Thinks happen

Comments and journal pages.

20070330

Tangled up In Blue












The excercise for today is to name the obscure author of the following Bob Dylan lyrics. Bonus points for noting the year it was written.

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
I was layin' in bed
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
And I was standin' on the side of the road
Rain fallin' on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I've paid some dues gettin' through,
Tangled up in blue.

She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
But I used a little too much force.
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out West
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best.
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin' away
I heard her say over my shoulder,
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue,"
Tangled up in blue.



tangled up in blue
originally uploaded by ed ed




Sundown Reflection On The Porsche
originally uploaded by XOZ



I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the ax just fell.
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I happened to be employed
Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat
Right outside of Delacroix.
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind,
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
Tangled up in blue.

She was workin' in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer,
I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear.
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I's just about to do the same,
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, "Don't I know your name?"
I muttered somethin' underneath my breath,
She studied the lines on my face.
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
Tangled up in blue.

She lit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
"I thought you'd never say hello," she said
"You look like the silent type."
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century.
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin' coal
Pourin' off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
Tangled up in blue.

I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs,
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air.
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died.
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside.
And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn,
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew,
Tangled up in blue.



I took a trip today (3)
originally uploaded by nyctreeman





Tree line
originally uploaded byART NAHPRO




So now I'm goin' back again,
I got to get to her somehow.
All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now.
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter's wives.
Don't know how it all got started,
I don't know what they're doin' with their lives.
But me, I'm still on the road
Headin' for another joint
We always did feel the same,
We just saw it from a different point of view,
Tangled up in blue.



Copyright © 1974 Ram's Horn Music




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20070329

Gee, that's good....













Sometimes a photograph is good, just not, well... good enough.

Sometimes a photograph appeals to you while another just doesn’t. Sometimes a person likes a photograph while another person just doesn’t.

Some photographs appeal so strongly that any flaws or shortcomings are just ignored. Sometimes the flaws and shortcomings are great enough to overshadow some fine qualities in a photograph.

But you knew all this, and probably much more.

Flickr offers many opportunities to analyze a photograph and decide not only if it is a good photograph but why it is a good photograph.

What is collected here are a few (read “few”) of the elements that make a photograph. Suggestions for additions to this list of elements are welcome.

Once a woman was heard asserting simply that the first thing she sees in a man are his shoes. Forgetting that isn’t easy. It demonstrates that when it comes to beauty, each set of eyes has its own set of rules, values.

There are many elements that singly or collectively raise a photo from the average to the exceptional. Some elements are important to some individuals, some are not.

Now it is not the finger shadow in front of the lens or the blur of an unwilling hamster, or the white washed-out frame of a relentless automatic flash. Those are just pictures; pictures valuable only to those who know the moment. If you weren’t there, you have little connection to the photo, have little reason to make a connection.

A friend once described the difference between “taking pictures” and being a “photographer.” “You have to have the eye.” Taking a picture often catches the moment, a photographer catches the mood, the aura, the personality, the action. A picture shows you Grandma Hattie in her best dress. A photograph shows you how she felt that day. A photographer knows how to use the medium to capture more than the image. The elements.

Think about that: The Elements.

Color, balance, texture, design, rhythm and detail all are parts of most photographs, illustrations or paintings. These are basic elements of visual arts. There are probably others. Start with these.

In some photographs there can be seen action, story, drama, emotion, mood. Some others record a moment, predict an outcome, ask a question, decide an argument, set a course.
In some photographs the subject matter alone can be an element of its beauty or worthiness. In another photograph, there may be no identifiable subject at all but other elements, color, action, mood are there. In a sports photo for instance, the subject can be quite secondary to the excitement, the event, the action.

Sometimes it is just a picture of a baby, sometimes it is a picture of the future of mankind. Both pictures are wonderful but one is just an image of a child while the other is a legend.

Physical elements: Color, balance, texture, design, rhythm and detail. Intangible elements: action, story, drama, emotion and mood.

If a photograph combines several of these elements then it is likely an exceptional photograph.

What are your “elements?” Take these and supplement them with your values.

