Wadsworth Showcases Contemporary Dutch Artist in the Matrix Gallery

Section of The Shooting … At Watou, photo by MiraHartford

For the past week, as one entered the Avery Court suites of the Wadsworth Atheneum, they were greeted by this giant peaking through the doorway. The installation is titled The Shooting … At Watou, by Dutch sculptor Folkert de Jong and opens on Saturday, January 31, 2009. It will be up until June. Here is a few words from the press release,

The installation uses the familiar allegorical tale of David and Goliath to depict the battle between Spain and the Dutch Republic during the Eighty Years’ War. Spain is represented by the giant 10 foot-tall Goliath, while the life-sized figures symbolize the heroic Dutch.

“The Shooting is very provocative, but at the same time, its playful use of scale and color is engaging to both children and families, and we are thrilled to have it here in Hartford,” said Susan L. Talbott, Director, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and curator of the exhibition. “The artist’s use of the grotesque as commentary on society amplifies the relevance of contemporary art today and its ability to engender dialogue.”

Highly recommend checking it out.
It was quite startling and amazing the first time, and it continues to startle me every time I look to the left and see it.

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Could City Councilman Pedro Segarra be the next mayor of Hartford?

Current home page of The 40 Year Plan, by Ken Krayeske

Investigative reporter Ken Krayeske has been researching the possible scenario should city of Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez leave office due to the current scandal surrounding him. Mr. Krayeske has posted his findings at his blog, which include the controversial ousting of current City Council President, Calixto Torres, due to his ties to Mayor Perez.

Assuming that Eddie Perez does not survive the remainder of his term, City Councilman Pedro Segarra will in all likelihood be the next mayor of Hartford, according to Councilmen Pedro Segarra, Ken Kennedy and Matt Ritter.

A resolution is circulating this afternoon for a special meeting to install Segarra as Council President, which is the position that ascends to the mayor's seat should Perez resign, and thereby removing Perez ally Calixto Torres from the council presidency, Segarra said.

It's going to be an interesting year.

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Dalí

Last Friday I was pretty psyched because I was under the impression that I shared my birthday with great surrealist artist Salvadore Dalí. Turns out that January 23 is an important date for Dalí; he died on January 23, 1985. Thanks alot, IMDb, for confusing me!

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Dear 311, What do we do if the Parking Meter is frozen?

Frozen Parking Meter by MiraHartford

Pic of the day: After work today, met up with fellow blogger, Julie from Live in Hartford. As it wasn't quite 5pm, I recommended she get a ticket from the meter. However, as Julie just told 3-1-1,

Dear 311,
I went to the library after work today and tried to use the new parking meter in the library parking lot.

The debit card slot was completely covered and filled with ice. There was no way I could get my card into the slot, and no way I could clean it out.

Luckily I had some quarters, so I was able to park for an hour.

What should I do in the future if I need to use my debit card and the machine is iced over?

Thanks.
Julie

Check out her blog at liveinhartford.org to see if she gets a response!

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Mayor Eddie Perez surrenders to State Police under cloud of speculation

Conversations with the Candidates - Mayor Eddie A. Perez, 2007

The big news story today in Hartford was of course that of City of Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez surrendering himself to the State Police earlier this morning as he faces charges of bribery and corruption. There is already much being said by many others, so I will bow out of the discussion for the most part as unintelligent comments should be saved for the Courant's comment forums obviously. For my part, just thought I would share this video I directed two years ago when the Mayor was running for re-election. This was from a series of interviews held by Hartford 2000, the organization of Neighborhood Revitalization Zones, with the six mayoral candidates in 2007.

Here are a few links of interest on this story:
The Hartford Courant's timeline of events
Urban Compass' report from today's press conference at City Hall
John Dankowsky blogs about interviewing Mayor Perez hours before his decision

Quick comment from me about why I'm keeping my distance after the jump...
I've known Mayor Perez for several years now, working with him as his 'cameraguy' when I was employed at Hartford Public Access Television. Since he began his campaign in August 2001 to when I left the job in 2008, I would work with him at least once a week. That isn't to say I've always (ok, ever) agreed with the Mayor, his administration, or his tactics. In fact, we once exchanged some very heated words regarding some political decisions he had made. I learned a lot about politics because of my work with Mayor Perez and the rest of city council and learned, I don't care for the underside of politics. To that end, I actually never witnessed the dark side that comes out in the news articles.

But I also had the opportunity to know Eddie Perez, the guy that was your 'papi' when the politics were put aside. And I actually grew to like him over the years. His wife is also a very vivacious individual. Personally, it hurts to see this type of thing happen, just like it had hurt to see certain decisions that were made. What is more frustrating is what we will see and read: those that are ready to tear him down and gloat. There are three entities being demolished: The office of the Mayor, the community man, and the city of Hartford. This is how they are attacking. Frankly, I feel for all of them.

And because of that, I don't really have any condemning words, as some would expect. I know, it's weird for me not to. Maybe it's part of the Hope wave of Obama that I think it's time to rethink things; maybe it's because I hate his enemies more. At this point, I'll think of the man I've gotten to know and hope that he and his wife can make it through this. As for the law, that is what it is and it will judge. As for the haters on the forums, go fuck yourselves because one finger pointing at us doesn't out weigh the four pointing back at you.

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Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees

This is what makes the internet great: being able to find amazing videos by amazing bands that you can no longer watch on so called "Music" Television or "Video" Hits 1. Off the amazingly beautiful and inspiring album The Bends.

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