charley harper...

i have no idea what the serious art world thinks of charley harper, but i love his stylized nature paintings... they are witty and geometric - graphic design-y if that makes sense...

i seem to bump into an article or web page about him every few months... i understand he passed away fairly recently...

i don't think harper is famous - yet he apparently did consistently great work for a long time...

i am grateful that i stumbled on to the work of this original and outstanding artist...

awesome....

the hipster olympics...

bourdain in cleveland...

didn't know what to expect when caustic chef, writer, tv host, vegetarian-hater anthony bourdain came to my neck of the woods - cleveland...

he usually travels to much more exotic places - of course, "exotic" in this sentence means "exotic" to me... perhaps cleveland seems odd to outsiders...

it was a great show - he hung out w/ harvey pekar, echoed my criticisms of the rock and roll hall of fame (the concept, not the actual facility) - everyone he visited seemed to me to be from my neighborhood when i grew up...

i liked the show a lot... it did capture cleveland, in at least part...and it was interesting seeing my home area thru bourdain's eyes...

here is a comic book version of the show...

record of the week...

can't stop listening to this...

brilliant - fun and smart...catchy, yet progressive, diy yet accomplished...silly and serious

musician of the day

haco

weirdest spam ever...

Dear Sir,

We have scrap metal for sale.
We can supplier you up to 30,000 MT or more.
Metal Scrap from condemned ship and condemned rails.
The price ranges from USD 100 to USD 150/mt FOB, Price is negotiable.
You must fly down for inspection and shipment.

huh?

bill murray...

now i don't condone drunk driving in any form - however, bill murray even gets in trouble with panache... i mean, drunk driving a golf cart? far more original than recent celebrity dwi's....

here is an amusing article suggesting given murray's impressive contributions, he ought to be given some slack on this and other transgressions...

please do take this in the right way - dwi is not funny at all - and should not be condoned for bill murray or anyone else- take these as a tribute to one of the coolest and most talented folks around... who does it his way even when he screws up...

upcoming show!

announce.jpg, originally uploaded by mike_zellers.

it is my sincere pleasure to announce that my sister and i will have a joint show at the carlisle reservation...it's in december, so even you folks in iceland have time to make plans.

;-)

more details as the event draws nearer

fall is just around the corner...

P8184092_2.JPG, originally uploaded by mike_zellers.

...and for some, it means the start of school, or football season, or halloween. for the loyal readers of my blog (yes, both of you...) fall means the start of "look at the weird stuff growing in my yard" - a fairly irregular series where i post stuff i find in my yard that looks to weird to be found in my sleepy little suburb....

here is a photoset

see my new pics of fire...

flames...

friends that are artists - please read and offer opinion...

i have been interested in art for a long time - and i feel i have an open mind - i don't however, claim to be any sort of expert - to paraphrase the old adage, i simply know what i like.

that being said, the article, Why the art world is a disaster seems to make a lot of great points based on my very limited observations - much art today seems to be deliberately ugly

i don't think all art needs to be pretty or even beautiful - part of our world is ugly and it is certainly valid to express that. yet, it seems that art collectively takes great pains to avoid expressing beauty - which exists in the world as well and is every bit as real as the ugliness...

it has always struck me as odd that an overly optimistic worldview is viewed as trite and superficial, where an overly negative one is deep....

i'd appreciate any comments on this - what do you think of what i've said and the article...

P8113622_2_2.JPG

P8113622_2_2.JPG, originally uploaded by mike_zellers.

P8112891_2.JPG

P8112891_2.JPG, originally uploaded by mike_zellers.

flames.jpg

flames.jpg, originally uploaded by mike_zellers.

music of the moment

kaki king

news...

jellyfish pwn the ocean and perhaps the world - new article in print version - don't see it online yet- my favorite invertebraes and in fact, possibly my favorite animal, period....
i, for one, welcome our new jellyfish overlords...


new full time job - legend of zelda: twilight princess

new cd been listening to - really hits the spot - frith/feder - ironic universe...

my most anticipated tv show - tin man - re-imagining of one of my favorite movies, starring one of my favorite actresses is scifi-goodness... runner up? season 2 heroes...

finally...

mr. dimbles has come to myspace

befriend, or be-pwned...

without a doubt, the most awesome card i've ever received...

card.jpg, originally uploaded by mike_zellers.

made by my daughter, all her own work, customized for me - typographical theme, "forte-seven", the pun... brilliant....

facebook...

i have had a facebook acct for sometime - i think i am going to start getting more active in that community.... let me know if you want to be friends... i still have a myspace profile as well - feel free to add me there as well...

still more

still more, originally uploaded by mike_zellers.

more fun...

more fun..., originally uploaded by mike_zellers.

fun w/processing

fun w/processing, originally uploaded by mike_zellers.