here are the pix for Boogie in Nippon that didn't make it (except the middle, which is a substitute for another i forgot)

Ling Girls Reunion

In Gaithersburg for the 2nd annual reunion of families who traveled together to China 3 yrs. ago to adopt our daughters. 7/10 families made it this time & it is great to see all the girls playing together, almost like they've all just seen each other last week. Tomorrow we'll have a "Princess Ball," trick-or-treating around the hotel lake, and then go to a restaurant for dinner, with the girls wearing their fancy China dresses. Felt a little bummed that I forgot my Nikon (esp. after spending time last night emptying out all the memory cards), but already felt more relaxed/less "on" (in the photographer sense) tonight at dinner.

Here are some pix from our trip in 2005 that I printed, matted & framed recently. If you get your arse to Lyndon St. before the end of the month, you just might be able to see (or even purchase) one! Over & out, - RJ

three more

(first and last are from a holiday parade
for Kwan Yin, the female buddha)

thank god its lyndon

for anyone in the GSO area tomorrow (Fri.) night, i'll be @ Lyndon Street from 6-9pm showing & hocking some new wares, including pieces from the recently mentioned "stench of decay" series. (directions)

(there are also still some studio spaces available
if anybody is looking for an artistic home...)

^ ^
just get in touch w/ erik AT needsculpture DOT com

39 days

24) lost track / early a.m. / no coffee / but clear.
23) "i learned to kick from my friend the gorilla."
22) smooth / and strong / telephone coming.
21) 3 hr. siesta
20) animal noises / @ aimee mann
19) hither & yon / prank calls / tiny drops / missed the train.
18) feigning football / flower frame / dark coke / and tenderloin.
17) night breeze / surprise lunch / feeling the / inward turn.
16) 1st of sorts / library lag / double woods.
15) four pools / ocean necklace / crop duster / splinters the sun.
14) early a.m. / bike to end / group pic sushi.
13) tibby talks / 11 years / ketchup sleep.
12) dark drive / confluence of dreams / pre-teen wisdom.
11) ducks don't move / as sun shines / on tiny eyes / of toad.
10) tarantula drops / with thurston / relaxing on / the gravel river.
9) arrive early / face down / past brings / good luck.
8) new faces / tears inside / old joys / the rain.
7) training wheels / water snake / air-conditioned siesta.
6) chai room decor / chicken lemonade bike.
5) evener keel / long swim / movie life / goes on.
4) overwhelmed, tired, sad / hard to resist.
3) broke bike but / ping pong champ.
2) sleeping girl / photo series / stench of decay.
1) still hazy / all these years / woods fall but / saved face.

working it

Here are a couple of shots of my oh-so-elaborate setup used to finally take some "stench of decay" shots, for which I've been planning (and saving flowers) for a loooooong time:

plus a couple of results:

. . . . . . . . . robby in the low ground . . . . . . . . .

doing the jollytime hustle in turbo mode today running quick to quaker village to ply thru bb's spent stacks w/ mia & who should recognize me in beard costume but mot! big hug & smile mia in her five dollar white leotard me surprised & happy all three of us lights on the sidewalk like nightjars w/ candles inside. perry's just over there at the car she said & when i looked that way realized instantly that we had seen but not recog'd him already during our multiple parking space search circuits. it was damn good seeing your folks & i told them so saying the truth that it made my day.

----

just also wanted to say thanks to anyone everyone who has viewed this thing in its short & needy lifespan whether robot cat paw or human hoof i appreciate you taking the time to stop by & smell the bird shite. send me some birthday kinks & let go of your words.

amen.

water & shade

*IMPORTANT UPDATE*
...CURRENT JOLLYTIME EQUALS...
...11HRS.+30MIN. SLOW...
{pls. exercise}

. painted chest . wire cutters . stuffed animal .

