The Art Festival is over...

The WCSH-6 Portland Sidewalk Art fesstival (annum#44) is over. The whole thing went pretty well, and I learned a few things:

1. If a guy is looking at a print like he may consider buying it, don't talk to his girlfriend.

2. When someone asks about the price for an original piece, start high.

3. AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: Bring tape. If I had to borrow someone else's tape one more time, I risked punching my own self in the face.

But all in all, it was a good show. People seemed to really like the new "Dead Man's Chest" piece that I recently completed, and "Nacht der Geist" as well as "No Hear Say or See" & Cutey-Die are still popular. I love that.

Disposable World

So many of the things that we see and use every day are made not be disposed of. Things aren't made to last as they once were, it's all fodder for the ever-growing Waste Stream Monster.

This is a fact, I know it, you know it. Which raises the question: Why do I save so much crap?!? I am a sucker for saving, glueing, taping and trying to get every last once of life out of everything I use. I had this epiphony which stacking paperwork: I have boxes of paperclips right next to me, yet found myself twisting and trying to bend out another use from a paperclip that had clearly been used several times before. WHY DO I DO THIS? For the Environment? Because I'm a cheap bastard?? Is it OCD?!?

I don't know, but I am going to make an effort to treat more disposable things as the garbage they were meant to be. I'm starting with a BRAND-NEW PAPERCLIP!!!

"It's a Morbid Life" pt. 1

It dawned on me recently that so many strange things take place in my life, that I hardly notice them anymore. I don't even realize how strange they are until I tell them to people and they give me "That look," that always inspires me to question if I should be telling this stuff to anyone.

Therefore I'll chronicle them here....

The Selling of the Pants:

Winter, 2004, the middle of a snowstorm.

Some dear friends (who know I'm a little "off") gave me a gift of a pair of or pants. They were "lounging pants," (which I suspect is a scam to sell the pants from a pair of pajamas). They were dark blue, with glow-in-the-dark panets and moons on them. Pretty snazzy, and I'm sure never intended for wear outside the house. So I was wearing them in the middle of a snowstorm to go and pick up pizza.

As I croosed the parking lot to go into Lumpy's Pizza in North Berwick (no longer there, but you ever get a time machine, I strongly suggest giving them a try). As I entered the fine eating establishment, an older gentlemen (who I'd never seen before) commented that he liked my pants. I thanked him and went to continue my transaction. Then he asks: "How much?"

I told him I did not know, they were a gift. He said, "No, how much do you want for them?" and took out a roll of bills...

I saw the cash and said "$50". He handed me a $50 bill, and I took the pants off and handed them to him. Right there inside Lumpy's Pizza.

It was a cold ride home, I'm glad my coat was fairly long.

Art Festival August 22

I will be taking part in the 44th Annual WCSH 6 Sidewalk Art Festival to be August 22, 2009 (raindate August 23). Approximately 300 artists and 40,000 visitors attend this festival. The WCSH 6 Sidewalk Art Festival is the oldest and largest one-day art show in Northern New England.

For more info: http://www.wcsh6.com/life/community/events/art_festival/story.aspx?storyid=100584&catid=126

Remembering Michael Jackson

Since it's been everywhere, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on my favorite Michael Jackson Moment....

Is Everything Art?

I recently was visiting a site about a Con for writers, and was struck by the site, several times, referring to it's writers as "artists".

Now, I have the utmost respect for writers. I LOVE writers, books have inspired our world arguably more than any other medium. BUT, do they have to be artists, too? Can't they be... I don't know... WRITERS?!?

What does that make now, let me see... Musicians, are "artists." Performers, (acrobats, comedians, people who get up and entertain in a way other than music) are "artists." Actors are "artists," and now writers.

Oh yeah, let me not forget those of us who make ART. What's the deal? Can I call my Artwork "Visual Music"? Can I be "A Musician of an Artist"? Can we please stop the madness???

What happened to Musicians being "musicians"? Writers being "writers", etc.? Is being an "artist" so flattering that everyone wants to be called an artist, even if they don't make art?

When EVERYONE is an "Artist" and EVERYTHING becomes "Art," ART will truly be dead.

Zombie Kick-Ball is on!

Zombie Kickball is on!



WHAT: Zombie Kickball IV!!!

WHEN: June 28th, 2009, 2:00pm

WHERE: Carter Field, Eastern Promenade, Portland, Maine

COST: Free! Bring a non-perishable food donation for the Good Shepherd Food Bank to the game if you would like to keep humans alive.

FMI: http://strangemaine.blogspot.com/2009/06/zombie-kickball-is-on.html#links

AFTERPARTY: Masses of the walking dead will be contained at the Space Gallery at 4:30pm! Covered in Bees, Lost Cause Desperados, and Ghosthunter will play to throngs of zombies. This is an all-ages after-party. Club opens up around 4, show gets going about 4:30pm. Cover is $5.

RAINDATE: We've been asked several times if there is a scheduled rain date for our event. There is no alternate day for our game. But there is rain predicted for this weekend - with scattered thunderstorms likely on Sunday. Please plan ahead and dress accordingly on game day. Clearly, we will all have to modify our costumes a little bit. And we may even have to modify our game. So let's keep our fingers crossed for a break in the weather! The Good Shepherd Food Bank will be collecting cash and non-perisables, regardless of the weather, at both the game on the Eastern Prom and the show at Space.