Tally (kinda) Ho!

A quick post to say that I’m feeling somewhat better thanks to medicine, a lovely email, a terrific movie and an amusing visit with my 70+-year-old juvenile delinquent parents.

Front and reverse of AETCo's 4" square 1889 Odd Fellows ceramic convention medallion

The too kind email was from Robert Seery who, along with his wife Mary Ellen, will present a lecture, Formed in Clay: A History of Cincinnati Seen Through Its Potteries, 1870s to 1960s, at this April’s convention of the American Art Pottery Association at the historic Netherland Hilton hotel in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.
Bob actually admits to reading this blog!
The above very rare 4” square yellow glazed ceramic medallion made by the American Encaustic Tiling Company of Zanesville, Ohio for an 1889 Zanesville convention of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows has been uploaded as a sort of apology to Bob and those interested in the Arts for my recent all Gannon all the time coverage.
I guess I’m just a frustrated media exile who should be grateful for what our President refers to as “the internets”.

8th Century al-Mutawakkil minaret

My rankled Irish ire, believe it or not, with the well-documented failings of America’s once free public press became so consuming recently that I actually passed on an Art Newspaper report, of course ignored by the American media, of the use of a 9th century minaret at the al-Mutawakkil mosque in Samarra, Iraq as a sniper position by elements of the United States Army in violation of Article 4 of the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
Read the article with my apologies for its tardiness.

In an age when the boundary between man and machine has been blurred and people have forgotten their humanity...
--Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence trailer

The cyborg Batu with his beagle

While I won’t reveal details of today’s adventure with my wacky parental units, I want to close with a recommendation for a superb bit of Japanese anime, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.
This fairly hard-core science fiction tale, available only in Japanese with English and French subtitles, is a visually stunning thrill ride of cutting edge animation techniques supporting an inventive and engrossing storyline.
My paltry words will not do this spectacular film justice.

A malfunctioning gynoid

If you are a 17 years or older cyber-thriller aficionado do yourself a favor and get your human hands and eyeballs onto this masterpiece of entertainment and artistry.

Images: sean, theartnewspaper.com, production ig-manga entertainment
- posted by Sean @ 12:38 AM