Ingmar Bergman 1918 - 2007

Antonius Block plays chess with Death in "The Seventh Seal"
Death: Don't you ever stop asking?
Antonius Block: No. I never stop.
Death: But you're not getting an answer.

Ingmar Bergman
July 14, 1918 - July 30, 2007

One of a thousand reasons I love where I live.

This lion is exactly 78 steps from my front door.

It's the Soap Box Derby!

If you were in Akron Ohio on July 21, you should have been at the Derby Downs for the 70th All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship. Fortunately for FIMP, C. Hayes was there with her camera, documenting the occasion for all of us who missed it.


The official track is 989 feet, four inches long. The record time set by one of these gravity-powered racers on the current track length is 28.24 seconds, by Hilary Pearson of Kansas City in 2004.


All the cars are built from kits by the kids. Many of them have sponsors supporting them, and you know that I'll be eating at the Underpass Grill the next time I'm in Ogallala, NE.


The gentleman in purple is the oldest living derby racer! Speaking of the oldest living racer, you can find a very thorough history of the Soap Box Derby at All American Soap Box Derby website.

Verse 2

Here's "Verse 2" for your viewing pleasure, continuing the little series of spin-off works from the Zero Sum Art Project. For some cheap summer thrills, I'm selling these on eBay with the auction starting at a penny - you can visit the auction to see a few details of the paint and collage elements.

The small crowd at the bottom is made up of bits and pieces from 24 Poets and 1 Astronaut, one of my linocuts from 2002. Never throw anything away - if you saw my studio you'd know I live by those words. Prints that don't make the final cut for an edition are always good as collage material. The palette for the little cityscape is based on an old postcard - that's an idea I first started playing with in Zero Sum #16. Ideas are something you can always return to, just like bits of old prints. . .

An update on the Zero Sum Art Project

Here's Zero Sum #18, and the bidding starts at $13.32.

Why $13.32, you might ask? If you're unfamiliar with the Zero Sum Art Project, you can find an overview of the operation on the Digging Pitt blog. ZSAP will be on display there in November - it'll be a nice complicated puzzle to solve, putting the exhibition together within the rules of the project.

Verse 1

It was kind of inevitable that the artwork I'm doing for the Zero Sum Art Project would start spilling over into the rest of my studio work. Here's a little collage that's representative of the bits and pieces of things that I'm knocking around these days.

If you want it, here it is, go and get it.

50 Places Update - It's Spudnuts Time!

Since sending out "50 Places I've Already Seen" about a month ago, I've heard from a surprising number of subscribers telling me their tales of spudnutty goodness. In the book I had intentionally left out the exact whereabouts of my "places", hoping to inspire readers to fill in the blanks with their own beloved little spots. But information about spudnuts seems to be in demand, so for those of you that need a potato-flour-doughnut fix, the Spudnuts I had in mind was the Spudnuts in Charlottesville, VA, which happens to be the last remaining Spudnuts on the east coast.


Now, as our great good luck would have it, FIMP's Philosopher-In-Residence Paul Moriarty happened to be visiting our old undergraduate stomping grounds last week, and brought back confirmation that Spudnuts is still going strong.



My understanding is that as you travel west, you are more likely to encounter a Spudnuts here and there. These guys could probably give you directions.

Casting Call

The FIMP Book of the Month is
"Casting Call: Seeking Animal Talent for the Title Role in CRAZED DESPOT"


In Casting Call you'll find six head-shots of animals in full "power-hungry military leader" costume, fresh from their auditions for the title role in "Crazed Despot". True to FIMP book form, these are probably not animals that will be called back for a second look. If you're not a subscriber to the FIMP book of the month club, and you want one of these tiny books for your very own, you can pick one up on ebay.


Or, you might just look into subscribing.