My Blog

Who uses fine stationary any more?

redwoodtwig — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:46:15 GMT

Came across these wonderful renditions of fantasy art for notes. Great artist who also has a tarot deck coming out. http://www.shadowscapes.com/listing_products_byimage.php?listing=13 http://puimun.deviantart.com/

I don't care if it is staged, isn't it wonderful?

redwoodtwig — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:34:18 GMT

http://video.yahoo.com/network/100000089?v=4816051&l=100022574

out of the blue

redwoodtwig — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:02:15 GMT

A reporter from the Missourian, the student run daily newspaper at Mizzou, called me today. They had gotten a call from a lady about a story Toby did on me and my fencing class down in Jeff City two years ago. Toby had my number and passed it on and Megan called me to say the lady thought maybe one of my students was her long lost grandson. When I heard the name, I said that yes, he's been with me nearly five years now, he's in college. Now, what to do? Give out his phone number? Hmmm. I wasn't sure what to do. Megan wasn't either. She talked to her editor and called me back and threw it in my lap. They gave me the woman's name and phone number, so I called my student and asked if he was missing a grandmother. It turns out not only was he missing her, he'd been looking for her for several years if only to get some medical information. So he was quite happy to get the name and number...

Smile at the DMV

redwoodtwig — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:13:48 GMT

You gotta watch this, it will make your day, garunteed, :-) http://mypositivechange.com/2008/12/12/you-are-amazing/

contact improv

redwoodtwig — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:04:58 GMT

no pictures, :-( Workshop last weekend was great, Amanda was a great teacher and facilitator and it was a very positive and fulfilling experience. I sure hope to do more of it.

There are good people.

redwoodtwig — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:48:47 GMT

"THIS I BELIEVE" by Robert A. Heinlein Robert A. Heinlein wrote this item in 1952. His wife, Virginia Heinlein, chose to read it when she accepted NASA's Distinguished Public Service Medal on October 6, 1988, on the Grand Master's behalf (it was a posthumous award). Mrs. Heinlein received a standing ovation. "I am not going to talk about religious beliefs but about matters so obvious that it has gone out of style to mention them. I believe in my neighbors. I know their faults, and I know that their virtues far outweigh their faults. "Take Father Michael down our road a piece. I'm not of his creed, but I know that goodness and charity and lovingkindness shine in his daily actions. I believe in Father Mike. If I'm in trouble, I'll go to him." "My next-door neighbor is a veterinary doctor. Doc will get out of bed after a hard day to help a stray cat. No fee--no prospect of a fee--I believe in Doc. "I believe in my townspeople. You can know on any door in our town saying, 'I'm hungry,' and you will be fed. Our town is no exception. I've found the same ready charity everywhere. But for the one who says, 'To heck with you - I got mine,' there are a hundred, a thousand who will say, "Sure, pal, sit down." "I know that despite all warnings against hitchhikers I can step up to the highway, thumb for a ride and in a few minutes a car or a truck will stop and someone will say, 'Climb in Mac - how far you going?' "I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with crime yet for every criminal there are 10,000 honest, decent, kindly men. If it were not so, no child would live to grow up. Business could not go on from day to day. Decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but is a force stronger than crime. I believe in the patient gallentry of nurses and the tedious sacrifices of teachers. I believe in the unseen and unending fight against desperate odds that goes on quietly in almost every home in the land. "I believe in the honest craft of workmen. Take a look around you. There never were enough bosses to check up on all that work. From Independence Hall to the Grand Coulee Dam, these things were built level and square by craftsmen who were honest in their bones. "I believe that almost all politicians are honest. . .there are hundreds of politicians, low paid or not paid at all, doing their level best without thanks or glory to make our system work. If this were not true we would never have gotten past the 13 colonies. "I believe in Rodger Young. You and I are free today because of endless unnamed heroes from Valley Forge to the Yalu River. I believe in -- I am proud to belong to -- the United States. Despite shortcomings from lynchings to bad faith in high places, our nation has had the most decent and kindly internal practices and foreign policies to be found anywhere in history. "And finally, I believe in my whole race. Yellow, white, black, red, brown. In the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability, and goodness of the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human being. I believe that we have come this far by the skin of our teeth. That we always make it just by the skin of our teeth, but that we will always make it. Survive. Endure. I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize brain case and the opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes will endure. Will endure longer than his home planet -- will spread out to the stars and beyond, carrying with him his honesty and his insatiable curiosity, his unlimited courage and his noble essential decency. "This I believe with all my heart."

