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This made me flinch for some reason.
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crushed
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27 December 2009 @ 02:17 pm
No, this isn't about porn and it isn't about these iconic trees either. These are on a ridge, part of a Montana skyline also photographed by Ki, maybe 2007. They're in their natural condition...
There is an archaeological dig site just up the street: a place where an orphanage complex, home spaces for homeless kids and single mothers and old women, stood for 200 years -- mid- 1600's to mid-1800's. Next year there will be a luxury apartment/condo building here, 50 meters high. With an underground garage.
But last week something strange happened.
Someone broke down the fence and hauled a big concrete block onto the site and put up a single tree, without a single decoration. Maybe as much as ten meters high. Seagulls were flying around it against the sky: ( Read more... )
And whoever did this broke down a section of fence to do it: I mean, trampled it right into the snow: ( Read more... )
No truck tire tracks across the sidewalk, across the fence, onto the dirt. Just a few footprints. And although the snow has melted now, both the fence and the tree have stayed there. Just like that.
I like the breaking down of the fence --- it's on a big posted area, KEEP OUT or else --- and maybe some parts of your life get involved with breaking fences down too. I also think it's great that you can imagine it with whatever decorations your mind wants to put on it. Even lighted candles [illegal outside in the City, unattended.]
Or maybe you like it just as it is.
In fact I like the seagulls wheeling past it, too. Would never have thought of them as "decorations". They were singing. And it wasn't Christmas carols.
Somehow it's all in keeping with hundreds of people who used to live in the four orphanage buildings that once stood here. Who were poor. Plain, simple. No question of a tree, much less a decorated one, unless someone gave it to them. Which would have been fine, too... and deeply appreciated.
Mostly in its natural condition: a plain and simple tree.
In remembrance. With its own majesty.
There is an archaeological dig site just up the street: a place where an orphanage complex, home spaces for homeless kids and single mothers and old women, stood for 200 years -- mid- 1600's to mid-1800's. Next year there will be a luxury apartment/condo building here, 50 meters high. With an underground garage.
But last week something strange happened.
Someone broke down the fence and hauled a big concrete block onto the site and put up a single tree, without a single decoration. Maybe as much as ten meters high. Seagulls were flying around it against the sky: ( Read more... )
And whoever did this broke down a section of fence to do it: I mean, trampled it right into the snow: ( Read more... )
No truck tire tracks across the sidewalk, across the fence, onto the dirt. Just a few footprints. And although the snow has melted now, both the fence and the tree have stayed there. Just like that.
I like the breaking down of the fence --- it's on a big posted area, KEEP OUT or else --- and maybe some parts of your life get involved with breaking fences down too. I also think it's great that you can imagine it with whatever decorations your mind wants to put on it. Even lighted candles [illegal outside in the City, unattended.]
Or maybe you like it just as it is.
In fact I like the seagulls wheeling past it, too. Would never have thought of them as "decorations". They were singing. And it wasn't Christmas carols.
Somehow it's all in keeping with hundreds of people who used to live in the four orphanage buildings that once stood here. Who were poor. Plain, simple. No question of a tree, much less a decorated one, unless someone gave it to them. Which would have been fine, too... and deeply appreciated.
Mostly in its natural condition: a plain and simple tree.
In remembrance. With its own majesty.
27 December 2009 @ 01:56 pm
Unlike the post above this one which has new photos [a couple days ago, really], these are a couple of my favourite photos from last year. Favourites including this icon, which is a lighted ceiling lamp in Israel that Kiota photographed years ago... perhaps in her home.
This is a closeup of a smalll white sled that lived on the hostel counter last year, they couldn't find it to put out again last week. I like the white cables and the bed of lights that glow upwards and cradle the tree ornaments: ( Read more... )
And this is a sloop whose owner decorated its mast last year. It reminded me then, and it does now, that a ship is always safe if it's in a harbor --- here, tied up on the bank of a canal --- but that is not what ships are made for... ( Read more... )
Soyeah, timetraveling with light.
This is a closeup of a smalll white sled that lived on the hostel counter last year, they couldn't find it to put out again last week. I like the white cables and the bed of lights that glow upwards and cradle the tree ornaments: ( Read more... )
And this is a sloop whose owner decorated its mast last year. It reminded me then, and it does now, that a ship is always safe if it's in a harbor --- here, tied up on the bank of a canal --- but that is not what ships are made for... ( Read more... )
Soyeah, timetraveling with light.
