Life and Other Things I Don't Understand
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Ozzfest
I wasn't planning to go to Ozzfest. It's on a Tuesday, when I'm normally at work. I like Ozzy, and Judas Priest, while I'm not a big fan but I do like some of their music, is doing a reunion tour on the road with the whole festival. But not enough to waste (as I saw it) a vacation day to see the show. Well, that, and the ticket prices are a bit daunting to just see a couple of artists out of the dozen-plus that are filling the bill. Multiply seventy-five dollars by the three of us, throw in the service charges and Ticketmaster's 'convenience fee' and it adds up to way more than seeing the show is worth to me.
Circumstances worked out so that I'm going anyway.
I ended up having to take the day off for Mason's Mid-High registration and school tour. That's over at one. Ed was given free tickets by one of the radio station people he works with regularly. And one of the promoters is someone he also works with on a weekly basis, and he told Ed to call his cell once we're through the gates and he'd escort us to the backstage area and give us all-access passes.
How can I turn down free and all-access? I might be a bit bent, but I'm certainly not crazy.
I hope the next time Def Leppard tours, I'll get this lucky.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Thought For the Day
What has four legs, is big, green, fuzzy, and would kill you if it fell out of a tree?
A pool table.
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Shameless Product Plug
Anyone who uses a digital camera needs one of these. Doesn't matter what kind of camera, be it an SLR (*drool* and I'm envious) or one of the more automated, point-and-shoot style, like my Canon A60.
Imagine shooting a digital picture using your little LCD viewscreen as the viewfinder that you're used to with a traditional film camera. Anyone who's shot digital knows the wonderful advantages of the medium. And the drawbacks. Glare. Parallax if the little viewfinder at the top of the camera shows a slightly different angle of the image than the lens is receiving (well, we didn't really need to include the tops of everyone's heads, now did we?). Parallax is especially vexing if you're used to an SLR, where what is in the viewfinder is what is actually seen through the lens.
I like to shoot in the traditional way, holding the camera near my eye and clicking merrily along. Really, it's the best way to keep the thing steady if a tripod isn't handy (yeah, I keep one in my pocket all the time!) or if a tripod would just be ungainly and burdensome, making the whole idea of taking impromptu or casual photos no longer either one. I found myself comparing the views between the LCD screen and the viewfinder way too often, making sure the shot I wanted was the shot I was going to get. Blur from camera shake (those tiny little trembles that show up as huge movement in photos) was becoming a problem, too; I haven't had blur from that in years. It was beginning to make me want to tuck the digital away with my first automatic point-and-shoot camera that never sees the light of day any more (I just can't bring myself to get rid of any of my old cameras... I'm a camera packrat).
Then an ad in a photo mag showed me this nifty little collapsible soft rubber device that piqued my interest... so I ordered one. It was only twenty bucks, so I figured why not give it a go? The worst it could do would be to change nothing and I'd still be stuck right where I am.
It's beyond cool. The LCD screen is now my through-the-lens viewfinder. I can read all the screen settings (and change them) without moving the camera away from my eye. So I'm not only steadier, I've got more control over the shot in less time.
Check out a Hoodman. (Then try checking eBay, like I did, to find someone selling them new in the package for the same price but without any shipping charges). Ending the frustration is soooo worth it.
The Joys of Summer
Just found the first uninvited guest of the season inside the house. There's always one (and rarely, another follows sometime between June and October). Don't know how he got inside; I swear the house was closed and locked all night long... Nasty little thing it was, too, trying to run off and hide when I turned on a light. Thankfully, I had still had my flip-flops on from watering the lawn, and I managed to chase him down and crush his nasty little butt into the carpet so he couldn't come back later and attack me, as some of his predecessors have.
I hate scorpions.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Happy Birthday!
An oldie, but a favorite of my number one son!
Photo posted by Hello
Happy thirteenth birthday to my Yankee Doodle Mason!
Monday, July 12, 2004
A New Blogger!
The world of blogging has sucked in another one... this time, it's my great friend Ladynight (she's one of the two estie-besties who've been proofing and critiquing the novel I've been working on for a coupla years (and may never get around to finishing if life keeps up at this pace!)).
She's a writer herself, aspiring as I have been to write that Great American Novel (or at least that Great-Selling American Novel) and a damn fine one at that.
So stroll on over to Writer Wannabe and say hello!
Friday, July 09, 2004
How I Spent My 4th of July
Billy Dean, playing "We Just Disagree"
Photo posted by Hello
(I wanted to post this sooner, but the photo-posting program had to be reinstalled first, and I had an absolute bugger of a time doing that without losing all my account settings)
The company Ed works for has an division that manages country music artists, and one of those artists is Billy Dean. Even if you aren't a country music fan (I admit, I'm not), you've probably heard his two biggest crossover hits, "We Just Disagree" and "Somewhere In My Broken Heart." And if you are a country fan, you've probably heard his latest, a remake of John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" that I think I like better than ol' John's original version.
While my other half spent much of the day riding around the outlying areas, playing tour guide with Billy and his manager on rented Harley Davidsons, I did the usual Sunday stuff... laundry, errands, etc. And getting my gear ready for the 4th of July concert and fireworks show.
They came back a little more than an hour before the show was to begin (blew off the sound check, they did), and then it was time for me to have my fun.
Before I go any further, I have to say that Billy Dean is one of the sweetest, nicest people I've ever met. And one of the tallest. He's six-foot four and I felt downright Lillipution.
I've never had an All-Access pass before. Kind of an interesting place to be. Not a great place to take photos though, backstage and from the wings. Too much camera shake and overall stage-shake to really get any decent shots. So I moved into the pit area in front, and started learning how to set the new digital baby to take concert shots. (Manual settings, ISO 400, vivid color and a shutter speed of 1/250 seem to work well, for anyone who gives it a try).
After the fireworks show, as the stagelighting rigs were being taken down and tucked away, I found Billy and my son sharing a funnel cake and shooting the breeze. Who'd've known a Grammy-winning artist could be such a nice, down-to-earth guy? I'm thoroughly impressed. And looking forward to his new album coming out in September... he played some (surprisingly crunchy, heavy) songs from it, and this guy really rocks... southern style.
