Thinking of You

These are the people I work with.



Nice, huh?

A lovely fall evening in New York

It's wet and rainy tonight. The changing temperature and seasons have fog coming off the tarmac and the rivers.

I'm riding the Seven train home to Queens after a thirteen hour day. As we stop at 45Rd Courthouse Square, a young woman with long wavy hair jutting out from under her ballcap dances on the platform. Backlit from the mercury vapor lights further up the platform, she's dancing a kind of New Jack Swing/Paula Abdul style in the half light. Spinning and moving her hips, jump, hips, two fingers on the brim and a flourish. She spins again as we pull away. She's practicing her moves. Slowly, the train pulls away and she is replaced by darkness.

My mind wanders and then Manhattan is in view across the way. Blues and grays are rapidly overcome by the greens and browns of man-made light. Thin rectangles of office lights and the shapes of buildings, barely discernable. A jumble of light and fog, slowly moving past. It's a lovely fall evening in New York.



Thanks to Dylan for reminding me to write.

Kids these days

So, I'm walking home and I pass these little fourteen-year-old Korean girls, who are all saying goodbye. As they are walking away from each other, one of the girls calls out in a melodic tone: "Bye, my nigga". What's funny is that these girls are all fourteen, dressed in pink and white little outfits and they're Korean. Flushing is a 'hood, but it ain't Da Hood. KnowI'msayin'?

I've heard a few Chinese and Korean kids call each other nigga and a lot of the Hispanic kids too.

So, will "nigga" replace "dude'?

Nigga please!

As White Guy says: you are all my African Americans.

Iwo Jima Photographer Rosenthal dies

By JUSTIN M. NORTON (Associated Press Writer)

From Associated Press

August 21, 2006 6:19 PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO - Joe Rosenthal, a photojournalist whose Pulitzer Prize-winning image of World War II servicemen raising an American flag over Iwo Jima became the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial, has died. He was 94.

Rosenthal, who took the iconic photograph on Feb. 23, 1945, while working for The Associated Press, died Sunday of natural causes at an assisted living facility in suburban Novato, said his daughter, Anne Rosenthal.

"He was a good and honest man. He had real integrity," she said.

He was also modest. Rosenthal preferred in his role as a combat photographer to chronicle the experiences of soldiers on the front lines, and liked to call himself "a guy who was up in the big leagues for a cup of coffee at one time."

A decade after the flag-raising, he recalled that he did not realize he had shot anything special until days later when the congratulations started pouring in.

"Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up. I swung my camera and shot the scene," he said a decade afterward. "That is how the picture was taken, and when you take a picture like that, you don't come away saying you got a great shot. You don't know."

The photo quickly became the subject of posters, war-bond drives and a U.S. postage stamp. It kept Rosenthal busy for years as he fielded requests for reprints. He said he was flattered by the attention, but added, "I'd rather just lie down and listen to a ball game."

Located 750 miles south of Tokyo, the small Pacific island of Iwo Jima was important to both Japan and the United States during World War II.

After 30,000 Marines landed there on Feb. 19, 1945, it took four days for a contingent to scale Mount Suribachi, the highest point. More than 6,800 U.S. servicemen died in the five-week battle for the island, and the 21,000-man Japanese defense force was virtually wiped out.

Rosenthal's shutter captured the second raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi after the Marines decided the first flag was too small. Rosenthal later wrote that he almost didn't climb the summit when he learned a flag already had been raised.

"What I see behind the photo is what it took to get up to those heights - the kind of devotion to their country that those young men had, and the sacrifices they made," he said. "I take some gratification in being a little part of what the U.S. stands for."

Besides being awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1945, the photo made No. 68 on a 1999 New York University survey of the best 100 examples of journalism from the 20th century. Sculptor Felix W. de Weldon used it as the pattern for the Marine Corps memorial, dedicated in 1954 near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to commemorate Marines who have died in the line of duty.

Rosenthal nevertheless had to defend the photograph against claims that the second flag raising he shot was staged for his camera. He said that if he had posed it, "I would, of course, have ruined it" by choosing fewer men and making sure their faces could be seen.

His account was later bolstered by a frame captured by a military cameraman, Marine Sgt. Bill Genaust, who filmed the same flag-raising.

The picture later inspired Thomas E. Franklin of The Record of Bergen County, N.J., to photograph three firefighters raising a flag amid the ruins of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Franklin's photo, distributed worldwide by the AP, was a finalist in 2002 for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photography.

