What have you been doing lately?

Here are two signs I made recently at the ol' grocery store. I had to change both of them at one point or another during their short week-long lives. The Pinot Grigio sign was changed because it used to say, "pairs well with potato chips". I thought that was a suitable pairing for a four dollar bottle of wine, but my manager did not. The Honey Moon wine was not selling well, and they thought it was because the sign didn't have any verbage about the characteristics of the wine. "Peach, apricot, and honeysuckle aromas" as well as "luscious honey, mango, and nectar finish" was added later.

Add this to the list

This sounds like some sort of bizarre combination of Ohio and Las Vegas.

As China's modernization continues to pull hundreds of millions of people from farms to cities and suburbs, a construction boom has given rise to a vast landscape of foreign-looking settlements. These real-estate developments are the latest manifestation of the technique that has fueled China's economic boom: making copies.

In Nanjing, there are Balinese retreats and Italian villas. In the southeastern city of Hangzhou, there are Venice and Zurich. In downtown Beijing, everything is about Manhattan, with Soho, Central Park and Park Avenue.

"Many people in China today associate the exotic with wealth. They buy into these developments to differentiate themselves from ordinary people," said Tino Wan, a manager of ERA Real Estate in Shanghai.

Shanghai's plan is among the most ambitious, calling for a ring of satellite developments modeled after different parts of Europe, including German, Czech, Spanish and Scandinavian districts, in addition to the one that looks like London, known as Thames Town.

Read more here.
[via boingboing]

Chicago in 2016

Chicago was just awarded the US bid for the 2016 Olympics.

Will mid-30s Tyler care?!

Tonight I looked at a grape and thought, "Wow. Look at all that life. I can devour all that life."


----

I think people like to see correlation in Art. It plays off itself. "Art" about "other art" makes "other art" and "art" both look important merely because they call out each other's existence.

What existences do you recognize?

Cheney is a scary, scary, man.

Proust

Have you ever read Proust in the springtime?

What are you waiting for?

An art joke for you, kids

Do you remember when I posted about this yard a few months ago? It may look like a bunch of toys and junk strewn about the front yard, but take a moment to really look at it. See how black Santa is supported by the lawn animals? See how neatly grouped the animals are in the center? Is this a brilliant installation piece about (quite literally) knocking down cultural icons? It references everything-- fragility, despair, childhood humor. Is it the work of a genius, demented old lady, or child? Enjoy.

Denim and Lace

At work I made this sign for the Denim and Lace bouquet. It was only up for about an hour before they asked me to make another one. (That's Anne and Nancy Wilson of Heart, for those of you who weren't sure).

More Aristotle

Aristotle must be in the air:

Initial results with the interventions have been promising, but sustaining them is tough. Months after a study is over, the people who have stopped the exercises show a drop in happiness. Like a drug or a diet, the exercises work only if you stick with them. Instilling habits is crucial. Another key: "fit," or how well the exercise matches the person. If sitting down to imagine your best possible self (an optimism exercise) feels contrived, you will be less likely to do it.

The biggest factor may be getting over the idea that happiness is fixed--and realizing that sustained effort can boost it. "A lot of people don't apply the notion of effort to their emotional lives," Lyubomirsky declares, "but the effort it takes is enormous."

Read the rest here.

Finally.

It took awhile, but perhaps the world is finally ready for Aristotle (again):

Biologists argue that these and other social behaviors are the precursors of human morality. They further believe that if morality grew out of behavioral rules shaped by evolution, it is for biologists, not philosophers or theologians, to say what these rules are.

Scientists have already taken the useful parts of metaphysics, the brain, and epistemology. It was only a matter of time before ethics was snatched up. Read the rest here.

What's a philosopher to do these days?
Seriously.

Back in Chicago

I'm back in Chicago and I have lots to post.

However, it's far too nice to blog today. Go spend some time outside.

Let's Dance

From Wired:

We'll be brief: Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.") and is said to have called it his best work. So we asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves.

Here are some of my favorites:

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood

Vacuum collision. Orbits diverge. Farewell, love.
- David Brin

Thought I was right. I wasn't.
- Graeme Gibson

Here's my crack at it:

• Let go of everything. Now what?

• Sat next to her--got up.
  

• Candy fell from the sky...again.
  

