Stu Jenks: Fezziwig Photography, Music, and Writing

The Art of Julie Unruh

The Art of Julie Unruh

[Paintings: "Emilio" (c) 2007, and "Red Hook Inside And Out" (c) 2007 Julie Uhruh. A wonderful person and fine painter, Julie hails from Brooklyn, New York. Go to Julie's website to see more.]

"Coral Sea Roses" by Cathy Spann

"Coral Sea Roses" (c) 2008 Cathy Spann

"Darkness Darkness": An Exhibit of Contemporary American Night Photography

"Darkness Darkness": An Exhibit of Contemporary American Night Photography

[Lance Keimig asked me to be part of this show. It'll start at Harvard and there is talk (and hard work being done) to put the show on the road. Being in this show is an honor and kind of a big deal, if you ask me. If you are in Boston in March and April, feel free and check it out. And if you can't make that, here is the link to the Darkness Darkness website and you can see the images there. Mine will be a huge photograph on nylon that was first shown, in that format, at the last Mythic Journeys Conference in Atlanta. Thanks again to Lance and all those who have helped me, financially, spiritually, and emotionally over the last decade and more of my art career.]

"Medusa Revisited" by Ben Heaven

"Medusa Revisited" by Ben Heaven (c) 2008

    [Another wonderful image by the English Nocturnal Photographer Ben Heaven. Here, in his own words, is how he made this digital photograph.]

    I shot this with my D200 which has pretty poor battery life. However there is a popular technique to remove noise that I adapted to deal with the battery issue. The technique works like this; you use a remote release with a timer (or lock down the release shooting 30 second exposures) so that you take multiple shots for the entire length of the exposure rather than one single long shot. You need to make sure there is almost no delay between shots. At the end you take an additional frame of the same period as one of the single frames, with the lens cap on. This is the 'dark frame' that you use to subtract noise from your stack of images. Using this technique you don't need to include a 'noise reduction' stage in the camera that often takes 1/2 as long again (or sometimes the total time of the exposure). You use software to combine your stack of images into a single file. I find with the D200 I can only get about 80 minutes total from a single battery, but with the stacking method, if I'm quick I can swap the old battery with a fresh one and just keep stacking!

OK, here are the specifics on this shot:

D200, ISO 100, 24 exposures of 5 minutes duration @ f5.6, 10mm. Tree painted for 2 minutes at ISO 400 and the image overlaid in PhotoShop. Processed with DXO film pack to resemble Acros 100, Terra Sepia Tone 'printed' at grade 3.

Flame Spirals: The Nocturnal Photography of Stu Jenks: Chapter Four: "Ancestors' Circle, Arizona"

Flame Spirals: The Nocturnal Photography of Stu Jenks

Chapter Four: “Ancestors' Circle, Arizona”
(c) 1999, 2008

    A postcard with an image of The Ikon printed on it, is mailed to a friend in Prescott, Arizona, who then puts the postcard on his refrigerator door. Steve Roach visits this mutual friend, sees The Ikon, and excitedly says ‘That’s the image for my next album.’ Steve then shoots me an e-mail. A few weeks later, I’m sitting in his studio, east of Tucson, talking about his new album, and about how much he likes The Ikon. Steve also wonders if would I like to shoot some flame spirals in his back yard. Being a fan of Steve’s for years, I’m trying to be cool, but it’s very hard. I’m talking way too much. (Hush, Stu, Hush!) I see a row of a half dozen brightly painted didgeridoos leaning against his studio wall. (Holy Christ.) As calm as I can, I say “Sure, Steve. I'd love to come and shoot.’
    At the next Full Moon, I’m in Steve’s backyard, with my Rollei and my Zippo. He has this circle of Anasazi pot shards in his back yard that faces the Catalinas. His next door neighbor, an retired archeologist at the University of Arizona, gave him the shards and Steve has made a five foot diameter circle out of the old pieces. I draw a spiral in the dirt and procede to light-paint the night away in the soft moonlight. The music from the newly mixed tracks of “Atmospheric Conditions” is playing from these little waterproof speakers Steve has hanging from his porch roof. I shot a roll of 12, often thinking it doesn’t get much better than this.
    “Ancestors’ Circle” is on the back cover of the Steve’s CD “Atmospheric Conditions”. The Ikon is on the front. Steve and I have lost touch over the years, but I hear he lives with his wife on horse property near Sonoita, Arizona and I bet he's recording a new piece even as we speak. Bottom line: It just goes to show, send a postcard into the world, and you never know what opportunities will fly back at you.

