A Hot Shot Bald Cop Is After Me

It looks like a lot of people are getting the same Spam I am. I have been receiving all these comments from Ed Lauter. And he really likes my blog. A lot. Wow. After getting a virus on my computer last week, I am now more vigilant than before with what I open. I read this blog post and found out that I am not alone. A Hot Shot Bald Cop Is After Me.

We should obey #ShepardFairey, right?

I was watching Banksy’s film: Exit Through The Gift Shop on my Roku and then Shepard Fairey, the artist extraordinaire, got beat up in Copenhagen a few days ago by some Danish locals who felt a mural he created dissed an event that happened a while back (for people in the U.S. it was kinda like what happened to MOVE in Philly) and he was “cooperating with the authorities, making a propaganda piece.” (Links here and here). I thought it was wrong of those folks to kick his ass. NO ONE deserves to get their ass kicked for their art.

Fairey has received a lot of crap about his artwork. I remember reading an essay called Obey Plagarist Shepard Fairey and the response.

“He extracts resources, largely from political struggles of Third World and working class people, and then slightly processes those resources (images), commodifies them (strips them of any history or relationship to where they came from), and sells them on the market” (Josh McPhee)

I wondered if the guys in Copenhagen were thinking about this, and why did his presence create such a violent response? Did they think he disrespected their past movement in Copenhagen or were they just plain jerks using a past political movement as rationale to do a violent act?

1. Fairey’s art gets people’s attention.
2. His art is the combination of commerce and propaganda (which he is bad ass) , and
3. He uses Left symbols to gain authenticity as a Left voice. Symbols that has depended on the commodification of past movements.

I am wondering what’s the line? Who has the right? I have seen hella spoken word artists quote others in their work (not parodies), use whole movements to get acclaim. (If you use Oscar Grant’s name hella times in a poem to make money, should you give proceeds to his family?) I have seen artists do “homages” to other artists that are plain stealing, or comedians that steal jokes. My question: does it matter? Does anybody care? If Fairey can sustain himself making money, shouldn’t we applaud him? If he is taking Left Symbols and giving them shine, shouldn’t we hug him, not hurt him? Shouldn’t we emulate him, especially in this economy, where funding for individual artists is dwindling? (I mean, I even think about recipes, if a Major Chef gives shine to a culture, shouldn’t we thank them, and not get mad at them?)

With all this swirling in my head, I decided to make an art piece in the Shepard Fairey way. I saw something in the news – His picture, and I want to make a campaign to question artistic commodification. No one ever asked Andre the Giant for his permission, so I hope Mr. Fairey doesn’t mind.  I am hoping it can help me maybe raise money for the Diabetes of Democracy project. Hmm… maybe I should make a t-shirt or poster? What do you think?

Just finished cooking, pondering tortillas, and music to cook by

Just finished cooking some Khoresh Bademjan and tried a new rice recipe. I have been trying to jazz up rice cooker rice. I used tumeric and dill to see what would happen. It’s OK. It’s like putting a cute person in a cute dress; it’s nice, but you prefer them naked. Does that make sense?

Also, been perfecting hand made tortillas. Trying to find a mill. Anyone know if this is good? ” width=”180″ height=”180″ /> Anyone have any handmade tortillas stories to share?

Also, I have a new fave music to cook by. Foxfur. Met him at the APIA Spoken Word Summit. He makes your vegan gormeh sabzi or your peanut butter oxtail soup taste better.

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=2495315444/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/

Thank you Milwaukee!!! #TheCookingShow

Just got back from an incredible residency at Latino Arts in Milwaukee. I taught workshops with John Castro, and then @MeroCocinero and he performed. I’ll put pictures up soon. Learned a lot that will help me with my Intermedia residency.

Fast-food industry is quietly defeating Happy Meal bans

Is it any surprise that the people who are taking rights from undocumented immigrants are also trying to stop fast food toy bans? hmmm? your thoughts.

“Chucri and his organization, with the support of the National Restaurant Assn. in Washington, prepared a bill that made it illegal for cities and counties in Arizona to try to regulate any incentives that restaurants provide to entice customers”

Fast-food industry is quietly defeating Happy Meal bans.

I am using People Power to redo my kitchen at Intermedia. Wanna help?

This weekend I am working with local interior designer Kathleen Lavelle to consider how to design my space. I have a hard time with space when it comes to living and cooking and I asked her to help me with my residency space. The questions I have: what is welcoming? what atmosphere makes people want to engage with each other and the room? How do you build joy and interactivity?

Volunteers are coming down to paint and help out! It’s going to be amazing fun!! Want to join? Come on down to Intermedia.

If you can’t make it, I am also looking for stuff, so if you have any kitchen items that you would be willing to donate, let me know.

List of items (for now)
Big steel colanders
Wooden Spoons
Paella Pan (huge)
Ikea style Kitchen Islands (With wheels)
Giant Spoon and Fork
Cutting Knives
jars to hold utensils
glass storage containers
small plates
plates divided into 3 sections
whisk
a professional mixer
a cart to hold our oven
updated 4.29.11

I am a part of a crazy wager to save money that I want to win!

