The 2008 election takes place on Tuesday, November 4.  Minnesota Statute
204C.04, Employees Time Off to Vote, provides that:

"Every employee who is eligible to vote in an election has the right to
be absent from work for the purpose of voting during the morning of the
day of that election, without penalty or deduction from salary or wages
because of the absence."

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Unlike the candidates, I'm not going to campaign for anyone on November 4th. Now go out and vote or I'll send this guy to get you.

-- via Gizmodo.

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While listening to NPR this morning, I heard a strange and surprising thing. Rush Limbaugh said

"We're going to have to drag Sen. McCain over the finish line, and then we're going to have to deal with what he does in the Oval Office ourselves,...That's how this is going to have to work. We have to save the country from Obama and then save it and the Republican Party from whoever McCain puts in his Cabinet. We have to do this one step at a time. Do not throw in the towel."

So, basically, what I hear him saying is that it's better to have a bad Republican in office than a good Democrat; that whatever damage McCain does to the country and the Party is a problem to deal with later because having a Democrat in office is worse.

I'm sure that Rush isn't the only pundit saying this type of thing and he's certainly not the only Republican who's not too happy about a McCain presidency. Some Republicans have turned to voting for McCain in hopes that he'll die and Palin will become president, which is a scary thought to me, and some have turned to voting for Obama or, even worse, not voting at all. This concept of voting for the Republican because he's a Republican baffles me.

Maybe it's because I'm from Minnesota and, while, since Franklin Rosevelt, we have voted for the Republican only when Richard Nixon was on the ticket, we have a very independed spirit as far as elections go. Maybe it's because I'm a pretty independent thinker in general. Whatever the cause, my belief is that I should vote for the candidate I believe will do the best job of representing my beliefs no matter what their party affiliation. What Limbaugh and others (I assume) are saying is just like saying that a heart surgeon who failed out of Harvard is better than one who graduated with a 4.0 from the University of Illinois.

I know that "logic" and comparisons to other, easier-to-relate-to situations rarely convince people with outlandish notions to rethink their positions, but that's the way I think. I also find that most people understand things when explained this way. I know that nobody of any significance reads my blog, but I hope that other people think about what Rush says from a position where they can't see the bottom of his boots.

-Illustration by Rex Lameray, published by Belltown Messenger on flickr.

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It could be argued that there are two types of photographers in the world: professionals and amateurs. Well, it could also be argued that this is a two-dimentional continuum with the second axis being good and bad photographers, but that's not the point of my story. Since I'm a good photographer, I'll try to keep my focus narrow.

When it comes to photography, I am first and foremost an amateur. While the word has been co-opted and bastardized by the professionals who spit it at photographers who aren't very good, the soul of the word really defines one who does something for the love of it. Unfortunately, there's not usually a lot of money in being an amateur. Almost by definition, an amateur is not often paid for what he does. That makes exercising a love of one's art more difficult and brings more venom from the professionals who lose money to those who will do their jobs for free.

I am also a professional. This is another word that has been used in many ways and I consider most of them to apply to me. I am professional in that I respect my subjects and my peers and in that I get paid to make photographs. I don't do enough work-for-pay to completely support a life of photography and I'm not even sure I'd want to. As a result, I find myself straddling the definitions and trying to carve out a meaningful place for me to stand.

This line between occupation and avocation is a hard one to walk and I don't think I want to do it forever. The more I want to put into my avocation, the more I have to put into my occupation to fund it. And the more my avocation is self-funding, the more it can feel like work.

A good friend of mine got married last month. I didn't offer her my services as a photographer, though maybe I should have. I'm not all that interested in weddings because there's a lot of pressure and you only get one shot to get it right. On the other hand, weddings pay well and I've done enough of them to know I'm more than capable. If I were to make a living from wedding photography, I'd need to shoot an average of one wedding every week of every year. That means advertising, customer coordination, billing, and more retouching than I'd like to think about right now. If I hired someone to deal with the business aspect, I'd have to shoot twice as often. If I wanted a studio; half again as often.