"Picasso's The Lovers" (c) 2008

"The Lovers, National Gallery, Washington, D.C." [detail] (c) Pablo Picasso; Photo by Stu Jenks 2008

"Poi Above" (c) 2007, 2008

"Poi Above: Flam Chen in Bisbee, Arizona on New Year's Eve" (c) 2007, 2008 Flam Chen & Stu Jenks

["Mothra, O Mothra. If we were to call for help, with your mother's might, over time, answer our prayers"]

"New York Dolls by the band Feed" (c) 2007

"Feed as New York Dolls, Hotel Congress, Tucson, Arizona" (c) 2007 Stu Jenks

[Topic Image: New York Dolls performed by Feed, December 7, 2007 at Club Congress. Charity concert to benefit the Tucson Artists and Musicians Health
Alliance.]

[From Front to Back; Krista Khrome as David Johansen, Geoff Notkin as Arthur Kane, Emerson Lyle as Johnny Thunders, Lance Saxerud as Jerry Nolan &
Sean Smith as Sylvain Sylvain]

[Bottom Two Images: "Geoff as Rock God", "Flying V as Rock God's Bass". All Images (c) 2007 Stu Jenks

"Stu's New Mexican Fun Facts" (c) 2007

"Stu's New Mexican Fun Facts" (c) 2007 Stu Jenks

[Images: "Doubting Thomas, St. Francis Cathedral, Santa Fe, New Mexico" & "Plastic Medicine Wheel, Carrizozo, New Mexico"]

1)        Went to Taos. Well, drove through Taos really. Stopped at The Pueblo briefly and paid money for admission and for each of my two cameras that I brought into the village. White people gawking at Red people. Was bizarre to say the least. Took a couple shots of the old graveyard and split. While driving out of Taos, I listened to National Public Radio. They were having their semi-annual fund-raising campaign. (Had actually been listening to the fund-raising on NPR for my whole trip, through Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, and Colorado. Wyoming had the best music. Montana had the most pleasant DJs. Nebraska had the kindest voices. Made sense.) I noticed something different, here in Taos, from the other stations I heard thus far. Lots of dead air. Then giggling afterwards. Then people talking and they didn’t make much sense. Hmmm. I think they need to put down the spleef in Taos, or monitor their medication a bit more closely.

2)        Had a plan to see the Sante Fe Plaza and visit St. Francis Cathedral again. It had been twenty years since I was last in Sante Fe. Back in the day, you could see the Cathedral from a distance and get your bearing quite easily. Not now. Luxury hotels, taller or as tall as the church, surrounded the Plaza. I had to actually ask someone where the Cathedral was. Had a delightful time inside of St. Francis, though. I prayed, I shot, I just look around, I prayed some more. Hadn’t changed much in twenty years and still felt like the sanctuary that it is. I thought of sticking around for dinner in Santa Fe but I didn’t. I wasn’t wearing the right clothes for a nice meal there, nor did I feel like I belonged. Saw a huge smiling bronze pig out front of a fancy gallery. Grinning, from jowl to jowl. The North Carolinian in me just sees that as a silly way to spend money.

3)        Went to a 12 Step meeting in a bad part of Albuquerque, just at sunset. Good people, bad neighborhood. Felt like I’d been to church twice that day.   

4)        Spent the night in an anonymous motel in Socorro. Had good coffee the next morning at a café just off the town square. Every town in America has a café now, that has good coffee, fresh baked goods and a friendly staff. And they ain't Starbucks. Gives me hope for America.

5)        Drove by the Trinity Atomic Bomb Site. Again, didn’t really drive by it for I quickly realized I wasn’t supposed to be on that government road and hastily turned around, but it was just over that hill. Just being close still gave me the willies. The world changed forever over there, on July 16th, 1945 at 5:29 in the morning.            

6)        Midmorning, I went hiking into the Valley of Fire, a place of recent lava flows, only 1000 years old or so. Didn’t hike far. Just a ways in, played the mandolin for a while and took in the sharp blackness that is the Malpais. The wind blew cool and the acoustics were flat in a pleasant way.

7)        Just south of Carrizozo, I saw some amazing clouds that looked like huge jellyfish flying in the sky. I took their picture but it didn’t translate at all. Sometimes you just have to be there. While walking along the road looking at those clouds, I found an old hubcap among the sage. The paint had peeled away from much of it, yet the cheap chrome still adhered to the center of the plastic wheel. I took a picture, then picked up the hubcap. I saw an object I could make with this wheel and with a few bits of colorful cloth. I dusted it off and took it back to the truck. (It now leans against a leg of my small dining room table. All cleaned up and waiting for the time I tie some cotton to it, but right now I just like looking at it on the floor as I leave my kitchen. Maybe after the New Year, I’ll fiddle with it.)

