thomasprophet

i like art

2009-06-23T01:25:14Z

i got my shit together and i'm getting prints made of watercolors, they could be done as early as wednesday. additionally,the door is open to a couple of shows in the future and not so distant future. i'll post more details when they are available.

(art) work has been really rewarding and new ideas are cropping up faster than i can churn them out, thankfully, L has been really supportive and understanding especially when i drift off in the midst of conversation and activity, totally enthralled in the new idea as it begins to take shape.

i have been working on the water colors while on the clock at the triple rock and have decided that in order to increase production quantities i need to use my ample down time at lockheed martin to do likewise.

without going into compositions, i have been exploring the use and obscuration of line to identify what the limits of line suggestions maybe. additionally, work with color has led to the compounding of color "complementation" (e.g.)combining broken,/mixed colors like purple/reds (as shadows) with green/yellows (as highlights).

the effect is rather exciting and enticing, the eye struggles to make sense of the combinations and causes a kind of blurring while viewing as the eye shifts rapidly back and forth between the color pairings. the effect is sort of eerie, like and old timey picture in silver gelatin which due to its shutter speed limitation cannot capture movement with any clarity.

i will be further exploring these phenomenon in hopes of developing them further and employing them in other contexts.

and so it begins... twice

2009-05-28T14:21:42Z

both commission pieces are underway. the water color is a combination of sunrise and sunset colors which i have observed over time on. i'm working creating a deeply spacial piece which relies on the compiling of time in cyclical layers which, through its rhythms leads the viewer into the realm of creation and possibility...

the larger, oil painting is still in its inception phase. the base coat is down, a kind of neutral, creamy beige and the next layer, a complex lavender and deep blue is currently drying.
embedded in the drying layer is a half in. thick hemp twine as well as roughly 30 paint cans of various diameters.i have the twine pinned down beneath the heavier pails of paint and i have been periodically placing and replacing the various other cans in the drying paint.

this idea is based on a game i was playing at lockheed martin involving coke syrup and an empty mountain dew can. the result of both the lm experiment and my current project are similar, however since i am using multiple sized cans herein, the result is more complex. ideally i'm intent on creating a rich field of texture and color as a starting point. the goal is to maintain the painting's memory and use the predefined areas to create portals of deeper space which entice the viewers focus and create a conscious decision as to where in the painting to look as well as how one needs to focus the eyes in order to focus and make sense of what they are seeing. the overarching goal is to create partially obscured fields of varying depths which capitulate the viewer in and out of space, in hopes of recreating the exhilarating sense of creation and the infinite of each moment.

Part one of two,

2009-05-21T13:49:39Z

Happy anniversary Loveface! it was six years ago today that we absconded to SoDak and united in blissful matrimony and also got yelled at by the justice of the peace for kissing without permission.fucking rad!

i have an aluminum ticket...

2009-05-18T21:19:36Z

aight- so i have this hundred dollar idea... any of my technologically evolved friends have an idea as to an appropriate device that's reasonably priced which i can use to record phone conversations? i am interested in conducting interviews with upcoming bands at the triple rock and then downloading the audio for curious fans online... i assume that this is reasonably easy... any suggestions?

thanks, tp

like sand through the hour glass...

2009-05-13T15:04:07Z

I set up a couple of painting deals last friday. I'm pretty excited to get started on them one is a 16"x20" watercolor and the other is a 3'x4' oil and mixed media piece. each one is more or less open for me to work on what ever i choose, i just tried to get an idea of types of colors the respective parties were drawn to. i haven't worked in oils for a really long time nor at that scale so i'm particularly animated to get in working mode.

both pieces will be dealing with concepts of deepening space through visual awareness... i'm trying to move beyond the precedents Mark Rothko achieved by allowing for more form and objectivity, that is not relying solely on abstraction and rather planting suggestions of forms in order to draw the eye hither and thither while breaking up visual planes; creating the sense of 3-dimensional movement.

