What I saw while on a NE Portland Kerns Neighborhood Walk with Lamont, Sunday, January 5, 2014, No. 3

Altered with HDR at PicMonkey. Could not pass up the chance to get these two sorts of bicycle racks in a photo, playing off the curves, the rectangles, the colors. I took this photo at at da Vinci Arts Middle School, a short walk from my apartment building.

Taking a break from the Nature's beauty series to share some joyous family time at the Hollywood Theatre, experiencing "Muscle Shoals" together!

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Back story. Born in 1947 in Jackson, Mississippi; graduated from high school in 1966; went to Mississippi State in Starkville until we needed for my parents to send my brother to school to defer the possibility of being drafted; moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1969; listened to various radio stations in Jackson and Starkville and Kansas City. Every chance I got, I went to live music at clubs and at  concerts. Dec. 31, 1972, married a music lover named LeRoy--he had more albums than I'd ever seen outside of a record store. We continued those habits, spending some of life's time and money and love on music. LeRoy died in 1983 in Houston, Texas, where we had moved. Lamont, Leland and I moved back to Jackson, Mississippi. I took my sons to as many live music performances as we could afford. We listened to the radio, watched early MTV together, and bought some music. We came to appreciate each others tastes, one of the blessings of being their mother that causes my heart to swell. To me it means their Daddy is here with us, helping us understand each other just a little bit better.

I cannot play anything. I cannot sing. I can appreciate music that grabs hold of me and won't let go. In fact, I willingly allow this to happen from the second I hear some songs, whether it is the first time or the hundredth time. Before LeRoy, who really just about wouldn't dance, ever, I used to get up on the dance floor and get down. Nowadays, I jump at the chance to do the Electric Slide, as well as bobbing my head with the best of 'em. And I fondly remember dancing with Lamont and Leland at their various high school proms. (I taught at their school.)

Now for why I'm smiling so much in all of the photos in the collage. A few months ago when I read about "Muscle Shoals" in an e-mail I received from the Portland Art Museum's NW Film Center, I knew I had to see it. No wavering in my determination--I bought a ticket to see it on Friday, October 11, at 6:45 p.m. When I walked in, I decided to sit on row seven, in the 11th seat, for luck. Did that ever turn out to be the case! Here's something I wrote about the experience afterwards--"Let me tell you, if you get the chance to see the documentary "Muscle Shoals," you should take it. I can't think of enough words to accurately convey how splendid it is. Go see and you'll find yourself feeling the same. If you don't, I'm sorta worried about you."

Several times as I sat there in the dark, among surely lots of non-Southerners who nevertheless loved the music, I wondered what they thought about the word kudzu, did they recognize it for those few seconds it was on the screen? Did they understand what those interviewed really meant when they talked about the singing river, the mud, the place of Muscle Shoals, Alabama? It didn't take much for me to become homesick for my Mississippi because those beautiful skies and landscapes and small town sights spoke deeply and quickly to my memories. Those young men, barely out of boyhood, struck me with such familiarity that I felt I knew them, yet I remained amazed at the chance of the whole thing--they are the living, breathing, talented truth of being in the right place at the right time. Let's add in having the right skills and determination and flexibility and the ability to not be racists, too, in those turbulent times in the South.

Overcome with the gut-impact of deep emotions I had not expected, somehow I swallowed the sobs I felt coming on as I sat there while folks all around me got up and left as the credits rolled. I couldn't move, not yet. I had to drink from "Muscle Shoals," the final drop of the well-realized effort on the part of all involved in its coming together. When I got to the top of the aisle, I noticed to  my right that the auditorium's control room door stood ajar. I leaned into the darkness and said with a still choked up voice, "Thank you, thank you so much for bringing that here." I heard a voice reply, "You're welcome." And I walked away, knowing immediately that I had to see it again.

