'ah, forget about the people: you'll see, we'll just scare 'em silly'

nice 3 card monte game going on in national politics- and the rapt media is there to gloss over all the discontinuity- oh that's their job- alright then, these guys do it great:

Two Cheers for Obama's Nuclear Summit

'um well see, we're about to need another 34 billion in emergency military supplemental for the perpetual wars, so we wanna get you good & freaked out to make you forget you're too poor to keep spending like this..

on things that go nowhere. by the way, are the bankers good on pillows? oh- and watch out that bridge is falling on you.'

drill baby, oh crap- nothing to see here!

dang- there's a tanker grounded & leaking fuel oil near the great barrier reef- at least this sort of thing won't happen with Clean Coal- just click your heels three times if you don't know what that is.

Chinese Tanker Takes Unguided Shortcut

will musical chairs [with oil reserves serving as the chairs] be the primary energy policy of all sovereign [now rogue energy starved] nations? are we surrounding iran with military bases & arsenals with borrowed funds because they've got the second largest oil field in the world? who will profit from that conflict? will there be any clean air or fresh water for them?

who's taking the long view on this stuff?

community activism will knock you out!

of your fatalistic-chic neg-jadedness & challenge you to make something of your actual self and your community. what a gas, right?

right here in richmond, part of a lecure series titled World Changing on april 7 the lovely & talented Lisa Taranto will be presenting at Tricycle Gardens HQ- the topic of the lecture & discussion is Permaculture. for info & pricing call 804 231 7767 or visit

Tricycle Gardens presents World Changing Forum

then in the beginning of the summer, there's 2 big events being held in detroit:

june 18-20: Allied Media Conference has hands on lectures and workshops about how to start & even build your own radio station, wireless network, etc. from a budget-challenged community activist point of view.

Allied Media Conference 2010

june 22-26: U.S. Social Forum is a grassroots community grown vision of what globalism with a lower case 'g' can be about- using Detroit as an example of how it's being done.

U.S. Social Forum 2010

here's a good question: will Richmond [or the United States even] be able to create more 'good old days' for generations to remember, or was that it for us?

a whole lotta people holding their breath for a long long time

is not exactly a solution to our economic problems. will big gov just tell us to become austere & eat upholstery after the banks & health insurance bailouts? [at taxpayer expense]

Here's Hoping for a Magic Bullet

i'm not holding my breath.

new redplumjam website is squeezably soft now with 3X more portfolio!

from the trompe l'ouile main photo to the variety & quality of the content to the super-tight registrations & presentation of material- al schaub proves that too far is sometimes way the f- over there and damn if it don't look good still. come and get it.

Redplumjam Redesign March 2010

honest to goodness art made by hardworking [sometimes very dirty] hands.

now even more exquisite redplumjam propaganda

new rehash from the minister of unusual services:

so do we have too many nukes to fail?

as a unit- us- our country flails with a corporate owned government making ridiculous foreign policy decisions for myopic short term gain for certain businesses- with bloated military/contractor appropriations & increased arms deals, normalizing obvious human rights violations & leaving irradiated battlefields- while at home wealth disparity is on the rise- we have failing banking/infrastructure/education/social services/viability- eating very ill sterioded animal flesh and other pesticide laden factory farm foods so that every third kid born [in the U.S.] after 2000 is slated to be a diabetic- all of this amidst a climate crisis that we had a large hand in creating.

is it a wonder that the rest of the world might see a chink in the armor?

Pushing Our Buttons

do we want war and its accoutrements to be our main export? what can we sustain & why?