speaking of Rothko a few months back I was meditating during a rather shitty stretch at work and as i was outside, the sun struck my closed eyes and it donned on me just what he had been doing in his paintings. i have been an enthusiast of his for quite a while but as i sat with my eyes closed the image of two blue planes was temporarily burned in my retinas and it occurred to me that what he had been trying to do all along was to paint what he saw while meditating; eyes closed. this may not be much of a revelation but for me it was a total fucking epiphany, for no sooner had the notion finished its formulation in my skull was i then visited by the long dead Mark Rothko himself. as if stepping out from behind a corner used as a hiding place in some 1930's cops and robbers movie did he reveal himself to me and while smiling warmly say:
"you found me kid."

i sat entranced with this vision of him before me, happily absorbing some unspoken tangential regarding the nature of art and its relation to the universe.

so that was nice.

cutting corners on the edge of technology...

2009-05-07T15:06:06Z

in all modesty, i just came up with what is sure to be the greatest idea in the history of mankind:

from now on i'm going to purchase cell phones, collect the rebate and return the phones. it's an honest living and i stand to make literally hundreds of dollars a year, brilliant. and what's more, there's no possible down side to this whatsoever.

also i intent to continue pursuing welding just in case this cell phone initiative doesn't pan out. as though a plan of that caliber could fail.

well what do you know?

2009-05-01T21:08:17Z

Hydroxy cut causes liver damage and even death... Who would have thought?!

thomasprophet @ 2009-04-30T12:01:00

2009-04-30T17:08:45Z

alright so in order to proceed in life's journey i need a skill/trade which could be employed and in turn keep me employed pretty much wherever i go... i'm thinking welding.

it's practical, useful and i'm well suited for it physically and mentally. i intent to pursue an education in the field but i'm also looking to see if i might intern or study under someone already out there working in the field.

does anyone know of any welders whom i might be able to work under, whom might show me the ropes so to speak?

any and all advice, direction and leads would be dearly appreciated. thanks-tp

yesterday, i am a man...

2009-03-14T15:43:59Z

after months and months, yesterday i finally finished reading Crime and Punishment.

a change is coming...

2009-03-09T22:29:43Z

So some of you may know that i'm trying to pry my self out of the sedentary world of unskilled labor... a lot of you have made really wonderful suggestions which i dearly appreciate. among my other goals right now, i'd really like to make some forays into the world of voice and voice-over work. i have a limited portfolio at present and i'm looking to build it up. any suggestions? I am open to unpaid/volunteer work so long as i can get a copy of the recording in its finished phase. I've heard that the society for the blind usually needs people to assist in readings for the visually impaired but in my online searches i haven't found so much as a mention of this program is anyone out there in the know regarding this service?

thomasprophet @ 2008-01-19T11:59:00

2008-01-19T19:32:19Z

yeah, uh. alright so... i've been thinking a lot lately about thinking... "why has it been do difficult and disjointed?" so on and so forth. so then the comely Paraselenic and i finally get to have a nice relaxing sunday to ourselves after a grueling week and and derby bout last week- and we decide after replenishing ourselves with PHO that we'll declare sanctuary and watch some of this phenomenal art series called ART21 that she got me for Kwanzaa. so we're watching the episode entitled STRUCTURE, and there are 4 different artist are dealing with this concept in their own way and as i'm listening to them and admiring their work it occurs to me that these artists are expressing very clearly, the issues and concepts that i've been struggling to express for the last year or so. and then it happens suddenly. as i am hearing and understanding the theories and concepts behind these works my mind begins to explore and examine the ramifications of these precepts and all at once, i'm alive again. it's as though whatever funk and incapacitation had settled for the last 7 years is utterly blown away within moments and my mind is racing with a full lexicon of thought and conception like it never missed a beat.

now not only am i sitting there marveling at the work of these ground breaking theorists, but i'm engaging in discourse simultaneously. truly amazing sensation. i had three note/sketchbooks on hand and rapidly began sketching out ideas and scrawling down long fluid ideas which continued giving way to more and more concepts of varying esoteric specificity.