• He's come to take us under.

• And then it happened. That's it?

Leave your ideas in the comments.

[via 3quarksdaily]

Thomas Hirschhorn

This is a great little piece written by Thomas Hirschhorn about the intersection of art and philosophy:

There is no reason for an artist to write about a philosopher, just as there is no reason for a philosopher to write about an artist. As an artist, I do not need philosophy, because I do not use philosophy to make my work—I need philosophy as a man, as a human being.

Read the rest here.

New York Trip

So Brick and I were in New York just in time for all the art fairs. In addition to the usual running themes of sexy girls and anti-war sentiment in painting and sculpture I also noticed lots of...


Crazy, kitchen-sink, Christmas lights, high heels, everything-we-can-find-at-the-thrift-store sculpture





and plenty of


Rococo colors, luxury, the ol' Gucci bag made out of paper mache kinda sculptures.

This one was really beautiful in person.


The letters are made out thousands of those annoying pieces of plastic that connect price tags to clothing.

New York: Day 2

Day 2 of the New York trip was a perfect day:

1. Had a delicious meal at the City Bakery
2. Visited various Chelsea galleries
3. Ate cupcakes
4. Skipped while holding hands
   
5. Walked around Greenwich Village
6. Had Pinkberry
7. Found a nice cafe and had a good chat
8. Met up with a couple of old friends at Washington Square
9. Went to see the new Alan Ball play, All That I Will Ever Be
10. Had dinner with Janet and one of her roommates
11. Went to see the number one dive in NY.

It was a sunny and beautiful, 50-degree day in New York City. Everything went as planned and Fair White and I did all the things that we love to do.

The play was typical Alan Ball over-the-top drama, but with moments of poignant subtlety peppered in. It's the story of a gay prostitute that is a pathological liar. He lies because his life is unimpressive and because he doesn't want to be hurt. Ultimately, it's a play about letting go of hurt feelings and letting yourself be loved.

The dive was located in the back room of a deli in Lower Manhattan. After walking past the customers eating sandwiches and walking through a door that looked like it would lead to a bathroom, we had arrived. The bar itself was barely larger than a standard living room and it was filled with the downtrodden and nearly naked women. I was offered a free lap-dance.

I politely declined.


A perfect day indeed.
Stay-tuned for Fair White's NY impressions and photos.
.

Why Do You Think You Are Nuts?

Sopranos

The promos for the new season of The Sopranos have arrived:

SEX, GLITTER AND DOOM IN THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC

Wish I had seen this when I was in NY. I've always loved Weimar-era paintings because they are beautiful in unbeautiful ways. There's something appealing about the dirty glamor of 1920s Germany.

Enjoy these paintings.

Greatest Woman Artists of the 20th Century

A survey of the illustrations of the work of women artists contained in textbooks of art history reveals that art historians judge Cindy Sherman to be the greatest woman artist of the twentieth century, followed in order by Georgia O'Keeffe, Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, and Frida Kahlo.

Is this surprising? It's a little surprising, although I don't generally equate "greatest" with "in the most art history books".

New York: Day 1

Fair White and I caught a 6am flight to NYC.

Ice on Lake Michigan

Plate of meat (and cheese) at Carnegie Deli.

We spent the afternoon browsing the Frick Collection.

Times Square waiting for Janet.

Momofuku Noodle Bar.

The steamed pork buns were delicious.

More reasons to like Russia

From the site: "People of this small Russian town Borovsk are fond of painting their houses with different kinds of stories". What a great way to cultivate community.

Be sure to check out the rest.

I love it when philosophers get angry.

Read this if you enjoy the company of philosophers.

Read this if you don't.

Andrew was in town.

One of my roommates from college came to visit and he made a delicious dinner of lamb, lentils, and fennel. We had a feast.

Then we went bowling.
(I won once)
(He won the rest)

It was good to see Andrew again.

More mural pictures

Pie 'n Burger Party

Last night was the Banana Cream Pie and Cheeseburger Party and it went perfectly. The pies were great, the burgers were juicy, and the company was wonderful. It was a night of pie eating, laughing, and Taboo.





I had a great time.

more Trader Joes signs

The signs are coming along nicely.

