Surveillance State (art poster)

Who would have thought that the U.S. would become a surveillance state like the totalitarian regimes it warned us about? We were told how good it was not to live in them because we were free and they were not free. They had secret police. We, of course, did not.

Once upon a time we had a constitution to guard us from the predatory instincts inherent in the nature of a government bureaucracy. Much of that security has been removed. Now the military can stop you and arrest you. Now the police with encouragement by the Federal Government conduct searches without warrants.

Now personal property can be taken without due process and the owner of the property likewise taken without due process. Experiences like that pissed off Tom Jefferson and George Washington. Depending which side you favored they were either traitors or heroes.

Glenn Greenwald in an article published on AlterNet has described the effect the state of siege on personal privacy has on the human personality and how it will change society as a whole.

Since the surveillance state is a reality I made the poster to reflect that reality. The image at the top of the page (at least for the present) is the image offered for sale. You can see it better in the larger version. It can be ordered in multiple sizes and there are a variety of frame styles and sizes available. You'll have fun watching the faces peeking at you from all angles. It may make you ask: "Where in the world did America go?"

Clicking on the image will take you to my store at Zazzle.com where you can decide which size you want for your wall.

Surveillance State by Hermenutic
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Republicrats: an overview

Republicrats

Republicrats are the offspring of Democratic and Republican approaches to extorting money from the taxpayer. They also grant tax exemptions to a lucky few which makes them very sought after people. Their appearance (see image below) is not the result of their unusual approach to the reproduction of their own kind as first assumed. Later research, however, showed clearly that their appearance is due to the change in values required in order to become eligible to be considered a Republicrat.

Republicrat sex shuns conventional human style sexual encounters and instead reproduces by means of group sodomy which takes place in a context known as the electoral process. This process lasts a maximum of two years and culminates on the evening of Election Day. It is preceded by a year long orgiastic courtship resembling a rough and humiliating S & M relationship. Those contending for office behave like inebriated teenagers hurling insults at each other before kissing and making up. The offspring of this mating ritual is the winner of the election. The whole nation "oos and aahs" at him and goes to bed hungry.

For most Americans the method of reproduction used by Republicrats just doesn’t make sense. The birthing process seems even more inscrutable. The birth of a Republicrat itself has never been observed, unlike their reproductive activity. It is known that the gestation of a Republicrat fetus takes place in either the anus or the cheek of the partner designated to give birth.

Gestation for a Republicrat fetus varies from two years, to as little as two months. The raising of the normal Republicrat is unnecessary because they are born full grown. They are freed from the cares of those they serve whose children are raised by state funded day care, taught by state authorized education, where they learn to vote for the Republicrat of their choice when they grow-up.

Republicrats bring new meaning to the word ‘congress’.

Below is an artistic representation of a 'normal' Republicrat. A Republicrat somewhere is leading you into the future.

Art and text by David H. Roche (C) 2012

Co-incidences Involving Interdependent Entities

I just began with a doodle. I took a random picture from my collection and began to monkey with it. The picture I chose is below.



From the image above the one below was taken.





Making pictures in this way is terribly relaxing. The mind and body linkage in the creative process encourages a spontaneous concentration of attention. It is a refreshing sensation to be so fully engaged in the process. The result of simply following what develops can often be startling. I tend to think there is a connection made with the unconscious mind such as in automatic writing. The whole process seems somewhat magical to me.


I made a video utilizing some of the developments as I tinkered with the images. You can see it by clicking here.

All work done by David H. Roche (C) 2012

A Clear Running Water state of mind

A Heron Stopped For Breakfast

The heron showed up this morning at the same time I went out to the pond. He had come for breakfast. It was an unusually bright sunny morning and the bird wafted down onto the half submerged tree where it likes to hunt.

I was on the opposite side of the pond but went to get my camera and went around the pond. I got some good shots of the bird.

Notice the little black bird. I have observed their purpose in life is to act as irritants to every other bird. They serve the other birds the way mosquitoes serve mankind.

I made a video of the photo series I snapped and added some music a friend arranged and played. You can watch A Heron Stopped For Breakfast by clicking.


The images below are offered for sale. Clicking on the image will take you to Zazzle.com where you can purchase a print of any standard size with the choice of a variety of frames

Heron In The Shadows by Hermenutic
Browse for more artwork prints

Heron In The Shadows # 2 by Hermenutic
Order custom prints online from Zazzle.