currently almost everything i look at now draws me back to this wide expanse of visceral creativity. i am wholly impressed with the the notion of the chaos of the universe leaving lasting marks and impression upon the ordinary and everyday and in so doing... transforming these props of the mundane into maps and widows offering glimpses in and upon the vastness of being. along with these concepts, i have noticed the emergence of many sculptural and "installatory" ideas, neither of which can i claim to have ever felt particularly confident nor competent operating within. i am very drawn to the notion of installations which trigger and evoke very specific emotional and sensual reactions in the viewer... crystallizing the feeling itself, suggesting that regardless of what is proven and or provable, our reality is still an amalgamation of sense and sensory deprivation by way of mental, emotional, psychic and otherwise subconscious filters.

another concept which fascinates me endlessly is that of creating a palpable energy in a space. by way of relating form and space, the idea is to infuse or at least to accentuate existing perception into a primal and focused sensual effect, one which acting as an internal gravitation, actually causes the human vessel to resonate and tremble with the outward energetum of the piece itself.

additionally many ideas for much more personal work are abound. i'm growing more and more obsessed with the idea of cataloging... particularly as it relates to the discarded, like matches or catchings in the lint trap of a drier or from wads of hair extracted from brushes in the bathroom. i'm also working on an idea wherein 10 people would each write 10 sentences of a highly personal nature, one which the writer has some say in, the idea then is to study how thoughts and emotions effect the kerning and overall aesthetic of the individuals' penmanship.

one final idea which i've been fleshing out-what i call my collage portraits, wherein the lines of age, race, gender and time are blurred in hopes of revealing recognition and the essence of being without the benefit of subconscious filters. i imagine this is much the way that infants and toddlers see and in attempting to return the viewer to a state of primordial recognition of expression i want to explore whether or not the mind and eye may correspond and accept the images as complete and complex persona.

any way, thanks to those who held space for me a couple of weeks ago. i could not have gotten here to this new and invigorating mind-scape without your help.

here is a link to the site and particular artist responsible for triggering my reawakening:
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/ritchie/clip1.html

damn it feels good to be a gangsta. it feels really good, you should try it.

2008-01-12T17:33:02Z

so i posted about a week ago and was a little crazy. sorry. since then i have nearly completed a 73 hour work week which includes 3, 19-hour days in a row and all of which involved intense physical labor. i got to lead a job for the first time at corporate installations and that's going pretty well. i kind of fell in to the position because i was the only person who volunteered for overtime all 3 days and then i just ended up leading by default.

it was interesting in that the job coordinator and i have never gotten along in the past, at all. however since he had to rely on me i decided i would show him just what i could do. it was very tough work, we were floating office furniture for a carpet pull and replacement and the work was slow and heavy and since the office was built back in the mid-80's every time we'd lift the shit up it'd split apart and then we'd have to finesse, finagle and force the components back into place.

the toll taken on the body was fascinating. the first night was tough and i was sore the next morning but alright for operating on 5 hours of sleep. night two was different, very sore and muscles strained in the back and chest made breathing painful. also, the scheduler had told two of the three people helping me that night, that the start time was 7:00 p.m. instead of 4:00p.m. so i was short handed and we fell way behind. i took advantage of this inconvenience to demonstrate to my several bosses how i deal with stress, which in this case was very direct but neither hostile nor violently. the setback actually worked in my favor in that by said demonstration i was able to pass myself off as not only competent but collected in comparison to several of the other leads whom i've been working under thus far.

day three, the other job leads from the company were chirping me all day on nextel two-ways to see how things were going and if i was going to make it... interesting in that i was hearing from people whom hitherto i'd really never gotten along with and had more or less written off as falling in to one of two camps; assholes or douche bags. this is a very tidy filing system. day three was a true test. i kept singing: "i got the will to drive myself sleepless" courtesy of m.doughtey. but the job lead of the day job let me take on more menial tasks and eventually i ended up training the temp workers how to do their various assignments. it was a strange turn of events. in a week i had gone from the lowest rung on the ladder used to stand on while carving the bottom of the totem pole, to equal with a bunch of guys who've been telling me what to do for the better part of a year.

