Over And Down
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… on… this blog….
I’ve heard from several followers over the past couple of months that my posts aren’t showing up in their “reader” anymore. I’ve been somewhat puzzled by that. The only thing I can think of is that a couple of months ago I upgraded my blog and now use my domain name for the blog address. I’m not sure if this is causing the problem but I wonder if you click the follow button again if that would help. Give it a try and let me know…
In the meantime here are a couple of newer images.
Your music moment is provided by Genesis. “Follow You, Follow Me” from their 1978 album … and then there were three…
… on… holiday greetings….
Well It’s that time of year when I start mailing out holiday greeting cards to friends and family. Some of my readers here will be the recipients of one of these cards.
The design is unlikely. It does not feature a photo of smiling people, posed and dressed up pets, holiday foods, decorations, winter scenes, Santa, reindeer, elves, manger/nativity scenes, wise men, glitz, glitter or any other feel-good objectification of the holiday season. In short it does not follow every other cliché of the holidays.
This run-down, abandoned, forgotten building represents the humblest of beginnings and how some of the greatest miracles came out of what others revile, despise, and want to destroy or tear down. I could even make the analogy to the Bible story of the birth of Jesus; there was a poor unmarried couple – she was pregnant – for one of the most mundane activity of registering for a census they went to a town where they had no one to stay with. In fact there was no place to stay but a stable – the hotels/hostels/inns/rooming houses were all full and they were stuck in a stinky drafty stable with animals. The woman had a baby there in the stable (no hospitals around) and laid him in a manger which held the hay that the oxen ate. There was nothing romantic about it. It was difficult. It would have been a royal pain in the butt. Yet, that baby went on to inspire millions.
If that bible story were to happen today imagine a young couple from another part of the country just gets off the bus and there are no hotel rooms available. They are left to fend for themselves in the street. They have no local connections. No one offers them help. that baby might be born in an abandoned building, like the one pictured, its parents feeling the conflicting emotions of guilt for the lack of suitable circumstances paradoxically paired with the joy of giving birth to new life. So do not judge too quickly the appearance of things. Like the front of the card says, “all is not lost” There is hope for the “least” of all things which is represented in the image by the added wreath over the boarded up window.
The text inside the card is a simple haiku that I created.
“The greatest reason
A humble beginning
This season of hope”
I was surprised by this photo after I had gotten home. I remember taking it. I shot it through my car windows which had salt splash and grunge on them. What looks like bokeh spots is actually water droplets on my windshield from the falling snow. It didn’t make for a very good photograph but it was interesting. Before I started my post-processing; I almost deleted the file, but decided to go further and added more textures and layers in an extreme way that almost gave it a painterly look. I also de-saturated most of the colors except for red and green. So again, from very humble circumstances and imperfect photo conditions this image was born. It has always been a personal favorite of mine. I hope you enjoy it too as well as the story of it’s making and how it evolved into a holiday greeting card.
May each and every one of you – without regard for your circumstances find hope in humble beginnings and discover, hidden within, the greatest reason to celebrate and commemorate life. It is in You.
Your holiday music moment is provided by
Low – If You Were Born Today (Song for Little Baby Jesus) from their holiday album LOW CHRISTMAS
If you were born today
We’d kill you by age eight
Never get the chance to say
Joy to the world and
Peace on the earth
Forgive them for they know not what they do
Blessed are the meek and
Blessed are the humble
Blessed are the ninety and nine
Deny the flesh
Deny all that’s evil
Tonight you’ll deny me thrice
If you were born today
We’d kill you by age eight
Never get the chance to say…
… on… knock, knock….
Behind caged bars
restless heart, fearful mind
murmurs of change
This image is one of the not-so-hidden spaces in downtown Akron. Just on the other side of this building is South Main St. And it is adjacent to the Akron Civic Theater. This entire area has been under a slow renovation for several years. Just behind me is the popular LOCK 4 of the canal which runs through this area. It is already repurposed as a wonderful outdoor entertainment space with live jazz, blues and gospel over the warmer months. When I peered though the windows on South Main and between the bars through the cracks in the plywood I did see construction lighting and various clean-up tools as if this structure is under renovation. I just hope they don’t tear it down like they’ve done other historic buildings downtown.
Your musical moment to help digest this post is provided by FORQ (yep it’s pronounced fork). The track is titled THE HARD WAY from their self-titled album.
… on… autumn compositions….
Dream a little dream
Live a large life full of love
Die with grace and peace
New blooms in spring
a carnival of life takes flight
Autumn sees it die
Grace to suffer
One season flows into another
Life without end
*****todays music moment features Syd Arthur. This English band from Canterbury are often described as psychedelic jazz but I think it’s got more of a progressive rock feel. The band’s name is from Hermann Hesse’s 1922 novel – Siddhartha. Phonetically similar to Siddhartha the changed spelling to Syd Arthur is a nod to the bands primary influences of Syd Barrett and Arthur Lee. This track is INTO ETERNITY from their 4th album APRICITY. Enjoy.
