and the Devil himself...
Friday, August 2, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Why Facebook Doesn't Just Suck... It's Kinda Creepy Too
When I first discovered Facebook, I thought it was pretty cool. I also thought it was free (and always would be, I mean hey, they say that, right?), that the info on the page was my own, (being, you know, mine and all... photos, writing etc) and that it would be a fresh, new alternative to MySpace.
Sure, I missed having an mp3 player at the top of my page since I'm a musician, and I also missed having a blog right there... and my MySpace page looked way cooler with the whole background option and all but still, it seemed basically the same function-wise and hey, more of my family and friends from high school & stuff were on there. So, with a little wistful regret, I settled for a ReverbNation page to keep the mp3 player and blog function and a Facebook page for the social media function. I thought, (and still do) it was kinda ridiculous to not be able to just have both but, oh well.
I've gone from liking it to having a like-hate relationship with it to just plain hating it. Where's the new start-up that replaces it like MySpace did to Friendster and Facebook did to MySpace? Please come rescue us! And don't say Google Plus. You know you never check it and neither does anyone else.
Honestly, I think it's a great example of the Book of Revelation's warning that something will come and seem good but actually isn't.
Why? It's not what I signed up for! Yes, you agree to abide by Facebook's rules and regulations when you sign up but what they don't tell you is THEY CONSTANTLY CHANGE THE RULES and they don't tell you. You're notified of these changes by losing functionality or, worst case scenerio, having your page just poof! Deleted. Again, without warning. So, no time to save your photos or notes or a list of your friends - just gone and no access for you to any of that any more. You know who DOES still have access? Facebook does.
So, since they don't tell you themselves, I'm listing the rules (or some of them anyway, as they're known to date - they may well change again tomorrow, or in a few hours...) so you don't have to learn the hard way, as I did.
1. Are you a popular artist or venue and you've already reached your 5,000 friends limit? Meet new people at shows or otherwise make new friends in the real world and want to include them? Don't want to delete existing friends, family and fans? Making a new page would be a time consuming but viable solution but no. You're not allowed to have more than one Facebook page. If you do, you run the risk of waking up to no more FB pages at all and starting from scratch.
2. Want former school mates to be able to find you by your nickname or are you an artist with a stage name and you want fans to be able to find you? Too bad. You must use your literal, actual name or, again, FB can delete you without warning. Actual stalkers who create fake profiles to stalk and be a danger to society have almost 0 chance of being caught with an 'illegal' FB page. Artists with odd stage names? They'll probably not let you start it with that name in the first place/it'll be too unusual to be an 'actual name'.
3. Facebook DOES offer an alternative to this, the 'artist' or 'business' page. Here, you can have 'fans' instead of friends and there's no limit to the number. Awesome! You as an artist or business may say. This way I can add as many people as I like (NOPE, they have to add you - no friend request function on an artist/business page)... ok well, that way I can invite my fans to my show! NOPE new rule says you can only invite 100 people to events. But you just invited a bunch more than that? Well, probably because they can't entirely control your ability to click people who already signed up for your updates, they have a back-up loophole - you can't have more than 300 invites pending - or, guess what, you lose the ability to use event invites.
So, if you love say, Neil Gaiman and love getting his event invites but don't always feel like clicking 'yes', 'no' or 'maybe'.... leave it un-clicked and you're potentially impeding your favorite author's ability to let his fans know about his next book signing.
4. But, they don't block it forever do they? Well, they say you can invite again once more people respond to the event. That's right. To the event that has already taken place. But don't they have a way to repeat the event? YES they do! But you can't do that under the above circumstances, you lose that functionality too. Weird right? And they already have a way for people to block invites from a user (with no penalty to the user) if they don't want to send them - so they're not doing this to prevent unwanted invites - there's already a way to prevent them. What's the point? I find myself asking that about most of Facebook's rules.
5. Now, back to the friend issue - which is, of course, the whole point of Facebook and which, as I've said above, Facebook nonetheless limits. New to an area and want to add people who seem like they'd be cool/like they would actually be your friend in real life/who are friends of friends/same interests etc? Are you a writer who wants to add friends of your magazine? Anything similar? New page and you want, you know, to have people on it? Don't add more than 30 a day or, guess what, Facebook takes away your ability to send invites.
How do they know? Well, they have this weird little thing that asks people if they know you outside of Facebook. Weird right? I mean, if people don't know you and don't want to add you the can just not add you. Why does Facebook need to be involved in the process in any direct way?