last week i worked 13 hours for CI this week 57. huh.
i noticed that 93x is considered neutral while on a job site which is sort of sad in a way.
when the mind and body are totally exhausted, there are brief though splendid moments of lucidity... everything makes sense and there is a kaleidoscopic mosaic of order.
comedy, as an entity makes its entrance through the door which mania opens. comedy is the provacateur of the self-conscious, the embarrassed and the rigid. the finest (comedy) should swirl around itself until it fills the space and pulls all things to its accountability.

in no particular order... least not working wise

2008-01-05T18:57:30Z

perhaps it part of aging or feeling enraged and disconnected from a society i've never really cooperated with... but i feel rather lost at the moment. presently ideas and concepts regarding art and philosophy are not making any coherent formulations. perception is abstracted and though entertaining, fails to make up any ground in regards to a comprehensive understanding of universal or at the very least, natural semblance of order.

what has always been a cooperative, utilitarian liberalism has slowly begun to shift. away from subjectivity toward objectivity. "judgementalism" has established an operational system which now obscures itself... this makes recognizing and examining self and subsequent perception very difficult.

within my own behavior i have identified almost every one of the qualities i despise in others as being the constant. there is no regulation of self unless silence is rendered wholly. perpetuation and perseveration amount to mania. in the past mania has allowed for extreme productivity and now the same cannot be said. distraction and lack of either passion or interest are typified. the intensity of of curiosity currently wanes.

oddly paced is the working life. hours in the double digits back to back with slight and sudden gasps of the unconscious between and then nothing. labor comes in blocks and recovery is pushed aside. resentment amongst co-workers grows as distractions incurred in the current condition persists.

this must all amount to something. this would be the most absurd set of circumstances were there no meaning in it. there's no grand drama or well developed narrative as i've become accustomed to. rather this seems much more like an amalgamation of under developed plot device cast off from other narratives and forcibly filed together as if in a holding tank to see what if anything develops from the chance couplings of innocuous minutia.

if anything, i'd like to see things clearly again. i depend on a fairly balanced sense of reality and at present there is no way to tell what is real and what is imagined, what is- and what has manifest due to aquiescing, due to lack of discipline, due to lack of understanding, perception and imagination. there is no filter to trust in.

this is not so hopeless as it is frustrating. much like the way i imagine the elderly perceive jokes; spoken in low tones and subdued registers. rumbling and mumblings barely audible, give way to chortling tides and everyone else is laughing, everybody gets it. i trying to find my way through this but oh holy fuck! what a mind bending.

it's to be hoped that in this~ mental swallowing down the wrong way, amongst the coughing, the sputtering and the burning, somewhere, meaning will surface and art will find and take voice. is it only a matter of patience? pretty sure there's to be some sort of proactive approach here. some sort of endeavor to set things in harmony. some catalyst which connects the mind and spirit with resounding resonance must exist?

not a fun time. mind feel like cold and greasy grilled cheese. not good time.not fun to feel responsible for making social, political, cultural change in the world and while feeling unqualified and inadequate to make suggestions and ill-prepared to carry-out plans. disconnected from god and source and animosity abounds for the average interaction. being someone i would not enjoy, if i were to meet.

Shill... Who me?

2007-11-30T15:47:00Z

uh...yeah, so I don't want to sound like a shill here but i 'm calling on those in my little corner of the universe:
I know the forecast calls for snow but i'm asking each and every one of you to brave those elements and make your presence known at tommorrow nights bout.I can expound upon the multitude of reasons as to why this league is so wonderful and so dear to me but that would take more time than any of us can really afford and it'd be much more effective if you'd allow me the opportunity to demonstrate said affections for you tommorow night at 7:oo at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Please come and bring as many friends as you can, more bodies means more bodyheat...
For those of you unsure as to what get friends and loved ones for the upcoming holidays...
nothing says: "You're my kind!"
Quite like a night on the town DERBY style.
For more information please feel free to visit our website at www.northstarrollergirls.com
hope to see you there.
a.r.c.
better known as Grizzly Madden

