Saturday, December 20, 2008

12/20/2008

Who does Henry Kissinger think he is? He comes out says that the world needs to unite economically into one unitary, communal, money system? A borderless world? A global world order, without an America? BLAH! I wonder who is buying into his scary ideal...perhaps I don't want to know the answer.

New on ETSY:




4x6 Einstein. My wife doesn't like this, it creeps her out. She specifically said the word "creeps". Oh well. Sorry hun. I really like Einstein.

2.5" x 3.5"


I sure hope I don't get people upset at this one, invoking old stereotypes. By golly, that's not what this is about. He is into old school g-funk and he's black...that's it. I think it's pretty funny. I titled it "Black President".




I just learned how to use the macro setting on the camera so now I can take killer photos really close up. It's about time I learn something new about photography...thats been a struggle of mine for hundreds of years. This reel has been fun, I always ALWAYS have people talk about when they visit. But it's time she find herself a new home, it's time to babyproof the house.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

paintings

Yesterday morning I had a final at 7:00. I left the house at 6:15 thinking I would get there a few minutes early....little did I know that a snowstorm came in. It was furious. It was end-of-the-world serious. Slide-outs everywhere one would look. I parked my car and was walking to the school (1 hour later) and I remember seeing my legs raise high at a 45 degree angle as I fell. That was a weird feeling seeing my head below my boots. I know several people saw me fall.

I did well on the final. I enjoy Astronomy. The final wasn't comprehensive and it focused on the Solar System. I still think it's fascinating how they came to the conclusion to declassify Pluto as a planet and instead relabel it a comet. (if you heard the explanation, you would agree with their decision)

Then it took an hour to get home when it normally takes 15-20 minutes.

Best part: it was all fine an hour later when the sun came out and cleaned up the streets.



Here are some beautiful paintings I've listed in the past two days.



Cigarette Abe: I don't know why he is smoking in this one. It just wouldn't be any other way. I am not a smoker but I think smokers have lost all their rights recently...I just needed to stick up for them. My dad says he looks like Tom Waits in this painting, I agree.





Chess Abe: I look for any excuse to add in chess themes into my paintings. I love the game of chess and it just seemed natural for Abe vs the South. If anyone is up for a game, I play on chess.com under the name "ihavethreeheads".



No particular inspiration for this other than the fact I think it's kind of funny. Lincoln never did much in the way of ecology and he is still regarded as the greatest president of the USA. Ecology was never an important subject until recently, and I suppose thats unfortunate. It's ironic that the heaviest polluter in the USA is not a private organization...it is the government. Yet we all want the government to come in and save us from these evil businessmen who pollute the Earth. If we want to improve the Earth, we need to stop trusting GI Joe. The frame and masonite this was painted on is 100% pulled out of the trash. This is genuine recycling.




Steampunk Abe: I've always liked the genre of 'steampunk'. Steampunk is a science fiction world where the industrial age comes a lot sooner than the postbellum 1870's and on. The best definition I heard of steampunk is a world where Leonardo Da Vinci focused on his inventions instead of artwork. In this world, the industrial revolution comes in the early 1600's. Very cool. We'd see steam-powered crawling cars and airships. I personally like this one a lot.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

ACEO's


I've finally done some. They are fun to do also. I imagine I will have a bunch more of these. I did these at work last night while there was a terrible snowstorm and it was colder than sin.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Lunar Abe



"Hi Abe"
"Hi Moon"
"How are you doing?"
"Not so well tonight, moon."
"Sorry fella, don't worry...things will pick up tomorrow."
"Thanks moon"
"Goodnight Abe"
"Goodnight Moon"
8 x 10
framed.
bam!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Hulkamania


When I was little, Hulkamania was my life. I dreamed of the day when I could get in the ring and help Hulk take out the Undertaker or pull a Figure Four Leglock on Kamala with Hulk doing his leg drop on the back of his head. I would imagine robbers coming into the house and threatening the family, only to be rescued by the Hulkamania which subdues the robbers and instills fear into their mind. Hulkamania was as cool as it got. It still is.


