Huh? Wha?...

Wow. This really burns me up. In my opinion, one of the top problems in this country is the rampant stupidity of our own citizens - "the dumbing" down of America if you will. Now, I'm not speaking about people's ability to learn, I'm speaking about their willingness to learn, to open their freakin' eyes to the real issues of importance around us right now.

When I visited the CNN web site this morning as I do each morning with my coffee, the top story under the heading "Popular News" is that Max Baer, Jr's girlfriend committed suicide. Excuse me?! THIS is the most popular news story in America according to CNN?! Jethro's girlfriend kills herself?

(Yes. That Jethro.)
Why should anyone except personal friends and relatives of the deceased be concerned with this. WHY is the "most popular" news story in the country? A couple of weeks ago, a young man in my town was killed in the war in Iraq leaving behind grieving family and friends and the empty, swept away promises of a life that could have been. Why wasn't that the most popular news story?

It's shocking to me how so many American's are so obsessed with the trite artificial world of celebrities while the country rots and collapses around them. When I see that stories about manic depressive, substance abusing, no-talent, white trash tramps or suicidal girlfriends of washed up third-rate sit-com stars from 40 years ago, trump real issues in this country like this disgraceful blood bath of a war in Iraq, or our super-fragile American economy teetering on collapse, or our country's weakening infrastructure, immigration reform, environmental challenges and the issue of who will the next president be that will either help us out of this crap or pulls down deeper into the mire, I want to run screaming into the path of the next city bus.

When I was growing up, the message was made clearly to me that the future would be in our hands. I actually remember being excited about finally being able to vote. Do you know what I see kids obsessed with today?









When they should should really start paying attention to this

More numerical wierdness...

If you read my post from Tuesday, January 29th (yesterday), you will have learned about this odd numerical phenomenon that seems to be occurring about me. I just had this freakish occurrence once again and wanted to share it while still fresh in my head.

After noticing with an uneasy chuckle once again that the battery on my worse than useless MacBook Pro had 1:23 minutes remaining, I immediately heard the notification chime of freshly delivered email into my inbox.

I opened it quickly hoping to remove any lingering thoughts about the meaning of the now too frequent numerical patterns and saw that another artist had just bookmarked my profile page on the wonderful TalentDatabase.com where I am a featured artist for the month on the Arts Channel.

I clicked on the link to learn more about the artist and only to discovered this.



Look at my "POPfactor" number in the upper right corner. I made a screen capture of it so you can see it for yourself.

WTF??!!

To be fair, the POPfactor number changes several times a day, but for me to happen to open the page when that particular sequence of numbers just happens to be my POPfactor, is, frankly, in my opinion, uncanny.

Is it possible that something, or someone, is trying to send me a message of some sort? If so, what? If not, then what?

Any suggestions?

In your satin tights, fighting for your rights...

Wow, when I was a kid, I had a massive crush on Wonder Woman. It was about 1975 and I was 10 years old. You have to admit, she was pretty damn cool. I've been thinking about her quite a bit today ever since running across this online yesterday...



Tsk.Tsk. This seems like angry, bitter, revengeful wonder woman. Without a doubt however, WW could kick ass. I remember many girls at my elementary school spinning wildly about in a circle in a vain attempt to transform themselves from their plain Jane selfs into extraordinary Wonder Woman. Most of them just managed to become terribly dizzy leading to the inevitable regurgitation of these...



Silly creatures.

Man, if only she had been swinging her Golden Lasso of Truth around a few years back. Think of all of the grief this planet would have been saved...

Ah one and ah two and ah three...

For some reason, I have been noticing number sequences like the one above frequently and I don't know why. I'm guessing that it's been happening for about the last 3 to 4 weeks. They sequences have not gone over the number 6 that I can recall. This means that I've been seeing sequences like 123, or 345, or 234. Frankly, it's starting to seem rather odd, as if there is some reason that I've been seeing them.

As I said, it began about 3 or 4 weeks ago when I went through somewhat a little phase of insomnia. For several nights in a row, I would wake up at 3:45 AM. The insomnia passed, but the oddness surrounding the number did not. Surely, I told myself, I am somehow subconsciously waking myself up at that exact time in order to see that number sequence on the clock for some reason.

I have come across others that have done that same thing. They tell me that they have been noticing 1:11 on clocks.
"I'll just look up randomly, and it will be 1:11.", they informed me.
Of course, I know that they were subconsciously making themselves glance at a clock at that time for some reason. Perhaps to add a bit of drama into their lives, who knows.

