911 STORY... NEVER FORGET

A couple of days ago, there was the 25th Anniversary of the Tragedy of the attack on the Twin Towers and their collapse.  It brings very painful memories to the whole Country - not only to those who personally have lost somebody dear to them.

Every single victim is Our Family, who we never be forgotten. 

I am an artist (photographer) living and working in New York City. I had a few shows in the nineties, but what happened on this faithful day denied significance to anything in which we all (the survivors) were involved.
It took me a few years to start creating again. The first artwork I created, three years after the collapse of the Twin Towers was a 'mobile' created using one of the photographs of WTC.
A few years before their collapse I laid down on a ground between the towers and, on a rather cloudy day, shot a shot upward, to the sky with the corners of the towers in the corners of the square negative. This photograph became a base of the 'free-floating propeller' suspended on a line.
The images of the towers created the wings of this 'propeller', which reacts to a smallest air movement. I called the piece: 'VERTIGO - never forget'. The 'wings' are supported on a steel wire frame, which holds them in a similar position to each other as the original towers. The images are computer printouts on paper - with the total span (corner to corner) of 25 inches.
At this point the piece is hanging at the ceiling of my apartment in New York City. 

There is a short video on my website, showing the mobile moving:

Every New Yorker has stories related to this tragedy.  All of them are very personal, very important to us...stories of depression, stories of lost hope, stories of unknown...
We will re-live them until the last day of our lives.

Hi, I am Jacek, and I am a NEWS-JUNKIE...

Hi, I am Jacek, and I am a NEWS-JUNKIE...

I have been watching CNN since its inception, watching with bewilderment how it has been changing since.  

It used to be a news-worthy source of information - and then it evolved into a 'partisan-lefty' outlet, and then (as of now) it became an 'ass-kissing pretending to be on a proper side of history' garbage.

I am a moderate Democrat, who is allergic to BS and both extreme propaganda.  

So, for years, the outlet now called 'MS NOW', was slightly too lefty - but recently (coincidently with the name change) it became quite well balanced.  Still 'progressive' but more 'down to earth'.

So I watch it more than CNN now.

If I watched only those outlets the I could lose all real information, about the real America, and the real World.

I tried to watch FoxNews as a counterbalance - but the Bepto Bismol is not enough to stop the NAUSEA produced by ingesting such concentrated amount of vitriol stupidity, without any relation to the truth (or any form of reality).

I need to have the info balanced and provided from different angles - otherwise it's an echo-chamber.

(Democracy NOW - having nothing to do with Democracy is not a right choice either)

*** So, I watch 

1.  BBC World News - slightly conservative, but completely different angle from the American.

2.  RAI 24 - I speak Italian, so I found this service VERY balanced and informative. It shows certain issues which the American outlets do not dare touching (for some reason or other)

...and recently I discovered something what changes the access to information completely:

https://famelack.com/tv

For those, who do not know it - it is a portal where you can select the free tv streaming from any country in the World. The stream is stable, easily selectable... 

So, I watch:

3.  EUROnews (in English) - (provided in France) a very good, European angle on not-only-European issues.  A good counter-balance.

4.  ABC News Australia

5.  News24 (Australia)

I wish there was something from Ireland... but due to the licensing issues, not available in the US.

One can access it via VPN with the Irish server, but I am not sure if it's worthy.

So - that's it.  

Greetings to all NEWS-JUNKIES.

The best language skid ever...

This is, for sure, the best skid about accents, ever played on TV.
(Two Scottish blokes in a voice activated elevator in Scottland, trying to go to the 11th floor)

ATHEISM

I am an ATHEIST.
I have been an Atheist for 60 years by now.

Very often I get approached by so called 'religious people' asking me:
'Why don't you believe in God?'

I don't, but it's the least of the problems here.  This is entirely a WRONG question.

Atheist (like myself) — rejects belief as a valid epistemic tool; relies only on evidence, reasoning, and falsifiability.

Non-theist — doesn’t believe in gods but still uses “belief” as a mental category.

Agnostic — suspends judgment but still accepts belief as a concept.

Theist — uses belief and applies it to gods.

-----

If someone considers “belief” a legitimate way to hold positions, this someone is not an atheist in the strict rationalist sense. This someone is a non-theist who still uses theistic cognitive tools.

(Epistemic - relating to knowledge, understanding, or the conditions under which the process of knowing occurs)

Very often I consider myself more than an Atheist - ANTI-THEIST to be exact (but it's a subject of different discussion).

I have crossed the Country...

I have crossed the Country on the motorcycle (solo trips): 
Length-wise (Coast to Coast and Back 2023) and 
Width-wise (North-South and Back 2026).
...and crossed 26 states on these trips alone:
NY, PA, MD, NC, DE, SC, GA, FL, TN, KY, WV, VA, NJ, OH, IN, MO, IL, KS, CO, NM, AZ, CA, NV, UT, NE, IA.  
Since I also rode through the CN it makes 27 States crossed on the motorcycle.
We will see what is going to be my final score...

'Big, Awkward Cat' - this is how cats see their human...

 I have just read somewhere that there is a theory explaining the human-cat relationship which says, that unlike dogs, cats have never considered their humans 'masters'. 

Humans for the cats are just 'BIGGER, AWKWARD CATS'.  Of course they provide food and shelter and make a safe environment - what is expected from bigger, stronger cats.  Cats rum around the legs of their human, 

mark them with pheromones... as they do with other cats.  They cuddle together and 'hide' in the shelter of their human body, as they would do with other cats.  

If they are annoyed of their human, they scratch and bite, as they would do with other cats.

That actually explains what other theories leave un-answered and un-explained...

I AM PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A 'BIG, AWKWARD CAT' FOR MY CASSI, FOR 17 YEARS...

I will never forget...

ARMORY Park Avenue never disappoints...

 ARMORY Park Avenue never disappoints...

Great venue for un-orthodox expositions and installations.
Last Sunday (June 15, 2025) we went to see the exhibition named 

DIANE ARBUS: CONSTELLATION

Everything has been written already about the artist, her life, her images...
It would be an exercise in futility to add to it. 

I am not going to produce any seditious statements, neither...

But, I found a very interesting element of the installation itself.  The steel structures holding the images cast very intriguing shadows on the floor.  In addition to it I found even more intriguing and mysterious 'tire marks' on the wooden floor.  Were they intentional...? Or not...

Here we go: