Ruby Tuesday – Caught Red-Handed! August 31, 2010
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, macro photos, Ruby Tuesday!.9 comments
Ah, an afternoon walk in the garden…
Hey, what’s that munching sound I hear??
Um… Hullo… … This your broccoli? Yeah, guess it must be. Heheh. Sorry. Didn’t think you’d mind if I…
Well, gotta go, see ya!
Actually, he was quite a handsome specimen, and let me get in close for a nice portrait:
Thanks, Little Guy. Munch on!
For more Things Ruby, visit Mary over at Work of the Poet!
Just Playing… August 24, 2010
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, macro photos.Tags: Bridge of Flowers, Lilly, Lizz and Holly, Photoshop
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…around with Photoshop – courtesy of Frau B. and Miz Lumina, my benefactors in many ways, and most recently, donors of Lizz’s former lap-top which just happens to have Photoshop on it!!! 🙂
My first effort with this new toy is a white lily from the Bridge of Flowers. I hadn’t shown you this previously because the blossom was several days old and had accumulated some dirt. But with a few rudimentary tools from the Photoshop Bag-O-Tricks, it looks like this:
Heheh, sweet!
Boy-Howdy, there’s gonna be a learning curve, but I’m totally psyched!
😉
In The Dooryard. August 18, 2010
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, Dinner with TCR.Tags: dooryard, fire, ice cream, leftovers, prayer flags
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Dinner in the dooryard tonight. Leftovers from a long list, lightening the fridge, with fresh touches from the garden. Curries, salsas, chicken and ribs, refried succotash with local corn, implausibly sweet and spicy. The light fading, the fire holding back the night as crickets and cicadas call forth the half-moon and stars.
It’s beautiful out here, warmed by the fire, cooled by a gentle breeze, a confused margin tracing a wavering curve up the side of my face.
Yawning, stretching, I say goodnight and reluctantly retire to my second floor bedroom; five o’clock comes early for this boy.
At the window I fidget with the fan, then notice my housemate Holly, still by the fire, perhaps contemplating a bit of her home-made peach and basil ice cream. I grab my camera and set up for a thirty second exposure; it looks like this:
Flames flicker, prayer flags flutter, and I’m off to dream the dreams of summer.
Good night.
Ruby Tuesday – Walking The Steel. August 16, 2010
Posted by littlebangtheory in Ruby Tuesday!.Tags: beams, bridges, Ruby Tuesday!, work
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My job, highway and bridge layout, ranges from yawns, generally plentiful during the more mundane aspects of rural road surveys, to screams, which can come fast and furiously when in the throes of building a big, complicated bridge.
I’m presently wrestling with a monster, a disintegrating concrete span which looms in a great curve over an iron railroad bridge which in turn spans the concrete channel of the Hoosic river in its transit of the city of North Adams. It’s a virtual Escher’s World of crumbling concrete pillars being “resurfaced” (yeah, and good luck with that! ) and redecked with new steel beams and a new concrete deck.
We’re at the point now of setting the beams on the east side (Stage II) and they are, you guessed it, RED:
The iron workers scurry about up there seemingly unphased; I, on the other hand, move with a great deal of care and caution, much to their amusement:
That’s not me, but you get the idea – and it gets a good bit higher by the time it crosses the railroad tracks.
I’ll be spending the better part of the next few weeks walking the steel, with the spaces between the beams being gradually filled in with “pans” for the upcoming concrete pours.
For more Things Ruby, visit Mary over at Work of the Poet!
A Rose, By Any Other Name… August 12, 2010
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, macro photos.Tags: rose
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…would smell so sweet, as they always do, my favorite flower scent.
C’mon, put your nose right here:
Aahhhh, the light, pure essence which makes the invisible air beautiful! But take care – as with so many things which are stunning to the eye, it may be best to look but resist touching.
😉
At MassMoCA. August 11, 2010
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.Tags: Leonard Nimoy, Mass MoCA, North Adams MA, Petah Coyne, Tobias Putrih
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The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, that is. It’s a really unique museum about half an hour west of here, offering some of the largest galleries in the country, making it ideal for the massive installation pieces which seem to be currently in vogue.
Susan and I went there this past Sunday to see the Petah Coyne sculpture show and Leonard Nimoy’s portrait photography of local folks. The Nimoys were cool, lots of fun, but I’m sure I speak for us both when I say that the Coyne show was jaw-dropping: large sculptures comprised primarily of silk flowers, wire, wax and… taxidermy. Photography wasn’t allowed as per the artist’s request, and anyway, I haven’t seen any photos of this stuff on line which begins to do it justice. I’ll just say that if you’re within driving distance of North Adams, Massachusetts, you’d do well to check it out.
Equally impressive (to me, at least,) were the black and white photo studies she supposedly drew her inspiration from, though I failed to see the connection. They’re all evocative of a mix of dark emotions and celebration, compelling and surreal. I’ll be back to see them again.
Mass MoCA is built into an old factory complex, and the forms and voids of the space are themselves interesting , from the Quarter-Furlong Gallery to more “private” spaces:
That’s a shot from Elliot, my preferred indoor/architectural lens, as is this one, of Susan receiving The Light from Tobias Putrih’s installation, Hoosac 2010, an ethereal fishing line apparition inspired by the grave and ponderous Hoosac Tunnel:
I took other photos that day, but this one is my favorite. It’s like an expression of the potential I see in that lady.
Anyway, visit Mass MoCA if you can, or watch for shows by these artists in your area; they’re spectacular!
Ruby Tuesday On The Bridge Of Flowers! August 9, 2010
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, Ruby Tuesday!.Tags: bee, begonias, Bridge of Flowers, coneflower, dahlias, Ruby Tuesday!
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Took a short walk today on Shelburne Falls’ famous Bridge of Flowers.
It was Rubylicious!
The air was cool and calm, the light subdued:
The Coneflowers were popping, much to the delight of plentiful honey- and bumble-bees:
Begonias begged at my ankles:
But the Big Dogs on this day were the Dahlias, which fairly hijacked the place:
Big as saucers and saucy as hell:
And yeah, they came in other colors… but then, they wouldn’t be Ruby, now would they?
😉
Thanks to Mary over at Work of the Poet for this Ruby meme!
Funky July Moon! August 8, 2010
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.Tags: full moon, July
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Yeah, I know, it’s August. But I’ve been holding onto this one, ruminatin’ over whether to share it or not. Something about the atmosphere on this particular night created a strange margin on this otherwise crisp moon:
But hey, it is what it is, and there it is.
Hiding, …Sorta. August 5, 2010
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, macro photos.Tags: hiding, ladybug, macro photos, yellow tansy
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“meeneemeeneemeeneemeeneemeenee…
yoooo can’t seeeeeeee meeeeeeeeeeee… :”
A bashful Ladybug “hides” from my lens (well, at least she can’t see me! ) on a yellow tansy.
Two of my favorite things in one shot!
🙂
A Visitor. August 4, 2010
Posted by littlebangtheory in Love and Death.Tags: Mr. Cat, pigeon
5 comments
What’s this, perched on my open trunk lid?
Why, it’s a pigeon! We don’t see many of those out here in the country… especially handsome, elegant ones like this:
Better get Mr. Cat into the house, he’s licking his chops.
“Did you say, ‘Cat??'”
Yes, I think, whisking Mr. Cat into the house.
“Thanks a lot, Pal!”
Little Bang Theory 