March, 2012

31 Mar

Playing Dress-Up

By Silver Blue

Journey back with me to my high school years. (Photographic permissions from Max/Ward Delmar/Lifetouch Photography has been obtained prior.)

My Junior Year was marked by taking two different girls to two different proms. Here I am with Christie Ann Bolton, taking her to her Carollton Junior Prom. (N.B. – This photo has been modified to correct the position of the shirt. Unfortunately, the photographer was not professional enough to alert me that the “ruffles” were folded over and the shirt was way out of position, nor would he allow me to hold the walking stick to display the handle (see below).)

I had my hair “spot permed” in my Junior year, to achieve the pompadour effect. I had a top hat that had been purchased for the outfit, but on the ferry ride from Portsmouth to Norfolk, the wind whipped it off my head and into the bay. I still joke about a “best dressed fish” in the bay. (I like my hair best in this photograph.)

My own Junior Prom photograph (a week later), where I took Eleya Celeste Finch to our (Hampton High School) Prom. Eleya is wearing a cameo choker belonging to my mother. My walking stick handle actually is the lid to the “Mr. K” cologne made by Mary Kay. (I might add, a MUCH more professional photographer took this shot.)

My Senior Prom photo (note the cane handle again!), with Tammy McCabe, a freshman who had wanted to go to the prom, but didn’t know any Seniors. I didn’t have a date, so she accompanied me. (Side note: I owned the tuxedo for the Junior Proms I attended, but this gray tux with tails was rented – as was the walking stick, which we whittled down to accept the cane topper, re-gluing the plastic stick cover in place before returning it!) I was able to realize a silly dream I had by having the limo Tammy and I were in go through the McDonald’s drive-thru on Aberdeen Road in Hampton, VA and ordering a small Diet Coke.

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/tt-sbr.mp3]

Silver Blue…. who remembers the rose after the rain, and agrees…something beautiful remains.

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30 Mar

Oh deer.

By Silver Blue

I seem to not have an idea for a blog entry for tonight, so here’s a shot of a deer from Newport News Park, in 1996, using my Minolta X370 film camera.

 

Night everyone. Silver Blue, over and out.

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29 Mar

Life from a couple different angles

By Silver Blue

Always be on the lookout for shape, colour, form, and angle. Photos can come from some of the most unexpected areas

Two such options came to be while waiting for the Grand Illumination in downtown Norfolk, VA:

It’s all in how you “see”. If you open your eyes, what does the world around you look like?

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/sbem.mp3]

Silver Blue, who keeps looking for that elusive “Eden”….

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28 Mar

I’m on the top of the world…

By Silver Blue

or at least it seemed. July, 2001. Toronto, Ontario. The CN Tower. Dinner. Fabulous.

TALL!

Up, Up, UP! (Did I mention that I’m not too keen on heights?)

Still, dinner was faboo. I had longer hair.

…and I also had a diamond stud earring.

It was a time that was well worth the 62 minutes dinner took (as that was how long it took the restaurant to rotate. I may never pass that way again, but for that brief moment in time, I truly was …on top of the world.

I had to do a lot of post processing to this photo because the city is so bright behind me, I practically was enrobed in shadows. The Sheraton Centre is the second buildling over my right shoulder (look at the pole coming out of my shoulder — little dark grey square building, then the long, flat building beside it….) that was where I stayed my trip north of the border.

The Sheraton.

The years have stolen from me the name of this art deco-ish hotel, but I loved the shapes!

Service was great as well. I snapped a photo of the server, because I thought his eyes matched his vest. Now that I look back upon it, no so much. But he did give the true Canadian hospitality, and that made the moment memorable. I don’t even remember (no surprise) what his name was. I wasn’t as good at putting in captions and meta data as I am these days, and with digital photos, there’s no “back” to write on. LOL.

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/totw.mp3]

Silver Blue, who now is going to bed. Nite-nite everyone!

