More Robert Service

(Everyone out there will be getting a good dose of his writing, as I just purchased a complete book of his poems for the trip. A romantic partner re-introduced me to his work around 1973-4, reading out loud his poetry every New Year's Eve. It is something that I have since carried forward.)

An interesting delivery of probably his most widely known poem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lBkuz1TlVc

There was a good three to four feet of snow on the ground when Joe and I went to East Topsham, Vermont, in February, 2008. Joe was visiting Cone Editions to check in on the printing of the "West and West" photographs. I was tagging along, (staying with him and Betsy in Providence, before and after - and coordinating my visit with Anthony Hernandez, another old friend); Joe and I were the only inhabitants in a large house that Cone uses for students when they run workshop classes.

It was cold - not exactly bitter, but very cold - with three to four feet of snow on the ground. Joe and I spent most of our time at the "lab", watching Larry do his magic and talking about the prints. We'd wander out for dinner in the area, and otherwise play cards in the place we were staying - and photograph through the windows.

It is a special memory.

Front door, East Topsham, VT, February 2008

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A New Direction

Marshall and I went to Alaska together in 2010. The vehicle that we traveled in (Marshall's Sprinter) was so enjoyable that I bought one in late summer 2011, and have begun to make frequent trips around the west. Right now, Marshall and Bonnie are in Marfa, Texas (on Facebook, check out "A Month in Marfa.") Next month, we're going to begin and post a website of postcards between artists, dating back to the early 1970s. I'm probably going to launch a new blog in the next couple of months.....travels around the west, and my work on the archives of photographers L.H. ("Ben") Benschneider, and Robert C. Bishop. Stay tuned.

Why Idaho, redux

Sometimes, I really wonder about Idaho. I mean, I drive out towards "Craters of the Moon" National Monument, about ninety miles east of where I live (and believe me, it is exactly what the name describes), and I have to go through Arco. One thing: when you go through Arco, eat at Pickle's Place. and have the fried pickles. The Park, in front of "Numbers Hill," across from Pickle's Place. The relevance is due to the long-time nuclear energy research done at the Idaho National Research Laboratory, 100 miles southeast.

Toad River Lodge, Saturday 28 August - POSTSCRIPT

A A collection of over 6,800 hats stapled to the ceiling throughout the restaurant....and growing. One of the stories associated with the place is the origin of the name....The Alaska highway was constructed in 10 months, 1942-43. One version of "Toad River" is that the engineers had to tow supplies and materials across at that particular point, and it somehow got bastardized from "towed" to "toad." There are many such strange stories and origins to the naming of places in Alaska. (I mean, why was Denali originally called McKinley? (other than his recent assassination....he never visited the place.)

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