Rosenthal left the AP later in 1945 to join the San Francisco Chronicle, where he worked as a photographer for 35 years before retiring.

"He was short in stature but that was about it. He had a lot of nerve," said John O'Hara, a retired photographer who worked with Rosenthal at the Chronicle.

O'Hara said Rosenthal took special pride in a certificate naming him an honorary Marine and remained spry and alert well into his 90s.

Chuck de Caro, a former combat reporter for CNN who knew Rosenthal for 30 years, noted his older friend's humility and commitment to his craft. Even after glaucoma affected his eyesight, Rosenthal never hesitated to share war stories and his contacts in both San Francisco and the Marines.

"He had gone through so much history that was sort of obscured by the Iwo Jima photo, and he was very matter-of-fact about it," de Caro said.

Born in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 9, 1911, Rosenthal took up photography as a hobby. During the Depression, he moved to San Francisco, living with a brother until he found a job with the Newspaper Enterprise Association in 1930.

In 1932, Rosenthal joined the old San Francisco News as a combination reporter and photographer.

"They just told me to take this big box and point the end with the glass toward the subject and press the shutter and `We'll tell you what you did wrong,'" he said.

After a short time with ACME Newspictures in San Francisco in 1936, Rosenthal became San Francisco bureau chief of The New York Times-Wide World Photos.

Rosenthal began working for the AP in San Francisco when the news cooperative bought Wide World Photos. After a stint in the Merchant Marine, he returned to the AP and was sent to cover battle areas in 1944.

His first assignment was in New Guinea, and he also covered the invasion of Guam before taking his famous photo on Iwo Jima.

Besides his daughter, Rosenthal is survived by his ex-wife Lee Rosenthal, his son Joseph J. Rosenthal Jr. and their families.

---

Associated Press Writer Greg Risling in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

---

On the Net:

More on Rosenthal: http://www.newseum.org/warstories/interviews/mov/journalists/bio.asp?ID32

More about the photograph
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAProsenthal.htm

Photos courtesy AP (one of my former employers)

Dave Chappelle

From the Man who brought you Black Bush and Black Tony blair (Jaime Foxx), Dave Chappelle. He's funny.

Found on Devil Ducky.

He's Rick James, Bitch!

Bush Inappropriately touching Chancellor Merkel

Okay, it's one thing to give a friend a hello hug, or grip, or embrace of some kind, but world leaders don't usually give each other shoulder massages. It's just creepy and wrong if the other world leader is female. Actually it's creepy and weird if it's a male world leader too.

This is realy, really embarrassing.

I think these are frame grabs from Russian TV. I got them from taylormarsh.com











I know, I know, "inappropriately touching" is kind of a PC term, but in this case it fits. Unfortunately. What a fuckin' doofus.

Here's The Daily Show's take on this debacle.

Francis' B-Day in Providence

Last week, okay two weeks ago, was my best friend Francis' birthday. He lives in FLA nad most of his friends live here in the Northeast. Wonderful man that he is he decided to come up here.


Drake made this cake. The candles were lit and everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" when she walked under the ceiling fan and it blew out all the candles.

I've never really spent much time in Providence, but I got the chance to walk around a bit and I like it.



It definitely has a Burlington feel to it, it's kind of small, but is has a vibrancy to it and a funkiness to it that I like.




Drake, our hostess, is the Director for The Steelyard and is totally hooked into the arts community. At Francis' party, we got to meet a lot of those folks, so it was neat. Very creative and interesting people. David Cole wants to make a mobile with pickup trucks, other people are sculptors, painters, graphic artists, a good mix.


Drake's livingroom.


The view out the livingroom window, 'round midnight.


The view out the front of the house, a few minutes later.

After almost a dozen years in Florida, Frank (I'm one of only about eight people allowed to call him Frank, and there were four of us there, with that priviledge, that weekend) is creating a move to Providence. Thank God. Florida was sucking the life out of him and he didn't really have many friends down there.

Looking forward to having him closer.

Here are some photos from the trip.

I'm starting a new series of Highway Photos.

Important info from Apple

Thanks to Francis, You ladies can now have the latest technology at your disposal. Now your apple and your peach can interface.

Surprise

Last week was my sister Ann's 50th Birthday. Sister Claire and I conspired with Ann's husband, Joe, to surprise Ann by showing up for her Birthday BBQ. We flew out to ABQ the day before and holed up in a cheap motel, getting ready for the next day.

In the morning we called Joe to tell him we were on the way, so he could be busy, therefore leaving Ann to answer the door.

