Some tidbits for today….
David Alan Harvey from Magnum is coming to Austin for South by Southwest. He’s leading up a workshop offered through the Austin Center for Photography called “The Photographic Essay.” Sounds like a wonderful opportunity and it’s great that we are starting to have some local workshops of significance.
The Texas Photographic Society is going to have another push pin meeting on February 4th at 6 pm. Bring work and congregate in Russells wine bar downstairs if you get there early.
Drawing studio went well yesterday-I drew a cute pig, a nice house, and a few other odds and ends. I did not, however attempt something we dubbed “the boat.” Oh, sure “the boat” *looks* easy. Oh, sure, there it is luring you in, “Come on,” it seems to say, “draw me. You can draw me. You know you want to draw me. I’m not that hard. I can’t be that hard. Do I really look that hard to you? Come on, draw me! Draw ME! DRAW ME!” Don’t believe the hype. “The boat” is really very very hard to draw. (To give you an idea of how hard it is, I opted to draw not one, not two, but *three* entire human heads, well, they looked almost human, rather than “the boat.” Oh, that evil boat!)
Somebody really should document the rise and fall and rise again of Polaroid. That would make such an interesting photo project, don’t you think? That Impossible Project just keeps on keeping it real (and, well, I guess, possible.)
It’s been almost raining in Austin for a few days now. That and the cedar is at record highs, so everybody is a bit miserable. The good news is, well, it’s not too cold out. Here in Austin, we have little tolerance for anything that’s not “about 70 degrees and sunny.” Trust me on that one, but we’re a grumpy lot and we ever so dislike straying from the norm.
Haiti has been hit by a strong, 6.1 magnitude aftershock. It’s heartbreaking. My heart goes out to the poor orphans there who have had to endure more in their short lifetimes than any one person should bear, not to mention all the rescue workers and people in remote areas who have been hard hit by this disaster. As others, more wise and well-versed than myself have said, enough with all this stupid nonsense about “the devil made it happen” or it was Obama’s fault. It was a natural disaster folks, get over yourself already. I’m sure God and Mother Nature could give a flip about American politics. Stop straining your arm from patting yourselves on the back already and do something about the problem in front of you. (Geesh!) Last time I checked we are all human and we all have to look out for one another. It amazes me sometimes how, in these situations, people can forget the simplest of things, like, “there but for the grace of God…” The earthquake, rather than being a reminder, of sorts, is making people stupid. Here I thought it was only the buildings that fell, not the collective IQ’s of the idiots in office and the so-called pundits. It’s slowly becoming the poster child for “turn it off, man I’ve seen too much” if ever there were one.
The Austin Night Photography group has grown 71 members strong. It’s amazing to me to see so much interest. What can I say? Wow! KathyV was telling me this weekend that she sees a renewed and heightened interest in night photography. It’s having an impact. Our little world is shaping and bending in new ways. I think that’s great to see.
Until next time…
