Interested in giving junior a head start as a future art world connoisseur?  Pick up art philanthropist Yana Peel's newly released Art For Baby book published by Templar Publishing in conjunction with OUTSET Contemporary Art Fund.  The book includes all black and white images that were donated to the project by artists such as Damien Hirst, Keith Haring, Julian Opie, Bridget Riley, Takashi Murakami, and Kasmir Malevich, among many others.

In the October issue of Tatler, Francesca Segal explains how Peel's baby art book idea was born after discovering her newborn baby entranced by a Julian Opie video called Sarah Walking:  "The baby was captivated by the black and white of the image... and Peel's nanny explained that some childcare experts believe very young babies can see only high-contrast very defined black and white images."  Certainly a wonderfully scientific and fun way for both mother and baby to brush up on contemporary art greats.

Decretazione senza quartiere. In tutti i campi. Perché «soltanto attraverso i decreti legge è possibile il cambiamento». Non è la prima volta che il premier lo dice, anzi. Ma ieri sera, concludendo la festa del Popolo della libertà in corso a Milano, Silvio Berlusconi è apparso più determinato che mai. E anzi, ha annunciato che adotterà la procedura d'urgenza anche per sanzionare i graffitari, coloro che devastano il volto delle città armati di bombolette spray. «Non è possibile — ha tuonato il premier — che ancora ci siano certi comportamenti: sporcare i luoghi pubblici deve diventare un reato. Sull'argomento presenterò un ddl al prossimo Consiglio dei ministri di venerdì a Napoli». Il premier sembra fermarsi e invece riprende indignato: «Bisogna farla finita con i cosiddetti graffiti perché in alcune nostre città non sembra di stare in Europa ma in Africa».

Vittorio Sgarbi, da Salemi, coglie la palla al balzo. A suo tempo, aveva organizzato a Milano una mostra assai discussa proprio sulla street art: «Va bene il decreto — esordisce —, purché Berlusconi lo faccia scrivere a me». Il critico-sindaco passa a descrivere l'ossatura del provvedimento: «Primo: tutti i palazzi costruiti fino al 1960 sono edifici che non devono in alcun modo essere sfiorati. Massima severità». Punto due? «Quelli degli anni successivi rappresentano l'Italia deturpata dalla speculazione economica ed edilizia. In questo caso, l'intervento dei graffitisti rende gradevole persino ciò che è il frutto di quella stagione». E dunque, le amministrazioni dovrebbero stipulare con i graffitisti una sorta di concordato: «Pagarli per bonificare i luoghi dell'orrore suburbano. Luoghi che non possono che migliorare». Sgarbi cita Basquiat e Keith Haring, ricorda che anche loro «provenivano dalla strada». E conclude con questa immagine: «Il taglio su una tela bianca, è Fontana. Se invece il taglio lo faccio su un Caravaggio, è una follia e un crimine».

A stretto giro, arriva anche la risposta di Filippo Penati, il presidente della Provincia di Milano eletto dal centrosinistra: «Le iniziative per tenere in ordine la città vanno tutte bene, e non sarò certo io a dire che non servono. Eppure, continuiamo a vedere un atteggiamento schizofrenico: il ministro dell'Interno Maroni non fa che ribadire la necessità di assegnare più poteri ai sindaci. Oggi, scopriamo che anche su un argomento che è assolutamente da sindaci e comunque da amministratori locali, il governo si metterà a decretare». Ma Filippo Penati ha qualcosa d'altro sullo stomaco: «E poi, francamente, a Milano avremmo sperato che il premier arrivasse con il decreto per l'Expo firmato». Ma alla serata finale della festa pdl c'è anche Fabrizio De Pasquale, che è il presidente dell'associazione nazionale anti graffiti. Il quale, naturalmente, esulta: «Come avevamo già avuto modo di constatare, il presidente Berlusconi sembra aver preso di petto la questione». Secondo De Pasquale, «i graffiti producono un danno economico imponente. Secondo una stima per difetto, per ripulire tutti i graffiti dagli edifici italiani sarebbero necessari non meno di 750 milioni di euro». Ma già così, tags e scarabocchi costano «alle amministrazioni pubbliche e alle municipalizzate all'incirca 80 milioni di euro l'anno». Il peggio, secondo De Pasquale, è che tanto danno viene prodotto «da una ridottissima minoranza di persone. Che fino a questo momento hanno potuto tuttavia contare su un'assoluta impunità».

da Corriere.it

It's fun to guess at what our generation's New York will be known for. If I were forced to project what people will remember of post-9/11 NYC in my limited scope, I'd have to point out (in no particular order) the proliferation of the hipster (begrudgingly), the digital exchange of music and the MySpace age, the fall of print media and the rise of bloggers, the watering down of club culture, the financial crisis, gentrification on an even grander scale and the most polarizing election in recent memory. Who knows, some of these things may be forgotten altogether or become woven into the social and culture landscape. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Feel free to offer your own speculations.

Posted by Dr Henry Bauer on Thursday, 2 October 2008 on HIV / Aids Skepticism

The “AIDSTruth” list of people who died lacks necessary information about the health risks that had affected the named individuals. Yet the death of any given  “HIV-positive” person who was not taking antiretroviral drugs might have resulted from any one of a large number of possible causes. Some of those on the list had taken AIDS medications for many years before quitting because of adverse effects, or because of a change of perspective; others had a history of compromised health caused by long-term drug or alcohol addiction, or health challenges not related to AIDS.

