Amazon Rainforest Sunset (August 2019) — Image by kenne
Spending time on the river walking its banks, seeing the variety of wildlife, that lingers there, makes for beautiful paintings and photographs, for people to admire.
Mr. Theodorakis conducting the orchestra at the Herodes Atticus theater in Athens in 2005. Credit…Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Listening to NPR this morning, I learn that Greek composer and politician Mikis Theodorakis died Thursday at age 96. Theodorakis’ music for the film Zorba the Greek became a worldwide shorthand for a seize-the-moment kind of joyfulness.
The music and the film scene still provide one of the most memorable scenes in my lifetime.
I can’t let this month get by without recognizing the 50th anniversary (May 21, 1971) of the release of Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece album, What’s Going On.
“OK, let’s just get this out of the way. Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On LP is a masterpiece. If it’s not in your top five or at least within the realm of your top 10 albums of all-time, then I seriously think you need to reevaluate your list. Not many albums give you a snapshot of the world at the time of its release and still remain very relevant decades later. What’s Going On most certainly does.” — Terry Nelson (albumism.com)
Gaye released the single, What’s Going On, after co-writer Renaldo “Obie” Benson saw police in Berkeley, Calif., brutality beat anti-Vietnam War protesters. Gaye would later say, “What mattered was the message. For the first time, I felt like I had something to say.”
The album went platinum, and Rolling Stone would place it among the greatest albums of all time. Now fifty years out, its influences are evident today as the nation wrestles with inequality and a racial reckoning.
We spent some brief moments with brother Tom during our trip to Seattle for Lisa’s and Mike’s wedding on Lummi Island (August 29, 2009).
It’s never been easy for anyone to figure out the Turner boys, let alone one to the other. In some ways, however, if you know one of us, then you know the other. We are very much alike, but selectively taking some similarities to an extreme (by choice and personality), which appear different.
This video is about my brother; therefore, it’s about me.
“The cat’s in the well and grief is showing its face The world’s being slaughtered and it’s such a bloody disgrace.”
— kenne
For Crying Out Loud (September 2009)
(The video can be enlarged by clicking on HD at the top right and the four arrows in the the lower right corner.)
He had a blue wing tattooed on his shoulder Well, it might have been a bluebird, I don’t know but he’d get stone drunk and talk about Alaska The salmon boats and 45 below
Well, he got that blue wing up in Walla Walla and his cellmate there was a Little Willy John and Willie, he was once a great blues singer so Wing & Willie wrote him up a song
Is there for honest Poverty That hings his head, an’ a’ that; The coward-slave, we pass him by, We dare be poor for a’ that! For a’ that, an’ a’ that. Our toils obscure an’ a’ that, The rank is but the guinea’s stamp, The Man’s the gowd for a’ that.
What though on hamely fare we dine, Wear hoddin grey, an’ a that; Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine; A Man’s a Man for a’ that: For a’ that, and a’ that, Their tinsel show, an’ a’ that; The honest man, tho’ e’er sae poor, Is king o’ men for a’ that.
Ye see yon birkie ca’d a lord, Wha struts, an’ stares, an’ a’ that, Tho’ hundreds worship at his word, He’s but a coof for a’ that. For a’ that, an’ a’ that, His ribband, star, an’ a’ that, The man o’ independent mind, He looks an’ laughs at a’ that.
A Prince can mak a belted knight, A marquis, duke, an’ a’ that! But an honest man’s aboon his might – Guid faith, he mauna fa’ that! For a’ that, an’ a’ that, Their dignities, an’ a’ that, The pith o’ Sense an’ pride o’ Worth Are higher rank than a’ that.
Then let us pray that come it may, As come it will for a’ that, That Sense and Worth, o’er a’ the earth Shall bear the gree an’ a’ that. For a’ that, an’ a’ that, It’s comin yet for a’ that, That Man to Man the warld o’er Shall brithers be for a’ that.
This art is from a photograph of a canyon wall and like all things, it is living and has intelligence. But, we like to think that it’s just a bunch of rocks and minerals, therefore not alive. When I took the photograph I saw a wall alive, no different than a saguaro cactus, and in the moment its being. By doing so, I brought my experience to the picture, adding color, light, and contrast enhancing the natural beauty of the world around us. It is alive and has intelligence.
Mountain Wildflowers of Southern Arizona — A Field Guide to the Santa Catalina Mountains and Other Nearby Ranges by Frank S. Rose
When I began hiking the mountains of southern Arizona, I always had my camera with me. If you follower of this blog, you know there are many photos of beautiful mountain wildflowers, most of which I could not identify. However, Frank S. Rose made it easy for me to put names with the photos with the publication of his field guide in 2011.
For years before the guide’s publication, Frank spent summers painting watercolor images of the wildflowers. But, much like myself, he experienced difficulty identifying the wildflowers. It wasn’t until Frank got to know Joan Tedford, Bob Porter and other Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists spending time with them on their weekly nature walks, that he began to work on his photographic field guide.
Thank you, Frank, for your many hours and miles of walking, searching, photographing and learning about flowers from which so many of us have benefited.
— kenne
Joan Tedford, Debbie Bird, Edi Moore, Heather Murphy, and Frank Rose (May 2, 2016) — Images by kenne
In this video, Frank Rose tells the story of how he met Joan Tedford.
Red Sky at Sunset –“Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light.” — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Singer-songwriter Mac Davis Dead at 78 — Source: soundslikenashville.com
A lot of people who love music are mounding the death of Mac Davis, who died after heart surgery on September 29th. Known for writing songs for artists like Elvis Presley and Glen Campbell and also enjoyed a successful career of his own, releasing a number of crossover hits including “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me” and “Stop and Smell the Roses.” Two of my favorite are “Born In the Gaitto” and “It’s Hard To Be Humble.”
Australian-born singer Helen Reddy, whose hit “I Am Woman” became a feminist anthem in the 1970’s, died in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon. She was 78 years old.