“The true opposite of obedience is not disobedience but independence. The true opposite of order is not disorder but freedom. Most profoundly, the true opposite of control is not chaos but self control.”
-Jay Griffiths
Click here to read Jay Griffith’s Orion magazine article entitled The Politics of Play, Seeking Adventure in a Risk-Averse Society.
November appears with a lemony stream along this stretch of Prince Avenue.
A five minute stroll around veggie beds at school fills a small sack with figs, okra, peppers, and tomatoes. Fruits and vegetables planted by kids just taste better.
General Orders No. 9 is a title as peculiar as the smoking rabbit staring back from the top shelf of new releases at Vision Video. The lone copy has neither synopsis, nor cast list. One of three young clerks says he’s seen it, and recommends watching under the influence of cough syrup. Below the kid’s ironic Dali ‘stache comes a vague description, “…really, really, really long shots of a river, and some kind of an environmental message.” He doesn’t have to say another word.
In a 2011 interview with Filmmaker Magazine, Robert Pearsons succinctly describes the award-winning General Orders No. 9 as “a balance of visuals, voice and music.” The Middle Georgia native never went to film school, and his haunting debut was 11 years in the making.
According to the film’s website, it’s “an experimental documentary that contemplates the signs of loss and change in the American South as potent metaphors of personal and collective destiny.”
Metaphysical cartography inspired by mappae mundi mixes with juxtaposed shots of urban blight and bucolic rural landscapes, inciting difficult questions, while roads and highways sweep over land like a cancer.
Pearson’s influences include, among others, the writings of William Bartram, and storied film directors Herzog, Tarkovsky, and David Lynch. William Davidson’s soft-spoken narration in a deep drawl morphs from historical accounts of early colonization over animated county maps, to trance-like ruminations on human dominion over the natural world. View the official trailer here.
Last year’s melons were suspended in the air, each wrapped in pantyhose hammocks hung from the bamboo trellis. This year, they’ll stay on the ground, slightly elevated on improvised hosiery trampolines.
Six wicker baskets cost a dollar at the Habitat Re-Store down the street, and the queen size hose are less than two bucks. Family Dollar didn’t have large sizes, but the lady was kind enough to pull a pair out to get a better idea of how to stretch them, then she recommended the beauty supply place (Joy Joy) around the corner.
First, cut the feet.
Next, cut lengths that’ll suit the basket’s diameter.
Pull the length of hosiery around as shown.
Stretch taught, then tie both ends.
Some don’t need to be tied, yet remain tight.
The original plan was to use ceramic bowls, but baskets let water through, preventing pooling (and mosquitoes). The heavier fruit sags pretty close to the bottom of the basket, so as they swell in size, they might need an additional layer of support to remain resting mid air.
Twice as many melons swell on the vine this summer, and they need support before the all-you-can-eat buffet opens for insects on the ground. Click here to see last year’s crop, and stay tuned for a new and improved hosiery hammock/trampoline design…
Okra quickly crosses that fine line between signature viscous crunch and woodiness. Large, stiff seed pods dry above kitty crack in the kitchen window.
Hold on.
Mr.’s been around the way, and adopted us about a year ago. The sage’s influence spans blocks, and calls the planter above (once occupied by catnip) home base.
Pedagogy of the Plants 