Oregon Coast 5-16-11

I left Astoria, Oregon a bit later than I intended this morning.
It looked like it was going to rain the whole day and it was blowing pretty hard. I had to plow into a stiff headwind the whole day and it came close to breaking me a quite a few times.

I went to Angelina's Pizzeria & Cafe for for lunch in the little town of Seaside. It was the first day for the new owner. Her name is Beth and she made great pizza. Her crew was friendly and I took a photo of them. I'm a pizza snob and she made great pizza! She gave me all the ice tea I wanted and let me top off my water bottle with tea.

While in a public restroom in a small town an obviously stoned man pulled out a knife, not a big knife but a knife, and I thought I as going to have to defend myself. I quickly took off my helmet to use as a bludgeon but then he asked me if I wanted to buy the knife for $49.99. I said no and when I came out he told me I had a cool bike. Instead of being a natural born killer I thought he was he was most likely the friendly town drunk. In South America I keep some small bills to give to bandits. I will have to keep a few ones in my pocket on this trip. I don't expect trouble but good to be ready.

The best and worst part of the ride today was the steep passes. I had to push Audry up three very long and steep passes. By early afternoon it was still blowing but clear and very hot for me. The view of the Pacific Ocean and beaches were spectacular.

There was a long tunnel that you have to pass through It was steep and as loud as a jet taking off in the tunnel. It took me about 10 min to get out of the tunnel and I was happy to escape. There is one more along the route that I am no looking forward to.

I met some fellow bikers from St. Louis today. Austin and Emily are spending the next month on their way to Mexico by bike. It was like the rabbit and the turtle race. We talked at the top of the second hill. Then I bombed down the 7% grade hill for miles. The much advertised bike riding shoulder on 101 vanished on the pass and semis were passing us within inches.They caught up to me as I was trudging up the next pass and they vanished from site as they went up the hill and vanished around the mountain top. I didn't think I would ever see them again but caught up to them at a general store. We talked about how fun riding down the pass then said good bye again. After cleaning up at the motel I found a Mexican joint for dinner and Emily and Austin were there. It was good to see them for dinner. We are obviously destined to see each other so we just said see you on the road instead of saying goodbye.

My throat feels raw and I hope I'm not getting sick. I hope it was just breathing the hot dusty road air all day and not a serious cold coming on.

On the Road with Brain and Audry chapter 1

On the drive to Astoria Greg and I stopped in the giant Cabela's in Lacy, Washington where I was able to find a light rain jacket that fit me. We then went to a great diner Greg knew about from his collage days. I had a fantastic breakfast of fried oysers and hash browns and eggs and about a gallon of ice tea.



Using google maps we found a little used dirt road over the pass to the coast of Washington. The road was very narrow but after about 30 miles of alternating forest and bleak clear cuts and drop offs down bottomless cliffs we made it to civilization. I am in a gloomy motel for the night. The advertised wifi does not work so I am in the Burger King across the street to have a ice tea and use internet. Now I am going to crash early and hopefully start my ride early.



I know nothing of Astoria other than the facet the movie "The Goones" was filmed here thanks to Andrew who told me when I was mulling this trip. There is a maritime museum here but I will hit the road before it opens.



I went to a bike shop and got a orange vest to wear so hopefully a texting driver will see me before its too late.

On the Road with Brian and Audry

My constant companion for many of my adventures has been Jack Kerouac’s book, “On The Road.” I had one battle-scarred copy filled with notes and Dr. Pepper stains that went with me on countless flights. I’d read a paragraph and try to derive its deeper meaning like some Talmudic or Biblical Scholar. Then I’d look out the window and see 33,000 feet below the endless expanse of North America, where babies cry, dogs bark and food is fried in old family diners. I’d wonder what it would be like to be in a Hudson, racing coast-to-coast with Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty, searching for Dean’s dad he never knew, or discovering the mad, smoky dins of hard-bop Jazz in ‘Frisco. I blame “On The Road” for giving me the constant need to travel.