U.S. Weapons at War

while i agree that the absurd level of citizen-apathy and dearth of resolve that one encounters standing in line or sitting in traffic can be a real buzz kill for any citizen-activist: i do assert that a strong citizen driven grassroots movement propelled easily/inexpensively/democratically/transnationally online- could be the thing that saves more than just the world's richest 1%.

remember: wake up america! means go to sleep

liberty means buy stuff, and more than you can afford. become mesmerized [or better yet be glazed over] by the dramatic presentation of a democracy-like process that governs us. when you're done with your nuk-nuk we've got an iphone for you.

why aren't the democrats any different?
a cool blog about becoming our government

maybe it doesn't seem that crazy yet. but to live sustainably in the next 50-100 years, life will sure be looking a whole lot different very quickly. the successful people will have a strong grassroots foundation, right?

the few, the scarred, the old-timey vert skaters

jay henry [jim shezlick] is in town from DC this weekend- last night larry glover, bubba martin, the two of us & some friends went to see SUZUKITON at gallery 5 last night-

sure there were other bands playing, but we there to soak up some bill rose. afterward we sauntered over to cous cous for their skate nostalgia bingo nite- where the MC even bought us drinks & introduced us as great heroes from another era. it was not difficult to pick up inertia or entourage from that point on. i even got a checkerboard vans velcro wallet.

so then some poor fella had a grand mal seizure right there in cous cous- [larry & bubba took charge & the paramedics came fast], but our mood could not be shaken. so perhaps before the rest of the room was ready- larry made a wisecrack that didn't go over well with some- & then [holy crap] jay got thrown out for defending his right to be a smart ass. awesome- we were getting warmed up.

we took that show over to patrick henry pub for night caps & actually had a good [behaviorally socially acceptable] time in that crowded little place too.

these guys are my heart & soul. to whatever degree i possess any useful or desirable traits, all of them had their beginnings in that unlikely crucible of Quality we created together riding skateboards. that community is my generous heart, creativity, perseverance & wisdom. learning the little wheel saved me from the mediocre. it made all other lessons easier to learn & manage-

what are you doing & why? just staying on the line & falling off of it. paying attention to physics lessons. what's important? being in the flow of the universe.


it's about coming of age-
it's about learning how to experience things
the way they ought to be experienced.
it's about learning how to do it.
it's about picking your shit up off the floor.
it's about being a butthole surfer-
it's about doing promotional work.
it's about what we are- all these things.
it's about loving yourself
loving your mum
going to the go cart track.
your kitty
the catfood
the little bits of crayon
the melted pieces
the loving friends
all the things you wish you had-


yep- thanks for the memories guys.

fearless americans herded & united by fear of wind up toys

sorta like factory farming with people's wills instead of livestock's flesh- with this built in irony: as we stand behind a certain line, empty our pockets, get our belongings searched, scanned, some of it discarded or thrown out, pee in cups, go without healthcare for lack of funding, etc- we're told that we're #1, and most of us believe it at face value. how much do you sacrifice for fear? do we fear shedding light on the topic? could we consciously fight against our 'culture' as it is marketed to us?

The Underwear Bomber's Amazing Superpowers

is it the stress of living in a shell game of a physical & ideological existence that makes us crazy enough to hold all of this up & call it continuity? commentator? hold for commercial.

time for work anyway.

consumers, detainees & refugees agree: coke is it!

the amazingly huge disconnect between what we say we stand for as a country- what we think of as our moral fiber- the things we vote for and argue about in the square [square?]- and the actuality of our existence is at an all time high. all the smart people are tuning out, keeping their heads down, concentrating on family and community- some of them have jobs.

The Indispensable Public

the impetus for all of our wars- the very holy and high point from which we stand- while judging all other countries or patriots or despots in word or action- that high moral standard is nowhere to be seen in our official domestic policy, foreign policy, unregulated financial piracy, untouchable corporate swagger, illusion of two party politics, or treatment of humans or animals or even the planet.

