Forest for the trees? Up close and personal?

Devil's in the details. Right? Devil has the right idea, in that case. What are (or aren't) details, if not the stitches in the canvas, the tiles on the pool floor, the peanuts in the packing box of LIFE (the experience, not the cereal)? I always liked those Magic Eye posters so popular in the 90s. Partly because going crosseyed was fun, and partly because the discovery of the bigger picture in all those splotches was even funner. More fun still was that a certain grade school nemesis who shall remain nameless was rubbish at the things (small victories). Any rate, since then, I have loved getting up close to things (oh yeah, just in the interests of full disclosure, I'm a bit nearsighted...well make that totally blind). Some say I miss the bigger picture for my love of details, but I'll take that over only seeing the broad view and losing its component parts.

I've gone on about flowers and their ilk, but really, they look pretty cool when you get right up in there-

Growing up in Farm Country, I have seen a field or two in my day. And right across the world, those fields look pretty much the same up close. And are just as important whether they are Idaho Corn, Italian Grapes, or even African Khat. It tends to depend on the light, the colours, and the angles, but really, it all just looks fantastic.

Don't want to wax too philosophical, but much like some great high quality wood or the coolest person you know, that LIFE box I mentioned before really is a very richly textured thing (something it shares with the eponymous breakfast food). And while that texture can been generally seen from any vantage point, I find that the deeper slash closer one goes slash gets, the more one can appreciate the details. Grass is not just green(s).

Trees are not just brown(s).

Water is not just blue(s) (whatever country, island, rock, or bit of reef it might frame). I mean, for crying out loud... they don't even make Crayolas in these colours!

Eyes are more than just ocular sense organs. Nothing is quite as lovely as seeing one's own reflection in the eyes of a horse. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance. They just see so very much. More than they ever let on. I suppose that's for the best.




Finally, on the lighter side of the issue, when they get to take center stage and the whole photo, little things get rather bigger... And come to life! Check out this little visitor looking like a dinosaur (those little toenails made one helluva racket on my window...)

 For the love of Mike! Attack of the Giant Neapolitan Lozenge-Shaped Bugs!!! (he's about the size of the end of my thumb, but check out all the kit he's lugging about on those wee spindly legs)

Doesn't matter how cutesy you try to make him... Vader is still the Darthiest... (yeah this one is gratuitous...you can turn off the Nerd Alert klaxons...)

Life in Black and White, or Way to Class Things Up!

Disclaimer: There are many quotes in the blog that follows. If you have no patience for the words of others... why are you reading some strange girl's blog? See what I did there? The cheeky irony?

Moving on. There is a thought out there, shared by many, that life is more than black and white. I realise that this is a simplification of an attempt to point out the complexities of life or whatever the given philosophical situation may be. I am choosing to look at it in a completely silly way, inspired by the following:
"If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'" - John Wayne

My point from here on out (be it a good one or not) is that things look clearer, cooler, and downright classier in black and white. As a lifelong waffler, I am well aware that life is not a simple thing; making decisions one way or another is hard. There are always, or at least mostly, many differing points of view, interpretations, and stories, and these usually overlap quite a good deal. But really, I find that looking at something (anything, I suppose) in black and white (okay, really its greyscale, but just go with it) unmuddies the waters. Too much colour in any situation may please the eyes, but it also distracts. Take the following flowers for example. And yes, I have used a couple of these in a previous blog.

 Does it matter if you can see the different shades of yellow in the flowers above?

 Or pinky orange in these?

 Do the details of the delicate middle petals need to be a particular colour?

So what if God didn't invent a grey lilly. Clearly an oversight on his part, if you ask me (which I realise no one did).

"We only exist in terms of... conflict, in the zone where black and white clash" - Louis Aragon
Now there's a weighty thought for you. And speaking of conflict, check out what an ominous Rwandan volcano looks like when the freakishly green surroundings are dampened. Really makes the Big White Mansion there toward the middle bottom look like a toy.

