Spotted in a square in Savannah, GA last week. I hope it won’t be needed on Tuesday.

This came from a Japanese food store in New Jersey. I’m told that words are put on the crackers to help Japanese children learn English.

I’ve seen 3 good shows with graphite drawings in Chelsea the last week. Here is a short post with images and links before I head off to Savannah for the week. Go see them all!

Eric Beltz, Keep the Hammer Busy
Graphite on paper
11 × 9 inches

Eric Beitz at Morgan Lehman Gallery. Good old American weirdness. A 2-person show with him and Sarah Peters would be interesting.

Rob Matthews, The Artist’s Grandfather (Ray), 2008
graphite on paper
7 inches diameter on 9×9 inches paper

Rob Matthews at Daniel Cooney Fine Art. Sweet small graphite drawings of family members holding objects that are important to them. He was also in The Blogger Show.

Paolo Arao, Daniel, 2008
graphite on paper
5.75 × 4.375 inches

Paolo Arao at Jeff Bailey Gallery. A show with a sexy mix of big and intimate themes. His Study for a Devotional Object was probably my favorite work in the show, but it needs to be seen in person so I chose another image I liked for this post.

An homage to the series by Joy Garnett

Bedford Avenue station 2AM from Barry Hoggard on Vimeo.

James and I saw and heard these wonderful people in the Bedford Avenue L station early this morning. We were on our way home after a wonderful dinner at some friends’ apartment.

If you know who they are, please comment or email! We were too into listening that we didn’t get a chance to talk to them before the subway arrived. I think all of the excellent wine at dinner might have affected our judgment as well.

Andrew Piedilato, Tick Ordering a Cappuccino, 2008
Intaglio with hand additions in watercolor, ink, and/or graphite on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper
Image Size: 19 ¾ x 15 ¾ inches
Paper Size: 25 × 20 ¼ inches
Edition of 19 signed and numbered works

For those of you who have read about Andy’s paintings via James or me but are not sure how to fit nearly 12 × 12 feet canvases into your apartment, you have a new opportunity! He recently created his first print with artist Randy Wray’s Element Editions. Not only is it more apartment-sized, you can have one for only $450!

Spotted on Hudson Street today.

This post at Daily Kos is the best summary I’ve read about how we reached this point of near collapse of our financial systems. Spoiler alert: former Senator Gramm (McCain’s chief economic adviser) and formed Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan are bad buys. Here are some interesting statistics, which come from a conversation between business correspondent Bob Moon and host Kai Ryssdal on American Public Media’s “Marketplace” in the spring.

BOB MOON: OK, I’m about to unload some numbers on you here, so I’ll speak slowly so you can follow this. The value of the entire U.S. Treasuries market: $4.5 trillion. The value of the entire mortgage market: $7 trillion. The size of the U.S. stock market: $22 trillion. OK, you ready? The size of the credit default swap market last year: $45 trillion. KAI RYSSDAL: That’s a lot of money, Bob.

Our CD player is on the blink, so we’re listening to the American Music Center’s Counterstream Radio instead. Awesome mix of contemporary classical, avant-garde, and progressive jazz. Cecil Taylor meets Bang on a Can!

Remember, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is head of the conservative Christian Democratic Party in Germany, not the Greens. Via Deutche Welle:

Speaking in Austria on Saturday, Sept 20, Merkel said her government had tried in vain to win G8 support last year for tighter regulation of hedge funds and financial oversight of capital markets, hinting that she felt vindicated in her stance as a financial disaster unfolded on Wall Street in recent days.