Spring Has Sprung In My Sink

My mom bought me the flamingos above for Christmas last year. They have metal feathers that curl at the end giving them this wacky textured look.

I have a thing for moss. This photo was taken near Bacon Swap. These days it's more of a large open water area near a nursing home rather than a swamp. My neighbors tell me that back in the day, when folks were doing construction for the nursing home, large pieces of construction equipment would sink a bit into the bog during the night.

I pass this beautiful verdis green drain cover when I stroll through my neighborhood. I'm sure the folks in the house nearby wondered what the heck I was doing taking of picture of drain cover on the corner.

A couple of blocks away from me is an adorable but empty Cape Code style house. I could so live there. On the back side there's a fish pond surrounded by a rock garden. I decided to peek in the other day and saw Master Frog hanging out.

Yes, I know, you should never post pictures of your dirty dishes on the web, but I just could not help it this time. Passing through the kitchen the other day this pile reminded me of spring.

Photos from the 'hood via iPhone

Spring came a bit too early this year. I took some photos during a couple of walks through my neighborhood (and the 'hoods nearby) this past week. I'm glad I did; it got so warm that most of the tulip trees have lost their flowers. The petals are beautiful in their decay.

I sometimes pass by this massive tree that looks like something out of Sherwood Forest. I believe it is probably the largest tree for many surrounding blocks. I left items in the photo - lamp post, fire hydrant, house to help gauge the size of this Tree Guy.

I love the rusted texture of this horse tie out. Did you ever want to know how to tie a bank robber knot? The wind becomes too much at the end of the video.

I have a few photos from the neighborhood next to mine - Forest Hills. No one ever names a neighborhood Dump Site Lawn or Out House Hills.

Finally, a pic of some tiny seedlings coming up in one of my flower boxes hanging off of the garage.
Spring is so cute!

Colossus: The Forbin Project and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Cult Movie Night @ Gary's last night. Obvious technology tee-hees aside, the acting in these 2 flicks is pretty darn good. The down side, though of ToP123 - No back story on the bad guys. In today's reality show, post Pulp Fiction world, we want to get to know our bad guys. We want that Jules and Vincent banter; we want to know those personality quirks that make us care about them. We want to know what pushed the ToP123 guys to over the edge to take a subway car hostage. What were they pre-heist meetings like? Did they fight over the assigned color names? Did someone say no to the mustache disguise idea? How did they get together in the first place?

This was also my first attempt at Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt brownies. They were quite moist, but they could definitely use a bit more sea salt (since that was the goal). I was lickin' the bowl for sure. I'm glad there were a few left to take back home as I really hadn't had my fill. I didn't take pix while I was making them, but here's a pix of the ones I brought home. Note the piece of popcorn on the left (from one of the snack bags someone brought). Also note - first pix from new iPhone 4S.


It was Saint Patrick's Day in Broad Ripple for sure. You gotta love all the out door parties and folks walking around wearin' the green.

Moebius - RIP

Like a lot of folks, I had an after school paper route as a kid. My grandmother didn't raise a fool; you have to work if you want to have anything. After depositing the Friday evening weekly paper subscription collections at the bank, we were allowed to purchase one magazine at the Ewing Drugstore (pictured on the right - red car parked in front). It was here that I had discovered Heavy Metal magazine. I can remember walking to the left side of the store, across that squeaky wooden floor to the magazine area. Ahh...the thrill when a new issue came out! The artwork and story lines from these European artists was just what the doctor ordered. I lived vicariously through these stories. I just learned this morning that Jean Giraud - Moebius, one of my fav Heavy Metal artists, had passed away on March 10. His line work was sublime.

I remember reading this comic over and over and over.

Viderodrome and Deadringers @ Alex's

Last night was Movie Night @ Alex's House. Alex and Natalie always go out of the way and prepare scrumptious, ethnic dishes for noms noms. I am still working on creating the perfect Pretzel S'more treats. This time I used dark chocolate with bits of raspberry. I also put just a dab of jalapeno sauce on the marshmallow before smashing them in the melted chocolate. The salt on the pretzel kicks in to make these guys pretty savory, rather than uber sweet - which is the goal. Maybe I need to think about making jalapeno marshmallows?

I would not watch either of these movies by myself; there's just too many other flix to watch. But...in a group setting of 20 or so folks...good choice. I'd actually only seen parts of ether movie before last night. I couldn't take my eyes off of James Wood and Debra Harry. Good choices for lead actors. James Wood has this weird on-screen charisma with his big doe eyes, acne scars, and those French door front teeth. Deb0rah Harry's mouth is to die for. Two thumbs up for Leslie Carlson as Barry Convex. Leslie just oozes smarmy creepiness.

Deadringers kind of seemed to drag on a bit. Kill yourselves already.

Christopher Payne Photography

Straightjacket, Logansport State Hospital, Indiana

It's hard to stopping clicking NEXT in this haunting series of photographs of abandoned asylums by Christopher Payne. It's an eerie glimpse into the day to day life of patients. Mr Payne has also taken photographs of abandoned substations, North Brother Island, and textile mills. Enjoy!

For more than half the nation's history, vast mental hospitals were a prominent feature of the American landscape. From the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth, over 250 institutions for the insane were built throughout the United States; by 1948, they housed more than a half million patients. The blueprint for these hospitals was set by Pennsylvania hospital superintendant Thomas Story Kirkbride: a central administration building flanked symmetrically by pavilions and surrounded by lavish grounds with pastoral vistas. Kirkbride and others believed that well-designed buildings and grounds, a peaceful environment, a regimen of fresh air, and places for work, exercise, and cultural activities would heal mental illness. But in the second half of the twentieth century, after the introduction of psychotropic drugs and policy shifts toward community-based care, patient populations declined dramatically, leaving many of these beautiful, massive buildings--and the patients who lived in them--neglected and abandoned. Architect and photographer Christopher Payne spent six years documenting the decay of state mental hospitals like these, visiting seventy institutions in thirty states. Through his lens we see splendid, palatial exteriors (some designed by such prominent architects as H. H. Richardson and Samuel Sloan) and crumbling interiors--chairs stacked against walls with peeling paint in a grand hallway; brightly colored toothbrushes still hanging on a rack; stacks of suitcases, never packed for the trip home. Accompanying Payne's striking and powerful photographs is an essay by Oliver Sacks (who described his own experience working at a state mental hospital in his book Awakenings). Sacks pays tribute to Payne's photographs and to the lives once lived in these places, "where one could be both mad and safe."