Saturday, September 30, 2006

Bulletproof eyeglasses, the idea of protection is for real:
Polycarbonate is the required material for all children's eyeglasses because of its safety qualities - it's the material used to make bulletproof glass. For this reason, it's also the eye doctors' lens of choice for those with a blind eye or amblyopia (commonly called a "lazy eye"), where one eye's best-corrected vision is worse than the other eye. It ensures the good eye is always protected in case of an accident.

From fact to trivial fact, the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, who Andy mentions in his entry did buy the glasses for real:
President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua did some family shopping while in New York for the United Nations session. For bulletproof eyeglass lenses, $300 a pair sounds like a bargain, and considering all the different suits and combat fatigues he wears, six pairs are understandable. (I hear he's running for the presidency again...)

The hook up came in 1983:
1983 - Lenses made of a new plastic material, called polycarbonate, were introduced to the marketplace by Gentex Corporation in the early 1980s. Their high 1.59 index of refraction made them the lightest and thinnest lenses available at the time. Also applauded for its seemingly bulletproof durability, polycarbonate appeared to possess all the attributes necessary for optical lens success, except good optics. But changes in the optical industry come slow, and innovation is met with skepticism. It has only been in recent years that polycarbonate use has grown in popularity due to its high impact resistance. Children and high-risk individuals, such as police and firemen, are often fitted with this lens when the risk of eye injury outweighs the optical disadvantages.

But here are some Bon motts for Andy, who was speechless:
Also - is art just bon motts or is it more a religion, because I am pope. pop. Whatever.

More, but from the Dandy's who took from Andy:
Whether or not you and your companions actually have anything to say to each other beyond the usual yelling over the loudspeaker or leering at potentials is entirely in the hands of you, and you, and you. So, perhaps this is not the place to go if you have long since run out of things to say to each other (eek!), if you dislike not being able to show off your matching shoes, belt and new handbag (double eek!), or if you can't handle the fact that not every girl/guy at the bar is eyeing you off as potential lurve-candy (oh please?). One would never suggest that this is everyone's idea of a good time (sometimes, coming up with witty bon motts is a little draining after all), and MdM can?t promise you that your IQ will leap up 50 points by being in such a place (somehow, a few glasses of sauvignon blanc just aren?t going to aid that little brain-nourishment wish, no matter how much my friend AW hopes).

I remember Yul Brynner from the King and I. (Get in line, right?) I can't imagine him with hair. He would look so odd, no? wassup with his aura? Who is he really? hmmm...

Yul Brynner's torso, pate and legend were buffed to an impenetrable high-gloss finish. The flamboyant actor had a gift for self-promotion, and after his similarly gifted opium-smoking buddy Jean Cocteau advised him not to let on that a star ever goes to the bathroom, Brynner reinvented the details of his past - the biological and the genetic included.

To journalists especially he invented away: he was part gypsy, he claimed, and a bastard with a mother who died young, for starters. Ultimately, he took pleasure in repeating and amending for new interviewers the fabrications he had previously fed others, throwing up his hands at the printed contradictions as if he'd been victimized by some devil other than himself.

Downplaying the Gypsy is interesting:
He sets straight that Brynner was born in 1920 in Vladivostok of Swiss, German and Mongolian background (with some Russian Jewishness hanging somewhere from the hereditary tree). The only connection to gypsies turned out to be an affinity for the peripatetic life. This penchant fit handily with the actor's hunger for the kind of adulation that provincial audiences provide best. The need for constant approbation would undo him in the end.

Da man was a sex symbol (Did I hear marilyn?):
Brynner was known to be the predominant male sex symbol of his day and he was the male version of Marilyn Monroe.

More on the sex symbol, and now... baldness:
What is it with the skinhead look? Once upon a time, there was only Yul Brynner, then Telly Savalas, and finally Michael Jordan, as if only one celebrity per decade were allowed such bowling-ballsiness. Now everybody’s running around as naked on top as a bathtub knee, from Bruce Willis to Ice-T and Tucci. Rather than hint at wishful thinking on the part of balding executive producers, the scorched-follicle persona suggests instead manly single-mindedness and purity of purpose, like a guided missile.

A jewish black:

Jewish, Black communities unite for 'Freedom Seder'

by Glen Straub
Massachusetts Daily Collegian
March 31, 2004

Two different peoples; two different stories; one concept threading everything
From the Designer
“This product features our Kiss Me I'm Jewish design.
Product Details

Not a man, but a cap:


Kiss Me I'm Jewish Black Cap

Visit this member's shop: Kiss Me T-Shirts & Gifts

From the Designer
“This product features our Kiss Me I'm Jewish design.”
Product Details
Top it off in our structured black cap made of sturdy, durable brushed canvas. 100% cotton breathes for year-round comfort. Adjustable closure with a low profile crown. Images are permanently adhered with a sturdy patch. Look cool on bad hair days or when shading your eyes from the sun. One size fits most.

Not a man, but a guy (playa, no less)

Jewish Black Guy
Player Statistics Unique ID
6452997 1996966
Points 163,293
Games Played 1,077
Games Won 451
Games Quit 56
[...]


