This is a detail from one of the canvases in my Faces series. I have been drawing these for nine years, and have completed around 14o canvases, each with 16 faces, and about a dozen with 96 faces (or six faces in each square that usually holds one). ---o0o---
The trailer from Strange Wilderness, out now, from Happy Madison productions, with many of the same gang that brought us the comedy masterpiece Grandma's Boy:
A drawing: Sixteen Voters 36" x 36" (Ink [a/k/a Sharpie] on Mississippi School for the Blind canvas).
A painting/assemblage:Owner Will Maintain 24" x 48"(Acrylic paint on pine panel, with doll eyes, a lightning bolt car emblem, two stickers, an "owner will maintain" sign I found in a ditch in 1995, and an old saw blade I bought for a dime at a junk store).
In 1976, three pilot crews from three different airlines saw UFOs "as big as a battle ship."
On May 14, 1977, the “Natal Daily News” from South Africa, published an article about this UFO incident titled “UFOs as big as battleships, pilots claim":
"For fear of being ridiculed, pilots of three airliners kept secret the sighting of three UFOs over Portugal, later described by one of them “as big and solid as battleships”.
"British Airways Trident jet pilot, captain Dennis Wood, who has been flying with the airline for 20 years, said he and his crew first spotted the UFOs while flying from London to Faro.
"The sighting, described by experts as the most important in the past decade, was also made by the crew of a British Tristar below the Trident and the pilot of a Portuguese airliner. All the stories tallied.
"Captain Wood, 42, said he and the Tri-star crew made sighting reports when they arrived at London’s Heathrow airport but kept it all a secret for fear of being ridiculed. Captain Wood has come forward in the hope that Britain’s ufo experts will turn a serious eye to this particular sighting."
“Suggestions that the three objects were balloons, stars or satellites, strange clouds or reflections are quite unacceptable to us”, he said. “As I looked to the west we saw this very bright headlamp in the sky. All the cabin staff saw it too and I told the passengers. Then it was joined by two cigar-shaped objects as big and solid as battleships”.
"On the return trip, captain Wood tilted his radar scanner. “There, in exactly the same spot, were these two cigar-shaped things. We got to within seven miles of them when they disappeared from our screen”. ---o0o---
You may have not realized this, but as we sit here, you have certain responsibilities to the Homeland Security. We are now, and generally are, in a state of Elevated security threat. You should have by now completed the steps outlined in step Green, Blue, and Yellow. According to the government, you need to stay ever vigilant, and prepared.
Green - Develop a family emergency plan. Share it with family and friends, and practice the plan. Create an “Emergency Supply Kit” for your household. Be informed. Visit www.Ready.gov or obtain a copy of “Preparing Makes Sense, Get Ready Now” by calling 1-800-BE-READY. Know how to shelter-in-place and how to turn off utilities (power, gas, and water) to your home. Examine volunteer opportunities in your community, such as Citizen Corps, Volunteers in Police Service, Neighborhood Watch or others, and donate your time. Consider completing an American Red Cross first aid or CPR course , or Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) course .
Blue - Complete recommended steps at level green. Review stored disaster supplies and replace items that are outdated. Be alert to suspicious activity and report it to proper authorities.
Yellow - Complete recommended steps at levels green and blue. Ensure disaster supply kit is stocked and ready. Check telephone numbers in family emergency plan and update as necessary. Develop alternate routes to/from work or school and practice them. Elevated Risk Continue to be alert for suspicious activity and report it to authorities.
Orange - Complete recommended steps at lower levels. Exercise caution when traveling, pay attention to travel advisorie. Review your family emergency plan and make sure all family members know what to do. Be Patient. Expect some delays, baggage searches and restrictions at public buildings. Check on neighbors or others that might need assistance in an emergency.
Red - Complete all recommended actions at lower levels. Listen to local emergency management officials. Stay tuned to TV or radio for current information/instructions. Be prepared to shelter-in-place or evacuate, as instructed. Severe Risk Expect traffic delays and restrictions. Provide volunteer services only as requested. Contact your school/business to determine status of work day.
