Touch Me I'm Sick.

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Sorry for the lack of blog updates lately. I've had a dumb cold for well over a week now. Like many men, I'm a total baby when I get sick. Even typing words and hitting 'post' is too much.

happy thanksgiving...

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No matter where you are, no matter who you are with, I hope you have a great holiday! I can't remember a year where I've been more thankful! Thanks to all my friends and family.

Chick-a-dee!

via impliedviolence.com

Implied Violence "produce exciting avant-garde pieces that receive critical acclaim and play to sold-out audiences. This summer Implied Violence produced a massive three part series called “Our Summary In Sequence” and was given The Stranger’s “Genius Award for Theater Organization”."

Barleygirl poster

"In October, Implied Violence was honored to be living as artists-in-residence at The Watermill Center in New York. The Watermill Center is internationally acclaimed theater director Robert Wilson’s center for experimental performance. Being awarded a residency at The Watermill is extremely competitive and prestigious. The new piece we developed during our residency, “Flinch Not and Give Not Back”, is our most ambitious and smart piece to date."

Implied Violence founders, Ryan Mitchell and Mandie O'Connell

Implied Violence + one pot

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"Implied Violence has been given an incredible opportunity to expand our work, and present it not only in Seattle for our friends and family, but in New York and Europe... The first phase of our project involves meetings during the month of January in New York City and several cities in Europe, that are necessary to secure presenters, venues and additional funding for development. We need $6,000 for travel, food, lodging, and press materials. Implied Violence often leans on their friends and family for emotional support and volunteer work."

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You can donate online, just like I did! It's no secret that I love the folks in Implied Violence. And they're making some really challenging work. They've already received heaps of success and have now been given a huge chance. If you can, please donate. They're great folks and will really make every dollar count!

Lucio Fontana

1947

Lucio Fontana was a sculptor and painter (1899-1968).


Horses, 1936

This horse sculpture blows my mind. He's known as the father of Spatialism.


Fontana by Ugo Mulas, 1964

Blue Slash Painting

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"From 1958 on he started the so-called slash series, consisting in holes or slashes on the painting surface, drawing a sign of what he named "an art for the Space Age"." (wikipedia)

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I swear that SAM has one in their collection but I couldn't find it on-line.

Jess Rice

Rocky, Phil, Doug and Ruth by Jess Rice (click to enlarge)

My friend Jess Rice is part of a family group show opening December 5th.


Grazing Buffalo by Jess Rice

It will be in his hometown of Harlowton, Montana at the local bank.
His contribution are these beautiful animal watercolors.


Ewe and Lamb by Jess Rice
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They loosely remind me of the fantastic Suzanne Walters.
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Wolf with Deer by Suzanne Walters, 2007
Image via Howard House

disambiguation page

A Country Evening by Joe Veltkamp

Have I ever mentioned the other Joe Veltkamp from Montana? Who also paints cows?

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A Comfortable Distance by Joe Veltkamp

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I see these paintings and I get totally jealous. The light, the subjects, the action or stillness. I just think they're really beautiful. And they're also the type of paintings I know my family (from Montana) wished I painted.

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by Joe Veltkamp

Sabotage

You already know about Sweet Crude by independent film-maker, Sandy Cioffi. Sandy and the wonderful crew have been crazy busy getting the documentary finished! And they can see the finish line! Sandy and team have been working on this for three years. It's been an expensive project both emotionally and financially.


Sabotage by Gabriel Stromberg

Sweet Crude needs you! More specifically, they could use your dollars. About $100 of them. And in return, you'll get this hand printed 18" x 24" print called Sabotage by Gabriel Stromberg. Get one for you and get one for a friend (Christmas?). The imagery is the actual secret text message exchange between Tammi and Leslye during the detainment.


Sabotage (close-up)

I'm such a fan of this project (and Sandy in general)! Stay tuned -- we'll be sitting down and talking all about her past year and posting that here when her life slows down a bit.

Jesus Christ Superstar

Ted Neely as Jesus, 1973

It comes as a surprise to a lot of my friends that I LOVE Jesus Christ Superstar. Like I'm nuts about it and watch it almost monthly! I listen to the soundtrack even more frequently. It's a rock-opera (two words I never thought I'd see together on my blog) about the struggles of Jesus by Andrew Lloyd Webber (Phantom of the Opera) and Tim Rice (The Lion King). I should hate it on so many levels...

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Still from King Herod's Song

...but I just love it! I've tried to turn on friends but it's really a love it or hate it kind of movie. It's a bit irreverent but in the end, I think it casts a sympathetic light on Jesus.