This past week when I got an e-mail from the Hollywood Theatre saying that I could get free tickets to "Muscle Shoals," I immediately started clicking and typing, with a huge grin plastered all over my mug. I got the confirmation e-mail the next day, and both sons, Lamont and Leland, willingly said Yes to my invite. I knew we three had it made in the shade. That we were cooking with gas. That our ship had come in. OK, I'm going off the deep end here, but I do not care. Look at the collage above and see how I looked out front afterward, and you see the truth in those cliched phrases, plastered all over my mug! I sat there between the two of them, patting their knees every once in a while, wondering if they could believe any better than I could that these men who looked and sounded like their Papaw used to look and sound had been the creators of much of the musical soundtrack of our lives. Once we hit the sidewalk outside, I handed my iPhone to Leland so that I could have these photos to enjoy over and over.

I know this has been a lot to read. Thanks for indulging an ol' woman's family and musical whims, reflections, and joys. I know just how blessed that I am, y'all.

About the film: MUSCLE SHOALS - DIRECTOR: GREG “FREDDY” CAMALIER - US, 2013

In a small Alabama town called Muscle Shoals—on the banks of the Tennessee River—legendary musicians including Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett gathered in the late 1960s to create music that would inspire later recordings by Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers Band, Simon and Garfunkel, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Black Keys, and many more. Tracing the storied history of this unlikely musical birthplace, Camalier’s colorful film centers on Rick Hall, the founder of FAME recording studios and creator of the Muscle Shoals Sound and its legendary house rhythm section, The Swampers. Along with rare archival clips are the memories of legend after legend—all testimony to one of America’s most creative musical melting pots. (111 mins.)

Nature's beauty, No. 9

Cropped into the square shape, sharpened, and resized at PicMonkey. This sort of rose is my all-time favorite because my dearly departed husband LeRoy always gave them to me when he gave me roses. Thank you, darling. I have loved you since lightning struck when I first laid eyes on you at try-outs for that play at The Foolkiller--Transcenmental Hippiedations--on July 31, 1972, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Sentinel Tree, Sublimity, Oregon, No. 5

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Here's the altered image that inspired the comment from my Flickr friend which, in turn, inspired these five posts this week and my name for the tree. He commented, "Looks like it is the guard for these rolling fields."

Say good-bye to the Sentinel Tree, but if you missed any of the other alterations, please take a look at the posts from Monday through Thursday this week. Today's alteration, the Orton app from PicMonkey.

Sentinel Tree, Sublimity, Oregon, No. 3

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In case you haven't been here this week, here's the back story: A Flickr friend who lives in Portland commented on an altered version this photo that I will post later this week. I took the name for today's post from his comment, "Looks like it is the guard for these rolling fields."

Today's photo of the Sentinel Tree was altered with HDR at PicMonkey.

Sentinel Tree, Sublimity, Oregon, No. 2

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The photo from yesterday, altered at PicMonkey with the Cinerama application. I knew that the app would cut some off the bottom and the top of the photo. I like that. I'm not sure why the color was changed when I used the app. But I do like the starkness brought about by that change.

Sentinel Tree, Sublimity, Oregon, No. 1

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A Flickr friend who lives in Portland commented on an altered version of this photo. Not this one. All I did here was resize it at PicMonkey. I took the name for today's post from his comment, "Looks like it is the guard for these rolling fields."

Come back this week to see four other treatments of this tree. I hope you enjoy seeing them. Thanks!

Seen Downtown, No. 3

Setting sun accents the Salvation Army building on the corner of West Burnside and SW 2nd Avenue. Down the street, it hits the top floor of the New Market Block, too. I was downtown for an after-work artist talk about the public art installed as part of the Portland Streetcar Central Line outside my workplace. Couldn't resist taking some photos.
 

HDR-altered at PicMonkey. Fun to fool with photos, now and then.

Mother's Day Mini-Vacation, No.8 - who knew irrigations systems could be art?

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Crops require irrigation in the Oregon high desert. Thankful for the green, I couldn't stop taking photos of the irrigation systems we drove by in the Zipcar, Engine, a Ford Escape.




As I looked through the couple dozen photos I took, I picked the ones with shapes and vistas which appealed to me. In the background, Three-Fingered Jack, a 7,844 foot tall glaciated shield volcano named for its distinctive shape.



