I saw Cee’s latest post in her Compose Yourself challenge. This is for #18: Contrasting Colors. Here’s her instructions…
For your assignment I would like to see at least 4-6 photos showing contrasting photos and which colors each photo represents. Please describe what you learned in this lesson as well.
So, OK, here goes…
Purple and yellow: day lily, door, orchid, bagels (they were yummy). 🙂
Red and green: red bowl full of cilantro and limes, Christmas outfits, red decked ship on the green water, Christmas ornaments.
Blue and orange: fishing fleet against the blue background, African containers (for what?), orange helicopter in the blue sky, orange sunset and blue ocean.
OK, that should be enough pictures. Now for the hard part. What did I learn? I think the more clear I can get the contrast, the better. When the opposite colors are just standing alone, without distractions, they really do POP! Even the colors that are just close to being opposite on the color wheel go really great together (blue and yellow or gold instead of orange for example).
Thanks for the challenge, Cee! It made me think, I always like that. 😉
Here are some photos from the Fiesta Mexicana I took Friday night. I took tons of photos, but since I wasn’t very close to the stage, it was dark, and the dancers almost never slowed down, I couldn’t get many good shots.
I’ve always loved to watch people dance. All kinds of dancing holds my interest. I always wished I wasn’t so clumsy. My father was a great dancer and he tried to teach me a few times, but I never did really get the hang of it.
The dancers at this (free) show are all kids. I would guess the youngest is probably around 10, the oldest low 20s. They are very good!
I have to hand it to ’em. They’re all out there dancing up a storm and most of them don’t even break a sweat! I’m just standing there and I’m wilting.
Yesterday I finished early and went down to the Malecon in time for the Mardi Gras parade. I walked around the pier and watched the sun set, watched the pirate ship come in and talked to some of the artists.
When the sirens started going off, I followed the crowds up the street to watch the parade go by.
It was pretty good. Much smaller than what I imagine New Orleans or Rio to be. I liked the fact that anyone was welcome to join in. I loved that there were hardly any crowds. It was great to be able to see everything clearly. I was able to get some decent photos. The only problem I had was that they were moving by so quickly and a lot of them were dancing. It was hard to get good, clear, sharp pictures.
Everyone was having a great time. The costumes were ‘fabulous’. I loved watching the dancers. Those guys were really hot! Too bad they were mostly all gay. I kept thinking to myself, “what a waste!” The crowd seemed pretty subdued for a Mardi Gras parade. Maybe it was still too early? I do notice the crowd here in Puerto Vallarta is much older than in New Orleans.
After the parade, I went back to the Malecon to watch the pirates shoot off their fireworks. I’ve noticed they usually start right after 2100, they waited til after the parade. I’m not sure why since the fireworks only last about 5 minutes.
The clowns were putting on a show at the arches again and there was a pretty big audience. I wish I understood Spanish better so I could really get what they’re saying. Clowns are funny anyway, but these particular ones seem to talk alot. 😉
I got home in plenty of time to get a good nights sleep (but stayed up late on the computer again).
So, I’ve now made a total of $5.33. I only have 40 photos approved and online with Bigstock. My approval rating is only 43%. I need to get better at figuring out why they reject my photos and I need to get more photos uploaded and approved.
My goal this year is to get 5 photos edited and uploaded to Bigstock, Canstock and Dreamstime each week. So far, I have not been doing very well with that.
I do know some people who have managed to do very well with this stock photography. They started from scratch, like me, but they’ve uploaded a lot more photos than I have, and so they’ve sold a lot more than I have. I need to make the time to do it too!
Hey, I’m in Mexico! How about let’s enjoy some Tex-Mex music?
A bunch of old guys really get it on! Don’t let the ads at the start scare you off. There’s some interesting background in the video before they get to the performance. The video is straight from the Texas Music Scene (great show).
I always loved this band! I’m glad to see they’re back. 🙂
Lyrics to Que Paso (Hey Baby)
Hey, baby, que paso? Thought I was your only vato Hey, baby, que paso?
Please don’t leave me de ese modo
Come on, baby, turn around Let me see your pretty blue eyes Don’t you know that I love you Please don’t leave me (disun poco)
Hey, baby, que paso? Thought I was your only vato Hey, baby, que paso? Won’t you give uno beso?
Hey, baby, que paso? Thought I was your only vato Hey, baby, que paso? Please don’t leave me de ese modo
Come on, baby, turn around Let me show you how I feel Don’t you that I love you And my corizone is real
Hey, baby, que paso? Thought I was your only vato Hey, baby, que paso? Won’t you give uno beso?
Hey, baby, que paso? Thought I was your only vato Hey, baby, que paso? Please don’t leave me de ese modo Hey, baby, que paso? Thought I was your only vato Hey, baby, que paso? Won’t you give uno beso?
Hey, baby, que paso? Thought I was your only vato Hey, baby, que paso?
After class yesterday, we went to the beach for a bit. Then shopping for ‘appropriate clothing’ for the classroom. Then we met our teacher back at the school to take the bus to the Malecon and Old Vallarta. (I don’t know how to put the accent marks).
S takes a dip in the ocean
The Malecon was nice. It wasn’t very crowded last night, but there was a good mix of local families and tourists from all over. We walked down the cobble-stoned ‘boardwalk’ and checked out the interesting artwork along the way.
