Memorial Day: 6 Days Till "PhotoSkin"

Friday was reserved for the Murukami Exhibition @ the Brooklyn Museum.

From Hoboken, hub-central, I made my way to the Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn museum stop on the 3 Line, and was greeted with a lovely subway station full of art (Quite appropriate I would say given its proximity to the museum.)

Outside was the newly redesigned entrance of the museum. The glass and steel entrance make an imposing yet inviting presence.

The museum was filled with a wide aray of art. I also enjoyed they're collection of paintings detailing Brooklyn life in different areas. The Log-built homes of centuries ago have log since given way to the brick and mortar construction we see today as "Classic".

The Murakami exhibition admission was $10. It was worth the ticket price.

His sculptures are clean and colorful, successfully capturing the essence of Manga magazines of Mr. Murakami's youth.

The paintings were immense and amazing. I always found myself ducking down and getting close to the canvas in order to examine the paint lines. Precise and beautiful, his characters are disarming and inquisitive. The fact that most of his paintings are owned by different facilities, and that they cost a few arms and legs to pay for and transport, a future Murakami show of this caliber must be appreciated now before Brooklyn says "PEACE" to another contemporary treasure.

May 21st: 5:56pm - Practical Nutrition

Today is my first day of class in practical nutrition.
My Prof is Dr. Lane, and I am kinda excited.
After this class, I have 2 more classes and an externship in order to be done with my paralegal studies certification. Oh the joy to be out of HCCC.

The externship is when everything in life changes.
I will have to work in a court house or something.

One love to class.

RR

Woodstock Performance

Hello all,

Jay Crystall and I played a show with his friend Jim on Saturday, May 17th.

We arrived at the village of Woodstock in time to see the streets teeming with activity. Lots of colorful people and stores. The main plaza in the middle of town was was (as usual) overrun with an assortment of young people playing hacky-sack and devil sticks. Dreadlocks flying through the air.
(I'm a reggae rocker, do you love me?)

Woodstock tends to bring the hippie out in everyone. I remember spending many months up here with my dog. I even went so far as to attempt to put him on a vegetarian diet. I learned a very valuable lesson in that experience: making vegetarian dog food is much more trouble than it's worth.

Joshua's
We arrived and set up @ Joshua's, and were greeted quite warmly by Diana (pronounced Dee-Anna) who was busy drizzling oil on prepared breads. Jay, Jim an dI certinaly look forward to performing there again.

May 13th, 2008: New Camera View

Tuesday May 13th.
It was a magical birthday. I received a wonderful digital camera as a girt, and began by documenting the current state of affairs at "4th & Jackson". Currently, the space looks like more like a living space then a gallery. Now that the "PhotoSkin" event is taking place on May 31st, I have 2.5 weeks to reinvent "4th & Jackson" from a sparse apartment into a first class gallery.

Along the bottom of the glass closet, you can see paintings by Wynton Stevenson and SCET.


Along the front of the space, are two large windows facing the NYC skyline. those two windows are flanked by trees, plants and flowers. That same back wall has to be converted into a performance space on the night of may 31st for Caridad Rivera's "Living a Painting" performance.
There are upcoming rehearsals for "Living a Painting". All the lighting and music need to coincide perfectly. It's all about timing.


All walls still need a good whack of Spackle, and a repaint. The main gallery room needs more attention because the base coat is popping through in some parts.

The orange room is possibly the closest to being completed. Right now my goal is to hang fabric over the computer area so no visitors see the mess. I am also completely baffled by the couch. What am I going to do with this ugly couch? It has very much outlived it purpose. The foam is trying to escape through the side. There si some debatre whether it will be thrown out before May 31st (if it goes, there will be no where to sit.)

"4th & Jackson" Presents:
"The Rock Photography of Laura Desantis-Olsson"

Who: Laura Desantis-Olsson
What: Reception for Artist
Where: Shades of Hoboken. Monroe Center of the Arts. 720 Monroe St. Hoboken, NJ
When: Friday, June 27th, 2008 7:30pm - Until the bar closes.

WE ARE HAVING AN OUT OF HOUSE EXPERIENCE!!!

Come to Shades in Hoboken for a live musical celebration of Laura Desantis-Olsson's Rock Photography Exhibition.

• Steps from 9th St Light Rail Station
• Free Parking
• Dress to Impress
• Stocked Cash bar

WE WANT TO KNOW WHO'S COMING!!!!!!
(If it looks big it IS BIG!)

"4th & Jackson" Grassroots Weekend

The disconnect between the plate and the pasture is so immense, we consume, without knowing where our food came from.There is a great book named the "Celestine Prophecy". In this book, spiritual groups plant and maintain their own gardens. They chew slowly and enjoy every bite. This is very much missing this connection to our food in urban areas.

In response to this disconnect, we have created our own container garden.
We are growing the following:
zucchini
Peppers
Tomato's
Lettuce
Thai Basil
Tarragon
Pansies








We have also re-potted just about every plant in 4th & Jackson. We are looking for a way to better sustain ourselves though this economic downturn. Every little bit helps.

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN COMMUNITY GARDEN

More than ever, we are finding the 3rd & Jackson Community Garden less of a sanctuary for gardeners, and more so for beer swilling residents from across the street. In its latest attempt to dispel beer drinkers, the organizing of the 3rd st community gardens have cut the picnic tables into kindling. Sux, big time.

This is a reality check for those who have not looked at the stock market *Clearing throat* -
YOU WILL SAVE MONEY BY PLANTING AND HARVESTING YOUR OWN PRODUCE! PUT DOWN THE BEER AND STOP BLOWING UP THE SPOT FOR YOUR GARDENING NEIGHBORS.
If 5.0 roll up to the community gardens and expel the beer guzzling crowd a few times, it will mar the public gardens image. We can ill afford that, especially at a time when sustainability is paramount on the global "To Do List".

Instead, I would like to focus on what the gardeners are doing. Here we see how easy it is to plant beans. Here we see one of the gardeners has planted 6 rows of beans, all of which should be ready to harvest by mid to late May.

Here is a wonderful article on how beneficial Community Garden are and the role they play in our communities.

The Community Gardens are an underutilized commodity. There are still lots that are unreserved or have not been used for sometime. I think some of these are fallow because Hobokenites don't know about them yet.

Took a Dive off of Fall Creek Drive!

I wrote this song when I visited Ithaca, NY.
I met some wonderful people, and saw first hand the differences between us hurried New Yorkers and the sedate chilled-outness of our northern friends.

Click here to hear "Art School Girl".

Art School Girl
Hey Art School girl, Where ya been,
the shows been over for an hour and Ten
All the cars have pulled away
I've got Five drink tickets, and its last call
And I wanna Rock with you!

Art School Girl, you live on a Farm
Blah Blah Blah, your favorite song
Theres an after-party goin on.
You know the town, so we're following yall

Thick black lines across a canvas
the parties live, and it's right next to campus
the more you talk, the more you prove yourself a shrew
Then 5.0 rolled up

The party moved to Arcadia hills,
Art School girl fell asleep at the wheel
took a dive off of Fall Creek Drive
It's kinda sad, and I'm fixing to grieve.

But that night on the lake,
with the moon on your face
looking on a gorges view

That life would be lovely
Yes, life would be lovely up here
That life would be lovely
Yes, life would be lovely up here