One year, I made a list of goals to accomplish within the year. By the end of the year, I had completed one of four goals. The next year, the first goal on my list was to write a list with less goals. Success was more easily achieved by narrowing my vision.
Archive for January, 2016
Don’t Weigh Yourself Down With Too Many Goals.
January 12, 2016BOLO BOLO.
January 12, 2016BOLO BOLO: Be on the look out.
The BOLO is the crime watch alert system for Loyola University New Orleans. They give you the rundown on current crime happenings. For many students at Loyola, it goes beyond a catchphrase, BOLO becomes a lifestyle. It is a Loyno thing, but it is also about NOLA too. Once you know about the BOLO lifestyle, it never really goes away. NOLA features it’s own unique type of urban existence. Things are funkier, weirder, grimier and more BOLO. You can be BOLO BOLO, you can get BOLO. When you’re in a rough area of town,
You can get BOLO, “I was drinking the Jager, things got BOLO.” “I went to the Saint. I think I lost my dignity last night.” A person can also get BOLOed. One minute you’re chilling in an apartment, the next minute, you catch a glimpse of the “flabby thighs flasher.” BOLO BOLO!! When you’re out in NOLA, you can often feel that BOLO all around you. It’s like a Spidey sense for poor decisions. Sometimes, in a rough area of town, you can feel that BOLO creeping in. It’s your intuition telling you to be on the look out. BOLO BOLO is seeing a dude get judo thrown through a glass door as you’re walking into the high school bar.
Being on the look out creates a strange sense of street-level awareness. Once, on the epic three block trek from Feret to Maple, I was hassled by the crackhead diversity rainbow. Within 5 minutes, 6 crackheads of almost every race, color and creed came up to me. They all gave me the same sob story about how their car ran out of gas and how they also needed money for their insulin. I often wonder if some crackheads go to the same finishing school to learn these lines?
Mardi Gras is, of course, a whole different level of BOLO. However, NOLA can be just as rowdy on a random Monday. Uptown, Downtown, CBD, West Bank, it can all get BOLO at any given time. It’s one of the great/awful things that makes New Orleans so unique.
NOLA teaches you to expect the unexpected at all times. Whenever you leave your house, you never know what will be coming your way, but you are prepared for whatever insanity may lie ahead. In life, you will never know what is next, but it’s always important to be on the look out.
Bunny on Top of the Bunny Cage and Jäger on the Lawn: Some Thoughts About Mardi Gras.
January 12, 2016
A classic shot of the Mardi Gras Bead Tree (image via uptownacorn.com)
With Mardi Gras coming up soon, it’s a good time to talk about the glory of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. There are a lot of misconceptions about NOLA Mardi Gras. It’s not about some irrelevant, trashy tourists flashing in the French Quarter. The real party is Uptown, on the parade route. Mardi Gras is like strange fun for your whole weird family.
Mardi Gras 2007
Everything about Mardi Gras in NOLA seems excessive. I’ve never been to a bacchanalian Roman orgy, but Mardi Gras must be pretty close. It’s marching bands bringing the funk to the people, the overblown joy of a four hour parade. It’s the stranger that hands you a Jell-O shot at 7 am. As a friend of mine described it after a late-night party one year, “Mardi Gras is the bunny on top of the bunny cage and Jäger on the lawn.”
Mardi Gras 2007
I think a certain part of me pines for a Mardi Gras family. Propyour kids up on a ladder at the crack of dawn, holding a beer with your kids weighed down with bead neck. Mardi Gras is more than just Mardi Gras Day. It is two weeks of krewes parading, Mardi Gras balls and revelry. The first weekend is more of a family weekend and then the intensity ramps up during the second weekend. By the time Fat Tuesday comes around, it is almost a comedown from the mayhem.
Mardi Gras 2007
Mardi Gras is a time when subtlety is kept at a minimum. The fashion at Mardi Gras sometimes best resembles an electric space pimp from the future. It can get intense out there on the route. One year, I got a trombone to the side of the head. It was a rookie mistake, never bend down to pick something up. At least it wasn’t a tuba. One year, an old lady knocked me down for beads with an oxygen tank. She’s throwing down on Mardi Gras, nothing is stopping her! That’s dedication.
