Suppose you wrote a blog, and nobody came?

“It’s the edge of the world
And all of western civilization
The sun may rise in the East
At least it settles in the final location
It’s understood that Hollywood
sells Californication“

-Balzary, Michael Peter; Frusciante, John; Smith, Chad; Kiedis, Anthony;

(ALWAYS CLICK ON MUSIC, BEFORE PROCEEDING TO READ BLOG!)

“I don’t see Melanctha why you should talk like you would kill yourself just because you’re blue. I’d never kill myself Melanctha just ’cause I was blue. I’d maybe kill somebody else Melanctha ’cause I was blue, but I’d never kill myself. If I ever killed myself Melanctha it’d be by accident, and if I ever killed myself by accident Melanctha, I’d be awful sorry.”

-Gertrude Stein, Melanctha from Three Lives

I have known for a long time I have put together small videomedia and posted it on youtube. Some of it has been up for years with minimal hits, say 22 for 2 years. About two years ago, I started this blog for laughs, it even has a connection to the youtube account. I notice as well, many people put up wonderful stuff on the net for viewing by the rest of us. I have linked it when relevant. But for now, I wonder, what if no one ever really visits your sites? Are you only really writing it for yourself? And, like an open journal, is that such a bad thing? I mean if dickhead politicos could have websites.  .  .

I gave up on facebook long ago, and I only use myspace for photostorage. All of this media and it comes down to bullshit. Social media sometimes turns to shit. I guess I will continue to write for myself. I don’t really know why the fugg else I would bother. . .?

Some people write blogs and disappear. Sofie was like that ( http://sofiefr.wordpress.com/ ). She moved off to another venue. I wrote to someone else, and we exchanged two or three emails, then they stopped. I would image blogs take time (mine do), so people put in a lot of energy. Maybe they fall in love and put their energy somewhere else! There is two fun blogs I read sometimes, Methylethel and Mac.

Otherwise check this chit:

“Very intreresting post. It was very useful. I was searching exaxtly for this. Thank you for your effort. I hope you will write more such useful posts.”

Home: Merry and Bright
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business cards
goodprint.co.uk x
uj.markus@gmx.net
184.107.235.230

Submitted on 2012/01/10 at 9:34 am

“Thanks, I have just been searching for information about this topic for ages and yours is the best I’ve found out so far. But, what in regards to the bottom line? Are you positive in regards to the source?”

?

I find constantly all this spam shit, where you trace back a blog referral and find it is some insurance company, or some product for something (recently, Viagra–what are they checking my action?) you wouldn’t chit on if it was on the bottom of a toilet, is in your blog! I wonder how many other people get this? A blog I get a few hits on a week is the one about “Friends no longer. . .”, but I think it is for the “We can do it!”/Rosie the Riveter” artwork. In fact, I doubt anyone, except the spammers who claim they read the blog, everyone else just seems to be tracking the pictures!

I also get spam that claims it can get me more hits if I purchase their software! wtf?

As Kara Walker would say, “She thinks.”

Some days become more challenging, feeling invisible. At least it is not like on my job, where a coworker treats me like a piece of unwanted furniture. She thinks.

Thank goodness for the dweebster.

Le Bon Temps à NOLA: Sign of the times

“A sign is a representation of an object that implies a connection between itself and its object. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object. . .”

–Wikipedia

In New Orleans, I noticed in the French Quarter a lot of old steel signs, sometimes with neon, that were still in use. Many of these signs have disappeared in other cities, but here they remain somewhat protected and surviving.

I particularly loved this one. It had a smaller sign in the background which was funny (here left). Don’t be afraid to click on it, to really look.

When I was in Vegas, you got to see the great old signs displayed in the outdoors, they even have a boneyard. Here in Orlando someone has been saving them for years. NOLA is a place which is not afraid to show its oldness. It is one city that revels in it in the old Quarter. There are so many wonderful things to look at. It was a fun as Amsterdam is for that.

Sometimes goofy.

Some things don’t need a sign to announce their reputation.

Old and new, love the neon jellyfish!

Sometimes it’s hip and modern.

Sometimes a little sad.