They had sculptures (real and fake- people made up and pretending to be statues). They had sand sculptures along the waterline, some breaking up from the weather over time and some newly made.
sand artist finishing his creation
There were plenty of bars, restaurants, shops and food carts (which looked delicious!). I noticed shrimp BBQ, corn on the cob and in cups, tacos, burritos, fresh fruit juices, flans, even what looked like cheesecake. YUM!
I will be back!
We walked by a park where our teacher told us they held a farmers market on the weekend and a coffee-shop/bookstore (English and Spanish). We walked up into town a couple of blocks and saw a very interesting shop with fantastic art by local indigenous people.
Some of the art was made with yarn, some with beads. Some were sculptures, some were flat and hung like paintings. The colors were brilliant, vibrant and imaginative. Inspired by the hallucinogenic visions given by the peyote cactus.
We were on our way to dinner at Derby Burgers. I think we were all starving by then. 🙂
They had a large selection of burgers, even a vegetarian option or two. They all came with a choice of sweet potato fries, regular fries or salad. I had a steak burger (without the steak sauce). The sauteed onions and mushrooms were a perfect complement to the juicy, perfectly cooked (med-rare) burger.
We all cleaned our plates. No complaints, but the Aloha Burger (with pineapple) was unexpectedly spicy.
We were all stuffed and since we had class in the morning we were ready to head home. I got in about 2300. Too bad I stayed up til 0300 on the computer!
Oh hell yeah, I had to look that one up! Turns out, it’s not in the dictionary. So I have absolutely NO idea what it means. Sorry.
I’ll just have to write about something else.
Read any good books lately?
I have. I just finished NOS4A2by Joe Hill. It’s a pretty fat one, at almost 700 pages. But it does a great job of keeping you interested. I had a hard time putting it down.
I’ve read a couple other books by Joe Hill. The Heart Shaped Box was the 1st one I read. I thought it was really good. I also read Horns, which I liked even better.
His writing reminds me a lot of Stephen King. Maybe because that’s his dad? I don’t know. But they both write long stories, even over 100’s of pages you can hardly put the book down. They both write a lot using kids and a lot of real, day to day, details that bring back what you were doing as a kid. Puts you right there in the scene.
They both have a sick sense of humor (weird maybe, but I like that). Here’s a story going along where everything’s perfectly normal, it could be taking place right next door. And then, all the sudden, everything’s really weird. That turns into totally fucked up pretty damn quick. 😉
I like how Joe writes a lot about how people get along (or not). A lot of psychology in his writing, maybe in the background, maybe not. His characters (the ones you’re rooting for) are all like-able, even if not ‘normal’. It’s easy to relate to them.
NOS4A2 is kind of a vampire story. It’s like a cross between Stephen King’s Christine, Dracula, and Dorian Grey. In this one, the super-duper special car sucks the life out of all the little kids it can catch and transfers it to the predator driver. Add in a rapist Renfield in a gas mask and a tribe of little monsters, and you’ll get what the hero’s up against.
They drive from reality to a fantasy land where it’s Christmas all the time. Til one little girl shows up and screws things up.
It’s a good story, it’s at the library. I don’t want to ruin it for you. Maybe they’ll make a movie out of it. It would make a good one. 🙂
I’ve always loved reggae music and Jimmy Cliff is one of my favorite artists. This video is not the best, but I like how he gets all the people dancing together.
I like the words, the music and the message too. I do think people are all the same (on a basic level). I remember coming back from high school after traveling the world on the sailing ships. People got so mad at me when I would say that (especially about the USSR).
But I still think it’s true. I think there is a connection, I do believe everything in this world is connected in some way. I don’t have any idea how, and not in any religious way, but I can see it works that way on this planet. Woo-woo, a little new- agey, but more on the level of all the atoms and molecules being recycled over and over again. Karma. Thoughts and emotions. Ecology. Yeah, all that kind of stuff. 😉
“We All Are One”
Mmm…mmm…mmm…. Yeah Mmm…hmm…mmm….oh…
We all are one, we are the same person I’ll be you, you’ll be me (Oh, yeah) We all are one, same universal world I’ll be you, you’ll be me
No matter where we are born, We are human beings The same chemistry Where emotions and feelings All corresponding in love Compatible
You can’t get around it, No matter how hard you try You better believe it And if you should find out That you are no different than I Reply
We all are one (We all), We are the same person (Same person) I’ll be you, you’ll be me (I’ll be me, you’ll be you) We all are one (We all), same universal world I’ll be you, you’ll be me
The only difference I can see Is in the conscience And the shade of our skin Doesn’t matter, we laugh, we chatter We smile, we all live for
And the feelings that make All those faces always renew So true, so true And would you believe that I have All those same feelings too The same as you
We all are one, we are the same person I’ll be you, you’ll be me (I’ll be me, you’ll be you) We all are one (We all), same universal world I’ll be you, you’ll be me (Mmm, hmm, mmm, hmm)
We all are one (We all), We are the same person (Same person) I’ll be you, you’ll be me (I’ll be me, you’ll be you) We all are one (We all), same universal world I’ll be you, you’ll be me
Look at the children, they’re having fun With no regards to why They all look different but deep inside Their feelings of love they don’t hide, they don’t hide They don’t hide, they don’t hide
We all are one, we are the same person I’ll be you, you’ll be me (Oh, yeah) We all are one, same universal world I’ll be you, you’ll be me
We all are one (We all), We are the same person (The same person) I’ll be you, you’ll be me (No matter where you go) We all are one (We all), Same universal (Same person) I’ll be you, you’ll be me (Oh, yeah)
We all are one (You know, I know, we all know), We are the same person (Oh, yeah) I’ll be you, you’ll be me (Oh, yeah) We all are one (Emotions and feelings), Same universal (All corresponding to love) I’ll be you, you’ll be me (Oh…oh…oh…)
We all are one, we are the same person
If you want to check out some more of his music, check out this link.
