Wednesday, August 30, 2006

good bad and ugly



Here's a picture I found in my files saved as "goodbadugly." I think looking at it made me whistle the music to the movie, since it looks like it might be a scene from a Western. It also looks like a scene from an oppressively hot Summer, but I'm sure I took it in Spring. For one thing I wouldn't be out there in the heat, and I don't think the mesquite tree (I think that's what it is) would be looking so happy.

Ennio Morricone rocks!

Friday, August 25, 2006

circle

"The eye is the first circle; the horizon which it forms is the second; and throughout nature this primary figure is repeated without end." - Ralph Waldo Emerson



I've always understood Emerson's essay on circles as a description of the self in nature, which is a part of and participant in nature, and therein (for the transendentalist) has its infinite nature. In that spirit I went into the archives for this contribution to Photo Friday's circle theme. It is an old 8mm movie camera, representing an extension of the primary circle of the "eye," or the "I."

Thursday, August 24, 2006

la petite roche

I recently had the pleasure of going to Little Rock, AR. I didn't know what to expect, but now believe its grass is greener than where I live.

Among other things, Little Rock is the home of the world's most stuck-up (not stuck) pig.


We also visited the Clinton Library, which the locals evidently call the trailer in the sky.



The Oval Office is an exact replica of the one used on the West Wing.




When I got home I discovered that Pluto is no longer a planet. Bummer. Still, while a part of me is nostalgic, I also look at it as living etymology: have we ever, over the millennia, really had a definition of "planet?" And, nothing connects us to our most ancient ancestors as much as contemplating heavenly bodies.

Friday, August 18, 2006

friend



This week's Photo Friday theme is "friend." Special thanks to my friend who made this picture possible. Otherwise I would have been stuck, sadly, with a picture of my imaginary friend.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Optimism

Here's a picture of me contemplating my Fall schedule.



Sunday, August 13, 2006

the woods

Last night I sat in my backyard and noticed I was just a few feet from this creature.



I hear owls occasionally, and I'm sure I've seen a couple swoop by overhead, but I've never seen one in repose and certainly never gotten this close. I wanted to get another picture with the face fully visible, but the flash must have bothered it. Plus, the truth is I was a little scared. When I first saw it in the dusk light I thought it was a lump of debris with eyes. When I realized it was living, it looked alien enough to fill my imagination with horror scenes. It resembled something out the movie "Gremlins" as much as any common creature I'd ever layed eyes on before, and so I couldn't fully trust that it wouldn't grab my face and turn me into a zombie.

That's one of the things I like about the woods. As peaceful as they may seem, with singing birds and calm swaying shadows, there's always an underlying potential for danger.

I hope I didn't drive it too far away, since I need something around to pose a danger to some of the other nocturnal creatures I've seen scuttling around.

four

The Photo Friday challenge for this week was four. I thought "fooouuuur!" and pulled out a golf club.


Thursday, August 10, 2006

church tour


When I was in England I discovered that the Christian religion forbids taking pictures inside of churches. There is, however, dispensation given for the purpose of selling postcards. Here's a little tour I took of churches in London and Cambridge:



I'm putting them in order of when I saw them, not when they were built. Westminster Abbey (above) was built about 500 years before Westminster Cathedral (below), which was done in what is known as the "retro cathedral" style.





Then there's St. Paul's, in what architects call the "big" style, followed by King's College, which was contemporary when it was done, as was the last church, Our Lady of Geogia O'Keefe (interestingly enough, not in England).






Tuesday, August 08, 2006

crowds

I'm gradually importing pictures from my other photo site, and I thought I'd start with a couple of pictures of crowds, though each is a very different occasion. The first is a religious procession in Mexico, and the second is a political demonstration in Trafalgar square.



One thing they have in common is the sense of surprise and excitement I experienced with each. Photographically, they offer the opportunity for dozens of candid expressions. One is at the mercy of the moment and its chaos, but that's also what makes the picture - the lack of control one can excercise over the subject.


Saturday, August 05, 2006

Welcome to my blog

Thank you for visiting the maiden voyage of this blog. I started it to assist my participation in certain activities whose participation in might be assisted by the ownership of a blog. So here it is. I will initiate the blog with this picture of what appears to be an angry, but musical cow.




And one more from early Spring, maybe because coming across it in my file made me remember more temperate days.




Private



This is my contribution to the August 4 Photo Friday challenge. Thought it looked kind of film noirish.