my black friends (before the coming of digital) / Kudzu cinema / Lawrence & Obenzinger: Six Songs for the Next Age / Ed Sanders: Manson sky-snake banishment Glyph

.

By the tracks [Clarksdale, MS]: photo by Andrew Murr, 17 November 2017

 

Golden hour at Zumba [Temple St, LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, 18 November 2017

Five cents a bottle [south LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, 19 November 2017

V notch, new [Santa Barbara County]: photo by Andrew Murr, 18 November 2017

Spreckels_0165 [Monterey County]: photo by Thomas Willard, 5 November 2017

Los Angeles_0323 (foreshorten / foreshadow): photo by Thomas Willard, 12 November 2017

Southeastern Oregon: photo by Missy Prince, 16 November 2017



Southeastern Oregon: photo by Missy Prince, 16 November 2017

Southeastern Oregon: photo by Missy Prince, 16 November 2017
  

swallowed. This was a drive-by roadside discovery while driving to the coast. This house is completely enveloped with small areas of the house showing to clue passersby that there is a full two story house inside swallowed by vegetation.: photo by TMSurrattPhotography, 13 October 2017

GLANCE FROM ANOTHER TIME. The laughing man in Palazzo Cini, Venice, Italy (Dosso Dossi, Scene Allegorica, ca. 1530/40): photo by LitterART, 24 September 2017

Käseecke / Cheese Triangle [Helensee, Berlin]: photo by Martin Bartholmy, 19 September 2017

Balloon, Naples: photo by Andrew Murr, 17 July 2017

New York City skyline: photo by D L Powell, 3 June 2017

Untitled: photo by plakka, 17 April 2012

Untitled [Manikaran, Parvati Valley, India]: photo by plakka, 17 April 2012

hot springs, manikaran, india: photo by plakka, 17 April 2012

kumal|k|z|k4: photo by SITKI ORHAN, 23 December 2016

Untitled: photo by SITKI ORHAN, 7 July 2016
 

IMG_0010 Baker City [OR]: photo by MIssy Prince, 15 November 2017

IMG_0010 Baker City [OR]: photo by MIssy Prince, 15 November 2017

IMG_0010 Baker City [OR]: photo by MIssy Prince, 15 November 2017

New York32: photo by SITKI ORHAN, 30 October 2015

New York32: photo by SITKI ORHAN, 30 October 2015

New York32: photo by SITKI ORHAN, 30 October 2015

And Don't Ever Forget It

Summer Evening: Edward Hopper, 1947 (private collection)

Take off that apron

And put your red dress on

No

On second thought

Take off that red dress

And lay back

On my big brass bed

In your pink slip

The one with flowers sewn on it

Not the one

That certifies the registration of your auto

It’s a lovely auto

I just don’t like it

Because it has kudzu vines

Growing out of its body

And you know how I hate kudzu vines

TC: And Don't Ever Forget It, from At Malibu (1975)

Kudzu drivein [Highway 61, Memphis]: photo by Andrew Murr, 17 November 2017

Kudzu cinema: photo by Andrew Murr, 9 July 2017


 
Big Mack. Yes, that would be the beloved  kudzu. Only thing that would grow in Copperhill for years.: photo by Pat Henson. 10 March 2008



For all non-southerners this is what kudzu looks like in its dormant winter state: photo by Duane Tate, 16 March 2005



Kudzu on trail. Kudzu along the "Service Trail" to the wetlands at the Ruffner Mountain Nature Center in Birmingham, Alabama: photo by Dystopos. 10 November 2010

 
Berlin (zoological garden): photo by Hg T, 15 January 2017

Berlin (zoological garden): photo by Hg T, 15 January 2017

Berlin (zoological garden): photo by Hg T, 15 January 2017

Untitled [my black friends]: photo by Bakmak, 16 November 2017

puddle [Tokyo]: photo by satoshi inagaki, 2 August 2017

Untitled [my black friends]: photo by Bakmak, 16 November 2017

Untitled: photo by Dan James, 28 October 2017

Untitled: photo by Dan James, 28 October 2017

Untitled: photo by Dan James, 28 October 2017

The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

❤ The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

  
 The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

 The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017 

The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

The GrEaT GiG In ThE SkY [starling performance]: photo by Bakmak, 19 November 2017

Before the coming of digital

Shetland Starling (Sturnus vulgaris zetlandicus), Baltasound. The Starlings breeding in Shetland belong to a poorly-differentiated endemic race with darker juvenile plumage and broader bill-base. This is a male in song and wing-flapping display.: photo by Mike Pennington, 8 June 2005

