He always knows the right thing to say . . .

http://www.southdakotamagazine.com/?p=1583

Monday night was a treat. Neil (bottom pict) and Daquiri were at Nutty’s North. Though Neil was the headliner and Daquiri was his opener, I’ll have to admit I like Daquiri better. He sings Karoke and made up shit. He also has an old school overhead projector that he put transparency drawings on for backdrops.

Great Show!

Something that has baffled friends and I over the past few years is the great FREE entertainment at the The Front Porch Stage at the SE Fair. Every year they bring in a couple of great acts and the only price is the admission to the fair. This year two notable performers:

– Wednesday, Aug. 8: Paul Renz Quintet, a national jazz guitarist wonder.

– Thursday, Aug. 9 & Friday, Aug. 10: Special guest, Brave Combo, a renown Grammy-award winning polka-rock band that’s been heard on “Prairie Home Companion.” They’ll be featured during a live broadcast from the Front Porch Radio Show.

Brave Combo will be the special treat, trust me on that. I suggest you see them both nights!

First off, I think most people would agree that when minors are exposed to pornography, it isn’t healthy for their psyche, BUT if grown, mature adults want to watch that stuff in their hotel rooms, that is their business. I’m not one to defend Lodgenet or the porn industry, because the porn industry doesn’t have the best reputation, but I am a defender of the 1st Amendment, and when we start policing adults that are LEGALLY viewing this material, I have to say we have gone to far.

What I can’t figure out is why would this organization TruthAboutLodgeNet.com go after a PAY PER VIEW business, when you can see this stuff for free on Primetime, any night of the week? Sure there isn’t any nudity, but the sexual inuendos are there. In fact there is a lot of garbage on TV that doesn’t have to do with sex at all.

People need to realize we live in a FREE society, mind your own f’ckin business.

 

 

I found this info on the Abstinence Clearing House website, in the ‘resource library’ area:

 

LATEST NEWS : OBAMA ON SEX ED: “THE RIGHT THING TO DO”
POSTED: JUL 19, 2007

Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama told Planned Parenthood last week that he supports sex education for kindergarten children, bringing a sharp rebuke from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Without mentioning marriage, Obama quickly added, however, that he didn’t want his own daughters to view sex as a casual activity. Planned Parenthood itself advocates explicit instruction in areas such as terminology and the definition of family for early elementary students that would offend many of their parents.

Romney countered with a strong statement of support for abstinence instruction in the classroom.

Though most of this is TRUE, the statement “Planned Parenthood itself advocates explicit instruction in areas such as terminology” is questionable. That is a very vague statement to make. When I researched my art/grant project about sexuality, I went to PP for research. In their lobby they had many brochures for teens and their parents about sex, guess what was on the first page of these brochures ‘abstinence’. As for explicit terminology, I hardly think words like ‘penis’ and ‘vagina’ are damaging to young kids, and if you are a parent that is offended by those words, maybe you shouldn’t have procreated.

Stop the bullshit.

A few days ago I got a comment on how I needed to update a post I made a year ago about Leslee Unruh’s money mill clearinghouse (you may already be a winnner) being investigated by the IRS. If you read the post I made, you can see she has been cleared of all wrongdoings. But it got me thinking, how the hell did one of her minions find a post I made a year ago? So I went to my magical stats page and found out her peeps googled this:

abstinence clearinghouse 990 image

Talk about paranoid. Kind of like the time Unruh hired a body guard to protect her from a fanatic, she just failed to tell everyone that the fanatic was a pro-lifer and was upset with Unruh because she wouldn’t let them in her twisted camp.

This shit never gets old, thanks for the laughs!

TIMELINE:

– January 11, 2007
Received Arts Night Solicitation letter in the mail

The term ‘volunteer jury’ is used in the letter twice and the term ‘jury process’
is used once. This was CLEARLY a juried exhibit, by jurors, not a selection comittee.

– March 16, 2007
Received rejection letter in the mail

The rejection letter also uses the term jury, not selection committee.

– March 19, 2007
Requested jurors names from David Merhib in an email

I personally requested the names. I did not request them so they can be
printed in any publication or materials. It is out of respect for me as an
artist, period. Since the donating artists were not anonymous or asked to
cover up there names on their pieces, it would seem only fair that the JURORS
not be either.

