There’s an important lesson there. It’s an inhospitable Universe but the possibility, in time, is unlimited and we are the most certain evidence of that inextricable rarity. So no matter what the situation, the odds of any possibility are still infinitely favorable relative to the sum total of impossible outcomes. Embrace that.

“Forget everything you’ve ever known about synthesizers. This machine has no piano keyboard or anything like that. It looks like the sort of thing that a mad inventor would make in his shed.”

-Tim Boon

I’ve been a fan of Alexander Balanescu, his quartet and his collaborations with David Byrne for close to 20 years now. This project, “The Island” came and went, years ago apparently, without registering on my radar. There is a real vibration in me for his music and mindful emotion. It’s a bit of an antidote for my boredom amid the passively consumed offerings of today’s musical landscape. The Island harkens back to Peter & The Wolf in that it paints a theatrical scene through music and voice. I’m overjoyed to encounter thriving art forms like this.

UPDATE:
I’ve just discovered that this project has been a performance for a few years but is only this year available on media for purchase. I downloaded it on iTunes. So this post is more timely than I realized. I love the simplicity of the performance but I can’t help but wonder what the right animator could do with this composition.

Hamburger Eyes could be described as a black and white photo periodical but to me it has grown to represent a community of people affiliated with it’s production and an approach to image gathering. Many of the photos are moments that could not be replicated; spontaneous punchlines and oddities and interest.

From the site: “When opening Hamburger Eyes Photo Magazine you enter a pictorial history of both the unseen and iconic moments of everyday life. It is organized in such a way that it has become many things to many people. As a photo journal, we share our travels and experiences. As a photo diary, we share our accomplishments and heartaches. And as a photo album, we share our families and friends and reach people on a level they have been familiar with since their first birthday party. Our publication is currently composed of black + white photography. We have contributions from photographers of all levels. Inspired by the traditions that began with National Geographic and Life Magazine, we hope to revitalize the sensation of photography as a craft as well as a tool to record and document.”

My point here is that cyclists take their life in their hands every time they get onto a public street. While cyclists and motorists may not see eye to eye a bicycle is a vehicle and entitled to both be on the road and be safe doing so. Most cyclists are also motorists. Most motorists are not cyclists.

Biking is about freedom, fitness, sustainability, self reliance. Given the way the world works today you have to have a car and a license to maximize your opportunities but some of us opt to ride a bike when it is suitable to do so and we’d all be a lot better off if more people did so more often and if our cities and towns were better set up to accommodate this option.

In sum. You can’t realistically suck on a Biggie Coke while texting at 30 mph on a bike. If you are doing so don’t you do dare honk at me in traffic.