aswierat's estrip.org Blog

What is "Good Art"?

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:02:04 -0400

Although a little delayed, I figured that I would write a review on [c]The Gates[/c] that caused some controversy back in February...

Basic Info: Artist's name: Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Title: The Gates
Dates: February 12th through the 26th 2005
Location: Central Park in NYC
Media: 7,532 16foot high frames from which hang rectangles of heavy saffron-colored nylon fabric.

The idea for [c]The Gates[/c] first came to creators, Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the year 1979, during a period when many artists were working directly with the landscape. They both desired a location which could turn nature into theater. They eventually found that Central Park in New York City, which lay deep in the heart of a city of towers and outlandish gestures, would be the ideal "stage" setting.
It has taken Christo and Jeanne-Claude twenty-six years of planning, fundraising, and proposing in order to have their ideas come to life. Finally, on January 22nd of 2003, the major of New York City, Michael R. Bloomberg, announced that a permit would be signed to allow Christo and Jeanne-Claude to begin constructing their fabrication. In the twenty-three miles of walkway they have placed around 7500 sixteen foot frames which each hold a rectangular piece of saffron colored nylon fabric which flows freely with the wind.
[c]The Gates[/c] have been described as a series of pictures with its endless spectators occupying that lower halves of each individual gate. The installation allows common, everyday individuals to become part of a piece of artwork in a small way. Most New Yorkers seem to appreciate [c]The Gates[/c] for the right reasons. Mainly the color and excitement of it all has brought a light into the common February gloom. It has also made many of its viewers more conscious of the parks serpentine design and perhaps even more aware of the park's genius designer, Mr. Frederick Law Olmstead.
Although [c]The Gates[/c] was put up for only sixteen days, I believe that the effects of this piece of artwork had a number of different individuals will stay with them for a long time. Although [c]The Gates[/c] is a triumph in and of itself for conceptual installation art, I believe that that twenty-one million dollars spent to produce this project could have been put towards a far nobler cause. Considering the overwhelming amount of devastation existing in this world with world hunger and war, I am sorry but money like this should be put toward something more substantial then decorating a public parkway for sixteen days.

For a humorus viewpoint of this artwork please check out this site and watch the video...

The Big Deal

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 12:18:26 -0500

So the lastest news is the big time companies, [c]Yahoo[/c] and [c]Google[/c] have decided to purchase two small moblogging services, Flickr and Picasa. There has been some rumors going around as to who is buying who but officially [c]Yahoo[/c] has purchased Flickr and [c]Google [/c] has purchased Picasa.
So what is the big fuss about these small companies? Well, unlike Yahoo and Google who are predominately search engines for websites and documents, Flickr and Picasa are search engines that concentrate primarily on images . These sites allow their uses to post and share any and all images that they have required over the years, and it can be as personal as you want it to be!
Personally, I have never really heard of these sites before. However, after hearing of this news and checking them out, I have become a member of both and hope to soon be an active member in these captivating spectacles. (As soon as I get going I'll attach a link to my new image pages).

Some Good News

Thu, 10 Mar 2005 11:34:20 -0500

[c]Good News!! [/c] The Buffalo Bills jumped head-first into free agency by picking up an offensive lineman and a backup quarterback last Friday, and they have got a pretty good fit at quarterback in Kelly Holcomb . He was signed to back up J.P. Losman.

Holcomb comes to the Bills from the Cleveland Browns after the Browns decided to go in another direction. He reportedly got a four year deal from the Bills worth $6.6 million including a signing bonus of $2 million (wow)

Hey, atleast we were able to get rid of Drew Bledsoe!

To Live or Die?

