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..and beautiful journey goes on
Words from Eels album: "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations"
Image and hype of inspiration dedicated to my sweet li'l thing.
An installation of leaves with open and closed eyes printed on the front and back. They blink as they flutter down.
Credit: tom mesic
What the blinking flip? We're ALL made of chemicals. Anything that claims to not be makes me highly suspicious. As I was poking around for soap (yes, good old-fashioned alkali one-end-organic-one-end-ionic soap), I saw this... thing. It's supposed to be a lovely green way of keeping your hands clean.
Ok, list of "non chemical" ingredients:
Aqua (water) H20;
Manuka Honey.. ohh. too many complex things in there, all chemical, even if naturally derived (warning: may attract insects with germs aplenty);
Aloe Vera (meh, cactus, still waiting for a germ-killer);
Zinc PCA.. WTFZinc more like.. what is this? I'm guessing it's a complex compound containing Zinc, but no idea.. probably the active ingredient that actually kills stuff;
White Willow Bark Extract: that would be aspirin, no?
Radish Root Filtrate: Bwuh? Horderadish? I dunno.
Sat C50 (Liquid Vitamin C): OK, ascorbic acid, now we're being useful, a chemical used as a preservative the world over, especially in processed foods.
White Tea Solubiliser: god knows what white tea has to do with it, but in English it's a SOLVENT, FFS
Lavender and Lime Esential oils. Ok, nice smellies.
Can anyone tell me what exactly in this mix kills 99.9% of all germs? I would guess it's the zinc, ascorbic acid and aspirin, but surely a nice safe, easily made alcohol rub is better for everyone? Given that there are concernhs about colony collapse disorder being related to intensive farming, it would probably be better for the bees, too.
The whole thing just strikes me as nonsense. Give me soap or give me germs.
"Ain't we all the stars playing the leading part in our own soap opera?" Brandy Clark belts out that question to kick off Big Day in a Small Town, positing the premise of not just the opening track ("Soap Opera"), but all 10 songs that follow it. The towns that anchor Clark's new album may be small enough to warrant only a single blinking light, but the lives lived in them are anything but... and neither are the hopes and dreams that rise from their backroads and bedrooms.
When you grow up in a small town, oftentimes, your dreams are all you have. Whether it's to become a football star or a father, a homecoming queen or a hairdresser, your dreams might be the only thing that keep you going. For Clark, the dream she harbored in her small hometown of Morton, Washington, was to be a country singer. Sure, once she moved to Nashville, she had successful cuts as a songwriter [The Band Perry's "Better Dig Two," Miranda Lambert's "Mama's Broken Heart," and Kacey Musgraves' "Follow Your Arrow" which won the CMA Song of the Year Award in 2014], but being an artist in her own right was a dream she had stopped dreaming until two years ago when her first album, the stunning 12 Stories, debuted.
At the time, it was a passion project, more than anything... a passion project that went on to become a Grammy- and CMA-nominated release that topped a myriad of "Best Albums of 2013" lists; earn her opening slots on tours with Eric Church, Jennifer Nettles, and Alan Jackson; land her performances onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show , Good Morning America, The Late Show with David Letterman, and a much-talked about collaboration with Dwight Yoakam on the 2015 GRAMMY Awards in recognition of her nomination in the all-genre Best New Artist category; and win her a Warner Bros. Records deal. Now, as she gears up for her sophomore set, the alternately feisty and poignant Big Day in a Small Town, Clark has much higher hopes.
"When I made 12 Stories, I think my dreams were a lot more realistic, in that I didn't expect a lot to happen... then it did," she says. "This time, my dreams are very much what they were when I was going to Vince Gill and Patty Loveless concerts and decided I was going to move to Nashville. Right now, my dreams are as big as when I was naïve enough to really dream them."
Produced by Jay Joyce [Little Big Town, Eric Church], Big Day in a Small Town tells the stories of the football star, the father, the homecoming queen, and the hairdresser because those are the stories and people that Clark grew up knowing. "All these songs, there's some little truth in them, somewhere, that resonates with me or that is about me," she confesses. Explaining the genesis of "Soap Opera," she offers. "When I would get worried about what people thought of me or what was going on with me, my mom would always say, 'You know, we're all the star of our daytime drama. We're just bit players in someone else's. Nobody cares that much about what's going on with you. They'll only care until there's something juicier going on with somebody else two weeks later.'"
But Clark cares enough about all of these characters to tell their stories: the aging beauty of "Homecoming Queen" who wonders what happened to the life she always wanted... the tempted exes of "You Can Come Over" who do all they can to not get burned by the flame that flickers between them... the heartbroken heroine of "Daughter" who wishes a bit of karmic justice on her ex in the form of a daughter who's "just as sweet as she is hot"... the defiant wild child of "Girl Next Door" who refuses to fit her lover's misguided notion of womanhood.
"'Homecoming Queen' is really real for me — I know that girl. 'You Can Come Over' is very real for me and 'Daughter' and 'Soap Opera'..." Clark's voice trails off as she thinks about the tales she tells. What about "Drinkin' Smokin' Cheatin'" with its pondering of ways to navigate the sometimes rocky waters of a relationship? Game plan? Wish list? "That's a total daydream," she says with a laugh. "I think we all have that daydream."
