Wednesday, September 2, 2009

This Bird Has Flown . . .

Lest anyone think from the previous post that the author of this humble little blog might be succumbing to a bout of end of Summer nostalgically induced melancholic whimpering . . . please banish the thought, all is well, this bird has busted out of the coma-cage, and flown off into the wild blue yonder of freedom to create and mingle and sing and whistle . . . see you there, ok ?
.
Au cas où quelqu'un aurait pu penser après le post d'hier que l'auteur de ce petit blog bien humble serait en train de sombrer au plus profond de la melancolie produit par les gemissements de fin d'été, s'il te plaît cette pensée est à proscrire, loin de là, tout va bien cet oiseau a cassé la porte de son prison-coma-déprime, pour s'envoler loin dans les cieux vers la liberté de la création, les rencontres, en chantant, en sifflotant, alors, on se donne rendez-vous là-haut ou là-bas ou n'importe où, ok ?
.



















This grainy black and white video of the Grateful Dead back in 1978 is full of raucous energy, note how Jerry is jumping around on stage, and even Bill who got pretty stoic in later years is whaling away at those drums for all he's worth ! And of course, the line in this song I had in mind is to the effect of "Summertime, done come and gone, my oh my !" . . . Turn it up and rock ! Should be no danger of becoming comatose with this one . . . ;-D
.

.
.
.
PS . In fact, I'm not even sure that this photo depicts a bird cage, I'm wondering if it might have been a rabbit hutch or some such ? ? ? (I didn't check to see what the droppings in it might reveal)

29 comments:

magnoliaamber said...

Oh I love the first paragraph so much! Ah and I think the cage looks so good in the photo...despite the fact that it is hung like bird cage but it is solid like a rabbit cage...but who cares?:)

Janie said...

I guess we can assume some creature is going free out of the cage. Comatose and Grateful Dead definitely do not go together.

Amy said...

Probably a rabbit hutch or for something similiar - anyways, it's a gorgeous photo.

Karen said...

I like the thought.. flying the coop is what I'm doing. I am going to Paris for the month of October..

I like the Dead but always get them confused with Ben & Jerry.. Rock 'n Ice Cream..

Blind Fly Theater said...

Fly, Owen, Fly! Or is it... Hop, Owen, Hop! Whatever it is, you've escaped unscathed... and returned to the living with live Grateful Dead. I remember (kind of :) being at a Jerry Garcia concert in San Fran in 1988. Loved it, and your video brought it back. Thanks
Karen -- Though it's understandable you'd confuse Jerry Garcia with Ben and Jerry's, I think you're experiencing brain freeze from downing your Cherry Garcia too fast!
David
;)
*

Anonymous said...

The photo is outstanding. Love it.

Japy said...

Lovely photo. Really good. Greetings.

Adam said...

I like the message Owen, but I fear that this was a rabbit hutch, and that it is only empty because the owner decided that it had become plump enough to eat!

J said...

I wonder if a friend smuggled him a lock pick? ;)

Tom Bejgrowicz said...

This brings to mind a favorite quote of mine: "God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages." – Jacques Deval

Owen said...

Hi MagnoliaAmber, I'm wondering if it could have been messenger pigeons kept there in that cage, which was how comments were sent to other blogs prior to the age of the internet... ? Anyhow, thanks for dropping in here, and in case you might not be aware of it, in reference to the video posted here, the Grateful Dead also did a song called ... Sugar Magnolia... which you may enjoy, and can surely find on YouTube in a variety of forms...

=======

Janie, indeed, indeed, freedom is the issue here... who was it who said "Freedom's just another word, for nothing left to lose, freedom ain't worth nothing, but it's free"...

========

Hi Amy, thanks ! Doesn't really matter I guess who lived there, in one way or another they got out of the cage.... mmmmm am still dreaming about fig jam ! Loved that post !

=========

Karen; wow, Paris in October ?!? An excellent time of year to come, less tourists, more real life, not too cold yet... wow, what's on the agenda / itinerary ? And the best solution then is to eat Ben & Jerry's while listening to the Dead ! Best of all possible worlds...