Quite a spectacular show

redwoodtwig — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:54:37 GMT

Woman: God, sex, and my body http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=PbIEKjYa4_c and http://synature. smugmug. com/gallery/6890103_GkWBF

tell me it isn't so, please

redwoodtwig — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:03:05 GMT

Story by columnist Dvorak about how much lying, stealing and cheating is going on in our children's lives: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2335831,00.asp

libel and defamation

redwoodtwig — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:49:30 GMT

Libel is pretty straightforward: it's when a statement is made that is false. "The food at xyz restaurant is lousy" is an opinion and can't be libel, but "I got food poisoning at xyz restaurant." is a statement of fact, which, if proven false is grounds for a libel suit for punitive damages and lost revenue. Politicians and public figures are not exempt from libel protection in fact, but editorial writers get to claim a lot more flexibility in saying that what they are expressing is opinion. http://injury-law.freeadvice.com/libel_and_slander/ Defamation is much more murky, though it's basically the same thing -- a false statement of fact. But the "fact" stated can be much more general (and harder to prove one way or the other). "However, you may bring an action for libel or slander if the comments are so reprehensible and false that they affect your reputation in the community or cast aspersions on you." In other words, if you say something like "The drivers for ABC hauling are reckless and a danger to everyone on the road." and it turns out in fact that no driver for ABC has ever had any kind of moving violation, well, you could be in trouble. Probably would need to also have statements from Joe the plumber that he stopped using ABC hauling because of your statement. http://injury-law.freeadvice.com/libel_and_slander/defamation_character.htm Free speech means freedom to express your opinion, and thank goodness we have that. But it does not mean you are allowed to actually make statements of fact which are harmful when they are false. The big problem is when someone states an opinion, "I think X is a crook" and later on someone else drops the "I think." and turns it into "X is a crook."

new photos up

redwoodtwig — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:02:36 GMT

well, some are not so new earthdance: http://synature.smugmug.com/gallery/6024248_TBYJk Johnny Lang: http://synature.smugmug.com/gallery/6107555_46Ngz#383849174_aP4En An open mic night at the blue fugue: http://synature.smugmug.com/gallery/6224014_WfJ5X#392669729_N36pq Washington, D.C. http://synature.smugmug.com/Events/590435

a thought

redwoodtwig — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:03:38 GMT

from page 179 of "To the Last Man" by Jeff Shaara, a novel of the first world war. Which I decided to read because for many years I thought the song "After the gold rush" by Neil Young was about the first world war because the only version I knew, the a cappela one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6BzTCQ6Nqo it sounds like they are saying "1917" not "nineteen seventies" and the phrase "bombed out basement fits so well with much of what was going on that year. [-taking man as the generic term for human] "...every man had one purpose, should serve God or his country or his neighbours in one way or another, but at the end of a man's life, the only judge would be the man himself." In other words, it's not a question of heaven or hell, only of how healthy your soul it.

i wish

redwoodtwig — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:11:43 GMT

i am exactly where i need to be i need to be exactly where i am Amy Steinberg http://youtube.com/watch?v=eqZYd2UCfI8 http://www.amysteinberg.net/ The cloud drifted over giving welcome shade during the longest day of the year Saturday, such a blue sky, such a white cloud, such a wonderful day. Pictures from the day http://synature.smugmug.com/gallery/5234985_NUyKA#318052068_TZUPK and from the night with most pleasant company http://synature.smugmug.com/gallery/5235412_da8rW#318134297_yYS2x