What happens then is, or in my experience, this - I'm a musician with a high-ranking ReverbNation page (it's #10 in Nashville for Americana so a lot of people see it). I write this blog, (which dizzy's me with it's monthly traffic) and also for Outlaw Magazine and Fine Art Magazine. My Great-Uncle was a well known Pulp Fiction writer, (he basically made up Spider Man) and I host a page about him too. All link to my Facebook page. Why? So that people who are into what I do can find me, of course. And they do find me - about 10 people a day in fact. I haven't sent a friend request in over 6 mos. And when I do meet someone I want to add, at a show or wherever, I can't because FB has blocked my ability to send Friend Requests, (that's right, even without my making any).
How? Well, Facebook asks me when I accept the requests I get whether I know the person outside of Facebook. I assume the other person is asked that too (I've forgotten since it's been so long since I could make a friend request). Not going through the thought process of yes, if they know my writing, or music, or my Great-Uncle's writing they then know me outside of this little site they click no. Facebook has some kind of limit on that, as with invites, that then penalizes me. Yep. I'm penalized because too many people find me outside of Facebook then don't understand what the weird question means or why it's there. So, when you see that, as a wise friend suggested to me, don't click it.
And when you get an invite - respond, even if it's to decline.
Other Facebook rules you might not be aware of - including you have to use a 3rd party App to do a promotion - this is giving me a headache, I can't write about it anymore without becoming too overwhelmed with anger. And I wouldn't be angry if I'd known all of this when I signed up for it. Or if Facebook sent emails out telling us about the new changes so penalties could be avoided. But no. I guess that would be too, well functional for users.
5 Things You Probably Didn't Know Are Illegal on Facebook
3 Things You May Not Know About Facebook
Sure, I missed having an mp3 player at the top of my page since I'm a musician, and I also missed having a blog right there... and my MySpace page looked way cooler with the whole background option and all but still, it seemed basically the same function-wise and hey, more of my family and friends from high school & stuff were on there. So, with a little wistful regret, I settled for a ReverbNation page to keep the mp3 player and blog function and a Facebook page for the social media function. I thought, (and still do) it was kinda ridiculous to not be able to just have both but, oh well.
I've gone from liking it to having a like-hate relationship with it to just plain hating it. Where's the new start-up that replaces it like MySpace did to Friendster and Facebook did to MySpace? Please come rescue us! And don't say Google Plus. You know you never check it and neither does anyone else.
Honestly, I think it's a great example of the Book of Revelation's warning that something will come and seem good but actually isn't.
Why? It's not what I signed up for! Yes, you agree to abide by Facebook's rules and regulations when you sign up but what they don't tell you is THEY CONSTANTLY CHANGE THE RULES and they don't tell you. You're notified of these changes by losing functionality or, worst case scenerio, having your page just poof! Deleted. Again, without warning. So, no time to save your photos or notes or a list of your friends - just gone and no access for you to any of that any more. You know who DOES still have access? Facebook does.
So, since they don't tell you themselves, I'm listing the rules (or some of them anyway, as they're known to date - they may well change again tomorrow, or in a few hours...) so you don't have to learn the hard way, as I did.
1. Are you a popular artist or venue and you've already reached your 5,000 friends limit? Meet new people at shows or otherwise make new friends in the real world and want to include them? Don't want to delete existing friends, family and fans? Making a new page would be a time consuming but viable solution but no. You're not allowed to have more than one Facebook page. If you do, you run the risk of waking up to no more FB pages at all and starting from scratch.
2. Want former school mates to be able to find you by your nickname or are you an artist with a stage name and you want fans to be able to find you? Too bad. You must use your literal, actual name or, again, FB can delete you without warning. Actual stalkers who create fake profiles to stalk and be a danger to society have almost 0 chance of being caught with an 'illegal' FB page. Artists with odd stage names? They'll probably not let you start it with that name in the first place/it'll be too unusual to be an 'actual name'.
3. Facebook DOES offer an alternative to this, the 'artist' or 'business' page. Here, you can have 'fans' instead of friends and there's no limit to the number. Awesome! You as an artist or business may say. This way I can add as many people as I like (NOPE, they have to add you - no friend request function on an artist/business page)... ok well, that way I can invite my fans to my show! NOPE new rule says you can only invite 100 people to events. But you just invited a bunch more than that? Well, probably because they can't entirely control your ability to click people who already signed up for your updates, they have a back-up loophole - you can't have more than 300 invites pending - or, guess what, you lose the ability to use event invites.