Shot from a bus window quickly, I had no idea that the Ritz Carlton, which used to be so classy would take over the old S.H. Kress building and then cover up part of it’s name. On top of everything, why would you have set the canopy the way you did? For more check this site.

These are all over the Quarter, and explain the period, when Spanish controlled the city.

At 241 Royal Street, I shot this interesting mosaic.

Wow, image shooting something you like and finding out this piece of history: A. Monteleone Shoe Factory & Retail Store formerly number 51. Monteleone opened eventually a hotel by the same name across the street, and now famous! New Orleans has a lot of things like this.

There is street car signage.

Just the regular.

More.

Even when they say closed, it doesn’t end there.

Vogue Vegas: Desaturate your World

My kids in school are often fascinated with film and tv without color. They have a harder time with no sound, for example. So many films, post color, were quite effective in b/w. Godard did a wonderful job in Alphaville, where Eddie Constantine’s bad skin and raincoat (before Colombo)  gives a certain underbelly to the film. Several of these shots here, could have seen Eddie coming out of, like a where’s Waldo kind of thing.

It was so funny, years ago, sitting in a dark closet loading film to develop. At 1am, I’d be checking my negs. I went across country doing that in hotel rooms.

I recently saw Fassbinder’s Veronika Voss, I was struck just how well black and white worked here and what a good filmmaker he actually was. I remember someone carrying on over a film made in black and white (probably The Artist), which I thought was not really anything special. Bogdanovich did wonderful black and white work in both The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon. Although, look who he had to shoot them! Several years, before his good pal, Scorcese, did in Raging Bull.

Another irony was the wonderful cinematographer of Ingmar Bergman’s, Sven Nykvist, who did some of the most beautiful work in Persona, was given two Oscars for his color work!

¡Hola, El Perú!: Entramos Cusco.

The 1992 Juan Bravo mural along the Avenida del Sol.

We left the grayness of Lima to come into the full sun of a much cooler Cusco. Drink lots of tea and break, we do not want you to get sick. Matt actually did, but I went out with Pat and we walked around till we met our group.

Mate de coca, not nescafé, became the drink of choice as we sat each break or late evening in the lobby. It was always pleasant. I never felt any effects of the heights. I got the same story in Santa Fe, and that was without the tea. This was a different world from Lima, more indigenous, smaller, more intimate.

This was once the center of the world of the peoples who spoke Quechua and whose king was known at the Inca. It is the Rome of South America, perhaps even both Americas. Through pure vindictiveness its capital was disassembled, if not almost destroyed by Pizarro. I remember our guide, Sheila, in Lima talking about him like a dog. It was then, that I realized the peoples of Peru, see their destiny in their indigenous roots, not European, who they see as colonialists. Signage was both in Spanish and Quechua.

It was refreshing to be there. The tourist stuff was confined to some small shops, and the friendly local women trying to sell hats, gloves and scarves on the streets. Nothing, like the desperate, and nasty selling of goods in Egypt, not long ago. People sometimes dress in native dress, to get paid, this man (left) was Pachacuteq. So we walked in the Plaza de Armas and noted the Baroque architecture in brown stone and the Monumento Pachacuteq at its center. It looked amazingly different from that of Lima. Gone were the pastels and decorative concrete.

But the block work at Koricancha and Convent of Santo Domingo (directly above), belie earlier roots, with peoples who understood structure of block to earthquake. The Spanish sacked the buildings to use the block. Using ugly thick mortar, where planned cut stone had sat one interconnected to each other. The stones themselves were “readable” (not random) and had meaning.

And finally, our guide takes us to the walls Hatunrumiyoc. In that stretch of about two blocks long, we see remnants of a building with earthquake proof block work, done by people the Spanish considered savage. How awful is nationalism, and how condescending religion can be.

For moreon Cusco

¡Hola, El Perú!: Streets in downtown Cusco

¡Hola, El Perú!: Plaza de Armas in Cusco

Enfin, Paris!: Oh my Versailles, ces choses2 sottes

The Hall of Mirrors is dizzying with detail. This is THE portable throne!!!