"Hulkamania"

8 x 10 acrylic on board, framed

Latenight Lincoln




















When I painted this I was working the Northwest Unit at the State Hospital. It was quieter than i've been used too and was not prepared to have the whole night to paint. The ladies I worked with talked about going shopping on "Black Friday" for hours and hours. They were online looking at different store openings, talking about how poor they were, then ultimately convincing themselves they had to buy that Xbox 360 for their husbands. Funny ladies. Anyhow, I am not a talker and was not interested in talking about Black Friday, so I painted how I felt....tired. I ate the greatest meal of my life for Thanksgiving, just a few hours earlier. I was hopped up on Triptophen. Me and Abe were one in the same.

"Latenight Lincoln"

11x14 Acrylic on artboard, framed

Reflections of the Abe
























One thing i've always liked about beards is that they are all different. Some of them make the chin more pronounced than others, and Abe is no exception. It is impossible to get two beards exactly the same...I suppose they are a lot like fingerprints. This Abe in particular has a very unique beard shape that I like. I also like how he's thinking. It's an action painting. This is a painting in motion. Whoa, slow down!


Unfortunately, I keep trying the photography improvements to no avail. But alas, one day I will triumph and blow the lid right off the camera. I will figure the photography out! mwuahahaha. (The picture is fuzzy because of all the action of thinking by Abe that blurs the image)

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Budget Cuts

During an emergency session for the Utah’s Congress, the lawmakers were poised and forced to cut more than $270 million from the budget. They are instructed to keep all budget cuts away from education. Instead of any cuts to education, they are likely to eliminate many jobs and scale back on many programs. These cuts will likely be decided later today.

May I make a few suggestions?

1. Eliminate all vehicle privileges for state officials, including the Highway Patrol and administration. We will cut down on a lot of unnecessary cost by taking away their opportunity to drive their car on the state’s dime. Taxpayers do not want to pay for executive staff to drive to the movies, to the mall, and to Macey’s in state funded vehicles. If the majority of the citizens have to provide their own transportation to work then so can the rest of the State’s officials. (I’m also pointing at you, Provo City!)

2. Post a call for bids to privatize the Utah State Hospital immediately. Millions of dollars are wasted at the USH every year in unnecessary building costs and unproductive programs. True Republicans would advocate for smaller government and this is your chance to fulfill your platform of smaller government! There is also a lot of unnecessary and wasteful bureacracy within the State Hospital that is eating a lot of the budget up.

3. Immediately pull the plug on any funding to anything that should never have received funding including the REAL SOCCER STADIUM! Political party conventions also.

4. Cutting Executive Office staffers. You can do your own job Governor Huntsman.

5. Change the priorities in the prison system. If there is a violent/sexual offender then they are to remain in jail. If he/she commits victimless crimes (a crime that has hurt nobody except themselves) then the perpetrator is to go free. This will free up the prisons' budget and will open the prison system for more violent offenders ... which will free up the police on the streets because the violent ones are remaining in jail…and not being set free because of overcrowding.

6. Privatize the expensive FrontRunner Train system and TRAX light-rail.

7. Force UVU, WSU, UofU, SUU, Snow, CEU, etc. to be more profitable. Universities and colleges are capable of this (they are smart people, right?) I'm not advocating an overnight pullout of all funds, but I'd tell them they have 5 years to be self sufficient because their funds are being eliminated. They should be given the opportunity to sell to a private institution. The new Library in Utah Valley University is a waste of public funds.

8. Flat tax. (I would prefer no income tax). It's unconstitutional anyway, and it eats up potential sales tax revenue. Let the people earn their own money and keep it.

9. Spend money on a major internal audit so we can find unnecessary state institutions to weed out waste.

10. Promote industry to move to Utah by eliminating corporate tax and subsidies. Let them keep their earnings and pay their employees. Those employees will pay plenty of sales tax to run this monstro government.


These are just a few of the ideas I can think of. It’s going to be frustrating watching what budget cuts occur with these people running the show. I guarantee they make things worse. Help! Get me in there!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

THE NIETZSCHE and NIELSON NEWSPAPER


Two influential philosophers are making a point that must be expressed. It shouldn't matter who is what religion, when, or how...when it comes to the election. Their names are Nielsen and Nietzsche.

Nielson and Nietzsche both believe that a belief in God affects morality. If it were at all possible for the two of them to discuss each other’s arguments, they would agree on the argument that the nonreligious human is capable of great morality. Although Nielson and Nietzsche believe in secular morality, they will disagree on the argument of who are more morally correct, seculars or non-seculars. They would not be enjoying each other’s company for too long.