A direct response to the AIDSTruthers’ exploitation of people’s deaths is the appended list of high-profile AIDS activists, treatment advocates, and celebrities who followed doctors' orders to consume AIDS drugs and died anyway --- often in the prime of their lives --- from the very AIDS illnesses they believed the drugs would prevent, or from heart attacks, organ failures, cancers, or other conditions characteristic of chronic exposure to toxic anti-HIV chemicals. Notice that some of these deaths of AIDS activists are attributed to "AIDS-related conditions" or "AIDS complications” --- terms that fail to disclose whether the death resulted from a heart attack, a stroke, diabetes, lactic acidosis, cancer, liver failure, or some other adverse effect of AIDS drugs. As I’ve pointed out on several earlier occasions, the official Treatment Guidelines acknowledge that such “side” effects of HAART are responsible for more mortality than the “disease” supposedly being treated:
“In the era of combination antiretroviral therapy, . . . the risk of several non-AIDS-defining conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, liver-related events, renal disease, and certain non-AIDS malignancies [97-102] is greater than the risk for AIDS in persons with CD4 T-cell counts >200 cells/mm3; the risk for these events increases progressively as the CD4 T-cell count decreases from 350 to 200 cells/mm3” (p. 13, 28 January 2008 version).

Despite this acknowledgment, the numbers of “AIDS” or “HIV disease” deaths reported each year in the US are actually the numbers of people who tested "HIV antibody positive" or were living with an official AIDS diagnosis when they died of any cause at all, be it an accident, a homicide or suicide, or a non-AIDS illness like diabetes that may be a “side” effect of antiretroviral drugs [Walensky et al., cited in HIV/AIDS SCAM: Have antiretroviral drugs saved 3 million life-years?, 6 July 2008 ].

A recent post [HAART saves lives--- but doesn’t prolong them!?, 17 September 2008]  noted that the dramatic drop in deaths between 1996 and 1997, by about half, had not been accompanied by any dramatic increase in the median age at which HIV-positive people were dying: that median age had been increasing at about the same rate --- ~0.4 years per year --- since 1982. A nitpicker might point out that the rate was only ~0.3 years per year up to 1993 and about twice that thereafter --- predictably, because since 1993 the definition of “AIDS” had included people with low CD4 counts but who are asymptomatic --- i.e., people who are not ill ---, a definition not adopted in such other regions as Australia,  Britain, Canada, or Europe. “Side” effects of antiretroviral drugs would naturally take longer to kill people who had been initially healthy than those who had presented with some sort of illness at diagnosis.

Eleven of the people named below died before the HAART era, and 26 died after the introduction of HAART in 1996.

AZT medication from 1987 to 1996 can be blamed for at least 150,000 deaths [HAART saves lives--- but doesn’t prolong them!?]: the immediate 50% decline in deaths from 1996 to 1997 seems the direct result of desisting from the administration of high doses of AZT. But HAART typically includes appreciable amounts of AZT or a similar drug, so HAART remains toxic, even if somewhat less so than pure high-dose AZT.

The latest published claims for HAART include that life expectancy for 20-year-old HIV-positives had increased by 13 years between 1996 and 2005 to an additional 49 years, and for 35-year-olds the life expectancy in 1996-99 was said to be another 25 years (Antiretroviral Therapy Collaboration, Lancet 372 [2008] 293-99). But the death statistics show that the median age of death from “HIV disease” was still only 45 in 2004 [HAART saves lives--- but doesn’t prolong them!?]; and, indeed, the 26 people listed below who died after 1996 averaged 44 years of age at death. The activists’ refrain that AIDS is now a chronic, manageable condition is contradicted by the facts --- at least for those “HIV-positive” people who accept antiretroviral treatment.

------------------

Researching and preparing this post has been no pleasant task. Death comes to all of us sooner or later, and most of us summon sympathy and empathy over any human death. Not many people are willing to use deaths of named individuals as talking points in an argument, as the AIDSTruthers do. Unfortunately, the only answer that might be heard by these vigilantes is to cite deaths that directly contradict their claim, for the AIDSTruthers have explicitly refused to engage in reasoned, evidence-based discussion, and they have shown themselves impervious to more general argument. So, while regretting the need to do so, we present these data to correct the one-sided story put forth by the AIDSTruth vigilantes.

We even understand --- apparently, unlike the AIDSTruth Team --- that anecdotes or lists cannot serve to establish reliable generalizations. Nevertheless, because these prominent AIDS “activists” and proponents of HAART were as well placed as anyone could be, to know about and to receive the very best antiretroviral treatment, their premature deaths do seem probative of the claims made for HAART. Moreover, their average age of death is consistent with the statistical data from death certificates reported by the Center for Health Statistics [Table 2 in HAART saves lives--- but doesn’t prolong them!?].

Deceased AIDS Activists, Treatment Advocates and Celebrities
who died owing to or despite taking AIDS medications
(This information is from various published obituaries;
some are quoted direct, others have been shortened or copy-edited)

I --- Pre-HAART

Hollywood Icon Rock Hudson Dies of AIDS
On 2 October 1985, actor Rock Hudson, 59, became the first major U.S. celebrity to die of AIDS. Hudson's death raised public awareness of the epidemic, which until that time had been ignored by many in the mainstream as a "gay plague”. It’s of interest that Hudson’s partner, Marc Christian,  with whom he lived and from whom he withheld the serious nature of his condition, never tested HIV positive as a result of their unprotected, intimate contact.

Liberace Dies at 67 from AIDS
On 4 February 1987, Walter Valentino Liberace, world-renowned pianist and entertainer, died after falling into a coma. The official cause of death was complications of AIDS, though those close to him refused to acknowledge that he ever had AIDS.

Barry Gingell, Medical Director of Gay Men's Health Crisis, Dies at 34
Dr. Barry Gingell, 34, who became medical director of the Gay Men's Health Crisis organization in New York and a noted advocate for improved treatment of AIDS patients, died of AIDS on 28 May 1989 at a hospital in New York City.