One more with Three-Fingered Jack in the distance.



Next I uploaded my choices to PicMonkey to alter each one with one or more of the apps there. I am so pleased with how each of these nine images turned out.




I realized I had art here, not just photos of irrigation systems.




Dynamic, motion-filled art.




Do you agree that these images are art? I really would like to know what you think. Thank you.




Mt. Washington, in the distance, is 7,794 feet tall deeply eroded shield volcano which has as its main peak a volcanic plug, heavily eroded by glaciers in the last ice age.



For me, this art provides nourishment, not only for the crops, but also for us.

Seen on the street, February 16, 2013, No. 7

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I got off the MAX Yellow Line at the Union Station stop so that I could walk a block west to the main post office. As I crossed the street, the MAX train rounded the curve in front of Union Station. Photo opportunity--the juxtaposition of these two types of transit. At BeFunky, I used the HDR special effect, after I had already straightened, cropped and resized at PicMonkey.

Seen on the street, February 16, 2013, No. 3

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As you can tell by now, I'm having PicMonkey-special-effects fun with several photos from those that I took on Saturday, Feb. 16. I wish I could make it out, but I cannot read the patch on this man's vest--even at its largest size. I took the photo from too far away. It seems to include a MAX train in the center as well as the word "mall" in the yellow border, two things which make me think he's hard at work cleaning the downtown streets under the auspices of the Portland Transit Mall. One thing I know for certain, the streets of downtown are amazingly clean considering the volume of foot traffic any time of the day or night.

Seen on the street, February 16, 2013, No. 2

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The colors in this photo, their vivid strength, took me by surprise when I uploaded them to the iMac. It was the chance to photograph a photographer that got me to take a few photos, not the colors. To get them to pop, I decided to alter them using the HDR special effect at PicMonkey.
 

Color mixed with grays and silvers--her purple hat and his purple shirt, her green polka dots on her pants and the green bicycle safety lane behind them, her golden yellow shoes and her jacket, the red stripe on his camera strap and around the lens, along with the rusty reds on the building--as well as all sorts of shapes and lines, all of this makes me happy. Their checking to make certain that the image on the memory card  is what they want, not just a random snap.

Seen from the Portland Streetcar

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I'm in the streetcar on a bridge that goes over the railroad tracks, taking this photo through the huge window. The slanted-roof white building is the Oregon Rail Heritage Center. The orange vintage rail cars are part of its collection. Inside that building stand three gorgeous, huge, unbelievable, vintage steam locomotives--seems like there are other vintage railroad pieces in there, too, not as large but still impressive, but I can't remember exactly what they are or how many. Anyway, it's a great place to visit for anyone who loves trains and/or steam locomotives. Only thing was, on this particular day, I got there 45 minutes early and couldn't wait around--cold, brisk wind and no nearby public bathroom. Anyway, I'm ahead of myself in relating those two facts--more about what I did when I first got off the streetcar in an upcoming post or two.

I really like this photo, all of the lines and angles, the slightly curved bridge known as the MLK (Martin Luther King, Jr.) Viaduct. I love how the oranges and reds on the vintage rail cars match the oranges and reds on the triangle flag barrier strung on a fence parallel with the vintage rail cars--it also has yellow triangle flags on it. Both the rail cars and the flag barrier match the word BETTER printed on a billboard there on the right edge of the photo. When I looked the image in its largest original size, I could see that those yellow letters spell BETTER BUTTER, so that means the ad is for a product I assume to be known as Better Butter Better--the yellow letters look like their top layer was the same red-orange as the last word, and that top layer has been peeled off those two words, all except for the bottom bit of the right leg of the R. 

Taking photos and then checking them out thoroughly is so much fun! I altered this one at BeFunky with the enhance, sharpen, fill light, and HDR effects and at PicMonkey with the contrast and highlight effects.

Special Halloween Memories

My younger son's birthday is today. At PicMonkey, I have vampired and day-of-the-deaded and zombied him, in honor of his having been born on Halloween. Happy birthday, honey!