March 20, 2007
– David Merhib rejects my request in an email He did not say there would be a discussion, he did not say
I would get them in the near future. He rejected my request. Period. (see below)

April 8, 2007
– First letter to the editor explaining my situation

May 5, 2007
– Paul Schiller’s response to my letter:

Art judged openly, fairly
By Paul K. Schiller

I would like to disagree with our troubled artisans who feel that they need crystal clear governance in the judging of art for Arts Night at the Washington Pavilion. This is the same argument and noise they put forth in the judging of SculptureWalk.

Arts Night is a fundraiser for the Visual Arts Center, and submissions of art are voluntary. When an artist submits work into these “competitions,” you do so knowing that it’s a credible organization that has a fair and qualified selection process. That is the case with both the Washington Pavilion’s Arts Night and our ever-popular SculptureWalk.

A funny thing happened on the way to Arts Night this year. Ninety artists submitted work for a fundraising auction that had room for about 60 pieces. In past years the Arts Night committee was lucky to receive 50 to 60 pieces of art. The event is growing in popularity with both artists and art buyers. The result is a sold-out event with a great selection of quality art. The uneventful result of this year’s success was the fact that some pieces had to be rejected.

So we’re back to openness and fairness. I find the art-judging process open and fair. Have I had my art rejected in other competitions? Yes. Does it feel good? No. But rejection results in one of two things: You go around and complain about the process not being open and fair, or you go back and create better art for next year’s competition.

If that’s not satisfactory, then I suggest if you want absolute clarity in all forms of life, you could partner with the Argus Leader and take on their quest for total transparency in city and state government!
May 5, 2007
– My first post on the Argus Leader Forum about the situation.

46 days AFTER I requested the jurors names was when I finally responded on the FORUMS.  I was responding to a Washington Pavilion’s Board member’s personal
attack on on me, I have the right to defend myself, the First Amendment gives me that right. Hardly ‘antagonistic’.

The Pavilion will NEVER give me those names, and they know it. They continue to make up excuses, back peddle
and flat out LIE to me and the public.  I find it laughable that they won’t release the jurors names to me because
I might retalitate (an assumption and excuse on their part). Yet they haven’t released them to the other over 90 artists who submitted
to Arts Night, including some who have also requested those names. I suppose they think they will retaliate to. I have received so much bologna from their side of the argument I
could have opened a sandwich shop or fertilizer business by now.

The Washington Pavilion’s policies have further proven that the art establishment in this community has zero
respect for local artists and there contributions to this city and it’s people.

Pathetic.

The proof is in the pudding. In Hoffman’s letter below he ‘claims’ they ‘considered’ releasing the names. That’s an interesting LIE, since on March 20, 2007 Merhib sent me this email saying those names wouldn’t be released:

From: DMerhib@WashingtonPavilion.org
Subject: RE: Arts Night Rejection
Date: March 20, 2007 4:19:27 PM CDT
To: fb.art@sio.midco.net

Scott,

As was mentioned in the letter that was mailed out, “The volunteer jurors considered several key criteria while reviewing artwork. It was exciting because the quality of the pieces presented for consideration was amazing. However, with this event quality is not the sole criteria. Additional criteria included variety in media, content, and buyer appeal. It was a most difficult challenge to select from those 90 pieces approximately 60 that would be included in the live auction.”

The jurors selected are members of the community and friends of the arts. The jurors are anonymous because of the nature of this fundraising event.

Thank you again.

Best regards,

David

The Washington Pavilion responded to my letter (if you scroll down you can read what I sent to them originally in an earlier post). I will respond to this in length tommorrow, but a couple of quick things I want to point out:

1) I have never asked the Argus to be involved

2) This is about policies not people

3) If the donating artists ARE NOT anon, the judges shouldn’t be either

4) If they are scared of my retaliation, why not release the names to the other artists?

This letter is packed full of excuses, but no solutions or answers. Once again the local art establishment has proven they have NO respect for local artists or the taxpayers that fund them.

It’s time to take the gloves off. I hit hard.