Saturday, May 28, 2005

"At least they have good color." That's what close-up is saying after it was closed-down:
According to the agency’s Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Christina Obiazikwor, a survey and laboratory analysis of some samples of the toothpaste manufactured by Unilever Nigeria Plc, showed that five batches of the product are substandard and unfit for human use. Closed-up is closed-off...

While we're on toothpastes and Andy mentioned Ultra-Brite, let's check the deal with myths behind toothpastes and info-mercialism, word: The products chosen most often by reviewers simply do a good job of cleaning teeth. We found some recommendations for organic or natural toothpastes, such as Tom’s of Maine, Enamel Saver, and Green People. These, however, are not always readily available in grocery stores, and they do not do any more or less for your oral health. Now Tom's of Maine is what I'm talking about! That is the _hit. The odd thing about toothpastes is that they don't have their own websites. I thought they would, but the top-ranking hits are from drugstores who sell the products online. Now Tom's of Maine is down with the program, only the site is not exclusively for the toothpaste, but all its products.

Rich rich rich, filthy rich Ludwig was: Strange, but most Americans had never heard of Daniel Keith Ludwig. Even the sophisticated New Yorkers who fancied themselves to be the smartest and well-informed people in the world, had not the slightest idea that that limping old man they see striding up the street was the world’s multi-billionaire.

Here are other top ten billionares (check who's at the top):

1. William H Gates III
2. Warren E Buffett
3. Karl & Theo Albrecht
4. Paul G Allen
5. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
6. Lawrence J Ellison
7. Alice L Walton
8. Helen R Walton
9. Jim C Walton
10. John T Walton

What was Andy on, not wanting to talk to Mick after having known him for so long? What did he do when he hung out with Bianca? Hmmm... Makes me wonder. And why is he calling Fred by his full name (Fred Hughes)? Weird. Maybe Pat lost it when she edited that entry. Regardless, fairly juicy stuff in this one. Well, not so juicy, jut odd.

I like the Warhol/Disney idea. I haven't found a thing, though, except a museum show Warhol had at a Disney museum in Tacoma. Oh, Oh... Andy pulled it off; he did Mickey! And talk about nepotism, after Andy gets a show at the Disney Museum, Disney gets a show at the Warhol Museum. Mickey's image is getting worked, here it is again.

I just found this lovely lunchbox by Andy. Sure will make a kid popular these days. Vintage cool: Marilyn Monroe remains one of our most memorable pop icons, thanks in part to artist Andy Warhol, who created a series of paintings depicting her in different color tones. The style became revolutionary in the art world, and served only to add to Marilyn's legend. This great lunchbox pays homage to both figures. Features pastel colors and a quality black plastic handle. Measures about 10" wide, 7" tall, and 3" deep. Shipping weight: 2 lbs.

Lovely.

The McQueen death went down; ugly ain't the word: McQueen took an unorthodox approach to fighting the cancer that eventually killed him. According to an obituary by the Associated Press, McQueen "died of a heart attack... at a clinic in Juarez, Mexico, one day after surgeons removed a five-pound tumor from his abdomen." The same report said McQueen "had fought a strong battle since August to overcome the cancer through a therapy program that included the controversial drug laetrile, coffee enemas, large doses of vitamins and intramuscular injections of animal cells."

Well, it's not like Franco Rosellini was starving to death before he made Caligula, so for him to retire after the movie was made does not sound too believeable. Other films he made include La Dolce Vita, La Donna del Lago, then he began to produce with Teoroma. And yes, it appears that Caligula was the last film for him; he was producer for that one, too.

But Andy calling him names from the limo is hilarious. I mean, is there a better example of individuals having certain agency (insiderism) based on their cultural background? The names are so classic, lovely stereotypes:
Mary! Mary! Mary! Porno Queen! Porno Queen! Porno Queen!

Well, if Andy couldn't find Ten Straight Men, I found plenty online: How the Towns of Sodom and Gomorra Were Destroyed in Fire. plus: General Hospital's Solid Sass, not to mention: christianity and homosexuality

Every time I search for Jackie O. I cannot get past the fact that one of the top hits is the website for a band called Jackie-O Mutherfucker. It just sounds so violent. Then there is this other woman by the name of Jackie O' (yes, the apostrophe is important), who apparently is some sort of local DJ celebrity: SHE is the undisputed Queen of night time radio, a role model to thousands of youngsters, a down-to-earth, inspirational and charismatic gal - she IS JACKIE O'!. She's active in Australia. I guess with a name like that it would need to be at the end of the south hemisphere where one could have a public persona without living under the shadow of one of the most famous first ladies of the world.