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The director, Norm Jewison, also directed Moonstruck and Rollerball.

Which leads me to Godspell. I never really gave the other Jesus musicals a chance (Godspell, Joseph and that Technicolor Coat). I really enjoyed the Senior production of Godspell in High School ("Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr Erich VonHeeder!") but never really cared for the music that much. Something clicked about a year ago and GS has been ear-worming its way into my brain ever since.

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This weekend, the musical will be playing on Capitol Hill:

Seattle First Baptist Church
1111 Harvard Avenue
7 pm each Fri/Sat
Tickets: $25

Put the hatchet down!

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The ethereal and haunting Jamie Spiess (Husbands, love your wives) has a show this Tuesday. Every time I hear her voice, I fall in love.

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So if you're around tomorrow night and want to have your heart broken while your spirit is lifted, please head over to the Sunset Tavern.

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Like most artists, Jamie is under-insured. She's just out of a 2 week hospital stay and tomorrow's show is a benefit to help pay those bills.

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Please go to the show, please shower her with love, please donate!

Husbands, love your wives, Tuesday, November 18, 2008

with the Moondoggies, Grand Hallway, The Maldives, The Final Spins, The Banyans

Stay Gold!

Today was uncharacteristically GORGEOUS!

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

so dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

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- Robert Frost, 1923 -

Good luck, Yann!

Aw, my friend Yann Novak has one week left in Seattle before he moves down to Los Angeles. It's felt really abstract -- up until I saw his Facebook message status countdown!

Yann is one of the sweetest, kindest, most talented folks you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting.


dave sundine, brian murphy, yann

In addition to being an awesome friend, he's also an amazing sound artist. He runs a label called Dragon's Eye Recordings. Here's a farewell article in this week's Stranger.

The Hideout, 2007, EARL 3.0 opening

me, Yann, Steven Miller

I can be awful about visiting folks once they move away (I'm not much of a traveler). Luckily if I don't get down there soon, he'll back in February for a show at the Henry (with Jamie Drouin).

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our feet

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Best of luck, Yann! Seattle's loss will be the world's gain.

Thanks for all the fun times!

Marriage Equality

November 15 was a National day of protest for Marriage Equality.



The whole point of the day was "equal love".

King County Exec Ron Sims. He gave the best speech of the day.

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The gang met up for breakfast before the rally.

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There were so many kids. I think our future is in safe hands.

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It was so great to see so many friends/loved ones at the rally. It was so big I couldn't connect with all of them but we kept in touch via texts. Thanks to everyone who braved the sunny, near 60 weather and came out! :)

Bacon Jam!

Skillet is arguably best known for its burger.

And I think the delicious kobe "style" beef

burger gets ordered so frequently in large

part due to my favorite ingredient -- bacon jam!

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Now you don't have to wait for Skillet.

You can try to recreate the deliciousness at home,

including the bacon jam! $10 will buy you an 8 oz. jar.

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They'll begin selling it December 1st.

And if you want, they'll mail it to you for $3 more.

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Beyond the Threshold

Pegasus Living Art, photo by Charles Ellis

The 3rd Annual Beyond the Threshold Dance Festival begins tomorrow. Over 10 countries featuring 70+ performers will be participating. I have a couple of friends performing.

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Jasmine, photo by Charles Ellis

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Jasmine Zimmerman is one third of Pegasus Living Art. The other two members are Rachel Beth Kaplan and Christopher PTree (sound). They will be performing Saturday and Sunday at 1pm.

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Phffft Dance Theater Company, photo by Charlie Schuck

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Cyrus Khambatta is the Artistic Director for The Phffft Dance Theater Company. He performs Friday and Saturday. PI profile on Cyrus.

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Schedule here. You can purchase tickets here.

Spirited Earth

image via www.spiritedearth.com

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My friend Kate Hailey just opened her first solo photography show! You only get to have one first show and this one promises to be great. It's a series about life in Seattle taken with a holga camera.

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The show is up at Starbucks (505 Union Station in the I.D.) through the end of the month and then moves to Pioneer Square (Starbucks @ 1st/Yesler) in December.

prop 8 (and prop 102, amendment 2, A.A.B.)

(video)

Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008
Time: 10:30am - 4:30pm
Start: Volunteer Park / End: Westlake Center

There have been protests all across the country this past week after the passing of Prop 8 in California (and similar/more restrictive bills in Arkansas, Florida and Arizona).

