Playlist Week of 2014-03-15

* Musica Baltica (Musica Antiqua Köln/Goebel) (Archiv Produktion CD)

* Kurtág: Játékok (ECM CD)

* Miles Davis: Live At The Fillmore East 3/7/70: It’s About That Time (Columbia/Legacy 2CD)

* Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd: Jazz Samba (Verve CD)

* Bill Evans: Trio 64 (Verve CD)

* Bobby Hutcherson: Patterns (Blue Note CD)

* Bobby Hutcherson: Components (Blue Note CD)

* Oregon: Out Of The Woods (Elektra LP)

* Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Cosmologies (LP mix) (WAV)

* Miguel: Kaleidoscope World (RCA CD)†

* Frank Ocean: Channel Orange (Island/Def Jam CD)†

* Jimi Hendrix Experience: Axis: Bold As Love (Columbia/Legacy LP)

* Grateful Dead: Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD 1985-06-30 (selections) (SBD 2CDR)

* Can: Ege Bamyasi (Spoon SACD)

* Conrad Schnitzler: Ballet Statique (Egg/m=minimal LP)

* Buckingham Nicks: Buckingham Nicks (Polydor LP)

* Stevie Nicks: Belladonna (Modern/Warner Bros. LP)

* Chrome: The Visitation (Siren/Cleopatra LP)

* Helios Creed: Boxing The Clown (Amphetamine Reptile LP)

* Helios Creed: Lactating Purple (Amphetamine Reptile LP)

* Helios Creed: Galactic Octopi (Transparency 2LP)

* The Dream Syndicate: The Days Of Wine & Roses (Slash/Warner Bros. LP)

* Revolting Cocks: Stainless Steel Providers (Wax Trax 12”)

* Buckethead: Colma (CyberOctave CD)

* Buckethead: Electric Tears (Meta CD)

* Wilco: Wilco (the album) (Nonesuch LP)

* The Mars Volta: De-Loused In The Comatorium (GSL/Universal CD)

* The Mars Volta: The Widow (selections) (GSL/Universal CDEP)

* The Mars Volta: Frances The Mute (GSL/Universal CD)

* The Mars Volta: Amuptecture (GSL/Universal CD)

* Isis: Celestial (Ipecac CD)

* Mastodon: Call Of The Mastodon (Relapse LP)

* YOB: The Unreal Never Lived (Metal Blade CD)

* Torche: Meanderthal (Robotic Empire/Hydra Head LP)

* Torche: Harmonicraft (Volcom LP)

* Pelican: Arktika (Live From Russia) (Southern Lord CD)

* Kvelertak: Meir (Roadrunner 2LP)

* True Widow: Circumambulation (Relapse LP)

* Windhand: Soma (Relapse 2LP)

* Nothing: Guilty of Everything (Relapse LP) (†)(‡)

†=iPod/iTunes

‡=car

Commentary:

So I'm sitting on the front porch this morning having a cup of coffee and I sleepily observe this car smash into a hapless grey squirrel, the impact registering with an awful, explosive “pop.” Jolted awake, I watch as the car continues on its way while the squirrel spasms and leaps—alarmingly, uncontrollably—down the road, leaving a trail of pinkish blood in its wake. I’m thinking, “Wow. What a terrible way to start the day.”

As I witness this horrible tableau unfold, a woman drives by from the opposite direction, stops her car, gets out and, grabbing the squirrel by its still twitching tail, throws it into our yard. "Thanks a lot," I thought to myself. But then I thought how strange it was for her to have done such a thing. I hope she went straight home and washed her hands—and her steering wheel.

I knew it wouldn't be long until the buzzards showed up, so I went inside and grabbed my Nikon, with my longest telephoto lens attached. Now, I know turkey vultures freak some people out—omens of death and all that—but I think they are magnificent birds, so big and slow it’s amazing they can get airborne. Yet they soar the skies with eyes so acute they can spot a bloodied varmint from a mile up. No, they won’t win any beauty contests, but they perform a valuable service, cleaning up road-kill—like the unfortunate squirrel in our front yard. Sure enough, a gaggle of vultures showed up in no time all. 

Here’s a fun fact: turkey vultures mate for life and can go for days and weeks or months without food. So while one dominant male aggressively tore into the fresh squirrel meat, an elder matron kept watch for circling red-tail hawks, only having a nibble after the others had flown into the trees, panicked by passing cars. I was simultaneously revolted and fascinated by what I was witnessing through the viewfinder, which blacked out momentarily as the shutter clicked open and closed. Minutes passed and I couldn’t help but get some pretty gruesome shots. Still, I kept shooting.

Later this afternoon, I opened the files on my computer and my jaw dropped—and my stomach turned. What I had barely been able to see while peering through the dim viewfinder glowed large and vivid on the screen, realer than real. I edited some of the simple “portraits,” like the serenely matriarchal lookout and some of the others (mostly sans carrion) and uploaded them to Flickr. 

There was one photograph that still haunts me: the buzzard has dragged the squirrel out into the street and I captured the moment where he lets the poor creature drop from his beak. In that split second, the dessicated squirrel, warm, wet guts protruding from his mouth, appears to stand one last time on his hind legs as the vulture looks down, mocking him with a gleefully open mouth. I call it “The Dance of Life and Death.”

But I prefer to keep this image to myself. 