So, if you love say, Neil Gaiman and love getting his event invites but don't always feel like clicking 'yes', 'no' or 'maybe'.... leave it un-clicked and you're potentially impeding your favorite author's ability to let his fans know about his next book signing.
4. But, they don't block it forever do they? Well, they say you can invite again once more people respond to the event. That's right. To the event that has already taken place. But don't they have a way to repeat the event? YES they do! But you can't do that under the above circumstances, you lose that functionality too. Weird right? And they already have a way for people to block invites from a user (with no penalty to the user) if they don't want to send them - so they're not doing this to prevent unwanted invites - there's already a way to prevent them. What's the point? I find myself asking that about most of Facebook's rules.
5. Now, back to the friend issue - which is, of course, the whole point of Facebook and which, as I've said above, Facebook nonetheless limits. New to an area and want to add people who seem like they'd be cool/like they would actually be your friend in real life/who are friends of friends/same interests etc? Are you a writer who wants to add friends of your magazine? Anything similar? New page and you want, you know, to have people on it? Don't add more than 30 a day or, guess what, Facebook takes away your ability to send invites.
How do they know? Well, they have this weird little thing that asks people if they know you outside of Facebook. Weird right? I mean, if people don't know you and don't want to add you the can just not add you. Why does Facebook need to be involved in the process in any direct way?
What happens then is, or in my experience, this - I'm a musician with a high-ranking ReverbNation page (it's #10 in Nashville for Americana so a lot of people see it). I write this blog, (which dizzy's me with it's monthly traffic) and also for Outlaw Magazine and Fine Art Magazine. My Great-Uncle was a well known Pulp Fiction writer, (he basically made up Spider Man) and I host a page about him too. All link to my Facebook page. Why? So that people who are into what I do can find me, of course. And they do find me - about 10 people a day in fact. I haven't sent a friend request in over 6 mos. And when I do meet someone I want to add, at a show or wherever, I can't because FB has blocked my ability to send Friend Requests, (that's right, even without my making any).
How? Well, Facebook asks me when I accept the requests I get whether I know the person outside of Facebook. I assume the other person is asked that too (I've forgotten since it's been so long since I could make a friend request). Not going through the thought process of yes, if they know my writing, or music, or my Great-Uncle's writing they then know me outside of this little site they click no. Facebook has some kind of limit on that, as with invites, that then penalizes me. Yep. I'm penalized because too many people find me outside of Facebook then don't understand what the weird question means or why it's there. So, when you see that, as a wise friend suggested to me, don't click it.
And when you get an invite - respond, even if it's to decline.
Other Facebook rules you might not be aware of - including you have to use a 3rd party App to do a promotion - this is giving me a headache, I can't write about it anymore without becoming too overwhelmed with anger. And I wouldn't be angry if I'd known all of this when I signed up for it. Or if Facebook sent emails out telling us about the new changes so penalties could be avoided. But no. I guess that would be too, well functional for users.
5 Things You Probably Didn't Know Are Illegal on Facebook
3 Things You May Not Know About Facebook
What No One's Talking About in the Abortion Debate - The Economic Reality and It's Impact on Society
I rarely discuss my personal experiences or political issues here but the recent reactions to a 14 year old girl's protest sign (read her statement here) in support of a woman's right to choose to terminate pregnancy struck me to the point that I feel I need to say something.
Too many people seem utterly unaware of what pregnancy and the subsequent care of an infant entail for, considering the economic crisis our society has been facing for quite a while, I'm sure a growing number of women. That is not even the main point of the abortion issue, but it is a point that I don't even hear being raised in the discussion and so it's the one I'm going to address. Maybe my story will open some eyes. I hope so. I was not poor, I was fairly middle class. I was not uneducated, I completed college and had a career commensurate with my background. I still don't quite see how we survived.
Here's what happened.
When I discovered I was pregnant with my super amazing son, (and this was 11 years ago when the economy was actually good), I knew it would be life-changing and was excited about how marvelous those changes would be. And, of course it was! However, in retrospect, I don't see how either of us survived.
