October
2004
TA Mob ID
It's the last Sunday of October 2004 and I've been gathering together TA
Mob Links on my web site. I'm thinking a little more about identity and
how we construct a feeling of self. Does identity just come about through
physical appearance? Or does our relationship with culture play a crucial
role in our sense of self? Do these feeling come about through noticing
differences with other groups and cultures? And what is happening when
we feel 'fragmented' and 'vulnerable'? I'll take a look at the Wikipedia
and see what issues are raised around constructing identity there. I'll
probably come back to this later.
The picture was altered in Photoshop by pushing the contrast right up [100].
Posted on 10/31/2004 8:35:21 PM | Comments (7)
Comments
1. It is amazing to see a page of TA sites in a grid. It will also be amazing
to see them change - an idea for a film? slideshow? Compressed time, etc.
It is also an opportunity to look at favourites. Will you ever offer reasons
why you selected them? I am thinking that you probably have fairly simple
categories of choice, not just people you know , but ones who post regularly,
ones who make photos of the world around them, not just what they know,
etc. Could be the basis of a project, now for some funding.....
Posted by Douglas on 10/31/2004 2:03:24 PM
2. .. a great thought-provoking message... there's many such
deep messages on this blog... .. i believe we're much much more
than our physical appearance, obviously, even though we have
a culture out there who takes appearance as much more than it
should be... .. the way we act, the words we speak, the actions
we take, the altruism we show and the kindness we show toward
others --this comprises a larger slice of our identity. .. in
the end, i believe nothing matters except love - love of family,
friends and a belief that you made your corner of the world a
little bit better.
Posted by Paul on 11/1/2004 8:43:10 AM
3. Is this the pillar you took a closeup of at the exhaust place?
Amazing. If so I've got a pic of you taking it and I'd never
have guessed it would turn out like this...
Posted by twig on 11/2/2004 1:09:01 AM
4. twig, it is the exhaust place in Camden. Paul, nice response,
I'm still pondering the 'love' idea - it's a little word that
covers a multitude of possibilities, not always positive - but,
I like, would subscribe to, a way of being that enables us to
become self aware and contribute, and participate, in a space
organised through social values, kindness, and consideration
- an ideal takes time, space and effort ... A project, Doug?
No funding. DIY.
Posted by tony on 11/2/2004 3:40:37 AM
5. Have just looked at 'Digital Compost' and seen a comment
about 'pushing the contrast up'. Is this what you have done here?
Posted by twig on 11/2/2004 12:53:12 PM
6. It's all done in Photoshop - Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast
- maybe get Tom to show you some of his amazing Photoshop Swirls
Posted by tony on 11/3/2004 12:37:44 AM
7. Tom's amazing Photoshop Swirls? You've not been to Pauls
place in Minnesota have you? They have pink trees there! PS -
I get the message! llap
Posted by twig on 11/3/2004 11:14:51 AM
Back's
A Pain
My week has been taken over with back pain. Even sitting typing these words
is uncomfortable. I've had back pain on and off most of my life and have
learnt methods of coping - pain killers and lots of rest, with gentle exercise
and lying flat for short periods usually helps to sort things out - but
this could last for a week or two. I take a break and walk around the flat.
I've tried quite a few 'therapies' over time, such as osteopathy and acupuncture,
but have found the pain killer, rest, gentle exercise route the best for
me. Every time I get into this state I am reminded to do more daily exercise,
like walking and cycling, and to try and loose some weight. It's Saturday
morning, time to walk or cycle up the road to meet Jude for our Waitrose
(supermarket) shop, the panniers on the bike will take the load, the sun's
caressing the tops of trees and the air is crisp and still.
Back pain info from BBC
Posted on 10/30/2004 10:18:40 AM | Comments (3)
Comments
1. Good short (169 words) piece of writing which is reflective and personal
but with opportunities for interaction and a universality. The photo works
as well and we could talk about being in suspension or traction for backs.