One of the most heartfelt moments on Big Day in a Small Townis the one that closes it, "Since You've Gone to Heaven." The song addresses the aftermath of losing someone close to you and it's one that Clark has wanted — and attempted — to write for years. "My dad was killed in a work accident the July before 9/11," she says. "When all that 9/11 stuff was going on and everyone was glued to the TV ... I thought right then, 'Since you've gone to heaven, the whole world has gone to hell.' But I sat on it for years and years because it seemed so bleak." As with all of Clark's compositions, there's some truth in it, just not necessarily the whole truth. "It's definitely not the story of my family in that song. I'll stress that," she says. "But I do think, a lot of times, when somebody dies, it blows things apart more than it brings things together."
While the lyrical themes echo those of 12 Stories, Clark pushed her vocal and musical boundaries on Big Day in a Small Town. Instead of building the songs from a simple guitar/vocal performance, Joyce brought the players in for five days of rehearsals before tracking live with the band. "A lot of those rehearsals became what the record was," Clark says, explaining that the recorded version of "You Can Come Over" includes her one-take, scratch vocal. "I wanted to fix a few things, but Jay wouldn't let me because he felt like it would lose emotion. He's about the heart of music. He's not about making it perfect."
"He is out to serve the artist and the song," she adds. Throughout the process, Joyce insisted that this be a "Brandy Clark record" not a "Jay Joyce record" because she was the one who would be performing it night-after-night even as he moved on to his next project. "If I didn't like something, he'd be the first person to change it. I think this project means nearly as much to him as it does to me."
Though Neil Young's Harvest was the only musical reference point the two discussed before heading into Neon Cross Studios, Clark and Joyce each brought their influences along — including Clark's long-standing love of classic country and Joyce's well-documented affinity for edgier rock. "He and I definitely come from different places, musically, which I think is probably good," she offers. "On 'Daughter,' he started to play an organ part and I said, 'That sounds like [Patsy Cline's] "Back in Baby's Arms."' He said, 'What's that?' He didn't know it."
Along with Sturgill Simpson, Ashley Monroe, Chris Stapleton, and Kacey Musgraves (who provides guest vocals on "Daughter"), Clark is part of a new vanguard in country music — one that tips a hat to tradition, while not eschewing its evolution. "I see what's happening right now and I feel this groundswell of people who love... I would say 'country' music, but I'll take it a step further and say 'real' music. I feel like there are people who are starved for that," she says. "The only music I've ever made is country music. The only music I've ever really listened to consistently is country music. And I want to keep that alive, so there's a responsibility in that, for me."
But, for Brandy Clark, that responsibility is a dream come true. 4/15/16
Owned by her father Thomas Boleyn Blinking Hall said to be the birth Home of Ann Boleyn Queen of England wife of Henry III
Conor Nitely motioned to Phoebe to duck under the counter as the passed the front desk, ducking pass the nursing staff with something that looked like considerable practice. He'd creep slowly around the curtain, eyes blinking rapidly to adjust to the light inside. Grubby face was still quite red, breathing just the slightest bit hitched as he peered around the room.
Phoebe Scribe stepped in right behind Conor, fury still brewing in her dark set eyes. She scanned the room for the patient in question, hands at her sides balled into into fists. She'd like to see someone try to stop her in her quest.
Jaina Lefevre is curled on her side, River was sitting here - guess he got up to go to the bathroom.
Conor Nitely stomped forward, considerably less dust left in his wake now that they were out of the ruins. "Pork's coming," he whispered back to Phoebe, eyes scanning and settling on the girl curled across the room. The medical staff and various other patrons of the MCMC were ignored now, the word all but shouted. "JAINA!"
Jaina Lefevre looks up at Conor and gives him a crooked grin. "Hi Conor...hi Phoebe.. My good ear is okay, you ain't gotta shout no more."
Phoebe Scribe nodded to him. Pork would be good in this case to have here. She followed behind Conor, her eyes resting on the girl, taking note of everything she could see. She muttered softly. "Pitch black." Speaking in abit higher pitch. "Hi Jaina. We're sorry ya hurt."
River Grau comes back from the bathroom, wavng to those tat jus arrived. 'Hey." (Yay. I'm on the comp that eats letters)
Jaina Lefevre sighs. "Yeah..it's a fuzzy hurt right now but it hurted lots more before. Conor! I got you a bat! I founded it and everything! It's a home though."
Conor Nitely wasn't aware of any good or bad ears, or the fact that he was even shouting. He seemed to have to volumes really, low and high. Despite his hybrid ears both sounded the same to him most of the time. He paused, momentarily at a loss for words as he took in her injuries. When finally managed to speak again the words were almost forced out. Bat references were ignored, he was too focused on his mission now. "What happened?"
Phoebe Scribe glanced over to Conor, then back at Jaina, quiet for the moment again as she intentionally took slow breaths, focusing on not blowing a fuse about her mortal enemy attacking kids.