Ladies and Gentlemen: This is Your President!

the resulting very large causual nebula [VLCN] that we all contend with in trying to construct meaningful lives around this madness intellectually- add the fact that we are ingesting this same exact madness in factory food--- which gives rise to all kinds of illnesses and and insanities and mania-.-.- even this rant. [the poor fellow that writes this is pretty bad off]

so what i'm suggesting is this: there's 300 million americans- duped and foolish though we are- [that's a lot of fools fool!] let's roll them out of town in wheelbarrows. throw the bums out!

money, borders, property, laws- these are all popular constructs- social fiction. we all believe in them so they're real. we believe in them so they govern our behaviors. now if banks, corporations and the body politic used the same 'personal' barometers we'd be fine, but they don't. we've gotten too used to this part of our disconnect. you see the rules apply to your behaviors but not to your oppressor-hypnotist lender buddy [OHLB].

the good part is our old friends in the last american revolution [not the chevy revolution] gave us a constitution and a bill of rights that still exists in real life as well as our collective memory. we don't have to build a whole new ideology- we don't have to reinvent the wheel.

you want shock and awe? how about 300 million americans in the streets with torches? i think we can still all afford that- maybe that will scare the windmills enough to give us a fighting chance.

"Ho, there, foul monster! Cease the knocking at thy craven knees and prepare to do battle!" - Don Quixote

thug rules shark cage death match sunday!!!

ok pal, you're next!

great seats for the wealthiest apocalyptically-inclined .07%- plus some lawmakers & legislators: once just a narrow band on the population charts, this brand of homo sapien is ready to leave a mark on this planet. either through biblical certitude, myopic greed, or psychotic fear of failure- now that all of the chips are in the fewest hands-+- they're ready to watch the rest of us be shredded as quickly as possible:

RoboLobbyist Lays Down the Law

did you remember to floss?
and did you bring your list with you?

the ocean is no man's land-
the earth is a dumping ground-
monsanto makes all of the seeds-
animals are food product-
life is a carnival-
people want to be fooled-

ha ha-
yes everyone seemed to like the last one best.
now put this on & adjust the chinstrap- good.
alright- here's your spear and your flippers-
it's going to be just like what we talked about- have fun!
-i've gotta leave before the chamber's full of water,
but i'll be right outside the door if you need anything, k?

old school's rude tools made crude jewels for you fools

ahem- i apologize for calling you the name up there right off the bat- it just rhymed so well i have to stick with it no matter what the outcome. nothing personal, right? it's for art.

.._from the redplumjam archive_..

here's 3 i tidied up for you to see- as redplumjam is of an age that will require two digits to record- these and other older shots are now admissible as 'fresh old material'. these first three i actually like looking at:



this simple sconce is clearly a clamp lamp on a rebar outrigger. pretty darn cool right? that's redplumjam 1999 y'all. all my stuff was MDF, zipties & rebar then. photo: John Langford Photography



here's a coffee table in walnut & red oak- designed in austin for an architect with a toddler circa 2001. six legs: can't knock it over. cammi & i are still friends on LinkedIn even. photo: John Langford Photography



and a detail shot of some casework & carpentry, again in austin all to WoodEye Construction & Design's specs. from 2004-2005. Garland Turner's got so much soul woodworkers be like yo'.
photo: John Taylor

lil' bonus: here's my squirts- [also geting old now, still easy on the eye] a shot taken by my good friend and artist ed gross a little over a year ago. we were neighbors at the time & set up the shot on my [also old] truck. i held treats while he clicked the photos. of course you notice the mezmerizing dust collector in the background- it belongs on an album cover somewhere. lynn crounse will agree.

funny that all this stuff is old school for me historically, and early in my design education as well, but design-wise all of it is very modern-looking, challenging or even outlandish [retail-relegated anyway] through a richmond, va lens.

what is old school? simple, temporary, improvised, imaginative, sometimes engrossing-
people making tools to improve their lives. sometimes planned sometimes stream of consciousness.
usually having nothing to do with how anything looks. incidental. now THAT's old school i can identify with. the dust collector in my dogs photo is a perfect example of this. my dogs are a perfect example of this!

ok- one last nod to days past, i'll leave you with a quote by Lily Tomlin:

