Roos Arts – Made in Rosendale
Wasn't sure if posting this would be beneficial at all, considering that most people who have easy access to this installment have already been pestered about attending in person, but since this will be my first appearance in a true-blue art gallery I figured I'll do a little pushing on the internet about the show.
So here's the details... Roos Arts, which is located at 449 Main Street in Rosendale, is opening a new group show today entitled 'Made in Rosendale', featuring the work of lots of amazing local artists and just so happens to include me. Also showing work are Wayne Montecalvo, Laura Moriarty, Kristen Degree and Angela Rose Voulgarelis, who are all artists I deeply respect and admire. The show opens tonight, Friday July 23, at 6pm and goes through September 11. I'd love it if everyone could swing through and support the Rosendale art scene. Also, paired with Wayne's performance across the street with the Natural Disasters at the Rosendale cafe, it's the perfect kick off to the Rosendale Street Festival which starts Saturday.
Meanwhile I'll be at MKT2, so swing by and let me know what you think of the Squidvids.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Babe, I’m on Fire
Among my current favorite things, this massive 15 minute opus that punctuates 2003's Nocturama is illustrated wonderfully through this music video. The whole package is inspiring, even, dare I say, humbling. Musically killer, visually captivating. Amazing use of space, time, and talent.
Case Study in Good Neighborly Relations (NY/PA)
I've been sitting on this video for quite some time now, trying to weigh the global importance in comparison to it's personal sentimental attachment. What I've deduced is that in some way this might be interesting to someone besides the three of us who are directly involved. People who, maybe, have never been to the Southern Tier of New York, or people who think first of New Jersey as our neighboring state (or even Connecticut to a lesser extent). And of course there are those who never had the opportunity to take US-15S from Painted Post straight through Lawrenceville, Tioga, Mansfield, Williamsport, or even down to Florida. But there's a lot to be said about the similarities and differences between Pennsylvania and New York. Anyone with a sense of hometown pride can tell when they've left one state and entered another, even with towns like Caton and Waverly popping up along the borders to deceive you; or maybe the exist to soften the blow. Reguardless, there's always a bit of natural magic in the air around the state lines which makes me wonder if this nation was divided into states by some sort of higher being.
So, if you're watching this and wondering what the significance is, you should probably investigate New York's favorite neighbor and the buffer zones between us. If you're watching this and it makes your feel sad, then you must have been holding the camera at one point during the filming. But it's okay, I miss you, too. All of you.
Home, Sweet Home
Like it or not, Rosendale, I'm living inside you now. Spit out that gritty taste in your mouth, I've pretty much been here for months now. Since the first time I caught that sweet aroma you use to lull all these amazing artists into one, seemingly unremarkable, upstate town. And unremarkable only to those who pass straight through on their way to Kingston, New Paltz, Stone Ridge, or what have you. Those who stop for a minute or talk to a passerby or even pick up strange, well-dressed hitchers will realize this place is built on some sort of magic well. It's as if these old mine shafts and caves are like those wells from Lost, dug by some confused soul trying to find the source of the worlds light. Maybe it is underneath this tiny town. For all I know, we're all candidates.
Okay, Lost references are decidedly uncool, and I'll be the first to admit I'm a pretty big square. But you don't need to take my word for it - you can take the New York Times word for it. They still have street cred, right? Sari Botton, ghost writer, memoir-ist, and role model just got a piece published about the glories of this quaint place. I even got famous because of it, or so they say. My picture is right at the top. In the mean time, I'm still washing dishes and serving food, so if any of you have some sort of amazing travel writing job to offer me, now would be the time to do so. You can catch the article here:
Content
I had a dream that I was steadily updating Dinonaut with copious amounts of quality material. In my dream it was my ticket out of indentured servitude and helped me accomplish other, greater things. It's hard to take too much stock in dreams - though sometimes it's harder not to. My passion for posting content here used to drive me, and I used to sit down every Saturday night after work at Dumont Burger and put together a video with whatever I had. Of course it helped that I had, around the beginning of my endeavors, just recorded the whole of a week long disaster that turned out to be some of my best videos. Priceless. Since then I've done a lot, but overall I feel like my life is lacking an interesting narrative. Does anyone care what meager adventure I come into? Most of the hits on my webpage are people who chance by via Google Images looking for the Sgt. Pepper album artwork.