Here’s a good song for a Sunday. Another one of my Songs of the Sea series. I’m an atheist, so I don’t go along with all the religious stuff in this song. I’ll start believing in god if/when I see some real evidence. I don’t have faith, will never have faith, I want PROOF. Personally I think religion is one of the worst things people have ever invented and we’d all be a lot better off without it. But the music and the singing is very beautiful anyway.
Religion can ‘inspire’ a lot of people.
Just like so many churches are stunningly beautiful. They took the best efforts of thousands of men over decades to build. They cost millions of dollars.
All for nothing really. An invisible, (almost certainly imaginary), being. All that artwork is still beautiful, even if it was done for nothing but hope and a promise.
Personally, I think it’s really sad. That so much effort is spent on such things, when it could have been used to make things so much better for real people, right here and now. People spend so much effort fixing things for ‘the next life’ instead of fixing THIS one. I think it’s sad.
Even so, I still do appreciate the beauty that’s created.
“Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)”
You call me out upon the waters The great unknown where feet may fail And there I find You in the mystery In oceans deep My faith will stand
And I will call upon Your name And keep my eyes above the waves When oceans rise My soul will rest in Your embrace For I am Yours and You are mine
Your grace abounds in deepest waters Your sovereign hand Will be my guide Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me You’ve never failed and You won’t start now
So I will call upon Your name And keep my eyes above the waves When oceans rise My soul will rest in Your embrace For I am Yours and You are mine
[6x] Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders Let me walk upon the waters Wherever You would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander And my faith will be made stronger In the presence of my Savior
Oh, Jesus, you’re my God!
I will call upon Your name Keep my eyes above the waves My soul will rest in Your embrace I am Yours and You are mine
I’ve been reading Texas Music magazine the last couple of days and saw an article about Patricia Vonne. She sounded like someone I just had to learn more about so I looked her up on youtube and found the perfect video for my Songs of the Sea series. 🙂
This song about the sailor and the mermaid is very pretty. Patricia has a beautiful voice and I like the Spanish style music. The guitar and maracas are soothing, but I think this would also make a good song to dance to. I love Spanish/Latin music and dancing! Tango, flamenco, salsa, cumbia, conjunto, rumba, merengue, even mariachi!
I love it all! I only wish I could dance!! (I suck at dancing, I’m clumsy as hell.) 🙁
The song’s story is nice too (tho I don’t understand the Spanish well enough really- I had to look up the translation). The sailor is saved from the shark by the mermaid and they fall in love. Simple love story, but the artwork makes it different and more interesting.
El Marinero y La Sirena
(*Patricia Vonne / Michael Martin) Fue forzado a caminar la tabla* Se zambullo en el agua helada Clavado debajo del galeon español Sintio un golpe brutal Descendiendo en la oscuridad Sintio un abrazo fuerte De dedos tenaces al girar Con un beso de la vida El marinero y la sirena Pertenecen al mar tan negro Oyen el llanto del destino Un amor ardiente y herido El esta destinado a navegar sobre el mar Espumoso del amor Y ella a nadar leguas abajo Su corazon naufragado nunca podra saber La allegria de nadar con su amor verdadero Su amor es un tesoro Que brilla mas puro que el oro Cuando veas caer una estrella mi hechicera Recuerdame mi sirena Aunque perteneces al mar ven conmigo Sere tu refugio con permiso En mi dolor hay esperanza mi marinero Que el amor no es fatal solo sincero Oye el llanto del destino mi carino Desde el fondo del mar donde vivo
The Mariner and the Mermaid (English translation)
He was forced to walk the plank plunging into the icy waters nailed beneath the Spanish galleon He felt a crushing blow descending into the darkness he felt a warm embrace of tenacious fingers spinning to the surface with a kiss of life the sailor & the mermaid belong to the sea hear the cry of destiny of an ardent wounded love he is destined to sail above love’s foamy sea And she, to swim leagues below his shipwrecked heart can never know the joy of swimming w/ his true love their love is a treasure that shines brighter than gold when you see a falling star, my enchantress remember me, my little mermaid even though you belong to the sea, come with me I will be your refuge in my sorrow there is hope, my sailor that love is not fatal but sincere Listen to the cry of destiny at the bottom of the sea where I live
I was at the Houston Zoo a couple of weeks ago. I always like to go there, watch the animals and take lots of pictures. It relaxes me and I’m a member, so it’s free. 🙂
Last time I was there, they were doing the “Zoo Lights” event and getting ready for this new exhibit: Washed Ashore.
I got a picture of one sculpture. I thought it was pretty neat. Very creative and a nice way to use up a lot of plastic junk and turn it into something beautiful instead of just leaving it as ugly old trash on the beach.