I’ve done several cross-country trips by land. Hitchhiking to places like Ashtabula, Ohio, or catching a Greyhound Bus from George, Wash., to Missoula, Mont., in the middle of the night. One time I even found myself in Pecos, Texas, where I came under the spell of the loveliest Mexican Siren in a hole-in-the-wall taco stand.

I’ve gotten very used to comfort in my most recent trips. Window seats in first-class flights to Buenos Aires, Argentina, have been oh-so-nice, but for the past several years I have yearned for at least one more hard traveling adventure. Time and money have always gotten in the way. Now I have plenty of time and little money. Those are perfect conditions for an adventure such as this.

I have only told my family and a few friends and advisors about this trip, because I didn’t want to tell everyone and then chicken out at the last second. This way, I could chicken out and I would not have to live down any public humiliation.

I’m in the Columbia Inn in Astoria, Oregon Sunday night. This morning my Bro Greg Skinner gave me and my bike Audrey a ride here from Seattle. I’m going to start my bike trip down the west coast Monday morning.

When I drove past the SODO District of Seattle this morning, I looked back at the gleaming office towers of downtown Seattle, and thought how wonderful it would be to just hang out there and go to baseball games and plays for the next month. Friday night I was at the 5th Ave. Theatre watching “Guys and Dolls” with Marianna. I spent part of Saturday visiting with Jordan. Both are good friends attending the University of Washington. Seattle is one of my favorite places to visit.

After a good nights sleep I will hit the road with Audry, put on my earphones and crank up my iPod and listen to Jackson Browne sing “Running on Empty,” as I pedal south toward the thousands of miles of asphalt and adventure that lay ahead of me.

Browne’s lyrics are worthy of Odysseus, Gilgamesh, Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, Frodo, Capt. Kirk, Zorba, Sal and Dean. And perhaps someday even me.

“I don’t know where I’m running now, I’m just running on
Running on-running empty
Running on-running blind
Running on-running into the sun
But I’m running behind. “

I was in Ireland in the winter of 1983 and met a beautiful girl named Missy with chestnut hair and hands as soft as rose petals from Kalamazoo. I spent a magical month exploring the Emerald Isle with her. I was enchanted with her completely, except for her annoying fixation with Dolly Parton’s song “Coat of Many Colors” which she sang constantly. We said goodbye to each other in the train station one stormy morning in Cherbourg, France, after a ferry ride from Ireland. She went on to Paris, and I went to Omaha Beach and we lost all contact with each other right then and there as the silver train pulled away from the station. I wonder if she will spot me on my lonely trek, recognize me and honk her horn and pull over and we can visit and tell each other our lives story from the past 28 years. It could happen!

Diaconal Ordination

I used to be a newspaper photographer. But now I have the great honor to be the official photographer for St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Diocese of Juneau. On Wednesday-August 11, 2010 I took photos of the Diaconal Ordination of Steven Patrick Gallagher at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church.

Fishing with Tammy

I went fishing last Monday with my friend Tammy Lee Beam. We went to False Point Retriet, Cordwood and Funter Bay and got silver salmon and one halibut. A few of the silvers were quite large. The biggest one had a hook and hootchie from a previous battle with a fisherman in its mouth. I kept the hootchie for good luck. Tammy is a commercial fisherman and I learned a lot from her that day.

My friend Buddy Tabor gave me permission to use his songs for my videos. One of my favorite songs of his is, "Cannery Lights". It was fun to use the song in this video. If our schedules work out I hope to fish a lot more with Tammy.

Hipstamatic

I got a fun new app for my iPhone called Hipstamatic. It makes it look like photos taken on your iPhone were taken with a instamatic with a plastic lens circa 1968, and the negatives were rotting in a musty basement.

I took some photos of my frined Katleen. She is a great waitress working at El Sombrero and despite the fact she was born in 1992 she is a flower child from the 60s.

