Just Above Sunset
Volume 5, Number 10
March 11, 2007
Unsettling Graphics

 The world as seen from Just Above Sunset -

"Notes on how things seem from out here in Hollywood..."

"Streets that follow like a tedious argument of insidious intent…"

You know how that thing goes -

    Let us go then, you and I,

    When the evening is spread out against the sky

    Like a patient etherized upon a table;

    Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,

    The muttering retreats

    Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels

    And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:

    Streets that follow like a tedious argument

    Of insidious intent

    To lead you to an overwhelming question …

    Oh, do not ask, "What is it?"

    Let us go and make our visit.

Who needs the ominous evening? Broad daylight will do.  In fact, Melrose Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard will do nicely.  Let us go and make our visit.

 

A warning.
Graphic - Melrose Avenue, just south of Hollywood
Window of psychic reader - Melrose Avenue, just south of Hollywood
Graphic - Melrose Avenue, just south of Hollywood

The bearded man contemplates the bare tree and the parking meter.

Graphic - Melrose Avenue, just south of Hollywood

Messages
Graphic - Melrose Avenue, just south of Hollywood

The tiger, the fish, the rabbit -

Graphic - Melrose Avenue, just south of Hollywood
Graphic - Melrose Avenue, just south of Hollywood
Graphic - Melrose Avenue, just south of Hollywood

The odd masked man (see footnote) -

Poster - Hollywood Boulevard

The sole, nailed to a pole -

    And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
    When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
    Then how should I begin
    To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
    And how should I presume?

Oh, find your other shoe, girl.
Sole of woman's shoe nailed to a telephone pole - alley off Melrose Avenue, just south of Hollywood

Eliot popped this at the top of his poem, by the way -

    S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse

    A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,

    Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.

    Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo

    Non torno vivo alcun, s'i'odo il vero,

    Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

From Dante Alighieri - Inferno (Canto 27, lines 61-66) - spoken by Guido da Montefeltro in response to the questions of Dante, who Guido supposes is dead, since he is in Hell.

The flame in which Guido is encased vibrates as he speaks -

"If I thought that that I was replying to someone who would ever return to the world, this flame would cease to flicker. But since no one ever returns from these depths alive, if what I've heard is true, I will answer you without fear of infamy."

If you use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me.

These were shot with a Nikon D70 - using lens (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300mm telephoto, or after 5 June 2006, (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor, 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0

The original large-format raw files are available upon request.

Footnote - The "driver" out here versus "the damned traffic" -

This is a promotional poster.  Coca-Cola is now sponsoring Lucha Libre -

    Professional wrestling, known as Lucha Libre, was largely the inspiration for the World Wrestling Federation, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

    But unlike in other countries, wrestling's impact reaches far beyond the ring in Mexico, where Lucha Libre is influenced by the country's mystical Aztec and Mayan roots.

    "We are part of the national patrimony," said Blue Panther, still wearing his turquoise mask as he fastened his seat belt and drove away in his compact Sentra after a fight.

    Lucha Libre is not an exclusive, corporate-dominated world of cable-TV celebrities. In Mexico, the gritty arenas appear in working-class neighborhoods across the country. And while there are many superstars, fights often feature entry-level contestants, including middle-aged, overweight men who slip on their own masks and become larger than life.

In Los Angeles it has gone corporate.

Of note - Blue Demon - Biography and Filmography
[Unsettling Graphics]

Last updated Saturday, March 10, 2007, 10:30 pm Pacific Time

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 - Alan M. Pavlik

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