This is how Gloria Vanberbilt looks now, or at least in the last few years. Here is a cover of a book she wrote. She's apparently flithy rich and still kicking it. Word.

Bee Gees, rock. The new Bee Gees record released in the 1980s was called Spirits Having Flown. I don't like it. It's not as good as their previous albums. I particularly like Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; of course it is a reinterpretation of the Beattles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band. Get your dancing shoes on.

Andy's identity as a Jewish is something that not much talked about in the artworld. Such subject has been carefully suspended apparently. But here are some interesting commentaries on the complexity of Andy's identity:

Here is an exhbition: In October 1980, an exhibit featuring portraits of "famous Jews" opened at the Jewish Museum in New York; in June of the following year, a scaled-down version of the show had its "West Coast Premiere" at the Judah Magnes Museum in Berkeley, California. you can also find the full text here. It appears thatthis exhibition got around quite a bit.

Here he is placed in a Jewish community activity but not necessarily exposing his Jewishness, rather the emphasis is on the thematic of Pop Art: There's more to Pop Art than Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup cans. You're in for a treat as we explore the many dimensions of this whimsical, exciting and surprising art form. Speaker Terry Seligman is a veteran museum docent who has just completed touring two major Pop Art exhibitions at SFMOMA. She'll share with us an interactive slide presentation about one of the most intellectually stimulating art movements of the 20th century. See how artists including Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Wayne Thiebault, Roy Lichtenstein, Ed Ruscha and Andy Warhol used ideas, processes and objects from everyday life to develop and broaden Pop, a precursor to Conceptual Art.

Warhol's work is also used to define the ideological position of Jewishness vs. Postmodernism: The exhibition opens with what may be one of the most striking works in the show, Andy Warhol's Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century that portrays Sarah Bernhardt, Louis Brandeis, Martin Buber, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, George Gershwin, Franz Kafka, the Marx Brothers, Golda Meir and Gertrude Stein. Ten large silkscreen portraits from famous photos that become graphic colorful Pop images, perfect as a marketing tool in a cool ad campaign. These are striking images that banalize and reduce Jewish achievements to slick fame. Very postmodern but not so Jewish.

Binaries still abound.

The Kennedys. Famous they are. JFK's death overshadows the family. I once heard that the assasination of JFK was organized by the Mafia. Here is the word on that:

1) David E. Scheim has published two books claiming that the Mafia were responsible for the assassination of Kennedy. He believes that it was organized by Carlos Marcello, Santos Trafficante and Jimmy Hoffa. This theory is based on the idea that the Mafia were angry with both John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy for their attempts to destroy the Mafia.

2) Of course there has to be a film: La Cosa Nostra, Possible theories connecting mafia activity with the assassination of John F. Kennedy are explored through film clips, file photos, and interviews.

3) Here is a direct link to Hoffa, Every one of the major crime bosses- including the powerful Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa - were reported to have issued threats against the Kennedys. Also during the 60's, connections between the Mob and U.S. intelligence agencies were present; while the CIA actually had worked with crime figures in assassination plots, including plans to hit Fidel Castro of Cuba.

Of course, there is a moderate sceptic, who will debunk to myths:
4) This web site is dedicated to debunking the mass of misinformation and disinformation surrounding the murder of JFK. If you are believer in Oswald as a lone gunman, you are likely to enjoy this web site, since most of that misinformation and disinformation has come from conspiracists. But if you are a sophisticated conspiracist, you likely understand that the mass of silly nonsense in conspiracy books and documentaries does no service to the cause of truth in the assassination, and simply buries the "case for conspiracy" under layers of bunk.

Andy played it up this time. Calling Cubans, Puerto Ricans and South Americans ugly. Amazing how once he got past the equator going south he generalized the other half of the continent as South Americans. They are all ugly. cool.

What is even more peculiar is how Andy struggled to put make up on a woman who was too pale and then struggled with two women who were to dark: "The first was all pale because she was too elegant to go into the sun and get wrinkles and the other girls were dark and suntanned so it was very hard, we had to really redo them without a real makeup person."

Andy's comment reminds me of skin color on the web. In particular K & M Obadike's project interaction of color Reds, word: What smart consumers and savvy e-businesses know but few can afford to admit is that there is still a link between skin color and money. It has become increasingly difficult for businesses to track color. The problems increase exponentially when we enter the shifty and sometimes dark world of e-commerce.

Got to get the right color.