 

Valley of the Burn of Mailland. Looking towards the B[ritish] T[ele] comms tower on Caldback Hill.: photo by Mike Pennington, 15 September 2009
 

 
Airport pool, Baltasound. The pool is fed by a spring. Baltasound voe can be seen in the middle distance, with the hills of Nikkavord Lea in the distance on the left and Muckle Heog on the right.: photo by Mike Pennington, 19 April 2009

 
Dreich, Baltasound. 'Dreich' may be a Scots dialect word and not strictly a Shetland one, but it accurately describes the weather. View west from Daisy Park with the shop at Nord in the mist in the distance.: photo by Mike Pennington,11 September 2008

 
Digital TV is coming: Baltasound. These signs, telling of the onset of the switch-off of analogue TV signals next May, look rather out of place in Baltasound and were put up on Sunday morning. The houses in the background are on Springpark Road. One sign only lasted a month and ended up taking the lamp-post with it.: photo by Mike Pennington, 20 September 2009
 

Digital TV is coming: Baltasound. Leaflets last week have been followed by signs on lamp-posts =- not a normal sight in Shetland and, oddly, erected on a Sunday. I wonder if they will last the winter and still be there on the advertised switchover dates in May? Well the other one only lasted a month.: photo by Mike Pennington, 20 September 2009

Almost as predicted: Baltasound. When pink adverts warning of the switchover to digital TV were placed on lamp-posts in Baltasound I predicted they wouldn't last the winter. What I didn't expect is that one would take the lamp-post with it -- the stump has been covered in duct tape. The rest of the lamp post is over the wall.: photo by Mike Pennington, 22 October 2009

Almost as predicted: Baltasound. The remains of the lamp post carrying the Digital TV ad which lasted little over a month, almost as predicted.: photo by Mike Pennington, 23 October 2009
 

 
Voesgarth, Baltasound: photo by Mike Pennington, 24 October 2009

 
Baltasound, Isle of Unst, Shetland. Baltasound Post Office, the most northerly in the UK, with its own special postmark to prove it.: photo by David Wyatt, 28 May 2008

 
Baltasound, Unst, Shetland, Scotland -- northernmost British post office.: photo by Otter, 22 August 2008
 

 
Recycling centre, Baltasound. Recycling is not always straightforward in Shetland, as there is not enough material to make conventional recycling economic, and shipping material out of Shetland would be counter-productive and use more energy than it would save. Glass (of all colours) is collected and made in 'glasscrete' paving blocks, glass beads for gardens and powdered for use as sand in road-building. The new unit in the right is for recycling clothes.: photo by Mike Pennington, 27 October 2009

Petrol pump, Baltasound. Looking towards the voe in the distance.: photo by Mike Pennington, 11 May 2009

Autumnal colours of Rosa rugosa, Baltasound. Rosa rugosa is arguably at its most attractive in late October as the leaves turn golden-yellow.: photo by Mike Pennington, 16 October 2009
 

Autumnal cotoneaster, Halligarth, Baltasound. Cotoneaster is actually a large genus of shrubs, but it is the creeping Cotoneaster horizontalis which is most commonly planted in gardens and which has appropriated the generic name for itself in many cases. It struggles in Shetland until well-established, and these autumnal (or even festive) red leaves are on a large bushy plant which is growing up the drystone wall at the graveyard in Halligarth.: photo by Mike Pennington, 5 December 2009

Rosebay Willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium), Baltasound. Rosebay Willowherb is probably introduced in Shetland and mainly grows in or near old-established gardens.: photo by Mike Pennington, 30 June 2009

The hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus on Fox and Cubs (Pilosella aurantiaca), Baltasound. The hoverfly is a long-distance migrant, which has probably migrated from southern Europe. The garden plant is also from southern Europe but is now established as a widespread escape in Britain.: photo by Mike Pennington, August 1999

View of Michaelmas Daisies aka Aster: la vista; at Baltasound. The Asters are garden outcasts from an adjoining property. The hoverfly on the right is the bumblebee mimic Eristalis intricarius.: photo by Mike Pennington, 4 September 2008

Autumnal shore of Baltasound voe. Even the beaches turn golden-yellow in autumn; Baltasound pier is in the background.: photo by Mike Pennington, 26 September 2009

Mussel rafts in the voe of Baltasound: photo by Mike Pennington, 12 September 2007

