Previous: he says that he has a net worth of zero (8)
the fun never stops
Post #650 • October 21, 2005, 7:12 AM • 21 Comments
Artblog.net is going to take a little working vacation that may or may not involve a major honking storm system moving into the area. Posts resume Tuesday. In the meantime, Dick Blick has an impressive sale on the legendary Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Watercolor Brushes, and we need to figure out how to somehow apply this brilliant concept to art criticism. I'm thinking a little Flash cartoon of Kathleen and me arguing about a show.
2.
October 22, 2005, 10:17 AM
Only if I get to say things like "you stink!" and "P.U."!
My kid has started to say things like that all the time; I'd like to publically thank Frank Wick. He was teaching those phrases to my offspring after the Reduced show.
3.
October 22, 2005, 11:30 AM
I'm looking forward to her imminent guestblogging on The Next Few Hours.
4.
October 22, 2005, 12:48 PM
You have strange powers, Franklin, to be able to anticipate imminence.
Some posts here lately have had an ingroupy flavor which does not inspire response.
5.
October 22, 2005, 2:17 PM
awww...does OP feel left out?
6.
October 22, 2005, 4:25 PM
I may, but I was commenting for the blog, not myself. The volume has been a little low lately.
Of course we have the hurricane to distract us right now..
7.
October 22, 2005, 10:58 PM
It's the hurricane. Miami blogs are pretty quiet all over.
8.
October 23, 2005, 1:05 AM
I think it might be lack of good art in Miami. There just isn't much worthy of criticism out there.
9.
October 23, 2005, 2:48 PM
You say that , but i bet you haven't even been to half the shows out there. I can name two or three :
Impenetrable at Locust,
Manifesto(one) at Ambrosino
The group show curated by Nina Arias at Ingalls & Associate.
Hanging by a Thread at Moore Space
What's wrong with you all? If it's not at Dorsch or if it doesn't look like an Olitski or F. Auerbach or sanctioned by Clement then it is not worth looking at??
i'm constantly disappointed by the lack of thought and excess of hot air on this site...Modernists.....blah!!!
10.
October 23, 2005, 8:34 PM
cousin: no thanks, nina and company have used up there credibility with me. Its got to be at least promising to get me out of the studio. Thanks anyway.
11.
October 23, 2005, 9:27 PM
"i'm constantly disappointed by the lack of thought and excess of hot air on this site"
Constant disappointment. Lack of satisfaction. Evident irritation.
Gee, I wonder what the solution to such a problem could possibly be.
Maybe Oldpro could figure it out, given his experience.
Or maybe this is a job for the National Psychiatric Association folks.
12.
October 24, 2005, 9:43 AM
"at least promissing'....of becomig what? you sound like linda evangelista. ("10 grand to get me out of bed...") sort of diva.
13.
October 24, 2005, 11:26 AM
If it costs ten grand to get Linda Evangelista out of bed, how much to get her in?
As for low comment volume, maybe it has to do with the fact that there're only two trains of thought represented here...
one, the commonsens-ists, or so-called 'Modernists', with whom I can only agree, which requires no comment...
... and the other,a babbling stream of insults and insanity, which generally merits no comment.
14.
October 26, 2005, 8:48 AM
no. its just that no one has power. We have a bit of the ibook's battery left. Hope everyone got through that one alright. It was pretty rough out here in Kendall way.
15.
October 26, 2005, 2:19 PM
i have escaped to the gulf coast with my daughter. my husband is at home trying to clean up debrit that i cannot lift. i do not have words or enuf tears to explain the extent of our damages. we are glad we are alive and that our home remains somewhat inhabitable, with roof intact. all else is gone. our neighborhood and surrounding area looks like a bomb went off. all of the lovely trees are gone. the collective debrit is unimaginable. a children's slide from the park 2oo yards away rests on our side lawn, along with lampost, hundreds of roof shingles, very large trees, glass, garbage, most of our fence, and twisted patio debrit. two trees remain, but have been stripped of each leaf, and all of the ackie fruit i so looked forward to picking and preparing has disappeared. the entire character of our property, and of the entire region has been transformed into something unfamiliar.
i feel guilty over here in the safety of my parents small home, near sarasota, and the comfort of the local library where i now sit, with nothing to say. nothing and everything.
truly,
mek
16.