My partner and I made a wager last week. We wanted to save money for a vacation we are taking to the Bay Area. So she suggested that we don’t eat out for 2 weeks. Loser makes the other one the most magnificent dinner of their choice and has to wash the dishes, too.

This is super hard for me. I love to eat out. There are so many cultural things wrapped on my eating out. McDonalds, Taco Bell are just part of the story. Eating out has so many connotations around class and joy and family and celebrations for me. It’s hard to be stopped from eating out.

I also want to win.

We’ll see.

My installation Space: On the Hunt for a Picnic Table. Anyone know where I can get one?

It’s been really difficult thinking about how to make the space engaging.At first, I just wanted my residency space to be fully functional workspace. Just for me. No one else.Then I realized I am in the middle of a gallery, and there should be a way for people to interact with the space even when I am not around.

This takes away from the security and stability of a workspace (But I did ask for my workspace to be public. )

Why? The daily interaction with people. Listening, talking, cooking. It would give it a feel of an open kitchen. Come one by. Talk to an artist. Share recipes, conversation.

So to go with that theme, I am on the hunt for a picnic table. My fondest memory of eating with a group is at the Louis’ Basque Corner on 4th st. in Reno, NV. My mom used to live there, and when I would visit, we would go for special occasions. Everyone had to sit family style. That meant as a party of 2 we had to sit with strangers. I loved it!

Been scouring craigslist for a picnic table, and even found some other cool ideas.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/fuo/2305519482.html
(I don’t know where st. michael is)

table (not my perference, back up)
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/fuo/2325303352.html

a booth sounds good, but don’t know if it will fit with picnic table
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/fuo/2314973980.html

The simplicty of a kitchen in the workplace

As I watch people pass me by here at Intermedia Arts, around noon to two like clockwork, people are walking out with lunches in their hands. So many folks eat out at lunchtime; it’s amazing.

A friend of mine told me about how in Paris, employers give their employees lunch voucher, so they can eat lunch out.

Here, we don’t have this perk.

I have been wondering what happens when you put a kitchen in the workplace. The act of having spices, or a stove, a good knife, good cutting board, and space and time to cook and clean, how that would change the culture of a space.

I have secretly started changing the space here to make it more cooking friendly.

But what does that mean to make something more cooking friendly? In the end, without time, will people still want someone to cook for them? Or is there a way to get a whole building to change their culture?

I am starting to answer these questions, and I will have my results up as I go on.

6 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen

I have been exploring the last few months, how to organize my space at Intermedia.

How do you organize a kitchen, so it will be usable?

How do you make a space welcoming for cooking, eating healthy? Make it an energizing, community space?

What tools do you need? How do you organize your pantry?

I found this as I was on my journey

6 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen.

1. Countertops. Keeping countertops clear is one of my two keys to being organized, or at least looking like you are (the other is making the bed first thing every morning). Clutter-free surfaces aren’t just easier on the eyes – you can clean them more quickly when there’s no stuff to move around. Suggestions:

• Put all dishes into dishwasher right after eating.
• Have “a place for everything” and everything in its place. To help you here, storage is discussed below.
• Minimize knickknacks like porcelain chickens and Milwaukee Brewers bobbleheads.
• Keep infrequently-used small appliances out of sight.
• If you have cookbooks, keep them inside a cupboard.

2. Refrigerator

• Use clear containers for leftovers so you can see what things are; mark with the dates you stored the food.
• Set aside a specific time, say every Saturday morning, to review what’s in there, shelf-by-shelf. Otherwise you’ll discover it the hard way … by smell.
• To minimize odors, fill a deli container with baking soda or coffee grounds (new or used).
• Freshness dates? I’ve always looked at them like the “E” on my gas tank: I think there’s always some margin for error. If you don’t eat something within a year or two of purchase, you probably never will.

Many refrigerators disappear under layers of magnets and taped-up lists, invitations, stick-on notes, snapshots, kids’ artwork, coupons, schedules and cartoons. Ditch this crap, I say. It only creates visual clutter, making the whole kitchen seem messy.

3. Cupboards

• Right now, seek out and discard all the spices you haven’t used since the invention of the cell phone. Yes, I’m guilty too.
• Get rid of esoteric ingredients you’ll never use (like that bag of flour you once made something with), plus any items that just don’t belong in the kitchen, like candle holders, office supplies, stuffed animals…who knows what you got up there?
• Purge all empty containers, and all that contain something you’ll probably never eat.

4. Drawers

• Place dividers – plastic, wooden or wire ones – into any drawers you’ll be using for silverware, gadgets, tools, and all the odds and ends that constitute “junk.”
• Store like items together: gadgets in one drawer, silverware and knives in another, then tools/batteries, napkins/placemats, foils/wraps/Ziploc bags/twist ties, and “misc.”

5. Other Storage

• Stash lesser-used items (waffle iron, ricemaker, etc.) out of sight in cupboards, or even the oven. Caveat: remove any combustibles from oven if you ever fire it up.
• Create extra storage behind pantry doors with a hanging shoe rack; place everything from cleaning supplies to cooking utensils in the compartments.
• Store your most-used cookware toward the front of cupboard shelves for easier access.

6. Be safe!

Most third degree burns guys suffer occur in the kitchen, from cooking fires. Invest in a fire extinguisher and know how to use it.