6/15/04

summertime: thinking about Diane Arbus, painting, planting trees, getting ready to ride. Music is the saving grace. Been listening to Joia Wood, one of the amazing local musicians. Rolled tape. Long Time Friend (400Kb) is from a set Joia did at Gravity Lounge in March. Joia runs a restaurant, is fixing to be a parent. Busy. It is my fervent hope she finds time to make a CD.

5/02/04

Uploading Palmetto State today, 40 pictures dealing with race, religion and presidential politics in South Carolina. The pictures are slightly larger than usual, as more people migrate to broadband this seems permissible. Hope to improve this selection as time goes along, this is a first draft.

04/26/04

The opportunistic civic boosterism provoked by the "#1 ranking" (see entry below) continues to rankle. In the past week REALTORS have been waving the Number One Flag. The City of Charlottesville in its City Notes makes prominent mention of the ranking including a listing of the ten categories that were evaluated en route to the ranking (economy & jobs, cost of living, climate, education, health and healthcare, crime, transportation, leisure, arts and culture and overall quality of life).

Lets get real folks. A visit to the US Census Bureau gives a less sanguine appraisal.

Per capita income, less than 17K. People living in "poverty" 26%. Homeownership rate, 41%. Housing in "multi-unit structures" 45%. Come to Charlottesville! Rent a really expensive dump! Be poor!

04/15/04

I have lived in Charlottesville VA for twenty-seven years +/-. It is home. We have one big commercial strip-mall, Rt 29, oriented north to south. We have one east to west pedestrian mall. We have a river that is hard to access for recreational use.

We have some rich folk living in the surrounding county, Albemarle. There is a good public University in Charlottesville (UVA).There is a good free distribution newspaper.

What were Bert Sperling and Pete Sander thinking? These yahoos say CHO is the best city to live in in the USA in their tome Cities Ranked and Rated: More than 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. and Canada,

Lists that purport to tell you what is in fashion. Fools read such lists.

So, that's what dismays about CHO being listed as a cool place to live. Here come the fools. The residential and commercial developers that have been steadily despoiling CHO and environs for decades will reap profits at a greater than normal rate. The quality of life in CHO will continue to plummet.

Here we have a scene from Charlottesville's Meade Avenue. A deluxe used car lot. Some fine bill-boards and utility lines in the background.

If this picture was taken from a bit more elevation the dammed and polluted Rivanna River could be seen snaking its way next to junk cars and an asphalt heavy shopping center.

Best City in America? What a bunch of hyperbole.

read article regarding the ranking

3/30/04

Since the age of twelve I have collected audio. Started that before photography.

I need a sound guru, I have no idea how to stream audio on the Internet. Eventually I'd like to post talking pictures. Experimenting here. Listen to Al Sharpton, February 2nd. Three minutes and thirty three seconds of Al Sharpton. He provided some bright moments on the campaign trail before Mr.JFK became the presumptive nominee.

Low Quality (208K download)

Medium Quality (416K download)

3/24/04

I've been somewhere new, south of here about 800 miles, 26 degrees 35.122 minutes North. A sunny place. Ate lunch with a friend and her daughter.

I wonder at what age I lost belief in my own immortality? It happens gradually. At any rate, the youngster at lunch had a somewhat irregular, multicolored nevus located at her hairline. A little thing, a slight blemish on the forehead of an Immortal. The mom and I said "take a few moments out of your Immortal schedule and have a dermatologist look at that spot." Words to that effect.

Will she make the time? Will she visit the dermatologist? It is my fervent hope. She is a cool young woman, an artist, a communicator, a gifted person.

From the CDC:

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. Since 1973, new cases of the most serious form of skin cancer, melanoma, have increased approximately 150%. During the same period, deaths from melanoma have increased approximately 44%. Approximately 65%–90% of melanomas are caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. More than one half of a person’s lifetime UV exposure occurs during childhood and adolescence because of more opportunities and time for exposure. Exposure to UV radiation during childhood plays a role in the future development of skin cancer. Persons with a history of >1 blistering sunburns during childhood or adolescence are two times as likely to develop melanoma than those who did not have such exposures.

3/09/04

Dear Bill,
I stumbled across your site while looking for images relating to 'driving at night', I'd been looking for inspiration for my current project examining the Australian landscape.
I'm an Aussie painter living in NYC and just wanted to say that I think you have a singular eye and feel for the edge of life, your work is like a beacon. I don't know what I'm trying to say but I feel your work teetering on the edge of the void between life and...well, death really.

3/07/04

Clap if you believe in Tinkerbell

3/06/04

The letter below appeared in today's Washigton Post:

Isn't it interesting to see the roles inverted between "liberals" and "conservatives" with respect to the treatment of edgy art such as "The Passion of the Christ"? Traditionally, liberals rightly oppose conservatives who object to "shock art" such as the "Piss Christ." Liberals traditionally have defended such work regardless of the ideological content. They might critique the artistic imagery and its effectiveness in conveying meaning, but never do they attack the content itself.

