Now headed for South Dakota, where Gus, and I will set up legal residence. New York is history for me. It will be a slightly strange feeling to officially become a citizen of a state with no coastline…
I feel like I’ve made another change in my… creative life I suppose. I’ve long been a serious photographer (since the late 1980s) but the art/craft has always been secondary to writing, and surfing, for that matter. Now it’s at the top of the list.
There is something about the simplicity… the parsimony… and especially the… spontaneity, by which I mean the possibility of creating something meaningful with a simple… interpretive… press of a button, .i.e., noticing and at the same time creating a metaphorical representation already there in the environment, yet not seen by others…
…as I’ve pointed out before, the ability to see (and then point out) meaning, especially when it involves deceits, grand or otherwise, where others do not, is a talent that has not faded, as my surfing and writing have… anyway, this is what appeals to me about photography at this point in my sorry ass life.
Addendum: Theoretically a chimpanzee could take a great photograph, if accidentally. This is why a photographer’s talent is never based on a single image, but rather on his/her body of work. That and which images the photographer choses to show publicly. The latter (call it interpretive taste) is for some reason never brought up by critics. (Another thing I’ve ‘noticed’.)
I recall that in that insufferable movie version of the insufferable book, The Bridges of Madison County, the Clint Eastwood character claims that he was recruited as a National Geographic photog based on a single, ‘brilliant’ image he had created, a notion that had me rolling with hilarity. As I say, a chimp could create one brilliant image. A body of work, not so much. For National Geo to hire someone based on one photograph would be like Random House giving a writer a multi-book deal based on one sentence.
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(A week and a half later) I’ve concocted another slide show, which I will embed below, and it reminds me of what photography really means, especially as a body of work. It defines your travels, where you’ve been, what you saw, and whether you’ve conducted yourself with… panache… in doing so.
Period. A photographer tries to tell you about the emotion or other sort of meaning in his/her imagery, tell him/her to fuck off.
So here’s a photo record of the past ten or so days, where I’ve been and so forth.
Before I hang it up for this post, listen to this: My 5 terabyte external hard drive, upon which I back up everything… I mean EVERYTHING… (By the way, suddenly when I try to italicize anything, a fucking big window comes down telling me to sign in to an email account. More cyber bullshit… PLUS, I can’t embed any photos in the text.)
I’d bought Data Recovery insurance from The Seagate Corporation on the drive so I contacted them about saving my data. They told me it would take a month at least. Why so long? I demanded.
‘Because of the three week quarantine,’ the German accented guy tells me.
‘Quarantine? What quarantine?’ I wanted to know.
‘The wirus,’ he says.
What the fuck is a wirus, I’m wondering. Some sort of cyber speak for… Wait a minute. Does he mean the VI-rus? the fucking COVID vi-rus? (I STILL CAN’T ITALICIZE.)
Yep, that’s it.
Get this: The Seagate Corporation is going to put my hard drive in QUARANTINE for three weeks before anyone TOUCHES it.So they don’t get sick and die.
Another example, a beaut, of the insanity we are living under. (This sentence likewise needs italicization.)
Okay, I hope you enjoy the slide show, which defines where I’ve been lately, what I saw, and a little bit about how I conducted myself in doing so…
Allan
Re the printer: After 10 8 x 10 photo prints the ink ran out and they want $50 to replace them! Un-f-ing real! All the print companies are in collusion with this, no doubt — which is illegal and a restraint of trade — since the ink itself is relatively cheap, like a couple bucks. Still another sign of the times.
Still lots of fake, stupid, doctored to hell films of piles of Dung defying gravity coming out of spacex. And a whole lot of shiny eyed dumb sheeple fans sold with it hook line & sinker.
What really gets me is how they mostly don’t know or remember what happened (didn’t!) back in 1969.
This is how the PTB operate, their fave method is to wait till the generation who remembers has died out.
It’s truly unbelievable that they expect us to accept their ‘belly-flop’ maneuver, which is clearly and absurdly impossible…
This scientific/mathematician – and great speaker! – guy, has a brilliant channel bristling with content and very plainly exposing the lies and B.S going on with the space toys.