Because there is more than you would expect, I had to divide the blog into two posts! As I have never really looked at these shots done a year ago, I figured I could only move forward with Perú and Austria, if only I took some time to process Paris. I have a soft spot for Paris, and the French.

There is detail after detail in the royal apartments. I cannot believe the use of repetition handsomely used throughout.

There is always this sense of light that goes on. There is always the feeling of being inside and outside at the same time. That sensibility that you get from Joseph Losey’s English films. I wonder what it would be like to be there in the winter months with snow?

I am kind of dumb on this one. I have a sense of Baroque, especially with Spanish architecture and Italian painting. I also have a sense of the period of Rococo. I believe Versailles, at least in its interiors is more rococo, than baroque, since that restrain and sense of scale which is more human. Anyone wanting to comment, please. The right one reminds me of the Vatican apartments.

Fit for a king.

I was so dumb, I thought this was Rubens and van Dyke!

The bedrooms are amazing, what pomp. Imagine walking up to those ceilings, chandeliers, that light from outside. I have heard Louis XIV, had his courtiers come in and help him chose his get-up for the day! What a great way to keep them from plotting! Bottom photo right shows ostrich plumes above the bed.

You have to divorce yourself from its wonder sometime, that this lifestyle was at the expense of millions of others, which what leads to revolutions in the first place. Remember this ostentation eventually ended abruptly and violently, with another period of nonsense royalty imbetween, violence with the Communards and finally more war.

One looks sadly at the bedroom of the queen, knowing her awful end with another Louis. In Anonymous, Vanessa Redgrave gave us a glimpse of what paranoia may have looked like for the royals. We imagine them as fixed and arrogant in their ways, easier to dehumanize through legend, than realize as real people.

Whimsical detail in a ceiling.

The Napoleonic throne (left) is so ostentatious and gaudy, I thought first of the old “Imperial” margarine ads. Or the painting by Kehinde Wiley with Ice T on the throne. Don’t these remind you of gold teeth and hip hop nameplates? 

It is said Napoleon spent little time in Versailles and many art treasures were shipped elsewhere. Within this Coronation Room, the goofy Imperial period which had such greats as David and Baron Gros (the two housed here, no Ingres though) doing this cinemascopic painting of his illustrious reign are amusing, and the room filled with people as if celebrities were being visited. Extremely contentious to shoot, many people, movement and light.

Jean Sebastien Rouillard’s Napoléon Bonaparte, Général en Chef de l’Armée d’Italie (top left); Copy of Jacques-Louis David’s
Le couronner du Josephine d’Impératrice par Napoléon dans Notre-Dame de Paris sur le 2 décembre 1804 (The crowning of the Empress Josephine by Napoleon in Notre-Dame of Paris on 2 December 1804) (detail, top right; bottom)

Baron Antoine-Jean Gros’ The Battle of Abukir (believe it is the original).

Restoration going on, look how many fit into a room.

Space is piled upon space.

A final look at the exterior.

This is what struck me after I came out (above). I realized where Ringling had taken and developed the patio deck fort Ca’ d’Zan (above left). All that pressure washing and all that gold. A little bit of what it used to be see in the photo on the right, where there is no presence of gilding.

Another dumb American, but I was lucky. I have seen Versailles twice in my life. Versailles is one of those places, I hope you have had the luck to see, too.

For more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles

or http://www.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

Enfin, Paris!: Oh my Versailles, ces choses1 sottes

What a treat for the young, a fairytale!

I have been lucky in life, I have seen some impressive old structures. I have yet to see the Taj Mahal, but one day soon, I hope to. I have seen the beautiful Banqueting House in London, which houses a beautiful Rubens collection; the Summer Palace in Moscow, which I still marvel over the floors and the moldings; the Forbidden Palace which was unending rooms, walkway windows and the Dragon Mural; the perfect blends of tile and carving in the Alhambra and the Harem at Topkapi.

All for the glory of France. . .