Either / Or (a Memorial Day Poem)

Either / Or (a Memorial Day Poem)

You can choose sides,
or you can choose compassion.
Choice changes the world.



I was watching the Democracy Now Memorial Day special. Veterans were turning in their medals and explaining why. One after another came up to speak and discard the medals they had been awarded. They were men and women who felt they had been deceived and used as thugs in a criminal gang. One veteran quoted two time medal of honor winner General Smedley Butler saying: 'War is a racket'.

As I watched I realized the vast majority of Americans have not chosen compassion. Only a few have compassion directed energies. Most 'love' one side to the exclusion of the other. Such 'love' is devoid of compassion and amounts to hatred.


What is compassion? Compassion is able to be perceived in the story of the good Samaritan who stopped to help a member of a race hated by his own culture. The Samaritan helped a stranger. He saved his life and paid his bill even though he did not know him. This is an example of compassion.




Human need is the basis of compassion. Choosing sides disallows compassion requiring that you take up a cause directly against other human beings. The last 10 years overwhelmingly display the fruit of taking sides.

If as many who had chosen sides had instead chosen compassion the record of the last 10 years would be significantly different because what is chosen has certain results.

One of my favorite 'good Karma' songs is 'Anthem'. I recall seeing this performance on the Smothers Brothers Show when it was broadcast in 1969. The song reintroduces the idea of making compassionate choices. In 1969 more people were choosing sides instead of compassion. The song is by the Hello People. Enjoy.






Poem 'Either / Or (a Memorial Day Poem) (C) 2012 by David H. Roche

a Clear Running Water state of mind.

We Were Young (poem)

We Were Young …

and passed joints …
laughing despite the war
consuming us;

free to do anything but drink,
vote, have sex,
or smoke pot.

We were encouraged to die instead.
It was 1966,
we didn‘t know any better.

"We Were Young" a poem by David H. Roche

Photograph taken 5/9/2009 by David H. Roche at the Bonneville dam.

a Clear Running Water state of mind.

(C) 2012

Transmutation

I witnessed a hawk drop like a stone into a field from the apex of the sky. It was part of the intricate fabric of simple transactions of life and death we all become aware of.

As I thought about what I saw I realized one thing was becoming another thing before my eyes. The poem came to mind at that time and has been written and re-written since 2005. The poem in the image is the latest version. You will probably need to click on the image to read the poem.

Poem and Image (C)2012 David H. Roche

Truckin' my blues away @ blogspot.com
a Clear Running Water state of mind.

Dead In The Water

I took advantage of a sunny day and went to the city. It is rare to have mainly blue skies but today it was mainly blue skies.


My skin soaked up the blue skies and turned red and itching. Old timers understand this as a common sunburn, and a chance for free vitamins. Younger or more media conscious people are terrified of the sun and do all they can to keep from being exposed to it. I hope I don't die in my sleep tonight from exposure to this wicked sun today.


Well, I took some photos. When I see a possibility for a series of similar but different photos in the same theme I jump on it. I found the following.

The images are of rotting pilings. They are the remaining evidence of a departed industry. I saw in them some kind of beauty. I had to look over the railing and down to the river to get the perspective. But when I did I saw something. So imagine yourself looking over a railing.

I titled the photographs "Dead In The Water". The pilings are the remnants of a flourishing industry that is now absent. An industry which appears to have consumed itself leaving the warehouse empty and workers scrambling for work.

I see this development with rational eyes. The outcome was inevitable, not a surprise. Everything decays and falls apart. click to see video I made of the pilings as they swayed back and forth in the tide.

I was sitting on the riverside, the sound of sea lions barking a short way off, while I read the Dhammapada and thinking about impermanence.

Photgraphs, video and text (C)2012 David H. Roche

a Clear Running Water state of mind

Emptiness and the Tao

I meditate on these concepts.

Emptiness and the Tao (a Koan)

Inside and out are the same,
any difference is due to perspective.

There is no chicken, or egg:
one is always becoming the other
in the process of making omelets.

What is the answer?
Or, if you prefer,
what is the question?

"Emptiness and the Tao (a Koan" a poem (C) 2012 David H. Roche Photographic Art (C) 2012 David H. Roche

a Clear Runnng Water state of mind

Changing Dimensions

Changing dimensions ....