24 December 2009 @ 07:53 pm
Santa should deliver a sack of coal to LiveJournal for having unkillable popup
ads appear for at least ten seconds every time you access your LJ email.
WTF? I know LJ is owned by Russians now and they are really embracing raw-style
capitalism right now, but goddamn...
Who thought we'd see the day when you could actually say the USA appears
to be coming closer to a "socialist" utopia than the early USSR was supposed
to develop into.
ads appear for at least ten seconds every time you access your LJ email.
WTF? I know LJ is owned by Russians now and they are really embracing raw-style
capitalism right now, but goddamn...
Who thought we'd see the day when you could actually say the USA appears
to be coming closer to a "socialist" utopia than the early USSR was supposed
to develop into.
Current Mood: 
calm
calm23 December 2009 @ 12:41 pm
Part of the Chanoeka celebration this year included a photo exhibit commemorating the century since the founding of Tel Aviv in April, 1909. 300 volunteers in ten community centers there had proceeded to sift through archival photographs for the display, which is traveling around... 100 years ago T-A was a tiny suburb of Jaffa/Yafo, which had been a big-deal seaport for 3400 years up to then. Fought over successively by Egypt, the Israelite kings David and Solomon, the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Roman, Turks, British... and there was need for a new settlement in our time. In 1909, Tel-Aviv was originally a few families in a small Yafo suburb, now the metro area is around three million. Jaffa/Yafo was joined to Tel Aviv in 1950 when the larger port of Ashdod was built; now Ashdod is measured within the population of the region.
I didn't have much to do with Tel Aviv last year except to change my plane ticket there, in Ramat Gan, and go through it on my way to see Naatz in Haifa, Lotus82 near Jerusalem, and Yoni in Efrat. So I didn't recognize much of anything about all that history.
TEL is related to the Arabic word for a small elevation, a raised mound marking the site of an ancient city. This 1932 photo shows immigrants building a factory wall in the city center: ( Read more... )
And this is a kindergarten music class in percussion from about the same period: ( Read more... )
From only a few families, in the 1930's the city grew with thousands of refugees fleeing religious persecution in Central Europe.
I am completely in awe of what has been constructed not only along the coast but all over the desert terrain... fresh plants and trees grown under tents that are regularly watered, new roads, schools, hospitals, really a modern country from what it was a century ago. A whole nation built actually from faith and hope, reflections of candles of hope symbolized by the menorah.
A leading choreographer in the international dance world is Ohad Naharin, the Israeli who danced with the national dance theatre here, then returned to Tel Aviv to start the Bat-Sheva companies... also internationally famous. This was his poster for a US tour in 2007, which sold out so fast I couldn't get a ticket: ( Read more... )
And this action shot is from his duet choreography for "Intermezzo", performed last September and which I saw here: ( Read more... )
Last week we had a choir traveling between the snowstorms, 70km down from Gouda, where they make the cheese. Their conductor is Israeli, Yaél Kedar, and one of her Dutch choir members made a special note about her Israeli heritage when she introduced her. They were the only choir to wear some lights as well as sing beneath them: ( Read more... )
The group is named "Supper's Ready" -- have no idea how you'd say that in Hebrew -- and I like the kids looking on.
And I liked the lights through her hair: ( Read more... )
To life!
I didn't have much to do with Tel Aviv last year except to change my plane ticket there, in Ramat Gan, and go through it on my way to see Naatz in Haifa, Lotus82 near Jerusalem, and Yoni in Efrat. So I didn't recognize much of anything about all that history.
TEL is related to the Arabic word for a small elevation, a raised mound marking the site of an ancient city. This 1932 photo shows immigrants building a factory wall in the city center: ( Read more... )
And this is a kindergarten music class in percussion from about the same period: ( Read more... )
From only a few families, in the 1930's the city grew with thousands of refugees fleeing religious persecution in Central Europe.