"Blue Man Group In Tucson" (c) 2007

"Blue Man Group In Tucson" (c) 2007 BMG & Stu Jenks

[Images: "Blue Man Begins", "Up To The Roof", & "Floppie The Banjo Clown"]

       The first time I saw Blue Man Group, I cried. Halfway through the Vegas show, it hit me that hundred of people were paying a hundred dollars a head, to see really good Conceptual Art. (I told a joke back in my Art School days, about my weird-ass performance pieces. That Conceptual Art is Stand-Up Comedy that isn’t funny. Not true for BMG.) It moved me to tears, watching the funny and poignant Blue Men, silently comment on Art, Consumerism, Relationships and many other things, in a comic and beautiful way. At $100 a pop.
       A few years ago, I saw them again in Phoenix, when they were touring their Complex Rock tour, a parody of the Rock Concert experience. The drumming was great, the band was hot, the Blue Men were very funny but the crowd sucked. When asked to stand up and participate by the Men, Annie and I were the only ones out of hundreds in the audience to get up and rock out. Fucking Phoenicians. They sat there like they were watching television. Venus Hum and Tracy Bonham performed too, alone and with the Blue Men. Overall, it was a really fun night.

       Last week, out of the blue, I got a free ticket to Blue Man, to see the 'How-to-be-a-Megastar-tour' as it came through town. I saw that they were coming months ago but I couldn't afford the 100 bucks, not with all the credit card debt I was carrying. Except for the addition of Floppie the Banjo Clown and the hiring of studio musicians to replace Venus Hum and Tracy Bonham, it appeared, from looking online, that it was basically the same show I saw three years ago. Noticing that Blue Man had fan-taken photos on their website, I talked myself and my camera into the Tucson Convention Center. (The ticket taker didn’t want to let me in but when I said “They are encouraging people to take pictures on their website" he relented. What I didn't tell him was ‘Every image on the Blue Man website, submitted by fans, was taken with a piece-of-shit cell phone camera, and I have a Canon 30D in my bag.' I left out that little bit of information.) I went to my seat but it was next to a couple in their sixties, who looked very out of place. An American 21st Century phenomenon: The Retired Rich, bored, looking for something, anything to do, go and experience Culture. For them, it's like looking at monkeys in the zoo. We talked a bit, and I was nice enough, but the guy keeps reaching for his Blackberry, checking the score of the Packers’ game. The Arena was only half full so I went up and moved more toward backstage and found a great seat. And since I’d seen the show before, and it was basically the same, I focused as much on the band as I did on the Blue Men. I got to tell you, having professional studio musicians, rocking out, is a beautiful thing. The band consisted of two guitarists, two keyboard players, a bassist, two vocalists and three drummers. Counting the Blue Men, that's six percussionists playing at some points in the show. Personal favorite moments were the song “Up To The Roof” and the banging of the big drum during the opening number. “I Feel Love” wasn’t a bad performance, but it was nothing like the electric singing of Venus Hum a few years back. All in all, I had a good time.
       Then yesterday, a bit of the shine came off of the apple of Blue Man Group, when I dug a little deeper online.
       Long and short of it, Blue Man Group (BMG) has a history of being union busters. They hired non-union labor in Toronto in 2005 when the big permanent show went there. That ain’t great. But the real travesty is when they moved their Vegas show in 2006 from the Luxor to the Venetian, they opted then to go non-union, leaving their crew that came from the Luxor, who were union, without health insurance and pensions. The workers organized and became members of Local 720 of the IATSE, but BMG refused to talk with the workers and they have been fighting in the courts ever since. I’m a Union man myself. I don’t like every Union but I believe in the principle and the need for the worker to be protected from The Man. My Dad once said, “If Management is doing their job, there is no need for Unions.” But as his son now adds, “Management, these days mostly, ain’t doing their job to help and care for their workers. We are back to being cogs again. So Unions are necessary.” And specifically what I have against Blue Man Group is that the three guys who started it, and their investors, have been making money hand over fist, since 1991. Share the wealth, pals. Don’t be a dick. As I've said often of the greedy, "Just how much money do you need? I won't buy you Love or Happiness. Comfort, yes, and a good blowjob, but not Love. Not Happiness!"
       I still love what Blue Man Group produces, but I won’t be giving them anymore of my money, via tickets or CDs or DVDs, until they recognize Local 720 in Vegas. But I'd be dishonest to say I’m unhappy that I got a free ticket to Blue Man Group last week. I had a pretty good time. Now, Floppie and Blue Boys? Do the right thing and pay your crew union wages and give them health care too! You've got the coin.