I try to help with the beach cleanups when I can, but there’s a LOT of plastic floating around out there in the ocean and we’ll never be able to clean it all up from the beaches, we need to stop it from getting in the water in the first place!
Yes, that whole thing was made with trash collected off the beach! Washed Ashore will be at the zoo from Jan 15-April 15.
Dunes Day at Surfside Beach will be Jan 23 (0900-1200). I can’t find the date for the next International Coastal Cleanup, but they should be getting it organized soon. It’s usually in spring (Apr) and fall (Sept). Here’s a link to the results from last year.
Today’s prompt for Just Jot It January is: skulls. I know some people are really into them. I’m not. But I have seen some really cool artwork done with skulls. I mentioned this one before, it was just fantastic!
plasticine on wood by Grupo Mondongo
This group of Argentinian artists created this huge skull (its a couple of feet taller than I am) out of plasticine. It’s incredibly detailed, full of all kinds of images out of our common culture. Historical figures, religious figures, movie stars, etc.
They must have spent ages putting this thing together. I wouldn’t have the patience, but I’m glad they did. 🙂
It really is a beautiful work of art.
Check out this video I found on Youtube (warning: some nudes, explicit sexual images, in the art shown, don’t watch if you’re going to get upset over that kind of thing!). It’ll give you a better idea of their work. I’m very rarely impressed by modern art, but these guys really impressed me. I would love to see more of their stuff!
PS- the featured image for this post is another art installation at the MFAH. It’s in the tunnel between different parts of the museum. It’s called “The Light Inside” by artist James Turrell.
Here’s another oldie but goodie for my Songs of the Sea series. Its “Dreamboat Annie” by Heart. I remember singing along with this when I was going into high school. I still think it’s a beautiful song 🙂
“Dreamboat Annie”
Heading out this morning into the sun Riding on the diamond waves, little darlin’ one
Warm wind caress her Her lover it seems Oh, Annie Dreamboat Annie my little ship of dreams
Going down the city sidewalk alone in the crowd No one knows the lonely one whose head’s in the clouds
Sad faces painted over with those magazine smiles Heading out to somewhere won’t be back for a while
I was in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago for the Workboat Show. I always try to go if I’m not working. It’s interesting and New Orleans is always a blast. 🙂
This year, the schedule was a little off, also I’ve been laid off and no idea when I’ll get any work. It could be months. Years even. I was hoping to find somebody hiring at the job fair. Or, talk up some of the recruiters at their booths. So, I went to the show, but I cut back. I didn’t stay as long as usual. I didn’t spend as much money as usual. I was only there 4 days instead of 5-6, but I still had a good time.
I flew in Wednesday and flew out Saturday. I had hoped to be able to do some tourist stuff on Friday since I had all day free. I wound up spending all day long driving down to Fourchon and back to pick up some paperwork from my last ship.
So Saturday morning I had to return the car. Lucky for me, I saw on the way that they were setting up for the Krewe of Jingle Christmas Parade. I was planning to spend the day in the WWII Museum. I had heard it was really good, especially the movie (Tom Hanks).
Because I really wanted to see the parade, I skipped the WWII Museum (I thought it would be worth more than 1-2 hours) and went to see the Ogden Museum of Southern Art instead.
It’s nice that all those museums are so close together. Almost right across the street from each other. There is also a Civil War museum right there and a contemporary arts museum there too. I’ll have to do those and the WWII Museum next time. 🙂
The Ogden Museum was interesting. They had an exhibit of photographer Bill Yates that was pretty good. They displayed a bunch of black and white photographs from a skating rink (FL in the 70s), reminded me of when I was growing up over there. There was another exhibit of Michael Meads that I really liked. A lot of those were huge drawings/paintings, mostly in black and white but very intricate. (Not allowed to take pictures of those exhibits).
I started from the top (nice view from the balcony) and worked my way down. Four floors, pretty compact. They had painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, glass and more. They had an exhibit by some school kids that I really liked. Made out of garbage (plastic) and painted. Sculptures of fantasy creatures and interesting objects. I thought it was very creative and nice to recycle.
They had some of the more traditional museum type paintings, they also had some strange stuff that really got me thinking about ‘what is art?’.
Some of the things they had I could see really took a lot of effort, a lot of thought, a lot of creativity, a lot of talent. I could see why someone would want to put them in a museum (and probably pay a bunch of money for them).
“Victim of Silence”- Mark Messersmith 2011
detail
But some of the things they had on display I thought “WTF???”. Why in the world would anybody want THAT hanging around? Much less pay anything for it! Why would anyone consider it ‘art”?
mud & paint on plywood by Jimmy Lee Sudduth
Those items looked to me like anybody could make them. A child could do better. A MONKEY could do better!
Why are these things sitting in a museum? What makes them worth it? What makes them ‘great’? I’m assuming if they’re in a museum, they’re considered to be ‘great art’. Why do the curators pay high dollars for these things when the majority of people who see them think the same way as I do and wouldn’t pay 10 cents for them? What makes them art and your kids refrigerator specials not?
So, what does make art?
And what makes ‘great’ art (worth of a spot in a museum)?
One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands!
