Hi folks,

Sorry for a quite off-topic post, but my friend Omar needs votes!  He's an
amazing artist, trying to scrape together funds to travel and paint the
places he visits.  You can see some of his work from Newfoundland here:
http://omar-paint.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html - including, if you
scroll down a ways, one of me in my preferred coffee house.  To see some of
his work from when he lived in the Emirates, click here:
http://omar-paint.blogspot.com/search/label/UAE .  His block has work from
other places as well, and information about the "urban sketchers," a network
of artists who do paintings and drawings of their cities all over the world.

He's now in Berlin (where he isn't so happy painting), and is trying to win
a contest from a hotel chain that would provide a plane ticket and lodgings
to travel for a while and do more work.  He needs more votes to win - could
you please help by voting here:
http://wunsch.hrs.de/?page=alleteilnehmer&show=380   The site is in German,
but if you click on "vote here," most of it is clear.  The key thing is that
after you vote, you'll get an email with a link you need to click on to
confirm your vote.  That will all be in German too, but it is pretty
self-evident if you know what it is.

Thanks so much to anyone who would be willing to support him!  And if, once
you've seen some of his work, you're willing to pass this on to other people
or lists, that would be really super!

Joy