• Criminals,  Culture

    Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” Vandalized in France

    January 6, 2006 /

    AP: Artist Accused of Vandalizing Urinal

    A 76-year-old performance artist was arrested after attacking Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” _ a porcelain urinal _ with a hammer, police said.

    Duchamp’s 1917 piece _ an ordinary white, porcelain urinal that’s been called one of the most influential works of modern art _ was slightly chipped in the attack at the Pompidou Center in Paris, the museum said Thursday. It was removed from the exhibit for repair.

    The suspect, a Provence resident whose identity was not released, already vandalized the work in 1993 _ urinating into the piece when it was on display in Nimes, in southern France, police said.

    During questioning, the man claimed his hammer attack on Wednesday was a work of performance art that might have pleased Dada artists. The early 20th-century avant-garde movement was the focus of the exhibit that ends Monday, police said.

    A 2004 poll of 500 arts figures ranked “Fountain” as the most influential work of modern art _ ahead of Pablo Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” Andy Warhol’s screen prints of Marilyn Monroe and “Guernica,” Picasso’s depiction of war’s devastation.

    “Fountain” is estimated at $3.6 million.

    Well, the vandal has a point:

    The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.

    — Marcel Duchamp

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  • Culture,  Weather

    Los Angeles Storm Watch: Final Storm Jeopardizes Rose Parade

    January 2, 2006 /

    UPDATE: It is raining but the Rose Parade has started

    Click here to refresh the Doppler Radar

    NBC 4 Television Los Angeles has Rose Bowl Parade Challenged By Rain

    The Pasadena Fire Department warned people to dress appropriately for the cold, wet weather that would be raining on 117th Rose Parade on Monday morning.

    The parade, carried live by KNBC, kicks off at 8 a.m. with a performance by singer Leann Rimes. Forty-eight floats, 23 equestrian units and 25 marching bands will be led down Colorado Boulevard by the grand marshal, retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.



    The Los Angeles Times has a Rose Parade Blog here.     and a spectator’s guide here.

    NBC 4 Television, Los Angeles, has weather and traffic updates:


    24/7 Online: Weather Plus
    Severe Weather Alerts

    As of 7 AM PST it is NOT raining in Pasadena.

    One hour before the Rose Parade begins.

    Stay tuned…….

  • Art,  Culture,  Socialists

    Austria Sex Billboard Watch: Images Depicting Queen Elizabeth, President Bush and President Chirac YANKED

    December 28, 2005 /

    NOTE: Sexually explicit images will be displayed in this POST.

    The ASSociated Press has Billboard shows world leaders in menage a trois

    Austrian chancellor yanks ‘art project’ showing British queen, Bush, Chirac

    Her Majesty would not have been amused.

    Neither would President Bush or his French counterpart, Jacques Chirac, over a Vienna-wide art project depicting them naked and engaged in a sexual act with British Queen Elizabeth II.

    The work of “euroPART,” an independent artists’ group, the scenes being displayed on electronic billboards across the Austrian capital were also embarrassing for the government just days before the country assumes the European Union’s rotating presidency Sunday.

    And this is “ART”?

    Even the Austrian press is outraged. Their story in German is here.

    Austrian media reported that the offending images were yanked Wednesday — just a day after they started flashing at motorists — on personal orders of Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel. A woman answering the telephone at the chancellor’s public information department who refused to identify herself said she could not confirm the report.

    Leading opposition party figures suggested Schuessel was at least indirectly responsible, saying the group had received about $1.2 million in government subsidies.

    Schuessel spokeswoman Heidi Glueck was quoted by the Austria Press Agency as saying the chancellor had been “unaware” of the subject matter being displayed.

    Are the Austrian’s embarassed because the art was “POOR and UNORIGINAL” or because the government paid for it?

    Certainly, it is in BAD TASTE – signifying NOTHING more than that.

    California Governor Schwarzenegger should be glad the Austrians removed his name from Graz-Libenau Stadium and the Graz Web Sites.

