Dallas comes together, staying apart

April 26, 2020

What happens when Dallas goes home, instead of going out?
Produced by The Well Creative Productions
Drone Videography – Cash Sirois
Edited By – Jason Seely

What did Dallas look like the night of Friday, March 20, 2020? It was the first night of the “shelter in place” protocols in Dallas to try to stop the COVID-19 virus.

I’m a sucker for interesting drone photography. I love a video done to a good piece of music, and even better when it seems the music and the moving pictures take each other in their arms and dance through three or four minutes, putting a smile on our faces.

TheWellDelivers.com (@TheWellDelivers) put this together, with drone photography by Cash Sirois, and music by a band I don’t know, The Bastards of Soul.

And it’s close to perfection.

KERA-TV, our local public station, uses the film in the interstices between the end of a program that doesn’t quite fill its slot, and the next program’s start. I looked for it under KERA’s name, but couldn’t find it. KERA has a couple of other films I really like, including “The Million Dollar Monarch,” and “The Chip that Jack Built,” a joyful honorific to the Jack Kilby who invented the integrated circuit and won a Nobel for it.

But it’s unfindable from KERA’s site, for me. I caught the credits on one of those showings, and found it by looking for Cash Sirois.

(I hope Raul Malo comes back soon, on a night I can see him.)

Last shot from the film by The Well Creative Productions.

A few other television stations have similar films about their cities. These could be a good geography exercise, or maybe part of a project if geography teachers still assign students to report on one state or city.

More likely, it’s just an enjoyable way to see some of the sights, and to get an idea of what it means to record history, to capture history in the making.

Have you seen other films we ought to know about?

Wash your hands. Cover your sneezes and coughs.

More:

  • The Bastards of Soul are a Dallas-origin band that’s been around about four years, with people who have been around a lot longer than that; read about them in the Dallas Observer
  • D Magazine story on the video, why and how
  • See below, another drone video of Dallas, released the same date the video above was shot; different views, different tone (shot earlier, you can tell by the colors of the buildings)
Nice drone shots of Dallas before the shutdown, from TappChannel4.

2 Comments | Capturing history, Dallas, Geography - Physical, photography, Video and film | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Freud's friend Einstein, by Schmutzer

March 19, 2020

Einstein in 1921, by Ferdinand Schmutzer
Albert Einstein in 1921, by Ferdinand Schmutzer; original in the Freud Museum; image here public domain from Wikipedia.

Science historian Paul Halpern Tweeted this photo recently, saying:

Albert Einstein and psychologist Sigmund Freud greatly admired each other. Here is a portrait of Einstein, painted by Ferdinand Schmutzer, that was part of Freud’s personal collection. It is now housed in the Freud Museum, Vienna.

https://twitter.com/phalpern/status/1240371613150973954

It’s an image of Einstein I don’t recall seeing before. Einstein was not camera shy, but there are only a handful of photos of him that make the rounds regularly. I like to find other images that are less well-known, and which may offer some graphic insight into neglected facets of the man.

I did not realize that Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein regarded each other as friends, so. An interesting commentary on the times they lived and worked, I suppose. How much of each other’s work did they study, or understand?

Ferdinand Schmutzer was an Austrian professor (where?), photographer and painter, who published this picture of Einstein in 1921, the year Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the photoelectric effect. Perhaps ironically, Einstein did not win for his work on relativity, or other work more famous that photoelectric effect.

Einstein didn’t sit for this picture. Schmutzer worked from a photograph he took, or perhaps a series of photos. One photo negative was discovered in Austria in 2001. It provides an interesting comparison to the finished portrait.

Albert Einstein during a 1921 lecture in Vienna, photographed by Ferdinand Schmutzer; photo discovered in 2001. Public domain.

In his younger days, far from being a disheveled-appearing, perhaps-absent-minded professor, Einstein cut a handsome figure. Educators may note with some jealousy he had good skills on the chalkboard, too.

It looks like Sch

Einstein’s birthday was March 14. That’s Pi Day (3.14), if you’re looking for coincidences that strike a humor chord among scientists and science aficionados.

2 Comments | Albert Einstein, History, History and art, photography, Physics, psychology | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Timpanogos dressed in snow

November 27, 2019

Recently ran across this photo of Utah’s Mt. Timpanogos in the snow. You can see how majestic the mountain is dressed in white, and how its glory can bring awe and joy to people in the valley.

Photo found on Wikipedia, from January 2008.

Evening view of Mount Timpanogos from Provo, Utah, January 7, 2008. Photographer is identified only as A4GPA. Wikipedia image, Creative Commons license.

Leave a Comment » | Geography - Physical, geology, Mount Timpanogos, photography, Travel, Utah | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Owl watches you from Owlbuquerque

October 30, 2019

I mean, Albuquerque.

(Fans of the Owl Cafe and the Owlburger will understand.)