Keith Haring, Artist/Cartoonist, Dies of AIDS at 31
When artist Keith Haring died on 16 February 1990 of AIDS, he left behind an astonishing artistic legacy. In his 31 years, Haring had gone from being an anonymous graffiti artist who drew chalk figures on New York City subway posters, to being called the successor to Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

Ryan White Dies of AIDS at 18; His Struggle Helped Pierce Myths
9 April 1990 --- Ryan White, the Indiana teenager who put the face of a child on AIDS and served as a leader for gaining greater understanding and compassion for those with the deadly disease, died today at age 18, in Riley Hospital for Children, owing to complications of AIDS. Ryan, a hemophiliac who contracted the virus through a blood transfusion, had entered the hospital on March 29 suffering from a respiratory infection. His death continues to be used to raise “awareness” and funding for AIDS.
White had been taking AIDS-treatment drugs. Other sources attribute his death to internal bleeding as a result of hemophilia.

Rock Singer Freddie Mercury Dies at 45
24 November 1991 --- Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the rock band Queen, died of AIDS-related pneumonia on Sunday at age 45. A day before his death, Mercury released a statement indicating that he had the disease: "I felt it correct to keep this information private to date in order to protect the privacy of those around me." He added that he wanted everyone to join him and his doctors to combat AIDS.
As with Rock Hudson, Mercury’s long-term partner never tested HIV positive.

Kimberly Bergalis, AZT Victim
After testing HIV positive, Bergalis was treated with AZT at the University of Miami. Suddenly she started a precipitous decline in health. In an angry letter, she partly ascribed her symptoms to the toxic drug: "I have lived through the torturous ache that infested my face and neck, brought on by AZT. I have endured trips twice a week to Miami for three months only to receive painful IV injections. I've had blood transfusions. I've had a bone marrow biopsy. I cried my heart out from the pain”. This was only the beginning. The yeast infection that led to her AIDS diagnosis worsened after AZT treatment and became uncontrollable; she lost more than thirty pounds, her hair gradually fell out, her blood cells died and had to be replaced with transfusions, and her muscles wasted away. Her fevers hit highs of 103 degrees, and by late 1990 her T-cell count had dropped from an average of 1,000 to a mere 43. She looked just like a chemotherapy patient --- which she now was. She developed AIDS just two years after testing HIV positive, and died shortly thereafter (on 8 December 1991).

AIDS Activist, Artist Alison ('Ali') Gertz, 26, Dies
8 August 1992 --- Alison Gertz, who was exposed to the AIDS virus during her first sexual experience at age 16, died Saturday at her parents' home in Westhampton Beach, N.Y. Gertz went public with her disease, giving lectures, founding an AIDS-awareness group called Love Heals, and allowing the airing of a television movie based on her life. To keep her functioning normally, Ms. Gertz each day took AZT, Ganciclovir, and Bactrim.

Arthur Ashe: The Gentle Warrior, 1943-1993
6 February 1993 --- Ashe was ranked the number-one tennis-player in the world in 1968. He contracted the AIDS virus from an unscreened blood transfusion during his second open-heart surgery in 1983. Later he organized the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS. Arthur Ashe died at age 49 in New York Hospital as a result of AIDS-related pneumonia.
In his book, Black Lies, White Lies, journalist Tony Brown --- a close friend of Ashe’s --- reveals that in the last months of his life, Ashe concluded that the AZT therapy he took in response to testing HIV positive was at the root of his descent into illness.

Bruce Voeller, NGLTF Founder, Loses Battle with AIDS
13 February 1994 --- In the 1970s, Bruce Voeller founded the National Gay Task Force (NGTF), which in 1986 changed its name to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). It was Voeller who had suggested the name AIDS, "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome", instead of GRID, "Gay-Related Immune Deficiency”, which he considered both stigmatizing and inaccurate. Voeller lost his own battle with the disease and died at his Topanga, CA, home, assisted by his life partner, Richard Lucik.

MTV Star Pedro Zamora Dies at 22
11 November 1994 --- AIDS activist Pedro Zamora died of AIDS at age 22. Zamora said he became infected with HIV through unprotected sex when he was 17. He testified at a congressional hearing, appeared in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention television commercial about AIDS, and was featured on MTV's "The Real World”.

Elizabeth Glaser Dies at 47; Crusader for Pediatric AIDS
4 December 1994 --- Elizabeth Glaser, who waged a tireless campaign to draw attention to pediatric AIDS, died yesterday at her home in Santa Monica, CA. She was 47. The cause was complications from AIDS, said Josh Baran, a spokesman for the family. Mrs. Glaser, the wife of Paul Michael Glaser, a director and actor who starred in the "Starsky and Hutch" television series, was one of several public figures to bring AIDS to the forefront of the 1992 Presidential campaign. She had contracted the virus through a blood transfusion in 1981. Thousands of delegates, dignitaries, and guests stood frozen in place at the Democratic National Convention in New York City as she told of the death of her 7-year-old daughter, Ariel, in 1988 from AIDS.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Glaser’s autobiography, In the Absence of Angels, reveals that prior to starting the AIDS drug treatment that she had delayed for many years, her T-cell count was in normal ranges and she was enjoying normal health.

II --- During the HAART period

ACT UP DC Founder Steve Michael Dies at 42
Steve Michael, founder of ACT UP of Washington, DC, died of AIDS complications on 25 May 1998. Michael's partner of seven years, Wayne Turner, gave the order to disconnect Michael from life support after his condition severely worsened. Michael had spent almost four weeks in the intensive care unit at Washington Hospital Center for treatment of AIDS-related pneumonia. He was 42 years old.

AIDS Activist Simon Nkoli Dies
30 November 1998 --- Nkoli died on the eve of World Aids Day, and in news articles was described as "only 41 years young”. Nkoli was the first South African to declare openly that he had AIDS.

Singing Star Ofra Haza Dies at 42 of AIDS Complications
Ofra Haza, popular Israeli singer, died on 23 February 2000 at the age of 42. Although initial reports suggested that Haza was only suffering from pneumonia or an extended bout with the flu, The Jerusalem Post reports that she suffered from liver and kidney failure.

