I have always planted my roots near the ocean.  I have never strayed far from what the sea has to offer my soul.  Whether it was the Gulf of Mexico, The Atlantic Ocean, San Francisco Bay, or all the way to Tokyo Bay, the blue green has been there for me to look out into the water and see myself.  At times, the murky water looks back and asks me questions.  We as a global community are tied to the sea.  We cannot escape these bonds.  We must nurture them so that the sea will be there for us.  I need the waters in my life to meditate, to align my compass in the proper direction. This is what Bahia Honda is for me.  The source I return to when I am lost.

I have traveled down there from Miami many times alone and other times with my wife, brother, and father.  There is something about the journey to the ocean’s edge driving down that long two-lane highway US 1 a mere 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Key West, Florida. Bahia Honda sits on the melding of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. These two masses of water create the gravitational spot of Bahia Honda State Park.  Most people just zip right on past it with their cars.  Few ever make that turn off on South US1 and into the tiny meditative locale.

Bahia Honda is an intersection where iron, concrete, sand, and tropical waters all meld into the extraordinary.  It is a last refuge one can travel to before there is nothing but endless ripples of water.  The manmade will slow return to its elements and meld with the sea.  We need to care for our seas.  We need to mend them when they are crying out for pain.

To stand at the edge of the quickly dilapidating bridge and stare off into my dreams of nearly 20 years ago is to be a youthful again. The location bridges my past into my unseen future.  Looking back and into the future with the eyes of my youthful days when the days were as infinite as the horizon.

My Analog Bridge to my Dreams, 2009

Dad Reflecting out into the Ocean, Bahia Honda, 1992

Self Portrait with my Father at Bahia Honda, 1992

Vertical Bridge, Bahia Honda, 1992

Pointing Palm, Baha Honda, 2000

Jerry and Me, 2009

Hugging Palm, 2009

Two Palms, 2009

Edge of Forever, 2009

Big Blue Bahia, 2009

As my best friend Jerry is lucky enough to be in Berlin on the 20 year anniversary on the

tearing down of the Berlin Wall, I got to thinking about walls. The walls we build around us, sometimes

made of concrete, and barbed wire, other times they are the walls we erect to keep people

from becoming to close to us.  I hope that we all can tear them down, and replace the walls

with doors, and windows.  Let these doors and windows be the conduits of ludic communication.

This is the mission of lucid communication arts.

I don’t usually blog about food, but this is an exception.

I have heard of this burger shop Brozers, in my quest to find the

best burger in Tokyo, so being in Ningyocho today I decided to check them out

and see how they compare to my favorite Firehouse.

I ordered a Cheeseburger that came with 2, yes only 2, onion rings, and fries.  The burger was delish.

A great bun, tender beef and a hint of BBQ sauce.

If you want to know more about burgers in Japan check this site http://www.hamburger.jp/

also this blog is from a Japanese burger lover.

http://w-ice.cocolog-nifty.com/blog2/

now for the burger

I am at home, in front of my computer in Japan. I sometimes feel so disconnected to my life as an American.  I forget what it means, I drift of into an ethereal world we call metropolitan Tokyo.  So I started to drift back to the 10 days I had spent in NYC in November of 2001.  Just weeks after the September 11th attacks.  I wandered the streets with my wife, brother and parents.  I was driven by my soul to document, and photography everything I saw.

I had no time to process the information, or realize the significance of my images till much later.  I was usually horrified at what I saw as I walked the streets.  The obsessive flag waving, the hatred that was swelling within the American people, was sad.  I had no time to react emotionally to the images.  All I was able to do was point my camera and “click.”

On this July 4th, 8 years later, I am thankful for the changes coming to America and the world; however, i know that there is so much more to be done.  I want America to be the country that it set out to be.  I want America to be a TRUE beacon of justice and hope for all the world to see.  The government can not do it alone.  It will take a community of action, caring, and brotherhood.  Then we can sit back and watch the creation.  Until that time.

I call all freethinkers to arms.  Let us be the change with cameras, brushes, words, code, whatever and whoever is out there to instill the freedom, and happiness.  Not as it is, but as it should be.

