* LAXjiMAB Chronica *: June 2014

30 June 2014

Imaging - Religious Architecture

This example is a personal favorite from the Summer of 2012. Spending a couple of days on the campus of a Catholic institution north of Chicago gave me an opportunity to take a lot of photos during a season that produced humidity, thunderstorms, and clouds which can result in a dramatic effect on scenic images. The Chapel at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake was built in 1925 and was sited upon a knoll overlooking the lake.

27 June 2014

A Thought or 2: Imaging from Space and a Lifetime of Technological Progress

Just this morning, I came across a link / internet resource that I found very interesting. It's the International Space Station Earth Viewing Experience which can also be viewed in high definition via this NASA website. For me [at my work station] this is hi-tech stuff, advanced personal science, a really excellent balance to the negative side of our world, and [during my life span] another element within specific categories of notable events or human achievement. Given proper consideration and study, such minor or major elements can provide perspective and appreciation, comparison and contrast, and, hopefully, knowledge, understanding, and even wisdom between historical eras, generations past and future, as well as cultures and individuals.

NASA Image S119-E-010500 / 25 March 2009

Back-dropped by the blackness of space and the thin line of Earth's atmosphere,

the International Space Station is seen from Space Shuttle Discovery as the two

spacecraft begin their relative separation. Earlier the STS-119 and Expedition 18

crews concluded 9 days, 20 hours and 10 minutes of cooperative work on board

the shuttle and station. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 2:53 p.m.

(CDT) on March 25, 2009.

So I can sit at my personal computer at work or home and stream live video from a man-made machine that is flying around Earth at an altitude of about 420 km (258 miles) and a speed of approximately 27599 km/h (17149 mph). As I approach my fifty-fifth birthday, I wonder how did the society of which I am a part get to this point. What achievements and events have transpired in my generation that have led to or resulted in my ability to view real-time images from outer space? Here's a chronological / partial / sample response:

*****

1957 U.S.S.R. successfully launched Sputnik, the first man-made object to orbit Earth

1959 NASA began Project Mercury to launch single-man capsules into Earth orbit

1961 U.S.S.R. launched the first manned orbital spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin aboard Korabl-Sputnik 1)

1962 U.S.A. launched its first manned orbital spaceflight (John Glenn aboard Friendship 7)

1969 U.S.A. landed men on the Moon (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard Apollo 11)

1981 U.S.A. launched the first Space Shuttle (John Young and Robert Crippen aboard Columbia)

1990 NASA launched the [first space-based] Hubble Telescope into orbit (aboard Discovery)

1998 Russia and U.S.A. began assembly of the International Space Station

2004 The Cassini spacecraft arrived in the Saturn system carrying the ESA's Huygens probe

2011 USA launched the Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity Rover project

2014 The High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment aboard the ISS was activated

NASA Image - Endeavor Docked at the ISS

24 June 2014

A Thought or 2 - Imaging at San Fernando Mission

Mission San Fernando Rey de España was first sited c.1797 at approximately Latitude 34.28194 North and Longitude 118.43806 West as shown here. From at least c.1850 it has been the subject of various artists and illustrators, and from at least c.1880 it has been the subject of many, many professional and amateur photographers such as myself.

While depictions of the Convento building have become the most iconic images of this particular 18th-century Franciscan Mission in Alta California, the Church (a 1970s replica of the c.1806 original) has never been very photogenic. Due to its size, location, and the various scenic obstacles that have evolved on and around the Mission property in recent times, most imaging of the Church has resulted in partial, elusive, or shallow interpretations. Though much excellent work has been done and is accessible, the majority of recent imaging of the Church at Mission San Fernando has been produced with little consideration or practical study.

This week some of us working here at the Mission had a rare opportunity to take a few aerial photographs with the aid of a construction extension lift. For a few years running, I've had the desire to capture a two-dimensional, one-frame, image of the San Fernando Mission Church from a south-southwest perspective. The image below is a result of the fulfillment of that wish and it's paired with a view of the courtyard taken by John Shammas and then edited by me. These photos are likely the first images created from these particular vantage points in the 217-year history of Mission San Fernando.

18 June 2014

ExFlorations - Red Rose of Spring

A slight lull in a season winding down;

A moment to breathe, smile and go slow;

An occasion to count blessings and consider others;

A reminder to regain a healthy sense of appreciation; and

A Red Rose of Spring symbolic of balance, refreshment, relish.

