Gravy Boat
Its time to pull up anchor
Leave port and float
That's the answer

Gravy Boat
We tried so very hard
Nothing lasts forever
We've both done our part

Gravy Boat
We're two ships on the sea
Passing during the night
Sailing through the mist

Gravy Boat
I wish you well - bon voyage
I'll wave goodbye to you
From my garage

Cabernet
Blood red stain
Crimson and Purple
Old wood grain

Open the wine
Savor it's thyme
Late year vintage
Fruit on the vine

Life is a feast
Savor the days
Never regret
Live in good taste

Living your best life
All that you can do
Do your best
Be good to you

Don't follow me
I am lost too 
I took a wrong turn
Now you did too

Lead or follow
Get out my way
It's what you do
Not what you say

Off of that bridge
If Donny said jump
Why did you listen
TO that stupid chump?

He conned you silly
You followed that fool
He didn't jump
You are such a tool

Musical photographs
Pictures of sound
The element of surprise
Can be profound

Hidden secrets
Hidden meaning
During the day
In the evening

Stream of conscious
Dreamy thoughts
The music played
What the camera caught

There are more parallels between photography and music – specifically song writing. Both try to paint a picture and perhaps tell a story. The story can be reality or a dream.

I’ve found it best to keep taking pictures and writing songs a la Keroauc’s “stream of consciousness” approach.

This is where more is better. There isn’t really a bad photograph or song, just best and not best. I’ve been very surprised how I’ve had an old photograph that technically is not good but evoked more feeling and emotion that a technically superior image.

I’ve had plenty of songs I almost scrapped because the first part I wrote just didn’t inspire, but after adding accompanying parts really bloomed into something unexpected and some thing I liked. I’ve also written songs that started out great but after several listens, fell flat.

I decided to express my last post as an actual song. The other thing I have been wondering is “Why are we afraid of these idiot dictators or wannabe dictators?” . . .

Humpty Dumpty
Sat on a wall
Next to his pal
They both had a fall

Mirror mirror
On the wall
Whose the dumbest
Dictator of all?


Chasing windmills 
From an old car
They ran out of gas 
At a bridge that's too far

Mirror mirror
On the wall
Whose the dumbest
Dictator of all?


Sooner or later
They all fall apart
They give themselves away
They're not very smart

Mirror mirror
On the wall
Whose the dumbest
Dictator of all?

If I were King
I'd kill my subjects
With kindness
I'd take advantage 
Of their blindness

I would not divide 
But would create 
Magic Glue
Fool the people
Abolish hate

I'd fool them
Into thinking
Life's one big party
Everyone counts
Party Hearty

Its uncanny. Every time there is a rise of a fascist dictator, that dictator pushes their bullshit too far and they completely undo themselves. Karma?

Which dictator (or wannabe dictator) will fail next?

Blackheath London
1989 
Is when I learned 
That I had a spine

Blackheath Village
1989
I had to leave
I knew it was time

In 1989 I was sent by a Bay Area software company to go live in London and fly to our distributors and teach them how to support our software. I had my apartment all set up (in Pfullham) and just days before I left, I was told that I would be staying with the General Manager, at his house in Blackheath (to save the company money). That bait and switch really pissed me off, and it would have been a real disaster, trust me.

I called the CEO of the software company on a Friday and told him I would book the next flight home unless he let me go find an apartment the next week. And that I did – and I ended up in a great place across from the Hollywood Pub on the border of Chelsea and Pfullham, (SW-10 which I think is West Brompton), and I loved it. Somehow I pulled off the most politically astute thing I’ve ever done at work – and the remaining time in London and Europe was magical and without incident – just great memories.

I heard a song 
In The ears 
of my mind
that I saw
In my camera 
30 years ago

I saw a photo
In the eyes
Of my mind
That I heard
In my headphones
30 years ago

I’ve been reading a great photographic history book by Tom Ang, and at the same time – all of these YouTube suggestions of bands and songs from the late 80’s and early 90’s seem to be suggested daily. So – I decided to go get my negatives from that time – when I lived in London and travelled quite a bit in Europe and reminisce a bit. I wanted to have a slightly melancholy but positive sound – to match how I feel. Its hard to believe 30 years have passed – but as the 10,000 Maniacs said “These Are Days” (vs. Those Were The Days). Great memories of great times.

You are my light
The spring in my step
Time goes too fast
My only regret

When you're not here
Part of me is missing
When you're here
It's such a blessing

Chorus
Lumiere
Lumiere
You are 
My light

Hidden Gems are all around
Lurking in the back ground

The proposition they pose
Hiding right under your nose

They try to get you
To open your eyes
They love their use of
The element of surprise