Click to watch a video of "Changing Dimensions".

(C)2012 David H. Roche
a Clear Running Water state of mind

Spirit

I began with the photograph of a leaf with a rain drop gleaming with light.

I had fun with the picture and liked the theme that appeared. The resuting images are all the product of manipulating the original image. (with the exception of the addition of the bird and moon.) Any change to the image came from the use of various tools creating the changes. Once again I am prompted to marvel at the content hidden in the ordinary moment.

I thought the title "Spirit" was appropriate.

postscript:

I thought I was done, but looked out the window. It has been raining and ducks have been swimming in the front yard. The wind came up and ripped cherry blossoms off the tree. Some fell in the puddle that was the driveway. I made the following video of cherry blossom petals floating on the water. It came out ok, click here to take a look.


All images and text (C) 2012 David H. Roche

a Clear Running Water state of mind

A Barrel Of Cats

I began with a picture of two of my cats in a patch of sunlight and ended with a video involving the photographs and their origin. You can see the video by clicking the text in the last sentence at the bottom of the page.

The process of changing the image is fascinating. It helps focus the mind. While concentrating the mind is freed to act independently by the spontaneous choice of tools. Mind, body and tool work together.

The interesting aspect of doing this kind of thing with images is seeing how color and light affect an image.

I decided to stop with the image below. 'A Barrel of Cats'

And when I thought I was all done I decided to make a video. In the original folder I found video of the cats in the picture. It includes 'Five' who was born on April Fools day 1996 and died while I was away over Christmas in 2010. It felt funny to see him moving again when I know he's sleeping under the grass in the yard. Click here to see the video.

Images and text (C)2012 David H. Roche
a Clear Running Water state of mind

A Trip Across The Street

Toward evening I went out with my camera. The light was 'different' from what it had been all day and it made me think I might get something a little different. I like to take natural themes, settings scenery etc and then just look into them and see what else is inside. By merely rearranging the original components something can be enhanced or something entirely different can be made to appear. The concepts behind that premise intigue me.

I understand the human situation to be one that is bound up in a continuously unfolding process. Some refer to it as the 'Way' that can be seen or named. It is not the real 'Way', but the one that can be approached and understood in some degree. There is a Tao behind the visible Tao that is teaching the meaning of itself by the visible Tao. The Lao Tzu or Tao is a fundamental building block of my overall spiritual worldview. From the understanding of the empty bowl, or untooled block of wood I bring the concept of unlimited potential residing in every image.

So I stepped out for a few minutes and took some pictures. I had been attracted by the black and white pair of ducks.

This is the one I began with. It was not sharply focused. But I liked the sensation caused by the reflection and the ripples on the water.

I worked on it for a while and came up with several variations. One of them is below. It is interesting to look at, but has a befuddling effect.

Meanwhile, after returning to the yard I took a picture of some cherry blossoms. The ones below.

You're not going to believe what came out of these cherry blossoms.

A serpent! I began by simply covering the image in small tiles. I put four sections of sligtly different sized tiles over the cherry blossoms and began to manipulate selected portions with different tools to distort shape and color. The only thing from outside the original image is where I painted it's tongue and put eyeballs in. All the rest are just original parts moved around and recolored. It blows my mind to see it turned out to be a snake. I was just as surprised as Eve.

I never would have guessed either of the original images were hiding the second image. The potential was evidently there, it needed the addition of consciousness added via software to provide the 'intelligence' necessary to manipulate the individual increments of the original images. That is an example of the interdependence interlocking all things.



Photographs text and art (C) 2012 David H. Roche

a Clear Running Water state of mind

Aum, Creation, Being

The picture below is made from the photographs of a cherry leaf, a flame and my consciousness combined with the use of a software tool. Too many other factors are involved to mention, but lead to the conclusion of all events being interdependent and the result of karma reaping previous sowing.

I've been reading creation stories; Hindu, Jewish and Christian sources. Each source reports creation resulting from sound.

For Jews God 'spoke'.

For Christians the 'Word' is responsible for creation.

In the Upanishads AUM is the sound associated with creation and the maintaining of the universe.

The way of life in societies based on calendars and clocks, must seem like a slap in the face to God. God placed the sky above us as a calendar. The Christian church thought God's idea was a bad idea and produced calendars to take its place. Not too much complaint of this has been heard. In a sense, God was put in a box and you have been sent to work. Meaning that you have lost your birthright and been sold a bill of goods.