I’ve been listening to this CD a lot in my car lately. I’ve been driving a lot more than usual lately. Instead of working offshore, I’ve got some part time work in Houston, so I’ve got a couple of hours a day driving back and forth when they’ve got something for me to do up there. This song always gets me in a good mood while I sing along. 🙂
“Sons And Daughters”
When we arrive, sons and daughters We’ll make our homes on the water We’ll build our walls aluminum We’ll fill our mouths with cinnamon now
These currents pull us ‘cross the border Steady your boats, arms to shoulder ‘Til tides all pull our hull aground Making this calm harbor now home
Take up your arms, sons and daughters We will arise from the bunkers By land, by sea, by dirigible We’ll leave our tracks untraceable now
When we arrive, sons and daughters We’ll make our homes on the water We’ll build our walls aluminum We’ll fill our mouths with cinnamon now
When we arrive, sons and daughters We’ll make our homes on the water We’ll build our walls aluminum We’ll fill our mouths with cinnamon now
When we arrive, sons and daughters We’ll make our homes on the water We’ll build our walls aluminum We’ll fill our mouths with cinnamon now
Hear all the bombs fade away Hear all the bombs fade away Hear all the bombs fade away Hear all the bombs fade away
I found another challenge in my Reader tonight. It’s from Ailsa at Where’s My Backpack? She does a Travel Theme challenge every week. This weeks travel theme is: fabric. So, here is my entry for the challenge.
I took these photos on my last big trip abroad (the last trip I have any photos for, the actual last trip was to Nicaragua but somebody stole -hacked the computer and encrypted- all my photos and wants $1000 to give them back! So sickening, but I don’t have the money, so they’re all gone forever- lesson learned: BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS in at least 3 places!!!)
The first photo was taken in the museum of the last palace of the rulers of Malacca, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. The cloth is woven from real silver and gold thread. Indonesia is well known for its beautiful fabrics. They do a lot of intricate patterns and batiks.
The second photo is from Northern Thailand. I took a day trip from Chiang Mai to see the hill tribes. This was taken at the village of the “Long Necks”. The ladies were busy weaving these fabrics, the little girls would watch the stalls and hope to sell you something. They all seemed quite shy and quiet.
I love beautiful things like this, it’s funny, but it’s only when I’m traveling that I ever think to look at anything like this. I never think about my usual simple shorts and t-shirts. Who made them and what it took. I assume they’re made in some big factory by machines. What a different way of doing something. Making fabrics, clothes. Handmade, local, careful, beautiful. Nice. 🙂
Here’s a classic. The Beach Boys singing “Sail On Sailor”. Read the lyrics for a not so nice version of time spent at sea. Good or bad out there, I still love it! 🙂
“Sail On Sailor”
I sailed an ocean, unsettled ocean Through restful waters and deep commotion Often frightened, unenlightened Sail on, sail on sailor
I wrest the waters, fight Neptune’s waters Sail through the sorrows of life’s marauders Unrepenting, often empty Sail on, sail on sailor
Caught like a sewer rat alone but I sail Bought like a crust of bread, but oh do I wail
Seldom stumble, never crumble Try to tumble, life’s a rumble Feel the stinging I’ve been given Never ending, unrelenting Heartbreak searing, always fearing Never caring, persevering Sail on, sail on, sailor
I work the seaways, the gale-swept seaways Past shipwrecked daughters of wicked waters Uninspired, drenched and tired Wail on, wail on, sailor
Always needing, even bleeding Never feeding all my feelings Damn the thunder, must I blunder There’s no wonder all I’m under Stop the crying and the lying And the sighing and my dying
Sail on, sail on sailor Sail on, sail on sailor Sail on, sail on sailor Sail on, sail on sailor Sail on, sail on sailor Sail on, sail on sailor Sail on, sail on sailor
I took a little break and went to the movies yesterday. I’ve been wanting to see the movie “In the Heart of the Sea” since I first saw the commercials for it a couple of months ago.
I’d read the book (by Nathaniel Philbrick) a couple of years ago. I LOVED it. It’s a fantastic sea story (which I always love).The movie tells the story of the Nantucket whale ship “Essex”. “In the Heart of the Sea” showcased adventure, suspense and even horror mixed in with the wonderful descriptions of the sailing ship and life on the sea 100 years ago. Then there was the whole Moby Dick thing. The whaling and the incredible idea that there might be a whale out for vengeance!
I admit, I don’t remember much about the book ‘Moby Dick‘. We all read it in high school. I had no idea it was based on a true story. I don’t remember being all that impressed with the book. I’m pretty sure the ending was not the same as in this movie, (if it had been I’m sure I would have remembered it better)! Like a lot of those ‘classics’ we had to read in high school, I remember thinking “what the hell’s so great about this book?”.
They did a good job with the film. It wasn’t as good as Philbricks’ book (movies almost never are). Still, it was good.
It started right off by following the Chief Mate, Owen Chase (played by Chris Hemsworth), leaving his pregnant wife behind and heading into town for his next assignment. He’d been promised a captains position on his next voyage and was pretty ticked off when he found out he got screwed out of it in a case of ‘office politics’. I hadn’t realized they were even doing that way back then. 😉
Captain Pollard (Benjamin Walker) gets the job instead, simply because he comes from an old time, respectable family.
This creates a situation on board between the Master and Mate where they are constantly butting heads and is NOT good for the ship (it never is)! The tension between the 2 characters is evident throughout the entire movie. They could have done more to show the interaction with the rest of the crew, but the focus was on these 2 men (and the whale).