Flying back then

redwoodtwig — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:46:23 GMT

I was nine and a half when my family boarded the Pan AM Clipper in San Francisco. I think this was PanAm flight 1, in any case it was the flight that circumnavigated the globe east to west. It was an 18 hour flight to Hawaii back then in 1956. The plane was more like a luxury liner than what now wanders among the clouds. It had a wide aisle and only two seats on each side, seats that reclined almost flat. The top of the cabin, instead of having luggage racks, had bunk beds. There was a bar and observation deck also. It seemed like the sunset lasted the whole 18 hours, wonderful colors in the clouds the whole time. Unlike this picture I took recently on a cramped flight from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., the clouds were awe-inspiring. More like mountains, huge things reaching way above our flying altitude, and solid looking, as if you could get out and jump on them. I don't recall much from landing in Hawaii, nor much from our stop at Wake. I do remember the landing on Guam, though, looking down into the clear water and seeing what must have been stuff left over from World War II. The trip from Guam to Manila, the last of our journey in the huge Pan Am clipper, was another story entirely. About half way there it started to get rough, and there was turbulence for at least 4 hours, probably closer to six. I become very sick. I'd had problems with car sickness before, but car trips could always be stopped for me so I could get solid ground to stand on for a while. But we couldn't stop. We did finally land and the plane came to a stop. The airport people wheeled the steps out to the plane and we went down them. As soon as I touched the ground I made a wild dash for the building, holding my mouth. No one bothered me, I'm sure they were smiling and knew exactly what my problem was. The next thing I clearly remember was that when we got to the hotel and I got to lay down on a bed that wasn't moving, the noise of the air conditioning sounded so much like that plane that I had to get it turned off to keep from being sick again. But the next day I was fine, and ready for another plane ride, this one the last leg to our new home in Djarkarta, Indonesia. This was a much smaller plane, though it still had four propellers and was certainly large enough to carry a whole bunch of people. Still only two seats on each side of a wide aisle. But the seats didn't recline very much and there were no bunk beds overhead, just storage places. On this flight we sat up front and the captain left the door open most of the time. Amazing how many dials and gauges there are in an airplane, I'm still amazed at how much information a pilot processes continuously while flying. Of course, the captain brought us kids up into the cockpit and I got to stand right next to his seat for what seemed like hours as we flew over Borneo -- green jungle as far as the eye could see in every direction. Then, in the distance, I could see a patch of red. "We're going to land there to get some fuel," the captain said, "you'll have to go back to your seat now." We didn't get off, thinking back, I don't think anyone got off or on. But I avidly stared out the window at the red dirt. When we landed at Djarkarta and I stepped out the door onto the steps, I was stunned by the beauty that surrounded me. My eyes skipped over the pavement to the edges where huge trees surrounded everything. Trees so green and bright it almost hurt. And everywhere there were sparkles, as if diamonds has been tossed hither and yon on top of everything, the trees, the buildings, the baggage carts, everything. It has just rained and not only was the air completely clear, but the sun was reflecting off every surface and every surface was sprinkled with points of bright, scintillating light.

Writing

redwoodtwig — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:31:12 GMT

When I talked to my mother on mother's day, practically the first thing she said to me was wanting to know when I would start writing again, specifically writing about growing up overseas. I told her I would as soon as she got back into it also. I said I really wasn't all the interested in writing about my wonderful adventures in Indonesia and Thailand. The main reason is because when I tell people about any of those most interesting times, they are generally not interested. I've found that I can just stop in the middle of talking about the elephant roundup in Thailand and no one even notices that I've stopped talking. She said that's because there is a huge difference between writing and telling. She's been to some "memoir" writing classes at the senior center there in Alexandria and what she's noticed is that more often than not, instead of writing, the people come together and tell stories to each other. If you don't write it down, it's not really a story, and it has a very different impact from when you talk about it. I had to agree that creating your story on paper is quite a bit more powerful than simply telling it. My father was great at telling stories, but he hardly every wrote anything down other than official reports and analysis and things like that. I wish I could remember more of his stories. So in the end I agreed that I would write some more. The last time I was actually productive in writing I was doing a weekly story for our local newspaper, about a thousand words. It would take me a full four hours to crank out those 1000 words, sometimes longer. Writing is a job like any other, and you have to discipline yourself to do it. "Writer's block"? no such thing, you simply write nonsense until things start to make sense again. Those four hours cranking out a 1000 words tended to be about 1/3 new words and 2/3 editing. When I made my first serious stab at a novel, I held myself to a 4 hours a day and made pretty good progress. But there was an unhappiness going on outside my control, and my response, eventually, was to go out and become a wage slave again. and now still am. But I do have interesting stories to tell. I am not some kind of guru of beneficent know it all, just a human who sometimes pontificates, once in a while cracks a joke, and hopefully entertains or illuminates more often than not. But it's all meaningless if it's merely vocal. So 100 words a day? 700 words a week? But not a blog, I'm not going to do a daily blog. I will work on the writing like I work on my photographs, off line. When I like it, I'll put it up somewhere... (Acutally I do have a short story on a short story site back from 97 or so. You had to pay $1.50 or something to read that last third. As far as I know, no one did. I've lost track of it, and I suspect it currently exists on some website where the owners can't wait for the orphan copyright law to come into effect so they can steal it. I mean, even the most cursory google search is going to show my main website and there's a link on there that talks about writing. But under the new law, going to google and if I'm not the first hit, they can claim they looked and didn't find me and that gives them license to steal my story...)