2b - Climbing Cotopaxi

1/2 way up the active volcano, parked in the lot &
up to the shelter. avalanche of tea. brilliant sun.

emergency lunch, in need of a report
from our scouts:

and throughout it all, the luck & smile

of the punctured goddess of altitude:

may 1st draft

david gordon green

going to FLA tomorrow to see fam. & shoot a wedding.
hoping for sun & a salty cure for my scraped throat.
perhaps words...

lou, lou, lou @ carolina theatre, durham: transcendent...in moments

* leather angel opera rock *

my setlist notes

(i don't usually keep track, but red wanted me to bring home a full report of everything that happened....) longtime fans will see that i didn't know the names of many of the recent songs, some of which i liked/seemed to work better than others, and most of which featured lou's typical goofy/sincere lyric combinations. one stood out: "the power of the heart," which hasn't been released yet. (nice love song incl. the lyrics "i would marry you again".) also didn't realize that he and laurie did finally make it official.

to try to describe the black leather t-shirt that 66-yr. old lou wore wouldn't really do it justice, though i'm sure you can imagine...or you can just check out this shot of it two days later in Knoxville (w/ the "silver shovel" guitar):

(by TennesseeJed)

"sweet jane" was fun, but never quite took off. however, by the third song i was hooked: thrilled to hear "i'm set free" w/ a great lou solo (though the accordion caused a conflicting fascination/repulsion, as though elvis costello were performing the song with full band on "Austin City Limits".) "i'm sticking w/ you" was a complete surprise, b/c of course i haven't seen that juno movie to know that it must now be "current". the poe stuff was alright, interesting & i'm sure a fun & challenging exercise to set to music. "guardian angel" was probably my other favorite recent one, the lyric from poe sung in lou's voice seemed "absolutely lou". biggest complaint was that the whole thing was waaaaaay short, and of course they only played one encore ("perfect day"): fun to hear but not particularly...transcendent.

the backside of my notes sums up the evening pretty well:

"fancy pants (to my left) didn't like the show.
bob & shirley (to my right) loved it.
i just grokked. "

Day 2: Hacienda Porvenir

high up in the altitudes, stayed @ this working farm (llamas, cows, sheep: oh my) & woke up every night @ 3am w/ a throbbing headache. but the scenery was fab, cotopaxi & raminahua were snowy, and we got to volcano hike & ride horses....everybody enjoyed the 'comfy rustic' vibe of the hacienda, but they didn't complain later when we moved on to the tropical swelter of Tena...

Day 1: llegada en Quito

give thanks to y'all:

finally posting some ecuadorian mashcards for everybody who was expecting to get something old-fashioned & papery in their metal mailbox, but din't. these are the backs of the cards i bought (but didn't send) after doctoring on a hike (read: lazy foto walk) a day or two after we got home. tops are real w/ this after-scribble (but not necessarily city-specific) addenda, bottoms are my pix from then there.

gettin' on wit it: can't remember if this one had anything to do w/ the after-scrawl, but did plan on using it for my 'walking thru el centro' lead-in, the chance this time around too good to desert...

here's what i remember now re: them times --

• uneventful, easy flights (+ miami diversion)
• Stace left her cell phone in the mag. pocket of our 1st plane & had to almost chase it back down the run.way in panic
  
• meeting Cary @ aeropuerto/Quito, 1st glimpses of the city @ night thru bus eyes
  
• nighttime walk to Casa Sol: pedestrian, colors, digs
• meeting Stefi next day & asking where i could find a copy of Los detectives salvajes (LibriMundi blocks away hooked me up 2x)
• walk downtown, exploring the Basilica: impressive round the corner, but no expects for attic-crawl & ladder-hoist up to the tippy towers
• E. jockeying for space on the pivot-circle of the ecobus, holding straps as the bellows skeleton turned
  
• rainy streets a week later as we enjoyed our farewell dinner & packed up to leave hotel @ 4am

<< reminds me of houdie, but better decorated... >>