I can never pinpoint exactly what causes my back to go out, I know it is
about the care and exercise I give it. Three simple exercises from the
osteopath have kept me going (touch wood -see twig.textamerica.com). Your
pain-your gain.
Posted by Douglas on 10/30/2004 2:45:32 AM
2. It's ironic that we talked about your back pain only a few
days ago and you said how they/it had been better recently. Such
issues determine the quality of our life but your images don't
let on!
Posted by twig on 10/30/2004 3:49:09 PM
3. this is an excellent photo.. i love the minimalism and rich
colors here. .. sorry to read about your chronic back pain.
Posted by Paul on 11/1/2004 8:33:12 AM
Contemplation
Contemplating a future without religion? Try a bit of rationality, a twist
of rhetoric and a hint of moblogging.
Jonathan Miller has made a documentary on BBC, A Brief History of Disbelief,
in which he attempts to explain how science and Darwin managed to upset
the religious applecart.
Posted on 10/28/2004 11:43:52 AM (1)
Comments
1. Contemplating .."a bit of rationality, a twist of rhetoric and
a hint of moblogging" and Hey Presto, a new religion is born... Congratulations,
we will name it after you...
Posted by Twig on 10/28/2004 9:53:05 AM
Blog
Shot
The three blogateers - shed another twig.
Posted on 10/26/2004 11:44:31 PM | Comments (8)
Comments
1. The sun is struggling to shake off a grey haze and the temperature requires
a closed window. Reflecting on yesterday I recollect that I enjoyed it.
Except perhaps the lady with the umbrella and the incident with the dog
shit...
Posted by twig on 10/27/2004 12:46:38 AM
2. Good photo, better than I expected. I like the words matching
faces and that we align with the phones, it adds unexpected -
perhaps unwanted meaning. That I get '.co.uk' - another gets
'pay' and twig gets 'above' is pretty weird. Good meet, all the
better as I avoided the dog mess.
Posted by Douglas on 10/27/2004 1:59:27 AM
3. I had a vague sense the shop window elements may add some
confusion to the picture, but also had a feeling that these camera
phones could add a symbolic significance to a construction of
meaning - the meaning being eked out in the writing that might
have accompanied the image - but no writing, yet, so little significance...
Posted by tony on 10/27/2004 2:25:54 AM
4. .. wait a second.. haven't i seen you three on another blog
somewhere?! :-) .. nice shot, by the way: i like the three phones-three
blokes composition.
Posted by Paul on 10/28/2004 9:01:30 AM
5. .. .i just read the other comments here.. ahhh, so now i
know who is who. .. ""the lady with the umbrella? the
dog shit incident?"" sounds like a groovy day out on
the town to me... at least it seems you all didn't get into any
SERIOUS trouble.. (-:
Posted by Paul on 10/28/2004 9:06:11 AM
6. Paul, you make it sound like a day-trip out for the senior
citizens. Perhaps you are right after all!
Posted by twig on 10/28/2004 9:30:48 AM
7. I usually go everywhere by skateboard, but with this new
seniors pass I get to mix it with my blood. Should the virtual
meet the real, discuss.....
Posted by Douglas on 10/28/2004 10:06:03 AM
8. yeh, yeh, we're the TA London Mob [postmods] and live in
a real virtuality
Posted by tony on 10/28/2004 11:15:36 AM
Silhouette
Low East sun produces shadows to contemplate
Posted on 10/26/2004 12:16:08 PM | Comments (2)
Comments
1. Our college prank was to trace the shadows of lamposts and other objects
on the pavement. It was eerie having more than one shadow. You have inspired
me to look at more shadows.....
Posted by Douglas on 10/26/2004 2:35:17 PM
2. I'll have a look as well, happy searching
Posted by tony on 10/26/2004 3:01:15 PM
Culture
of Fear
A new series started on BBC2 on Wednesday 20th called, 'The Power of Nightmares'.
