Capitol Sconce

Shot this back in April when I was starting to fall in love with the 70-200mm. It’s such a beast of a lens; serious, heavy and conspicuous. It screams, “I’m taking serious photos here, people.”

This is both good and bad. There are times when you want to get an image and the serious lens grants you a bit of leeway. Then there are times when you’d prefer to remain less visible and you can’t because the white monster lens is shouting about the photos and the art and the serious whatnot. However, the bokeh is stellar and its ability to get shots in a pinch has made this a go-to lens, despite the drawbacks.

I’ve got a detail shot of this sconce that I will share today as well. It’s a gorgeous thing. The hand-like talons wrangling the snakes is likely ripe with symbolism. I did some searching to try and find out if there was an overt symbology, but that is a rathole I didn’t want to go down today. At university, I took a few art history and humanities courses that dealt with Greek and Roman art and architecture, but I don’t recall if it’s an eagle controlling two opposite snakes implying justice or strength (Herakles/Hercules?) or it’s just a cool detail. I would imagine there is a meaning to extract and I’m certain it would involve any of the following: Freemasonry, Egypt, goddess worship, the Old Testament, Mayans, 9/11 and the Illuminati.

I just liked these sconces, so I’ll forego the rathole.

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Affirmation: Seriously, let it go.

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First Leaves

Forgot to post this one from awhile back. This past spring, I would see these later blooming trees that when it rained, had almost black trunks and limbs high contrasted against the vibrant color from the blooms.

I shot a whole bunch of these trees whenever I could, but this one was the only one where I came remotely close to capturing the beauty and contrast. The wind was blowing hard enough to make the capture difficult. I cranked the aperture to 2.8, the widest on the lens, and still only got 1/400 of second shutter speed. The lens was all the way to 200mm. I wanted to get those tiny leaves in focus and bokeh the rest. You can see the wind moving the tree in the left vertical branch and the larger yellow-orange leaf on the left just under the midline.

I don’t know why I haven’t shared this one earlier, but there you go.

Daily affirmation: Execute on your vision. Failure is fine. Just execute.

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People how you doing it’s a new day dawning

Had to sit for a couple of days after hearing about Adam Yauch’s cancer-related death. I recall watching an interview with Yauch and Mike D back when the cancer was first announced:

Still finding humor in the face of cancer.

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There are two key Beastie Boy points for me. First, the Beastie Boys long term success was a question for me, especially after License to Ill. I figured they would flame out; another band in a long line of novelty acts. Paul’s Boutique hit and I still questioned. Check Your Head changed it all for me. Definitely their Sgt. Pepper’s. More raw, more everything. Second, it seemed with each successive release that adolescent humor remained front and center. However, the dedication to sonics and sonic experimentation and form tweakery kept them fresh long after more serious rap/hip hop acts fell from view. And, yes, while I landed in their demographic range on paper, I wasn’t a partier in college. Much. To their credit, the Beasties introduced me to the Meters (via an intense conversation with the last drummer of Swim Herschel Swim)[1. ]. Anybody who digs on funk and fresh and tight and ass and grooves should run right now and fire up the Rdio/Spotify. Search on “Cissy Strut”.

Pet peeve: That white folks aren’t funky. I refute that misguided noise with the following: two of the tightest mothers who ever turned out a jam on the mighty Stax label? White boys Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn. And also? cf: Flea[2. ]. All I’m saying is that like everything else in life, skin color don’t mean nothing when it’s time to get down. You either bring the funk or you don’t. Clem Snide said it in “Happy Birthday”:

Well, I hope that your song’s not the “Boys of Summer”
Just because you were both born on that day
And half-Jewish boys make kick ass drummers
But if you need lessons I’ll have to pay

While the Beastie Boys may not have come out of the gate with their funk cred blazing, they dished it out over the next couple of decades. Always something worth getting down to on a Beasties album. Always.

Finally, I caught the video below courtesy of Daring Fireball (start at 2:05):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB-ya6gBI4w&t=2m5s

Yauch at the top of his game. I remember seeing this when it happened and the hubbub afterwards. I still can’t believe that Sabotage was denied at the VMAs. Especially with that insane live performance. It was this performance that recalibrated everything for me, Nathaniel Hornblower included. In 1993, I did a lot of road work with Swim Herschel Swim and Check Your Head was on heavy repeat for a lot of those trips. I remember in 1994, the band that followed Herschel was playing a wedding in LA and we stopped in to Tower Records. Parked out front was a black car, allegedly owned by one of the Beasties pumping out the soon-to-be-released Ill Communication. Bad ass. Even if it was just marketing.

MCA, RIP.

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Title of this post is from the opening track of Check Your Head [3.
]

Finally, the obvious daily affirmation: Life is short: live today like you mean it.

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Tilted

This little thing was so tweaked that the depth of field couldn’t even get all of it in focus. I think it lends a bit of character. That and the encroaching shadow. Somewhere in the cobwebs of memory I remember a lecture or two about the symbolism of a character halfway in the light. Something about good and evil. Which is the greatest thing about inanimate objects: they live in their own moral-free universe. So the shadow is just a shadow. Unless you want it to be something more. Then go ahead. Get on with your metaphorical/allegorical bad self.

Daily affirmation: The only way shit gets real is if I let it.

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