Thursday, June 25, 2009

rickshaws and reels



today was my first full day here in the nation's capital of india, new delhi.

i arrived late in the eve and came upon a smiling crane when i arrived at my home for the next couple of days. catching up with the crane and pysched to be here, i found myself lying in bed too excited to sleep and thus, barely slept a wink.

delhi is hot. i mean, hot. today was around 110 degrees farenheit and the crane and i trooped to meet a friend in the late morns and then retreated to the bungalow abode to rest and relax after our opposite journeys that landed us in the same exact place.

most certainly one of the highlights of our first day today was the rickshaw home. after a cool cafe we grabbed a cheery (rare in this heat!) rickshaw wallah and made our way home. on our way, we cruised over a flyover (sort of like a highway bridge) and in the middle of the bridge was meters upon meters of reel from a cinema film. a sign perhaps, ojala, that this film based project at its second coming is on course and following the right path.

the rickshaw driver was fired up, proclaiming "Film Reel!" and abruptly pulled over on the side of the highway to scan the scene that was left to the delhi heat. the crane, ever so fearful that we'd be fully pancaked by a semi, kept looking back for that 18 wheeler that never came. i grabbed some of the film and looked, "Abishek!" I exclaimed (a reference to the famous indian cinema star abishek bachchan). the rickshaw driver looked and smiled, "HA!" he exclaimed with a wide grin, "Abishek!"

so for a a few minutes we explored these film scenes in the heat in delhi on a hot bridge with a an even hotter wind, surrounded by traffic that seemed to rudely blow even more garam air our way. i grabbed the crane and we headed out onto the side of the highway for a kodak moment.

this trip is bound to lovely. our kind host momma here in delhi, as we said our goodbyes tonight said to me, "Please don't take any risks."

I beamed wide.

"Only enough to keep smiling," I grinned.

so tomorrow with their cool air, glacial streams and fresh winds, the himalaya awaits...

the only plan so far is to keep smiling...

love and health to all...

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

upar



this evening is cool and today has been brisk. yesterday was the longest of the year and today, the sky in nyc moved quick, gaining ground and pushing clouds that had expelled their rains over and into the atlantic ocean, to seamlessly blend with the sea as if these pillows of sky cotton were meant to be woven with the tides...

today, upar in many senses of the word is where i'm off to roam. the mountains of ages, although young, beckon me to their trails of shale and routes of high pass reeds...

the cameras that i carry yearn to record present times through the eyes of many and the virgin vistas that will be captured lay still in time, merely like the whispers of the winds that flow through the deodars...

rain and wind hug the earth and make it fertile. earth is but ground to rest and sow. water replenishes the spirit.

"after a night in a tent on a mountain with poppa and davey."

"poppa and davey exploring the lands."

last weekend, ny state.

love and health to all...

Monday, June 22, 2009


Brighton Beach, BK

Winter 2009.

love and health to all...

Thursday, June 18, 2009

two birthdays. you ain't never seen love like this...


june 13 was my momma laura's birthday. if she were still here with us on this earth, she would have been hmm, ___ years young. take a guess...

june 18 is my poppa, allan's birthday. he is gonna be hmm, ___ years young. guess, how many years that would be. i double dare ya and bet you won't get it right...

this photograph was taken in an elevator. in fact, this photo was taken before i was born and it was taken only moments after my poppa married my momma and my momma married my poppa and they married each other. these two love each other a lot and i don't think in the whole history of the world there has been a love as strong as this...

happy birthday momma and happy birthday poppa.

i love you both!

love and health to all...

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

school's...


...almost out...

and soon it will be time to head back to the high mountain himalayan headwaters with my camera and 48 others in tow...

uttar pradesh, india. spring 2008.

love and health to all...

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

keep on trucking


the road to grand isle, louisiana is amazing. heading south from new orleans, the highway turns into two, with a channel in between. the channel runs 40 miles or so, with shrimp/crawfish boats as far as the eye can see (think of forrest gump). about an hour from grand isle, the channel opens up and instead of land and a channel, there is a small channel like road and water everywhere. more or less the exact opposite of what we had just been driving, flipped in fact. this is the true mississippi river delta, wide expansive and brackish.

driving south to grand isle, it is evident that goodness, when storms hit, this road must be fully under water and access to grand isle is cut off as the winds pick up and the water level rises. the government is building a massive highway bridge that will go to grand isle, as the road we drove on doesn't have much on mother nature. the work on that bridge can be seen in the background.

as the mustt kalander and i went south, we stopped for photographs and fresh air and came upon sights and sounds, winds and wilds...

love and health to all...

Monday, June 08, 2009

electric old school bball


st. bernard's parish.

new orleans, la.

spring 2009.

love and health to all...

Friday, June 05, 2009

the lower ninth.


an antique car sitting in a field of wild flowers and houses with holes behind...

new orleans, la.

spring 2009.

love and health to all...