prints for my spanish apartment!

After a few days of nothingness, started the weekend well and went to San Rafael to the Marin Art Festival for the very first time, though my sister has been there many times. If you haven't been to San Francisco and Bay Area festivals, they are something to see, though others..... details below.

I am always amazed at how so many individuals can create so many unique and fantastic arte with their hands and/or minds. There was everything from jewelry of all sorts and designs, to junk metal sculptures, to gorgeous busts (nude female chest) designed to be hung from a clothes hanger or a single nail in the wall. The photographic imagery was excellent and while I saw a majority of landscapes, there was a good mix of landscapes local to the area and landscapes of other areas, and other themes. It was quite an experience and I was even surprised in seeing some prints of a painting that I really liked. The original paintingfs were created by New Orleans artist Barbara Yochum who drove to the Bay Area just for this one festival! I picked up two prints to take when I travel in January and hang in my apartment in Rota (Cadiz) Spain. I love the concept of mermaids and both of my prints selected have that theme and are done very artisticly.

Eventually returning to cool foggy San Francisco and in session was the North Beach Festival in full blast, so I went there for a minute and actually saw so many people drinking and trying to get drunk, that I immediately turned around and went home.

what does a homeless with many carts of "home"
do when a festival takes his only spot for a weekend?

It's a shame that these festivities seems to be an outlet for young immatures to get legally drunk in an open area but this type of "easy" life in the United States has spread even to Europe, where now, staying out all night and drinking to excess seems to be the highlight of the week. Of course, the usual problems pop up... not of too much concern because each week there are even more who attend these "sidewalk parties" that comprise sometimes hundreds of teens.

What types of problems happen in these drunken get-togethers? First we have the normal problem of where masses people converge without toilet facilities, so now people urinate in plain sight: doorways, on cars, anywhere. Then the more serious things start to happen later into the night: discussions that turn into arguments and fights, stabbings, fist-fights and worst, shootings and of course: rapes and more. I'm not going to mention the violence they do against historic monuments and ancient artifacts.... it's a terrible shame and a pitiful statement of our current society.

the music was good and LOUD,
and didn't require alcohol to enjoy

sigh... americans are a terrible influence upon the rest of the world. Sometimes, I am so embarrassed to say I am american.....

wall-to-wall people at the festival in North Beach

No new photo sessions in the City; lots of models who say they are models, but in reality they rarely stay in contact. The Bay Area is such a void of no-shows and irresponsibility. For this reason, lots of shooting flora, sunsets and those beautiful buildings on the streets; much more reliable than a SF "model"!

isn't it just incredible....

....when the opportunity presents itself to create arTe? You know it's so right because ideas are flowing easily, the scenes look like they were created in heaven, and everything is soooo cool without a problem in the world!

No... I haven't stumbled upon a fab model, though I wish that were the case. Instead, I am just thinking of an individual and scenes for my camera....

I wish the Bay Area weren't such a void for photography as it has been for me these few months I've returned. Sure, I am taking pictures, but I don't want to take pictures... I want to create imagery that shows what I am best at...

and the region has been so dry.

sigh

I've even been "communicating" with an East Bay gallery that has been pushing me out of discussion from email one; that has never happened before - what a strange way to run a gallery, telling artists to search elsewhere for a place to exhibit.

I cannot wait to win the lottery and return to civilization and Europe!!!

NOTE: I watch endless reruns of CSI now and love it as it is almost always episodes I've never seen due to my being in Spain. Tonight it showcases a "homeless" woman who has been murdered.... short tasteful scenes of homeless, in their world, in their personal nightmares.... this is what the world doesn't see or want to see except through the small screen. How can people be so cold to the real-world outdoor their homes and past their television screens, that they cannot see the true-life miseries and tales beyond their doors?

We see what we want to see, and avoid what we do not like. This is a strange society and being gone for over a decade is making me feel so much like a foreigner because I feel like one, and I think like one, though I am not.

But how I feel inside is what makes me real, and I feel this - here - is not real....

next model shoot

Looks like it will be in early July. I've been communicating with a very attractive young model in Chico and looks like we will be meeting in Half Moon Bay to fulfill a long-awaited foto shoot. Cheri is young but has a look that gets those envious looks from others..... she has has exotic eyes and I am looking forward to shooting with her.

This Friday I'll be meeting with a lovely artnude model who will be in the area from LA - am also hoping to have a shoot with her one day soon. Seems we have some things in common: she has been to Spain and loves it also, plus she's the only only one I know in this business who travels via Greyhound. Granted, Greyhound is so disorganized, filthly and late continuously with a lot of discourteous mean and nasty drivers, but for the price, you just cannot beat it during these days of high gas cost. I've been traveling Greyhound many times, including a three-month journey that took me during the heat of summer from the East Coast, down to NC, then shooting north to Chicago. There I made the mistake of using AMTRAK to get me to Utah, where it arrived seven hours LATE!!!!! Then I continued by bus to San Francisco, Then to Portland and Seattle, then back again to NC, then to Cleveland and finishing up in PA and Newark. This was my summer of 2003 when I shot with 13 models and slept anywhere BUT a bed!!! I did lose a LOT of weight during this trip though!!!!

hahahahahaa

Escape from Alcatraz triathlon

What a day!!! It started with a great sunrise - a great change from the usual sunsets I always observe - watching from the Marina as pelicans flew over the waters of the Bay as the sun was peeking from behind clouds hanging over the East Bay. I got my Escape from Alcatraz triathlon media pass at 6am, then drove over to close to Baker's Beach before the roads closed for the event runners. My niece had volunteered at one of the aid stations there for this year's triathlon. She also runs in such sport events but I have never participated in any type of sporting event though I'm thinner than plastic and people think I am a runner..... the last triathlon I photographed was in Algar, Spain nestled in the mountains of Cadiz province - that was a great event!

As I was so early in my arrival that I took a bit of time to explore the area around the Baker Beach bluffs and beyond. I didn't realize these trails extended so far in either direction and was able to photograph the Golden Gate Bridge in either direction. It's always a great view, not to mention the pelicans "fishing" in the surf below!

By time I hiked here, there and got back to the aid and the loud CLIF disco station, I had walked quite a bit and was out of breath...


but people were starting to show up to watch and support their friends and runners running and biking past these two positions. Walking along the route I saw the surfaces would be a mixture from biking on the road, to running on loose gravel, and even climbing a sand ladder from the beach level several hundred feet to the road. What a contrast!



The event was organized by Tri California and they put on a great show! The event's organization at the Marina was excellent and was covered by a lot of media and TV. Even if you aren't a runner or biker, these sporting events when well-organized, are great reasons to leave the house behind and to get out into the outdoors and root for those participating! Volunteers are always needed anywhere and don't think this event would be any exception. If you have a kind and caring heart that wants to get out and help with events, one can always volunteer their time ~ I'm sure they would love your time, generosity and kindness!!!


See you next year at the next Escape from Alcatraz triathlon!!