sunst0ne:

Listen (by Allegra Villella)

Steve Vai

Joe Satriani

Jimi Hendrix

Eric Clapton

Joe Bonamassa

Chat away.

The GOP and the press finally feel they have what they’ve been looking for: a political “mistake” by Barack Obama which they can use to cut him down to size. One has to admit, that the nation’s first black President has been quite scandal-free since his first Inauguration, in spite of the usual suspects’ best efforts. Obamacare was supposed to be his “Waterloo”; it now promises to cement a generation of Democratic dominance as citizens benefit from a new social program, one which will guarantee that they don’t have to choose between the rent and their health. Obama brought Osama Bin Laden to justice, something which the previous administration had no interest in doing. And of course, before he was even elected, he had the Reverend Wright “scandal”—a moment he used to give the nation a sorely needed lesson on race. The scandal-mongers have, quite frankly, lacked decent material with which to work.

So one could easily detect the almost orgiastic glee with which Republican politicians, their mouth-breather base, and the supine press greeted the advent of Benghazi and the IRS investigating Tea Party groups’ tax-exempt status. One could easily create a thought bubble over Darrel Issa’s and Jake Tapper’s heads: “Finally, we’re going to get that black bastard.”

Although the President’s race contributes almost exponentially to the mania surrounding the “scandals”—and yes, I will continue to put that word in quotes—race isn’t the source of the animus.

Quite simply, ever since the Gingrich Revolution of 1994, the modus operandi of the Republican Party has been to make sure that no Democrat can get anything done. That strategy lay behind Bill Clinton’s impeachment—an impeachment which came about in spite of Clinton’s non-stop schmoozing of Republicans, for all the good it did him. The economy was booming, people were souring on the Republican takeover of the Congress, and seeing Democrats, again, as being more aligned with the needs of the country.

This modern Republican Party cares nothing for the nation’s needs. And it certainly wants nothing done which will show government working for the greater good, as in its world that’s an impossibility, unless it’s working for the benefit of the billionaires who fund the party. The fact that a black man, who started his professional career as a community organizer, and who taught the Constitution which the GOP is busy destroying, is bringing transformational change to the country makes their frenzy all the greater.

But the core project remains: stymie Democrats, play as dirty as needed, stir up agitation, and get the public so sick of “scandal” that it decides to vote for a Republican in the next election.

The problem is this: it’s the only play the GOP has left in its playbook. It has mortgaged more and more of itself to the fringe elements of the base, to the extent where it has no room for maneuver. And the coalition which propelled Obama twice to the White House is only growing, and solidly Democratic.

It was almost guaranteed, when the country took leave of its senses in 2010, that the GOP House would find something—anything—with which to hound the Administration. That the best it can do is Benghazi and the IRS—two “scandals” of which the majority of the population isn’t even aware—shows that the playbook’s one play isn’t working as it once did. Add the GOP’s hamstringing of effective governance to its open racism, and a country which grows more tolerant by the day will see off the dying beast.

We all knew that it was going to get ugly. A Democrat re-elected to office seems to madden the GOP. That the Democrat is black adds fuel to the fire. But Barack Obama isn’t one to take the bait. He is, quite simply, just better than they are. And thank goodness for that.

K-e-y

M-o-u-s-e! 

It’s America’s most beloved mouse-dude! This was the final test for our Illustrator portion of Tech Prow. This guy, along with tracing out our initials, was given to us to make in Illustrator. We had to recreate a JPEG had the same basic image, and use the pen tool, pathfinder, and shape building tools to make a vector image version. I feel really confident that I created a solid copy of the image we were given. I mean, I even got a 100 on it, so I hope it’s good! But I’ve really come to learn Illustrator a lot more thanks to this class. It was daunting at first, but because I made myself learn how to learn the pen tool in Photoshop over last Winter break, I was able to pick it up easily in Illustrator. I do enjoy Illustrator a lot now, and  I’m really excited to use vector images a lot more. I’ve even been playing around making my own personal logo. Hopefully I’ll get around to making more vector stuff in my free time now that it’s summer! B) Keep a look out!

-LL

arcanja:

sem título by allisonwells on Flickr.

lien de l’image

Le week-end dernier je suis allé au Ansan Street Arts Festival qui présentait des artistes de rue coréens et internationaux. Pour l’évènement, la ville (située au Sud-Ouest du centre-ville séoulite) avait bloqué l’une des artères principales afin de pouvoir laisser place aux installations.

