Giving -Thanks

This week's theme is giving thanks, or the less original, more conventional, Thanksgiving. None of these were taken the day of, but I feel they still bare(Correct spelling?) some resemblance to the given theme.
First off we start with The Tree, or should I say the building of "The Tree". Yes, the Rockefeller tree. Mainly because a part of my youth died with the taking of this picture. Similar to the Toothfairy and Santa Claus, "The Tree" is on the list of fabricated jolly men and money/tooth laundering fairies that incorporate a tangled mesh of lies given to our societies younger generation. The Tree you'd think, much like the name suggests, is A tree. Alas my dear friends, it pains me to bear the bad news, but nay. It is not one tree but many trees or parts-of-trees, crazy glued or in some such fashion put-together to appear as one, giant tree. There comes a point when we all enter adulthood. The point where we've lost too much innocence to allow ourselves the naivete of youth. For some its a level of formal education, for others its a kiss or even a car, and for a select few its touching some unidentified goo on the subway. For me however, it was the realization that the Rockefeller-"it's not our holiday, but Holy Toledo and a half, come this time of year we rake it in"-Tree Corporation (AKA the R."i.n.o.h.b.H.T.a.a.h.c.t.t.o.y.w.r.i.i."T.C.) has been taking us for a ride for quite some time.
How does this relate to thanks? Well it's quite direct. Firstly, there is the obvious marketing pairing of Thanksgiving and Christmas. You don't have one without the other. Not in this country. Secondly, though it has become a threshold-crossing in my life, the addition of the above mentioned knowledge, no matter how painful it was, is something I am thankful for. Lastly and thirdly, its the simple appreciation of a nice holiday season, thankful for all the blessings I have, which the ice skating rink and the lights symbolize and memorialize.

This next picture is also half symbolic. A part of the Ferris wheel in Toys-R-Us, which creates bigger than life sized replicas of pop culture (for kids) themes and uses them as seats for the wheel. This is the toy car that every kid had, which is now made even bigger than before and can be ridden, only in NYC, far into the air. O jolly joys of joy. Sign me up. Again it knocks home the thankfulness for America's affluence, at least for the people who would be in the store, even the non-wealthy ones. To not just sell or buy the cars, but to have the ability to build and ride a fake one, is something that is so obnoxiously affluent, that the pompousness of it is probably lost on most. Regardless, I am unaffected, I never had one of those cars as a kid. Didn't even want one. When all the other kids were in their little red cars Fred-Flintstoning right on by, I was in the class room rummaging through their knapsacks taking the treats out of their lunch boxes and searching for loose change.


This last picture is self explanatory. It's a store. Wrapped as a gift. I don't like the picture. It's off center and slanted, but it's the best I got of the whole store. I doubt they took down the ribbon after one day. Seems that'd be paying employees too much for too little. Maybe I'll go back and re-shoot. Yea, I'm gonna mental note that on my Daily Planner right now in fact.

The advertising idea is brilliant and it is a beautiful sight to see. The ribbon is made of red lights, so it glows nicely and the boxes are giant jewelry boxes. It gives off a nice effect and it's original. Well done.

Pathways

This weeks theme is pathways. This first picture was taken in an airport, but there is no way for the viewer to know this. It really is an ambiguous picture. No art work on the walls, a blank ceiling, and the paneling that covers the construction on the other side, all create a sense of vagueness. The light that runs along the top of the wall is great. It gives the picture a surreal feeling. Without the people at the very end, this would be a blank, bleak, pale hallway leading no where. Straight out of the movies. Everything is symmetrical as well, which adds to this affect. The stones on the left form lines and grooves, the panels create their own lines and grooves and the ceiling makes a third pattern. The light running along the side of the picture attracts the eye and drags it down the hallway. The reflection of the light on the floor makes for an interesting contrast between the lightness on the left half of the picture and the darkness along the right half.
All in all, save the people at the end, this is THE random hallway. I've been looking for this hallway all my life.

This picture is great with the symmetry as well. It actually is kind of mind-numbing. Endless library stacks and plain fluorescent lighting, caffeine's worst enemy. The two parallel, vertical, wooden planks in the middle of the picture create a gate-like feeling; and for some reason, the shelves seem to bend in towards the isle, as if they are caving in. It is almost as if you can replace the books and shelves with black stone and pillars of fire and create a hellish entryway to knowledge. Ignorance might really be bliss. The opening at the very end adds to the gate-like feeling. What is it? A door? Where does it go? Who goes there? Do these books help us figure this out? Which one? Do I have to read all of them to get the answer? Is there some sort of index, maybe an anthology? Something? A librarian? Jesus. Anyone have any coffee?
The contrast between the lights above, which are almost blurred with brightness, and the dark carpet, which lacks some light due to the shelving is interesting. The bottom shelves and foreground carpet are dark. It almost looks artificial because the light doesn't decrease slowly. The last two shelves just lose the light.


This is THE road from the movies. Y'know the one where they play that introspective music. The guy is driving in his car, and the shadows of the trees bounce off his car and over his passive face. Whatever, it was a good movie, you should see it. What's his name was in it.
The colors here are unbelievable. The blue, green and even gray is so complete and rich. I actually biked down this road (which can be found in Southern Wisconsin, about two hours north of Milwaukee) and it was one of the most serene experiences possible. Just me, the empty road, beautiful scenery and the constant Ch-chunk of my broken rented bicycle gears.
The endless road is great as well. Lack of street signs forbid a prior knowledge of direction until already there. It just goes and goes. Comparing it with the first two pictures, the eye is moved here as well. Like the previous ones, this path first drags the eye through the picture and then once at the end creates the question of "where's it going". It's like a good story that makes the reader think about what the characters are going to do after the last page.
I love this picture because save for the pavement, which feels like it fits in anyway, nothing is tainted with human touch. The sky is a perfect sea of blue, with white islands of clouds. Surrounding trees and foliage are an ocean of green with a stream of gray road running through the middle in waves. The shadows dance timidly on the gray river of road and lick the grass on the other side like flames of a fire that can't burn.