Remains of a gutting shed, Ordaal, Baltasound. At the beginning of the 20th century, Baltasound. was an enormous herring port, and the voe was surrounded by gutting sheds. Most were made from corrugated iron and this just shows the foundations. Ordaal House is in the background.: photo by Mike Pennington, 21 September 2008

Abandoned crofthouse beside Baltasound airport: photo by Mike Pennington, 2 September 2009

 

Baltasound from Nikka Vord aka 'I can see my house from here'. Woolvershoull and Marangu are the closest buildings on the left, with the end of Springpark Road behind. The telephone exchange is the white building in the centre, with Skibhoul and the Post Office behind it. Eagledale is the house on the right, with Daisy Park beyond it.: photo by Mike Pennington, 27 April September 2009

 

Baltasound Hotel: photo by Mike Pennington, 10 January 2008

Moody sky over Ordale, Baltasound. Autumnal skies at dusk, looking towards the hill of the Keen of Hamar across the voe.: photo by Mike Pennington, 30 September 2008

Baltasound from the air. The head of the voe on the left, Buness Loch centre right and Halligarth on the right.: photo by Mike Pennington, July 1988
 

Baltasound telephone exchange. The exchange covers the whole of the north of the island, all numbers beginning 01957711xxx; there is another exchange at Uyeasound for the south end of the island. The hangar at the mothballed airport is in the background.: photo by Mike Pennington, 10 October 2009

Fire. In the foreground the Baltasound fire shed; in the background a flaming red fireball of a sunset.: photo by Mike Pennington, 7 May 2006

Buness from Nikka Vord. The house at Buness is on the left, with the Loch of Buness on the right. The airport hangar is across the voe, with the hill of Virda Field beyond that.: photo by Mike Pennington, 27 April 2009

Daala mist, Baltasound. 'Daala mist' is the Shetland name given to the mist which rises from the ground (or from the dales or 'daals') on very calm nights in summer. The house wreathed in mist is Buness house and Hamar is the white house in the distance.: photo by Mike Pennington, 25 June 2009

Groundmist, Baltasound. After a glorious sunny day, ground mist forms on the slopes of the Hill of Voesgarth after sunset.: photo by Mike Pennington, 8 September 2008

Buness House, Baltasound, at dusk. A crescent moon in a pink sky over the voe at Baltasound, from the pier.: photo by Mike Pennington, 27 June 2009

Moon at dusk over Baltasound houb. The tide is just ebbing from the houb (lagoon) in the foreground, with the quarter moon reflecting in it; Jupiter is visible to the right.: photo by Mike Pennington, 4 November 2008

Moonrise over Ordale, Baltasound. It always amazes how many apparently sensible adults have no idea that the moon can be seen in a blue sky during daylight, although this waxing moon is depicted here after sunset.: photo by Mike Pennington, 29 September 2009

Moonrise over Ordaal House, Baltasound: photo by Mike Pennington, August 1997

Moonrise over Baltasound voe. Looking over the houb below Clingera towards Hamar and, ultimately, the Moon.: photo by Mike Pennington, 20 December 2007

View towards Loch of Buness from Halligarth. The island of Balta is in the distance.: photo by Mike Pennington, 15 September 2009

Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), Baltasound, Shetland Islands, Great Britain. Wood Mouse is not a very appropriate name for Shetland, where there are no woods, so it is more appropriately known as the "Hill Mouse" or "Field Mouse" in Shetland. Like all terrestrial mammals in Shetland, mice were brought to the islands by humans; in this case accidentally. It was once thought that mice arrived in Shetland with the Vikings, but it is now known from archaeology that they were here long before this. Shetland Field Mice are larger and darker than mice found in the rest of Britain or on mainland Europe and they breed on all islands inhabited by humans. The named subspecies are A. s. granti described from Yell, A. s. thuleo from Foula and A. s. friadriensis from Fair Isle. The races found elsewhere in Shetland are unknown – it is likely that the Yell race breeds elsewhere but it is possible that new races are awaiting description on other islands.: photo by Mike Pennington, 24 April 2010

Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) on red-hot poker (Kniphofia sp.), Baltasound, Shetland Islands, Great Britain. Common Crossbills breed in extensive coniferous woodland but if food is scarce they erupt and can turn up almost anywhere and they feed on whatever they can find, like this adult female picking seeds out of a red-hot poker.: photo by Mike Pennington, 30 June 2009

Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), Baltasound, near to Baltasound, Shetland Islands, Great Britain. Crossbills are birds of coniferous forest but they frequently erupt if there is insufficient food for the population. Then they may appear in all sorts of places and feed on anything they can find. This fine red male is feeding on the seeds of Sycamore in the plantation at Halligarth.: photo by Mike Pennington, 20 June 2009

Greylag Geese (Anser anser), Baltasound. Greylag Geese only started breeding in Shetland, on Unst, about 25 years ago, but several hundred pairs now breed in the islands.: photo by Mike Pennington, 11 May 2009

 
Halligarth from Nikka Vord. The plantation dates back to the 1830s and is one of the oldest group of trees in Shetland.: photo by Mike Pennington, 27 April 2009

 
Halligarth, with plantation.: photo by Mike Pennington, 27 April 2009

Snow at Daisy Park, Baltasound. On the right are the houses of Seaview and Seafield, which were demolished a few years after this photo was taken.: photo by Mike Pennington, 28 December 2001

Frosted Angelica (Angelica sylvestris), Baltasound. After an unusually cold, crisp night for Shetland the dead frosted stalk of Angelica is wrapped in silver cobwebs.: photo by Mike Pennington, 11 December 2009

Heavy snow at Baltasound. If there is heavy snow in Shetland it is usually accompanied by strong winds, so this heavy snow softly smothering the branches is unusual.: photo by Mike Pennington, 28 December 2001

Road in Baltasound, in snow at night. The road past Daisy Park, looking towards Springpark Road.: photo by Mike Pennington, 19 December 2009

Mist over the voe, Baltasound. A very unusual sight, as mist rises off the voe during a sudden and very sharp frost with snow. The phenomenon apparently only occurs in the very rare cases when the sea is significantly warmer than the land. Temperatures in this cold snap fell to -10 Celsius, very cold for Shetland.: photo by Mike Pennington, February 2001

Roselea and Muckle Heog from Baltasound. Roselea is the house and Muckle Heog and Little Heog are the hills.: photo by Mike Pennington, 9 February 2009

Mist over the voe, Baltasound. With land temperatures dropping exceptionally low and exceptionally quickly, mist starts to rise off the sea, a highly unusual sight.: photo by Mike Pennington, February 2001

Sunshine and snow, Halligarth, Baltasound. Snowflakes can be seen falling as the sun in the south still shines.: photo by Mike Pennington, 3 February 2010

Small burn in the snow, draining into Baltasound voe. Looking across the voe towards Ordale House.: photo by Mike Pennington, 23 February 2010

 
Snow shower passing Baltasound. Looking from the west end of the voe of Baltasound towards the hill of the Keen of Hamar as a snow shower makes its spectacular passage down the east coast of Unst.: photo by Mike Pennington, 24 February 2010

Snow shower over Buness and Muckle Heog. The view is across the voe at Baltasound towards Buness, the house in the foreground, and Muckle Heog, the hill in background.: photo by Mike Pennington, 24 February 2010

Track to an abandoned crofthouse, Baltasound. A tractor has been along the track to collect silage bales.: photo by Mike Pennington, 24 February 2010

Vallafield, Baltasound. The ruined croft at Vallafield, with the powerlines heading up the hill of Valla Field to the tachan radome on the summit.: photo by Mike Pennington, 11 February 2007

View at dusk across Baltasound voe towards Balta isle. On a calm evening, snow is reflected in the voe. Temperatures barely rose above freezing all day, so Balta, which usually loses its snow-covering very quickly, is still white.: photo by Mike Pennington, 10 February 2009

Voesgarth in the snow: photo by Mike Pennington, 3 March 2006

North shore of Baltasound voe in the snow: photo by Mike Pennington, 2 March 2005

Rainbow over the voe at Baltasound. Moody evening light.: photo by Mike Pennington, 18 August 2005

Midsummer sunset over Baltasound. The chimneys are part of the ruined house of Buness Cottage.: photo by Mike Pennington, 27 June 2009

Midwinter dawn, Baltasound. Almost nine o'clock, the sun is just rising over Baltasound, and the waning crescent moon is still bright in the sky. The view is from in front of Skibhoul, looking towards Clingra, the airport and Virda Field.: photo by Mike Pennington, 11 December 2009

Midwinter sunrise, Baltasound. The sun is just rising, just before nine in the morning, and emerging above a patch of mist after an unusually calm, still night. The view is towards the houses at Clingera and at the west end of Ordale: photo by Mike Pennington, 11 December 2009