… on… windows to the soul….
It’s been said that eyes are the window to the soul. If that is true then the camera must be the tool that captures the soul. There are still living people and cultures that do not want you to take their pictures because they are afraid you will entrap their soul. What you see here is my soul. Make of it what you will. Like everyone I think you will find that it is filled with both darkness and light. Brilliance and shadows. Empty and full. Forms beyond comprehension. But there is always the hope that light will overcome the darkness.
This photograph is not a double exposure. I was standing at a door to an abandoned mansion and looking through the glass. I could see through the front room and through the room to the other side – looking outside. In addition the glass on the door was reflecting the outside that was behind me. So I was stuck in the middle – not outside – not inside – somewhere between. And now that you are looking at this image I am stuck in the middle with you. I enjoy your intimate gaze into my soul. Whatever “it” is – It’s not what you think….
… on… speed bumps…
We all have speed bumps that crop up in our lives. It may be a death, an accident or loss of some other sort that causes us to slow down and even stop to reconsider our direction in life. This is a good thing. Life’s tragedies large and small can be a sort of amazing grace. And sometimes they can even make us better.
Wherefore I am well pleased in infirmities, in damages, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses — for Christ; for whenever I am infirm, then I am powerful.
~ 2 Corinthians 12:12 (YLT – Young’s Literal Translation)
… on… protest….
Protest songs have always existed in one form or another. But with advances in technology and a growing expendable cashflow in the 20th century the role of the protest song changed and became popularized and politicized. Ever since the 60’s and early 70’s protest music has been part of the main stream and has been a unifier of a necessary opposition. That tradition continues even today. Here are some protest songs from…
then…
…and now….
RESIST!
Resistance is NOT futile!
… on… trippy humans….
… on… windows & walls….
Sometimes life is ALL walls & windows… no doors.
But it is still life.
And in my confinement I found contentment.
Quietly sitting in the center
To weak to climb the walls
I found a shovel and started to dig instead.
My contentment brought enlightenment
and opportunity… my sight was more
than any window could afford.
~ mobius faith (Akron,OH 8/5/17
… on… weather….
a Reblog from Photography in Oman. I absolutely love this beautiful video by Mike Olbinski. FYI – a must-watch in full screen.
via Now this is, weather. (just a little diversion) — Photography in Oman
… on… speaking….
… on … love & destruction….
“Love is what happens to us when we are graced by the absolute destruction of everything we hope for.”
– Rabbi Rami Shapiro
….on…. what’s hot!!!!…
Mehliana (Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana) performs “Just Call Me Nige” at Largo in LA, October 2013. The song is featured on the album Mehliana: Taming the Dragon • Nonesuch Records Video directed/recorded by Alex Chaloff
…on…..quitting …
Some great thoughts on quitting social media and spending less time online. Is 2017 the year you will make some changes and take charge of your life?
… on …. one thing I’m grateful for….
…on quantity pt. 2
Quantities of “stuff” from the local rail yard.
A great cover
and the original
…on…Laurie Anderson
… on the end of royalty….
… on “play ball”…
…. on the culture blender….
I love blenders. They make great drinks, soups, etc….
But what about culture blending… there are pros and cons…. one of the pros can be – it’s just so damn entertaining. This has been proven, time and again, by many serious musicians. Some of you may remember a comedy called SPINAL TAP that lampooned every hair metal band that existed to that point in time.
Well, there was a movie in 1989 by Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki called LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA…. A fantastic comedy if you like your comedy very dry and dark. The “Leningrad Cowboys were called The worst rock and roll band in the world. In many ways they were the Finnish version of SPINAL TAP….. not afraid to mix in their cultural roots with communism and rock and roll they pretty much live up to the SPINAL TAP of world music comparison….. Of course just like SPINAL TAP – the band – the cowboys started taking themselves too seriously even daring to write some of their own rock standards and phasing out the cultural mishmash that made them so much fun to begin with….. But that’s the way of all things….
So here is a reminder of what once was. This live video was titled LENINGRAD COWBOYS TOTAL BALALAIKA SHOW…. featuring drums mounted on a tractor, guitars shaped like tractors big, BIG hair and pointy shoes and of course the actual Red Army Chorus/band and Dancers from Moscow – all doing a cover of ZZ TOP’s “GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN'”…What more could a citizen of the world ask for? LOL
May it put a smile on your face this weekend. 🙂
and here’s a trailer for the movie that started it all.
Leningrad Cowboys Go America – Free Screening at The Loft Cinema from The Loft Cinema on Vimeo.
….on …. election year
something every voter should consider…..
LOL
