Read Holland Cotter in the NYT on the historical cycle of boom and bust in the art world… concluding: “where imagining the unknown and the unknowable — impossible to buy or sell — is the primary enterprise. Crazy! says anyone with an ounce of business sense” – thanks to breakfastpolitics for the lead…

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Here’s a neat point of comparison – from BNN – this great image from the (official) slideshow by White House photographer Pete Souza. Now look back a few posts to the farewell photos… (New technology? let’s hope it works better than the old technology!)

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Hot with a chance of a late storm was last seen at Sydney’s Sculpture by the Sea, is by The Glue Society. Their site is well worth a visit… especially the ad for 42Below…

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In ArtDaily we read that Phillips de Pury & Company will offer this one-liner by the elusive Banksy (Soup Can (Yellow) with a pre sale estimate of £4,000-6,000). In our view, he’s much better on the street, or in this case, maybe a T-shirt. If you shell out ten grand for this conversation piece, how would the conversation go?

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In every sense… But are we the only ones wondering why this image of the Bush farewell is framed by the same old helicopter Nixon said farewell from in 1974? Is this very old technology the best available? It’s even older than the car we drive! This from a great series of behind the scenes photographs of the inauguration by Callie Shell at Time. The Washington Post backstory tells us the replacements will cost $400m each – which is one way to spend your way out of trouble…

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Again and again people comment on how relaxed and comfortable these two look. Let’s hope some of it rubs off on their staff (see two posts down). Here they are getting out of The Beast and walking their way to the inauguration. Gotta admire the confidence, plus the trademark hand-holding… From BNN, where you’ll see much more…

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So cries the market guru Marcus Padley as he looks over the cliff face of the contemporary global financial crises… Is this a new motto for Christies as it slashes staff in the face of a plunging art market? As this Times article notes “the Russian oligarchs and hedge fund managers who drove up fine art prices are now tightening their belts”… Pulling up their trousers might be a more appropriate figure of speech? Wranglerphiles need not worry, the other end of the market is alive and kicking! Thanks to Breakfastpolitics for the lead…

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See how the 52 key members of Obama’s team present themselves to Nadav Kander’s camera in this NYT folio. We wonder how will they look in four years’ time? A little more at ease in the public eye, perhaps…  Go to Obama’s People – The Series (photos by Nadav Kander/NYT Magazine). There’s an interesting audio by the photographer talking about the process. What they don’t talk about is how uncomfortable many of the subjects end up looking… The overwhelming impression is of ordinary people, not dressed like celebs, nor presenting to the camera with anything other than a moment’s distraction from their busy lives. But as a whole, this set of portraits shows people untutored for the real-life West Wing that lies ahead – vacant gazes, eyes all over the place, clothing all awry – and yet the hopes of the world rest on their extra-ordinary future. Was this the photographers intention? Fingers crossed… See BagnewsNotes for further commentary.

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This part of the coast is rich in sea glass. Mostly we chuck it back in the sea for more polishing. But each year we trek down the coast to this rocky cove where you can find the rare blue sea glass. And so this year when we found some old blue medicine jars at the Candelo trash and treasure, six for $20, we decided to replenish the stocks for a future generation…

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