16 June 2014

A Thought or 2 - Sports World & Viewing

Whoa . . . what a variety and line-up the last week or so. Momentous times for sports fans in L.A., Texas, South America and all around the world. The Los Angeles Kings won their second Stanley Cup in the last three seasons. Notably this playoff run through Northern and Southern California, Chicago, and New York clearly seemed to garner more of the local metropolitan attention than the team's first championship in 2012.

Photo by Harry How / Getty Images

Prior to the Kings' predictable win in double-overtime against the Rangers last Wednesday evening at The Staples Center, a three-year-old thoroughbred named California Chrome put forth a courageous effort to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978 by winning the Belmont Stakes in New York the afternoon of Saturday, June 7th. Alsa, such gallant history for the first time by a local (i.e. Santa Anita) horse was not to be, and the likelihood of ever again celebrating a Triple Crown winner (all hail Seattle Slew, Secretariat, Affirmed, et al.) is an extreme long-shot under current horse-racing industry regulations, procedures, and conditions.

Benoit Photo / via Newslocker.com

Photo by Andrew Renneisen / New York Times

As previously noted, the FIFA World Cup playoffs in Brasil kicked-off on Thursday, the 12th. Within the hour, the U.S. team will begin its first match, versus Ghana, on another long-shot quest for a global-sporting championship. The most favored and home team, Brasil, went off at early / pre-tournament odds of 3 to 1 while online betting sites such as 'Oddsshark' listed the Estados Unidos squad at 100 to, Mexico at 125 to 1, and longest of the lowly, Iran, at 1000 to 1. The graphics via email and online at ESPN are spectacular:

Graphic Illustration by / via espn.go.com

Of lesser note, (to me personally), was yesterday's Game 5 win by the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA championship and Martin Kaymer's wire-to-wire victory in the U.S. Open Golf Championship that was held at Pinehurst, North Carolina from Thursday through Sunday. Anything else? How about a NASCAR win for Jimmie Johnson on Sunday at the Michigan International Speedway site in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern MI which I visited when a youngster c.1970. An episode during that period of the racetrack's history is well documented in this online article but what I recall most clearly from that particular field trip is a replica T-Rex holding a cigarette between his awkward dinosaur claws (a strangely memorable scene from one of those tacky tourist trap attractions . . . ;-)

Photo by Carlos Osorios / AP

13 June 2014

ExFlorations - Quasiviolet

Just another Pretty Flower

12 June 2014

Mission San Fernando Reflections - Adam Clark Vroman

This c.1895-9 image by A.C. Vroman focused on a pair of ancient palm trees that stood directly south of the Convento building at Mission San Fernando. Also in the background are two large barns at the western end of the Convento that the Porter Land and Water Company had erected by the end of 1892. It's likely that the origin of this specific flora tracks back to the active Mission period between 1800 and 1820.

Adam Clark Vroman was born in Illinois in 1856, and by 1893 he had settled permanently into the ‘Arroyo Culture’ that was emanating from Pasadena. In 1895, Vroman started work on a complete series of the California missions including a significant collection of Mission San Fernando photographs that he produced but never formally sold or exhibited. He did, however, share his work in the fashion of his day as was summarized in a Los Angeles Times article dated May 5, 1899: “A.C. Vroman this evening threw open his rooms to the Southern California Historical Society, and the session was devoted to the consideration of the old missions. . . . Mr. Vroman, who has traveled through the State and has taken great pains to secure photographic views of all the missions in their present condition, threw his lantern slides on a screen and gave great pleasure to the members of the society. There was a large atten-dance, and it was a very successful meeting in all respects. Mr. Vroman’s collection of mission views is the most complete extant.” The business venture that A.C. initiated in November, 1894, Vroman's Bookstore, is now a vibrant, community landmark located at 695 E. Colorado Boulevard just east of 'Oldtown' Pasadena. Adam Clark Vroman died at a friend's home in Altadena on July 24, 1916 and was later cremated. His legacy continues to evolve through a great body of his photography that is widely accessible via a large array of online resources.

10 June 2014

ExFlorations -- Purple and Red / Orange

A Pair from March

North / Central flank of the San Fernando Valley

Mid-Wilshire district of the Los Angeles Basin

A Thought or 2 - The NHL's Stanley Cup Final

Headline from today's edition of the Los Angeles Times online Sports Section:

"Kings on verge of second Stanley Cup title after 3-0 win over Rangers"

Heavily favored at the outset of the series, if anyone doesn't think Los Angeles will complete their successful playoff run, consider the following. Even though there's been a few '3-0' series comebacks in NHL history, (including the Kings' defeat of the San Jose Sharks in this year's opening round), only one has occurred in the finals. In 1942, after being down 3 games to none, the Toronto Maple Leafs came back to win the first ever seven game Cup Final versus the Detroit Red Wings. A huge controversy during Game 4 resulted in a near-riot, and No. 8 for Toronto, Peter Landiak, (who was known as and played as Pete Langelle), scored the Game 7 clinching and Stanley Cup winning goal.