Even without going into the rotten film trickery and many hidden problems.
I can’t make up my mind which is the best to watch first, but try this Allan – Hilarious! >
https://youtu.be/r4z0cgcBLBc
It’s a miracle he hasn’t been banished off Y.T yet!!.
Unfortunately he can’t be bothered looking back at the 1969 impossibilities with what they had aimed at the moon, and just LOVES mostly bashing Musk & spacex.
So he has lost a ton of points & thumbs up from me there.
His is at least very entertaining with his speaking delivery & U.K accent anyway.
The Seagate thing baffles me. I’ve done done countless microbial & asbestos remediations since 2000. If they’re soooo skeeered, wear a full-face P100 (asbestos grade) 0.1 micron mask, Tyvek® coveralls w/ a hoodie & foot coverage and surgical-grade nitrile gloves.
Would think that taking 3 wks off turn time is preferred, unless they want a premium added for quick action.
OH, forgot – any virus dies after 30 min or so when on a non-organic material. Or almost instantly when at 145º F.+
Thanks to those who viewed the slideshow and took the time to tell me they liked it or made other relevant comments. I’m still at the campsite overlooking Deadwood (from which I took the last few photos), at over 6,000 feet. It’s cooooold at night and even snowed a bit yesterday. No one around but Gus and myself and the view is breathtaking. We’re a few hundred yards from this:
https://www.deadwood.com/mount-roosevelt/
We’ll be moving on in a few days, probably to Bad Lands, which is likewise very photogenic. Meanwhile I’ll be keeping an eye on world affairs, which appear to be spiraling, into what exactly I’m not sure, but it sure looks like we’re truly on the brink. Photography, I think, is my way to taking a rest from the bullshit.
Excellent video! Looking forward to more. Agree we all need something to escape from this hell now and then. For me, it’s hikes at the local trails usually with my dog. It’s a great respite for me.
How’s this for sure, you ol’ High Plains Drifter, you: Economic wobbles by July. Global. Followed by a stockmarket crash, and 50 trillion (repeat: trillion) USD shifting into crypto over the space of about a month. The biggest liquidity transfer in history. And then some.
The USD will be the only major currency left standing. Followed by a complete reorg of the global economy in favor of, well, ya’ll’ll find out soon enough.
Or is that just another Azzy Forecast?
They’ve been pretty accurate thusfar, right?
And for any crypto bugs out there: all you’ll need is ETH, LINK and QNT. They’ve all pretty much doubled in the last 2 months, alone. While Brett still serves up invoices with coffee stains on them!
And keep away from Blue US cities whatEVER ya’ll do.
WILLYWONKAAAA! And hey, maybe that Arizona recount will right some wrongs after all, 😂
But don’t hold yizzer collective breaths!
“Or is that just another Azzy Forecast?
They’ve been pretty accurate thusfar, right?”
Well, you predicted something big last fall… then by December, then February…
Now… July?
Stunning video! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Safe travels!
Glad to see you posting…
Allan,
Your Point Of View through your lens, on the expanse of America, is breath taking. Love the music choice 😉
Keep having fun that’s the best stuff too. Tom Petty said it well with this tune…
https://youtu.be/nvlTJrNJ5lA
Looking forward to your next post.
Hey, maybe a visit to Dakota land…
Just because you live in a state without a coast doesn’t mean that you have to quit surfing.
Awesome Allan … Stay the course ….
good riddance
What happened?…did Allan not buy you an icecream?…
Slideshow was a day-brightener! Wonderful work.
Personnaly to use my HP Scanner/Printer I have to log in…log in to fucking scan a single piece of paper on my computer…a other sign of cyber BS
Yes, absolutely.Took me two days to set up the f-ing printer, with anything I print going through the internet instead of right from my Mac to the thing. they didn’t even include a cable. Reason for that bullshit is it’s another way to keep an eye on your stuff.
