The decade is winding down. The "Naughts" will soon end.
How was your decade, baby?
I rather liked mine. Granted, I saw my fair share of heartbreak, sadness, and loneliness, but who wants to hear about that crap? And furthermore, who cares? In six hours (three, on the east side) it'll all be a thing of the past. Those are last decade's problems, and the time for the "Naughts" is over. This is a new decade. New rules. New world.
And I'm hungry.
So drink your champagne, and give a toast to the decade to come, no sense toasting the past.
Here's to 2010.
p.s. My bro and I will be flying tonight right after midnight (quite the way to ring in the New Year, I say). I may even buy some champagne during the flight (I think we have our tickets booked on a Delta "Partytime" flight, but I'm not sure. Let me check...... ...... ..... Never mind.... we definitely can't afford that.).
Oh yeah, and I'm really excited about the "No going to the bathroom and nothing on your lap for the last hour of the flight rule".
What an ingenious security measure. Real top notch.*
*expect a full rant on this at a later time.
[So this is the New Year and I don't feel any different]
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Of Dostoyevsky and Detroit
What has happened to Detroit?
Not the Lions, the city. (No one ever says, "What happened to Detroit?" in reference of the Lions because to ask the question "What happened" implies that there was, at one time, something there.)
Detroit, as it stands, is perhaps the largest ghost town in the Nation. Once the shining capitol of innovation in America, the collapse of the auto industry has left behind the derelict bones of factories, once humming with workers, now gathering dust in disrepair and decay. Those same workers who once stood on those assembly lines now line the streets (Unemployment rose to over 22% in 2009).
These are Dark Times for the Motor City. But out of the mire, some have found inspiration.
I'd like to bring the photography of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre to your attention. The two are French photographers who have scoured the ruins of Detroit to produce the powerful images that you can view here. Haunting images, and there are hundreds more like this. Where there are abandoned factories, apartments, office buildings, and movie theaters left to waste, there are photographers and artists there to capture it. Archeologist, in their own way, studying the ruins of a thriving civilization, now long dead.
But there are some artists who would save Detroit, instead of capitalising on it's beleaguered state. Give this article a read, if you will.
Take abandoned houses and pepper them with vibrant colored polkadots. Vacant lot? Plant a community garden. Or, why not turn a dirty city street into an art gallery?
Artists, taking the initiative. Individuals, making a change. It doesn’t take a big system to fix a big problem, it just takes people with the desire to see change. After all, the “System” has failed this city time and time again. I salute these artists’ resolve to finally say, “enough is enough”. With their various projects, they’ve helped bring the City’s problems to light and promote ways to help turn the back the tide. They’ve even encouraged other artists to move into the city and do likewise.
It may not seem like much, but it's things like these that spark revolutions. It reminds me of the words written by the Russian author, Fyodor Dostoyevsky:
“Beauty will save the world”.
[L-O-V-E / it’s a mystery / where you’ll find me / where you’ll find / all is love, is love, is love]
Not the Lions, the city. (No one ever says, "What happened to Detroit?" in reference of the Lions because to ask the question "What happened" implies that there was, at one time, something there.)
Detroit, as it stands, is perhaps the largest ghost town in the Nation. Once the shining capitol of innovation in America, the collapse of the auto industry has left behind the derelict bones of factories, once humming with workers, now gathering dust in disrepair and decay. Those same workers who once stood on those assembly lines now line the streets (Unemployment rose to over 22% in 2009).
These are Dark Times for the Motor City. But out of the mire, some have found inspiration.
I'd like to bring the photography of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre to your attention. The two are French photographers who have scoured the ruins of Detroit to produce the powerful images that you can view here. Haunting images, and there are hundreds more like this. Where there are abandoned factories, apartments, office buildings, and movie theaters left to waste, there are photographers and artists there to capture it. Archeologist, in their own way, studying the ruins of a thriving civilization, now long dead.
But there are some artists who would save Detroit, instead of capitalising on it's beleaguered state. Give this article a read, if you will.
Take abandoned houses and pepper them with vibrant colored polkadots. Vacant lot? Plant a community garden. Or, why not turn a dirty city street into an art gallery?
Artists, taking the initiative. Individuals, making a change. It doesn’t take a big system to fix a big problem, it just takes people with the desire to see change. After all, the “System” has failed this city time and time again. I salute these artists’ resolve to finally say, “enough is enough”. With their various projects, they’ve helped bring the City’s problems to light and promote ways to help turn the back the tide. They’ve even encouraged other artists to move into the city and do likewise.
It may not seem like much, but it's things like these that spark revolutions. It reminds me of the words written by the Russian author, Fyodor Dostoyevsky:
“Beauty will save the world”.
[L-O-V-E / it’s a mystery / where you’ll find me / where you’ll find / all is love, is love, is love]
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
It's nice to meet you.
You’ve caught me at a strange time.
I live in Grand Rapids, MI. It’s nice here. We’ve got tall buildings, plenty of museums, minor league hockey, a zoo, and for about six months of the year, it’s cloudy, wet, and freezing -- and we’re right in the middle of it.
You’ve caught me at a strange time.
I just graduated film school, hence, I have no real job. It’s ok, really. I manage fine hopping from gig to gig. It’s a real nice way to go when you want to avoid tethers and commitments for a while. I guess I’m a little nomadic in that sense. It’s a very exciting way to live. I don’t really know what I’ll be doing next month, let alone next year.
You’ve caught me at a strange time.
There’s a lot of doors out there. There’s a lot of paths to take and a lot of places to see, and even though I’m a film grad and on my way to making the big move out to LA, there’s a big part of me that wants to file it all away for a while and move to Japan. Is there a better time to go than now? I say “of course not”, but my bank account has other opinions. I’m in a bit of a pickle.
You’ve caught me at a strange time.
But I’m here now. Getting back into the Blogging scene with this, the first of many posts. Maybe the title, “pell-mell” can give you a clue as to the content you should expect from this site, but if you’re not familiar with the term, let me hit you with some Webster:
pell-mell:
1. In a jumbled, confused manner; helter-skelter.
2. In frantic disorderly haste; headlong: "I went to work pell-mell, blotted several sheets of paper with choice floating thoughts" (Washington Irving).
And there you have it -- the perfect description.
I’m Stephen Pell, it’s nice to meet you.
p.s. Also, there will be music lyrics -- just a heads up.
[There is a girl in New York City who calls herself “The Human Trampoline”. And sometimes when I'm falling flying or tumbling in turmoil I say “Whoa, so this is what she means”...]
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