A World of Shit

 

Originally, this was meant to be a light-hearted blog post about how much horse poop I am surrounded by on a daily basis. (*1) Two horses produce quite a lot of feces in the average 24 hour cycle, but hideous weather where everything froze up into thousands of rock-hard equine byproduct pyramids has rendered our horse field a truly sordid mess... and that was the funny idea for a post! Hahahha!!

Close up of multi-layered poops. Sometimes it seems the horses are "trying to help" by eliminating multiple times in one spot. I dunno; what occurs is shit insulation that makes the whole lump harder because ice forms and doesn't thaw underneath. I can't win! 

Here's Mount PoopMore. And see all the lumpy darker items in the background? Yes, more horse shit! That chestnut-colored item off to the upper left is one of the instigators of all this mess.

But my point is... the world is shit! I am so freaked out/disgusted/angry/scared/horrified at what putin has done in Ukraine! We are surrounded by shit, and the shit produced by other people! So it's not awful enough that we're (still) in a pandemic, have Climate Crisis to deal with, have half of our country's population getting weirder and scarier by the minute... and now we have to consider the distinct possibility of nuclear annihilation? No wonder I'm exhausted!

Although this was a pretty funny scene: I looked out our back door and wondered why Neko seemed so tall. On closer inspection it was because she had scaled Mount PoopMore- maybe to see what she could see? Who knows what goes on in the horsey mind?!!

And now putin has apparently put nuclear forces on alert?!?!?!?! Aughh! Will we live to experience Mardi Gras? (*2) Will I ever get my field cleaned up? Will it even matter?!?!?? (*3)

Picture of other suspect, Maggie. A million years old and still going (somewhat) strong. Included for no other reason than she produces 1/2 of all the equine excrement littering our fields and our lives. She shouldn't be left out!!

(*1) Typically, I keep a rigorously clean field and shovel the daily output of poop into glamorous piles which are then directed to our composting piles. Hygienic and productive!

(*2) Bob and I are going out to try and score a King Cake today. Maybe this will cheer me up!

(*3) Oh yeah: Fuck putin. I've gotten all existential...

Collusion, Conspiricies and a Political Rant

Interesting when the universe conspires to give you socks and sweat pants that match... or maybe it's collusion? That's a popular word of late.
How cheerful we all are here at the BobnRita Ranch now that we're (every last one of us!) off our meds and smearing Russian dressing on everything. That story involving Don Jr. has done as much to heal us as the antibiotics and horse pills we were all downing. Don't laugh; it felt like a dispensary around here. My morning ritual was elaborate and I inevitably was the last one served. It ran something like this: Come downstairs and distract the dog while smashing up major horse pain pill and mix that with a grated carrot and molasses to add to Maggie the Mexican Pony's morning feed. Take food to Maggie (who was suffering mightily from a summer-time version of her winter hoof abscess), and then mix up Robin the Good's special rice/organic chicken broth/turkey crumble easy to digest breakfast slops while tricking her into consuming a peanut butter enrobed doxcycline tablet (she caught on in week two). Then it was prepare a Kong for her post-breakfast enjoyment/entertainment. After that, it was time for my favorite drug- caffeine- and my own course of doxcycline. We were all joined by Bob, who was taking amoxicillin for his own charming case of Lyme disease. See why I'm glad that we're past this particular episode?

But yes, recent news tidbits have buoyed our spirits... who's lying now? Everyday adds another character to the list of guest appearances at that infamous meeting at Trump Tower. While I would applaud a quick good riddance to corrupt, cruel, and crooked occupants of the White House, I am actually hoping all of these investigations from Special Prosecutors and House and Senate Sub Committees drag on until well into 2018. I want this boil to erupt right around mid-term elections so there's no doubt as to who caused what when. The not always swift population of this fine country (yes, the very one that helped Russia "elect" The Orange Menace) has a notoriously short attention span and if things come to a head too soon, by November 2018 our citizenry will re-elect some of the mobsters responsible for perpetuating this present charade. Just what IS wrong with rethuglicans?!?!? How much is too much before even they have to admit that there's plenty fishy about this last election and there are more than enough ethics violations to go around! Yeeeesh!
Hey! That felt good! I got a lot off my chest and the sun's shining and maybe it's a new morning for America... where have I heard that before?

This is Why We Do Art

One reason to make art is to respond to the world. Let's face it: the world (at present anyway!) is pretty messed up and very confusing. Making art can certainly be a way to order your thoughts, express concern, channel outrage (or even hope!) and at the very least, vent some pent up steam. Since The Orange Menace ascended to the throne of The Unpresidented, artists and writers and musicians (and yes! comedians!) have been venting and expressing and that's a good thing.
The piece above is a case in point. The phrase "kompromat" is Russian for "Compromising Material": essentially blackmail. I made this piece as a way of commenting on all the information pouring out about the present administrations ties to Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. Let's face it- there is plenty of evidence that the election was hacked and influenced with the "help" of foreign agents. And there is that disturbing dossier full of weird allegations about "golden showers" and other compromising materials...
I worked with gold and other sumptuous fabrics as both Putin and The Donald enjoy luxurious shiny things and a life of opulence. And I wanted the piece to reference heraldic banners as the present administration clearly sees itself as an imperial presidency. Let them eat cake, indeed!
I also employed semi-Cyrillic lettering that was still easily readable but looks vaguely foreign. I thank the curator of the show "Mincing Words" with suggesting the word "kompromat"! The perfect word at the right time. (Thank you, Martha Lewis).
It's worth remembering that Russian artists have labored under restrictions and censorship for years. Speaking one's mind during the Soviet Era was seriously dangerous and artists daring to produce music or art or books that were considered decadent or not for the glory of the Russian people or government were banished to Siberia or killed. Things aren't much better recently; think of the Russian rock band Pussy Riot. They were jailed but continue to make art, music and revolution. We consider these events occur in distant countries, under repressive regimes... until it happens here.
I am deeply horrified and troubled by the rise in hate crimes, the repression of a free press, the belief in fake news and the passing of bizarre laws (such as the one in North Dakota that was to allow drivers to run over people if they were in roadways protesting. Yikes!) Our democracy is being sorely tested and our rights are being eroded. (Why is it that the rethuglicans only like to protect SOME rights- like the right to bear arms?) I think- no, I KNOW- it's an especially important time to exercise our freedom of speech.
So... the only response possible is to make art. Viva La Revolution!