Jaina Lefevre looks at Phoebe and Conor, then at River. "It was really bad. Kimi and Rai tried t'get me out and Rai even said they should kill him and let us go. He was really brave."
River Grau looked over at Conor and Phoebe, "Watch out.. If yah play in the park. I seen them marine people there but they ain't hurt me or nothin'. But they hut Jaina so you gotta watch out."
Muggles looks at Conor with the stink eye but says nothing. " Hey Jaina.. No body over there .. Your mom come by yet?"
Kimani Silvercloud goes in and walks next to her bed
Conor Nitely shook his head, indignant now. Muggles was ignored, he was way to focused on finding out what happened. "They got you in the park?"
Phoebe Scribe muttered something inaudible before she widened her eyes at River. "THEY WERE IN THE PARK?!" She shouted with anger. "They killed my MAMA in the park!" All bets of keeping Phoebe calm were now gone.
Nellie Meads's eyes get huge, her pupils get black black, and her tail goes rigid behind her.
Rai Pawpad climbs halfway up the foot of the bed. "Heya Jaina."
Jaina Lefevre nuh uhs. "Mommy has to travel from the Beas..." her voice trails off and she looks over at Phoebe and she swallows. "Uh huh. THey chaseded Rai and I and we hid in the trees and they threw a bang thing and it got really bright and loud, then it got black. I woked up in a cage." She seems to relax as Rai gets there. "You is okay?" He was the last one she needed to 'check on' in her mind.
Nellie Meads: "Jaina, you're a warrior now, you been apprehended."
Phoebe Scribe was shaking with anger for a minute or two before she stormed right back out. That was enough to send her on her own personal mission. "They can't COME in the park!" She didn't know if Conor was following or not, but she was yanking her phone from her bag and dialing, clearly on the move.
Jaina Lefevre: "I gots broked ribs and a Kun-cushion and they glued my skin together in spots." She watches Phoebe go. "Wait! We gotta plan!"
Rai Pawpad pets her foot awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm okay, Princess. I'm good. Are you better now? Cause we're gonna take them out."
Muggles looks around the room," You sure gots lots of friends Jaina.*eyes Conor and River* . Not who'd I pick but it's kinda cool I guess" Smiles at Phobe
Conor Nitely flinched at Phoebe's shout, his eyes filling with intense anger. "Miss Marina," he hissed at Phoebe, a curt nod as the next part of his mission was decided. There was a vague glance at the other kids in the room, hard face softening as his eyes fell back on Jaina. Chest was too tight to breathe in here though, two feet already marching away. Stomping really. A quick wave at River and a surprising nod at Rai. Something that looked like a bit of respect passing over his features for a moment, and with that he was gone.
Kimani Silvercloud thinks for a moment "we all need to get phones so's we can keep in touch, and relay messages"
Jaina Lefevre watches Conor go and actually..whimpers. "They is gonna get hurted. Don't want them hurted." She looks at Kimi. "I...I ask Mama Deets when she's back from her trip. She made my phone that the bad guy stole."
River Grau looks over at Phoebe and Conor, “Miss Marina..? Uncle Nerio and Fina's Mom? Why ain't they allowed in the park, 'cause their Mom is a ranger.. Do the rangers keep em out?”
Kimani Silvercloud nods "that sounds good, have you been resting?"
Muggles tilts his head speaking," No one there though .. We just got back ... Where she going?"
River Grau is going to hav to try finding this Marina person. He grumbled..
Nellie Meads: "Channels, everybody got channels, Hat."
Muggles shows Jaina his new gun ..sorta smells like garbage," Ya see what I got .. We gonna get em back !"
Jaina Lefevre dunnos and looks over at Kimi. 'Yeah..I'm restin sorta. " She looks at the gun. "You got ammo? Tha's hard to get."
Rai Pawpad only notices Conor as he leaves, and he flicks an ear, watching him . He sprawls on the bed, quite aware of River and ignoring him. "They're not gonna get hurted, Jai. Don't worry. The bad guys get hurt."
Kimani Silvercloud looks around Jai needs rest, not bombardment of kids, she might shoo them away in a bit
Muggles nods," Yeah but not a lot ... I kinda was practicin "
Nellie Meads: "Armor-suits are going to get a vendetta enema!"
River Grau was better at this game. In fact, right when he noticed Rai in the room he waved to him. “Hello Rai, I was just here checkin' up on Jaina. Would yah like some of the tart I made for her?”
Jaina Lefevre grins. "General with a gun. S'good." She seems more relaxed with everyone here. "We gotta plan." she nods to Nellie. "Gurry-lilla warfare." She looks at River. "You make me another one if'n I share this one?"
Muggles eyes Nellie again," Wats an en i ma again?" Muggles Blinks at the offer of fresh baked pastry towards Rai," You guys are ok I guess huh?" He whispers to Rai
Father Philippe heard the great doors creak open from his office and went to see who would come to visit the church on a Tuesday morning. A small crowd stood in the Narthex, blinking in the relative darkness after the brilliant bright day outside. They were well dressed and similarly but yet struck Father Philippe as an odd mix. There was a massive, striped, regal looking fellow with a tiny woman who reminded him of a nun, and a child gazing in wonder at the cathedral like it was the first time she had ever been in one; who was tenderly leading a terribly scarred, blind man.