The movie, directed by Ron Howard, uses the story device in which Herman Melville (working on his book Moby Dick) is interviewing Thomas Nickerson, who went to sea as a young boy on that disastrous voyage. Nickerson is ashamed by what he did to survive and has never spoken to anyone about it. His wife finally convinces him to speak to Melville in exchange for much needed funds.
It works as a way to tell the story. You can still see the effects the incident had on Nickerson, even all these years later. It was well done, not disturbing the story too much with the returns to the scenes of the late night story telling over drinks.
I really enjoyed the movie. I loved all the scenes of the everyday work aboard the ship. I yelled at the captain that he was an idiot to sail into the storm like he did. I was thrilled to see the whales and caught up in the chase when the boats were launched. I cried when the ship was lost. (I’m glad it was dark in the theater). 😉
I suppose todays environmentalists would be cheering for the whale the whole time, but I found myself wavering. Sometimes I felt like I imagined the whale felt. Angry at men for destroying so much innocent beauty. Coming to murder my family for money! Sometimes I felt like the men. Just out to make a living, to survive however they could. This was a survival story in the end. On both sides.
I’m glad we discovered petroleum oil, or we WOULD have wiped out all of the whales. OK, I have been working in the oilfield the last few years (so maybe I’m prejudiced), but I wonder what would have happened if we had NOT found an alternative to whale oil. Would we still have been able to progress? Or would we have gone back to the ‘dark ages’ when everything stopped when the sun went down? Yeah, even tho we have a few oil spills, I’m still glad we have petroleum. The whales are recovering now.
I meant to say more about the Renaissance Festival before this, but I’ve been super lazy and haven’t been blogging for a few days.
I haven’t been able to go to the RenFest for 20 years or more, but this year I went twice! I really enjoyed myself both days. There was so much to see and do and the weather was pretty nice. Bright and sunny all day, but it did get COLD there last Sunday night.
I’m not usually much of a shopper, but I do like nice things and they had a lot of nice things there! Candles, clothes, arms & armor, leather work, crystals, jewelry and even pets (dragonpets). Not to mention the food! 🙂
I spent some time looking at the fashions. I love looking at those beautiful clothes! I’m not sure I would have liked actually wearing them, they really didn’t look very comfortable. They were expensive! As usual, nothing I liked fit! That was probably a good thing since I’m supposed to be saving my money being laid off and all.
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I did break down when I saw the really special, unusual and unique jewelry at Pendragon Jewelry. I had taken a quick look early in the day and just kept thinking about it, so I went back later to ask questions and try things on. Here’s a sample of their stuff:
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I would have bought a lot more of their beautiful jewelry if I knew when I would be going back to work. As it is, I had to settle for only a couple of my favorites. I spent some time talking to the proprietors, everyone was very nice and helpful.
I finally settled for 3 pieces I really loved. One is a mermaid pendant on a gold chain. She is sitting on a large labradorite stone, surrounded by “Horkimer diamonds”, a blue topaz on one side and a peach moonstone on the other. I got her for half off as a package deal with the other pieces.
One is a bracelet of cabochon moonstones.
And the other is a necklace with faceted moonstones and blue topaz.
They look gorgeous, together or apart!
This is the last weekend of the Renaissance Festival this year and I’m not going out. I signed up for the mailing list since they don’t have a website. I’m sure I’ll see more to be tempted by.
If you have any interest in this kind of thing, here’s the contact information I got:
Pendragon Jewelry, 435-703-7777, pendragonjewels@hotmail.com, you can also find them on Facebook.
I got back from Phoenix on Sunday. On the way, I stopped off at the Renaissance Festival (Faire). I’ve been trying to go for a couple of weeks, but it has been raining every weekend. It’s not really much fun anymore to wander around in the rain.
This Sunday was finally nice. The weather was gorgeous! Sunny and cool. 🙂
So I went straight from the airport up to the Fair. Looks like everybody else in Texas had the same plans!
The traffic was horrible! It took me over 2 hours just to get from Magnolia to the festival grounds. That’s only about 6-7 miles!
Once I finally got there, I was happy to wander around all day. There was plenty to do. Watch the jugglers, jousting, fools, belly dancers, magicians. Listen to some really cool music, I really liked the Scottish group “Tartanic”. They put on a fantastic show!
There was all kinds of food to sample, set up in ‘villages’: Greek, Italian, Polish, Mexican, etc along with the usual fair foods (turkey legs, cheesecake on a stick, corn on the cob, gyros, sausage on a stick, funnel cakes,etc).
There were interesting shops for such necessities as armor, magical supplies, leather, candles, writing instruments, weaponry, jewelry, hats and clothing (mostly to fit the theme).
I loved seeing all the creative costumes. Some of the barbarians were really scary. Some of the costumes were just plain weird. Some of the outfits were just gorgeous. Some ladies I talked with told me they spent thousands of dollars on their costumes!
I really loved some of the clothes, I even went to try on a few. I couldn’t find a corset that fit. That’s probably a good thing, they were NOT cheap!
trying on corsets
Besides, when would I ever wear something like that other than Halloween? Or maybe for the St Patricks Day festivities here at Surfside?