Now, sensing that a work of art clearly is resonating with a large mass of ideological conservatives, liberals attack the content of the work itself, calling it anti-Semitic, inappropriate and out of context.

I hope conservatives can learn from this experience and understand that freedom of expression, even regarding works that offend, is a fundamental freedom that they should more consistently defend.

-- David Beers

Bethesda

3/04/04


I confess, I am disappointed that the democratic primary season has moved from a phase where candidates could be evaluated to the rubber stamping of JFKII.

Tom Petty has a song that discusses prejudice against southern accents. To me, a southern accent is music.

But now it'll be eight months of Bush v Kerry. Smirk and quip v bad hair and drone, arg! Intelligence has left the room.

3/02/04

Super Tuesday. I have the distinct privelege of talking to a group of photographers in NOVA next week. Eeek! The title of the talk is. The title of the talk is. That is the problem. Figuring out the why. Not wanting to waste their time. Black and white photography, a cautionary tale?


For those of you, not fortunate enough to receive spam. The URGENT communication below is one of my favoritie spam messages. Greed, avarice and stupidity, universal qualities. Maybe this is how J.B. Aristide, former president and priest will reclaim his fortune

ATTN/ THE PRESIDENT,

I KNOW THIS LETTER MIGHT COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE, BUT PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGY FOR MY FIRST CONTACT WITH YOU AS I FEEL THAT EMAIL CONTACT IS MORE PRIVATE WITH RESPECT TO MY INTENSION.

HOWEVER,I AM MR.CHEAPOO MONIBA,ONE OF THE PRESIDENT CHARLES TAYLOR’S CLOSE MAN OF LIBERIA.MR TAYLOR WAS ASKED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY AND SOME OF US HAVE TO LEAVE ALSO FOR OUR OWN SEFATY.I AM CONFIDING IN YOU HOPING YOU WILL NEVER BETRAY ME AT LAST,MY MOST CONCERN IS FOR YOU TO RECOGNISE ME AS YOUR BROTHER WHILE ESTABLISHING A LONG LASTING RELATIONSHIP.

PRESENTLY,I AM IN DAKAR SENEGAL,WITH SUM HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY AND DIAMONDS I INTEND MOVING TO YOUR POSSESSION BY YOUR ABLE ASSISTANCE.THE MONEY WAS KEPT UNDER MY CARE FOR PURCHAES OF ARMS,AND IT WAS A SITUATION OF WAR AND ALSO THE CONDITION OF THINGS THAT MAKES ME TO MOVE IMMEDIATELY TO DAKAR SENEGAL WHERE IT WAS DEPOSITED WITH THE INTENSION TO MOVE THE FUNDS AND DIAMONDS TO YOUR POSSESSION.

PRESIDENT CHARLES TAYLOR IS NOW IN EXILS IN A NEIGHBORING AFRICAN COUNTRY BECAUSE OF THE ALLEGATION THAT IS BEING MADE AGAINST HIM,THE SAME NEWS ALSO APPEARED IN THE BBC NEWSìWEBSITEîAND YOU CAN CHECK OUT THE NEWS IN THE BBCìWEBSITEîTO CONFIRM MY POINTS. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3249161.stm

I WANT TO MOVE THE FUNDS AND DIAMONDS INTO YOUR POSITION FOR YOU TO SECURE AND ACCUMMUDATE IT FOR OUR MUTUAL BENEFITS PENDING WHEN I WILL COME AND MEET WITH YOU.NOTE THAT SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF THIS MONEY WOULD BE COMPENSATED TO YOU FOR YOUR ABLE ASSISTANCE, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME SO I CAN GIVE YOU MORE DETAILS ON THE NEXT STEP.

PLEASE KEEP THIS UTMOST SECRECY AND CONFIDENTIAL AS YOU CAN UNDERSTAND MY PRESENT CONDITION IN DAKAR SENEGAL.THANKS FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION AND PLEASE TREAT PROMPTLY.

SINCERELY YOURS, MR.CHEAPOO MONIBA. I WILL BE REACHED WITH ON MY EMAIL BELOW. {MickeyTaylor@spl.at} .

2/27/04-

I am working on an update, a great load of photos from South Carolina, a state that has more southern iconography per square mile than any other.

Followed John Edwards around for a day, followed Al Sharpton around in the evening, visited friends, beaches, and my 12th grade English teacher.

Sorry to say, I couldn't find Pat Conroy, he is behind the bar of a gated community, I don't know the pass word.

Sophie ate a psychotropic frog. It was a long night. She survived.

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