Owl captured by Nimble Pundit, just in time for Halloween.

Is that a great photo, or what?

More:

6 Comments | Food history, History, photography, Travel, Wildlife | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Western skies, rain clouds and a lone tree

October 15, 2019

Lonely tree in a western thunderstorm. Screen capture of Wesley Aston’s film.

Wesley Aston is a Utah-based photographer whose work I’ve admired for some time. He photographs the rocks and skies of Utah, so much of which I trekked as a youth (less, later). One of my great pleasures was to sit on a mountainside, probably long after we should have gone down the trail to safety, to watch thunderstorms push over a mountain range, plunge into a valley and rush toward us, or maybe away from us.

At the time I wished I had photographic equipment that had not really been invented yet in non-governmental circles, to capture those scenes.

Aston does that. He’s got the equipment. He knows how to use it.

This is the kind of work that should be standard fare in geography classes in public schools, but is not.

We can enjoy it here, though.

Mr. Aston posts his work at Instagram, some on YouTube. You should study it.

2 Comments | Geography - Physical, Natural history, photography, Time-lapse photography | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Day lilies

May 30, 2019

They come for but one day.

If one plants enough bulbs, the visits come every day, ephemeral as each visit is.

3 Comments | Botany, Nature, photography | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Photo challenge: Patterns

March 7, 2019

I don’t normally make time for these sorts of things, though I often find they lead to other blogs with great content, especially photos.

But when else would I use some of these photos?

So, for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, a few quick patterns. See details for what you should post at Cee’s Photography.

Adobe

Adobe bricks in a house under construction, for Habitat for Humanity in Taos, New Mexico
Adobe bricks in a house under construction, for Habitat for Humanity in Taos, New Mexico.

Fractal mountain erosion, fractal clouds

Fractal erosion patterns in the mountains around San Francisco Bay, California.

Dead prickly pear cactus

Support structure of a prickly pear cactus, exposed by the death of the cactus section and weathering.

Windows on the Oquirrhs

West windows in the lobby of the Utah Museum of Natural History, campus of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Oquirrh Mountains on the west side of the valley visible through the windows.

I should probably post more of my photos just to make sure they get preserved somewhere. You should, too.

Tip of the old scrub brush to Deb Kroll at Unexpected in Common Hours.

More: 







									


				

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Leaving Hanksville

				November 19, 2018



				

					

Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM, Department of Interior) great photographer Bob Wick captures a photo that separates the redrock lovers from everybody else.


The road seems to dead end in the mountains ahead. Nobody visible in the land for miles around. It’s either incredibly desolate and lonely, or among the most beautiful, everyday views among rocks of incredible beauty you’ll ever see and remember forever.


Caption from America's Great Outdoors, Tumblr blog of the U.S. Department of Interior: Heading south from Hanksville, Utah, towards Lake Powell, highway travelers bisect the remote Henry Mountains – the last area mapped in the lower 48. The 11,000-foot forested peaks of the main mountain range rise to the west, while two distinctive summits, Mount’s Ellsworth and Holmes, jut skyward from the rolling red sandstone mesas to the east. Known as the “Little Rockies,” these peaks are studied by geologists around the world as a classic example of igneous rocks, formed deep within the earth’s mantle, thrusting through the overlying sandstone layers. The Little Rockies have been designated as a National Natural Landmark for their geological significance. The peaks also provide habitat for desert bighorn sheep and numerous birds of prey. Photo by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management, @mypubliclands
Caption from America’s Great Outdoors, Tumblr blog of the U.S. Department of Interior: Heading south from Hanksville, Utah, towards Lake Powell, highway travelers bisect the remote Henry Mountains – the last area mapped in the lower 48. The 11,000-foot forested peaks of the main mountain range rise to the west, while two distinctive summits, Mount’s Ellsworth and Holmes, jut skyward from the rolling red sandstone mesas to the east. Known as the “Little Rockies,” these peaks are studied by geologists around the world as a classic example of igneous rocks, formed deep within the earth’s mantle, thrusting through the overlying sandstone layers. The Little Rockies have been designated as a National Natural Landmark for their geological significance. The peaks also provide habitat for desert bighorn sheep and numerous birds of prey. Photo by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management, @mypubliclands


Outdoors people in Utah usually know the Henry Mountains. There’s a buffalo herd there, open to hunting. It’s an amazing rock formation in the middle of other amazing rocks, a towering landmark for miles.


Hanksville would have to be invented by a good fiction writer if it didn’t exist, a desert town where everybody stops who passes by, with nothing really to commend it but the fact that it’s there, and populated by people of great character. Who names a town “Hanksville?”


Who wouldn’t like to be on that road?