Kiyoshi Kuromiya, Leading HIV/AIDS Activist, Dies
Kiyoshi Kuromiya, one of the world's leading AIDS activists, died on the night of 10 May 2000, owing to complications from AIDS. To the last, Kiyoshi remained an activist, insisting on and receiving the most aggressive treatment for cancer and the HIV that complicated its treatment. He participated fully in every treatment decision, making sure that he, his friends and fellow activists were involved with his treatment every step of the way.

Stephen Gendin, Activist and Writer, Dies of AIDS at 34
Stephen Gendin, who was at the center of AIDS activism for fifteen years and whose provocative writing in POZ magazine as a gay man struggling with HIV sparked community controversies, died on 19 July 2000 at New York City's Roosevelt Hospital. He was 34. Gendin's death was caused by cardiac arrest while undergoing chemotherapy for AIDS-related lymphoma.

Nkosi Johnson, Young AIDS Activist, Dies at Age 12
1 June 2001, South Africa --- Nkosi Johnson, a boy who was born with HIV and became an outspoken champion of others infected with the AIDS virus, died Friday of the disease he battled for all of his 12 years. Nkosi had collapsed in December with brain damage and viral infections. His foster mother, Gail Johnson, said he died peacefully in his sleep. Nkosi is featured in the documentary film, Questioning AIDS in South Africa.

Frances 'Dace' Stone, AIDS Activist, Dies at 48
20 August 2001 --- Longtime AIDS activist Frances "Dace" Stone, 48, died of undisclosed causes last Wednesday in Washington, DC. Stone had been involved with the Whitman-Walker Clinic for nearly 20 years as a volunteer, board member, and former president of the board of directors.

Gay Columnist Lance Loud Dies of AIDS
Lance Loud, the openly gay columnist probably best known for his role in An American Family and as a columnist for various magazines, including The Advocate, Details, Interview, and Creem, died at age 50. Lance entered a hospice suffering from AIDS and died on 22 December 2001.

AIDS Activist Belynda Dunn Dies
13 March 2002 --- HIV-positive activist Belynda Dunn, whose crusade for a new liver pitted her against a big insurer and won the support of Boston's mayor, died yesterday in a Pittsburgh hospital, four days after she received the second of two liver transplants. She was 51. Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center believe a blood clot clogged her lungs.

Project Inform Board Member Linda Grinberg Dies
27 May 2002 --- One of AIDS activism's greats, Linda Grinberg, died on Memorial Day of a heart attack, the result of AIDS-related pulmonary hypertension. She had just turned 51. Grinberg served on the board of treatment-advocacy-group Project Inform.

Barbara Garrison, AIDS Activist, Dead at 45 from AIDS Complications
28 May 2002 --- Barbara Garrison, an AIDS activist and former blood technician, died from complications of AIDS at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. She was 45. She had been diagnosed as HIV-positive in December 1995 and became involved with the Michigan Persons Living with AIDS Task Force, and at the time of her death headed the group's membership and management committee.

AIDS Activist Javier Contreras Dies at 33
March 2003 --- Javier Contreras, a Chicago AIDS activist, died of AIDS complications at age 33. He had worked at a counselor and case manager and was also a member of the HIV Prevention Planning Group of Chicago.

AIDS Activist Evan Ruderman Dies at 44
Evan Ruderman, an AIDS activist, died on 18 November 2003 from complications of AIDS. She was 44. Ruderman helped create the Foundation for Integrated AIDS Research and worked to obtain equal access to treatment for HIV patients around the world.

AIDS Activist Carlton Hogan Dead at 42
Carlton H. Hogan, age 42, of Minneapolis, died at home on 18 November 2003 after a long fight with AIDS. He had worked for the Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS Statistical Center, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota.

ACT UP Legend Keith Cylar Dead at 45 of Heart Trouble
Keith Cylar, a 45-year-old ACT UP legend, died of heart trouble on 5 April 2004. Cylar and his partner, Charles King, founded the one-stop New York social-service-and-activist powerhouse, Housing Works.

Positively Aware's Charles Clifton Dies at 45 of Heart Attack
Clifton died on 15 August 2004 of a heart attack at age 45. He was executive director  of Test Positive Aware Network and edited the influential publication Positively Aware.

Heart Attack Claims AIDS Activist Gigi Nicks
Gigi Nicks, the patient advocacy director at Chicago's CORE Center, was well known for her pioneering activism on behalf of positive women and children. She died of a heart attack on 19 August 2004 at age 52.

Nelson Mandela Says AIDS Led to Death of His Son, Makgatho Mandela
Johannesburg, 6 January 2005 --- Former South African president Nelson Mandela announced Thursday that his son, Makgatho Mandela, 54, had died that morning of an undisclosed illness related to AIDS. Makgatho had been receiving antiretroviral treatment for more than a year.

AIDS Activist, Speaker Debbie Runions Dies
Debbie Runions, a prominent AIDS activist and patient who called for governmental response to the spread of AIDS, died of AIDS-related complications on 16 October 2005 at age 55. Runions found out she was HIV positive in 1992 and spent the rest of her life promoting AIDS awareness and prevention.

Jerry 'Grant' Lewis, 19 December 1979 --- 17 January 2006
Grant was born with hemophilia and at the age of 11 learned that he was infected with HIV. Grant was an experimental pediatric-HIV-drugs research patient at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda (MD) for 5 years, and he was the first adolescent in the world to introduce one of the new protease inhibitors into his body. Grant made several appearances on the Phil Donahue, Montel Williams, Jenny Jones, and Maury Povich shows, and along with Magic Johnson and Greg Louganis he was the subject of a feature story on an ESPN segment about sports and HIV. Grant died at age 26.

