Care about your first amendment rights? Today is a good day to show it at 4PM at City Hall. James has more details.

I’m a bad activist and can’t leave the computer today.

What a scary country this is. This is what happened at a McCain campaign stop yesterday.

Another man — wondering if an attack on Iran is in the works — wanted to know when America is going to “send an air mail message to Tehran.”

McCain began his answer by changing the words to a popular Beach Boys song. “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran,” he sang to the tune of Barbara Ann. “Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. That alone should concern us but now they are trying for nuclear capabilities. I totally support the President when he says we will not allow Iran to destroy Israel.”

He stopped short of answering the actual question and did not say if he supports an invasion of Iran.

[via Huffington Post]

Update:

Here is a post with a video at TAPPED. It’s pretty funny that the person asking the question thinks there is only one country (Iran) causing all of the “troubles” in the Middle East. He probably drove an SUV to the event.

Julian Montague is the winner of the Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of 2006, for his book The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America. It is a book documenting his art project of the same name. Other books in the competition included How Green Were the Nazis? and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan.

There are a huge number of news articles on him winning the prize, including ones from The Guardian and the CBC.

I first wrote about this project in July 2004 and again in October 2004.

My MacBook is still in the shop, so here is a quick post of my favorite things from last Saturday. The first two are now “top picks” on ArtCal.

Christopher Lowry Johnson at Winkleman Gallery. Hard to show via JPEGs, these are beautiful subtle paintings. We’ve been fans for a long time, having bought a painting by Christopher from the very first show at Plus Ultra. This is the final week, so run over there!

Donna Huanca, Che Guevara’s Family, 2006, fabric, 82 × 57.5 inches

Donna Huanca at Susan Inglett Gallery. We first saw her work at the “Manic and Wasted” show curated by at LMCC’s Swing Space. I will probably add some photos to my Flickr feed once I have my MacBook back, as there are some great sculptures/installations too. The show also includes a sound installation.

Julie Evans, Perch, 2006

Julie Evans at Julie Saul Gallery. Gorgeous paintings influenced by Indian miniature painting. I met her via Edward Winkleman, who has a big post on her work.

Lisa Sanditz, Pearl Farm II, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 70 X 90 inches

“Endangered Wasteland” at CRG Gallery. Lots of big paintings hovering between abstraction and landscapes. I especially liked the paintings of Lisa Sanditz.

Jae Hi Ahn at Phoenix Gallery. Jae Hi is pushing the limits of what one can do with found plastic objects. We have one lovely example hanging on wall here at the Hoggard/Wagner Collection.

Here is a reminder to buy tickets to the benefit events of Rhizome (April 16) and The Civilians (April 18). While you’re at it, the playwright organization 13P is having a cabaret benefit at Joe’s Pub on April 29th. More details are on their website.

That’s the description of the sound my MacBook Pro was making on the Tekserve check-in ticket. I was trying to be ergonomic, setting the computer on a riser so its screen is at the same height as my LCD. Then it slid off, landing on the (carpeted floor). I’m also behind on a couple of client deadlines, so if you email me and I don’t get back to you quickly, that’s why. I’m doing my work on a — shudder — PC right now.

Coincidence: I know the artist who did the check-in at Tekserve. I didn’t even know he worked there.

I don’t know more now than you did then, 2007
acrylic on paper
18″ × 24″

ArtCat artist Wendy Heldmann has a solo show at sixspace in LA opening on Saturday. Check out Wendy’s site and the gallery website for more information.

I’m starting to get some silly comments on my blog post from 2003 about the artist Jeff Burton’s photographs of a young hustler named Kevin in New Orleans. At the moment, the top result on Google Images for Jeff Burton links to an image from the post, rather than a photo of the NASCAR driver.

Olive tree in Juan Carlos I Park, in Madrid, photo by R. Duran found on flickr

James and I are going to spend some time in Madrid and Barcelona, plus some wine areas such as Rioja or Navarra, in May. Feel free to email any tips or leave comments.

Update: How funny. We didn’t plan it that way, but we’re going to be in Barcelona during the last day of SWAB (art fair), so we’ll have to stop by. Our friends at DCKT Contemporary, Leo Koenig, Mixed Greens, and Samson Projects will be there.

I love the website for Miranda July’s new book of short stories.