End of the World

The End of the World

They
said
the world
was going
to end
today

so I took the day off --

and listened for the end of time

This is great I thought

we should do this more often

Just let it stop

let the future become a blank

a question we don't have to answer

Prometheus in the 21st Century

Prometheus in the 21st Century

Really when you think about it, our patron saint 

[of the modern technological world] 

is Prometheus who stole fire from the gods.

Eugen Weber, Professor of History, UCLA

Public Television Series: The Western Tradition

 The Greek God Prometheus, father of mankind, stealing fire from the Gods

Stealing fire from the Gods -- 

Have we taken on too much? 

(Left) A simple match (Right) A midsummer bonfire

Our fate is now

tied to our ability

to understand 

and then to manage nature

To become managers 

of planet Earth

 (Left) Fire out of control (Right) Photo of the fireball of first US atomic bomb test, Trinity

The question is:

Are we up to the task?

 (Left) NASA composite of the Earth and moon (Right) NASA Earth monitoring satellites 

No society has ever yet been able to handle the temptations of technology...

We have to learn to cherish this Earth and cherish it as something that's fragile, that's only one, it's all we have. We have to use our scientific knowledge to correct the dangers that have come from science and technology.

Margaret Mead

I Think, Therefore I Am

What Is Existence?

What does it mean to be? To say I am? 

This Haiku-like blog is the sequel to the previous blog: 

A Chorus of Frogs After the Rain (just below this one)

"Diagram from one of René Descartes' works." https://commons.wikimedia.org

I think, therefore I am.

René Descartes

Also: Cogito ergo sum.
Je pense, donc je suis.

Portrait of Rousseau dressed in an Armenian outfit.

I feel, therefore I am.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(a distillation of Rousseau's thought)

I continue, therefore I am.

Rick Doble

Yet even more fundamental than thought or feeling
is that awake or asleep we continue
and keep on going as long as we exist.

A Chorus of Frogs After the Rain

The Rain Is Over

We know the rain is over --

the rain so hard it shook the roof,

blurred the windows,

and darkened the sky

till it was almost night --

We know the rain is over

because now

the choir of frogs

has grown

and reached a pitch

almost as loud as the rain

A chorus with that traditional song

and those old familiar words:

"I am"

"I am"

"I am"

Poem to Digital Photography

A POEM TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Note: In 1999 in the darkening twilight, the coarse pixels on my first digital camera, a primitive Casio, changed back and forth on the monitor from color to darker color as the sky faded and as I framed the scene for my next shot. Crude as it was, to see a photograph in real time was a miracle -- as this had never been possible during my 30 years working with film photography.

REAL TIME

On the edge of darkness

I have seen the twilight sky

do it's digital dance

in real time --

pixels pulsing from

cerulean blue to black

on my LCD screen --

van Gogh's deepest colors

outside his cafe in the evening

or his starry starry night

Rick Doble, 1999

(An early selfie -- my face was lit with a neon light.)

Layers of Language

 IT'S ALL LANGUAGE 

 Literal: 

 This rose is red. 

 The sun is setting. 

 Abstract: 

 The sun sets later in the summer 

 than in the winter. 

 Many flowers display various shades of red. 

 Metaphoric: 

 A young girl is like a beautiful flower. 

 When the sun sets, it is like a door closing. 

 Creative: 

 The girl in her red dress dances 

 like the sun's last moments before it sets. 

 Synthesis: 

 At the darkest days of the year 

 our tribe lights fires 

 to prevent the sun 

 from being swallowed by the darkness. 

How To Shoot Camera-Movement Light-Painting Abstract Photographs

'Recipe' :) For Camera-Movement
Light-Painting Abstract Photographs

All photographs by Rick Doble.
Note: This recipe is like baking cookies, one cookie at a time.

We recommend 'baking' these photos for at least an 8 second shutter speed with a very low ISO and a dark environment. You move the camera to "spread, fold, chop, sprinkle and knead." You might also want to experiment using different white balance settings.

Find a piece of light

A crack around a door

a glint through a window --

it does not have to be large

as a little goes a long way

And remember each glimmer is different:

one can be smooth and limber

another sharp and brittle

Next hold that streak

then spread, fold, chop, sprinkle, knead

until the shutter closes

Then take a look,

take a bite

And go back and grab another piece of light