I am completely in awe of what has been constructed not only along the coast but all over the desert terrain... fresh plants and trees grown under tents that are regularly watered, new roads, schools, hospitals, really a modern country from what it was a century ago. A whole nation built actually from faith and hope, reflections of candles of hope symbolized by the menorah.
A leading choreographer in the international dance world is Ohad Naharin, the Israeli who danced with the national dance theatre here, then returned to Tel Aviv to start the Bat-Sheva companies... also internationally famous. This was his poster for a US tour in 2007, which sold out so fast I couldn't get a ticket: ( Read more... )
And this action shot is from his duet choreography for "Intermezzo", performed last September and which I saw here: ( Read more... )
Last week we had a choir traveling between the snowstorms, 70km down from Gouda, where they make the cheese. Their conductor is Israeli, Yaél Kedar, and one of her Dutch choir members made a special note about her Israeli heritage when she introduced her. They were the only choir to wear some lights as well as sing beneath them: ( Read more... )
The group is named "Supper's Ready" -- have no idea how you'd say that in Hebrew -- and I like the kids looking on.
And I liked the lights through her hair: ( Read more... )
To life!
23 December 2009 @ 11:50 am
...well, not if you're a penguin family, I guess.
The heaviest snowfall in 25 years?
Last week NE Holland got maybe 10cm, we got a few last Sunday: maybe three inches.
Three inches in Boulder, Burlington, or Boston is nothing at all. But in den Haag there are no snowplows, apparently: people carried their bikes through the wind as it blew the snow into drifts.
The city went somewhat nuts. No buses for two days, no trams/streetcars for three.
The merchants went somewhat nuts too, no shoppers except intrepid ones.
So we were very far from last November's Dance Parade in the rain: these kids are not any longer sitting in front of their styrofoam waterfall, which by now would be frozen: ( Read more... )
And if anybody wanted to wear anything like the dancers from December 1, these women would be bound together with real gauze bandages if they tried this on ice: ( Read more... )
We had a British ice hockey school team visiting the hostel. This is Ian building a two-meter-plus snowman in front of the front door: three of them rolled up each of the bodyparts and it was amazing to see them trudging along to roll up the sticky snow along the canal banks, into a bigger-and-bigger mound; people stopped to watch: ( Read more... )
And this is the headshot for the talent agency, when he was done: a Heineken bottlecap for a nose and astonishment that the snow is still coming down: ( Read more... )
A family across the street started rolling their own. Here, 'rolling their own' means snow-bodies. That's an unusual use of those words here; about 25-years-unusual lol ( Read more... )
They live right next to a Daycare Center across the street, where the kids' teachers had already decorated the window. From INSIDE the school, yessss... The irl snowman didn't get blue buttons but he wore a color-contrasty scarf: ( Read more... )
And the little boy got lifted up by his Dad to wield his snowshovel so he could contribute to the construction too.
Both snowmen are gone now, rained on and melted, toppled-over.
But the joy remains.
And Ian and the lads won most of their games in the tournament.
And they did not break anything.
I don't play ice hockey any longer but I have not broken anything either, moving carefully on the sidewalk ice / slush. So that is a cause for my holiday rejoicing also!
The heaviest snowfall in 25 years?
Last week NE Holland got maybe 10cm, we got a few last Sunday: maybe three inches.
Three inches in Boulder, Burlington, or Boston is nothing at all. But in den Haag there are no snowplows, apparently: people carried their bikes through the wind as it blew the snow into drifts.
The city went somewhat nuts. No buses for two days, no trams/streetcars for three.
The merchants went somewhat nuts too, no shoppers except intrepid ones.
So we were very far from last November's Dance Parade in the rain: these kids are not any longer sitting in front of their styrofoam waterfall, which by now would be frozen: ( Read more... )
And if anybody wanted to wear anything like the dancers from December 1, these women would be bound together with real gauze bandages if they tried this on ice: ( Read more... )
We had a British ice hockey school team visiting the hostel. This is Ian building a two-meter-plus snowman in front of the front door: three of them rolled up each of the bodyparts and it was amazing to see them trudging along to roll up the sticky snow along the canal banks, into a bigger-and-bigger mound; people stopped to watch: ( Read more... )
And this is the headshot for the talent agency, when he was done: a Heineken bottlecap for a nose and astonishment that the snow is still coming down: ( Read more... )
A family across the street started rolling their own. Here, 'rolling their own' means snow-bodies. That's an unusual use of those words here; about 25-years-unusual lol ( Read more... )
They live right next to a Daycare Center across the street, where the kids' teachers had already decorated the window. From INSIDE the school, yessss... The irl snowman didn't get blue buttons but he wore a color-contrasty scarf: ( Read more... )
And the little boy got lifted up by his Dad to wield his snowshovel so he could contribute to the construction too.