But my experience seems different.

I noticed this after I finally left the insomnia behind. I was enjoying a lovely deep sleep when I was roused by my cell phone. It was a wrong number of course. Some deep voiced drunken fellow asking for Shelia.



After a bit of convincing that I wasn't Shelia and that she wasn't with me. I noticed the time on my phone. 3:45 AM. Not long afterwards, my scale which I have now noticed is broken, registered my weight at 234.5. It's not working, but those are the numbers that pop up no matter what is placed on it from my cat to my shoe.

Now, I've been seeing it appear on almost a daily basis. Yes, from clocks, but also street signs, addresses, microwave timers in display windows. In fact, my MacBook Pro battery icon now shows that I have one hour and twenty three minutes left of battery time.

I'm really not sure what this phenomena is, if indeed it is a phenomena, or where to research it. Maybe it will fade away like the insomnia. Though, if there is some message from the universe that needs to communicate me through such a number sequence, I hope they can figure out a more productive way to send it out. Perhaps email.

Don't Drop the Soap...

I haven't posted a WTF??!! in a while, but this one was to good to pass over without a mention. It's a new board game entitled "Don't Drop the Soap". I first came across it on a posting on Joe.My.God. According to the posting, the game is a "prison-themed board game in which players try to not be raped." WTF??!! Here's the link to the game -

www.gilliusinc.com/dropsoap.html

Personally, I find the whole concept very distasteful and certainly the game pushes the envelope on several levels with its stereotyping and implications regarding race, homosexuality, rape, incarceration, violence and more. The real kicker is that, according to Joe.My.God, the game appears to be the brain child of 23 year old John Sebelius who happens to be the son of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D). It seems that he is selling the game from the Mansion itself with the blessings of his mother (the Govenor) and his father (a magistrate judge).

This just doesn't seem like a good idea to me. But perhaps I'm just a bit old fashioned.

No. Wait a second. I'm actually rather hip.

The game isn't a good idea at all.

Mac Sucks. That's all there is to it.

I've said it before and I will say it again. The 15" MacBook Pro that I purchased in 2006 for close to (and perhaps over - my memory , not unlike this MacBook, fails sometimes) $2,000 is a piece of crap. I hate to be so frank. But that's how I feel about it. And mind you - I'm basing this decision upon my own personal, mouth open in disbelief, hair tearing out, visions of sawed-off shot gun blasts to the screen, experiences. Did I mention that I'm typing this just moments after the last "mini-crash"?

Also, before I forget, the CrapBook power cord is on the fritz - again. ( The first one had to be replaced less than a year after my initial purchase). If I don't remain perfectly still with the exception of my fingertips whizzing across the ever so too small keyboard of my CrapBook, the power cord just stops working (remember that phrase - Just. Stops. Working.). That means that I am switched to battery power without my knowledge. As you'll learn from this post, lots of things can happen without one's knowledge when one takes a bite of the ©Apple.

Also, late last Summer, my battery just stopped working one day leaving me only able to work on the CrapBook whilst plugged into a wall outlet ( this, obviously, in between power cord malfunctions). Just. Stopped. Working.

Fortunately, it was I who (only through diligent online research), found out that Apple had issued what they conveniently called a "battery exchange program". Basically, Apple was saying that if you happen to have one of those piece of crap batteries that we stuck in your CrapBook Pro to shove them out the door, that they will gladly "exchange" it for one that actually works - at least for the time being.

Now, the folks at Apple know who purchased these particular CrapBook Pros from them. It was all in the registration process. They know my name, when and what I purchased and how to contact me. In fact, I receive emails about purchasing even more products from them constantly. I also have on occasion little pop-up windows that appear informing me of updates to software on the machine. While those are helpful, they could have sent emails and created pop-ups windows to those whom they knew had purchased the "bad battery machines" warning them about the battery issue and instructing them to make an exchange?! You see, I eventually discovered that only machines with a certain serial number purchased during a certain time period had these evil batteries. Guess who's machine met all of the requirements. Again, I only found the information about the battery after my own intense web search where I discovered other unfortunates CrapBook purchasers like myself who had experienced the same issue. The Apple web site had the pertinent information deeply buried in the catacombs of their site.

And when I think about the tech support NIGHTMARE that I had to go through to get the battery replaced, my blood still begins to boil. Again, and I don't use this word lightly, NIGHTMARE.

