Thursday, November 29, 2012

"Exercise", by Lucia Nimcova

Oh, oh, oh---this is the sort of documentary I want to make--catching the weird captivation of everyday life, seen just a little askew!

Exercise (Slovakia, 2007), by Lucia Nimcova

Lucia Nimcova - Exercise from sittcomm.sk on Vimeo.

Nimcova asked people to perform exercises that they used to do at home every morning--following commands on the radio--during the Soviet era.

I love that you can hear her a couple times trying not to laugh (lovingly, it sounds like), from behind the camera.

Nimcova was born in Slovakia, in a small town near the Polish and Ukrainian borders. Since 2000 she has been documenting women in Central and Eastern Europe.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Still Healing

How to learn patience?

Just wait.

I could hardly believe the O.T. that my tendons would take so long to heal, but they are not a whole lot better and it's been almost 4 months.  Plus I strained the left wrist tendons too (overcompensating for the wounded right hand doing "light duty" at the nursing home before I quit---light on the back, but not on the hands).

I am now wearing lighter fabric splints on both wrists.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

WHAT I LIKE in the Twin Cities

"to find the good where I live and praise it"


ABOVE: 
Independent Filmmakers Project (ifpmn.org);
Cupcake Bakery and Coffee Shop; 
me in a mirror;
 and Claire Steyaert's Antiques, all on University Ave, Saint Paul.
(The Green Line is the coming light rail, now under construction.)



ABOVE: My neighborhood!
Election Day 2012 in Whittier neighborhood, Minneapolis
[See more of my Election Day pictures here: Phillips Whittier 365]




ABOVE: The Bookstore at the Minneapolis Central Library (downtown)
Withdrawn library books and donated used books sell for a buck or two.



ABOVE: More Public Art
Aztec warrior mural, by stencil artist Taylor Lindgren
(29th St. & Blaisdell Ave., Minneapolis)




ABOVE:
Steeple People Thrift Store, at Lyndale & Franklin 

 When I feel bad and sad, like I did yesterday,
sweet, sweet Steeple People lifts my mood, starting with their Free Box, right inside the door. (I'd like to make a sci-fi movie using only its mostly unidentifiable contents.)

At the cash register, gentle lady volunteers commiserate with the damaged and the desperate (I felt a little of both) and pack your bags so that the heavy, clever door-stopper won't break your frilly porcelain fish.




ABOVE: Sunset, seen from inside the titanium-covered Weisman Art Museum,
east bank of the Mississippi River, on the UM Campus


ABOVE:  Rainy day at the Mississippi River, 
photographed from inside the Guthrie Theater



ABOVE: The Twin Cities Marathon
People along the route help out the runners with everything 
from orange slices to live music.



ABOVE: The Thursday Farmers Market 
Nicollet Mall (downtown Minneapolis)


ABOVE: The Bryant Avenue Bike Boulevard 
A 4.5 miles long, north-south route connecting south Minneapolis (from 58th St.) to downtown (Loring Park)



ABOVE: The Pierre Bottineau Branch Library
in the restored historic Grain Belt campus (55 Broadway St. NE)



ABOVE: The Anchor Fish & Chips, "The Real Deal"
(302 13th Ave NE, Minneapolis)

 


 ABOVE: The Tin Fish restaurant
at the Lake Calhoun Pavillion (open spring–fall)



ABOVE: 
The TV comedy Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) is set in Minneapolis. 
 I don't much like MTM's statue on Nicollet Mall, but I like how people pose with it. I was snapping it when these passersby stepped in and posed for me.

"Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's you girl, and you should know it,
With each glance and every little movement you show it..."




ABOVE : My favorite bookstore: Birchbark Books & Native Arts
2115 West 21st St. (1 block west of Lake of the Isles), Minneapolis, MN 55405



ABOVE: Lake of the Isles
On Rosh Hashanah; fallen apples for a sweet year...



 ABOVE : Uptown Minneapolis YWCA (diptych)



ABOVE: Lakewood Cemetery Triptych
Stainless steel memorial by Gloria Tew; 
"square bar" circle in wrought iron fence; entrance gate



ABOVE: TOP: Puppy Dog Tail, Isles Bun &Coffee
BOTTOM: Coffee Bean Roaster, Dunn Bros.
___________
My Twin Cities are Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota: sister cities separated only, in parts, by the Mississippi River.

all photos by me: share if you want

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

USA Presidential Election, 2012

Faces in my Minneapolis neighborhood (Whittier) on Election Day 2012

 

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Marriage Equality


Minnesotans vote in one week on a State amendment seeking to limit marriage to one man and one woman. Lots of creative "Vote No" art out there---I put this one together.

Later: Awesome! Minnesotans voted down the amendment.