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Elevator Face, originally uploaded by Vidiot.

Sorry that blogging has been light around here lately. One set of parents was in town, and most of my days were spent taking them around. We had some good meals (at 718 and others), saw some shows (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Spamalot, went to the ballet, checked out Chelsea Market, et cetera, et cetera. We also spent most of a day at MoMA, seeing pretty much everything I hadn't seen there on previous visits. (Some pix here.) It's always fun to squire them around town. (I also managed to take B. to her belated anniversary gift: the Ben Folds show at Radio City -- my first time there; what a space!)

The next set of parents arrives in a week and a half. More writing between now and then.

White House replaces Scott McClellan with Winston Smith, installs memory hole.

So Judy Miller is "retiring" from the Times.  As I've noted before, they should have fired her.  But at least this way she's gone.

And one thing, Judy?  You say you're retiring because you "have become the news, something a New York Times reporter never wants to be."  Shouldn't you have thought of that before you spent your futile, self-aggrandizing, and career-enhancing 85 days in jail?

In a world -- where Indians help Pilgrims -- and wild turkeys run scared...

Wow.  I know the White House pretty much makes a dog's breakfast out of everything it touches, but could they really have screwed up the optics this badly?

Last week, George W. Bush visited Howard University, a historically black school.  And how does his staff approach this?  By closing the cafeteria and telling the students that they'll have to go to the back entrance to pick up their meals, that's how.

Unbelievable.

As August Pollak notes, "The right-wingers talk constantly how important it was for Bush to be surrounded by smart people. Why are we constantly alerted to the fact, then, that he's surrounded by absolute morons?"

Gallery Scene, originally uploaded by Vidiot.

So the show opening was quite fun. The room was packed, and it was, I'll admit, kinda cool to see my picture up on the wall with my name on a sticker beside it.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get there till 8:25 or so, so I missed meeting up with some friends that came by during the first half of the party.

What are you waiting for? Come by and see the show during the rest of its run...and there's a closing party on November 19th, too.

Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.

Check out Chuck's awesome photoset of the Day of the Dead celebrations at LA's Hollywood Forever cemetery.  I especially liked the tributes to Rosa Parks and Jayne Mansfield...and Yma Sumac was there, too!

NYC Photobloggers: New Work, New York, originally uploaded by Vidiot.

I'm pleased to announce my first gallery show: the NYC Photobloggers group is mounting a group exhibition at the Chrystie Street Gallery in the Lower East Side, running from November 3 (that's tomorrow!) through Nov. 19.  I've got one photo in the show.

The gallery is open Thursdays through Saturdays; hope you can stop by during the run.

Compelling -- and very sad -- SF Chronicle article about suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge, part of a seven-part series.

Spotted in the middle of this snoozer AP article about Prince Charles and Camilla:

The Daily Mirror's New York correspondent also wrote that most Americans had no idea who Camilla was. The paper said its reporter showed a picture of the duchess to passers-by in Times Square, but many guessed that it was Nancy Reagan, Madonna, Queen Elizabeth II or novelist Barbara Cartland.

Memo to Madonna:  If people are confusing you with Nancy Reagan, Barbara Cartland, or the Queen, you might just want to lay off the Kabbalah Water a teensy bit.