SO, the next time you see those clever little commercials on television featuring "hip" and ever so smug looking Justin Long representing and proclaiming the virtues of the Mac against the PC ( whom they portray as a frumpy, over weight, pasty-faced, balding 30 something fellow in an ill fitting off the rack suit) DO NOT FALL for it.



These are ACTORS reading script conceived and written by a well paid, hyper-intelligent staff of advertising gurus who would whore out their own daughters for a piece of the © Apple pie.

What sucks most of all, is that for the time being, I am stuck with the CRAPBook as I can't budget a new lap top now until things change economically ( I make my living selling art, remember). Who knows when that will be? But there is one thing that I do know, when I do make my next portable computer purchase, and I will, I know exactly what I will NOT be purchasing.

Now, in case you need a bit more proof that I'm not an isolated case, check out this site...

http://www.squidoo.com/whymacsucks

Evil Clown

I found this online and thought it hilarious. I have a friend who is completely given the creeps by clowns. I'm not far behind him. Couple of weeks ago, I was picking up a bottle of wine at the local liquor store. A charismatic gentleman was behind the counter. He had a small television on the shelf and as I was purchasing my wine, Nashville was mentioned in the broadcast.
"I used to live in Nashville," he said.
"Oh really?," I answered. "I lived there once myself."
That led to a brief but pleasant conversation about our experiences in Nashville. The conversation was going along nicely and expediently as such conversations should between two people when thrown into them in unexpected circumstances.
It was going along nicely, until the fellow mentioned why he had lived there.
"I was there with my company, well, my troupe really," he stated.
"Troupe?," I responded curiously.
"Yes. I was a clown. Actually I was the head clown of my troupe".
He continued on, but I could only see his lips moving as his voice was drowned out by the sound of nails slowly scratching down a chalkboard which had begun to echo through my mind the moment he uttered the word clown.
He continued on, dropping the names of third rate faded country music stars that his "troupe" had opened up for in the way back machine.
Suddenly, I could now only see what had been a distinguished, handsome, mature gentleman as a circus freak donning an over-sized polka-dotted pointed hat, maniacally grinning through giant red lips, while twinking his orange hued horn nose.


©DJ Bass

I began to wonder if he could see the sweat forming on my brow.
Perhaps he could as his conversation ended as abruptly as it had started. I think clowns must have an eerie kind of sixth sense that makes a multi-colored alarm with bells and whistles go off in their heads when they come into close proximity of clown haters.
Mimes must have the same ability, only their's must be silent. Like a dog whistle.
With shaking hands, I took my credit card and wine and backed out the door.

Marilyn Available Once More

---

A few years ago, at the urging of a now departed dear friend, I painted a portrait of screen legend Marilyn Monroe. When the work was completed, I found myself quite pleased with the outcome and placed the work in the window of the art gallery that I was operating at that time in Lewes, Delaware.

Shortly before I placed the painting in the window however, I had met a hard working, entrepreneurial young man by the name of Cliff Patterson who owned his own window washing company. He not only washed the windows of several of the shops where my gallery was located, but he also washed the windows for my friend who had urged me to create the work in the first place. My friend had several of my works in his own collection. I later discovered that Cliff had seen some of my works at my friend’s home and became determined to own an original Sprouse for himself one day.

Then he saw “Marilyn”. That was the work that he felt that he must have. He approached me about the purchase, we worked out the details, and lo and behold, Cliff Patterson became the new owner of my painting.

Shortly after the purchase, I was contacted by author and publisher Roger G. Taylor. He had seen my painting on my website and thought it would be the perfect addition to his new book, “Marilyn in Art”.

Taylor’s previous fine art books had become quite collectible and I was flattered to be included in the publication and agreed to such. Thus, my “Marilyn” painting became the first of my works to be published in an internationally printed book.

This of course mad Cliff even more pleased with his purchase. Shortly after that, the publishing company that was producing prints of my work at the time decided to run prints of “Marilyn”. It became quite successful, and even though I no longer have a professional relationship with that publishing company today, prints of the work can still be located around the U.S. today and sale anywhere from between 400 to 700 dollars, as seen in this example from www.InsideAvenue.com.