"i always wanted to be somebody, but now i realize i should have been more specific."

no- yeah- just like that!

my coddled identity and why reality sucks

them. the ones whose words you use when you think you're having an original thought:

'this observation is a cleverly placed advertisement.' or 'i am fundamentally absorbed in my own entitlement.'

look for all the product placement in this self-directed movie of your mediated life. how has consumerism shaped your 'self' and what you identify with?

to what degree do you think your rejection of this blatant system- to whatever degree you have rejected it- is actually in line with another group whose values or brand is more like 'you'?

experimentally, can you successfully separate yourself from all brands?

too much thinking too many words?
right, tell me about it.

you need to buy this movie more every day don't you?

there there. i've got some good news for you: the good folks at History is a Weapon have printed Edward Bernay's PROPAGANDA from 1928. bernays was one of the original titans and champions of public relations- this material is the pitch and the playbook used to make us into the flesh eating zombies [i mean good-hearted americans] that we have become today. i read this book and gave it away a few years ago:

Propaganda 1928, Bernays

History is a Weapon

my roomate saw me drinking a coke today & since i write about crap like this- in his mind- it just didn't compute.

see, i'm a flesh eating zombie like you.

brahman [everpresent, conceptually exotic] also means exhale in english

often, an obtuse or abstract concept is put into familiar language enough for ordinary people to recognize and respond.

marketers & political strategists do most of this type of work these days-

back when mainstream investigative journalism was in vogue, quite a bit of it was done there-

in europe and america there was a time when churches were the main repositories of information and literacy. you see where i'm headed: all these people have historically shaped our official collective social and political landscape. and some of them will continue to. the movers with the clout.

here i shouldn't forget the musician, the poet, the artist, the athlete, the scholar or the ascetic-
-the blogger too-

we can generously ascribe a 6 or 7% cultural influence factor on these folks.

-given their often compelling and brilliant contributions- and lack of persuasive capital- you'll probably agree this group generally doesn't gain much widespread popular traction.

you'd pay to know what you really think! - J.R. Bob Dobbs

- so, back to brahman- the ground upon which all phenomena arises & returns- is an exhale. a let go. an unguarded submission. very natural. cellularly instinctual. already a part of our everyday experience.

and yet for us in the U.S. there are few more esoteric pursuits than making this connection.

the brahman experience- the subsequent ethical growth, and recognition of causual connection & culpability- not to mention the good character & light heart you build from selflessly helping all those people in your new big family [trans blood-race-nation]: these are all lost on us.

these concepts and subsequent empathy remain large and unattainable still-

for the most part we ascribe them to Jesus and the godliness that resided in him- this way our connection stays vicarious and through the recitation of these amazing ancient stories only. this holy but remote location gives us no direct contact with this intelligence-

that could also live in us- when we're ready to reach? are we not ready to reach?

-the bonus is we are allowed to retain our more indulgent primate characteristics- as long as we're adequately ashamed of them and renounce them with repetition.

"ah yeah- i'd like just one Jesus please, and hold the personal trip."

[sorry- speaking of indulgences i pick on USA brand christians too often]

so then the point to my diatribe [finally]: this extra perspective we have culturally opted out of is exactly what we happen to be longing for- and hoping to find- in catalogs and drugs and extra marital affairs- and hoarding natural resources. this missing perspective is the horn that marketers lead us around by, that advertisers hone & sharpen, and that we gore each other with when our leaders tell us to.

using a prescribed combination of words can make us hate a stranger, an ethnic group, a religion, a world leader, a homosexual, a social movement, etc. actual content is not as important as language used in the delivery. this is how we are manipulated like children.

it is difficult but rewarding to make the effort to separate oneself from these systemic prejudices.
our earnest struggle will make it easier for the person next to us, as well as the next person on this path.
there will be more.

perspective changes everything.
apply some consciousness to that ignorance.
go get 'em tiger!