October 26, 2005, 4:09 PM
Mek, I'm sorry to here the news but I'm glad you and your family were not hurt.
I have been following along in the news and it looked bad. I hope everyone else is unhurt as well.
17.
October 27, 2005, 12:25 AM
sorry mek. glad your family is relatively okay. no report from the other regulars. I'm sure its the power i hope. I'd like a to hear everyone else is still kickin when the power resumes. picking up the pieces. Go Soxs!
18.
October 27, 2005, 9:40 AM
Powerless but more or less OK here, and scrambling to keep an elderly parent who's addicted to Cuban coffee supplied with the stuff, which of course means waiting in line at coffee windows.
There are fallen trees or branches everywhere. If relevant city authorities had kept city trees properly trimmed, as they once did but stopped doing, at least half the damage (including cables knocked down by trees) could have been avoided. That obviously needs to happen religiously from now on, especially with trees anywhere near power lines.
Also, gas stations, at least strategically located ones, need to have back-up power generators so they can still dispense gas when they have no regular power. They should be required to do so, even if they have to be given funds to pay for the equipment.
In other words, there is now absolutely no excuse for failing to take serious proactive precautions to minimize future hurricane damage and disruption as much as possible.
19.
October 27, 2005, 11:22 AM
Power out, considerable but cosmetic damage to roof, plants down, back pulled from some overly adventuresome yardwork. Otherwise doing fine and ready to hold out another three days with current supplies. Condolences to Mek, who has mentioned before that she lives up in Broward. You'll be amazed how quickly it all springs back, Mek. I went through Andrew.
As I was discussing with a friend over gas-stove-cooked shrimp from the cooler, by candlelight, it seems like some kind of litmus test when Miami becomes colder, darker, and quieter, and some us find it all an improvement. It might indicate that we are not in our ideal positions.
I'm with Jack. I was on a little Greek island in 1990 and the government was burying the power cables. Why? Because little Greek islands get bad storms. They use a Beaufort scale, combined wind and water pressure, and a Beaufort 3 will throw car-sized boulders out of the sea. I saw one.
So, yes, bury the power lines going to the gas stations, and require backup generators. Bury the power lines going all over the city - don't just hack together more and more houses on the same fragile grid. And for crying out loud, don't plant trees under the existing power lines. You see it all over the city - trees that have been carved into ridiculous V shapes to accomodate power lines, all but guaranteeing that the lines will get hit if the tree falls in any direction.
Miami has not been designed so much as cobbled together on the cheap, and circumstances like this lay that fact bare.
20.
October 27, 2005, 3:57 PM
We lost a couple more trees and our fence went down. The 10x14 metal tool shed sailed like a shot down WW1 biplane over the back fence into our neighbor's yard, leavind the disconsolate contents standing naked, things packed away for years now exposed for their uselessness and dragged mercilessly to the curb. No power, the phone line down, an acre of plywood shutters to pack away somewhere. But nothing like what poor MEK reports, or the people who lost whole roofs, or did not stock up on gas & ice & canned food & water before the storm. It could be a lot worse.
There is a certain numbness that comes in after you have been through enough of these things, a peacefulness and feeling of fullness of time that attends no TV and no school and light manual clean-up labor all day, and of course the dubious stimulus of an ice-cold shower.
21.
October 28, 2005, 12:41 PM
I've been told that, when city officials were previously pressed to trim or cut down trees near power lines, their response was that FPL was responsible for keeping those lines clear. Whether this is true or just passing the buck, I'm afraid neither city people nor FPL is likely to prove especially reliable in this regard, as neither has proved so far--unless their hand is forced. Higher taxes and higher power bills never fail, but what we get in exchange is another matter.
1.
wwc
October 21, 2005, 10:09 AM
Stay safe and dry Florida-folks.