so on and so forth

2007-11-02T13:58:05Z

we finished de-nichodemusing the bedroom.
all the bedding has been changed, Nic's food, water and other amenities have been removed and stored.
i kept a few of his toys and a couple of the (unused) needles we used for his hydration process.
everything has been vacuumed and i smudged the room which made the space very peaceful and smell very good. i think i can now begin recovering, in that i've done what i needed to do in order to heal. i was unsure how i'd go about preserving his memory- but in that i can still feel him around, despite having parted with much of what was his while he was here, i feel more of a sense of peace than i have in a while. Nichodemus was my favorite jerk-cat and i loved him dearly, now, as Paraselenic reminds me- i have a "spirit-kitty" and i take great comfort in knowing that.

loss

2007-10-30T16:45:59Z

today we are mourning the loss of a beloved member of the Connor clan. our dea cat Rabbi Nichodemus met with the inevitable last evening while we were away from home.
Nic as he was affectionately known was whiny, finicky, picky, fickle, demanding, not particularly adept at hygiene and he wore a constant scowl which i always thought made him look a bit like William Faulkner.

nic was a constant source of joy and kept me company on many lonely days spent home while unemployed. he was very sick a we had nursed him back to health from death's door on several occasions.

when he was feeling under the weather i used to like to lie on my belly and he'd crawl up on my upper back and i'd read Nietzsche out loud in a low register so that the rumbling of my voice might soothe him. he'd pur which made the reading easier and actually helped me to see through the apparent Nihilism of the content and realize the actual joy with which Nietzsche acually pursued life; himself a man of chronic illness.

i had played the scenario of nic's passing, out in my many many times over and yet when the time came, i lost it. it had been nearly 7 years since i shed a tear over anything and now this dear and faithful cat has reduced me to a hallmark commercial at christmas time.

i said some prayers over him and we took him to be cremated this morning and when we recieve his remains we will make glazes out of his ashes such that we can preserve his memory in an artistic expression.

late last night as i slept i dreampt i heard Nichodemus crying and i got up and it turned out we had a baby daughter who was in need of a diaper change, which i happily took care of. there are a few ways to interpet this dream but in my mind, my heart, nic was telling me he'd be coming back eventually, and i took some solace in that.

the song "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" by the Flaming Lips marks this dear little cat's passing, so it goes.

oh my gawd... i think i hate al sharpton. no wait, i find him fanatical and impotent.

2007-04-10T20:19:14Z

does anyone know if, when remaking the dukes of hazard (movie) the reverend al sharpton was perhaps considered for the roll of boss hog?

man that woulda' been sweet.

thomasprophet @ 2006-11-06T15:46:00

2006-11-06T20:46:44Z

three points huh? that's all a professional football team of sufficient talent can muster against what is perhaps the most maligned defense in the league; three points?! i feel sick.

"wink wink"

2006-09-28T14:09:58Z

JOPY666:
have you ever "heard" of a movie called UFO Kidnapped? Circa 1983.
said film was the subject of much debate and endless searching evening last.

for that matter, has anyone seen this film?

Spacebug, i'm looking in your direction...

2006-09-19T22:05:41Z

looking for inexpensive corless mics and recievers. now some of you may not know this but i'm not particularly inclined towards technology or electronics but alas, it's true. any ides as to where i could score some decent "gear" (i hope that term is still in vougue) would be greatly appreciated...

thomasprophet @ 2006-09-18T15:33:00

2006-09-18T20:34:48Z

This week, the Senate is planning to quietly hold a vote that would pardon President Bush for breaking the law by illegally wiretapping innocent Americans without warrants. According to Senator Leahy, the bill would "...immunize officials who have violated federal law by authorizing such illegal activities."1