Unfortunately, Cliff has recently received some bad new. His mother was just diagnosed with Lupus and shortly thereafter his father was laid off from his job thusly losing their health coverage. Admirably, Cliff has now decided to sale his beloved painting in order to help his parents through this financially difficult transition. Cliff is a good man with obligations of his own. I understand his situation and his heartfelt desire to help his parents in any way possible and I respect his decision tremendously. Not being familiar with the nuances of the fine art market, Cliff asked for my assistance in letting his decision be known. I agreed and it is within that spirit that I am sending this message to you now.

Let me be perfectly clear that I will receive nothing from the sale of this work. The details will be strictly between Cliff and the purchaser. I am simply the messenger of the news.

The initial price of this work was $2,000. Based upon the history of the work (inclusion in “Marilyn In Art” as well as being the original work from which very popular prints were made), the current increase in the price of my original works based upon gallery sales over the last 5 years, and, or course, the situation with his parents, Cliff is seeking to make at least $5,000 from the sale of the work.

Again, I have nothing to do this transaction and have not seen the work since it entered into Cliff’s collection. Cliff thought it best to avoid offering the work through a gallery or auction house being that he needs to keep as much of the proceeds as possible to help his parents with their health and living expenses. Traditionally, galleries and auction houses would retain a percentage of the proceeds.

Cliff has requested that I include his email address in this message. If you are interested in owning this rare work which, will only increase in value beyond what it already has, and would like to help someone though a difficult situation. Then, please feel free to contact Cliff at outshineinc@gmail.com

Thank you for your time,
Michael Sprouse

www.SPROUSEART.com

New work...

It's Wednesday. The top headlines today, of course, are brimming with the news of actor Heath Ledger's unexpected death and the economy. Possibly even the death of the American economy as we know it, or something close to it. Perhaps even worldwide. Hmm...



Enough depressing news about death and puerile village idiots. Here's my latest work of art. It's entitled "One Thought".


"One Thought"
acrylic, ephemeral and vintage photographic mixed-media collage on canvas.
6" x 12"
2008
© Michael Sprouse


I haven't painted the portrait of a man in quite some time. I believe the last painting that I created of a man would be a commissioned portrait, and that was actually a portrait of a man and his wife. So, perhaps that doesn't actually count as a portrait of a man - singular.

I went to the gym for the first time in many moons this morning. I'm still not sure if I'm pleased with my gym or not based upon the money that I spend each month for it. I've decided to give it one more month. If I take advantage of it during that time period, then I'll keep it. If not, then I'll figure out my own exercising routine. Which may just consist of chasing the cats around with giant cymbals.

Of course I would never do that. But, it does create a rather fun image in a dark way.

In Memoriam...

Heath Ledger
April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008

Truly a great loss to the art of film making. "Brokeback Mountain" was one of the most moving films that I have ever seen offering the most realistic and beautiful film portrayal of the undying love that can exist between two people that just happen to share the same gender.

Self-Portrait Tuesday

Did I miss Monday? Well, what of it? I love that expression and use it as often as I can. Of course, it must be intoned with a sarcastic tightness complete with tinges of bitter regret but not without a dash of the inner-personal acknowledgment of that which was questioned and the possibility of the loss of opportunity. You can see the perfect use of the phrase in this electric scene from "All About Eve" at 5:29 and 5:37 ( the clip runs 8:27) right after Addison DeWitt confronts Eve Harrington about her past and her real name (Gertrude Shlevinsky). Frankly, who wouldn't want a new moniker with that albatross of a name?

Without a doubt, "All About Eve" is one of my favorite films. I've seen it so many times, that I can't remember the exact amount. Speaking of fabulous favorite films of mine from the past, I caught "Chinatown" last night. It's currently playing on HBO On Demand to my pleasure. Again, I've seen this mid-70's noir classic many times. But, it's one of those films that offers something new each time one sees it. Some folks consider this to be one of the best films ever made, and with good reason.



So, feel like watching two great classic films one winter night? Find the two above and enjoy.

In Memoriam...

Suzanne Pleshette
January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008

The Hospital

It's Wednesday - somewhere in the middle of January. Here in New Jersey, a possible icing this afternoon is predicted. I don't mean this kind -


© PinkCupcake

Now, I wonder, is "icing" meaning "frosting" a Southern term? I heard it often in cake reference as a child in Kentucky. Not that I spent much time in cake reference, or even in cakes, mind you...