									


				

				 1 Comment				|  Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Geography - Physical, Outdoor Recreation, photography, Public Lands, Travel, Utah				 | Tagged: , , , , , , 				 |  Permalink

 Posted by Ed Darrell				

			

			

		
			

				
Lenticular clouds to drive chemtrails fans nuts – beautiful!

				November 16, 2018



				

					

Recently found Nuno Serrão via some Twitter posts. He’s an astrophotographer — meaning, a photographer who spends time looking at the skies and works to capture on film or magnetic or digital media the beauty and oddities that hover over our heads every day, and especially at night.


Oh, just look at this time lapse:




Astrophotography timelapse shot in Madeira Island on February 21st [2015]. Captured a lenticular cloud, Moon, Mars and Venus. [33,329 views as of November 16, 2018]


It’s only 7 seconds of video, covering perhaps 15 minutes of time, showing the action of the wind in forming the odd lenticular cloud stunningly painted by a setting sun.


Lenticular clouds don’t resemble the fluffy cumulus clouds of cartoons, and so are held suspect by hoax lovers, especially those enthralled by “chemtrails” hoaxes, who argue that clouds are sinister creations of mad scientists and government cabals. Because this short piece shows some of the actions of winds, I love it more.


True legend has it that an artist friend of physicist Richard Feynman told Feynman that scientists can’t be artists, because they know too much behind the scenes. Feynman answered that scientists have even more appreciation of beauty, the image of the flower and its aroma, and an understanding of the lengthy process by which a plant creates a blossom of beauty and sweet smell, to attract insects or humans to propagate new offspring for the plant.


Is this video science, or art?


More: 



Tip of the old scrub brush to Antonio Paris, on Twitter.


 






									


				

				 1 Comment				|  photography, Science, Weather				 | Tagged: , , , 				 |  Permalink

 Posted by Ed Darrell				

			

			

		
			

				
Something about a campfire: Boy Scouts, Order of the Arrow 2018

				October 21, 2018



				

					

It’s a great photo, chiefly.


Another in our series of campfires.


From the Twitter feed of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scouts' honor camper organization; the tweet honored the 103rd anniversary of the service group, in July of 2018. Photographer, location and date not revealed.
From the Twitter feed of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scouts’ honor camper organization; the tweet honored the 103rd anniversary of the service group, in July of 2018. Photographer, location and date not revealed.


No, it didn’t escape me that the campfire itself appears not to be lit. One of the mysteries of the photo.


As might be expected in an organization dedicated much to camping with a good group of boys and men, several organizations sprang up not long after Scouting got a start in the U.S. Carroll A. Edson and E. Urner Goodman initiated the Order of the Arrow (OA) at a summer camp near Philadelphia. The honoring of good campers and good citizenship, and the dedication to service to Scouting had wide appeal, and other councils outside of Philadelphia adopted the practices and program.


In Circle 10 Council BSA, the organization in Dallas, Texas, and surrounding counties, another service group started about the same time, the White Sharks of Takodah. Over time, Texas Scouts and Scouters moved into the national movement of the OA, though the White Sharks traditions continue with a day of work dedicated to improving the council camps annually.


OA members have three levels of membership, Ordeal, Brotherhood and Vigil Honor. Ordeal includes Scouts and Scouters nominated by their Troops, Crews, Ships or other units, who have endured an ordeal that includes a day of service to BSA camps. Brotherhood membership can be obtained with additional service and time. Vigil Honor requires that an Arrowman keep vigil over a campfire for an entire night, a sometimes daunting task in wood-scarce locations, and a trial always just at staying awake.


After two years of exceptional service as a Brotherhood member, and with the approval of the national Order of the Arrow committee, a Scout or Scouter may be recognized with the Vigil Honor for their distinguished contributions to their lodge, the Order of the Arrow, Scouting, or their Scout camp. This honor is bestowed by special selection and is limited to one person for every 50 members registered with the lodge each year.


I learned and practiced building great program campfires as a young Arrowman. My mind goes back to a hundred such great opportunities for camaraderie in and outside the OA, and in and out of Scouting.


There is something about a campfire that puts the soul at ease, and opens it to the glorious brotherhood of fellowship with other people, under a great sky, in the dark.


Tell us about your campfire experiences and memories in comments, please.


Tip of the old scrub brush to the Order of the Arrow Twitter account.







 

									


				

				 Leave a Comment »				|  Boy Scouts of America, Camping, photography				 | Tagged: , , , 				 |  Permalink

 Posted by Ed Darrell				

			

			

		
			

				
Second thoughts in Eatonville, Washington

				October 6, 2018



				

					



We passed this garage on the way to Mt. Ranier National Park, on a day in August when smoke from global-warming aggravated fires in British Columbia almost obscured one of America’s biggest, mist obvious mountains. That’s part of the yellow tint to the light.


A lot of voters have second thoughts.


And this voter’s sign for candidate “Trump” has become a sign for candidate “TRump.”


