Thrown Under The Bus

Photo by El Pres

You may have heard talk of an increase in DMV fees to balance the budget. As a general rule, I don't think that's good, because fees are, essentially a regressive tax (that is, they fall more heavily on poor people, because they constitute a larger portion of their income). At least, though, it is a slight disincentive to driving - or that's what I told myself (probably not so, since in most parts of CT, lamentably, driving is not optional). But now, according to a legislator I was talking to today, the legislature has struck a deal to preserve the regressive part while eliminating the threatened-with-veto, slight-disincentive-to-driving part: we are spared a DMV fee increase and instead we get . . . a bus fare increase. Awesome. Now we don't have to worry about the rich not paying their fair share, BECAUSE THEY DON'T TAKE THE GODDAMN BUS AT ALL. Good work, legislature - a regressive tax that will be paid exclusively by the poor.

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Lie your ass off at WINCE: Liar Liar, Saturday October 3, 2009

Photo of WINCE provided by Abby Ohlheiser; image of attendees silhouetted to protect the liars...

Friends of the blog, Abby Ohlheiser and Meghan Dahn are at it again, encouraging attendees to their open-mic event to share stories and relics of embarrassment and humiliation. In April for their premiere event, participants shared stories of "Adolescence" (oy, that must have been rough). This time around, the theme is 'Lies' and the consequence of lies. People are encouraged to step up for 5 minutes and tell their true stories; or, in the spirit of the evening, make something up! Let's face it, we've all told a lie or two or countless; sometimes, they are harmless and nothing happens. But, eventually, one lie gets out of control, gets a life of its own and ends up having some sort of consequence. ("Hiking the Appalachian Trail," anyone?)

The humiliating confessions begin at 8pm, Saturday October 3, at Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street, Hartford.

More about WINCE after the jump. Cost is $5 for non-members, free for RAW members.

There's something about the title that says it all: WINCE. Think of that first time you saw a truly good horror movie, like The Exorcist, or any David Cronenberg movie (Videodrome and Dead Ringers come to mind). Sometimes it's out of horror, but humiliation of others also brings out that wincing reaction: to shut our eyes and avert our heads, but yet, leave our eyes open just enough to see what happens.

It's with that in mind that Ms. Ohlheiser and Ms. Dahn began this 'experiment in collective humiliation' last April. Dahn and Ohlheiser MC the event and lead the way to embarrassment and humiliation by being the first two to share in the storytelling experience. The evening then unfolds as each reader gets a 5-minute spot to share their story as they want to. "Some play songs, some share diary entries, or photographs, or just stand up and tell a story," Ms. Ohlheiser explained in an email.

What WINCE does, really, is access those moments and stories that stick with you, the ones you’ve told 100 times, or, if you’ve never shared them before, the story that, once you start talking, you know exactly how to tell That’s what makes the event stick together. The theme is just a “nudge” to get your mental gears turning. You get all sorts of people together in one room, telling stories (or just listening, which is also just fine), and laughing with (and at) themselves and each other. It brings people together, and it’s really an amazing experience.
-Abby Ohlheiser

The most important aspect of WINCE is to encourage everyone's penchant for storytelling and then sharing it with the community. A theme is provided in order to help generate ideas around universal topics. Ms. Ohlheiser says, "We want people to see “Liar Liar,” and think, “Ooh! I’ve got a good one for that!”

Of course, she could have just made that all up just to have a laugh at all of our embarrassing stories. The next WINCE event will be Saturday December 5th at Real Art Ways and the topic will be "Everything's Relative", just in time for the holidays!