Lichen, Baltasound. Growing on a small patch of stony ground, I have no idea what species this is, but the small cup-like structures are the fruiting bodies.: photo by Mike Pennington, 19 October 2009

Moss-covered wall, Voehead, Baltasound. Local serpentine rocks covered with verdant moss in a derelict wall beside the house at Voehead.: photo by Mike Pennington, 12 October 2009

Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) keys in June, Baltasound. A good crop seems to be developing.: photo by Mike Pennington, 30 June 2009

Transitory golden light, Baltasound. Grey clouds and a brief shaft of golden light at the end of a March day, making last year's dead grass seem suddenly attractive. Across the voe is Ordale House.: photo by Mike Pennington, 5 March 2009

Transitory golden light, Baltasound. A dull day, suddenly enlivened by 5 minutes of liquid gold just before sunset; looking across the Houb towards the house at Voehead.: photo by Mike Pennington, 5 March 2009

Sheep in winter sun, Baltasound. With the croft at Voesgarth beyond.: photo by Mike Pennington, 20 December 2007

Pigs in the snow, Baltasound. Pigs (or Grice, as they are known in Shetland), are not common in Shetland, although these pigs were part of a pig-farming enterprise which lasted for a few years in these fields.: photo by Mike Pennington, 2 March 2001

The sheep was alone in its field and so it was easy to see how it wandered around looking for food. Baltasound, Shetland Islands, Great Britain.: photo by Mike Pennington, 24 February 2010

Sheep feeding on silage in the snow, near to Baltasound, Shetland Islands, Great Britain. A variety of breed according to my inexpert eye.: photo by Mike Pennington, 24 February 2010

Shetland sheep, Baltasound. These sheep are closely eyeing the photographer, wondering if it's safe to return to the feeder which they've just run from.: photo by Mike Pennington, 3 February 2010

Shetland pony in the snow, Baltasound: photo by Mike Pennington, 3 February 2010

Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) in a ditch, Baltasound. Snow sees birds like Snipe looking desperately for any open water, as in this ditch which has almost filled with snow.: photo by Mike Pennington, 24 February 2010

Snow on a drystone dyke, Baltasound, Sticky driven snow from the north has plastered this drystone wall, but the dark marks are not protruding from the snow, but are gaps, presumably where the stones are too far apart so the snow has not been able to bridge the gap.: photo by Mike Pennington, 22 February 2010

Snowy crows, Baltasound. Hooded Crows (Corvus cornix) in the first snow of an early March snowfall.: photo by Mike Pennington, 1 March 2006

Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) in the garden, Baltasound. Among these Starlings are two Turnstones and while Turnstones are renowned for their catholic dietary tastes, coming into a garden to eat bread is something they only do in exceptional circumstances, such as this exceptional week of snowfall.: photo by Mike Pennington, 4 March 2001

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), Baltasound. Heavy rain overnight has created nice wet, muddy fields which Snipe favour.: photo by Mike Pennington, 14 November 2009

 Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus), Baltasound.: photo by Mike Pennington, 24 May 2009
 

Otter cub at Skeo Taing. This otter cub was probably on one of its first trips outside the holt, as it was a poor swimmer. Eventually Mum came and grabbed the cub by the neck and swam away with him!: photo by Mike Pennington, 4 November 2007

 Common Seal (Phoca vitulina), Baltasound. Swimming in an uncharacteristically calm and reflective sea.: photo by Mike Pennington, 7 December 2005

Black Swans (Cygnus atratus), the Houb, Baltasound. Black Swans are native to Australia, but these two escapees which spent a several days on the Houb in Baltasound attracted a lot of attention.: photo by Mike Pennington, 4 May 2001

Oystercatcher (Haemotopus ostralegus) with chick, Baltasound. This adult was tending three chicks, which look to be just a few days old. Unusually, Oystercatcher chicks are largely fed by the parents when they first hatch, whereas most waders have to fend for themselves as soon as they hatch.: photo by Mike Pennington, 16 June 2009

Oystercatcher (Haemotopus ostralegus) with chicks, Baltasound. Two of the three chicks that were following this adult; the other could be either described as highly independent or rather foolish.: photo by Mike Pennington, 16 June 2009

Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus), Baltasound. A scarce migrant in Shetland, and elsewhere in Britain, here feeding a little desperately on Rosa rugosa.: photo by Mike Pennington, 23 October 2005

Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) at Baltasound. Waxwings breed in northern Europe and, while insectivorous in the summer, they feed exclusively on fruits and berries in the winter. If the berry crop in Scandinavia is poor, or the Waxwing population is very high, the population erupts and heads south and west looking for food. Irruptions into Britain used to be sporadic, but have become more regular in the last few decades. This bird is feeding on Rosa rugosa hips, one of the few food sources available in Shetland.: photo by Mike Pennington,9 November 2008

Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) at Baltasound. Waxwings are scarce Starling-sized visitors in Britain, but are one of the most beguiling birds to be seen in the country with their soft overall plumage tone, bandit mask, day-glo yellow tail and wing markings, extraordinary 'wax' tips on some of the flight feathers, sleigh bell call and, as shown well here, a perky crest.: photo by Mike Pennington, 9 November 2008

Passer domesticus. Three newly-fledged House Sparrows waiting to be fed by their parents near Baltasound in the Shetland Islands.: photo by Mike Pennington, 20 June 2009

Blackbird (Turdus merula), Baltasound. A proprietorial male standing guard over his territory on a fine March evening.: photo by Mike Pennington, 16 March 2009

 Brambling (Frnigilla montifringilla), Baltasound. Bramblings are close relatives of the Chaffinch but they breed in northern Europe and only rarely breed in Britain. In Shetland they are principally migrants, in both spring and autumn. Males, such as this bird, acquire their summer plumage through the abrasion of buffy tips on the black feathers, and not through moult.: photo by Mike Pennington, 18 April 2009

To Popeye & Co. (Kudzu cinema)

Los Angeles | 2017: photo by Rinzi Ruiz, 9 February 2017

Los Angeles | 2017: photo by Rinzi Ruiz, 9 February 2017

Los Angeles | 2017: photo by Rinzi Ruiz, 9 February 2017

Untitled: photo by Dale Strumpell, 18 November 2017

Untitled: photo by Dale Strumpell, 18 November 2017

Peareye [Washington, D.C.]: photo by carnagenyc, 14 April 2014

Peareye [Washington, D.C.]: photo by carnagenyc, 14 April 2014

Peareye [Washington, D.C.]: photo by carnagenyc, 14 April 2014

 

Untitled [graffiti, Munich]: photo by txmx2, 2 March 2013

To Popeye & Co.

Age makes strange changes in Wimpy's 

Face. Slowly what hid Swee-Pea's bones away

Un-knits. Gravity undoes Olive Oyl

Bit by bit, day by day accepted

And reality creeps in

Between the you

That exists

And the you

You merely dream, you who came

Before knew as we do, and equally

Did not speak of it! No you didn't Popeye!

For you know
Speech
And 10c would buy you
A cup of coffee
To pour down through the hole in your ski mask
Into your skeleton
And make you feel great!
But now it would cost a multiple of that.

For spinach is useless.
Can you dig it?
Fathers, we flow back
Into the deep light. Silence insists This is it baby
And you won't even listen.

What's more, I don't blame you.

TC:  To Popeye & Co., from At Malibu (1975)

.

Popeye and company: photo by Alejandro Azteca, 2014

This "Dennis the Menace" statue was stolen in Monterey, found in Florida ... 9 years later: image via SFGate @SFGate, 12 September 2015

Sunday Dinner [Detroit-Shoreway, westside Cleveland]: photo by David Grim, 22 October 2017

Sunday Dinner [Detroit-Shoreway, westside Cleveland]: photo by David Grim, 22 October 2017

Sunday Dinner [Detroit-Shoreway, westside Cleveland]: photo by David Grim, 22 October 2017

The New York Fashion Week shows begin! @desigual Spring 2016. Photo: Trevor Collens #AFP: image via AFP Entertainment @AFPceleb, 10 September 2015

#NYFW @BetseyJohnson Ready to Wear Spring 2016. Photo @joshua_lott #AFP: image via AFP Entertainment @AFPceleb, 12 September 2015

 #MigrantCrisis A migrant waits for a bus after arriving in the village of Miratovac in Serbia. By @armend_nimani #AFP: image via Stephanie Beauge @sbeaugeAFP, 12 September 2015

I was so proud of my little one of a kind dance costumes! It was such a perfect moment! @voguemagazine XoX: image via Betsey Johnson @xoBetseyJohnson, 12 September 2015

#Serbia - Migrants and refugees queue at a registration camp in Presevo. By @armend_nimani #AFP: image via Sophie Chauveau @s_chauveau 11 September 2015

Migrants & refugees wait under the rain to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni, Greece @SakisMitrolidis: image via Stephane Arnaud @Stephane Arnaud, 10 September 2015

