fred tomaselli

I am actually away from Mad City right now, back east for a little family & friend time as well as my college reunion. It can be a bit challenging to find quality stuff to do around my hometown area, so I dragged my dad over to Saratoga today to check out the Tang Art Museum at Skidmore College. I was just hoping for some moderately entertaining artwork, and maybe a better sandwich in downtown Saratoga than I could get around Hagaman, but instead got walloped by a case of serendipity.

The Tang museum is actually kind of stunning, especially for its location on the campus of a fairly small liberal arts college. The building is beautiful, and the quality of the exhibitions blew me away. On the ground floor, an exhibition of senior thesis work by Skidmore art students that definitely paid credit to the art program there. And upstairs, an amazing exhibit of work by Fred Tomaselli, who I'd never heard of before. I've admitted in the past that I'm no art critic, so you won't be getting any sharp analytical insights of his art here or even a biographical review. But let me just say that from the brief amount I've read, too much emphasis is put on Tomaselli's technique. He uses actual leaves, fungi, pills, and other organic material in his work, under a layer of resin that he then paints over. The effect is interesting up close, but what really blew me away was the incredible detail of his art, as well as the brilliant thought behind it. Of the paintings I saw, my favorite was probably "Expulsion," an obvious reference to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve, rendered in anatomic detail, seem to be pushed away by a swirling vortex emitting beams of energy, which up close are comprised of drawings of songbirds, flowers, tiny sea creatures, pills, and other random objects.

This was one of the few occasions I could remember of actually feeling enraptured by an artwork. The last time was about a year ago, when I took my dad to Williamstown and discovered an exhibit of Julie Mehretu's work at the Williams College art museum. I mean, I still hate Williams, but I now love Julie Mehretu. And Fred Tomaselli. And yes, I did have a good sandwich in Saratoga. And the weather today was awesome.

if i were a mariner ...

If I were a member of the Seattle Mariners, I'd probably hang out with Ichiro Suzuki the most. He's pretty much my favorite Mariner, of all time. The thing I like about him is that he makes the most of his physical skills, and he's just a very well-rounded player. Take his defense: he can catch, and he can throw. But he's also a great hitter, too. It's not his fault that the Mariners aren't generating enough runs this year - they need to get a couple sluggers to drive him in when he gets on as the lead-off hitter.

I don't know how good his English is now; but he's been playing with the Mariners for like 10 years, so I figure he knows enough to hang out with in the dugout and talk about music and movies and stuff like that. I also love Japanese food! We'd probably spend a lot of time talking about good Japanese restaurants around Seattle.

I might talk to Junior a bit, but I don't think I'd hang out with him that much. I think Cliff Lee is a great pitcher, and I was totally stoked when the M's picked him up in the off-season. But I don't know enough about him personally to say whether I'd hang out with him a lot. Same goes for Felix Hernandez. I also get the sense that Felix and I wouldn't have much in common. But I'm pretty sure that Ichiro and I would get along great.

the weather

What the HELL is going on with the weather in Mad City? Gusty winds! Rain! High temps in the 50's? This is not what I signed up for when I moved here. Dammit,we're almost halfway through May! Summer's right around the corner. So we should be getting pre-summer type conditions. But instead, it snowed in northern Wisconsin just a few days ago. I live in southern Wisconsin, but even so ...

All I want is to be able to ride my motorcycle to work. Is that too much to ask? Jesus H. Christ ...

broccoli

Man, I like broccoli. I had some with my dinner just the other night! It tasted good, real good. And not only that, but good for you. Or should I say, good for me ...

Some other thoughts about broccoli:

- I like Chinese broccoli, too.

- Anyone out there into old James Bond movies, like me? The producer of the old James Bond movies was Albert Broccoli, which is kind of a funny name. But apparently, back in the 19th century, his Italian forefathers either had a hand in developing broccoli or brought it from Italy to America. So his name's not so funny after all.