Carson's is going out of business

Carson Pierre Scott is going out of business. Located at 1 South State Street in Chicago, IL, it was once known as the busiest street corner in the world. Everything is for sale including the creepy teen-boy mannequins that I loved.

Photo of the Week

Winter.

More art.

The Endless Fifteen Minutes -

Andy’s more alive than ever. The press loves him, young artists discuss him reverently, foreigners consider him essential. The filmmaker Ric Burns recently made a two-part documentary about him. A show of his late work was one of the most discussed exhibitions last year. Phaidon just published a giant book called Andy Warhol: “Giant” Size. A trendy downtown club on Chrystie Street is dolling itself up to look like the Factory, the name of Warhol’s tinfoil-wrapped studio.

Everyday I try to be as generous as I can be - This is a pretty great article from LA Weekly about Koons. Here's an excerpt:

At one point a questioner in the audience addressed the result of Koons’ own self-acceptance, suggesting that his work is “cynical.” Koons seemed to take a slightly deeper breath; he’s heard this before. “I’m not cynical,” he said with deliberation. “My definition of cynicality is when you have more information than you reveal. I try to reveal everything I know. Every day I try to be as generous as I can be.”

What a great definition of "cynical".

Can Photographers be Plagiarists - This is excellent. I just wish these photographers would stop whining about plagiarism. Stop making me angry.

Speaking of Painting - Not all painters are great.

More than 80,000 sound and video recordings of animals now available to public online - Cool.

Love

The first lovers? - They died embracing eachother. My first thought: awwwwwwwwwww...I want that to be me! My second thought: Wait, what horrible thing happened to them that allowed them to die embracing?

Divide and conquer - Rulers should be printed onto everything.

Ingredient in male sweat raises women's hormone levels - Goodbye deodorant.

Links

White Castle V-Day! - If you were considering this, stop.

"I bang my wife" - Buzzfeed says it best: "This trend needs to die immediately."

"I am a fucking steamroller and I'll roll over you or anybody else" - Good week for NY politics.

The HPV vaccine isn't just for chicks anymore - So penis cancer is real? Does this mean Republicans will start endorsing HPV vaccination and stop calling women who do, sluts? It always comes back to the rich white man's penis--always!

Men and women often misunderstand each other's flirtation signals - Ya think? From the article: ""One of the surprising facts in this study was that women do not send clear rejection signals. A woman sends sexually explicit signals without having much interest in the man." That is surprising.

Boredom comes from not knowing ourselves - I think that's right.

After a break of 16 centuries, Greek pagans are worshiping the ancient gods again - "To the astonishment of onlookers, Peppa also began babbling Orphic hymns, before thrusting her arms upwards into the Attic skies and proceeding, somewhat deliriously, to warble her love for the gods of Mount Olympus."

How Iraq Trillion Could Have Been Spent - Sad, sad, sad.

How can I make this clear: people are terrible predictors - "The best strategy for career planning is this: make your best guess, try it out and don't be surprised if you don't like it." Most people don't even try.

fuckerdeen

I was feeling blue this morning, I think was a pre-menstrual blue, but
I was cheered when I got to work. My co-worker and I talked in British
accents all day. I pretend to be a frail old woman who bosses him
around and he pretends to be an overly polite landlord he once had. We
sang the songs from The Sound of Music duet-style and he sang a few
show tunes solo. We did some fine paintings of searchlights with a
bold 80's color palette, during which time he told me a wonderful
story that goes like this.

When he was a little boy he and his sister
over heard his aunt and mother having a conversation. The aunt said "I
bet it was that fucker, Dean, " but to him and his sister it sounded
like a unique and cute swear word, "fuckerdeen". So the two of them
started to use that word and still do. Recently that aunt was in the
hospital with cancer. He was able to tell her about the story
before she died and she really enjoyed it. She even remembered who
that fucker Dean was.

Super Bowl Party

Last Sunday was the Super Bowl. Although the outcome was disappointing, the company was great and the food was excellent. I hope my screaming didn't offend anyone. (And I'm apologize for the things I said about your shirt Peter)

What could have been.

All those "Super Bowl Champions" hats and shirts you see after the game are made well in advance of the Super Bowl. So what happens to the shirts and hats for the team that lost didn't win the Super Bowl?

Apparently they're shipped to Africa. At least the Bears are champions somewhere...