About the only kind of haircut that would fit in a place like this.
8 thoughts on “POTD: High and Tight”
Carolyn A Fifer
I find the alley uncomfortable. Completely ruins the symmetry of the scene. Not a photographic error it’s more of a zoning issue. Probably a legal requirement to maintain the alley but it messes with my desire to see all things neat and orderly.
Two things came to mind when I read your comment Carol. One is that good art sometimes makes you uncomfortable (not that because this photo makes you uncomfortable necessarily means it’s good art). Another concerns your comment about symmetry. I learned (or possibly made up myself) the phrase “symmetry is a highly overrated concept.” That has some interesting implications for art for sure but symmetry is also a big deal in theoretical physics. So, if you want to see a nuclear physicist get spun up in a hurry, slip that comment into a conversation. I know, I tried it a couple of times just for fun with the physicists I worked with at the Idaho National Laboratory back in the day.
Finally I should add that I actually wasn’t too crazy about that gap between the buildings myself, at least at first. But along with the also odd mismatch in building heights, I think it provides a big source of visual interest in the composition. And pragmatically, I will note that spaces between buildings like that were often used, and sometimes required, in order to help prevent or at least slow down the spread of fires from buildings to buildings.
Two things this reminds me of. The building itself looks like the Twinnings Tea Shop in London, England
The gap between the building, although narrower looks like the “close” they have in Edinburgh, Scotland which brings you to another street or an opening where there’s a pub.
Old houses in Toronto, Canada have these gaps between houses which lead to a backyard.
Here in Bozeman there is a narrow walkway between two buildings on busy Main St. leading to an alley behind them. It’s not as narrow s walkway as the one in Belle Fourche but it is notably narrow and oddly placed given the location. About half-way down the walkway is a set of stairs leading to the basement of one of the buildings. I believe it is a tattoo parlor now but back in the 80s it was a bar that had the cheapest price for pitchers of beer in town. We spent a lot of time there on Friday nights with other graduate student friends and some faculty the stat department, I guess trying to zap all those brain cells we’d been busy trying to load with information all week. That effort must have been pretty successful as neither the Fashion Queen or I can remember the name of that bar.
You may have not remembered the name of the bar but you certainly remembered the bar, its location leading to a good time. Names including nouns escape me numerous times per day. It used to bother me but now I know enough people who are aware of my conundrum who will gladly fill me in on my silence as I futilely attempt to find the missing noun.
Years ago I decided to purge my mind of decades of useless information. Just like you would do to a computer, however, I’ve found that I can’t stop the purge.
Purging, the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving. I can speak from experience on that. Just wait till once you remember or are told the noun in question, you can’t remember in what context you were trying to think of it!
I find the alley uncomfortable. Completely ruins the symmetry of the scene. Not a photographic error it’s more of a zoning issue. Probably a legal requirement to maintain the alley but it messes with my desire to see all things neat and orderly.
Two things came to mind when I read your comment Carol. One is that good art sometimes makes you uncomfortable (not that because this photo makes you uncomfortable necessarily means it’s good art). Another concerns your comment about symmetry. I learned (or possibly made up myself) the phrase “symmetry is a highly overrated concept.” That has some interesting implications for art for sure but symmetry is also a big deal in theoretical physics. So, if you want to see a nuclear physicist get spun up in a hurry, slip that comment into a conversation. I know, I tried it a couple of times just for fun with the physicists I worked with at the Idaho National Laboratory back in the day.
Finally I should add that I actually wasn’t too crazy about that gap between the buildings myself, at least at first. But along with the also odd mismatch in building heights, I think it provides a big source of visual interest in the composition. And pragmatically, I will note that spaces between buildings like that were often used, and sometimes required, in order to help prevent or at least slow down the spread of fires from buildings to buildings.
I’m not sure what is at the end of the alley, but it might have added an interesting element if a person were caught passing that gap.
That, or maybe a person going into or coming out of the barber shop itself.
Two things this reminds me of. The building itself looks like the Twinnings Tea Shop in London, England
The gap between the building, although narrower looks like the “close” they have in Edinburgh, Scotland which brings you to another street or an opening where there’s a pub.
Old houses in Toronto, Canada have these gaps between houses which lead to a backyard.
Here in Bozeman there is a narrow walkway between two buildings on busy Main St. leading to an alley behind them. It’s not as narrow s walkway as the one in Belle Fourche but it is notably narrow and oddly placed given the location. About half-way down the walkway is a set of stairs leading to the basement of one of the buildings. I believe it is a tattoo parlor now but back in the 80s it was a bar that had the cheapest price for pitchers of beer in town. We spent a lot of time there on Friday nights with other graduate student friends and some faculty the stat department, I guess trying to zap all those brain cells we’d been busy trying to load with information all week. That effort must have been pretty successful as neither the Fashion Queen or I can remember the name of that bar.
You may have not remembered the name of the bar but you certainly remembered the bar, its location leading to a good time. Names including nouns escape me numerous times per day. It used to bother me but now I know enough people who are aware of my conundrum who will gladly fill me in on my silence as I futilely attempt to find the missing noun.
Years ago I decided to purge my mind of decades of useless information. Just like you would do to a computer, however, I’ve found that I can’t stop the purge.
Purging, the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving. I can speak from experience on that. Just wait till once you remember or are told the noun in question, you can’t remember in what context you were trying to think of it!