Jeff Getty, AIDS Activist, Passes Away
16 October 2006 --- AIDS activist Jeff Getty passed away in California at age 49. Getty died of heart failure in Joshua Tree, CA, following a cancer treatment. He became famous after doctors at San Francisco General Hospital transplanted bone marrow from a baboon into him in 1995. The experiment was termed a failure, yet Getty regained his health and continued to offer himself as a guinea pig for several other experiments.

Pioneering Atlanta AIDS Activist John Granger Dies
John Granger, a local AIDS activist and community volunteer, died on 29 January 2007 at Tucker Nursing Center, of AIDS-related complications owing to multifocal leukoencephalopathy, according to Dr. Jesse Peel, his former partner of 10 years. Granger was 52.

Gay/AIDS Advocate Bob Hattoy Dies of Heart Attack
3 March 2007 --- Bob Hattoy, 56, died in his sleep at his home in Sacramento, CA, apparently of a heart attack. The environmental-political-gay-AIDS activist became perhaps the most widely known openly gay member of the Clinton administration. He addressed the 1992 Democratic National Convention as a person living with AIDS. Hattoy was a long-term survivor of HIV.

John Campbell, Founder of People Living with HIV, Dead at 39
30 May 2007 --- Britain lost a national hero yesterday when John Campbell succumbed to an HIV-related neurodegenerative disease. Campbell shot to prominence in the gay activist community when he and three peers founded the UK Coalition of People Living with HIV and AIDS in 1993. Campbell also founded Positive Nation, an HIV-focused magazine. A former male prostitute, Campbell was also a special government HIV advisor.

Brett Lykins, Celebrated AIDS Activist, Dies at 28
1 August 2007--- To say that Brett Lykins was a familiar face would be an understatement. For nearly all his life, he was the young man at the head of the AIDS awareness movement in Georgia. He first made headlines in 1989 when he was in third grade, revealing to his Gwinnett County classmates during show-and-tell that he was HIV-positive. Brett took to his celebrity like a pro, leading marches and rallies and rubbing shoulders with big-name stars like Sir Elton John during the Atlanta AIDS Walk. On Wednesday night, at his mother's home in Duluth, Brett Lykins finally succumbed to illness, surrounded by relatives and friends.

Presidential AIDS Advisor Dr. Scott Hitt Dies at 49
Dr. R. Scott Hitt, an AIDS specialist and the first openly gay person to head a presidential advisory board, died on 8 November 2007, at age 49, of colon cancer at his home in West Hollywood, according to John Duran, the city's mayor and a longtime friend. Hitt was chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS during President Clinton's administration in the 1990s.

Thomas Morgan, Journalist and Activist, Dies at 56
27 December 2007 --- Thomas Morgan III, a former reporter and editor at the New York Times and a president of the National Association of Black Journalists, died on Monday in Southampton, MA, aged 56. The cause was complications of AIDS, his partner, Tom Ciano, said.

Dallas AIDS Activist Don Sneed Dies
Don Sneed, who will undoubtedly be remembered as the city's most colorful and controversial AIDS activist ever, died on  4 January 2008, aged 54, after a brief hospitalization at the Veterans Hospital in Dallas. He reportedly was in a coma at the time of his death, which was owing apparently to an HIV-related illness.

According to the show producers, Passport (sponsored by Macy's) promises to bring music, mesmerizing multi media, models and theatrics to its infamous 120' runway.

Featured collections will include those by Ben Sherman, INC, Calvin Klein, Alfani Red, and Ed Hardy.

In addition to the GALA EVENING on Thursday, there will be a FASHION INFORM event the next evening.

Acknowledging the devastating effects HIV/AIDS was having on the world and future generations, Macy started up the FASHION INFORM event to educate young adults about prevention and detection.

This unique experience offers guests an evening of fun, food, education, fashion and compassion.

Los Angeles High Schools are selected in the early spring of each year tp participate in this inspiring event which is not marketed to the public.

Fashion Inform, HIV Prevention 101 is an evening underwritten by Macy's West.

Finally, it should be noted that in conjunction with these two events, Macy's sponsors Passport In-Store. Through this fundraiser the department store raises much needed funds for A.I.D.S. causes, outreach programs, research, etc.

Since its inception Passport In-Store has raised over $2.5 million for participating HIV/AIDS organizations. (details below)

GALA EVENING:

Fashion Inform:

5:00 p.m. - Cocktail & Hors d'oeuvres Reception
6:30 p.m. - Show Seating
7:00 p.m. - Passport Fashion Show

PASSPORT IN-STORE

Buy a $10 ticket and save 10-20% on most of your Macy's purchases, plus receive an additional $10 off of one purchase of $25 or more.

All ticket proceeds go directly to participating HIV/AIDS organizations.

Tickets can be purchased from participating Macy's Stores or organizations.

While shopping you may enjoy informal modeling, dressing seminars, cooking demonstrations, live music, beverages and more.

Your $10 ticket affords you:

• Regular, sale & clearance women's, men's and kids' apparel and accessories; fine, bridge and fashion jewelry. PLUS: bed and bath, house wares, china, crystal, silver, frames and luggage, electrics and technology items.
• 10% off regular, sale and clearance furniture, mattresses and area rugs.

Friday, October 3:
Discount only

Saturday, October 4:
Events & Discount Beverly Center, Sherman Oaks, South Coast Plaza, Fashion Valley, Mission Valley, Palm Desert,Victoria Gardens

BENEFICIARIES:

AIDS Services Foundation Orange County
Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team
APLA (AIDS Project Los Angeles)
Reach LA
Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Foothill AIDS Project
PATH (People Assisting the Homeless)
The Wall Las Memorias
UCLA AIDS Institute
Keith Haring artwork © Estate of Keith Haring

General Tickets @ $85 ( ticketmaster.com)

The video intro sequence set the whole thing up - it was amazing. A candy-styled pinball extravagansa. You could see that this five minute intro was a project in itself. From the video content to the way it was displayed on moving screens. It really set the gig up. Dancers appeared and then the Queen of pop was revealed on a throne turning on a platform.

