Color Theory and the Circular Enigma (The Secret of the Sea, Pt.III, Chap.1)

Return with the Flaneur for a deeper survey of the poetic marvelous made accessible through muralist environments created by Hilaire Hiler at the San Francisco Maritime Museum.

Diving right in

 The surface world recedes

Between the imagination and the greater imagination

Psychedelic avant le mot

Constant metamorphosis

Poseidon's staircase

Predecessor and precedent for Yellow Submarine, Nemo,et al

myriad schools of day-glow fish

Mermaid and menacing clam
a merman (I should turn to be)

Bones of a ancient fish once used as a ship

In corners and interstices, 

analogues of the deep sea

The mystery of the submarine mind

Sudden efflorescence

Hiler used metallic paint

subject to flashes

The splendor of the nearest, farthest-away

Pop Surrealist immersion
 the profound unconscious

in ordinary day light

Tales told by clouds

of fathomless dimensions beneath the sky
beneath the sea

2.

Permission was granted, the key was turned
 I entered the color chamber

Sensations of unfiltered color pulsed 

in an optical illusion of motion

I meditated long and hard on abstract color theory
it all stacked up

I entered a color trance

Synaesthesia came in like a thousand mandolins

Dreams I had as a kid reading Dr Strange comic books

The all-seeing eye of Agamotto

The circular chamber began lifting off

3.

Nobody on the beach seemed to notice

I kept going upward

 I landed on a hillside at Fort Mason

and soon fell into a deep sleep

Something woke me up

I left the last of the sunlight on the hill 

over the mysterious tunnel

Just enough time left

Last boat departs at eight P.M.

I sailed into a theoretical color field

The Moon, the enchanted bridge,
the sunset lights of the East Bay
calling me toward home

May 2014

Acknowledgement Page (The Secret of the Sea)

The Flaneur extends gratitude and salutations to the rangers, staff, and volunteers of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park. Many of the images for this series were captured within its generous, copious, and admission-free facilities.

Visitor center jam-packed with the local nautical artifacts
Artistic displays, I always find something new

 Old salts with great memories

in front of an aerial shot

 The ships and exhibitions of the Hyde Street Pier 

with a multitude of activities for interested youth

The astounding murals, mosaics, and architecture 

of the Maritime Museum

An abstract ideal even asleep 

Dec 2013- May2014

P. O. O. #1: The Bodhisattva Club

Psychogeography of Old Oakland #1

The loading zone--

 Powered by lotus

A persimmon for Gautama

be conscious of everything

 The Bodhisattva Club

I like to kick the gong around now and then

Excitement builds....we're almost there...

December 2013

June 2014

Berkeley Kite Festival

 

Images from last year's trip to build anticipation for this years Kite Fest...

Did you know that the Bay Area can be rather chilly in July?

the wetland preserve 

armada of kites ahead

 in a steady wind

 Attempt to maintain position in the persistent wind

Fresh air and adventure appeal to every generation
The multitude assembled below watches
contests, pageants, and sundry kite legerdemain

Cephalopods command the scene

Strange gods before me

In the aqueous sky

They scrutinize your scrutiny

Pony rides go counter clockwise in time

On rolling hills enthusiasts populate the firmament

Hopping from kite to kite

One can get almost too high

Relax ... breathe deeply...
peak effects are temporary

This little retinal snake sent goosebumps
Perhaps the solid bank of frigid fog had something to do with it
 Berkeley hills completely occluded

They'll be looking for you to join them this year

28 July 2013

Circling Kezar Stadium

 The Flaneur explores the vicinity of Kezar stadium, uppermost Haight street, and the gateway to Golden Gate park.

 I've come to see my old favorite John Doe, singer, guitarist, song-writer and founder of the greatest West Coast Punk band- X. John is also an actor I've seen in a couple of films noir sur la route. He performed a country flavored set with a steel pedal guitar and a gal who sang a little like his ex-wife Exene. Really a sweet guy he hugged everyone who came up afterward to say howdy.

 I brought my collection of 45 RPM records by X  to get them signed. 

They were signed by singer Exene Cervenka and drummer D.J. Bonebrake

at Lookout records in Berkeley over twenty years ago 

Right after Green Day broke big.
I'm a quite reformed autograph hound but these were unfinished biz.
I got "Adult Books" at the Harvard Coop in Cambridge in 1978--
I might have paid for it, but like the b-side said,
original punks like me,
"We're desperate, get used to it"

The first Hippies evolved here

A strange dream-like lagoon 

welcomes you to the Park from the Haight

The water looks energy drink blue

 Youth enjoying the open spaces and the grand trees

Golden Gate park belongs to all

 These days I stay off the beaten path...

 To climb a well-worn stairway of yore

 Kezar stadium itself

Footraces were taking place, Rome won

The fog slid in floating Twin Peaks tower

Legendary stadium archway still standing tall
The pavilion here is tied to another great memory I have of the original Punk era --
a 1979 show by the Clash. Openers included the Dead Kennedys whose Jello Biafra jumped into the crowd and returned wearing only his belt and the loops to a shred of his pants. He continued on with his knob bob-bob-bobbing along. Then the Cramps did a truly decadent set, with that original guitarist with the white forelock spitting his lit cigarettes into the mob. Lux the excitable zombie climbed on the structure of the stage bouncing it so much it would soon have collapsed.
The Clash had to work hard to follow them but they were always up to the job.

Art grass. 

Barley growing within a fence woven from branches
A feature of a groovy little green next to Kezar

 A bench made from a redwood burl
that Dali might have dug

Farewell for now to my charming discovery

Time to climb the rest of the way to the Judah street

to ride the rail all the way home

1 June 2014