Both snowmen are gone now, rained on and melted, toppled-over.
But the joy remains.
And Ian and the lads won most of their games in the tournament.
And they did not break anything.
I don't play ice hockey any longer but I have not broken anything either, moving carefully on the sidewalk ice / slush. So that is a cause for my holiday rejoicing also!
21 December 2009 @ 01:59 pm
Underneath the starlight when the sky is clear enough, Kerstmis celebrations continue to be a big deal in the very big deal City Hall downtown. Lots of music, pro and volunteer, and other stuff. Some of the festivities come from high school groups and orchestras, and one of them even performed on a rare morning when the sun came out. They proved that (1) it's hard to look at the conductor when the sun's in your eyes; (2) it´s hard to sing when you hold the wordsheet in front of your mouth: ( Read more... )
And once again this year we have de Levende Kerststal [The Living Christmas Creche] courtesy of the Royal Zoo. Donkeys, lambs, an ox, and of course The Holy Family and all the kings and Wise Men. The Virgin Mary got out of there sometimes to walk across the floor and sing with various choruses; one time I don't think she intended to shelter underneath the camel's neck but it happened when she talked to the crowd: ( Read more... )
I think this neatly shows the scale of the camel.
The shopping streets are brightly lighted again too, this bridge of lights stretches across the walkways... and they keep all cars out of it, not just now, but all year: ( Read more... )
And for once there is snow and ice all over. Too much of both. For two days straight, the tram system and most bus lines have been shut down.
But that doesn't bother the lighting, which reflects brightly.
Nor the animals, who stay inside all the time.
Probably smarter than we are...
And once again this year we have de Levende Kerststal [The Living Christmas Creche] courtesy of the Royal Zoo. Donkeys, lambs, an ox, and of course The Holy Family and all the kings and Wise Men. The Virgin Mary got out of there sometimes to walk across the floor and sing with various choruses; one time I don't think she intended to shelter underneath the camel's neck but it happened when she talked to the crowd: ( Read more... )
I think this neatly shows the scale of the camel.
The shopping streets are brightly lighted again too, this bridge of lights stretches across the walkways... and they keep all cars out of it, not just now, but all year: ( Read more... )
And for once there is snow and ice all over. Too much of both. For two days straight, the tram system and most bus lines have been shut down.
But that doesn't bother the lighting, which reflects brightly.
Nor the animals, who stay inside all the time.
Probably smarter than we are...
21 December 2009 @ 01:28 pm
Chanoeka (=the Dutch spelling) is a seasonal feast of hope and light celebrated for eight days: this year's season ended Saturday. One candle is lighted successively each evening, to commemorate the miracle of the increase of sacred temple oil so that, from one evening's sole supply, enough was replenished to keep light burning until a courier could arrive with more, eight days later. It's also a celebration of hope and a rededication of your life.
A candleabra called a menorah traditionally supports all eight candles and a central one from which all the others are lighted. Dreidels are wooden tops you can spin, lettered with four characters from the Hebrew alphabet; they symbolize the phrase "a great miracle happened there." The Jewish community here has a very tall menorah stylized as a tree, also as a worshipper with arms raised to Heaven. The dreidels in this picture are lighted from inside:
( Read more... )
"Revealing the Hidden City" is a photo exhibit accompanying this year's celebration, it travels around and is gone now. It recognizes the hundred-year anniversary of the founding of Tel Aviv in April 1909... which is another post to come. The exhibit is designed by a company in Delft, just down the road from here.
