for the straight boys are The Twinz, his back-up singer/dancers and official spokespersons.

One-day-only catalog phone sales hit $491 million

Better than Macy's customer appreciation day.

My two favorite materials exchanged hands at Christie's two nights ago - modern art and money. It was a record auction, earning almost a half billion dollars. The winner was of course a painting by Klimt - "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II"

Four telephone bidders went crazy for the portrait as the bids increased in only $500,000 increments.

The winning bid was for $87.9 milion by an anonymous phone bidder who joined the game after the painting hit $74 million. I wonder if he/she were wearing a baggy sweatshirt and comfy fleece pants like I am right now.

They get so big, so fast

That is, big in fame, recognition, success, and more importantly, self accomplishment.

The average age of my students was 20 when I taught them at School of Visual Arts from 1996-2003, and I was only a handful of years older than the first crew in 1996. As any professor knows, you come across many types of personalities that fill the seats surrounding you. Some were not mentally prepared to pursue a life as an artist, as their passion was lacking, but there were a few students in which I had full confidence in seeing again, outside of SVA and the education walls.

Brian Finke is one of those memorable students. His outstanding environmental portraiture photography seems to pop out at me in occasional Nike ads or stock books.

Another former student, Manuela Paz, has a photography opening Nov 8 at Gallery W 52 in NYC. She's kept my email for almost 7 years, and sends updates on her work. I'm proud of her continued success, and hope that maybe somewhere in the back of her ambitious college memories, she and a few others remember some of the lessons from their energetic digital photography teacher.