The opening 'Candy Shop' was Madonna informing everyone that she is still working on delivering her best material. Then she followed it up with another one off the new album 'Beat Goes On' and then 'Human Nature' so when 'Vogue' kicks in the crowd are well up for it. Madonna is in great shape and is dancing flat out.

An interlude follows where two of her dancers perform a mock boxing match which Madonna slips into something less comfortable and presumably catches her breath. She reappears with a black Gibson Les Paul and plays 'Into The Groove' complete with Keith Haring-like video content broadcast behind her. Another new one 'Heartbeat' follows and then she's back with another Gibson for 'Borderline', this time it's a pink SG complete with a whammy bar!

'She's Not Me', 'Music', Video Interlude (with Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams'), 'Devil Wouldn't Recognise You', 'Spanish Lesson' and 'Miles Away' are next. 'La Isla Bonita/Lela Pala Tute' get the crowd going frantic and then there is a strange Romanian folk interlude where Madonna is sitting whilst being serenaded by the eldest guitarist of the folk group. Quite touching and nice to see Madonna take a much needed rest - she's really been giving it plenty! 'You Must Love Me', Video Interlude, '4 Minutes' and then 'Like A Prayer' which is electric. So retro it's great though I would have liked to have seen the backing choir instead of hearing them recorded.

'Ray Of Light' is awesome. And the projections behind seem very current what with CERN's LHC recreating the Big Bang this week. Then Madonna tells us she's up for doing requests but "I'm not doing that one cos I can't remember the lyrics...I can't even remember the words to the new ones". Then, with just the drums backing her, she delives a quick rendition of 'Express Yourself' with the audience providing a very convincing accompaniment. "This is why I love the UK!" she explains, then dropping into the opening guitar riff of 'Hung Up'.* She's been having the craic with the audience throughout.

Ending with 'Give It 2 Me' Madonna is definitely stating that this is no farewell tour and that she these new songs are just as relevant, timeless and anthemic as the classics she didn't play. In fact she didn't even need to play 'Material Girl' or 'Like A Virgin' or 'Holiday' or 'Lucky Star' or Crazy For You' or 'Papa Don't Preach' or... you get the idea.

Great gig and the Queen of pop she is... but she ain't no Prince.

* Girls take note! For this track Madonna used an open tuning and just played the 4 bass strings meaning she could rock out with just using one finger. She's definitely a worthy guitarist though as she proved with 'Borderline'.

Footnote: Many people seem to have had an awful experience because of the sound. Those wishing to complain should write to info@livenation.co.uk stating their full contact details (name, address, phone number, email), the nature of their complaint (please be specific about what you could or could not hear) and your seating and booking reference numbers (these will be on your tickets). (Thanks Martyn!)

Live Nation will be handling Madonna's new studio efforts, tours, merchandise, DVD releases, sponsorships, licensing agreements, fan club, Web site, and TV and film projects until 2017. Yikes!

You can also write to Madonna via her website here.

Tuttomondo - KH'89, originally uploaded by dariogiannelli.

Dario Giannelli | all rights reserved.

We ran across this piece of street art while chillin’ in the East Village. It’s an homage to Keith Haring, the ‘visual language’ artist of the 20^th century, who was inspired by city graffiti. It’s just got a dope feeling to it, from the exaggerated lines around the images to the colors and the rawness. Haring used to chalk up the NYC subways with sick works, like this one. We’re gonna be lookin’ out for more fly street art, so if you know any hit us up! And check our old-skool site for more art. -sP

* To check our old-skool site, click here.

More of a MySpace cat, click here to check us there!

Keith Haring's work bursts with vitality and life, he devoted himself to truely public art.

Throughout his career, Haring devoted much of his time to public works, which often carried social messages. He produced more than 50 public artworks between 1982 and 1989, in dozens of cities around the world, many of which were created for charities, hospitals, children’s day care centers and orphanages. The now famous Crack is Wack mural of 1986 has become a landmark along New York’s FDR Drive. Other projects include; a mural created for the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in 1986, on which Haring worked with 900 children; a mural on the exterior of Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris, France in 1987; and a mural painted on the western side of the Berlin Wall three years before its fall. Haring also held drawing workshops for children in schools and museums in New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo and Bordeaux, and produced imagery for many literacy programs and other public service campaigns.

Haring was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988. In 1989, he established the Keith Haring Foundation, its mandate being to provide funding and imagery to AIDS organizations and children’s programs, and to expand the audience for Haring’s work through exhibitions, publications and the licensing of his images. Haring enlisted his imagery during the last years of his life to speak about his own illness and generate activism and awareness about AIDS.

The Keith Haring website is excellent and contains a special section devoted to kids, this has lesson plans for teachers and interactive games and colouring books.  You absolutely have to check it out, here's the link.

Sorry for rambling on, Keith Haring is my hero (she sobbed like a loser!)

http://www.haringkids.com/index.html

Keith Haring's 50th bday mural had just been filled it with more detail by fellow artist Angel Ortiz. This mural will remain there on the corner of Houston and Bowery til December 21st. Make sure you take some flicks, this will be a part of art history.

O cenário tem desenhos do Keith Haring, que era amigo da Madonna e faleceu por causa da AIDS. Eu gosto das coisas dele, mas ficou meio banalizado, né? Então, sei lá, ao mesmo tempo acho que tem cara de capa de caderno Tilibra.

(Romero Britto, por exemplo, já tem capa de caderno Tilibra) 

Agora...

TIRA ESSA GUITARRA DA MÃO DELA, GENTE! Quem inventou de colocar guitarra na mão da Madonna? E da Marisa Monte também!
Cantar Hung up tocando guitarra? Fez sentido?
E que franjinha é essa, amiga?

YouTube é bom porque você analisa bem onde vai gastar os seus R$ 250.