Anyway, another friend of mine, who was the bride's cinematographer, got into a conversation with the wedding photographer about seating and dining arrangements while they were grabbing their place cards. The photographer saw my name on the board and was mentioned that he had heard of me. "You want to sit next to him? I can make that happen." the cinematographer asked. Later, at dinner, she waved to the photographer, who was standing next to me, and said "Hey! This is Ben Zvan!" by way of introduction. He turned to us and said, "Yes, I know. I'm working up to it. It's kind of like meeting Jesus."

Obviously, I didn't have a ready response to that one. I guess it means I have something of a reputation among at least some photographers. The real question is whether or not a reputation is all I want or if I need to work toward a profession. Many artists are most recognized posthumously and, while that would be great, I don't think I'd enjoy it as much as being recognized now.

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Scientists in Israel have "developed a way to control the growth pattern of neurons to build reliable circuits that use neurons rather than wires." This brings us closer to several major scientiffic advancements.

One major advancement is direct neural interfaces for prosthetic limbs and other assistive devices. Since the human interface has been one of the most limiting factors in cybernetic hands, for example, this technology could lead the way to creating more natural and life-like replacements for people who have lost limbs or were born without them.

The other major advancement is neural computing in general. By creating a logic gate with neurons, these engineers have started the process of creating biological replacements for the transistors that have been at the core of every electronic gadget made in the last 40 years or so. The only real problem with the path they're taking is that the brain, the closest biological analog to neural computing, doesn't have anything that looks like an AND gate. So, while this is a great step forward, it feels like using a bicycle pump to open a beer bottle. It's functional, but not necessarily optimal.

Anyway, read the article at New Scientist. It's short and informative and therefore perfect for people like me.

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I may have shown bias in the past, but I have not been to blatant about endorsing a specific candidate or anything. Okay, maybe I have. Anyway, I was watching the debate last night and came out with some impressions.

The biggest thing I noticed is that McCain lies a lot. I know that all politicians lie, especially if you take into account things they promised they'd do and didn't or couldn't get done. But McCain lies about things that have already happened and are verifiable.

Examples: (Update 10/29 - math and fact-checking)

Oil Imports: John McCain continuously states that we send $700 billion to countries that "don't like us very much."

According to the DOE the US imports about 13,000 13 million barrels of petroleum per day. Assuming a cost per barrel of $100, which is probably fair for this year since we started high and are currently in the $40/barrel range, the cost of that petroleum is around $474 billion per year. So already he's a little off in saying that we send more money for oil to countries that "don't like us very much" than we actually spend on oil. It's only 47% more though, so lets call that hyperbole.

Also according to the DOE, the two countries of the top 15 from which we import petroleum that you could say we have uneasy relations with are Iraq and Russia. Since McCain would also say that Iraq is our friend, I'll give him the benefit of counting Iraq as our friend who "doesn't like us very much". That means that we import about 1200 1.1 million barrels per day from countries that "don't like us very much" for an annual cost of $42 million $41 billion. I don't know anyone who thinks that $42 million $41 billion is anywhere close to $700 billion.

(note: even after these corrections due to my mis-reading of the numbers as barrels/day rather than 1000s of barrels/day, McCain is off by a factor of 20. Not as bad as 20,000, but quite far from the mark.)

Taxes: We also heard about a guy named Joe the Plumber, AKA Joe Wurzelbacher. According to McCain, he's got a double doozey coming. Apparently he wants to buy the plumbing business he's been working for and that will put him over the $250,000 per year income level, meaning that, under Obaba's plan, he'll see an increase in his tax rates. And he's also supposed to be in for a fine for not providing health insurance for his new employees.

As it turns out, that part of Obama's plan is for personal income tax, so if he incorporated, the argument becomes completely different. So let's say Joe doesn't incorporate. He would need a gross adjusted income of over $250,000 per year in order to end up with higher taxes. That means that after paying his employees and buying the extremely expensive copper pipe he probably uses, he'd need to have a quarter of a million dollars left over. If I had that kind of income, I'd be happy to pay higher taxes. As Oliver Wendel Holmes said "I like paying taxes. With them, I buy civilization."

Joe would also get additional tax breaks under Obama's plan in the form of the elimination of capital gains taxes for small businesses and credits for creating new jobs if he decides to hire more people. So, while we haven't seen the results of Obama's plan, it really looks like Joe would have to be in pretty good shape before his taxes would go up. Actually, if he has enough money to buy a plumbing business, he probably makes over $250,000 per year already.