It's about the construction of reality and illusion through mainstream
media. This quote from TomDispatch.com compliments the programmes thesis
::
"The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based
community,' which he defined as people who ‘believe that solutions emerge
from your judicious study of discernible reality.' I nodded and murmured something
about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. 'That's not the
way the world really works anymore,' he continued. ‘We're an empire now,
and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality
-- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities,
which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's
actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''' (Ron
Suskind, Without a Doubt, the New York Times Magazine, October 17, 2004) ...
Thanks for your comment Paul, and bringing me back to this programme. I
tend to skip across the surfaces of everyday life without standing still
and reflecting often enough. The BBC2 documentary 'The Power of Nightmares'
by Adam Curtis, argued that mainstream media has done little to unpack
the myths of fear and terrorism perpetuated by the Blair/Bush administrations.
I think Ron Suskind, above, is referring to neoconservatives in the Bush
administration ‘creating reality’. Adam Curtis, in the documentary,
looks at a relationship between American neoconservative thought and Islamic
fundamentalism driven by the thinking of American political philosopher
Leo Strauss, and the Egyptian revolutionary Sayyid Qutb, who in turn had
been influenced, ‘in unpredictable ways’, by Nietzsche's ideas
around nihilism. For Curtis, 'The war between good and evil gives [Blair
and Bush] a purpose ... and the film begins to show that they are protecting
us against a myth.'
Myths seem to play a big part in our lives. As you say Paul, keep asking
the questions. Next stage is figuring out how to answer the questions you
may ask yourself.
Posted on 10/22/2004 11:40:46 AM
Comments
1. .. that's pretty profound, tony... its also quite arrogant of Ron Suskind
to state something like that.... while i agree that many many people are
mere pawns to the mainstream media and believe whatever they see and hear
without question, it is very wise to question everything and doubt most
of it.
Posted by Paul on 10/28/2004 8:58:55 AM
2. Thanks for your comment Paul, and bringing me back to this
issue. I'll give it some more time and thought - maybe ask some
questions - maybe get a little wiser
Posted by tony on 10/28/2004 11:48:10 PM
Picture(3.jpg
Posted on 10/21/2004 5:38:08 PM | Comments (2)
Comments
1. This is a picture of a computer screen with a fish screensaver, inside
a real fish tank. This is for guppies who don't have the time to to feed
real fish. Correct me if I'm wrong! Okay, another difficult week....
Posted by twig on 10/21/2004 10:37:36 AM
2. some cameras just have a strange way of recording the world
- this is the Sony Ericsson T610 view of the world - as an o2
fish tank
Posted by tony on 10/21/2004 11:41:47 PM
Fragmented
Afternoon sun stirs. Stones from Rossbehy linger. Memory fragmented.
Posted on 10/21/2004 1:48:25 PM | Comments (7)
Comments
1. I like this photo. Maybe a 10. Not too many colours. The stones are
perhaps a bit lacking in personality but have character. I may photograph
my stones if they'll let me...
Posted by twig on 10/21/2004 10:31:28 AM
2. This is a lovely photo, the colours and shadows work well
together. The stones look better here. More natural. How nice
you kept them.
Posted by Glen on 10/22/2004 3:28:42 AM
3. stones can be used in many ways, and can evoke many meanings
- when I was a young kid we used stones to throw at other kids,
stones to battle with - as we grew older some of us found we
had similar interests and we used our energies and intellect
in different ways - it's not always this way
Posted by tony on 10/22/2004 3:59:19 AM
4. Well your photo proves you did not put all the stones back
(see comment on previous photo). You make something new with
the stones, and then you communicate and share what you make
with this photo, another fine photo with the (same) stones. As
a momento of your travel which will be remembered, stones or
photo? I assume that you will rearrange and rephotograph the
stones over time. That way it perverts my whole desire to replace
stripping the landscape of stones with making photos. There are
some big questions here.
Posted by Douglas on 10/26/2004 2:30:27 PM
5. Coastal areas have a real problem with people going to pebble
beaches and removing stones. Particularly the pretty ones. 'Stripping
the Landscape' is a good phrase to use. I of course, would never
do this!
