Hobbies

I am a man of passions. When I get into something, I dont ever just do it halfway....I want the whole enchilada! My latest spicy interest is photography. Its always been a interest of mine, but now that I have a real "big boy" camera I have upped the ante.

I took a class on digital SLR photography and learned that my trusty cheap tripod was a embarrassment to the photography world. With head hung low....I asked what would please the shutter gods....Photo #3 is what I came up with after a long search. A Manfrotto tripod with a joystick ball head. ( easy....all of you beavis and butthead fans!) Its a great versatile tripod that really gives me tons of options to take steady shots from any angle.

Pics 1 & 2 are of my new camera bag/backpack. Its the Tamrac Expedition 5 bag. If you look it up on line...it way too much for what I would want to spend on a bag. But.....I used the patient route. Ebay. I found it for an astounding $80! Its a great bag and it even has straps to hold my tripod if I feel like getting all Ansel Adams and taking a stroll into the woods for some nature stuff! It holds all of the gear I could ever want and is very well constructed. I should have this bag for a long time.

And the final pic. My Guitar. I still am using it, it still is a work in progress. I plan on taking some more classes and making some more progress.

Its really like all hobbies. They exist so you can enjoy something that you know you probably wont make a living at, but still love doing it. I have many of these kind of things.....but at the moment, I am a geeeetar playing shutterbug!

Happy Bday yeee ol Gopman!

Notice I didn't really use the word OLD. Hope you have a great birthday! Wish I was there to help bring it in!

Metallica: Death Magnetic

Picked up the digital download ( paid...legal...as it should be!!!) of this new CD today. All I can say is WOW. Yes, its loud, fast and agressive. But isnt that what it should be???? This is by far the best Metallica in about 20 years. It rocks the little FIT CAR HARD!!!!

Here is a great video from the first single off the CD

The Day That Never Comes. ( its long...hang with it.)

My Son Stars in: Mulan

He was a stoic soldier in this version of Mulan. I asked him later why he had a role with very little speaking but lots of scowling. He said " I wanted to look mean" :-) Gotta love it!

Beware!

Bought this sign at the Minnesota State Fair. Reggie loves it!

Setlist

Good Show . Kinda weird atmosphere for the lads. They really are not a State Fair kind of a band ( and I say that with the utmost respect!). Lots of drunks there...avoided a fist fight with the dude in front of me that grabbed me by the shirt because I wouldn't do "knuckles" with him. I gave him a shove off me and he fell to the ground. I was the sober one....so I just ignored him after that. :-)


Here is the set list. A couple nods to local boy Robert Zimmerman ( Bob Dylan for those not as goofy as me about music!) Can you pick them out????


MOVIN' ON DOWN THE LINE
GOODBYE DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION
BLACK MOON CREEPING
WEE WHO SEE THE DEEP
THORN IN MY PRIDE
WHOA MULE
GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY
QUINN THE ESKIMO
POOR ELIJAH - TRIBUTE TO JOHNSON (MEDLEY)
WELCOME TO THE GOODTIMES
SISTER LUCK
WISER TIME
GOD’S GOT IT
HARD TO HANDLE
WOUNDED BIRD
- encore -
DON’T DO IT

( they cut Mean Town Blues..because the Fair HAS to shoot off fireworks at 11pm sharp!!!!!! ;-( )


Ok...it was Girl from the north country ( my fave bob song) and Mighty Quinn the Eskimo. A nice night out in moonlight.

Black Crowes- Govt Mule

Ever heard of these bands around here? Well here is a song they did together. One of my faves...Sometimes Salvation.

Speaking of the Crowes. I am going to see them tomorrow night at the Minnesota State Fair. Opening for them is a band from Akron Ohio called The Black Keys. Great 2 piece blues band. Check em out!!!!

Govt Mule? They are coming to town for 2 nights in November. Yes, I am going to both shows. As my dear wife asks "Why would you want to see the same band 2 nights in a row?" My answer is " Because they dont ever play the same show,its always a different set list and a different way of playing even the most familiar of their songs". Then she nods and walks away :-)

I am excited as always to have my faves back in town. Just what the Dr. Ordered!

Reggie gets spruced up!

