Margaret Yvonne Middleton, R.I.P.

Yvonne De Carlo (aka. Lily Munster)
September 1, 1922 – January 8, 2007
Photograph from Universal-International's 'Buccaneer's Girl' (1950)

As beautiful as Lily, as she was in life.

•••

Prozac For Lovers: (Don't Fear) The Reaper
(Buy: Prozac For Lovers)

Espero Alegre La Salida …

Frida Kahlo Following Her Mother's Death, 1932
Guillermo Kahlo
6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches Gelatin Silver Print
Courtesy of Throckmorton Fine Art, Inc. New York, New York

'Images of an Icon offers a means of seeing Frida Kahlo’s world through the eyes of those who surrounded her. Modern masters of the camera such as Lucienne Bloch, Emmy Lou Packard, Florence Arquin, and Manuel Alvarez Bravo, as well as leading photojournalists such as Giselle Freund, Bernard Silberstein, and Fritz Henle captured her in their lenses. Kahlo’s relatives, lovers, and friends, including Guillermo Kahlo, Nickolas Muray, and Lola Alvarez Bravo were witness to a more intimate Frida. The images span Kahlo’s life and follow the artist from precocious child to famous artist. They permit a look into her bedroom, a seat at her table, a visit to her hospital room, a stroll through her garden, and a view into her collections. There is an ancillary component to the exhibition featuring the work of Northwest artists who have been inspired by Kahlo, the artist and icon.'

This exhibition is organized by Throckmorton Fine Art, New York. Local support is generously provided by Helen and Peter Bing and The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

Sure, Tacoma, Washington is 3,294 miles away from The Rock — but if I had 50 hours of free time — I'd hop in the car and beeline it out to Frida Kahlo: Images of an Icon, February 3 – June 10, 2007, at the Tacoma Art Museum. But, if you, like me, can't get out there right now (but we have until June of this year) — enjoy their site and resource links for more about Kahlo, and the photographers who knew, and loved her.

•••

Calexico: Quattro (Gotan Project Remix)
(Buy: Calexico: Black Heart)

Too Many Bodies, And Not Enough Grass (Snow, or Wreaths)

Christmas at the Arlington National Cemetery
December 2005
U.S. Air Force photograph by Master Sgt. Jim Varhegyi

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo,
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?

I am the grass.
Let me work.

Grass, Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

The Department of Defense has identified 2,915 American service members who have died since the start of the Iraq war. It confirmed the deaths of the following Americans over the weekend:

Jesse J. J.Castro, 22, Sgt., Army; Chalan Pago, Guam
Kristofer R.Ciraso, 26, Staff Sgt., Army; Bangor, Maine
Micah S.Gifford, 27, Specialist, Army; Redding, California
Jason I.Huffman, 23, Cpl., Army; Conover, North Carolina
Travis C.Krege, 24, Pfc., Army; Cheektowaga, New York
Henry W. Linck, 23, Staff Sgt., Army; Manhattan, Kansas
Joshua B. Madden, 21, Specialist, Army; Sibley, Louisiana
Yari Mokri, 26, Specialist, Army; Pflugerville, Texas
Travis L. Patriquin, 32, Capt., Army; Texas
Vincent J. Pomante, III, 22, Specialist, Army; Westerville, Ohio

•••

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra: Big Man
(Buy: Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra: Who Is This America)

Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble: Star Wars
(Buy: Akoya: Introducing The Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble)

Linton Kwesi Johnson: Reality Poem
(Buy: Linton Kwesi Johnson: Forces of Victory)

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes: Wake Up Everybody
(Buy: Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes: Wake Up Everybody)

Aretha Franklin: Someday We'll All Be Free
(Buy: Malcolm X: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Fun's Fun, But That's Not Fun!

Red Squirrel
Rockport, Maine
December 2004

"Fun's Fun, But That's Not Fun!"

You know what, I don't even know what that's supposed to mean, but Bernard tells me his Moms always used to say that to him when he did something he wasn't supposed to be doing. I guess if you can attach a mother voice it, it starts to make some sense. Any way, this post has little to do with that.

I hit a squirrel today — with the car.

I don't know if you've ever hit anything with a car before, but there's this sick feeling you (I) get in the pit of my stomach when something like this happens. (Although, this has happened only one other time before. But I remember that feeling. I do not like it.) I'm not one of those people who sees squirrels (or seagulls, or pigeons, for that matter) and has one of those little 'I wish I could kill those little effers! Rats with tails (or wings — in the case of seagulls and pigeons)! That's what they are!' moments — freaking the person, that thought they knew who you were — out just a little more then maybe you ever wanted. (Or they wanted to be, by somebody they thought they knew.) You know what I mean?

The squirrel lived. I think. I saw it run off to the side of the road and into the woods before I turned the next corner. I want to belief that I just grazed the little thing. I hope I'm right.

Drive carefully, and love the little animals. Outie!

•••

Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers: Roadrunner
(Buy: Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers: Roadrunner, Roadrunner: The Beserkley Collection)
Joan Jett: Roadrunner
(Buy: Fit To Be Tied: Great Hits of Joan Jett and The Blackhearts)

A Good Day To Die

Ferry Terminal Ramp
The Other Side
March 10, 2003

No, really, this was the day that I thought it was over. Just for a second — but even for a second, it's not a good thought to have in your head.

On the island side, the guy in the photo walked into the cabin with his shotgun (or whatever kind of gun it is — I don't know guns from nothin') and, without saying anything to anyone, sat in the front seat with his back to all. I wasn't even supposed to be on this ferry. I missed the first boat and caught the second to get in a few hours. And now I was on the boat with five other passengers — one, bearing arms.

Short story shorter — I lived to tell the tale — but had to get a picture to show my friends and family or they would not have believed it. When the ferry docked, everybody let the 'Rifleman' exit first, keeping their distance (and I'm sure, like me, breathing a bit easier). I took out my camera and snapped this shot like I was Michael Moore hound-dogging Charlton Heston.

L7: Stuck Here Again
(Buy: L7: Hungry For Stink)

L7: Riding With A Movie Star
(Buy: L7: Hungry For Stink)

Syd Barrett, R.I.P.

Pooles Hill Cemetery, The Rock
January 2006

Roger Keith 'Syd' Barrett, January 6, 1946 to July 7, 2006.

Syd Barrett: Baby Lemonade (Buy It!)
Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me? (Buy It!)

Dawaun Kassan Morgan (December 17, 1983 - June, 30, 2005)

Marshall Point Lighthouse, Maine
Date: Summer 1995

Not all anniversaries are celebratory events.

Dawaun was only 9 years old and living in Newark, New Jersey when I first met him. After a drive by shooting injured a friend of his, his brave, single mother, packed some suitcases and moved her family to Maine. For the next 12 years I would come to love of him like a son. As he became a teenager, and then a man, he was a rugged individualist (well, he was when he was a kid, too) who liked to do things his own way and would call when he had to, unless you called him first. I guess that's just like a son, isn't it?

He will be always missed, and never forgotten.

Winston Grennan and the Ska-Rocks Band: Savior (Buy It!)

The Casualties of War

Photograph: Compiled from 2360 images at CNN 'Forces: U.S. & Coalition/Casualties'
Date: July 26, 2006

There have been 2,735 coalition deaths, 2,510 Americans, two Australians, 113 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, three Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 31 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Romanians, two Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of June 22, 2006, according to a CNN count. At least 18,572 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon.

The full list with names, ranks, and hometowns of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose deaths have been reported by their country's governments can be viewed here.

Three-Five-Zero-Zero (Buy It!)
What a Piece of Work is Man (Buy It!)
The Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine In (Buy It!)