Hi Allan, yes I too went through this dogma with my new HP printer setup a couple of months ago. I finally got it to behave and do what it is told ONLY after I had to go to H.P’s website and register it there, and it now works by wifi or cable. I am keeping my fingers crossed for it to continue playing ball, because so far it hasn’t noticed me injecting it’s azz with new inks into the original ink cartridges!.
Glad you like it there Allan, it does look interesting!. Your photo’s and vids are awesome, and I love seeing master Gus too.
In my case the price of both ink cartridges is greater than the price of the printer
Yep!, the ink is a ripoff shocking price and an absolute racket on all the ink printers.
The only way to win is to buy bulk ink (for a song in comparison!!) , and the 4 x small injection needles to refill your cartridges yourself as required.
The ink cartridge contains the printhead, which needs to be replaced frequently because of wear. If you re-ink cartridges they will get crappier and crappier. But it is crappy the cartridges are more than the printer.
I’m not saying re-inking cartridges a few times is bad.
Re -inking the cartridges has been highly successful for years on end for me with no trouble, and I have saved an absolute fortune on ink – which costs more than a tank of gas in a car here – ridiculous!.
It is mysteriously (NOT!) one of the most expensive liquids on earth, hovering around $6000 – $8000 per litre
Your photography, film, writing, and surfing is one of the most beautiful, meaningful, thought provoking, stylish (surfing :)) and memorable imo! Miss you my friend! <3
Thanks, Pearl. You guys should come to the Dakotas anyway. Beautiful here!
Haven’t checked in for a long while, hope you’re fairing ok during these ridiculous times Alan..I’m busy setting up a self sufficient situation of sorts and avoiding all media.. hope all you good folk here are making the best of a literally insane world right now !
Your photographic work is, in my opinion, stunning Allan. Thanks. As a creative person with a long list of achievements in my past, I appreciate the way you’ve articulated the dilemma of creativity, especially as we grow older. One cannot rest on ones creative laurels and remember fondly what has already passed. It doesn’t work that way. Gotta keep moving. You are doing so in spectacular fashion. Inspiring stuff.
Thanks, Dave!
The fact is a locust can be a great “ready art” or “abstract art” artist. So imagine what can a chimpanzee would achieve in those “art movement”.
As a professional computer guy I suggest to “backup” youre backup at least once a week.
About the Wirus : I can only witness the obvious zombification of our “civilisation”. Look like the wealthy only care to fuck the ass of the younth. Probably normal in a “civiliation” where “ready art” is art.
I know. I have to back it up in at least two places. Apple’s equipment is in a sorry state. Not sure why, but it cannot be good.
Hi
You should definitely burn some blu-ray to backup your data and put them somewhere safe. At least you will be safe.
My NEW MacBook is not capable of… anything… I’d have to buy all new stuff to burn anything. A nightmare.
I’ll sure that you’ll soon find that that entire area is overrun with whacky tourists shortly, if not already.
The hike up Black Elk (Harney) is worth the time.
Rapid City is decent; it does have a good school in The School of Mines and Technology.
Camping on the west side of the hills is beautiful – and far less visited.
I see that you have visited Devil’s Tower… ever hear the theory that that is a [very] large ancient tree stump?
I see this is scheduled for Rapid City https://redpillexpo.org/
Perhaps ACW might be interested?
Yeah, I’m re-examining the possibility of the thing being a huge stump. Why not? Nothing would surprise me.
It sure does look like one. Always enjoy your music selections as well.
Ive been reading your comments on MMan with interest, DSK.
But lemme suggest something to you.
Your tone is impertinent, and if you’d like Metallicman to be more forthcoming, it’d behoove you to adapt a better one.
Ya know; please, thank you, shit, maybe even an occasional “hello”…
Those trivial old basics. Capiche?
You’re not owed any answers; and seem to labor under a fundy mindset that’s preventing your accessing the nitty gritty of what MMan is actually saying about this quantum realm.
Id personally have told you take a hike days ago. And not up a mountain that used to be a tree, 😂
Cmon man. Really? Rrrreeally?