Children, a Stream, and Connecting with Nature — Computer Art by kenne
A picture may seem not what it is.
Two teens may appear more interested in a
phone than a stream slowly passing at their feet.
Like most images, it’s up to the viewer
to place it in some element of their reality.
Put in the contact the image was taken,
the teens are sharing pictures taken in
my iPhone photography class where they
learn to connect the eye, to the mind, to the heart.
— kenne
Seduction (Chris Duarte at the Cactus Moon)– Computer Art by kenne
— kenne
— kenne
Grunge Art by kenne
— kenne
Gill Scott-Heron — Grunge Art by kenne
Gil Scott-Heron was a soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known as one of the most important progenitors of rap music, aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry that inspired a legion of intelligent rappers. He has been called ‘the black Bob Dylan.’
WINTER IN AMERICA
From the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims
And to the buffalo who once ruled the plains
Like the vultures circling beneath the dark clouds
Looking for the rain
Looking for the rain
Just like the cities staggered on the coastline
Living in a nation that just can’t stand much more
Like the forest buried beneath the highway
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow
And now it’s winter
Winter in America
Yes and all of the healers have been killed
Or sent away, yeah
But the people know, the people know
It’s winter
Winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting
‘Cause nobody knows what to save
Save your soul, Lord knows
From Winter in America
The Constitution
A noble piece of paper
With free society
Struggled but it died in vain
And now Democracy is ragtime on the corner
Hoping for some rain
Looks like it’s hoping
Hoping for some rain
And I see the robins
Perched in barren treetops
Watching last-ditch racists marching across the floor
But just like the peace sign that vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow
And now it’s winter
It’s winter in America
And all of the healers have been killed
Or been betrayed
Yeah, but the people know, people know
It’s winter, Lord knows
It’s winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting
‘Cause nobody knows what to save
Save your souls
From Winter in America
And now it’s winter
Winter in America
And all of the healers done been killed or sent away
Yeah, and the people know, people know
It’s winter
Winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting
‘Cause nobody knows what to save
And ain’t nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows, nobody knows
And ain’t nobody fighting
‘Cause nobody knows what to save
— Gill Scott-Heron
If you are interested in some great music, damn good poetry and a little history of this nation, check out the video — it’s all about holding on to your dreams.
Somewhere between reading Rainer Maria Rilke and listening to Ray Wylie Hubbard’s CD, “The Grifter’s Hymnal,” the following just flowed out — as usual, no rewrite, you get what you see.
THE BODY SLOWS ME DOWN
The body slows me down,
but the blood still flows,
the soul hasn’t slowed
fostering a deep and
necessary intimacy with life.
The body slows me down,
but I count my blessing
without a 60-cycle hum,
freed from habitual
trains of thought.
The body slows me down,
but the poets still, please
with a taste of bittersweet chocolate,
burning through the words
manifested in music.
The body slows me down,
but my mind leads the
way to an enigmatic mystery,
seeking a Rilke Maria’s moment
freed by Ray Wylie’s applause.
The body slows me down,
but I keep running
from the ghosts that
keep on coming
around the bend.
The body slows me down,
but its dividing outline
is no longer there
providing a membrane
between inner and outer worlds.
The body slows me down,
but I can still hum
Polk Salad Sally,
framing cosmic image
descending from invisible heights.
The body slows me down,
but I still use my imagination
to inspire conscious thinking,
allowing “the damn fox
do what a damn fox does.”
kenne
“The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, I have really good days.”
— Ray Wylie Hubbard
Honky Tonk Angels — Computer Art by kenne
– Jeremy Rifkin
Image by kenne
existence
kenne
Existence — Video by kenne
“The thing about Native American music
that a lot of people don’t understand
is the fact that it’s held in
such high regard for their culture…
while we live in a society where music
is something that involves a lot of technology,
they’re able to create something so significant in
our world with very little materials.”
— R. Carlos Nakai
(First posted, October 2009)
Music Under the Moonlight — Grunge Art by kenne
Epilogue
Those blessèd structures, plot and rhyme–
why are they no help to me now
I want to make
something imagined, not recalled?
I hear the noise of my own voice:
The painter’s vision is not a lens,
it trembles to caress the light.
But sometimes everything I write
with the threadbare art of my eye
seems a snapshot,
lurid, rapid, garish, grouped,
heightened from life,
yet paralyzed by fact.
All’s misalliance.
Yet why not say what happened?
Pray for the grace of accuracy
Vermeer gave to the sun’s illumination
stealing like the tide across a map
to his girl solid with yearning.
We are poor passing facts,
warned by that to give
each figure in the photograph
his living name.
— Robert Lowell, Day by Day
Double Bayou Dance Hall (October 10, 2002) — Image by kenne
I’m fascinated with photos.
When you look at a photograph, what do you see?
Is what you see reality?
Is it posed?
Many of my blog posting start with “Capturing The Moment,” which might imply: taken out of reality; taken out of context; posed.
What is really happening in the moment?
When you look at the above photo, which captured a moment, you don’t get the narrative. You don’t know how the image fits into the world, but if you begin to ask questions related to who, what, where, when and how you can create a narrative — a photo story that effectively places you into the image. Still, when many people look at a photo, they tend to be matter-of-fact about matters of fact.
Because I took the above photo, I know more facts of the narrative. Because I composed this photo, the moment is out of context, in a sense I posed the photo, which is why I believe all photos are posed.
Still, this photo provides the viewer a lot of information from which to create a story that will allow the image to fit into the viewer’s world. It’s a narrative we create using our values, experience and perception, which allows a photo to become attractive to the viewer. The viewer can be connected and not connected — looking at the past as if he/she is there.
Photos offer a powerful look into history, so ask questions.
kenne
Tommie Lee Bradley with the New Jack Hippies at Houston’s Rhythm Room (March 8, 2003) — Computer art by kenne
Jimmy “T99” Nelson At Houston’s Rhythm Room On Washington Street (September 13, 2003) — Computer Art by kenne
Jimmy “T99” Nelson (April 7, 1919 – July 29, 2007) was an American jump blues and rhythm and blues shouter and songwriter. With a recording career that spanned over 50 years, Jimmy “T99” Nelson became a distinguished elder statesman of American music. His best known recordings are “T-99 Blues” and “Meet Me With Your Black Dress On”. Nelson notably worked with Duke Robillard and Otis Grand.
— Source: Wikipedia
Ronstadt Generations Sitting On A Park Bench (Michael, Alex and Petie) — Image by kenne
In a park somewhere is Sonora, as we were returning to Tucson from several days in Alamos, I captured a photo as Michael, Alex and Petie set in the midday sun waiting for the motorcoach to be gassed up. I later layered in a guitar creating this Photoshop image. These guys were an important part of our trip to Alamoa, Sonora.
kenne
One of the courtyards at Hacienda De Los Santos in Alamos, Sonora — Image by kenne
Morning is Bright — B&W Image by kenne
— kenne
Black and White by Man In A Room
For those of us who grew up in the 1960’s, there is much to remember. For me, it was the draft, war, motorcycles, Playboy, love, demonstrations, flower children, and of course, the music. Many songs carried the message of the times.
One such song was Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” Over the years the song has been covered many times and the words still ring true, even more so today.
There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
It’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It’s s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Stop, now, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Stop, children, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
— Stephen Stills
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