Egg-xhibit

I think Grandma Blundell would have loved this…

BFA ready for annual Winter Exhibit
Berneta Peeples
Belton Journal

Bell Fine Arts Association will open its annual Winter Exhibit at a reception at Bell Fine Arts Center, E. 5th Ave. at N. Wall St. Nov. 13 with an Egg-xhibit and auction. An Egg-xhibit is definitely a first of its kind event in the Central Texas area and maybe worldwide. BFAA will auction some 50 to 60 painted ostrich eggs at the 2-4 p.m. affair.
These are part of the 84 ostrich eggs Jay Taggart gave BFAA to be painted, carved or otherwise decorated for sale by the association to help finance the restoration fund and other needs of Bell Fine Arts Center.
The eggs came from Taggart’s ostrich farm.
Some BFA members were given four eggs to transform into “objets d’arte.” Each painter could keep one egg, but the other three must be decorated, carved, painted or something, and retuned to The Art Center for the auction.
Along the way, some eggs rolled off the worktable and broke. That is really about the only way to break the thick shell of an ostrich egg, people say. But it astonishes what can be created from a broken ostrich eggshell, as the egg-xhibit will show as part of the annual Christmas Market.
Fred Fuller will be auctioneer.
The reception will include special exhibits by featured artists Sandy Dusek and Polly Strawn.
Polly Strawn will show her combination paintings and dimensional work in the recently designated Ruth Dawson Gallery. Polly Strawn, a long-time member of BFAA is also an art teacher and work in several areas of painting and crafts.
The small gallery honors Ruth Dawson, a charter member of Bell Fine Arts who served as president of BFAA for several terms, served on the board of directors, as chair of numerous committees, association secretary and treasurer.
She taught classes in several media, worked with special education students and conducted summer camps for children for many years.
She is a retired elementary school art teacher.
Sandy Dusek will be the featured artist in Old Church Gallery, the sanctuary of the 1874 Episcopal Church building.
The public is invited to the reception.
The Christmas Market will be open on special open-door days through the holiday season. The market will feature works by BFAA members.
berneta@beltonjournal.com


This week’s column: Big brother is watching

A friend of mine, John Lochridge, recently sent me an article he had written for a local paper on RFIDs, Radio Frequency Identification.
I told him I hadn’t quite made up my mind on the issue – and still haven’t.
You may have seen other articles or even television commercials touting the helpfulness of the small “barcodes of the future.”
RFID tags are small microchips and antennas, used mainly in packaging and shipping, that’s assigned special serial numbers which can be transmitted to nearby readers.
The RFID tags can help computers keep track of inventory, product shipments or any number of details, via radio waves through non-metallic materials.
The technology has been available since the 1970’s, but not until recently has it been readily available or affordable for most users.
While retailers and businesses see RFID as a huge improvement in inventory tracking, many consumer groups and privacy advocates fear RFID is the beginning of a much broader scale of privacy invasion.
Katherine Albrecht, speaker, Harvard doctoral student, and the founder of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN), warns that retailers are experimenting with new ways to implement RFID’s into every day products.
Experiments have embedded RFIDs into footwear and clothing — including undergarments.
With readers in place, RFIDs can help retailers track an individual’s purchase from the moment they walk out of the store.
Like Cookies on the Internet, RFIDs can help retailers better understand purchase patterns and consumer use.
But retailers aren’t the only ones interested in RFIDs.
According to Lochridge, the FDA recently approved embedding RFIDs under a persons skin to keep track of a persons medical history and conditions.
Similar technology has been in use for a number of years with household pets.
A small RFID chip implanted in the back of a cat’s or dog’s neck can help veternarians find a pets owner if it’s lost.
This year the Texas Legislature also proposed embedding RFID chips on cars across the state.
Texas state representative Larry Phillips (R-Sherman) proposed HB 2983, which included a portion calling for the embedding of RFID tags into vehicle registration stickers.
The RFIDs would allow car registration information to be read and collected by a scanner from a distance.
A car could be identified by readers in nearby vehicles, notifying law enforcement if the car was stolen.
The requirement for RFID tags was removed from the legislation as a result of negative public reaction regarding the issue.
Spring ISD in Texas has already embedded RFID tags into student IDs to track students across the district.
“Dallas residents can expect to hear more about RFID in the future,” Lochridge writes. “The Dallas technology community is very interested in the technology. According to the Metroplex Technology Business Council, there are over 100 local firms actively involved in the development of RFID technology.”
I’ve personally seen and read both sides of the issue and can understand both.
Many fear this is the start of the mark of the beast written about in the book of Revelation.
At what point will RFID tags become required for everyone to track and “spy” on individuals?
The problem with technology is that the more it encroaches on our lives, the less privacy we will have.
Take a look at the movie “Minority Report,” with Tom Cruise.
I think that’s what we’re heading to.
Advertising is becoming more and more targeted and RFIDs will help companies do so more efficiently.
What if everytime you walked in to a store or turned on the television you only saw products you were already interested in?
You don’t have to watch a commercial for a product you would never personally buy. There’s also the issue of safer travel in the future.
Researches are working on cars that drive and fly themselves.
Without the human interaction, there will be less possibility for human error.
But for that to happen, satellites and other devices will have to keep a constant tab on where vehicles are at, within inches.
Also, RFIDs would help airlines keep track of passengers and ensure the right people are boarding the planes.
We must either accept technology, or shun it.
If we accept it — we will chose to give up a piece of our own privacy pie.
And each of us must decide how much we want to give up.
For information visit nocards.org, spychips.com and rfidjournal.com.

CWF in Rockwall

Just a reminder, the CWF will be in Rockwall for our last scheduled show of the year – this Saturday night.
The show will begin at 7 p.m. and it looks to be a good one.
Scheduled to appear: CWF Champion Apocolypse, CWF Lightweight Champion Seven, Shiloh, Chris Idol, Jesus Freak, Son of Thunder and Michael Malick.
Don’t miss the FREE show. It’ll be loads of fun.

This guy voted for Pedro..

“Just tell them if they vote for Pedro – all their wildest dreams will come true.”

A UT student got the chance to play onstage with U2 in Dallas Saturday night. Lucky.

Playing quarterback for your favorite team. Rocking out with your favorite band. These are the dreams that fill a teenage boy’s heart.
Sunjay Devarajan, 19, traded sunglasses with Bono after joining U2 on guitar Saturday.
Of course, most boys don’t think they’ll ever actually realize those fantasies. But as 19-year-old Sunjay Devarajan strapped on a guitar next to Bono, The Edge and the rest of U2 on Saturday night in front of 20,000 screaming fans at American Airlines Center, his teen dream took life right before his eyes.
“This is like a Make-a-Wish Foundation kind of dream,” said Arlington native Sunjay, a day after Bono plucked him from the crowd to play the band’s “Angel of Harlem.” “I’m just so thrilled that they gave me that opportunity. That they were adventurous enough to actually pick somebody that they had no idea who he was from the audience and have him play guitar.”