Category: Blog

This hurricane is huge. People in Miami learned that one cannot underestimate where one will make landfall. Batten down the hatches! These links should take you to where you can see regular updates of the water vapor as seen from GEOS8, the geo-stationary satellite over the eastern part of north American. (Just a side note but, the image on this posting is dynamic. That means the image is being updated hourly by the satellite and the hurricane itself will be seen to move across the surface.)

Latest Water Vapor
JPEG (60K)
GIF (207K)

< BB9 > WOOOOO jawn!!
< JeffBrAwy > Jawn is Jide’s favorite.
[in private window]
< BB9 > *smooches*
[waits and waits and waits for a response]
-> -jawnbc- wake up babydoll!
[waits and waits and waits for a response]
< BB9 > you there yet?
[waits and waits and waits for a response]
< BB9 > wwaaaaaa!! I’m being ignored… :-(((
[more waiting….]
jawnbc (~jawnbc@hsia.telus.net) Quit (Idle time limit exceeded)
No such nick/channel

*sigh*

Finally, my driving to the Univ. has brought my car to its knees… I bought it from the guy my ex was last living with (an older friend of his) for $500. My ex had run into a parking lot pole, or something, and created a huge “v” shaped crease in the bumper and wrinkled the hood (or bonnet for you that prefer). I figured if it lasted 6-8 months I’d be happy. I’ve had it now for 4 years. It’s an 1987 Ford Crown Victoria wagon, a big powerful and strong motor. Even now it’s not dead but, I can’t put more money into it.

It had been getting worse over the summer and I spent $300 trying to make sure I could drive it as long as possible. I’m in school 4 days a week and the 1+ hour drive has put a strain that’s beyond repair. I’d rather buy a newer one. I hate the idea of dealing with car salespeople because they try so hard to back a person into a corner, all the while smiling and talking sh*t.

I’m heading off to find something over the weekend (beginning Friday). Wish me luck! I know one thing I don’t want: Hummer H2. I’m totally insulted every time I see one of those driving in Miami/ Ft. Lauderdale/ Palm Beach. I didn’t see a sinlge one in Minnesota where the weekend is made for off-roading, fishing, hunting, etc. where such a vehicle would more than likely be a better fit. However, the cost of the Hummer fits better with the wealth of S. Florida.

September is the beginning of the art season in both the US and Europe. Last night I went to the major gallery openings in Miami Design District. It was an adventure. I took the new digital camera to take some pics for the web site. My photo editor was there too. He’s been using the same model camera but, he’s got it figured out and takes much better digital pics than me. There are so many settings it’s crazy matching them with what you want to do. Anyway, some images are posted (mine). He took many more and will get them to me in a couple of days after he sorts, adjusts, and resizes them.

LJ has changed, giving us some different options and making it easier to make selections. How ya like me now?

Well, my second week of teaching has been crazy. The Univ. has an add/drop policy for 2 weeks that seems silly to me. I’ve had at least 2 students per class per session either drop or add in my 3 courses. It’s insane trying to remember students names in that situation. Things should settle down now.

All these students that have added late all have to try and catch up. I have probably been too generous with my time and working with a few on an individual basis to get them up to speed. Since it’s a photo course, going thru the assignment, developing film and making a contact print is time consuming. But, I feel it’s okay so far.

I have several students from previous courses this semester. That’s an honor that they wanted to have a class with me again when I’ve gotten teacher evaluations on the community college level that used curse words to describe my teaching abilities (in relationship to their learning). Having the support of other professors is a big help though.

It looks to be another rainy weekend however, I do plan to take some pics at a couple of the gallery openings in different parts of town. MAeX has had some server problems (from my and several viewers perspectives). I’ve had some onging dialogue with my new hosting company about correcting them which they seem to have done. At any rate, the move to a new host has caused my old calendar to need perl, cgi work, which I don’t know. I’ve purchased software for a new calendar and once I secure a person to install it, the calendar duties will go back to the volunteers. I’ve had galleries that have NEVER had listings requesting to be listed now. The site has “blown up” is Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and soon in W. Palm Beach, like crazy. I’m still amazed at how important a resource my site has become in Miami. It’s an awful lot of work for one person too! But, sponsorships generating a bit of income eases some of the burden. Now, if I can get that calendar install and pass some duties along…

There are more slaves today than were seized from Africa in four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The modern commerce in humans rivals illegal drug trafficking in its global reach—and in the destruction of lives.

“The headline…is not a metaphor. This story is about slaves. Not people living like slaves, working hard for lousy pay. Not people 200 years ago. It’s about 27 million people worldwide who are bought and sold, held captive, brutalized, exploited for profit.”

Written by Andrew Cockburn, with photos by Jodi Cobb, “21st Century Slaves,” appears in the September issue of National Geographic. It will blow your mind and break your heart. An excerpt is available online.

Miamiartexchange.com presents chrisglass as our Sept. cover artist. In addition, bitterlawngnome is featured in the gallery along with Chris Skura of NYC.

Michael Betancourt brings his 6th installment of “IMHO – in my humble opinion,” a weekly column about the art world.

Thank you all for your continued support!

Well, after a slow start I finally tested out the digital camera. I went out to the beach in the morning. It was rather boring so I came back home and took pics of some of my usual subjects: bones. I’ve had plenty in my collection over the years. I love the stuff that keeps our moist sack of organs and muscles from being a big blob on the ground.

Just a note about the studio images: I used three different types of light sources for each of the images and that made some not keyed in properly. I use indirect light from a window, incandescent flood, and florescent tube lighting. Gawd, what an ugly mix of light sources! However, most of the images turned out okay. If I was really doing more serious work, I’d use the proper single light source (not florescent!).

I made a little web gallery for viewing. Clicking the link will open a new window. Digital Images, 24 Aug., 2003

Well, thanks to my new job, I have a new digital camera. It has been worth the wait getting it although, I wasn’t expecting to get the use of one. Anyway, it’s been a learning process trying to adjust things to manual and semi-manual. One reason so many love their digital cameras (and 35mm) is for the auto functions. I personally don’t like the auto settings for what I do with photography.

I learned photography in high school using a 4×5 in view camera. I would have to say, even by the standards of my high school days that was a very lucky school. Today, only a professional photography would have a 4×5, if they have one for student use at all. From 4×5 I went to 35mm. I didn’t like it. Too small. I went to 2¼x2¼ in (6×6 cm), otherwise known as a twin-lens reflex. I still have one.

By the time I got seriously thinking about a college art education I discovered a slightly larger negative format which I use to this day, 6×7 cm. This negative is about 3 times the size of a 35mm neg which allows for greater detail (a positive) but, the camera is much heavier (a perceived negative). Remember, I learned on a 4×5 which MUST be set on a tripod. You expose one sheet of film at a time. You work slow and methodically. I like deliberation when I work.

The digital camera a Nikon 5700 is small and light. It will take some getting used to, although I still use 35mm cameras. Anyway, tomorrow I’m hoping to get out and actually take some pictures, d/l to my computer and share, if I can get everything working properly. I’m sure my exposures will be messed up until I figure out what I’m doing. Wish me luck. This will be my camera for the canoe trip.