We drove by the house and Ann, Joe and some guy (Mike) are in the front yard wrestling something into a large garbage can. Luckily, we passed by, unnoticed. Luckily it was yard waste. not someone who was wasted in the yard.

It was kind of exciting to to creep up behind them as they all went into the house. I think Joe suggested that everyone go inside for a spot of iced tea. So, Claire and I watch them all go inside from behind Ann's car. Then we wait a few moments and head for the door. We pass by the big bay window in front and I'm really worried that we'll be spotted, but the sheer curtains are drawn, so I'm hoping and praying we aren't seen.

Then, I ring the doorbell. I tell Claire to turn away, so Ann can't see our faces through the peephole. The door opens and we turn around.

Ann is completely surprised. "Happy Birthday!" We have totally blown her mind. She just stands there stunned. She had no idea that we were coming. We give her hugs and say "hi".

"But I was just blogging with you yesteday" Ann said to me. Yep, that's the magic of the internet. We were posting comments here and on her blog, Friday morning, but my plane didn't leave until the afternoon. This was sufficient to lull her into a false sense of security. Claire and I had made believable excuses and then flew out to New Mexico.

The party was a lot of fun. Joe fired up the grill and cooked up a carnivorous carnival of beef ribs, hot dogs, brats, sausage and hamburgers. Very tasty. It was a potluck, so there was yellow potato salad, chip n dip, drinks, veggies, etc.

Claire and I met a lot of Ann & Joe's friends, so it was fun to get to know them a little.

Ann opened her gifts and passed the cards around. Then we watched DVD's. First was Versus, a Japanese Yakuza/zombie/sword/martial arts flick. Most of the story and dialogue was inaudible since everyone was talking and commenting a la MST3K.

We saw something else, I think and then Ann played us Ridley Scott's The Duellists. A really great film based on Joseph Conrad's The Duel, with Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel and beautiful cinematography and lighting by DP Frank Tidy and Gaffer Al Watson. A great test of testosterone. Very under appreciated and I highly recommend it, even though I couldn't hear all of the dialogue because one lady wouldn't shut up throughout the whole evening. I kept raising the volume to try and hint at her to shut up but to no avail. Ann tells me she's notorious for that kind of thing to the point where famous authors at cons tell her, by name, to be quiet.

The rest of the trip was fun, Ann invited us to stay at her house, so Claire and I checked out early and stayed in the extra rooms. I stayed in Eric's room since he's at Fort Buckner digging foxholes and firing "cool weapons".

Joe and I went for a hike on Sandia Mountain. It was quite beautiful, but only two trails were open due to extreme fire hazard. The views were spectacular and I took a lot of photos. The light is beautiful and the terrain is very rugged and hard, because it's so dry, but it has a quality, maybe it's the red-brown color of everything, but I just love it. I spent aquite a few summers hiking around in the New Mexico wilderness, having a blast.

While we visited, there was quite a bit of rain which caused flooding in some areas. There's been a drought in NM for the last ive years, so hopeully the wet weather will help hydrate the area.

Oh, the reson there aren't any photos is because idiot me, I forgot my digicam and had to resort to cheapo Walgreen's reloadable cameras. It is supposed to be loaded with 400 ASA film, but I was going to be outdoors, so we'll see if the 100 speed I loaded in is underexposed, or about normal. I hope it's normal. The 400 looks pretty bad, lousy color rendition and high contrast, but it was also printed poorly, so we'll see. I'm curious to see how the scans look. Ann will send me the film and CD's next week. I'll repost with pix included.

Birthdays?

Ann sent me a review of Eartha Kitt performing at the Cafe Carlyle. I was thinking that we share the same birthday, but a quick internet search found that her B-Day is a little before mine. I was looking for other Aquarians and I was bewlidered to find that Andrew Ridgeley, formery of Wham! has the exact same birthday as me.

I somehow feel cheap and dirty.

On the good side, Paul Newman, Lucinda Williams, Wayne Greztky, Douglas McArthur, Anita Baker, Gene Siskel, Eddie Van Halen, Scott Glenn, Nicolae Ceausescu, Stephane Grapelli, Maria Von Trapp, Bessie Coleman, plus a number of composers, cricketeers, runners and politicians. I know, I'm a bigot, I mainly identify with people from the 20th Century. Abner Doubleday, inventor of baseball was also born on my Birthday, in 1819.

Andrew Ridgeley. Shit. As I read his bio, I find disturbing coincedences. I can't write anymore, Chinese food has arived.