Painterly found sculpture mess [Toledo, OH]: photo by Robert Saucier, 29 August2017

Painterly found sculpture mess [Toledo, OH]: photo by Robert Saucier, 29 August2017

Caught Out [Detroit-Shoreway, westside Cleveland]: photo by David Grim, 16 July 2017

Caught Out [Detroit-Shoreway, westside Cleveland]: photo by David Grim, 16 July 2016

New elevator coming soon! [Toledo, OH]: photo by Robert Saucier, 29 August2017

Red submarine in the grass [Toledo, OH]: photo by Robert Saucier, 29 August2017

Red submarine in the grass [Toledo, OH]: photo by Robert Saucier, 29 August2017

Red submarine in the grass [Toledo, OH]: photo by Robert Saucier, 29 August2017

DSC09339: photo by Jeff Larson (Raw Power), 6 July 2017

First Samoan Assembly of God Church, Portland: photo by Austin Granger, 25 October 2017

Sunnyslope. Phoenix, Arizona.: photo by Dean Terasaki, 13 October 2017

"Natural Protected Area" - Totally Tore Up. 13508 Factory Lane, Louisville, KY 40215.: photo by EX22218 - ON/OFF, 15 October 2017

"Natural Protected Area" - Totally Tore Up. 13508 Factory Lane, Louisville, KY 40215.: photo by EX22218 - ON/OFF, 15 October 2017

Sinh. This is Sinh (with an "H", he will adamantly tell you) - If I understood him correctly, he came here to the US roughly 8 years ago from Vietnam looking for a better life - for freedom. He works hard - he is in this shop every day, all day long, not sure how many days - at least 6, non-stop. He is a wonderful gentleman. He says many of the customers leave their shoes and purses there (many quite expensive) and never return to retrieve them (or pay for them). After a certain period of time (I think he said a year) they donate them to Goodwill - "For the People", he says. But there is a deep down sadness to his eyes. I had to ask him a couple of times to smile before I could get this one, but I got it!  Many people I speak with who come here from oppressed Countries tell me they only knew of what they saw in "Hollywood" - that one could flourish here. Many have lost their hopes and dreams and are unable to return to their home Countries, leaving family members behind. Yet so many of us here have no compassion or empathy for people like Sinh who gave up everything they had to try to find hope for a better life - and here he is. But he seems to accept his fate and does what he feels he has to do - but he is a polite, charming individual and a joy to deal with. I hope he finds his freedom in life one day.[Winding Falls, KY]: photo by EX22218 - ON/OFF, 31March 2016

Los Angeles...: photo by byron segraves, 23 January 2015

Los Angeles...: photo by byron segraves, 23 January 2015

Heydlauff's and Jiffy [Chelsea, MI]: photo by Ben Thompson, 12 August 2017

Gratis [LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, 25 October 2017

Grand Avenue. Phoenix, Arizona.: photo by Dean Terasaki, 22 October 2017

Move it [Eastside, LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, 25 October 2017

Bomber gas station, diagonal view, Route 99 E., Milwaukie, Oregon: photo by John Margolies, 1980 (Library of Congress)

Harold's Auto Center, horizontal view, Sinclair gas station, Route 19, Spring Hill, Florida: photo by John Margolies, 1979 (Library of Congress)

Hat n' Boots gas station, overall view, Route 99, Seattle, Washington: photo by John Margolies, 1980 (Library of Congress)

Hat n' Boots gas station (1945), boot restrooms with hat behind them view, 6800 [East] Marginal Way [South], Route 99, Seattle, Washington: photo by John Margolies, 1977 (Library of Congress)

Citgo gas station, overall view, Route 2, Superior, Wisconsin: photo by John Margolies, 2003 (Library of Congress)

Longhorn Cafe, Amado, Arizona: photo by John Margolies, 1979 (Library of Congress)

William Strode: The River's Clouded Glory / A Lingering Cloud (1972)
 

Burning barge on the Ohio River, May 1972

The beautiful river Ohio, bounds Kentucke in its whole length, being a mile and sometimes less in breadth, and is sufficient to carry boats of great burthen. Its general course is south 60 degrees west; and in its course it receives numbers of large and small rivers, which pay tribute to its glory.