“Grace and Peace,” he greeted them, “I am Father Philippe, rector here, how may I be of service to you? Did I hear one of you say something about tomes and books?”
“A tomb with books is what my companion said,” the great big fellow indicted the blind man with a wry smile.
“Oh, well, we have many fine examples of both here, what were you hoping to find?”
“A description of the smell,” the blind man said.
“Ah, not a fan of churches, I’d wager.”
“Wouldn’t have taken you for a gambling man, Padre.”
“A sure thing isn’t gambling though, is it?”
“Oh, I like him. He’s quick. My name is Ch’Byartha,” The man stuck out a gnarled paw that was short a few fingers. Philippe shook it warmly with both hands.
“I’m going to assume that’s not the name your parents gave you, Son of Failure?”
“It is the name they would have given had they been more honest with themselves.”
“I see, and who is your lovely assistant?”
“This,” the man said with some relish, like a father with great pride and affection for his only child, though clearly she was not his by birth, “is Akondro.” She timidly gave her hand and Philippe asked, “Did he name you?” leaning his head to indicate Ch’Byartha. She nodded. “I thought as much. Welcome child. I hope you come to love the church and your time in them more than your warden here.”
“Who is the warden and who is the ward when one must needs be led by the hand like a child by a child? Yahweh has done much to humble me these last few years; i assure you Father, my feelings for the community of God are much more malleable than in my youth.” The large one cleared his throat. “So. The furry wall there is Amisbhake,” Ch’Byartha continued the introductions, “Lord High Counselor to Chofa the Mysteriously Hard to Locate These Days,” Philippe shook his paw, which enveloped his own, “Charmed,” the great man rumbled. “And her dispassionateness is none other than Ch’loi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Dawn.”
“Ah, so… OH! It is you! You’ve come!”
“Well, you did send for us.”
“Please forgive me for not knowing you straight away, I had no idea what to expect! Thank you ever so much for coming! Please, follow me.” He led them outside and to the adjacent building next door. “I am so thankful you have come. They just started showing up here soon after the Union nuked Aedlin. I didn’t know what to do! I know what society would have me do. I know what our neighbors would tell me to do but i could not bring myself to do it, you see. They are living, thinking beings no matter their appearance or… diet” They went through a door and began descending some old steps cut directly into the stone. “They obviously wanted help and chose me, they came to me directly you see. Not to cause harm or mischief but just an insistent but wordless plea for help.”
“How do you know that?”
Father Philippe laughed, “Because I am not dead! If they were behaving in the way we have come to expect from them, I would be a raisin and the Union would be nuking Zanzibar! Jael came first. Just stood in the doorway one night when the church was empty. I had no way of communicating with her you understand but my compassion was touched by them all the same. I found something for her to eat and she left. The next night she came again. The following night, she brought Hagar with her. The next night Ruth and so on. They are in such obvious need! I had to help them, I am compelled by grace to help them! So I have hid them here and fed them but this can not go on indefinitely! I have to send them on or they will be discovered.” He reached the bottom of the stairs and turned, “Now, they are a little…disconcerting, I feel I would be remiss if I did not try to warn you about their appearance and what it’s like being so near them….”
Ch’Byartha put a hand on his shoulder. “Trust us, Father, we know.”
“I do not know how that could be. I have worked with starving communities, communities ravaged by war and plague and nothing, rien, has ever prepared me for this!”
“Preaching to the choir.”
He looked at each of them, shrugged, “Alright, if you’re sure?”
“We are.”
“Alright,” he unlocked the door, “that’s not to keep them in, you understand, I doubt I could even if I wanted to. It is to keep others from accidentally stumbling upon them. It is for their protection.” He pushed it open and called into the darkness, “Rahab, Ruth, Jael, Hagar… visitors to see you. He took a lamp from the wall and lit it. Spindly shadows like giant spiders lowered themselves from the ceiling, raised up from the corners and came forward in a shy huddle of rags and clicking eye shutters.
“You named them?”
“I could not very well ask them their own names, so yes.”
“They’re all women’s names.”
“Something about them struck me as feminine, yes.”
“You celibate, Father?” Ch’Byartha asked.
“Oui.”
“Figured.”
Philippe was going to ask what he meant but Jael, always first, came forward but not to Philippe. She went straight to and stood before Ch’loi, her posture erect but not defiant. As if she were presenting herself before a superior. She did some sort of pantomime and Ch’loi made a hand gesture in return. “You understand her?”
“Yes.”
“You..know her?”
“One has met before, yes. What does the Reverend call this one?”
“Jael.”
“The wife of Heber, who drove the stake through Sisera.”
“Yes, but I was not thinking of that specifically, more searching Scripture for names of women associated with the people of God but not actually of them.”
“It is appropriate.”