I didn’t get home til after midnight. Slept late Monday and didn’t get much done. More on the Festival later, once I get caught up. Lots to tell. 🙂
Something a little different. It’s not a ‘Song of the Sea”, but just plain, good music. I love all different kinds of music: blues, bluegrass, reggae, old rock and roll, classical, alternative country, pretty much everything except rap, heavy metal and opera.
I especially like music that tells a story with the lyrics. I love singers who can write a good song that means something.
Lucinda Williams is one of my favorite singer/songwriters. This whole album is great. I love this song!
People have been asking ‘what’s up?”, yep, it surprised me. Some people have actually sent me messages asking where I’ve been. Neat. 🙂 I’m sorry I haven’t been around here much lately. I’ve just been worn out. Too tired to spend the time and effort to even write a post. 🙁
Maybe you wonder what has been keeping me so busy? Nothing really. I think I’ve just been so frustrated with this thing lately, and maybe even a little depressed. I can’t seem to make any progress in getting my blog back to where I am interacting with people like I was before I moved. I don’t know what went wrong or how to fix it and it’s been bothering me. A LOT! And then there’s been the other issue with my photos. 🙁
I even consulted a couple of computer ‘geeks’ to see if they could help me. So far no luck. I have’nt had much time since I asked them either, so part of that may be my fault.
Since my last posts here on Sunday, I’ve been fairly busy. I spent the first part of last week in my new job in the mornings. Monday night my DPO friend was in town so she drove down from Houston to visit me and we went out to Red Lobster for dinner. Tuesday night was my usual Campaign for Liberty meeting. Wednesday I met my DPO friend again and we had a good time shopping at the Galleria with a late dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (yum!).
I took the day off Thursday, just went to visit my friend J and brought over a big pot of my favorite beef stew. She doesn’t get out much and I felt like she could use some homemade cooking. 🙂 We had a nice talk about all kinds of things. I really wish she was still up for going out together.
Friday I went to a lunch meeting in Houston where they had an interesting presentation about FPSO’s (yeah, I know, most people probably wouldn’t think that was very interesting, but I really do still like to learn about all that stuff!). I was going to the zoo afterwards, but they closed it early for a ‘Feast With the Beasts’ and I didn’t want to pay (a LOT) extra to enter since I’m a member and should get free entry.
I went to the Museum of Natural Science instead. I always really like their ‘bug house’ (exhibits on insects, etc) and butterfly center. It’s really fascinating to watch the butterflies come out of their chrysalis and pump themselves up to fly away. I like to take lots of pictures of all the butterflies and flowers. It’s a really relaxing experience, sitting around listening to the waterfalls while the butterflies land on you. I only wish it wasn’t always so HOT and HUMID in there!
I got a membership there too, so I could see all the exhibits. They had Faberge‘ there again which I really enjoyed. I always did love beautiful things and there were a lot of them in there, much more than just the famous eggs. Everything they made was just exquisite! So finely made, so delicate, so intricate, so gorgeous, so expensive!
They also had an exhibit on spies. It was called “Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America”. That was really interesting and I wish I had a lot more time to spend there to really take it all in.
One thing I liked was that they had little interactive quizzes set up at some of the exhibits. For instance, they had one that asked if the US government should be able to spy on their own citizens (like they ARE doing). Of course I answered no (HELL NO!).
I was absolutely stunned to see how many of my ‘fellow Americans’ answered differently. Amazing! Hard to believe so many are willing to give up their rights. Sad to see how many just don’t get Ben Franklins warning about those who would trade freedom for security.
Amazing how many have learned nothing from history and I guess that means that we will be repeating it all again. VERY VERY sad.
I was running out of time, they were closing the museum so I had to leave. It’s probably a good thing, since I was getting a little pissed off. Yes, it really does upset me whenever I’m reminded of how MUCH of my freedom has been stolen from me! I still find it hard to understand how anyone, much less any American, can stand it. Yet I see more and more of them willing to accept more and more of this theft every day.
So, the weekend came around and MORE rain! I spent the entire weekend being super lazy! I was just tired. Really worn out. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday lying around reading (Michael Chrichtons book “Travels”, Kim Harrisons “Witch With No Name”), watching TV (Saturday Night Live, Texas Music Scene, Househunters) and cooking up a storm. 🙂
Yesterday I eased back into things by catching up on phone calls, emails, etc and today I’m back in the flow of things. Went back to my new job this morning and political meeting again tonight. 🙂
Tomorrow I’m getting up REAL early to go to a conference I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. It’s called Fund Your Life Overseas. I’m still hoping to find SOME way to support myself without being tied down here in the states. I have been trying to move overseas for YEARS now. Decades actually.
The ONLY thing keeping me here is my finances. I hope I will be able to learn something new at this conference that will finally allow me to earn an INDEPENDENT living. Something not tied to any specific location would be best, but if its located outside of the US, that would probably be OK too.
So, if you don’t hear from me again for the next few days, don’t worry. I’ll be soaking up the info at the conference and hopefully the weather will be decent when I return. Since I already missed the Pirates, I’d really like to see the Barbarians at the RenFest! 🙂
Here’s a good Halloweeny Song of the Sea from the Presets. I really like how the video goes along with the lyrics and the music here. It makes for a kind of melancholy and fantastical feeling. I thought it was a good one to post for Halloween weekend.
