Category: art

Mano Mano Manischewitz

“At 11 percent ABV, it’s the kind of sticky sweet wine that gets glugged like juice at the dinner table, resulting in a collective morning-after headache for everyone involved. All the same, Manischewitz is ingrained in Jewish culture.” People still drink it.

At Publix, the well stocked bar didn’t seem to be attracting many customers.  Surprising, since FL is the home to many aged Jews who can still remember their first Passover. But then again, we are in the midst of a plague and no one wants a hangover to compete with symptoms of the Corona virus.

Duckman No Beard

So, it was time, time to get rid of the beard. I cannot remember how long I had it or how many shapes it has had, but enough. I hadn’t seen myself, except for my eyes in years, which isn’t a bad thing for a studio portrait photographer. And, in addition to having to clean after every meal and dealing with underlying skin problems, I thought it would be healthier in the Covid epidemic to not have a virus catcher near my eyes and nose.

Sharon waited patiently as I shaved. She said I looked more handsome than ever and then we did the shoot.

 

First In

Tennis keeps so many fit and connected. It’s both a skill and an art. You can play it when you are young and when you are old. You can even have physical maladies which prevent you from running, but allow you to cover the court, slicing and dicing, hitting them where they ain’t. It has lines that never change and rules, except for the scoring, which are easy to learn. The net, old mr. net, the nemesis hangs tautly to control height and distance.

 

Sometimes, people make rules up, to make the game more friendly. First serve in to start a game the first time around. But the ball only gets to bounce one time, has to go over or around the net and it cannot be outside the lines.

We worry that jobs won’t be coming back. Maybe tennis won’t either. We feel for our friends whose livelihoods depend on maintaining the courts, the schedules and the skills. Who knows? But can you name another game where the person with no points says they are at Luv?

Table of Your Choice

Somedays, there is a line. One of the few places that requires cash, no checks, no cards. It’s a bagel store, so you can imagine who comes to buy lox, whitefish, etc.

Sharon Duckman and some woman from the Bronx (I overheard her talking to the counterman). They always want to tell you where they came from and the first time they went to an appetizing store.

Always a character at the cash register.

All Natural Duckman

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”
Aristotle

Everywhere I go, I carry with my camera. I don’t usually have an idea what to take or what I want to say any particular day. Somedays I just see it. I am always looking.

I  believe that the more you look, the more you see. And the more you see, the more you know. Then the big thing happens, when you know more, you see more.

Trump Beat Impeachment

 

Tools ready. But the Friends of Trump controlled the process and the outcome. My colleagues on the bench, a process the complainants in my case [Pataki and Bruno] controlled, wanted raises and my friends in the bar didn’t want to spend any capital offending prosecutors who control the plea bargaining process (something I interfered with). So I got buried.

Trump doesn’t want anyone to go through this process again. He should talk to me. My life was ruined. He will go on ruining lives.

Grave Tools

Sampson Duckman’s Dream

Samson  was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last of the leaders who “judged” Israel before the institution of the monarchy.

Impeached in the way that only judges can get away with. No one signing the death warrant. Silent and deadly. And I had no way to speak out, say my peace or give my side.

I sometimes dream that I would want to bring the whole system down, but I don’t have the power or the story. And there is no way to separate the good people who try so hard from the selfish, self-centered.

I went down and things got worse. Now we face authoritarianism, a monarchy supported by republicans. They got me. They will get anyone they want. Trump will not be removed and the next election will not be on the level.

John Baldessari, Conceptual Artist, Dead at 88

Hat’s Off

John Baldessari will never die, even if he did. He was an artist who taught, did and saw. When he said Giotto influenced him, I looked at Giotto. When he covered his face with a hat, I did too. And when he did a picture I looked at it. We all steal from other artists; may he be the complainant in my case.