Tuesday, I happened to catch a bit of Steve Jobs presentation from MacWorld 2008. One of the things that was being promoted was the new ability to rent movies from ITunes and watch them on your Mac ( I own a MacBookPro which I purchased in '06. I will piss many off by this - not that I care- but, frankly, after the honeymoon was over - which lasted about as long as the faulty power cord - I soon found it to be one of the worst investments I have ever made (that's right Tony) though that's another story for another time), or PC should you download ITunes.

He said quite clearly and on more than one occasion during his presentation that the technology available that very day (being Tuesday I guess). That one could download the latest version of ITunes (or upgrade in my case) and begin renting films. I must admit that I was somewhat excited by the idea and, since he said it was available then and there, downloaded the upgrade and prepared to pick a film that George and I would watch that evening.

Of course, that wasn't the case. I did download the upgrade, but there were no films to rent Tuesday afternoon. Nor Tuesday evening. This caused quite a bit of confusion and disappointment for Mac users based upon the chat rooms that I checked out who were as eager as I to rent streaming films online. Though I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one experiencing the issue dreading yet another problem with my over priced MacBookPro ( tee hee...it's fun to replace with word RECALL with the words EXCHANGE PROGRAM especially when you find out about the "replacement" only on a whim since you were never contacted about the replacement from the get-go. No, only after your own inquiry, and deep site searching, only after your battery drops dead on you.) You know, it's slightly cute, in a nice way, the way Indian's pronounce "EXCHANGE PROGRAM" with their very practiced "American" accents.)



Again, I divert. Finally, Wednesday morning, I was able to see the "RENT" option on my ITunes Movies section. I knew that I was about to drive back to my home in New Jersey from the beach, and made the decision right then and there to test the new rentability later that evening.

And I did. At about 10 PM that evening, I decided to rent a move via ITunes and watch it on my laptop. I must admit, I found the whole experience very enjoyable. There was a decent selection of films, and the process was as easy as clicking a button. The film showed beautifully on my MacBookPro without any hitches. Based upon my experience last night, I would give the whole process an a A- ( the minutes for not having it ready when the were publicly stating it was ready via a live, international broadcast).

I choose an older film from the early 70's entitled "The Hospital".



It starred George C. Scott in a riveting performance. The film was billed as a comedy, but I would call it a black comedy. Really, the only comic moments were only worthy of a very slight chuckle. But, it is enjoyable. Dated ( especially in relation to the matter of sex and gender. There are situations in the film that would simply not be tolerated today) yet weirdly contemporary at the same time. Scott was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar and the film did win an Oscar for it's famed writer Paddy Chayefsky.

Here's a brief synopsis of the film -

Herbert Block is chief of medicine in a major teaching hospital. His wife has left him, he is impotent and his children have both disowned him. He is toying with the idea of suicide when patients begin dying, not from complications, but from the erroneous treatments the Hospital is giving them. People in the wrong beds are given wrong medicines, sent to operating theaters for incorrect surgery, and found in waiting rooms dead of natural causes. Barbara Drummond has come to take her comatose father back to the Sioux reservation where he operates a clinic and they each reach out to each other for emotional support, as a shadowy figure stalks the patients and staff of the hospital. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}

One facet of the film that I found of interest were the numbers of cameos by actors that went on to much larger roles and acclaim later in their careers - such as

Stockard Channing, Nancy Marchand, Katherine Helmond, Robert Walden, Frances Sternhagen, and more. Very interesting indeed.

Did I mention that the lovely and talented Diana Rigg plays the female lead?

In Memorium...

What a shame....



Brad Renfro
July 25, 1982 – January 15, 2008

Self-Portrait Tuesday

Hey, wadda ya know, It's Self-Portrait Tuesday. That's me above, taken about 30 minutes ago shortly after walking in the door back from a hair cut. Well, a trim really. Just about the sides and a tapered back.

I didn't post here yesterday. It somehow slipped my mind. Not due to anything of major importance, rather, I just felt unfocused somehow yesterday. It must have been while drifitng in that haze that I forgot all about the Sprouseart Blog.

My weekend was lovely and peaceful. A few films, a few beers, two great football games, laughs with friends, a bit of reading. I remember thinking at some point yesterday that it seemed to me in retrospect that I had not had such a relaxing weekend for quite some time. Perhaps I allowed the easiness of it all to spill over into Monday.