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Dig It! @ the Wadsworth Atheneum

Come join me at The Wadsworth Atheneum's Phoenix Art After Hours First Thursday, October 1st, 2009. $5 to enter, free for members. Great list of events to enjoy and educate:

DIG DEEPER 5-8 PM
In the new exhibition Digging Deeper, artists Hank Willis Thomas and Willie
Cole reinterpret works from The Amistad Center for Art & Culture

DIG IT 5-8:30 PM
Music hosted by the Hartford Party Starters Union

DIG UP 7-8 PM
Talk by UHart alum and established contemporary artist Mark Dion,
who creates works incorporating found objects from excavation
sites – The Emily Hall Tremaine Lecture in Contemporary Art

DIG DRAG 8:30 PM
Get dressed up, sing along, or ad lib while watching The Rocky
Horror Picture Show (1975)

What, like I'm NOT going to plug an event where I work?!

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Awesome Art Everywhere Around Hartford

Awesome Art Thing Ever! by John Lepak forHartford.com

There is certainly a lot of art events happening this weekend, kicking off on First Thursday, October 1st, with "The Awesomest Art Thing Ever on the sidewalks of Pratt Street, Trumbull Street and Main Street in Downtown Hartford with the Awesomest Art Party you've ever seen." The party starts at 5:30 pm with free cotton candy on Pratt Street (until they run out), as well as music from Shag Frenzy DJs and performance art by Tony Olivares and Kurt Uccello. I've seen a couple of the shop windows and they look. I also know a few of the artists, so it's great to see them get some play.

For more on local art happenings, check out the info provided by friend of the blog, Heather Stabile Groenstein of The Libertine Collective.

From Heather's email:

• THURSDAY! So much to choose from on this first Thursday…

CURTIS BROTHERS CD RELEASE PARTY
"One Night Only." This event is planned to start at 7:00 pm on Sep 30, 2009 at Polish National Home, Hartford


DIG IT
"Phoenix Art After Hours extends music until 8:30!" This event is planned to start at 5:00 pm on Oct 1, 2009 at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford

Revelry
A Solo Show, Location: Cheshire Public Library,
Time: 5:00PM Thursday, October 1st, Cheshire

Inside Honduras: Photographs by Pablo Delano
Opening Reception, Location: Charter Oak Cultural Center,
Time: 5:30PM Thursday, October 1st, Hartford

The Awesomest Art Thing Ever
Location: Pratt Street, Hartford, CT,
Time: 5:30PM Thursday, October 1st, Hartford

THURSDAY NIGHT KARAOKE @ CLOUD 9 LOUNGE
HAD A LONG DAY AT WORK? COME UNWIND AT CLOUD 9'S KARAOKE NIGHT! Location: CLOUD 9 LOUNGE,
Time: 6:00PM Thursday, October 1st, Hartford

• FRIDAY

THE ADDAMS FAMILY GATHERING ~ Opening Reception
A collection of macabre artistry and eclectic oddities, Location:MAC650 Gallery,
Time: 7:00PM Friday, October 2nd, Middletown

PORK PIE HAT JAZZ SERIES 2009
ONE NIGHT ONLY, Location: POLISH NATIONAL HOME,
Time: 8:00PM Friday, October 2nd, Hartford

• SATURDAY

Second Annual New Britain Mural Slam
(the correct date, this time…they SWEAR!)
Location: Central Connecticut State U, Welte Garage Rooftop,
Time: 9:00AM Saturday, October 3rd, New Britian

FAM- Fashion Art & Music!
Out of the Closet: The First Fashion Fair
Location: The Monster Lab Studio
Time: 6:30PM Saturday, October 3rd

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Inspected by M.L., 6/8/05

Dear M.L.,

Can you believe how time flies?! Crazy, I know. I mean, I can hardly believe it's been over four years since you last inspected the toilet paper dispenser in the stall closest to the door in the third floor men's room of my Hartford office building. Four years! So much has changed since then. I mean, when you were last here, my employer was based in a building over on Farmington Ave., and I didn't even work there yet - I was clerking in Boston then, angling for a job in the public defender's office, getting used to fatherhood. If you had told me then that I'd end up in Connecticut, of all places, and working right in the building where you inspect toilet paper dispensers, I would have said you were out of your mind.