Father Philippe did not know what she meant by that and she did not offer to explain. What he asked instead is what was truly on his heart, “Can you.. will you help them?”
Ch’loi looked at him, her face was unreadable, stoic as stone, dour, the rigid mask of a woman who had known much heartbreak and little to no joy in her life. But her eyes now were fierce and bright as if something inside was waking up and though her voice was small, quiet, meek, Philippe would have said it spoke with iron, “It is One’s Purpose.”
[And thus ends Book 2 of what i am now calling "A Girl Named 'Son.'" This particular book i'm calling the Disciple. i'm going to try not to slow down though and start on Book 3: the Ambassador as soon as possible.]
It's a tough life being a hummingbird. This rufous is catching a catnap (you should excuse the expression) mid-air! Seriously, what are the odds of catching a flying blinking hummingbird? Or, it could be winking at me (thanks Joan M).
Deboxing my Pullip Snow White doll. First the seal on the top lid is broken, and the inner box is removed by sliding it out of the outer box. Then the contents of the box are removed, and laid down on the floor before being assembled. First I test the blinking mechanism of the doll. There are two spring loaded buttons on the back of her head, under her hair. When they are pushed all the way down, they close the eyelids of each eye, and lock in place. Her eyelids have a considerably darker color than the rest of her face. To unlock them, push the buttons upwards (towards the top of her head). Then the eyelids will open again. The lever in the middle is to move her eyes to the left or right, in unison.
I just received a Pullip Snow White 12'' doll from PullipStyle on eBay. I ordered her Tuesday night and got her on Friday. She is very beautiful, with an outstanding outfit. Her wearable accessories include an apple purse, large satin ribbon and red high heeled shoes. She also comes with a doll stand, and a character card. She has gray-blue eyes, that can blink and move side to side, using buttons and levers on the back of her head. She has long black hair with large curls, and her legs are covered by white tights. Now my Pullip Dal Tinker Bell has a big sister doll to keep her company.
This (obviously) is not the famous Jackson Hole, but rather a much less known feature North of the Santa Paula Canyon Punch Bowels.
I decided to hike up there today because the weather was predicting a quit unusual rainstorm.
I can't easily describe all the emotions traveling up here evoked. The last time I was up here was over thirty years ago, all very well worn memories.
Today it was cool and a slight drizzle. I got very wet and almost cold. I wish I could have done photographic justice to the view, but I was not prepared either mentally and physically for the day.
Everything was very wet and slippery so getting the perfect shot was not in the books. I would have been more brave if I had not been alone. I slipped (not here) twice on this hike, so caution was at the top of my mind,
If it sounds like I did not have a good time, then credit my crappy prose. It was great. I was soaked almost to the core, but a good shower at home restored me to fuzzy warmth.
Oh and a small technical sadness, my main camera, a D90, failed on the hike. After searching on the net to compare notes, I have the BGLOD (blinking green light of death). My Nikon is 14 months old, so we shall see how the gods treat me.
Cheers.
Our spinning/blinking string light can actually look cooler in photographs than in real life.
BACKSTORY: Last party at DC Lauren & Andy's house! It was a 60's Psychedelic Party, and was quite a blast. We arrived early to help sulpply 80% of the lighting used at the party, bringing a strobe light, a spinning light, a blinking/spinning string light, 2 small changing-color LED lights, and about 6 blacklights, including a compact fluorescent blacklight bulb which was very bright.
Carolyn wore some trippy glowing-in-the-blacklight red stockings, and no bra (she burned it!). Clint wore a green sparkling smoking jacket over a black-and-white psychedelic checkerboard shirt that messed with everyone the entire night, plus a paisley tie (now lost)and polyester pants.
Mark & Jesse joined us, leaving around 3ish. We went to sleep around 3:30-4ish, and Carolyn woke me up at 5:30AM and made me take down all the lights and go home! Total light takedown was 30 minutes for me, 60 minutes for Carolyn (she woke up at 5)! Not that there was that much to do, but we were like zombies at first. We slept late the next day, and had company over, thus making it a 3-day weekend full of kittens and parties.
Christmas lights, string light.
psychedelic. trippy.
Andy H and Lauren J's house, Washington D.C.
August 30, 2008.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... View Andy'sblog at http://blimpcaptain.livejournal.com/
As soon as I saw the glint in his eye my thoughts turned to Jake Thackary's song about his amorous Chicken.... The Bantam Cock :-)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hQhi4oyH6k
It was a grand upstanding bantam cock,
So brisk and stiff and spry,
With springy step and jaunty plume
And a purposeful look in his eye,
In his little black blinking eye, he had.
I took him to the coop and introduced him
To my seventeen wide-eyed hens.
He tupped and he tupped as a hero tups
And he bowed from the waist to them all, and then
He upped and he tupped 'em all again, he did.
And then upon the peace of me ducks and me geese
He rudely did intrude.
With glazed eyes and open mouths
They bore it all with fortitude
And a little bit of gratitude, they did.
He jumped my giggling guinea fowl
And forced his attentions upon
My twenty hysterical turkeys and
A visiting migrant swan.
