The Earth is Singing

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — 6 Comments ↓

The other day I walked down to the ocean, stepped past the rocky shore and the water hid my sandals as the waves lapped playfully around me. I walked knee deep out to my island, where I’ve never been except at low tide, and had the ocean racing around and around the edges, flinging drops up playfully to tickle, to caress. I haven’t felt that alive in a long time.

And as I sat there, with all of the world behind me and only the ocean in view, she began to sing, just for me.

I realized that the old tales of Sirens being evil, luring men to their deaths on the rocks was wrong – that the sailors gave themselves to the water gladly, with full hearts, just to feel wrapped in that sound.

Hugs,
M&M

Photo of the Month – May

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — Leave a reply

Hi Folks:

We didn’t do a lot of shooting in May, but that can make it more difficult to choose one image from the selects that you have! Decided on this image from Marcia because it profiles one of Crystal Przybille’s ‘The Hands of Time‘ sculptures, commemorating Victoria’s 150^th Anniversary in 2012. You can read more about the project here, and you can find a .pdf map of the locations of all 12 of the sculptures here.

The Hands of Time – Holding a Mirror

Okay, that’s it! Now go out and make some photographs!

Hugs,
M&M

Victorious Voices 2015

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — Leave a reply

Hi Folks: This is the third of three posts on recent cultural events we attended here in Victoria… last (for now) but definitely not least! As we’ve written before, the range of activities available here continually amazes us. Last Saturday for example one could choose from:

Creatively United for the Planet Festival
Taking Poetry to the Streets Walk
Seed Exchange at the Central Library
Swan Lake/ Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary Annual Native Plant Sale
Astronomy Day at the Royal BC Museum
Weekend Market at Bastion Square and the Saturday Market at the Hudson Building

and those are only a few examples.

So, in that spirit… Continue Reading →

GVPL Emerging Local Authors Book Launch

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — 2 Comments ↓

Hi Folks:

In an era where some people are questioning the continuing relevance of libraries as a whole, the Greater Victoria Public Library (GVPL)’s answer to that question is a resounding Yes! To that end they’re expanding their connections to the community at large in several interesting ways.* Well, in what is sure to be hallmarked as The Social Event of the Season in Victoria, on the evening of April 10 we were led beyond the silk rope and behind closed doors to an exclusive, invitation-only event!
Continue Reading →

Fashion Machine 2015

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — Leave a reply

Hi Folks:

One of the (many) pleasures of living in Victoria for us is the incredibly broad range of activities available, sweeping across genres from natural to cultural. This is the first of three posts that (briefly) profile examples of what Victoria continually has on offer.

On March 28 and 29 the Royal BC Museum played host to The Makehouse and Theatre Skam in presentations of Fashion Machine 2015. The title itself doesn’t give much away, but if you’re imagining semi-organized mayhem involving talented children, the patient guidance of adults, brave volunteers, pins, needles, sewing machines and the ultimate sacrifice of clothing to fashion, you’d be pretty close! Continue Reading →

Photo of the Month – March

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — Leave a reply

Hi Folks: March was a pretty busy month for us, creatively, and in more ways than one! More details on that in an upcoming blog post. Between the two of us we made over 750 images in March. To some that’s not a lot, but to someone who still thinks in 36-exposure (and 12-exposure) rolls, it’s quite a bit. Mike’s Fuji camera died in February, so in the moment we’re both using our cell phone cameras and Marcia’s little Olympus point and shoot camera.

We selected two images for the photo of the month – one from each of us. On the left is an image of one of Victoria’s cherry trees in full bloom, made by Marcia. Our cherry and plum blossoms usually start in late January or early February, and there are still a few varieties in bloom now. It’s a wonderful treat every year. On the right is an abstract image of sorts made in nearby Beacon Hill Park. Mike captured this because it was the patterns of the leaves that caught his interest.

Cherry Blossoms – photo by Marcia

Leaf Patterns – photo by Mike

Okay, that’s it for March. Now go out and make some photographs!

Hugs,
M&M

Soon to be History: A Collaboration

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — Leave a reply

Hi Folks:

In the James Bay neighbourhood of Victoria, just behind the Legislative buildings, is a roughly six-acre site that is partly parking lot and partly occupied by a combination of heritage houses and unused/underutilized mid-century modern steel office buildings. On the southwest corner is the Michigan Street Community Garden, an icon in the community since 1999.

The landscape of this area, bordered by Menzies, Superior, Government and Michigan Streets will soon be changing dramatically with the beginning of the Capital Park Victoria project. Two of the heritage houses will remain on their existing sites, three others will be moved to new locations on site and the building containing the Queen’s Printer will remain. The rest will be replaced by a mix of business and residential units, courtyards and pedestrian walkways. The developers are seeking LEED Gold or better in all new construction, and hopefully the builders will do their best to reuse/recycle as much of the existing material as possible. Continue Reading →

Photo of the Month – November

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Mike Nelson Pedde — 4 Comments ↓

Hi Folks:

We’ve been working on our 2015 photo calendar templates here at Chez M&M and they’re almost ready, but we wanted to take a short break to include our favourite image(s) for November. It came down to two and we couldn’t decide, so we uploaded them both. As with October’s Photo of the Month post, we’re using the NextGen gallery plugin to display them. Both images were captured with our (Samsung Galaxy S4) cell phones. The one is an image Marcia captured in Beacon Hill Park on her morning ‘commute’. It was a perfect morning, and very little Lightroom work has been done with this image. The second image is of ‘someone’ we pass often. It’s an example of pareidolia (with thanks to Wikipedia – do remember to support them!) but the wisdom in that ancient eye is unmistakable.

[Show thumbnails]

Okay, that’s it. Now go out and make some photographs!

Hugs,
M&M

Free Hugs for Devonte Hart

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Mike Nelson Pedde — 2 Comments ↓

Hi Folks:

You’ve probably seen this image floating around the net, but if you haven’t it’s worth sharing again. We highly recommend you click on the photo to read the story behind it. We’ll wait.

Portland Police Sgt. Bret Barnum hugging 12-year-old Devonte Hart

Portland, OR Police Sgt. Bret Barnum hugging 12-year-old Devonte Hart – click on the image to read the story behind it from The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Continue Reading →

Hugging James Bay

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Mike Nelson Pedde — 3 Comments ↓

Hi Folks:

Okay, we’ll admit it. We’d heard the rumours, of course… spotted people converging in the area… we’d even overheard the conspiratorial whispers of those who claimed to have glimpsed a sighting. We’ve done the research, read the news reports and arranged our own observations with great anticipation, all for naught. Until yesterday. We can now confirm the truth, and we have incontrovertible proof! Victoria has (yet) another ‘Free Hugs’ person!

Hugging James Bay

Who is this (unmasked) woman you ask? Well, you’ll have to wait and ask her yourself. We can tell you, by her own admission, that she comes out to James Bay Square at least once a month, so you’ll have to be patient if you don’t see her on your first foray. She shares great hugs, so your efforts will be well rewarded!

Hugs,
M&M