As for the fine for not providing health insurance. That's a little backwards. The Obama-Biden plan gives a tax credit to small businesses that do provide health insurance. So, if Joe decided not to provide health insurance to his employees, he wouldn't be fined, he just wouldn't get a tax credit. Talk about "mis-representation."

Overhead Projectors: Dang, have you seen this thing? It is totally not an overhead projector. Except that it projects things over people's heads. Do you remember going to the planetarium? Do you remember the giant, death-star-like thing in the middle of the room that shot beams of light everywhere? That's what McCain is talking about when he says "overhead projector." I haven't been to a planetarium since I was in grade school, but I'm honestly thinking about finding one and checking it out now. Here in downtown Minneapolis, we don't get to see much of the sky. I'd guess that it's worse in downtown Chicago.

So basically, McCain's point is that earmarks are bad. Well, it's hard not to agree with that in principal. On the other hand, Minneapolis wouldn't have light-rail without earmarks. There are thousands of projects in states all across the US that have been funded by federal earmarks. The Zeiss Universarium Model IX that was for Illinois (which didn't get funding by the way) is one. Alaskas Gravina Island bridge (which Palin got funding for but didn't get built) is another. One of the benefits of statehood and representation is getting funding from the Federal Government for local projects. Huh, I guess it isn't hard not to agree. Earmarks aren't inherrently bad, we just don't all agree how the money should be spent.

Anyway, I know polititians lie. They just shouldn't lie so obviously.

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Somebody I knew in high school was posting some aikido stuff on their facebook page. It made me want to find some good videos of Tai Chi push-hands.

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I tried an experiment and tweeted on my facebook. Read from the bottom for chronological order beginning Friday, October 10, 2008.

