Wildly Interesting Books

  • Adam's Task by Vicki Hearne
  • Anything by Colin Cotterill
  • Auguries of Innocence by Patti Smith
  • Big Box Swindle by Stacy Mitchell
  • Darwin: A Life in Poems by Ruth Padel
  • Gehry Draws
  • Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker
  • Out of Our Heads by Ava Noe
  • Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design, Mannerisms, Quirks and Conceits
  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson
  • The God of Small Things by Arundahti Roy
  • The Long Fall by Walter Mosely
  • The Martin Beck Series by Maj Sjowall and Per Waloo
  • The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
  • The Wrecking Crew by Thomas Frank
  • Vermeeer in Bosnia by Lawrence Weschler

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Crab Pastiche

All those fiddler crabs. I've got some template ups here. The weekend should see an explosion of hideous paintings in all mediums. Poor Emily.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Kirk..He Just Can't Stop



Death Jr. Mask
Offered by BuyCostumes
Price: $44.99
Availability: In Stock


Sometimes smaller is just as good, January 28, 2008 If somebody's going to be responsible for dragging an elephant back down to the underworld, then Death Jr. may not be the right guy for the job. But how often does that happen? Most times, it's just little stuff--hamsters and sometimes a baby or something--in which case Death Junior performs more than sufficiently.
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See more on Kirk's site:

Monday, January 28, 2008

New Site for Blig Blug


Blig Blug has moved to Blogspot. We've found a template where you can post a picture and click on it to enlarge it. Blig Blug and friends, and even their creator, Tom Canel, are quite happpy about this. A new email notice is going out about it, but if you see it here first---bligblug.blogspot.com.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Swinging the Blues


One of David's favorite Chris Smither songs. I found this drawing the other day. David's mother, Helen, just sent a slew of old photos. This photo of the drawing is fuzzy but it's too late at night to re-do so I'm posting it anyway. There's new music---"Going Home", the tribute to Fats Domino, and, wow, an album of Fats himself. Thirty tunes. Both are very satisfying. I'll review the Going Home album soon. Must hear: Willie Nelson doing "I hear you knockin'". Must.
After ordering all this new music, the piper will have to be paid. The piper's name is Capital One Credit Card. His tune is not very nice.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Lo! And Behold!




Emily Scudder (does she ever sleep?) has a poem on line at the site below.
http://www.seastories.org/hibernal08/entries/scudder.html

And if that's not enough. she blogging now with great pictures and poems. It's a treat and it's at http://www.emilyscudder.net/

Monday, January 21, 2008

Gosh, It's a Brutal World


But tucked inside it. like those extra dimensions that are so small and tightly wrapped that we can't see them, are many wonderful things. They are wonderful only because we have grown into our own explanations of the the world. I recently bought the soundtrack from Genghis Blues. I can't remember if I posted anything about the movie on the blog. Paul Pena, and old blues artist who played with the greats, is now blind and living poorly in San Fransisco. One day he hears the Tuvan throat singers on the radio....and the rest is history. He teaches himself throat singing. He makes friends with a gang of wonderful oddballs. They all fly to Tuva and Paul ends up, with an amazing cast of characters, in Tuva, singing with the throat singers. He plays and sings with the Tuvans. Strong friendships happen and the music gets blended. The movie is powerful enough. But the soundtrack bent me backwards. Between Paul and the Tuvans, the blues happen. if you think you might have a soul, rent the movie and buy the soundtrak. If you are not sure, ask me and I'll help you get the music.
Posted by suckerbeagle at 9:23 PM
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Thursday, January 17, 2008

Great Release from John Trudell, Not Much Else New


Spent the evening cutting up gator board for artwork. Downloaded John Trudell's new album, Madness and the Moremes. He's breaking my heart. Did one new painting tonight. Back to the fiddler crab tomorrow. BoRev's on vacation in Venezuela, so no new laughs on that front.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Got a call from Kristin


on Saturday morning. She was keeling over from reading the Kirk(us)Reviews. And you should too. Well, I ordered all this cool stuff from Amazon.com myself. No way I can crawl into the office to get it. Won't be seeing any of it until I manage to also order a pair of snowshoes. Holy Cow.! How can I get the snowshoes?? Life is just one big mystery. So but that's okay because I've been painting some really awful stuff. See my art website: http://www.jeannelafferty.com/. Read my blog. Okay, the tomatoes were a stretch.


