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Most recent 28 results returned for keyword: Get Ready For Believe (Search this on MAP)

Man of Steel #11 (1/2) "So you're telling me, you've never seen die hard?" Lou's asked as she sipped her wine. "I don't see why that's so hard to believe." I replied. "Because everyone has seen die hard!" "We'll not me." I shrugged. "Then I guess we already have our second date planned." Lois smirked "We're going to watch due hard and you're going to love it!" "How do you know that? You've only known me for like two days!" "Everyone loves die hard! It's hilarious the main guy's catch phrase is 'Yippy ki yay motherfu-" *BANG* "What the hell was that?" I looked out the window and saw a large robotic man shooting a civilian as cops unloaded rounds of bullets at him. Lois pulled a camera out of her handbag. "You ready Smallville?" "My camera's in my car. I'll go get it." Recent Updated: 2 months ago - Created by applejack512 - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - applejack512 50 questions 50 Questions Post a pic of yourself & answer the questions.I was tagged by Charise, Leila and Kerry. Please, no pressure to play along, but passing it on seems to be part of the game. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1: What are you wearing? t-shirt, fleece jacket and sweatpants 2: Something about you that nobody ever knew? I think showering is a waste of time. 3: Biggest phobias? This is something that is new, but when driving over trailridge road a few weekends ago, I broke out in a sweat and my stomach went crazy! 4: How tall are you? 5'4" 5: Ever been in love? Yes. 6: Any tattoos that you want? No. 7. Any piercing that you want? No. 8. Makeouts or cuddling Both 9. shoe size 7 10. favourite bands I'm a sucker for older music like the cure, housemartins, morrissey, james, depeche mode, REM, the beautiful south, the cranberries, charlatans uk, the police, journey, pink floyd... 11. something that you miss my daddy 12: Favourite song? there are so many 13: How old are you? 42 14: Zodiac sign? Taurus 15: Hair Color? brown (and honestly a little gray!) 16: Favourite Quote? People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built. Eleanor Roosevelt 17: Favourite singer? not sure 18: Favourite colour? I love a rainbow but if pressed, green. 19: Loud music or soft? Both 20: Where do you go when you're sad? For a hike. 21: How long does it take you to shower? 15 min 22: How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? 50 min 23: Ever been in a physical fight? Yes. In gradeschool. If you call hairpulling and pinching a fight. 24: Turn on? humor 25: Turn off? beating around the bush 26: The reason I joined Flickr? swaps 27: Fears? spiders and snakes and grizzly bears 28: Last thing that made you cry? missing my daddy this morning 29: Last time you cried? this morning 30: Meaning behind your url: I love to hike and I love to sew and I'm a bit edgy. 31: Last book you read? The long walk 32: Last song you listened to? Journey, "don't stop believing" 33: Last show you watched? The Voice 34: Last person you talked to? a man just called with the right number, all the wrong info! lol 35: The relationship between you and the person you last texted? my cousin 36: Favourite food? Indian and Mexican 37: Place you want to visit? Greece, Australia 38: Last place you were? camping near Granby 39: Do you have a crush? no 40: Last time you kissed someone? this morning 41: Last time you were insulted and what was it? Can't remember? 42: What colour underwear are you wearing? pink 43: What colour shirt are you wearing? blue 44: Are you tired? no 45: Wearing any bracelets? No 46: Last sport you played? Not a sporty person 47: Last song you sang? Where I belong by Building 429 48: Last prank call you remember doing? don't remember 49: Last time you hung out with anyone? Monday sewing with a friend (hi Carmen!) 50: Do you consider yourself to be approachable? I do and I hope others think I am! Recent Updated: 7 months ago - Created by sewtakeahike - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - sewtakeahike Seattle Waterfront: Feb. '12 Tags: dprnikond800camerajpegnikonafsnikkor2470mmf28ged24mm12500secf63iso200    [DPR Nikon D800 camera-jpeg Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED 24 mm 1/2500 sec F6.3 ISO200] ...I can appreciate the generic shots but this still leaves the question of..."why buy this camera?" open. I think that it doesn't really make sense to review a camera that's as expensive and sophisticated as the D800 and just put up samples that one could take with just about any camera and get practically the same thing [or even worse, photos that are so blase' as to make you feel like an idiot for even buying that big-ass heavy expensive rig and carrying it around just to take a shot like that]. Unless you look at the long-term view...maybe 5 years from now a shot like this will be relevant when comparing the new 60MP subframes to the D800 :) ...and by that same logic now, they are relevant when comparing the old 5MP p&s's and their highly-compressed, NR'd jpeg output to the D800 24MP 14-bit uncompressed raw files. Or film, say, since eventually you will compare it to scanned film. The yin and the yang all in one image. Yes one can easily take a better shot than this that is more likely to be printed large and thus could be a better use of a $4k 36MP fullframe. But the flip-side still is relevant. Most of the shots that will be taken with this camera are probably not going to be printed. Even *if* a larger percentage of them *would* be printed, and printed larger, than with the average DSLR. Still in 5 years or so, cameras in the 30-40MP range will be common. At least for a fullframe. And even for a camera jpeg the colors are nice, the DR is good, so there's that. Though it would be nice to see this same scene shot with the D3200 both raw and jpeg, using the same 24-120 F4 lens and the D3200 kit lens (but those are the kind of comparison-shots that ****I**** would take, not Dpreview and most other sites). And at least this doesn't look wickedly-oversharpened. And this is the kind of scene that would require a good DSLR for a good shot...as opposed to something that could easily be shot with film & scanned to 40MP or so. That was my motivation for picking these 4 shots. Having little else to say about this shot or the D800 (hey, it's a very-good camera, technically there's little to say about it) I'd like to say something about a few of the comments that I've seen about it (and the review) so far at DPR, with about 100 or so at the moment. What sticks out most to me are the comments about "needing great glass and/or a tripod to make full use of the camera", and "amateurs use only one camera for all their photography". The first is true for every camera. The second is sheer nonsense. There might be some photographers both amateur and pro who use just one camera for all their shots, but many do not and most will own more than one camera. Just another stupid nonsense whiner comment. Though overlooking the fact that just about all the Nikons have a built-in flash (if not all, then certainly almost-all) while Canon and Sony seem to think that a flash in a "pro" camera is an oxymoron...how could you do that? They didn't quite do that but they didn't originally factor it into their scoring. To me, having to carry an external flash vs not having to, I mean, that's right up there with having to buy new batteries for it. I rarely use flash but if I need to, I need to. High ISO is one thing, fill-flash is yet another. Even these cameras with great high-ISO performance still need to use fill on occasion. Just as one only has to buy batteries once and they're a fraction of the cost of the camera. The big issue along with that is that it is yet another new type of battery. But then that's fairly common in the industry these days. Buy a new camera, why not buy a new battery or two or three too? And so what if they're not compatible with an earlier model? At least they will be compatible going forward, right? :) LOL Again even if the batteries are $100 apiece and you need 4 of them over the life of the camera that's still 1/10th the cost of the camera. Just suck it up. The flash is a bigger deal because you can't buy a built-in flash for the A850/A900 or 5D at *any* price. I agree with the one guy who said that that alone kept him from buying a 5DMk2. It would not keep me from buying an A850 at a good price, but I completely agree that the A850 is one thing and the D700 is another. The D800 simply kills both birds with one stone, and has a better AF system to boot. Plus it shoots, you know, SD. So now you don't need to buy SD and CF and carry a CF reader. As a DSLR it is simply excellent. It will have to deal with not having body-IS but I don't think that body-IS is really all that effective anyway, useful but only down to around 1/FL or so. Might save a stop of ISO in a pinch. In a pinch dialing-up the ISO on this camera doesn't seem to be a problem. Also someone said that it will be vaporware until late summer, which is surely news to the people on Flickr who have already gotten theirs. I have nothing to say about the video, moire is supposedly a problem but the video doesn't matter to me. I really can't see buying this camera to shoot video, unless I'm a pro. Now *that* would be a serious waste of money, in my opinion. Just about every camera on the market can shoot 1080p-24 now. And if you really want or need raw HDMI output then you're far beyond my level of videography. I just see it as a photographic tool, and everything that I said about the D3200 (except the price) goes for the D800. Even more so, because it's simply a much-better camera. Considering the price, it's up to you to figure out if a 36MP fullframe makes sense when you can buy a 24MP subframe for a 5th of the money. But that's the same as it was with the 5DMk2, the D700, the A850, you name it: there always has been a subframe on the market that gives you 80% of the imaging performance at 1/8th of the cost. New day, same old story. At least it's not like the D3X. Ha, 12hrs later it's up to 271 comments and some of these are just laughable. "The record button isn't customizable". Duh, it's the RECORD BUTTON. "It's only a semipro camera". That's literally a headspinner...I guess that you can't be a real pro if you shoot it? It's not a "full-blown professional camera"? Seriously some people REALLY get stuck on labeling. "You can't compare a subframe to a fullframe". How can anyone say that who actually needs a fullframe? You're making an implicit comparison to a subframe just in *buying* a fullframe, even *concerning* yourself with a fullframe, that, you know, can take the same shots as a subframe, only better, supposedly. Sometimes I honestly think that the sole problem with photography is that any idiot can be one. And sometimes it really shows. "No sRaw: major fault" sorry the D800 won't shoot in DX crop mode? Or did you not know that it's not a Canon? "From the above, the lack of small RAW is really annoying. A 32GB card can hold ~300 photos uncompressed, 14bit. A fast one costs more than 100 euros too". Hm, 32GB/300 is about 100MB/raw file. Yep that could be a problem, if you want to shoot a 36MP camera in 14 bit uncompressed raw but you're too cheap to buy the appropriate storage :) again, you're shooting a 36MP 14-bit camera raw and saving the files uncompressed. It's not the same as shooting a cheap 5MP p&s in jpeg at medium quality. You're not going to get a bazillion shots on a 32GB card. That's life. Deal with it! Next they'll be complaining that it's a 36MP camera! "By Ilkka Nissilä (46 min ago) A "raw" file which is not at the sensor resolution is not "raw" in any sense of the word. If I'm not mistaken, such formats contain just JPGs with a fancy (and misleading) name." Hint: when you have to qualify your comment with "If I'm not mistaken?" That's a clue that you should go find the fuck out for sure, or else shut the fuck up...not keep talking! Jesus! ...this one is, really, stunning, even in this context. Even among a group of whiners. Just goes to show how stupid and self-centered photographers can be...though I'm sure that some out there are worse... "...I shoot 3 MPix JPG mode with some extra sharpening to get crisp images, and get excellent results and also extra exposure/shutter latitude due to the noise reduction inherent in 3 MPix vs. 12 MPix. The lightweight images also make fast post-processing possible. I would suggest that DP review also look at the quality some of the downsampled outputs of cameras like the D700 and D800. My gut feel is that these downsampled outputs are actually sharper with great acuity and less noisy than if they were shot with a camera with this as its native resolution. " Moron, no one is going to compare 3MP camera-jpegs from a 36MP camera to 3MP camera-jpegs from a 12MP camera for IQ. Go shoot your fucking D700 and be happy. but no he's not done yet: "I would also support the comments that D800 images should be downsampled to Mark III size, to give fair comparisons." I honestly believe that if you give people a chance to open their mouths without fear of negative consequence, they will happily demonstrate to you just how stupid they are, and happily waste your time with their stupidity, all day long. And finally someone pokes their head up out of the ether... "Wow, I'm blown away by all the BS comments on here regarding the D800. I would have thought an advancement like Nikon made with this camera would be good for all photographers... you know, those people who actually take pictures? Geez people, it's just a tool, nothing more/nothing less. If a tool alows you to do your job/hobby better, then why all the negativity? No one is holding a gun to your head to make you buy one." There are several reasons for all the negativity, and a few of them are valid. It's a comments forum, after all, people are supposed to say things about the camera, the review, about photography, etc. Some will be good, some bad...some accurate (like rating the 7D superior, like neglecting to factor the flash into the score), some not. This is a groundbreaking camera and as such you can expect a lot of opinions, a wide range of opinions. But this is like all the talk about Obama: I simply am stunned at all the crap that people are saying about him. Does it really bother people that much that he's black?!? I guess so! I have never seen such vitriol about a politician in my LIFE and it is clear that the D800 has inspired a similar level of nonsense. We don't quite have Marines refusing to serve (and then complaining when they get kicked out of the service) or rockstars forecasting doom and destruction or people coming here from Idaho to shoot at the "cloud" over the White House because they don't think that the D800 is a legitimate pro camera ;) but I wonder if we're going to get there :) The problem is when the comments spiral off into either irrelevance, wild fantasy or making a mountain out of a very-common molehill, just plain whinging...not to mention pure denial, disinformation and hypocrisy. Not to mention pure illogic and fanboy-ism... "the highest ever score a camera in this category got from dpreview was 84%. so, this camera is only 2% worse than the best camera in this category dpreview ever reviewed. so, if you consider this then the 82% score actually means it's almost as good as a camera can be." ...because it's impossible for them to score a camera over 84%!!! :) and who cares if that doesn't change the fact that the 7D still outscored it :) [and the 7D is an utter piece of shit, IQ-wise :) well ok I shouldn't say that, but all the shots that I've seen off one just suck ass, but that could have been because the NR was at 11....just go look at the DPR 7D samples :) ] the first guy is saying that an 82% score just means that it's good, does the fact (which isn't a fact) that the highest DPR has ever given is 84% make it great, even fantastic? LOL ...can you even seriously compare a 36MP 4fps fullframe to a 18MP 10fps subframe that cost a third as much? Here we go again :) I thought that the flak they were talking about the D3200 was bad but this is ridiculous. I'm sorry!!! but if you want to shoot 36MP 14 bit uncompressed raw, please do not complain when you can only get about 300 shots on a 32GB card! :) don't complain about the record button actually putting the camera in record-mode! That's what it means!!! But it's just as bad as when the complaint is true and it makes sense...but it's just as true and makes just as much sense with every other camera. Jesus you're complaining about it...and you obviously have to deal with it with whatever camera you're shooting right now! Go annoy someone else! Go write to Nikon about the fact that you have to use a tripod to get the most out of the camera! :) You can spend time reading these comments but it's likely to be just the same type of nonsense, repeated. Buried in there may be a few nuggets of useful info. But they are swamped by all this bullshit. But still, the main thing that swamps them is that this camera is basically "unobtanium" for 99% of the photographic market. While the D3200 is probably 80% as good resolution-wise and as cheap as you're likely to see! Most of the people reading this review shouldn't even give a shit about this camera, it's just too expensive to take seriously. And that would be the case for just about everyone except for the fact that if you buy it "for business purposes" you can write the thing off on your taxes. But still, there are those few nuggets and so we resign ourselves to reading all those comments, and keeping up to date on them, about a camera we won't even be able to buy, definitely don't need and will not have, for years if ever. Such is life :) The main thing is that I don't see anything *major* here that is new or surprising, even in the review. For Chrissakes, it's a Nikon. I don't think that it's going to get recalled because there's a real chance of it catching on fire while you're driving at highway speeds. The moire in video may be a showstopper for people who want to use it for video also, but I'm fairly-sure that that will be dealt with through a firmware update if it can be done, and I see nothing yet that says that it can't be fixed that way. Other than that, ay-yi-yi... So here's something "meaty"...a comment about a comment... OP: "I've made some prints in color as in black/white, which were shot using a Zeiss Planar 85 f:1.4 at f11 to f16 , and I guarantee that this is very, very close to medium format. Reply: "With a portrait lens, optimised for taking pictures at large apertures (f/1.4-f/4) at f/16, which is well beyond D800's difraction limit (at cca f/9), you couldn't and didn't get results "very, very close to medium format". You probably would, if you'd open the aperture for at least a stop, better yet two. A shown by Lens Rentals' testing, the Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 ( ZF.2) on D800 is best performing at f/5.6 and it's sharpness degrades by stopping it further down." This is something of a red-herring. The key question here is can the lens perform at "very, very close to MF quality levels" when stopped-down past the calculated diffraction-limit on the camera in use. Not "is it in use optimally" which is what the responder seems to be concerned with. He's ignoring what the OP actually said and going off on his semi-informed tangent. If you can see how this is a red-herring response then I won't bother to explain that; if you can't, get a good book on basic logic and come back. In any case the "diffraction limit" is not a hard and fast limit in terms of its effects on IQ, and results vary from tester to tester because methodologies change from tester to tester. If that were not the case, trust me, no one would be worried about IQ with slow lenses on a 24MP subframe not to mention a 12MP p&s. "Medium-format IQ" is an open question. 36MP is not going to become 12MP due to diffraction, and "MF IQ" is not all about peak resolution. Not to mention that F5.6 is 4 stops below F16. "If I'm not wrong about this". I could go on, the shooter may have been worried about DOF issues at F5.6 vs F16 and he may have wanted a long-exposure which is why he was using such a high F# in the first place. Who the hell knows. The point is that the responder is talking about pure sharpness, not overall IQ...and even then he's wrong. Images can easily look sharper with just a little diffraction based on Nyquist calculations...and even that depends on the exact definition of "diffraction" that one uses. That's far from an exact science. Again if that were the case it would be pointless to have a high-resolution subframe or P&s without a superfast, supersharp lens because you'd just get a bunch of soft pixels due to diffraction. Even then, a lot of soft pixels can be better than much-fewer sharp pixels because at least that's real image data vs interpolated data, and you can always sharpen those pixels up, at least somewhat, in PP. Which you're going to have to do anyway...just because it's a Bayer-sensor camera. That is why Sigma brought the SD-1 out this year despite the inherent MP and high-ISO advantage of Bayer-sensor cameras not to mention the general performance advantage of every other camera on the market. And that's why it will still sell. So the guy has a small point that is overwhelmed by a lot of other factors that every photographer has to deal with on every shot. You always get sharper images out of a *LENS* by stopping-down (no matter what F# it's designed to be used at) with rare exception, I can think of some Zeiss and Nikon lenses which consistently test sharpest wide-open. For each lens-sensor combination there is an optimum F# at each focal-length, in terms of maximizing both center-sharpness and sharpness across the frame, likewise there is an F# which maximizes DOF and center-sharpness and/or sharpness across the frame. This is all well and good...but not the point. The point is that if you shoot a MF camera and then a 35mm fullframe and you get "close to the same performance", that's still "close to the same performance" even if it's "not optimal performance". And I guarantee you that if you're worried about diffraction on the fullframe, you're going to have real problems on a subframe with the same MP because the diffraction "limit' will be even lower. And again bringing-in the DOF issue, if the focus-distance is short enough it *may* even be optimal performance simply because the DOF is bigger even at the cost of a little diffraction, same for the exposure-time, though in that case "optimal performance" would probably occur with a ND filter and a lower F# and ISO. But maybe the OP doesn't have an ND filter. So again this guy is looking at one or two technical things and ignoring the bigger picture in which they are, really, minor factors (which is what a "red-herring" condition means, by the way). But the basic point is that you can calculate a diffraction-limit for anything, that doesn't mean that shooting beyond that calculated limit won't result in optimal shots or even good shots. Far from it. Usually the sharpest shots are taken a stop or two inside such limits. In fact DPR covered the diffration issue very well in the D800 review. And still, even a slightly diffraction-softened 36MP image taken with a pin-sharp lens is not something to sneeze at. Why pick on that one fucking point and ignore all the other shit that is relevant to the the OP's point, just about all of which is actually covered in the review itself? Just gotta stick his nose in there...just gotta do it. But just remember, boys and girls, it's much easier to be wrong and brief than it is to be right and detailed. It's far easier to be an ignorant, opinionated idiot than to be a wise, rational and reserved person...it's much easier to take a wheel off a car than to make a car. And people make a living out of being ignorant, opinionated idiots on a regular basis... "By tonywong (7 hours ago) @Jokica, no, crop mode is not a digital zoom at all. It is a center crop of 1.5x." [not one, but two!] "By AnHund (7 hours ago) Crop mode is not digital zoom. Crop mode just uses a smaller area of the sensor, but is using the full resolution of the sensor, unlike digital zoom which is like up scaling an image." {That is EXACTLY what digital-zoom is, and DX crop mode doesn't use either the full sensor resolution or FOV. It just uses a DX crop in the center. That is what "digital-zoom" is. That is why DX involves a FOV multiplier. Are these things not adequately explained on the Nikon website? Sheesh!} ...and no matter how good something is, it's always easy to take it down a couple of notches. Just beat-up on it a little. Despite all the beatings, and there will be a lot of beatings for a long time, it's still a 36MP Nikon fullframe, just as the D3200 is still a 24MP Nikon subframe. And most of all, they are not Canons. Deal. And as they say, sometimes you just need "a moment of Zen". Coming all the way around the fucking barn and *still* getting it wrong is Marko2k7... "By Marco 2k7 (8 hours ago) How in the name of God can you make a smaller RAW format? Raw is a bunch of data, directly picked from the sensor, not an image. You can't resize it, just because is NOT an image. Must be developed. The thing you can do is shoot with a smaller amount of pixels, a smaller area of the sensor (DX) and there you can have Raw, just from a smaller portion. But you have a crop factor so is nonsense. The thing I can't stand is people commenting about stuff they don't know anything about. Anyone who fully understands cameras would not make a sentence about a smaller raw format, cause is not possible. So why are you commenting about a high end professional DSLR?" ...dude Canon has had sRAW since the 40D. Look into it. Having sRAW on a 36MP camera makes perfect sense, especially a "pro" fullframe. Some people still want raw but don't need all the resolution of the camera especially not all the time, and it speeds everything from the raw-conversion on down. And they want the full FOV so they don't want a DX crop. Even a 12MP sRAW would have been helpful. I think the only argument against it is that you want to clearly segment the D800...you don't want people buying it who aren't ready to shoot either jpeg or 36MP raw files. And it would make the camera more complex, to have to downsample the 36MP raw files to 12MP raw. If you look at the D800 alone that would make it a better camera, looking at it in market-context it would seriously muddle the market. People would just buy the D800 and shoot sRAW when they really wanted high FPS and small files. Next they would want 10fps, a smaller body, lighter lenses, etc. Instead of just getting a 10MP u4/3rds camera and being done with it. If you really want a sports shooter or something to take web shots, you can just get a subframe...the D300S/D7000 is perfectly fine for that. Again this is something that Nikon *could* have done, but chose not to, and people are bitching about it as if Nikon never heard about sRAW. But it seriously sounds like *this* guy never heard of sRAW either :) rel the AF lever: "With 3 positions you must always "look" at lever. With 2 positions you can verify and set without "look" at lever." LOL no, you can just move the lever through the range :) Either way to be sure of where it is, you have to do that and watch the viewfinder or status LCD for an AF indication :) "anyway 270 posts of this nonsense" as we used to say in the old days "Looks like you're looking at them at 100% crop. Pixel peeping is useless for comparing different cameras." :) and one from the Luddite crowd...I guess that this guy is reading the Dpreview newspaper and wrote a letter in response, using his typewriter... "And furthermore, the cameras are just too damn complicated. More like a computer with a lens attached. Give me simplicity, I just bought a Mamiya RZ67 Pro Ii D and three lenses for not much more than a D800 costs." "By mfouks (2 hours ago) It looks like to me that the two cameras are in the same category of semi-professional interchangeable lens cameras. When you go to the compare button the K5 is listed as one of the competetors. So looking at each category, the K5 is better is many of them including "features" which really surprised me. It is hard to believe that a $1,000 camera from 2-3 years ago is just as good as the D800 so I would like a response from DPR review on this." "hard to believe", my friend, but quite true, if all you want is a 2MP file for your computer or a 12MP print @ 300dpi for your wall, taken at low to moderate ISO. Is this really that hard for you to accept? "By coastcontact (14 hours ago) I am holding a 2003 brochure published by Costco and another published by Ritz Camera that says 5 megapixels will produce an acceptable 16 by 20 inch print. Even if that information is 100% off the mark a 10 megapixel camera is adequate for everyone except those displaying in a gallery. What possible purpose is a 36 megapixel camera? LIKE3 jamesfrmphilly By jamesfrmphilly (13 hours ago) mine is bigger than yours…... LIKE7 IcyVeins By IcyVeins (13 hours ago) Did it ever occur to you that Costco and Ritz said that because 5 MP was just about the most you could get in 2003? That's like saying 256 MB RAM was acceptable for a new computer in 2003, why would anybody need 4 GB now?" ...sorry, printing has changed that much in the past 10 years? Besides, I'm pretty-sure there were cameras higher than 5MP in 2003, even if no one had ever heard of a pano or scanned-film LOL "By Samuel Dilworth (8 hours ago) Plastek makes a good point. In fact, it's easy to argue the D800 is a conservative camera: essentially a D700 with a new sensor (providing higher resolution and video) and a very large price increase." ...yeah..."just more pixels and video, and a lot more money"...yeah, just like going from the 450D to the 550D LOL or from a D300 to a D7000..."such a conservative move..." maybe it should also function as a spacesuit and a rocketship... Please see my note above: it is easy to say stupid, thoughtless, ignorant, illogical things...especially if intelligent, well-thought-out learned and rational commentary doesn't really matter to you "By Tom_A (15 hours ago) Opinion from this old-fashioned photographer... The D800 looks like one of the best cameras ever for those who like thoughtful photography. Still, my own perfect dream camera would be something simpler: a kind of equivalent to the deliciously simple and relatively compact yet excellent Nikon FM2 or FE2, with this sensor, AF and processing build-in, and of course with a screen at the back. But functionally, in essence just diaphragm and shutter speed. I wonder if I am the only one craving for such a combination of simplicity and quality" Tom: buy an FM2 and be happy. Cheers. "By Tom_A (9 hours ago) @cesaregal: Oh, I know that any dslr camera allows for manual mode, however there is (to me) something liberating in having just a shutter speed and a diaphragm control; and possible an "A" setting on the shutter speed dial. It frees you from all the hassle." ...Tom, seriously, buy an FM2 and be happy. Really. And when you need someone to listen to your whinging, the squirrels are always there. Have fun. By the way, they would also be interested in your opinion about the Republican candidates for President in the 1958 presidential election. Recent Updated: 1 year ago - Created by touristguy87 - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - touristguy87 Noah's followers recreating ark, in Kentucky Tags: park   friends   sunset   ted   river   flooding   christ   god   invisible   jesus   super   lord   creation   drought   april   praise   wid   2012   chelmsford   atheists   humanists   hylands   humanoids   agnostics   apeists    HEBRON, Kentucky - Tucked away in a nondescript office park in northern Kentucky, Noah's followers are rebuilding his ark. The biblical wooden ship built to weather a worldwide flood was 500 feet long and about 80 feet high, according to Answers in Genesis, a Christian ministry devoted to a literal telling of the Old Testament. This modern ark, to be nestled on a plot of 800 acres of rolling Kentucky farmland, is not designed to rescue the world's creatures from a coming deluge. It is to tell the world that the Bible's legendary flood story was not a fable, but a part of human history. "The message here is, God's word is true," said Mike Zovath, project manager of the ark. "There's a lot of doubt: 'Could Noah have built a boat this big, could he have put all the animals on the boat?' Those are questions people all over the country ask." The ark will be the centerpiece of a proposed $155 million religious theme park, called the Ark Encounter, and will include other biblical icons like the Tower of Babel and an old world-style village. Video: Americans and religion It is an expansion of the ministry's first major public attraction, the controversial Creation Museum. It opened in 2007 and attracted worldwide attention for presenting stories from the Bible as historical fact, challenging evolution and asserting that the earth was created about 6,000 years ago. "The ark is really a different approach" from the museum, Zovath said. "It's really not about creation-evolution, it's about the authority of the Bible starting with the ark account in Genesis." Inside the ark's headquarters in Hebron, a small team of artists and designers are working on the visuals at the new park, but once the project begins early next year, there will be hundreds at the creation, including a team of Amish builders from Indiana who will erect the giant ark. Many of the same people who helped design the museum are on board for the ark project, including Patrick Marsh, who helped build some of the attractions at Universal Studios in Florida. Zovath said the ark will have old-world details, like wooden pegs instead of nails, straight-sawed timbers and plenty of animals, some alive, some robotic like The Creation Museum's dinosaurs. He said it has not yet been determined how many live animals will be in the boat during visiting hours, but the majority will be stuffed or animatronic. At their count, Noah had anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 on board. There are a handful of replica arks around the world, but Zovath said this one will be authentic inside and out. "When you get to walk through the boat and see how big this thing really was, and how many cages were there, and how much room there was for food and water ... our hope is people start seeing that this is plausible, that the account could be believed," Zovath said. A longtime critic of the Answers in Genesis ministry argues the attraction will bring in converts to creationism by challenging scientific findings about the world's history. "Many think that since creationism is so irrational and so unscientific that nobody really could believe it, but that's not so," said Edwin Kagin, a lawyer in northern Kentucky who is president of a nationwide atheist group. The new park will be "so slick and so well done, you can get people to believe in anything. Creationism, when you're ready to believe anything." The Ark Encounter will not be the first U.S. theme park inspired by the Bible, or the first with Noah's big boat. A park in tourism-rich Orlando, Florida, features a portrayal of the crucifixion by actors six days a week, along with Jesus' resurrection and gospel concerts. The Holy Land Experience opened in 2001, but the nonprofit park struggled with debt before it was taken over by Trinity Broadcasting Network in 2007. Other replicas of Noah's famous ship have been built around the world. A huge fiberglass ark sits at the center of a Hong Kong Noah's Ark attraction, and another floating ark in the Netherlands is being built by a Dutch man, who wants to sail it to London for the 2012 Olympic games. In the United States, a church in Frostburg, Maryland, is building a to-scale ark supported by a steel frame. Still, attractions with religious themes can be risky ventures, according to an amusement park expert. "In some ways, it's a two-edged sword: If you go for the religious market, you already have something that is somewhat unique in the market, and that particular market is known to be willing to make a special effort, to drive an extra distance, to get the church groups to go out and make a special outing," said John Gerner, managing director of Leisure Business Advisors of Richmond, Virginia. "The problem with that approach is you always risk bordering on being disrespectful if not sacrilegious," Gerner said. "There is a line as far as what you can do in this approach." Some in the state hope it will be a major attraction. A feasibility study on the Ark Encounter declared that the park would attract 1.6 million visitors in its first year, Zovath said. The smaller Creation Museum has attracted well over a million people since it opened four years ago. State officials are banking on the park's success and the 900 jobs it is expected to create, by making the project eligible for more than $40 million in sales tax rebates if the Ark Encounter hits its attendance marks. Tying state incentives to a religious theme park also has attracted some criticism, though notably less than The Creation Museum, which received no state support. That facility was financed with private donations. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington-based group, has said the park would run afoul of constitutional law. "Noah didn't get government help when he built the first ark, and the fundamentalist ministry behind the Kentucky replica shouldn't, either," the group said in a statement. So far it has taken no legal action. Kagin said challenging the project in court probably would be a losing battle because of the way the tax incentives are structured. "The legislation is so drafted that they will give this incentive to any organization that is going to increase tourism in Kentucky," Kagin said. "And there's no question whatsoever that this group will." Zovath said construction on the ark is expected to begin early next year. www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-20093922.html?pageNum=2&... Recent Updated: 1 year ago - Created by RinkRatz - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - RinkRatz F Tags: self    (Black of course) They're selling postcards of the hanging They're painting the passports brown The beauty parlor is filled with sailors The circus is in town Here comes the blind commissioner They've got him in a trance One hand is tied to the tightrope walker The other is in his pants And the riot squad, they're restless They need somewhere to go As Lady and I look out tonight From Desolation Row Cinderella, she seems so easy "It takes one to know one," she smiles And puts her hands in her back pocket Bette Davis style And in comes Romeo, he's moaning "You belong to me, I believe" And someone says, "You're in the wrong place, my friend You'd better leave" And the only sound that's left After the ambulances go Is Cinderella sweeping up On Desolation Row Now the moon is almost hidden The stars are beginning to hide The fortune telling lady Has even taken all her things inside All except for Cain and Abel And the hunchback of Notre Dame Everybody's making love Or else expecting rain And the good Samaritan, he's dressing He's getting ready for the show He's going to the carnival Tonight on Desolation Row Ophelia, she's 'neath the window For her I feel so afraid On her 22nd birthday She already is an old maid To her death is quite romantic She wears an ironed vest Her profession's her religion Her sin is her lifelessness And though her eyes are fixed upon Noah's great rainbow She spends her time peeking into Desolation Row Einstein disguised as Robin Hood With his memories in a trunk Passed this way an hour ago With his friend, a jealous monk Now he looked so immaculately frightful As he bummed a cigarette Then he went off sniffing drainpipes And reciting the alphabet You would not think to look at him But he was famous long ago For playing the electric violin On Desolation Row Dr. Filth, he keeps his world Inside of a leather cup But all his sexless patients They are trying to blow it up Now his nurse, some local loser She's in charge of the cyanide hole And she also keeps the cards that read "Have mercy on his soul" They all play on the penny whistle You can hear them blow If you lean your head out far enough From Desolation Row Across the street they've nailed the curtains They're getting ready for the feast The phantom of the opera In a perfect image of a priest They are spoon-feeding Casanova To get him to feel more assured Then they'll kill him with self-confidence After poisoning him with words And the phantom shouting to skinny girls "Get out of here if you don't know" Casanova is just being punished For going to Desolation Row At midnight all the agents And the superhuman crew Come out and round up everyone That knows more than they do And they bring them to the factory Where their heart attack machine Is strapped across their shoulders And then the kerosene Is brought down from the castles By insurance men who go Check to see that nobody is escaping To Desolation Row Praise be to Nero's Neptune The Titanic sails at dawn Everybody's shouting "Which side are you on?" And Ezra Pound and T.S. Elliot Fighting in the captain's tower While calypso singers laugh at them And fishermen hold flowers Between the windows of the sea Where lovely mermaids flow And nobody has to think too much About Desolation Row Yes, I received your letter yesterday About the time the doorknob broke When you asked me how I was doing Was that some kind of joke? All these people that you mentioned Yes, I know them, they are quite lame I had to rearrange their faces And give them all another name Right now I can't read too good Don't send me no more letters, no Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row Recent Updated: 1 year ago - Created by david margiotta - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - david margiotta Straight forward Tags: mouth   hair   star   necklace   model   poetry   poem   hand   lips   nails   iphone    Yes i Iove you less Yes it's easier to hate you Yes you make it so simple Like I once told you So black and white. That's how it's always been with you. One extreme to the other. We went from loving eachother To not uttering a word To you leaving me. Things went array. Unfortunately this way of living, loving and luck has influenced the rest of my life. Yes i love you less Yes it's easier to hate you Yes i get a hole in my stomach and through my world when I hear another boy say "hello beautiful" Because those words will always belong to another man. Someone who initiated my growth. Or the attempt to grow. But instead crippled my feelings. I thought you should know I've given up on love. I am having an extremely hard time believing in it. Now leaving me to believe "love" is but a blind game. You choose according to your appetite. What are you hungry for? And if you play your cards right. Bon appetit. Now once you're finished you leave your plate empty Not a single crumb Your appetite is temporarily satisfied But you're not going to clean your plate. You would never. And pay for your food? You wouldn't stoop so low. You would never. Other boys don't understand what shit they've stepped in once they build an appetite for me. Once I'm the chosen dinner. Meal ticket. They don't know this broken girl. They don't know where I've been They don't know how enraged I become when i hear pick up lines When I hear little things that are supposed to make me smile. Because they don't know. They simply don't. I don't know when Or if it will ever happen But when I believe in love again I still won't be ready. People wonder why I am afraid. Afraid to live Love. Laugh. Be vulnerable. Be exposed. Because I've opened myself up oh so many times to only find myself Where I stand today. With no pride. No love. No belief. So yes. I love you less And yes. You make it easier to hate you ------------------------------------------ I'm straight forward. I honestly don't know any other way. This picture and poem. Yeah. Pretty Fricken straight forward. Btw I know my Flickr can get a bit personal but I take comfort in the fact that I can confide in a world of strangers through my art. Thanks flickr. Recent Updated: 1 year ago - Created by Ashley Llanes - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - Ashley Llanes A Tuskegee Airman’s Cry for Peace Tags: red   african   afro   north   11   americans   hanger   tails   mustangs   p51   weald   usaaf   tuskagee    www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRka1ZiN-Zo&feature=related A Tuskegee Airman’s Cry for Peace By Craig Wiesner During my first shivering days in Basic Training in 1979, on those cold Lackland Air Force Base Texas mornings, it was quite evident that the differences between the Black, Hispanic, Native-American, Asian, and Caucasian airmen standing on the tarmac would be in our acts, not our ethnicity. Our hair shaved, our clothes identical, our first names changed from those our parents had given us to a uniform “airman,” the only differentiating identity left was our color. Even that was to be ignored as we all adopted our new hue, the Air Force blue. No, color would not matter here, only deeds. The most respected of deeds were those that led to the success of our squadron, not the individual. Such was the lesson the Air Force learned from the Tuskegee Airmen during WWII. Trained at Tuskegee Air Field, these African-American airmen flew fighter escort missions. As white crews flew planes loaded with bombs destined for enemy targets, the Tuskegee airmen flew in front, on the side, and at the rear of each bomber to protect it from enemy planes trying to shoot it down before it reached enemy targets. The Tuskegee airmen fought two enemies, those against whom we were waging war, and their own American compatriots, whose prejudice and discrimination provided a daily reminder that the land of the free and the home of the brave were still a land and home bitterly divided. Still, these brave black pilots were so ferocious in protecting white-only bomber crews that enemy planes seeing the Tuskegee escorts would run for cover, giving the United States a clear path to enemy targets on the ground. Not a single white crewman died while the Tuskegees protected them. Hundreds of decorations are testimony to Tuskegee bravery. In August of 2003, one of those brave Tuskegee pilots spoke out against the Iraq war. According to newspaper columnist Ruth Rosen, Jimmie Atchison has a daughter flying intelligence missions over Iraq. Jimmie says it is an "oil-oriented war" led by a "warmongering" president. He also believes "the government has shortchanged the military troops" by sending too few soldiers for an occupation. "As a result," he says, "some of the soldiers don't trust what their leaders tell them, especially what the war is about or when they're going to go home." Reading Jimmie’s words, memories of my own Air Force days came flooding back. Duty, honor, and country were the words we chanted as we marched from place to place, with stories of the many heroes from the Air Force’s past shared with us each day. The Tuskegee Airmen were such heroes but in their time, heroism wasn’t enough. One afternoon when a group of Tuskegees returned from a dangerous mission through enemy skies, they decided to celebrate in the Officer’s Club. Despite the hundreds of white pilot’s lives these men protected in the air, their presence would not be tolerated by white officers on the ground. The Tuskegee airmen walked into the Officer’s Club in violation of the white-only segregation rule, and were arrested. One eventually received a court martial. The incident, in the end, led to the dismantling of white only military facilities. Jimmie and his fellow pilots had helped the United States not only win WWII, but their contribution to that war effort hastened the end of segregation throughout America. © Copyright ReachAndTeach, 2003 Page 8 www.reachandteach.com Jimmie defended America again when North Koreans swarmed across the 38th parallel. Why was Jimmie ready to fight for his country 50 years ago, but so critical of the war against Iraq now in 2003? As a fellow veteran, I know it takes a real crisis of faith to criticize our government’s policies, especially when our loved ones are risking their lives on foreign soil. As President U.S. Grant said about the war against Mexico, it would be “better to advocate war, pestilence, and famine than to act as an obstructionist to a war that has already begun. The most favorable posthumous history the stayat-home traitor can hope for is oblivion.” Such public criticism against an ongoing war requires certainty and bravery, much the same as it did for those black pilots to demand access to the white-only Officers Club. Recently a new organization called Military Families Speak Out formed with a mission to bring our troops home from Iraq. Fearing quagmire like we faced in Viet Nam and a mounting death toll already exceeding the number of casualties during the main campaign to remove the Iraqi regime, these families want their loved ones brought home as quickly as possible. The key message they strive to make clear is that they support our troops 100% but don’t support the continuation of this war. At a recent Veterans for Peace conference I attended, one protest sign summed up the way many people feel “The President says ‘bring em on’ and I say ‘Bring Them HOME!” There are those who say that such sentiments and public criticism are unpatriotic, even treasonous. I disagree. Dissent in the face of injustice, whether it means walking into a whites-only Officer’s Club or standing outside the White House with a protest sign, are what make American great. I believe that it is time to bring our troops home from Iraq, allowing a UN peacekeeping force to help get the new Iraqi government started. When we do bring our troops home, now or later, we must remember that regardless of our opinion of any war, our troops deserve respect and honor for the sacrifices they make on our behalf. After VietNam, some Americans treated returning troops very badly, and that legacy of mistreatment is clearly remembered any time war protesters march in our streets today. Memories of protesters spitting on American soldiers and calling them baby-killers are hard to erase. Despite differing opinions on this war against Iraq, it is good to remember that when our troops do come home this time, there won’t be any doors or water fountains marked “Whites Only,” reminding us all that the enduring values of freedom and equality are what make America worth defending, even if it means standing on a chilly tarmac at 5:00 in the morning, chanting “Duty, Honor and Country,” or trudging through 120 degree heat in the desert, with an enemy that doesn’t care what color you are, but knows you represent the red, white and blue. 24 years after my first shivering and shaking day in the Air Force, I find myself once again standing side by side with someone a different color than me, and remembering that it is our duty to protect the honor of our country and speak out for the good of the nation, no matter what the cost to the individual. You go Jimmie! (And thanks Ruth Rosen!) About the author: Craig Wiesner is a decorated United States Air Force veteran, who served as a Korean linguist and military foreign language instructor at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. Craig was the John L.Levitow Honor Graduate from the United States Air Force NCO Academy Leadership School in 1985. Craig is a member of Veterans for Peace and works with a variety of organizations promoting peace and social justice causes. He can frequently be heard on KQED, the San Francisco National Public Radio affiliate, where he is a contributor to the daily Perspective series. Craig is the co-founder of ReachAndTeach, a provider of K-12 educational products as catalysts for a more peaceful and just tomorrow. www.reachandteach.com/tuskegee.pdf Recent Updated: 1 year ago - Created by RinkRatz - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - RinkRatz 204. This is Charlie. He's the love of my life. Tags: show   boy   love   rock   big   all   with   heart   guitar   who   charlie   talent   i    "I fell, in love, in love with you suddenly, now theres no place else, i could be, but here in your arms." “Dear Charlie, I love the way to smell. I love the look in your eye when you look down at me cause I’m too short to be eye to eye with. I love your blond hair and how you always fix it with water at the lake after swimming. I love how you hold my hand in the car when we’re riding along, and how you tell me my eyes are beautiful so much. I love how you say your going to do things, and do them, like music and your band. I love how you made my heart wrench by playing that song on the piano for me, because you knew I loved it. .Nothing I ever send you in the mail will compare to how that song coming from you made me feel. I felt alive, connected to you. Loved. Beautiful. Like someone I love, loves me enough back to learn a song for me that I love. .I can’t tell you how much I love you because there isn’t a word to prove, or explain how much it is. All I can say, is that you’ve changed me. You’ve made me smarter, more mature, made me feel beautiful and happy and bubbly (one word I never thought I’d use to describe myself). .There was nothing that can compare to looking into your big blue eyes while dancing with you, or laying my head on your chest and hearing your heartbeat while we carefully swayed side to side. I never have felt so “meant-to-be” in my life. .I love you incredible amounts, and cherish the time I get to spend with you. You’re my sunshine, Charles Andrew Young. I couldn’t ask for anything better.” -Samantha Patterson . I received this beautiful work of art a little while after reluctantly dragging myself out of bed to head off to the prison where my mind is kept every day. “It’s Monday,ugh.”, I kept reminding myself, thinking about how it was going to be another stupid day at Bonny Eagle High School. However, I remembered I had forgot to put a certain song on my mp3, so I started my computer, and found this on my facebook(I got side-tracked). It made my morning. “Theres a place off ocean avenue..” Saturday night was Homecoming 2010 at Bonny Eagle High School, I attended with the most beautiful girl in the whole place. We danced the night away, and in the words of our friend emma, we were “In our own party”. This could not have been more true, as we moved side to side, through the loud tracks, and the soft songs, I couldn’t think of the words I wanted to describe to her just how much I loved her, and so I just said them. I love you. “this heart, it beats, beats for only you.” Several months ago, March 30 to be exact, I sent a message to a girl on facebook, someone I didn’t know, or hardly knew, who had added me as a friend roughly a year before when I dated a friend of hers. I had seen her on my news feed, posting links to various sites of hers, I followed the links, being the curious cat I am, and found myself very intrigued by her personality, not to mention she was pretty good looking. I was mildly skeptical at first, because the internet can be tricky, and I knew that a website couldn’t really show who a person was, but I quickly learned she wasn’t messing around, and was a really great person, so I sent her a message on facebook, asking for a link to her blog that she had mentioned elsewhere. That’s how I met Samantha Patterson. “Greetings, I think we became “friends” through one of yours, in case your wondering who this strange kid that is messaging you is…I started reading and asking questions on the formspring site awhile ago, annnd I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind sending me the link to your blog? Please & Thank You -Charlie” . “I don’t wanna lose your love, tonight.” The first time I ever laid my eyes on the angel I now know as sam kate was in the Hot Topic in the Maine Mall. I’d seen her on facebook and such, but thats no comparison, I mean laid eyes on her for real. We had decided to meet there after I got out of school, to hang out, walk around and talk. I liked her, I knew it, but she had a boyfriend, and I didn’t think I had even the slightest chance. She walked in that room, in modest clothes, somehow looking like a goddess. I won’t forget the first time she hugged me right then. It was awesome, of course, I didn’t quite know exactly HOW much it would mean until much much later. We did just as we expected, we walked around, talked and didn’t spend a dime. Yet we had a great time. By the end of that day, I was falling in love with this girl, and it was amazing. “It’s the way you do the things you do that make me fall in love with you.” This last summer summer of my life, beginning on June 6, 2010(i know school got out later than that and summer technically started later, but this is when i’m marking the start of what became the Best Summer of My Life) was the greatest summer ever. We spent days at the lake, going for walks, swimming, sitting, talking, kissing, being together. We spent days hangin out at my house, taking pictures, walking to the school nearby. We did so much, and that summer went by so slow, and yet so fast. I wasn’t even sad it was over, I mean in a way I was, but I was more happy that it had actually happened than I was sad because it was over. It was incredible, I will never forget it, the days we had were perfect, and I can’t thank her enough for them. “Surprises let me know she cares…” After the dance Saturday night, Sam slept over. We got home round 10:45, stayed up for a half hour or so talking about how much we loved each other, then she went to bed in my sisters room, and I slept in mine. I’m going to take this moment to thank my parents for allowing her to spend the night, and also to her parents, though neither set may get to see this, it means a lot to us both. So I got up in the morning, I was up a little bit before her, played some games, got some breakfast, and awaited the moment where I could see those beautiful eyes once more. We ended up spending a good part of the morning snuggling in my bed, whispering sweet somethings to each other, and drowning out the world. It was more than perfect, I had an awesome time with her. Later on, we joined my dad, my brother Richard, my sister raegan and her b/f austin for a hike up Douglas Mtn. which for the record is really only a hill in compared to mountains, but its always a fun walk anyways. It was chilly out, but I was just glad to be with my girl. I should have to admit, the day was awesome. We went back home and laid around some more, before dropping her off later in the afternoon. To top everything off, I received a surprise from her in the mail today, a Bright Eyes cd, that left me beaming when I opened it. She could not have picked something better to surprise me with, after a long day at school I was sick of everything and wanted to kick back and talk to her, but I got something just as good, plus I got to spend 2 hours with her on the phone afterwards. Shes my incredible girl, and I can’t thank her enough. "'Cause I've always wanted this, And it's not a dream anymore, its worth fighting for." Today October 23 of the year 2010 was an amazing day. I woke up and finished watching Stranger than Fiction from the previous night. I laid in bed and talked to my dearest love until it was time to begin getting ready for my day. Dad got me an egg sandwich from the store(SCORE!!) and then i cleaned a bit and showered. I met my love at kohls cuz my mom wanted to shop, and my day kept going upward from there. literally, i thought it was as good as it would get. We ended up goin to lunch, lazing around and snuggling in my cold room ,walking and taking crazy cool pictures, having dinner and doing my awesome make up and costume for the halloween party we went to. Which by the way was also awesome. My costume came out fantastic, thank you mommmmmm! and sam and i went and hung and played apples to apples and sat around listening to music. It was simple, but such a great party. Overall, my day was absolutely perfect. I got to spend a great deal of it talking to, holding, and being with the most amazing and beautiful girl i've ever met. I got her a couple owls since she loves them, and even though they were so simple, she loved them and it made me smile extremely wide. She is perfect for me. I wanna scream it out to the world, because sam you are the girl of my dreams. Today has been one of the best days ive had in awhile, thanks so much for coming over, and i love you. "she gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love." Today is November the 7th, one day after sam and I have officially been dating for 5 months, it feels like so much longer than that, but they've been the happiest 5 months of my life. Today on november the 7th sam came over. I don't know if it was because it was the day we turn the clocks back an hour or what, but today was a really long day, in a good way. she left me this note on my computer. "Dear Charlie,I love you so much sometimes I can barely stand myself. Today you looked adorable, youre one of the best looking boys I think i've ever seen in my entire 16 years of life and I am so incredibly lucky to call you my fantastic boyfran. YOUUU ARE MY SUNSHINE ;) I love your blazers, and the way you flip your hair to the side, and the smile on your face when I walked over to the car today.I love those crazy gloves you wear, or the funny faces you make while we're snuggling to make me laugh. It always works.I love that you let me tickle you without complaining. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me, you love me without flaw and it makes me feel like the most important girl on the earth, which is something huge since theres this many humas living and breathing. With all that siad, I thank you for being how fantastic you are to me because it really does mean the world to me. Love, SAMMM p.s. You look SUPEr adorable laying in front of me right now. I might just have to lean right over and kiss your faceee that is smiling up at me." I hope she doesn't mind me posting that. because i love it soooooo much i had to show it off. We took some really cool pictures today, walkin around my yard while she complained at me for not wearing shoesss :). We chilled out and listened to our favorite music, just kinda spent time together since we only get to see one another every so often. I swear though that she is perfect. ill never forget the way she softly brushes my cheeks with her hands, or the look in her eyes when we're sitting smiling at each other. ive already said it but shes beautiful, sure in the way that she has amazing eyes or just looks good in general, but shes also beautiful in the way that when I LOOK into those eyes, those eyes as blue and deep as the oceans themselves, I see my own happiness, wrapped up in this awesome bundle. I will not soon forget today November the 7th. In fact, I cherish every moment I spend with her, and I feel like such an idiot for being like this when relationships at my age are so turbulent and unpredictable, but somehow I always have felt like this one is different, like even if we are just kids, its a sort of meant to be kind of thing. I dunno, i probably sound like an idiot, but all I know is that shes wonderful, and sam patterson makes me happy beyond the far reaches of my imagination, and I thank her for everything shes given me. Its been 5 months, but I think we can take this a lot further. I love you sam. "..And I'm, on my way to believing." It is the end of November, specifically the 28th, and a few days ago my loveliest Sam came to visit me. Of course though she comes to see me every so often, this time was different. We laid around for the afternoon, snuggling, taking pictures, talking a lot too. We went outside and walked for an hour or so taking pictures and stuff. It was a really cute day, and I can't figure out exactly what set it apart from other days when we've been together. I still resign to the fact that every single time I see this girl I fall in love with her all over again, with her beautiful eyes and her amazing smile. I swear she gets more and more gorgeous every time I see her, and I'm pretty sure the first time I saw her I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. In the evening we drove to Portland with my family to see the tree lighting, and we walked around and talked and we swayed with each other as we listened to the Christmas music being played by a local artist. It was a lot of fun, we sang along and we held hands wherever we went, and it was really magical. The feeling in the air was positive from everyone despite it being so cold outside, and even though its still November the feeling of Christmas was already there. (Christmas is something i'm really looking forward to having with Sam <3 ) I know I've said that I love sam before, and I know i've said it to her, quite a lot, but I think this day sort of made me realize something. I don't just love sam, shes something different, shes like everything i've ever wanted in a person, and then some. Her and I can hang out and be ourselves, when we're together we aren't something that we're not. We really are ourselves, I'm totally wacky and she doesn't care, and I think thats the ultimate beauty behind my relationship with Samantha Patterson. Its not that we're just in love. Its that we're madly in love with everything about each other, down to the core, its that we're both going to smile like an idiot when we read this, its that our smiles light up each others world and its that we love each other for who we really are. I think thats what set this day apart from the others. We're just crazy in love with one another, and it is absolutely perfect. "I must have done something right, To deserve you in my life.." 6 Months. Today is December 3rd, a Friday, of 2010, and Sam Kate Patterson and I are 3 days away from having been together for 6 months, what has become and remains the happiest 6 months of my life. And before I continue, I must say to my lovely Sam, thank you, thank you so much for being everything I've ever wanted in this world, and everything I ever needed, you among the help of our parents transporting us has made me happier than I ever thought possible. Tonight, I went to the art walk with my lovely girl, her sister and her sister's friend. One of the first times Sam and I ever spent time together, and our first time together officially dating was at the art walk. It was a fun night, filled with people watching, music and fun art, we spent the time together enjoying every moment, just being there. Tonight when we went, I expected to have fun, maybe even a little more fun, but to be honest, tonight was magical. We walked the streets of the old port in our little gang, goin in and out of art galleries, I goofed off and we had a ton of fun, we walked down to the docks and it started snowing, we took tons of awesome pictures and just were together. Sam doesn't always like snow, but I love snow, i think its fantastic and tonight she did too. As we walked holding hands I was pretty darn cold but through every single moment of the evening I felt it was worth it. I had an absolute blast taking fun pictures and being with her. Shes so pretty and wonderful, I think I'll always love this girl because shes just so perfect. My love for her is to the point of being infinite. I've never felt so happy, so amazing, with anybody or because of anything before in my whole life. I've always said I'd never change myself for a girl, and the thing is, i've changed since I met Sam. I've realized I can be a happy person, I've realized the girl for me exists, and shes right here, I've realized I can do anything I put my mind to, just because I never thought getting this girl would happen. The other thing is, i've found the love of my life, and I never had to change who I was for it to happen. I love this girl, more than anything. She is my ultimate favorite, and always will be. I had an insane amount of fun tonight, and these 6 months have gone by so slow, and yet so fast, I'm in love, no, WE'RE in love, and its just absolutely fantastic. I've never been happier before. Thank you sam. Heres to 6 months, and many many many more months to come, i love you and I hope you love reading this as much as I loved writing it. "So please sleep my darling, and everything will be okay." (For My Samantha) December 22nd, 2010, what would turn into the best christmas ive had in my whole life. I was in a talent show during the middle of the day, we played The Rock Show by Blink 182, we'd practiced for months and i'd been anxious to play all morning while I set up. As I sat behind the stage waiting for my bands turn, I saw my beautiful girlfriend walk in across the gym, and as I sat there I thought to myself "as soon as this is all over im going over there to give her the biggest hug I've ever given her." and I did, but that comes later. When it came to be our turn the band lined up next to the stage, behind a large divider blocking us from the crowd, and we ran on stage when they announced our name "Radio Flyer". We jacked in and played our hearts out. It was amazing, my first show ive played, and i looked up to the crowd while I played and sang my heart out, and it was perfect. After the show I did just as I said I would, i ran to her and gave her a gigantic hug, and kiss of course. We packed up and headed back to the farm(that would be my house). Upon arriving we went upstairs to my room, where I revealed the past days work to her, paper chains hanging from the ceiling, and white christmas lights strung up here and there(an idea i got from the night of the most recent art walk). she reacted in the way I had hoped, by thinking it was the cutest thing ever, which I must admit, it was pretty cute. We spent the evening hanging out, making brownies for dessert(we're both terrible at cooking w00t), and trading presents. ohhh presents, my favorite part. I got her a whole slew of things, but the main two things I did for her, were that I made a specific paper chain for her, and wove christmas lights through them, and finally wrote little memories and lyrics on the inside of each ring, in her favorite color. My love got me a copy of one of my favorites albums Buddha by Blink 182 on vinyl, and two blink t-shirts, one of which im wearing right now, because I love it THAT much. I was pretty psyched, but the best part, was when I gave her what I got her. As she laid there surrounded by all the things i got her for christmas, i walked and got my guitar, and what followed was the song I wrote for her, the lyrics go a little something like this... "Good evening to you, my dearest love, you're the only one i'm thinking of, but tonight it seems is a hard one, for you dear... I can't seem to get you off my mind, you're my whole wide world, so im always inclined, to help you... [chorus] So with those beautiful eyes plagued by tears, and your gorgeous face, so full of fear, ill brush your hair away, and promise, it'll be okay. So please sleep my darling, and everything will be okay. I'll be here with you always, so don't be frightened or scared, I'll lead you through dark hallways, and ill always be with you there. [chorus] [bridge(guitar change)] Tonight I can't be with you, Tonight I can't sleep with you, so instead I wrote this lullaby... tonight." I love that song, and its so perfect for her, the guitar is somewhat rough to my ears, but she thought it was wonderful, and she adored every second of it. I sat criss-cross on the bed while she lay in front of me, and I plucked the strings on my recently repaired acoustic guitar, singing the words to her softly. We snuggled and listened to music, and hung out with everyone downstairs, ate dinner, sat in front of the fire and just had a really fun time. The whole night was magical, I had put a lot of work in, but what turned out was the most amazing memory sam and I have yet to have, a wonderful perfect night together, and a morning where we get to wake up just rooms away, where we can eat breakfast together and talk and watch the snow fall outside. What resulted was me being able to be with the girl I love most in this world, the girl who compares to no other in beauty, an angel to say the least, the girl who makes me happy and the kind of girl i want to spend a long long time with. After I played her the song I wrote for her, we laid on my bed, looking up at all the paper chains and the lights, talking about how amazing our night was, and how lucky each of us is. We talked about how much we loved each other, I told her how beautiful she was and she reminded me of how cute I looked. We laid there, the happiest people in the whole world, nobody could take it from us. The night was completely perfect, in fact it probably could not have gone better, I was extremely tired from the long day I had so we retired to our respective rooms at a decent time and awaited anxiously to be together in the morning. I woke up around 5:30. Now this is not unusual for me, i'm an early riser, sam is less of that. So I played games and ate breakfast and sat around in my room while I waited for her to awake, playing my guitar, watching the snow outside my windows. When she woke up she came into my room and sat on the bed next to me, giving me the biggest and most beautiful smile of any ive ever seen and the softest kiss to say good morning. (if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm completely and madly in love with this girl, and I would do anything, absolutely anything, for her.) We lazed around for the morning, dreading the moment when we'd be separate again, although this time was not as bad as others, we'd both put each other in irreplaceable moods, the best we'd probably ever been in, i mean im not sure about her, but I was on top of the world, and to know she loves me as much as she does, I still am. The night and morning sam and I had is one that can only compare to that of what would have to be a fictional love story. But the best part about it, the best part about Sam and I, is that our love story is real, its right here in this whole thing, it was in my room last night, it was between our hands as we walked through the woods, to the store, along the beach and wherever we go, its in the pictures of us, its in our hearts, our minds, and our souls. The best part about the love sam and I have for each other, is that its real, its true, but just like all those fictional love stories, it can't have any ending but the happy one. Love, forever and always, Charlie. “I will follow you into the dark.” I wrote this for my amazing and beautiful girl, Sam Patterson. And this last piece is a letter from me, to her in response to my awesome weekend and that awesome love letter I received from her this morning, feel free to read it, thats why it’s here. . Dear Sam, I have never loved anybody as much as I love you. When I see you, my heart melts and i’m left speechless and breathless at the very sight of you. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t try, if you’re just out of bed, or straight out of a homecoming dance. You are the single most beautiful and lovely thing I have ever seen. Your eyes are as deep and blue as the oceans themselves. When I gaze down into them I get butterflies in my tummy, because they make me so insanely happy. You are just plain gorgeous. You’re smart, you’re so very very mature, and not to mention so unique and talented. There is no person on this planet better suited to be with me, we are meant for each other, I know it and you know it. Charles Young has never felt so in love. You walked into my life and changed everything, made everything clear, made it all okay. You are the single greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Nothing and nobody compares to you. There are a lot of teenage relationships that are bullshit and don’t last, the word love is tossed around too much. But with you sam its real, ive been in those relationships and this is Not one of them. I love you insanely huge amounts, immeasureable infinite amounts and I always will. I wish I could make this letter a million words long but I can’t and I’ve said all I need to for right now. I love you sam. I want to be with you forever and ever babe. <3 . “This is the first day of my life.” - Charlie Recent Updated: 2 years ago - Created by thtgrlnamdsam - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - thtgrlnamdsam desolation row Tags: imalonelyshoewishyouwerehere    desolation row dylan They're selling postcards of the hanging They're painting the passports brown The beauty parlor is filled with sailors The circus is in town Here comes the blind commissioner They've got him in a trance One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker The other is in his pants And the riot squad they're restless They need somewhere to go As Lady and I look out tonight From Desolation Row Cinderella, she seems so easy "It takes one to know one," she smiles And puts her hands in her back pockets Bette Davis style And in comes Romeo, he's moaning "You Belong to Me I Believe" And someone says," You're in the wrong place, my friend You better leave" And the only sound that's left After the ambulances go Is Cinderella sweeping up On Desolation Row Now the moon is almost hidden The stars are beginning to hide The fortunetelling lady Has even taken all her things inside All except for Cain and Abel And the hunchback of Notre Dame Everybody is making love Or else expecting rain And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing He's getting ready for the show He's going to the carnival tonight On Desolation Row Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window For her I feel so afraid On her twenty-second birthday She already is an old maid To her, death is quite romantic She wears an iron vest Her profession's her religion Her sin is her lifelessness And though her eyes are fixed upon Noah's great rainbow She spends her time peeking Into Desolation Row Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood With his memories in a trunk Passed this way an hour ago With his friend, a jealous monk He looked so immaculately frightful As he bummed a cigarette Then he went off sniffing drainpipes And reciting the alphabet Now you would not think to look at him But he was famous long ago For playing the electric violin On Desolation Row Dr. Filth, he keeps his world Inside of a leather cup But all his sexless patients They're trying to blow it up Now his nurse, some local loser She's in charge of the cyanide hole And she also keeps the cards that read "Have Mercy on His Soul" They all play on penny whistles You can hear them blow If you lean your head out far enough From Desolation Row Across the street they've nailed the curtains They're getting ready for the feast The Phantom of the Opera A perfect image of a priest They're spoonfeeding Casanova To get him to feel more assured Then they'll kill him with self-confidence After poisoning him with words And the Phantom's shouting to skinny girls "Get Outa Here If You Don't Know Casanova is just being punished for going To Desolation Row" Now at midnight all the agents And the superhuman crew Come out and round up everyone That knows more than they do Then they bring them to the factory Where the heart-attack machine Is strapped across their shoulders And then the kerosene Is brought down from the castles By insurance men who go Check to see that nobody is escaping To Desolation Row Praise be to Nero's Neptune The Titanic sails at dawn And everybody's shouting "Which Side Are You On?" And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot Fighting in the captain's tower While calypso singers laugh at them And fishermen hold flowers Between the windows of the sea Where lovely mermaids flow And nobody has to think too much About Desolation Row Yes, I received your letter yesterday (About the time the door knob broke) When you asked how I was doing Was that some kind of joke? All these people that you mention Yes, I know them, they're quite lame I had to rearrange their faces And give them all another name Right now I can't read too good Don't send me no more letters no Not unless you mail them From Desolation Row Recent Updated: 2 years ago - Created by submerged~ - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - submerged~ Child RP in Everwind Note: This was an attempt to RP with a friend who showed interest in coming to RP in Everwind. She just wanted to try and participate and have some fun trying something new. For a while, it was fun. And then, a sudden rule change came up that turned my friend off from RP, because it wouldn't allow her age. This came up after already a rule change on 6-28-2010, and became effective sim wide with no notifications at the time I brought her in to check out the RP. Needless to say, I am very disappointed by this. But, read the body of the text and make your own opinon. Discuss if you like, and can keep it cordial. This is my Flickr, and I do have the right to moderate it as seen fit. And I do think, even if I'm not a sim owner, and just a peasant RPer, I do have the right and ability to make my own opinions and express them in my own Flickr account. Alydia Kappler: Luke ? i come wiff you ? Luke Heartsdale: sure, where you at? Alydia Kappler: my parent's home but they not here Luke Heartsdale: doesn't know where that's at <.< Alydia Kappler: on [home] island Alydia Kappler: you tp me ? Luke Heartsdale: ok, you want a tp into Everwind? I'm at the camp Alydia Kappler: yes Alydia Kappler: i don't know what everwind is .. but i will go Alydia Kappler: can i be human ? Luke Heartsdale: lol, yes you can. Do you RP? Alydia Kappler: i rp a kid ! lol Luke Heartsdale: ok, hmm, I'll have to take you to the Info hub first Luke Heartsdale: so, can read that until I can get a way up there, ok? Alydia Kappler: yes i duno what to wear for clothes Luke Heartsdale: have any medieval type dresses? Alydia Kappler: i look on xstreet Luke Heartsdale: ok, can tp me if you like, and then show you the hub when ready? Luke Heartsdale: oh, they have a freebie pack too, so I'll send you a tp Alydia Kappler: mmk Alydia Kappler: i havin hard time finding stuffs Luke Heartsdale: I might know a few places if you want to look around Alydia Kappler: i only have [so many] lindens Luke Heartsdale: hmm Alydia Kappler: i have butterfly wings lots of them Luke Heartsdale: hehe, can play a fae if you want Alydia Kappler: yah maybe Alydia Kappler: yer human ? Luke Heartsdale: well, lycan, but mostly in human form Alydia Kappler: ohhh you won't hurt me tho ? Luke Heartsdale: ok, you should be fine as a child avie: Luke Heartsdale: H. CHILDREN may be portrayed in Everwind. However, please be aware that any conduct that is deemed unsuitable by the owner on the part of or with a child avatar will be dealt with severely and swiftly. 1. Children may join Guilds. However they will not be qualified to achieve rankings until or unless their child character is 16 (sixteen) roleplay years of age. Up until the roleplay age of 16 (sixteen), they may play an apprentice, laborer, helper or ward. Luke Heartsdale: and, no, Lukas wouldn't hurt a child lol Alydia Kappler grins Luke Heartsdale: so, you can join the group, or wear the visitor's backpack Luke Heartsdale: hehe, that dress works well Alydia Kappler: yah ? Luke Heartsdale: yep Alydia Kappler: i will join group Luke Heartsdale: ok Luke Heartsdale: there should be a place to click to join I think Alydia Kappler: ok where do i join group Luke Heartsdale: think so Luke Heartsdale: if just a regular human girl, shouldn't have to do much other than join the group. Though they had me fill out a character sheet because of being lycan Alydia Kappler: okay cool Alydia Kappler: i gotta learn how to talk too i will watch a lot and learn Luke Heartsdale: hehe, it's mainly common English., Though some speak race languages. Luke Heartsdale: just wouldn't use modern slang, like cool, or abbreviations like brb or lol while speaking IC Alydia Kappler: yes Luke Heartsdale: ok, and for background, or at least how we met up ICly, how you want to go about it? Alydia Kappler: umm Luke Heartsdale: like, would I know you ICly, or be a lost girl I met while about on a walk? Alydia Kappler: There was a fire .. and i lost my entire family Alydia Kappler: i was found crying in the woods Alydia Kappler: no place to go Alydia Kappler: or does that sound stupid ? Luke Heartsdale: ok, sounds good, we can go from there and see what happens. Luke Heartsdale: nah, it's a good starting point, can add the details as you go along ;) Alydia Kappler: mmk Luke Heartsdale: So, basic jist of the story of meeting up: I find you on the path while I'm walking, hearing you crying, and then we'll go from there. Luke Heartsdale: sound good? Alydia Kappler: mmhmm Luke Heartsdale: ok ^^ Luke Heartsdale: think we're ready to head down then. the TP's this way In the Dark Woods A girl crouches close to the ground whiping the tears from her face on her sleve. Lukas comes closer to her and sees her whiping away tears, "You ok, maza meitene..., uhm, little girl?" "They are gone. My family..." The girl starts to tear up again. Murrling a bit, Lukas looks at her sympathetic, "You all alone, then?" She looks up at this concerned stranger with fear in her eyes. "Yes." Her swollen eyes sting from all the crying. Lukas frowns. "Isn't safe in these woods alone..." He sees her crying, then holds out his hand for her, "Come, I show you where you may be safe." Bending over, the girl cups some cool water in her hands and washes her face. She then takes his hand. Lukas smiles a bit as she washes her face, then brings her along to the camp. he then pauses as a spirit floats by, "Don't worry, it's harmless. Just stay close." She grips his hand tightly. He then continues on to camp as the spirit disapears. Upon coming to the camp, Shalaris is seen as he lookd down into Esmerelda's green eyes. He frowns a bit as he rests a scarred hand on Esmerelda's cheek, shaking his head "Nay, never..." The girl stares at the warm flames As Lukas comes to the camp, he calls out, "Sveicieni ģimenei..., greetings family. I found a little wayward traveler on the path." Esmeralda smiles at Shalaris before looking up at Lukas and the girl he was with him. "Sastimos." Shalaris smiles back. He then turns his gaze to Lukas and the young girl, nodding to both "Sastimos..and welcome." The girl smiles shyly. Lukas comes closer to the fire, and says to the young girl, "It's ok, go sit where comfortable for you." He takes his usual seat on one of the stumps. "I have no where to go. My family was killed in the fire." Says the girl as she wipes her eyes on her sleeve. She then takes a deep breath and sighs. Lukas frowns, "This girl has no family. I know not where to take her. She was crying by the dock." He then shrugs, "Could take her to Village on other side, but who would take her?" Shalaris frowns and looks to her "I am sorry..." Esmeralda looks at the girl, giving her a warm smile, "I'm sure we could talk to Rianna." The girl looks around into the dark woods, listening closely to the sounds of the night. Shalaris smiles and nods, "Or Nica even. She loves children." Esmeralda smiles thinking of all the gypsy children they had aquired in the past weeks, "I've noticed." she chuckles Lukas nods, "Her lot in life makes her čigānu." He sighs, "Though it is a rough life... but what other choice? especially with no family." He then looks around, thinking he had heard some rustling in the woods. His ears slightly twitch. The girl sits closely to Lukas. Esmeralda nods, "The Kalderas took me in when my family was killed. I'm sure the same will be done for her" Shalaris looks to Lukas and raises a brow. He then nods at his lover's words "Aye, I think we will find her a home." Lukas smiles, and looks to the the girl, "Hear that? You have a home with gypsies, if you like." He smiles then cants his head, "Hmm, I didn't ask your name before... do you mind if I ask what it is?" The girl nods, "My name is Alydia. I am 5." She holds up 4 fingers. The girl then looks at Lukas curious, "What shall I call you?" "I am Shalaris. But, if it's easier, you can just call me Shal." Smiles Shalaris. Lukas wonders what was rustling about in the woods, then shrugs it off as the wind. "Alydia... a nice name. And 5 not a bad age." He then adds, "I am called Lukas." Esmeralda points to herself, "Miri nav romano Esmeralda," she smiles, "But you can call me Esme." Alydia smiles slightly and looks at the others. "Esme is a pretty name," she Whispers. "Thank you schej." Smiles Esmerelda. Alydia Kappler: i don't kow how to rp lol Alydia Kappler: am i doing okay ? Luke Heartsdale: you're doing fine hehe Luke Heartsdale: you emote? Alydia Kappler: sure a ittle Luke Heartsdale: yeah, basically, you're telling your character's stories and playing out how you respond to others "I am hungry." Said Alydia. Esmeralda smiles warmly at her before looking at the pot. "Do you like lamb schej? Baba Nica just made it." Lukas hrmms, then looks to Shal, "Have we had hunt lately..." Then it dawned on him..."What do you feed a girl?" Alydia nodded to Esme, "Yes please. My Momma used to make it." Shalaris shakes his head. "There is stew in the pot I believe." Esmeralda rolls her eyes at Lukas and smiles before kneeling in front of the pot and dishing her a bowl. Alydia feels her stomach growl as she shyly starts to eat the stew Esme has given her. "Thank you," She adds with a whisper to Esme. "You are very kind." Esmeralda smiles at her and sits back, leaning against Shalaris. "You're welcome little one." Shalaris smiles as he sees the girl eat. He then rests an arm around Esme when she leans against him. Lukas looks sheepish. It was obvious he wasn't that accustomed to children. "You'll have to forgive this vecs čigānu, I may be an elder gypsy, but I have had no kids of me own." Alydiar crawls up onto Lucas' lap and eats as if she has never eaten before. Shalaris chuckles at Lukas as Alydia sits in his lap right after he says he isn't used to them. "You're a natural father already it seems." Esmeralda looks up at Lukas as she holds Shalaris's hand and smiles, "Aye, it does seem that way. But no matter. There are plenty in the camp who can help and teach her." "You will leave me Lucas? " Alydia looks up into his eyes with concern. Shalaris curls his hand around Esme's and smiles at how sweet the girl is. Lukas blinks, but allows her to sit there. He chuckles a bit, "Good meal, Alydia?" He blushes a bit at Shal's comment and murrls a bit. Esme's adding a bit more rouge. He scratches the back of his head, "Yeah... I." He blinks again at Alydia's question, "No. Why you ask that?" He murrls again at the look in her eyes, "No, I won't." Esmeralda looks at shalaris suddenly with a raised brow. "you know love, you speak of Lukas as a natural father. I believe you looked quite content holding Rianna and Heath's little Jaimie last night." Alydia lays her bowl in her lap and leans her head against his lap and closes her eyes drifing off into sleep. Shalaris looks down at Esme and nods, "Well, I have experience, if you remember." he looks up and chuckles softly as the girl had fallen asleep in Lukas's lap. Esmeralda nods. Lukas watches her curl up and start to close her eyes. He murfs a bit, then whispers to the others, "I think she's sleeping..." "We could place her in the wagon...," suggests Esmeralda. Shalaris nods. Lukas nods and shrugs, looking at the girl, seeming so peaceful. He then slowly, gently tries to pick her up to take her into the wagon. Esmeralda leans over and kisses shalaris's cheek softly. Shalaris had been looking in the wagon and smiles at her kiss, turning his head back and gives one to her on the lips. Esmeralda stares, slightly surprised before pointing into the wagon, "There are children present love." She trails off before grinning, "Well, younger children." Alydia sleeps deeply, exhausted, but comforted knowing she is no longer alone. Lukas sets her head on the pillow as he rests her on the rug in the wagon. He then sits down, watching her sleep soundly and sighs, thinking of what his mother of father might do... Shalaris smiles at Esme and tilts his head "It was just a kiss, dear...." Lukas's ears perk hearing the other two outside. He softly chuckles, then wonders about being a father himself... Esmeralda shakes her head. "A kiss is never just a kiss with you." She places a hand on his cheek hurridly, "Not that I'm complaining." She blushes a little. Shalaris frowns a bit but smiles once again with her hand on his cheek and the compliment afterwards, leaning into her touch. "I know when to control myself," he says to her truthfully. Alydia mumbles, "With the gypsies, " in her sleep. Esmeralda blushes pinker and nods in agreement, "I know." Shalaris smiles, blushing a bit himself and gives her one last kiss before looking over at the wagon again. Lukas blinks as he hears her, as if hearing the first words of an infant. He smiles, "Yes. Ar čigāniem, you are with the gypsies now." He says, not thinking she would hear him while sleeping, but says it anyways. Shalaris sighs and looks back to the fire, tenderly holding onto Esme. Esmeralda kisses his hand as she cuddles next to him and leans her head on his shoulder. "At least my headache is gone.." Alydia wakes up stretching her arms above her head and yawns. Shalaris looks down at Esmeralda and smiles as she cuddles closer. "Aye, that be some good news." Alydia whispers "Lukas?" Lukas had nearly started to rest and then heard her whisper, "Mnnn, yes?" He asks groggily. Alydia whispers once more, "Lukas? Is it time to travel?" Esmeralda closes her eyes as she lays there, falling into a light sleep. Lukas shakes his head, "Why you ask?" "I am eager to meet them," said Alydia. Shalaris smiles at Esmeralda as she naps. Alydia peeks out of the wagon over at Shalaris and Esme by the fire lovingly . "Meet them" Lukas' eyes were still closed, but his curiousity grew. "Who?" "The ones who shall take me in." Alydia says as she flops down on the soft pillow in the back of the wagon and looks at the wall. Luke "Oh!" He chuckles, "We are here. My family, the Kalderas will take you in." He wakes up and goes to sit on the pillow next to her. He adds, "We put you in this wagon while you slept." Alydia smiles. Lukas smiles back, looking over her curious, "What do you do?" "Am I a gypsy now?" Alydia asks with curiousity. Lukas nods, "I believe you are, Alydia." "How does a gypsy live Lukas?" Lukas hrms, "Well, we camp under stars, live in tents, travel in caravans... " He shrugs, "We live off the land, hunting and gathering." He then asks again, "So what do little girls do? Alydia answers, "We fetch water and collect twigs for the fire, run and play and catch fireflies in the dusk and give hugs and kisses." Lukas chuckles and nods, starting to dose off, "Sounds nice..." Apparently the old gypsy was more worn out than he thought. Alydia looks over as she notices Lukas drifting off again. Luke Heartsdale: like RP so far? Alydia Kappler: lol its different i don't know i i am good at it Alydia Kappler: you guys are sooo good Luke Heartsdale: it takes time, but you're doing fine Alydia Kappler: i don't feel like i am lol Luke Heartsdale: takes a while to get used to it. Thinking about your actions, what you want to say, how to say it. Just like writing a story, which you are ;) Alydia Kappler: i'll be back gonna get a snack Luke Heartsdale: ok Alydia Kappler: bck Luke Heartsdale: back as well Alydia Kappler: smiles Luke Heartsdale: might need to turn off your ao to sit in the pillow hehe Alydia Kappler: lol Luke Heartsdale: heh Luke Heartsdale: oye, have dinner irl, but will be back soon. But, can meet the other, if you like. Meeting the Rest of the Kalderas Nica wanders back into camp her bag full of nightshade. Shalaris looks up from Esme who had fallen asleep on his shoulder and smiles at Nica. "Sastimos Baba." Nica replies, "Sastimos prala." Shalaris adds, "Lukas found a little girl today. He is with her in the wagon." Lukas d'Coeur: OOC -> brb, have dinner, so can say I'm resting ;) Nica nods slowly. Lukas d'Coeur: OOC -> be back soon Shalaris looks over into the wagon and smiles "Looks like I'm not the only one who's age is catching up with them" Alydia giggles, then wanders out of the wagon and approaches the fire. "I can't sleep," whispers the girl. Nica greets the girl, "Sastimos Chavi." Shalaris smiles, "Well, come and sit then. Baba Nica just loves little children." Nica smiles at the child. Alydia smiles in return shyly. Nica then speaks in her typical heavily accented broken English, "Have you eaten?" Alydia replies, "Aye, the stew was very good." "Good, good," says Nica. Alydia throws a twig in the fire. Nica smiles and reaches into her medicine bag and pulls out a sweetroot holding it out to the girl, "Then a treat." "She has taken a liking to Lukas I think," says Shalaris. Nica nods to Shalaris, "What is not to like?" Rianna enters the campsite, "Sastimos." Alydia smiles and takes the root kindly from Baba Nica, "Thank you." Nica asks Alydia, "Did you come from the village?" Shalaris nods to Rianna, "Sastimos." Nica also greets Rianna, "Sastimos Pena." "Yes," said Alydia, "I was out picking berries in the woods and when I returned home the house was on fire." She sniffles a little as her eyes tear up. Shalaris frowns a bit at Alydia. Rianna then asks, "What village are you from?" Alydia replies, "I don't know." "She's only five, Rianna...," said Shalaris. Alydia nods, "I am 5,"she holds up 4 fingers. "Oh dear," says Rianna. Nica adds, "Perhaps, Pena, we should take her to Chyna." Alydia looks concerned and asks, "Who is Chyna?" Nica says, "She an elder in the village across the bay." Rianna nods, "Yes, I think so. Chyna and Pro live in the village near here and take care of things. She's a cleric and wonderful lady." "Will it take long to arrive? How many days of travel?" Asks Alydia as she listens to a nearby owl. Rianna replies, "Chyna would be able to help you." Alydia nods. Rianna Firehawk smiles at the little one. Nica adds, "It not take long at all. We even get you a ride." Alydia smiles back and nibbles on the sweet root Rianna says, "Nica, Chyna is in the village and I need to go there also. Let's take a little journey there. Myabe we'll find some cocoa." Alydia stands up and brushes her dress off and warms her hands by the fire. "There are other children in Misty Hollow too. Maybe you can find someone to play with," says Rianna, "Nica, are you coming with? "That would be lovely," says Alydia. "Wait. Nica be ready soon." Nica slips around behind teh tent and out of sight. She pads out from behind the tents and purrs deeply. Esmeralda rubs her eyes and sits up. Shalaris looks to Esme and smiles, "Enjoy YOUR nap?" Esmeralda gives him a look before leaning against him and yawning, "Yes...I did." Shalaris smiles and holds her close. Alydia Kappler: i can't rp there anymore i'm not old enough >>>>Rianna Firehawk: Hi, I was just telling the lead of Misty Hollow and was told that sim rules are changing. child av's under 8 or 9 will not be allowed. Rules haven't beeen updated but are in effect. Alydia Kappler: oh no Alydia Kappler: ok Rianna Firehawk: I don;t know what you want to do, but she can not bring you into the misty hollow group at your current age Alydia Kappler: ok Rianna Firehawk: since we play Lycans in the midst of the Dark Isle we are being careful with child av;s as well Rianna Firehawk: but the age riules apply across the sim Alydia Kappler: okay<<<< Lukas stretches and yawns as he finds his way out of the wagon. Rianna Firehawk: ((ok, let me explain....there is a new age limit for all child av's which is 8 years old. Rianna Firehawk: ((Grace announced it to leaders but has not updated the rules yet)) Rianna Firehawk: ((so the lovely child poofed away)) [2010/07/04 18:32] Lukas d'Coeur: OOC -> She didn't know that, nor did I coming here, but, I don't think there should be a problem for her playing an older age <.