 And do you need to see the iconic red uniforms of these chaps to recognise who they are? Their uniformity is even more impressive when you see how it stands out against the rest of a B&W photo (sorry got lazy there for a sec).

 And the similarly but differently iconic city scape of San Francisco is more urban against the texture of the water and sky.

"It's about you. If you win, it's you; if you lose, it's you. Black and white. Nowhere to hide" - Greg Rusedski
I like the cut of this man's jib. Or maybe just the way he thinks. Either way, it is a brilliant way of encapsulating what responsibility we all have for our own path, our own future, and how we move about on and toward these things. Even if we chose to do so like this crazy fellow.

 I prefer to do it like like this (though this photo is by me, not of me). See how little chance of painful death and / or maiming there is here?

Mister black bird here has some rough terrain, but he doesn't expect someone to come and comb the beach to smooth it out for him. if he's not so much feeling the lumpy bits, he'll just fly away over them, lodging not a single complaint.

 This one is just neat. And really, talk about a rough path. Win or lose on this track, it is all up to you.

"In the beginning it was all black and white" - Maureen O'Hara
Thanks very much, Ms. O'Hara. She may be talking about television and films, but so, too life started out black and white. Or really just black, I suppose. But even after someone switched on the Universe Lamp, there were no people mucking about giving things names and labels. Thus, things were simple (getting metaphorical about black and white, but bear with me). I like simple. Simple lines.

 Simple angles and shapes.

 Simple cycles of living and moving on.

 Simple textures.

"There's something strange and wonderful about black and white imagery" - Stefan Kanfer
Here I am in total agreement. Strange and wonderful are great ways to describe black and white images. They make the eyes think a tiny bit harder sometimes, in order to pick out things from backgrounds.

 They make a scene more universal, temporally speaking. The lines of time and eras and ages become blurry, but that is kind of neat.

 An otherwise strange juxtaposition seems to just make sense when seen through these lenses. I mean, when one is thinking "Where shall I park the wagon?" the logical place is not usually on a big rock in the garden. But all darks and lights, and you have something bordering on artistic.

 And sometimes, it just makes things look neater. No other word but neater. Kind of like the font on the Cola Cooler.

 "Bah! I won't believe it until I see it in black and white" - Samuel Goldwyn
Now, I'm not entirely sure if Mr. G of MGM is waxing poetic about films, or if he means it in the sense of contractual obligations. Whatever he meant when he said it, though, I find that the inanimate looks more alive in black and white. Statues of Romanish ladies seem less cold.

 Little garden gnome looks simultaneously longing and contemplative.

 Even Mister Bobblehead can get into the excitement of a baseball game (when someone is kind enough to give him a seat with a view).

"Human nature is not black and white but black and grey" - Graham Greene
Enough said, Mr. Greene. Though I do like a little bit of white in things, even with the accompanying difficulties of keeping it clean.
To close, the following things are already black and white, and already awesome. So the piccies look even better with the rest of the colours stripped. Bob Dog = already a badass. Check out all the grey hairs (they mean he is old and crotchety but wise and loving).

 Poor lonely Zebra living in Djiboutian cheetah refuge = awesome every day of his badass life.

 And yes, even a Cyberman. Look how cute.....

Rodeo's Rodeo - The Events

Of those lovely ingredients to a Rodeo Cake, the events are clearly important (not much of a draw, otherwise, no?). Different rodeos will feature different events. Some are heavily roping focused, while others hit the big ticket events across the spectrum (bareback, saddle bronc, bulls, barrels, bulldoggin', team roping, etc). To some, that may be all sort of jibberish, or even like a code for some odd fetish. While the concepts may be foreign and require rather a lot of research to understand, the spectacle needs no real explanation. I will, however, offer my own interpretation and commentary, whether warranted or no. That's why we blog, eh?

So grab a seat, any old seat...

So I can begin with a bang...

