Owned

© Ryan Kelly

James Lileks-Portrait Of An Everyday Average Joe Freelancer

Apparently, James Lileks’ folksy Daily Quirk column is being cancelled

Here’s the painting I did of him for the City Pages article on his work for his Republican blog,
The Bleat.

I also a crafted a very James Lileks-style response to my painting:

"Oh, bravo, you little Wheat Thin chattering twit. Lileks, the Evil rampaging conquistador on his steed, blindly following patriotism over the cliff as the End Times happen all around at my feet. I’ve never seen that before, How Hieronymus Bosch of you.

Oh, you forgot my Hummer and Bush/Cheney04 button? You’re loosing your touch, Titian, back to $50,000/per year knitting school for you. And don’t forget your sandals and contempt for the tyrannical evil emperor and his band of Pioneers and Rangers.

Oh yawn; while you’re taking on War-Mongering Fascists and Global Warming with the shiny Arts Grant you got for Christmas, some of us are doing important things. Have fun with the 10 people who read your blog, Pierre. I’m a Best-Selling Author, goodbye.”

See how easy it is to be James Lileks? Anyone can do it.

They Don't Want Their War Anymore

The surgers who love war and wanted the war so badly, do not want the responsibilty of the war. I think we're in deep trouble.

The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation....

...The idea of someone overseeing the wars has been promoted to the White House by several outside advisers. "It would be definitely a good idea," said Frederick W. Kagan, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "Hope they do it, and hope they do it soon. And I hope they pick the right guy. It's a real problem that we don't have a single individual back here who is really capable of coordinating the effort."

I have an idea. How about the President Of The United States?



©art by Ryan Kelly

Baseball!!...

©art Ryan Kelly

Edit:
Ok, I can do this right? I can edit. It's the internets, I can do anything, right? Ok, I had a really bad today. It was a reallreallyREALLY bad day today. That hating-your-life type of day that comes once or twice a year for me. And then I lash out against Republicans. It's not fair. They're responsible for most of the bad things in life but not everything, right? Everything's better now. The Twins won. Back-to-back homers. Opening day. No more rants. They won. The bad day is over.

This calls for a BASEBALL CARD OF THE MONTH:




A Gary Gaetti autographed 1984 Topps. Looking at Baseball cards is always calming and comforting for me. Everything's good now.



Looking at pictures of the long-deceased, great Nicollet Park comforts me. This is between 31st and Lake Street on Nicollet. A bank and a parking lot are now there. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't it good and right?



Look at it. Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it grand?



Nicollet Park, Opening Day, 1925. Doesn't that make you happy? Don't think about the war. That's a beautiful urban ballpark right in the heart of the city.



I love baseball, I really do. Can you tell?

But I’m listening to Bob Davis, the junior Sean Hannity-in-training, on KSTP1500 right now and he just said, “I can’t ever remember a time I ever actually watched a baseball game! Ha!”


"Ha".

Twins announcer Herb Carneal died yesterday. Listening to the Twins is just not going to feel the same. No Carneal. No WCCO. Just a hollow broadcast sandwiched in between very angry and emotional radio talkers on an inferior signal alongside commercials for limousine services, wealth management, and hair transplants. To Herb Carneal, it was always about the game, not increased revenue streams.

Listen to the game,maybe it will have a little of the same magic-Dan Gladden and that cheesy 80's Opening soundtrack, but if you don’t like being called a Socialist because you think that maybe global warming exists, then turn it off after the ninth inning.

Play ball. put on your smiles, it's time to be happy now. The bad day is over.

©art Ryan Kelly

Unregulated Free Markets Don't Work, But You Already Knew That....

Yeah, what I've been saying:

"...In summary, lack of sensible supervision and regulation of banks, mortgage lenders and other financial institution – partly induced by an ideology of free market fundamentalism – has been the core cause of this private sector created disaster, not excesses of regulation or of government policy. Thus, to minimize the fiscal costs of cleaning up this mess, use of public funds should be carefully managed and targeted to help the true victims of this mess – borrowers duped by predatory lending practices – while avoiding any bail-out of the culprits of this mess. Privatizing profits in good times while socializing losses in bad times is another form of reckless corporate welfare that generates moral hazard while fostering new bubbles. Ideological supply side voodoo zealots should not be allowed to spin a tale where evil government intervention caused this disaster. And the private sector institutions and investors that indulged in this unregulated reckless behavior should take their losses. Market economies are the best economic system but they work properly when private greed, manias, panics, stupidity and recklessness is tempered by sensible supervision and regulation. And may the unfolding mortgage disaster bury once and for all the neo-con supply side voodoo economics religion of unregulated free markets fundamentalism."