Riverbend Music Festival

Speaking out...

I don't normally post things other than pictures and other non-controversial content. This is not one of those posts. Let me say from the outset that this is not to endorse a political agenda on the left or the right. I have my own opinions, but those are not for publication here. The purpose of this post is to highlight something that bothers me greatly but seems to be happening more and more. Since I am not trying to endorse a certain side of the spectrum in this forum, I have an example from the left and the right. Enough disclaimer. I hope since you have followed me thus far, you will indulge me a bit further...

I went down the local Occupy Chattanooga camp today. Housed on the lawn of our courthouse, it is a shabby collection of torn tents and dirty residents. A few of the guys came up and talked with me for a few minutes while I was taking pictures. I was surprised to find that they were not all jobless or homeless. Several had both and just spent their free hours there.

One of the guys there had painted these messages on his tent. He talked about how people called them names and tried to shut them down. Even his hippies slogan was a title that was awarded by opponents. The name was awarded in an attempt to shame him, but he wore it as a badge of honor. While I was talking with him, people drove by shouting at them and generally trying to discourage their ongoing presence.


On the other side of the spectrum is a 15 year old Wisconsin boy that was asked to write an article in the school paper. The paper was wanting to portray two sides of the gay adoption debate. His side was against gay adoption because it violated his religious beliefs. Once the article was published, people complained and he was called into the office. The principle called him ignorant and threatened to suspend him. You can find the article about it on Fox News website. 


The part that concerns me is that while you hear tolerance and understanding preached en masse, some of society is becoming less tolerant and understanding of people with opposite beliefs. I don't think that people in general hold this mindset, but it is a growing vocal minority that is challenging our way of life. To them, no longer is it ok for me to believe what I believe. Now, my beliefs have to be accepted by the people around me in order for me to claim them as my own. I find that to be greatly disturbing. 


I don't expect that everyone will agree with me. I am fine with those that hold opinions that are opposed to mine. That is their right as expressed in the Constitution. We all hold the right to freedom of speech and religion. It doesn't mean that we have to agree or even like what the other side has to say. It just means they have the right to say it. 


Dierks Bentley has a song called "Home". Part of the lyrics are this:


Free, nothin' feels like free,Though it sometimes meansWe don't get along'Cause same, no we're not the sameBut that's what makes us strong

I firmly believe that is true and needs to be guarded fiercely. I would like to leave you with a poem from a German pastor and activist named Martin Niemoller. He was a in Germany during the rise of the Nazis. He penned these words and they have haunted me quite a bit this week. I hope you find them as striking as I did.

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.

Contrast

If you have been following me for any length of time, you have seen several different occasions when I have taken pictures of homeless people. Today is another such occasion.

During the MainX24 event, I noticed this scene on the side of the road. In the background, you see the Chattanooga Choo Choo. On the right, there was a display of a new bicycle system for downtown Chattanooga. You paid a $75 annual membership for use of the bikes. Rides up to 60 minutes are free, but $5 per hour after that. I think it is geared more toward tourists than anything (especially since the first site installed was in front of a hotel)... but I digress...

The guy on the left was what caught my attention. With a fancy hotel behind, new bikes with computerized docking station in front of him, and teeming hordes of people walking through the neighborhood, this man decided that it was time for rest. Using the bushes as a chair, he propped his $20 bike (if that much) up and took a snooze.

It struck me that the owners of the biking system were getting people to pay usage fees on something that low-income people have known for a long time. If you just  took the $75 and put it toward your own two-wheeler, you could have one to ride whenever you wanted... WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY EXTRA FEES!

I may be making much ado about nothing, especially since this seems to be geared toward tourists. But my friends and I are not tourists. It was pitched to us as a new form of public transportation. Just seems like a tax on people who can't do math to me...

MainX24

Live music with children dancing.

The group was somewhat different. It was kind of a modern bluegrass.

My friend rocking the aviator glasses.

Same thing in color. 

The sky was amazingly blue and clear.  We don't normally have days when you can see for  a decent distance.  

This was an interesting event. The riders had toilet paper draped around their necks. They couldn't touch the ground or stop moving. The object of the game was to be the last one with their TP. In a normal game, it would be no big deal. But on bicycles???

October Winner!!!!

Tamara!!! You are the lucky one!!! You have won a matted picture of your choice. Just let me know which one you want.

And for everyone else, fear not! I have some pictures for your enjoyment as well.  This first one is a re-edit of the carousel picture from the night in the park. It is a wee bit darker with a fair amount more conrtrast. Take a look...

These last two were somewhat of a surprise to me. While they didn't turn out the way I had envisioned, I was fascinated by them anyway. The scene was a little girl twirling a glow-in-the-dark hula-hoop surrounded by other families and couples. Various bric-a-brac littered the foreground. I was hoping to get only the little girl in focal range, but that is not what I got. It still kind of works for me though...

Enjoying the end of the day by the river...

I had planned to go to bed early. I was really not wanting to go out. The clouds looked like it was going to rain. I am glad I listened to the voice that said "Go. I want you to see something". So I ended up packing an orange, a fruit-by-the-foot and a Max Lucado book into a bag with my camera and tripod. So the bike, the bag, and the bozo (just to stay with the b's) went downtown to Walnut street bridge.

It was a good time of reading and thinking. I probably look a little crazy down by the water's edge (isn't that a Seven Mary Three song?). I like it there though. Not necessarily the water, but just being in a quiet place without folks walking by and interrupting. In fact, my only companion was a beaver that decided to swim by my sitting place.

It was truly awesome to see the sky unfold it's colors. It would be completely grey one moment and then the next would send rays of violet and pink shooting across the canvas of clouds. Then the grey would come back only to be replaced with oranges and reds.

This last picture almost never happend. I had packed up and was riding back home when I saw this view. I had to flip a couple of U-turns, back track and sit through several stop-light cycles to get back to where I saw it. Just goes to show you that you never know where you will see something amazing. Hope you like it.

Multi-tasking

Yup, I was enjoying a sunset while listening to a concert. Ok, probably not what everyone was thinking, but it works.

This was kind of a first for me. Normally, I am pretty laissez faire about what I want to accomplish when I take my camera out. Not so on this run. I had one picture that  I wanted and was not even interested in looking for something else. Case in point, I actually forced myself to go take another picture and ended up deleting it because I was not even anywhere near content with it. So I am interested to hear what you guys think about it. The only difference in these are the natural changes in the light and of course the people moving in and out.

Market Street Panorama Pictures

Some more of the pictures from the other night. These are the panos and I will have the normal ones later. Hope you like. I will be posting the winner of the August Giveaway later on. Stay tuned for more...

August Free Download

Hey guys. Just checking in with the download for this month. It is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Definitely going to add it to my wall hanger collection. Hope you like. Feel free to pass it around. Simply right click on the image below and select "Save as" to enjoy the visual goodness that is this picture for your own... (sorry. couldn't resist :-))

Sunsets without artificial color

These are some of the first images that I have been content to let them be seen sans extensive editing. I just received the filters that I had been waiting on and they work WONDERFULLY!!!! Hope you guys like these. Should be seeing the August download in the next couple of days. Also debating what to do for the giveaway this month. Any suggestions???

Cheesy picture, but I really liked the texture of the clouds

Same here, not that great of a scene, but the clouds are great.

Almost like waves on the ocean...