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27 Mar

A Study in Colour (Part 5)

By Silver Blue

This brings me to the conclusion of the photos that I took this past weekend at Busch Gardens. Oh, I took far more than the 27 shots you’ve seen… but these were the ones I shot with an eye toward form and colour.

Much like the snapdragons that were in front of the “window” in “Germany”,  here are another set.

Near the Roman Rapids ride in the Festa Italia section of the park is a waterfall, and shooting station where you can pay an quarter to shoot a stream of water on the passing by riders.

Daisies, Tulips and Dusty Miller come together to … I can’t explain it other than to say it makes me happy.

Using Bokeh (or depth of field to throw the background out of focus is something I enjoy experimenting with. Here, the red tulip and pink snapdragon are the same distance from the lens.

I wonder what happens once everything blooms out. Do they take the plants back to the greenhouse? Do they collect seeds? Or … are they merely turned into mulch?

A straight down shot. Almost looks like a space pod opening up!

What you first see upon entering, and what you last see when exiting the park. The change from the fountain is donated to charity.

Of course, when the heat of summer hits, these delicate pansies will be history. I’d not seen the dusty rose/lavender before, at least not this season.

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/cu-ta.mp3]

Silver Blue… who will look for colour to study!

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26 Mar

A Study in Colour (Part 4)

By Silver Blue

More photos from the trip to Busch Gardens:

Something to be said about varying bushes with flowers. The pom-pom effect is nice, though I don’t know what kind of plant it is.

More “bedrock” sprouting with a variety of flowers in copious colours.

From almost opposing colours comes a soothing flow of shape and form.

Nature has its own way of cranking up the saturation. 🙂

Even the repeating pattern of colourful umbrellas can be interesting, even when blocked by a tree that has yet to sprout.

The richness of a metallic purple carousel horse beckons one to mount and ride… one more ride on the merry-go-round.

Only I would look up and see…. Silver and Blue. LOL.

It may look like wood, or marble, but this is pollen, resting on the surface of the “Rhine” river flowing through Busch Gardens.

Finally….

I call this “The Lady Of The Lake/The Rhine Maiden” (A hat tip to the legend of King Arthur and to Richard Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen”.) Can you see her face?

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/omrotmgr.mp3]

Silver Blue, who… is at a loss for words this evening.

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25 Mar

A Study in Colour (Part 3)

By Silver Blue

A trip to Busch Gardens on the second official day they were open. (The season opener was yesterday, but with rain in the forecast, decided to delay it a day.)

Not every study in colours is bright and cheerful. Some are more muted, such as this flowing water.

Still, there were enough colours out and basking in the open air that it made it look, at likes, like Walt Disney had vomited.

Little things, like the water reflecting in the indentation of the rock, however, gave an interesting compliment to the colours of nature.

As you can imagine, the pollen counts were off the charts today, even with the rain of yesterday and the on again/off again misty rain we had today.

Down by the Loch Ness Monster coaster, comes a lesson in repeating patterns.

Wisteria, in the lane, with nary a desperate housewife in sight.

Remember the post I made about “Never be afraid to stand out in a crowd”? Notice that the red tulips don’t seem so special now that everyone is trying to be like them. LOL.

I just think that nature can give us a rainbow of choices to view, and fortunately, Busch Gardens groundskeepers feel the same way!

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/esp-e.mp3]

There’s two more sections in our study in colour, but those will have to wait for another day. I decided to hold off and do 9 photos at a time.

Silver Blue, who now is off to dye his hair and get this pollen off me!

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24 Mar

My morning is bound to appear.

By Silver Blue | 1 comment

1

Ocean View Beach, Norfolk, VA.

“If I can endure for this minute
whatever is happening to me
No matter how heavy my heart is
or how dark the moment might be…
If I can but keep on believing
what I know in my heart to be true,
That darkness will fade with the morning
and that this will pass away, too –
Then nothing can ever disturb me
or will me with uncertain fear,
For as sure as night brings the dawning,
my morning is bound to appear.”

