Bernie Madoff gets 150 years in prison

Bernie Madoff received a sentence of 150 years in a
federal prison today. Madoff's infamous Ponzi Scheme,
cost thousands of investors an estimated 13.2 billion
dollars. But the judge said that was a conservative
estimate and noted Madoff told his sons in December
it was a $50 billion fraud.

Latest movie: Transformers 2

Some sh!t blew up and then the credits rolled. I don't remember
much about the movie and I just watched it. This sequel relied too heavily on special effects/CGI and punch lines. Don't get me wrong, Megan is a fox and Shia Labeouf does his thing, but the first one was cooler.

Michael Jackson dies

King of Pop, Michael Jackson, died today. He was 50.

Iran protests continue

Many Iranians dismissed the election of President Mahmoud

Ahmadinehjad. Outraged citizens have continued to demonstrate
online and in the streets since the defeat of the other Iranian
presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, this past Friday.

Black Art History: Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven ''the black Spaniard'' was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770. His family originated in Belgium, which was then Flanders. Beethoven was one of the most amazing musical geniuses ever. His deafness made that genius even more amazing. With his musical innovations and piano technique, he freed the composer from the dogma of his time and ushered in the Romantic Period.
Beethoven was the first composer to include a chorus in a symphony, which became known as the ''Chloral'' Symphony Number 9. His piano music was the first to require the pianist to play the trill and the melody with one hand, as in the “Hammerklavier” Sonata.

Beethoven's compositional career is usually divided into Early, Middle, and Late periods. His early period started at the beginning of his career until about 1802. The middle period from about 1803 to about 1814, and the late period from about 1815 to 1826. In his Early period, Beethoven's work was strongly influenced by his predecessors Haydn and Mozart, but he also explored new directions and gradually expanded the scope of his work. His Middle (Heroic) period began shortly after Beethoven's personal crisis brought on by the knowledge of his increasing deafness. This period is noted for large-scale works that express heroism and struggle. Works from the Late period are characterized by their intellectual depth, formal innovations, and their highly personal expression. String quartets from this period were described as 'indecipherable' by Louis Spohr.
Around 1796, Beethoven began to lose his hearing. He suffered a severe form of tinnitus, a "ringing" in his ears. The cause of Beethoven's deafness is unknown, but it has been linked to evidence of lead poisoning. Beethoven used a special rod attached to the soundboard on a piano that he could bite. The vibrations would then transfer from the piano to his jaw to increase his perception of the sound. A large collection of his hearing aids such as special ear horns can be viewed at the Beethoven House Museum in Bonn, Germany.

Reference 1, Reference 2, Reference 3

L.o.L.

Greenhouse Club - NYC

Latest book: The Snow Queen

I finished this up yesterday. The story takes place on the planet of Tiamat. Offworlders or Winters use their 'technology' to dominate the land over the native Summers. The cold Snow Queen uses natural resources (the mers) to amass wealth and have eternal youth. The book tells the story of a social, politcal struggle with mild action. Frankly there were parts of the book that were just plain boring. I read the book because the cover of the sequel, The Summer Queen, looked cool. This is not the best of Joan D. Vinge. I recommend Catspaw or Dreamfall.

Carroll Street Cafe

If you're in Atlanta sometime soon stop by Carroll Street Cafe.
I have 8 pieces of artwork on display for the month of June.