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books This is just too fucking incredible. "The Pictorial Webster's is, in simplest terms, an artistic visual reference of what was important to 19th Century America.The 400 plus page volume is printed with the original wood engravings and copper electrotypes of the Merriam-Webster dictionaries of the 19th Century; namely the 1859 American Dictionary of the English Language (the 1st illustrated dictionary in America), the 1864 edition of that same Dictionary, and the 1890 International Dictionary. The Engravings are arranged alphabetically, a system of organization long shunned by lexicographers because alphabetical order grants no intrinsic meaning to any given grouping of words, but it is perfect for a book that creates its own immersive experience in imagery of a time gone by.
"The Pictorial Webster's is not to be undestood as mere visual reference. I believe a person instinctively tries to find the connection between things when they are grouped together, and so when confronted by combinations of two or more images the mind looks for a link to give their grouping meaning. My hope is readers will "read the text" by relaxing their minds in studying the pages to allow their subconscious-ness to supply the connective meaning between images. The key-words at the tops of the pages might supply a theme to a reader, or merely be worked into one's own narrative. In this way the book becomes a true surrealist experience."
Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion from John Carrera on Vimeo.
 John Carrera has a series of handmade editions of Pictorial Webster's like in the video. This is the Standard Edition which is $3500. There is another more expensive and a couple of less expensive editions of the hand-made letterpress editions. The books themselves are works of art.
 Fortunately there is a trade edition for a bit less. I have one on order.
Do check out the website.
sex and the church The Catholic Church is a Criminal Enterprise "Anyone who’s interested in losing his lunch should read the above-mentioned blog entry by New York archbishop Timothy Dolan in defense of Pope Benedict; the archbishop’s incredibly pompous and self-pitying rant is some of the most depraved horseshit I’ve ever seen on the internet, which is saying a lot. "One expects professional slimeballs like the public relations department of Goldman Sachs to pull out the “Well, we weren’t the only thieves!” argument when accused of financial malfeasance. But I almost couldn’t believe my eyes as I read through Dolan’s retort and it dawned on me that he was actually going to use the “We weren’t the only child molesters!” excuse. Dolan must have very roomy man-robes, because it seems to me you’d need a set of balls like two moons of Jupiter to say such a thing in public and expect it to fly. But this is exactly what Dolan does; he bases his entire defense of the Church on the idea that others are equally culpable. "
To Sinead O'Connor, the pope's apology for sex abuse in Ireland seems hollow When I was a child, Ireland was a Catholic theocracy. If a bishop came walking down the street, people would move to make a path for him. If a bishop attended a national sporting event, the team would kneel to kiss his ring. If someone made a mistake, instead of saying, "Nobody's perfect," we said, "Ah sure, it could happen to a bishop." "When I was a child, Ireland was a Catholic theocracy. If a bishop came walking down the street, people would move to make a path for him. If a bishop attended a national sporting event, the team would kneel to kiss his ring. If someone made a mistake, instead of saying, "Nobody's perfect," we said, "Ah sure, it could happen to a bishop." "The expression was more accurate than we knew. This month, Pope Benedict XVI wrote a pastoral letter of apology -- of sorts -- to Ireland to atone for decades of sexual abuse of minors by priests whom those children were supposed to trust. To many people in my homeland, the pope's letter is an insult not only to our intelligence, but to our faith and to our country. To understand why, one must realize that we Irish endured a brutal brand of Catholicism that revolved around the humiliation of children. "I experienced this personally. When I was a young girl, my mother -- an abusive, less-than-perfect parent -- encouraged me to shoplift. After being caught once too often, I spent 18 months in An Grianán Training Centre, an institution in Dublin for girls with behavioral problems, at the recommendation of a social worker. An Grianán was one of the now-infamous church-sponsored "Magdalene laundries," which housed pregnant teenagers and uncooperative young women. We worked in the basement, washing priests' clothes in sinks with cold water and bars of soap. We studied math and typing. We had limited contact with our families. We earned no wages. One of the nuns, at least, was kind to me and gave me my first guitar. "An Grianán was a product of the Irish government's relationship with the Vatican -- the church had a "special position" codified in our constitution until 1972. As recently as 2007, 98 percent of Irish schools were run by the Catholic Church. But schools for troubled youth have been rife with barbaric corporal punishments, psychological abuse and sexual abuse. In October 2005, a report sponsored by the Irish government identified more than 100 allegations of sexual abuse by priests in Ferns, a small town 70 miles south of Dublin, between 1962 and 2002. Accused priests weren't investigated by police; they were deemed to be suffering a "moral" problem. In 2009, a similar report implicated Dublin archbishops in hiding sexual abuse scandals between 1975 and 2004. "Why was such criminal behavior tolerated? The "very prominent role which the Church has played in Irish life is the very reason why abuses by a minority of its members were allowed to go unchecked," the 2009 report said. "Despite the church's long entanglement with the Irish government, Pope Benedict's so-called apology takes no responsibility for the transgressions of Irish priests. His letter states that "the Church in Ireland must first acknowledge before the Lord and before others the serious sins committed against defenceless children." What about the Vatican's complicity in those sins?"
