"Bad" Barack Obama paintings!

The Zuke called me this weekend to make sure I saw the Sunday Times article about the growing Barack Obama art business. There are even websites dedicated to showing work made about the Prez and my fave is, get this, "Bad Paintings of Barack Obama"! http://badpaintingsofbarackobama.com/
Now, in the name of good karma, you have to admire the work for its sheer earnestness and genuine feeling, which make up for the lack of training. Perhaps some enterprising entrepreneur will scoop it all up and get a booth at the next Outsider Art Fair? Anyway, here are two masterpieces. The one on the left is fascinating - US/Mexican relations, tacos (love the halo/taco hat on Barack), scantily clad chicks and lots of tighty-whities. Awesome. The website doesnt list titles, so I dubbed the one on the right "Barack Eyebama".

Economic Stimulus Plan marches on!!

President Barack Obama continues his unique economic stimulus plan in the east village...

Obama, Facebook and Chia

Worked home yesterday so I could catch the inauguration. I won't go into it because it was kind of done to death by the media, but it was pretty amazing and wonderful. I may have written this before, but I began to study Obama about 2 years ago after reading "Audacity to Hope" on a plane ride and was very impressed by his thinking and approach, so it was satisfying on many levels to see him take office. And I admit, I flipped the bird at Bush as he flew off in his bird.
Unrelated Post #1: after much cajoling and badgering I caved and joined Facebook a few days ago. The good side is that I managed to get in touch with some people that I lost contact with, particularly Shelley, who I was very good friends with during my grad year at SVA in 86-87. Also, through painter pal Lou (who described Facebook as "time suck city"!) got in touch with painter pal Linda. I did a few paintings of her, including "Claire Voyant" below. She's married w kid and living in Singapore!

The Way Back Machine also delivered me emails from high school friends! Its pretty cool so far, kinda creepy though, too. Now, I am terrrible with names, and I got a few Friend Requests from people whose name I don't recognize and they don't have a picture posted, so what do I do??
Unrelated Post #2: just found this photo of Chia and wanted to post it for no reason. My sister got her that toy because it looks like her, which it does! Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

WFMU show

Went to Maxwells in Hoboken NJ for the Glen Jones/XRay Burns WFMU live show. Brunched with pal painter Lou and BAMA Chris and saw the usual group of freaks, geeks and IBJ members.

Later when taking Chia out for a walk, I came across these 2 great signs on Ave A. From "Liberty Fries" to "Obama Fries" - God Bless America!

Coffee, Tea, Obama?

Christy, she of the Hot Potato blog fame, sent me this photo. If you scroll down a few posts, you'll see the GOBAMA print I made to sell on EBay as an Obama fundraiser. Now look closely at her photo - it's from one of the ubiquitous breakfast/coffee carts in NYC, this one at 53rd and Madison.

There's a new Prez in town!

4 years ago I was pouring drinks at my place, 12" DJ Bar, on Essex St in New York City. With each passing hour, the mood turned more blue as more states turned red. It was an unpalatable cocktail of shock, dismay, and sheer disbelief that the country had voted for 4 more years of Bush. There had been hope for John Kerry, but more in an anti-Bush way than a pro-Kerry way.
The only similarity last night had to that election 4 years ago was that I was once again in a bar (on the other side this time) in NYC watching CNN.
The polls were correct this time with Obama winning many states by a small margin, and the map had plenty of blue, this time in stark contrast to the mood of the crowd. A cheer rose when CNN projected Barack Obama as President of the United States! John McCain, being the man that he is, didnt drag it out, he conceded in a classy, positive heads-up way. The crowd at Nice Guy Eddie's (not a regular place of mine, but they have lots of TVs) was diverse, clearly pro-Obama, and wildly enthusiastic. Everyone intently listened to Barack Obama's speech, which was captivating, masterfully delivered, and inspirational. I noticed the looks on the faces of the black people there, it was a mix of joy, relief, and pride - actually, almost everyone there had the same expression, but for them it obviously had a deeper importance.
I don't envy Barack Obama. He's now captain of a ship that's taken on alot of water in a swirling sea with Poseidon Adventure waves. I'm not sure that anyone could successfully steer us through the straits the world is in now, but I am happy to have him at the helm. At one point I paused and noted that we were living through a true moment in history - a decisive one that didnt involve bombs and carnage was a refreshing change. I turned to my friends last night and said, "This is going to sound corny, but I feel proud to be an American right now," to which they replied that they felt the same way. After eight long years, I no longer felt ashamed of our president.
As we left, and walked up Avenue A from Houston St it was like New Year's Eve. I've never seen a reaction to a presidential election like this in my life! People were literally dancing in the street, cars were honking their horns, people were cheering, embracing and their smiles lit up the street more than any streetlight possibly could.