Well, maybe more of a bonk. And an argh. And likely a string of profanity. Not really a great position in which to find oneself. Here I am clearly talking about the fella in the white shirt just above the business end of the bull. Very much like life. You are either being sat upon by a ton of living beef or in danger of getting a cross horn up the tailpipe. And there is always a peanut gallery just hanging about behind you, watching with all the chalance of a turnip. Oh and some clown is showing up late and prancing about in a silly attempt to distract the problem.

Now, bull riding comes from no practical ranch purpose. Well, outside that universal male tendency to do something "because its there." These pursuits are usually fueled by copious amounts of alcohol and boredom-both staples of ranch life. Trials that are much more obviously tied to a genuine ranching skill start with...

Yup. Team roping. Get the head and the heels so you can snabble up the little rotter to administer vet services, place hot metal upon the flank, or whatnot (especially whatnot, but not THAT kind of whatnot - this is a PG blog).

Again, isn't this just like life? Sometimes we all feel a bit pulled in two directions by big brutes who clearly have ulterior motives. Then there is that old "How the devil did I get in quite such a muddle?" feeling to which we can all relate.

Looks like a Wednesday to me...

Next, another event that I find thrilling to watch, but totally mental to attempt. Bulldoggin', or for the sophisticated crowd, steer wrestling. Just like it sounds, this is the jumping off a perfectly good horse (who is running flat out) onto an equally fast steer, complete with horns. Oh and the horns are the bit for which the wrestler is aiming in order to wrestle said steer onto its back to, I guess, give it the old whatfor.

Oh yeah, and your "buddy" is there to watch and "help" (you know he's thinking what an idiot his pal is). And did I mention that sometimes the bull just would rather not be dogged? This looks like a Monday to me. You jump off life's galloping horse onto the steer of your job but that steer zigs as you zag and you end up on your back with trousers full of dirt. Metaphorically speaking, that is.

We've all been there.

The events involving horses doing their best to unseat their riders I shall lump in together. I know, I know...cardinal sin. They are very much different events. One involves attempting to stay mounted on a cross horse for eight seconds with your hand strapped to a small ring on a harness at the horse's withers (and at your crotch). The other involves attempting to stay mounted on a cross horse for eight seconds whilst sitting on a harness with stirrups and only holding a bit of rope with one hand. It is so obvious how different these are. And the judges look for... uh... oh sod it, they judge them the same fool way. Take a look.

Bareback - note placement of right hand....
And this (Oooh with the left).

Now you're just posing...

Hallelujah! Can I get an "Amen!"

Now for the terribly different sport...See the rope?

No, really...see it?

It's just there...

Ooh...rather blurry, that. But my point remains.

Oh lovely! Colour coordinated rope! Very stylish...

And now for some gratuitous shots of that "Oh bother" moment. Again, check out the fella on the right, decidedly nonplussed.

There is really nothing good about being in this particular spot.

I think we have all fallen off a few horses (both real and figurative). But we don't usually have to contend with some blighter with a stopwatch saying "oh, so sorry; all that pain and spinal destruction was for naught. You fell off at 7.899 seconds. Not quite there, I'm afraid." Though actually, that does sound like some yobs I have had the sincere pleasure to work with. Such charmers.

Plenty of other events just don't photograph as well (at least not when indoors with rubbish lighting). That, and the Reno Rodeo (being a PRCA deal...just google that one) only showcases certain of the events. Thus I've not shown and remarked upon Steer Tripping (illegal outside Texas but fun to watch), Team Doctoring (not what it sounds like - get your mind out of the gutter), Pole Bending (boring), Team Penning and Team Sorting (kinda the same), Businessmen's Steer Decorating (just tying ribbons on the tail of a steer... seriously I wish I were joking)

Oh Dear Lord! Somebody stop that sheep from eating that child! Oh the humanity! Send in the Clown!

After all this, despite the "real skill" component of many of these events, if I'm honest there is a rather large "just because its there" factor. Boys will be boys, and cowboys are the worst. Cheshire cat grin, anyone?

Girls are, of course, innocent as the day in this. We just wanna ride (in matching outfits, apparently).