"The Right Prayer Bundles" (c) 2007

"The Right Prayer Bundles, Bear Butte State Park, South Dakota" (c) 2007 Stu Jenks

"Wheel" (c) 2005 Edgar Heap of Birds

"Wheel" (Detail) (c) 2005 Edgar Heap of Birds (Hock E Aye VI), Cheyenne/Arapaho, b. 1954., Porcelain Enamel on Steel, Denver Art Museum.

NAH-KEV-HO-EYEA-ZIM
(Cheyenne meaning: "We are coming home again at last.")

"Stu Shooting Flam Chen" (c) 2007 Cathy Spann

"Stu Shooting Flam Chen" (c) 2007 Cathy Spann [Detail]

[Taken by Cathy Spann at the recent Dawali celebration in the desert, in which Flam Chen performed. The reason I'm posting this image is just for the vaguely narcissistic purpose of showing folks Stu at work. Look to the far right and you can see me, in a crouch behind my tripod, shooting Laxmii and the balloons. A great moment, a fun photo. Photo geek info: This is just a fraction of a much larger digital negative, hence the graininess. Still a very cool image though.]

"The Medicine Man" (c) 1907 Edward S. Curtis

"The Medicine Man" (Detail) (c) 1907 Edward S. Curtis, Denver Art Museum

[Appears this was a Lakota named Slow Bull. Curtis wrote, a hundred years ago, "Invocation and supplication enter so much into the life of the Indian, that this picture of the grim old warrior invoking the Mysteries, is most characteristic." Curtis has been criticized for over-romantizing the Indians. You think? Invoking the Mysteries, eh? I think, at the time, he was posing for you, Edward. My guess is he wasn't praying at that particular moment. And obviously, I don't buy it that Indians are intrinsically more spiritual than anyone else. They just pray in a different way. Ain't no better or worse than a Buddhist meditating in a temple, a Catholic praying the rosary, or a Alcoholic saying the Serenity Prayer. Irregardless, he did take some very nice photographs, even if they were mostly fantasies. And I enjoyed taking this image at the Denver Art Museum, knowing that this image sells for a boatload of cash down the street, and given the generosity of the Museum, I was allowed to take the picture for free.]
 

"From the Desk of Al Swearengen"

"From the Desk of Al Swearengen"

[Al, talking to the Indian Head in the Box]

"Watching us advance on your stupid Tipi, Chief, knowing you had to make your move, did you not just want first, to fucking understand? Huh?"

"The Neo-Cons and the Con-Temps " © 2007

"The Neo-Cons and the Con-Temps " © 2007

Top Image: "Last of the Great Buffalo Hunters" (Detail) [Paint, Leather, Ceramic, and Glue on Wood] (c) 1987 Robert Arneson, Denver Art Museum. Below Image: "Feather Sculpture #2" (Zoom Fuzzy Detail) [Willow, Feathers, Buckskin] (c) 1994 Truman Lowe, Denver Art Museum.
 

Contemporary Artists are the Neo-Cons of the Art World. Not that much difference between them and George Bush and his minions.

Now that I have your attention, let me explain and let me define a few terms too. And maybe give you a message of hope for the future of Art too.

Modern Art is pretty much everything from the late 1800's up to the 1970's. From Picasso to Pollock. Also Matisse, Calder, Warhol, Christo, Arneson and everything good and powerful in between. Modernism dealt with the ideas of abstraction, emotion, and life in the modern world, but it still had an eye for design, color and form. Contemporary Art, on the other hand, is Stuff that is called Visual Art that comes out of New York, Los Angeles, London and a few other U.S. and European cities since the late 70's and 80's. It's about some sort of idea about something, usually shocking or political, and has absolutely nothing to do with Beauty and very little to do with Design. The idea is the thing, what the eye sees is secondary. Most everyone who isn't involved in the Art World thinks it's pretentious, or meaningless or ugly, or all the above and most times they are right. Those inside the Contemporary Art World see it as cutting edge and original and forward thinking, and they are only right about it being original. Each bowel movement is different from the next. Same can be said about most of this shit.

