Just Like Fire Would

Neolithic blade.

Found near Bremen, Germany, in August 2011.

I found this Neolithic blade made of either chert or flint while I was working in field archaeology last summer. It took me a while to take a picture of it and post it on here. I'm not too obsessed with the Neolithic Period - my favourite subjects are the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and certain periods within the first millenium AD - long story short, I don't know much about the Neolithic. A date of something between 4000 and 6000 BC should be fairly accurate though. I found a similar one on this website... that artifact is bigger in size though, and better in quality. I believe that the manufacturer of the blade I found didn't finish his job, maybe because he had to move on to another place.

Anyway, the find I made isn't anything special, but I wanted to share it on here because quite a few people have asked me why I chose to study archaeology. Here's my answer: It has been my childhood dream to become an archaeologist, and while I'd rather keep my part-time job as a bartender and turn that one into a full-time job after graduation, it's been a great three years and I loved almost every minute of it. I certainly loved the work out at several excavation sites across Northern Germany. To find something that has been buried for a few hundred, one thousand years or even a few thousand years, something that hasn't been touched by another human being since that day the artifact was forgotten somewhere or got lost, is quite amazing - even if it's only a blade. 

Click here and here to see more pictures of finds I made at excavation sites near Bremen and in Bardowick, respectively.

Blog post title taken from the song by The Saints.

Here I Go Again

No I don't know where I'm going

But I sure know where I've been

Hanging on the promises

In songs of yesterday

And I've made up my mind

I ain't wasting no more time

Here I go again

Here I go again

Though I keep searching for an answer

I never seem to find what I'm looking for

Oh Lord, I pray

You give me strength to carry on

'Cause I know what it means

To walk along the lonely street of dreams

And here I go again on my own

Going down the only road I've ever known

Like a drifter I was born to walk alone

(Whitesnake - Here I Go Again)

Essex, California.

Amboy, California.

June 2009.

Of all the places I've been to, the desert of Southern California is one of my favourites. I can't wait to go back...

Click here to view another recent blog post featuring pictures taken in California's Mojave Desert.


Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to visit Yosemite National Park before I needed to be back in Phoenix for my connecting flight to Newark... Thinking back, I would've preferred to spend more time in the South-West rather than spending a week in the New York / New Jersey - area. This amazing timelapse shows exactly why.


The next thing has nothing to do with this blog post about the American West, but it has something to do with photography, so let me share these stunning photographs of the Northern Lights from National Geographic's website.

Goodnight y'all!

- Dom

Ghost Ships

Ghost ships are sailing on empty seas

The light that was in the darkness

It does not shine on me

Like an old man I run to find the shore

And the light that was in your eyes

Doesn't shine there anymore

(The Saints - Ghost Ships)

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA.

July 2007.
Medium format film.

This is the only picture I liked from a roll of medium format film that I had developed recently. I've always loved lighthouses and of course the sea. Sometimes, I don't like the smell of it... most of the time I do. Isn't it funny that I've been living in Hamburg for three and a half years now but I've not yet been to the city's famous fish market?

I made an attempt at taking a self-portrait earlier today before I went to work. I took the last one in September while in France. Wasn't happy with the results... I'll try to do a better job on my next day off. I'll also try to finally get around to posting a picture of that fascinating find I made when I worked in field archaeology last summer...

Anyway, goodnight now!

- Dom

Word Of Mouth

Now the world is getting older

there's a few things to be said

Do you believe the things they told you

do you believe the things you've read

There's a rumour on the corner

but it's always been denied

'Cause they don't want you any wiser

you're just toeing the party line

From the west side to the east side

from the north side to the south

You'll never get bad information

if you believe in the word of mouth

(Mike & The Mechanics - Word Of Mouth)

Joshua Tree National Park, California.

June 2009.

"A picture is a poem without words."

(Horace)

Apart from my job at the coffee shop, there's another thing that keeps me busy this week. I'm doing research for an upcoming presentation about the Stadtschloss and Neues Museum in Berlin. The former was demolished on the orders of the government of the German Democratic Republic, the latter was destroyed in World War II. The Museum was partially rebuilt and partially restored, the Schloss is work in progress.

One of the things I always liked about the American west are those old fashioned bulb signs and the slightly more modern neon signs. Here are some great links for those of you who enjoy the good old stuff as much as I do: Click here to see pictures taken in the Vegas neon sign museum bone yard; this link will lead you to a blog from the UK; Urban Remains sells what they call architectural artifacts; there is also a Flickr group; last but not least, click here to see some pictures taken by yours truly.

Here's a collection of stunning black & white long exposures. Click here to view photographs of the beautiful Vermillion Cliffs National Monument.

The blog Small Town Noir has been an enjoyable read while I had breakfast this morning. I love mugshots.

It's no secret that I'm a music lover, since almost all posts on this blog feature at least one link to a song. While I've posted links that lead to covers done by professional artists, I've never posted a link to a cover done by amateurs... most of them are just no good... recently however, I came across covers of two of my favourite songs and they're simply awesome: Free Falling (a Tom Petty song) and Ripple (by the Grateful Dead). In addition, I found this wonderful cover of a song by the Bruce Springsteen, The Last Carnival.

Have a great week!

- Dom

Vanishing Point

1st photograph: Sausalito, CA.

2nd photograph: San Francisco, CA.

June 2009.

That guitar theme from "Vanishing Point" is one beautiful tune...

Even though I'm still planning a trip around southern Scandinavia and - in case the friend who wants to come with won't be available - a visit to Israel, I'm already looking ahead to what's coming next. 

It's already been two and a half years since my last visit to the United States, and on account of several invitations to stay at people's places, I couldn't help but think about possible routes. Route 66 - the whole length of it, of course! - is tempting. A coast-to-coast trip would be another option.

I've been to 24 States so far, some of them several times: Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming in 2003; Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, D.C., Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia in 2007; Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, North Carolina and again New Jersey and New York in 2009. You see, the whole Mid West is still a blank spot on my personal map. 

What has always surprised me is that most Americans that I've spoken to have seen less of their own country than I have. 

Anyway, what I'm thinking about is renting a Dodge Charger for ten days and just getting out on the road, into the great wide open, driving all day listening to Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles and the Grateful Dead.

Tell me, doesn't that sound nice?