Toronto Maple Leafs versus Detroit Red Wings / April, 1942

Furthermore, there has been no less than twenty 4-game sweeps in the Stanley Cup Finals, (the most recent in 1998 when the Red Wings swept the Capitals), since Toronto's unlikely comeback in 1942. IMHO, even if the Kings don't complete their sweep in New York, there's very little chance that they won't win their second championship in three years on their home ice at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

05 June 2014

ExFlorations -- Deep Pink / Purple

An Unusually Wet Saturday in Los Angeles

03 June 2014

Music - Led Zeppelin . . . more on . . . comments and links

Led Zeppelin [mostly via Jimmy Page] has been in the news a lot lately (for example, this cool multi-media from USA Today on 6/3/14) and it follows a little music study I did a few weeks ago. After 'Spotify' put the entire Zeppelin catalog online earlier this year, I systematically listened to the first six albums while researching the band, each album, and each track. Afterwards, I thought about where this music could be placed in our popular culture and how it might be seen within the personal histories of myself or my contemporaries. Foremost, I think it well to consider how this particular batch of artistic and musical endeavor (i.e. the Zeppelin collection of nine original studio albums between 1969 and 1982) is evolving. Here's a nice summary that's taken from a very well done Wikipedia article: "Led Zeppelin are widely considered to be one of the most successful, innovative and influential rock bands in the history of music. Rock critic Mikal Gilmore said, 'Led Zeppelin—talented, complex, grasping, beautiful and dangerous—made one of the most enduring bodies of composition and performance in twentieth-century music, despite everything they had to overpower, including themselves'." In addition, other factors continue to help this group's work stand out and above so many others from the 1960s and 1970s such as (1) newly remastered / released material, (2) the success of various tribute bands, and (3) the popularity the music still garners in sales, on radio, and through online apps and networks.

By the time I personally saw the band in concert, in 1976 at the first event held in the then new and now decrepit (check out these recent images) Pontiac Silverdome, Led Zeppelin was well past its live performance peak. Comparing the music heard by that vast arena crowd of 75,000+ with the raw and unspoiled talent as witnessed by a modest television studio audience at Copenhagen, Denmark on March 17, 1969 might be likened to a Michigan-style fresh spring day in late-May with a decaying fall evening in late-November. Here's the link to the TV performance recorded for Danmarks Radio / Danish TV Byen that was broadcast and simply titled Led Zeppelin on Monday May 19th, 1969. This performance was rebroadcast on the BBC on December 31, 1989, and finally released as an official DVD in 2003. The set list includes (1) Communication Breakdown; (2) Dazed and Confused; (3) Babe I'm Gonna Leave You; and (4) How Many More Times.

Following the disbanding of the final lineup of the The Yardbirds in 1968, Jimmy Page founded Led Zeppelin and this American Blues-influenced band was busy touring Europe and the U.S. by the end of the year. 1969 was the seminal year for the band. Its first two albums were successfully released and the group became widely known, wildly admired, and musically mature. It's interesting to note that the taped Copenhagen show was completed at the time of Led Zeppelin's earliest American tours which included several dates in Detroit and L.A. as outlined on the group's current website and on the excellently done Motor City Music Archives:

January 2, 1969 -- West Hollywood / United States / Whisky a Go Go
January 4, 1969 -- West Hollywood / United States / Whisky a Go Go
January 5, 1969 -- West Hollywood / United States / Whisky a Go Go

January 17, 1969 -- Detroit / United States / The Grande Ballroom
January 18, 1969 -- Detroit / United States / The Grande Ballroom
January 19, 1969 -- Detroit / United States / The Grande Ballroom

March 17, 1969 -- Copenhagen / Denmark / TV Byen / Danmarks Radio

May 2, 1969 -- Pasadena / United States / Rose Palace
May 3, 1969 -- Pasadena / United States / Rose Palace

May 16, 1969 -- Detroit / United States / The Grande Ballroom
Oct. 18, 1969 -- Detroit / United States / Olympia Stadium