It wasn't always so. (click the link. Alan Watts The Book; on the taboo against knowing who you are pops up.) There's something in man resonating with the universe and for good reason. He came from it. It is his place of origin and has produced and is producing his being. The deepest part of his nature is a mirror of these relationships.

Listen:




Image and text (C)2012 David H. Roche. All else belongs to its creator.

a Clear Running Water state of mind.

Photographs Taken On A Rainy Day In Astoria

I needed to go into town. A friend dropped me off and I found my way home by bus.

This was the first time in my life since the 60's I've used the bus to get around. I had many choices, these were the top three; all associated with using the bus. I could walk from Camp Rilea, or from the opposite direction walk from Sunset Beach, or not walk at all but ride the entire route and get off at the end of the driveway. It would be the same fare in $$$$ but cost me an hour or more in time.

I chose to get off at Sunset Beach. The walk was nice. It took 15 minutes to get home. The next time I’ll walk from Camp Rilea and see how that goes. I estimate it as being the same distance. I may have a better opportunity to spot oncoming log trucks from that direction as well.

The walking experience was enjoyable. As I walked I recalled being a kid riding my bike to the store or walking with mom. I’d go alone, or we’d walk together for a candy bar on a gravel path lined with maple trees alongside a highway. That’s your Norman Rockwell memory for the day. The maple trees are gone, the store is gone, and candy bars are smaller and no longer a nickel.

Back here in reality there was a bottleneck in the road made by the restriction of a bridge and I tried to avoid it by taking a side loop. There was a dog that did not want to be friends so I crossed the bridge. You can wait for trucks, but you can’t reason with dogs is the way I saw it at the moment.

Overall the trip to town was a positive experience. I didn’t get terribly wet. There was absolutely no dangerous or unhealthful exposure or discomfort from the sun. To top it off I returned from town with some fine photographs on this drizzly morning in Astoria.

The area is blessed with spectacular beauty associated with the totality of its environment. Four miles across the Columbia River by bridge is Washington State. (It’s probably the same distance by water.) The topographical gap between the two shores spreads out, opening until it blends seamlessly into the Pacific Ocean.

High humidity is partly responsible for the dramatic lighting effects.

The opening of the lands natural contours on each side of the river into the ocean seems to invite the weather in. It took a while for me to get used to the rain from November to May and appreciate the sun as much as I do today. In New York sunny days are as plentiful as pebbles on a path, here they are as rare as diamonds. I guess that's why I enjoy them more.

The sporadic and sudden appearance of the sun on the North Coast is a grand delight. The river, coast, bridges, and hillside spattered with houses as well as the heritage of the area are all treasures the sun illuminates differently through the many lenses the weather provides.

There’s weather humor that goes with living here. The funniest bumper sticker I have seen in the area had “Pray for Rain” printed on it. It might have been an old bumper sticker I don’t know. But the irony struck me and I couldn’t help but laugh.


Anyhow I had to run an errand in town and brought my camera along. Take a look. These are from along the river near the bus station. I was fascinated by the structure in the first photograph. The lines and reflections spoke to me. Afterward I walked along the streets a bit and was wowed by some commonplace objects I mistook for art materials.

I am not sure what attracted me to this. I suspect it was the sense of illusion present in the way object and reflection became merged.

This one spot had lots of photographic potential.

I began to fiddle with some images a little.

An old Chubby Checker song came to mind upon seeing this development.



I am fascinated by the city. Its architecture and ambiance simply charm me. The history is fascinating. I wonder if Walt Whitman ever got here. He would have loved it.

I had time to use waiting for the bus. On the streets I found a few images that required their photograph be taken. One was a grate in a sidewalk with glass or glass-like squares.

The image below turned out to be my favorite. It was just a few steps down from the where I photographed the grate. I saw it on the wall of a building. I surmise it was a community bulletin board at one time. The only indication of its past function is the outline of the place sheets of paper were placed. The outline as well as staples and the rust streaks below them remain as a testament to elapsed time.

This is the variation of the original image I like the most. I placed a 50 percent smaller image beneath and melded them together. I was hoping some kind of neat effect would occur. I think it did.

All images can be enlarged by clicking on them.



Images and text (C) 2012 by David H. Roche
a Clear Running Water state of mind