Folk Festival Thursday Highlights

Here is a short film of Alaska Folk Festival Thursday highlights.

I became an Alaska Folk Festival fan by accident. I was walking home from dinner at the long-gone City Café one night and noticed several people going into the Alaska State Museum. I went in to investigate and stumbled into the Folk Jamboree. I only stayed for an act or two before continuing my walk home.

I don’t think anyone there that night 36 years ago could have imagined what the Folk Festival would grow into from its humble beginnings.

The Folk Festival has always been one of my favorite events to attend and photograph. I’ve heard so much great music and forged countless friendships. Some festivals I tried to take photos of all the acts; others I have been content to sit and listen to music or visit with friends in Centennial Hall.

I have thousands of images of the Folk Festival, and it was a near-impossible task to pick the handful of images for this show. Every image brought back so many joyful memories in a “blinding flash of light,” to steal a line from the great Buddy Tabor. I remember the night Charlie Campbell brought the house down with Violent Femmes covers during a dance at the Armory. He was as hot as Chernobyl that night—every neutron was shaking free and blasting into space. His hair was flying like he was some medieval war lord charging into battle. When he flopped on his back, still playing his guitar, every girl in the house screamed with delight. I can’t begin to tell you how jealous I was of him that night.

My first published photo of the Folk Festival in the Juneau Empire was of the Rhythm Romancers playing a dance at the Armory in 1983. In that photo is my good friend Robin Dale Ford, one of my favorite Folk Festival performers.

My mom, Dorothy Wallace, died just before the start of the 2006 Folk Festival. While grieving, I attended the festival and was immediately surrounded by so many friends doing their best to cheer me up. That night Robin Dale Ford dedicated her set to my mom. The way she phrased her dedication still resonates with me: “This is for Brian’s dear mother, Dorothy.”

For me, the Folk Festival is a great sign of spring, like Easter and Passover or the first crocus blooming. To sum it up in one phrase: the Folk Festival is joy in its purest form.

I hope you enjoy these few photos of the many Folk Festivals I have photographed.

Brian Wallace

Dammed if I do

I had my iPod set to random play as I was cleaning my house on Saturday when a long forgotten song played and brought back a long forgotten memory.

I was driving back to my apartment in North Seattle from my Aunt Katherine's house in the Magnolia district. You have to cross the Ballad Bridge on 15th Ave. to head north from my aunts house. I got caught by the draw bridge as it was letting several large ships pass. It was going to be a longer than usual stop so I turned off my VW bug and stood out of the car to wait for the bridge to go back down so traffic could resume.

I was a student at the University of Washington and miserable. My housing situation was terrible and I was a so-so student at best.

I put a kick ass stereo system in my car and was always blasting music while I was on the road. My favorite radio station in Seattle was KJR. I liked to listen to the Dancin' Danny Wright show. On this cool November afternoon in 1981 when I was stuck on the bridge he played "Dammed if I Do" by the Alan Parsons Project from the album EVE. I looked to the sky as the song was playing and I saw Northwest Orient Airlines 747 climbing into the sky after taking off from SEATAC International Airport.

"I don't want to tie you down
Don't need a reason to have you around
But each time you walk away
Don't be surprised if I ask you to stay
Can't sleep alone at night
I just can't seem to get it right
Damned if I doAnd I'm damned if I don't but I love you
I said I'm damned if I doAnd I'm damned if I don't cause I love you"

