‘Rolling With The Tide’
…be baptised, not capsized…
..
Rolling With The Tide
Tag: Rock
Resolute
‘Resolute’
Flow Through You
‘Flow Through You’
…if you let it, it will…be the conduit…
‘Green Guitar’ – R.I.P Peter Green, 1946-2020.
‘Green Guitar’ – R.I.P Peter Green, 1946 – 2020.
Peter Green, an original member of Fleetwood Mac and legendary blues/rock guitarist, passed away yesterday.
He was an understated stylist possessed of one of the purest, most emotive guitar timbres in the business ,even if he led a life at times troubled by mental illness.
B.B King said of his playing, “he has the sweetest tone I ever heard. He was the only one who gave me the cold sweats.”
YouTube link to one of his best loved tracks, appropriate in remembrance, ‘In The Skies’ is below:
Only Clinging On (Shell Game)
‘Only Clinging On (Shell Game)’
Tiny mussels and barnacles, thousands of them, cling to a rock in the sea, which in turn is enveloped in the tide’s swirl.
Fragility plays relentlessness in this particular shell game.
Sometimes I feel like one of those small molluscs or crustaceans, insignificant and only clinging on to life.
Those are the days that you hold on to whatever hope you have, and it doesn’t matter what it is…
To Keep Out The Sea
‘To Keep Out The Sea’
A new seawall on Auckland’s Tamaki River, filled with rock and brave intentions.
Nature wore down its predecessor.
Pitted III
‘Pitted III’
…to complete a hole-ly trinity of honeycomb-like rock indentations…
Pitted II
Pitted
‘Pitted’
Wind and water, those eternal elements, have pitted the pale rocks on the surf beach at New Zealand’s Mangawhai Heads.
I have been drawn to the formations for many years.
A lesson in being beautiful despite being worse for wear…
Lighthouse On The Rock
‘Lighthouse On The Rock’
…during troubled, or even dangerous times, we are grateful for signifiers of hope and light, and those things that are certain and safe…
New Day Rising II
‘New Day Rising II’
First light on the Tamaki River yesterday – another day, another beginning, another version…
And a previous blog version is to be found here: New Day Rising .Last time around I shone the light, so to speak, on the album cover of Husker Du’s ‘New Day Rising’. This time you can check out the title track below.
Unlike the serenity of the photo, this is one of the most ferocious slices of rock and roll ever committed to tape, so you stand warned.
But I am happy to start the day either way, really…
Monolith In Monochrome
After yesterday’s flirtation with neon in Eighties Palm Regret, it’s back to basics and a return to black and white.
The subject matter is a million miles from palm fans waving in the breeze, even though the the scenes in the pictures were only metres away from each other.
Water sculpted rock – pure, solid and immovable.
The shape is as fantastical as any by an abstract sculptor, all layers and angular beauty.
I was a little awestruck actually, but strangely reassured by the rock’s transformation over time by the elements.
I’d like to think that time and adversity sculpt us all into striking and unique entities.
I Believe You Are A Rock Star
Kohi As She Curves
Curved coastal rock forms at Kohimarama Beach, Auckland.
Ancient seismic activity leaves its mark ,but is only exposed at low tide.
It is as if the stone mimics the shape of the waves that lap against it; one great curling continuum!
Old Walls Will Fall
Pictured is an old volcanic rock wall in Auckland’s Cornwall Park.
Been there for decades, and will probably be there for many more.
Solid!
But inevitably, left unattended, it will deteriorate and crumble, bit by bit.
Or some sudden event may breach or destroy it (Berlin Wall, anyone?).
And, sooner or later, the walls we build in our minds to protect ourselves from perceived threats have to go too.
They might keep us “safe”, but they prevent new thinking and better ways from getting in.
I’ve had a few old walls fall in recent times, and it is not the end of the world.
Just the opposite in fact…
The New Flow
Walked down to the river shore this afternoon to calm my head.
An ebb tide, about as far out as can be.
Mudflats, shell banks, strewn rocks exposed.
And layered and eroded sandstone, captured in this photo and then subjected to some post-production flight of fancy.
Something bright, molten and fluid resulted.
It brought to mind, and to life, a poem I wrote a while back ( I don’t write many) and posted here: Bond / Flow
This is for those who have ever lost hope.
Peace,Andy L.
Big House
A friend of mine who lives in Atlanta(who incidentally inadvertantly became the model for the picture in the previous post Your Nemesis, sorry mate) was kind enough to take me to this place, Big House in Macon,Georgia a couple of years ago.
It was the home and musical base for Southern Rock royalty The Allman Brothers band and their hangers on in the early 1970s and a must see for a fan like me – a totally cool shrine to them, rendered more immediate by the lots of their mundane everyday stuff – couches, beds and stereo etc. being still there ,as well as the expected guitars and gold records. A weird time warp experience.
I’m putting this up because I have been on a bit of a southern music trip of late and ,very sadly, New Orleans music great Dr. John died overnight .He was a blues/r’n’b/funk and pianist/singer legend with an unmistakable sound. This photo is about as close as I can manage in homage to him right now,but as with the Allmans ,the music will live on.
RIP Mac Rebennack.
Nga Tawhana Me Nga Porohita( Curves And Circles)
The curves and circles of a volcanic rock formation exposed on the low tide of Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour.
Dramatic and strong patterns that are endlessly covered over, then revealed again…
PS:Thanks to Teina and Ngaio at Tumanako House,Orakei for help with the Maori title to this post.
Uncovered Skeleton
A bay near my home I love to swim at, but when the tide recedes there are the beautiful stone formation patterns left from some ancient geological upheaval, in regular lines , like the ribcage of an uncovered skeleton.
Ebb Then Flood 