Patrick Calder

enjoy

There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.

- George Santayana

Confidence

Confidence is 10% hard work and 90% delusion.

— Tina Fey

Dogs

One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you’re feeling blue is that he doesn’t try to find out why.

– Author Unknown

Dare

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

– Theodore Roosevelt

You may see me only as a drunken, vice-ridden gnome whose friends are just pimps and girls from the brothels. But I know about art and love, if only because I long for it with every fiber of my being.

– Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge

Tick Tock

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

– Steve Jobs, Stanford Commecement Speech, 2005

Why I don’t get some shots

Whenever anyone asks me how I got the photographs I did, why I was often the only photographer present or got such unique access I reply simply, ‘Trust’.

– Jim Marshall

This is it

…there isn’t going to be any turning point…there isn’t going to be any next-month-it’ll-be-better, next fucking year, next fucking life. You don’t have any time to wait for. You just got to look around you and say, So this is it. This is really all there is to it.

– Janis Joplin

quotes

Finding oneself was a misnomer; a self is not found but made.

- Jacques Barzun

Photography is the embalmers craft. When I photograph something my camera kills it, and I must gently and with love restore it with the life I witnessed with my own eyes, so that others can see what I saw. To do less would be merely to exhibit a corpse.

- Clayton Cubitt

The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.

- Bertrand Russell

I always thought of photography as a naughty thing to do - that was one of my favorite things about it, and when I first did it, I felt very perverse.

- Diane Arbus

Mamihlapinatapai: a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start.

Avedon Quote

Finally went to the Avedon exhibit this weekend. Watching a video they had playing, he had an interesting quote. He said that every photograph is accurate, and that no photograph is the truth.

I’m sure even he would define photograph — in this instance — as the image as originally taken, since apparently early in his career he was not afraid to touch up his photos to improve their idealism.

I’ve heard friends describe my photos of people as “very honest portraits”, with the implied message that they’re not necessarily flattering. While I won’t share pictures I think are insulting, I think it’s good to keep in mind that any photo is simply capturing one particular point of view of one specific moment.

quotes

“If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business, because we’d be cynical. Well, that’s nonsense. You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.”

— Ray Bradbury

“Anybody can look at a pretty girl and see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl that she used to be. But a great artist - a master - and that is what Auguste Rodin was - can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is… and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be… and more than that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo, or even you, see that this lovely young girl is still alive, not old and ugly at all, but simply imprisoned inside her ruined body. He can make you feel the quiet, endless tragedy that there was never a girl born who ever grew older than eighteen in her heart… no matter what the merciless hours have done to her.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

“Live forever, or die in the attempt.”

— Joseph Heller

“To fall in love is to create a religion that has a fallible god.”

— Jorge Luis Borges

mediocrity

“…the larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, the first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide…the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre… The presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people… On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a moron.”

—H.L. Mencken, writing in The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920

Excellent overheard quote:

Excellent overheard quote: “It’s better to be hated for who you are, than to be loved for who you pretend to be.”

Definition of a Monster

“A monster is a creature with no consciousness.”

— God

Since corporations are legally considered “people”, and they have no consciousness, then what does that say about them?

Adult

pakgwei: “do you feel like an adult?”
sunfl0wersara: “not really. i feel like a fraud, most of the time.”

What about you?

Seen and Appreciated today

“No, I will not crochet you an angora vibrator cozy for Christmas. Christmas is evil and bad.”

— Suzannah Breslin

“a heavily made-up woman whose affections seem to be negotiable.”

— Natalie MacLean

Found Quotes

Human relationships are about communicating. Business jargon should be banished in favour of simple English (or French or Spanish or Chinese or whatever). Simplicity is a sign of truth and a criterion of beauty. Complexity can be a way of hiding the truth.

— Helena Rubinstein, CEO, www.labgroup.com

Theories of management don’t much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Too often, people are assumed to be empty chess pieces to be moved around by grand viziers, which may explain why so many top managers immerse their calendar time in deal making, restructuring and the latest management fad. How many immerse themselves in the goal of creating an environment where the best, the brightest, the most creative are attracted, retained and, most importantly, unleashed?

— General Colin Powell

The only cats worth anything are the cats that take chances. Sometimes I play things I never heard myself.

— Thelonious Monk

Creativity

hitman blowjob

best comic discussion comment ever:

“I’ve never put out for comics before…

…but if someone would give me a full run of “Hitman,” I’d give’em a big sloppy blowjob.”