Sat, 02 Apr 2005 13:47:28 -0500

On [c]Friday March 18th[/c] , deep inside a guarded room far from gathering protesters, [c]Terri Schiavo [/c] on stopped receiving the vitamin-enriched fluid that keeps her alive. Doctors removed the feeding tube of America's most famous brain-damaged patient after a Florida judge rejected efforts by Republican leaders in Congress to stall the end of her feeding. Unless congressional Republicans can get the tube restored, medical experts said, Schiavo will die within two weeks.
The removal came after a dramatic sequence of legal arguments that began Friday morning when the House Government Reform Committee issued "subpoenas" to Schiavo, a woman who has been unable to speak for 15 years; her husband, Michael Schiavo; and several doctors and employees of her hospice, ordering them to appear at a congressional hearing March 25. Then, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee formally invited Michael and Terri Schiavo to testify on Monday. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's statement pointedly noted that it is a federal crime for anyone to interfere with a person's testimony before Congress.

I don't think legislative bodies or agencies have business in a court proceeding," Greer told a lawyer representing the House Committee on Government Reform during a hastily called teleconference. "The fact that you -- your committee -- decided to do something today doesn't create an emergency.

There was a brief pause, and then a lawyer stationed at the hospice asked Greer whether his order would go into effect immediately. Greer's answer was "Yes."

As long as someone is alive, there is hope," said Giovanna Brann, 53, who drove to the hospice from her home in nearby Largo. "If you love someone so much, you don't pull the plug.

Schiavo's feeding tube has been removed twice before, most recently in 2003 when a law pushed by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) gave him the authority to override Greer's orders and restart Schiavo's tube-feeding six days after it had been stopped. The law was later declared unconstitutional.
The legislative focal point of the case has now shifted to Washington. The U.S. House and Senate agreed in principle Thursday to pass legislation that would move jurisdiction in the case to the federal courts, effectively leaving Greer powerless. But the two legislative bodies were unable to reach a consensus before adjourning.
Now the Senate, whose members had planned to take two weeks of vacation, plans to reconvene Monday to debate a bill aimed at saving the life of Schiavo, 41. The prospect of Schiavo's death inflamed emotions in the Capitol on Friday as lawyers in Washington and Florida did battle.

All in all, the pictures of Terri seeming to smile or responding to touch are fakes . She moves involuntarily, and by taking enough video footage or photos, you can always sift through them and find ones that seem to show signs of life. The tragic fact is she has no life left in her. She has died once already, now she is dying a second time, day by day, hour by hour, on television and in the press. The fact is plain and simple: Terri Schiavo is brain dead . When we think of a 'brain', the shape we picture is the cerebral cortex. The space in her head where that organ should be is filled instead with empty space and pockets of loose cerebrospinal fluid.
Where is the public voice brave enough to say to those demonstrators, "Look, we know you think you're saving a life, but you're being manipulated by people who want to stir you up for what they really want, people who don't give a damn about Terri Schiavo"? Where is the voice calm and reasoned enough to say, "This poor woman isn't even alive...she has no brain."

Pork and Patronage

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:01:54 -0500

[c]The Buffalo News [/c] recently polled 400+ Erie County residents about their thoughts on the "Erie County Budget Crisis" and this is what they got:

Basically three out of four people polled think the County Legislature did the right thing by refusing to raise the sales tax earlier this month.
The poll found that Erie County residents feel less certain about whether deep cuts to county jobs and services are the best way to handle the current crisis.
Just 36% of residents agreed with the Legislature's move to lay off 2,000 workers and cut services such as parks, library hours and Sheriff's Department road patrols to balance the budget.
By comparison, 42% disagreed with those moves. Another 22% were unsure.

However, legislators wondered where residents expected them to make deep cuts.

Residents also were mixed in their views as to whether the county crisis has made them rethink their attitudes about a proposed merger of the City of Buffalo and Erie County.
One in three people said their ideas about the merger haven't changed as a result of the crisis.
But 42.5% said they now think less favorably about the merger. Another 25% said they think more favorably of the merger idea.

However, [c]Giambra[/c] said he's going to use the current crisis as an opportunity to push the issue of regionalism and consolidation even harder in Erie County.

This provides a huge opportunity for us to drive home the message of changing the way we do business in Erie County [c]Giambra[/c] said.

Once you've got the taxpayers' attention, you can sell them on the idea of regionalism and consolidation.