A couple of weeks ago, I was at the Baltimore Museum of Art. It wasn't a super long visit, we didn't see everything. But I was struck by one piece, Tauromachie, by André Masson , from 1937. It's from the time of the Spanish Civil War, the same inspiration for Picasso's Guernica, and like much art of the time and place, is a comment on blood and death and war and cruelty:


The color, the movement, the ... << MORE >>

I watch C*O*P*S on occasion. A common technique for them is to show the officer in a patrol car or other non-intervention situation, talking about the job and why they like it, how they got into it, and so on. Then they go on a call and you see them in action.

There's one where you see the officer talk about his history. Where he worked before, he was a dispatcher. He said he had trouble moving up, but then he moved to Arizona and here he was!  He's one of Sheriff Joe ... << MORE >>

My husband is a jazz musician. This means he plays with a variety of people. It also means that they are part of a culture that tends to be dominated by men, both among the musicians and in  the audiences. As one spectator said to me at a recent gig, "this is a sausage fest."

The culture also tends to be insular. If you don't know the names and personalities, the conversations can get a little stifling.

I was, well, not surprised, but pleased, when a musician he knows ... ~ကĀը&ը&<< MORE >>

I don't think I'm telling anyone anything they didn't know already by saying this:  People who are developmentally or emotionally disabled have difficulty navigating in society. Sometimes they manage reasonably well, but they're rarely well accepted, and they are allowed "in" only so long as nothing goes wrong. When there's a problem, the hammer comes down.

www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=20332 is the story of such a person. Leroy stepped over the boundaries  and now he's basically sentenced to a mental health facility. Maybe temporarily, maybe for life.

The article and ... << MORE >>

I enjoy taking photos from nonstandard angles. My new cell phone takes some nice shots.

Here's two of some gas company men working outside of the garage where I park for work.

Here they are discussing the positioning of this stripey pole.


Bigger overview, they are digging a hole to fix something gas related.


Music they're probably not listening to, but is now stuck in my head:
... << MORE >>

On PBS NewsHour, some guests were discussing Obama's reaction to the gulf oil spill and how much time he should spend working on it.

One of the participants was Kathleen Hall Jamieson , professor of communication and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the Universiy of Pennsylvania. She said, "When the President said the other day on an interview with Matt Lauer, that he wasn't holding academic seminars, he was meeting with experts for a purpose, and then went on to define the anatomical outcome of that discussion, it ... << MORE >>

I run about 50/50 on the Penn&Teller "Bullshit" show. Sometimes they really hit the target squarely. Other times they seem determined to miss it.

Their recent episode on cheerleading was very much the latter.
www.sho.com/site/video/brightcove/series/title.do?bcpid=14033851001&bclid=89670588001
/>
The way they tell it:  Title IX made cheerleading not a sport, therefore cheerleading doesn't get proper supervision and status, therefore the participants (almost all girls) get hurt a lot more than sports participants. Blame the feminists!

The reality:  Title IX could ... << MORE >>

[The following is largely copied from comments I made on a post on World Cup at Pandagon , which were met with protest and dismay.]

I played soccer as a kid, so I actually do know what offsides is, but in general, it’s like any other sport. While I can appreciate the physical grace and hard work of the participants, I don’t care much about it. Plus, I have soccer to thank for my two-different-sizes feet (I got to the ball first, the opposing player kicked my foot instead, like, ...

<< MORE >>

I guess everyone who's of a certain age and has a wide enough array of friends who know how to email has this problem. Crap emails that get forwarded to you.

You know the kind. Emails that explain how the president isn't a citizen, or is a bad citizen (won't salute the flag), or his wife is mean. Emails that complain loudly about immigrants not speaking English and stealing things. Emails that say that our service men and women put their lives on the line for our freedom of speech so shut up. Emails ... << MORE >>

I've decided that there's no reason not to post about stuff that isn't based primarily on feminist analysis. I'm an old feminist, sure, and I'll be posting from that point of view. And I hope I don't miss opportunities to analyze something on a feminist (or liberal) basis. But more posting will be good for me, and I hope good for my readers (helloooo! readers). ... << MORE >>