Shoot, back in '05, I could barely wrap my mind around the idea of car ownership - and here I am owning a house! Since then I've had another son, been through a million ups and downs, seen so many friends come and go. Instead of a rookie lawyer fresh out of school, now I'm, well, not a veteran, exactly, but I have a few years under my professional belt. And Anna - she was just a grad student when you stuck your "inspected by" sticker to the inside of the dispenser, and now she's a real-life professor, and always worrying about tenure. And Max is in kindergarten, starting to read, and even his brother Reuben, who's two and a half now, can recognize all his letters.

Anyway, I'd love to know what's going on with you. Are you still in the toilet paper dispenser inspection game? Still working this same territory? I guess it would be great for you if you got to see some other places - or maybe it doesn't make a difference? I never wondered if bathroom stalls are different in Waterbury or Litchfield, or if it's all the same and you're just as happy to be close to home at the end of the day. Either way, I hope you're doing well. Park Street definitely isn't the same without you.

Speaking of that, there's something I wanted to tell you: About that dispenser in the third floor men's room: It's still working OK, I guess, but the plastic cover kept coming off, and so it was just sitting on the floor next to the toilet, and then about a month ago, it just disappeared. It's not a big deal, really, but the toilet paper roll does sometimes fall off the dispenser, and it's only a matter of time before it falls into the toilet. Also, I don't know if this is even your department, but the bathroom has been out of paper hand towels for like three months.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Yours,

J.

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What Beer Would Twain Tap Into?

"Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough." — Mark Twain

Two great American icons that go great together: Mark Twain and Beer. And so it is that The Mark Twain House & Museum will be once again hosting Oktoberfest, their second annual. "Tapping into Twain" will happen Friday, October 2, 2009 at 5:30 pm, at the Mark Twain House & Museum Center, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford. I'm most excited about seeing Hartford area breweries such as Hartford Better Beer Co. with their Arch Amber Ale, Praying Mantis Porter, and new Arch IPA; City Steam's tasty Naughty Nurse Amber Ale; and Olde Burnside Brewing's Ten Penny Ale. There were also be other distributors and of course, area restaurants on hand to fill your stomach so as not to be drinking on empty.

So, designate a driver and meet up with us at Tapping into Twain!

A full list of who will be there and what will be served can be found on Twain House's blog.

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Fusion Centers and Civil Liberties, apropos Hartford

Intrepid independent journolist/blogger, Ken Krayeske, sent out this notice regarding an update to his 2007 arrest during Governor Rell's Inauguration Parade,

Tune in to CNN Wednesday, September 30 at 7:25 a.m, EST, 8:25 a.m. EST and again during the 9 and 10 a.m. hours to see a 2-minute segment investigating the role of FBI and Homeland Security fusion centers.

A CNN producer and photojournalist traveled to Hartford and interviewed me at the spot where I was arrested on January 3, 2007 for taking photos, and we discussed exactly what transpired that day. For more information about the unlawful arrest, go here.

Fusion centers, where federal, state and local law enforcement agencies combine information to "protect" America, remain a vital part of the homeland security scheme. Just recently, the Department of Homeland Security announced "an initiative to grant select state and major urban area fusion center personnel access to classified terrorism-related information residing in DoD's classified network."

For full disclosure, Ken is a friend of the blog and the contributors to the blog, so we are quite biased in his case against what happened. Still, many details of the authorities involvement are highly suspect. Press release after the jump.

From the same Sept. 14, 2009 press release:

"This initiative reflects the federal government's strong commitment to improve information sharing with our state, local, and tribal partners," said DHS Acting Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Bart R. Johnson. "Fusion centers are a critical part of our national security enterprise, and this new tool enables federal agencies to share information with these partners while utilizing our advanced technical capabilities for secure information sharing."

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PHH: Smackdown to the Senate!

It is ON!
In this corner, we have 6 contenders working out to take down the champ, the silver maned senator, the eyebrows of justice, Chris the Dude Dodd! But the biggest toughest meanest rootin' tooniest smackdown is comin' as he must fight Glorious Linda McMahon, the first lady of the WWE. In light of the banking & mortgage scandals last year, Dude Dodd, what do you have to say to your opponent? (microphone snatched by the left eyebrow as the right eyebrow begins to flex...)
Find out what happens next after the jump...

