Dolemite wrote:
] ] The Reader recounts the experience of photojournalist
] ] Warren Wimmer's attempts to photograph Anish Kapoor's
] ] sculpture, Cloud Gate (more commonly known as "the
] ] Bean"). When Wimmer set up his tripod and camera to shoot
] ] the sculpture, security guards stopped him, demanding
] ] that they show him a permit. Wimmer protested, replying
] ] that it's absurd that one needs to pay for a permit to
] ] photograph public art in a city-owned park.

This struck a chord with me, because I'm having a problem with a different public sculpture.

When sculptor Sanborn installed the Kryptos sculpture at CIA Headquarters, he also installed several related pieces around the entrance to the New Headquarters Building. One of them has an engraved compass rose, and others have morse code messages upon them. We believe that these pieces have something to do with the code on the "wavy screen" portion of the sculpture.

I have been working *really* hard to obtain photos of these additional pieces. To date, the only close up images we have are from the personal collection of Jim Gillogly, but even in those few pictures, we can't fully see some of the pieces.

I have tried working through the CIA's Media Relations and Public Affairs offices, and have gotten repeatedly rebuffed. I've asked (very politely) how I can go about requesting images of those sculptures. I've gotten replies back saying that I'm allowed to use any images from the CIA website that I want. I reply that those sculptures aren't on the website, and I repeat my request of how I can go about requesting images of the unphotographed sculptures. This goes back and forth a bit, and then I get no reply.

I've also written to the Smithsonian Archive, and the General Services Administration. They're eager to help with any images that they already have, but don't know of any way (so they tell me) to request new ones.

I've tried other government agencies, and my congressional representatives, but to date have gotten zero reply from any of them.

In my opinion, those sculptures were paid for by public money, and are installed in an outdoor setting on government property, and the public has, at the least, the right to see photographic images of the sculptures. To date though, I've been unable to obtain images. I don't even want them for commercial purposes -- these images are being requested for a volunteer-run website, for public information only (I also toss in the fact that I'm a veteran, but that hasn't helped either).

I wish that I had enough contacts in Washington that I could find *someone* who could just pick up the phone and call someone at CIA and say, "Hey, can you find someone with a digital cam and go out on the front lawn and take a couple snaps of those rocks?" But to date, nada.

I haven't given up yet. But my frustration level is rising . . .

Elonka

RE: New (sub)Urbanism: The Copyrighting of Public Space

] Elsie Ivancich Dunin has been Professor Emerita (Dance
] Ethnology), University of California at Los Angeles
] (UCLA), since 1994. She is currently associated as a
] dance research adivsor with the Institute of Ethnology
] and Folkore Research in Zagreb, Croatia. As a Dance
] Ethnologist (in Europe, the term is Ethnochoreologist),
] Elsie specializes in Croatia, Macedonia, and Romani
] (Gypsy) in Macedonia. Her current field research is
] reported in Cross-Cultural Dance Resources at
] www.ccdr.org (see Elsie Ivancich Dunin in "Notes From the
] Field"). Elsie was active with the Folk Dance Federation
] of California (South), including chairperson of their
] Archives Committee. For several years, Elsie directed
] Betyarok, a performing group dedicated to Hungarian
] Dance.

Found a webpage devoted to my mom . . .

Elsie Ivancich Dunin

I found the first part of last night's State of the Union a bit dull, but then it really picked up steam. The most memorable moment, of course, was the emotional interaction between two women who had been invited by President Bush: The mother of an American soldier who had been killed, and the daughter of a man who had been assassinated by Saddam Hussein. The daughter still had the purplish ink on her finger, from the historic Iraqi election a few days ago.

In the video stream, it's fun to look over the attendees of the speech, and see how many were wearing purple. Many of the women wore violet or purple dresses, and many men wore purple shirts or ties. Some even had dipped their own fingers in ink (a gesture that I greatly sympathized with).

To get a sense of the high emotion of the evening, I recommend watching the video stream, at least where the President starts talking about Iraq, which is at about the 40-minute mark of the 54-minute speech. He introduces the daughter around the 43-minute mark, and she is clearly emotional as she stands and accepts the ovation. Then the longest applause of the entire speech, was when Bush introduced the soldier's mother a few minutes later, who was sitting right behind the Iraqi daughter. When they spontaneously hugged, I lost it. Even the newscasters got choked up.

Though it's not clearly seen in this video stream, when the two women attempted to separate last night, they got tangled up... The mother had been holding her son's dogtags, which got tangled in the Iraqi daughter's clothing, and all three of them (the soldier's mother, the Iraqi daughter, and the First Lady) worked on untangling things. The accidental symbolism, the messy humanity of the moment, made it that much more emotional for me. Even President and Mrs. Bush looked like they were fighting back tears.