Talking About The Weather

Boy, am I glad to see the sun! While I am extremely grateful we were not personally affected by the devastating storms and tornadoes that ripped through here this past week, my heart breaks seeing the destruction nearby. Magnificent trees were toppled down the road while whole towns were completely obliterated just south of here in Alabama. Incredible. Adding to our collective angst, this week marks the one year anniversary of the horrific, “500-year flood,” a disaster from which Nashville has still not completely recovered—and which left me fearful of rain, the giver of life. I swear: I’m suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder! And, sheesh, it seems to me we were only recently struggling with crazy, debilitating snowstorms…Is it just me, or has the weather become scarier over the past few years?

Has Spring Arrived?

It's been unseasonably warm the past few days here in Middle Tennessee and the first dandelions have popped up out of the ground. Does this mean spring is here? Or does it just mean my lawn has weeds?

More Snow

Yesterday afternoon, another snowstorm moved in and dumped three-to-five inches in a couple of hours, quickly icing over the roadways and turning these hills and hollers of Kingston Springs into treacherous toboggan courses. I was able to make it home, but poor Lizzy got stuck on bus for four (!) hours in downtown Nashville, which had become completely gridlocked. Thankfully, she was able to escape and stay in town overnight with a kind friend. Good grief!

I am so ready for spring! Unfortunately, we still have a ways to go yet.

Again With the Snow

Again With the Snow, originally uploaded by Rodger Coleman.

I'm getting tired of the weekly snowstorms...and it's still only January! Ugh!

Cars On Ice

Icy Car, originally uploaded by Rodger Coleman.

Here in Middle Tennessee, a couple of inches of snow will often turn into a sheet of ice overnight. We tried to get to work this morning, but upon encountering an accident on a surprisingly slippery main road, we decided to turn back. Lizzy's new Honda was a real champ getting us back up the windy, twisty hill and safely back home. Frankly, I was not sure we would make it, but she handled like a dream--with some finessing of its automatic transmission. I've been a Honda fan for a long time, but I was really impressed! Snow is one thing; ice is another. I was amazed how well the car handled in such trecherous conditions. Bravo, Honda--and thank you!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Cardinal in the snow, Christmas morning 2010b, originally uploaded by Rodger Coleman.

It snowed enough to make it pretty, but not so much as to cause problems. Perfect!

More Pileated Woodpeckers!

Pileated Woodpecker (male) 2010-07-02c, originally uploaded by Rodger Coleman.

This magificent male Pileated woodpecker looked like he was having a good time at the suet feeder this afternoon. I couln't help but take more pictures and share them with you.

I Love These Birds!

Pileated Woodpecker (male) 2010-07-01b, originally uploaded by Rodger Coleman.

An entire family of Pileated woodpeckers came to our backyard feeder this evening: mom, dad, and baby boy. Amazing birds!

Pileated Woodpecker (mother feeding juvenile)

Pileated Woodpecker (mother feeding juvenile), originally uploaded by Rodger Coleman.

This isn't the sharpest photograph ever, but today I was lucky to catch a mother Pileated woodpecker feeding some of our suet to her young. Such amazing birds! It makes me happy to see them thriving in our back yard.

Videos from the Flood

As promised, here are a few videos of the flooding here in Kingston Springs. The first one is from Saturday, May 1, 2010 and shows the bridge at the bottom of our road. The river is already extremely high, but the bridge is traversable and you can see that the old trestle and railroad bridges are still intact:



This one shows the water overflowing the bridge on Sunday, May 2. Note that the left side of the old trestle bridge has been wiped out completely. The violence of the raging river is awe inspiring. No wonder the road was ripped apart:



Finally, the most horrifying video of all: a big beautiful house on East Kingston Springs Road being picked up off its foundations and floating away. This one is painful for me to watch, but it really captures the unprecedented destruction of this storm:



Now playing: Bob Dylan,"High Water (for Charley Patton)."

Flood Damage

DSC_8456, originally uploaded by Rodger Coleman.

None of the photographs I took yesterday really capture the devastation of the flood waters. I was pretty much totally freaked out when I saw for myself what nature hath wrought. This is the our road at the bottom of the hill, just before it crosses the Harpeth River. The water lifted up pieces of asphalt and tossed them around like children's toys. They eventually closed the bridge to pedestrians and it will be a long, long time before the road opens again. There are more photos on my Flickr photostream, if you're interested. There's lots of video footage on YouTube which I will post tomorrow. We are lucky to live at the top of the hill and our house suffered no water damage whatsoever. But many people were not so fortunate. Six (6!) houses in Kingston Springs were lifted off their foundations and floated away. Just incredible. My prayers are with all my neighbors who were hardest hit by this 500-year flood. Let's hope it's another 500 years before anything like this happens again

Bugs!

Bugs 2010-04-23a, originally uploaded by Rodger Coleman.

Spring is bursting forth here at Chateau NuVoid: The bugs are out, tornadoes are threatening, and the world has turned myriad shades of beautiful green. I played around with the camera last night and took some long exposures of the insects flying around the floodlights. Gosh, it seems like yesterday I was taking pictures of snow falling. Hooray for spring! (I could do without the tornado warnings, however!)

Another Yard Car

Butterworth 2010-04-03s, originally uploaded by Rodger Coleman.

I had the day off today and since the weather was so nice, I decided to go for a walk with the camera. Here's another yard car that looks to me dates back to the nineteen-forties. I find these wrecks sadly beautiful. Lots of photos on Flickr.

Happy Vernal Equinox!

Daffodils 02, originally uploaded by Rodger Coleman.

Spring has sprung! Yay!

Yard Piano

Sure, most places have “yard cars.” Here in Music City we also have “yard pianos!”

Yard Car