People say it's not Art. They are wrong. It's Art. It's just bad Art.

[Brief aside: It's seem bizarre to me that people call Bad-Art, Not-Art. If you go to a crappy movie, you don't come out and say 'That wasn't a movie.' If you go to a concert and it sucks, you don't say that it wasn't music. You just say that it's shitty music. Only visual art has this distinction and it think I know why. Because people hold Visual Art up to a higher standard, to an almost religious height, which makes sense since some of the most beautiful Art ever made was spiritual. We have higher expectations of Visual Art. It must be beautiful or at the very least well done and well produced. It must be transcendent. It must not be merely entertainment or a joke. It must be not just a bumper sticker or a sign that someone needs therapy. It should lift us up to be better or at least lift up our spirits a bit.]

And sadly, Art which was the primary source of human creation for thousand of years is now a distant 4^th at best, behind Music, Motion Pictures, and The Internet. The number of people that go to an opening at a small city Contemporary Art museum or gallery on a Saturday night is less than the number of hits I get on my little Stu-Blog in a day. Not that my blog is all that wonderful but you get my drift.

And why are they, the Contemporaries, The Con-Temps, like the Neo-Cons and George Bush? Consider this. The Neo-cons look like Republicans but they aren't really. They are not fiscal conservatives. There are autocrats. They are bullies. They will break the bank. Same said for the Con-Temps. They looks like artists and act like they like art but they don't. They like themselves and people like themselves and no one else. They are an exclusive elite club, like the Neo-Cons, in which members can only enter if they fit a very narrow definition of Cool. Preferably Cool with a lot of Cash. The Con-Temps aren't interested in Beauty or Peace or Building Community. They are selfish and self-centered, only wishing to build in their power, ego and prestige. Same can be said for the political Neo-Cons. Chaos, be it War or economic downturn builds more opportunity to make money from cronyism and from buying low and selling high. Same with the Con-Temps. Cronyism is a key. You sell each other shit. It's a visual circle jerk in which everyone must grab the cock of the guy next to him. And finally, there is an orthodoxy to both the Neo-Cons and the Con-Temps. It's my way or the highway. Believe in my socio/political worldview or my narrow artistic worldview, and everything is fine. But if you don't, I'll bring you down with bombs, bribery, or vicious ridicule. All with a smile of the self-righteousness on their face. No 'live and let live' in these folk. No love and tolerance from them. But they may give you a sales pitch that says that they do love and appreciate you and your differences. Don't believe it. They are either trying to take something from you, or force something on you.

And I'm not just speaking sour grapes. I was what they called a Conceptual Artist in Art School in the 1970's. Leashing myself to trees. Burying myself in fire brick in the center of campus while the cameras rolled. Painting outlines of traffic dead on city streets in the middle of the night, and getting in trouble with the law. I had some Big Ideas, and I had my shtick, my rap about those Ideas. But looking back, I had a couple of good pieces but most of my work was unfocused, marginally produced and smelled of Marijuana smoke. But even back then I wasn't completely sold on the idea, that The Idea was king and that The Visual was a serf you raped in the fields. I was making yearly pilgrimages to the Hirshhorn Museum in D.C. to see Rodin's "Burgher of Calais" and "Balzac". I've loved Calder since I was a kid. And my experimental 8 mm films from Art School did have some heart, not just brains.

Of late, I'm shopping around getting a book published of my Art and Words. Not going so well but I have friends who are helping. I may end up self-publishing at some point, when I get an extra 5000 dollars from somewhere. Anyway, the reason I'm working on books is I'm tired of dealing with the Entitled Rich (and I'm not talking about the Generous and Soulful Rich, so to my two rich Michaels I know, I'm not talking about you). I'm tired of them talking down my prices, of being fickle and arrogant, and I suddenly realized a few years ago that it's par for the course these days in the Visual Arts. I'm expecting a pig to be a pony. And I like books for I can sell them to people like me: the Struggling Middle and Working Class who always have enough money for a good CD, a good movie or a good book. I want to be another good book they can buy.

And I believe there is hope for Art. I hear that students out of high school are demanding that their university Art professors teach them how to draw better, sculpture better, craft better and if they don't, they leave and go to a school that will. I visited the Disney School of Animation in L.A. a few years ago and saw amazing draftsmanship on butcher paper hanging in the lobby after a critique. Master illustrators like Charles Vess are finally getting their due. Chihuly has a multi-million dollar glass chandelier in the Bellagio Lobby in Vegas. The elegant furniture of Scott Baker is winning awards. And Crane Day, weaver extraordinaire, can be found working magic with the mohair wool just ten feet from my studio door.

