Archive for July, 2007
You are currently browsing the Mark's Notes On The Go blog archives for July, 2007.
29
Jul
2007
Blue Angels
Oakland Cemetery - Blue Angels
Available individually in my Prints
A week ago, I went out and about with no definite direction one morning, and after aimless drifting in the overcast morning, found myself in one of Atlanta’s oldest cemeteries, Oakland. Nothing new as I’ve been there before, but I was there, so what the heck.
Less than half an hour later, I was on my way home, having had the coping stone on top of a retaining wall fly off and smite me in the back of the right leg. Both legs were skinned up, but the right ankle was sprained. A week later, still with the abrasion and sprain… joy…
A week later, I finally decided to check out what I had, pretty little, but a few studies of the angels I tried to join together into a tryptch and see what they’d look like together.
26
Jul
2007
Soundtrack To Life
So, I’m in another one of my now infamous purge modes.
For the uninitiated, I have a tendency to be somewhat of a pack rat, but off and on through my life, as far back as I can remember, I will occasionally just go down the path of tossing junk out, and that’s what it is.
For some of us, we pick up items from our past, and the memories associated come flowing back and we attach that memory to the object, as if the memory will never come back again without that little gem. And the longer you live, the more these objects and the memory connections grow.
Luckily, as I said, I tend to go through purge moods. It’s been about a year and a half since the last one when I threw out some stuff I never thought would go. This time, yet more has gone. Right now, I’m working on a box, I kid you not, from my high school years. There are some video tapes that I need to burn to DVD, but I need to either get a DVD recorder or something to connect up to my laptop. I haven’t explored either device much yet. The stack of tapes is relatively small.
The bigger part of the box is… sigh… cassettes… for the really young of you out there, they came after the late cretaceous period between 8 track and CD’s and well before MP3 was even dreamed.
So, for a week, I’ve had little mini-marathons of listening to a few tapes while burning them to MP3 on my laptop. The tapes will go bye bye and who knows when I’ll listen to half of these songs again. My tastes have definitely changed and evolved since High School, from which the bulk of these came.
It’s really amazing how much music can form the soundtrack of our lives. At least for some of us. I don’t remember at time in my life without music, from listening to whatever my parents listened to (Dad – country, Mom classic rock and classical) to starting to make my own conscious decisions of what I liked. I’m not sure High school even counted in that camp. So much of this is what was either popular then or my friends liked, etc. There are basically two bands I followed past that period of my life, INXS and Crowded House (albeit to a lesser degree but Recurring Dream, their greatest hits album was the first such compilation I ever bought). I don’t tend to repurchase music, but I wanted those songs on CD.
College heralded alternative, modern rock, and some borderline punk stuff and the CD player and I pretty much abandoned all these cassettes and artists way back then. It’s a definitive time capsule. Some are in remarkably good shape and sound pretty good as MP3’s. Some… well.. the memories are still there and they won’t take up room so much in MP3 form.
Does this mean in 10 years I’ll start having virtual purges?
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRHLkLFJxaw[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju4Y-J_8zEY[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO-V6BUoxe8[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VArQABogDL4[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luobOzreRq4[/YOUTUBE]
22
Jul
2007
My Lucky Day?
Okay, getting ready for the show and life in general has had me hopping for weeks, so I’ve had precious little opportunity to get out with the camera.
Show behind me, I figured this morning I’d get up early and get out.
Of course, I get up and the sky is dark with clouds, but those photos can be atmospheric if things work out. So, I went out with nowhere definite to go.
I drove through Decatur and never spotted anywhere, followed a route that eventually had me passing by the various Marta stations on the east/west line, and before I knew it, there was Oalkand Cemetery. I decided I’d poke around there as it’s been awhile and I could always pop out and roam a little. I was there maybe 20 minutes.
I was standing on a very short retaining wall, literally about to turn around and go down as I didn’t feel good about hopping down. Don’t know why, just didn’t. Would normally have just hopped. Suddenly I felt the top of the wall moving under my feet and it and I went flying forward. The drop was about two feet, but the stone, which was about 3 feet long and 6 inches or a little more thick smacked me in the back of the legs. Luckily it didn’t land on me. Not sure how, I think I sort of rolled in the air when it hit me and I landed beside it. Camera unharmed, still held up in the air by one arm. Me… mostly unharmed.
My lucky day is that it wasn’t worse, that I didn’t end up in an ER. The back of both legs are scraped up. My right ankle is sprained. I’m fine sitting still and walking around slowly on flat ground. The stairs are once again a bother. But compared to the 10 weeks of knee pain, this is a breeze. The knee was a constant pain, this just hurts when I move…
My last follow-up with the orthopedist is Tuesday… If I’m lucky, I’ll get to hobble in on the other leg…
20
Jul
2007
Show Tonight & Saturday Afternoon!