#Refugee holds her child in the rain at the border of #Greece #Macedonia at #Gevgelija photo @RAtanasovski @AFPphoto: image via SundayTimesPictures @STPictures, 11 September 2015 

#Gevgelija photo @RAtanasovski @AFPphoto #topshots: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 11 September 2015


 Fresh from the runway, it's #NYFW #therunwaywithreuters: image via Reuters Showbiz @Reuters Showbiz, 11 September 2015

Six Songs for the Next Age

D. H. Lawrence: Things Men Have Made
 

Little horse on wheels (ancient Greek child's toy). From tomb dating 950-900 B.C.: photo by Sharon Mollerus, 8 March 2009 (Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, Athens)

Things men have made with wakened hands

are awake through years with transferred touch, and go on glowing

for long years.

And for this reason, some old things are lovely

warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them.

D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930): Things Men Have Made, from Pansies (1929)

 D. H. Lawrence: Things Made by Iron

Metal Petals: a fountainhead on the West Side bikepath near Pier 45, New York City: photo by tauntingpanda (ben britten), 9 February 2005

 

Things made by iron and handled by steel 

are born dead, they are shrouds, they soak life out of us.

Till after a long time, when they are old and have steeped in our life

they begin to be soothed and soothing: then we throw them away.

D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930): Things Made by Iron, from Pansies (1929)

 D. H. Lawrence: Self-Pity

Cat sun: photo by Alex Holden, 29 July 2012  

I never saw a wild thing 

sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.

D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930): Self-Pity, from Pansies (1929)

Night gnome: photo by Alex Holden, 31 July 2012

D.H. Lawrence: Tortoise Gallantry

Making his advances

He does not look at her, nor sniff at her,

No, not even sniff at her, his nose is blank.

Only he senses the vulnerable folds of skin

That work beneath her while she sprawls along

In her ungainly pace,

Her folds of skin that work and row

Beneath the earth-soiled hovel in which she moves.

And so he strains beneath her housey walls

And catches her trouser-legs in his beak

Suddenly, or her skinny limb,

And strange and grimly drags at her

Like a dog,

Only agelessly silent, with a reptile's awful persistency.

Grim, gruesome gallantry, to which he is doomed.

Dragged out of an eternity of silent isolation

And doomed to partiality, partial being,

Ache, and want of being,

Want,

Self-exposure, hard humiliation, need to add himself on to her.

Born to walk alone,

Forerunner,

Now suddenly distracted into this mazy side-track,

This awkward, harrowing pursuit,

This grim necessity from within.

Does she know

As she moves eternally slowly away?

Or is he driven against her with a bang, like a bird flying in the dark against a window,

All knowledgeless?

The awful concussion,

And the still more awful need to persist, to follow, follow, continue,

Driven, after æons of pristine, fore-god-like singleness and oneness,

At the end of some mysterious, red-hot iron,

Driven away from himself into her tracks,

Forced to crash against her.

Stiff, gallant, irascible, crook-legged reptile,

Little gentleman,

Sorry plight,

We ought to look the other way.

Save that, having come with you so far,

We will go on to the end.

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930): Tortoise Gallantry, from Tortoises (1921)

Zipper Man

 Zipper Man / Hombre Cierre / Homme fermeture eclair. Emeryville, CA.: photo by Miguel Tejada-Flores, 9 July 2017

Hilton Obenzinger: The Count 

Men! It's time to take a count:
There's a president
There's another president
There's the current president
Who says "Believe Me" and grabs
Then there's the senator
There's the Hollywood Mogul
(Do we know what a Mogul is?)
Then there's the comic, the doctor
There's another comic
There's the senator who used to be a comic
Then there's the actor
And there's a director
Of course there's the priest and the teacher
There's a professor also
And another professor
And another
There's an even older president
There's the Sunday School teacher
There's a pastor minister rabbi guru
Here comes another president
The famous writer, all the celebrity
Crackpots are here too
There's the student
There's the guy at the copy machine
There's the guy who cleans the office
Then another senator
A candidate for congress
There's a very rich man
There's a not so rich man
Chalk up another senator
We could be here all night
Every man needs to dig deep
That means me too
There are pinches
There's "seduction"
There's the grab
There's the glad hand
There's all of this and more
Each man and more
Now - no more
Stop
One more president and that's it
Done and over and out
Keep your hands to yourself
Stop
Welcome to a new social contract
Sign on the zipper

11/16/17

 Pasaquan - 1992. Southwest Georgia near the small town of Buena Vista.: photo by Jeff, November 1990