Orphaned art

redwoodtwig — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:44:06 GMT

It seems congress is intent on passing a bill that will allow anyone who grabs an image off the internet to claim it as their own and sell it if they have made a "good faith" effort to find out who the copyright holder is. The current law basically says that if you publish an image, and that includes posting it on the internet, say here on tribe, you own the copyright and that is proof. You can go after a company that snags your image and uses it in advertising. You might not win very much unless you also send the images in to the copyright office, but the law is definitely on your side. With this new law, from what I've been able to understand, the burden of proof is now much much harder on the original image creator and much easier for the thief to claim they couldn't find you, and so be absolved of any wrong doing. In other words, if you are an advertising agency, instead of hiring an artist to create the image you need, you hire someone to surf the internet for a suitable image and you get to cut your art budget a bunch. If you think this might not be in the best interest of art and artists, here's a link to a page where you can let your congress people know you don't like this idea: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

You need a big screen for this

redwoodtwig — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:18:06 GMT

Or a lot of patience. There's now a way to put up large images through gigapan, and that can be tied to google earth, though they determine which ones they will pick. Here's a couple of mine: http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=3690 http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=3664

Ice storm and hernia

redwoodtwig — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:24:56 GMT

So while I was up there on top of the workshop trimming the tree and tossing the branches (as in 8-9 inches in diameter) off, I managed to get a hernia, my first, and hopefully my last. Just got home from the hospital, outpatient laproscopy and mesh repair. Just a bit on the woozy side, :-) But things feel like they have been fixed. This image is 6 frames from my el-ceapo Canon A710IS merged and then reduced 50% and saved at a very very low JPG quality so I could get it under 500KB. The dog's name is Chewy. Click on it, the image is pretty big. Instructions from the hospital: Lifting: As tolerated Driving: 24 hour driving restriction post anesthesia Sex: May be resumed Feb 29, 2008, @ 8am

Light painting essay

redwoodtwig — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:21:53 GMT

http://synature.smugmug.com/gallery/3686256 Still in draft mode, comments appreciated.

snap, crackle, pop!

redwoodtwig — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 17:07:01 GMT

Every time I've stuck my head outside this morning, I've heard snaps as branches break and fall. There is one hanging over the power line, but so far it hasn't fallen. Looks like I'll have plenty of firewood later this winter. This guy must have been hanging pretty low, there doesn't seem to be any damage to the workshop roof.

Things you make

redwoodtwig — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:18:59 GMT

Things you make with your hands, things you make with your head, Things you make with your heart, things you make with your soul, and things you make with your dreams. Make a thing of the head by the hand for the sake of the heart and the soul and the dream. (paraphrased from "Soulsmith" by Tom Deitz)