I would have never thought that would be the case, nor would anyone who knew me. I had a fantastic paralegal job with a firm that was discussing sending me to law school. I was surrounded by close friends who were also having their first children. The father and I were not together but he lived a block away and also had a very stable job/owned his home. I had great insurance. Everything seemed like it would be just fine.
But it wasn't. I became very seriously ill with toxemia, which effected my ability to work. This resulted in the firm (Civil Rights firm mind you) pushing me out of my job when I was 7 mos. pregnant (maybe 8, it was so traumatic I've blocked it out). Good luck fighting it, most of their time was spent on cases just like that so they were realllllyyyy good at pushing me out. Validly afraid I was dying and jobless at 7 or 8 mos pregnant I, of course, didn't know what on earth to do. And trust me, no one hires a pregnant woman; especially one THAT pregnant.
I wanted to be with my family, (in part because I wasn't sure I'd be around much longer), so moved from Louisville to Virginia, where they were. I, thankfully, kept my insurance. How I managed to find and pay for an apartment I don't know but somehow I did. I did have some help from my son's father, who, thank God is a really great person/father, and from family members but believe me, things were nearly impossible. If my Aunt, for example, hadn't covered the enormous cost of all the things needed for a new baby, (crib, stroller etc -- altogether it's thousands, even if you're frugal - not to mention an entire new wardrobe every 3 mos), I have no idea what we would have done.
Both of my parents have cerebal palsy so were not physically able to help or to provide child care. The father was in another state and there were no other relatives to help with it either really. This raised an impossible question - how on earth was I going to work? I was beyond qualified to earn 50,000.00 + a year but, see above for why that with paid maternity leave wasn't the case.
Now, that I had the ability to earn that much or to have paid maternity leave, (which should be a basic thing because it's absolutely a basic necessity), was not a situation most women find themselves in. It was, sadly and frankly discgracefully, an exception to the norm. So, what I found myself facing before and after the birth of my son is, unless I'm very much mistaken, a common experience.
Child care for infants is extremely, or shall I say prohibitively (to the point that I wonder if it's not as costly as it is to prevent women from being able to utilize it) expensive. I wound up paying $150 a week. Because I had been out of the work force for several months and because my experience was in another state, and also because finding someone to watch my infant while I interviewed was nearly impossible, it took a long time to find a job in spite of my qualifications, (I started in the field in the President's law firm, had fantastic references and, with a professional writing background and a typing speed of 100wpm was more qualified than many, if not most applicants).
My first position was part time, (30 hours - enough that the firm enjoyed a nearly full time employee without having to pay full time benefits). I think I was paid $11 an hour, maybe $13. Whichever the case, my check was about $200 a week. I applied for child care subsidy, which I felt was ridiculous considering what my salary history had been but there was no other choice. I made $1 an hour too much to qualify. So, I worked for $50 a week after paying for child care.
This continued until my son was about a year and a half, when I finally found a job similar to the one I'd been pushed out of in the first place. I was not able to pursue music, theater or comedy, all of which had supplemented my income at other times in my life when my job situation was less than ideal because I didn't have family help with child care and with $50 a week after paying for day care certainly couldn't pay a sitter. The same situation prevented my getting a 2nd job bartending or waitressing, which in normal circumstances I surely would have done if my day job income had only been $50 a week.
So, this is what can go down when you DO plan a pregnancy based on your (perceived) ability to support your child. Our society pays attention to the needs of mothers in a really glossed over, superficial kind of way - and basic needs here folks - I'm not talking handouts I'm talking the ability to earn enough to live on. Hell, I'm talking about the ability to even go to work. I believe the WIC program was cut in the last go round of food stamp eliminations.
Making abortion illegal will place God knows how many more women and children in the above situation and far worse. I was lucky. I had the support (albiet from a state away) of a great Dad, am overly educated and was on a solid career path. Men, whether they have children or not, always have the option of education and establishing a career path. Women do not if we are not able to plan our pregnancies. That's not only profoundly screwed up, not only does a great disservice to women and children, but to society as a whole.
Like I said, there are a lot of other very important points in the argument for reproductive rights. This one, however, is as fact based as it gets. Maybe that's why it's so over looked. I hope I helped change that just a little.
Too many people seem utterly unaware of what pregnancy and the subsequent care of an infant entail for, considering the economic crisis our society has been facing for quite a while, I'm sure a growing number of women. That is not even the main point of the abortion issue, but it is a point that I don't even hear being raised in the discussion and so it's the one I'm going to address. Maybe my story will open some eyes. I hope so. I was not poor, I was fairly middle class. I was not uneducated, I completed college and had a career commensurate with my background. I still don't quite see how we survived.