ATUALIZAÇÃO:
necessário dizer que...

ela não precisa se submeter a isso com CINQÜENTA ANOS.

At the old Collingwood Technical College, Peat Wollaeger has memorialized the work of Keith Haring with writing and a stencil portrait of Keith Haring on the gate.

For me, Keith Haring, 1958 – 1990, is one of the most important artists of the 20^th Century. He was certainly the most important artist of the 1980s for me. I have a scrapbook full of photocopied articles and magazine clipping about him that I collected at the time. And considering the rise of street art in the early 21^st Century, Haring has to be regarded as an important precursor.

The Collingwood Technical College may not be the most famous wall that Keith Haring painted on his visit to Melbourne in 1984 (Haring was invited to Australia by gallery owner John Buckley which is why there is a Haring stencil by the door of his gallery in Albert St. Richmond). Haring also painted the NGV’s famous water wall. It is also not the most famous wall that Haring painted; in 1986 Haring painted 107m of the Berlin Wall. But the wall on the Collingwood Technical College with its now fading but still visible iconic Haring figures riding a giant centipede is the only surviving Haring wall in Melbourne still visible to the public (there is another piece at a school in Toorak).

Keith Haring’s technique was simple lines. He started working with just a large marker pen. Haring’s images that could fill any space from a wall to the body of Grace Jones. His genius was in the iconic figures that populated his images, most famously the radiant child.

Keith Haring studied at art school and was very aware of art history. His early influences were Pierre Alechinsky and Chinese calligraphy. Influenced by Wm Burroughs Haring started to do paste-up of fake New York Post headlines in 1980. And Wm Burroughs influence continued with the iconic images that Haring became famous for, from the centipedes to Mayans.

 “I was aware of, and respected conceptual artists like Vito Acconci, or artists who were doing guerrilla art actions – things like that. I studied it and read about it, and respected it.” Keith Harring. (Notes from the Pop Underground, ed. Peter Belsito, The Last Gasp of San Francisco, 1985 p.106)

It is time to review the art of Keith Haring because what appeared to be an oddity of New York the 1980s has turned into an international movement. In particular is time to review Haring’s influence on Melbourne’s street art. It has taken an American street artist, Peat Wollaeger who was exhibiting his “Luchador Collab-o-mask” project at Per Square Metre to commemorate an important part of Melbourne’s street art history.

So, I feel like I live in this constant state of internal dissatisfaction, hope and vacillation. Which, on one hand, is good because I'm always on the look out for the next thing. On the other, it means I can hardly wait to move on and I'm always feeling slightly unhappy and unsure of myself. And sometimes, in this thought process that goes on inside me daily, I'm switching gears so many times that I literally cannot keep track of myself or what I am thinking. Moments later, I'm in tears.

Writing it down makes me sound like I need immediate admittance to a mental institution for some hard-earned therapy. Or, maybe, a drink.

At any rate, I've come to terms with the fact that I am in a liquid life. I'm in the jelly pool for the long haul. And I have to stop, just stop, thinking about what other people just might be thinking about my life, choices, and so forth and simply figure out what I want and think. Think and want. Both. This is perhaps one of the most difficult of life's tasks. I'm sure there has been much written on this topic - look at the self-help section - but knowing that I'm not alone in my constant state of what-do-I-do-with-my-life crisis doesn't make me feel any better, or any more productive.

So I'm going to accept it. Here I am. This is me accepting this. Here is what I'm doing now (working as a copywriter, editor, writer, and doing community-development for a company that has its own struggles). Own up to my technical limitations (I move through things too fast and think through things too quickly and therefore I can make mistakes, including but not limited to stupid grammatical mistakes), and my strengths (I'm good with people, I perform well on the fly, I have compassion and a zany sense of humor), then marry myself together. Badabing! I'll muddle through the best and worst of times with confidence.

Or, in practical terms, I must finish the projects I have going with my best effort. Only seek out other projects that will bring personal satisfaction. Be creative in my communication and always be positive and honest. However do not sell my self short financially. Set short term and long term goals and stay focused on doing things that will help me achieve them. Do not be too rash. Think thoroughly through things. Seek advice from people I trust. Show my loved ones I love them. Love the live I live as I live. This is perhaps the most critical. Live now. I live now.

All of this sounds strange since I won't name the life circumstances surrounding these mind shifts. But they are inconsequential. Life is always like this, right? I'm giving myself invaluable advice while releasing bit of pent up anxiety out on paper, er, blog space.

In actual news, I went to the opening of the Keith Haring exhibition in Budapest last night. It was rad. His work had three dimensions that I particularly liked: the use of little dashes - both "m" and "n" to convey meaning gave it a lightness that I loved, the simplicity of bold color and line marks, and finally, the insight the exhibition provided into his personal and artistic development. What I mean is, seeing the Keith Haring oeuvre made it so obvious what was affecting his work at different stages in his short career as an artist. He started in 1979-80 and died of AIDS in 1990, age 31.

In my amateur assessment of the exhibition, I noted three major frames of mind in his work. The first was a suggested fixation with technology/society and the individual. Then, the individual and the body. While his last pieces appeared to concentrate on violence, pain and a bewildered look at meaninglessness.

The early stuff had me laughing. Big television. Bodies interfacing with white space, flung into oblivion alongside technological machinery and or monsters. Why laugh? Not only was it comical with those cute little dashes, everything was so time-specific. It's like, who is obsessed with the TV anymore? I mused, on a very cool pyramid of televisions with paper doll bodies lumped below.

What would Keith Haring think about THE INTERNET. What would he think about FACEBOOK? How can the invasion of SOCIAL NETWORKING into our personal lives be painted? TV to me feels like the telegraph in terms of impact. More passé, since it is one-way transmission. The other forms of technological communication far surpass the television in terms of ability to estrange and manipulate individuals while exposing them to another world.