Here's a selection from the Scientific American Book Club: Avoid Boring People. By James D. Watson. Wow, is this one of the guys that discovered the double helix? Betcha he really knows how to avoid boring people. But so do I. Wait til he sees my book on the subject. Does Crick have a book on this as well?


Gotta go do something unproductive.

Jeanne

Friday, January 11, 2008

I'm Working on Emily's Book Cover




Oh, let's hope I'm not the cause of this being her last published book. You can follow my progress (if that's what it is) on the blog on my art website.




Meanwhile here's where I am tonight. Text, or explanation is on the blog, plus the original pen and ink.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

How Not to Put in for a Vacation

I emailed the people I work with telling them I was taking a vacation. Thanks to Elisabeth, I now see where I went wrong.





Elisabeth Szanto to me:

You need a vacation advisor. You did that all wrong. I have marked your mistakes in red below (purple for questionable items) so that you can learn and grow in this field. Please call me with any questions. My rates are very reasonable.


Jeanne Lafferty to co-workers:
what? a vacation for me? can this be real?. well, im a gonna try.january 21-25. and oh, uh that includes the weekends on both sides. well, i'll show up for the staff party on the 24th. and i'll be around. i plan to have all your design work done by then, or if not, i will get it done anyway. if anyone needs me they can call. i am going to be trying to finish the artwork for emily's new chapbook. i'm painting the fiddler crab-one of her poems- and i'm starting to have that out-of-this-universe experience looking at it for long periods of time. i am convinced that this must be all of nature's most beautiful creature.i've never seen such colors in my life. and i guess you could also call it the ugliest son of a gun you've ever stumbled across. both views are true. maybe that's true of all us as well.good luck to me,

jeanne

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Okay, I'm Dying Now. It's More Kirk(us) Reviews on Amazon.com

Be sure to read comment from unfortunate reader who doesn't realize who Kirk is. See 'em all at
http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1KA0X8CQ6WAE8/ref=cm_cr_auth/104-3290579-8426321?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview
Jeanne




Love in the Time of Cholera (Oprah's Book Club)
by Gabriel Garcia MarquezEdition: Paperback
Price: $8.97
Availability: In Stock
67 used & new from $7.24


Orpha's best! (so far), December 29, 2007 You always know when your reading an Orpha Wenfrey book that you are going to get some of the highest quality books money can by. Love in the Time of the Colera became a classic even before she wrote it and its easy to see why because it is beautiful. Most books about love are more kind of about romance and being more "in love" than being about your whole life, this book is about your whole life, and loving it. I mean Orphap Wenfrey's life. Kind of slow in the beginning, though.
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And if this isn't enough, Kirk has a website

Haven't posted for a few days. Still stunned by this piece uncovered by BoRev

http://www.borev.net/2008/01/hugo_chavez_big_brown_voodoo_m.html

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Interview with Bansky

The art world is the biggest joke going. It's a rest home for the overprivileged, the pretentious, and the weak. And modern art is a disgrace—never have so many people used so much stuff and taken so long to say so little. Still, the plus side is it's probably the easiest business in the world to walk into with no talent and make a few bucks."


"I stenciled the door of an electrical block in south London and recently someone sawed it off and sold it at a famous auction house for £24,000, but in that same week Islington council power sprayed off eight of my new stencils on one road. What I'm finding is art is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it, or willing to pay to not have to look at it."

Bansky

Read the Interview in Swindler Magazine