"DEAR LEADER"

I just wanted to introduce the work of Jean de la Fontaine. Please excuse my lack of mastery but you should appreciate his: Jean de la Fontaine was a 17th century French fabulist, who wrote, in part, to satirize Louis the fourteenth’s absolute authority. He is still, to this day, one of my favorite authors.

Ironically I was once forced, at the end of a stick, to commit his works to memory, all the while wondering why they so blatantly gave me the very stick, I would some day use to return my favorite kind of justice: “Satire”.So without further ado, a belated thank you to all those so called educated pricks my childhood was so generously peppered with. For the rest of you, especially if you speak French, I link to you the works of JDLF, as he is sometimes acronym-ly known. Sweet music to cauliflowered ears.

Found this busty lady while surfing the “Dictionary dot com”. Sometimes the pursuit of knowledge leads right back to these ICBMs. Nonetheless, I have to admit, I like the idea that somewheres, out there in the Bible belt, that this is as close as some student will ever get to ogling breasts, print this page, and run to pleasure thyself…!

The Photo Editor continues his daily postings and it seems I can’t just ignore him, dammit:

He writes:
“I’ve never met anyone as loyal as Martin Schoeller (here). To the subject, his team of people, the client, his agent, his style, his goals, the print… everything. It’s more than just being a nice guy and delivering consistently good work there’s honesty and integrity, and a devotion to the craft, and an incredible work ethic that adds up to, well, loyalty.

There was a point in his career where he was thinking oh shit, this big head style is not going to define me but over the last couple years he’s decided the market forces are too great and produced a book and several gallery exhibits of big heads”.

Commentum, humanum est:

Loyalty: I am going to go out on a limb here and throw the baby out with the bath water but I am of the opinion that Yankee psychology leaves little room for such august affectations. I might even venture to proclaim that in this country, as someone who has lived on three continents, Europe and Asia being the other two outside this one; that personal and economic loyalty are oft ridiculed personal and corporate qualities and attributes.

Martin Schoeller, besides being an extremely talented photographer probably owes much of his success to his temperament and character but also to the simple fact that Europeans are taught, at an early age, to stick by those who raise you up, and that to not return the favor is an abominably rude and crassly North American attribute.

Americans tend to take their entrepreneurial zeal a little too seriously and often dismiss budding friendships and partnerships for short term profits. Friends of mine who work in Europe, China and India dislike working with North Americans most of all for lacking these most natural virtues; knowing full well that if they do not give way to our commercial brutishness, that they, the ” Yankees”, will take our business elsewhere to save less than a few cents.

Business is based on personal character and on nurturing relationships, but these values are often ignored in response to brutishly attained profits; victims of our quarterly reported and greedish creed. The unflinching coarseness of the market has created increasingly newfangled, unemotional and unavailable beasts.

Nothing wrong with profits but profits without relationships will eventually diminish returns on those very real and coveted profits. Without lasting relationships the proverbial economic air slowly gets sucked out of the market and replaced with increasingly short termed and noxious speculative fumes (dot coms, sub prime shenanigans, dollar stockananigans, just to name a quick few…..)

Nonetheless, it’s nice to see that sometimes, humanity and simple loyalty can be appreciated, at least on a personal level. As for institutions, they are in the business of stripping those very human qualities to replace them with malignantly optioned algorithms and purposeful speculative economic rape and pillage.

As far as I am concerned business without values such as loyalty only leads to blindingly irrational exuberance, quickly followed by the digestion of increasingly depressing, manic, and loathsomely bitter pills. This seems to have become, not only the modus operandi of the North American economy, but more recently, the engine of its continued, rapid and possibly irreversible enfeebling.

Anyway, Americans are a versatile and flit footed people; let’s hope we can learn from our mistakes and regain some of our legendary humanity, which as of late has been sorely missing from the North American psyche. Nevertheless, I also wonder how quickly Martin might be forgotten should he falter to produce or fall pray to illness, age, cynicism or simple disgust?

Sorry, was that self-righteous enough for you? I swear I stopped reading Paul Krugman way back in two 0 two !
Sorry for the rant, I know it isn’t appreciated as constructive in this here “God’s country”.

I have always loved chuck close’s work and I think he is one of the least recognized and influential of all the very best contemporary artists. Nevertheless, here is another reason to appreciate his work further still, I could not agree more with the quote below:

“Photography is the easiest medium in which to be competent, but it’s the hardest medium in which to have personal vision that is readily identifiable”.

More website peregrinations. I continue redesigning the redesign. Need to go to Ikea to pick up a full length mirror and work facing my reflection. I think I’ll like that. The artist at work, peeking round the monitor to make sure he still loves him. Sweet…..

Here is an example of an abusive mind thinking aloud, itself the result of an overactive mind unable to stop itself from marveling at other minds cluster fucking themselves into their own personally abusive and mindfully cluttered and redundantly descriptive bits.

While brushing my teeth last night I read:

Take the feeling of clean to the extreme:

* Showers your whole mouth – teeth, gums and breath.
* Dynamic foaming action seeks out hard to reach places – even the back of your tongue – fighting the sources of bad breath.
* Teeth feel clean & smooth. Your whole mouth is energized with an icy cool, sparkling feeling that lasts long.
* “…..product name….” Extreme Clean Whitening Mint Experience (all capitalized) also whitens your teeth.

and then I think:

I don’t know why but reading this makes me want to overeat, stop brushing my fucking teeth, move to New Mexico and feast on the rotting carcasses of fat, bearded, behind the counter Calumet photographic sales associates. Makes every contrariant hair, bristle on the back of my horse’s hair. I think the mind works in wondrously mysterious and hypnotic ways.

Tags: adverse, antagonistic, antipathetic, clashing, contrariant, contrary, disconsonant, discordant, discrepant, dissonant, incompatible, incongruent, incongruous, inconsistent, inconsonant, opposed, opposing, paradoxical, unfavorable, unmixable

I had never enjoyed texting until I got the iphone. Here is an excerpt  from a recent conversation with a special someone. Yeah, yeah, I know I am supposed to be blogging about photography but I am a multi faceted human being, what can I say, I have other interests !

O(that’s me): “Brunch with captain hairy”
Z: “Jealous, Have fun”!
O:”Look how she writes back when she wants to….!!!!”
Z:”It’s the weekend”
O:”Whatever, I’ll give you the weekend. What if I just wanted to chat it up with you, wench?”
O:” …., not so interesting!”
Z:”yippeeeee!!!
Z:”oh, and I’d chat anytime wit jew…Reading kathy ryan’s rag right now.”
O:”you mean NYtimes?”
Z:”yup….”
O:”Whata fuck? Where you at?”
Z:”gone, u need something?”
O:”Some skanky pussy!”
Z:”No problemo!”
O:”Happy saknkping, get some dickie o! We tally monday.”
Z:”24″definetely! Thank you muchly..-xo”
O:”you all set up with the lap dog. At a special price. address and credit card.”
Z:”OMG!Ok, headed to my next mtg and will email in a fewhrs, that ok, or do you need info texted for asap?”
O:”later iz okay”
Z:”Gaciass Olau”.
O:”Arnut basat kilo !”
Z:”Quoi? Limited intelligence, remember?”
O:”I know.”

The End.