John Filson (c. 1747-1788), in The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke (1784)  
  
All photos in this section of the post by William Hall "Bill"Strode (b. Louisville, Kentucky 5 August 1937, d. Versailles, Kentucky 15 May 2006) for the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA Project(U.S. National Archives)

A liquid chlorine barge, after breaking loose from its tug, became lodged against the McAlpine dam on the Ohio River and could not be set free, Louisville, Kentucky, March 1972

Shop evacuated when a barge carrying liquid chlorine threatened to spill its poisonous contents. Liquid chlorine is stored under pressure, and if a leak occurs, it changes into a poisonous gas. The barge carried enough liquid chlorine to devastate much of the City of Louisville, April 1972

The streets of the Louisville waterfront area, Portland, deserted following evacuation. A barge carrying liquid chlorine had broken loose from its tug on the Ohio River and was in danger of spilling the poisonous contents, March 1972

Louisville mayor Frank Burke ordered 4800 residents of the waterfront area known as Portland to evacuate, April 1972

A worried mother and her child leave Louisville by bus after the city was evacuated, March 1972

A nurse helps an elderly patient leave Louisville Memorial Hospital during the evacuation, March 1972

Paddle wheel steamboats docked at the new Louisville waterfront on the Ohio River, May 1972

Picnic on the Ohio River, May 1972

Small pleasure craft goes aground on banks of the Ohio River, June 1972

Participant in the Louisville Spring Regatta, June 1972

Participant in the Louisville Spring Regatta, June 1972

The Ohio River, June 1972

Boaters unload canoe near the Ohio River, September 1972

The Ohio River, June 1972

Automobile junkyard can be seen from high rise buildings in downtown Louisville, September 1972

Smog over Louisville and Ohio River, September 1972

Smog hangs over Louisville and Ohio River, September 1972

Smog, Louisville, September 1972

Tennessee -- near Nashville, September 1972

Traffic on Highway 25 exit off of Interstate 65, Nashville, Tennessee, September 1972

Near Pittsburg, Tennessee, September 1972

Visual pollution along Interstate 24, Pittsburg, Tennessee, September 1972

Visual pollution, South Pittsburg, Tennessee, September 1972

Magazines and newspapers litter a downtown Louisville street after debris was spilled from a passing truck, September 1972

Magazines and newspapers litter the intersection of Sixth and Broadway, Louisville, after debris was spilled from a passing truck, September 1972

Pool hall, Louisville, April 1972

Pool hall, Louisville, Kentucky, June 1972

Belle of Louisiana, a paddlewheel steamboat owned by Louisville and Jefferson County, May 1972

Wedding on the Belle of Louisiana, May 1972

Bride and groom at wedding reception on the Belle of Louisiana steamboat, May 1972

Steamboat on the Ohio River, June 1972

Paddlewheel steamboats seen from the banks of the Ohio River, May 1972

The Ohio River, September 1972

The Ohio River, May 1972

Smog lingers over Louisville skyline, September 1972

Litter left in the Ohio River, June 1972

Smog lingers over Louisville skyline, September 1972

Savage God 

 

 
Wahine Tane: carving of woman and man embracing, representing Papatuanuku and Ranginui, primal couple of Maori mythology, Maketu, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, c. 1870 (Auckland Museum): photo by Kahuroa, 2006

Tyson, directed by James Toback: a review. All texts below spoken by Mike Tyson from the film, copyright Sony Pictures Classics, 2008

______________________________

The first question we ask is, Who am I?

Language, language, multiple voices, voices fighting each other, the makeup of the mind, madness, madness, the chaos of the brain...

______________________________

Cus D'Amato told me, If you don't have the spiritual warrior in you, you'll never be a boxer. And he said, You can be champion of the world. I'm gonna cry... I started believing in this old man. I changed my whole life. I turned my whole life over to boxing. I turned into a complete animal. If he told me to bite, I'd bite. I was like his dog. He broke me down and rebuilt me. He changed me into a completely different person. It was a father-son relationship.

Once he spoke to me, I knew that nobody physically was ever going to fuck me again. I never had to worry about anybody bullying me again. I knew that would never happen again, because I knew that I would fucking kill them if they fucked me again.