I usually groom Reggie myself. He tolerates my crude methods and occasional mistakes. I still get plenty of complements on how groomed he looks. I know he is a good looking dog, and yet I have always wondered what he would look like if done by a professional.

He got the full treatment today. Nails trimmed, hair combed, triple washed, and smart lookin bandana. I think he looks great! Here is a pic to share!

A sign with history.

If you look at this sign, it seems pretty unremarkable. Its just a piece of wood that has my last name on it. But it has much more of a history behind it.

This sign is 35 years old. It was purchased by my Dad and Mom at the Fresno County Fair and it hung outside my house on Redlands ( yep, that is what the redlands means in the title of my blog). Its one of my prized possessions. I stained it and cleaned it up last weekend and hung it on my shed in the backyard. I look at it from time to time and remember back. Funny how a unremarkable piece of wood can do that.

It has indeed made its Redlands to Maplewood journey...Like yours truly.

A guy and his grill

I had to replace my 3 year old "grill from hell'. It was catching on fire and throwing flames out from the sides. I figured I would practice good safety and buy a webber! Ahhh, yes....look at the satisfied caveman as he smiles next to his new grilling machine!!!! UGGGGGGGG Fire goood!!!!!!! :-)

RIP Mr. Hayes.

Most of the youngsters knew him as Chef on Southpark. I knew him as the dude that did the soundtrack from Shaft. It was the first funky stuff I got into as a 8 year old. First Bernie Mac and now Isaac. A sad weekend.

Another nice shot.

I took this picture from a boat that was bobbing around in the waves. I love image stabilization! Please click the photo to enlarge. Not too shabby of a bird pic!

Along came a spider ( New Trailer)

The Cd Comes out Tuesday ( one day after my B-day-shameless plug!) and I am excited for it. Yes. It will be a gift given to myself. My wife digs Abba...not Alice.

Back From Vacation.

We took a nice trip up north. Check out the nice sights. A interesting sign...a actual phone booth ( yeah we were about 5 miles from the US-Canadian border) and a great shot of a off the beaten track river fall. More shots to come.

Along Came A Spider - Another Tease

Love these trailers, dont you. ( hears crickets.) hahahaa

Old Love- Eric Clapton

What can I say. Love the lyric and love the solo at the 3:30 mark. Mr. Clapton hits all the right notes for me on this song.

Olympus E-510

A couple of weeks ago, I received a little money as a gift and was told to buy something nice. Since the money came from my Father, I thought I would get something that would be around for a long time. As a guy that loves to take a picture and spent some of his youth watching his Dad take pictures and develop them in a darkroom. ( yes, kiddies this was before digital). I knew a camera was the choice to make, not just any camera though..but a Digital SLR.

This camera does it all, it has the one thing in it that I HAD to have. A image stabilizer. The camera that I used for the last 3 years was and still is a good camera. It just was very prone to creating blurred and shaky photos. It drove me nuts! This camera is 10 mega pixels. my previous camera had 4. The clarity is dramatically better. Also, the ability to change lenses is something I have always wanted in a camera. This camera came with a 14-42 mm lens and a 40-150mm lens. Very versatile!

I also received 4 classes at the camera shop ( I bought from a dedicated camera shop and not one of those super mart type places) and know I will learn some new skills from them.

So its a new era of creativity for me. It makes it more cool knowing that a little bit of my dad is in the mix with this piece of equipment.

Photoshop Elements

Through the good fortune of a bunch of rebates and a software credit from the big guy named Bill G. I was able to purchase the big Kahuna of photo editing software. Adobe Photoshop Elements. Yeah, I know there is a professional version...but I aint a pro....or can afford $400 on a program!

There is so much to play with in this program, the challenge is to do something tastefull and not go overboard and make your viewers head hurt from overload!

Here is a little edit of a photo I took last year. Kind of cool, I am sure I will get better as time goes on.

Fireworks Pics

Check out the cool pictures I took of our local fireworks display. I bought a new camera....much better than the one I had before. More on that later.

Along Came A Spider

New trailer for Alice Coopers new CD. Good and creepy...just like I like him. Weird for a guy like me that wont go to a scary movie. Have always loved Alice.