goodwill. 2009The Huffington Post is featuring this photo as the cover for the current Capture The Recession slideshow.
Goodwill for All
Pretzel Boutique. 2009I can't pass by one of these Pretzel Stores without thinking about the classic Saturday Night Live skit from the late 70's, The Scotch Boutique. Here in the Philadelphia area, pretzel franchises are literally popping up all over the place and yet everyone I talk to about this phenomenon just shrugs their shoulders and says "I don't get it either!". How do you explain a store the size of an average 7-11 that sells only one product? Yeah yeah, I know... they sell soda and cheese dip too, but seriously... just pretzels?? I drive by this particular store almost every day. It's been open about a month now. I never see any cars in the parking lot. It's directly across the street from a Wawa, and if you are from the Philly area you know that there is never an empty space in a Wawa parking lot at any time of day. And yes, Wawa sells soft pretzels in addition to a thousand other items.
So if you can't remember the SNL Scotch Boutique skit, here is the transcript. It's from October 14th, 1978. Fred Willard is Walker, and Gilda Radner is Jenny.
Walker: I knew it. You don't believe in this place, do ya? You don't believe in me.
Jenny: [tries to be reassuring] Honey, honey, I do. I do. It's just that it's been two months.
Walker: [deeply serious] Listen, a business takes time to build. It isn't done overnight. Nobody makes money their first couple of months. I thought you understood all of that.
Jenny: [horribly conflicted] I do, I do, I do. I - I - I - I - I don't know. [Two men have entered and stand in the doorway - Jenny sees them and becomes instantly cheerful] Oh, welcome to Scotch Boutique!
1st Man: [to Jenny] Um, do you sell any recording tape here?
Jenny: [cheerfully] No, just the sticky kind.
2nd Man: [to the first man] See? I told ya.
[The 2nd Man turns away to keep from laughing out loud. The 1st Man, stunned, smiles broadly and looks around at the store in amazement. The two men exit.]
Walker: [calls after the men, cheerfully] Next time you need the sticky kind, you'll know where to come! [instantly serious, to Jenny] I mean, I thought you understood that this was my dream. You said it was a good idea. Do you think in a million years, I'd draw out every last red cent of our - our savings account and invest it in this business if I thought you didn't think it was a good idea?
[A woman enters but, by now, Jenny is too distracted to greet her.]
2nd Woman: Uh, do you have any recording tape?
Walker: [pleasantly] No, just cellophane. The sticky kind. If you need any of the sticky kind, you know where to come!
2nd Woman: Okay, thanks.
Jenny: [weakly] Come again.
[The woman exits. Jenny, on the verge of tears, can't look Walker in the eye.]
Walker: Well, I guess that does it. I - I - I can't go on surrounded by quitters and - and doubters. Calls for a team effort. ... I'll never forget a story my uncle once told me. My uncle owned a little restaurant in Pennsylvania. It was real famous for a long time for its chicken salad. [Jenny and Kevin, who sits on his stool with comic book in hand, listen with interest] Well, one day, they couldn't get any chicken to put in the salad. So my uncle, what he did, he called together the employees. ... [Walker pauses to light his pipe] And he said, "Look, why don't we put turkey in that salad instead of chicken?" Well, of course, everyone was real nervous at first because they didn't know what was gonna happen. But you want to know something? Not one person even noticed that it was turkey instead of chicken. Now, that's what I call teamwork.
Jenny: [completely won over] I'm sorry, honey. I'll give it another chance. I believe in you.
Walker: [takes her hand] Thank you, honey.
And just to clarify, this is the only acceptable way to sell pretzels in Philly!
whee ! Folk sculpture assembled from scavenged objects. The little pebble with the face on it and the driftwood body were found on the beach in October. I knew immediately that they belonged together as a flying man, but it took several weeks to visualize the hoop, and my initial feeling was of a flaming hoop. I'm still working on how to represent the flames in the context of rustic folk art. I would like to replace the shop rag cape with an old piece of American flag or similarly interesting old fabric, and I am searching for the perfect little hat for the top of his head!
from Sequence 17. by Minor WhiteA sequence of photographs, then,
functions as a little drama
of dreams with a memory
Minor White
Rites & Passages
appalachian trail rock. C H Paquette 2009
Gil Scott-Heron by Alix Dejean 1975Gil Scott-Heron
November 4th 8PM
B B King Blues Club
237 West 42 Street
New York, NY
From the B B King Blues Club web site...
Poet, musician, activist, author, bluesologist. These are all terms that have been used to describe the great Gil Scott-Heron, who more humbly refers to himself simply as a "piano player from Tennessee". Most famous for his era-defining 1970's poem, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," Gil Scott-Heron’s politically charged material made him a stalwart figure in the 1970’s civil rights movement. His lyrical content covered topics like the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be Black revolutionaries, white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents, and fear of homosexuals.
Not only a pioneer of blues, jazz and funk, his honesty, matter-of-fact delivery and fearlessness to address important social issues in the face of media criticism made him one of the foremost progenitors of contemporary hip-hop and spoken word.
Among countless other allusions and references, Public Enemy used the phrase “the revolution will not be televised” to open its classic 1987 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Kanye West sampled Gil’s timeless “Home is Where the Hatred Is” on the Common-supported “On My Way” from 2005’s Late Registration.
In the current global climate of social and political upheaval, Gil Scott-Heron has picked the perfect time to resurface and offer his catalogue up for consumption again, along with some new material. Gil is currently close to completion on his latest book, The Last Holiday, which tells the story of Stevie Wonder's 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday.
He will release his first new studio album since 1994 next year. Snippets from four of the album's songs, 'A.M.', 'I'm New Here', 'Me And The Devil' and 'I'll Take Care Of You', can be heard now at the official website for the album, Imnewhere.net.
Unpredictable throughout his career, Gil Scott-Heron remains somewhat of a mystery to the public; fans will have to show up to his live performances to see what songs he’ll perform and what iconic musicians will show up to join him.
Gil Scott-Heron just performed two sold-out concerts @ the Blue Note, NYC, and various venues on the East Coast. Next is a European Tour, to promote his new CD.
I'm new here
wrestlers. Digital Triptych (2008/2009)Gearing up for the start of another wrestling season, one of my photo documentary projects for the past five years. I have scaled back on the number of matches I attend now that my son's are no longer in high school, but I will continue to document this team for several more years at least.
I submitted these three images to the Arcadia University Works on Paper juried competition. Today is the last day to get your work submitted for this show.
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