Of Movies and Crowbars

Every so often the people fighting sharing slip up and tell us what they really think. Ed Felten points to an article about a program that lets you copy DVDs. “It’s like somebody selling a digital crowbar,” said Patricia Benson, an attorney for the studios.As Felten points out, crowbars are available at the local hardware store, even though they can be used to break into private property and actually steel things, as well as attacking people. Last time I checked, you didn’t need a license to get one.”

— Aaron Swartz: The Weblog

Lawrence Lessig

“(1) The most important first indication that was absolutely clear from the argument is that our fear was misplaced. The Court clearly got it. Though the other side had written literally 300 pages trying to show all the good CTEA did (and pronounce it like it is a disease — sateeeya), the Court hadn’t bought any of it. Congress was not acting to promote progress, it was acting to reward "court favorites." The only question the Court was struggling with is whether it has the power to do anything about it. “

— Lawrence Lessig

You have been living in a cave the last few years if you’ve heard nothing about Copyright. Whether it is the record companies useing it as a bully club, or the now famous Eldred case, everyone want’s to own something.

This past week, the Supreme Court heard arguments for and against the reversal of the Copyright Extension Act. No matter what side you’re on, this article by the lawyer for the People is in depth, interesting, and strangely enough, optimistic.

Read it.

NOW!

Eldred vs. Ashcroft

“There has grown in the minds of certain groups in this country the idea that just because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is supported by neither statue or common law. Neither corporations or individuals have the right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.”

— Robert Heinlein, Life Line, 1939

October 9th, 2002

Eldred v. Ashcroft

Fuck the mouse. If you cannot make a profit off your creation in the entire span of your life, PLUS 75 years after you are dead and rotting (as is the already ridiculous copyright standard), then just maybe no one gives a shit about what you have to say.

Police and the Nazis

“At least one person was arrested Saturday afternoon as about 300 neo-Nazis rallied near the Capitol.

“Police arrested a counter-demonstrator who threw a stone at a neo-Nazi. About 1,000 police officers placed themselves between the two groups.”

— Associated Press

This shows you the typical District police reaction to any protest.

300 Nazis + 300-400 anti-Nazi protesters = 1.4 cops to handle each protester.

I will give the cops this… the cops were slightly less instigatory this time. That may be due to the fact the main force this time seemed to be comprised of Capitol Police as opposed to the usual MetroPD.

Pictures later.

comic fiend

“Americans are a broad-minded people. They’ll accept the fact a person can be an alcoholic, a dope fiend, a wife beater, but if a man reads comics then there’s something wrong with him”

— Author Unknown

“You apes ain’t gonna make

“You apes ain’t gonna make it, just swinging from the trees. Better learn to walk upright before she brings you to your knees.”

— Meg Lee Chin

If that isn’t Sara…

When national security is threatened,

When national security is threatened, there are times when the United States cannot afford the luxury of adhering to the Constitution

— Florida Solicitor General Tom Warner

‘The actual monetary loss to

‘The actual monetary loss to piracy might never be known, but the recording industry can count at least one statistic. "The music industry is still looking in the wrong direction," Allen said. "The customer is always right, and the customer in obviously voting with her feet.’

— Wired

Beautiful.

Great quote.

The music industry lost money again last year. They continue to blame Napster.

Small problem… Napster has been offline for over a year.

How many of you out there copied and stole a lot more music, probably guilt free, back when you just copied it onto a cassette tape? You can try to make the argument about quality differences… but copying is still copying.

It occured to me a few days ago that the modern music labels are some of the only art producers who want to or try to maintain a total control over their product. Almost the only people who insist that every single copy/version/performance is reimbuirsed seperately.

Authors never lobbied to dismantle libraries, and would likely be burned at the stake if they tried.

Painters, scultpors, and other visual artists often dream of being exhibited in a museum, where people don’t generally pay per piece.

You could argue that dancers and stage actors often do get money from each audience member for each viewing. But honestly, how far up on the pop culture scale do those artforms rate, today?

I read an interesting comparison the other day, relating digital music to software. Software manufacturers have not tried to hunt down the individual copyright violators, but instead take reasonable steps to protect the software when it is distributed, and go after the people violating the ccopyrights on a mass scale. And unlike the music business, the software programers have not asked every other related industry to protect their product because they cannot.