“Girl And The Sea”
Tonight the
Tonight the hills are watching her
As she runs towards the sea
Yeah she runs so she’ll be free
And of all the friends and enemies she’s made along the way
They are no where in her thoughts
As she dives beneath the waves
And he’s the one that you’ve seen sometimes on TV
And his shirt is on the ground
While he’s tackled by police
And the parcel that he throws across the bridge into the creek
It’ll flow towards the sea
It will meet with her tomorrow
No place,
Some time
We’ll clear
Our eyes
And when
You’re down
I’ll come around
And all the
Places she’s been along the way
Flames are licking at their walls
Night glows with their remains
From far away the animals come gather round to see
But she knows not how they feel
And she knows not what it means
When she was young we’d ask her what she’d like to be
And she’d close her eyes and dream…
…now we’re no where in her thoughts
As she dives beneath the waves.
A place
I’ve found
Could be
All ours
But I’ve seen
Where you
Would rather be.
Someone turned me on to a new website for travel writers yesterday. It’s called www.TravMedia.com. I signed up and found out they actually vet you. They want you to prove you’re a travel writer.
They sent me an email and asked me to send them links to my published travel writing. I was a little worried since I haven’t actually had any articles published (yet) that I would really consider ‘travel’ articles.
I’ve been trying to get started writing, and would LOVE to get into travel writing, but between working my regular job offshore (with pretty limited internet access) and all the things I need to catch up on when I finally get home, I never seem to find the time to write. Even when I do manage to write something, then I have a really hard time writing off to editors to see if they might be interested in what I’ve written.
I have had a couple of things published that I’ve written (and they’ve used my photos too). Things more to do with a maritime theme. Some of them came about because of this blog!
I had an article published in “Incomes Abroad” which is an online (paid) publication about traveling the world and getting paid for it onboard ships. I can’t give a link to the actual article, but here’s what they said about my article…
“And just wait until you discover how Jill Friedman funds her global trips—she gets paid to sail around the world. There are lots of earning opportunities on ships and you can learn about them in your latest issue. Make money with every maritime trip you make. Jill has explored tropical islands and port cities—and she’ll tell you how you can do this too.
Have you ever been so happy and excited one minute, only to be plunged into the depths of despair the next? That’s what I saw happening recently while working…
It’s been a quiet couple of days around here. I’ve been reveling in the fact that I finally found some time to just CHILL!
I wrote yesterday that I didn’t do anything except take my daily walk and cook dinner. Today I got a little bit more done. I did the laundry. 😉
I’ve been reading a good book and thought some of you might like it too. It’s called The Gathering Wind, by Gregory A. Freeman.
It’s all about the tall ship Bounty, (the replica of the one they had the mutiny on). 😉
The Gathering Storm tells the story of the ship, her captain (Robin Walbridge) and crew and how they wound up sinking in the middle of ‘Superstorm Sandy’.
It’s a pretty wild story, especially the heroic attempts by the crew to save their ship and the amazing efforts of the US Coast Guard to save the crew.
It’s a great read, a real page turner. Even tho I knew how it would turn out, it still kept me interested til the end. As a sailor, I kept wondering WHY would they do that? Head out to sea with a hurricane approaching?
The book doesn’t really give a clear answer to that question. It did have a section on the investigation of the sinking, but I would have liked more. I have my own opinion and it mostly has to do with money.
So many of these disasters at sea probably never would have happened if there was a REAL concern for safety, but ‘time is money’ and it gets harder and harder for a seafarer to find employment where the idea of safety is more than just a façade for the insurance companies!
Just a couple of weeks ago, the El Faro went down with all hands, another 33 lives. Lost in another hurricane.
Will the investigation for the El Faro come to the same conclusion? That it was all the captains fault? That only his ‘reckless decision’ was to blame?
Do you really think the captain of the El Faro (or the Bounty) would have taken the risks he did if there were no pressure from the office to ‘make the schedule’? I sure as hell don’t!
With all the new rules and regulations coming out of the IMO and various governmental bodies, I keep wondering when will they get down to the root cause of all this? The people in the OFFICE who run these ships! THEY are the ones who really make the decisions these days, the poor old captain is nothing but a scapegoat for when things go wrong!
There is only so much a captain and crew can do out there! Without the help and support of our employers, we can only do so much! Sailing around a hurricane (or through pirates, or any other extraordinarily dangerous place), is NOT something we should be doing just to save the company a few bucks!
I’m still waiting to see the day when the IMO does something that actually helps the MARINER! Putting at least SOME of the responsibility on those who really make the decisions, and off of the captain who is now only a figurehead would go a long way in fixing a lot of issues out here!
For further discussions of these incidents among the mariners who hang out on Gcaptain, (professional and otherwise), check out these links:
I’ve really been falling behind with posts in my ‘Songs of the Sea’ series. Sorry to have left you all hanging, but on this vessel I just haven’t had the internet access I need to keep up with my blog or anything else.
I found this video in my drafts tonight, just trying to see if I could find something quick to post. I hope you like it. 🙂
Yaaar, I be stuck here on this old ship, but I still could have had some fun with the whole pirate thing. Yeah, even here.
Of course, it would have been a hell of a lot more fun to be off. There are parties all over the world to celebrate and for sure I would have been in attendance!
Here’s another for my Songs of the Sea series. I’m not really sure what to say about this one. Is it electronica? It’s not the kind of thing I usually listen to, but I really liked the video. Some of those guys really looked like they were getting into the groove. 😉
