Quick Takes.

Robin Williams once asked, “If Woody Allen’s dreams are in black and white does Ted Turner buy them and color them in?” That’s funny if you’re old enough to remember when there was a sudden surge of black and white movies being badly colorized and if you’re culturally unaware enough to not be depressed that Robin Williams is dead and Woody Allen is a terrible person—in other words it’s a hilarious joke if you’re living in the late ‘80’s, but it hasn’t aged well.

Anyway, here’s my entry for day three of the Black & White & Pictured All Over Challenge, a little number that I didn’t just turn black and white but also manipulated a bit to get extra shading and sharpness, and I call it Someday My Prints Will Come.

This is my second entry in the Seven Days, Seven Black & White Photos Challenge which seems like it should have a catchier name. Black and white always seems to me to bend toward abstraction, giving different things an often surprising sameness yet also highlighting differences which are unnoticed when the world is in technicolor, which reminded me of the comedian Tom Rhodes who said:

Keep mixing the races until we’re all the same grayish color — then there’ll be no more racism, once we’re all the same shade, man. ‘Hey, gray!’ ‘Who you callin’ gray, gray?’ And then we’ll actually be able to hate someone for the person that they are.

And that in turn inspired me to take this picture which I’ve decided to call Fifty Shades Of Gravy:

There’s still not a catchy name for the photo challenge so here’s a little more Tom Rhodes. There’s some adult language so be sure to crank up the volume and play it for your kids!

If there’s one thing I enjoy it’s a challenge, unless it’s a really difficult or even impossible challenge. Basically what I’m saying is I enjoy a really easy challenge like, say, a crossword puzzle where I can figure out at least half the answers and even if I can’t it doesn’t matter because I’m going to leave it on the bus anyway, but the challenge of defusing a nuclear bomb set to go off in three minutes right in the middle of a crowded circus is not exactly my thing although, now that I think about it, the hardest part would be saying to the crowd, “Well, we’re all gonna die,” and unlike most people I actually enjoy public speaking.

What I’m getting at is that I was challenged by Tom of Tom Being Tom to share seven black and white photos over seven days and I gladly accept. Tom is a fun and interesting guy known for his blog, his devotion to his wife, the Rams, and his dogs, and for being made up of two ounces dry gin, two ounces lemon juice, and one teaspoon sugar, all topped up with soda water and served with a slice of lemon and a cherry, but that’s another story.

This is a challenge going around and there are some really great people who are already taking part (visit some of them here, here, and here). The one part of the challenge I have to demur on is challenging others to share their own photos. I hate putting people on the spot but if you’d like to be challenged say so in a comment and we’ll make it official with a virtual spit and handshake, or just a polite wave if you’re uncomfortable with electronic bodily fluids.

Here’s my first official entry, dedicated to Tom, and called Ale Be Seeing You.