(“Comes The Dawn” by Helen Steiner Rice)

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/andhc.mp3]

Silver Blue, who has his mind scattered all over…and it shouldn’t be this way.

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23 Mar

Sing with me!

By Silver Blue

 

Enter to learn, leave to serve.

This is the motto by which we shall live.

Maroon and gold, our banner high we raise…

Wythe School, Our School, we proudly sing your praise.

Yes, I still remember the school song from my final elementary school, Wythe Elementary, where I attended from 1980-1981.

The school, built in an Art Deco Style, opened in 1936 as the George Wythe Junior High School. In 1950, the new George Wythe Junior High opened on Gloucester Street, and the old building became the Wythe Elementary School. (The original Wythe Elementary School had been built in 1909 and was demolished; the site was repurposed by the Wythe Recreation Association as the Wythe Neighbourhood Membership Swimming Pool.)

Wythe Elementary closed in 2010, and for the first time in over a century, the City of Hampton was left without a school named after Founding Father, George Wythe.

The building went through numerous renovations over the years; on the second floor is an auditorium that used to have a balcony you could sit in (and access) from the 3rd floor. Due to structural damage, however, the balcony was removed prior to 1980. On the first floor was the cafeteria, and entrance to the fallout shelter (yes, there were fallout shelter signs on the building when I went there. I didn’t poke around the property (besides, my allergies were getting the best of me.)

There exists a photo of the school (when it was built as a Junior High) with it’s original windows…:

(Courtesy of the Library of Virginia). (The old elementary school can be seen at the left of the photograph)

The school was about 4 blocks from where we lived, so I could walk, or ride my bike to school.

Pardon the distortion from the stitching of the panoramic shot — this is actually 7 photos stitched into one photograph, as I could not get back far enough to photograph the entire building (due to houses being behind me.)

We were known as the “Wythe Owls”, after the large owls that are over each entrance. (This is the left owl.)

Our school song came from the granite engravings over each door.

Here’s the right owl. I hope that whatever becomes of the building, that they put the owls in a museum, along with at least one of the “Enter To Learn/Leave To Serve” granite signs.

There is talk of making the former school into an adult education center. But as you can see, time is beginning to cause deterioration. Hopefully the city will be able to restore the schools exterior/facade into what we students had been proud of for years.

In 2002 (22 years after I attended the school), the students commemorated 9/11 with the planting of a tree. The granite block (engraved with an owl) says “Growing out of our hopes and wishes for America. The children of Wythe Elementary School, September 11, 2002.”

This is the tree that was planted, a decade ago, and the stone marker.

Coming home, I found St. Francis of Assisi hiding in the azaleas.

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/btsa.mp3]

(Okay, so the song is more fitting for High School, but hey… how many times is there something actually from Grease 2 that is fitting??)

Silver Blue, who now is off to scrub the pollen from my eyes!

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22 Mar

Go…I must let you go…

By Silver Blue

Sometimes, you know that what you want, and what you have to do are polar opposites. Like a flame that cannot be held. Some things have to burn freely, and if you attempt to control them YOU’RE the one who gets burned.

Friendship is like that. Romance is like that. Love, life, and happiness are all like that.

Though we may think we know what is best, the multiverse always has its own design.

The hard part is to let go. To turn it over, to allow a power greater than yourself to bring you to clarity, peace of mind, and serenity.

Too often, however, human ego, greed, and desire gets in the way.  You may escape the flames at first, but there’s that little thing called…

…Karma. It has a way of bringing the past, present and future together. Best to keep a clear account with Karma. For what you put out to the multiverse, so you shall reap.

These photos were taken on a warm September’s night in 2006. Everyone who was present that night has had their lives changed, for better or worse. Come to think of it, of the people who were there who were in a relationship, not one still exists six years later. So go the sands of time…

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/cfbe.mp3]

Silver Blue, who is introspective and contemplative tonight. Must be the New Moon tonight.

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