Theme Thursday - Camera

"I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking." - Christopher Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin, 1939

Music videos this week: In 1979 and 1980 Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes wrote and were in the process of recording a song called "I Am a Camera", which was included in their second and last album in 1981 as The Buggles, Adventures in Modern Recording. A nice synth-pop tune that's a lot of fun to listen to:

But in between the the recording and the release in 1980 Horn and Downes became members of the current iteration of Yes, Horn replacing Jon Anderson on vocals and Downes sitting amidst the sea of keyboards made famous by Tony Kaye and Rick Wakeman. They released one album - Drama - and went on tour. After the tour Yes split up yet again (they keep doing that, and Wakeman keeps coming back, and in one reiteration in the '90s Wakeman and Kaye appeared together in the line-up). "I Am a Camera" underwent a Yes transformation and was included on Drama (and as a single) with a new name - "Into the Lens". This version is far more dramatic, very much in the Yes progressive rock mode. I like this version a lot better, but then I've been a total Yes freak since their first album, so I may be biased.

The camera will quit recording now so you can go look at the other Theme Thursday participants.

Photos & text © 2009 & 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

A Grand Gray Lady Passes

It's a good thing I listen to the local AM radio station when I get up in the morning; if I didn't I would have missed one of the best photo ops of the year. The ex-USS Forrestal, a decommissioned aircraft carrier mothballed up at Pier 4 for years now, was moved from her berth and towed down the Narragansett Bay on the first leg of her next-to-last trip, down to the inactive ship storage facility in Philadelphia, PA, on her way to be sunk to serve as a deep water reef, to be used for fishery propagation.

I hopped the harbor launch out to Fort Adams in time to catch her coming out from under the Newport Bridge, and stayed out there for over an hour getting shots as she sailed past me. Here are the results of that shoot.

Just out from under the Newport Bridge.

The escorting Narragansett Bay pilot boats.

Towed from the bow by a Navy tug.

Off Beavertail Light on Jamestown, the Bay pilots hit the end of their jurisdiction and head home.

Off to Philly!

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Sunday Bird Walk

Today was the biweekly Sunday bird walk, but since only the three of us (Mark, Bob, and I) joined walk leader Jay in the parking lot at the Norman Bird Sanctuary, Jay decided to keep the walk on NBS property. [Note: The reason for the poor attendance was the weather; it had rained overnight with more rain in the forecast. It never did rain again, but the air was very wet and thhe overcast made it a fairly dark day.]

There were lots of birds to see, but not all of my shots came out well. These are the ones that did work out well. Top left, one of many Cedar Waxwings in a Juneberry tree pigging out on the berries. Top right, a baby bunny on one of the trails. Bottom, a Turkey hen with some of her poults; when they all emerged from the tall grass we counted 10. Sorry for the quality of this shot, but I couldn't pass up showing you our Wild Turkey encounter!

After the walk Mark, Bob and I headed down to Third Beach and its salt marsh. We saw a female Piping Plover sitting on her nest (well protected by a cage that lets Plovers in and out but keeps predators - and clumsy humans - at bay; these are endangered birds), a Short-billed Dowitcher, and a couple of Black-bellied Plovers, all in the salt marsh. Unfortunately, they were in binocular range but out of range of the camera. On the beach, though, a crowd of birds came flying up from over the water. There were a bunch of Sanderlings, a Semipalmated Plover, and this prize of the day, a Dunlin in breeding plumage.

And as is usual on bird walk Sunday, I finished out the day down on Gooseneck Cove, where I caught this Mallard/American Black Duck hybrid swimming serenely along in the soft light of a damp and overcast day.

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

SVF Open House 2010

Yes, it's that time of year again when the SVF Foundation opens the farm to the public. I did a three-part comprehensive series on it last year (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), so this year all I'm posting are the new critters.

Like last year, the yard fowl were being kept in their pens instead of let out to run loose as they were in previous years; apparently there's a pair of Red-tailed Hawks nesting nearby, and they don't want to lose any of their rare breeds to hawk lunchtime. So please excuse the interference of the wire fencing in these pictures. Anyhow... They have a whole new breed of chickens in this year - Polish Turbans, in Buff (cock and hen in the top picture), Golden ( a hen in the middle picture), and White-crested Black (cock and hen along wih the Golden hen in the bottom picture). Like the Appenzeller Hobenfitzer from Switzerland, they have the fancy hairdo, as you can see. The male White-crested Black looks like something from a Mardi Gras parade!

