"Paint It Black, you devils. Paint It Black!" screamed a woman at a Rolling Stones concert one night, and her words are preserved forever since her raucous shouting made it onto the next Stone's album.

I think of that woman's shouting appropriate as the first words of my first weblog because of the decison to use a black backgound for this web site and because of the same strong feeling of not being able to hold back what one wants to say, what one wants to hear.



Introductory/First topics are:
1.) Comments on the Stones New World Wide Tour
2.) Graphic Design Considerations Concerning Black Backgrounds
3.) Bravely Plowing into Wild World Affairs
4.) NASA and Lance Armstrong back on track
5.) The Winning Ideas of the Day
6.) Native American Indian Dancing Video
(If it works for you. Quicktime may be required)



Since the 'Icons of Rock,' The Rolling Stones are beginning what is arguably their last World-Wide Concert Tour, and coming out with what could be their last album, a great deal of their music has been pulsating on airwaves lately and trying to ignore a Rolling Stone song is like trying to ignore being hit with a brick.

Some say The Stones should retire and rename their Band & new tour: The Kidney Stones. How unkind. Mick Jagger may very well insist on doing concerts even in his wheelchair days. All the more power to him; Keep on Keeping on.

A decision was made to go with a black background on this new blog ("Paint It Black"). Totally black. Super gothic. White text. A site that would hit you in the face like a Humphrey Bogart down-on-his-heels detective coming out of a dark alley.

A black background is just so post-90's pre-apocalyptic hip, You can wear black anywhere. It doesn't show dirt so well. Every woman, I've heard it said, should have a "nice little black cocktail dress," -- although cocktail parties are so pre-60's, historic, past tense.

Today many Web photographers prefer black for their backgrounds. In some sub-communities anything other than boring Billy Gates gray and pastel Windoze blue is appreciated.

Having said that about Bill Gates, the richest private citizen in the world, and questioning the age-appropriate activities of The Rolling Stones, "the Icons of Rock, this blog is bravely prepared to plow on into the current state of world affairs.

Bill Gates. Mick Jagger. The President of the United States of America. The Pope. Foreign and domestic policies. No target is too big to tumble. With all due respect. Freedom of speech is one of the great strengths of our democracy, giving us the ability to heal and to grow.

The power of words can be great or small; read or unread; sometimes feeling like lava needing to burst out of a volcano; sometimes sinking like a lead baloon. Either way, these words feel like they have to be said, sort of like grass that could no longer remain buried under concrete.

It's a wild world. Nothing is sacred . Nothing is double super-secret. It's doubtful if the lid can ever be slammed back shut on Pandora's Box. An effort will be made to always include some good news as well as items that may have some "entertainment value."

At the start of this Web log, NASA and the space shuttle have just gone back into space after the tragic Columbia disaster ( not without difficulties). American Lance Armstrong has established a new world record by winning his 7th consecutive Tour de France (not without peddling hard). The Stones are back on tour (not without decades of persistence). Young people are still dressing wild and shouting in the streets (not without surprise).

Thus marks the Time, the Place, the Spirit and First Thoughts at this Weblog's beginning. Some encouraging quotes are below:

"I ask you all to take note of what you saw here today: the power and the majesty of launch, of course, but also the confidence and the professionalism, the sheer gall, the pluckiness, the grittiness of this team that pulled this program out of the depths of despair 2 1/2 years ago and made it fly,"
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin

"Don't worry how you look. Be determined. Don't stop."
Lance Armstrong

"It's alright to let yourself go, if you can get yourself back."
Mick Jagger

P.S. > There's a fabulous, absolutely awesome Rolling Stones Video Remix on the web, at: http://mp.aol.com/video.index.adp?pmmsid=1103893&franchise=MUSIC%3a+Music+Videos&mac_failover=1&sfp=us%2eaol&_AOLFORM=w708.h344.p7.R1

Come around and visit now and then, comment, send email, tell all your friends and neighbors, and, most importantly, enjoy the show. Postings Updated Every Monday.

The next post is a video of Native American Indian dancing at a Pow Wow sponsored by the White Mountains Apache tribe in northeastern Arizona. I filmed this in June, 2005. Broadband probably required. Quicktime Media Player required. A bit of patience may also come in handy.

To get the Quicktime Player for Windows or Mac , copy and paste the following URL:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html



Next week's posting: 'No Beating Around the Bush.