Nirvana Pictures

JWise Photo of the Day

Screen captures of Nirvana from a show at Ku-Ba in Hanau, Germany performed on November 18, 1989

These four screen captures are from a video Caroline and I shot back on November 18, 1989, at Club Ku-Ba in Hanau, Germany of the band Nirvana. Kurt Cobain was nice about giving us permission to tape the show, it only required a small trade. Two years after this event the band would be world-famous. I promised Nirvana that I wouldn’t bootleg the recording and so far have honored my word – not that I wouldn’t like to. I’ve asked the label who said do what I want with the images as I own them, but the music is owned by their publisher and I can’t do a thing with that. A silent video? Oh well. I’m posting this old image as some guys at a Nirvana Forum have asked for more screenshots. Don’t forget to click the image to see a larger version. By the way, that’s me down in the bottom right.

Another Year

JWise Photo of the Day

Another year and another bloom from the same cactus on our balcony that delivered as beautiful a bloom as last year

On April 14th last year I posted a similar photo. The same cactus as featured today gave us three blooms last year. This cactus had fallen over in a wind storm recently but it keeps ongoing. Another of our cacti fell off our rear balcony last month and is now three new cacti. A large chunk of cactus we found in a parking lot last year is doing ok, we weren’t sure how well until Caroline transplanted it last week and found the entire bottom of the pot filled with roots. You may never appreciate how beautiful cacti are until you have lived in the desert and taken the time to familiarize yourself with how unique these plants are.

Peking Acrobats

JWise Photo of the Day

Final bow of the Peking Acrobats as performed at the Scottsdale Center of the Arts in Arizona

This evening Caroline and I drove over to the Scottsdale Center of the Arts to see a performance of the Peking Acrobats. The show was great, but, unbelievably, it wasn’t sold out. Here in Arizona they only did one show; when we lived in Frankfurt, Germany, the show would have its own tent and would go on for an entire month. If you look closely at the photo you might notice that the girl center top and just below the dragon head is actually riding a unicycle on top of an umbrella supported by one of the male acrobats.

Snake! Badger Badger Badger

JWise Photo of the Day

A rattle snake ready to strike as we go to get in the car

“Get in the truck!” “Yikes, not with that fat old sidewinder poised and ready to strike!” After I shot this picture I tackled the little vermin, grabbing him (I verified it was a him) I wrestled it into submission. Without anything else in frame for reference it might be hard to tell, but this rattler was more than 20 feet long and was fatter than a pot-bellied pig. After pinning it, I whipped out my Bowie knife (I typically have one strapped to my calf) and cut off the rattler, and skinned this critter right there in the street. Tomorrow I’ll show you the swell belt I’ll be making from its liberated skin, but tonight we’ll be eaten fried rattler – tastes like Tofurkey.

Millions of Dollars of Anger

JWise Photo of the Day

A mad man has littered his multi million dollar roadside property in north Scottsdale to make a statement against certain people about issues not readily clear from his placards

Running along Pima Road in North Scottsdale between million-dollar homes is this normally empty acreage, owned by a man who, by the size of the property, is obviously worth many, many a million of dollars. He appears to be rather pissed off with city officials and local residents. This eccentric guy or gal has peppered the property with signs of protest, cheap-looking artwork that mocks the city of Scottsdale’s attempts at maintaining a Tony appearance, as well as a variety of other debris and flags that is quickly becoming an eyesore. I’m sure that all these new Californified desert transplants don’t find this silent protest to be dignifying their elitist ideas of sterilized conformity. The drive home is now marred by this effective, albeit less than flattering, attention grabber.

Princess Liberty

JWise Photo of the Day

Princess Liberty standing on the streets of Phoenix, Arizona offering tax preperation services

She introduced herself as Princess and was happy to have her photo taken for my blog. Across the city of Phoenix, we are bombarded with signs, billboards, inflatable gorillas, Uncle Sam’s, and giant SUV’s, but my favorite are the people who get into costume and give it all they’ve got in order to shimmy, shake, and gyrate so vigorously that you are somehow compelled to take notice and visit the business being hawked. I wonder, does anyone really go for this? Sure, guys will stop when girls in bikinis get their attention for a fundraising carwash, but does a dancing chicken make you hungry? Does a dancing Princess Liberty have you racing home to collect your tax documents and return to give this little company your business? Tomorrow I will dress up as a wire, maybe a length of RJ-45 and stand on a busy intersection and see if anyone stops by to get connected.