In the cattle lines, they've added two Randall Linebacks. This is a very rare breed of cattle, only 150 left. Mostly the breed has been absorbed into the Holstein breed, but the Randall family in Vermont kept one of the few herds of purebred Linebacks. When the family died off and the Vermont properties were sold off, some of the cattle were saved by heritage breed conservation groups to help preserve genetic diversity in cattle lines.

A new goat breed this year is the Arapawa from New Zealand (Kia ora to all my Kiwi buddies!). This is a feral breed which is only occasionally tamed. I got two shots of this fella, the second one a nice, closer look to get a portrait.

Okay, I know I showed you this last year, but I love this house. It's the old slaughterhouse and smokehouse (the little round part rear left) that's been renovated and converted into a residence. I just love this house - the shingled, rolled-eaves roof imitating a thatched roof, the stonework and small-paned windows, all combine to give the English country cottage look. It could almost be an above-ground Hobbit hole! And I'll leave you with this as the parting picture. Enjoy!

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Sight & Sound - Blackbird

A Red-winged Blackbird in the salt marsh in Gooseneck Cove at Hazard Rd.

Music: My favorite Beatles song, sung live in 2004 by its composer, Paul McCartney - "Blackbird":

Photo © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Theme Thursday - Candy

As soon as I saw the theme for this week the first word to enter my tiny brain was... chocolate! And in Newport we have a real, live chocolaterie - Newport Chocolates. Hand-made chocolate goodies made on the premises, specializing in Belgian chocolate. So I marched over there yesterday and asked permission to photograph the displays so you all can drool over the shots today!

And given the direction this has taken, I guess you can guess what I've chosen. Yup, one of my favorite movies, Lasse Hallström's 2000 movie Chocolat, starring Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Alfred Molina, Judi Dench, and Lena Olin. Here's the trailer:

And here's a nice little slideshow of scenes from the movie set to one of the tunes in the soundtrack, Django Reinhardt's "Minor Swing", arranged by Rachel Portman and guitar played by Depp. Really! Enjoy!

Photos & text © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

So, What's With This Thing About Beards?

I mean, really - what's up with that? I've been being told lately that maybe the reason I haven't been able to find a job is because of my beard, and that if I shave it off somebody might actually hire me. But that just doesn't make sense, and there are several arguments against it.

The first and most persuasive argument is that I've had a beard for the last 20 years. I had it, in goatee form, when I was the director of an art gallery in the late '80s/early '90s. In 1994 I was hired to work at the Dansk Factory Outlet (where I went on to work for the full 11 years of its existence) with that goatee and was actually encouraged to grow it out to a full beard by my manager. And the beard literally got me the job at The Home Depot; Gary Thomaset, the assistant manager who hired me, swore that this gray beard of mine comforted people, that it gave me an aura of maturity and knowledge that put people at ease, these being people who were about to spend exorbitant amounts of money to have all new windows put in their homes, or a really fancy entry system with door, sidelights, and transom. And today at my interview for a floor supervisor position at the local Eastern Mountain Sports store, my interviewer told me that the beard fit right in with the outdoorsy image promoted by the company.

Another argument against the beard being a drawback is that here in New England, and especially in my area of southeastern New England, facial hair on men is pretty standard; it's part of the scenery here, accepted and part of the lifestyle. Just walking around Newport on any given day (and in Providence and Boston on those occasions when I travel up there), I'd have to say that a good 40% to 50% of the men-on-the-street have beards, goatees, muttonchops, and mustaches (and apparently handlebar mustaches are HUGE around here, especially among firemen). I don't count soul patches; those are just the result of shaving with a hangover.

Obviously the equation beard = joblessness falls apart under the evidence. I mean look at this handsome, hirsute fella below, with his air of avuncular kindness and deep wisdom. Wouldn't you hire him?

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Sight & Sound - Sumer Is Icumen In

Oxeye Daisies along the Cliff Walk, June7, 2010.

Music: "Sumer Is Icumen In" , circa 1240 (Anon). Performed by Lumina Vocal Ensemble, musical director Anna Pope.

Photo © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Critters on Sunday

I was heading for my usual Sunday constitutional when my buddy Mark drove by and scooped me up to hit some birding spots. We went down to Gooseneck Cove on Hazard Rd. and then at the Green Bridge. Snowies were feeding on the Hazard Rd. end and the Common Terns were calmly sitting on their eggs in the nests on Tern Rock. We then headed out to Brenton Point, where we saw a small group of Common Eiders and some Laughing Gulls. From there we headed up Harrison Ave. to go visit Ballard Park, and what did we see in the middle of the road but this young Whitetail Deer standing there trying to peer into the windshield trying to figure out who we were. He was pretty small, and note the still faint evidence of his fawn spots, but then he also has antler nubs. Very strange.






















