Primary Thoughts

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Varg

Ya know? After watching B-Rock Obama give his speech following last night’s New Hampshire primaries, you would have thought he won the damn thing. I haven’t even had a sip of the Obama Kool-Aid but even I was impressed with the vision he inspired with his words.

Hill looked like she dodged a bullet. Perhaps she did.

I do know this though. After hearing reports of Kerry winning in Ohio exit polls in 2004 and now the supposed 10-point lead Obama had in New Hampshire prior to yesterday’s elections, one thing seems pretty clear: Don’t believe polls.

Oh and don’t believe analysts. If you listened to that gang, Hill was dead and buried after Iowa. That idiot Drudge even had it on his front page that she was considering dropping out. I think even B-Rock drank his own Kool-Aid because the music that O played following his speech was, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”

Less inspiring was the total ignoring of John Edwards following his third place showing. I wouldn’t count him out in the slightest and think he could easily win South Carolina again. But there wasn’t any mention of him, his intentions or his campaign last night in the reports. I don’t care if he’s in the race or not come Louisiana primary, he’s getting my vote down here.

24-hour news network do indeed suck. I do indeed hate them.

1 thought on “Primary Thoughts”

jeffrey says:

January 9, 2008 at 11:12 am

Last night the thing that struck me the most was just how much the Chris Matthewses of the world continue to not get it. It’s amazing that we’re still fed this clown show in lieu of journalism on cable news.

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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.