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We went to Lake Tahoe and look at what I saw!
The Falls Above Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe
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It is going to happen and soon. A force so dedicated, so committed to their mission, so, dare I say, zealous as to capture the entire earth in a single day. You are no more able to stop it than to stop the light eminating from the sun.
The date; Sunday April 26, 2009
The place; Everywhere on earth.
The event; Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day!
They're coming!
Yes, tiny pinpricks in metal uncovered, allowing light to spill into oatmeal boxes, paint cans, spam cans and every other imaginable kind of light tight recepticle. Passing through the otherwise darkened void inside, the light will strike a plane of film, photographic paper or, in a more modern take, a digital light sensitive device on the opposite inner wall of the device to be frozen in time.
On that day, in every corner of the planet, this army of impassioned adventurers will be creating the most pure, lensless, visual historic record proving that we were here, that we were committed and what we saw.
The craft is quite different from the way “photos” are taken today by holding a “camera” in front of you, watching a screen with a video feed and clicking when you want to grab a frame you can later load to your blog.
This is about planning, measurement, calculation and, finally, letting go. The constant to the medium is that, while frought with angst and driven by anticipation, the result is seldom what was expected, but usually far more fanciful and revealing than we could ever hope.
So once a year, on the appointed day, the group ventures forth to capture the beautiful, the fanciful and the common that constitutes life, here, on this planet, at this time.
The repository for the images is then placed where all can see and share in the celebration of who we are, or were, on the appointed day, each year. Future generations will look at these images with curiosity and wonderment about what we were thinking and the significance of these people, places and things.
Yes, an unstoppable force is about to unleash itself upon the earth.
I am proud to count myself among them. You can see some of my other pinhole images at my online gallery. Click on the “galleries” tab and select the “pinhole images” gallery.
Zach and Joe
So on April 26, 2009 beware or you may find yourself in one of our fields of view.
You’ve been warned. Be careful.
Copia
Great passion. Great food. Great wine. They even had chickens. Then….
Robert Mondavi’s homage to the culture of fine wine and great foods, which had empowered his own life’s passions, has passed on to the place where organizations of great promise run by people who don’t get it go.
Copia was to be an experiential quest, alive with sensory inundations and discovery. Instead, it became a naked emperor in search of a compliment on his wardrobe.
When I first visited Copia, shortly after it opened several years ago, a portion of Julia Childs’ kitchen wall was on display on the second floor.
No rest for those with zest!
A docent told me that they had built the gardens 10 feet deep with virgin topsoil brought down by barge from Alaska. Another had a group of people wandering through, tasting fresh herbs and smelling lavender. No less than 3 wineries were hosting tasting of wine and olive oils.
I even paid an admission fee.
What I saw, because of my background, was an enormous media opportunity for branded programming on food, wine and gardening/sustainability. Copia could have been the brand and Napa, its home, and the Napa Valley would have benefited from the draw of cable tv stardom.
More recently I returned. Julia’s kitchen wall was no longer upstairs.
Try to find this at a Super Walmart!
When I asked where it had gone, a docent told me that the exhibits change all of the time. Later that day, I found the wall down by the restaurant and realized the docent didn’t know who Julia was. The wine tasting had become a credit card type vendo-tasto display of automated machines which, for a swipe, would charge and dispense a sip, gulp or full pour. Kind of a Redbox for winos. MmmMmmMmm.
Admission that day, seemingly overpriced, was free.
While I’ll always remember the gardens for their unique varieties and the care that was spent on their beauty, the rest of the place will fade easily.
The saddest part for me is that the failure of Copia, now in bankruptcy, will tarnish the legend of Robert Mondavi, who inspired a valley full of grape farmers to become an industry of dominant brands complete with palatial estates and cultural fitness for global acceptance.
The old man (Mondavi) just passed away months ago and it sickens me to hear Copia referred to as his folly. I never met the guy, but I respect anyone with that much passion.
I’ll think kindly of him when I uncork my next bottle or crush my next garlic clove. The fact that I think I get it means he can rest in peace.
Rest in Peace
I forgot how much I love New York.
Watch your step at the Met.
The art, the people (except David Letterman) and the hustle all complement each other to create a place that invigorates and inspires people from everywhere on the planet.
Having spent the past 10 years in California, I forgot that there are people who don’t worry about life’s minutiae and who spend their time on things more important than how George Bush screwed up the country today.
New York is a place where things get done.
Even the subway is clean.
Yeah, its tough, but now, today, the city has a distinctively friendly side. People look at each other. They smile. They help each other get through the day.
I had heard that after 9/11 the city became a town, a big neighborhood, where everyone looked out for each other.
Its true.
Mind you, there are not a lot of “”New Yorkers,” of the Rockefeller or Roosevelt pedigree, left in New York. But once there, and working, you qualify for membership. In California, we call it diversity. In New York, they call it Tuesday.
Ambition, and a path to success.
We can never forget about the promise this country provides to people from all around the globe. The hope to live a better life than those who came before us. The promise to make this a better place for those we leave behind.
Big shoulders push big ideas and innovation. It is impossible to walk around this city and try to deny that little is impossible. To come back to this from the devistation of 2001 is beyond comprehension.
Tuesday, by the way, is just another day at the crossroads of the world.
Rick Dahlgren's Journal 