Here's what happened.
When I discovered I was pregnant with my super amazing son, (and this was 11 years ago when the economy was actually good), I knew it would be life-changing and was excited about how marvelous those changes would be. And, of course it was! However, in retrospect, I don't see how either of us survived.
I would have never thought that would be the case, nor would anyone who knew me. I had a fantastic paralegal job with a firm that was discussing sending me to law school. I was surrounded by close friends who were also having their first children. The father and I were not together but he lived a block away and also had a very stable job/owned his home. I had great insurance. Everything seemed like it would be just fine.
But it wasn't. I became very seriously ill with toxemia, which effected my ability to work. This resulted in the firm (Civil Rights firm mind you) pushing me out of my job when I was 7 mos. pregnant (maybe 8, it was so traumatic I've blocked it out). Good luck fighting it, most of their time was spent on cases just like that so they were realllllyyyy good at pushing me out. Validly afraid I was dying and jobless at 7 or 8 mos pregnant I, of course, didn't know what on earth to do. And trust me, no one hires a pregnant woman; especially one THAT pregnant.
I wanted to be with my family, (in part because I wasn't sure I'd be around much longer), so moved from Louisville to Virginia, where they were. I, thankfully, kept my insurance. How I managed to find and pay for an apartment I don't know but somehow I did. I did have some help from my son's father, who, thank God is a really great person/father, and from family members but believe me, things were nearly impossible. If my Aunt, for example, hadn't covered the enormous cost of all the things needed for a new baby, (crib, stroller etc -- altogether it's thousands, even if you're frugal - not to mention an entire new wardrobe every 3 mos), I have no idea what we would have done.
Both of my parents have cerebal palsy so were not physically able to help or to provide child care. The father was in another state and there were no other relatives to help with it either really. This raised an impossible question - how on earth was I going to work? I was beyond qualified to earn 50,000.00 + a year but, see above for why that with paid maternity leave wasn't the case.
Now, that I had the ability to earn that much or to have paid maternity leave, (which should be a basic thing because it's absolutely a basic necessity), was not a situation most women find themselves in. It was, sadly and frankly discgracefully, an exception to the norm. So, what I found myself facing before and after the birth of my son is, unless I'm very much mistaken, a common experience.
Child care for infants is extremely, or shall I say prohibitively (to the point that I wonder if it's not as costly as it is to prevent women from being able to utilize it) expensive. I wound up paying $150 a week. Because I had been out of the work force for several months and because my experience was in another state, and also because finding someone to watch my infant while I interviewed was nearly impossible, it took a long time to find a job in spite of my qualifications, (I started in the field in the President's law firm, had fantastic references and, with a professional writing background and a typing speed of 100wpm was more qualified than many, if not most applicants).
My first position was part time, (30 hours - enough that the firm enjoyed a nearly full time employee without having to pay full time benefits). I think I was paid $11 an hour, maybe $13. Whichever the case, my check was about $200 a week. I applied for child care subsidy, which I felt was ridiculous considering what my salary history had been but there was no other choice. I made $1 an hour too much to qualify. So, I worked for $50 a week after paying for child care.
This continued until my son was about a year and a half, when I finally found a job similar to the one I'd been pushed out of in the first place. I was not able to pursue music, theater or comedy, all of which had supplemented my income at other times in my life when my job situation was less than ideal because I didn't have family help with child care and with $50 a week after paying for day care certainly couldn't pay a sitter. The same situation prevented my getting a 2nd job bartending or waitressing, which in normal circumstances I surely would have done if my day job income had only been $50 a week.
So, this is what can go down when you DO plan a pregnancy based on your (perceived) ability to support your child. Our society pays attention to the needs of mothers in a really glossed over, superficial kind of way - and basic needs here folks - I'm not talking handouts I'm talking the ability to earn enough to live on. Hell, I'm talking about the ability to even go to work. I believe the WIC program was cut in the last go round of food stamp eliminations.
Making abortion illegal will place God knows how many more women and children in the above situation and far worse. I was lucky. I had the support (albiet from a state away) of a great Dad, am overly educated and was on a solid career path. Men, whether they have children or not, always have the option of education and establishing a career path. Women do not if we are not able to plan our pregnancies. That's not only profoundly screwed up, not only does a great disservice to women and children, but to society as a whole.
