Happy Independence Day!

"Radio Flyer Flag" by Ross Palmer Beecher

Studies for Frida Flying

It is always nice to see an old friend... below is a rather large pen and ink and watercolor drawing that I did when I was in Art School...

Recently the person who owns it - who happens to live in Virginia - sent me a nice note and an image of this 33 year-old drawing.

Silly Soviets...

I have this collector of my work who is very high up in the food chain over at Bacardi.

Most people don't know how HUGE this private company is, and how averse to publicity the Bacardi family is... but essentially Bacardi is a gargantuan octopus company - that is a company that owns a company, that owns a company, that owns a company and so on.

Anyway, when Stolichnaya (Russian: Столичная, also known as Stoli) was acquired by some group (Latvia or Russia) owned by someone, who is owned by someone, etc., one of the Western tricks that the new owners tried to teach the Stoli management was the trick of putting out the same product under a different label, but cheaper, and to do this whenever they needed a fast cash influx.

They were horrified when Stoli came out a little later with a few thousand cases of the iconic vodka with the same basic label, but with the name blacked out - sort of like what they used to do to porn pics in the 50s and 60s.

Cough, cough...

By the way, has anyone seen the latest Bacardi commercial?

Drawing Ta-tas and Facebook banning

Apparently this guy loves to draw big ta-tas and post them around... and also apparently Facebook banned him for doing it... cough, cough.

Read it here.

And the idiot of the week is...

Read it and weep...

(CNN) -- Jennifer Lopez sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" on Saturday to a leader who has been characterized as one of the most repressive in the world.

"We wish you the very, very, happiest birthday," Lopez said to Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, and then she sang to him at a huge celebration at a resort in the central Asian country.

Details here. Who is next on the agenda for Jennie from the Bronx? Maybe Fidel Castro? That nut from North Korea? Tsk, tsk...

An Interview with Erwin Timmers

DC's seminal eco-artist (new fancy term for a green artists) is interviewed here.

Wanna go to an asskicking opening on Monday?

The Confidence Booster by Angelo Tirambulo

Dates: July 1 – Sunday, July 28, 2013

Location: Capitol Skyline Hotel Lounge, 10 I (eye) Street SW, Washington, DC 20024

Opening Reception: Monday, July 1, 2013, 6-8pm

Free and open to the public Monday through Sunday, noon to 9pm

WPA launches the installation and exhibition component of the Hothouse series at the Capitol Skyline Hotel with The Confidence Booster, an installation by artist Angelo Tirambulo. 

Consisting of wallpaper featuring flattering statements and a series of twelve mirrors containing lyrics from recent hip-hop music appropriated to directly compliment the viewers, the installation nods to our image-conscious culture. This wry presentation of soothing but ultimately superficial phrases gently satirizes its own source material, while subtly acknowledging its irresistible appeal.