By far the best film that I saw over the weekend was "La Vie En Rose" (also known as "La Môme" in French). The film starred Marion Cotillard and she was no less than masterful. Coincidentally, we happend to watch the film on Pay Per View the same evening that Marion won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical or Comedy. Her performance really is stunning. I personally don't think that "Musical" and "Comedy" should belong in the same grouping. "La Vie En Rose", in my opinion, is really a film about or with music ( the music and life story of the incomparable Edith Piaf ). It certainly was no comedy. How is it possible to compare this soul stirring dramatic film with "Hairspray" (which is a musical and a comedy - and a throughly enjoyable one at that)?

Alas, it's not my show or award, so there's no need really to spend my energy on it. Now, in fact, since I blew off most of yesterday, it is time for me to spend my energies on more important matters, and with that, I sign off.

By the way, only 66 days left unitl the first day of Spring...

Angry Elf and REZKO

I have a very close friend who described Kucinich, after watching his performance in the debates, as an "angry elf". After reading this article,

Kucinich asks for New Hampshire recount

I tend to agree with him. Though, I may add in bitter, sore losing, paranoid, muck raking angry elf - just to name a few.



BY THE WAY .....
Just what is a REZKO?
Obama knows...so should you.

Taking the train into town

I have a busy morning in Philadelphia this AM. I'm meeting my friend Richard Kaser at on of my favorite coffee shops to discus the possibility of designing a Tarot deck for one of his upcoming books (he's written several).

Then I'm off to deliver some new work ( one of which is this)



To the fellows who carry a line of my original work in Philadelphia here.

Then, a late lunch with my wonderful friend Jerry which is always fun.

By the way, only 71 days until the first day of Spring...


photo © * Toshio *

Way to go Hillary!

CLINTON WINS NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY

Self-Portrait Tuesday

Yes. I know that I just posted a self-portrait yesterday, but this is Tuesday. I haven't posted a self-portrait for SPT in a long time. I was feeling particularly experimental with Photoshop, the one software program that I would be lost without, and came up with this...



One of the many reasons that I love Photoshop so much is that the possibilities of what can be done with it are endless. For example, that photo above, was actually taken in my attic/office with a self-timer. I promise you that my attic/office does NOT look like a lovely Italianate doorway in Venice. The lovely architecture behind me is actually from a photo that I took last October while in Venice. I simply removed myself from the attic/office ( another image from the series was posted yesterday - see post below this one) , added a drop shadow, placed myself in the doorway, added some cool filters, and viola, I've a hip image of myself relaxing in the a most lovely Venice doorway.

Of course, this is also one of the reasons that I am very circumspect with most web and print images that I find out there, especially those dealing with news or celebrities. If people knew how amazingly easy it is to alter any photograph or video with the technology available today, they would be wise to be circumspect as well. On the other hand, it's a fantastic tool for the artist!

First self-pic of the year

And here it be....

Thank You NPR...

Thank you National Public Radio for being the only news site out of the following, abcnews.com, msnbc.com, cnn.com, reuters.com and cbsnews.com, to NOT have one mention, not even a tiny one, about that useless, white trash with money, bimbo, talentless, she-skank.

I don't even have to mention her name or post her photo because I know that as soon as you read the end of the previous sentence, you knew exactly to whom I was referring.

Admit it.

By the way, 75 days until the first day of Spring.


photo © jsuler via flickr.com

Studio Day

I'm having a lovely studio day today.
Look, I'm letting my hair grow out. That means lots of curls. Isn't mid-life crisis fun?!

Iowa caucus day is here...

Well, here it is. There's nothing for me to comment on that isn't already out there either in print, on the web, television or radio until things really begin moving later this evening. I will state this however, if you happen to be a registered voter in Iowa, and you just happen to come across this blog on your web travels today, please, take the time to caucus this evening. Of course, you may caucus for whomever you wish, I would really love it if you did so for Hillary, but of course, the choice is yours. Early today, I heard a statistic that the last time Iowa held a caucus, about 150,000 folks turned out. The total population of Iowa is close to 3 million. Hmmm... I'm no statistician, but, surely, out of 3 million people, more than 150,000 can come out for about 30 minutes or so to caucus. Then again, word on the street is that the higher the number of turn out, the better the chances may be for Obama. Hmmm, perhaps, on second thought, it is better for you to stay inside where it's warm and toasty after all...

In any event, until later, here's an image of my latest art work for you to enjoy.


"Pathos"
acrylic, pen & ink, pencil, faux-finished color fields, ephemeral and
vintage photographic mixed-media collage on canvas.
6" x 12"
2007
© Michael Sprouse