October 2009

A Review Of Shake The Devil Off

Posted on October 29, 2009 by Varg

“I apologize for this groggy review. I drank some moonshine and ate fresh pork last night. The editor said it was good to go though.” – V ————————————— I finished Ethan Brown’s “Shake The Devil” Off” last week like I finish most books – 100 pages straight through to the end. I get so anxious…

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Good Reggie, Bad Reggie

Posted on October 28, 2009 by Varg

Reggie get’s downplayed. New Orleans Saints’ Reggie Bush shows class with acceptance of reduced role I admit, when it comes to Reggie Bush, it’s always “What have you done for me lately?” But like him or not, his manic play produces memorable moments. His fumbles have changed games. His athleticism has changed games. His six…

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He’s a Communiss? Whoa! Hey!

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Varg

Ray Nagin: Cuba’s government is ideal for storm response Somebody call Officer Angelo Mancuso! Now it makes sense. The Cuba trips. The China trips. Dang, I’ve called him some shit in the last 7 years but here he was a oinko the whole time! I guess those Che Nagin folks were on to something…

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Holla, Holla, Holla At Sarah Vowell

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Varg

I just really love Sarah Vowell. Sarah Vowell brings her sharp wit to NOCCA

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Liens du Moment: 10/2

Posted on October 6, 2009July 5, 2010 by Varg

“Today in Detroit Public Schools, all students will get free breakfast and lunch. Also, Radio One will raffle off a 42-inch plasma flat screen television, laptop computer, five iPod nanos and 25 American Express gift cards.” Dang, at least we’re not Detroit… Districts counting on count day as enrollment continues to dwindle Freep Nola.com is…

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Liveblogging the Saints Today at 3 p.m.: ‘Iconography Versus Aerodynamics’ Edition

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Varg

Vs. Today starting at 3 p.m. there will be live-blogging of the Saints HUGE fourth game versus the also-undefeated and hyped New York Jets coming straight from the Superdo…uh, Sylvania 42-inch! We’ve heard sportscaster after sportscaster describe this as “game of the week. I am just hoping to keep my blood pressure around 110 /70….

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Rejoice!

I say that a lot. I sign many pieces with it. I do this because I believe our lives are a true happenstance. A brilliant occurence from nothingness. We are so rare. We are so unlikely. And simply being born isn’t enough. From there we must survive, endure. So each morning, after our Sun departs and is reborn again. Please, for the sake of your ancestors and the Universe in general, hoist that cup of joe up and say, “Rejoice.”

Ours is a soulful existence. No matter how many McMansions, polyester fabrics, auto-tunes, modified foods and social networks we surround ourselves with, we are all still native, passionate beings made of ancient matter. We are organic and we have soul.

Wood also has a warm, soulful quality. Wood has a memory. It retains smells, traumas, events. It even has a calendar. This is why I have chosen it as my medium, for its old soul. I like to think the wood in my work is in its third incarnation. First a tree, then a home and now art. If you have a room that needs a little soul, get a piece. A room can never have enough soul.

My inspiration and subject matter comes from many sources, among them: Humanism, old ballads, trickster tales, flora and fauna, science, myths and folklore, stringed instruments, brass bands, amber spirits, lady vocalists, general relativity and quantum mechanics. Some of my pieces are there just to make a short, simple statement about what’s important in life. Some are more diffuse and abstract in meaning. A personal drama, an enduring line from a poem or novel, a poignant song lyric, the legacy of an important person, a fleeting thought … these are the subjects of my art.

I use hearts often because they are a very abstract way of depicting the human soul without also employing the very subjective human form. The symbolic heart is an apt representation for a person’s experience and essence. A body can immediatly conjure happiness, sorrow, youth, age, anger, bliss. These emotions can get in the way. Sometimes it’s simply about the experience.

I am the son of a sailor and a social worker, the grandson of a gypsy, a dancer and a nurse. I spent my youth moving from port city to port city, watching a lot of road go by and reading World Book Encyclopedia. After my parents settled down on the Gulf Coast, I was a miscreant youth, destroying cars and taking the wrongs things too seriously and the right things not serious enough. Eventually I began replacing my imagination with experience.

I will use any salvaged wood but prefer swamp cypress and longleaf heartwood pine.

I despise waste. Particularly the waste of organic matter. Trees are magnificent. They were here before we arrived and they’ll be around after we are gone. I’m making an effort to save as much wood as possible. Creating art is fun too. But beyond communicating with folks, but beyond making money ad providing for myself, beyond rescuing flooded parts, beyond reveling in the ethereal aroma of heartpine that hasn’t seen the light of day in 400 years, beyond all that, I am trying to make a simple comment on waste.