American Beauty

"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but it is hard to stay mad when there is so much beauty in the world.
"Sometimes I feel like im seeing it all at once and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that is about to burst. And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain.. and I cant feel anything but gratitude..."
- Lester in American Beauty

An extraordinary film, thematically. Very funny too, and if it hadn't been, I don't think it would have interested me all that much.
Am I the only one who feels that both the young women in the film are rather... plain? Especially the Angela character, who is supposed to be really dang hot. I wouldn't have noticed her in a crowd, is what I feel.

Yellow White Lines

This is another one which I only took because I was thinking "heck, you might as well snap it, it'll cost nothing since it's digital, and who knows, it might work anyway." And lo and behold, I like it. I might be learning something here, but darn if I know what.

Cobbles and lines

(As to why I post these right now, see my comment on David's blog.)
(Oh, I forgot he is moderating his comments. If it is not posted yet, I said I took some similar shots when he and I photographed in Liverpool.)

"300"

Frank Miller wrote what I consider still the best superhero comic book ever, The Dark Knight Returns.
His later comic "300" has been made into a film. Like "Sin City" it is clearly mostly computer generated, but in my opinion, it looks much better than Sin City. In fact, I have never seen anything like it. Truly amazing. What Jurassic Park once heralded for movie making, we are now starting to see happening, though rather later than I expected. Meaning really convincing fantasy.

I should note that I agree with Miller's colleague Alan Moore when he says that Miller's stories for all their power and skill are still all limited by all of them being just stories about tough guys being tough. And especially to a pacifist like me, that's a strict limitation. But still, good art.

Red and Birches

"Windscreens Fitted Here"

A wonderful thing about digital photography is that you can experiment a lot more, because you don't have to pay for film and development. With film, I wouldn't have snapped this one for instance, for I didn't really believe in it. But most pictures you can't really judge until you see them on a screen.

SaleSign

The colors are not computer-enhanced!

A mentally handicapped church singer

I just got the amazing mail below. (Inspired by this week's newsletter at Domai.)
I was hesitant at first in posting it, because some might think the story is about how we should not discrimiate against the handicapped, which is true but it is not the point here. It is about seeing the bigger picture, and being open to beauty and communication which does not fit the surface picture of "nice". - Eolake

"A minister I talked to was serving at a nondenominational church in a small town. Among the attendees at the church was a young man who would be considered severely mentally retarded. His speech was affected and he was basically unintelligible to most people, yet the minister became familiar enough with him to be able to communicate reasonably well. One day the young man asked to lead the congregation in a song. This amazed the minister and he promised to give consideration to it. Eventually, he decided to let the young man have his wish.

"After the service, the minister was very upset to discover the venom that poured forth from several members. They were outraged that he would allow this to take place. How dare he allow this freak to desecrate the service by such a hideous display?

"The minister was telling me about the incident. He had not figured out how to respond to the critics, although in his heart he truly thought that he had done the right thing to allow this young man to sing. I ponted out to the man that in the religious literature I am familiar with, there exists a commandment ""to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.". I never found a commandement that said to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord, but only if it is pleasing to your fellows." The young man had asked to sing and the minister had felt right in granting his request. He was NOT obligated to run the request by a commitee. The young man's request had come from his heart and it only had to please his Lord. The pastor was beaming when he left me, because he had a topic for a new message to his congregation that he felt could strike at the core of the problem and give all of them pause to consider what constitutes Beauty."

Steel wall

I was a little in doubt if I could make worthwhile pictures with a fisheye lens, if I could fit subtle artistic values into the overbearing effect such a lens has. But I have proved it at least to my own satisfaction with this picture from today, I like it a lot.

Pogue on YouTube and backups

David Pogue again displays his near-unique talent for combining the informative with the entertaining.

A CD player

This thingy is very beautiful. Only it really should have come out five or ten years ago, before we all burned all our CDs. (Or is it "ripped" our CDs? It's pretty tough plastic to rip, and they don't burn well either.)

Riverfront, Liverpool

The Monkey's Paw

Just another example of how art can help you: Laurie Anderson's wonderful song Monkey's Paw ("I got everything I ever wanted. Now I can't give it up. It's a trap, just my luck!") made me think, back a decade ago, about the philosophical principle of the title. You may know it already: Apparently in India, they trap monkeys by hollowing out a coconut, securing it, making a hole in it just large enough for a monkey to get his hand in. They put rice in the coconut. The monkey put his hand in, grabs some rice... but he can't get his hand out with his fist closed! And he is not willing to give up the rice, so he is trapped.

Basically, anything you can't give up, money, sex, status, special relationships, ego, fame, emotions... it traps you.
The key principle to spiritual freedom is to LET GO.

Thinking about this has helped me immensely in recent years, and it is taken to new levels in A Course In Miracles. Get the book for free, I've made a PDF file. (5.4 MB)

Holed up in Texas

Did you know that in Texas, you can be jailed for owning more than six dildos? (Not a joke, there are people in jail.)
(Reading further, it seems the law was changed recently. Still a worthwhile view at humanity though.)

David's blog

There is a new photo blog from my friend David in Liverpool.
First time I met David, I told him that he actually do look a little like John Lennon. He made a face, I was never quite sure if he did not like the idea, or if he did not believe the compliment.
The blog is called Chapter Thirteen, but he says it does not refer to the American term meaning bankrupt.

Me and David (frig grammar) spent a nice afternoon in Liverpool photographing. For some reason I never posted those images, maybe I should if you think. Here are the first two. (Obviously the bloke on the bench with the huge Canon is David.)

"Blogging on a Beautiful Spring Day"

Michael Johnston has perpetrated another excellent satire in:
Blogging on a Beautiful Spring Day

Sepia threa

Sepia, blue, sepia, blue, red, green

This is a different definition of "sepia", hehe. (Number four instead of three.)

se·pi·a (s?'p?-?)
n.
1. A dark brown ink or pigment originally prepared from the secretion of the cuttlefish.
2. A drawing or picture done in this pigment.
3. A photograph in a brown tint.
4. A dark grayish yellow brown to dark or moderate olive brown.

By the way, it is funny, this happens sometimes: originally when viewing the series of shots I took of this subject, I thought I had failed with it. But looking over them now, I really like this one.

Lord Clyde