THE KENNEDY-CUOMO SPLIT

A merging of two criminal families, uh, I mean, "political dynasties" is coming unraveled, with the reports that the marriage of Andrew Cuomo and Kerry Kennedy is over. And the split is not amicable.

The reason for the rancor?

The New York Daily News is reporting that the reason for the split is that Mrs. Cuomo was having an affair. According to the paper: she had an affair with "a married man Andrew considered one of his closest friends."

I'm not 100% serious here, but isn't Bill Clinton one of Andrew Cuomo's closest friends?

Hmmm.....

ART HISTORY CLASS IS BACK IN SESSION
Here's some "Rare Aboriginal rock art thought to be about 4,000-years-old," which required more talent of its artist than the picture below. And I bet it wasn't funded by the government of its day.

THIS IS NOT A JOKE
But it should be. I'm a geek, so I was reading about the preparations for the new Star Wars, due in 2005. Apparently, it's style will be about "darkness and color", influenced by the painter Mark Rothko. So, I went to check out Mr. Rothko's work and discovered that he was indeed a painter -- and a con-man -- but not an artist. Here's one of his early "works"



The National Gallery of Art (your tax dollars) has a nice little part of its website (your tax dollars) set aside for educating us on the talents (such as they are) of Mr. Rothko. Now, I'm sure Mr. Rothko was a nice man, and my "con-man" comment may be a little severe because he may have truly believed in his talent as an artist. But really, check out how hard the National Gallery of Art has to work to make this modern "art" sound good. I couldn't help myself -- my comments are embedded.

By 1949 Rothko had introduced a compositional format that he would continue to develop throughout his career. Comprised of several vertically aligned rectangular forms (or one rectangle split in half) set within a colored field (he colored the background), Rothko's "image" (no quotes necessary, it is indeed an image of a rectangle) lent itself to a remarkable diversity of appearances (he could change colors while painting the same thing -- a secret known to artists for decades). In these works, large scale (big rectangles), open structure and thin layers of color combine to convey the impression of a shallow pictorial space (no, they convey the impression of washout rectangles). Color, for which Rothko's work is perhaps most celebrated (compared to all those painters who paint in black and white), here attains an unprecedented luminosity (he used yellow maybe? Jan van Eyck attained an unprecedented luminosity, not this box-painter). His classic paintings of the 1950s are characterized by expanding dimensions (bigger canvas) and an increasingly simplified use of form (more simplified than rectangles that don't even overlap?), brilliant hues (found out that crayola had a 64 box), and broad, thin washes of color (watered down his brush). In his large floating (?) rectangles of color (not black and white, mind you), which seem to engulf the spectator (like the rectangles of blue satin Behr I applied on my wall, that sure engulfs me), he explored with a rare mastery of nuance the expressive potential of color contrasts and modulations (yawn).

I've just always believed that good art could be appreciated without the talents of an english major to explain the art to me. I think the folks at The Art Renewal Center would agree.

CAN WE CALL HIM FRONTRUNNER NOW
Howard Dean is likely to have the biggest haul among all Democrats in second quarter fundraising. He's won all the recent straw polls, and now tops the money list. Can we call him the Democrat frontrunner yet? Or is the media holding him back and the man keeping him down. Time will tell. Is he a McGovern or a Carter? Let us know.

CSE ON JOHNNY EDWARDS
Citizens for a Sound Economy, an advocacy group that is unlikely to like any but the most fiscally conservative Democrats, reports on Senator Edwards' record. Here's their analysis of Edwards on tort reform:

Senator Edwards’ stance on tort reform is clear. He is inflexibly opposed to anything that resembles tort reform. Edwards made a fortune as a personal injury trial lawyer, and he actively embraces the dark underbelly of our broken legal system. More than 4 out of every 5 dollars donated to Edward’s PAC comes from trial lawyers. Edwards even helped squash a bill that would have imposed limits on lawsuits in the wake of September 11. He also helped pass legislation that makes it easier to file lawsuits against HMOs, and opposes caps on malpractice suits. He also voted against protecting computer companies from frivolous lawsuits after Y2K and against capping the settlements.

SEX AND SODOMY
Got your attention now? I'm not sure what I think of the recent Lawrence decision overruling the 1986 Bowers decision, thereby striking down laws that forbid oral sex, and I haven't studied the decisions. But the public debate seems to be having a difficult time separating the issues, which are (1) should such sex be banned and (2) does the Constitution actually prevent state legislatures from banning it? Number 1 is a policy issue, that should probably be answered "no." Number 2 is a question of whether the Constitution acknowledges a "right to oral sex." I don't know that it does...but on the other hand, does it have to, considering that the Constitution is a limitation on government power and not a document granting rights, only guaranteeing those rights perceived in the late 1700s as, in many cases, "natural rights." So, should oral sex be subsumed within the unalienable right to pursue happiness? What does this say about the right to, say, enjoy certain illegal drugs in the privacy of your own home? Is this a slippery slope? Discuss.