Disorderly Digression

Occupy Wall Street is this generation's very own Kent State. As the demonstrations heat up in cities across the country, here are just a few of the signs captured by photographers on the ground. They're an important record of the times, a combination of political cartoon and performance art, coaxing factual knowledge and interpretive skills from viewers. And there's the drawing technique - sometimes slick, but mostly raw and emotional, with shards of cardboard boxes as support for the varied illustrative styles.

I like the one with the little girl in the tiara. She seems to be caught up in the festivity of it all, but it's doubtful she really understands the context in which her poster appears. I think it's an example of grammar school expressionism, juxtaposed with the expressions of an angry proletariat, which makes it kinda sweet.

Drug Store Mannequin Digression

Business has taken me out of town and away from the blogosphere for a few days. Until I return, here is a post of the coolest thing I have ever seen (discovered at a Long Beach, Calif. collectibles shop Feb. 20, 2010):

It is an Italian mannequin made of resin in the 1950s and used as a drug store display for bandages. This fellow stands under 5 feet tall, and has a small, perfectly round hole straddling his upper and lower lip -- I suspect it was to hold a resin cigarette that fell off at some point.

Dessa Digression

If there is a hip-hop equivalent to the street artist Swoon, it is Dessa. She just released the amazing CD "A Badly Broken Code," and is being made a momentary big deal of because she is a white female who raps. White females do a lot of shit, brother.

I like this recent tweet of hers almost as much as I like her lyricising:

"The fan in my laptop turned on and I earnestly believed the noise was coming from my head. Now somewhat alarmed by my lack of concern."