After the radio show last night I decided to pay a brief visit to The Big Top to see Peter King and Sir New England James Alan (1/2 of The Light Rock Express) lay down some lovely light rock. It was beautiful, man.
A few more pics here.
So yea, I’m going to talk about the camera some more.
One of the features I wanted in a new camera was the ability to shoot in black and white (not just converting to B&W in-camera which this one will also do). In the past I have simply desaturated a picture in Photoshop but that just doesn’t compare to capturing the actual image in B&W.
I shot this one of my best friend Jim as we hung out at Onion Creek last night enjoying good conversation and tasty beers:
Here’s Cynthia posing in the garden:
Oh, and isn’t that a lovely blouse Cynthia is wearing? She put that blouse together last weekend. She’s a renaissance woman who can make her own clothing. How awesome is that?
Here’s a color picture:
New camera
I have finally taken the plunge and purchased a digital SLR. I decided on the Sony Alpha DSLR-A100. It was a toss up between this and the Nikon D80 which is slated to be released later this month.
It shoots at an impressive 10 mega-pixels and is extremely feature rich and so far, has proven very easy to use. I purchased the kit that includes a 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. For the extra $100 it’s a great backup lens and is rather versatile.
Wanting a faster zoom lens I added a Tamron AF 28-75mm f2.8 XR Di. This adds even greater flexibility when shooting the style of pics I tend to go after.
The main reasons I went with the Sony are the built in image stabilization and the anti-dust technology. To get image stabilization in the Nikon cameras you have to purchase lenses with that capability and that alone doubles the cost of any decent piece of glass.
For the price point this camera is pretty unbelievable and I think it will suite my needs for some time to come.
I took it for a test spin last night and was pleased with the results.
Come not between the dragon and his wrath
Call it morning driving thru the sound and in and out the valley
When I was driving in the UK several years ago I came to love the roundabouts. Once you get used to them they make a certain amount of sense. My first encounter with them was in Washington DC when I was a teenager with a pretty new driver’s license.
We have a one primary roundabout here in Houston. It’s circles the Mecom fountain down where Main and Montrose come together. It’s pretty standard as far as roundabouts go.
There’s a relatively new one on Washington & Westcott. It’s sort of ridiculous but I rarely have to drive that way.
Then there’s this travesty located in a residential area over near Gessner and I-10.
Benignus and Kingsride.
The sign is amusing.
The roundabout itself is an absolute joke. They’ve taken a very normal 4 way intersection and plopped an obstacle smack dab in the middle.
I think there is at least one more just down the road.
This is what happens when your homeowners association has one puff too many of the wacky tobacky and calls a super secret meeting to come up with new ways to irritate motorists.
Mr. Kamikaze! Mr. DNA!
Last night’s Devo concert was everything I’d hoped it would be and more.
Conn and I arrived fashionably late. When we arrived the one-hit-wonder band, When In Rome, was already on stage and playing their hit “The Promise.” We had pretty much agreed prior to our arrival that missing this band would not hurt our feeling in the least. We used the opportunity to walk the Reliant Arena and catch up with the cast of characters we both knew would be there. Many old friends littered the stadium and it was veritable “who’s who” of the alternative music scene in attendance.
I managed to meet one of the promoters of the event and before long I was the proud owner of one all-access pass. This entitled me to the entire back stage area where I was able to sit and talk with the members of the band and generally relax. Great time talking to Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh as well as Bob and Jerry Casale.
It was a fan-boy dream come true. The pass also allowed me free reign to take all the pictures I wanted after originally having to leave my camera in the car. I only wish I had a better camera. Ah well, that is something that will be remedied soon. I have been eye-balling the upcoming Nikon D80 that is set to come out next month.
The Psychadelic Furs put on a pretty incredible show and I was marvelling at how many songs they had done that I recognized.
The energy was really high but the sound reinforcement was not the best. Not bad, but could have been much better. I noted to Conn that the sound was probably tweaked in favor of Devo and that I had a feeling their show sound much better.
In some ways the audience was just as interesting as the performers. I spotted these guys in the seats directly in fron of ours.
The middle lug-nut in the hard hat thrusting his tentacle fist skyward is Ryan aka Squidflakes and in the foreground is Lunadude who’s real name escapes me. The normally dressed guy with the glasses just behind Ryan is Conn (aka kublaconn) who was my most excellent companion for the evening.
When it was finally time for Devo to take the stage the crowd was in a very good mood. Devo came out strong and played “just the hits”, one after another. It was a high energy show and the guys seemed to be really enjoying themselves.
The crowd was dancing in the isles. I was screaming/singing along at the top of my lungs along with everyone else. Everything sounds great, as I suspected, the sound was completely configured in favor of Devo.
It could not have been a better night. Thanks to Conn for coming along and letting me dork out and be a gushing fan-boy.
Hummingbird sighting
We put the feeders out over a week ago. We really expected there to be activity before now, but we’re not complaining. Two Ruby-throated hummers have been staking out the feeders since around 3:00 pm today.
La la la la la la, live for today
Last night at the Continental Club was one of those nights where the past does not so much collide with the present, rather it pulls up along side and waves kindly and you smile and wave back with a stupid grin as recognition slowly creeps in and pries open the recesses of memory.
On the bill for the evening was Alejandro Escavedo. For all that Alejandro has accomplished I still remember him for his efforts in a band called the True Believers back in the 80’s.
Most of the fans seemed to be more recent converts but there were some from “back in the day” as the kids like to say.
Most notable were long time friends JR Delgado and Toby Blunt.
JR owned and ran one of the most well known punk clubs in Houston, The Axiom. During the 80’s and early 90’s I attended many shows at this particular club. Often referred to as the “Mecca to the Houston Underground” it now enjoys a lesser notoriety as the home of Infernal Bridegroom Productions. My band, The Flying Fish Sailors, had the opportunity to play there on a few occasions. The best show was the one where we opened for The Dead Milkmen.
Toby Blunt is most well known from Mary Jane’s Fat Cat over on Washington but I met him back in the days when he played for Fab Motion. This was a band that had a lot of potential and was even the Houston Press 1989 Band of the Year. I even located this old flyer from the mid 80’s when Fab Motion and The True Believers were on the same bill at Cafe Mode.
I halfway expected to see Chuck Roast and Austin Caustic from the old Funhouse Show on KPFT show up at any given point.
It was a good evening and a great show. It’s good to see Alejandro doing so well. I got some nice pics from last night. Click here to see them.