Ben is home. 8:41pm
Ben hit the 1000 mile mark. 7:35pm
Ben marches on. 7:19pm
Ben has to get pictures! 6:59pm
Ben is where they call the Mississippi a lake. 6:55pm
Ben (tune for ibn khaldun part 1, about to happen, town w/o pitty). 6:54pm
Ben (the deprogrammer, the house is haunted, sgt pepper (reprise), what do I dave to do, under ice, househusband's lament, die young stay pretty...) 6:41pm
Ben 's iPod is throwing down an awesome, creepy mix. 6:33pm
Ben wants a study corolating views on religion and abortion. 6:25pm
Ben caught up on Science Friday. 6:15pm
Ben has fruit and cake. 6:06pm
Ben is in Minnesota. 5:34pm
Ben guesses the SW corner of Wisconsin does't need GSM data. 4:58pm
Ben accidentally tuned his soda bottle to a note in this song. 4:56pm
Ben expected Dickeyville to be a theme park. 3:16pm
Ben finds similarities betwixt black cherry soda and Robitussin. 3:11pm
Ben can see Illinois and Iowa from here, resists border-crossing temptations. 3:08pm
Ben got ice cream and soda instead. 3:04pm
Ben thought about buying rum and porn at a gas station but they didn't have porn. 3:03pm
Ben wonders about the reasoning behind painting parking spots on a gravel lot, and heads home. 2:49pm
Ben hasn't forgotten about you, there's just nothing interesting here. 1:02pm
Ben was nonplussed by his sandwich but chuffed by his shrimp doodles. 12:28pm
Ben waves to New Glarus. 12:17pm
Ben used a lot of battery. 12:13pm
Ben could go for sushi; could find a sandwitch. Filled the tank. 12:08pm
Ben will miss Devil's Lake. 11:58am
Ben didn't know Madison had so much petrolium storage. 11:55am
Ben will have to see The House on The Rock sometime. 11:52am
Ben drove 666 miles so far this weekend. 11:51am
Ben can't pronounce most of Wisconsin. 11:04am
Ben waves to Penzey's. 10:40am
Ben departs Milwaukee toward Madison. 10:22am
Ben crosses Teutonia Ave. Can't decide between musical or religious joke. 9:18am
Ben cranks NIN. 9:13am
Ben could hit those geese from here. 9:06am
Ben ceremonially dips his fingers in Lake Michigan, realizing that he never actually touched the Pacific ocean when he was in San Francisco. 8:51am
Ben will be late but got to Lake Michigan. 8:46am
Ben finally has yesterday's espresso. 8:36am
Ben avoids the word "is" due to issues of repetition and clarity. 8:34am
Ben stopped to take a picture. 8:19am
Ben gets to see what he drove through last night. 8:13am
Ben is on a Mission. 8:11am
Ben is "impressed" by the continental breakfast. 8:06am
Ben needs a photo pass for The Crystal Method at Epic December 19. 7:54am
Ben shouldn't need to be awake. 7:29am
Ben reads about the pictorialism movement. 6:27am
Ben is less than two hours from the museum of science and industry in Chicago. 10:26pm
Ben should have gotten a hotel on the lake. 9:13pm
Ben booked a hotel in da 'hood. 8:29pm
Ben is freaking extatic to see a Caribou. 8:05pm
Ben sits on the cusp of a foggy night. 7:31pm
Ben deems dinner "an experience." leaves Sheboygan for Milwaukee. May find beer. 7:11pm
Ben totally needs a charcoal grill in his kitchen. 6:56pm
Ben is at the Charcoal Inn, should have brought an art history book in from the car. 6:53pm
Ben is not surprised he missed Alabama Ave. 6:44pm
Ben goes "wheee!" again. 6:21pm
Ben smells...burning cows? 6:06pm
Ben is in awe of the patience of the doctor talking about vaccines on Science Friday. (Paul Offett (sp)). 5:56pm
Ben ditches the shades. 5:40pm
Ben goes "wheee!" through the roundabout. 5:23pm
Ben head east. If get lost: find lake, turn right. 5:18pm
Ben isn't sure what that is. 5:11pm
Ben won't go to Oshgosh, by gum! 5:07pm
Ben would prefer a different New London; an old London even. 3:53pm
Ben sees acres of cabbage. 3:46pm
Ben thought he was stuck for a while but the train was really short. 3:29pm
Ben doubts that "latex scented condom" was quite what they meant. 2:53pm
Ben remembers when 3.129 was high for gas. Buys 13 gallons. 2:46pm
Ben got a free Sierra Mist. 2:39pm
Ben went the wrong way. 1:49pm
Ben should have packed camo and a shotgun. 1:37pm
Ben is in Green Bay. 1:26pm
Ben found out commercial citric acid is a fungal product. 1:21pm
Ben is already tired of 25MPH. 1:01pm
Ben turned the A/C on. 12:53pm
Ben almost stopped for pit BBQ too. 12:51pm
Ben found the coffee shop he stopped at a year or two ago is closed. 12:32pm
Ben is in Wisconsin. 12:30pm
Ben is in Michigan with a newly purchased 1/2 pound pastie. 12:27pm
Ben has taken some pictures and is going to Michigan for some pasties. 12:14pm
Ben is very early. 10:44am
Ben likes to say Peshtigo. 10:29am
Ben stopped for a flag man. 10:09am
Ben thinks he just saw his first Piggly Wiggly. 9:58am
Ben went the right way. 9:55am
Ben hopes he went the right way. 9:48am
Ben is disturbed by lawn sheep. 9:34am
Ben thinks Wisconsin state highways need more rest stops. 9:21am
Ben is impressed that Hubble's batteries lasted 18 years. 9:00am
Ben crossed Embarrass River. 8:45am
Ben doesn't have time to stop for the scenery. 8:27am
Ben is in Wausau. 8:16am
Ben wonders what the commonality is between chai and bubblegum. 8:05am
Ben is glad "cool ranch" didn't mean"Dorito flavoured.". 7:59am
Ben should have gotten two donuts. 7:53am
Ben isn't sure about breakfast. 9.00 for chai from a machine, oj, a donut & cool ranch cheese curds. 7:42am
Ben smells cows. 7:30am
Ben switched to sunglasses. 7:20am
Ben passed Chubby's North. 7:09am
Ben passed a tank and a helecopter. 6:57am
Ben has entered the middle of nowhere, a little concerned about espresso supply. 6:28am
Ben sees evidence of the sun. 6:15am
Ben is annoyed that Caribou won't be open in time. 6:13am
Ben is gassing up in Menomonie and will do his best not to wake L & K. 6:06am
Ben is learning about lager yeast. 5:53am
Ben just passed The Drop Zone. 5:38am
Ben is in Wisconsin. 5:20am
Ben wonders what Punjabiyan Di Shaan means. 5:09am
Ben thinks 94 looks creepy that empty. 4:58am
Ben just remembered that I94 is closed this weekend. 4:54am
Ben has tripple checked and is 95% certain everything is packed. 4:46am
Ben got up a little early. 3:43am
Ben is not looking forward to getting up at 4:00 AM. 7:42pm
Ben is going to get his favorite lens from the shop. 1:40pm

