Postcard from Arizona State University

 

A Cyclist’s Concern: Part One

It’s ten until ten.
I’ve slept in again!
My alarm, I swear that it’s broken.
I sleep as it beeps,
Or maybe I creep and silence the wake up call motive.
I manage my snooze.
And often throw shoes, to pause the start of the day.
I wake in a bind.
It’s always I find, I try, but I’m late anyway.
Sloshed morning thoughts.
Can’t find my keys, my pants, my watch.
Of course I’ve forgot the numbers to the lock.
Oh, pretty please!
I twist the bike lock free!
Might make it if I flee!
Check the rear view to watch traffic carefully.
I ride up the hill, I don’t have the skill.
I stall, I slip, I perspire.
I move up the curb just missing a swerve
from the truck with the sudden flat tire.
Straight peddling on, til the looks are all gone
while I calm the fear I’ve acquired.
Police turn round the corner,
I stare in pure horror as one motions for me to dismount it.
Truck nowhere in sight, and I get the slight,
as he writes me a ticket for riding my bike where pedestrians tread,
can all this be right?
Did nobody see that freight give me fright?!
Confound it!
Shamed, shunned, despair.
I’ll walk, I don’t care. The doctor suggested fresh air.
I glance to my wrist- it’s Sunday the fifth!
I don’t have to be anywhere!

Claud Capuano Dec. 2013

Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum – “Bikes on Campus”

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Tucson

Yes…it’s that time. Cactus flowers are springing up all over the Sonoran Desert. Spring here is like no other in the world. All the plants you associate with Spring are in full bloom also, just like where you live. But, cactus flowers always come a little bit later. Almost every day I like to take a walk in the desert (on a paved walkway to avoid rattlers and scorpions) and right now flowers from every kind of cactus imaginable line both sides of the trail.

This flower is from the king of all cactus…the Saguaro. This particular cactus, is an old one as it has a couple of large arms. Remember, the Saguaro don’t start growing arms until it is about 100 years old. Behind this flower, you can see bulbs that will soon open to reveal their flowers. You can always count on lots of flowers from older Saguaros.

The only problem for the photographer is almost all Saguaro flowers grow on top of the main branch or the arms. And these cactus can get pretty tall…much taller than me! I got lucky with this particular one as there was a mound in front of it and, with the help of a long lens, I was able to get eye-level with the flower.

Out where I live in the western foothills above Tucson, the Saguaro are as thick as thieves. There are hundreds of them on each hill around my place. The Saguaro Cactus National Park is only a few miles from here. So I have my pick of cactus to shoot. All I need is a little natural elevation to photograph the flowers face-to-face.

Although you may have seen Saguaro Cactus in John Wayne westerns, supposedly based in Texas, they really only grow in this area and further south in Mexico. PS: for your information, many of those John Wayne films were shot just a few miles from here at the Old Tucson Movie Studios. So, if you see any movie with Saguaros, you know they were shot here.  

Come down in April sometime and see these beauties for yourself.

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Rome

 

The Roman Forum

A Poem by Nicholas Michell

 

The Forum, glory of departed time!

Where temples dazzled, arches rose sublime,

And statues burned with life— what see we now?

Stones, fragments, dust — yet pride is loath to bow;

A few pale columns point to what hath been,

The last, lone, sorrowing orphans of the scene,

And mouldered walls, fair marbles, ages' spoil,

Reluctant mingle with the meaner soil:

Still Phocas' pillar struggles with decay,

And thy hold arch, Severus, spans the way;

But gone the car, and lightning-breathing steed,

And where an emperor stood, now waves the weed;

No more along the Forum's stately side

The musing sage sweeps by in toga'd pride,

Or hear we from the platform's glittering beak

The fiery orator in thunder speak;

But there the herdsman leans, and sheep and swine

Pollute the once rich path and radiant shrine:

Caesar, Augustus, Tully! gaze ye here,

Frown from the grave, and drop th' indignant tear.

 

Digital Sketch from an Original Photo by J.R. Corkrum

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Naples

I only spent one day in Naples, but do I have several stories to tell about that short sojourn. But, for now, I will just tell you one of my favorites.

To enjoy this story, you need to know three things: First, we were given a guided tour of Naples by our Italian friends who lived there for many years. So that made it easier to get around and understand what was going on. Second, understand that Naples was the most bombed city in Italy in World War II. Third, there are 27 centuries of history inside this amazing city.

To begin our tour, we took a streetcar from the railway station (we were catching a train to Florence in the evening) down to where the line ends at the waterfront. From there we could see the Isle of Capri, a famous vacation spot for Roman Emperors and today’s wealthier tourists.