Will you vote to fix things, this November?


Tip of the old scrub brush to Mr. Darrell’s Government and Politics, a sister blog

									


				

				 2 Comments				|  Campaigns, History, photography, Politics, Travel				 | Tagged: , , , , 				 |  Permalink

 Posted by Ed Darrell				

			

			

		
			

				
On July 10, 1850, Millard Fillmore ascended to the presidency

				July 10, 2018



				

					

The popular hero of the Mexican-American War, Zachary Taylor, died on July 9. For the second time, a vice president was sworn in to replace the elected president.


Millard Fillmore was that vice president.


Millard Fillmore, in 1873, 20 years after he left the presidency. Portrait by C. M. Bell. From the Library of Congress.
Millard Fillmore, in 1873, 20 years after he left the presidency. Portrait by C. M. Bell. From the Library of Congress.


Fillmore ended the run of presidents by Whig Party members, the last Whig. He served out the term of Taylor, but despite trying, never succeeded in winning election on his own.


Most people including historians know little about Fillmore, except his unsavory role in signing the Fugitive Slave Act, and thereby pushing the nation closer to civil war. The hoax on Fillmore’s allegedly introducing a plumbed bathtub to the White House, by H. L. Mencken in 1917, stained Fillmore’s reputation and chased out most information about good things he had done, such as opening Japan to trade.


There are morals about hoaxes and fake news in Fillmore’s story. Those morals are much lost to history now.


More: 



 


The author and a bronze likeness of Fillmore meet on a street in Rapid City, South Dakota, August 2016
The author and a bronze likeness of Fillmore meet on a street in Rapid City, South Dakota, August 2016

									


				

				 7 Comments				|  History, Millard Fillmore, photography, Presidents				 | Tagged: , , , 				 |  Permalink

 Posted by Ed Darrell				

			

			

		
			

				
Lifting children to freedom over the barbed wire – should we choose freedom now?

				June 17, 2018



				

					

August, 1961. First the barbed wire went up surrounding West Berlin, separating those in the Russian sector, and East Germany, from those in the French, British and U.S. sectors, an island of non-communist rule in a sea of communists.


The famous wall of concrete, steel and barbed wire would be built soon. Germans living in Berlin were sometimes trapped by arbitrary lines on a map, lines that meant the difference between freedom and a communist dictatorship.


Why am I thinking of this now? This photo, from the U.S. Information Agency, in the files of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The photo tells a sad story, that should never be repeated.


Berlin residents pass children over the barbed wire separating the free West Berlin from Soviet-occupied West Berlin. August 1961. U.S. National Archives image, from U.S. Information Agency.
Berlin residents pass children over the barbed wire separating the free West Berlin from Soviet-occupied West Berlin. August 1961. U.S. National Archives image, from U.S. Information Agency.


The guard, a “Vopo,” looked the other way. And that made all the difference in that child’s life.


Caption for photo from USIA, on the back of the photo. 
Caption for photo from USIA, on the back of the photo.


Why does this image call out to me now, as if from the voice of that child, pleading for help? Does it call to you, too?

									


				

				 3 Comments				|  Berlin Wall, Cold War, Family, History, photography				 | Tagged: , , , , , 				 |  Permalink

 Posted by Ed Darrell				

			

			

		
			

				
Signs of life: Newt Crossing

				April 28, 2018



				

					

From Instagram: pkwanpiOf course there's a #newtcrossing -- this is #berkeley after all! In Tilden Regional Park
From Instagram: pkwanpiOf course there’s a #newtcrossing — this is #berkeley after all! In Tilden Regional Park


Oakland side of San Francisco Bay has a stunning string of parks from the water’s edge, following abandoned rail lines, through parks in the city, wending and winding up into the mountains into real wilderness. It’s impressive, decades later, to remember the President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors touring these sites as they were being redeveloped from abandoned industrial sites, real brownfield recovery — and see what a grand complex it is now.


And there, one may find a newt crossing one’s path. Watch out for the newts!

									


				

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 Posted by Ed Darrell				

			

			

		
			

				
Something in the way ice moves on Utah Lake

				April 25, 2018



				

					

Ice on Utah Lake, from a drone movie by Bill Church, screen capture. 
Moving ice on Utah Lake, from a drone movie by Bill Church, screen capture.


Where does the great @BillChurchPhoto post his photos? (Update: On Instagram, and sales at BillChurchPhoto.com.) His work around Utah Lake, and Utah, is spectacular (and I hope people buy his images so he’s making money off of the great art he’s captured).


Here is a photo of plain old Utah Lake, in February. Church makes it look beautiful and exciting, instead of just cold and muddy.


Not sure I can embed this movie any other way:







More:



Tip of the old scrub brush to Utah State Parks on Twitter.






									


				

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 Posted by Ed Darrell				

			

			

		
		

			
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