Speaking of estrangement, what appeared to me to be the next stage in his life was a fixation with corporeal processes. A series of textbook-like depictions of the human reproduction processes had me laughing as well. Happy little sperm swam - colorless little Nimos - swam around oblivious to the violent and intimate pictorial descriptions of sex, vagina, penis, death, pain. In the center, a female body was pregnant with a happy baby. Dashes all over the place. The experience would have been complete if I had been listening to the Beatles doing a happy-go-lucky song about suicide.

I thought that the final stage of his career he focused on individual and society. So an inverse of his first period. These were painful to look at since there was generally one figure killing or fucking another. It was all done in black and white. Often there was one white body and one black body interacting (fucking or dying). Sometimes animals were involved. Like a happy dog jumping through a hole in a body.

This was creepy. It was also creepy that when Ben, a buddy of mine who came along, and I were talking about it, we said, "look, he is killing the other guy," and our "he" was always the white figure. It was probably mostly me who was saying this though, I don't want to indite Ben too much.

Lots of themes could be pulled out of these pieces: violence, death, inflicting violence on others, pain, infection, good/evil, bad/good. And all done with a delightful, simple elegance. Disturbing at times that such a playful style could be portraying something so horrible. Possibly more disturbing was our immediate identification with the white figure as the protagonist and the black figures as the "other." Deep shit - on more than one level.

What was also disturbing though was that no one at the exhibition or in any of the literature related to the exhibition mentioned Keith's homosexuality. Ben commented ironically that a graffiti artist who led a very colorful life, was homosexual, contracted AIDS and was still alive today likely would not receive this sort of highbrow acclaim. True true. I remember interviewing the docent coordinator for an article I wrote earlier this year, and asked her to comment on the graffiti art of Budapest locals in comparison with Keith. To which she didn't answer my question but responded, Keith didn't do anything illegal. I didn't put that into the article.

At any rate, it was great to see how life poured into his work, and within a ten-year period his style remained but his work transformed. It's admirable when personal battles or struggles with understanding the fissures in life, the overlapping thoughts that can so easily overwhelm, can be productive. In this case, artistic creations even.

My favorite piece was of a man fighting with his foot. His foot was a long snake/serpent hissing at him. I'd put a photo in but my own battle with technology means I still cannot figure out how to upload photos to my blog. Sad face.

I also miss Nihat, who is in Turkey fighting with the state about mandatory military service. Hell with that shit is all I can say. And then sigh.

At any rate, I'd best get back to my day of work and save contemplations on the sta
te of my mind, the state of my life, the state of Turkey, the state of my future, the state of the world in general (Georgia! Russia! the Olympics!), the state of my country (America, where are you going?) and the state of my own unrecognizable feet for later.

And my feet, not unusually, are unbelievably dirty. I like that.

Keith Haring, who died of HIV related complications at the age of 31, would have celebrated his 50th anniversary in 2008. This is commemorated with several events and expositions all over the world.

Keith Haring was born on May 4, 1958 in Reading, USA and was raised in nearby Kutztown. From a very young age, Keith developed a love for drawing - learning some cartoon techniques from his father, Walt Disney cartoons and his favorite comics.
After Keith graduated from high school, he went to the Ivy School of Professional Art, where he took some courses in commercial & fine art. He quickly realized that he had little interest in becoming a commercial graphic designer, so he dropped out of school and left for New York.

Soon, Haring's talent was recognized in the NYC underground, where his newly invented trademark figures as the radiant babies, barking dogs and flying saucers could be daily seen by thousands of passengers. The NYC subways became his studio, using the black ad boards as his canvas. Haring made it a point to keep his drawings fast & simple so even passengers catching only a glimpse could still understand it.

Keith Haring was swept up in the spirit & energy of the underground art scene and began to organize and participate in group shows as CoLab and exhibitions at alternative venues as Club 57.
He became friends with fellow artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kenny Scharf; graffiti artists such as Lee, Fab Five Fred and LA II; pop stars Madonna and Grace Jones; teenage heroes Timothy Leary and William Burroughs.
Keith's artistic idol, Andy Warhol, was the theme of several of Haring's artworks. Here you can see "Andy Mouse", a tribute to his Pop Art Trinity: Warhol, Disney and Coca-Cola.

The recognition gained in the New York underground scene allowed Keith Haring to establish contact with the international art world, and by the time of his death in 1990, his talent was recognized by the most prestigious galleries and museums in the world.
Between 1980 and 1990, Haring participated in over 100 group and solo exhibitions as Documenta in Kassel and the Whitney and São Paulo Biennial.
During these years, Keith Haring also completed a lot of public projects, ranging from designing decors for theaters and clubs, an animated billboard on Times Square, posters for the Mandela concert, an ad campaign for Absolut Vodka, watch designs for Swatch and murals worldwide.
Keith's iconic people, babies, dogs, angels, monsters, televisions, computers, cartoon figures, pyramids, ... became signs of the times.

Throughout his career, Haring devoted much of his time to public works, which often carried social messages. He produced over 70 public artworks, many of which were created for children’s centers, hospitals and other charity causes.

By expressing universal concepts, using bold lines and bright colors, Keith Haring was able to attract a global audience. Today, the power of his imagery is still intact and his "art for all people" is universally recognized as one of the strongest pop expressions of the 20th century.

In 1989, the Keith Haring Foundation was established. The mandate of the Foundation was to provide funding and imagery for AIDS organizations as well as children’s organizations. Even though the master behind the creations has long gone, Haring's much adored style and messages are still alive.

The Ludwig Museum Art in Budapest contributes to the Keith Haring celebration with a unique exhibition organized in co-operation with the Keith Haring Foundation. The expo runs from August 15 - November 16, 2008. More info on www.lumu.hu & www.haring.com

So i read this article after seeing this dude's throw up on the Keith Haring's mural a week prior, kinda ill and sad no? click link below for article

Peep this!

-Maine