< )) [2010/07/04 18:32] Rianna Firehawk: ((she apparently did not want to Nica snakes her tail between the snuggling lovers Shalaris widens his eyes and jumps up a bit, "What the?!" Esmeralda smiles sleepily and looks up at the giant cat, before shaking her head and scooting away a little. Rianna says, "I can't believe all the children lately." Shalaris clutches his chest a bit, nodding "Aye" he pants. Nica shifts back and sits with, giving a smile. Esmeralda snickers before nodding to Rianna "Aye, that's what I said earlier." Nica thinks an orpahage two towns over must have burned down. Rianna says, "Misty Hollow is doing what they can to care for them. We simply have all that we can handle." Shalaris nods with agreement, finally calm after getting a near heart attack from Nica's tail. Nica smiles at Shalaris. Shalaris gives a slight glare at Nica, "I was no where near close to that," he grumbles. [2010/07/04 18:35] Lukas d'Coeur: OOC -> she was new to RP, so think it scared her off. Especially after I assured her the rules said child avies are ok, which, as the rules read atm, it does not specify an age limit. at least what I read and showed her <.< Rianna Firehawk: ((It was very recent . Chyna told me when I Im'd Iwas bringing her there) Rianna Firehawk: ((It has gotten to be a concern, there has been a flood of parentless children arriving) Rianna Firehawk: (It is risky on a mature sim) Lukas d'Coeur: OOC -> alright, just nice to get a heads up on rule changes, especially after getting the updated and showing what I thought were the rules as updated. Rianna Firehawk: (It takes only one TOS for an incident involving a child av to bring Linden Labs right in and possibly close it down) Rianna Firehawk: (As I said the rules have not been updated and distributed yet) Rianna Firehawk: (but the decison was made and told to the GM's and some leads) Lukas d'Coeur: OOC -> was going on the as of 6-29 Rianna Firehawk: It's changing.... Rianna Firehawk: ((lets get back to RP)) Rianna says, "I should probably make my way to Misty Hollow. I need to talk to Chyna about some Guild matters." Nica just blinks like an innocent old woman. Rianna asks, "Were you interested in going there Nica?" She nods, "Nica come." Rianna smiles, "I'd enjoy the company." Nica nods quietly to everyone. Lukas just waves at them, and sits on the stump quietly. Shalaris sighs and shakes his head "Nica...." Esmeralda smiles, "That's Baba for you." Lukas then decides he might see if he could find the girl that ran off, who probably got killed by some creature... >.> Lukas d'Coeur: OOC -> actually heading offline, laters Recent Updated: 2 years ago - Created by Lukas d'Coeur - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - Lukas d'Coeur Salthill Tags: galway   beach   salthill   regulations   nodogs    Yesterday we got in a rather serious argument with a somewhat obsessed young father (young father, not young aged). He took a rather long way to point out that we are violating the law by having the dog on the beach as he believed ("and had been told by a representative of Galway's city council just the last week") that there are no dogs allowed on the beach. He asked if I mind if he takes my name, address and number, to which i responded that i do not, believing that I knew the law as I had re-read the sign mentioning the subject not so long ago. When asked if the man wants to take my number he said that he might once he gets a pen. I suggested that we each read the sign once more, and if he turns out to be right, my apologies and we won't let the dog on the beach. I was not ready to submit to his terms and go and read the sign in the same instant, as I neither knew the man, nor i had any other reason to trust him. He disappeared for a minute or two and the returned quite satisfied telling that he had read the sign and really no dogs are allowed, to which i replied that i will read the sign when i will. And then he went on telling me how filthy the dogs are and tried to appeal to my common sense and was rhetorically wondering how can I keep breaking the law once i know that it is illegal to have the dog on the beach (he was quite repetitive as such style of argumentation sometimes goes). At some point the decibels had rised and it was all red before the eyes, adrenalin doing all the talking. I expressed my frustration that he has chosen us as an easy target to vent his anger. Apart from other things I said, I asked if he maybe has anything against black people too, as his justification sounded as racist. But, uh, well, looking back, that was bit too extreme even for my taste. Later we went to check out the sign, and indeed I had made a mistake. I had thought that it said "between 9am and 8pm no dogs allowed, unless on leash and other terms" but it actually said "between 9am and 8pm no dogs allowed. before 9am and after 8pm dogs are allowed only if on leash, etc etc". Next time somebody tries to enforce a law on me, i'll be prepared better, but this time the man quite effectively succeeded at spoiling the day. I failed at keeping the temper and pull the man down from his rampage of vigilantism and this is what i feel i can take away from this encounter. Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by Toms Bauģis - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - Toms Bauģis Congratulations! Amethyst eyes skimmed over the page, taking in its contents, as she soon found herself unable to breathe. She felt like she'd just had all the wind knocked out of her with a good solid punch to her solarplex. She huffed out a breath, collapsing onto her knees with an audible 'thud' in her empty house. The sickening greenish yellow lighting filtered in through her window, a testament to the hellish world beyond. Her lips quivered, her breath rattled, as sobs began to pour from the kitten, a quiet keening as she finished reading the letter. No...no this couldn't be true. Memories flashed through her mind. So sudden that they returned to her, she gasped out, as if she'd just been struck, dropping the letter which floated with a certain eloquence to the ground. Cora holding her hand, smiling fondly. Paperwork the both of them signed, the words illegible. She stayed like that, her head dropped into waiting hands, sobbing relentlessly. But once the tears had quieted, and she gained up enough courage...she slowly, delicately picked up the letter, reading over the last paragraph. She flipped open her cell phone, punching in the scribbled number before placing it to her ear. It rang thrice before someone answered. "H-hello?" The voice was feminine, groggy, as if disturbed from sleep. "Hi, uhhgh..." she sniffled on her end, her voice sounding like she just got done crying. "Who is this? Do you know what time it is?" a hushed hiss of a whisper, an accusatory tone. "I'm...*sniff* I'm sorry...I shouldn't be calling this late. My name is Rhapsody Heartsdale, and I believe..." she took a breath, let out a heavy sigh, like this was the hardest thing for her to say. "I believe you have something of mine...and I'm very...-very- thankful for your assistance on behalf of my absence..." Silence. "I was wondering if I could come tonight..." her voice quavered, on the brink of breaking into sobs again. "Yes, child...we'll ready everything for you." "Thanks..." she whispered, her voice frail as she ended the call. She forced herself to move...to head to the restroom to wash up, to make herself look somewhat presentable, despite her beat up appearance. With that, she hurried out, practically slamming the door behind her in her rush. It caused the letter to rise, jus t slightly, and it seemed to slowly flutter its farewell to the departing kitten, its contents forgotten already. Dearest Rhapsody, after I realised that you don't really remember everything including me, I took the pride to break into your old apartement and check your desk for files that might help me to understand you a little better. Your breakdown was because of losing Cora, I know that by now but at the time being I wondered if it was maybe something else, perhaps a note that would give me information. Anyway, there was no money in the desk anymore. I did find something of interest though, a bill that seemed to come from a lab, maybe Ashagi, Dr. Davieu or something was the name on it but I didn't really care, the contract next to it was far more interesting. It seems that you and the woman you had lost at the time went to the labs in order to get children, merged of both your DNA. After Cora's death and your breakdown, no one came to pick them up and the contract stated that in that case, the babies become property of Ashagi for further tests. Something that would have happened three days later had I not been nice. Your babies, twins, were ready and I made my way to the facility they were at, with a faked authorisation form and your name under it. I got both girls out of the place and took them with me, even signed in myself as the father and you as the mother, since they got hybrid features like you. The document is official and since my name is on it, they won't be treated like second class hybrids. I did not have the time or sense to take them with me or keep them at home, knowing who I am it wouldn't have been healthy for them anyway so I called a few contacts of mine and placed them with the family of a friend, Mallory and Jonas Callahan in Townstown, Tennessee. They already have a bunch of kids in their trailer and I consider them capable of raising two more of them. They're good people so you don't have to worry. [Picture of the Twins] These two are yours, really yours, you might even see the purple eyes, your nose and all that. Cute for little critters, aren't they? Anyway, I thought it was about time to let you know you got more to live for than I do. Apparently this gives you a family and I don't even ask for something in return, this time. On the backside of this letter is a number in case you want to talk to the Callahans yourself oh and don't worry. The kids are named after the mommy since I didn't make a cross at "married" on the World Union form #14253532-325B Parental Information. Congratulations momma Corvin Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by Rhapsody Heartsdale - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - Rhapsody Heartsdale getting ready for the day.. Tags: portrait   shop   tattoo   ink   nikon   artist   tribal   tribe   skinart   everydayscene   dermalimplant   nickarriesgado    a usual day starts a little late. foremost reason is when you do skin art it is always better if you're all warmed up before inking. not just that, getting into that zone is a little tricky. to be able to create a better art, one has to be in the mood for it, get the feel for it... it's not easy, it's a passion and it's a job at the same time. there's a little compromise there. but they go hand in hand in my opinion, and summarizing this, i believe.. "better art means better opportunities". people will come to you if you exceed their expectations. you don't have to sell yourself, but your work will sell you. Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by e.nigma no more! - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - e.nigma no more! Former hell raiser Baldwin 'own goal' preached G-d to football hardman Vinnie Tags: autumn   trees   celebrity   fall   leaves   born   big   cathedral   brother   ministry   4th   july   stephen   usual   breakthrough   2009   baldwin   suspects   chelmsford    www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZYtxmfy71A&feature=channel If “Big Brother” chiefs were hoping for some eyebrow-raising controversy on the last ever “Celebrity Big Brother,” they must be pinning their hopes on contestants other than born-again Christian Stephen Baldwin. The former hellraiser and now active evangelist is one of the contestants on the last ever television series of “Celebrity Big Brother,” a spin-off of “Big Brother UK.” Baldwin stayed up late talking with fellow contestant Vinnie Jones and explaining parts of the Bible to him, before kneeling at his bedside to say his prayers at the end of the night. Later, Baldwin and the other housemates got talking about religion. He told them, “I tell you right now, what the experience in Heaven is going to be is so far beyond this experience. I can’t wait to get there.” Glamour model Nicola Tappenden responded by saying, “I do believe there’s a lovely Heaven but I don’t think I’d take the Bible’s law. I’ll take peace.” Housemate and “Hollywood madam” Heidi Fleiss had a moan about him in the Diary Room, saying, “Right now I think Stephen’s a bit of an idiot, but I could be wrong. He could be a really nice guy. “When I was sleeping I thought I heard him preaching a bit and he was telling Sov (fellow contestant Lady Sovereign) how to get paint out of her hair … just maybe being a little bit instructing everybody.” In a conversation with Baldwin and housemate ex-Dynasty star Stephanie Beacham earlier in the night, Fleiss said she was thankful for abortions. “I hope I never have babies. That would kill me. Every minute I’d be, ‘Is the baby ok? I’d worry too much,” she said. “Thank God for abortion. I don’t mean to offend anyone but I wouldn’t be a good mother. I shouldn’t have kids.” Other contestants on “Celebrity Big Brother” are Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood’s ex Ekaterina Ivanov, DJ Basshunter and Katie Price’s cage-fighter boyfriend Alex Reid. thethingsilikeaboutme265.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/stephen... Celebrity Big Brother's Alex Reid turns to God after Vinnie Jones gay row Cage fighter Reid breaks model Katie Price's house rules about relationship chat Katie Price's cross-dressing lover Alex Reid has broken the model's cardinal rule about talking about their romance on Celebrity Big Brother. The cage fighter came under fire after footballer Vinnie Jones and Price's ex Dane Bowers asked him to clear up the drama surrounding their brief split after he turned up to propose while she was filming I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here in Australia last month. After Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss pointed out Price 'bounces from dude to dude', Reid defiantly said he would 'die for' Price and put 'his life down for her'. Reid branded the Australian engagement spat mere tabloid 'bull****' after Jones scoffed at him by taunting, "she binned you on national live TV". Then breaking Price's house rules, Reid revealed the details of the fall out saying he was sent texts by his lover, "saying don't come and see me and everything". Bowers, who reportedly had a bust up with Reid at the model's New Years Eve bash, then questioned the authenticity of their relationship, asking, "What's the deal now then? Are you together now or not?" Meanwhile, born again Christian Stephen Baldwin, 43, was seemingly ready to cleanse Reid after the others said Reid played on 'stupid' gay headlines. Jones, 45, asked him: "Are you worried that if you don't say you're a cross-dresser and a gay, then you won't be on the front page?" Baldwin later told Reid: "God has a plan for you brother… he wants to reveal it to you…to show it to you." Flurried, Reid told him "I'm willing to believe". It came as he told Jones he really meant he was "happy" after recently declaring to a gossip magazine he was gay. "I did actually say I'm not homosexual", claimed Reid. After previously telling the house he was "tri-sexual", Fleiss, 44, told him: "Alex it does seem like you enjoy your gay headlines and cross-dressing headlines. It does, from a layman's perspective." thecelebvenue.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=8004 www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/80910...-jones-gay-row Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by RinkRatz - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - RinkRatz Love is Simple 1/1/10 " I believe in love, it's all we got Love has no boundaries, no borders to cross Love is simple..." -Elton John Well with his smiling face right in this shot, it seemed perfect to dedicate this shot with "Believe". =] Im going to be honest, I am quite addicted to tea. It comes in handy, especially after a long day like today. I went straight to mass with most of my extended family then i had a wonderful afternoon of hockey watching and playing games at my uncles house. I love spending time with everyone! I am so ready to just crawl into my bed though. Now to just unwind with my cuppa-tea. Today I mixed "Quitely Chamomille" with "Berryblossom White", it was an adventure but it turned out to be a perfect cup. I dub it "Quietblossom Chamoberry". Look for it at your nearest retailers very soon haha. Now to nod off in my favorite chair.... Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by amanda mary rose - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - amanda mary rose Youth Culture - Skinheads 1968-1971 Tags: uk   1969   fashion   youth   bristol   mod   teenagers   shorthaircut   brutus   rangers   bensherman   gangs   mods   skinhead   drmartens   skinheads   grinders   youthculture   buttondownshirts   501s   rudeboys   buttondownshirt   boneheads   wranglerjeans   leejeans   bovverboots   thecrop   jaytex   redbraces   youthcult   harringtonjackets   tribalfashion   oxbloodboots   skinheadboots   skinheadfashion   skinheadlook   workingclassyoungsters   crombieovercoats   sheepskincoats   donkeyjackets   americanivyleaguefashion   fredperryshirts   gabardinemacs   levistaprest   stapresttrousers   ma1flightjackets   19612007    The Skinhead look from the late sixties and early 70s is almost a forgotten fashion. Although, most people associate Skinheads with the late 70s and early 80s, there was a strong Skinhead movement in Britain between 1968 and 1972, with 1969 to 1971 being the time when Skinheads were primarily in the news. Most people think of the 60s as the era of the Mods, then Flower Power and Hippies. The Hippy era though was mainly a middle class rebellion against middle class values. Many working class young people found they could not identify with it. They never had the middle class lifestyle to rebel against. Whereas Mod embraced the consumer society, the Hippy movement, although later much commercialised, itself rejected it. These working class youngsters had nowhere to go. The Skinhead fashion for men evolved from the Mod fashion earlier in the sixties. The original Skinhead fashion was smart style derived from the American Ivy league fashion, although unlike Mod fashion, which was an ever changing scene, the 60s Skinhead became a uniform. The late 60s and early 70s Skinhead took elements of Mod and was a clear evolution from it. The look was smart. Short hair was a brave statement in the late sixties, when most young people wanted to grow their hair long. The original Skinhead was not completely shaven, but had a short, smart haircut. The inspiration may have been a combination of the college boy haircut favoured by the Mods and military style haircuts. A new hero was emerging on our TV screens in 1968 and 1969, the American astronaut. Their short, smart haircuts were the complete opposite to the Hippie style. By 1968, the Skinhead look comprised short hair, a button-down shirt, or sometimes a Fred Perry instead, Stay Prest trousers or Levi 501s, brogues or boots with an army-style shine on them (often not Dr Marten's for the 1968 look). Sometimes a suit was worn, often a classic Mod style tonic suit with narrow trousers and lapels, the complete opposite of the flared jeans preferred by the hippies. Ties were narrow, usually striped. Sometimes a cardigan replaced the suit jacket. The button down shirt was often a Ben Sherman. Skinheads wore gingham check, sometimes other check patterns, or plain Oxford cotton. Ben Sherman struggled to keep up with demand and alternatives from Brutus and Jaytex were also available in similar styles. Fred Perry shirts were also worn by Skinheads in the 60s. Skinheads wore Crombie overcoats, favoured by gangsters such as the Krays, but smart and expensive. Alternatives were fly fronted gabardine Macs or sheepskin coats. The look was grown up and smart. Very definitely not hippy. Doc Martens were originally associated with anti-social and rebellious teenagers, skinheads, punks, rock music and heavy metal music fans. During the 60's, however, Doc's began to appear on rockstars and celebrities, and soon they became a mainstream brand within the fashion industry. In the 2000's, Doc's are now widely worn across the globe. Dr. Martens is one of the most idiosyncratic and recognizable brands of footwear in the world. With absolutely no spending on advertisement, the brand has become a well-known and fashionable design. During the 2010 Fashion Show in New York in April, the Doc Martens 14-Hole black leather boot won two fashion awards; one for the 'most popular men's footwear in latest fashion' and the other for 'best counter-cultural footwear of the decade'. Sta-Prest (intended to be pronounced as "stay pressed") is a brand of wrinkle-resistant trousers produced by Levi Strauss & Co., beginning in 1964. These products are marketed as wearable straight out of the dryer, with no need for ironing. The trousers were especially popular among British mods of the mid 1960s and skinheads of the late 1960s (as well as among traditionalist skinheads and mod revivalists of later decades). Vintage pairs of Sta-Prest trousers have become collector's items. Other companies, such as Lee and Wrangler, produced similar styles of trousers during that same period. Lee's version was called Lee Prest, which came in similar colors and patterns as Sta-Prest; although they were much slimmer and tapered. Decades later, Merc started marketing a brand called Sta Press. Skinhead was not Mod, since it was much more of a rigid dress code. The Mod look was ever changing with the mood of the Mod fashion of the time. The later 1979 Mod revival, turned the Mod fashion into more of a uniform, but in the 60s being Mod meant you needed to change your look frequently to stay in fashion. Skinheads had no such problem. BOOTS Probably one of the most important parts of the skinhead uniform. Back in the first wave (around '69), about any kind of leather lace-up boot would work. After being classified as weapons, the style became Doc Martens because they were comfortable as hell, came in good colors and were quite durable. Today, the most popular colors are black, red, and oxblood (a dark reddish brown). Other colors are available. Most popular are 8-10 hole (as far as I know) while 14 are in large numbers, although 14+ holes are mainly worn by boneheads. Keep your boots SHINY! The shinier the better. For oxblood,use a neutral wax, or alternate between red and black polish. Also...if you can, get steel caps. Never know when you might need them. Here are some other makes of boots you'll find skinheads wearing: Grinders: Respectable make of boots coming in a wide range of colors and eyelettes. A bit more costly mainly because all models come with steel caps. Let the bovver begin. Rangers: I've never owned a pair, but I hear good things. Like the Grinders they come in wide selection. Their red and blue being most popular I believe. I heard Rangers are popular with the gay skinhead crowd. I dont know why, though. JEANS Jeans, like boots, are worn by all skinheads. They're a must. Sometimes replaces with slacks (in the case of a tonic, or other kinds of suits). Before Levi's were the best choice Lee and Wrangler were widely worn. Still are, though Levi's are probably most popular. Levi's red tab, 501's more specifically. Either rolled up (or cut/shortened) to show off most of the boots and, maybe, laces (for a statement...more on this later). Sometimes you'll see the whole boot exposed but usually they're turned up to right above yer ankle. The jeans were meant to be worn lower in the waist, but we tend to wear them high, which brings us to our next item... BRACES Also known to the unitiated here in the States as "suspenders." They're called braces because, in England, "suspenders" is what we Americans would call a garder belt. See where the confusion would come in? By far, the most popular variation is the thin, half inch or so ones. Although 3/4-1 inch have been seen before. Boneheads have some color-coding system for them, but you know what? Boneheads sniff glue. Most popular colors are black, white or red. I've owned a pair of burgandy ones before, and I've seen some skins with blue braces. Not an absolute must-have, but pretty important. SHIRTS There's a lot of different kinds of shirts popular with different skins. T-Shirts You'll see these most often I think. Usually those of bands, but sometimes slogans and declarations (i.e. "EMO SUCKS" or "SKINHEADS - Still alive and kickin'!"). Ben Sherman was some Canadian guy who wanted to market his button-downs. He made a wise choice becasue these are one of the most popular shirts worn by skinheads the world-over. They come in all kinds of colors and designs. They even have SLIM FIT, and some polo shirts. Fred Perry Another classic. Polos, cardigans, pull overs, jackets, sweaters. They have a lot of stuff worn by a lot of people; Mods, Skins, Suedes. Fred was a tennis player (a good one, from what I hear) who lent his name to the clothes. These are expensive, and somewhat rare. Check out The Last Resort shop and Crash And Burn, Atlanta to get ahold of some. Lonsdale A boxing supply kind of company from London. They got v-necks, polos, T-shirts, skull caps, and some other cool stuff. The Last Resort.nu and Crash & Burn had some last I checked. JACKETS Jackets have always been pretty popular with skinheads, and mods before then & the suedeheads after. Here's some notable kinds you'll see: Harrington Jackets Made popular by some guy from British TV. A basic looking jacket. The black, red and blue being most popular Denim jackets Self-explanitory. A Levi's denim jacket is a great addition to any skin's wardrobe. I like how well they hold patches & the like. MA-1 Flight jackets U.S. Air Force flight jackets, by Alpha preferably are a awesome article of clothing. Warm, good-looking, and comfortable. Most popular colors are sage green, blue, black and burgandy. Boneheads seem to take a liking to the black ones...nothing wrong with taking it back though. Donkey jackets A long, heavy wool material coat with deep pockets and a plastic, leather or vinyl area on the shoulders and upper back. This was used for coal miners and other workers to rest their tools on without fucking up the material. Very nice. SUITS Suits were worn by Rude Boys, Mods the Hard Mods that came before Skins. So naturally, skinheads wear them a decent amount too. The two basic types you'll see are tonic suits and just a black and white suit (not a tuxedo!) with shortened sleeves and pant legs. Top of with some shades, maybe, and a pair of shiny brogues (steel toed, of course) or some boots you'll be looking "the business" and ready for a night out. BOOT LACES The color of the laces in your boots can mean more than you think. Some people wear them to make a statement, others wear them just 'coz they like the color. In the case of the former, the colors mean a lot of different things in a lot of different places. So here's SOME things they can mean in some places. Black This usually means freshcut (a new skin) or "I just got these boots and I havent got other laces yet" or even "I could give a fuck about what color my boot laces are!" White If you asked most people what this was for they were quickly tell you "White power" but I've heard of skins from NY and New England wearing the white laces in defiance. I know thats why I do. Dont assume either the case without talking to the skin first. Red Communism, RASH, Redskin, Leftist politics, boneheads wear it for something about being willing to bleed for their make believe "Aryan race" Blue This can mean sXe(straightedge), it can mean cop killer, or even anarchy. Yellow I've heard yellow meaning anarchy, looking for ultra-violence (murder, rape etc), being and Asian basher, or liking bannanas. Pink Gay skinhead, or "Queer basher". Even "Queers bash back" Not necessarily for gay skins in the latter case, but supporting them. Green I've heard all kinds of stuff for this one; Ska fan, SHARP (?), environmentalist, celtic pride Orange An FAQ once said this meant "Biohazard fan". I assume they were joking... THE CROP Not really clothing, but cropped (short-cut) hair is, so you would think, extremely important. Today using the electric razor without and attachment seems popular, while back in the day any length up to a number 5 was acceptable. If you have a fucked up looking head get a crew cut...I know some people that look like monks unless they have a crew cut. There's some people that think you can be a skinhead with having a full head of greasy hippie hair. See Photograph: 'Mods' on scooters, Upper Richmond Road Producer: Terry Spencer Date: 1964 www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Collections/OnlineResou... Were you a Skinhead? Do you have any stories from that era? Skinheads on Video www.youtube.com/watch?v=BltumsxFwyc www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDjmU22MV9c Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by brizzle born and bred - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - brizzle born and bred I've Been Tagged! Post a Picture of Yourself and Tell 10 Truths! This Is Me And The Coca-Cola Polar Bear! Tags: red   me   fun   cocacola   atlantaga   therealthing   cocacolapolarbear   spreadthered    Please check out www.arctichome.com This is me with the Coca-Cola Polar Bear at The World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, GA. Not a great shot, but fairly recent, as it was taken on Wednesday, 9-2-09. The bear was great. I especially loved his eyes! I LOVE the World of Coca-Cola! I felt like Charlie at the chocolate factory...you know, Wonkaland! It was so much fun, and the people who worked there were amazing. Okay...here we go! 10 Truths! #1 I have trained a bull to ride; his name was Friday. #2 I have eaten live insects (calm down…it was ants and accidentally =o). #3 I love my full time job. With all due modesty, I’m good at it, I feel like I make a difference in people’s lives, and I work for a great company. #4 I am very intuitive, some might say psychic, and one of the luckiest people you may meet. I think I'm just paying a LOT of attention, and have the opposite of Attention Deficit Disorder. I notice the little things others may miss, and I "believe" I am blessed and lucky. #5 I could be an ordained minister. I completed my studies, but I mostly did it for my own knowledge and search for meaning. Maybe someday...we'll see. #6 I hate chickpeas, garbanzo beans, whatever you want to call them. It’s the only food I use the “H” word about, and don’t tell me how I should try this hummus or that hummus. I have tried them all. LOL! #7 If I could only be one animal, it would be a bird, probably a Sandhill Crane, and I can fly in my dreams. #8 I love deeply, I am fiercely loyal, and I pity the fool who messes with my family or friends. #9 I took EMT training in college. My dad was a Firefighter, and I thnk I partly did so, to learn what he knew, and also, so I could be "ready and able" in a crisis. 