And him, too! Pierre Cartellier and Louis Petitot’s Equestrian Statue of Louis XIV

Thirty plus years ago as a bubble head, I visited Le Château de Versailles. I remember walking through the Galerie des Glaces (The Hall of Mirrors)  wondering what it was that made it so memorable. It was not as grandiose as it now is (and I was not as on the ball then), since Paris has fallen in love with gilding. This blog was started one year ago, since then I have been to Vienna and visited Schloß Schönbrunn. It was billed as rivaling Versailles. Both it, and the Belvedere, are quite nicely designed as a whole architectural units. Schönbrunn is quite lovely for a 20 minute walk if you dodge the American and Japanese tourists (yeah, and NO photos!) through it’s limited quarters ticket, but it is not Versailles. The French, in pride of their illustrious history, allow photographing all over! All that glitters, really is.

Entering to see the Royal Chapel (directly above left), then up this beautiful winding staircase (upper) and a better view from above (directly above right).

And bien sûr, the portable thrones!

Rooms full of painting, but plenty of outside gardens through the windows to provide air and light. (No extra charge for part of my finger!)

A sun for the Sun King, and in its place in context, Hyacinthe Rigaud’s Louis XIV.

The War Room preceded entering the Hall of Mirrors.

Schönbrunn had a lovely hall of mirrors, in fact double wide, but not this length.

Don’t forget to click on the photos to see details, like the wood floors. I remember the Summer Palace in Moscow had phenomenal floors and mosaic. Here the floors provide respite from the already elaborate rococo.

Because there is more than you would expect, I had to divide the blog into two parts (like the Garnier)! The bedrooms I had forgotten about, and they are really totally astounding on their own. Such a world of detail.

For more about the Chateau http://www.chateauversailles.fr/homepage or for more about the Equestrian Statue http://www.thearttribune.com/The-Louis-XIV-sculpture-returns-to.html

DC331: Broken Blossoms

For a second we thought we had missed it altogether.

Having arrived from Vienna, we never thought much about the cherry blossoms by Jefferson Memorial. I have seen them around the Smithsonian, but not here along the river.

But there were a few trees left, along the Potomac and a little further in on the grounds. It became festive. Tourists literally surrounded and interacted with the blossoms freely, making for some interesting Kodak moments.

Left your heart: Xanadu

I hate the Guggenheim. Never liked the exterior across from the park. Thought it was one of the most annoying gallery spaces ever invented. But who cares? I still love and admire Wright, your mouth drops looking at his stuff one hundred years later.

So with much luck, I was able to see the an exploratory version done in San Francisco, and I had forgotten all about it since it was before the blog.

The people from Xanadu, were kind, and let a boob like me come in and photograph (so my guess is, you too!). Go see this historic space on Maiden Lane, the place where the sailors made their midnight visits. It is something else! The V. C. Morris Gift Shop supposedly was designed after the Guggenheim, but gave Wright a chance to see the ramp in action.

But here is only one story, the proportion in the Guggenheim never looked great, too high. Here it is wonderful and intimate, the structure retains that wonderful horizontal orientation, so loved by Wright.

From the exterior brick, to the interior which Wright is so precise with those ivory walls which do so much with the light. This considering the front and sides are totally encased from almost any outside light. The muted light inside I assume is both natural and electrical.

Speaking again of the brickwork, Wright tends to detail beautifully the use of that light ochre brick, which copies yellow stoneware. Wright was pretty precise about his use of brick. In Chicago at the Robie House, I believe, there was an extension built to the right outside wall as you faced the building. Someone associated with the building said they were very proud that the brick were made with the same clay in the same factory. What they failed to see, that my adventures in pottery have taught me, the original bricks did not match, I believe because a blue mason stain had been brushed on the brick face, giving it a little more of a patina. Look what Wright does here by recessing the pointing (directly above), which removes flatness from the brick face creating more depth. Wright works against the reality of a totally flat surface.

The curves catch light in some nice ways and he does the cutouts with thickness, which the shadows give thickness like heavily embossed paper. The lighting is softened and the forms lack a certain sharpness, one sees often on exterior architecture.

Catch the curve on the brass of the banister and how it echoes the the curve of the ramp (left). The woodwork neat and soft. Look how the ramp (right) rises up against the office area, which recedes back further into shadow. I wonder what the original covering of the floors were?

That famous planter.