Mardi Gras 2007
Mardi Gras is New Orleans is unlike anything else you will ever experience. It is a funky, glorious time. It’s going beyond Bourbon Street and tapping into something real. Get out there, throw down, beast it and laissez les bon temps rouler!
BRING THE ENERGY!!!!
January 11, 2016
BANG!!!!!!!
Awhile back, I walked into GNC. “What are you doing here? You don’t look like you work out,” the employees vapid stares seemed to indicate. “I NEED SOME ENERGY COMMA DAMMIT!” I shouted. They suggested a can of Bang. I cracked it open, it felt refreshing. The flavor was kind of rough. It tasted like the fear you feel inside, with a hint of lemon. It was a nice pick me up.
I decided to go look at some art. I was looking at a tree sculpture in a local “avant garde” “art gallery” when the rush hit. Everything sped up, hyper space. “I LOVE THE IDEA OF THIS TREE. THIS TREE IS CONCEPTUALLY EXCITING,” I announced to an empty art gallery. I started peaking hard. I was doing victory laps around the Crossroads. Instantly, I had been transported the the field of limitless possibilities. I felt like discount Macho Man Randy Savage, “THE MACHO MAN IS TAKING THE TITLE ON SUNDAY!!! I’M THE CREAM OF THE CROP!!! OHHHHHHH YEAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
What a thrilling/loud time to be alive. Bang makes you feel like your heart is being ripped out by that dude in the Temple of Doom. I smashed through the boundaries of time and space to new levels of beasting. Bang makes you feel like you are answering a question that was never asked. I can’t wait until SURGE gets wider distribution again, so I can drink something to calm down.
“KALI MA!!!!”
Joy is the Reason We Are Here.
January 10, 2016“Serious as life can be, at our deepest level, joy is the reason we are here.” -Deepak Chopra.
I was doing a meditation recently and this Deepak Chopra quote really hit me hard. Joy is the reason why we are here. It almost doesn’t matter what hardships you have gone through in life, life is all about how you respond to challenges.
It can seem difficult, but the choice to live a joyful life can help improve your well-being. Being joyful can open your heart up to even more joy. It’s the cyclic nature of joy. The act of looking for joy can often help you find it in unexpected places. It can help open you up to the oneness of the universe. Choosing to be joyful can create more joy in the world. When it comes down to it, despite life’s trials and tribulations, joy is what life is all about.
My First Exposure to the Weird, Wonderful Art of Finland.
January 9, 2016
Vessa-Pekka Rannikko “Canary” (2013)
The pieces featured in Dark Days, Bright Nights: Contemporary Paintings from Finland, the recent exhibition about Finnish art at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art really struck a chord with me. I am no art critic and the exhibition served as my first exposure to the art of Finland. The works are visually stunning, trippy and fresh. I love the use of tone and texture. I wanted to share the weird beauty of these works with you.
Mari Rantanen “Yayoi (Yayoi)” 2014
Reima Nevalainen “Framed” (2014)
Reima Nevalainen “Between the Lines II” (2011)
Left to right: Mari Sunna “Close” (2013, “Gladiator” (2013), “Cage” (2011)
Marika Makela “Idan kukkia (Eastern Flowers)” (2013)
Front, left, right: Jarmo Makela “Karpasten herra (Lord of the Flies)” (2013), “Kuninkaiden kumarrus (The Bow of the Kings) (2014), “Europa, Europa” (2014)
Jarmo Makela “Karpasten herra (Lord of the Flies)” (2013)
Left to right: Heikki Marila “Perkele (The Devil)” (2014), “Palava pensas (Burning Bush) (2014)
Left to right: Leena Nio “Silmapako I (Ladder I)” (2014), “Ansa II (Trap II)” (2014), “Spook” (2014)
Rauha Makila “Gerli” (2013), “Mura” (2013), “Doora” (2013), “Petite” (2012), “Alek” (2013)
Rauha Makila “Petite” (2012)
Left to right: Nanna Susi “Menen tulen varas (Coming-Going-Thief)” (2014), “Valkoinen pilvi (White Cloud” (2014)
Heikki Marila “Excelsior 1” (2013)
Heikki Marila “Excelsior 6” (2013)
Left to right: Jani Hanninen “Twin Peaks” (2014), “A 13” (2014)
Mari Rantanen “Anna (Ana)” (2014)
Mari Rantanen “Sonja (Sonia)” (2014)
Left to right: Sirpa Sarkijarvi “Lapiomies (Shovelman)” (2011), “Son” (2011)
Sirpa Sarkijarvi “Vides sukupolvi (Fifth Generation)” (2011)
Left to right: Anna Tuori “It Is All Now You See” (2013), “Splendour in the Grass” (2013), “Things I’ve Seen I Can See No More” (2013)
Banksy in NOLA.
