GENERATIONS

 

Okay, I’m old by most standards. Everybody knows about old people’s puzzlement with young people. ('Twas ever thus.) Still, I look at these four and think about questions of class, culture, privilege and society. I was roughly their age in the geologic era known as the 1970s. I spent the first part of it as a cheaply dressed, if not ragged, graduate student. My three sibs did about the same. We were not wealthy but our parents insisted on education and we did what was expected, ending up with four bachelor’s degrees, a J.D., a Ph.D. and an M.B.A. 

For the rest of that decade, thanks in no small part to the woman who kept us financially afloat early on, I wore cheap suits, then better suits, and had a couple of kids. We bought a station wagon. I forgot I had read Jack Kerouac but then read Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. I would have loved to have sat down and talked to these young people about their lives, but I was out cruising for images.                   

ELEGANCE

 

A striking woman in attendance at Artica. Mrs. C and I tried to figure out what she was up to. She was there by herself, or at least we never saw her interact with anyone. She hung around near where we had pitched our lawn chairs for the burn, taking pictures and selfies, and obviously knew how to pose. The lens can capture moments but not always tell the story.                 

MORE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC

 

Thanks to my alert City Daily Photo colleague in Strasbourg, France, https://strasbourgdailyphoto.blogspot.com/, for identifying the local ska punk band, The HotRails, who performed something involving pitch and rhythm at Artica on Saturday. Their fans spread far and wide, if not down my street. 

Artica always has a beat up piano for public use. Name that tune.                   

MUSIC, SWEET MUSIC

Where do these people spend their weekdays? There were indications that the band calls itself The Hot Rails, but I couldn’t find anything about them online  (assistance welcome). The singer (or screamer) mumbled something about the style being ska-punk, but what would I know. Could the drummer interest you in some investments?               

BURN

The weekend Artica festival always ends with a bonfire. Traditionally, it is a tall, vaguely human figure with upraised arms or wings, known as Our Lady of Artica. The venue changed this year. The lot was smaller and high voltage lines heading across the Mississippi loomed overhead. This limited the size of the fire. The shape changed, too, to reflect the year’s theme, Under The World Tree. Still, it was a pretty good show.