Franchement, ça vaut vraiment le coup d’y aller : j’y suis allé l’après-midi jusqu’au soir et j’ai vu quand même des performances impressionantes. Voici un petit condensé :
- Trois belges acrobates qui évoluent sur une plateforme en hauteur. Pendant la première partie du spectacle, ils font croire que l’un d’entre eux est une personne choisie dans le public pour impressionner l’audience à la toute fin. Cela n’a pas marché pour moi car j’ai été gentiment spoilé par un copaing qui les avait vu la veille !

- Des espagnols qui ont revisité des contes à travers une mise en scène conçue en temps réel qui superposait peinture, montage vidéo, musique et acteur. Le sens m’a parfois un peu échappé : l’actrice a quand même finie nue (en Corée les mecs ! en Corée !), recouverte de peinture et avec une tête de loup géante sur la tête (aucune drogue n’a été consommée pendant la rédaction de cet article).

- Des jeunes coréens qui ont retracé le soulèvement de Gwangju (en 1980, plus d’infos ici) en chorégraphiant les évènements (c’était intense).

- Des français (Cocoricooo) qui ont investit la façade d’un immeuble pour évoluer dans les airs.

Par contre, le feu d’artifice de fin n’était pas terrible et pas franchement utile. Enfin si, il nous a permis de prendre le métro tranquillou en évitant la foule qui continuait à le regarder.

Site du festival: http://www.ansanfest.com/2013/main.asp
Une interview du directeur artistique : http://eng.theapro.kr/?sub_num=61&state=view&idx=348

Bon j’avoue je suis encore un Baby Blogger car je n’ai pas de photos perso de l’évènement (j’ai encore oublié mon appareil chez moi).

These guys are my Vintage Illustrator Badges that I was to make for a project in my Tech Pro class. We were to follow this tutorial to create the badges and change it up a little by adding our name. I wanted to make it my own so I decided to play around with the colors and the color guide panel in Illustrator so I went from the teal and red badge to the magenta and green. I like the crazy colored one because it reminds me of the coloring of AriZona tea and the 90′s. Haha. But the top green and red is definitely my best. This is the first complex project I’ve ever completed in Illustrator and it doesn’t look too bad! The kerning and the outlines and drop shadows could be better, but this okay for a first go. I may play with different colors later on, but these are the only ones I’ve made so far. Keep a look out for more Illustrator work from me because there is definitely a bunch more on the way!

-LL

From Urban Dictionary:

mash up:

v. To take elements of two or more pre-existing pieces of music and combine them to make a new song.
n. A song comprised of elements of two or more pre-existing pieces of music.

In the early and mid oughts, mash ups were the new, creative frontier. Danger Mouse made his name by taking The Beatles’ “White Album” and Jay-Z’s “Black Album” and creating the “Grey Album”. He was given a cease and desist order by Apple Records, but he created the piece at a time when file sharing had exploded, so it’s quite easy to get access to the album. (Yes, I have it, and it’s SPECTACULAR.)

Mash ups are still a font of creativity, where mixers take disparate songs, find commonalities in them, and create something new.

So, for tonight’s night owl musical thread, mash ups!

Bob Marley v. The Beatles: “Let it Be, No Cry”

ABBA vs. Van Halen: “Super Jumper”

Coldplay vs. Muse: “Yellow Madness”

Wu Tang Clan v. Black Keys: “CREAM/So He Won’t Break”

James Brown v. Led Zeppelin: “Whole Lotta Sex Machine”

Adele v. Daft Punk: “Something About the Fire”

This is your mash-y night owl open thread.

Seema Jilani is a physician who specializes in Pediatrics, and concentrates on International Health Care. She has worked in Israel, Palestine, Sudan, Lebanon, Egypt and the Balkans. She has been a freelance journalist for Pacifica Radio for eight years. Her radio documentary, Israel and Palestine: The Human Cost of The Occupation, was nominated for The Peabody Award. Dr. Jilani’s work has been published in The Guardian, The Independent, Newsweek, The Washington Post and McClatchy Newspapers.

Dr. Jilani also blogs on Huffington Post, and yesterday posted the most extraordinary piece, detailing the unmasked bigotry she suffered at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Left without keys to her room, she tried to get into the ballroom to find her husband and retrieve her keys. Security staff disdainfully told her “no”, saying she had no ticket—something which didn’t seem to preclude Caucasian attendees easily passing through the security cordon.

Finally, the truth came out:

When I asked why the security representatives offered to personally escort white women without tickets downstairs while they watched me flounder, why they threatened to call the Secret Service on me, I was told, “We have to be extra careful with you all after the Boston bombings.”

