11-5-28

11-5-27

11-5-26

Precious things. There aren't enough of them. And then there's Radiohead who a couple of years ago decided that while they were without a recording contract would put out their record independently. But more than that, they decided you could pay whatever you wanted for it. They set up a web page and you went there and you checked of the tick box that said, "I would like to buy this recording please" and when you went to the checkout the price box was empty and you could enter whatever amount you wanted. Nothing. A penny. A dollar. Or whatever. And you would get a digital download of their record "In Rainbows." But they also offered a hard copy of their record, in a delightful box with artwork and a copy of the record on vinyl and on CD along with a bonus record and CD of tracks not available through the web page download. It was a really wonderful piece. And it cost 40GBP including shipping no matter where you lived in the world. I ordered one and it was a precious thing to hold.

Over a year later they sent out an email to everyone who bought the record and gave them a link to a download of even more unreleased tracks. They didn't even give you the option of paying for them. It was just them saying "thank you" for buying the first record.

More recently Radiohead offered their newest record, "King of Limbs", as a special release they called the "Newspaper Record" or similar. I couldn't help but fetch my credit card out of my wallet and fill out the online form requesting their latest record. That was a couple of months ago. Today I found it on my front porch. I opened to the point you see in the photos but no further. It's tempting to open the plastic wrapper but my record player is still the victim of ongoing renovations (the place where it might get set up doesn't quite exist yet) so I wrapped the protective cardboard shipping container around it again and tucked it away in a safe place.

It's a wonderful piece. It was never a question of whether it would be worth it or not. I'm not a huge Radiohead fan but I believe they are one of a few bands that actually got better with time and their music is good. And it makes me happy that they do things like this, mail little treasures of records to their fans for reasonable prices. That they care enough about what they do to make precious little things.

11-5-25

It's raining like it's February. And cold. It's getting a bit tired but I suppose summer will be here soon enough. It just doesn't feel like it on days like today.

11-5-24

It was a good day for a bike ride.

11-5-23

Yup.

11-5-22

11-5-21

The real Rapture will be on October 13, 2014. Please send me all your money so that I can afford to take out bill board ads to warn everyone else...

11-5-20

11-5-19

11-5-18

Today's theme. Balloons.

11-5-17

The "good" camera. It really does make a difference.

11-5-16

11-5-15

11-5-14

Rowan turned three.

11-5-13

Less than two weeks later and the train cars are all gone. I wondered if they ever moved.

11-5-12

Days. The world of Blogger was unsettled by a computer that decided what it would do on May 11, 2011 would be a little bit different than what it did on most other days when prompted and a whole mess of stuff just disappeared. And then reappeared. But somewhat rearranged, a day or two out of order, but for the most part in tact. I could fix it. I don't think I'll bother. Artifacts. They are proof that things have happened.

11-5-10

11-5-11

11-5-8

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11-5-9

11-5-7

11-5-6

Vancouver's DTES.

11-5-5

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11-5-4

This is the only photograph I took today. I've taken it before. I'll probably take it again.

11-5-3

11-5-2

11-5-1

A bunch of kilometers into the wilderness of Vancouver Island on the back of a Triumph Scrambler motorcycle to find a pile of shotgun shells and a pile almost as big of empty Lucky Lager cans. Fun.

11-4-30

Long Beach.

11-4-29

11-4-28

11-4-27

Night blossoms deserve a quiet night.

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11-4-26

When painters paint many observers will question how it is they come up with what's on the canvas where many painters will simply suggest they paint what they see, they just see it differently. Photography is more representational and often a more literal representation than an interpretive one (though there is lots of underlying narrative in more successful photographs, but usually more in the vein of metaphor or allegory and less manipulative of the actual elements) but when I saw these rainbows today I saw them like this, brilliant and bright and full spectrum cutting the sky into sections. It was pretty incredible.

11-4-24

There's a metaphor in here somewhere. Not sure where.

11-4-23

It might have been the first day warm enough to sit on the patio this year. It felt good.

11-4-22