State of the Union 2005

I liked this interview because it was a more casual and candid chat with President Bush. He talked about books he's reading, what his exercise routine is, and other personal details about his typical day. I found it very interesting.

C-Span Transcript: Interview with President Bush: January 27, 2005

As those with long memories will remember, I memed in October 2003 (http://www.memestreams.net/thread/bid8816/) that I would eventually post an audio file of me being interviewed on the "Charles Jaco in the Morning" radio program.

It took awhile to get the audio file, and longer to get around to posting it, but hey, it's finally up. :)

Cyrillic Projector on the Radio, 10/13/2003

] As part of MEMRI's Arab TV Monitor Project, MEMRI has
] been tracking Iraqi election commercials and public
] service announcements in advance of the January 30
] election, including one by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
] Many of these clips have been produced by a group which
] describes itself as "a number of scholars,
] businesspersons, and activists, who share a common and
] firm belief in freedom and progress for all the Iraqi
] people," and which has a website at www.futureiraq.org.
] The following are excerpts from the clips; to view a 4:33
] compilation of the clips, visit
] http://memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=499:

Watching this compilation brought tears to my eyes. I highly recommend taking a look at it.

I don't think I can articulate how much of my attention and good will is directed towards Iraq right now. If I could do anything to help their elections run smoothly, even if it meant putting my own life at risk, I would do so. I believe so strongly in the importance of free elections, and the historic nature of what is about to occur in Iraq. They have all my best wishes, in this turbulent time.

Elonka

MEMRI: Compilation of Iraqi Election TV Commercials

] OSCAR NOMINATIONS
]
] BEST ACTOR
] Don Cheadle, "Hotel Rwanda"
] Johnny Depp, "Finding Neverland"
] Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Aviator"
] Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby"
] Jamie Foxx, "Ray"
]
] BEST ACTRESS
] Annette Bening, "Being Julia"
] Catalina Sandino Moreno, "Maria Full of Grace"
] Imelda Staunton, "Vera Drake"
] Hilary Swank, "Million Dollar Baby"
] Kate Winsletet, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
]
] BEST PICTURE
] "The Aviator"
] "Finding Neverland"
] "Million Dollar Baby"
] "Ray"
] "Sideways"
]
] BEST DIRECTOR
] Martin Scorsese, "The Aviator"
] Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby"
] Taylor Hackford, "Ray"
] Alexander Payne, "Sideways"
] Mike Leigh, "Vera Drake"

2005 Academy Award Nominations

] Atlas of the Valley of the Kings
] Discover each tomb in the Valley in this interactive
] Atlas. Investigate a database of information about each
] tomb, view a compilation of more than 2000 images,
] interact with models of each tomb, and measure, pan, and
] zoom over 250 detailed maps, elevations, and sections.
] Experience sixty-five narrated tours by Dr. Weeks and
] explore a 3D recreation of tomb KV 14.
  . . .
] Atlas of the Theban Necropolis
] Explore the entire archaeological zone through this giant
] aerial photograph. Zoom in to see individual
] architectural details of temples and palaces as well as
] the topography of the area. Mouse over sites to get
] additional information about them.

Nice site.

Theban Mapping Project

The webcounter continues to spin...

When the Wired.com article first went live on Friday, my site got about 8000 visitors (usual baseline traffic is around 500). Then on Saturday, somebody else picked up the Wired article. I'm not certain who, since they didn't link me directly, but my guess is fark.com. That brought in another 9000 visitors or so.

Then earlier today (Sunday), the Wired article got picked up on Slashdot. The webcounter is still RPM-ing, but it looks like about 35,000 new visitors just this afternoon.

Whee!

Slashdot: Decrypting Kryptos

] The novel The Da Vinci Code is renewing interest in
] solving the puzzle of a cryptographic sculpture located
] at CIA headquarters. Only three people know the solution,
] but the sculptor now says two of them only think they
] know it.

Big front-page top-link article on Kryptos at Wired. Coolness. :)

I've been working with the reporter on this article for awhile now, and she really did her homework. I helped her get in touch with both Jim Sanborn and Ed Scheidt for interviews, and we tried really hard to get interviews with William Webster, Jim Gillogly, and even Dan Brown. I'm also pleased that the reporter posted an actual transcript of her Sanborn interview, since that gives us more to work with on analyzing his comments!

- Elonka :)

Wired News - New Sanborn Interview