photographed in Brooklyn, New York on March 15, 2011

The most emphatic evidence of the tenor of O’Connor’s narrative is his preference for a penitential rather than a legendary, purgatorial Lough Derg. Grappling with the origin of the name, “Saint Patrick’s Purgatory,” O’Connor provides two textual foundations for the purgatorial association: one is from “a Louvain treatise of the 17th century, called the ‘Mirror of Penance’ ”; the second is attributed to “Matthew of Paris, whose opinion is followed by Denis the Carthusian and St. Antoninus.” According to the text, Saint Patrick entered the cave “that the pains of Purgatory might be revealed to him.” Having been granted his request, he “ordered that henceforth the island should be made a terrestrial purgatory.” (Notice O’Connor’s care not to make the island the real, extraterrestrial purgatory.) According to the second version, the saint, frustrated by the unrepentant and skeptical Irish, prayed to gain the power to reveal to his flock “those pains and pleasures of the future life which he preached.” Granted this power, he struck the earth with his staff and a huge pit opened up “into which those who might enter truly repentant and remain there one whole day and night would be cleansed the offenses of their whole life.” Citing the textual foundation for the “very erroneous and misleading picture of Saint Patrick’s Purgatory,” O’Connor, as though having ceded ground to the enemy, immediately acts to reclaim an orthodoxy based in works, not fireworks.

Excerpted from Writing Lough Derg: from William Carleton to Seamus Heaney by Peggy O’Brien. Published by Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, New York, 2006.

photographed in Hoboken, New Jersey on July 4, 2010

1. Permit. No person shall use or discharge any fireworks within the city without a permit. (O.R., Sec. 247.)

2. July 4 exemption. No permit shall be required for the use and discharge of fireworks during a period of 24 hours covering the holiday known as the “Fourth of July,” where the quantity discharged does not exceed in wholesale market value the sum of $2. (O.R., Sec. 251.)

3. Police notification. All permits for the use and discharge of fireworks shall be issued in duplicate, and shall show the name of the holder of the permit, the names of his employees (if any) who are to discharge the fireworks and the numbers of their certificates of fitness (when required); the place and times of display; the quantity, kind and wholesale market value of the fireworks to be discharged, and the distance to be preserved between the place of discharge and the bystanders and nearby buildings. One of the duplicate permits shall be filed with the commanding officer of the police precinct within which the display is to be given, and shall be evidence of the right of the person named therein to give the display. (O.R., Sec. 250.)

Excerpted from The Charter of the City of New York, Chapter 466, Laws of 1901, with all Amendments to and Including 1915, and City Ordinances Charter Amendments. Published by the Eagle Building, Brooklyn, New York, 1915.

photographed in Chicago, Illinois on April 3, 2010

John Philip Sousa in 1906 (in)famously pointed out that recording devices were a danger to creativity. The quote is laughed at by many because it is similar to the statements at the top of this post. Not only does he predict creativity will be stifled: “These talking machines are going to ruin the artistic development of music in this country.” Sousa also makes the claim it will be total: “When I was a boy…in front of every house in the summer evenings, you would find young people together singing the songs of the day or old songs. Today you hear these infernal machines going night and day. We will not have a vocal cord left. The vocal cord will be eliminated by a process of evolution, as was the tail of man when he came from the ape.” …

However, his argument about total annihilation of creativity was bogus, and I think to do it now is even more ridiculous given the century-long conversation that has occurred. Be wary of closed systems: yes. Accept that future generations will only have gray paint and DRM’d pencils to choose from? Come on. You and I grew up (probably) punching Hayes AT codes into modems when others were out running around on the playground. And generations before us were soldering capacitors and breathing lead infused smoke. And generations before that were relaying bawdy jokes by tapping magnets that would send an electrical charge across town.

Anyway, to get back to the title of this post, I will be buying an iPad this weekend because I enjoy using thoughtful, well engineered products. I have tried many times to use non-Apple computers, to use the open and “free” choice and you know what? They are terrible. Really bad! Worse than bad, they’re almost creatively stifling.

Excerpted from ‘why i will be buying an ipad this weekend‘ on notes.torrez.org.

photographed in Chicago, Illinois on July 18, 2008

From being a founding member of the ground-breaking, politically minded hip-hop group Public Enemy to starring in a string of hit reality shows about his seemingly eternal search for love, Flav has continued to reinvent himself in the public eye.

Flav, born William Jonathan Drayton Jr., burst onto the public consciousness more than 20 years ago with the socially-conscious rap ensemble Public Enemy.

A classically-trained pianist, he attended Adelphi University in Long Island where he met fellow Public Enemy founding member and then graphic design student Carlton Ridenhour (Chuck D). The two began rapping together and by 1987 they — along with DJ Terminator X and Professor Griff — released the group’s debut “Yo! Bum Rush The Show.”

That was followed up the next year with “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.” The release made a splash on the charts thanks to hits like “Don’t Believe the Hype” and “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos.”