So there you have it: the putatively Muslim Boston bombers once again damned an entire religion. The first organizations to come out with condolences for the victims were Muslim. I remember more than one Twitter feed feeling relief when the bombers’ pictures were released, and shown to be white; “Thank God they weren’t Muslim” read one tweet. Unfortunately, that proved not to be the case. They were Muslim, and the community had to once again apologize en masse for the actions of two men.

And yet, I don’t recall the larger Christian community rending its garments when Timothy McVeigh was arrested, tried, convicted, and executed for the Oklahoma City bombing. His warped view of Christianity contributed as much to his actions as his warped view of the American commonwealth. When a “Christian” bombs a clinic providing abortion services, I never see prelates and pastors rushing the cameras to apologize for someone who twisted Christian beliefs. Often, I see quite the opposite, with the more reactionary clergy and spokesmen trying to justify the acts.

Being part of the “mainstream” means never having to say you’re sorry. Of course Timothy McVeigh and abortion clinic bombers don’t represent all of Christianity. But neither do the Tsarnaev brothers or Osama bin Laden represent all of Islam. Why are they taken to be the norm, rather than the Muslim cab driver attacked in Washington D.C., a military veteran, who was told by his assailant—an aviation executive, who should have learned some grace in his life—”I will slice your fucking throat right now”? Why is Ahmedinajad of Iran the face of Islam in this country, rather than this:

The answer is simple: we need an enemy.

With the demise of the Soviet Union, the world became amorphous, with no easily identifiable “bad guys”. That’s not good for the business of war; as General Smedley Butler famously said, “War is a racket”. War spending helped keep the US economy afloat after World War II, right through the cold war, and into today. No one can honestly say that the US needs as huge a defense budget as it has now; the threats just aren’t there; and any threats which do exist could be better dealt with multilaterally.

The 2001 attacks finally gave the war party the enemy it had lacked during the 1990s. And the war party seized that opportunity with gusto.

But the idea of the “Other” wasn’t born in 2001. It is a current through American history. Various ethnicities have functioned as it throughout the years. Domestically, people of color are still viewed as Other; Muslims serve that role for the war party. And a disturbingly large percentage of the shrinking white population seizes on these visions of Otherness so as to define itself in opposition.

It’s no surprise that Mitt Romney won 60% of the white vote. What is quite surprising—and quite hopeful—is that it didn’t matter; he still lost the election. The US is going through that long-dreaded demographic shift, the one of which Pat Buchanan sounded the klaxon alarm throughout the 1990s. White America will become just another community in the mix that is our country. Everyone will be an “Other”; only when that happens, will we be able to, perhaps, see beyond labels. When white privilege ebbs away because there just aren’t enough angry white people, then all that will be left will be a common humanity. As the US will remain a superpower for the foreseeable future, that can only be a good thing, both for us at home and for the world.

But, really, I want an apology from Pat Robertson for Timothy McVeigh. The 168 dead and the country deserve it.

Man, I’m proud of this project. Look how pretty it is! Look at it and weep from it’s beauty! Kidding. But I honestly think this is one of the best things I’ve done in the class. Definitely my best Photoshop work in a loooong time. I feel like I’m really getting good at photo editing and that’s one thing I never thought I’d like, let alone be somewhat skilled at. I honestly feel like I’d see this in a magazine somewhere featuring houses and such. Anyway, hope you enjoy my cool house. It certainly is a lot cooler looking now that I’ve messed with it!

-LL

Image before editing

Of course, “Rocket Man”

My favorite Elton John song, “Tiny Dancer”

What Barack Obama tells all the haters: “I’m Still Standing”

“Bennie and the Jets”

And, finally, “Honky Cat”

This is your evening open thread.

Muitos famosos compareceram arriscando seus looks ousados (alguns até demais), porém foram poucos aqueles que acertaram no look.

A Katy Perry foi uma das piores, errou totalmente na proposta.

Ainda não me decidi o que foi pior: a coroa ou o sapato nada a ver.

Depois da Katy Perry, a Madonna ganha como pior look da noite. Ao contrário, ela levou o tema a sério demais, com a combinação de crucifixos e correntes.

Lily Collins confundiu o tema punk com festa de Halloween. Que jaqueta é essa?!

Já a Kim Kardashian acho que esqueceram de avisar o tema pra ela, aí ela pegou a cortina da sala e foi assim mesmo.

Felizmente, tiveram as celebs que acertaram em cheio no look.

Qual foi o look preferido de vocês? E qual vocês menos gostaram? Comentem!

Muáh,

Anna Innocenti.

Chat away!