January 8, 2016
Soldiers Looting, September 2008
In 2008, around the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the enigmatic street artist Banksy hit New Orleans under the cover of night to do some art. It was one of the few that times I’ve seen any Banksy work in-person.
Tracking the pieces down was an epic trek. Banksy often does his work in hard-to-find places. He had pieces on St. Claude and on shuttered housing projects. You try to see the pieces before they get ruined or painted over.
While I was shooting a photo of the NOLA Rain Girl, a car drove by. “Banksy sucks!” they screamed out the window. Everybody is an art critic these days. The public reaction to his work around NOLA was mixed. Some people view his work as art and other people see it as graffiti that should be destroyed. It’s all about personal perspective.
NOLA Rain Girl, September 2008.
This was the time before they started selling Banksy throw pillows or before I met people with Banksy tattoos.
Met a girl with a NOLA Rain Girl tattoo, August 2012. She wasn’t from NOLA, just liked the look of the piece.
The few pieces I caught that were very NOLA specific. The works were a product of a certain time. His work is political, hard hitting and carries his distinct style. It was fascinating to see Banksy tackle issues in his own weird way.
The Thinker.
January 7, 2016
The Thinker at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in Kansas City, Missouri.
“What makes my thinker think is that he thinks not only with his brain, with his knitted brow, his distended and compressed lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back and legs, with his clenched fist and gripping toes.” -Auguste Rodin
The Thinker at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art was cast after 1902. It is an iconic work of art, but it was interesting reading Rodin’s viewpoint of his own work. The thinker thinks than more than just their brain, it is an all-encompassing experience. Truly thinking can be a deep, engrossing experience. It is utilizing everything you have to become a better version of yourself.
Mountain Dew and Vodka.
January 7, 2016
I have a friend of mine that used to drink Mountain Dew and vodka. This was back in those NOLA days. He’d sit there, coding on the Internet all night. All of the sudden, he would get amped up like a discount Ric Flair and unleash a loud “WOOOOOOO!!!!” He would peel himself down from the ceiling, sink back into his chair and get back to coding.
They always say, “Don’t mix alcohol and energy drinks…blah, blah, blah.” You need the vodka to counterbalance the awful tone and taste of the Mountain Dew. Upper and a downer, it’ll put you right in the middle. You’ll feel like Hunter S. Thompson’s cousin.
The Mindset of a Fighter.
January 6, 2016
Invicta
Invicta FC is a female MMA fighting league based in Kansas City. They feature fighters from all over the world (America, Brazil, Japan).
I’ve been fortunate to meet several of the fighters and coaches over the years. It is always interesting to get a peek into their mindset. I asked a coach once about why the quality of fighting in Brazil is so high level. “It’s like the way Americans are about football. Fighting is part of our culture,” he stated.
One of the fighters seemed chill and laid back. We got to talking about how she approaches being in the zone, “It’s like a switch, you turn it on and off.” The disconnect between those those two worlds helps her be successful. Lay the hammer down, clock out and be in the chill state of mind.
It’s always fascinating to see other people’s viewpoints, to learn what keeps them pushing forward. The fact that some people view fighting as part of their culture, keeps them moving ahead to become a better athlete. Figuring out how to distance herself from the fury of fighting on her time off helped to make a fighter better. Their mindsets and focus are inspiring.
McClainJohnson.com 