18 years later I assisted as a civilian at an accident scene on my way to my best friend’s wedding. 9 injured, 7 seriously, and two children died. It was one of those lightning bolt experiences that makes you realize how short life is, and engraves that fact on your heart forever. #10 Less than 2 months after #9, I won $20,000 on the radio. Helloooooo Karma! #11 Sometimes...maybe...I over-share, LOL! Ergo, you get 11 truths! Hugs and thanks for viewing! I didn't take this shot. One of the friendly folks at The World of Coca-Cola took it with my camera. ***All rights to my images are STRICTLY reserved. Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing my images or if you are an educator or non-profit interested in use. copyright KathleenJacksonPhotography 2009*** Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by kathleenjacksonphotography - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - kathleenjacksonphotography The Future of Food Tags: food   dvd   documentary   geneticengineering   gmo   monsanto   percyschmeiser   precautionaryprinciple   gmofreeworld   foodsafetymodification   geingredients   millionsagainstmonsanto    www.thefutureoffood.com/ There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America -- a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade. From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. The health implications, government policies and push towards globalization are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed by the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply. Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, THE FUTURE OF FOOD examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world's food system. The film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today. www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/11/07/LVG7... Garcia leads carefully from one point to the next -- showing how the chemical companies have succeeded in first patenting their own GMO seeds, and then slapping patents on a huge number of crop seeds, patenting life forms for the first time without a vote of the people or Congress. To make the point, Garcia goes to Saskatchewan grain farmer Percy Schmeiser to tell his story. He's one of hundreds of grain farmers sued by Monsanto after the company's Roundup Ready canola drifted into his field. Monsanto accused Schmeiser of violating its Roundup Ready patent, even though Schmeiser never planted the GMO canola and didn't want it in his field. He fought the suit where many other farmers settled, but lost, and must pay Monsanto to plant his next crop from his own seed. Garcia travels with UC Berkeley's Ignacio Chapela to Mexico, where hundreds of varieties of corn thrive in different climates and soils, to show how GMO crops threaten such biodiversity. It was here that Chapela found controversial evidence that genes of GMO corn had already jumped the border to contaminate native species. The uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered plants -- recently proven again with tests of GMO grasses -- far beyond the fields where they were planted is one of the strongest arguments the film makes for introducing safeguards. The film questions why the U.S. government hasn't required GMO foods to undergo the rigorous testing required of medicines created by recombinant DNA technology, and why it has resisted efforts to require GMO labeling on foods, as Europe does. Suggesting an answer, the film ticks off all the government officials who have links to Monsanto, including Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Attorney General John Ashcroft. It also briefly debunks claims that GMO foods are the answer to world starvation. Ultimately, the film is a call to action -- for people to think more about the consequences of their food choices and to use their consumer power to push for labeling and regulation. While some people are seeking to ban GMOs, Garcia thinks labeling would drive GMO foods off the market, as it has in Europe. "I want people to watch the film and say we have to stop this," says Garcia. Long gone are the days when Garcia believed "we could have our healthy foods over here, and they could have their food over there. You do your thing and I do mine." With genetic engineering, she says, "You can't drop out anymore -- it'll come and get us." Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by elycefeliz - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - elycefeliz Bob Dylan B.C. Christian News, December 1997 Bob Dylan: Still Christian after all these years? By David F. Dawes •Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind, Sony, 1997. THE CHRISTIAN community has not always been kind to high-profile musicians who have espoused Christian beliefs. A prime example is Bob Dylan: although he did some superb Christian albums and a phenomenal gospel tour, and continues to perform faith-affirming songs in concert, I've encountered church musicians who have told me Dylan has "left the Lord." Because of this assumption, they refuse to play his songs, thus depriving congregations of some of the best Christian lyrics ever written. Bob Dylan Dylan has been much in the news recently. In May, he almost died of a viral infection; by August he was touring again. In late September, he sang before the Pope, at a eucharistic conference. Soon after, he made the cover of Newsweek; most of the attention is due to his latest album. Time Out of Mind consists mostly of songs about failed romance, and world-weary laments. Such material becomes tiresome in the wrong hands, but with the assistance of producer Daniel Lanois, the energy of the music has an exhilarating effect. The album sounds like a long, troubled summer night, with a spooky heat rising from the fierce electric rhythm and blues backups, and Dylan's voice overflowing with experience. While none of the songs mention Christ, there are several references to faith: "I know the mercy of God must be near"; "I'm tryin' to get to heaven before they close the door"; and "I know God is my shield, and he won't lead me astray." As to whether this faith is specifically Christian, his Newsweek interview simply states: "This is the flat-out truth . . . Songs like 'Let Me Rest on a Peaceful Mountain' or 'I Saw the Light' -- that's my religion. I don't adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that . . . The songs are my lexicon. I believe the songs." Years before accepting Christ, Dylan wrote songs affirming faith in God, such as 'Father of Night' and 'Forever Young'; other songs, such as 'Gates of Eden' and 'Sign on the Cross' made use of biblical imagery. In 1979 he announced his conversion with Slow Train Coming. The record was a hit, but many fans reacted against his faith. The next album, Saved, was shunned -- a pity, considering it is one of the finest gospel albums ever made. A live album, Solid Rock, was shelved by Dylan's record company. Several songs, such as 'Yonder Comes Sin,' 'No Man Righteous' and 'I Ain't Goin' to Hell for Anybody,' were recorded, but never released. From 1979 to mid 1980, Dylan's concerts consisted exclusively of Christian material, prompting some nasty audience reactions. The shows were outstanding, incorporating black gospel soloists with Dylan's fervent evangelistic monologues and passionate performances of songs like 'When He Returns,' 'Saving Grace,' 'Pressing On,' 'Are You Ready?' and 'Blessed is the Name of the Lord.' On the following tour, in an effort to reach a wider audience, he combined gospel songs with his more familiar hits. He has continued to write and perform songs clearly expressing faith, such as 'Every Grain of Sand,' 'Death is Not the End,' and 'God Knows.' Others contain biblical references, including 'Caribbean Wind,' 'Ring them Bells,' 'Man of Peace,' and 'Shooting Star.' He has also performed gospel standards like 'Precious Memories,' 'Rank Strangers' and 'Go Down Moses.' Dylan has not spoken often about his beliefs, but a 1986 interview indicated that his faith had not waned: "All that exists is spirit, before, now and forever more . . . Messiah will rule. He is, was and will be about God, doing God's business. Drought, famine, war, murder, theft, earthquake and all the evil things will be no more . . . God is coming." He has never renounced his overtly Christian songs and, in 1991, he included some previously unreleased material on The Bootleg Series: the moving 'Lord, Protect My Child'; the apocalyptic 'Foot of Pride'; the stunning, mystical 'Angelina'; and the joyous, unrestrained 'You Changed My Life.' Most significantly, he has continued to perform two of his finest gospel songs, 'I Believe in You' and 'In the Garden.' The latter begins: "When they came for Him in the garden, did they know He was the Son of God?" It ends: "When He rose from the dead, did they believe?" Has Bob Dylan left the Lord? www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/bc.cgi?bc/bccn/1297/... Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by RinkRatz - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - RinkRatz Rod Stewart - Biography 1982-2001 3x Tags: town   hall   faces   small   stewart   rod   watford   smiler   rinkratz    Stewart's career then went into a relative slump, and his albums between Tonight I'm Yours (1981) and Out of Order (1988) received harsh criticism from many critics. He only had four Top 10 singles between 1982 and 1988, "Young Turks" (#5,1982), "Some Guys Have All the Luck" (#10, 1984), "Infatuation" (#6, 1984) and "Love Touch" (#6, 1986), although "Baby Jane" became his sixth and final UK number one in 1983. It reached #14 in the US. The corresponding Camouflage album went gold in the UK, and the single "Infatuation" received considerable play on MTV. The second single "Some Guys Have All The Luck" reached #15 in the UK and #10 in the US. A reunion with Jeff Beck produced a successful take on Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready", but an attempt to tour together fell apart after a few dates. He reached UK number two in 1986 with "Every Beat Of My Heart". In January 1985, he performed at the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro before an estimated audience of over 100,000. His performance during a stormy night was described by Stewart himself as “winning the world soccer championship”. In 1988, he returned with Out Of Order, produced by Duran Duran's Andy Taylor and by Bernard Edwards of Chic. "Lost in You," "Forever Young", "Crazy About Her", and "My Heart Can't Tell You No" from that album were all top 15 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and mainstream rock charts, with the latter even reaching the Top Five. "Forever Young" was an unconscious revision of Bob Dylan's song of the same name; the artists reached an agreement about sharing royalties. The song reached #12 in the U.S.[citation needed] The name of the child in the video is Alex Zuckerman.[citation needed] In January 1989, Rod set out on the South American leg of the Out of Order Tour playing to sell-out audiences throughout Americas. In Corregidora Stadium, Queretaro, México 9 April, 80,000 people, Jalisco Stadium, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico April 12, 50,000 people saw Rod's performance. In Buenos Aires the River Plate Stadium, which seats 70,000+, was estimated to have had in attendance more than 90,000, with several thousand outside the stadium. Firehoses were sprayed on the crowd to avoid heat prostration. Stewart's version of the Tom Waits song "Downtown Train" went to number three on the US singles charts in 1990. This song was taken from a four-CD compilation set called Storyteller - The Complete Anthology: 1964–1990. The Vagabond Heart album continued his comeback with "Rhythm of My Heart" reaching the Top Five and "The Motown Song" reaching the Top 10. Also in 1990 he recorded "It Takes Two" with Tina Turner which reached number five on the UK charts. In 1991 Stewart contributed guest lead vocals to the song "My Town" by the Canadian band Glass Tiger. In 1993, he recorded "All For Love" with Sting and Bryan Adams for the soundtrack to the movie The Three Musketeers; the single reached number one on the US charts. Also in 1993, Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood to record an MTV Unplugged special that included "Handbags and Gladrags", "Cut Across Shorty", and four selections from Every Picture Tells A Story. The show also featured an acoustic version of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately" which topped the Billboard adult contemporary chart and went Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. A rendition of "Reason to Believe" also garnered considerable airplay. The resulting Unplugged...and Seated album reached number two on the Billboard 200 album charts. Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. On 31 December on the same year he played in front on 3.5 million people on Copacabana beach in Rio. By the early 1990s, Stewart had mostly abandoned creating his own material, saying that he was not a natural songwriter and that the tepid response to his recent efforts was not rewarding.[32] In 1995, Stewart released A Spanner in the Works containing a single written by Tom Petty "Leave Virginia Alone" which reached the Top 10 of the adult contemporary charts. The latter half of the 1990s was not so commercially successful with the 1996 album If We Fall in Love Tonight not making much of an impression on the charts. When We Were the New Boys, his final album on the Warner Bros. label released in 1998, contained versions of songs by Britpop acts such as Oasis and Primal Scream, and reached number two on the UK album charts. In 2000, Stewart decided to leave Warner Bros. and moved to Atlantic Records, another division of Warner Music Group. In 2001, he released his only album Human for Atlantic. Human only just reached the Top 50 in 2001 with the single "I Can't Deny It" going Top 40 in the UK and Top 20 in the adult contemporary. Stewart then signed to Clive Davis' new J Records label. The Story So Far: The Very Best Of Rod Stewart, a greatest hits album compiled from his time at Warner Bros., went to the Top 10 in the UK and reached number one in places like Belgium and France in 2001. # en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Stewart Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by RinkRatz - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - RinkRatz Small Faces with Rod Stewart Tags: town   hall   faces   small   stewart   rod   watford   smiler   rinkratz    "WHEN MY VOICE IS WORKING... IT'S THE FINEST DRUG IN THE WORLD" by Wayne Robins Newsday; Long Island, N.Y.; May 23, 1993 THE PENINSULA Hotel's presidential suite is not your standard overnight business accommodation, even for Fifth Avenue. There are three bedrooms, a library, two living rooms, a dining room, two half-bathrooms and three full baths, one with a Jacuzzi big enough for a swim party. Its 2,500 square feet span the entire block from 55th to 56th Streets. Butler, valet, and housekeepers (who discretely use the suite's service entrance) are always at the ready. All this is yours for $3,000 a night. Rod Stewart looks very much at home here. He has, for the past 20 years, been both a rock star and celebrity whose adventures have been chronicled as much by People as by Rolling Stone. Stewart has had his moments when he has been thought of as the finest interpretive singer of the rock generation, as well as one of its most important songwriters. At other times, he's been dismissed as a playboy more interested in chasing blondes than in his considerable musical gifts, and berated as an underachieving buffoon. "There was a time in the late 1970s, early '80s" a question to Stewart begins on a recent afternoon, and before the the sentence is completed, he is ready to cop a plea. "It was a really bad period," he said. "Though I actually enjoyed it, I must admit I enjoyed it. It's a period of my life I regret a bit, because I was reading all my own press and believing it. I thought I really was sexy." Of course, he is sexy, but he's a little more nonchalant about it. He speaks softly now. He wears a perfectly cut subdued suit, a white shirt with subtle pink embroidery: casual elegance personified. He wears eyeglasses that give an aura of maturity to a visage once renowned for its rakish leer. He is beyond all that, he says, but it has taken some work. He knows how easy it is for a reputation to sour. He'd had it all - critical acclaim and popular adoration - when he moved to Calfornia in the mid-1970s and happily, haplessly, nearly threw it all away. His low point as an artist may have been the two albums whose sins were defined by their titles: "Blondes Have More Fun" (1978) and "Foolish Behavior" (1980). "I got a lot of slagging off from rock critics, which I thought I fairly deserved," Stewart said. "I think Greil Marcus in Rolling Stone wrote: `Rod Stewart has got one of the finest instruments, rock and roll voices, of the 20th Century, and he's completely wasted it.' I read that and said, `God, he's so right.' " It took some time for Stewart, now 48, to turn the corner and give his gift the focus it deserves. But his 1991-92 tour showed him ably blending the crowd-pleasing showman side of his personality with the artistic. And perhaps in a way of getting back to his roots, he is releasing an "Unplugged" album (the concert has been on MTV this month). It's not precisely one of those solo acoustic "Unplugged" anti-extravaganzas. There are 11 musicians crowded on a tiny MTV soundstage. So while the arrangements are full, there's no room for Stewart to traipse around kicking soccer balls and shaking what many of his female fans consider the most desirable derriere in show business. Unplugging is not exactly a novel idea at this point, but it could be as rejuvenating for Stewart as it was for Eric Clapton. Though the mood is casual, the emphasis is on conveying the emotional nuances of Stewart's songs. It also draws heavily on material from what might be called Stewart's first golden era, that early 1970s period when he established his solo career with the majestic "Maggie May." At the same time he was touring and recording with the Faces, the endearingly sloppy road band on which his grainy, rasping voice was matched to perfect effect with the rambunctiousness of guitarist Ron Wood, bassist Ronnie Lane, keyboard player Ian MacLagan and drummer Kenney Jones. On the "Unplugged" versions of "Stay With Me," "Every Picture Tells A Story," "Reason To Believe," and others, Stewart and Wood reunite for the first time since the Faces' mid-'70s demise. "I knew if I was going to do those songs I had to get Woody involved somehow," Stewart said. "Not only did he play bass and guitar on those records, but his sheer presence brings out something in me." Five years ago Wood told this newspaper that he had the answer to Stewart's erratic recordings at that time. The problem, Wood said, was that Rod "stopped writing songs with his old pal here." Stewart laughs heartily. "I can't believe he said that!" Stewart said. "It might be true. Five years ago I was in a bit of a lull. He's one of those guys who you don't have to struggle to write songs with. He can strum anything, I can sing to it. It was the same way with Jeff {Beck}. He'd just plug in and play. They both inspire me." Stewart and Wood's musical relationship preceded the Faces, when they were the singer and bass player, respectively, for the Jeff Beck Group, the groundbreaking English rock band led by the visionary yet volatile guitar player. "It's only in hindsight that we realize how good we were, the Beck group, and what a landmark those first two albums were," Stewart said of "Truth" (1968) and "Beck-Ola," a year later. "Led Zeppelin based their whole band on the Jeff Beck Group. Jeff still hasn't forgiven Jimmy Page for it." It was as a member of the Beck group that Stewart laid one of the cornerstones of his legend. When the band made its first New York appearance, at the Fillmore East, a stagefright-stricken Stewart performed virtually the entire set with his back to the audience. In that way, for certain, you could say he's changed. "I'm still pretty shy with people that I don't know," Stewart said. "If I walk into a roomful of people, I'm not the most confident. But I am very confident when I go out in front of an audience and I have to sing my songs. There's a lot of anticipation, because you don't know what the outcome is gonna be, but that's really where I'm at my happiest, I would say. When I'm up there singing for people. When my voice is working, and it's working really well, it's the finest drug in the world." But Stewart doesn't sing every song with the same zest and enthusiasm. He still cherishes "Maggie May," his 1971 single that was his commercial breakthrough. This bittersweet tale about a young man's romance with and parting from an older woman was never meant to be a hit: It was the B-side of the single "Reason To Believe" until a Cleveland disc jockey flipped the record over and the phones went wild. "I'd still be digging graves if it wasn't for him," Stewart said, referring to a job he once held during his working class London youth. Stewart said he's got a mental block about "Maggie May": when he sings it in concert, he always gets the words wrong. "I haven't sung the correct set of lyrics since I recorded it," he said. "I do not know why. It's almost like you can sing any line, anywhere in the song and it works, because nothing really rhymes." Stewart would like to be able to forget all the words to "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy," his 1979 disco single, a No. 1 hit that sold millions but contributed mightily to his fall from critical esteem. "It puts me to sleep singing it," Stewart said. "It's every rock critic's nightmare, but they {the audience} just love that song." Stewart won't be doing the song on the "Unplugged" tour, which comes to Jones Beach Sept. 22 and 23 (a city date is also likely). On his next tour, probably in 1994, Stewart said, he may have to return "Sexy" to his repertoire. But, he said, "I wouldn't be worried if I never sang that song again. " It's not just the musical era represented by "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" that seems old hat to Stewart. It's the whole persona the song represented, the narcissistic skirt-chaser. "I was a bit obnoxious about it in those days. I reveled in it, thought I was God's gift to women." With a wink, he adds, "until they saw me in the morning, until they saw me in the nude, then they'd know it wasn't true." After a host of highly publicized relationships with world-renowned beauties like Britt Ekland, Alana Hamilton (his first wife), and Kelly Emberg, with dozens of lesser-known lookers before, during, and after, Stewart has settled down with New Zealand-born Rachel Hunter. Despite the fact that there are some superficial similarities to past liaisons - she's blonde, a model, and much younger than he (she is 23), Stewart's convinced that this marriage will have a long run. "I am still madly in love with her, and I will be the rest of my life," Stewart said. "It's difficult to sit here talking about my wife without sounding corny, but I do love her. It's hard to put it in a nutshell. I think because she's a New Zealander, and they're very close to the British, it's like we're soul brothers, not just husband and wife - it goes a lot deeper than that. Apart from her obvious attributes, she's extremely mature for twenty-three, and has a wonderful head on her shoulders. She's a tremendous mother. She's a lot of fun, but she does get tired quick. You'd think I was the one that goes to bed at ten o'clock, but she's the one. I wear her out completely." Stewart and Hunter live in Los Angeles and have a year-old daughter. Stewart also has three other children: a son, 12, and daughter 13, from his marriage to Hamilton, and a 6-year-old daughter from his relationship with Emberg. "I don't see too much of the six-year-old, because she lives all the way down in Manhattan Beach {Calif.