Hey, I posted some recent paintings.

I came across this reposted text while doing my morning email check and internet surf today: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say About Homosexuality by a Rev. Mel White. The point of this text, written to be a pamphlet, is that most people who say that “the Bible condemns homosexuality” haven’t actually read the verses in question… anyway, it’s pretty informative, and I’d suggest that anyone who’s unsure about their stance on these issues (or who’s simply interested) click along and read it.

So it’s definitely summer now and I’m definitely not going to be online so much. My bag was stolen about a week and a half ago, so I’ve lost my dayplanner and cell phone (I got the important stuff back, like my ID and keys) - which means I’ve got lots of time to do summery things like ride my bike and go to the beach - but I’m not so easy to contact. I’m going to be spending a lot of time over the next two months in the studio I’m now sharing with Amanda and Britt in East Van. Hopefully I’ll produce a huge wealth of work over this period.

Things I want (need?): A new back rim (Velocity Deep V Pink 32h 700c, I think), a set of Major Taylor drop track handlebars, a 24-70mm lens for my Canon 350D, a new sketchbook/recipe book/journal so I can record all of my amazing summer recipes.

I quit my job. This summer I’m going to be pretty broke but also very, very happy.
Here’s a rad smoothie I made the other day to bring to a dog’s birthday party in the park.

Early Summer BC Fruit Smoothie

1 - 2 bananas, peeled and frozen
1/2 - 1 cup local BC fruit, like nectarines, peaches and apricots, cut into chunks and frozen
1/2 cup coconut milk (add water if your coconut milk is more like coconut cream)
    You can use rice/soy/almond milk if you’re worried about fat content.
2 tbsp maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
1 tsp powdered ginger

Blend until creamy. Change the consistency with more milk, more fruit, or seeds/nuts if you like.
This smoothie is refreshing and sweet (but not oversweet). The ginger gives it a nice kick.

How The Grinch Stole Marriage by Mary Ann Horton - a parody of Dr Seuss’ famous How The Grinch Stole Christmas. A really delightful read.

In 5 or 10 or 20 years, with plenty of visible same-sex married couples, the world won’t see us as strange or scary, we’re just the married couple down the street that happens to be gay. Eventually, the legal recognization of our marriages will follow.

If we allow ourselves to voluntarily sit in the back of the bus, we’ll never make any progress. Rosa Parks had to sit in the front of the bus to make a difference. We must as well.

It’s been big news that the ban on same-sex marriage was overturned in California recently. I know that I wasn’t the only one moved nearly to tears by the marriage of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, who have been together for fifty-five years. I have to admit, though, that this little Grinch poem was just as touching. Aww. I’m a big sap.

On Friday I tried Bikram Yoga for the first time. Intense, difficult, but I feel like a hundred dollars after my post-class shower… definitely amazing. Unfortunately I think I’ve been pushing it a bit too hard because my muscles were so sore yesterday after my second class (they’d been sore before that, too) that I had trouble walking around the Vancouver Art Gallery yesterday. I managed it, though, because it was an exhibition that was right up my alley…

Krazy! The Delirious World Of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art is the first exhibition of its kind, a groundbreaking project that offers unique and dynamic insight into the world of comics,animated cartoons, anime, manga, graphic novels, computer/video games and visual art. Spanning a century of artmaking, the works in this exhibition reveal an extraordinary history of production, one that is poised to redefine the scope of visual culture in the 21st century.

Seriously amazing. If you have a chance to see this at any point I highly recommend it. It took a friend and I two trips to the Art Gallery to see the entire thing; it’s, apparently, the largest exhibit ever shown at the VAG. Every part of it was mindblowing.

Speaking of art, I really need to get some pictures of my recent paintings up. I’ve shot the photos… I just have to upload and post them. I’m really excited about them. I keep talking about them but haven’t yet posted anything. I guess that makes me a big tease.

“Ingroup bias tends to be stronger among minority camps, such as cyclists, who see themselves as Rosa Parks–style civil rights activists fighting to reclaim their share of the street.” Well, okay, that’s true. Actually, this whole article was pretty true. Philip Preville’s piece, All the Rage, from Toronto Life’s website, uses Toronto’s road rage problems as a background to discuss cyclist/motorist animosity and the anonymity we hide behind when we rage at one another. It’s a great article. Read the whole thing.

In Mal news, I’m going to be accepting new freelance projects this summer, so if you want me to make you a website, send me an email - malloreigh at gmail dot com. Rates are negotiable based on your needs and budget.

So within the last week, thousands upon thousands of human beings have perished in several isolated freak natural disasters. The cyclone that hit Myanmar on May 2nd has claimed more than 20,000 lives. A tornado tearing through the midwestern United States over the weekend killed twenty-one - and just today, an earthquake in Sichuan, China - 7.8 on the Richter scale - has killed almost 10,000 people. They’re not even finished counting the bodies.