In Chanoeka 2008 a podium was set up and the menorah wore garlands of russet leaves: ( Read more... )
And this is Tamar reading from the Chanoeka message last year at the podium: ( Read more... )
By last Saturday all the candles of hope had been lighted: ( Read more... )
And there is another set of candles here this year, eight feet high, extending across the whole of the City Hall floor. These are multitraditional, from many faiths. Each one is five-sided and has a metal frame, which displays 35 foot-square wooden panels painted by schoolchildren all over the city. There re nine candles in a row, each topped by a tiny electric fan blowing silk colored by a hidden lamp, to simulate a flame; this is the crest of one of them: ( Read more... )
For me, the messages of all these flames are that they reflect the one within your heart, independent of all times and seasons. The one you can share over long distances and beyond time.
Blessings Be.
A candleabra called a menorah traditionally supports all eight candles and a central one from which all the others are lighted. Dreidels are wooden tops you can spin, lettered with four characters from the Hebrew alphabet; they symbolize the phrase "a great miracle happened there." The Jewish community here has a very tall menorah stylized as a tree, also as a worshipper with arms raised to Heaven. The dreidels in this picture are lighted from inside:
( Read more... )
"Revealing the Hidden City" is a photo exhibit accompanying this year's celebration, it travels around and is gone now. It recognizes the hundred-year anniversary of the founding of Tel Aviv in April 1909... which is another post to come. The exhibit is designed by a company in Delft, just down the road from here.
In Chanoeka 2008 a podium was set up and the menorah wore garlands of russet leaves: ( Read more... )
And this is Tamar reading from the Chanoeka message last year at the podium: ( Read more... )
By last Saturday all the candles of hope had been lighted: ( Read more... )
And there is another set of candles here this year, eight feet high, extending across the whole of the City Hall floor. These are multitraditional, from many faiths. Each one is five-sided and has a metal frame, which displays 35 foot-square wooden panels painted by schoolchildren all over the city. There re nine candles in a row, each topped by a tiny electric fan blowing silk colored by a hidden lamp, to simulate a flame; this is the crest of one of them: ( Read more... )
For me, the messages of all these flames are that they reflect the one within your heart, independent of all times and seasons. The one you can share over long distances and beyond time.
Blessings Be.
21 December 2009 @ 01:27 am
Steve
big fan of yours hows life goin
Rob
hey pretty good
Steve
good
like to hear that
Rob
how are you
Steve
just livin man i saw ur story and feel for u
Rob
thanks guy. appreciate it.
Steve
i use to live in foxchapel
u no where that is
Rob
oh? I lived in wilkinsburg
Steve
word
r u livin a godo lifenow?
Rob
pretty good, I should say. I live with my girlfriend and her mother.
Steve
good man
im tryin to stay clean its a struggle man
i use to use weed an booz
Rob
ah.
Steve
but i been goin to meetings
just dippin and drinkin some times
Rob
hey, you have to handle stress however, I guess.
Steve
yeah man
Rob
I can't drink at all...makes me depressed and now it hurts my liver
Steve
i bet an
do u got any advise
for stayin a good clean life
Rob
Uh. Maybe talk to a shrink or a religious leader?
Steve
shrink
wat should we talk about
Rob
Why you want to drink and smoke weed
what motivates you to do that
Steve
feel good make the midn feel good
i didnt go though what u did
but i jsut want to feel good
i guess
Rob
yeah I hear ya
I dunno guy. Get a hobby, something that stimulates your dopamine naturally. That's all I can say.
Steve
i feel ya
r u in school?
Rob
trying to reapply for ccac currently
Steve
wats ccac
Rob
community college
Steve
ull do work there
ur a fuckin genious
lol
Rob
yeah, I just have to get calculus cracked and I'm okay I think.
Steve
good
Rob
my math is real rusty because of years of non-use with the higher functions
Steve
i feel ya
waht r u good at history?
thats wat i though u talk about it on the show
Rob
somewhat
Steve
wats ur major
Rob
my interests are more geared towards pharmacology/chemistry
Steve
nice man
Rob
no declared; last time I tried computer science and got bored
Steve
im goin to pass olut
ill ttyl ur a cool dude keep your head up
Rob
yeah man
ttyl lol
big fan of yours hows life goin
Rob
hey pretty good
Steve
good
like to hear that
Rob
how are you
Steve
just livin man i saw ur story and feel for u
Rob
thanks guy. appreciate it.