From there we started our real walking tour along the oldest street in Naples, built by the Romans over 2,000 year ago. This would eventually take us back to the train station. Of course, the real reason was to take in some of most famous sites in this amazing city.

At one spot, there were two large churches across the street from each other…one was Gothic and the other Baroque. And you could not imaging two churches so opposite from each other. The Gothic church was extremely austere, almost sterile, in it architecture and decorations; while the Baroque church was as rich in decorations as any church or cathedral in Italy. It was stunning, to say the least…all quite normal for Baroque churches.

My story begins in this church. As I wandered with my Italian guide enjoying the marvels this church had to offer, we were approached by this very elderly woman, who clearly was headed right for me.

She started screaming at me in Italian and I had no idea what she was saying. I looked at my guide and friend for help and he just signaled me to stay cool. But this woman kept screaming at me, and attracting a lot of onlookers.

I kept hearing the word “Bomba” over and over. All I could think of was the word meant bomb. As for the rest of her diatribe, I did not have a clue. She finally finished and wandered off.

I turned to my friend and asked what she was saying and did the word bomba mean bomb? He said yes it did. What the woman was doing was chewing me out for bombing Naples in World War II. She obviously knew I was an American. But the kicker was she said that the Italian government had become so corrupt that she wanted me to fly my bomber up to Rome and bomb it!

Needless to say we all had a good laugh over this. How clever of her to spot me as an American but, of course, I was born after the end of the war in Europe. I still laugh when I think about that old woman. If I only could remember where I parked my bomber.

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from the Sonoran Desert

The flowers bloom in the Desert joyously—
They do not weary themselves with questioning;
They are careless whether they be seen, or praised.
They blossom unto life perfectly and unto death perfectly, leaving nothing unsaid.
They spread a voluptuous carpet for the feet of the Wind
And to the frolic Breezes which overleap them, they whisper:
“Stay a moment, Brother; plunder us of our passion;
Our day is short, but our beauty is eternal.”
Never have I found a place, or a season, without beauty.
Neither the sea, where the white stallions champ their bits and rear against their bridles, Nor the Desert, bride of the Sun, which sits scornful, apart…

Excerpt from “The Poet in the Desert” - By Charles Erskine Scott Wood

A Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Hunters

The Old Country Church

There's a place near to me, where I'm longing to be
With my friends at the old country church
There with mother we went and our Sundays we spent
With our friends at the old country church

Precious years of memories
Oh, what joy they bring to me
How I long once more to be
With my friends at the old country church

How I wish that today all the people would pray
Like we prayed in that old country church
If they'd only confess, Jesus surely would bless
As He did in that old country church

Precious years of memories
Oh, what joy they bring to me
How I long once more to be
With my friends at the old country church

 

Lyrics from a song by Hank Williams

Written by J.W. Vaughn

Digital Sketch by J.R. Corkrum 

“Old Church in a Tiny Town”

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Tempe

10 days ago, I headed north toward the greater Phoenix metropolitan area…specifically Tempe and Mesa. Not only did I want to get out-of-town and do something different, I also had an itchy shutter finger and felt like photographing something new.

My targets were two of the Arizona State campuses…the main ASU campus in Tempe and the ASU Polytechnic campus out in Mesa. It was a great day for photography…nice weather and some lovely clouds in the sky. Believe it or not, in my 5.5 years here I had never visited an ASU campus…have been close a couple of times, but never visited. And as you might have noticed over time, I have a penchant for intimate architectural photos…not whole buildings necessarily but small elements of buildings that make interesting photos.

Such is the case with this photo…it is part of the Memorial Auditorium where major events take place on campus. I was fascinated with the arches that led up the ramp to the auditorium. I knew immediately I wanted a photograph and that it would be in black and white as so many of my architectural photos are.

As you might guess, there is a major rivalry between ASU and the University of Arizona in my home town of Tucson. Not just sports, but in most everything. You can buy t-shirts here that say “ASWho?” Even I have a Arizona t-shirt that takes a shot at ASU. I did not wear it this day.

As I wandered around campus, I found it interesting to compare the two campuses. Both are located in a downtown area, but ASU feels a little more cramped. UofA is much, much larger and has far more open spaces including a gigantic, mostly grass mall that stretches on and on (very similar to the one in Washington DC). For instance, they could never hold the Tucson Book Fest at ASU as there is not enough room.

As far as architectural elements go, UofA has a bit more that ASU…but still I found many interesting buildings to photograph (as you will see here over time). Still, it is a lovely campus and I really enjoyed walking around and photographing. I also have a few more photos to show you from the Polytechnic campus in Mesa, but will save those for another day.

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.