} with her mother, but I'm in touch with her," Stewart said. His son lives with him, however, and he drives both his budding adolescents to school when he's home. "You never stop learning how to be a father," he said. "I'm far from a perfect father, if there is such a thing. You don't go to classes to be a father, do you? You can learn how to drive, or use a computer, but to be a father, it's just trial and error." There is, not surprisingly, a generation gap in the Stewart house over music. "My son loves rap music. I think he wishes he was black. He dresses like a gang member," Stewart said. "Well, I remember what my dad used to say when I listened to blokes like Jimmy Reed or Lightnin' Hopkins, he'd say, `They all bloody sound the same!' I'd say, `No they don't, Dad, the chords might, but listen to the lyrics.' I finally started listening to rap music, and to me, it really does sound the same. So it's funny, it's all come around in a complete circle." Stewart himself says he listens to everything from Sinatra to Guns N' Roses, but his daily diet is still rich in the American soul and blues music that first inspired him. On the table in front of him is a stack of tapes, virtually all '60s soul: Johnnie Taylor, Wilson Pickett, Rufus Thomas, Eddie Floyd. "I feel comfortable with it. I understand it," he said. Although Stewart learned to sing by first copying masters, like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, his impact is heard in current music by rock bands like the Black Crowes, who have been accused of cloning the Faces, and the immensely popular Michael Bolton, whose fans believe he has a way with '60s soul songs. "Fine voice," Stewart said of Bolton. "I just wish he'd hold back a little: It's all voice and no soul." As for the Black Crowes, his praise was modest but sincere. "I think they put their records together very, very nicely. They work out their guitar parts very well, which is something we didn't used to do in the Faces, because I think they're very close to the Faces, and I'm sure they admit it." With Wood recently in town recalling the good old Faces days, the group's songs revived on Stewart's "Unplugged" and their sound highly regarded, it's not surprising the singer sounds nostalgic about that band. "We were boozers, that's what we were," Stewart said with the fondness of a man who remembers an era, but not too many particular nights. "We used to drink a hell of an amount basically because we had no confidence in ourselves. We just didn't think we were very good. We came at a time when the music was being taken very seriously. You had Jethro Tull and Genesis, everybody with their heads down, and we came out with our satin suits and bottles of wine and played loud rock and roll music. As individuals, I don't think we were very good musicians. But together we were great." Obviously, others thought they were good enough musicians. After the Faces, Wood, of course, joined the Rolling Stones, while drummer Kenney Jones replaced the late Keith Moon in The Who. Though Stewart and Wood have talked about a Faces reunion (Ian MacLagan would certainly come back on keyboards), it's not really possible without Ronnie Lane, who has been seriously ill with multiple sclerosis for many years. Lane is currently in a treatment center in Austin, Texas; Stewart and Wood have been paying the hospital bills. "Ron Wood and I may have been the two glamor boys up front, but Ronnie Lane was the heart of the Faces," Stewart said. It's a testament to the durability of the Faces' unadorned, good-time rock and roll that Stewart strikes a sentimental note about what might have been. "Woody was always going to be a Rolling Stone, and I wanted to be on my own, but if Ronnie Lane had stayed, I bet we'd have all stayed together to this day. Our livers would have given out by now, we would have all been dead from it, but we would have stayed." It's easy to see why Stewart feels that way. After all the leggy blondes, fancy cars, and lavish homes, it's the music that keeps Rod real. # www.the-faces.com/rod/articles/19930523Newsweek.htm Recent Updated: 3 years ago - Created by RinkRatz - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - RinkRatz " We believe in you" Tags: ucmerced   firstladymichelleobamaatucmerceds2009commencement   ucmerced2009robingraduationmichelleobama    "We believe in you" on black First Lady Michelle Obama at UC Merced's 2009 Commencement Thank you. Thank you so much, Class of 2009. (Applause.) All I can say is wow, and good afternoon, everyone. I am so proud of these graduates. We have to just give them one big round of applause before I start. This is just an amazing day. (Applause.) I want to thank Dick for that lovely introduction. He makes for a good companion when you have to go to an inauguration. (Laughter.) So I'm glad he could be here with me today. I appreciate all that he has done to make this day so very special. I want to acknowledge a few other people before I begin: Congressman Jerry McNerney, Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, Attorney General Jerry Brown, and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass. I want to thank you all for your leadership and for being an example of what a life in public service can mean to us all. And of course I have to thank Chancellor Kang for this incredible welcome, and as well as President Yudof and Provost Keith Alley for all that they've done to help make this event just such a wonderful day for us all. And to the graduates and their families and the entire community of Merced, I am so pleased, so thrilled, so honored to be here with all of you today. (Applause.) Now, I know we've got a lot of national press out there, and a few people may be wondering why did I choose the University of California-Merced to deliver my first commencement speech as First Lady. (Applause.) Well, let me tell you something, the answer is simple: You inspired me, you touched me. (Applause.) You know, there are few things that are more rewarding than to watch young people recognize that they have the power to make their dreams come true. And you did just that. Your perseverance and creativity were on full display in your efforts to bring me here to Merced for this wonderful occasion. (Applause.) So let me tell you what you did. If you don't know, parents, because some of you were involved, my office received thousands of letters and, of course, Valentines cards from students; each and every one of them so filled with hope and enthusiasm. It moved not just me but my entire staff. They came up to me and said, "Michelle, you have to do this." (Laughter.) "You have to go here!" (Applause.) They were all terrific. Like the one from Christopher Casuga that read, "Dear Mrs. Obama -- Please come to UC Merced's Commencement. We could really use the publicity." (Laughter.) That really touched me. Or then there was one from Jim Greenwood who wrote not on his behalf but on behalf of his wife and the mother of his two children, who is graduating with us today. (Applause.) And then there was the one from Andrea Mercado. I think this was one of my favorites. Andrea said that the role of First Lady is -- and I quote -- "the balance between politics and sanity." (Laughter.) Thank you, Andrea, for that vote of confidence. (Laughter.) I received letters from everyone connected to this university -- not just students, but they came from parents, and grandparents, and cousins, and aunts, and uncles, and neighbors, and friends, all of them telling me about how hard you all have worked and how important this day is for you and for the entire Merced community. And then there's that beautiful video, the "We Believe" video. Well, let me tell you, it worked, because I'm here! (Applause.) And I want to thank in particular Sam Fong and Yaasha Sabba and all of the students who launched the "Dear Michelle" campaign. (Applause.) I am honored by your efforts and happy to be with you to celebrate this important milestone. But I understand that this type of community-based letter writing campaign isn't unique to me. This community, this Merced community, employed the same strategy to help get the University of California to build the new campus here in Merced. (Applause.) Every school kid in the entire county, I understand, sent a postcard to the UC Board of Regents in order to convince them to select Merced, and I just love the fact that some of the graduates sitting this audience today participating were involved in that campaign, as well, and then they used the same strategy to get me here. That is amazing. And what it demonstrates is the power of many voices coming together to make something wonderful happen. And I'm telling you, next year's graduation speaker better watch out, because Merced students know how to get what they want. (Laughter and applause.) This type of activism and optimism speaks volumes about the students here, the faculty, the staff, but also about the character and history of Merced -- a town built by laborers and immigrants from all over the world: early settlers who came here as pioneers and trailblazers in the late 1800s as part of the Gold Rush and built the churches and businesses and schools that exist; African Americans who escaped slavery and the racism of the South to work on the railways as truck drivers up and down Route 99; Mexican Americans who traveled north to find work on the farms and have since become the backbone of our agricultural industry -- (applause); Asian Americans who arrived in San Francisco and have slowly branched out to become a part of the community in the San Joaquin Valley. (Applause.) Merced's make-up may have changed over the years, but its values and character have not -- long, hot days filled with hard work by generations of men and women of all races who wanted an opportunity to build a better life for their children and their grandchildren; hardworking folks who believed that access to a good education would be their building blocks to a brighter future. You know, I grew up in one of those communities with similar values. Like Merced, the South Side of Chicago is a community where people struggled financially, but worked hard, looked out for each other and rallied around their children. My father was a blue-collar worker, as you all know. My mother stayed at home to raise me and my brother. We were the first to graduate from college in our immediate family. (Applause.) I know that many of you out here are also the first in your families to achieve that distinction, as well. (Applause.) And as you know, being the first is often a big responsibility, particularly in a community that, like many others around our country at the moment, is struggling to cope with record high unemployment and foreclosure rates; a community where families are a single paycheck or an emergency room visit away from homelessness. And with jobs scarce, many of you may be considering leaving town with your diploma in hand. And it wouldn't be unreasonable. For those of you who come from communities facing similar economic hardships, you may also be wondering how you'll build decent lives for yourselves if you choose to return to those communities. But I would encourage you to call upon the same hope and hard work that brought you to this day. Call upon that optimism and tenacity that built the University of California at Merced to invest in the future of Merced in your own home towns all across this country. By using what you have learned here, you can shorten the path perhaps for kids who may not see a path at all. And I was once one of those kids. Most of you were once one of those kids. I grew up just a few miles from the University of Chicago in my hometown. The university, like most institutions, was a major cultural, economic institution in my neighborhood. My mother even worked as a secretary there for several years. Yet that university never played a meaningful role in my academic development. The institution made no effort to reach out to me -- a bright and promising student in their midst -- and I had no reason to believe there was a place for me there. Therefore, when it came time for me to apply to college, I never for one second considered the university in my own backyard as a viable option. And as fate would have it, I ultimately went on and accepted a position in student affairs at the University of Chicago more than a decade later. What I found was that working within the institution gave me the opportunity to express my concerns about how little role the university plays in the life of its neighbors. I wanted desperately to be involved in helping to break down the barriers that existed between the campus and the community. And in less than a year, through that position, I worked with others to build the university's first Office of Community Service. And today, the office continues to provide students with opportunities to help reshape relationships between the university and its surrounding community. Students there today are volunteering in local elementary schools, serving as mentors at high schools, organizing neighborhood watches, and worshiping in local churches. But you know a little something about working with your community here, don't you, Merced? UC Merced, its faculty and its students seem to already have a handle on this need and it speaks once again to the character of this community. As I learned more about what you have done, I am so impressed with how the students, faculty and the community are collaborating to ensure that every child in this community understands there is a place for them at this big beautiful university if they study hard and stay out of trouble. For example, there is Kevin Mitchell, a professor in the School of Natural Science, who studies chaos, of all things. He's coordinating a program to bring physicists into local elementary and high schools to help open the eyes of students to the possibility of careers in science. Then there is Claudia Zepeda, a junior psychology major, who is mentoring students from her high school here. The first in her family to attend college, Claudia works with the Westside Initiative for Leaders, an organization that helps prepare disadvantaged students for college. And because of her help, 10 students from her high school will attend UC Merced this coming fall. That is amazing. (Applause.) And then there are local leaders like police officer, Nick Navarette -- (applause) -- who coordinates a program that brings about 60 UC Merced students to local elementary schools each week to mentor students from poorer neighborhoods. Nick then brings kids to campus regularly so that they can do something special; see what it's like to be on a college campus, and begin to dream. And then there is my friend and former law school professor, Charles Ogletree, a product of the Merced public schools. (Applause.) Now, he is an example of how you can bring your skills back. His ambitions took him far away from home, but he has never forgotten where he came from. Each year, with his help, Merced's high schools are able to hand out scholarships, not just for the best and the brightest students, but also for many students who are just stuck in poverty and simply need a hand up to compete. So the faculty, the students, local leaders, Merced alumni, everyone here is doing their part to help the children of Merced realize that access to a quality education is available to them as long as they work hard, study hard and apply themselves. It is this kind of commitment that we're going to need in this nation to put this country back on a path where every child expects to succeed and where every child has the tools that they need to achieve their dreams. That's what we're aiming for. (Applause.) And we're going to need all of you, graduates, this generation, we need you to lead the way. Now, let me tell you, careers focused on lifting up our communities -- whether it's helping transform troubled schools or creating after-school programs or training workers for green jobs -- these careers are not always obvious, but today they are necessary. Solutions to our nation's most challenging social problems are not going to come from Washington alone. Real innovation often starts with individuals who apply themselves to solve a problem right in their own community. That's where the best ideas come from. And some pretty incredible social innovations have been launched by young people all across this world. Teach for America in this country is a great example. It was created by Wendy Kopp as a part of her undergraduate senior thesis in 1989. And now, as a result of her work then, more than 6,200 corps members are teaching in our country's neediest communities, reaching approximately 400,000 students. And then there's Van Jones, who recently joined the Obama administration, a special adviser to the President on green jobs. Van started out as a grassroots organizer and became an advocate and a creator of "green collar" jobs -- jobs that are not only good for the environment, but also provide good wages and career advancement for both skilled and unskilled workers; jobs similar to the ones being created right here at UC Merced as this green campus continues to grow. And then one of my heroes, Geoffrey Canada, grew up in the South Bronx. After graduating from Bowdoin and getting his masters at Harvard, he returned to New York City and used his education to ensure that the next generation would have a chance at the same opportunity. Geoffrey's Harlem Children's Zone is a nationally recognized program that covers 100 blocks and reaches nearly 10,000 children with a variety of social services to ensure that all kids are prepared to get a good education. And in an effort to invest in and encourage the future Wendy Kopps, Van Joneses and Geoffrey Canadas, the Obama administration recently launched the Office of Social Innovation at the White House. The President has asked Congress to provide $50 million in seed capital to fund great ideas like the ones I just described. The Office is going to identify the most promising, results-oriented non-profit programs and expand their reach throughout the country. And this university is blessed with some of the leading researchers and academics who are focusing already their attention on solving some of our nation's most critical issues, like the energy crisis, global warming, climate change, and air pollution. And you, the students, the graduates and faculty on this campus, you're capable of changing the world, that's for sure. Where you are right now is no different from where Wendy and Van and Geoffrey were when they graduated, remember that. You too can have this same transformative effect on the community of Merced and our entire nation. We need your ideas, graduates. We need your resourcefulness. We need your inventiveness. And as the students who helped build this school, I ask you, make your legacy a lasting one. Dream big, think broadly about your life, and please make giving back to your community a part of that vision. Take the same hope and optimism, the hard work and tenacity that brought you to this point, and carry that with you for the rest of your life in whatever you choose to do. Each and every single day, some young person is out there changing the ways -- the world in ways both big and small. But let me tell you something, as you step out into that big, open world, and you start building your lives, the truth is that you will face tough times, you will certainly have doubts, let me tell you, because I know I did when I was your age. There will be days when you will worry about whether you're really up for the challenge. Maybe some of you already feel a little of that right now. Maybe you're wondering: Am I smart enough? Do I really belong? Can I live up to all those expectations that everyone has of me? And you will definitely have your share of setbacks. Count on it. Your best laid plans will be consumed by obstacles. Your excellent ideas will be peppered with flaws. You will be confronted with financial strains as your loans become due and salaries fall short of both expectations and expenses. You will make mistakes that will shatter your confidence. You will make compromises that will test your convictions. You will find that there is rarely a clear and direct path to any of your visions. And you will find that you'll have to readjust again and again and again. And there may be times when you wonder whether it's all worth it. And there may be moments when you just want to quit. But in those moments, those inevitable moments, I urge you to think about this day. Look around you. Look around you. There are thousands and thousands of hardworking people who have helped you get to this point, people who are celebrating with you today, who are praying for you every single day, and others who couldn't be here, for whatever reason. I want you to think of the people who sacrificed for you -- you know that -- family members who worked a third job to get you through, who took on the extra shifts to get you through, who put off doing something important for themselves to get you to this day. And think about the friends who never got the chance to go to college but were still invested in your success -- friends who talked you out of dropping out, friends who kept you out of trouble so that you could graduate on time, friends who forced you to study when you wanted to procrastinate. (Laughter.) Most importantly, though, think of the millions of kids living all over this world who will never come close to having the chance to stand in your shoes -- kids in New Orleans whose schools are still recovering from the ravages of Katrina; kids who will never go to school at all because they're forced to work in a sweat shop somewhere; kids in your very own communities who just can't get a break, who don't have anyone in their lives telling them that they're good enough and smart enough to do whatever they can imagine; kids who have lost the ability to dream. These kids are desperate to find someone or something to cling to. They are looking to you for some sign of hope. So, whenever you get ready to give up, think about all of these people and remember that you are blessed. Remember that you are blessed. Remember that in exchange for those blessings, you must give something back. (Applause.) You must reach back and pull someone up. You must bend down and let someone else stand on your shoulders so that they can see a brighter future. As advocate and activist Marian Wright Edelman says, "Service is the rent we pay for living...it is the true measure, the only measure of our success." So, graduates, when times get tough and fear sets in, think of those people who paved the way for you and those who are counting on you to pave the way for them. Never let setbacks or fear dictate the course of your life. Hold on to the possibility and push beyond the fear. Hold on to the hope that brought you here today, the hope of laborers and immigrants, settlers and slaves, whose blood and sweat built this community and made it possible for you to sit in these seats. There are a lot of people in your lives who know a little something about the power of hope. Don't we, parents and grandparents? (Applause.) Look, I know a little something about the power of hope. My husband knows a little something about the power of hope. (Applause.) You are the hope of Merced and of this nation. And be the realization of our dreams and the hope for the next generation. We believe in you. Thank you so much, and good luck. God bless you all. Recent Updated: 4 years ago - Created by sith120 - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - sith120 Dilettante Tags: books   unread   guilt   halfread    I spent most of my life thinking I would spend my entire life tearing through several books a week. Then last fall happened. I got busy, and I've stayed busy, and I've turned into that saddest of souls: a person with no time to read. I felt the loss as soon as it happened, and in my mind, at least, I quit buying books, knowing that any I brought home would go unread. So how then has this stack grown atop my dresser? Maybe they came from the same place that disappeared socks go? No, wait, in my house, disappeared socks go into my cat's fetish stash, so that can't be right... Recent Updated: 4 years ago - Created by Sapphireblue - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - Sapphireblue Ezra Pound and T S Eliot Tags: uk   england   art   kent   community   rochester   bobdylan   medway   teaser   lupencrook   benjones   reaction   ezrapound   regeneration   tseliot   phildillon   desolationrow   sweetfannyadams   thepaisleycravat   medwayeyes    Processing by Sweet Fanny. www.medwayeyes.co.uk/events www.myspace.com/lupencrook www.myspace.com/benjonesandthelovedays www.bobdylan.com/ They're selling postcards of the hanging They're painting the passports brown The beauty parlor is filled with sailors The circus is in town Here comes the blind commissioner They've got him in a trance One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker The other is in his pants And the riot squad they're restless They need somewhere to go As Lady and I look out tonight From Desolation Row Cinderella, she seems so easy "It takes one to know one," she smiles And puts her hands in her back pockets Bette Davis style And in comes Romeo, he's moaning "You Belong to Me I Believe" And someone says," You're in the wrong place, my friend You better leave" And the only sound that's left After the ambulances go Is Cinderella sweeping up On Desolation Row Now the moon is almost hidden The stars are beginning to hide The fortunetelling lady Has even taken all her things inside All except for Cain and Abel And the hunchback of Notre Dame Everybody is making love Or else expecting rain And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing He's getting ready for the show He's going to the carnival tonight On Desolation Row Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window For her I feel so afraid On her twenty-second birthday She already is an old maid To her, death is quite romantic She wears an iron vest Her profession's her religion Her sin is her lifelessness And though her eyes are fixed upon Noah's great rainbow She spends her time peeking Into Desolation Row Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood With his memories in a trunk Passed this way an hour ago With his friend, a jealous monk He looked so immaculately frightful As he bummed a cigarette Then he went off sniffing drainpipes And reciting the alphabet Now you would not think to look at him But he was famous long ago For playing the electric violin On Desolation Row Dr. Filth, he keeps his world Inside of a leather cup But all his sexless patients They're trying to blow it up Now his nurse, some local loser She's in charge of the cyanide hole And she also keeps the cards that read "Have Mercy on His Soul" They all play on penny whistles You can hear them blow If you lean your head out far enough From Desolation Row Across the street they've nailed the curtains They're getting ready for the feast The Phantom of the Opera A perfect image of a priest They're spoonfeeding Casanova To get him to feel more assured Then they'll kill him with self-confidence After poisoning him with words And the Phantom's shouting to skinny girls "Get Outa Here If You Don't Know Casanova is just being punished for going To Desolation Row" Now at midnight all the agents And the superhuman crew Come out and round up everyone That knows more than they do Then they bring them to the factory Where the heart-attack machine Is strapped across their shoulders And then the kerosene Is brought down from the castles By insurance men who go Check to see that nobody is escaping To Desolation Row Praise be to Nero's Neptune The Titanic sails at dawn And everybody's shouting "Which Side Are You On?" And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot Fighting in the captain's tower While calypso singers laugh at them And fishermen hold flowers Between the windows of the sea Where lovely mermaids flow And nobody has to think too much About Desolation Row Yes, I received your letter yesterday (About the time the door knob broke) When you asked how I was doing Was that some kind of joke? All these people that you mention Yes, I know them, they're quite lame I had to rearrange their faces And give them all another name Right now I can't read too good Don't send me no more letters no Not unless you mail them From Desolation Row Copyright ©1965; renewed 1993 Special Rider Music Recent Updated: 4 years ago - Created by Phil Dillon - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - Phil Dillon Great Falls Md Tags: greatfallsmd5d    [Canon 5D/Tamron 28-300VC, B+W MC UV filter, ISO1250 1/60s F8 109mm effective -0.5eV > dcraw 5D ICC H0W AHD 3-color +0.0eV > Gimp brightness +15contrast +18, usm 1.0-0.70-10] Again: there's no way that I'd get a shot this clean out of an A200 at ISO1600 or even ISO800, but if this is the kind of color that I get out of it at ISO200 or 400, I'd be ready to toss all my gear in for another D300. I give it a slight break as I know the 5D is at 17bits of CS at ISO1200 but that's better than my G9 at ISO100 or the A200 at ISO800. And this is "color-corrected"?!? Wow if this color is accurate then I will seriously have to rethink a few things. I can't believe that this is accurate. I can see the color-checker card itself being out of gamut for this camera. Wow, it's too bad that I won't have time to reshoot this for a few days. I suppose the color here is ok for a Canon (certainly it's ok for my G9) but after shooting a D300 for just a couple of months I'm completely-jaded. And the A200 does produce good color at low ISO, even if it's not quite as rich as the D300. But I won't truly "believe" in it until I reshoot some of these 5D shots and I'm happy with it. Man, the 5D is clean as shit compared to a subframe, at least anything short of a D90 maybe even a D5000 according to DxOMark, but the colors are just "not there". It was a bittersweet moment when I sold this camera because for sure I could tell the difference between it and a 10D, but still, the 10D was surprisingly, eye-openingly good in some ways. For one, when it actually focused right, the shots looked pretty-damm good out of it. And that camera cost me $300 fucking bucks, used from Adorama LOL I sold that 5D for an $800 loss on eBay, and I personally delivered it, and still got $1800 for it. Now it's would be worth less than $1K on eBay in good condition. And it's not even as clean or as fast as a D700 or 5DMk2, maybe not even an A850. Certainly it doesn't focus as well in low light as a D700. It's just a good, decent fullframe for all-around shooting, like a good tool. It'll get a good, clean shot for you but it won't be anything to write home about. With the 5D, Canon has succeeded at sucking all the joy out of photography. It will take shots handheld that you will never get with film but you will always wish that you had just gone ahead and shot film. It reminds me of the time the guy on Luminous Landscape was crowing about his brand new D3X, and he put up the shots from it next to some old 6x6" film shots and I just went "holy crap that looks like shit". I mean the D3X shots were just flat and dull next to his scans of the 6x6" film which were nice & rich with good tonality & contrast even on a webpage. The only thing the D3X had going for it was the fact that it could produce 24MP 35mm shots that he could see on-site. And then he talked for a few pages about how much easier it was to work with, and how many more shots that he could take, and all that, and I could hear him talking himself into it. Next time I looked at his site he had just bought a $20K MF digital back because he wanted richer colors and larger prints at higher resolution. And just like that he dumped that $8k D3X and his full set of expensive Nikon lenses. I don't think that it's a matter of resolution, it's obvious to me that you can have all the pixels that you want but if the whole image looks like crap because the color sucks, who would want to buy it? And like I said before, the one thing that stands out about the later cameras is that they may have higher pixel-counts and they may be cleaner for a given ISO, but the gamuts are getting smaller, they're doing more and more NR on the image-data in sneaky, insidious ways, and the measured-ISO is dropping relative to true ISO. And I doubt that the colors have *ever* looked realistic. I think that the pros have spent the past 10 years trying to convince themselves that the output of their expensive digital-gear looks good. Knowing that it looks like crap compared to film. Hoping that their customers are too old to care or too young to know better, but in any case too pressed for time to really complain. But poor color just sucks the enthusiasm right out of the idea. If you know the results are going to be "middling" at best, if you're lucky, before you even start, then why even start? If you're a professional photographer and I am one of your regular clients and I know that your images are going to be "blah" then why would I order work from you unless I absolutely had to have it and you were the only one available? So I think the D3X was a great "experiment" but I can see a lot of pros moving away from it in short order. It would give them prints that were too large and too high-resolution for them to avoid the obvious conclusion about digital photography relative to film. Just like shooting video with a 5DMk2 instead of with 35mm film. Meanwhile everyone is moving to the web and no one wants high-res images anymore anyway. Recent Updated: 4 years ago - Created by touristguy87 - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - touristguy87 Bryan Adams - The Song Writer • "The Right Place" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Taylor Hicks, 2006. • "Never Gonna Break My Faith" (Adams/Kennedy) performed by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige, 2006. • "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" (Adams/Lange/Kamen) performed by Il Divo, 2006 • "Wonderful" (Adams/Thornalley) performed by Mike Leon Grosch, Hansa/Sony BMG, 2006. • "No One" (Adams/Thornalley) performed by D-side, from Unbroken, 2006. • "What Does It Do To Your Heart" (Adams/Kennedy) performed by Shannon Noll, Mushroom Records, 2005. • "I Finally Found Someone" (Adams/Lange/Streisand/Hamlisch) performed by American Film Orchestra, "Unwind: Sixteen Easy Selections to Help You Relax", Intersound Records, 2005. • "Brothers Under The Sun" (Adams/Peters/Jablonsky) performed by Michael Martin Murphey, "Live At Billy Bob's Texas", Smith Music Group, 2004 • "Blessing In Disguise" (Adams/Peters) performed by Gretchen Peters, Halcyon, Curb Records, 2004. • "Inside Out"(Adams/Peters) performed by The Countdown Singers, "20 Country Favorites", Madacy Records 2004. • "Drive" (Adams/Thornalley) performed by Shannon Noll, That's What I'm Talking About, Mushroom Records, 2004. • "If You Believe" (Adams/Remanda) performed by Andrea Remanda, "Ella Enchanted" soundtrack, Hollywood Records, 2004. • "Keep Talkin' I'm Listening" (Adams/Thornalley) performed by Lulu, "Back On Track", Universal/Mercury, 2004. • "I Will Always Return" (Adams/Lange/Zimmer) performed by Alex Boye "Testimony", Spired Records, 2004. • "Rock Steady" (Adams/Peters) performed