Ron Paul Highlights: Reagan Library Debate Jan. 30, 2008

Finally decided to see what all the fuss is about concerning Ron Paul. I hear a lot of talk about how he’s a wacko or a genius because he wants to abolish the IRS and make our economy a truly free market. He’s a (relatively) unpolished political orator — which seems to be his choice — and seems to speak his mind with very little regard for sound-bites. This video of highlights from his performance at yesterday’s Republican debate shows off his wealth of knowledge about history, politics and finance and his ability to speak about them intelligently. McCain, Romney, and Huckabee go to great pains to display amusement with Ron Paul, hoping to cast him as a crotchety old man not worth taking seriously. Paul doesn’t address his opponents directly and keeps his side of the debate at the policy level instead of the ad hominem. Too bad it wasn’t a radio-only debate; they would have had to address his issues using verbal intelligence.

Ron Paul Highlights: Reagan Library Debate Jan. 30, 2008

Artist turns famous faces into grotesque collages

Wow. Found the artwork of Chambliss Giobbi via Gawker Artists, a selection of artists curated Liz Dimmitt of Gumshoe, LLC. for Gawker Media. There’s grotesqueness and deformity in the multi-faceted photo-collages he does, and (almost as a result) a sense of cubism…is he coming around to the beauty of his subject by going straight through the ugliness? Giobbi’s work is more aptly described by Gawker thusly:

Chambliss Giobbi’s figurative collages work on two levels: Firstly, as objects of obsessive psychological and physical mutation, and secondly, as testaments to a long courtship between artist and model. After a marathon photo session with his subject, Giobbi prints thousands of photographs. He then tears the prints and glues them, piece by piece, layer upon layer, to create the image. What follows is a series of collages on aluminum panels.

Asian vase mashups are dope!

Postmodernism continues to reach out and touch us from the grave, but at least it has developed a sense of humor over the last 10 years. Brendan Tang
is the Canadian artist who realized china and manga are two great tasted that go great together.

Pen-Top Utensils

Gizmodo took one look at these genius inventions and said, “Shut Down Humanity, Its Reached Its Peak.” I tend to agree.

New technology to make Rosie Palms very jealous

I was minding my own business reading a perfectly legit technology blog (Gizmodo)
when my eyes were raped by the news of a ridiculously over-designed sex toy line-up for men. I cannot deny that wintry hibernation creates an annoying combination of horniness and social isolation…so I read on. I examined the cross-sectional diagrams of the devices and engaged in a little theater of the mind. Produced by Tenga (a Japanese company, of course!) there are 5 different models (plus a warming device) that provide different sensations but are recommended for one-time-use only. (Imagine being in the focus group that perfected the designs!) Read about them here: Tomorrow’s Masturbation Technology is Here, Today!

Strong rebuttal to 9/11 theories

I really want to believe that the government was involved in creating the 9/11 disaster in order to inspire a sense of fear in the public that would allow them to seize more power. So I am a little disappointed that NOVA (the PBS show) has a great collection of A/V presentations to rebut 9/11 conspiracy theories on their site: Building on Ground Zero. Whether they were behind 9/11 or not, I think they did in fact use the sense of fear in the public created by the event to seize more power.

“Generate Ideas In Moderation!”

Behance has a cute anecdote about the perils of having too many ideas: Generate Ideas In Moderation!

Taryn Simon Shoots White Tiger

I know, I know! “What’s with the provocative headline?” you ask. Well Simon is a photographer, and those pretty white tigers you see in zoos are gotten by selective inbreeding. Only very few of them are display-worthy. The rest are born deformed and retarded. I heard about a while ago, but it’s an issue I think is worth raising here. It’s kinda like seeing how sausage is made, which didn’t stop me eating any, but maybe all the 6 year-olds who read this blog will wise up and start a protest movement. Read Simon’s photojournalism on Wired: Photographer Taryn Simon Shoots America’s Best-Kept Secrets

9/11 Mysteries video on YouTube

Time to beat my favorite dead horse up some more. I found a 12-part series on YouTube about 9/11 that asks all the missing questions….and employs a charming velvet-throated woman to voice them. The following thought-provoking challenges are raised to the official 9/11 story: 1) No other steel building has ever collapsed. 2) The WTC was built to withstand high wind sheer and torsion, to hold up its own weight, and even survive an airplane strike. 3) Sequential explosions were reported by eyewitnesses and are audible on video recordings of the collapse. 4) Even if the floor structures did collapse onto themselves, the central core of the building would have still stood. 5) The fuel in the airplanes was nearly entirely consumed in the initial fireballs. And there’s more:

Harriet Barber - outside, painting…

Found a painter through Flickr this morning. She does landscapes “in situ” that are impressionistic and just gorgeous. Visit her site Harriet Barber - outside, painting… where you can read more about her.