Like I said, there are a lot of other very important points in the argument for reproductive rights. This one, however, is as fact based as it gets. Maybe that's why it's so over looked. I hope I helped change that just a little.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Icons and Idols, Images and Quotes
Cameron Bentley studied Fine Art with a Music minor at Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz. Paintings from his Iconic Celebrity series are featured in the book, 'Marilyin in Art' and have been displayed in galleries on the West Coast as well as here in Nashville. Doors member Robbie Krieger played with a Jim Morrison painting created for him on stage.
A member of the multi-talented Mellencamp family, his work is strongly influenced by his cousin, John Cougar Mellencamp and John's mother Marilyn, who's paints and brushes he uses to create many of his paintings. His 'Icons' reflect both his heritage and the enormous influence of music in his life. His Mandlecrux series, also in progress, reflects the center of life and creation; the heart of the mandella.
A member of the multi-talented Mellencamp family, his work is strongly influenced by his cousin, John Cougar Mellencamp and John's mother Marilyn, who's paints and brushes he uses to create many of his paintings. His 'Icons' reflect both his heritage and the enormous influence of music in his life. His Mandlecrux series, also in progress, reflects the center of life and creation; the heart of the mandella.
The White Stripes
"I really don't like to take the easy way out, if I can help it, in anything I do."
"I'm interested in ideas that will shake us all up."
- Jack White
Jim Morrison
"The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are."
“I can make the earth stop in its tracks."
Warhol vs. Basquiat
“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
“Sometimes the little times you don't think are anything while they're happening turn out to be what marks a whole period of your life.”
- Andy Warhol
"Most young kings get their heads cut off."
- Jean Michael Basquiat
Marlene Dietrich
"If there is a supreme being, he's crazy."
"Darling, the legs aren't so beautiful, I just know what to do with them."
"I am not a myth."
Elvis Presley
"When things go wrong, don't go wrong with them."
"If you let your head get too big, it'll break your neck."
"Sad thing is, you can love someone and still be wrong for them."
John Cougar Mellencamp
"I do things my way and I pay a high price."
"You've gotta stand for something or you're gonna fall for anything."
More art by Cameron Bentley: HERE
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Photography of Julia Margaret Cameron
Today is the anniversary of Virginia Woolfe's death and, as I was reading about her, I discovered her amazing Aunt, Julia Margaret Cameron. Some of her photography:
Frances Hodgeson Burnett
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Top Twitter Bio's for March
In no particular order - they're all awesome.
Carlos Ramos @TheCarlosRamos
Noah Bradley
@noahbradley
Your Host Tweeting
http://www.twitter.com/lonesomeliz
Carlos Ramos @TheCarlosRamos
I paint, draw, write, tell jokes and want you to stalk me..
I was thinking about maybe changing my bio.
I like people to know when I'm drinking coffee, so I joined Twitter.
Artist. Not the unemployed kind.
I'm fly.
A tornado disguised as a girl.
I am the change I have been waiting for.
Bio
Disappointing both of us.
Free Thinker. All answers questioned here.
Thank God I'm a hot chick with superpowers.
Misanthropologist.
I like fancy book learnin'.
My life is based on a true story.
Shakes head.
Please wait for the next representative.
Known Prostitute, Lesser-Known Writer.
Fuck You.
Everything below is made up.
Born, currently living, will die.
I make things and I make things awesome.
I write, but mostly I lay around and imagine I am a
writer. I watch a lot of TV. Oh, and I cover the Chicago Wolves of the
AHL for the Chicago Tribune.
But you have my stapler.
Not drunk enough to write well. This is the best I can do sober.
What I say goes, Nashville.
Spread my ashes on the highway, after I'm dead and gone...
I took my crazy neighbor's name since he doesn't do internet and won't know. I am here for the laughs and my wife @aprilsmist is my partner in crime and life.
I am GidgetWidget's Cat. Sam Jackson melted me in a movie.
See??? -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlsFeT4FyVw
May not be Prince, but I'm pauper with potential.
I take pictures, sometimes. And am super interesting, always.
I am the white, overweight, short, female Samuel L.
Jackson of Twitter. Also, I don't act and I'm not famous or rich.
I'm just a guy who'd rather talk to the internet instead of real people.