"OH YEAH?! SHE'S GOING DOOOOOWN," screams the silver hair, as the eyebrow flexes, strands of hair bulging like veins ready to burst, "NO ONE COMES OUT OF NOWHERE TO CHALLENGE HIS DODDSTER! THIS IS MY TOWN! I'VE BEEN FIGHTING IN THE RING SINCE VINCE MCMAHON WAS A TOOTHPICK WHO COULD SEE HIS TESTICLES! THEY THINK THEY CAN BODY SLAM ME, THEY GOT ANOTHER THINK COMING! OOOOOH YAAAAAAAAH WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!" howls the mane of silver and white as the eyebrows throw the microphone to the floor and flex and curl and grab a lawbook and tear it and half, feeding it to the celebrated coiffure.

"Well, so there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the challenge has been accepted..." (microphone once again snatched by the eyebrows)
"AND ANOTHER THIIIIINNG, BROTHER!! ALL THOSE LITTLE MEN RUNNING AROUND THINKING THEY CAN TAKE ME DOWN, BRING IT OOOOONN! I JUST BEAT DEATH TO A PULP, [right eyebrow now slices the air as if cutting someone's throat] I'VE BEEN TO IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN ON SECRET MISSIONS & KILLED OSAMA IN HIS SLEEP, BETCHA DIDN' KNOW THAT? OOOOOOOOOHHHHHYEEEEEEEEEH *grunt*! I DID IT AND ATE HIS BEATING HEART IN FRONT OF THE DICK CHENEY SO HE'D KNOW WHO WAS HIS BOSS! THE SENATE IS MY RING! IT IS MY HOME! I WILL CRUSH THESE LITTLE MAGGOTS WHO STEP IN THE CAMPAIGN RING WITH ME!!!" [eyebrow breaks the microphone and shoves into the gaping maw of the silver screamer's hair, which spits out the pieces]. A new microphone has been delivered.

"Thank you senator for that eloquent campaign speech," your steadfast announcer resumes. "So you're not concerned with the $30 million ad campaign that Mrs. McMahon has launched? Or that she has an army of wrestlers at her disposal to coerce voters and to jump in the ring and hit you, blind your eyebrows, break you on a table while the referree is either momentarily knocked down or distracted by the unnecessary cleavage of the women arguing for some reason, or masturbating to the images of said women before they were on steroids?" Announcer drops microphone and quickly steps away as the bulging silvermane and eyebrows are now breathing heavily and flexing, veins flowing like the mighty Connecticut River. Both eyebrows now clutch the microphone and the silver hair forms into the mutant Qato from Total Recall.

"BRRRRIIIIING IT OOOOOOOOOOOON!!! I WILL CRUSH THEM ALL! SEVEN WILL ENTER BUT ONLY I SHALL LEAVE!!! I DON'T NEED THEIR JUICE, I'VE BEEN FEASTING ON THE BONES AND BLOOD OF MY OPPONENTS FOR CENTURIES!! I KNOW ALL THE TRICKS! I MASTERED THEM WHEN HULK HOGAN WAS POOPING IN HIS TIGHTS, WHEN SGT. SLAUGHTER WAS ONLY A PRIVATE, WHEN THE ROCK WAS JUST A PEBBLE, WHEN THE JUNKYARD DOG WAS MERELY A POUND PUPPY, JERRY LAWLOR WAS JUST A POUNCY PRINCE WHEN THERE WAS REAL WRASSLING TO BE HAD!!! I CHALLENGE THEM TO STEP INTO THE RING WITH ME! I WILL FEAST ON THEM AS I DID ON THOSE DELICIOUS DINNERS THE BANKING INDUSTRY PAID FOR; I WILL DRINK THEIR TEARS OF DEFEAT AS I GUZZLED JOE LIEBERMAN'S TEARS WHEN I ENDORSED  NED LAMONT! I WILL HAVE THEM CRYING FOR THEIR MOMMIES OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! BRING IT ON, THE DODDSTER WILL TAKE YOU DOWN AND SCHOOL YOU ON HOW IT IS DONE!!" The eyebrows crush the microphone and toss it at the camera. Still worked up, they break through the wall behind them and leave. Senator Dodd's human body follows them as the hair & eyebrows throw aside everything & everyone in their path. The mustachioed squat announcer with new microphone in hand weasels back onto camera, glancing hesitantly at the path of destruction left by the Eyebrows of The Dude Dodd.