=========

Ah David, so your memories are only partial of seeing Jerry back in '88 ? Hmmm, wonder what that might have been due to ??? You don't have to answer that... but I can see you emerged from the George-Winston-induced-coma... ooofff.... I admit that piano piece is a little slow, but I liked it anyway, oozing in mood as it is. Ben-&-Jerry's-induced-neurological-slowdown is a well-documented phenomenon, I've experienced it myself on many, many occasions, while watching films and consuming half a pint of Cherry Garcia, perceptory distorsions occur of the most interesting nature, especially in the taste buds...
:-D

========

Hi Tricia, many thanks !
==========
Japy, Many thanks to you too !

=========

Adam, you may well be right... well, being eaten I guess is another form of transformative freedom, to merge with the consuming creature and become part of its organism... In any case, this was quite an elaborate little hutch as hutches go, with a tin roof and bars... it had seen better days, was at an abandoned farm property in the area known as the Causses in south central France.

=========

J, surely, the Great Escape !!!
:-D

Happy Hour...Somewhere said...

Melancholic whimpering...awesome name for a blog. The picture seemed to go with that phrase to me. Loved the picture...all the contrasting lights. Made the cage seem luminous.

Anonymous said...

How can one be melancholy while listening to the Dead?
It's the dratted short summer we had that's driving me to drink.
Lovely photo!

Roxana said...

indeed, i like this picture, i assume it is one of the old ones? film?

i always picture you like this, somewhere in the wild blue yonder of freedom to create :-)

Patricia said...

Great photo but am loving your music videos!

-K- said...

That's a really fine photo.

jeff said...

Bien joué Owen ! Te laisse pas faire par des andouilles qui te prêtent des idées sombres !...
Quoi ! Moi ! j'ai rien dit !...

Mais le truc quand même... et il faut le dire !
E N F I N ! Un message ou une partie - ne soyons pas plus royaliste que le roi - en français, cette langue si chère à Molière, Pagnol, Besson...

Un grand merci pour l'inculte de la langue de Shakespeare que je suis !...;-)

Bon, et maintenant que tu as laché l'oiseau... je pense qu'il vaut mieux aller là-bas que là-haut ! J'ai vu le film et je dois dire que Là-haut c'est un peu nostalgique !...:-))) Où vas-tu nous emmener comme destination ?

A plus cher Owen ! Entre paranthèses, j'ai regardé tes anciens posts, et j'ai été sidéré par une sorte de camion rempli de bouteilles par milliers ! Tourne-t-il encore sur les routes ? Voilà, je voulais te le demander !

Bon ! viens habiter dans le sud ! Il fait beau par ici !...

Ciao AmigOwen !...;-)
A bientôt !

jeff said...

Oui ! ! ! Encore lui !
J'avais pas lu les comentaires de ton message de hier ( le vilain ! )...
Prendre une tisane ensemble ! Je crois que ce serait une bonne chose de partager... un jour... il ne faut jamais désespérer dans la vie... un moment où j'aurais le plaisir de te rencontrer ! Je dois t'avouer et ne me crois pas si tu veux et pourtant !... Quand tu n'es pas là ( je vais le dire comme ça ) blogger n'est plus tout à fait intéressant, voire ennuyeux ! J'espère que d'autres ne lisent pas ce commentaire ! Mais basta ! Sei un amico virtuale e vorrei tanto che sei un amico reale !

A bientôt Owen !...:-)

Catherine said...

that bird cage photo is very evocative - grainy black and white seems to work so well...

robert said...

A bird is happier with a simple branch, than inside of a golden cage.

Would like to assume that indeed it's a bird's cage,as otherwise the rabbits must have had wings to enter.

The Sagittarian said...

I'm thinking it may have been a pidgeon coop,or maybe a small man trap?? I always get GD mixed up with Canned heat and no idea why, probably the alcohol mix...

Mad Aunt Bernard said...

The photo is beautiful, and I think your blog is fabulous. I shall definitely be back again for a visit - a nice place to stop while on a tea break!

magnoliaamber said...