Sometimes when I drink I get mean. When I get mean I
insult people. When I insult people I do it online. When I do it online
I want followers. And Twitter
I attempt more things than physically possible. Like
invisibility. And I try to draw a lot. Sometimes its better than others.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Your Blog Host is Having an Outlaw Art Contest!
Enter the LL Art Contest now through April Fools Day. EVERYONE
who enters will get a signed copy of their own drawing + the winning one.
The prizes are:
FIRST PLACE: I'll write a song for you on a theme of your choosing + come to the Lonesome Liz show of your choice and drink a shot of whiskey with me on me, (if I'm not playing in your area I'll send you a shot of whiskey + make a video of your favorite song, (original or cover).
SECOND PLACE: Come to the Lonesome Liz show of your choice and drink a shot of whiskey with me on me :) If I'm not in your area, I'll send you a shot of whiskey and make a video of your favorite song, (original or cover).
THIRD PLACE: Three shots of whiskey in bottles painted by me. (See examples of my bottle art here: http://lonesomelizpage.blogspot.com).
Join my Facebook page if you're not already there for photos to base your work on. http://www.facebook.com/lonesomeliz Entries can be alterations of photographs, drawings, collages... anything you like!
Submit entries via Facebook or email to: elizabeth.bissette@gmail.com Winners will be announced on April Fool's Day.
The fan art that inspired the idea:
More LL in art:
The prizes are:
FIRST PLACE: I'll write a song for you on a theme of your choosing + come to the Lonesome Liz show of your choice and drink a shot of whiskey with me on me, (if I'm not playing in your area I'll send you a shot of whiskey + make a video of your favorite song, (original or cover).
SECOND PLACE: Come to the Lonesome Liz show of your choice and drink a shot of whiskey with me on me :) If I'm not in your area, I'll send you a shot of whiskey and make a video of your favorite song, (original or cover).
THIRD PLACE: Three shots of whiskey in bottles painted by me. (See examples of my bottle art here: http://lonesomelizpage.blogspot.com).
Join my Facebook page if you're not already there for photos to base your work on. http://www.facebook.com/lonesomeliz Entries can be alterations of photographs, drawings, collages... anything you like!
Submit entries via Facebook or email to: elizabeth.bissette@gmail.com Winners will be announced on April Fool's Day.
The fan art that inspired the idea:
 |
| By Charles ODonnavan |
 |
| By Tony Martinez |
 |
| By Orville Dunworth |
More LL in art:
 |
| By Lana Gentry |
 |
| As 'Faust' by Katelan Foisy |
 |
| As a cartoon by James Hislope |
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Marilyn Mellencamp's Fine Art Legacy
I was told this afternoon that it is the one year anniversary of Marilyn Mellencamp's death and am sad that I did not have the opportunity to know her, as I have had the remarkable opportunity to come to know some of her beautiful and talented family. A feature, which includes a look at the visual art of her son, John Cougar Mellencamp as well as of Cameron Bentley, (who has inherited both her talent and her paint), is coming soon to 'Fine Art Magazine' but I wanted to both share some of her work with you and begin to introduce you to her family in hopes of making a dim day brighter. From what I have come to know, she seems to have gone through life making days like that.
Stay tuned for more in Fine Art Magazine.
For more info re art by Cameron Bentley, contact Eric Mellencamp on Facebook.
Marilyn Mellencamp
by Cameron Bentley
Some of her art:
Man in a Red Shirt
by John Cougar Mellencamp
The Next Generation of Mellencamp Artists With Marilyn's Paint:
For more info re art by Cameron Bentley, contact Eric Mellencamp on Facebook.
Monday, January 21, 2013
An Inauguration Day Defense of President Jefferson, In His Own Words
As a Virginian descended from the mind behind the Constitution and a former employee of Obama's Chicago law firm, where I daily participated in the defense of it, I was sad to see Jefferson dismissed at today's inauguration. I hope that, upon reading some of what he said and thought, you'll be sad about that too:
I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.
Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.
Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.
All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God.
I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance.
I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too.
Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.
I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.
Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.
Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.
All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God.
I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance.
I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too.
Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Fine Art: Ella Darr and Jonathan Wagner
J.P. Wagner Fine Art
Gallery Hours: 12pm – 9pm daily
Ella Darr & Jonathan Wagner
Sunday, Jan 20 – Monday, Jan 21
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, May 22 at 7pm.