- Remember when George Bush Sr. spoke out against broccoli? That was so unnecessary. And meanwhile, he liked to put crushed Butterfingers on top of his cereal at breakfast. What an ass ...

my two cents, part III

One thing you *won't* catch me complaining about is the weather this time of year, around Mad City. Here's what we've got right now: temps 60's to 70's, light winds, sunshine. Also, all the snow trees are still in bloom. They've been blooming for a couple weeks now, and the leaves are out, so it probably won't last much longer. But right now, those blossoms ... a feast for the eye and the nostril! You go for a jog in the evening, and it's like the very air around you is lightly perfumed. Lovely, just lovely ...

my two cents, part II

I've been hearing a lot from readers who say that they really enjoy the blog, but think that "Mad City" should be a little less mad at times. As in, say something good about something for a change! So I've decided that once in a while, I will write something positive.

Today's subject is Martin Strel, a Slovenian endurance swimmer. Maybe you've heard of him: a few years ago, he swam the length of the Amazon in something like 60 or 70 days. He's also swum the Mississippi (yes, from Minnesota all the way down to N'awlins), the Yangtze, the Danube, and I think a few other hella long rivers. Granted, he always goes with the current, but he's still accomplished some pretty amazing things. Especially when you consider that he took up distance swimming after age 45, he's got a healthy pot belly going, and he's kind of an alcoholic.

But really, he's one of the more fascinating characters you'll ever hear about. For instance, he got his start in long-distance river swimming while trying to escape from his abusive father. His father, an even worse alcoholic, was waiting for him to come out of the river to beat him, so Martin just kept on swimming until his father gave up. Martin has a much better relationship with his own son, who used his father's Amazon swim to crusade for better environmental stewardship of the river and the Amazon basin.

So how do I know so much about all this? Well, there's a documentary out now called "Big River Man," all about Martin and his swim. The directing is a little ham-handed at times, but overall it's definitely a fascinating story. If it comes to a town near you, check it out!

And that's ... my two cents.

my two cents, part I

Tonight I'm introducing another new feature to this blog: My Two Cents. This is a new column, somewhat akin to "Joke of the Day" and "That's Outrageous!", where I voice a strongly-held opinion on some subject or other.

So, tonight's subject is crew. I feel rather strongly about crew. When I was in college, the crew team had some of the most pompous, arrogant people on campus. They all ate together in the vegetarian section of the dining hall, and they'd come strutting out of there afterwards, full of lentil beans and bouillabaisse, like they were the healthiest damn people on the planet.

And who's to deny that crew's a healthy sport? Good aerobic workout. Also good for the biceps. Maybe too good? Is that what bred all the arrogance?

Anyhow, on the rare occasions when these hoity-toity crew people would talk to me, they seemed to have their own strongly-held opinions about ... football players. Now, I never played much football, but I've always enjoyed a good football game and been sympathetic to the cause. But these crew people ... geeaagh. It was all "Football this!" and "Football that!" They did not like football players, and talked ill about their sport.

But here's the thing, as I see it: football is actually a very complex sport. Sure, guys like Michael Vick and Ben Roethlisberger may be complete cretins, but that doesn't diminish the complexity of football. Look at what happened to Urban Meyer - he was almost done in by the nuances and endless permutations of the sport. So many offensive formations, so many defensive responses; it's not surprising that these college coaches spend 100 hours a week or whatever getting ready.

And meanwhile, do sports come any dumber than crew? Are they not doing basically the same thing as galley slaves? Just pulling an oar over and over again. And they can't even decide for themselves when to go faster or slower - they have a tiny little person, the "coxswain," yell out instructions to them! Even NASCAR requires more intellect.

I never had the guts to say any of this to the crew people in college, because they all had big ol' pipes for arms and were too fit to outrun. But I'm sayin' it now. You hear me, crew freaks? I'm calling you out, bitches! I'm calling total bullshit on your dog-and-pony show! (Except for you, Caroline; I haven't forgotten that you used to do crew. You're A-okay; you're one of the good ones.)

And that's ... my two cents.