I think I'll to go to my studio now, and play my mandolin for a while. Play it through my Roland Cube with the Chorus and Reverb settings at 10 o'clock. My little ambient songs are quite pretty, I think, and quite Modern. And not Contemporary in the least.

 

 

"Indian Gothic" (c) 1983 David P. Bradley

"Indian Gothic After Grant Woods' American Gothic" (c) 1983 David P. Bradley at the Denver Art Museum.

"Jingle Jingle" (c) 1997 Judith Lowry

"Jingle Jingle" (c) 1997 Judith Lowry, Denver Art Museum, Colorado

[A homage to the murdered cousin of the artist. He, the cousin, was killed after he threatened to expose the corruption he found at an Indian casino. And almost needless to say, the painting comments on Indian gambling as a whole.]

"Todd Jones Spinning" (c) 2007

"Todd Jones Spinning" (c) 2007 William Todd-Jones & Photo by Vicki Couchman

[This image was taken of Todd by Vicki Couchman, while he spun Catherine Wheels at a festival in the UK. These poi are not the kerosene type, but rather as Todd said "...just wire wool, dipped in meths in a colander type mesh. The faster you spin, the more oxygen and the hotter it gets. Molten metal spews out. Bloody effective when you're an eight foot satyr!" Todd is a very talented artist, puppeteer, performer and all around wonderful guy. Makes a hell of a satyr too. 'Meat', my brother.]

 

"Desert Dewali with Paul, Nadia, Arelia, Jericho, & Others of Flam Chen" (c) 2007

"Desert Dewali" (c) 2007 Stu Jenks and Flam Chen

       [Images: " Laxmii's Flight", "Jericho's Poi" and "Under Paul's Care"]

       Paul invited us to the party and I'm sure glad he did.
       Flam Chen is one of the premier pyrotechnic performance troupes in the world, if you ask me. We are lucky that they call Tucson home. Nadia is one of the co-founders. Paul is the other major mover-and-shaker. They are good circus people. Charlotte has threatened to run away with them. I wouldn't judge her in the least if she decided to.
       Diwali is the annual Hindi (and other faiths) Festival of Light. The party was thrown by a nice blond fellow in dreadlocks, on his property in the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere in the flat creosote desert, west of Tucson. Top Dead Center played Grateful Dead covers with flair and precision. Canoeists and kayakers paddled in the acre-large cow pond. Fire sculptors and amateur pyro artists set up and performed on the north side of the pond. Food was given and shared. Beer and wine was bought and drank. Strong Dope filled the air from time to time. I hadn't smoke Pot in over two decades. I didn't that night, but I didn't complain either, when I got a seemingly-slight contact-high. Then again, we didn't stay for more than a couple hours, and much of the high I got came from the performance of Paul, Nadia and the gang of Flam Chen. That's why we came.
       Charlotte got some nice shots of Circles of Poi, and I got a couple shots that I was thrilled to have captured of the performance. I've been trying for at least eight years to get a good shot of a Flam Chen performance, but with no success. I had success that night.

 We had a real good time. And for the first time ever, I danced my ass off AND shoot my camera at the same time. Thank God for a great digital cable release, that costed way too much money. Even when Rural Metro Fire Department showed up, the festivities only waned a little.

       And finally, the quote of the night:

       Me (after Flam Chen's performance): " Paul, I finally got a great shot of you guys. I'm so happy. I've been trying for so long to get an image that I could give to you all. I was just focusing and shooting. Move, focus and shoot. As fast as I could. Pow, Pow, Pow! Then I'd focus on Laxmii and Pow, Pow, Pow!"

       Paul (turning to a friend): "Stu's getting all Gangsta about this shit."

       We all laughed.

[Brief Note: The Laxmii shot, at the top, is performed by Arelia and Nadia of Flam Chen [Nadia is difficult to see]. Jericho is spinning the poi, in the middle image, and Paul is holding on to Arelia and Nadia, in the bottom shot. Four men including Paul make sure Arelia doesn't float into space. Paul, always the appropriate master of Safety, said to me, "We could all drop dead and the weight of our bodies would keep her from floating away. The only way she could float away is if all four of us cut ourselves loose, and that's not going to happen."]

"All Souls' Through The Eyes Of Others (c) 2007

"All Souls' Through The Eyes Of Others" (c) 2007 Stu Jenks , Tom Willett, Jeff Smith, Cathy Spann, Leigh Anne DelRay, Karen A. Dombrowski-Sobel and Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli.