We did set up tonight for our show that photo show that runs Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Afterwards grabbing dinner, and then the drive back out to the burbs… groan… So, I get to make my planned Thursday post for the show on Friday!
This is local for you folks in the Atlanta area. In addition to a print hanging alongside some incredilbe photography, I’m also taking in a stack of prints that will be in the print bins at the sales table. I’m told their will also be wine and cheese and such for those of you into such on a Friday night.
This is part of the Castelberry Hill Art Stroll, so there should be more going on as well!
Click below for a larger view!
14
Jul
2007
Days of Leisure?
The company I work for occasionally offers discount tickets to the odd event or amusement park. But for the first time in 8 years, they gave their employees and family members the opportunity to visit Atlanta’s High Museum for free! Shockers! The moment I saw that I knew I was going.
I haven’t been to the High since I was in High school. And honestly, my memories from that visit are far more centered around seeing the city and time spent with friends. The High has since expanded and taken on a revolving exhibition with works on loan through a partnership with the Louvre. Every since that began, I’ve had the best of intentions to go see this exhibit. And as the list of things I wanted to see grew, it didn’t happen. This free day at the High seemed like providence giving me a nudge.
I intended to get an early start today. I was planning to take my camera and take advantage of time in the city to wander about and get some street shots. Whenever I’m going somewhere and there’s not a definitive time table, such as a flight to catch, my intentions however well meant are of little consequence. As such, I left on time to catch the beginning of the five hour window for which we had free admission.
I did the good thing and took MARTA, and for a change I don’t have any real horror stories. For the longest time, I seemed to collect them on MARTA despite using it with great frequency in the two years I lived intown. When compared to most large city transportation, it’s still incredibly slow and limited in where it gets you, but it got me there and back cheaper than gas and parking would have cost, so no complaints in this instance.
At the High, I spent about four and a half hours on my feet… wow… I got my free admissions’ worth plus a few other peoples. I took in nearly all if not all of the regular exhibitions, and found a new painter I quite like, William Stanley Haseltine. It’s actually humorous that I entered one room in the High and saw this painting that I immediately knew had to be Capri, having been there two years ago. It was gorgeous and familiar. Turns out the artist was an 19th century American landscape painter who also spent some time in Italy.
Next up was to check out the Annie Leibovitz exhibition of her work as a photographer from 1990 to 2005. It’s a traveling exhibition, and it’s sharing a floor with an American figure painter, Cecilia Beaux. She did high society portraits in the latter 19th and early 20th century.
Obviously I’d heard of Ms. Leibovitz before as she’s done some amazing work throughout my life. The exhibition (and the book that accompanies it) runs photos of her own life alongside her work as a professional photographer documenting pop culture, politics, and more. Some truly amazing work. I thought seriously about getting the book, but I figured correctly that I could get it at a better rate off of Amazon, and I’ve added it to my wish list there.
Ms. Beaux was a new acquaintance. Her paintings were quite gorgeous. Apparently according to the information presented, since paintings of the well to do declined in interest, her star fell a little bit over the years, but there’s been a recent renewal in interest. Well deserved I can attest.
Next up was the Louvre exhibit. Quite a feather in Atlanta’s cap to be sure. The current exhibition has art and everyday objects from Versailles. Everyday objects are, of course, relative. They would be opulent to most of us, who don’t ready ourselves in the morning with silver jars of creams, silver mirrors and candlesticks, or carry fine wooden boxes with custom tea and hot chocolate service inside. The audio tour that went along with it was well done. I listened to virtually all of it. I have to say there were a few objects of furniture I skipped. Maybe a poor decision but that style of furnishing, overly fussy French baroque stuff, is something I’ve just never appreciated.
All in all, it was a nice if tiring afternoon. And the High is an incredible asset to Atlanta. I have some mixed feelings in the end, though. The Louvre exhibit, for all it’s esteem, isn’t that large. Because I have traveled to Europe, I’ve already seen larger collections of Renaissance art. I’m not trying to be snobby, it’s an observation. For those who have not or perhaps will never have the opportunity, by all means, you should take in these exhibits. How often in America do you get to see a Rembrandt or busts from the 1st century?
I think in the end, the High’s strengths, or at least my favorite parts of the High, are the exhibitions of more modern art, 19th and 20th century paintings, furnishings, and other artwork. I am sure I spent more time looking at Stickley and Eames furniture, checking out American Quilts, and the early photography exhibition than I spent on the far more crowded Louvre exhibit.