At that very moment standing on the bridge watching the jet take off and listening to "Dammed if I do" I decided to drop out of the University of Washington. I suspect I would have eventually come to that decision but I made it then. Not because of the song it just helped me recall that big decision. When the bridge went back down I went to a travel agent and got a cheap ticket to New York City where I had a crazy fantasy of becoming a fashion photographer. When I recall those days I shudder and marvel at my naivete. I flew off like Don Quixote to conquer New York City armed with two Canon F-1 35mm cameras and three lenses and one back pack filled with my worldly possessions.
I somehow got into a fashion photography workshop at Parsons, The New School for Design. I quickly learned I didn't have the talent to become a fashion photographer. I was not angry about finding this out but I needed to try and get it out of my system. I had the greatest time of my young adulthood in NYC. I crashed most of the time at the Hotel Rio just off of Times Square. It was$13 a night or $8 an hour to stay there. Busted window, no curtan lots of roaches crawling over everything and when the wind blew you could smell the pidgeon crap. I was in heaven. I stayed in NYC until mid-April when my money ran out. During my last week I had just enough to go and see the musical "EVITA" The front row seat cost me $48. I saw it the day the Falklands War started on April 2. I made my exit from NYC and came back to Juneau with my tail between my legs totally defeated and about $18 to my name. Getting home was another great adventure but I will save that story for later.
I got back to Juneau and crashed at mom and dad's house. A few weeks later I got my job at the Juneau Empire as a photographer. I had that job for 27 years.

Evita!

Evita Poster

I have been pretty bad about updating my blog. I have been swamped with several projects that I have undertaken to keep me busy and creative while being unemployed.

The best thing I have been doing is to take photos of the Juneau-Douglas High School production of the musical "Evita." The first time I was in London was in July of 1978. I was on a $8-dollar-a-day budget for my trip. I was wondering around the West End and I lucked into tickets to see "Evita" just a few weeks into its original run. The front-row-seat cost me about $50. I suspect that was the night I fell in love with Argentina.

Today I set up my studio at Juneau-Douglas High school and gave just a few technical directions for my photo intern Hannah Bibb. Then Hannah took all the photos of Shanae'a Moore who is playing the title role of Evita. It is fun to see the play slowly come together and to see the quick progress of my student Hannah.

Evita-Buenos Aires

Shanae'a Moore being lifted in adoration during Evita play rehearsal. Shanae'a is the star of the show and is doing a fantastic job. The JDHS theatre department has had many great leading ladies for their musicals. Shanae'a is right up there with Patty Hull, Michaela Goade and Gysell Stone and many others.

I am really enjoying taking photos in black and white with my digital camera. It re-connects me with my photographic roots.

Jill Paintings

Comic filter
Pastel filter
Impasto filter

I just got the Alien Skin Software program called Snap Art 2. I have been up most of the night playing with it and learning how it works. Here are some examples of what the program can do. There are several filters that can transform photos into paintings. No computer program can ever replace what a real painter can do when he or she pours their soul onto a canvas but in the digital realm it can make pretty convincing images.

I was at a Folk Festival Dance two years ago and I took photos of my friend Jill dancing to the Celtic Rock band Fire on McGinnis. Here are examples of the Impasto, comic and pastel filters I just got.

Jill inspired me to start my blog. For my five blog followers check her blog out to see what a great blog should be like.
http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/

Evita dance scene

I got my new Miller/DS-20 fluid Head tripod today! It is the most expensive tripod I have ever bought but it is a splendid new tool to have.

I took photos at the Juneau-Douglas High School Theatre Department's rehearsal for the upcoming production of "Evita" today. I can tell the kids were getting tired from the hours long play rehearsal but I can tell there was a lot of progress made. The JDHS Theatre Dept. director is Michaela Moore. Every year her shows are very good. This is a photo of Aaron Cohen who plays Che and the star of the show Shanae'a Moore working on a dance move. I won't post too many more photos of the rehearsals since I do not want to show too much of what the kids are doing in advance of the show. I am looking forward to going to every performance!

Paris and Stephanie

As I look through all of my negatives and slides from my career I keep finding priceless treasures.

This photo is of me and my friend Stephanie at a cafe near the Opera House in Paris, France and at a picnic on the Seine river walkway.