And they say Hollywood movies are overblown fiction.

Vancouver’s shitty tabloid newspapers have been devoting their front pages to the theft of a spider monkey and the death of its defensive mate. I also read today that 34 stingrays mysteriously died within a span of only hours at the Calgary Zoo over the weekend.

Does the term “portents of the apocalypse” mean anything to anyone else?

An absolute sweetheart gave me an Amazon gift certificate recently and I joyfully spent it on a bunch of books that I’ve wanted forever. They arrived by Canada Post on Sunday (! I didn’t know they delivered on Sundays… this is Canada! I’m thinking it may just be an Amazon thing) and I was so excited to tear open the box and smell the pristine book smell and start leafing through them.

I got:
Godspeed by Lynn Breedlove
Valencia by Michelle Tea
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
The Ethical Slut by Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt - required reading for anyone interested in a polyamorous and/or nonmonogamous lifestyle
The Whole Lesbian Sex Book by Felice Newman - the definitive guide to doing it with women

Is anyone noticing a theme? I am… I also tried to order Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World but it was postponed until July (out of stock I guess?) so I canceled it. Now I’m trying to decide whether I want Middlesex or Stone Butch Blues instead.

I’ve put up some of the photos from last week’s bike photoshoot with Keri. I really, really, really need a zoom lens, and things like this just reinforce it. I can’t take the pictures I want to take. I can’t afford a new lens right now and it’s extremely frustrating for me.

Dog Solitude poses at China Creek skate park in East Vancouver

NAU, a Portland-based sustainable clothing company, is closing its doors due to lack of funding. The US economy is shit right now but it’s tragic that companies like this can’t get the funding they need to move forward. Fortunately for us, everything in their online store is 50% off!

I found the NAU website through a link Dario posted to WorldChanging - a neat concept, WC brings together and reviews sustainable businesses, products and ideas.

Hack Save the planet!1!1!!!!!1111!!!!!!

Neat interstuff: Check out twistori, a hybrid of twitter and wefeelfine.
Does anyone else remember (and miss) grouphug.us?
If you haven’t already, it may be time to send your first sardonically relevant e-greeting from someecards.com.
Though you’d be late jumping on the bandwagon, you’ll have a good time catching up with the archives of garfield minus garfield - the existentialist, schizo-depressive adventures of a lonely Jon Arbuckle.

I added a new recipe to mal/recipes - it’s super simple but you might get some use out of my all-purpose salad dressing and marinade. I’ve got a few more recipes to add over the next few days but we’ll see if I actually get around to that.

In bike news, I’ve got a new 44t chainring (riding 44:16 now), and thanks to my absolutely lovely housemate Keri I’ve got a new front wheel and (finally!) a new (to me) saddle that’s not rotting out from underneath me (and simultaneously tearing holes in my jeans). Shot some photos of my bicycle yesterday at the skate park so expect to see those relatively soon… you know, when I remember to bring my camera to work because my computer’s hard drive is too full for me to even attempt to upload photos. Win!

Coming up…
Some friends of mine will be showing their work at The Cheaper Show in Vancouver on June 21, 2008. Buy amazing art for the low, low, low price of $200 per piece. The whole concept is pretty cool.
If you are in Vancouver, there’s a show at the classy Croatian Cultural Centre on June 1, 2008 featuring Fake Shark - Real Zombie!, The Birthday Massacre, and - oh yeah - Mindles Self Indulgence.

Thanks to an alert reader, it has come to our attention that the induced miscarriage project we reported on a few days ago was a hoax. Aliza Shvarts, the artist responsible for the induced miscarriage project, was apparently shitting us; personally I think it’s just as effective, while at the same time being way less gross. (Blood and vaseline? Yick…) The ‘project’ still sparked a lot of debate for a lot of people on a myriad of topics. I’m thrilled.

In other news, this is my favourite old ratty sweater (beware, photo is three years old; sweater is older). Spring is springing in Vancouver. I went for a great fast-paced bike ride yesterday with a friend - and was left craving more. So many of my pals like slow, leisurely rides, but I like to go super fast. I also really enjoy turning left at roundabouts. The precise control of skirting them in a three-quarter circle on my track bike is quite delightful.

When I went to see Why? at the Media Club in Vancouver on April 16th I was totally blown away by the opening band, Brasstronaut. I didn’t have the money on me for an EP at the show so I contacted Brasstronaut’s vocalist and keyboardist, Edo Van Breemen, who hooked me up this week. I highly recommend checking this band out if you like jazz, or indie, or indie jazz, or good music in general. I think it’s quite lovely.