But the bantam thundered on, he did.
He ravished my fan-tailed pigeons and
Me lily-white columbines,
And while I was locking up the budgerigar
He jumped my parrot from behind;
She was sitting on me shoulder at the time.
And all of a sudden with a gasp and a gulp
He clapped his hands to his head,
Fell flat on his back with his toes in the air.
My bantam cock lay dead
And the vultures circled overhead, they did.
What a champion brute; what a noble cock;
What a way to live and to die.
I was digging him a grave to save his bones
From the hungry buzzards in the sky
When the bantam opened up a sly little eye.
He gave me a grin and a terrible wink,
The way that rapists do.
He said, "You see them big daft buggers up there?
They'll be down in a minute or two;
They'll be down in a minute or two".
Home made movie prop bomb. when the red button on the top is pushed, instead of an explosion, there is a lot of beeping and red blinking lights, as if it is ready to blow at any second. That seemed safer.
it's made with a waste basket, a large funnel, and some electronic junk.
To see how I made it, click this link to my blog:
kwmonster.blogspot.com/2009/07/homemade-bomb-movie-prop.html
San Luis Obispo train station is very small and only has one rail track...trains coming from the other direction have to wait for trains that are stopped at the station to depart so they can enter the station...I was on the other side of the rails and had to wait for this " Metrolink " train to leave in order to walk across...here the train is about to leave ...the conductor is checking to make sure everyone is on board before departure ;-)
Sixty Euros on the meter and heading out further into the sticks with three drunk bikers in the back seat. They are drinking a bottle of red wine each. The bearded one says a man is not a man unless he can take a punch straight on the nose and not even blink. I roar my approval at this eminent thought, and from the hilarity in the back seat, I think I have just saved myself from getting a broken nose.
We pull into a bikers bar for Pernod. Pernod how french and sophisticated I muse, for that I get my head trapped underneath someones hairy armpit and my bald head gets patted, then slapped, then knuckled. Better than a broken nose I think.I am offered a drink. I ask for coffee. I pretend to be hard and have it black with no sugar. It comes in a paper cup. Should I have expected more?
Pernod is exchanged for vodka. Outside the taxi meter is ticking. The bikers are in no hurry to move on. There is an argument between the bearded one and the bar-maid. I surmise they are man and wife. She wants him to stay. He wants to go to another bar and drink more Pernod. He gives me 60 euros to cover the trip so far.
While the argument is raging his two mates drag me out to the taxi and we drive 20 kilometers down the road to another dive. On the way the bearded one phones his mate in the front seat demanding to know why we left him. He wants us to turn back and pick him up. His mate tells me to drive on. There is a screaming match. TURN BACK/DRIVE ON/TURN BACK/DRIVE ON, and so it goes until I arrive at the new Pernod pub.
The biker in the front seat pays for the whole trip, and tells me to now go back and pick up the bearded one. Sure I say, but think, how will I ever find the place again in this forest wilderness. He gives me an address and I key it into the navigator and drive back to the first bicker's bar.
The bearded ones wife sees me pull up, and she swings out the door to meet me. She asks for the 60 euros her husband gave me, cos he is going nowwhere. I sympathise with her, and size her up, and reckon she could not break my nose but her husband could. I insist on returning the money into her husbands hands. She does not like this idea, cos he will only spend it on more Pernod.
I give him the money and get a bearhug, a backslap, and a skull-knuckle in very short order. He offers me a Pernod. I decline. He gives me a big tip for my honesty, and I am out of there faster than shit off a hot shovel, and before somebody has a chance to pick a fight, or get into another intellectual discussion about blinking and broken noses.
***COMMENTS WITH BLINKING ICONS DELETED***
Digital paintings created on my iPad. These paintings are part of my Healing Visions series
Follow me on my blog: brattleboro-muse.blogspot.com
Fully functional blinking LED's on a 1/2 scale replica helmet of Sebastian Vettel from Singapore GP 2012. Hand built .....
Another shot from the archive. This is the Gateshead Newcastle Millennium bridge (The Blinking Eye).
I took this shot one Sunday afternoon in early 2008 when they lifted the bridge. The shot has been flipped round so that it looks like the cables are holding it up.
Let me know what you think of it, good or bad.
A Brief History of The Millennium Bridge
The bridge was lifted into place in one piece by the Asian Hercules II, one of the world's largest floating cranes, on 20 November 2000. It was opened to the public on 17 September 2001, and was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 May 2002. The bridge, which cost £22m to build, was part funded by the Millennium Commission and European Regional Development Fund. It was built by Volker Stevin.
Already acclaimed worldwide for its physical and aesthetic beauty, it has fast become a significant tourist attraction in its own right. The bridge was the focus of a Spencer Tunick installation on 17 July 2005.
Six 45 cm diameter Hydraulic rams (three on each side, each powered by a 55 kW electric motor) rotate the bridge back on large bearings to allow small ships and boats (up to 25 m tall) to pass underneath. The bridge takes as little as 4.5 minutes to rotate through the full 40° from closed to open, depending on wind speed. Its appearance during this manoeuvre has led to it being nicknamed the "Blinking Eye Bridge".
