full moon on march 19, 2011
First time trying to (literally) shoot the moon. I was surprised it turned out as well as it did handheld.
For the record: ISO 100, f4.5, 1/250 @ 200mm (cropped)
Netflix Monday: “Sweetgrass”
Every now and then, I miss working outside all day long. And watching this documentary, it’s easy to prescribe reasons why these “cowboys” should continue sheepherding in the wilds of Montana. Still, this isn’t a romantic look at a dwindling profession (the way the farmers sling newborn lambs is far from PETA-approved, there’s more than one amusing profanity-laced meltdown, etc); Sweetgrass shows it how it is–as much as any film can–in part by avoiding narration, musical cues, or overt narrative. As such, it requires quite a bit of patience from the modern viewer (but not nearly as much as the monastic retreat that is Into Great Silence!)
Since I’m stuck in the suburbs for at least another year, for now, I’ll content myself with a lustful visit to Land and Farm after a long day–and, of course, watching this (exquisitely photographed) documentary.
Trip West: 7
Portland. My dad told us a joke where a stranger meets a little boy and asks, “hey sonny, does it always rain here?” The kid thinks for a while….”I’m not sure, I’m only six years old.”
(insert groans)
Windstorm in Seattle
The BSG exhibit at the EMP in Seattle was sort of cool…if you had just finished watching the series, that is. (I had). I only finish the finale had been over as fast as the exhibit was.
Needless to say, there were lots of really nerdy people there.
The place, we decided, would be awesome if you weren’t any sort of musician. Or if the demos you could record in their “studios” were free w/the price of admission (which was set at recording-industry levels of heart-clutching, wallet grasping, sell-a-kidney-ing. Maybe the nearly-empty building was a worthy symbol for rock and roll, after all…) Anyway, if you were a musician, you’d probably enjoy going to your local guitar center more. (Note the lack of music-paraphernalia pictures here. Jimmy’s shards just didn’t do much for me.)
The outside of the building was much more impressive.
after a long day of work, i wandered around the apartment
…for some cliche shots. But sometimes something is better than nothing.
Pittsburgh friends
Our good friends, historical re-enactors, cooks, philosophers, museum-goers, and old upstairs- carriage-house neighbors, Vince and Lindsey. Vince is currently acquiring his PhD from Carnegie Mellon and Lindsey was recently accepted to a MFA program in costume production. To put it mildly, Lindsey is an accomplished thrift-store sleuth and costume maker; you can see more of her work online here.
Pittsburgh: Phipps Conservatory, Burgers, and the River
The Phipps Conservatory had a cheese-tastic display of “gargoyles” in the garden…
We later grabbed a bite at Tessaro’s–a place that prepares its own meat, won an award for best burger in town, yaddayadda. I thought, of course, of my friends Brian and Allison and their always-amusing burger blog.
Clearly Paul H had been roaming the streets of his hometown.
The river was rather busy that night…turned out they were all out to eavesdrop on the DMB concert….
Cstone ’10: Wednesday
After coming from 98+ degree weather in DC, the cool 80s of Illinois farmland were quite welcome to wake up to. By the end of the week, the organizers were claiming it was the best weather they’ve enjoyed in 25+ years. I was quite willing to take it–especially with so many dirty hippies nearby.
We had to go into Bushnell to find some propane for the stove graciously lent to us. It was the kind of place where the store clerks called down the aisles to ask customers where was the best place for us to go…”You at that festival?” the young lady at the farming supply store five miles outside of town (past two houses, left on the paved road–not the stone one, and then you go around a long curve…) asked me. “Yep. You ever been?” She shook her head, a smile on her face. “Nope.”
The conversations we participated in during the week were, to say the least, thought provoking: “Prophetic Activism” to “Ecoterrorism,” “Understanding the Middle East” to “Songwriting…” We stumbled into this particular talk about “Reimagining Church” during our lunch hour with two crazy guys, Peter and Brad, who overtly express a commitment to social justice and community building in some unusual ways. It ended up being one our favorite discussions.
Speaking of unusual characters, Jim Fitz was an anabaptist farmer who decided to become a peacemaker. As in a human shield. In the midst of military conflict. Needless to say, he had my attention.
Because twenty some stages wasn’t enough…
Shooting some skateboarders doing tricks behind a wire fence…
mewithoutYou was as engrossing as ever, with a great selection from their discography. Aaron was as awkward as ever, but his twitch always comes across as one of humility–and his recent attempts to plumb the works of both the Sufi mystics of his youth and Christian beliefs of today and arrive at some sort of conclusion has my full sympathy. Alas, the next day would show not everyone shared my perspective, in the only truly awkward moment of the week…
The Lost Dogs put on a rollicking good show, full of their Traveling Wilburys -esque sensibilities. All of the members had been on and off the stage the rest of the day, supporting each other’s solo acts. Which was a repeated trend we saw at Cornerstone, one that I’ve never seen at a festival before. Bands/labels/music scenes sort of adopted each stage and just hung out there all day, helping out everyone who came on. It felt almost more like a musical residency, at times, than an agenda-packed festival. And that was a good thing. Anyway, the, umm, rather more mature audience around me was quite appreciative of the Lost Dogs’ (much bantered about) reliance on reading both old and new lyrics from music stands strategically sprinkled around the stage.
The band from my childhood that sealed our decision to come to Cstone was up next–but that’s a post unto itself.
Cstone ’10: Tuesday
After over fifteen hours of driving, we joined a crowd in the middle of absolutely nowhere in Illinois…
@ Switchfoot.
I haven’t been a true Switchfoot fan in quite some time, but I will quickly admit they put on a very solid show. Foreman‘s voice was stronger than I’ve ever heard before from ’em in person.
I’m obviously as guilty of this as the next person, but man! it seemed like every other person had their videocameras outstretched anywhere we went.
Timbre. This lady was EVERYWHERE we went–it seemed as tho each band wanted her on stage with them, from The Chariot, to mewithoutYou, to Brooke Waggoner…during one of the highlights of the night, all of the backing musicians gradually joined Timbre at her harp, plucking strings and continuing to lightly drum the rhythm on the soundboard.
Last year, I was intrigued by her first album when my brother sent it my way. Her live performance far eclipsed anything recorded I’ve heard from her so far. It was a show full of meandering volume swells and the energetic symphonic pop that marks the best of indie music today, carried along by a vocal that transfixed the attention of all the hipsters sitting in the grass around us.
trip to illinois: day two
Dirty hippy #1. Many more were ahead, freshly invigorated from cooking their roadkill finds and braiding their armpit hair.
Spotted @ MacD’s.
Everything must contain salad! Or else she will be mad.
Reminds me of a song I once heard…”oh, cheese…cheese and children…” If you know it, it’s now stuck in your head, too.
Reststop flowers.
FEED ME.
We saw a ton of these traveling the roads.
Fifteen hours is a long time in the car. How to be a cool older brother tip #95: bring comics.
Southern Illinois is beautiful.
Some great night shots I wish I had taken…
Fireflies and trees. From my brother
Lightning in the valley. From my good friend Joel
Mammoth Cave National Park
I couldn’t take my camera along with me on the Wild Cave Tour @ Mammoth Cave, in KY (for, uhh, obvious reasons). But it was in the car the rest of the time.
The caving, incidentally, was awesome.
Josh Ambrose 