David Muench

I just bought photograph David Muench's book "Arizona." Check out Muench's desert photography here.

Chiura Obata - Evening Glow at Mono Lake

Chiura Obata - Evening Glow at Mono Lake, from Mono Mills, 1930, Color woodcut - Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Obata Family., originally uploaded by artimageslibrary.

Chiura Obata was a a Japanese-American artist known for painting western national parks and, during WWII, painted his experience in an internment camp. See more of his work here.

Desert Magazine on Scribd

198105 Desert Magazine 1981 May    

Dear Hours,

I found many full text issues of Desert Magazine online today. I know I was supposed to use you to be a good teacher and obtain a graduate degree, but I think I'll look at 20+ -year-old photographs of mountain lions and rock formations instead.

Consider yourselves wasted,

Sincerely,

Eric

No Jackets in Mexico - 1956

The inscription reads:
"We are having a wonderful trip. I saw some jackets in Mexico but they were not like mine so I didn't get any. They were not pretty. Em."

The postcard was addressed to:

Mrs. George Authier
148 South Main St
Palmer, Massachusetts

I couldn't find too much on George Authier except what appears to be a list names of those buried in Bethany Road Cemetery. Those names included George W. Authier and Eva G. Reggiani Authier:

Authier, George W., b Oct 26, 1912, d Feb 13, 1981
Authier, Eva G. REGGIANI, b Dec 15, 1916, d Jan 31, 1996, w/o George (w/o=wife of)

I guess Em. was letting Eva know about the dearth of pretty jackets in Mexico.

White Sand - 1938

Saguaro you today?

Downed Saguaro - South Mountain Park, Phoenix, AZ - 3/365, originally uploaded by Thee E. Aldriches.

We take a lot of photographs of saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea). Here are some of our favorites.









From the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center @ University of Texas, Austin:

"Saguaro grows to 50 ft. in height; its tremendous weight, up to nine tons, is supported by a skeleton of about two dozen spongy, wooden rods. Accordion pleats contract as they gain and lose moisture. White flowers open after nightfall and close by late afternoon the following day. Saguaro has fleshy red fruit. Giant, leafless, columnar tree cactus with massive, spiny trunk and usually 2-10 stout, nearly erect, spiny branches.

Native Americans made use of the entire cactus: they ate the fruit both fresh and dried and made it into preserves and beverages; the framework of ribs provided wood for shelters, fences, and kindling. Giant Saguaro (pronounced sah-WAH-ro), the largest native cactus, is the state flower of Arizona and a symbol of desert landscapes. Well-adapted to its hot, dry climate, Giant Saguaro is leafless. Food is manufactured in the green stems, and rainwater is absorbed quickly by the shallow roots and stored in the succulent trunks and branches. The thick, spreading spines offer protection against animals. Gila woodpeckers and gilded flickers make round holes near the tops of branches for nests that are used afterwards by elf owls, cactus wrens, and other birds. Wildlife, especially white-winged doves, consume quantities of the seeds."

Sorry, George

Sorry, George, originally uploaded by Thee E. Aldriches.

Boothill Cemetery in Tombstone might be a tourist trap, but it's pretty damn interesting nonetheless. Poor George Johnson lies among some interesting company, including the men killed at the O.K. Corral.

The description on the reverse side of this postcard reads:

"Hanged by Mistake
Tombstone, Arizona
Impulsive early-day citizens were sometimes overanxious in dealing out justice. George Johnson evidently was a victim of one of their costly mistakes."

This photograph was taken by Stan Davis.

I decided to switch to the white background; the gray was dreary. What do you think?

Jean Ritchie

Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians Sung by Jean Ritchie, originally uploaded by Thee E. Aldriches.


From: Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians Sung by Jean Ritchie (Oak, 1965). Renowned musicologist Alan Lomax wrote the forward to the book.





From: The Dulcimer Book by Jean Ritchie (Oak, 1974).

"My husband George and our Uncle, Morris Pickow, have a small workshop where we make dulcimers. We use Ed Thomas' basic pattern, but our instruments are a little larger and we have added a few of our own ideas."



Performance in 1980. Jean sings one of her newer mining songs based on the flooding of a coal mine in Hominy Falls, WV. A woman's reaction- and heartbreak.


Jean Ritchie is an American folk singer, folklorist, and dulcimer player from Kentucky. Here's a more complete biography.

Her husband, George Pickow, is a well-known photographer.

Trick Photo - 1875

Trick photo, decapitated man with bloody knife, holding his head, originally uploaded by George Eastman House.

Here's another gem from the Flickr Commons. I'm impressed with the sophistication of this illusion. The photograph comes from the collection of the George Eastman House. Eastman founded Kodak. His home in Rochester now houses a large collection of photographs and photographic artifacts. The George Eastman House page on Flickr offers a small sample (825 photos) from the collection.

Witchcraft

"Casting a Spell: a clay effigy is offered at the altar by the High Priest during a Wicca healing ceremony."



"A white witch demonstrates the security and spiritual ease to be found inside the protective confines of the pentagram."


"The postulant, bound with cords, stands outside the magic circle."


"The High Priestess and the High Priest combine their powers to breathe life into a witch effigy which he is holding."


"A High Priestess points her dagger skywards to enlist the aid of the spirit forces."


"Anton LeVay, High Priest of the Church of Satan in San Francisco, expound his doctrine - a mixture of black magic and self-indulgence - to a young hopeful (below); in the picture above he leads a ceremony with members of the cult."

In honor of Halloween, I thought I'd post some photos from an old book on witchcraft I found. The book is entitled Witchcraft and it's written by Eric Marble. It's published by Octopus books.

More photos on our Flickr page.

Soundtrack:
Electric Wizard - Funeralopolis