Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween!

Grandma's Pie
by Edward S. Gault

I remember
really looking forward
to those Autumn weekends
that we would spend
at grandma's house.
It seemed to take forever to get there-
but grandma would be waiting
there by the door
welcoming us with her smile.
Then she gave us each our shovels,
and we would go to the cemetery
to dig up some of the things
that grandma would need to
bake her Thanksgiving Pie.

Copyright 2007

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The Reasons Why Most American Art Galleries Wouldn't Allow A Starving Dog Exhibit

It would never get this far because:

1) Most reputable galleries are concerned for the the kind of P.R. they might get.

2) Aside from criminal prosecution, there is the very probable load of lawsuits that would be filed even if the animal didn't get loose and hurt someone, (let alone if somebody did get injured). We're as litigous as hell in this country.

3) One of those lawsuits would be filed by P.E.T.A.

4) Institutions have lost their accreditation for less.The New England Acquarium had a close call with accreditation over mainitinance issues, we havn't gotten to starving the fish yet

Monday, October 29, 2007

Bill Murray's Philosophy on Fame

Some have suggested to me , and I agree, that publicity had alot to do with Guillermo Vargas's dog starving stunt. I think our media culture drives people nuts. Our plethora of "reality" shows demonstrates this, but it has been true for a very long time. Just one of many reasons (#3,749 on a list of 9,865) why I don't watch t.v.
Mr. Vargas is about to learn the hard way the difference between fame and infamy .
Actor Bill Murray once said that when people seek to be rich and famous, they don't know what they asking for in fame."Simply get rich," he said "and see if that doesn't cover it."





Sunday, October 28, 2007

In re:The Starving Dog Exhibit- A Big Round of Boos

Generally you can't get three people to agree on lunch, but in my travels around Bloggistan, I have found that most of the commentary is negative Actually, the vast majority of it is. At the blog of the Centro Nacional de la Cultura the criticism of the...uh..."artist" was intense. Now my Spanish is rusty, but I was able to pick out the following in quite a number of the comments:
"le falta un poco de imaginacion"
"el arte de la basura"
"Imbecil"
"estupido"
"la torutura no es arte ni cultura"
One guy called Vargas a "puta"- that word might not be in your English-Spanish dictionary . I don't think their P.R. is going well folks. And rightly so.One disturbing thing about this to me is that people weren't allowed to feed the dog obviously, but who was enforcing that?! Museum authorities-and who would they have been, a private security company? Where were the police? Or were they the ones asked to enforce this? If you were the prosecutor, who else would you hold responsible? In my opinion, those in the Gallery administration should be made to resign (and would do voluntarily, if they had any honor and integrity).If you happen to be a Spanish pro (or speak it as a first language), you might find the commentary interesting, just scroll down past the pictures (yes do-I wished I had!), and you will come to the commentary (See previous post for link).

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Cruelty in the Name of Art?

A couple of days ago, a friend of ours sent us this letter that she wanted us to see about a Costa Rican "artist" named Guillermo Vargas, who starved a dog as part of an art exhibit at a major art gallery in his country . The letter is below and I have provided a link to the gallery that hosted the exhibit (It is in Spanish though, but there are pictures, you will more than get the idea). If you wish, you can sign it yourselves and e-mail it to them. The show was in August, and unfortunately this letter is only just making the rounds. It's too late for the dog, it died. But it might not be too late to give the gallery grief, and maybe bring the pretending "artist" to justice. If the gallery directors had any decency or honor they would resign.