Oh, the original photo was taken on our mushroom hunting trip in 2008, eleven days after his birthday.

Sunrise and sunset on October 17, 2012

Looking east on SE Hawthorne Blvd., near the intersection with SE Grand Avenue. I took this photo at 7:29 a.m.
 

Looking west from the top floor balcony at the Rose Garden Arena. I took this photo at 6:22 p.m. Notice the bit of blue to the left of the tallest antenna, down in the hillside?
 

Hiding in the sunset photo, it's Union Station. I cropped and altered the photo at PicMonkey so that you could see it, sort of.

Perched girl, smoking.

Disclaimer: I am not promoting smoking by putting this image on the blog. I didn't realize she was smoking until after I uploaded the photo to my computer and could see what was going on. I hope this image does not offend anyone.

I took the photo mainly because I couldn't believe how she was balanced on the stone wall in front of the wrought iron fence. So I clicked.

Then when I looked closer I saw what was coming out of her mouth. So I straightened, cropped, and altered the image at PicMonkey, with a couple of regular and special effects.
  I uploaded the image at Ipiccy, where I straightened, cropped, and altered it with several special effects.

Friendship Circle, at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, several views, several ways

Found on the Internet: Friendship Circle The Friendship Circle at the north end of Waterfront Park was dedicated in 1990. It celebrates the sister city relationship between Portland and Sapporo, Japan. The Friendship Circle includes a pair of 20-foot stainless towers that generate electronic tones.

At this link, read a 2007 article about the sculpture and its sound-producing aspect.

A view from above, focusing on the public art known as Friendship Circle. Image altered at PicMonkey.
  The same view--this time the image is altered at Ipiccy and includes some color manipulation. Makes me think of a 1960s postcard.
  A view from river level. Image altered at PicMonkey.
  The same view--this time the image is altered at Ipiccy.
  Folks and their pets, out enjoying the sunshine. Image altered at PicMonkey.
  The same view--this time the image is altered at Ipiccy.

Found at the Regional Arts & Culture Council Web site:
Artists: Lee Kelly, American, born 1932 Michael Stirling
Title: Friendship Circle Date: 1990
Medium: Stainless steel and digital audio
Discipline: sculpture
Dimensions: 1: 22’ x 8’ 2: 24' x 9' audio duration: 35 minutes
Funding Source: Percent for Art-City of Portland, Portland Development Commission, and the City of Sapporo, Japan
Location: Waterfront Park, Parks and Recreation, NW Naito Pkwy. and NW Everett St.

“Friendship Circle” was a collaboration between sculptor Lee Kelly and composer Michael Stirling. Stirling composed a score based upon traditional and contemporary Japanese instruments to emanate from one of the columns sculpted by Kelly. The sculpture commemorates 30 years of the Sister City relationship between Sapporo, Japan and Portland and was primarily funded by Sapporo as a token of friendship. The sculpture subtly echoes the architecture of Buddhist temples.

Found at Portland Parks & Recreation, online:
Historical Information about Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The idea for this park came at the turn of the century when the 1903 Olmsted Report pointed out the need not only for parks within the city, but for a greenway scheme for the riverbanks in order to ensure their preservation for future generations. The 1912 Bennett Plan again showed a need for more parks and river greenways, but instead of reorienting itself to the river, the city's focus was pulled further inland. In the late 1920s, the seawall was built along the Willamette's west bank for the protection of downtown from the annual floods. The seawall not only cut off the water from the people, but the people from the water as well. The construction of Harbor Drive along the west bank in the 1940s continued the trend of isolating the public from the river.

With the opening of the Eastbank Freeway (Marquam Bridge, I-5), Harbor Drive became less important to the traffic flow of the city. Governor Tom McCall created the Harbor Drive Task Force in 1968 in order to study proposals for creating a public open space in its place. In 1974, Harbor Drive was torn up and construction of a waterfront park began. It was completed and dedicated in 1978, gaining instant popularity. In 1984, the park was renamed Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park.