Light painting shoots

redwoodtwig — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:23:19 GMT

I'd love to have some of you come participate, I will be making light painting photographs at my place on 10, 11, 18, and 25 November from about 5pm till 9pm each day, rain or shine. If it's too cold or too wet we'll work inside. That's next saturday and Sunday the 10th and 11th, Sunday the 18th and Sunday the 25th. Here are a couple of links to stuff I've already done along this line: http://synature.smugmug.com/gallery/2197094 http://synature.smugmug.com/gallery/3435936 Light painting dancing photoshoot: I've got three ideas I'd like to manifest into photographic art with your help if I can. One of them is a pure light painting of multipe people dancing where the only thing that can be seen is the light trails. Variation one would be everyone dancing more or less in place and weaving different colored lights. Variation two would be everyone weaving in and out of each other, each person weaving just one color of lights. Perhaps some combination of still and moving. The second idea is to fire a flash once or twice during a run through of each of the variations above so that we get visible figures as well as the light trails. I would be trying to catch some leaps in midair or at least lively movement. The third idea is for one or two or three dancers to take poses and hold them without lights while the other dancers move around with lights and use the lights to illuminate the posed figure(s). I may want to set up candles or use some flashlight types of lights for this. These need dark to work well, and I've got a perfect place at my upper pond that is not only sheltered from neighbour's view, but is also sheltered from street lights and such. There's two locations by the pond that will work, one is fairly flat and the other has a pretty good slope. Depending on time, we could try both. The slope would certainly distribute the lights over a wider part of the image. If it's too cold or too wet to work outside, I do have a studio, though it does not have a high enough ceiling for getting wild with the lights. For clothing I'd suggest either very dark or very light color tight body suit type of outfits, or very loose and streaming types of outfits. I have several pieces of cloth and safety pins that we can use for the streaming stuff. I think solid color would work best, but bold patterns might do too. Nude will also work very well for the illuminated shots. I'll be calling the flash out so you could be sure your face didn't show, if that is a concern.

A dozen of my prints will be hanging at the Living Canvas tattoo parlor and gallery by the weekend

redwoodtwig — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:02:03 GMT

I dropped off a dozen of the light painting photographs with the owner tonight. I'd talked with him earlier this month and he had said to come by near the end of the month as he's planning to do some rotating of stuff. I think I'll make a few more framed prints, some of the one above, "the web of creation dance," in particular. Wish me luck, even better go by and buy one, :-)

Durian: tropical mystery

redwoodtwig — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:09:59 GMT

This fruit gets to be a foot long, according to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian but I can recall seeing much larger ones. I distinctly recall seeing a car whose roof had been punctured by one that fell from the tree above it. The smell of ripe durian is indescribably awful. No one, not even the locals, enjoys this smell, though one can almost learn to ignore it. It was always a mystery to me why it was sold in the markets. I can't imagine buying skunk meat if it smelled like the stuff skunks do when they are upset. Yet it is considered a delicacy, and I will always remember the one time I did eat some. I was living with a Thai family in Bangkok during the summer after High School graduation. The family ran a riding stable and I was there as a general helper, teacher, worker with horses and so forth. I ate my meals with them and spoke Thai for the most part. One evening at dinner, not particularly different from any other evening, the cook brought out a special dish for dessert. I was stunned to learn that it was durian, since I hadn't smelled anything. They told me it had been properly opened, there is a secret way to do that which prevents the stench from getting out. The taste was in fact delicious. I'll quote wikipedia on it: "This pulp is the eatable part, and its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop." However, I will say that within a few bites I felt quite full, even though I wanted more of it. I've seen it for sale in local supermarkets, small ones, usually less than 10 inches in diameter. But since I remember nothing of what they told me about how to open one correctly, I'm not about to try it. I will never forget the awful stench that permeates everything when it's not done right. If anyone knows how to do it and can explain it to me, maybe I'll try it again.

The Gift Experiment

redwoodtwig — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:25:58 GMT

For the first three people who respond- and re-post - this challenge, I will send you something. It might be something I've made (ohhh to be so lucky!), or something from my stash o booty, a special surprise, a book, a cd or whatever comes to mind when I think of you . Whatever it is, I promise that I will get it to you in 30 days or less. That is as long as I can find you! The only thing you need to do in order to participate is to be one of the first three to reply to this, AND post this very same thing* - 'cause its fun to give people stuff.

Show is over, what next?

redwoodtwig — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 02:45:08 GMT

From Joseph Campbell: Follow your bliss. If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else. I guess I need to take some pictures of doors, though this one might in fact be a doorway.