study of visual contrasts

Mud.

I was biking on a trail with my "true blue friend" (see 2-3 posts below), when I saw some interesting and beautiful mud. Nice swirls and patterns. Tire marks and gully marks. Really lovely. So I took some photos but none of them turned out as nicely as what I saw. See why it's important to be able to work the camera? My eye is just fine--I constantly see images I want to capture. It's the knowing how to do it that baffles me. Once again I will blame my camera.

People, it's Christmas time. Let's get with the program. Don't make me come out and say it. Please.

(Buy me a nice camera. Really. Do it. I promise you I won't be sorry that you do.)

In any event, the one interesting feature of these mud photos (and I'll show plenty more if you demand me to do so), is that to me they look like the kinds of satellite images shown by Colin Powell at his UN presentation putatively proving the existence Iraqi WMD. (No, I don't know whether I used "putatively" correctly; I'll leave it to you to look it up.)

Surely you remember moving comments like these:

"In this image what you see is a hole in the ground next to a truck. And here's an image of the same location the next day. As is evident, the hole is filled and the truck is gone. This is but one piece of mounting information irrefutably pointing to the Hussein regime's intent to acquire and stock WMDs. We believe that this worldwide body must respond to that threat immediately, or the results will be dire to all peace-loving nations."

(Those weren't his exact words per se, but they're close enough.)

This photo differs from those satellite images in that it was taken eighteen inches above the ground, not eighteen miles. It is similar to them in that it shows the same number of WMDs.

Below is a striking contrast to the muddy mud mud above. What you got here is frosting for Christmas cookies. Happy Happy.

Here's the thing. Some people were born with the disposition like the one you see above. The world is muddy mud mud. And others were born with the disposition you see below. Happy primary colors of Christmas cookie frosting.

Why this is is a mystery.

I believe that one of those views is truer, and one is happier. (I'm talking degrees, folks. Life is a mixture of both, obviously.) You can guess for yourself which ones I'm respectively referring to.



On a completely different note, I must say I am just really really p*ssed. (No, not ptssed.) One of my favorite songs is "Here Comes the Sun." I have described it before (though perhaps not here on this blog) as the "perfect" song. It cannot be ruined. It can NOT be ruined.

Oh, but I forgot about James Taylor and his ability to ruin anything musical.

Grrrr........!!!!!

If you missed it, you can read my opinion about him here on my other blog: http://rankingthings.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-top-10-irrational-music-hatreds.html

I love Yo-Yo Ma, and not just for his name. Or because of the man-crush I have for him. I downloaded an album of his just minutes ago ("Songs of Joy & Peace"), and I am listening to it as I write this post. And guess what just came on? You got it. "Here Comes the Sun." A duet of Mr. Yo-Yo Ma and James Taylor. And wouldn't you know it, but that s.o.b. James Taylor just friggin ruined one of my faves.

The impossible is not only possible, it's a reality.

RUINED!!

Only James Taylor! Only HE could do that, the bastard.

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I do hope you have a lovely holiday season.