The bridge has operated reliably since construction, opening to allow river traffic to pass. It also opens periodically for sightseers and for major events such as the Northumbrian Water University Boat Race and the Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Race. Its reputation was untarnished until October 2004 when the failure of a £200 circuit board prevented the bridge from opening.
The construction of the bridge won the architects Wilkinson Eyre the 2002 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize and won Gifford the 2003 IStructE Supreme Award. In winning the Stirling Prize, Wilkinson Eyre became the first, and so far the only, firm of architects to retain British architecture's most prestigious prize — they won the 2001 prize for the Magna Science Adventure Centre. In 2005, the bridge received the Outstanding Structure Award from International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE).
The light art installations of The Blinking Organisms - You SPLEEN ME' Round x OPERATION 00100 by Joo Choon Lin at the SMU School of Accountancy during the Singapore Night Festival 2017.
One of the neat (if overly loud) things about the Coal Mine Museum in Yubari, Hokkaido is some of the equipment starts up automatically when you get close enough. (If you're not expecting it, it's advisable to bring a spare set of underwear.) Anyway, this is a short, looping video of blinking lights indicating something important is going on.
Bindoon Boys Town: it sounded like an adventure camp to the pale-faced youngsters who emerged blinking into the sunlight at Fremantle, in Western Australia, after their six-month voyage from Southampton. Among them was Laurie Humphreys, looking forward to his new life in the "land of milk and honey", where food was plentiful and children rode to school on horses, so he had been told.
It was September 1947, and the SS Asturias had just docked in Fremantle with 147 boys and girls, the first to arrive under a post-war plan to empty overflowing British orphanages and repopulate the former colonies with "good white stock". Humphreys and other boys were dispatched to Bindoon, an isolated institution 60 miles north of Perth, run by the Christian Brothers, a Catholic lay order.
The first shock was the desolate landscape; the second was the place itself, an abandoned farm property. It was the boys who were to build Bindoon, and children as young as 10 were set to work, constructing schools, dormitories and kitchens. They hacked at the ground with picks and shovels, and mixed concrete by hand in the blazing heat. Those unable to cope with the back-breaking labour were flogged, sometimes until their bones were fractured.
But the routine thrashings – meted out for "offences" as trivial as bed-wetting or stealing fruit to supplement a miserable diet consisting mainly of bread and dripping – were not the worst of it. Sexual abuse was rife at Bindoon, and the boys dubbed their religious guardians the "Christian Buggers". This grim regime was presided over by Brother Francis Keaney, 6ft tall and 17 stone. "I guess you could call him a sadist," says Humphreys, one of an estimated 10,000 British children sent to Australia between 1947 and 1967.
While Bindoon was especially brutal, conditions there were replicated in numerous other institutions, and for decades the "lost children of the Empire", as they are sometimes known,
the migration scheme as "Britain's shameful secret". An inquiry by the Australian Senate in 2001 heard stories of rape, abuse and cruelty, including children scrambling for breadcrumbs on the floor and a boy being forced to shoot and skin a horse he considered his only friend.
Almost as shocking was the deceit that had been practised on children who had been robbed of their country, roots and identity. "We were told we were orphans, that we had no one,"
Although children were also shipped to Canada, Rhodesia and New Zealand, Australia became the favoured destination after the war. The young immigrants were cheap to house and a good source of labour. And, importantly, they were white. As the Archbishop of Perth declared in 1938, at a time when Australia was desperate to boost its population:
"ONOCHORD" (2004/2007)
by Yoko Ono
video, flashlights, postcards
video: 9 minutes
flashlight: 4 x 1/4 inches
postcard: 6 x 4 inches
" ONOCHORD
Send the ONOCHORD message:
"I LOVE YOU"
by repeatedly blinking the light
in the frequencies and durations
required for the message:
from ships
from the tops of the mountains
from buildings
using whole buildings
in town squares
from the sky
and to the sky.
Keep sending the message
to the end of the year
and beyond.
Keep sending the message
everywhere on the earth
and to the universe.
Keep sending.
For individuals:
send the message by hand
or using flashlights
or with lighters.
The message I LOVE YOU in ONOCHORD is:
I i
LOVE ii
YOU iii
I love you!
yoko ono 2007 "
Private collection of Mikihiko Hori
" IMAGINE PEACE
Yoko Ono, among the earliest of artists working in the genre known
Conceptual Arts, has consistently employed the theme of peace
and used the medium of advertising in her work since the early 1960s.
Yoko Ono Imagine Peace Featuring John & Yoko's Year of Peace
explores these aspects of her work over the course of more than
forty years.