Tyson vs. Holyfield I, 1996, fight poster: image by Eqdoktor, 2007

______________________________

I deal with a huge inferiority complex. As a little boy I was fat and everybody picked on me. So now I never back down from a fight. I am not somebody who will walk away from a street fight. In a fight in the streets, not like in the ring, it has to be almost to the death; because you never know, if you don't beat him half to death, he'll come back with a gun, or come back with a friend with a gun, or come back with a gang of people. So normally a fight in the street is deadly.

______________________________

There's nothing like fighting when you're young and you're happy. There's nothing more deadly and nothing more proficient than a happy fighter. Everybody believes it's the mean and the surly fighter, but that's not true -- it's the guy who's more relaxed. He's the guy who loves what he does, and he's just happy to be in there doing what he does.

______________________________

When Cus died, it was like I lost my whole life. I didn't know where to go from there. I was nineteen years old, I didn't know what to do with my life. I felt vulnerable, I felt lonely, I felt naked to the world. I just felt like a very young boy. It was just a horrific time for me.

______________________________

I've always been interested in women. They have a magnetic force for me. I'm drawn to them. I have a knack for talking to them. I love conversation. I love talking to women.
______________________________

Every punch was thrown with bad intention and the speed of the devil.

My job was to hurt people. I loved fighting not because I liked to hurt people but because I liked the after-effect of fighting. That meant I had got the job right. Once I got the job done correctly, that was my satisfaction of it all.

______________________________

When I'm in the dressing room, five minutes before I come out, my gloves are laced up, I'm breaking my gloves down, I'm pushing my knuckles against the leather in the back of the gloves, I'm breaking down the middle of the gloves so my knuckles can pierce through the leather, I can feel my knuckles piercing against the tight leather of the Everlast boxing gloves.

I have total confidence. When I come out I'm totally afraid. I'm scared to death. I'm afraid, I'm afraid of everything, I'm afraid of losing, I'm afraid of being humiliated... But I'm totally confident, the closer I get to the ring the more confidence I get, all during my training I've been afraid of this man, I thought this man might be capable of beating me, I've always stayed afraid of him... But the closer I get to the ring, the more confident I get, once I get to the ring I'm a god, no one can beat me.

I walk around the ring but I never take my eyes off my opponent. I keep my eyes on him, even if he's ready and pumping, he can't wait to get his hands on me as well. I keep my eyes on him, I keep my eyes on him, I keep my eyes on him. Then once I see a chink in his armor -- boom, one of his eyes may move, and then I know I have him. And then when he comes to the center of the ring he still looks at me with this piercing look, as if he's not afraid. But he's already made that mistake; when he'd looked down for that one-tenth of a second, I knew I had him. He'd fight hard for the first two or three rounds, but I knew I'd already broken his spirit. During the fight I'm supremely confident, I'm moving my head, he's throwing punches, I'm making him miss and I'm countering, I'm hitting him to the body, I'm punching him, and when I'm punching him I know he's not able to take my punches. One, two, three punches. I'm throwing punches in bunches, he goes down, he's out, I'm victorious. Mike Tyson, the greatest fighter that ever lived.

Indian cobra, Naja naja, near Hyderabad: photo by Kamalnv, 2008

______________________________

What I want in a woman is protection, loyalty, friendship, companionship. Ferociousness. I want her to protect me, and have my back, to the bitter end. If I have a fight, I want her to jump in, even if I'm winning, even if she's ninety pounds.

I like strong women -- not necessarily a masculine woman, but a strong woman, say a woman that runs a corporation, a CEO of a corporation, I like a strong woman with confidence, massive confidence, and then I want to dominate her sexually. I like to watch her like a tiger watches their prey after they wound them, I want them to remember me, in a bizarre way I want her to love me -- and watch them, just watch them, I want her to keep her distance for at least twenty to thirty minutes before I devour them, and take them to the point of ecstasy. I love saying No all the time; when I'm making love, when they ask for something, I say No. What I want is the extreme, normally what they want is not as extreme as what I want. So I'll only give them a little, and they'll give me a lot. I won't let them turn me around. I don't like being loved, I don't feel like being loved, I don't like being loved, I have too much love, I have too much love to give, and none to accept. I turn around when I want to turn around -- No. I want to ravish them, completely.

Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris malayensis): photo by B cool, 2007

______________________________

I lost that belief in myself, once Cus died. I lost my mentor, I lost my friend.

I just never had the basics of putting all my life in a structure. It comes from my childhood, I never had the tools that a basic child had, the mother and the father and the whole tradition of family, where we work out our problems, I never had that particular type of life, I just looked out for me, me, me, and if there's a problem, I'm just gonna handle it my way, or else I'm gonna run. And I just was never able to decipher a problem, to decode a problem, everything was cryptic to me, and when it got too cryptic I just booted out of the situation.

______________________________

Being in prison was the most horrible time of my life. I lost my humanity. It took the whole life out of me. I never again trusted anyone, including myself.By going to prison I lost my faith of trust in God. I became a Muslim in prison, but I really lost my faith in myself, I became almost inhuman. I have seen things that I couldn't understand one human being doing to another person... My insanity was my only sanity. I used Islam because I was bitter at the world. But later I became more humble. Because that's what Islam is all about, Islam is about humanity.

When I was in prison I put a tattoo of Mao on me, I put a tattoo of Che on me, because I hated my government so much. I wanted to put a tattoo on my face, I was going to put a tattoo of hearts, but then a friend told me about this other tattoo, I put this tattoo on instead, it represents a New Zealand warrior tribe called the Maori. They had face tattoos, because when they went into combat, they scared the enemy.

After prison I was afraid of everybody, I was scared of everybody and everyone. I felt like everyone was against me. I was paranoid. I thought everybody was gonna hurt me.

Mike Tyson in the ring, Las Vegas: photo by Octal, c. 2006

______________________________

When I was heavyweight champion of the world, I believed I ruled the world. I had homes all over the country, I had luxurious apartments all over the country, I had the most exquisite of cars, but I loved leeches. Leeches -- I wanted them to suck my blood. I just wanted them to suck all of my blood, and then I'd sell my blood, and then I'd buy my blood back again from them, and allow them to suck it again -- and that was my downfall, I associated with so many leeches. I guess everybody has their purpose in life. I call them leeches, and that's not from a negative perspective either, I say that because I allowed that to happen. And in some aspects I guess I'm a leech as well, because I allowed them to suck, and I'd suck from them. So it was a give and take situation. So there's no one to blame, truly, but myself.

Leech (Hirudinea): photo by Shizhao, 2006

______________________________

I think controlling money is an art -- it's an art to control money. I'm an extremist, because either I have a lot of money or I have none. I can't live in the center, I'm just not that kind of person. I don't know why I'm that way. No one can understand the mind of an extremist. 

People can judge me but they can't understand my mind -- nobody, if they don't have that extreme addict personality, could ever understand how a guy could blow three hundred or four hundred million dollars. It's as if I have to live at the top of the world or I have to live at the bottom of the ocean. I don't know how to live in the middle of life.

Money is like paper blood, you know, you need it to live. But I just like to use it help people, I like to spend it. Sometimes I neglect myself, but I make myself happy with it as well. I never thought I would live long enough to really enjoy anything. So I've been living pretty reckless. I never had any idea I would live to be forty years old. I don't have as much money as I used to have. And I don't really care, because I don't really care that much about money. But I wish I was smarter. But... old too soon, smart too late.

______________________________

If I have any anger, if it's directed at anyone, it's directed at myself, because I should have known myself better. There are things I should have accomplished in my life, and things that I have done that were very harmful toward the people that I loved the most.

I don't like the person that I've become. I just want to be a decent human being. I can't make up for the past. What I've done in the past is the history, what I'm gonna do in the future is a mystery.

Tyson, directed by James Toback, 2008, film poster: image via Sony Pictures Classics

______________________________

 

Great listening to @ianfinch talking digital disruption @IoDNorthWest this morning. Greatest. Quote. Ever. #tyson #bima #iod: image via Owen Cotterell @owencotterell, 18 October 2017

Bite Off His Other Ear [Philadelphia]: photo by David Grim, 22 August 2017

Bite Off His Other Ear [Philadelphia]: photo by David Grim, 22 August 2017

Bite Off His Other Ear [Philadelphia]: photo by David Grim, 22 August 2017