Thinking of these things, pick out as many elements as you can in these excellent photographs:



Stormy Monday Blues
originally uploaded by Dunottar



"Ruffles have ridges"
originally uploaded by kelsana




watermelon (2)
originally uploaded by soozika




Stridin' Out
originally uploaded by elhawk











dissolve
originally uploaded by ed ed




Vidre
originally uploaded by art_es_anna




dance
originally uploaded by nyxx



meagain debbie Fog Light

Fog Light, originally uploaded by meagain625.



Angel Trumpet
originally uploaded by graphicgreg.




What am I?, originally uploaded by Machuca




stones background
originally uploaded by mluisa_





Hobbits' Trail
originally uploaded by onecurlycat.





'It'll Cost You' - Montreal 1987
originally uploaded by Mikey G Ottawa





rural delivery
originally uploaded by JKonig




originally uploaded by glenn.





Nonchalance...Laughing Gulls, St. Michaels, Maryland
originally uploaded by ozoni11


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20070328

St. Jacob's well...

20070327

The Story Behind the Photograph - Honor Knightly



And don't miss
Cabinet Card Gallery
One Man's Treasure
Penny Tales
Square America
Tattered and Lost
Vernacular Photography
The best
FOUND PHOTOGRAPH
sites on the web.
And for postcards try
THE DAILY POSTCARD.
and
POSTCARDY


This is thought to be the only surviving picture of Honor Knightly (aka “Satin”) the elusive department store heiress and stenographer for the Kairian Luncheon Club. She was quite fond of changing clothes and of gentlemen standing in doorways to avoid the rain.

Thorne Smith thought very highly of her but she still faded into obscurity behind Cosmo Topper and the ghost-dog, Oscar (or "Neil" if you've seen only the TV or Movie Version).

Honor became known as a fashion-plate and clothes horse to those who knew her at the shelter. She spent most of her leisure time, which was most of her time, removing address labels from subscription magazines and learning French Toast.

She worked part time as a lab assistant at a sperm bank but was fired eventually for combining specimens to save space. “They all look the same!” The sperm bank gave her a handsome “retirement” package on the condition that she would not discuss her employment with anyone.

Her father, department store tycoon and co-inventor of knee-high panty-hose, left her a comfortable income. Not needing to work for a living then, she was able to spend most of her time with her first love, trying on hats at the local charity shop.

Late in life she bought a very rural home on the plains in western America and lived well into this century. From her home, she managed a successful business selling thousands of prairie dogs on eBay, believing them to be chinchillas. While she often had to refund the original purchase price to disappointed (and surprised) eBay customers, she amassed a fortune in deposit interest at a small local bank where the funds were temporarily held.

Being rich, she of course died under very mysterious circumstances. Controversy surrounded the local coroner’s report which stated Honor died of prolonged exposure to boredom. After the conspiracy theories began to dim, the coroner was seen wearing Honor’s socks and the whole furor started up again. Rumors persist to this day (nearly a month later) that she is one of the three people buried at Fort Sumner in William H. Bonney’s grave.
(Source: Wackipedia (King Jake's edition), page four or five.)


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20070326

Oh no, not again...










Where will it all end?
WILL it all end?
Do we want it all to end?
Do we all want it to end?

Which end are we talking about?
Is there an end in sight?
Do we need to see the end?
Do we want to see the end?
Does that depend on whose end we have in sight?
Is that naughty?
Can I have dessert anyway?

Let’s credit the brilliant leadership of view profile ed ed and
the Cosmic Collective Creativity of view profile soozika for opening a world of thirsty fish and other utterly unrelated, useless phenomenon.

Here now, is your extra credit assignment: You are searching in pitch darkness for a wet spot in the bedding, and you find it. The question of the day is: Do you wish you hadn’t found it or do you wish you hadn’t felt around for it? (You will be grounded for using any word beginning with "B" in your essay.)

The quote of the day is: “Never say always; always say never.” (---Arnold Auk,upon waking from a coma induced by jumping on his brother’s bed and striking his head on the apartment ceiling. Yes, he was told repeatedly not to jump on the bed. His brother was away at the time. His sister was married and living in Alberta , but that’s certainly another story.)