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For the first entry, we have Sinfest with a bit of commentary on the current financial situation:

Next up is Gizmodo, with some enlightening information about voters who want deeper broadband penetration.

And finally, for now, is BBC News with a horrifying article about the current wave of mass extinction. -via Greg Laden

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As an assignment for my art history class, I wrote some comments about this photograph hanging at the MIA.

At first glance the familiar, approximately 8 x 10, size of this photograph is quite disarming. Aside from the sepia coloring of the black and white image, there is little to indicate that this is not a modern photograph of the American west. However, upon closer inspection, the smooth, glass-like, almost foggy quality of the water gives away the length of time necessary to expose a negative in 1871. While it is likely that O’Sullivan used a very large aperture during this long exposure, the depth of field reaches from the extremely close foreground nearly to infinity, enhancing the modern appearance of the image.

The mountainous walls of the canyon are impressively rendered as the high angle of sunlight on the stone brings out the ruggedness of the landscape. Even though the image is a classic example of landscape photography, that high angle of light brings out a definition of shape that gives the image the appearance of an intentionally lit portrait. The impression is great enough that the eye searches the walls of rocks for faces, like scanning a crowd.

The inclusion of the boat and figure near the center of the photograph gives the image a portrait-like quality as well. If the viewer didn’t already know that the picture is part of a documentary project commissioned by the war department, he could easily believe it to be a travel photograph taken to commemorate a family expedition. The inclusion of the bow of the photographer’s own boat and footprints reinforce the impression that this is not staged, but a recording of an event as it takes place.

The searching for faces also leads the viewer to an object that continually draws my attention. In the lower-left corner is a shape, like a lower-case “e” made by something unidentifiable. Possibly, this is something that a veteran wilderness explorer would recognize instantly. Possibly, it is an artifact of this particular technician’s albumen printing process. It leaves a question in the viewer’s mind about the reasoning or lack thereof behind including this shape in the final print.

Originally taken as documentation of The United States’ western expansion in the late 1800s, the photograph may have been intended to show the rough, untamed nature of the landscape that Americans had yet to conquer. In this regard, it is successful as the figure and boat give a sense of the sheer volume of stone above the river and indicates that the location would be impossible to access by any other means. The image is successful in other ways as well. The landscape was not only untamed wilderness, but a majestic scene that would be visited by millions of people in the century to come.

At the same time, the image seems devoid of opinion of its purpose. Is it intended to show the nation that there are lands out west available for the taking? That it was the manifest destiny of the nation to expand into these lands? Or is it intended to warn Americans of what dangers lay in the years and lands ahead? Without the context of caption and American history, the viewer would see this as a dynamic, technically-well-executed landscape photograph. We have seen so many thousands of photographs similar to this one that we no longer think immediately of the relationship of man to nature. We no longer consider the power inherent in ownership of this land or the power the land might bestow upon us.

The wide angle of the image, including nearly the feet of the photographer and reaching into the sky above the far bluff, still can’t include the peaks of the near cliff faces. The stone itself forms the edge of the image through its interaction with the sides and top of the print and the path of the river defines the bottom boundary of the photograph. That simple fact gives the viewer a feeling of smallness, even when the valley is represented on such a small scale.

While the primary subjects of the image, the stone walls of the canyon and the figure standing near the center are motionless by necessity of the technology of the era, the composition and framing produced many diagonal lines, many of which appear to converge off the left edge of the frame, giving the impression of motion and a feeling of more to be seen farther down the river bend. Invoking a feeling of peace in an environment of danger, the wide beach and the flowing water contrast with the apparent heat of the desert canyon, inviting the viewer, or perhaps the photographer, to stop and rest for a while.

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