Tag Archives | green

“Ford F1 For A Colored World?”

For many people, the car represents masculinity. For me, a car can probably represent two things, among a few others: art, and a way to travel. A car for me does not represent masculinity. In fact, I do not know how many of the major things in my car work. I do not like car magazines, nor do I prefer to obsess with cars. Same thing with cameras. I like cameras a lot, though my love for camera starts only around the picture arena. I personally do not care if a camera has 1 megapixel or 18 megapixels. If the picture that comes out is good, or if I can take a good picture, I am so happy that I start focusing on photographic dreams.

Observation, on the other hand, can be an obsession that results in a liking. And this car is no different. My best friend Katie has a lot of interest in things like color, and I myself seem to have started appreciating it more after having married Katie. Living a life where we both do things together, the way we did as best friends, there seem to be very few, yet distinct, situations where I realize, or have to, that we are married and thus we are doing something or going through something. I like that concept a lot.

So what does that have to do with this car? Many things. First, Katie and I are both reflected in this picture, even though I thought I was taking a picture that may probably show me more than her. Second, focusing on a color concept seems to be a very important thing in many pictures. Colourlovers.com is a site that Katie loves. Looking at the colors outside in the world, I can get a small feeling as to why she and millions of other people do.

Long time ago, Ford created cars with only one color: black. Henry Ford, while a visionary in terms of car production time frames, was a narrow minded industrialist who thought that people would only want the colors that he would produce: black. Well, when demand increases and so does competition, a good sales person, a good stereotypical sales person to be precise, can change his or her own words. And back when female sales people were probably not to be found anywhere in the car industry, Henry Ford’s company decided to introduce cars in more colors. Not only that, many believe that Henry Ford shared similar views with Hitler when it came to the Jews. In 1920, it has been said that Ford told a New York World reporter:

The international financiers are behind all war. They are what is called the International Jew — German Jews, French Jews, English Jews, American Jews. I believe that in all these countries except our own the Jewish financier is supreme… Here, the Jew is a threat.

So here is a Ford F1. What year? I do not know. What model? Hmm, an F1? What specifications? 4 tires, 2 doors, 1 back hatch, and windows. What colors? Ohh, red, white, black, silver, and maybe a color or two more. Oh, and some green. Even if Ford did not want it.


“Observing looking away…”

"Observing looking away..." - by Bes Zain

It does not matter,
if you look that way,
for looking at something,
you may simply be looking away.

“I must observe this like others or feel dead”,
many people say,
though I rarely see anyone,
wanting to look away.

For looking at everything,
is not always the answer,
and looking at specific things,
is not always an answer.

So get higher, or lower, or move a bit,
whether physically or mentally, into orbit,
simply distance yourself from the distance,
and see what is dark, and what seems to be lit.

It can be good to sometimes,
look away from what everyone looks at in the day,
it can be very relaxing to just be there,
without actually looking or looking away.

Photographer: Child labor.

Also on Facebook. On Flickr. On BrightKite. On MySpace. On Twitter. On TwitPic.


The Lebec & Gorman Moon & Hills before Nightfall

The moon & the hills in Gorman before nightfall

Full version. On Flickr.

I was driving from Irvine, Orange County, CA to Pleasant Hill, Bay Area, CA. I was hungry. And the mp3 cd I had burnt for the trip wasn’t working. So I decided to use my laptop on the passenger seat to listen to the cd. It would run for a while, maybe an hour or two. So I stopped at the Gorman exit in Lebec to enjoy the cold weather and then to maybe eat something, and start Winamp on my laptop. There was a Carl’s Jr to my right, when I took this picture.

I love how the hills and the moon looks. We always talk about different places where there is good scenery, yet such hills are not only in our backyards, but all around us. And at the same time, we love talking about metaphors and imagination, without actually doing anything. All we need to do is to go to them and have them come to us too.

It was very cold when I took this picture, and I did not have a jacket on. The mere thought of the cold weather, this picture, the drive, life, and some yummy food on its way made me realize that the jacket can be avoided for as long as possible.

Thanks for looking! :)


Lying next to the water flow, or laying in the grass?

In grass with fire hydrant & the sky

I am not sure why I chose this place, in the first place [ahem]. It just felt a bit uncomfortable and also safer. It was uncomfortable because the fire hydrant type pole was nearby – more space would be more comfortable with fewer things other than the grass around me. It was safe because if my emotions or feelings finally catch on fire physically from the outside, maybe this pole can provide some water to cool things down. If I could figure out how to use it first, that is.

Or maybe I just think of water a lot and was unconsciously wishing that this hydrant would break and flood the area? Or maybe you get so exhausted from within, you sleep on the grass right on the spot and think of it as your permanent bed. With the fire hydrant acting as your security guard or identification mark, of course, even if I would like complete anonymity.

Taken in Berkeley, California, while thinking of someone and red setters. No animals were harmed during the taking of this picture. No animal harmed me during the taking of this picture either.