For background on this and other unrelated evidence of global worming CLICK HERE!



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20070321

Strawberry Leaves after the rain

20070318

A minor rant








Cracked heart ...,
originally uploaded by soozika


view profile anyjazz65 says: This one is good. (above)

view profile soozika says: Thanks! That leaf was lying around casually on my balcony, heart-shaped as is ... well, all ivy is, but this one stuck out :)

view profile matuko amini says: great composition and colors!

view profile soozika says: blogged

view profile anyjazz65 says:Good grief. How did I miss linking these two hearts to the blog collection? I better check the rest of them too. Thanks for the nudge.

view profile soozika says: ... ?? ... but you did, didn't you? That's where I found them!

I just decided to today that I'd mark any (well, almost any) pictures of mine that have been blogged somewhere or other!

view profile anyjazz65 says: Hm. It's a mystery!

Thing is, I missed ALL of the others too! Got that corrected this afternoon.

Finding all your blogged pictures. Now that's a project. You can do that with technorati or something can't you?

view profile soozika says: Yes! There's a searcher called 'blogpulse' as well, but it's by far not as thorough as technorati which is always good for a surprize!

... I'm still not quite sure what you mean by "miss linking" pictures, since all the pictures in your blog are properly linked to their originators ...? :)

view profile anyjazz65 says: Oh I see. Yes, that is automatic. I also feel I should go back to the original posting and put a link TO the BLOG in the comments under the original. That links the photographer with how I've used the photo. Then I learn pretty quickly if they don’t want the picture used.

(I rambled on about this all morning but after a little more coffee, I edited back to this.)

view profile soozika says: Oh I see ;)

Think I'll have some coffee as well.


Thanks soozika. Your comments have captured the morning.

While it’s not exactly a major issue, maybe there should be some discussion to clear up some foggy areas or perhaps to confuse some areas that otherwise were rather clear.

Mostly this blog has collected pictures of a similar theme and placed them together, their collective beauty producing a stunning effect. Other times only one picture with an interesting discussion is given its own page.

Yes, Flickr automatically links a blogged picture back to the original Flickr photostream which is definitely as it should be.

But also, when using a photograph from Flickr, it seems appropriate to go back to the original posting and put a link back TO THE BLOG in the comments section under the picture. That lets the photographer know the photo has been blogged. The photographer can respond pretty quickly if they don’t want the picture used in that venue.
Most on Flickr are pleased or ambivalent about blogging but there is one now and then that gets all fussy about it. There were only two so far, actually. Since there are less than 200 photographs from friends on Flickr used in this blog, that’s about one in a hundred that was not comfortable with it.

It’s difficult to understand their thinking, but their wishes must be respected. They DO have the option of turning off the blog button if they don’t want their photo blogged. They do have option controls if they don’t want larger sizes available and downloadable. They do have three levels of privacy controls if they want to limit viewing to a select few. They don’t have to post on Flickr at all, actually.

There are about 450 million photographs on Flickr today. The hearts for the valentine page were collected mostly from the familiar circle of friends. Wandering about Flickr found the others. There are more than 58 thousand photographs tagged with “heart” and 150 thousand mention “valentine” somewhere in the text. There are thousands of photographs with an approving blog button and pleasant conversation in the comments. There are thousands without distracting borders and watermarks and signatures inside the frame.

So considering all that, if someone doesn’t want a photo used, there is usually no trouble finding an alternate example.

In reality, using a photograph on this blog is just an extension of the “photo-sharing” theme of Flickr. There are no ads on this blog and the pictures are not used to promote anything except the excellence of the photographer or to expand on an interesting discussion of either or both.

Looking back, none of this is very interesting, is it? Oh well, I got out of mowing the back yard.




An old friend.
originally uploaded by soozika.




The compulsion of the key
originally uploaded by Lucky Clov.



winter garden 1
originally uploaded by xanderkoz.






matilda
originally uploaded by JKonig.




transition
originally uploaded by ed ed.


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