Excerpted from ‘Flavor Flav’s Modesto block party‘ by Marijke Rowland. Published August 22, 2008 in the Modesto Bee.

photographed in Chicago, Illinois on July 19, 2009

This is the story of a band called Sparklehorse and the remarkable man who fronts it, a tale as bipolar as the music it spawned.

Sparklehorse and Mark Linkous– who resides on a farm in Bremo Bluff, a Fluvanna village by the James River– are essentially synonymous, and if the band has multiple incarnations, the most important is the one in Linkous’ head. Songwriter, performer, engineer, and producer, Linkous embodies the do-it-yourself indie rock auteur ethos. An enigma whose influence can’t be measured in record sales, Mark Linkous and his music have met with critical, if not widely popular, acclaim.

Name-dropping comes easy when you’re talking about Sparklehorse. Linkous opens for the likes of Radiohead and Cracker, collaborates with Tom Waits, housesits for P.J. Harvey’s next-door neighbor in the south of England, and, as helper Eric from the Sound of Music recording studio was eager to share with me, knows Adrian “Portishead” Utley’s private phone number by heart.

Excerpted from ‘He Sparkles: The Sad and Beautiful World of Mark Linkous‘ by James D. Graham. Published February 28, 2002 in issue #0004 of The Hook.

photographed at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany on September 29, 2009

Munich authorities on Monday tightened security checks at Oktoberfest and detained two suspected Islamists just days after terrorist threats led them to declare airspace above the festival a no-fly zone this weekend.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said on Monday that extra security and traffic checks had been erected around the entire festival grounds, known as the Wiesn, daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.

A ministry spokesperson told the paper the situation remained “highly sensitive,” and that the original team of 300 police officers manning the festival had been significantly increased.

According to the paper, increased security began on Sunday with bag checks, and increased video surveillance.

Excerpted from ‘Islamist suspects detained amid tightened Oktoberfest security.’ Published in The Local on September 28, 2009.

photographed in Brooklyn, New York on November 1, 2009

Of all the American contenders to try and break the 27-year men’s drought in the New York City Marathon, Meb Keflezighi may have represented the American dream more than any of them. Born in war-torn Eritrea, one of 11 siblings in a village with no electricity, Keflezighi now wears his American citizenship on his chest. He was the one American contender who wore the letters U.S.A. on his running top Sunday.

Keflezighi pointed to those letters as the Central Park crowd roared as they crossed the finishe line first, capturing the first American victory since Alberto Salazar last won it in 1982. When his victory was assured, Keflezighi dropped to the ground, tears streaming down his face. It was the first marathon victory of his career and washed away years of American futility here.

“U.S.A. gave me all the opportunity in the world, education, sports, lifestyle,” Keflezighi said. “This is so special to me.”

Excerpted from ‘Keflezighi’s ‘U.S.A.’ Breaks the Tape First‘ in The New York Times, by Lynn Zinser. Published November 1, 2009.

photographed in London, England on October 1, 2009

The judges emerged from the intricately carved stone portals of their new home resplendent in their modern regalia. Gone were the full bottomed wigs, robes and breeches.

The Justices of the Supreme Court posed in front of the building wearing their black robes, lavishly threaded with gold. All were bare-headed save for Baroness Hale, who wore a flat black tasselled hat.

Lord Phillips said they had discussed whether they should have headgear and all the male members of the Supreme Court declined but Baroness Hale said she wanted a hat.

The judges then went in procession over a pedestrian crossing through hastily shut down roadworks to Westminster Abbey.

There they were joined by judges from the High Court and Court of Appeal, who arrived in a fleet of limousines, for prayers.

Unlike the judges of the Supreme Court, the rest of the judiciary clung on to their wigs for the ceremony.

Excerpted from ‘New Supreme Court opens with media barred,’ published in the Telegraph.

photographed near Durango, Colorado on July 22, 2007

Downtown, fires burned, smoke plumed. The odor stood.

It was a city humbled and scared, where the possibilities of destruction had been recalibrated. It was Sept. 12, 2001. The day after.

So much has been said and written about what happened on 9/11. The following day is forgotten, just another dulled interlude in the aftermath of an incoherent morning.

But New Yorkers were introduced that day to irreducible presumptions about their wounded city that many believed would harden and become chiseled into the event’s enduring legacy.

Excerpted from ‘Remembering a Future That Many Feared,’ by N.R. Kleinfeld. Published in The New York Times, September 11, 2009.

photographed in NASA Simulator, 1969 via a NASA image

I’m with you L.E.M. / Though it’s a shame that it had to be you / The mother ship / Is just a blip on this trip made for two / I’m with you boys / So please employ just a little extra care / It’s on my mind / I’m left behind when I should have been there / Walking with you.

Excerpted from the lyrics to ‘For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me’ by Jethro Tull. Image courtesy NASA via The Big Picture.