Sunday, Jan 20 – Monday, Jan 21
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, May 22 at 7pm.
Gallery 532 is pleased to present an exhibition of lithographs and paintings by New York artists Jonathan Wagner and Israeli born Photographer/model Ella Darr. The collection taps into the psyche, exposing the depth of human emotion that lurks beneath the surface. Working with contrast, each artist uniquely exploits boundaries few dare to cross. Wagner and Darr bring into focus the dark horrors of loss, the ecstasy of passion and the continuum of expression that exists between. Each collection portrays, through enigmatic faces, a fall from grace and the pure, unbridled joy of renewal.
Jonathan Wagner throws his creative weight into the art of detail. Through the minutia of physical expression, he demonstrates his insights into the vulnerabilities of his subjects. Delving into genres ranging from pop art to expressionism, Wagner is at home in the intensely personal, often only visible in an ephemeral glance. Wagner currently resides in Hackensack, New Jersey and is the Founder of IST Art Group. He recently presented "Psychology, It's More Than You Think," a touring solo exhibition sponsored by the American Psychological Organization and appeared in the Internationalist’s “Seven Deadly Sins” in January. Wagner earned his BFA at Virginal Commonwealth University, School of the Arts.
Israeli born photographer, Ella Darr, channels her vibrant, yet deeply tragic past to create works that challenge conventional notions of her collective experience.
This retrospective of her last decade of work chronicles her personal and artistic journey,. Darr, injects herself into her paintings, conjuring not only her subjects, but herself, an artist, a model, and a member of fashion’s elite. Darr lives and works in New York City.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
O Death - Twistacana on Tour
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O Death by Katelan Foisy
Their influences range from Ralph Stanley to the Misfits and the result is an unpredictable Punk raw meets Southern Gothic dark sound. Members Bob Pycior, Gabe Darling, Greg Jamie, David Rogers-Berry, Jesse Newman, Tristan Palozola and Dan Sager attracted attracted the attention of New York's Ernest Jenning Record Co. in 2007 and their album, Head Home was released that summer, both in the US and abroad. In 2008, Gigantic Music released a new 7" of their pared down to near Dada tunes and they have also been part of Vincent Moon's The Take-Away Shows as well as a Ukulele project with the Belgian newspaper, Le Soir.
Though familiar with O Death for some time via Katelan Foisy, who has created some amazing art pieces for them, including the one above, (and who also painted me as 'Faust' for the Mojo Sideshow), it wasn't until a few years later, when working on the new Sideshow's General John Bell Hood tune, that I really felt connected to the music. Aaron Vegas was with me as I wrote it and, when I finished he said, "Oh man, you've got to hear O Death, it kind of reminds me of that." I said that was an odd coincidence since we had the pleasure of the same portrait artist and began to pay more attention to the unique sound.
Katelan's painting of me from the Mojo Sideshow
"Listening to them makes me feel like I just wandered into an old saloon inhabited by lost souls and they're all sitting around drinking their sorrows away." Said Aaron, (Yellowberri PM). "The dirge-like qualities, combined with unorthodox percussion becomes very haunting as you listen to it."
Katelan, who was first commissioned to do a portrait for the 2008 press packet for their album, Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skins, says of their music in her Coilhouse interview:
"It pulls the listener into a world between waking and dreaming. I remember thinking there was something incredibly special about them; it wasn't just that they had taken parts of old time Appalachia and made it contemporary, it was that they could make you feel you were part of the story...
"Hearing an O'Death song is like falling into a small book of short stories told in a cave by a fire, on a ship during a storm, in a pub on the streets of England or while hidden away in a swampland cabin. Their music transcends time."
The bands drummer, David Rogers-Barry, was diagnosed with cancer while their most recent album, Outside was being recorded. Instead of halting the project, the band instead finished it in fragments and the resultant music has, does each album actually, it's own, very distinct tone somewhat apart from the others. Theirs is not a static but rather an evolving, morphing sound.
There are 2 more weeks left of their current tour: http://www.facebook.com/events/470286043013174/ Go see them if you have the chance. If you do, I think you'll find it's not just a concert but an immersive, hypnotic experience.
AND you can buy one of these super cool new shirts of death, (marvelously displayed here by Katelan) if you're at one of the shows, (available online at the end of the month via: http://www.bluecollardistro.com/odeath/categories.php?cPath=787).
Visit the O'Death website: http://www.odeath.net/
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