The Adventures of Tiki Chris!: Chickamauga

Showing posts with label Chickamauga. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Why I Love Facebook (and Hate My High School Nickname)

A really friendly feller I knew in high school (when sadly a lot of people referred to me as Ozzy) left this comment on a recent Facebook status I posted:

Ozzy, your photos and stories make my day Brother. Party On.

I love it ... and by all means I do indeed intend to PARTY ON!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Chris Osburn Photography Exhibition, Summer 2009, Leeds College of Art & Design

I've been champing at the bits to announce the following news: I am to exhibit a series of photographs at Leeds College of Art & Design from 29th June - 11th September.

For the exhibition, I will travel to my hometown of Chickamauga, Georgia (and the general nearby environs of Chattanooga, Tennessee) to shoot pics which depict the area’s transition from agrarian roots to the commodity/service industry culture of today. Hopefully, I will be able to capture these dynamics within the context of the sucky economy and the presidential election.

I look forward to the opportunity to document these changes and to take advantage of any chances to photographically gawk at rednecks. I have a love/hate relationship with the corner of the world where I was brought up; this exhibition should provide me with an excellent channel for examining my relationship with my home culture and heritage.

Essentially, I plan to head over at Christmas and stay on through most of January. I’m sure I’ll blog heaps about the experience whether via this blog, my travel blog, one of my mobile blogs (tikichris to go, tikichris mobile portrait blog) or perhaps even a blog specifically created to chronicle the expedition down south and my show up in Leeds. Blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog. Oh yeah, I’ll probably tweet a whole hell of a lot about it too.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

California Road Trip: Ginger

I’m back from an incredible adventure along the California coast. Arriving on Halloween, I started in LA, dipped down to San Diego for Tiki Magazine’s “Tiki Island at the Bali Hai” art show and then cruised up to the Bay Area for the Tiki Central Tiki Crawl with all sorts of memorable pit stops along the way. Most of the time, travel buddies Tiki Racer (who'd flown over from England with me) and Chongolio (who’d flown in from Kauai) were by my side. In retrospect, the whole trip seems very Wizard of Oz, with fascinating characters, new and old friends making appearances and plenty of lessons learned. However, when it came time to fly back, I was clicking my heels wishing I could stay just a little bit longer.

Like I said on Thursday, I've got a lot to be thankful for. A great example of thanks-worthy stuff is that I was able to spend some quality time with my old friend Ginger while in California. I've known Ginger for about a quarter century. She comes from the same small town as I do and (I'm happy to report) is still just as awesome and as individual as ever. These days, she lives in San Francisco, which is where I ended up hanging for a few days toward the end of my trip.

Make sure to check out all my California Road Trip posts!

Photography by Chris Osburn © 2007

Sunday, September 02, 2007

What could be better than Momma's deviled eggs?

Momma's Deviled Eggs
Photography by Tiki Chris © 2007

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

New Music Showcase: Ash Valley

For my first New Music Showcase post, I've chosen Castle in the Clouds by Ash Valley, a band from my hometown of Chickamauga. And, I'm happy to report that it's really, really good!

In the spirit of Hank Williams’ "A Mansion on the Hill," Castle in the Clouds deals with the “struggles of downcast valley folk.” Ash Valley vocalist/lyricist Andy Ampersand explains:

I grew up the son of blue-collar workers and have always been acutely aware of the brilliant metaphor inherent in the fact that the wealthy live in lofty mansions that overlook the plebeians down in the mournful, laboring valley.

Andy's conceptual valley provides ample opportunity for him to wax metaphorical. The album's 10 songs are a series of character sketches of individuals who have “lost their faith and hope and have fallen into spiritual/emotional valleys of despair.” However, all is not lost. The title song closes the album with the possibility of "triumph over seemingly-insurmountable circumstances."

Sounds like a John Edwards speech? Kinda. Fortunately, as "mournful and laboring" as Ampersand's lyrical downs may be, a mountain of music rises above to inspire. Elements of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy are happily noted as well as Bruce Springsteen's folkier side. Each song is sincere and catchy - pleasant to play with plenty of aural texture should listeners decide to dig a little deeper. Castle in the Clouds steadily moves from song to song while retaining a dynamic intensity.

For all its blue collar/Appalachian positioning, listening to Castle in the Clouds elicits the same response as a lot of British pop. This is fuzzy sweater music. Electronic bleeps and blips weave in and out of an otherwise acoustic landscape. I'm reminded of ear candy classics by the Cure and of kooky Welsh bands from the Nineties - just a little less quirky and a bit more earnest. As incongruous as this blend may seem to imagine, it works.

The ideal cover art for the next Ash Valley album? Think Howard Finster meets Pete Fowler.

Castle in the Clouds is a very listenable set of songs and an impressive first release!

Click here to visit Ash Valley's MySpace profile where you can listen to samples from Castle in the Clouds and purchase a copy (CD or download) for yourself.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Lookout Mountain

Lookout Mountain
Photograph by Tiki Chris © 2007

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Chattanooga Foodie Tour

Wondering why I look a bit puffy in this photo? It probably has something to do with the research I did for ontoTravel's Chattanooga Foodie Tour.

Click here to check out my report of some of the best grub in and around Chattanooga, Tennessee.