To http://us.f841.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=info%40madc.ac.crI am writing regarding the horrifying actions of Guillermo Habacuc Vargas, who paid local children to catch a dog on the street and then confined, starved and publicly displayed the dog as an "art" exhibit until the innocent animal died of starvation.I, along with many people world wide, am outraged that Guillermo habacuc Vargas has been selected to represent Costa Rica in "Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008", This man is by no definition of the word an artist he is a criminally insane sadist and enjoys inflicting prolonged suffering upon his innocent victims. He is a danger to all of society as it is well documented that those with the capacity to intentionally cause harm to an animal have the same capacity to harm humans.To state that this animal would have died eventually of natural causes is unjustifiable and beyond logical, rational thinking.To allow Guillermo habacuc Vargas to represent Costa Rica in Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008 will in no way benefit Costa Rica, the world is watching and the actions of this so called artist has brought much negative assumptions as to the humanity of the people of Costa Rica and the fact that the many witnesses of this animal's suffering did nothing and that the organizers of this event allowed this rather than taking action to see that Guillermo Vargas be criminally charged with animal abuse is sending the world a message that Costa Rica consists of a cruel, uncivilized society that has no regard for life but enjoys viewing and contributing to the loss of life.Each and every person who knew of and witnessed the suffering of this innocent dog is equally as guilty of causing it's uncalled for death.And to let this crime go unpunished and instead be awarded by Guillermo Vargas representing Costa Rica in Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008 is unacceptable and shameful not only to Costa Rica but to all participants of this event.I urge you, do not condone the heinous actions of Guillermo Vargas by allowing him to participation in Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008. He should be jailed and prosecuted to the fullest extent of law for this animal's death, not representing Costa Rica as an artist for he is not an artist and to refer to him as such is an insult to all true artists.Sincerely,Your Name


In Spanish:
http://www.marcaame.com/blogs/analog/index.php2007/08/22/5%20_piezas_de_habacuc

Friday, October 26, 2007

San Diego, you are in our thoughts!

I just want to offer my sympathy to anyone who lost their home to that fire in San Diego.No time is easy, but this has got to be the most difficult time of year, with the Holidays just around the corner, to undergo a tragedy of this magnitude. God be with you.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Getting ready for Halloween

Little Hobo
by Edward S. Gault

My mother pointed out to me
As she helped me put on
The various parts of my hobo costume,
That winning contests was not easy.
Other kids may have worked harder,
I should not get my hopes up or
My expectations too high.
She did not want me to
To suffer the blow when I didn’t win.
Still, I carried home a blue ribbon that day

Copyright 2007

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Don't you hate it when this happens?

A Golden Oldie This Week
For One Single Impression: Never Ending 10/19/08

Carol and the Baby
By Edward S. Gault

The clerk was having this
Wonderful chat with the woman
Directly in front of me
With the frock coat.
They must have been good friends
For they talked on and on
About Carol and the baby.
And the manager
Was in the doorway
Of his office
With his back
To the front of the store
Talking about the setbacks
(the many setbacks)
He had in sales.
I went down the street
To the other store
And as I walked in
The clerk’s phone rang-
And they talked and talked,
About Carol and the baby.

Copyright 2007

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The Blogger Curse

"Even a man who is pure of heart,
and says his prayers at night,
can turn into a blogger
when the moon is full
and the Bloggervane grows"

Apologies to Lon Chaney, Jr.

Copyright 2007

Monday, October 22, 2007

For the Monday Morning Commuter

Mornings
By Edward S. Gault

The Alarm rings
At the stroke of 7
Every morning
And I arise
From a deep sea of dreams
Pale and with little appetite
I lumber out of bed
To make the coffee-
All in all
One of my better mornings

Copyright 2007

Saturday, October 20, 2007

New Reflection
by Edward S. Gault

Dismal Skies.
Torrential rains came down.
I looked into a puddle in the street.
The sun shone in
-a new reflection of myself.

Copyright 1982

Friday, October 19, 2007

A Kick-Off Poem

Spoonbill
by Edward S. Gault

The Senator was a learned man.
All the books he read
were about to topple over,
and over the floor all spread
"I can't support your bill,"
he said
"because the spoonbill
is not my constituent,
and like most birds, is nomadic,
its' seasonal abode most sporadic."
And he spoke on and on,
-most erratic.


Copyright 2007