Steve
i use to live in foxchapel
u no where that is
Rob
oh? I lived in wilkinsburg
Steve
word
r u livin a godo lifenow?
Rob
pretty good, I should say. I live with my girlfriend and her mother.
Steve
good man
im tryin to stay clean its a struggle man
i use to use weed an booz
Rob
ah.
Steve
but i been goin to meetings
just dippin and drinkin some times
Rob
hey, you have to handle stress however, I guess.
Steve
yeah man
Rob
I can't drink at all...makes me depressed and now it hurts my liver
Steve
i bet an
do u got any advise
for stayin a good clean life
Rob
Uh. Maybe talk to a shrink or a religious leader?
Steve
shrink
wat should we talk about
Rob
Why you want to drink and smoke weed
what motivates you to do that
Steve
feel good make the midn feel good
i didnt go though what u did
but i jsut want to feel good
i guess
Rob
yeah I hear ya
I dunno guy. Get a hobby, something that stimulates your dopamine naturally. That's all I can say.
Steve
i feel ya
r u in school?
Rob
trying to reapply for ccac currently
Steve
wats ccac
Rob
community college
Steve
ull do work there
ur a fuckin genious
lol
Rob
yeah, I just have to get calculus cracked and I'm okay I think.
Steve
good
Rob
my math is real rusty because of years of non-use with the higher functions
Steve
i feel ya
waht r u good at history?
thats wat i though u talk about it on the show
Rob
somewhat
Steve
wats ur major
Rob
my interests are more geared towards pharmacology/chemistry
Steve
nice man
Rob
no declared; last time I tried computer science and got bored
Steve
im goin to pass olut
ill ttyl ur a cool dude keep your head up
Rob
yeah man
ttyl lol
Current Mood: 
chipper
chipper17 December 2009 @ 05:33 am
12/30 Capitol Theater Backstage -Olympia, WA w/ Japanther and Broken Water 7:30 $8 all ages
1/9 The Rickshaw Stop -San Francisco, CA w/ Your Heart Breaks and Angelo Spencer 5pm $12 all ages
1/10 The New Parish -Oakland, CA w/ Your Heart Breaks and Angelo Spencer 8pm $12 all ages
1/11 Zami Coop -Santa Cruz, CA w/ Your Heart Breaks and Angelo Spencer
1/14 The Smell -Los Angeles, CA w/ Your Heart Breaks and Angelo Spencer 8pm $8 all ages
1/9 The Rickshaw Stop -San Francisco, CA w/ Your Heart Breaks and Angelo Spencer 5pm $12 all ages
1/10 The New Parish -Oakland, CA w/ Your Heart Breaks and Angelo Spencer 8pm $12 all ages
1/11 Zami Coop -Santa Cruz, CA w/ Your Heart Breaks and Angelo Spencer
1/14 The Smell -Los Angeles, CA w/ Your Heart Breaks and Angelo Spencer 8pm $8 all ages
15 December 2009 @ 10:26 pm
girls! why are they so jaw-droppingly graceful? how can you see one smile and think the world is okay and the sun is shining and make you feel as happy as watching a little boy in overalls and no shirt playing with his blind puppy? why do their tits taste like champagne? how can they move like a gazelle? how are they so soft and supple with little perfect pink pussies and laugh at all your jokes? how can they feel like theyre your best buds one minute and you can take them into wide fields of lavender and do them missionary style, tell them you love them the next? why are the words theyre always whispering tenderly in your ear so beautiful and exciting? what the fuck is with that incredible posture? why are they so perfect and alluring? how do they look so good in purple? nobody looks that good in purple! how can you have one conversation with one and all of a sudden youre BUYING THEM CRYSTALS?? why is everybody always writing songs about them? whether its "she left me with herpes" or "femme fatale" everybody won't shut up about girls!
am i even a girl?????? why do none of the things above apply to me? sometimes i feel so much like a dirty dumb boy or even an ape. how am i always bleeding? (not menstrually, just clumsy!). how come my hairdo makes me look like a lionel richie bust and i have the posture and greasiness of an onion ring? how come i'm always yelling like someone just caught fire? why am i so bad at ice skating? maybe im just a bad problem solver. did they cut off my balls at birth and never told me? should i try to pee standing up?? i just wish i knew how to make myself work