  • Culture,  Linguistics

    Linguistics Today: The Labiodental FLAP

    December 13, 2005 /

    OFFICIAL RECOGNITION A sound present in more than 70 African languages has been included in the International Phonetic Alphabet of 28 vowel symbols, 86 consonant symbols and 75 other marks for tone, stress, aspiration and other phonetic details. The sound, the labiodental flap, is the first to be added to the alphabet in 12 years.

    The New York Times has With Sound From Africa, the Phonetic Alphabet Expands

    For the first time in 12 years, the International Phonetic Association is amending its official alphabet. A sound called the labiodental flap will be granted its own letter, one that looks something like a v with a hook.

    The sound, a buzz sometimes capped by a faint pop, is present in more than 70 African languages. It is produced by the lower lip moving back and forward, flapping on the inside of the upper teeth.

    “The labiodental flap sound is as important as any other sound to speakers of languages that use it,” said Peter Ladefoged, emeritus professor of linguistics at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Think how Americans would protest if there were no way of transcribing the vowel in ‘bird,’ which in the usual U.S. pronunciation is almost as rare among the sounds of the world’s languages as the labiodental flap.”

    Flap couldn’t resist this piece.

    MP3 of the labiodental flap in the Mono word for vehicle is here.

    A video is here.

    H/T LA Observed.


    Please Vote for FullosseousFlap at the 2005 Weblog Awards.

  • California,  Culture,  Politics

    Jerry Brown Watch: Linda Ronstadt Back in the Oakland Mayor’s Life

    October 31, 2005 /

    The San Francisco Chronicle Blue bayou redux

    Singer Linda Ronstadt is back in Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown’s life — joining with actor Sean Penn as a special guest for a $1,000-a-head fundraiser planned for Tuesday at Tosca Cafe in San Francisco to benefit Jerry’s run for state attorney general.

    The event is being co-chaired by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Tosca’s Jeannette Etheredge and Brown’s new bride and campaign manager, Anne Gust Brown.

    As for Jerry’s old flame turning out to help headline the event — the only question seems to be, why not?

    We’re told Ronstadt has been dividing her time between homes in Arizona and San Francisco, and may contemplating a permanent move here.

    No word yet on how many guests have RSVP’d for the cocktail gathering, but Gust Brown assures us, “It’s a hot ticket.”

    Flap thought Jerry was recently married……….wonder what his wife thinks?

    Ahhhhh those liberals and their “open” marriages.

  • Culture,  Liberal Morons,  Media,  Media Bias,  Morons,  Politics

    Duquesne University Politically Correct FLAP: The Facebook Censorship

    October 27, 2005 /

    The Facebook

    The ASSociated Press and the Pittsburgh Channel has Expulsion For Gay Comments?

    Duquesne Student Resists Punishment

    A Duquesne University sophomore will risk being kicked out of school rather than write an essay as punishment for expressing his view that homosexuality is “subhuman.”

    Ryan Miner, 19, of Hagerstown, Md., was sanctioned by Duquesne after posting his view in The Facebook, an online directory that is not related to the university.

    The political speech cops are out at Duquesne.

    Who are the MORONS who are monitoring this kid’s Facebook?

    Miner opposed an effort by other students to form a Gay-Straight Alliance group, an issue that is still being debated by the university.

    “I believe as a student that my First Amendment rights in the Constitution were subverted and attacked,” said Miner.

    You betcha……

    After Miner’s comments appeared online, some students complained to the school.

    After a hearing, the Office of Judicial Affairs found Miner guilty of violating the University Code, which prohibits harassment or discrimination based on sexual orientation, among other groups.

    A 10-page paper was assigned as punishment. Miner said he refuses to write it and will file an appeal.

    What a waste of time.

    This is Facebook.

    And the University Code violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

    A reminder:

    First Amendment of the Bill of Rights: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

    The ACLU has a good section on free speech and university codes of speech and conduct here.

    Don’t write that paper!