President Bush broke the law, and courts are starting to agree. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter once said the program was illegal "on its face." But he has now caved to pressure from Vice President Cheney, and introduced legislation that marks a new low: the bill justifies everything the president did. Worse, it makes it legal to wiretap Americans, in secret, without warrants or oversight, whenever the administration wants to.2

So far, Democrats and some Republicans are holding strong against the bill, and there are good chances to stop it if enough of us speak up. Can you sign the petition opposing the Republican move to pardon President Bush for breaking the law?

http://pol.moveon.org/dontpardon/?id=8810-7269645-pDYQ.ACIryU33EHBrXJDLA&t=2

Many legal experts agree that the president's program to wiretap Americans who have nothing to do with terrorism violates the law. President Bush already has the authority to wiretap suspected terrorists—and we support that. In fact, his administration can tap anyone it likes as long as it gets an OK from a court a few days later.

Congress should be trying to hold him accountable—that's their job. Instead, some Republicans are trying to let President Bush off the hook completely. In fact, the legislation would give the president even more unchecked power.

Here are some quick facts about the Cheney-Specter bill:

It allows President Bush—and every president after him—to wiretap Americans indefinitely, in secret, without a warrant and without any oversight. 3
It effectively pardons the president for any illegal behavior by forcing Congress to concede that he has the inherent authority to conduct the program4—something federal courts, numerous legal experts and many leading Republicans disagree with. 5
It completely guts FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) which has protected the privacy of Americans against illegal wiretaps for close to 30 years.6
It prevents any legal challenges from taking place in the public court system. Instead, it moves all cases to a secret court, where only Bush administration officials can argue it. 7
It would help "immunize" any officials who broke the law in this program from being held accountable in the future. 8
Since the program was exposed in December of last year, we've learned that President Bush personally blocked a Justice Department investigation of the program, Vice President Cheney also personally intervened to stop telecom companies from testifying to Congress about it, and a federal court recently ruled the program unconstitutional.9 In an effort to protect himself from further consequences, the president is pressuring Congress to let him off the hook.

This is an important issue and it will help remind Americans, in an election year, what Republicans are all about—accumulating power for themselves, and trampling the system of checks and balances designed to stop that. Can you sign the petition today?

http://pol.moveon.org/dontpardon/?id=8810-7269645-pDYQ.ACIryU33EHBrXJDLA&t=3

lookin' puh-nub in aw'da wron pwaces...

2006-09-15T17:23:27Z

does anybody out in webland know of any academic minded journals focussing on identity politics? i'm not really sure where to begin my search any direction would be most appreciated.

i don't feel so good, i think i've got food poisoning

2006-09-13T18:59:43Z

Greetings U of M Students:

Do you know which fork is for your salad?
Where do you place your napkin when leaving the table?
Should you tell someone if they have food in their teeth?

Get the answers to these questions and more at the 2006 Etiquette Dinner. Join fellow U of M students and learn how to professionally handle any dining situation. A 3-course meal by D'Amico catering will give you the chance to try out these new skills immediately.
so i just got this e-mail.

Etiquette Dinner 2006
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
5:30 - 7:30 (registration begins at 5:00) Memorial Hall, McNamara Alumni Center 200 Oak Street SE, Minneapolis, MN

Etiquette Dinner ticket cost per student is $14. Register at http://alumni.umn.edu/etiquette .
Questions? Contact the UMAA office at 612-626-0425 or contact your career services office ( http://www.career.umn.edu ).

this just seems ridiculous to me. this a serious event?! maybe i'll get to sit next to the future home makers of american't or the young republicans! oh hooray!

aREa mAN gOED cRAZY wrITEs WHoLe sTUpID cHAptEr

2006-09-08T21:25:58Z

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
i just finished 19 sections (in this case 1 entire chapter)in one day! usually i write between 6-8sections and chapters take 2-7 days.
THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY STUPID LIFE!

thomasprophet @ 2006-09-07T12:47:00

2006-09-07T17:51:48Z

lunch hour squandereed by discussion of project run way and the tone deaf singing of a coworker whom knew three words to the chorus of a song stuck in her head. look, i only get hour. please don't ruin it.