Dublin #1

Another in the new series of tweaking my son's photos.   I asked him a while back if he'd mind me doing some tweaking of his images, and posting them here.  He didn't seem too averse, so here we go.  My goal is to do minor changes, keeping with the original intent (at least my interpretation of the original intent).

See the 1st installment here.   

Here's #2 (tweaked version):

Taken on his trip to Dublin, Ireland as part of the pre-fall semester class he's taking as an incoming freshman.  Posted on his Instagram account 07/29/2018.




Here's the original:

 Still trying to keep it subtle, if not quite as simple as last time.  Main adjustment was rotating to straight, a very slight perspective adjustment, and minor levels adjustment.  Some burn & dodge for local lighting.  And a very slight "Simplify" to take out some harshness.  A crop to clean up from the rotate / perspective.  And crank the saturation down to offset the slight increase from the other changes.  I tried a B&W version, but didn't like it as much.

So, what do you think?

Again:  photo credit:  Matthew Lawhead.  modified / posted with permission.

The Bridge to the Future

So, my 18y/o son got a smart-phone (LG 30?) earlier this summer, and been taking a lot of photos with it.  A lot of really good photos (IMHO).  Anyway, I asked him a while back if he'd mind me doing some tweaking of his images, and posting them here.  He didn't seem too averse, so here we go.  My goal is to do minor changes, keeping with the original intent (at least my interpretation of the original intent).

I hope to make this an occasional series.

First up:  "A Bridge to the Future":

Adjusted:

This was taken during a visit to one of the big accounting firms in Pittsburgh, as part of the pre-fall semester class he's taking as an incoming freshman.


Here's the original:

I didn't do much, as you can see.  slight perspective adjustment, crop out some distracting area at top right, levels, and color balance.

So, what do you think?

Again:  photo credit:  Matthew Lawhead.  modified / posted with permission.

Hummingbird Don't Fly Away, Fly Away....

So...

One of my friends at work decided to put up a hummingbird feeder, just outside the window we share.  Frankly I figured we'd never see anything.  We're in a pretty developed area, not especially near anything I'd expect to normally draw hummingbirds.  And for 4-5 weeks, there was no evidence of anything.

And then last Wednesday, boom!  We have hummingbirds!  And every (work)day since.  They were probably here over the weekend, but no one was here.  Pretty cool.  My friend went out and bought a networked camera, complete with phone ap.  So here's a snapshot of one of our guests:

And from the same camera, a video:

Hummingbirds are always fun!

So. I was discussing the whole thing with my wife, and she proceeded to pick up a hummingbird feeder at a yard sale where she was helping.  And less than 24 hrs later, at least 1 hummingbird has found it.

Anyway, all fun.
And the title, of course is from the Seals and Crofts song, which peaked at #20 in 1973.
Hummingbird

Happy Ansel Adams' Birthday!!

Ansel Adams was born on this day (2/20) in 1902.  Adams was, of course, a rock star in the world of photography, famous for his black and white landscape photography. 

Ansel Adams was a significant inspiration when I was learning photography.  I'd like to say influence, but that would give myself too much credit I think. I remember studying the images in his books in my high school library, and seeing his exhibit at the Smithsonian back in the early 80's. 

It has been over 30 years since he died, but his photographs live on.

So, what are YOUR favorite Ansel Adams photos?

My top 3 are:

Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico

- - - - -

Tenaya Creek, Dogwood, Rain

- - - - 

And a pretty obscure one:

 

Road After Rain, Northern California

Allentown

So...  not quite two weeks ago, I posted that I had walked 791 miles in 2017, about equivalent to a drive from STL to Washington DC suburbs.  That's all fine and dandy, let's shift to the musical spirit that's more common here.

As of this week, I've walked the equivalent of travelling from my home to Allentown, PA.  That old steel-town that's a bit north of Philly, and only known to most people as the subject of the Billy Joel song.

Billy Joel's Allentown is from the 1982 album The Nylon Curtain.  Propelled by a music video, back when music videos were the "new thing", it reached #17 on the Billboad charts...  One of 23 Top 20 hits he released between 1977 and 1993...

 I think it has been more than 25 years since I've been to Allentown...  I've only been there on business, don't really have strong opinion one way or the other.....  But I was never a huge fan of the song.  I guess the comparatively upbeat music clashing with the quite depressing lyrics...  But I've warmed to it over the subsequent years.

Emerson Lake And Palmer!

I couldn't resist...  saw this on Facebook.

Meanwhile, CARL PALMER’S ELP LEGACY is coming to the Wildey later this month.  I'm tempted, but probably won't go.   There's a few seats left, but not many.

