Comments for Offbeat and Quirky

Comment on Happy Mardi Gras by Easter Bunny

Easter Bunny — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 04:30:53 +0000

Quirky is my cousin’s name. Like your Mardi Gras pic!

Comment on Duluth, Minnesota ……..Through The Lens by yeyeright

yeyeright — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 02:27:57 +0000

Thank you. Fortunately, right now I am in Taos, NM where it is a bit warmer than Duluth, even though the ground is snow-covered. From a photographer’s P.O.V., Duluth would be a great place to spend the winter.

Yeyeright

Comment on Duluth, Minnesota ……..Through The Lens by phillip

phillip — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 18:53:48 +0000

You got some great shots! The sunset photograph is exceptional

Comment on Bob Dylan’s Transfiguration by yeyeright

yeyeright — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:24:46 +0000

Leon,

Thanks for the in-depth analysis. For me I didn’t really follow Dylan until he went electric. I agree with you that Dylan did not mature as a songwriter and singer until he left the folkies. However, the idea of a transfiguration came from his summer interview in Rolling Stone Magazine. According to Dylan the passing of the Hell’s Angels leader, Robert Zimmerman occurred back in the early sixties just as the young man from Minnesota was jumpstarting his folksinging and recording career.

Thanks again for the response.

Hank

Comment on Bob Dylan’s Transfiguration by Leon Solnicki

Leon Solnicki — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:18:43 +0000

I think that the tale of Dylan’s transfiguration is another way for him to separate himself from his folk period with Joan Baez and his folk rock period when he toured with the Band in 1966. Fans and critics consider his body of work in this period to be his best — Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. Dylan tells Gilmore that the guy who created this music is dead, and that he became transfigured into a completely different person. This new person moved to Woodstock with Sarah Lownds, had children and hung out with members of the Band who lived in Big Pink. Together they wrote songs of a totally different nature from what Dylan had written and had played with the Band. The songs have come to be called Americana and seem rooted in an earlier time — America in the 1800s and early 1900s. Tapes of these songs came to be known as the Basement Tapes. Soon after, Dylan released John Wesley Harding, a complete departure from his earlier work and from the Basement Tapes. Each song has a strongly spiritual undercurrent. The most famous song on the album is All Along the Watchtower and in form, lyrics and music bears absolutely no resemblance to Visions of Johanna on Blonde and Blonde. In effect, the guy who wrote Blonde on Blonde had transfigured himself into a totally different person. Bob Dylan is a troubador who tells tales. All his songs are tales rooted in English folk ballads, Black blues, hymns and gospel. These songs are often mysterious, superstitious, morbid. In his interviews, Dylan spins more tales. So is Bob’s story about being transfigured when he had his motorcycle accident true? I think it’s true like The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest on John Wesley Harding is true. They are both parables with spiritual import.

Comment on Side Effects of Movies by yeyeright

yeyeright — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:57:59 +0000

I guess may main difference is that I don’t necessarily see the evolution of the storytelling art (regardless of format) as a progressive march forward. There are still lots of valid stories from the past that almost seem timeless, whether it be Shakespeare, the Bible or Victor Hugo. I didn’t mean to imply that anything from a certain historical era might be an improvement.

Cheers,

Henri

Comment on Side Effects of Movies by BigWords

BigWords — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 23:50:59 +0000

Having gone back and forth on this an insane number of times (and being currently of the opinion that art shouldn’t be constrained by what might happen once it is out in the world doing its’ thing) I think that it is worth remembering that some of the messages of those old films are hardly appropriate for the modern world… The extreme racism even in mainstream releases (and yes, in childrens’ cartoons, comics and pulp magazines as well), the sexism, homophobia, political chicanery (flat-out stating “the other guys are crooks”) and relentless obsession with black and white philosophy bordering on Objectivism – it is no wonder that Ayn Rand’s works found favor in a generation raised on the westerns and space operas which espoused an “us and them” mentality. Just a thought.

I wish there was a casual link between entertainment and reactions to them, but after going through several long-term studies, and hearing experts proclaim that any correlation is (at best) shaky, I’m going to have to shrug off the thought that there’s any moral obligation in the creation of something of which the primary objective is of entertainment. That isn’t to say that some may be influenced, but if they find nothing to back up their world view in film or television, they will turn to computer games, or novels, or comics, or political manifestos. We can’t censor ourselves because a crazy person might use it as an excuse for what they do.

Comment on Bastille Day Comes and Goes by kamillaberdin

kamillaberdin — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 19:31:20 +0000

Very interesting piece of history I never knew about. I should ask my friends in Quebec more about it as well as what they might have done, since we in Ontario don’t get such a holiday.

Comment on About ME by Svend

Svend — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:16:06 +0000

Dear Henri, Please add the photo source to my photo of the meteorite recovered in the Rub al Chali which you used in your blog. You may also want to correct the image description as the meteorite is not from “Sudan”. Thank you.

Comment on Pond Skimming At Taos Ski Valley by yeyeright

yeyeright — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 02:49:44 +0000

Updating Blog in progress, check back soon.