'Till Next Season

On a Serious Note

Lots of pop-culture posts lately. Man, this Arizona immigration law crap is ridiculous, but it seems so ridiculous that it will almost immediately be declared unconstitutional. But this damn oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Un-f&*^ing-believable. NPR had a mayor of a city in Alabama on just now, and with gallows humor he noted they have white sand beaches, the whitest in the world, and that tourists should come ASAP cause it isn't going to last.

Peter Wolf / Fresh Air

Ok, he's an inveterate name-dropper (Terry calls him on it towards the end) but the names he drops are unbelievable. Listen and be jealous, and wonder what he did in a past life to deserve it, cause he kinda sounds like a tool....

Exit Through the Gift Shop / Fresh Air

I mentioned this movie a couple of days ago, the fresh air movie review makes it sound better and better. Either it's a legit documentary, or the whole premise is made up, and is street art expanded to hoodwinking moviegoers. Either way it sounds awesome.

Sarah Silverman / Fresh Air

The parade of great, interesting interviews continues... lots of jewish jokes... for Amy and S Bee.

Wilbert Rideau / Fresh Air

Fascinating interview about 44 years spent in prison in Angola, Louisiana. Highest Recommendation.

Danny Trejo / Random Roles

The Danny Trejo random roles was among the best. They note in the interview that he's done 183 movies/tv shows. He got his start because he was a real ex-con, and taught actors playing bank robbers how to really act in that situation. Some very funny stories in the interview. I really like him.

Johnny Cash + Fiona Apple

Listening to this just now via the Unearthed box set. Luckily everything is on youtube. Great version of a great song. I love Fiona.



I really liked 2 pics in the slideshow: Carl Perkins + Roy Orbison + JC + Jerry Lee Lewis (at 1:07), and the one with his daughter Roseanne Cash (at 2:18). Well, there's a lot to like here....

Dorothea Lange / NPR / Studs Terkel

Great story about the photographer Dorothea Lange on NPR this morning. She's most known as a depression-era photographer (the image everyone has seen is the one of a mom and her 2 kids, maybe the most famous image by anyone this side of the National Geographic cover of the afghan girl with amazing eyes from the 80s) but she had a long career as a portrait photographer.

This reminded me that there are some AMAZING Studs Terkel interviews with regular people about the Great Depression that This American Life used to make a 1 hour show, but they posted a link to the full archive, too. If you have a bit of time to kill (11 hours), you could do a lot worse than listening to them.

Sarah Hoskins / NPR

Very cool story about the work of photographer Sarah Hoskins in documenting the 'Negro Hamlets' {towns founded by former slaves in 1865} around Lexington, Kentucky. There's a narrated slideshow at the NPR link that's great. Highly recommended. Her personal webpage is interesting as well.

Love the little girl in the lower-left

This is from her personal website, the 'FSA List Revisited' gallery. She is taking photos which follow the criteria for photos of the FSA (a make-work program during the Great Depression).

Carrizo Plain Wildflower Trip 2010 post #2

In the first post I tried to chronologically interweave the best images from my 2 digital cameras, an Olympus 750UZ and a 1030SW. The 750 is nice because you can shoot it fully manual, although I don't use it that often so it always takes me a half a day to remember how to fully use it! The 1030 is waterproof and rugged and stuff, but takes less good pictures -- I guess the sensor in it is 'weaker' or something, but more durable. Anyway, this is the post for the rest of the 750UZ images that I most liked. Everything is available on my picasa if you are curious.

There were alot of beetles around. Millions. They were landing on the shady side of the barn at Selby Cow Camp.

This bird nested inside

shapes/tones

selective/rack focus, though I shifted the composition, unfortunately

Early 50s Dodge

it's a lizard

the Painted Rock rock art site

We came back through San Luis Obispo. I haven't been there since I started heavily listening to KCBX, the NPR station out of there. It was really fun seeing all of the street names and businesses that are mentioned on the air.

Carrizo Plain Wildflower Trip 2010 post #3

From the 1030SW

Run like an antelope, out of control

Selby Cow Camp

Self portraits

Encilia farinosa

UCSB / NPR

UCSB was mentioned in a story about high school kids being wait-listed for college admission this morning. Kind of cool to hear our name on NPR...

Electric Motorcycle / NPR

Very interesting story. Loved the bit about using bicycle frame building materials/know-how to build a motorcycle.

Exotic Fruit/ Mystery Train

Been on a re-watching movies kick. Love 'Mystery Train' by Jim Jarmusch. The main jist is the movie consists of 3 stories, and these stories overlap in that the people involved all spend the night at the hotel owned by Screamin' Jay Hawkins (in the red outfit). It's set in Memphis, which is most critical to the first story, about 2 japanese kids on a pilgrimage to see Graceland, but the city plays a part in the other stories, too. I am mesmerized by this movie. Screamin' Jay's outfit plays a part in that.... Anyway, there's a scene towards the end with Jay and the bellhop that makes this a perfect entertainment item for the blog (food & movie together....)

Say, do you have anymore of those Japanese Plums? Or any other exotic fruits from around the globe?
You ate my only plum, remember?
Ohhhhh. Yeah.

Doesn't look like much on the page, it's great cinema, though, I promise.

Carrizo Plain Wildflower Trip 2010 post #1

Red in Los Olivos

Salvia carduacea

This and the next few are from the Selby Cow Camp building area, Selby Rocks in the distance.

it's a lizard

Early 50s Dodge pickup

Salvia ??

"I've just seen a face, I can't forget the time or place that we'd just met..."

Fence post

Nikkormat, view from Selby Campsite

This one is my favorite of the digital pics. Felt good to shoot slide film and have more control, we'll see how those turn out. Here is a long, detailed article on the difference between film and digital.

We (the royal we, actually S Bee) drove 154 - 101 - 166 - Soda Lake Rd - 58 - 101. We probably should have driven on more dirt roads in the Carrizo Plain, but we still saw some pretty good displays.

Post #2, Post #3, Picasa I,II