"As a community, we have to admit to the fact that we are polarized in various
ways. Honestly, I’m not sure what community isn’t and I believe that our
polarization is proof to our humanity - we are no different than anyone else,
regardless of color, creed, or sexual orientation. Still, our polarization has
hindered us from mobilizing as one strong voice. ..." via join the impact

I have lots of straight friends talking about the protest but for some reason, many of my gay friends haven't even heard about it. Odd. So if you haven't heard about it, here are the details. I'll be there. With lots of friends.

Empire of Dust

Empire of Dust (2006) image via artist's website

I haven't thought of Beth Cavener Stichter in ages. What a shame. Her animal sculptures have driven me nuts since the first time I saw them.


Cornered Rabbit (2003), built to fit Archie Bray kiln

She did a two year residency at Archie Bray ending in 2004.


Masters Thesis show (2002)

I'm just always in awe when someone can so easily master a medium. Her sculptures make it look effortless.

Tall Barn by Jeremy Mangan

Tall Barn by Jeremy Mangan

I saw this on Thursday and really liked it.

It's part of a show called The Vancouver Project.
It was up for one night at Fat Tiger Gallery.


White Mountain by Whiting Tennis
Image via Greg Kucera.

It would look nice with Whiting Tennis' White Mountain.

The Great Hate State

4/5 of Pr*p 8 dollars came out of Utah

I definitely have my moments but I'm generally a likeable guy. That's why it's always so surprising to find out some people don't like me, and in fact, might even hate me.

I remember being 18 and the subject came up and a close church friend (I used to go to church a lot) told me that he would rather be friends with a murderer than a homosexual. That's colored the way I assume religious folks think about gay folks ever since. And because I live in a city that's not very religious but very gay, outside of that one instance, being gay has just never been an issue.

But I'll tell you, this Pr*p 8 stuff sure has me bummed out. I woke up so proud and hopeful for the reunification between red, white, blue and black on Wednesday! Then I read about the returns in Kansas, Florida, Arizona and California and it just hit me. I think this is the first time that I've felt discriminated against for being gay -- ever.

I've got some really beautiful friends who got married in California in 2008. They are totally smart people and can intellectually understand that this doesn't nullify their love (at all!). But emotionally, it's a huge slap to have a majority of folks tell you they don't approve of your expectation for an equal, non-religious marriage. I guess that's why civil rights shouldn't ever be put to a popular vote.

Personally, I wouldn't want to get married in a church because I'm not religious. But there are a lot of gay couples who are religious and there are lots of churches that would willingly perform those marriages. I don't think churches should be forced to do something that goes against their code. I will always defend your right to the separation of church and state. I was just kind of hoping you'd support my right to equality. Some argue that civil unions are equal. Here's a .pdf list of reasons of why they're not.

I don't think that gays as a group have had to mobilize in solidarity since anything since the outbreak of Aids in the 80s. I'm complacent in my utopia in Seattle. I think folks keep looking around for someone to naturally rise up (David? Dan? Andrew? Andy?) and explain what we can do to effectively change things. Right now, we're pretty disorganized and sad and many are angry. There are a lot of good ideas. And there's also hope. People have asked us to stay positive in this. I think that's a good idea. But I can sure understand when folks need to vent. I'm not really sure what the end result of these next couple weeks will be (maybe nothing, and this will simply be a weird entry on my blog) but if nothing else, I hope folks understand that for a lot of reasons, this is really important to us.

I know there are folks who are glad the proposition passed. I probably won't change their mind by yelling or protesting (but I understand that impulse). The way to change people's minds is by getting to know them. Based on their Facebook updates, the majority of my straight friends are overwhelmingly supportive and equally bummed out by Pr*p 8. Thanks -- that means so much.

But even if that doesn't work, all we have to do is wait it out. Each generation becomes more and more tolerant.

Related:

Mixed Feelings (CNN)
Gay & Straights + Art (Seattle PI)
Harvey F (Huffington Post)
Hollywood's Take (AP)
Say What, Utah? (The Stranger)

November Openings

There are some really great shows opening up this month. Here are a few of highlights.

Thursday Receptions:

Justin Colt Beckman at Punch Gallery

Dawn Cerny (and many more) at Some Space Gallery


Richard Barnes at Howard House

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Matthew Offenbacher (and others) at Howard House
Reception Thursday, November 13

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Saturday Receptions:

Grant Barnhart at OKOK Gallery


Claire Cowie at James Harris Gallery

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All images from respective galleries.