music – Page 2 – a crank's progress

Jack Shedd is an honorable man.

The author and proprietor of Big Contrarian just sent me an Amazon gift card for the simple act of noting a small error on one of his recent posts. A simple “thank you” would have done (he says, as he greedily lingers at Amazon.com) but I’ll make good use of this.

Thanks.

in case I get disemvowelled . . .

It looks to me like the only ones to feel embarrassed are the boingers, for doing something that seems counter to their public personae and for failing to defend their decision convincingly…. I realize BB is not the anyone’s government of public utility and has no legal obligations to be open, but I suspect a lot of BB’s readers have expectations beyond the merely legal.

I don’t think I said anything that inflammatory . . .

Where I lose the plot is that these posts (and comments referencing them?) disappeared a year ago and only now does anyone notice. And in that time, no one thought of a way to communicate that to the teeming millions? Or that it needed to be presented in a favorable way? Does that seem believable?

And who will be embarrassed by the facts of the matter coming out? Violet Blue? One of the BB crew? It looks to me like the only ones to feel embarrassed are the boingers, for doing something that seems counter to their public personae and for failing to defend their decision convincingly. Like it or not, you have an audience and they have some expectations. As noted elsewhere, it will be hard to take you all seriously on issues of transparency after this, trivial as it may seem now. I realize BB is not the anyone’s government of public utility and has no legal obligations to be open, but I suspect a lot of BB’s readers have expectations beyond the merely legal.

[From That Violet Blue thing – Boing Boing: with over ~~800~~ 1100 comments in 24 hours? Impressive. I think people are just trying to get it up to 1984. ]

And the possible reason for all this? Looks embarrassing for the BB crowd if it was something like this.

for what it’s worth, this is still wrong

McCain War Record No Longer Off Limits To Some Liberals A small number of left-wing activists are beginning to question John McCain’s service during the Vietnam war, charging him with, among other things, war crimes and helping North Vietnamese propaganda efforts.

…do I wonder if McCain feels he could have defended Kerry, a fellow Navy officer who served in the same conflict, a little more strenuously?

McCain War Record No Longer Off Limits To Some Liberals

A small number of left-wing activists are beginning to question John McCain’s service during the Vietnam war, charging him with, among other things, war crimes and helping North Vietnamese propaganda efforts. The attacks are notable for their similarity to the “Swift Boat” attacks against John Kerry in 2004. (Politico)

Unless someone committed verifiable war crimes while in uniform or in active service, I think their service records should be left out of this. It was wrong when it was done to Kerry and it’s wrong now.

But . . . . do I wonder if McCain feels he could have defended Kerry, a fellow Navy officer who served in the same conflict, a little more strenuously? Yes, I do.

[addendum] I remember reading the T. Boone Pickens had offered $1 million to anyone who could disprove the claims against Kerry: turns out he welched on the deal. Navy records made his boys out to be liars, so now he claims to have nothing to do with them. I wonder if the guys who dragged the Swift Boat crews through the political muck are welcome at the reunions?

where does the time go?

Congress has a lot to do: Appropriations, Tax Reform, Health Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, Housing, Environmental Protection, Energy Sufficiency, Mass Transportation.

…The whole thing — Barbara Jordan’s statement on the impeachment process — is worth reading, but I was struck by that list of political concerns, that legislative agenda.

Congress has a lot to do: Appropriations, Tax Reform, Health Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, Housing, Environmental Protection, Energy Sufficiency, Mass Transportation.

[From Sisyphus Shrugged – not nearly enough ]

The whole thing — Barbara Jordan’s statement on the impeachment process — is worth reading, but I was struck by that list of political concerns, that legislative agenda. That was on the table in 1974, and without exception, it could be on today’s agenda as well.

So what has gotten done in those 34 years?

representational or impressionistic

Drawing/sketching is all about impressions and choices (we don’t have to put the powerlines or other distractions in a drawing): photography, as practiced by most people, is about realism, warts and all…. Between these two is the vast area where most of us non-professional artists probably live, the realm of living sketches or drawings that depict recognizable subjects with a balance of freedom and accuracy.

Some wonderful stuff here. And this passage sums up my feelings about drawing and photography pretty well. Drawing/sketching is all about impressions and choices (we don’t have to put the powerlines or other distractions in a drawing): photography, as practiced by most people, is about realism, warts and all. Truth be told, I wish I could draw more realistically so I could feel more comfortable about adding my impressions. And the desire to make a faithful record of a scene is what drove the invention of photography, after all.

On various sketching and drawing styles (autumn, 2005)

At one end of the drawing spectrum is the very loose and carelessly scribbled sketch. This can be fun to look at even if you don’t know what it’s supposed to be. A lot of people think only of this style when they hear the word “sketch.”

At the other end of the spetcrum is the meticulously rendered drawing with photographic realism that took many hours of tedious labor to achieve.

Between these two is the vast area where most of us non-professional artists probably live, the realm of living sketches or drawings that depict recognizable subjects with a balance of freedom and accuracy.

We don’t have time to waste on scribbles, and the invention of the camera has freed us from the obligation to slavishly record reality.

Sketching may be the only art we produce, and we want to make it worthwhile. We want to make stuff that we are proud to show to others, even if they are thumbing through a sketchbook rather than strolling through a gallery. This kind of art can exciting for both the artist and the viewer.

[From Russell Stutler’s Sketchbook Part 1, Page 28]

Thumb through his sketchbook.