Saturday Night Sing Along

What Would You Do? (142)

Over at 365project, folks do periodic challenges.  I've posted frequently here about the album cover challenges, for example.  Another is What Would You Do/ or WWYD.  The previous winner posts a photo, and others show how they would edit it.  I think it's a fun challenge and I usually participate.  Above is my image for the current WWYD (#142).  Below is the starting point:

And a link to all the entries.  There are some that are quite clever.

Brilliant

Happy Birthday Elvis!

That's right, folks.  Today (1/8/15) is Elvis' Presley's 80th birthday.  Or would be his 80th birthday, if he were alive.  Elvis, of course, is King.  the first huge rock star, and a cultural icon of 20th century America.

 

No matter which era of Elvis you prefer, or even if you (somehow) don't prefer Elvis, you can't deny his impact. 

I don't have to tell y'all what's been on the iPod today....

Pop Music - December 1974

Wordle from lyrics of Fire

Looking at American Top 40 charts for December, 1974... 40 years ago this month: What songs made their Top 40 debut? What was new and trending?

Well, there were 20 songs entering the Top 40 during December 1974 (4 weeks).  Including a whopping six (6) eventual #1s!  Here they are, ranked by eventual peak:

•  Best Of My Love  - Eagles - #1
• Please Mr. Postman  - Carpenters - #1
• Fire  - Ohio Players - #1
• Pick Up The Pieces  - Average White Band - #1
• Mandy  - Barry Manilow - #1
• Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds  - Elton John - #1
• Some Kind Of Wonderful  - Grand Funk Railroad - #3
• Morning Side Of The Mountain  - Donny Osmond - #8
• Never Can Say Goodbye  - Gloria Gaynor - #9
• Get Dancin'  - Disco Tex and The Sex-O-Lettes - #10
• Doctor's Orders  - Carol Douglas - #11
• Rock 'N' Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)  - Mac Davis - #15
• Dark Horse  - George Harrison - #15
• Ride 'Em Cowboy  - Paul Davis - #23
• Dancin' Fool  - Guess Who - #28
• From His Woman To You  - Barbara Mason - #28
• Dream On  - Righteous Brothers - #32
• Ruby, Baby  - Billy "Crash" Craddock - #33
• The Entertainer  - Billy Joel - #34
• The Heartbreak Kid  - Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods - #39

I was able to find 17 of these 20 songs on Spotify.  And added to a playlist covering all of 1974.  It includes 228 of the 251 songs which entered the Top 40 in the entirety of 1974. I'm pretty impressed that they have over 90% of these songs...

Check it out: http://open.spotify.com/user/lsqrd42/playlist/23G0cY9o6mflTaGwievQ9z

November 1974

A little late this month, but continuing the series, (Jan, Feb, Mar ,Apr, June, July, Aug, Sep, Oct):

November 1974... 40 years ago this month. 

Meanwhile....  What was happening in music?

Albums released in November include:

• Heart Like A Wheel - Linda Ronstadt (#164 on Top 500 Albums)
• Cantamos - Poco
• Autobahn - Kraftwerk
• The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - Genesis
• Fire On The Mountain - Charlie Daniels Band

I've had all of these since they were current.....


As for singles, 4 songs topped the charts in (the 5 weeks) of November 1974:

• I Can Help - Billy Swan (10/23/74 and 10/30/74)
• You Haven't Done Nothing - Stevie Wonder (11/2/74)
• You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Bachman Turner Overdrive (11/9/74)
• Whatever Gets You Through The Night - John lennon (11/16/74)

A few really good songs made their Top 40 chart debuts.  Notables (IMHO) include:

• Junior's Farm - Paul McCartney (peaked at #3)
• Bungle In the Jungle (peaked at #12)
• Ain't Too Proud To Beg - Rolling Stones (peaked at #17)
• Willie And The Hand Jive - Eric Clapton (peaked at #26)

September 1974

Continuing the series, (Jan, Feb, Mar ,Apr, June, July, Aug):

September 1974... 40 years ago this month.  For me, I was starting High School.  Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon.  And then announces conditional amnesty for US Vietnam War deserters.

On a lighter note....  What was happening in music?

Albums released in August1974 include:

• Randy Newman - Good Old Boys
• Bonnie Raitt - Streetlights
• Supertramp - Crime Of The Century
• Jackson Browne - Late For The Sky

As for singles, 4 songs topped the charts in (the 5 weeks) of August 1974:

• Rock Me Gently - Andy Kim (9/28/74)
• (You're) Having My Baby - Paul Anka (9/7/74)
• I Shot The Sheriff - Eric Clapton (9/14/74)
• Can't Get Enough Of Your Love - Barry White (9/21/74)
 

A few really good songs made their Top 40 chart debuts, but no #1's.  Notables (IMHO) include:

• Jazzman - Carole King (peaked at #2)
• Tin Man - America (#4)
• Falling In Love - Souther Hillman Furay #(27)

Ice Bucket Challenge

(photo of me, not by me)

Unless you live under a rock, you've certainly heard about the Ice Bucket Challenge that's sweeping the nation.  You get challenged, you pour cold water on your head, and somehow, it helps ALS. 