mars Candor Chasma animation using HiRISE DTM This is an animation flying over southwest Candor Chasma on Mars. It was created from NASA's HiRISE DTM and image data.
afghanistan
Can Anyone Pacify the World's Number One Narco-State? "In ways that have escaped most observers, the Obama administration is now trapped in an endless cycle of drugs and death in Afghanistan from which there is neither an easy end nor an obvious exit. "After a year of cautious debate and costly deployments, President Obama finally launched his new Afghan war strategy at 2:40 am on February 13, 2010, in a remote market town called Marja in southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province. As a wave of helicopters descended on Marja's outskirts spitting up clouds of dust, hundreds of U.S. Marines dashed through fields sprouting opium poppies toward the town's mud-walled compounds. "After a week of fighting, U.S. war commander General Stanley A. McChrystal choppered into town with Afghanistan's vice-president and Helmand's provincial governor. Their mission: a media roll-out for the general's new-look counterinsurgency strategy based on bringing government to remote villages just like Marja. "At a carefully staged meet-and-greet with some 200 villagers, however, the vice-president and provincial governor faced some unexpected, unscripted anger. "If they come with tractors," one Afghani widow announced to a chorus of supportive shouts from her fellow farmers, "they will have to roll over me and kill me before they can kill my poppy." "For these poppy growers and thousands more like them, the return of government control, however contested, brought with it a perilous threat: opium eradication."
busy, busy Busy doesn't even begin to cover it. As gordy's camera straps has grown my need for a workbench has grown. I attempted to make one but it was just not strong enough. My friend Doug came over Sunday and built a proper workbench.
 I have to rearrange everything but now I have a workbench that will accommodate some of the power tools I need for my strap making. And it provides room for my camera projects.
 This is my newest camera project. It's an 8x10 Eastman View No. 2. It was given to me by my retired photographer friend Don. It had been his dad's. (More of his story and more pictures: 8x10 Eastman View No. 2).
 It came with an extension rail, two 8x10 film holders and two blank lens boards. The camera was made between 1914 and 1920. Don's dad used it for two years right after WWII and it's been dragged around ever since. 8x10 is a format that I've wanted to explore for many years. So many of my favorite photograpers used 8x10: Atget, Walker Evans, Joel Meyerwitz, Stephen Shore. Not to mention the Playboy centerfolds. That is one big piece of film! I've started pulling it apart. The Packard shutter is out and I'm working on removing the bellows frames. It will need a new bellows. I'm seeing som cracks in the wood that will need to be repaired. Then it will be cleaning and refinishing the wood, cleaning up the brass, and replacing some missing brass. The No. 2 will make a good field camera. It also came with a Century studio stand for portrait work. That's another project.
 The camera came with a 12" Wollensak Velostigmat II f4.5 with a soft focus ring. It needs cleaning and will need to be sent off for some repair work. It's a great lens. Then there is a Panosaurus spherical panoramic head for my Panasonic G1 and the new SX-70 film on it's way from The Impossible Project. I'm having way to much fun.
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