I attended the Northern Short Course (NSC) in Syracuse, NY in March of 1992. The NSC is a workshop for Photojournalists sponsored by the National Press Photographer's Associatin for its East Coast members. I really could not justify going to the NSC since I could have gone to a simuler workshop on the West Coast but it was someplace very uncool that year like Stockton, CA. Not that I consider Syracuse a cool place but it permitted me a great excuse to spend 5 glorious days in New York City after the workshop.

I really did not learn too much at the NSC. After the workshop I went to catch a bus to the Syracuse airport. I found a bus stop but I had to wait for a half hour until the bus arrived. I went into a bar to get out of the cold. I sat down and my friend Dan was in the bar as well and talking to a woman who turned out to be Stephanie. We talked for a few minutes and I found out she used to live in Moscow. I asked if she knew my friend Heidi who was also working in Moscow and it turned out she did. We all knew Heidi. Dan from New York City, Stephanie from California and me from Alaska. In a world of billions 3 random people in a bar in Syracuse all had a connection.

I could not talk long since I had to catch my bus. Stephanie and I exchanged email.

Long story short we kept in contact and that September we went to Paris where Stephanie was my guide and interpreter. I was in search of the best Duck l'ornge as well as taking photos. Fun days spent riding the metro and visiting sites like Jim Morrisoin's grave in Pere Lachaise Cemetery and the other usual sites. Nights were spent looking for transcendent dining experiences.

We have visited each other many times since then. In places like Hong Kong, Juneau, New York City. She just gave birth to a son. She and her partner live in Beacon, New York where she is the director of Fovea Exhibitions.

http://www.foveaexhibitions.org/

Heidi visit

The New Years weekend was full of emotions. None of my feelings were about my former work. I have accepted that and it is history. More important things were stirring.

I took my daily walk through town and photographed a raven in a tree at Evergreen Cemetery. Its stark lonely vigil matched my mood.

All of Juneau except me was happy with the clear weather and a rare blue moon.
Sunday morning came and I spent several hours clearing out old files. Bank statements from 1998, auto manual for car I sold 20 years ago.
I had the music of Aztec Two-Step on full volume on my stereo to try and blast away my blues. The louder I played my music the deeper I fell into a well of melencholy.
I noticed there was a message on my cell phone. There was a familiar voice I have known since childhood. "Brian, This is Heidi. I am in town for a few days........."
Beautiful, wonderful Heidi. I have not seen her for about five years when we last saw each other in New Jersey. We have been friends since our grade school days of playing softball together with her and her sisters at the Capital School Playground. We worked together at the Juneau Empire back in the 1980s. She started out as photo intern for the Juneau Empire and has become a very successful international photographer.

http://www.heidibradner.com/

It was a short visit. I only got to see her for a few hours. But it was enough to make me as happy as I have been in many months. She will be on next plane back home to London soon. And I will be wondering the streets of Juneau.

Riley Woodford in concert January-2, 2010.

I am playing with the video option on my new Canon Camera EOS-7. I have a lot to learn before I can make a good clip. Here is a video of my friend Riley Woodford singing my favorite Grateful Dead song "Me and My Uncle" during a Saturday concert.

Favorite photo of 2010

I took this only 13 hours into the new year but I suspect this photo of my good friend Mari in the 17th Annual Polar Bear Dip just might be my favorite photo for 2010. A graduate of Davidson-the Harvard of the South and currant University of Washington Law student has both beauty and brains to match.

More favorite photos from 2009

Was there any doubt my favorite photos from the past year would be of the most beautiful and best fishing partners and friends anyone could ever have? Top photo is Kim and her record 22-pound silver salmon. Second photo is Kate with her first silver she ever caught at Cordwood creek. Third is of Brittany fighting a halibut while enjoying the sunny day at Benjamin Island. Fourth is Jill with two of the 4 silver salmon she caught during the only 4 hours we fished together this past year. And the fifth photo is Kim with the sunset in Gastineau Channel while fishing for king salmon.