Culture and Stuff

No, I am not happy about this.

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I admit to a serious dislike of Michael Moore’s past work and present politics (to put it mildly), which I intend to express by not seeing his next film – which I feel is a proper response (and before you ask, I’ve given Moore enough fair chances already; I see no reason why I should give him another). Those who wish to may go watch it a billion times for all I care, as I doubt that the mere viewing of it will destroy Western society as we know it, or even convince a significant number of people who weren’t predisposed to be convinced, so as both a concerned American and a partisan Republican it’s not my problem.

So understood? Good.

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Things I meant to blog about #1

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Uninvited Artist Posts Work at 4 Museums NEW YORK (AP) – Paintings of President Bush and former President Clinton, accompanied by messages referring to the artist’s bodily fluids, mysteriously appeared last week on the walls of two major city museums and reportedly at two other museums in Philadelphia and Washington. Harold Holzer, a spokesman for … Read more

In praise of Killer B’s.

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B movies, that is. Given my current mood OK, nobody probably gives a flying leap about my mood, except if I flip out and go rob a train, which would make said mood entertaining – and so I shall talk about Bubba Ho-Tep, which I sat down and watched for the first time tonight. I … Read more

Thursday and tired…

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…so don’t expect too many posts from me, and fewer consequential ones. Speaking of inconsequential, take a gander of the pure evil represented by this. Or maybe it’ll be comic gold. We don’t know. We. Just. Don’t. Know. (pause) KHANNNNN!!!!! (via Poliblog)

Art, Terror, and an Epidemic of Idiocy

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The FBI clearly overreacted. They were doing their job, and no one should fault them for that, but when it became apparent that they were wrong, they should have simply said so, apologized, and moved on. But they can’t seem to do that. So what do they do instead? Apparently, S.O.P. in such cases is to make matters worse.

On May 11, State University of New York at Buffalo professor and artist Steve Kurtz awoke to find his wife of 20 years, Hope (a fellow artist), had died in her sleep. He called 911 and what had began as a tragic day became surreally frightenting.

Both of the Kurtz’s belonged to a cutting-edge artist collective known as Critical Art Ensemble (CAE), which focusses on artwork designed to educate the public about the politics of biotechnology. Most, if not all, of the collective members are respected university professors. You can get a sense of their work from their book titles: (Molecular Invasion; Electronic Civil Disobedience & Other Unpopular Ideas; The Electronic Disturbance; and Digital Resistance: Explorations in Tactical Media).

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Not dead…

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…just went to go see Shrek 2. Sweet Jeebus, was that a hysterical movie. I was frankly half-certain that it was going to suck, but I was happily proved to be wrong. I still don’t want to see a third one, though. There’s a limit to how many times you can go to that particular … Read more

Art Irritates Life

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Hat Tip to Constant Reader Dutchmarbel for this item ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lori Haigh, a San Francisco gallerist, was attacked by an as-yet-unidentified assailant who apparently objected to a painting she was exhibiting. Judging by the published photo of her, the attack was pretty brutal. The black eye Haigh received was just the latest in a string … Read more

“Sensation”al Art Up in Flames

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A fire in an east London warehouse has destroyed “millions of pounds” worth of art by important “YBA’s” (Young British Artists; a group centered around Damien Hirst and other East End stars made [in]famous worldwide via the Sensation exhibition that stirred controversy on both sides of the Atlantic). A good portion of the work lost … Read more

Need something to cheer you up?

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And, no, I’m not talking about the President’s overdue speech tonight with (hopefully) details about the transition to a sovereign Iraq. (Names! Mr. President…we want names!) I’m talking about something a bit more sublime: Gallery Finishes Restoration of ‘David’ And, for the curious, some details about the (suspected) rationale behind David’s infamously surrealistic proportions and … Read more

Yup, that’s about right.

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I think Matt Yglesias (who’s 23 today*) has got it ’bout right regarding gay marriage: It’s generational and it’s inevitable.

Some social conservative types have speculated to me that the overwhelming pro-gay sentiment among young people can be counteracted by the natural conservatizing effects of aging. Folks who think that are, I think, seriously underestimating the extent of the young-old disjoint on this topic.

Support for gay marriage isn’t something that one’s likely to outgrow, because it’s essentially founded on the notion that gay marriage is a matter of civil rights. If you don’t buy that proposition, then you probably can’t be convinced to support gay marriage. (Some libertarians among you might be convinced that marriage in general is none of the State’s business, but that’s merely an extreme version of the “civil rights” argument.)

Once you buy the proposition that gay marriage is a matter of civil rights, however, it’s not easily discarded. You don’t wake up one day and say, hmm, now that I’m 35 (or 45 or 55), it’s time for me to outgrow my youthful notions of “civil rights.” This isn’t like, “man, I used to like the kine bud, but now I got a job, a house, and two kids in school, so you knowwwwww.” This is a world-view issue, not a life-style issue.

Thus, I predict that within 30 years laws permitting gay marriage will be the rule, rather than the exception.

von

P.S. So you can judge your messenger’s bias, know that I strongly support gay marriage (though I believe it should be accomplished by legislative means, not lawsuits). Know also that, just because I’ve framed the debate as a civil rights issue, I do not believe that those who oppose gay marriage are necessarily homophobic; nor are they evil; nor are they bigots. Many base their opinion on deeply-held religious beliefs that root themselves in the highest and kindest aspirations of humanity, and which we would all do well to respect.

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