Not man, but his tension[s]:
News & Notes, March 20, 2006 · Tensions between the Jewish and black communities recently came to a head during an episode involving the Nation of Islam. Commentator Robin Washington, who is both black and Jewish, says an important lesson can be learned from the incident. Washington is an editorial page editor at The News Tribune in Duluth, Minn.

Andy and AIDS:

Andy Warhol Aids Benefit Party. New York, September 5, 2005

Andy Pop and AIDS:

Pop Out: Queer Warhol. - book reviews

[...]

He bemoans Warhol's "failure to address AIDS," a failure that "surely stemmed in part from his phobic and shame-filled relation to illness." For Flatley, the only Warhol painting that treats the theme is the one that does so explicitly in its title, AIDS/Jeep/Bicycle, ca. 1985. But Warhol's camouflage self-portraits, and his gelatin-silver prints stitched together with thread (especially the untitled one of 1976-86 that shows haunting chandeliers), to name only a few contemporaneous works, can all be read as responses to AIDS.

Close to home, Andy's partner and AIDS:

His choice of endangered species from the animal kingdom is a curious one. Many critics at the time reviled the series as kitchy and blatantly commercial. But when this series was produced, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was in its early years; although not well known across the country, the “gay cancer” was wreaking havoc on the New York art and fashion scenes. Art historian Wayne Koestenbaum was the first to point out that gay men were an endangered species, and that perhaps Warhol was reacting to the threat. Gould was already showing the first signs of HIV/AIDS, the disease that would claim is life at the age of 33 in 1986.

Crazy Matty was a super groupie:

I've heard you refer to yourself as a Super Groupie. What does that mean?

It's a girl who only goes out with the Super groups... like the Beatles are a super group and I went out with one of them.

[...]

Who were the best lays?

Sexually, the guitar player in Rare Earth. Mentally, James Brown and dancewise too. Lou Reed is wonderful but I've done nothing with him. Physically, Jagger gets four stars but personality-wise he's the worst. He wasn't so fabulous to me. He was just average.

Did you sleep with him?

No. Bianca was there! He just kissed my hand. He wasn't outrageously friendly... he seemed kind of conceited.

[...]

What is your favorite perversion?

What does that mean?

That's true, perversion is very hard to define...

Do you mean what other peole call perversion?

You could interpret the question that way if you like.

Ummm... I like to clean my ears with Q tips.

Do you do it in a perverse way?

Oh yeah, I smile... After I pull my Q tip out, I look and see if I took a lot of wax out and if I did I feel like I came (giggles).

I don't think I can add much more, only that I'm speechless (and I don't mean that in a cheesy way). Saying that times change doesn't even qualify as a cliche. We know this, but when we read the actual interview above and consider it along with Andy's account of Geri, I think the sign of the times are obvious--hence the good ol'days will always be knockin' on that door baby. Maybe that's why Geri remembered the sixties when she spoke to Andy on the phone. Nostalgia is not necessarily a synonym of hope, but it certainly appeared to be keeping her alive... Oh, I sound so politically correct. Just read her whole interview, and forget saving face--enjoy the damn thing for what it is.

I just visited Eric Fischl's website. And must say that the images are quite... like his images--some people will certainly find them "problematic" but that's not at issue for me here. I think the paintings do demand a position from the viewer (the voyeur). I remember being introduced to his paintings in undergraduate, and staring at that kid who looks at the woman on the bed while sticking his hand into what appears to be (possibly) her purse--"Bad Boy," 1981. And I remember thinking, "it's like he's penetrating her, no? Isn't that a very male painting?" Like male fantasy and stuff?

As here I was also being introduced to feminist theory in other classes. Oh yeah, I was getting broken in, baby and I loved it! Was that not fun... And I can't remember if it was the teacher who mentioned penetration and stuff, but I found the image quite odd--stuck in my head, and reading some theoretical essay, and all I could think was fairly straight forward, I guess, I wanted to stop looking but wanted to keep looking, and the teacher was saying something to this effect, explaining the essay.

But I certainly don't want to revisit those "theoretical notions" of ambiguity and ambivalence Fischl's work supposedly elicits; I will only say that he appears to be still pulling it off. Kind of like Andy and his Campbell's paintings. Just a few posts ago, Andy was complaining that he still had to be pumping up his soupcans paintings. And here we have Fischl still playing that card that made him famous.

"Those provocative paintings..." I can see the art historians and critics thinking very carefully for the right words to describe the scene and not lose face over the fact that it's a very male picture... or is it? Jaja!! and Jaja!! back... "well, it's more complicated than that... let's talk about it." And the price goes up. Get off on it any way you like. His new paintings are still within this realm of repetition--carefully hanging on and refusing a formula. Like those soupcans, they still work. Fischl's still milking the formula. More power to him, as the formula has obviously evolved throughout the years. The idea of having a series with a narrative does allow him to develop more the tensions between the couples.

Ah, that whole Pops thing. I have to share some googling here. Hook it up.

