Upcoming at CentralTrak

Charissa T. and Mary B. have been working hard. Here are a few (tho' by no means all of the) upcoming events (selected purely based on my own interests):

Now thru Jan. 20: Vicious Pink, curated by Mary Benedicto. Image left: Kirsten Macy's A Girl Named Ham & the Sportsman Royal (2008; courtesy Barry Whistler Gallery).

1-8-09: Artist's Talk on Dreamyourtopia, by Daniel Rozenberg, at the DMA. See below.

1-10-09, 5-9PM: Checkpoint Dreamyourtopia. As I understand, you'll have to pass through border control to get to the bar and band.

I'm fascinated with immigration.

First, I believe freedom of travel is a fundamental human right, and suspect nationalism and national borders to be feudal figments perpetuated by oligarchs who would prefer that power over the migration of jobs and us serfs be retained by themselves rather than us. Second, it should be obvious to any sane observer that, because of the demographically gigantic population of boomer oldsters and the relatively tiny cohorts coming up behind them, we desperately need immigrant worker/taxpayer/consumers to help keep the U.S. economy afloat during the next several decades. Third, in what must be one of our times' supreme ironies, border control has nonetheless become the subject of intense focus by right-minded xenophobes and security/control freaks in general. Fourth, I think most students of cultural history will confirm that the intermingling of cultures has often resulted in humanity's most notable flourishings in arts, sciences, etc. Fifth, surveillance, border and boundary control, balances of knowledge about who's up to what -- whether among citizens, furriners, or those who purport to serve us in gummint or their private contractors -- the need for moderation between openness and closedness, in order for any organism, species, or other system to survive -- I think these are all incredibly interesting and important issues (I've made work on and written about these here and elsewhere). Sixth, I'm curious about the seeming conflation of brains and guts. If I recall correctly, there's a biological basis: our brains/nervous systems are closely related to our skins, as are our guts: these are the membranes through which we process what's outside us.

I've suggested a related contest, but not sure whether it will/shd happen, but let me know if you want it to: who can get through checkpoint Dreamyourtopia quickest while carrying (or constituting) the most subversive contraband that's not actually illegal. I'd personally offer the winner a prize having no discernible worth, plus equally negligible fanfare, probably on this very blog.

1-24-09, 6-8PM: Midnight Special, a cooperative event with and/or gallery and House of Dang.

1-29-09, 6PM: Artist's Talk by Kevin Bewersdorf. Kevin had a show at and/or and was in the movie LOL shown at the Dallas Video Festival 2007, etc.



1-31-09, 6-8PM: Openings of exhibitions, Highest Fidelity: I am a Sound Technician, by Frank Dufour, and Commute Portraits by Florencia Levy.

2-7-09: Open-Forum Discussion: New Music-Electronica Scene, DFW/Denton, with Paul Slocum, CJ Davis, and Robert Howell.

2-14-09: Plush Crush, a collaborative event with Plush Gallery.

2-25-09: Lecture: "What Time Is It? Episodic Time in the Road Movie" by Charissa Terranova.

3-7-09: Symposium: Woman Body Image: Half Lives of the Cyborg Manifesto 25 Years After, with Kristin Lucas, Juliet MacCannell, Orit Halpern, and Irina Aristarkhova. Lucas had a great show at and/or earlier this year.

3-21-09: Carnivale.

See CentralTrak's Calendar for more details.

The Great Depression

Not far off.

Shoes, Anyone?

In Baghdad:



MORE shoes here, here, and here.

Per the BBC, meanwhile, the original perpetrator has, since the shoe-shooting, "allegedly suffered a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding" and faces up to two years in jail . . . AND, "offers to buy the shoes he threw are being made around the Arab world," one reportedly for as high as $10 million.

To paraphrase John Donne, "Ask not for whom the shoe-thrower throws; he throws for thee."

[No Title.]

Weirdness Compounded

"Do you feel like getting together with a bunch of like-minded people to plot the counterrevolution? . . . You can join me, my wife, Elizabeth, senior staff writer Jerome Corsi, Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein, managing editor David Kupelian and some old friends and new friends Jan. 4-11, 2009, as we conspire to fight back the threats to our freedom posed by incoming President Barack Obama (oh, how I hate to type that name with that title before it!)

"But this won't be a meeting held in some fleabag hotel somewhere. We will be plotting in style – aboard the Holland America line's ms Veendam luxury cruise ship, as we explore Western Caribbean destinations for seven days.

"It will be good to get away for a while. You need it. I need it. It gives you perspective, stimulates the brain, increases creativity.

"And, brother, do we ever need to be at our sharpest now!"

(More here.)

Couldn't Resist.

Used BlackBerrys Sold by McCain-Palin Campaign; Private Data Included

Per engadget, last week Fox 5 associates in Washington, D.C. picked up some Blackberrys for $20 apiece at the campaign's yard sale. When they fired the devices up, one still contained "50 contacts for 'campaign leaders, politicians, lobbyists and journalists' as well as hundreds of emails. A campaign spokesperson commented, 'procedures are being put in place to ensure all information is secure,' [and] followed minutes later [with] a blank email cc'd to his entire address book with the subject line 'We're so screwed.'"

(Thanks, Ben!)

Just to Make Sure You Got It:

"It's class warfare, my class is winning, but they shouldn't be." -- Warren Buffet, CNN Interview, May 25 2005, suggesting we need to raise taxes on the rich.