by Nanette Workman "Vanílla Blues Café", Bros Records, 2003. • "Do To You" (Adams/Lange) performed by Dirty Little Devils "Frenzy", Crazy Love (USA), 2003. • "Over My Head" (Adams/Pickell) performed by Sherrie Lea "Women & Songs 7", WEA International, 2003. • "Follow Me" (Adams/Steinberg), performed by Melanie C, "Northern Star", Virgin Records (Japan release only), 1999. • "Don't Give Up" (Adams/Bracegirdle/Hedges) performed by Chicane, Xtravaganza Records, 2002. • "Over My Head" (Adams/Pickell) performed by Robert Fleischman "World in Your Eyes", Frontier Records, 2002. • "Cure for Love" (Adams/Peters) performed by David Charvet "Leap of Faith", Mercury, 2002. • "I Finally Found Someone"(Adams/Lange/Hamlisch/Streisand) performed by Lorrie Morgan and Sammy Kershaw "I Finally Found Someone" 2001. • "Another Year Has Gone By" (Adams/Kennedy) performed by Keres Katia "Starry Night: Christmas Songs", Orchard Records, 2001. • "Inside Out" (Adams/Peters) performed by Trisha Yearwood and Don Henley, Inside Out, MCA Nashville, 2001. • "When You Love Someone" (Adams/Peters/Kamen) performed by Sweet Surrender "When You Love Someone", St. Clair Records, 2001. • "It's Only Love" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Starsound Orchestra "Plays the Hits Made Famous by Bryan Adams" Delta Records, 2001 • "Please Forgive Me" (Adams/Lange) performed by Gabriela "Gabriela", Universal, 2001. • "Somebody" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Starsound Orchestra "Plays the Hits Made Famous by Bryan Adams" Delta Records, 2001 • "When You Love Someone" (Adams/Peters/Kamen) performed by John Rich, 2000. • "Hey Elvis" (Adams/Peters) performed by Billy Ray Cyrus, "Southern Rain", Sony, 2000. • "I'll Always Be Right There" (Adams/Lange/Kamen) performed by Blair Joyce "Lucky Man", BJT Productions, 2000. • "The Way You Make Me Feel" (Adams/Thornalley), performed by Ronan Keating featuring Bryan Adams, Polydor, 2000. • "I'll Always Be Right There" (Adams/Lange/Kamen) performed by Trademark 1999. • "You're Still Beautiful To Me" (Adams/Lange) performed by Bryan White "How Lucky I Am", 1999. • "I Finally Found Someone" (Adams/Lange/Streisand/Hamlisch) performed by The Sounds Of Romance, "Intimate Moments", K-Tel Records, 1999. • "I'll Always Be Right There" (Adams/Lange/Kamen) performed by The Countdown Singers "Sound & Sensation: Angel Voices", Madacy Records, 1999. • "The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You" (Adams/Lange) performed by Lorrie Morgan, "My Heart", 1999. • "She Believes In Me" (Adams/Kennedy), performed by Joe Cocker, No Ordinary World, Capitol, 1999. • "I Finally Found Someone" (Adams/Lange/Streisand/Hamlisch) performed by The Countdown Singers, "Loves Greatest Hits", Madacy Entertainment, 1998. • "Another Year Has Gone By" (Adams/Kennedy), performed by Celine Dion, These Are Special Times, Columbia Records, 1998. • "Back To You" Adams/Kennedy performed by Solina, (Canadian Dance Record), 1998. • "Back To You" Adams/Kennedy performed by The Countdown Singers, "Hot Hits 1998", Power Hits, 1998. • "I Finally Found Someone" (Adams/Lange/Streisand/Hamlisch) performed by David Osborne, "My Heart Will Go On", North Star Records, 1998. • "In A Perfect World" (Adams/Peters) performed by Gretchen Peters, Souvenirs, Curb Records, 1998. • "When You Love Someone" (Adams/Peters/Kamen) performed by The London Westend Singers "Going to the Movies: The Best of '98", Excelsior Records 1998. • "Don't Count Me Out" (Adams/McColl/Wanstall) performed by Prism, "From The Vaults", Capitol, 1997. • "You Walked In" (Adams/Lange), performed by Lonestar, Crazy Nights, BNA Records, 1997. • "Please Forgive Me" (Adams/Lange) performed by Back to Basics ("Almighty Classics: Now & Then, Vol. 1") Almighty Records, 1997. • "Let's Talk About Love" (Adams/Goldman/Kennedy), performed by Celine Dion, Sony Records, 1997. • "Glitter" (Adams/Sixx/Humphrey) performed by Mötley Crüe, Generation Swine, Elektra Records, 1997. • "I Finally Found Someone"(Adams/Lange/Hamlisch/Streisand) performed by Paul De Leeuw and Simone Kleinsma "Brommerpech" 1997. • "I Finally Found Someone"(Adams/Lange/Hamlisch/Streisand) performed by Barbra Streisand and BA "The Mirror Has Two Faces" (soundtrack) 1996. • "What Would It Take" (Adams/Peters) performed by Anne Murray, Capitol, 1996. • "Rock Steady" (Adams/Peters) performed by Bonnie Raitt, Road Tested, Capitol, 1995. • "Rough Town" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Johnny Hallyday, PolyGram, 1995 • "Prove It" (Adams/Lange) performed by Stevie Vann, Stevie Vann, Silvertone Records, 1995. • "All For Love" performed by MC Mario, "Back To Basics", Quality Records, 1994. • "All For Love" performed by The Countdown Singers, "Movie Hits", Madacy Entertainment, 1994. • "Please Forgive Me" (Adams/Lange) performed by Woodford & Company "Very Best of the Nineties, Vol. 3", Triple D Records, 1994. • "Over My Head" (Adams/Pickell) performed by Sanne 'Live', 1993. • "When The Night Comes" (Adams/Vallance/Warren) performed by Sanne 'Live', 1993. • "Why Must We Wait Until Tonight" (Adams/Lange) performed by Tina Turner, "What's Love Got to Do with It" soundtrack, Capitol Records, 1993. • "Feels Like Forever" (Adams/Warren) performed by Joe Cocker, "Night Calls", Capitol Records, 1992. • "Nature of the Beast" (Adams/Vallance) performed by The Law, 'Laying Down the Law' 1991. • "The Best Was Yet to Come" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Laura Branigan "Very Best Of Laura Branigan", Atlantic Records, 1990. • "Drive All Night" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Dion, Arista Records, 1989. • "Good To Be Back" (Adams/Vallance/Harlow) performed by Prism "All The Best From Prism", 1988. • "When the Night Comes" (Adams/Vallance/Warren) performed by Joe Cocker, Capitol Records, 1988. • "No Way To Treat A Lady" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Elkie Brooks, "Bookbinder's Kid", 1988. • "No Way To Treat A Lady" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Elisabeth Andreasson "Älskar Älskar Inte", 1988. • "It Should Have Been Me" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Carly Simon, Arista Records, 1987. • "Hometown Hero" (Adams /Dean/Cherney/Rhodes) performed by Loverboy, "Wildside", Columbia Records, 1987. • "Back To Paradise" (Adams/Vallance/Benatar) performed by 38 Special, "Revenge of the Nerds II", 1987. • "Can't Wait All Night" (Adams/Vallance/Kagna) performed by Elkie Brooks, "We've Got Tonight", 1987. • "No Way To Treat A Lady" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Lousie Mandrell, "Dreamin", 1987 • "Let Me Down Easy" (Adams/Vallance), performed by Roger Daltrey, Under a Raging Moon, Atlantic Records, 1986. • "Rebel" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Roger Daltrey Under a Raging Moon, Atlantic Records, 1986. • "Open Soul Surgery" (Adams/Vallance/Knight) performed by April Wine, Walking Through Fire, Aquarius Records (1986). • "No Way to Treat a Lady" (Adams/Vallance), performed by Bonnie Raitt, Capitol, and Bonnie Tyler album Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire 1986. • "Another Heartache" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Rod Stewart, Warner Bros., 1986. • "Back Where You Started" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Tina Turner, Capitol, 1986. • "Tears Are Not Enough" (Adams /Vallance/Foster/Hyde/Paiment) performed by Northern Lights For Africa, Columbia Records, 1985. • "Dangerous" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Loverboy, "Lovin' Every Minute Of It", Columbia Records, 1985 • "It Should Have Been Me" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Neil Diamond, Columbia Records, 1985. • "Don't Mess With Me (aka Play To Win)" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Fast Forward, "Pumping Iron II", Island Records, 1985. • "It Won't Be You" (Rock/Hyde/Foster/Vallance/Adams) performed by the Payolas, "Where Is The Love", A&M Records, 1985. • "Draw The Line" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Ted Nugent, Penetrator, Atlantic, 1984. • "Edge of a Dream" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Joe Cocker, "Teachers" soundtrack, Capitol, 1983. Also performed by Helen Hoffner in 1993. • "Straight From The Heart" (Adams/Kagna) performed by Bonnie Tyler, album Faster Than the Speed of Night 1983. • "Teacher Teacher" (Adams/Vallance) performed by 38 Special, "Teachers" soundtrack, Capitol, 1983. • "Down On Your Knees" (Adams/Stanley/Japp) performed by KISS, Killers, Polydor, 1982. • "Rock and Roll Hell" (Adams/Vallance/Simmons) performed by KISS, Creatures of the Night, Polygram International, 1982. • "War Machine" (Adams/Vallance/Simmons) performed by KISS, Creatures of the Night, Polygram International, 1982. • "Tonight" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Randy Meisner "Dallas" 1982. • "Tonight" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Randy Meisner "Randy Meisner 1982" • "Jump" (Adams/Vallance/Loverboy) performed by Loverboy, "Get Lucky", Columbia Records, 1981. • "Never Get to Heaven" (Adams/Dal Bello) performed by Lisa Dal Bello, Drastic Measures, 1981. • "You Could Be Good for Me" (Adams/Dal Bello) performed by Lisa Dal Bello, "Drastic Measures", Capitol, 1981. • "Don't Let Him Know" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Prism, "Small Change", Capitol, 1981. • "Straight From The Heart" (Adams/Kagna) performed by Fast Forward "3wc" 1980 • "Cover Girl" (Adams/MItchell) performed by Prism, All the Best From Prism, Capitol, 1980. • "Take It Or Leave It" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Prism, "Armageddon", Capitol 1979. • "You Walked Away Again" (Adams) performed by Prism, "Armageddon" Capitol 1979. • "I'm Ready" (Adams/Vallance) performed by Ian Lloyd "Goose Bumps" 1979. • "Wastin' Time" (Adams) performed by Bachman-Turner-Overdrive "Rock'n'Roll Nights" 1978. Recent Updated: 5 years ago - Created by dungtrungvo - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - dungtrungvo Modest Mouse Isaac Brock is twenty-nine, charming, smart and successful. He drives a metallic-gray Volvo V70 wagon and lives with his "totally not insane" girlfriend, Katie, and their slightly neurotic eight-month-old mutt, Sloan, in a neat bungalow in a quiet, gentrified Portland, Oregon, neighborhood. He's got a live-in personal assistant, Richard, who runs Brock's errands by day and fetches beers for him by night. He's in negotiations for a lucrative music-publishing deal, and he and Katie are looking to buy a house. Good News for People Who Love Bad News, the latest album by Brock's band, Modest Mouse, has sold 687,000 copies -- more than all three previous Modest Mouse albums combined. And after eleven troubled years on the Pacific Northwest scene -- years scarred by drug abuse, injury, mental illness, alcoholism, occasional homelessness and death -- Modest Mouse have, improbably, become one of the summer's breakthrough bands. So why, on this starry, seventy-degree June night, does Brock give off the impression that it might all just disintegrate at any moment, that chaos is around the corner? "It's just the way things are -- they're good, they're fucked up, it is what it is," he says, elbows on the bar next to a fresh Pacifico and a shot of Patron at the Bonfire Lounge, a no-frills hangout near his house. It should be noted that we've been drinking since well before sundown, and that the sun will rise again in a little more than three hours. Brock, dressed in dark jeans, a red-checked short-sleeve Levi's shirt and blue Adidas, is built like a Tonka truck -- squat, solid -- and he moves like one, with weight and purpose. The liquor has put him in a carousing mood; he's swinging his arms, hammering the bar and talking loudly to anyone who will listen. Right now, despite the fact that he's leaving for a European tour in three days, Brock is pleading with the Bonfire's co-owner, Dimetri, that he needs a job. He first inquires about a position as "the drink drinker, steward of the alcohol" then moves on to chef. (Brock actually is an excellent, inventive cook, his girlfriend and others confirm.) "I could cook you your own dick and it would be so good you'd eat it," he shouts. "Yeah!" No reaction. "Oh, no, wait, that was not really a good sell," he says. "Kind of icky." Pause. "Could we get back to me being a good cook?" "What do you like cooking?" asks Dimetri. "What's in the fridge?" Things devolve from there, as does my ability to take notes. I mark down that Brock eventually switches from tequila to vodka ("Wrong decision," he admits later), and that his two companions -- Benjamin Weikel, who plays drums on the new Modest Mouse album, and Joe Plummer, the band's percussionist on loan from The Black Heart Procession, one of Brock's favorite bands -- disappear at some point. By that time, Brock has already made new friends at the bar. "How many political idealists does it take to screw in a light bulb?" he asks one of them. How many? "None. Political idealists can't change shit." Brock gives himself a big laugh for that one, and then the jokes get worse. In the middle of one that somehow involves his mustache, olives and "British ladies," he seems to realize that he's lost his audience -- and maybe his grip. So he improvises an ending: "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I invented bullshit!" he shouts, convincingly. Two guys at the bar halfheartedly clap. Brock takes a bow. "You're welcome, world," he says. "You're welcome." The bartender interrupts: "Dude, go home." Two years ago, when he began work on Good News, Brock was heavily depressed, with too much time on his hands. He was living in a small house owned by his stepfather in rural Cottage Grove, Oregon -- "the covered-bridge capital of Oregon" -- trying to make sense of the death of two friends: Chris Takino, the owner of Mouse's first label, Up Records, who died of leukemia, and a woman he prefers not to talk about. "They were both young," he says. "It wasn't drugs. It made no sense." One night he was working alone in the studio and things got out of hand. "I was drinking to the point that I wasn't all that handy," he says. "I don't know what I was fucking with, but the next morning I woke up and my thumb was broken, there was bent metal and shit all over the studio. I was in, like, an extra bed in the house, not my bed. I thought, 'This isn't good.' " The rest of the band -- drummer Jeremiah Green, bassist Eric Judy and guitar player Dann Gallucci -- were living in Seattle, so Brock suggested renting a house in Portland -- a midway point -- to work on the album. Green, also a heavy drinker and depressive, was suffering from what Brock calls "lazy psychiatry," taking large doses of anti-depressants that made him aggressive and paranoid. Brock had a difficult time playing guitar with his broken thumb, and tensions were mounting. Says Green, "Isaac and I were really fueling each other's fires, letting our bad selves go crazy." Judy and Gallucci tried to keep working, but they remember spending most of the time cooking and watching TV. "Pretty much all we did for the six months we were trying to write the record was play 'Dance Hall' " -- three minutes of obsessive pounding and chanting that eventually did make the album -- "for about two hours a day," Brock says. "And get really drunk." Out of desperation, with three songs semifinished, the band booked studio time near Seattle. The first day of recording, Green showed up late; the second, during the middle of recording a song, he ripped his shirt off, began screaming obscenities and quit the band. "I wasn't healthy in my head," Green says. "I was on overdrive, drinking, taking other things to try and calm down, and it turned into this thing where I was hallucinating and having paranoia about people, the whole world." Green landed briefly in a psychiatric hospital, and he has spent the last year putting his life back together. He recently rejoined the band for its summer tour. A few days after Green's breakdown, the rest of the band sat down to talk about the future. "We said, 'So, are we going to do this band, or what?' " Brock remembers. "I was depressed as fuck, myself, but there was a certain point where I had to decide. I had to start believing in" -- he lowers his voice -- "the power of positive thinking." He laughs. "Seriously. I figured out you could do it if you have to. So we agreed to continue, and I fuckin' quit drinking until halfway through the record." The band -- with Weikel on drums -- decamped to Oxford, Mississippi, to work with producer Dennis Herring, whom they had never met before but knew from his work with Camper Van Beethoven. "After things fell apart, we were like, 'Let's get away from the bad mojo,' " says Brock. They finished writing the album in about a month: "Once we made the decision, it was really easy." Good News for People Who Love Bad News is, like all Modest Mouse records, full of jittery guitars, angular rhythms and understated, disarming melodies. Good News is different, though. It's prettier and more focused; for the first time, the melodies aren't buried in noise and jagged shifts in tempo and melody. Brock's favorite themes -- drifting, drinking, suburban dystopia -- are all here, as well as an unusual number of songs that refer to death. But throughout the album, his sarcasm and bitterness have softened into a more optimistic worldview. In the radio hit "Float On," and several other songs, the message is simple: No matter how fucked up things get, hang on, life will work out in the end. Gallucci says he was surprised at first by "Float On." "It was the most positive Modest Mouse song I'd ever heard," he says. "I was a little thrown off, but I was really happy, too. We kind of needed it." He says that he's always paid close attention to the message in Brock's music -- it's often the only way he knows what's on Brock's mind. "The easiest way for Isaac to communicate about how he's feeling or about things that are important is through his music," Gallucci says. "And that's from being friends with him for a long time. I've often felt like I was getting more of a real answer from him through his lyrics than I would from talking to him." Brock pinpoints his change in attitude to a song he heard as Modest Mouse were bottoming out, called "Life Is Still Sweet," by the New York band White Hassle. "When I heard it, I thought, 'This is nice. This is actually an unsarcastically positive song.' I was like, 'Let's fuck this doom-and- gloom bullshit.' It was a really good thing to get reminded of, you know?" One night in El Paso, Texas, Brock got drunk and tattooed life is still sweet on his own forearm. He says, laying his arm on the bar to show the thick, shaky lines of black ink, "I made up my mind that things were going to be better." Brock grew up in Issaquah, Washington, seventeen miles east of Seattle. In his early teens, the house he shared with his mom and aunt flooded, and the family moved into a trailer with his mom's new husband, who was also Brock's uncle. (Brock's mother had left his dad for his dad's brother.) There wasn't any room for Isaac, so he stayed behind in the flooded house until he was eventually evicted. For a while, Brock lived in neighbors' basements, then in a shed next to his mother's trailer, where he began writing songs and playing guitar. "We were dirt-poor," he says. "People had to put boxes of food at my mom's front door so the family could eat. One of the reasons I moved around so much is because there was never really room for me at home." Brock went to school sporadically and worked several jobs to support himself and help out his family. At night, after getting off work at a Seattle theater, he'd go to local clubs to see bands such as the Screaming Trees and Nirvana. When Brock and Judy met during high school, the bassist remembers that "he was this funny excited kid -- he'd do anything, try anything." Gallucci adds, "He had tons of energy and was probably way more ambitious than anyone else, but also completely crazy in a funny way." In 1992, when he was sixteen, Brock dropped out of school, moved to D.C. and lived with his girlfriend. For the next several years, Brock moved around a lot -- back and forth from Issaquah, where he took a community-college course to get his high school diploma, back to D.C. and to New York's East Village to live with a girlfriend, before eventually landing in Seattle. He earned a living cleaning out meat trucks, posing as a nude model for art classes and taking part in medical experiments. In 1996, Modest Mouse released their debut, This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About, followed a year later by The Lonesome Crowded West, which remains one of the finest post-grunge Seattle rock albums. Brock had begun writing the next album, The Moon and Antarctica, when, in early 1999, a nineteen-year-old woman accused him of date rape and filed a report with the Seattle police. Formal charges were never made, but the local alternative press hounded Brock, and the insular Seattle rock scene turned against him and the band. For a while, Brock moved to Gainesville, Florida. Brock has always maintained his innocence. "The whole situation of he said/she said was not worth going into because you're just going to believe what you're going to believe," he says. "I would have turned against me, too. Up until the point that that happened, I just didn't believe people lied about [rape]. It was my sort of MO -- how I had been brought up." Brock's next stop was Chicago, to record The Moon and Antarctica. It didn't take long for trouble to find him. One night he left his apartment to have a smoke and walk the dog. Some kids were hanging out in the park across the street, and he walked up to say hi. Unprovoked, Brock says, one of them punched him in the face and broke his jaw. He's still numb on the right side of his mouth where a steel plate was inserted. The Moon and Antarctica sold moderately well, especially for a record that got little support from its label, Epic. Convinced Modest Mouse would soon be dropped, Brock recorded a side project, Ugly Casanova. But around that time, he got into a car accident and was arrested for drunken driving. According to Brock, a friend in the car dislocated her thumb in the accident, and Brock says the charge was elevated to attempted murder. A year later, he was stopped crossing the border from Canada after visiting Niagara Falls. "The attempted-murder charge came up, which looks pretty bad on paper, I admit," Brock says. He was jailed for six days in Niagara County, New York, and later served thirty days on a highway cleanup crew. Brock's friends have encouraged him to phone for a ride home from the bar tonight, but despite the fact that he's got no valid driver's license and only limited motor facilities left, he decides to navigate the short distance himself. (One reason Brock got the Volvo is safety, he says; the other is that he thinks it's an unlikely car to get stopped by the cops.) Back home, Brock is not ready for the night to end. A bottle of port appears, and we step out onto the porch, where he can smoke. Brock spends a lot of time on this porch; there's even a bottle opener mounted to the mailbox. He says that life's been tense at home lately, because Katie's not thrilled that he's leaving on tour for most of the summer. (Modest Mouse were booked on the canceled Lollapalooza; the band will headline its own U.S. tour starting July 16th instead.) "It's hard for some people to understand that I've been doing this since I was superyoung," he says. "This is what I do -- me and Dan and Eric, we're all lifers. That doesn't make sense to her. I try to say, 'I met you on tour, for Christ's sake; you knew this when you started dating me.' You know, this is how I move around, and if I don't do this, I've got to move to cities -- some people just have got to move." By 1 p.m. the next day, the wine and beer bottles are cleaned up, there are no cigarette butts on the porch, and the place is tidy and flooded with sunshine. Brian Eno is playing on Brock's PowerBook. Sloan hurt his foot, so Brock is carrying the fifty-pound shepherd mix around the house like a lap dog. Eventually, the two of them fall onto the couch together, beneath a wall that exhibits Brock's collection of framed, mounted butterflies. A little later we sit outside at Brock's favorite Cuban restaurant, drinking espresso and eating empanadas and beef-tongue stew. The place is urban rustic, with brightly painted tables, flowers growing along the sidewalk and young couples drinking beer in the sunshine, as if life is too short to spend a weekday afternoon at work. "My goal is to buy a three-story building," Brock says. "I'd use one floor as a studio. On the ground floor I'd have a junk shop and sell CDs -- but only about my thirty favorite CDs, not one of those make-everyone-happy places, everyone's buying up this new blah-di-blah-blah record. No, it'll be just my picks. Then on the other floor there will be a restaurant where there will be only two options: vegetarian or not. And about a six-person bar." I tell him that for a guy who admits to chronic restlessness, it sounds like he's planting roots. "Yeah, I think I could," he says. Then, as if by reflex, "I can also see myself moving away from here, too." Recent Updated: 9 years ago - Created by Life Is Still Sweet - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - Life Is Still Sweet DECONSTRUCTING ROY LICHTENSTEIN - BEFORE AND AFTER Tags: httpdavidbarsalouhomesteadcomlichtensteinprojecthtml    DECONSTRUCTING ROY LICHTENSTEIN BEFORE AND AFTER EDWARD D'ANCONA Limbering Up circa 1940's ROY LICHTENSTEIN Man Exercising 1961 It would seem that Lichtenstein was even less original than many of his existing detractors had thought. Although Lichtenstein had been using comic book imagery in his paintings since 1957, he did not do large canvases reproducing single comic strip panels featuring speech balloons until he painted Look Mickey in the summer of 1961 - four months after he had, by his own admission, seen Warhol's canvases. Warhol had been painting single comic strip panels featuring speech balloons since 1960 - a year earlier than Lichtenstein. It is possible that Lichtenstein, as Warhol suspected, had seen Warhol's paintings at Bonwit Teller, although Lichtenstein never mentioned it in interviews. In any case, Lichtenstein admitted having seen Warhol's cartoon paintings prior to doing his own single panel comic strip paintings featuring speech balloons (Look Mickey). www.warholstars.org/warhol1/11roylichtenstein.html Edward D'Ancona was a prolific pin-up artist who produced hundreds of enjoyable images, almost nothing is known about his background. He sometimes signed his paintings with the name "D'Amarie", but his real name appears on numerous calendar prints published from the mid 1930s through the mid 1950s, and perhaps as late as 1960. The first company to publish D'Ancona pin-ups, about 1935 to 1937, was Louis F. Dow in St Paul. D'Ancona worked in oil on canvas and his originals from that time usually measured about 30 x 22 inches. His early work is comparable in quality to that of the young Gil Elvgren, who had begun to work for Dow in 1937. Because D'Ancona produced so much work for Dow, one might assume that he was born in Minnesota and lived and worked in the St Paul, Minneapolis area. It is known that he supplied illustrations to the Goes Company in Cincinnati and to several soft-drink firms, which capitalized on his works similarity to the Sundblom/Elvgren style, which was so identified with Coca-Cola. During the 1940s and 1950s, D'Ancona's superb use of primary colors, masterful brushstrokes, and painterly style elevated him to the ranks of the very best artist in pin-up and glamour art. His subject matter at this time resembled Elvgren's. Both enjoyed painting nudes and both employed situation poses a great deal. D'Ancona also painted a fair amount of evening-gown scenes, as did Elvgren, Frahm, and Erbit. By 1960, D'Ancona had moved into the calendar art field. Instead of doing pin-ups and glamour images, however, he specialized in pictures on the theme of safety in which wholesorne policemen helped children across the street in suburban settings that came straight out of Norrnan Rockwell. Arlen Schumer These comparisons are absolutely ridiculous; SO WHAT if RL was inspired by those inconsequential pieces of commercial (found) art! RL recontextualized them into ART! When will all of you RL critics get your ostritch-like heads out of 1965 sand and wake up and smell the 21st century? Where you've all LOST that argument?!?!? Darryl Alexander Moore I LOVE Lichtenstein! As an art teacher, I just finished doing art assignments based on his works just last week. Arlen Schumer Darryl--invite me come to your class and do a Lichtenstein lecture! www.arlenschumer.com/visualectures Mike Hall I've never researched the matter enough to understand the Lichtenstein hatred. Yes, he appropriated some some comic book images...which he then re-purposed (with alterations!) into commentaries on an entire STYLE of pop art. What exactly is wrong with that? It's not much different than mixed media art which uses photos and found objects to say something entirely different than what was originally said by the photos and found objects! Arlen Schumer OY VEY, Mike, just scroll thru my own wall for past threads re: RL that expose the absolute virulence with which they hate RL; in fact, here's one of my own recent ri postes to their deadly combination of ignorance (they're still stuck in '65, with the same tired criticisms of tracing/stealing that you & i both thought were left behind) and arrogance (because they're comic book art fans, they think they know what they're talking about): "For the umpteenth time, if all you (and most other "comic fans" like you too, Fester?) think RL did was simply trace a comic book panel (and Mort, I'm surprised that you, an accomplished pro, would know there are worlds of difference between simply tracing an image vs. creating an entirely new work based on that reference, be it photo or illo), wake up and smell 2012--it ain't 1963 anymore, when middlebrow art critics said the same thing you're still harping on! RL proved them and you all wrong with the depth and breadth of his work over the years. If you invalidate RL, you invalidate ALL of Pop Art, not to mention the arts of sampling, appropriation and found art. Good luck with all that! Me, I will still be admiring RL's work as the great graphic designer he was, recontextualizing comic art and other commercial art into paintings that have stood the test of time--while your lame, stale canards and cavils are as dated and passe as they are pointless." Mike Hall It's ridiculous. Of course, these same people probably have NO IDEA how much fine art AND comic art rely on photo reference, or how widespread use of the camera obscura was in the arts before photography. As for RL, it takes a trained eye maybe 3 seconds to see the differences between what RL did and the panels he borrowed from; the differences are almost immediately apparent, and his intent is pretty clear. Arlen Schumer So then, Mike, explain why SO many professional (comic) artists--who, like I indicated in my previous post, SHOULD KNOW BETTER--are STILL wallowing in their own arrogant ignorance re: RL? Mike Hall Like I said, I have no idea. Lack of formal art education/reading on the subject? Hyper-sensitivity to the concept of sampling and how it can/should be used in art? Parroting sentiments expressed by others? It's a mystery to me. :) Arlen Schumer All of the above! Coby L Cyr wow...those two images look SO much alike! (sarcasm intended) He turned the idea into a beautiful piece. I do this a lot in my art work...I guess I'm a unimaginative wannabe illustrator also...wait...I do many more pieces