Another band that I somehow just started digging today is Mose Giganticus out of Philly. They deftly combine elements of electronic synth, punk and metal for some truly amazing songs. If they’re coming through your city, be sure to check them out; they’re touring this June.

I’m currently trying to raise funds to get to San Francisco Pride this year. Want to help fund my hot babe habit? Of course you do.

Hey - if you’re in a link clicking mood anyway - I love Andrea Gibson. She makes my heart go thump-thump.

My friend Joseph is a great source of interesting links. Last week he sent me a link to an article about a Yale art major’s final project in which she artificially inseminated herself and induced miscarriage herbally numerous times over a nine-month period. The student, Aliza Shvarts, filmed herself experiencing the miscarriages in a bathtub and is projecting the videos on to the sides of a large cube suspended from the ceiling. The cube itself will be lined with plastic sheeting filled with a mixture of Vaseline and the miscarriage blood.

“I hope it inspires some sort of discourse,” Shvarts said. “Sure, some people will be upset with the message and will not agree with it, but it’s not the intention of the piece to scandalize anyone.”

Almost everyone I’ve talked to about this project has had an extremely strong reaction, usually quite emotional, and occasionally concerned with her motivations. Personally, though I think any discussion of her motivations is irrelevant to the validity of the project, I believe that the artist was truthful when she stated, “I believe strongly that art should be a medium for politics and ideologies, not just a commodity.” The project has inspired, I’m sure, countless discussions as to the ethics and ideologies of her actions and how they relate to art - even going so far as to redefine the subjective idea of art itself.

An interesting point, to me, is that while the project is undoubtedly offensive to most or all of the anti-choice faction, I’m sure it’s given a couple of people on the other side of the fence cause to re-evaluate their stance. After all, Shvarts deliberately and repeatedly inseminated herself for the express purpose of forcing miscarriage.

She said she was not concerned about any medical effects the forced miscarriages may have had on her body. The abortifacient drugs she took were legal and herbal, she said, and she did not feel the need to consult a doctor about her repeated miscarriages.

I can’t possibly fit my entire argument into a single blog post, but I’ll close on the final notes of the conversation I had with Joseph about it. The connection a woman feels with an embryo growing inside of her has been documented time and time again; it would have been incredibly difficult for any woman to create life inside of her and then lose it. Although I haven’t seen Shvarts’ videos, I have no doubt that they are extremely emotional, heartwrenching, and difficult to watch. Perhaps Shvarts’ project should not be evaluated so quickly as “a disgusting abuse of a woman’s body” or the negligent destruction of life. Perhaps Shvarts is commenting on the preciousness of life, or on the beautiful complexity of our ability to create it. Maybe she’s saying everything. After all, as she stated, this project was about stimulating political and ideological discourse, and that’s certainly what she’s done.

Six Masai warriors from Tanzania are running the London marathon to raise money (and awareness) to find a vital water source for their community. Seriously, we are such pussies; these guys are totally badass. Isaya, one of the runners, is quoted as saying “If we have no milk or meat, we cut the cow’s neck and let out the blood to drink. If I drink enough blood — maybe two or three litres — it gives me a lot of energy and I can go for days without food or water.”

These guys will also run for days and nights on end looking for water. That’s dedication…

Which brings me to my point. People all over the world suffer from a lack of clean drinking water. In Shanghai, the poor drink from a river that stinks so bad you can hardly breathe the air around it. All over Africa, people will drink from polluted wastewater sources - because they have nothing else. Water Aid says that 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water; that’s one sixth of the world’s population, more than three times the population of the USA. They quote something like 5,000 deaths per day due to unclean water.

And yet here - in North America - where we have permanent access to clean, safe drinking water (hint: it comes out of your kitchen and bathroom taps, and heck, even your garden tap) - we are the world’s largest consumers of bottled water. In 2007 in the US alone, 8.82 billion gallons of water were consumed. If bottled water is sold for about $1.79 per 750mL, let’s do some math - $83,675,340,000 spent on bottled water. In 2007. In just the US.

There’s a good assortment of water treatment organizations out there, but for an organization like Global Water, it can cost as little as a few thousand dollars to install a long-term safe water solution for a community.

That’s not even taking into account the amount of non-biodegradable plastic waste that results from this overconsumption of what’s basically filtered tap water anyway. Also, I can’t actually find any stats on how much water is used in the bottle recycling process, but it’s a lot.

So hay! You don’t have it so bad. I dare you to drink tap water. If you’re concerned about the levels of fluoride or other minerals in your drinking water, buy a filter, and petition your local government officials to stop fucking around with your water supply. Not everyone has as many options as we do… oh, and maybe donate some of that money you save from not consuming Nestle brand water in a “recyclable” bottle toward safe water projects worldwide.

This has been a public service announcement.