 Pasaquan - 1992. Southwest Georgia near the small town of Buena Vista.: photo by Jeff, November 1990

 Pasaquan - 1992. Southwest Georgia near the small town of Buena Vista.: photo by Jeff, November 1990

Hilton Obenzinger: Let's Shoot 

Let’s go to church and shoot
Let’s go to the movies and shoot
Let’s go to the music festival
Let’s go to the supermarket
Let’s go to the school
Let’s go to the aquarium and shoot out the glass
And have people drown while we shoot them
And don't forget to shoot the fish
Let’s go to the museum and shoot Art
And then shoot the people looking at Picasso
Let’s shoot Picasso
He’s dead so let’s go to the cemetery and shoot the dead
Let’s go to the Halls of Justice and shoot all the judges
Let’s go to the NRA HQ and shoot everyone
Let’s go to the moon and shoot earth
Let’s get drunk and shoot
Let’s pray and shoot
Let’s go to the hospital and shoot the sick
Let’s get naked and shoot
Let’s shoot naked people
Let’s get an AR-15 and shoot people we hate
Let’s shoot people we love
Let’s never run out of bullets
Let’s never run out of long guns automatics
Let's get a truckload of grenade launchers
If only we had tanks and missiles
Let’s shoot while the shooting lasts
So much to shoot and so little time
Let’s shoot the small quiet wind
That blows through our hearts
And kill it good

11/6/17

Lame guide: photo by Piotr Debinski, 6 August 2017

Lame guide: photo by Piotr Debinski, 6 August 2017

Lame guide: photo by Piotr Debinski, 6 August 2017

Parts of Speech

I  Pronouns

A crowd in a Hong Kong street: photo by Hamedog, 27 December 2005

Pronouns

respect

persons.

II   Articles

 An ant sitting on a green bough with water drops, behind there is a green leaf and a green background. The picture was taken in Austria in Summer 2005 on a beautiful morning.: photo by Thomas Quaritsch, 5 July 2005

Articles

dutifully

clarify --

ant-

like.

III   Adjectives

Sorting moveable type. Note: the plate says - "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog and feels as if he were in the seventh heaven of typography together with Hermann Zapf, the most famous artist of the": photo by Willi Heidelbach, 28 September 2004

Adjectives

sort

things

out.

IV   Verbs

 Nekuia: Persephone supervising Sisyphus pushing his rock in the Underworld: side A of Attic black-figure amphora, attributed to the Acheloos Painter, c. 530 BC, found at Vulci (Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich)

Verbs

do

the heavy

lifting.

V   Nouns

Newton's cannonball (illustration describing how gravity connects motion of everyday objects on Earth to motion of celestial objects such as the Moon): image by Brian Brondel, 2007

Around
 

nouns 

people are 

nervous, 

possessive.

VI   Adverbs

Les médecins: miniature on ivory, Louis Léopold Boilly (1761-1845) (private collection; photo by Castafior, 2008)

For adverbs
 

men 

did, hopefully,
 

what they
 

could.

TC: parts of speech, from Green, 1971

Berlin Wall, East German Topography, 1990: photo by Jeff, November 1990

 

Berlin Wall, East German Topography, 1990: photo by Jeff, November 1990

Berlin Wall, East German Topography, 1990: photo by Jeff, November 1990

High Noon, The Bride Arrives in Town

High noon is purple noon after a two millennium hematoma

bruised with wakened hands

as awake through years with transferred touch and going on glowing
like overripe mangos shredded by monkeys
lying in pieces in the road

for too many long years.

And for this reason, some old things are very unlovely

warm, yet cold with the fears of forgotten men who made them.

The Bride, Varanasi, 1985: photo by Chris Protopapas, February 1985

 Ed Sanders: Manson sky-snake banishment Glyph

 

Here’s a Glyph

tethnake, Greek for “has died”

Apopis is the

Egyptian evil sky-snake, sign of evil

with a Red X of Banishment on top of it.

And hoping for Manson to come to peace at long last.

He was in the slaughter of My Lai

Ed Sanders: Manson sky-snake banishment Glyph, 19 November 2017

 


Unidentified bodies near burning house. My Lai, Vietnam, March 16, 1968: photo by Sgt Ronald L. Ronald Haeberle, from Department of the Army Review of the Preliminary Investigations in the My Lai Incident; image by bcs78, 31 December 2006

Summer Evening: Edward Hopper, 1947 (private collection)