"And there you have it, ladies & gentlemen! Strong words from our incumbent champeen senator, preparing for the match of his life against the new blood vying for his championship belt. Will he be able to face them all in the final round? We'll have to wait for the Pay-Per-View matches in November of 2010. Until then, you can catch tonight's special match of the light weight class of wrestlers of the PHH! down in the center ring of the Red Rock Tavern Arena on Capitol Avenue. It'll be the fancy steps of Jostling Josh vs. the angry Administration! Horrible Hovorka defending against the West Coast Wred Tapers! Helder the Helldog biting at the hands that feed him fighting to break loose from his managers, the Hartford Dog Handlers. And the main match, the Naughty Nurse vs. the Hooker Irish Red! Gemma and Donnie will be your official referees. The matches begin at 9:30pm. The arena is located at 365 Capitol Ave., in the Capitol City. Don't miss out on this action filled event! You don't know who will walk away from these non-scripted fights!

And of course, I'll be your announcer, along with Bobby Heenan.
-Mean Gene Okerlund

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West Ha. Recycling Center Takes Its Mission Seriously

Photo by El Pres

Today being (for Jews) the day of atonement, Anna and I did some weeding in garden. (You wouldn't think yard work would be on top of the list of activities for the last four hours of a 24-hour period of fasting, but sometimes it actually feels better to be active than to wallow in the discomfort of hunger.) Once finished, we went to the town recycling center to dump our garden detritus (just as we dump the guilty freight of the year's misdeeds by asking forgiveness from those we have wronged - it's all about Yom Kippur, see?). While there, I noticed that the buildings of the facility seem to be in the process of being recycled back to nature as well.

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Cleaning some of the CT River

Our friend Brandon of The Beat Bike Blog sent us this email calling for volunteers to help clean up a section of the Connecticut River banks:

Some of you may recall that last year around this time, the Beat Bike Blog organized a cleanup at the confluence of the Park & Connecticut Rivers. We are doing it again this year on Saturday, October 3 from 11am to 2pm. To sweeten the deal, I've been allotted two extra river cleanup tshirts than may be given to those who collect the most trash or the most interesting trash. There's also the chance that you'll get your picture in the paper like two lucky cleaners did last year.
Here's a map of where we're going.

As I just told some one, 'Think Globally, Act Locally'. Here's a great opportunity to volunteer and help out our local environment.

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Community Day at The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

Video shot by Helder Mira on an iPod Nano Gen5 with Video

Saturday, September 26, was Community Day at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. I happened to be there working and decided to do some documenting when I had a free moment or two. Popped out the new iPod Nano with Video Recorder to put it to the test some more. The above video was recorded entirely on the iPod Nano, with the audio being from a jazz group that was performing there.
More images after the jump (for those that don't follow my twitter feed).

Sol LeWitt's "Whirls and Twirls" (2004), behind the bust of arts patron JP Morgan, was the theme for Community Day on September 26.

Recent immigrants gather to learn about Max Ernst's "Europe After The Rain" (1933) from one of the museum's many informed docents.

Dancers who performed @WAMAHartford, inspired by Sol LeWitt's "Whirls & Twirls"

Youth learning about the historic paintings by John Trumbull in Morgan Great Hall, as they stand in front of the "Signing of the Declaration of Independence".

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