Three recent pieces - Imagine Peace (Map) (2003/2007); Onochord
(2003/2007); and Imagine Peace Tower (2006/2007) - offer gallery
visitors to an opportunity to participate individually and collectively
with the artist in the realization of work. Consider the world with
fresh eyes as you stamp the phrase "Imagine Peace" on the location
of your choice on maps provided for this purpose. Using postcards
provided send your wishes to the Imagine Peace
Tower in Reykjavik, where they will shine on with eternally more than
900,000 others. Or beam the message "I Love You" to one and all
using the Onochord flashlights. Take a flashlight and an Imagine
Peace button, the artist's gift to you, and carry the message out into the
world. As Ono has often observed, "the dream you dream alone is
just the dream, but the dream we dream together is reality."
The exhibition continues in nine locations with Imagine
Peace/Imaginate La Paz billboards across the San Antonio region.
YOKO ONO IMAGINE PEACE Featuring John & Yoko's Year of Peace is made
possible by the generosity by Bjom's Audio Video-Home Theater, Colleen
Casey and Tim Maloney, Clear Channel Outdoor, Rick Liberto, Smothers
Foundation, and Twin Sisters Bakery & Cafe. "
" John & Yoko's Year of Peace (1969 - 70)
Ono's Imagine Peace project carries conceptual and formal
strategies the artist had employer from the earliest years of her
career, not only in her seminal solo works, but in her collaborations
with John Lennon. In 1965, she created works specifically for the
advertising pages of The New York Arts Calendar. Picking up from
her Instructions for Paintings, a 1962 exhibition at Tokyo's Sogetsu Art
Center in which she exhibited written texts on the gallery walls
designed to inspire viewers to create the described images in their
minds, Ono created purely conceptual exhibitions with her
Is Real Gallery works.
The theme of peace is also evident in works sush as White Chess Set,
recreated here as Play It By Trust (Garden Set version) (1966/2007).
Lennon's songwriting during this period had shifted from more
conventional themes of romantic love to grander anthems for the
Flower Power generation. The Baetles' worldwide satellite broadcast
of Lennon's "All You Need Is Love" in the summer of 1967 featured a
parade of signs with the word "love" in multiple languages.
The couple's most famous collaborative works, the Bed-Ins (1969)
and the War Is Over! campaign (1969 - 1970), were conceived as
elements of a large peace advertising campaign. The Bed-Ins took
advantage of the inordinate amount of press attention the couple
received by inviting the world press to their honeymoon suite where
they talked about peace! Ono told Penthouse magazine's Charles
Childs: "Many other people who are rich are using their money for
something they want. They promote soap, use advertising
propaganda, what have you. We intend to do the same."
In December of 1969, they launched their War Is Over! campaign, a
project that included billboards and posters in 11 cities of the world
simply declaring "War Is Over! If You Want It. Happy Christmas from
John & Yoko." As with Ono's earliest instruction pieces, viewers were
invited to transform their dreams into reality. Ono has explained,
"All my work is a form of wishing." "
YOKO ONO: IMAGINE PEACE Featuring John & Yoko's Year of Peace
September 26th - October 28th, 2007
UTSA Art Gallery / Department of Art and Art History
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Having been on display at the Museum ever since we got it back in 2001? and it received a very quick repaint in the cold November of that year 1676 has now been moved upstairs to be looked over with a view to it being put on the road in time for this October
two albums that i've been meaning to purchase for some time, but never got around to.
i've always liked eels, and have all of the records. electro-shock blues is among my favourite albums.
final fantasy is really something special to me these days. i think this entire album is brilliant, but there is one lyric from it that continually haunts me:
Adventure.exe
"Hey yo yo yo yo yo
I need an empire to overthrow
You make me wish for a more dangerous life
So I can show you 'bout self sacrifice
Say yes yes yes yes yes
Say no no no to a natural death
I'd rather give my life to god as man
Than have to line up at the bank again
Oh you you you you you
If you only knew the lengths I'd go to
You pack away all your ballpoint pens
and take a plane back to the Phillipines"
here are some interesting thoughts on that song from the songwriter.
Our spinning/blinking string light can actually look cooler in photographs than in real life. You can see the 60's decorations they had on this part of the house.
BACKSTORY: Last party at DC Lauren & Andy's house! It was a 60's Psychedelic Party, and was quite a blast. We arrived early to help sulpply 80% of the lighting used at the party, bringing a strobe light, a spinning light, a blinking/spinning string light, 2 small changing-color LED lights, and about 6 blacklights, including a compact fluorescent blacklight bulb which was very bright.
Carolyn wore some trippy glowing-in-the-blacklight red stockings, and no bra (she burned it!). Clint wore a green sparkling smoking jacket over a black-and-white psychedelic checkerboard shirt that messed with everyone the entire night, plus a paisley tie (now lost) and polyester pants.
Mark & Jesse joined us, leaving around 3ish. We went to sleep around 3:30-4ish, and Carolyn woke me up at 5:30AM and made me take down all the lights and go home! Total light takedown was 30 minutes for me, 60 minutes for Carolyn (she woke up at 5)! Not that there was that much to do, but we were like zombies at first. We slept late the next day, and had company over, thus making it a 3-day weekend full of kittens and parties.
Bring The Boys Back Home sign, christmas lights, mushroom decoration, stairs, string light.
Andy H and Lauren J's house, Washington D.C.
August 30, 2008.
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