Next stop was Ballard Park, which Mark hadn't visited in years even though he lives right around the corner from it. I didn't get much photography in because I was too busy playing tour guide, but we did run into this male Eastern Towhee who seemed to want to hang out with us and wasn't shy about posing for the camera.

And that's all for today!

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Ghosts of Newport Past - Your Friendly Neighborhood Boneyard

My favorite cemetery in Newport is the Clifton Burying Ground, at the meeting of Golden Hill and Thomas Streets, up the hill behind the Newport Public Library. It sits nestled in among the backyard gardens of the houses surrounding it. The graves start in the 17th Century (there are several in the 1670s and '80s) and go into the early decades of the 19th Century; there are several colonial governors buried there. It's a showpiece for the evolution of style and skill in Newport stone carving, especially that of the John Stevens Shop. But the real charm of the cemetery is how it fits into the neighborhood, with the backyard gardens seemingly spilling into it. It's a lovely little gem of a place!

There are several 17th Century stones by Boston carvers here; these two by William Mumford are for a husband and wife who died a year apart - John and Mary Hedley, who died in January in 1695 and 1696, respectively.

The neighborhood reflects the age of the cemetery; there are many restored 18th Century house around, as you can see from this shot looking across Golden Hill St. and down the hill from Clifton Burying Ground:

There are more such houses, but I chose the next three, all from around the corner on William St., because they were relatively free of automobiles parked in front of them. Just to keep the antique feel, you know! I couldn't keep the car out of the last one, but at least it wasn't parked in front of the house.

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

The Scent of June, and an Update

Multiflora Roses are an invasive plant that has the tendency to take over whole tracts of land. There are literally banks of them in the swamp to the south and west of Ballard Park, and although Frank Amaral has done a good job eliminating a lot of the plants in the park itself, there are still bushes of them here and there. And June is peak season for them. They may be obnoxious weeds, but what they do for the smell of the air in the park this time of the year is absolutely heavenly!

And there is an update to my situation. My family has intervened, and I'll be able to stay here for the summer. The trade-off is that if I can't get a job by the end of the summer I'll be moving down to southern Maryland. I am bound and determined to find a job up here, and the second chance to give it that try won't be wasted.

Meanwhile. you still have me with you and you'll get more sailboats in Newport Harbor, Narragansett Bay, and the ocean, and more flowers in Ballard Park, and more shore birds in Gooseneck Cove, and I'll still be able to talk with you all and see what you're up to. And I'm still in Newport, my spiritual home! My brother and sister deserve a round of applause (I've already given them my personal fervent thanks).

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

A Heads Up - I May Not Be Online Much Longer

I've been putting on the happy face and pretending that everything is business as usual here in Roy's World, but the reality of the situation has forced me to come out in the open - things are really not good here.

As most of you know, I've been unemployed for almost 2 1/2 years. I search daily for work, I'm always sending out my resumé to businesses looking for people, but the result is still nothing. And my unemployment benefits ran out at the end of March. There was a bill passed in Congress that supposedly extended benefits until June 2, and it was worded - both in the press and on the Rhode Island Dept. of Labor and Training website - as extending benefits for those who had exhausted their benefits. The wording was deceptive; what the bill did was extend funding for Tier 3 and Tier 4 federal emergency extended benefits so that people who had exhausted all other regular state and federal unemployment insurance; I'd already exhausted both Tier 3 and Tier 4, so I wasn't eligible for any other extension.

Only I didn't find out I wasn't eligible until after I'd written my landlady a check for May's rent. I was calling the DLT's extensions hotline every day, and it took me over a week to break through the busy signal solid wall in the second week in May. So now I have a negative bank balance; I belong to a credit union, and my account with them comes with overdraft protection, an extra I'm about to lose because I haven't been able to make up the difference. And of course now June's rent is due, and I'm behind two billing periods on my Internet access, phone, and utilities.

So the prospects are not good. Which is why I'm posting this heads up. It looks probable that I'll lose my apartment and Internet and phone access by the end of this month. I'll keep this and my other online free accounts open and I'll try to check in from time to time via public access (i.e. a public library). But at some point the photos and the regular posts will no longer be possible.

I hate this. I've enjoyed sharing my perspective on Newport, and the scenery and historic spots here, with all of you all over the US and the world. I'll probably have to leave Newport, as well, and that's going to kill me. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean; I love this place with all my heart, and leaving it will take a big chunk out of my soul. But what can I do?

So be forewarned that the time is coming, and soon, when I'll pretty much be gone from the WWW except for an occasional "Hi, howarya!" It's been great, but as the late George Harrison sang, "All things must pass."