(I looked around a while back: there are several people who have registered Kickstopper-like domain names, but the associated sites seem to be dormant. Which is a shame, as I think a Kickstopper blog dedicated to highlighting possible scams and stupid projects is something the Internet needs. If I thought I could make money off of it, I’d do it: after all, my hero April Winchell parlayed Regretsy into a book deal. But right now I’m putting my energy into job hunting, not starting new blogs.)
Archive for June 20th, 2013
Perhaps he should consider Kickstarter.
Thursday, June 20th, 2013Another Ranger.
Thursday, June 20th, 2013This is the “front” side of the Armstrong family monument in Oakwood Cemetery.
This is the John B. Armstrong side:
Who was John B. Armstrong, other than a Texas Ranger? A serious badass, most famous for capturing John Wesley Hardin. Armstrong had been shot in the leg previously (according to his entry in the Handbook of Texas Online, it was a self-inflicted wound), and was using a cane:
(Some accounts say the bullet fired by Hardin’s man went through Armstrong’s favorite hat, seriously pissing him off, and that Armstrong’s blow knocked Hardin unconscious for two hours. These accounts are not well sourced, so I would take them with a grain of salt.)
Armstrong was also involved in the capture of Sam Bass, which is probably worthy of another post and some more photos next time I’m out near Round Rock.
Armstrong’s Texas Ranger Hall of Fame page. Armstrong on the “Badass of the Week” site (a little overwrought, but entertaining). Handbook of Texas online.
Chapter 9, Chapter 9, Chapter 9…
Thursday, June 20th, 2013But if Detroit does file for bankruptcy, one of the great tragedies (at least, according to the NYT) is that the historical society might have to sell off all or part of its collection of “62 lovingly maintained classic cars”. This collection includes a 1924 two-door Hupmobile, Henry M. Leland’s 1905 Cadillac Osceola, a 1960 Chevrolet Corvair…and an AMC Pacer as well as a 1984 Dodge Caravan.
Obit watch: June 20, 2013.
Thursday, June 20th, 2013James Gandolfini roundup: NYT. LAT. A/V Club.
This makes me kind of sad: one of Gandolfini’s pending projects was “Bone Wars” with Steve Carell, about the 19th Century paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. The Cope/Marsh story is fascinating, and I would have enjoyed seeing what Gandolfini and Carell did with it.
Also among the dead: thriller writer Vince Flynn. I’ve never read any of his novels, but I was aware of them: the Mitch Rapp books are ubiquitous in my local grocery stores, right up there with James Patterson and Lee Child. (I don’t say that with any snark intended; when your books are in every grocery store, you’re pretty much doing okay for yourself.)
Art, damn it, art! watch (#38 in a series)
Thursday, June 20th, 2013The paper of record has a story about a new exhibition at the Park Avenue Armory. (Despite the name, it is an exhibition hall, “with one of the largest open exhibition floors in the world”. But it did start life as a National Guard armory.)
The new exhibit is by Paul McCarthy, described by the NYT as a “revered Los Angeles video artist and sculptor”. The exhibition, “WS”, is described as a retelling of the story of Snow White.
What fun! Take the kids, right?
Whoa.
“an apothosis of the dark and deeply human themes”?
I have no joke here, I just like saying “highly unorthodox use of processed foods”. (Karen Finley, call your office, please.)
As the NYT notes, exhibiting something so…out there…that you don’t want to let minors in to see it is unusual by NYC art world standards: MoMA didn’t ban minors from the Marina Abramović retrospective (though they did put up warning signs), and the Brooklyn Museum recommended (but did not require) parental guidance for “Sensation”.
On the other hand, I did not attend either of those events, and the Wikipedia summaries are unhelpful in determining if processed foods were used in a highly unorthodox manner.