[More images from the All Souls' Procession. Photos by great photographers I know and love here in Tucson. I'll give line credit as we go. The top image is one of mine of the Balloon Girl rehearsing at dusk. Remember: Click on the images and they become much bigger.]

[The above two images were taken by the great local photographer Jeff Smith, i.e Jefe]

[This shot from the 6th Avenue underpass was taken by man-about-town Tom Willett]

[The next two images of Stu with the Pipers, and of an elderly woman with Death, were taken by the ever-fetching Karen A. Dombrowski-Sobel]

[These images of Hoops and Poi come from the passionate and big hearted Leigh Anne DelRay]

[These amazing images were taken by the polite man with the kind face, Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli]

[The photos of the Beasts of Burden, the Procession of the Urn, and of the Healthy War Man were made by the lovely and talented woman with the infectious laugh, Cathy Spann]

[And last but not least, a few more images by yours truly]

"Stu's Fun Facts: The Pusch Ridge Rant" (c) 2007

“Stu’s Fun Facts #2: The Pusch Ridge Rant” © 2007 Stu Jenks

       [Image: "Pusch Ridge and Meghan's Hill"]

       Fun Fact #1: To paraphrase Henry Rollins, sweeping generalizations are never accurate but they sure are fun. I was politely corrected or confronted or something like that, about my generalization that Writers tend to be a more laid-back group than say, Contemporary Visual Artists. Well, I was told and I heard clearly numerous examples of crazy-ass writers behaving badly and I stand corrected. People are people, artist are artists. It has to do with the man or the woman, not about what they make.

       Fun Fact #2: How about a generalization that Crafts People are more fun than Contemporary Artists? Can I get an amen there? OK, OK. I’ll stop.

       Fun Fact #3: To flesh out something from my last Fun Facts, (Is this how it’s going to go, you might think? Is Stu going to now start explaining what he meant in a previous blog entry? They must an Web word for it.), when I said that a good number of Contemporary Artists have ‘mysterious sources of income’ and they let on like they make it from their product, I wasn’t criticizing the Old Money or the New Money that lets them make their Art. Frankly, I hope I get some family money someday myself (if there is any left). What I get pissed about is their unwillingness to be upfront about it, that I’ve never heard this once from these any of these folk that I know: “Boy, I sure am grateful my father left me all that money’, or “Thank God my wife makes a ton of cash as a real estate attorney”, or “Sure glad I have that trust fund.” Never. Nada. Ain’t heard them say it once. But I have often seen the smugness of their faces, and heard their subtle condescending remarks about those who 'don't make a full commitment to The Work.' That's code for meaning those who don't make Art full time aren't serious about it. Well, Fuck you. If I had $30,000 coming in from a trust fund, or someone else was paying my bills, I'd quit the day job tomorrow and make Music and Art full time. But that isn't the case. And again, I would love to have a lot of cash, but it ain't really about the money. Ok, a little bit, but mostly about the attitude of superiority. (Have you ever noticed that those that tell you to not worry about money are those who already have it?)
       And finally, you can bet dimes to a donut, I'd give credit to those who put the money in my pocket, if and when they did. I already do. Every print that's sold, every CD that's purchased is given with a big virtual sloppy kiss attached. Hell, I’ll thank my mother now too. She’s bought me my fancy Canon D30 for Christmas last year. I couldn’t afford the $1200 that camera costs. So thank Mary Jenks for many of the images you’ve seen on this blog and elsewhere in 2007. Speaking of Mary, she’s ____ years old and her health is dicey. Say a prayer for Mother Mary, if you are the praying type.

  Fun Fact #4: Speaking of Craft People, rent or buy “Craft In America”, a DVD of the three hour PBS mini-series. If you like beauty, good design, good people and a sense of community, watch this DVD. It has given me hope for the American future in the Visuals Arts. The Great White Hope of Art won’t be coming from New York or LA in the 21st century. She’ll be coming from Penland, or Helena, or Oakland, or Devon, or Raleigh, or maybe he’ll be coming from Alaska. Look for this DVD. It’s important, in a small way, as one of the Penland artists said.

       Fun Fact #5: The Boss has a new CD out, "Magic" it's called. It’s good. I'm not a person who worships at the altar of Bruce Springsteen, but he, like Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn or others, are still pushing their limits and looking at the world with honest eyes, and with wounded hearts. Plus they also know how to write a good tune. “You’ll Be Coming Down”, “Last to Die” and “Long Walk Home” are my favs.

