Monday, October 6, 2008

Zen Monday: #19


On Zen Monday you experience the photo and tell me what it's about, rather than me telling you what to experience from viewing it.

30 comments:

Tanya Breese said...

It has a real harsh urban feel to it. Kind of like a prison.

Vanda said...

It is very zen.

Thérèse said...

Home address.

Anonymous said...

Some people never know when they've arrived. Now I wish you'd quit bothering me when I'm working on a cover letter to CalTech.

Anonymous said...

Its the current status of our economy, facing a brick wall.

Anonymous said...

The Bonsai Zen in me sees Pride in one's community. All over Town you see a ton of re-painted rectangles, but not much Graffiti. Which leads to a question ? Is something NOT considered an eyesore if it is painted on by the Owner ? Do we need to be informed that we are Here, when it's Obvious that we Must Be ? Is anyone REALLY Where they Are ?

Hope said...

Where are we really?

Laurie Allee said...

You've discovered it! The famed Da Fencey Code!!!

John Sandel said...

Laurie wins. So far.

Jilly said...

Maybe it's an enormous space with numbers allocating an individual area for art, as it were. You are Here is someone's contribution ... oh hell, I haven't a clue but it got me thinking and I love the shapes and colours and letters and numbers. It all looks v pleasing to my eye. So thanks.

Anonymous said...

after emerging from the maze of the fencing, little Albert the mouse was at first, confused about the multitude of coloration on the brick wall and the fence abutting it. He then read his Guide which told him "1296" is THE answer (despite knowing that 42 is THE REAL answer to the universe). He read his instructions and stayed put, awaiting further instruction or a different message to appear on one of the other colors on the wall.

Inside, he was screaming though. He had not eaten in days and it appeared that just beyond the fence there was a Taqueria that would quench his hunger!

John Sandel said...

@ case: I think the buried premise is that ownership trumps beauty; cf. the Sforzas or the Medicis, who lorded their fortunes over many a snivelling scrivener. Leonardo himself, after all, was once a member of the European guild which included sign-painters.

But times have changed. Call graffitti an eyesore and you reassert your capitalist hegemony—at least, down to the end of your yard. Call it art and, in covering it, you may become just another Rockefeller.

And then, as you lie in your cozy bed benights, gratified by your revenge over the spraypaint maurauders, a tiny metaphysical worry may come niggling: What of graffitti when a property owner edits it with whitewash?

No less a worrier than Claude Shannon puzzled over this: When I burn a book, where does the information go? This is what engineers, if not homeowners, call a non-trivial problem. All that (human) energy went into desiring, finding, gathering and writing the information—even if all it tells you is which girl will help you have a good time. It seems a violation of the laws of thermodynamics to say it "just went poof." (Oops—wrong set of laws …)

Steven Hawking figures that even a black hole can't have everything: some radiation escapes. So maybe the smoldering ire of your garden-gate-variety Latino Chuca King, or whomever, seeps even from under that patch of Caladryl-colored housepaint on your neighbor's Frostian fence.

John Sandel said...

Hrm. For Rockefeller, try here.

For Frost, try here.

Cafe Observer said...

Due to the xtra long lines, the local unemployment office is giving out numbers for those waiting in line.
#1296 in line - here is your position, around the corner in an alley.

please leave your dog at home.

Susan C said...

The giant finger of fate points to a fly trapped in the chain link spider web.

Sharon said...

Thanks goodness....I was wondering where I was.

USelaine said...

Am not.

USelaine said...

And stop calling me 1296.

Case said...

ACTUALLY, EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS IS IN THREE DIFFERENT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME, AND THOSE PLACES ARE...?
1.
2.
3.
P.S. You only get one Hint..."Delorean"

John Sandel said...

Wull, lessee … in chronwokial order:

1. D-troit
2. jail
3.TX

Whaddo I git?

Vanda said...

Year 1296 is a leap year starting on Sunday. The Doctor and Martha lands in Berwick-upon-Tweed just as the place is about to be sacked by the bloodthirsty Edward I, who is in reality a brain-sucking vampire bat from the planet Wall Street. But then again, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. The House passes the TARP, but the Vogons decide to bulldoze the economy anyway. Ford recognizes the writing on the wall, after all "YOU ARE HERE" is the international sign of the end of the world. Fortunately for him he has a towel.

Petrea Burchard said...

Every one of you has a beautiful mind. From prison to home to "Back to the Future," I'm amazed!

It thrills me when the picture evokes a story, as for Trish and for Vanda.

Laurie, Sharon and Elaine made me laugh. Many of you made me think: Pasadena Real Estate, for one, From de Cafe for another. Bernie made me think, too. Made me think "Bernie must have Mondays off."

Thank you all! Great stuff!

John Sandel said...

Hello, today's Tuesday. It's—isn't it?

Isn't it Tuesday …? It's … oh, hell. I blew all my Tuesday hyperlinks and it's only Monday!? Aw, hell.

Ms M said...

Reminds me of that old TV show "The Prisoner" where the main character (Patrick McGoohan) kept trying to escape, but was always circumvented. He was only known as a number, not by a name...

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

I need 1296 tabs of aspirin after reading all of these Zen Monday interpretations.

I am here.

Thérèse said...

Coming back to your blog a day after to see what other bloggers came up with...

Petrea Burchard said...

I've had some time to actually click on your links now, Bernie. I never knew any of that about Shannon. It's not easy to understand but it's interesting. Thank you.

Ms M, I saw an episode a year or two ago. After not having seen it for so long it looks dated and arch. It's quite a time capsule of the 60s! And I loved Patrick McGoohan. He's still around, though from his IMDb page it loos as though he hasn't been working for about five years. He'd be 80 now.

Thank you for being here, Miss Havisham.

Good, huh, Therese?

Case said...

Bernie... Why does everyone think John Delorean is in Jail ? He was Aquitted of all Snow-Blower Importing charges ! The good news is that your last answer is not far off...(sic)
1. The Past fond memories / Heaven
2. Present-ly Traped Inside a Flux Capasitor
3. The economic Future / Hell

frazgo said...

Nice use of perspective in this.
I have no clue what it means with any certainty.
Reminds me of one of my favorite movie quotes "no matter where you go there you are". Buckaro Bonzai

Petrea Burchard said...

There's no "meaning" or right answer, Frazgo. However you interpret it, that's the answer.

So Buckaroo Bonzai it is!