'My Sin'

Lobby, 150 Frank Ogawa Plaza. Photo by antaresrichard

Peter and Cindy, Cindy and Peter

I stopped by Cafe Van Kleef the other day when both Peter and Cindy happened to be there, so I let my little camera run to catch the two of them together behind the bar. The crowds were coming in, so Peter and Cindy were much too preoccupied to notice my recording or concern themselves. I know my video might read like a plug (I was trying to think up copy for the crawl) but hey, I use to work at the Cafe. I can't help it. And besides, it's true: Peter, Cindy, and the Cafe were there first with the vision for the Uptown district!

Here's a photo taken earlier in the shift depicting a hard working Cindy in the shot. Peter and she had just arrived with fresh grapefruit for the Greyhounds.

Cafe Van Kleef. Photo by antaresrichard

'Like Echoes'

Christine Keeler by Lewis Morley 1963 (modified)

'Supernal Night'

Cafe Van Kleef decor. Photo by antaresrichard.

Admittedly, the "pinions" to which I refer, relate not to those of a truck, but rather to the winged summer constellations of Cygnus and Aquila. Still, I like the Cafe Van Kleef image and can live with the unintended pun. Auto mechanics must at times dream of love as well as gears.

'Phantom Faith'

Cathedral of Christ the Light. Photo by antaresrichard

'Short of Heaven'

Entrance to Mua. Photo by antaresrichard

'Hesper'

Hesper is the evening star.

Lucifer, the morning star. Photo by antaresrichard

'Foreword'

Doubly steganographic! The key is in the title.

Photo by Frances McLaughlin-Gill (1948)

'What Then?'

Clay-Jones Tower as viewed from Pacific Heights. Photo by antaresrichard.

'Dark Language'

Self portrait

'DREAMSTEEL BLUE'

Modified Internet photo

'Minishment: Large Upon the Night'

Evening cirrus. Photo by antaresrichard

*fume*

F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri from 'Amadeus' (1984)

This dysthymia. This unipolar affliction. Innately cursed with the ability to see my deficiencies against the talents of others. I feel myself every-man's Salieri. My patron saint is, I fear, the fictionalized he.

'Our Sweeter Keep'

Photo by antaresrichard

Filler

Just a filler for now, but I will think of sumpthin'.

Bouquet of roses purchased by Karl-Heinz Teuber.
Photo by antaresrichard.

Well, it turns out, I did think of sumpthin'. The blog's background has been changed.

"Brilliant! Horrifyingly brilliant!"

Tightly cropped portion of Joseph P. Whistler's photo.

At 6:03 am PDT on September 11th 2001, this was my honest and immediate reaction upon seeing, live on television, the second plane fly into the doomed World Trade Center. The enemy, I marveled, had just perpetrated one of the greatest coups on the American psyche using our own technology, industry, and the open sky against us! For many, it really was falling!

And I was afraid.

Of and for the United States.

For instantly, as the heinous truth of the attack unfolded, I feared our public's myopic nationalism and response. An unthinkable human tragedy had just occurred, a human tragedy, but we would no doubt turn it American. All the while waving our banners, I worried, would we play right into the terrorist's hands instead? In our resultant quest, our godly "crusade", our phobic zealousness to root out evil abroad and within, would we be doing Bin Laden's bidding by turning on ourselves, our lives, and our freedoms? "What will be the true cost?" I wondered.

Sadly, the years, I feel, have proven my trepidation prophetic.

My second instinctive thought was, "They had better cordon off the airspace over Washington D.C. and enforce a 'no fly zone'!"

Thirty four minutes later, the Pentagon was hit.

'Pane'

Self portrait

Brian Vouglas' Day at the Albany Twin (photo and video portrait)

'Brian Vouglas' by antaresrichard

The third in a series of posts, this is the second video (see below) and longer version wherein I recorded Brian Vouglas, my friend, performing "Victory Song" live over the end credits of 'Ariel's Dream', a film by Robert Martin. In the film, Brian sings the title melody and plays several voices, including that of a wartime sailor, lost at sea.

Again, the occasion was the premiere screening of the film at the Albany Twin Theater on August 28, 2011. Michael Lande composed the nostalgic score, with Robert Martin providing the lyrics for the tune.

The off-camera voices that you hear are mainly those of Robert Martin and Kim Foscato. The latter was the film's sound designer and rerecording mixer. She also provided audio for the live event.

Additional music: "Porch Swing Days" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com

With Love to San Francisco

As you know, I'm a native San Franciscan (born the year the George Cory / Douglass Cross tune was written). This video is a collaboration with my friend Karl-Heinz Teuber and current resident of the city by the bay. It is the first of two video paeans to San Francisco. The second can be seen on Karl's YouTube Channel.

Oh, a little behind-the-scene trivia by the way of a blooper: the "kiss" seen in the freeze frame below and documented in the video, is in point of fact, a collision taking place between my face and Karl's right temple. Bam! I wasn't expecting the rapidity of our embrace. But what the hey?! It also the only clip (beside the generic stills) shot by a third person: Mario Genel.
 

'Victory Song' sung live by Brian Vouglas

Again, this is my long time friend Brian Vouglas, performing "Victory Song" live over the end credits of 'Ariel's Dream', a film by Robert Martin wherein Brian sings the title melody and plays several voices, including that of a wartime sailor, lost at sea.

The occasion I was taping was the premiere screening of the aforementioned film at the Albany Twin Theater on August 28, 2011. Michael Lande composed the nostalgic score, with Robert Martin providing the lyrics for the tune.

The theater lighting is subdued.