Well, I'm not exactly a trend setter, nor trend follower, so I pretty much stayed diinterested while celebrities, sports figures and politicians all took the "plunge".  Then an alarming number of people I know...  I reailized it was only a matter of time until somebody tagged me.  And earlier this week, it happened.

Problem is, I'm not a trendy guy.  Not one to join in.  Not to mention entirely too "grown up" for such silliness.   I figured to make a donation ('cause it's a good cause, ya know), and just ignore the whole specatcal part. But then I thought about it more.  And I decided to lighten up.  Be a good sport.  Get out of my comfort zone.  So yesterday, I did the douse, and the deed was done.  Not just damp, but drenched and dripping.  Almost refreshing in the current heat wave... almost.

But I did make a donation, too.  If you care about such things, you can catch it on facebook
UPDATE:  link if you care

#icebucketchallenge

To Be A Rock And Not To Roll.....

Happy Birthday, Robert Plant!  Born 68 years ago today...
Best know as lead singer / lyricist of Led Zeppelin.

(image borrowed from Alex Reisner's Led Zeppelin Site) 

 

Page has been pretty busy post-Zep, with a slew of solo albums, projects like The Honeydrippers, and colaborations with folk like Allison Kraus.  But Zep's the big thing, his ticket to the RRHOF.

 

And yes, LedZep is churning on my iPod today...  

 

So, what're you're favorite Zepplin songs?  Here's a 10 of mine (hard to pick just 10):

• Ramble On (II)
• When the Levee Breakes (Zoso)
• Good Times Bad Times (Led Zeppelin)
• Immigrant Song (III)
• Kashmir (Physical Graffiti)
• Black Dog (Zoso)
• Misty Mountain Hop (Zoso)
• Comunication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin)
• Over The Hills And Far Away (Houses Of The Holy)
• In My Time Of Dying (Physical Graffiti)

 

 

Pop Music - August 1974

August 1974: NFL Players' strike ends before pre-season... (without an agreement)

Looking at American Top 40 charts for August, 1974... 40 years ago this month: What songs made their Top 40 debut? What was new and trending? Well, there were 25 songs entering the Top 40 during July (5 weeks). With 6 eventually making it to #1!  Here they are, ranked by eventual peak:

• I Honestly Love You  - Olivia Newton-John - 1
• You Haven't Done Nothin'  - Stevie Wonder - 1
• Then Came You  - Dionne Warwick - 1
• Nothing From Nothing  - Billy Preston - 1
• I Shot The Sheriff  - Eric Clapton - 1
• Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe  - Barry White - 1
• Beach Baby  - First Class - 4
• Can't Get Enough  - Bad Company - 5
• Clap For The Wolfman  - Guess Who - 6
• Another Saturday Night  - Cat Stevens - 6
• Sweet Home Alabama  - Lynyrd Skynyrd - 8
• Earache My Eye  - Cheech & Chong - 9
• Wild Thing  - Fancy - 14
• Who Do You Think You Are  - Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods - 15
• It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It)  - Rolling Stones - 16
• Let's Put It All Together  - Stylistics - 18
• Free Man In Paris  - Joni Mitchell - 22
• I Love My Friend  - Charlie Rich - 24
• Don't Change Horses (In The Middle Of A Stream)  - Tower Of Power - 26
• My Thang  - James Brown - 29
• Time For Livin'  - Sly & The Family Stone - 32
• River's Risin'  - Edgar Winter Group - 33
• Happiness Is Just Around The Bend  - Main Ingredient - 35
• Sugar Baby Love  - Rubettes - 37
• Kung Fu  - Curtis Mayfield - 40

I was actually able to find all but one of of these songs on Spotify (guess which one!). And added to a playlist. Right now it includes through September 1974, and 164 of the 175 songs which entered the Top 40 in the 1st 9 months of 1974. I'm pretty impressed that they have almost 94% of these songs...

Check it out: http://open.spotify.com/user/lsqrd42/playlist/23G0cY9o6mflTaGwievQ9z

Banhammered.....

(image not mine)

I'm feeling sad.  I've received my first banning on the internet.  And I don't even know why...