I found an old picture of Jerry and decided to fiddle around with it. Curiously, in the original--and you can still see part of it here--is a piece of framed sheet music titled "Dear Old Pal Of Mine."
Here are earlier references to Jerry Melin on All This Is That:
Another superdelegate has jumped on the Obama bandwagon. Senator Otis Hoolihan held a press conference in Crockett, West Dakota this morning to announce he was throwing his support to Senator Obama. Hoolihan urged Obama to run on a split ticket--with Senator Larry Craig (!), and asked him to put a lid "on all this fainting at rallies silliness." ---o0o---
The Presidential Candidates Left Standing, are paintings of the last candidates in the race for the Presidency (excluding the absolutely hopeless Communists, Socialist Workers, Libertarian, and other fringe parties). Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee are just barely standing. Hillary is standing, but becoming very wobbly.
This is a really weird story and it is spreading rapidly--as these things tend to do--over the 'net.
My son, Del, came home from the Obama rally in Seattle a week ago today and told us about a woman fainting in the audience, and how Obama asked the crowd for help, and then passed a bottle of water down from the stage. At the time, I jokingly told Del, "yeah, she travels on his plane. She's his fainter."
Fainting is not unusual at campaign rallies. If you do a G.I.S., you'll find several stories of people fainting this month at rallies held by all three Clintons: Bill, Hill, and Chelsea. It will be interesting to see if this story has legs. I hope not.
There is a hint in some accounts I've read that the faintings are a direct response to Senator Obama's power as a vector of hope, love, and change; to his almost Messianic followers who look at him figureatively and literally as a sort of savior. When I was a young river-dunked Baptist, I went to a few revivals, and it was a feature of these big meetings in arenas, racetracks, and camps. When there was serious testifying going on, women would faint. The "Deacons" were all equipped with smelling salts and extra handerchiefs. And people would faint when The Call came (the call to come on stage and accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior) and you could stand up and wash away your sins with the blood of the lamb.
As it turns out, the usual Republican suspects are trying to make something of all this fainting. Like James Vicevich, a Connecticut radio talk show host, who has gone into some detail on this. Like Dory Monson, a conservative and reactionary hater and talk show host at Seattle's KIRO 710 AM.
This story is either a shocking revelation, or the usual Republican/Conservative claptrap. Today a Connecticut radio host show host cites several instances of an occurrence that has become common during Obama events:
The formula-->a woman faints-->Obama pauses his speech to speak about the fainting woman-->a bottle of water is passed down from the podium-->someone in the audience shouts "what a man!"
Seattle, Feb. 8, 2008. "Obama tossing a bottle of water to a woman about to faint received big cheers," MSNBC.com reported. " Obama told the crowd to part so that the woman in question could leave and called for help. A young girl in the crowd shouted out, 'What a man!' [ed's note: We can verify this one, because Jack's son Del was at the rally and repeated the above story almost verbatim]. The audience roared with laughter (although "the press that has seen this happen before rolled its eyes").
Hanover, N.H., Jan. 8, 2008. "A young woman in the Dartmouth College gym fainted, and was eventually rolled off on a gurney by emergency medical technicians," the Los Angeles Times reported. " Obama was speaking of the episode from the stage: 'She's OK,' 'She's talking.' The Times reported "Obama looked worried as the medical crew worked." Minneapolis's WCCO-TV has a video clip of Obama handing a bottle of water to the Dartmouth fainter, and asking the crowd to part for the EMTs.
Madison, Wis., Oct. 22, 2007. According to the Associated Press, "Three people fainted in the midst of all the enthusiasm."
Montecito, Calif., Sept. 8, 2007. " A woman standing in front of the stage fainted. The Associated Press reported. "The candidate paused and asked the crowd to make way for firefighters. A supporter shouted, 'You're a good man,' and Obama appeared a little embarrassed. "
