Under a Red Roof ·

Four-Four

February 2, 2009 in Remembering, Traveling by Colleen | 1 comment

I was tagged by my friend Amber to post the fourth photo in the fourth folder of my collection. This is not actually in the fourth folder, but the sixth, because the other fourths were photos I had already posted on the blog, and redundancy is such a drag, you know? You know? Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

Anyway, this is me outside the Centre Pompidou in Paris about a year and a half ago. Something about the lighting makes my head look like a giant melon, don’t you think? That’s not the only funny bit to this photo, well not to the photo, but to the general story of the day.

This is our first day in Paris, having arrived only a few hours earlier. We were doing our best to stay awake. At this point we’d been up for about twenty-eight hours, and as we are neither in college, nor rock stars, this does not come easily. However, I felt like, this time, I was going to be able to make the whole day without napping. This time, I shall beat jet lag!

Then we entered the museum, and with the hush of the people and all of the marvelous works of art, the cadence changed. Rather than experiencing the energetic buzz of the city, people moving, cars honking, scooters swerving, we felt the profound quiet of great art and architecture. We became part of the ebb and flow of the museum, yet found ourselves set wholly apart from it. The onset of fatigue was so potent that it set off a crazy chain of events. First, we swayed like drunkards, no matter how carefully we tried to walk – left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Colleen laughs as quietly as she can, Gregory laughs quietly at Colleen laughing, museum-goers give sideways glances at the crazy Americans who should have respect for work that is neither silly or funny. More laughter from Colleen, then Gregory…and well, you know the rest.

Finally, after we had seen everything we had wanted to see, interspersed with lots of breaks on benches to compose ourselves, we waved our white flags in utter defeat. Jet lag won again. We slowly walked back to our apartment, climbed the stairs, and collapsed on the bed, sleeping for four hours.

Don’t Change

January 30, 2009 in Listening, Remembering, Spotlighting by Colleen | 1 comment

Isn’t this a beautiful cover? When I first saw it, mind you, this was on a cassette tape, so the image wasn’t terribly large, I thought it was a photograph of an exquisite sculpture. Only upon further inspection did I learn man and canine were made of flesh and bone. I find it both incredibly sexy and tender at the same time. The man has beautiful shoulders and arms, and the dog – a Greyhound or Whippet? is awfully sweet and poised, paws balanced just so. Definitely on my top ten list for album covers. Yes, definitely.

In keeping with yesterday’s post, I thought I would give a full blown Spotlight on this, my favorite INXS album. I first heard “The One Thing” and “To Look at You” when I watched Reckless with Aidan Quinn and Darryl Hannah way back in 1984. Save these two songs, and especially “The One Thing,” I have no recollection of the film, but the music is enough for me.

I know that taste in music is highly subjective, but I really feel like this is a timeless classic. While it does bring back many memories, the music never seems dated to me. INXS never went over the top with gimmicks or synthesizers, so there are no Flock of Seagull moments while listening to it. Not that the FOS were bad, but when you listen to them now, you know they are an 80’s band.

One of the finest and exceedingly rare occurrences in music is to have an album where every song is a gem. Shabooh Shoobah is one such example. It starts with “The One Thing” and keeps up the pace with clever lyrics, Michael’s very sexy, sometimes tender, and powerful voice, and ends with the crescendo “Don’t Change.” It is really difficult for me to choose favorites because I have a really hard time hearing the end of one song without longing for the next, so I will tell you my favorite lines from each song:

“The One Thing” – The way you move soft and slippery, cut the night just like a razor, rarely talk and that’s the danger.

“To Look at You” – I understand, I sympathize for a day dream, fairy tales and I love you

“Spy of Love” – Standing above this moment, listening to all I say, the spy of love will track me, will catch me.

“Soul Mistake” – Promises are carved out of lust, with a fire in the heart, that burns without regret, I vow to play the part.

“Here Comes” – Here comes my kamikaze, here comes God’s top ten.

“Black and White” – Got a need inside and I don’t know why, it’s a strong feeling that grows and grows.

“Golden Playpen” – Night club, ice cubes crackin’

“Jan’s Song” – Friends won’t argue, friends don’t care, now is the moment to get out of here.

“Old World New World” -Natives wearing turquoise and silver, dirty dogs barking in the distance, ooh people of a thousand tongues, I’m learning the primitive rites.

“Don’t Change” – Don’t change for you, don’t change a thing for me.

Oh my goodness, twenty-five years later and I still love it!

Tags: Music

Old World New World

January 29, 2009 in Listening, Remembering by Colleen | 3 comments

That’s the name of a stellar INXS song, from my favorite album Shabooh Shoobah. The awesome and, quite sadly, departed too soon, Michael Hutchence sings: “Old world, new world, I know nothing, but I keep listening.” Just a little aside here, too, INXS was my first concert at Red Rocks, and it did not disappoint.

Anyway, I’ve had the song and the sentiment stuck in my head ever since I started seeing people from much younger days on Facebook, for some it has been almost twenty years! I sit in wild wonder at all that I do and don’t know about their lives. It is both strange and wonderful, to see long lost faces and know where everyone is and what they’re doing.

Take these photos. This is Rob, the Batman fan formerly known as Bob. We met in high school, but neither of us has any recollection how it happened. There are plenty of other clearer memories, however, like opening day of Batman (the occasion for cooking a steak at my house), the opening of the Super Saver Cinema (Rob, do you remember what we saw?), and a night at the drive-in to see the Gubernator in Total Recall where I promptly fell asleep (that’s our giant bag of popcorn I’m holding).

As luck would have it, Rob found me just last week, and, even luckier, was in Portland on business on Monday, so the hubster and I met him at the Kennedy School for dinner. It was a grand evening of Gregory getting to know Rob while reminiscing for hours over cocktails and yummy food. We also reveled in the fact that it seemed as though no time had passed. That is friendship. Thank you, Facebook, for this lovely reunion, and Rob, see you next time you’re in town!

One more time, with jazz hands!

Inspired by Annie

January 23, 2009 in Loving, Reading, Spotlighting by Colleen | 3 comments

I read Annie Liebovitz book At Work a few weeks ago. Though I am not a professional, just happy to capture our everyday moments, I really enjoyed learning about how she came to be a photographer and the work itself – using strobe lighting, the various cameras, lenses, digital tricks, etc. Mostly, I liked the pictures.

As I was reading, I lamented a little on the fact that I would never likely be able to afford to have her photograph my family, but, then, as I thought about it, I decided that I could try to do something for us, Annie style.

Something I admire about her work is the quality of her not actually being there. I love the intimate photographs of people, those almost private moments. This is what I was going for in this photo. I like that we’ve just woken up and were both a bit disheveled. I like the light of the lamp and the way that Milo is itching to get away because that is really how it is at our house. We have these moments of great closeness, and then they are gone.