There's a site that I've used for 4-5 years for Top-40 information (at least since mid -2010).  It has been the source for much information you've seen here regarding song / artist rankings.  Posts like this and this.  Several years ago, I included attribution in the posts, but I stopped when the site closed to new subscribers, figuring I shouldn't promote a "closed" site..

Anyway, the other day I was looking at charts from the late 50's and early 60's.  I was thinking about the concept of The Day The Music Died (TSTMD), pondering a compare-and-contrast between a couple of time spans:

• From Elvis's first Top 40 hit, until TDTMD (5/56 through 2/59)
• From TDTMD to The Beatle's first US Hit (2/59 through 2/64)
• From The Beatle's first hit until their breakup (2/64 through 6/70)

As I was skimming the data, I received a warning that I had exceeeded my daily quota of page loads.  No big deal, it happens.  But I received the same warning when logging on the next day, and the next...  and a couple days later.  So I dug up a contact address and sent them a pleasant email.

The response:  "Your membership has been cancelled for terms violation".



Granted, I haven't read the terms since I first signed up.  I tried to review them since being banned, but I can't access the site anymore!  My "What did I do?" email remains unanswered (after a week+).  Now,  I'm willing to accept that I did something, because I wouldn't expect them to randomly ban folk.  But, I don't know what I did wrong.  And while I don't think I did anything to harm the site, I realize it's their call not mine.
.
Oh well, it's their site, their terms.  I agreed to them, and if I've forgotten, it's not their fault.  I will accept and move on.  As my first ever banning, I suppose I should wear my "bad-boy" badge with pride.  But I'm bummed.  I really liked that site...

August 1974

Continuing the series, (Jan, Feb, Mar ,Apr, June, July):

August 1974... 40 years ago this month.  For me, the summer between Middle School and High School.  The overriding story that month was Richard Nixon's resignation, following the Watergate Scandal. 

On a lighter note....  What was happening in music?

Albums released in August1974 include:

• Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits
• Emerson Lake & Palmer - Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends... (Live)
• Bachman Turner Overdrive - Not Fragile
• Crosby, Stills Nash & Young - So Far (Greatest Hits). 

As for singles, 4 songs topped the charts in (the 5 weeks) of August 1974:

• (You're) Having My Baby - Paul Anka (8/24 and 8/31)
• Annie's Song - John Denver (8/3)
• The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace (8/17)
• Feel Like Making Love - Roberta Flack (8/10)

Some really good songs made their Top 40 chart debuts, including 6 future #1's.  Notables (IMHO) include:

• Nothing From Nothing - Billy Preston (peaked at #1)
• Can't Get Enough 0 Bad Company (#5)
• Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd (#8)
• It's Only Rock And Roll (But I Like It) -Rolling Stones (#16)

In The Spotlight...

(not LPL)

My son took this one, but with my camera...  Last week, he was at a music camp (Camp Electric) in Nashville, and they had concerts every evening.  There's several decent photos.  I rather liked this one (after some tweaking)....

Pop Music - July 1974

 

July 1974: Chris Evert and Jimmy Conners win Wembledon

Looking at American Top 40 charts for July, 1974... 40 years ago this month: What songs made their Top 40 debut? What was new and trending? Well, there were 20 songs entering the Top 40 during July (4 weeks). Here they are, ranked by eventual peak:

• (You're) Having My Baby  - Paul Anka - 1
• Rock Me Gently  - Andy Kim - 1
• Feel Like Makin' Love  - Roberta Flack - 1
• The Night Chicago Died  - Paper Lace - 1
• Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me  - Elton John - 2
• Tell Me Something Good  - Rufus - 3
• I'm Leaving It All Up To You  - Donny Osmond - 4
• Please Come To Boston  - Dave Loggins - 5
• Call On Me  - Chicago - 6
• Wildwood Weed  - Jim Stafford - 7
• Hang On In There Baby  - Johnny Bristol - 8
• You And Me Against The World  - Helen Reddy - 9
• Keep On Smilin'  - Wet Willie - 10
• Shinin' On  - Grand Funk Railroad - 11
• Rub It In  - Billy "Crash" Craddock - 16
• Sure As I'm Sittin' Here  - Three Dog Night - 16
• Machine Gun  - Commodores - 22
• This Heart  - Gene Redding - 24
• Fish Ain't Bitin'  - Lamont Dozier - 26
• Ballero  - War - 33

I was actually able to find all but one of of these songs on Spotify. And added to a playlist. Right now it includes through September 1974, and 164 of the 175 songs which entered the Top 40 in the 1st 9 months of 1974. I'm pretty impressed that they have almost 94% of these songs...

Check it out: http://open.spotify.com/user/lsqrd42/playlist/23G0cY9o6mflTaGwievQ9z