Category: Other

U2 remains one of my favorite bands, and they keep putting out good music!

Peace (in the name of love),
Kevin

I started listening to this radio program — Radio Paradise — a few years ago, and come and go, but I love that it was built to counter the algorithms of most music apps and platforms. I try to kick in a few bucks now and then, too, as support.

Peace (in the unexpected),
Kevin

The great poet, writer, thinker passed away this week.

Peace (in poems),
Kevin

I’m just back from a family adventure of a lifetime. Our youngest son is doing a study-abroad program through Boston University in Sydney, Australia, and when he got accepted, my wife and I realized this may be our best opportunity to get to Australia, accompanying him to Sydney. Then, we figured, as long as we are traveling that far, we may as well explore the North Island of New Zealand (we did not have the time for both islands, alas). And then we thought, let’s see if our two older boys can make the trip, too, and soon enough, it became a five-person family excursion to New Zealand (the older boys had to return home before we did our second leg in Australia).

It was an amazing adventure, with tons of hiking (including part of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing), cave explorations with the bioluminescent glow worms, beach walks, Hobbiton (which was actually wonderful, but we worried it could have been too commercialized), and so much more.

Here are some pictures from our travels:

We started and ended in Auckland. This harbor was full of boats as far as the eye could see.

We had to see Hobbiton – it could have been overly commercial but it wasn’t. Instead, it was a quaint and curious visit to the Shire.

We went underground, rafting in tubes through caves with glow worms on the ceilings and walls.

These two images are from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing hike. We did a half hike, given the winter season.

The Tananaki Falls was impressive and loud.

Lake Taupo is huge and beautiful.

Craters Of The Moon is a walk through geothermal cracks in the Earth, with impressive outbursts and pungent sulfur smells.

Huka Falls was so loud, you could barely hear yourself think.

We tried to eat Kiwi (the fruit) every day in NZ. We also could not resist a photo with these Kiwi bird statues.

The Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains, north of Sydney.

Also in the Blue Mountains. The outlooks took our breath away.

The famous Sydney Opera House, where we saw a disco-inspired burlesque show that blew our minds.

The famous Sydney Harbor Bridge at dusk.

Bondi Beach and its cliff walk, where the ocean carves out its moments in raw beauty.

And

Peace (away from here),
Kevin

I am going off-blog for a few weeks. See you when I make my way back later in August.

Peace (and quiet),
Kevin

Friends had long recommended we watch Secret Mall Apartment, a documentary now on Netflix that explores a small art collective in Providence, Rhode Island, that created a hidden space within a large commercial mall, and then used that space for years to plan community art projects. The documentary was great and it was more than the apartment they created — it was how artists bring their works into the world.

More about the movie here.

Peace (and place),
Kevin

My eldest son is an independent filmmaker and for the last few year, he and his crew of colleagues have been hired to do the videography and photography for a fairly large music festival around these parts — the Green River Music Fest. They shoot film and photos all day long for the festival’s social media and then edit videos for other uses. This supercut – which is so joyful! – is a showcase of my son’s editing skills, I think.

Peace (dancing to the music),
Kevin

We’re still trying to live up to the ideals rooted in the Declaration of Independence and we certainly are in a difficult track right now in my country. I remain hopeful, and defiant, that we find our footing again. We’re going to a Naturalization Ceremony later today to welcome new immigrants to the fabric of the country.

Peace (in July),
Kevin

I almost always enjoy the podcast, This American Life, but now and then, they do an episode that just blows me away with their use of sound and voice. The most recent episode — Blackout — is all about inside of Iran, and the voices of regular people through audio voice memos.

The Iranians put their lives on the line to smuggle the audio files out, and then — through a process where voice actors listened and then read aloud the words, in order to protect the identity of the original people — we get to hear what life is like in this war. It’s powerful storytelling as the podcast weaves the voices together into a quilt or collage of audio.

Peace (and sound),
Kevin

I see that Sid Krofft has died. He was one of the inventors of the kids’ show that still plays somewhere in the back of my imagination: H.R. Pufnstuf. I could not name the characters nor the skits, but I remember the creative zaniness of it all and being swept up into a strange world.

That’s what sticks with me. (And I remember another Kroff show, Land Of The Lost, too).

I also remember a time when I was sick at home with the flu and my father came home from work with a book for me. It was a novelization of thee Pufnstuf world, and it just blew me away that someone could write a book set in the fictional television world. I am sure the writing was horrible and all that, but for a kid stuck at home, it was a gem of a story.

I appreciate the crazy imagination of Kroft (and his brother, Marty, who had already died).

Peace (and television),
Kevin