Nielson believes that it doesn’t matter whether there is a belief in God or not, both the secular and non-secular are capable of being moral. He states: “if a believer loses his God but can keep his nerve, think the matter over, and thoroughly take it to heart, life can still be meaningful and morality yet have an objective rationale”. Basically what he is saying is that a believer and nonbeliever alike are capable of morality. This is a good Libertarian philosophy that I believe in.

An example of Nielson’s logic is the Seinfeld episode when Elaine Benes discovers that her boyfriend, David Putty, is religious. “Putty” believes that he is morally right and refuses to steal the newspaper in front of his neighbor’s apartment door even though he wants it really bad. However, he asks Elaine, the secular one, to steal it for him. Elaine refuses because she retains her moral values. The newspaper remained in front of the apartment door. No crime is committed. This demonstrates Nielson’s point that both secular and religious are capable of moral values.

On the contrast, Nietzsche believes that a completely secular outlook on life actually enhances morality. Case in point, Nietzsche states: “Indeed at hearing the news that ‘the old God is dead’, we philosophers and ‘free spirits’ feel illuminated by a new dawn; our heart overflows with gratitude, amazement, forebodings, expectation—finally the horizon seems clear again…the sea, our sea, lies open again; maybe there has not been such an ‘open sea’. In other words, Nietzsche believes that once God is taken out of our lives it seems as if we are actually more capable of morality than ever before. Atheism is not a requisite for Libertarianism, as a Libertarian will usually disagree with this philosophy. I believe that those who belong to a church ARE capable of great morality.

Using the same Seinfeld scenario as before, Elaine asks Putty why he won’t steal the paper and insists that Elaine steal it. Putty says: “Thou shalt not steal”. Putty goes on to explain that it is okay for Elaine to steal because she is going to hell anyway for not believing in God.

Nietzsche would see this scenario and argue that Elaine is the one with the morality because she believes in not stealing, for society’s sake, regardless of her status of going to hell or not. Putty is the one lacking in morality because his mind is clouded and has no purpose for not stealing other than the fear of God, Nietzsche would argue.

In conclusion, both philosophers make an excellent argument about the belief in God affecting moral choices. However, these philosopher’s arguments do not completely agree with one another. Religious and non-religious alike would benefit from reading both Nielson and Nietzsche, as I know David Putty and Elaine Benes would have benefited too. So in this election, don't discriminate because someone is a member or is not a member of any church or religion. I know for me personally...I'd rather just not know. Amen.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Don't toss the suit

Utah will NEVER be my future child's parents!

The state wants to have the lawsuit tossed that was brought forth by Parker Jensens parents. Their constitutional rights were violated in a severe way. (from Salt Lake Tribune)The parents filed suit in 2005, claiming their constitutional right to decide the best course of treatment for their son was violated. The defendants are two physicians, then at the University of Utah; the then-director of the Division of Child and Family Services; a DCFS social worker; and an assistant Utah attorney general.

The poor boy would have had to go through Chemotherapy and all kinds of expensive and dangerous treatments for a disease that he doesn't have.

God bless Parker Jensen's parents!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Nature Boy....woooh!


I love anybody that wants to preserve the Earth. That means less government with less cars and other crap that will have less impact on the Earth. Afterall, the State and Federal Governments are the worst polluters of the environment. Look it up. By decreasing their size, conservation of the environment will surely follow.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Karl Malone


You can be assured that I am going to do everything I can to lower taxes, even if it costs me a second term. If you elect my opponents, they will continue to raise taxes. Let's block the opponents out of the way like Karl Malone. (Karl Malone!)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Saturday, April 26, 2008

I am tender!


I will defend that sacred document like a wolf defends his chewed up lamb, or a crazy neighbor defending her apple desert recipe. GGRRRRR!

Monday, April 21, 2008

swoosh


I plead with everyone to vote for people who will not waste tax money OR take bribes from lobbyists. Time to flush the legislatures down the toilet instead of letting them flush our money!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

state convention


I am proud and honored to be nominated as candidate for State Representative today in Sandy. Here is a picture of me introducing myself to the delegates and the rest of the party at the state convention. I promised that I will never raise taxes and will never expand the government. I am confident my fellow candidates believe the same way and I encourage everyone to research their beliefs. Elect Ashby for House 64!! I am a totally awesome candidate!