Thank you so much for your really attentive comment..I really appreciate it. I have been wondering from which country you have come and whether Owen is really how you call yourself...
Oh yes, I fell in love with your blog firstly because of your 'about me'. I do really love your way of praising the importance of comments, too!

Owen said...

Hey Tom B., guess you slipped in there while I was answering the first few... that's a heck of a quote, for sure, only man builds cages... for other beasts and for ourselves...

=========

Hi Happy Hour, hmmm I wonder where happy hour is tonight ??? Need to get over there to start doing some wining, and to forget all the whining and other whimpering of various sorts that goes on all over the place... I once knew a graphic arts designer who wanted to print some bumper sticker sized stickers with just the word "WHINING" on them, and then go stick them on STOP signs under the word STOP... don't know whether he ever actually carried through...

========

Dedene, indeed, listening to the Dead is a sure-fire cure for any form of melancholy... sure was a short Summer, no bout adoubt it... err, no doubt about it...
:-D

=======

Hello Roxana, photo is from 1995, on black & white film, Kodak Tri-X 400 iso, which is what I shot for years and years before finally switching to digital very late in the game... I still love B&W film most of all, especially doing the prints in a darkroom in the red light...

=======

Hi Patricia, Let it Rock !

=======

Hey K, many thanks indeed ! By the way, how is your publishing project going ? Is the book out there now ?

========

Salut Jeff, tu vois il y a de l'espoir, au moins j'ai écris en français une fois... c'est déjà ça... je ne peux pas promettre de le faire tous les jours, mais peut-être de temps en temps... mon français n'est pas sans erreurs, qui m'embete bcp, et je ne veux pas afficher un torchon avec des erreurs dedans que même un écolier de 9 ans ne fera pas... mais bon, à suivre, c'est vrai ça prend du temps. En tout cas, la rentrée est tellement chaude là, je vais avoir du mal à suivre le rythme du boulot et blogs jusqu'à ce que cela se calme un peu.... MERCI en cas pour tous tes petits mots sympas et tes vanneries habituelles que nous aimons tant...
A+

Owen said...

Catherine, I love grainy b&w with a passion !!! Garry Winogrand is a hero of mine...

========

Robert, these may have been the jumping rabbits from Monty Python that were able to easily reach a man's throat ! :-)

Better on a branch, indeed...

========

Dear Saj, Well, at least you have two groups from Woodstock fame... have to watch out for the alcohol, it can sometimes cloud the mind...
:-D

=========

Mad Aunt ! Welcome, welcome, on broomsticks or accompanied by black cats, come on over any time... bring the turtles... the more the merrier. The coffee or hot water for tea is always on... well, almost always :-)

=========

MagnoliaAmber, many thanks... I'm blushing, other than my wife not many people speak of love to me... :-D

Am originally from a fairly large North American country with a new president last November who I'm hoping will make a difference. Owen is indeed the name on my birth certificate... the name Owen is of Welsh origin, my parents, who love history, tell me I was named for Owen Glendower, who led a rebellion in Wales against the English monarchs of the time...

CiCi said...

If I had that little cage I would hang it in the back yard and put plants in it. It is so artsy.

Harry 'aka' Mojo said...

Hey Owen..US BLUES!!! MY GOD MAN!
LOVE THE GRATEFUL DEAD! ahh but you knew that eh? ;-)
As a matter of fact our band Lonely Gnomes pulled " Friend of the Devil' and " I Know You Rider" out of our hats last night and
ROCKED THE BACKYARD BBQ POOL PARTY ALL NIGHT LONG!..Many Deadheads here in Sandy Eggo Bro!!!
Hope its ok.. but I danced in my boxer shorts to US BLUES and had a blast all by myself..its cool..My friends truly understand me these days :-)
God Bless Jerry Garcia & The Dead!
CHEERS!
Harry
Greetings from Sandy Eggo..where it is NEVER WINTER..and Summer continues year-round baby!!!
Surfs Up Amigo!! :-)

robert said...

More than a decade since I last saw 'the life of brian' - allow me to thank you for the memories !

robert said...

Was just this midday that my mind realised that it were the'knights of the coconut'.
As I've seen it only in German, assume that it must be even better in its original language.