Pops galore:

Popsrocks, Pop's has teamed up with 105.7 The Point. 6 bands will compete every Sunday Night for the chance to win a recording session.

This week's lineup: Sleep Machine, The Omnipresent, Sweden, Larkspur, Charly Chan and Hypomanic

Boston Pops Orchestra, Conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra will open the 2006 Boston Pops Holiday Series on Monday, December 11, to an excited full house!

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are chemical substances that persist in the environment, bioaccumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. With the evidence of long-range transport of these substances to regions where they have never been used or produced and the consequent threats they pose to the environment of the whole globe, the international community has now, at several occasions called for urgent global actions to reduce and eliminate releases of these chemicals.

Top of the Pops (baby),
Wordplay
Chris Martin rap stylin' captured on mix tape. No laughing!
Razor Sharp
Jarvis Cocker unimpressed by 'careerist' bands like Razorlight.
Rude Awakening
Robbie discovers that not everone is thrilled at his new direction.

Pop's Unfinished Furniture, Unfinished Furniture, Mexican Furniture and Kids Furniture - Sale Now. It has been a tradition in our family to provide the finest quality SOLID WOOD FURNITURE AT DISCOUNT PRICES. We have two huge showrooms in Los Angeles, California, authorized by the most prestigious manufacturers to ship finished and unfinished furniture Nationwide. With Pop's fully stocked warehouses and distribution centers throughout the USA, many items are available for immediate nationwide delivery.

Popbytes, good evening! tonight on david letterman the always funny top ten list was supposed to be presented by ex NJ governor jim mcgreevey who made headlines when he admitted to being gay and recently discussed the whole situation with oprah winfrey but mcgreevey apparently stopped calling after he told dave he'd make an appearance on his show (i think ms. winfrey might have scared him off a bit from more TV appearances...he was quite nervous plus she was a bit tough on him) anyways the hilarious list is copied below! popbytes over & out - xxoo!

The Parachutists Over Phorty Society or POPS is a club for skydivers over the age of forty. The first POPS was founded in 1966 in the USA and has spread to many countries around the world. POPS clubs hold regular meets in their own countries, and every two years hold a World meet. World meets have taken place in Australia, USA, Spain, Jordan, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland. This year's World Meet will take place in October 2006 at Eloy in the USA. Competitions at meets include accuracy, formation skydiving and the special POPS competition the Hit and Rock.

Auctions!! Gotta love'em.

Hook up Jasper. These days he's off the hook:

In 1997 at the Christie's New York sale of the Ganz collection, White Numbers, 1959 Johns, 53 ? x 40 1/8 inches, sold for $7.9-million. Now Sotheby's has announced that another White Numbers, from 1958, only 28 x 22 inches, will be offered from the Mildred and Herbert Lee collection in November for $7-9 million. This should test the market, not just for Johns, but for the stability of contemporary "Old Masters" in what some see as a bear market at the Stock Exchange. Think back to the very late 80s when Johns' Colored Alphabet. A 12 x 10 ½ inch oil, encaustic and paper collage, sold at Sotheby's for $3.2-million, making it at $142,222 per square inch perhaps the most expensive contemporary painting ever sold at auction. If White Numbers even reaches the low estimate it still can't t beat that price.

And Andy ain't behind either. Let the NY Times tell ya:

Whither 12 Warhols? Andy Warhol was an artist who liked to think in multiples. But what might he say if he knew that 12 of his works are being offered for sale at once at Sotheby's in New York on May 3? Ten of the works are from the private collection of Fred W. Hughes, Warhol's business manager for 25 years and now the executor of the Warhol estate and chairman emeritus of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Mr. Hughes has amassed an extraordinary collection of Warhols from the early 1960's, which experts consider the cream of the crop for serious Pop Art collectors. Mr. Hughes said he was selling his Warhols because "I need the money."

Got to know da history, all road lead to Rome(?) or past it...

Some scholars argue that the very first auction occurred when Joseph of the Many-Colored Coat was sold into slavery by his brothers, however the first generally accepted auctions occurred in Babylon in about 500 B.C. In those times an auction was held annually, and women were sold on condition that they be married. Beautiful maidens engendered lively bidding, but less comely women had to pay a dowry to be accepted and thus the price could be negative.

Ancient Romans also auctioned goods. Those auctions were held in the "atrium auctionarium", and the trading was carried out by four functionaries: the dominus, on whose behalf the property was sold; the argentarius, who organized, regulated, and possibly financed the sale; the praeco, who advertised and promoted the auction as well as conducted the bidding; and the emptor, the highest bidder (recall caveat emptor, let the buyer beware.). It is not known whether the auctions were ascending or descending, but ascending is presumed since auctus means increase. Bidders normally did not call out openly, but rather winked or waved to indicate a bid.

Well, I felt I had to include Andy's account of the incident at the Rizzoli bookstore. But I have no comment. I simply can't blog about it. If you're reading this post in the archives, do visit Andy's corresponding entry for Wednesday, October 30, 1985, to learn about his unfortunate experience of having his wig taken away by a pair of pranksters.