that are original also, but I guess people will get stuck on reference pieces *sigh* Arlen Schumer Eggs Ackley, Coby! Rick Stromoski And James Frey was an excellent author! Arlen Schumer care to elaborate, rick? :) the 2 are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! Arlen Schumer Mike Hall, Rick Stromoski is EXACTLY the artist we've been discussing! :) Rick Stromoski And Shepard Fairey is an amazingly original poster artist! Arlen Schumer stick to the subject, rick! or CAN you? Rick Stromoski Sorry I prefer to wallow in my arrogant ignorance Arlen Schumer if the shoe fits, rick, wear it! David Edward Martin Lichenstein is a plagiarist. Period. If he had acknowledged the artists whose works he copied, it would not have been so bad. If he had given those artists a share of the millions he made copying their work, it would have been great. But in the end, he was just a plagiarist and a fraud. Coby L Cyr Hmmm, actually, if this following link is correct....that is pretty bad. I was commenting on the images posted in the original link here. This link I found IS pretty extreme and far beyond "referencing" =/ You have to agree a little bit on this Arlen... davidbarsalou.homestead.com/LICHTENSTEINPROJECT.html Robert Pincombe We've come far enough in this discussion for me to say only that the particular works for which Lichtenstein is most renowned are his least artistic works with little context from him and no imagination. Forget arguing plagiarism. All artists take from the world and arts around them. So I won't worry about the whole, who's panel is in this painting and just say, his brilliance was in selling his least interesting works as his greatest. Christ, the whole Lichtenstein debates of the last thirty years are the true artistic achievement. Just as Andy Warhol was his own greatest creation, so too is Lichtenstein himself his greatest piece of work. Coby L Cyr And that's why I come here...to get some education and insight into others views. Love it Pete Harrison Roy transformed clip art into something to be hung on a wall. Given the decade, it worked and was original & refreshing; the use of benday dots on canvas was pretty clever. HOWEVER, I do appreciate David's research that lets us all know the artist that originally did the artwork. Arlen Schumer shared a link. These comparisons are absolutely ridiculous; SO WHAT if Roy Lichtenstein was inspired by these inconsequential pieces of commercial (found) art! RL recontextualized them into ART! When will all of you RL critics get your ostritch-like heads...See More Deconstructing roy lichtenstein - before and after www.flickr.com DECONSTRUCTING ROY LICHTENSTEIN BEFORE AND AFTER EDWARD D'ANCONA Limbering Up circa 1940's ROY LICHTENSTEIN Man Exercising 1961 It would seem that Lichtenstein was even less original than many of his existing detractors had thought. Although Lichtenstein had been using comic book imagery in hi... Mark Staff Brandl and 6 others like this. Mike Hall I've never researched the matter enough to understand the Lichtenstein hatred. Yes, he appropriated some some comic book images...which he then re-purposed (with alterations!) into commentaries on an entire STYLE of pop art. What exactly is wrong with that? It's not much different than mixed media art which uses photos and found objects to say something entirely different than what was originally said by the photos and found objects! Arlen Schumer OY VEY, Mike, just scroll thru my own wall for past threads re: RL that expose the absolute virulence with which they hate RL; in fact, here's one of my own recent ripostes to their deadly combination of ignorance (they're still stuck in '65, with the same tired criticisms of tracing/stealing that you & i both thought were left behind) and arrogance (because they're comic book art fans, they think they know what they're talking about): "For the umpteenth time, if all you (and most other "comic fans" like you too, Fester?) think RL did was simply trace a comic book panel (and Mort, I'm surprised that you, an accomplished pro, would know there are worlds of difference between simply tracing an image vs. creating an entirely new work based on that reference, be it photo or illo), wake up and smell 2012--it ain't 1963 anymore, when middlebrow art critics said the same thing you're still harping on! RL proved them and you all wrong with the depth and breadth of his work over the years. If you invalidate RL, you invalidate ALL of Pop Art, not to mention the arts of sampling, appropriation and found art. Good luck with all that! Me, I will still be admiring RL's work as the great graphic designer he was, recontextualizing comic art and other commercial art into paintings that have stood the test of time--while your lame, stale canards and cavils are as dated and passe as they are pointless." Mike Hall It's ridiculous. Of course, these same people probably have NO IDEA how much fine art AND comic art rely on photo reference, or how widespread use of the camera obscura was in the arts before photography. As for RL, it takes a trained eye maybe 3 seconds to see the differences between what RL did and the panels he borrowed from; the differences are almost immediately apparent, and his intent is pretty clear. Shelly Crowley Good Morning Arlen you wicked Man! :) Arlen Schumer Sorry you're so "hurt," Rick--when 1. I started this friggin' thread; 2. I started out being GENERAL in my criticisms of RL haters; and 3. you joined the thread voluntarily and posted your predictable RL attacks--so what, i don't have the "right" to spar with you verbally (especially someone I've known over the years and spent many dinners together with)? And then you complain that you're being "personally insulted"? Jeez, Rick, how thin IS your skin? Arlen Schumer Can't take the "heat" of debate, then don't come in the kitchen, rick! Arlen Schumer Hey shelly--you've come right in the middle of some anti-sensitivity counseling! :) Shelly Crowley I see that .....Still Love you my Witty Friend! Arlen Schumer Wow, rick, for someone who works in "funny" comics, you certainly have NO sense of humor! What the hell do I have to do, put a smiley-face icon after phrases like "turn in your artist badge" and "Captain Facetious"?!?!? And every other quote of mine you've pulled to justify your "hurt" feelings? Grown the eff up, man! Arlen Schumer Shelly--at least SOMEONE gets my "wittiness"!!! Where have you been all my life? Arlen Schumer And Rick, calling your argument "facetious" is a "personal attack" in your eyes? wow...rick, I called your ARGUMENT facetious, not YOU! Man, you're something! Shelly Crowley Hiding in a tiny cabin deep in a forest ...Snicker* Steve Elworth Are people going to start attacking Andy Warhol next? RL attacks have gone from arracking him from taking comics too seriously to ripping off these great artists pf comics? Enough!!! Rick Stromoski And Rick, calling your argument "facetious" is a "personal attack" in your eyes? Not so much a personal attack ...more like dismissive. If you;re going to declare something facetious you need to explain why. Otherwise it's arguing by fiat/ Arlen Schumer Now I ned to explain to you what the word facetious means in regards to how & why I used it? Well, gee, Rick, you attempted to "dismiss" RL's work by choosing a Mondrian and then creating an exact duplicate of it, only with the colors slightly changed; the dictionary def of "facetious" is: "treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant." Sorry, but if you couldn't figure that out for yourself, that's your problem--it's not my "job" to explain every step of a debate/discussion/argument to you--it's YOUR job to figure that out. Fester Faceplant I'm going to copy all of Bruce Springsteen's songs , just re-record them slightly, and call them my own. I'll make millions of dollars and people will call me brilliant and an artist! Arlen Schumer Fester, do I need to explain" facetious" to you as well? Fester Faceplant Of course not, Arlen. My vocabulary is quite impeccable. My point is that by your own standards of what "art" is, anyone can copy anything else and call it their own. The truth is that RL never had an original thought in his brain...he was a hack who and a thief.Nothing anyone can say will ever be able to justify his blatant rip-offs. Arlen Schumer Fester, guess you (and Rick) didn't really read my opening thread post: "When will all of you RL critics get your ostritch-like heads out of 1965 sand and wake up and smell the 21st century? Where you've all LOST your Lichtenstein-is-not-an-artist argument?!?!?" Fester Faceplant I read it. In fact I read it yesterday. RL may have been an "artist"....but he was certainly a thief. Arlen Schumer And therefore so was Duchamp, who created the idea of "found art" and called them "ready mades," because CONTEXT is everything, which you & Rick et al still don't grasp. And you invalidate Andy Warhol's entire body of work, and jeez, he's only considered the most influential artist of the 2nd half of the 20th century (after Picasso being the 1st half's). And you invalidate the entire genres of sampling and artistic appropriation. Other than that, Fester, how's the air down there under the sand? Give Rick Stromoski my best! David Chelsea Fester's idea doesn't sound that different from bob dylan's self portrait or linda ronstadt's what's new, or Joe jackson's jumping jive. Lichtenstein was a cover artist. Sean Moylan Arlen, in general, many people either do not understand or do not accept the basic concepts behind Pop Art. The more you try to explain it to them the more confused or annoyed they'll become. Sometimes, you have to pick your battles and just let people like what they like. Arlen Schumer Eggs Ackly, Sean! My problem is, I never initiate these defenses of RL; as you can see from this opening thread, my gander gets up when I read OTHERS' attempted dismissals of RL, and I just can't resist doling out some artistic reprimands! :) Rick Stromoski Perhaps if I type slowly you'll understand my point Arlen... I do know the definition of facetious. What I was asking you was for you to to explain how my comparing RL's direct lifting of existing imagery, altering it and then calling it his own is any different than what I demonstrated with the Mondrian. Just declaring such a comparison as "facetious" and leaving it at that isn't an argument that bolsters you opinion in any way. Those who think RL is a thief and plagerist at least give reasons why we think so. Rick Stromoski And you invalidate Andy Warhol's entire body of work, and jeez, he's only considered the most influential artist of the 2nd half of the 20th century There's a huge difference between Duchamp and Warhols work with found objects and RL's out right lifting of other artists imagery. Rick Stromoski Fester's idea doesn't sound that different from bob dylan's self portrait or linda ronstadt's what's new, or Joe jackson's jumping jive. Lichtenstein was a cover artist. The difference being that these artist paid royalties to the original creators of those works. RL couldn't be bothered with that. Rick Stromoski Arlen, in general, many people either do not understand or do not accept the basic concepts behind Pop Art. Bullshit...one can appreciate pop art without appreciating RL. Talk about sweeping generalities Arlen Schumer Jeez, Rick, you gonna give me a chance to respond to your first post in this last bunch? The facts are, i did NOT just declare your Mondrian straw man "facetious" (or do I have to explain "straw man" to you too?) and "leave it at that"; I went ON to say: "why don't you actually examine David Barsalou's great "Deconstructing RL" site--which (inadvertabntly?) makes a case for RL as a totally legitimate artist of recontextualization (i.e., "Pop Art")--and see how much RL, like the great graphic designer he was, altered/changed/redrew/rescaled/reinterpreted his well of commercial imagery (i.e., makes "art" out of it), versus your reductive, reactionary dismissal of "...he just lifted existing work and barely altered it in any way." To which, of course, YOU did ZNZOT respond to--instead you gave me YOUR "facetious" retort: "There are an infinite number of ways one can describe or "interpret" the excrement that descends out the south end of a steer....but no matter how you pretty it up, it's still bullshit." Arlen Schumer And lastly, Rick, I love how you qualify your RL dismissals with wishy-washy phrases like, "...he just lifted existing work and barely altered it in any way." The vague adjective "barely" goes unexplained. To you and your fellow ostriches, all RL does is trace comic panels "directly" (another one of your fallacies) and "blow them up and paint them in oils." To which, AGAIN I answered without a proper, non-facetious response, "If you think that RL's paintings are DIRECT copies of their source reference as your facetious Mondrian/RL comparison, then you have either, a. not really looked at Barsalou's before/after comparisons, or b. have your anti-RL blinders on. Either way, turn in your artist badge, rick!" I stand by that response, and your lack of one as well. Arlen Schumer OK, not "lastly"--because I really love this whopper of yours: "...one can appreciate pop art without appreciating RL." I would really love for you to take the time to "appreciate" another Pop Artist--why not start with the greatest, warhol?--and watch how you dig your ostrich hole deeper, as every "appreciation" of Warhol will be de facto appreciations of RL too, as if you can just insert RL's name every time you use Warhol's. Good luck! Rick Stromoski So if I actually "painted the lines I borrowed from Mondrians work, made them a tad thinner let's say and THEN flipped it and changed the colors, THEN it would be genius and historically cutting edge? If anything the link bolsters mine and other RL critics argument that he was an unoriginal plagiarist. this quote is quite telling from your article you linked to SO WHAT if RL was inspired by those inconsequential pieces of commercial (found) art! RL recontextualized them into ART! When will all of you RL critics get your ostritch-like heads out of 1965 sand and wake up and smell the 21st century? Where you've all LOST that argument?!?!? Inconsequential pieces of commercial ( found) art by inconsequential artists like Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, Milton Caniff, John Romita, Bud Sagendorf and William Overgard? Fuck off Arlen Schumer "Fuck off," Rick? You've resorted/reduced to swearing now? Ooh, am I supposed to now run away in tears with the same "personal attack" whining of yours that you attempted to do when i dared to declare your Mondrian straw man "facetious"? The fact that I wasn't even referring to those great comic artists--who are STILL great, as is RL himself, despite appropriating their, indeed, naive "commercial" art (thought of as such in those great artists' own opinions, btw)--in my opening thread post exposes you as not only ignoring each and every one of my specfic responses, but your pithy "fuck off," in print, to a friend in real life, makes you just a crybaby whose ego can't stand losing an argument. David Chelsea I'm with Arlen here, and I'll try not to swear. One doesn't have to say Bobby Freeman was a hack to say Bette Midler was an artist, or vice-versa. And it's not a moral issue. FW Murnau's Nosferatu blatantly ripped off Bram Stoker's Dracula, (without paying royalties) but film historians definitely consider Murnau an artist. David Edward Martin Gheez, is this still going on? Film historians consider Murnau both an artists AND someone who ripped off Stoker. Art critics/historians need to show similar honesty and admit both Lichenstein and Warhol ripped off other's works while they are praising these people. Rick Stromoski You've resorted/reduced to swearing now? I've said fuck off the the sentiment that the works of those artists were incosequential, which goes to the heart of RL's work...that comic artists are to be mocked ...now who's being sensitive? I've said fuck off the the sentiment that the works of those artists were incosequential, which goes to the heart of RL's work...that comic artists are to be mocked ...now who's being sensitive? And I don't concede that I've "lost" any arument...in such discussions there aren't any clear" winners" You think that RL's work is brilliant. You side with gallery owners and the synchphantic art community that RL was a major pop artist... which is your perogative I side with a very large group of people who make their living at creating art that feels RL was a plageristic hack in the vein of Shepard Fairey and Rob Granito, who stumbled upon a career that encompassed ripping off other people's work at the same time demeaning what they do. Mike Peterson I think Barnum did a great job of recontextualizing General Tom Thumb, Chang and Eng and the Feejee Mermaid. He was a true artist ... of the bunco variety. Arlen Schumer Rick, you wrote, "I've said fuck off the the sentiment that the works of those artists were inconsequential..." even tho I've already pointed out that you didn't even read my opening thread post which indicates I was talking about the anonymous (at the time) commercial artist whose work i felt bore zero relation to RL's. So your overheated "fuck off" was misplaced to begin with. But please, Rick, don't let the facts get in the way of your emotions! Arlen Schumer And then you go on to justify your "fuck off" with this: "...which goes to the heart of RL's work...that comic artists are to be mocked." Well, only by you and your fellow ostriches. The rest of us with our heads above ground in the real world of comics AND art don't see it your absurdo reducto way. The dictionary definition (on my Apple desktop) of Pop Art is "art based on modern popular culture and the mass media, esp. as a critical or ironic comment on traditional fine art values." If you can read THAT as RL "mocking" the works of Abruzzo/Kubert/Romita/Novick et al, and not making "critical or ironic comment" on the original usage and "meaning" of those works--i.e., recontextualizing --i.e., Pop Art itself: making fine art out of commercial art--then Rick, as some comedian once said, you can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think! Andrew Farago My biggest issue with Lichtenstein comes up in your initial post, which talks about his comic book reference as "found art." Drawing inspiration from other artists is fine; lifting their compositions, dialogue, and palettes and just treating their works as raw materials for your own paintings just doesn't sit right with me. It's not Lichtenstein's fault that his work caught on, and I give him credit for moving on to other variations on the pop art/ben-day thing, but it will always stick in my crawl that artists like Russ Heath whose compositions have sold for literally millions of dollars are living on fixed incomes and probably never got so much as a postcard from Lichtenstein. Arlen Schumer Andrew, I also heard the bridges that Monet painted fell into disrepair and were torn down, while Monet's paintings of them made millions. And the western landscapes that Ansel Adams "stole" for his photographs don't get a fraction of the money for their upkeep that Adams' estate still makes off his photos. And let's see, what other totally "facetious" comparison can i make because a series should be three exampless? Oh, yeah, Warhol's Cambell soup paintings actually have made more money over time than the Campbells' company itself has made in its entire history, and Campbells is suing the Warhol Foundation for reparations! Arlen Schumer And as to the question of whether or not RL was morally/ethically/legally obligated to pay those comic artists fees to artistically appropriate their works, like recording artists have to pay for their samplings, has nothing and everything to do with said works' critical merits as Pop Art, i.e. commercial art transformed into fine art, which was the point of my opening thread in the first place, that has been reduced to the same tired, passe canards and cavils hurled by "artists" who can't tell the difference, it seems, between a literal tracing and the graphic-designed transformation going on in each and every Lichtenstein. i guess they don't actually visit David Barsalou's Deconstructing Lichtenstein site! Arlen Schumer And Rick, try directing your misplaced "fuck off" anger not at Lichtenstein (or me), but at the comic book companies themselves for not taking better financial care of their own, who sweated blood and tears for them. Why don't you write an open letter to DC and Marvel, for example, and tell them THEY should "fuck off" for not taking care of guys like Russ Heath that Andrew mentioned, since it obviously upsets you so much? I DARE YOU, Mr. Tough Guy! Norman Felchle Here's a link a friend of mine put up. I think it sheds a little light on both sides of this argument. Though.....I still come down more on Rick's side (I know Arlen....you had hopes for me...) 15 hours ago · Like Norman Felchle superitch.com/?p=36 Super I.T.C.H » Blog Archive » Mort Pop Art Productions superitch.com Mort Walker, of Beetle Bailey fame, just sent me this photo of a YOUNG Pop Artis...See More Arlen Schumer And lastly, Rick (i hope!), you said that I "...side with gallery owners and the synchphantic (sic) art community that RL was a major pop artist." Calling me a sycophant? I guess only someone who doesn't know me on a personal level, who's never spent time with me on numerous social occassions over the years would call me that, or say "fuck off" to in print. I guess I must have you confused with a different rick stromoski! Andrew Farago Do bridges or soup cans have to worry about medical expenses or not having a 401(k) to fall back on in their old age? That's not really a direct comparison. Lichtenstein was a struggling artist who made good (and that's an understatement), and I've never read anything indicating that he gave a second thought to the artists who supplied him with the "found objects" that made his fortune. (Mort Walker's story about Lichtenstein meeting strip cartoonists is all well and good, but those weren't the guys whose works he'd copied, so they didn't have much reason to be upset.) Norman Felchle Personally, the Mort Walker story makes me wince. Lichtenstein may have been a genial guy and likeable....but how much can be excused by "he's just making a living, like us" I think it's interesting he didn't defend his work using any of Arlen's arguments. Was he being disingenuous here...or later? I'm tempted to believe this story. He may have been clever enough to find/sell a deeper concept behind the work....and it may have even become true in time. But he was just a guy like other guys. He had strong points...and weaknesses. Andrew Farago M.C. Hammer sold hundreds of thousands of records in the early 1990s on the strength of sampling Rick James's song Superfreak, but he didn't give him proper credit, got sued, and lost millions of dollars in the process. The Verve used an obscure symphonic version of The Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil in their massive hit Bittersweet Symphony, but they didn't give proper credit, got sued, and basically lost all their earnings for that album. I guess the fact that publishers didn't see this as copyright infringement and didn't pursue any claims against Lichtenstein puts him legally in the clear, and the artists whose works he referenced didn't go after him either...but I can't get over the fact that he, an artist himself, didn't treat the comic books he copied as anything other than found objects. Cutting checks to Russ Heath, William Overgard, John Romita, et al. would've gone a long way toward getting rid of the animosity that cartoonists have toward him and his work today. Norman Felchle Yeah...artists have to trade in what we've got. Our ideas and our work. When someone takes it , it hurts. It feels like cheating. It smacks of dishonesty. I feel the same way when I see James Cameron take Roger Dean's work and make a bazillion dollars with Avatar. I hope he quietly gave him a little something ....but, I doubt it. Norman Felchle I'll also admit we all look at other artists and get inspired....or maybe even cross the line into swiping. It's not like Lichtenstein was a lone villian in a world of pure creative souls.....but still, fair's fair.....isn't it? David Chelsea We live in a more litigious age than Lichtenstein did. If Lichtenstein tried to build a career today from reworked comics panels he'd be hearing from Russ Heath or Jack Kirby's lawyers, if Shepard Fairey's experience is any guide. Norman Felchle David....I'm afraid he'd have been hearing from Marvel/Disney's lawyers. I doubt Kirby would've seen a thing from it. Arlen Schumer Hey Rick (and Robert P, if you weren't joking)--if you think you're above me...b'low me! Arlen Schumer And Rick, try directing your misplaced "fuck off" anger not at Lichtenstein (or me), but at the comic book companies themselves for not taking better financial care of their own, who sweated blood and tears for them. Why don't you write an open letter to DC and Marvel, for example, and tell them THEY should "fuck off" for not taking care of guys like Russ Heath that Andrew mentioned, since it obviously upsets you so much? I DARE YOU, Mr. Tough Guy! Arlen Schumer Rick Stromoski=Paper Tiger! Pete Harrison Roy transformed clip art into something to be hung on a wall. Given the decade, it worked and was original & refreshing; the use of benday dots on canvas was pretty clever. HOWEVER, I do appreciate David's research that lets us all know the artist that originally did the artwork. Bitt Faulk Arlen: Pop art was about using pop culture iconography in high art. There is seldom anything iconographic about the images that RL stole (with some notable exceptions). They are quite clearly incompetent reproductions. Had RL decided that the iconographic element of comics was the outline/contour-line style, the flat shading, the word balloons, and the technical printing artifacts like halftoning, he could have made some really interesting "ART", putting those elements in the context of high art. Reproducing classic art pieces in that style, for example, while not exactly a mind-boggling premise, would have shown us that he at least had the idea that there were *ideas* worth exploring. As it is, though, all he did was reproduce existing images while often destroying many of the iconographic details that are supposed to be the hallmark of pop art, like mutilating the calligraphy to the point where it's no longer recognizable as comics lettering, removing differences in line thickness, etc. Tom Orzechowski Bravo~! Bitt Faulk Thanks, Tom. Despite my distaste for Claremont X-Men, I've always considered you to be in the ranks of the comics world's best letterers. Thanks for all your hard work. Arlen Schumer Bitt, I thought the crux of your well-reasoned anti-RL post came down to your conclusion: "...his point was 'look how bad this low art is,' when it was RL himself who made it low." I think there's a lot of truth there, but in the end, it becomes subjective once again, only if you think RL's "incompetent reproductions" are indeed "incompetent"-looking! If one looks at an RL and thinks it looks like "low"/"bad") they'll agree with your dismissive assessment of RL; but, if they're like me, who looks at an RL and sees his graphically-designed recontextualizations of his found commercial art beautiful in their RL-ness, then they'll agree with my assessment of RL as the purest of Pop Artists. Because i find much of the "commercial art" RL used as subject matter as "ugly" as you find RL's works, and RL transformed them into works of art in my book--and that includes a lot of the comic book panels he used as well. Bitt Faulk Art is certainly always subjective, but, while I can understand the fondness people feel towards some things that I personally find uncompelling, there really is *nothing* positive I can see in RL's work. I'm not saying that I don't believe that you feel that way, but I certainly feel that — well — you're wrong. Arlen Schumer Funny how you can begin your post with a "certainty" that art is subjective--and then, after assuring me you "believe" that I know what I am "feeling," out of the other side of your mouth at the end of the post, you tell me I (and the larger art world that agrees with me) am "wrong"? Bitt Faulk I said I *feel* you're wrong. Arlen Schumer No, Bitt--you said you "believe" I know what I'm "feeling" about RL--thanx for that condescension too! Bitt Faulk All I meant is that I didn't think you were playing devil's advocate: that you really do have a fondness for RL. All I'm saying is (and I admit that this is a frequent cop-out) "I don't get it," and that I fail to understand what it is that you're seeing that makes you like what he's done. Arlen Schumer That's what you're saying NOW--a subjective "I don't get it" (which has been said about how many great artists, bitt? Let's see, off the top o' my head, Van Gogh, Duchamps, Warhol, etc?), versus what I called you out on, which was telling me i was "wro...See More Bitt Faulk (On a different note, about the bodybuilder RL sketch above, it would have been nice if the medical world would have taken notice of his prescient warning about thalidomide babies.) Bitt Faulk Wow, you're really taking this personally. I'm not intending to be condescending or antagonistic to you. (RL: yes; you: no.) I believe RL is a plagiarist and produced crap. You don't. That's fine. Never the twain shall meet. (BTW, I'm not sure how me claiming you are fond of RL is condescending, other than presupposing that you like an artist you're defending. But whatever. This is going nowhere.) Arlen Schumer I'm NOT "taking it personally," Britt--remember, there's no tone of voice on the 'net, so you don't know that, trust me--but YOU made it "personal" by telling me i was "wrong"--I was just standing up for my intellectual points and parried you, as in any discussion/debate. Jeez, everyone's so sensitive on Facebook! Arlen Schumer It seems like all most people want to do on Facebook threads is agree with one another, like in a big circle-jerk; and when one voices an opinion that's contrary, and one engages in intellectal discussion/debate, the other gets all testy and emotional, instead of sticking to the point. Tom Orzechowski Lichtenstein was a serial plagiarist. There's no other way to describe his actions. He stole the work of others, provided no attribution, and did it repeatedly. The fact that he had no finesse in his approach is its own topic. The fact that the arts community lionizes him tells us too much about the arts community. Bitt Faulk Arlen: I'm not being testy. I believe that the art community is completely wrong in their assessment of RL. I have explained why I feel that way. I haven't seen you explain your point any more than "recontextualize!". That is the reason that this is g...See More Tom Orzechowski Clearly, I've blocked the person you're talking with, Bitt. He will accept no criticism of Lichtenstein under any circumstances. You're being a gentleman about this, but, indeed, the conversation will go nowhere except in semantic circles. David Barsalou This Quote is Disgraceful and Insulting “Lichtenstein Borrowed ‘ Low Culture Imagery ’ Such As Comic Books To Make Art”. Time Magazine 12/17/12 Arlen Schumer Bitt, I love the way you've twisted this around to where you're the "injured party," so to speak--and i have already parried your original dismissal here of RL as just bad, poorly executed artwork as a purely subjective judgment on your part. What more do you want to hear? Recent Updated: 12 years ago - Created by DECONSTRUCTING ROY LICHTENSTEIN David Barsalou MFA - View Copyright and permission to use should be sought to the author - DECONSTRUCTING ROY LICHTENSTEIN David Barsalou MFA