Posted by Twig on 10/26/2004 2:41:23 PM
6. I thought your bowl of irish stones should be entered in
Photo Friday - Still Life, and if they allow two entries then
the one of arranged stones on the beach. It takes time but I
think both are successful photos and doing this gives a different
type of outcome to MA. Hope you get in a bit of writing.
Posted by Douglas on 10/29/2004 7:47:46 AM
7. thanks for the comments, and I will 'url' this to Photo Friday
- 146: Another Photogr ... click in Links on the side of this
page.
Posted by tony on 10/29/2004 10:43:00 AM
Seriously
though
Do you find what you're looking for? Does the camera help us see? Are words
enough? Is blogging good for you?
Posted on 10/21/2004 1:08:27 PM | Comments
Comments
1. Sometimes you find what you are looking for and other times not. Sometimes
what you are NOT looking for finds you. The camera helps us see and also
blinds us. Words are not always enough. A touch, a kiss, the sun on your
skin...where are the words in those feelings? Blogging will make you go
blind!
Posted by twig on 10/21/2004 10:27:52 AM
2. nice shot of a decently-organized office space, a manuscript
of some sort front and center.. great caption as well... twig,
the words in your post are spot on, man.... words capture some,
a photo captures a little, but to experience all that 'is' requires
eyes, ears, nose, skin, and soul ... the last one probably the
most cherished....... "Sometimes what you are NOT looking
for finds you" .. well-said.
Posted by Paul on 10/28/2004 9:11:22 AM
Making
Cards
Where did the last week go? It's Sunday and I feel I need something to
show for myself, or/and to myself. The days and weeks fade away so easily,
memories of TV news and media representations become the dominant signposts
for mapping our lives. I make some cards to signpost another type of everyday
existence.
Posted on 10/17/2004 1:52:13 PM Comments
Comments
1. Pedro Meyer's CD 'I photograph to remember' was good for making this
point. In time I find I look for what I am likely to forget in a day and
make a photograph I want to remember. That is not really different for
some. It is for me.
Posted by on 10/17/2004 6:29:23 AM
2. 'I Photograph To Remember' came out a long while ago. Photo-journalist
Pedro Meyer photographed and narrated the last period of his
parent's lives as they cope with cancer. The story was published
on CD-ROM, a new medium in 1991. In the end Pedro is left with
his images and remembers, ‘I remember how my mother used
to ask, ‘why can't we have this closeness and this togetherness
all of our lives?’ ‘
Posted by tony on 10/17/2004 2:05:11 PM
Rossbehy
Stones
Stones from White Strand, Rossbehy. Saturday 2 October.
Posted on 10/7/2004 7:49:07 AM | Comments
Comments
1. This looks a little autistic to me...Don't say that the tide made them
that way. It appeals to me - both the image and the arrangement - so you
can draw your own conclusions.
Posted by twig on 10/8/2004 10:31:25 AM
2. Modern stone age Art? pretty... a 10!
Posted by Maurits on 10/10/2004 7:37:04 AM
3. That's is one of the best pastimes during my walks... I also
love picking up rocks :)
Posted by elias on 10/16/2004 8:39:14 PM
4. The colour and texture of these stones (and shells) are wonderful
but they look regimented all lined up like this. Their organisc
beauty and their naturalness is lost. As children we collect
stones and shells on the beach to take them home as a form of
ownership. Here there is a evidence of the same sort of need
to not only own them, but classify them into groups and families.
I wonder if you meant to group them together into this little
collection and make order out of chaos.
Posted by Glen on 10/19/2004 3:27:29 AM
5. We had the stones in a bag. Jude decided we had too many
stones to bring back to London, and I agreed they were too heavy.
The group here are a reminder of a place and something of how
it felt. The stones are like signposts for us, pointing to particular
places on White Strand - a sort of code without a message.
Posted by tony on 10/21/2004 5:43:48 AM
6. I had this image on Photoshed as you are linked as a favourite.
Someone asked if the photographer arranged them or was it done
by a natural force, eg water (the image is small so I tried not
to smirk - I guess with all the monkeys typing....let's not go
there). It is a good photo for discussing momentos of travel.