       Fun Fact #6: “Deer Hunting with Jesus”, Joe Bagent’s book on the unspoken class war in America is infuriatingly funny and sometime just infuriating. Joe is the Progressive Prodigal Son who returns to his hometown of Winchester, Virginia. His distaste and loathing for greedy business men and women is only surpassed by his deep and honest love for Rednecks and for Good Old Boys and Girls, who he calls 'my people'. A great read but be warned. You’ll want to throw the book across the room at least once, but you’ll also laugh so hard you may drop it. And if you are a Southerner, you will get it like a Parisian gets cheese.

       Fun Fact #7: What’s up with all these shows on TV that are about the problems of the spoiled and horny Rich? Do we really need more Desperate Housewives and Husbands? Even the fun shows on HBO like “Californication” and “Entourage” are about the very rich. I guess the middle class, and the poor ain’t that funny anymore. Reminds me of the time of the escapist films of the 1930's.

       Fun Fact #8: If you live in Tucson, hit the Conrad Wilde Gallery this month. The collage, assemblage and mixed media show “Parts of a Whole” is wonderful. It’s worth going to see Catherine Nash’s dark but hopeful work. And Margaret Suchland’s correspondences, David Adix’s knifes, and Greg Stephens’ blood red collages ain’t too shabby either. The show will be up until October 27th.

       Fun Fact #9: Who in the fuck am I going to vote for in the Democratic primary? Fuck me. I hate to say this…I really do…but the Democrats are almost as bad at the Republicans. Selfish, disingenuous, about themselves only. I guess I’ll vote for Edwards, for he is the only one talking about The Poor, but I saw him speak a couple months ago, and I wasn’t impressed. Slick. Not much meat. A lot of air, too little fire. I’ll vote for Hillary if she is the eventual nominee but not now. I saw her speaking at a barbeque in Iowa on CSPAN yesterday and it was like watching an actress performing. Her voice was quieter, more modulating, more compassionate but as soon as she was done with the formal speech, she was back to shouting in that loud angry shrill to someone in the wings. I love her husband and how he speaks. I don’t love her. And Obama. Christ, am I the only one that see it as slightly racist that many Liberals are falling over this very junior Senator from Illinois, simply because he is Black. And a ‘presentable’ Black man too. Oh, he's black but not too black. I think Barack is a good guy, just not his time to be President. Be a Senator for four more years and then run. Richardson looks like he’s going to have a heart attack when he speaks, sweat pouring off his brow. Biden, my early choice, I now think is just plain nuts. The stuff that comes out of his mouth is sometimes bizarre. I like his Iraq Partition Plan but besides that I think he is one french fry short of a Happy Meal. And Kucinich. Dennis, just go and be with your gorgeous wife, fight for liberal causes and make a little cash. And what’s up with you saying “Thank You” after ever time you speak in a debate. You’re not a performer. You're not in a band, saying “Thank You’ at the end of a song before the audience applauds. Geez.
        So Edwards it is. For now. Can I vote for Elizabeth instead?

       Fun Fact #10: Greed and ignorance, unfettered and encouraged, will eventually kill our economy and diminish what's left of the Hopeful American Soul. It won't be a terrorist's nuclear weapon in Topeka. It'll be us. Americans will kill the dream themselves, and most won't even see it pass as they watch Russian porn on their Dells.

       Fun Fact #11: Fear is a useful tool that Republicans and some Democrats have used since 9/11 with great skill. You get the people scared enough and they will turn in their own grandmother if she says a nice word about Allah. You can also get Poor People to vote against their own best interest, with false hope, denial and fear. “Someday I won’t be working at Wal-Mart. I’m going to be a millionaire someday.” I actually heard that spoken once.

       Fun Fact #12: But there is hope, not in the big but in the small. It’s always been that way. A gentle word to a friend. A touch on the shoulder of someone who is hurt. A small check to The Food Bank. The laughter between lovers. The awe at seeing a desert sunset. Doing some heavy lifting for a co-worker. National healing may come from the initiative of bold leaders, but I won’t hold my breath. Most likely, it’ll come from the kindness, generosity, and soulfulness of a very good friend, an impassioned colleague, or a present and caring relative. One person at a time. I can’t give up hope, even though I'm close at times. I may be surrounded by a rude and sleeping populace but I’m committed to being awake, to being kind even when I’m mad, to being generous with what I have, and to living in the blessed and endless moment. That’s all we have, you