Lets face it. The RIAA and associated labels are scared senseless. They haven’t known what to do in over 15 years. Fifteen years of the most technological innovations in over a century. It’s a public secret that the music labels killed the release of Digital Cassettes, because they would have been duplicated so simply. Since then, music companies have not supported a single other distribution format with any vigour. Although this bit of history will surely be rewritten, it was the users and customers themselves who decided what new format they wanted. Consumers who were tired of waiting decided it was not only time for music to go completely digital, but also ambulatory. And you can’t blame the electronics manufactorers from fulfilling the demand. MP3 may be the modern superstar, but it was hardly the first. I was downloading AIFF files 7 years ago.

Seven fucking years.

Note to the music industry: pull your heads out of your asses and try to catch up. We are no longer waiting for you. While you expend great sound and fury trying to protect the status quo in the courtroom, we continue to evolve without you. Be prepared to jump again.

Mattel and Fisher Price are run by the KKK

“Sawyer says that’s his point. Most Americans don’t have to play the game, on a board, or in life. But as a black American, he does.”

— ABCNEWS.com

Make a fist.

Stick your pointer finger out.

Now stick your thumb straight out.

Now slap that hand to your forehead.

“LOOOOOOOOOOOOOSER.”

Just say it. God is a white man and he hates you. So the universe is out to destroy your life. Or heaven forbid you shut up and do something about the problems rather than producing a board game, which will never reach anyone new, that glorifies your psuedo-intellectual argument that you have no control over your own life.

Cops are all bad? Become a pig and treat people fairly. (Just don’t move top DC where the black cops were caught harassing white people unreasonably). No money? Start a fucking business. Every mega corporation was at oine point a one-man buiness.

You are probably going to make some good money off these games and the publicity they bring in. How will you be reacting to that?

Boston Link Party

“BT has few friends in the U.K. The company has consistently been slow to take up new technology which really frustrates Internet users in the U.K.,” Ian Hill, a London-based technology journalist, said. “And BT now seems to be focused on trying to spread the ill will directed at it beyond Britain’s shores. Does this mean we’ll be seeing links floating in the Boston harbor soon?”

yesssss.

links floating in the harbour. I love it.

A picture is worth

A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up a thousand times the memory.

JESUS SAYS “NUKE THE

JESUS SAYS “NUKE THE UNBORN BABY WHALES”

“These are the words

“These are the words that will infect your soul, curve your spine and bring, God help us, peace without honor.”

— G.Carlin

“Nobody should write with

“Nobody should write with an audience in mind. That way lies only mediocrity.”

— Warren Ellis

“For a generation taught

“For a generation taught that Sex is Death and Rain is Poison, what else is there left except for TV and incessant maturbation?”

— Dr Hunter S. Thompson

And I Quote Given

And I Quote

Given the sense of stress and fear over the last few days, the quotes below have been sticking in my mind. Consider these comments:


I’m very much afraid that I might be
the next victim because innocent people
are being killed because they’re in the
way of the situation.
— Rhona L.


I’m afraid I’ll be the next victim because
I never know what would happen. Just like a
lot of these deaths, I could just be an innocent
bystander and an attack could start and I could
be the one to get killed.
— Michelle B.


You don’t know your own fate. Even though I’m
not a member of a gang or a drug group and I don’t
possess a gun, and even try to stay out of conflicts
with other people, that doesn’t say, “Well, yeah,
I’m safe.” I may be an innocent bystander or a victim
of revenge. So I’m not safe.
— Donna H.


I am not afraid, because the way I see it is that if
it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen. You can never
stop it.
— Anthony P.


Yes, I’m afraid, but if it comes and I see it coming,
I’ll definitely protect myself. The reason I’m afraid
is that I will have a big decision - either I kill or
I will be killed and it frightens me.
— Leacroft T.


I know five people who have been killed and no
reason … I had to go to five funerals one
after the other … Sometimes I wish I could
just isolate myself from society but I can’t
so I just have to face it.
— Gillian C.

These comments were not collected in the aftermath
of the September 11th attacks or the recent
Anthrax exposures. These are excerpts from the
journal entries of students in an English
class I taught at a high school in the
Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in 1992.

from Nextdraft, 10.17.2001

“…and when we speak

“…and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid.
So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive.”

— excerpt from A Litany for Survival Audre Lorde

It happened that…

“It happened that a fire broke out backstage in a theater. The clown came out to inform the public. They thought it was just a jest and applauded. He repeated his warning, they shouted even louder. So I think the world will come to an end amid general applause from all the wits, who believe that it is a joke. “

- Unknown

Everyone should know of

Everyone should know of all information that others have deemed unfit for public knowledge.

—Author Unknown