Travel in our culture is the thing worth remembering, would anyone
send a postcard of a pencil at work? But if we take a photo of
the momento it does not spend 20 years gathering dust before
the relations fight over it. It does not weight down the airplane
or our lives. Please tell me you put the stones back where you
found them.
Posted by Douglas on 10/26/2004 2:23:30 PM
7. I would send a postcard of a pencil at work. But then I would
say that wouldn't I?
Posted by Twig on 10/27/2004 12:48:56 AM
8. Looks nicely sorted, I like them that way... I still remember
my holidays when I was young and we would go to the mountains
with rivers with rocks in them... Big and small ones, football
size to pebble size, and we would build dams or little harbours
and wildwater rivers, guiding the water between the rocks...
Nice memories! Have a look at the TA Meet n Greet in Amsterdam,
planned for summer 2005 by the way, click my name! :)
Posted by Christiaan - MNG Amsterdam! on 10/27/2004 8:47:36 AM
9. I thought your bowl of irish stones should be entered in
Photo Friday - Still Life, and if they allow two entries then
the one of arranged stones on the beach. It takes time but I
think both are successful photos and doing this gives a different
type of outcome to MA. Hope you get in a bit of writing.
Posted by Douglas on 10/29/2004 7:51:33 AM
Rossnagrena
Near Rossnagrena, Co Cork. Looking down track towards Crossterry Mountain
and Barley Lake. Friday 1 October.
Comments
1. A very nice image young man!
Posted by twig on 10/4/2004 5:38:01 PM
2. Weather had been racing in from the Atlantic all day, clouds
engulfing the mountain tops, sun suddenly breaking through and
rain. As I was driving up to the N71 I could see this series
of silhoettes forming in my rear view mirror - I stopped and
managed to compose some scenes before the light had changed again.
Posted by tony on 10/4/2004 7:23:14 PM
3. This is a great image.
Posted by on 10/5/2004 9:39:21 AM
4. Another very nice shot :-)
Posted by Robert K. on 10/5/2004 3:27:29 PM
5. amazing...
Posted by euphoria on 10/5/2004 4:15:40 PM
6. thanks for all the encouraging comments - I wondered if we
can get TA to have a way of including the comments on the front
page as an option..I'll copy and paste these in and see what
it looks like
Posted by tony on 10/7/2004 8:38:48 AM
7. This seems to have worked on my machine here. Wondered why
it only appeared on the one image. It's still a 'groovy' image
even with the technical ... well, er! techniques explained. I
still don't know how to insert an 'active' weblink. Tried what
you said but it didn't work. Posted by twig on 10/8/2004 6:28:57
PM
8. Also your code doesn't dislay subsequent mesages.... Posted
by twig on 10/8/2004 10:19:02 PM
9. i absolutely love Ireland. Almost seven years ago was when
my wife and were engaged. I porposed to her on the cliffs of
Mohr. On a cold, wet and very windy day at the cliffs. I want
to go back now... Posted by w|e|s on 10/11/2004 2:43:18 PM
Castle
Rock
Track leading to pass between Castle Rock and Knocknagorraveela. South
of Kenmare. Friday 1 October
Posted on 10/4/2004 11:00:14 AM
Comments
1. Wow... very nice!
Posted by Robert K. on 10/4/2004 5:51:56 AM
2. gorgeous! what a great setting.. the drops of rain on the
camera lens adds great effect. .. i like all of your photos here.
Posted by Paul on 10/7/2004 1:29:50 PM
3. Everything comes together in this image, even the rain on
the lens pulls me further in. This is one of the best I have
seen in TA! More than a mere "10" ... so I think I'll
vote twice .-)
Posted by Greg on 11/8/2004 9:16:05 PM
4. Thanks, Robert, Paul and Gregg for your comments - sometimes
all the elements we play with do come together.
Posted by tony on 11/9/2004 11:27:39 AM
September
2004 |