NYC 2001

Happiness is what we all want.

We seek it out, we neglect our own happiness.

We all need to go out and find a tranquility and happiness.

Happiness can be simple.

Getting a roll of film back from the developers.

Waking up an hour later than usual.

Treating yourself to a nice cup of coffee.

If the simple things make you happy, think about

something that could be life changing would.

Little bits of spit, pate and cellophane tape hold the images of

my life together.  I am amazed, that I suddenly don’s spontaneous disintegrate

into cosmic dust.

I must give thanks that I do not evaporate into the ether.  I am thankful for the bits of stickiness that

holds it all together.

Amen 

The seemingly random nature of the Interconnectiveness of all things is not as random as it may appear.

Dripping water, flowing down a pillar at the station  creating the Rust, Water,and Abstraction

filled with intentional scratching left behind, leads to the deliberate defacing of

a political poster.

The Interconnectiveness of it all is summed up in this lonely lost pin, discretely placed, intently waiting to be claimed by its master.

Is it all random?

Do we look for some tangents to be drawn between them?

I don’t know.  But I do know that by exploring the nature of image creation as a means of expression I will attempt to find it.

Up and over the journey begins.  Sometimes toes slip though the crack, or one slides back a few step.  However, we keep on striving to get to the other side, where we can say, ” WE MADE IT”  only to realize that the journey to the other side was making it.

Headaches makes one take stock, reevaluate, stand up and be counted.  This past week being troubled by headaches even though I am officially off of work, and suppose to be able to relax.  Not able too.  I started thinking back to my trip to Paris in 2007, the trip and love of a lifetime.  To be surrounded by such beautiful culture, good people, like Frederic, Ann Sophie, and Patrick, who helped to introduce my wife and i to their city.  All was beautiful.  My only worry was which film to load, and where should we stop to have a noisette.

This all leads me to here.

Where are we going before our bones lay under the cities walls.  There is so much joy in between.

We need, I need to seek out the joy.  Love the precious life that we are given.

Love

Sometimes I feel like I 

can’t find my way home.

It is time in America to jump those last hurdles of hate.  Move beyond any and all prejudices and join in UNITY as one true nation.  No one is any better, and no one is worse.  All are humans and deserve to be respected.

Refuse to Hate from Refuse to Hate on Vimeo.

No More Hate, No War 2002 NYC, Union Square September 11th

for more info on Refuse to Hate. please visit the website,

refusetohate.com

i see a future for america.

i see the america that should be.

i see hope winning over hate and fear.

i see people coming together.

i see people breaking down the walls that separate us.

i see

Scrambling though one of my cabinet the other day, and came a cross a shrink wrapped pack of a dozen rolls of Fujicrome.  Only to be deflated, when all the film bunked it several years ago.  I though what the freaking hell, I hate wasting, so I popped a roll into my contax T3 and loaded into my gear.  It will go where ever i did for the next several days.  I just gotta know was it any good all will it all just be come landfill to build the next towers project in Tokyo?

The pics came back great.  Good saturations, little grain, nice clean fun.  I left it a lot to chance.  If it was all bunk i probably whould be here telling you how wonderful it is to use past due film.  But in the end all that really matters is just using any film, and camera, going out there and getting that emotions down on celluloid or pixels.

I got a lucky Fuji Instant Camera for my bday from my mate Tomo. This is the first 10 images I shot with it. Unedited and direct to you all. Its great to be out there with this little gadget, hearing that winding sound as the picture comes shooting out the side. you know there are more pics more to come.

1.  Has the great fuji color saturation.

2.  It makes that lovely automatic whirling sound as it pops out the side.

3.  It so easy to use even my mom could use it.  She is completely technically challenged.

4.  Low tech sometimes beats the pants off of high tech.

5.  It makes you work with in the limitations.

6.  It is much more eco friendly than Polaroid.  No battery is in the film pack,so less waste.

7.  You can hold the image in your hand, seconds after you take the picture.

8.  Fun at parties, events, and total strangers.

9.  Adds another fresh camera to my arsenal so I can hit the streets running.

10.  I look cool in my specs, and with those colors.