My Favorite Youtube Music Videos (Pt 1)

I decided that I should make a list of YouTube music videos that I especially like, that I come back to again and again.  So here ya go, I'll probably add to this all along:

• Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes (Secret World Live)  just a wonderful version of a wonderful song
• And for pure fun it's hard to beat Get Offa My Car - The Flashcats.  A local Pittsburgh band from "the day".  I just love this one.  Aside:  I bought my favorite bass guitar from the drummer.....  in 1979.
• Wet Willie That's All Right 09/10/1973 - yeah, I saw these guys once in the late 70's, this captures the energy of that show.
• The Charlie Daniels Band - Birmingham Blues - another video that takes me back to my high school days, I saw these guys several times.
• The Who, Michael Lindsay-Hogg - A Quick One (While He's Away) - I remember seeing this in The Who's movie (The Kids Are Alright), and being blown away.  Decades later, I'm still blown away.

There's a quick 5, hope you enjoy.  Maybe I'll add a video or two all along.

ChatGPT - Watercolor

 So, recently I posted a photo I had taken for my photo cohort, a photo of a hot, hazy day at Watershed. Last week during a discussion at the photo site, we talked a lot about ChatGPT, and what it could do.  I got the idea to see if it could make a decent watercolor of the photo.  As a reminder, here's the photo:

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I uploaded it, and entered "Turn this into a watercolor painting".  And here's what it came up with:

It did surprisingly well, though I don't really like the re-crop, maybe I should've started with a 4x6 ratio photo.  And it turned the bird's head.  And the overall size is smaller.  Then I asked (told):  Make the bird more detailed", and here's the 2nd version"

It is interesting that the filter pulled more detail out of the 1st version, except for the bird.  And that the bird gests bigger in each version.  But the results are pretty cool.  I may have to keep playing with this, wee what I can come up with.  I still prefer the "real" photo.

It is almost scary though.

Just a little slice-of-life from a recent fast-food breakfast with the grandkids.  I guess you would call it documentary photography?

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Cohort - Assignment 2

* In educational settings, a cohort can describe a group of students working through the same academic curriculum

I recently completed a cohort at one of my photo sites, 12 photographers, 8 sessions over 10 weeks.  It was a valuable experience, as much for seeing/discussing the other students' work, as for listening to the instructor.  

We had 2 assignments through the class, the last one was:

• Shoot a 3–5 image series
• Choose a single emotion to convey
• Apply at least one technique from sessions
• Present images + brief reflection at the last session

This turned out to be a very hard assignment for me.  To start, it was hazy, hot, humid during the assignment, and my photo-mojo was pretty much burned out.  Finally, I decided to lean into it and try to document the hot, still, maybe oppressive summer.  Here's the photos I came up with, tweaked after comments in the class.  Taken over 2 visits to Watershed Nature Center, the heat index was 100+ but bays.

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Overall, the set is just ok....  I think I was trying to hard.

That said, I very much like the first photo, and I posted it previously.   It is subtle, but speaks to me in ways I can't quite explain.  It makes me think of the Sam Abell quote:  “When I look at my work, I see myself” 

Throwback Thursday - Heritage Trail

Throwback Thursday - July 2004. 21 years ago! Back in the early days digital, my pretty basic Kodak LS-443 compact digital.  That was a pretty decent camera from an early compact digital.  A whopping 4MP. By contrast, my current phone has 48MP, and the camera is just an extra function!.

Photo is along the Ron Foster Heritage Trail.  The trail still exists, the spot isn't a lot different.  It's blacktop now, though.

Cohort - Assignment 1

 * In educational settings, a cohort can describe a group of students working through the same academic curriculum

I recently completed a cohort at one of my photo sites, 12 photographers, 8 sessions over 10 weeks.  It was a valuable experience, as much for seeing/discussing the other students' work, as for listening to the instructor.  

We had 2 assignments through the class, the first one was:

• Photograph what you didn't notice before
• Submit 5 images. With each one, include:
•  Where you were
•  Why you usually wouldn’t have noticed this
•  How it felt to stop and really see it

This was an interesting assignment, and I was pretty pleased with my photos.  Here's my 5:

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The phone photo actually got used is some other discussions in the TPE group, so that was cool.  I especially like the 1st three.  Anyway, it was a valuable session, I'll plan to do another sometime.

Bummer....

 I saw this State Troop pull this woman over, I believe she must've been speeding.  Not gonna guess/judge, but I'm sure it's not how she wanted to spend her morning...

Throwback Thursday - Re-Tired

13 years ago this week, I was driving across the southwest US, helping one of my daughters relocate to Flagstaff, Arizona. This is from a quick stop in Continental Divide, New Mexico. I re-processed this from the original file yesterday...

Looking at Google Maps, they have a more recent photo...  the building is there (a little worse for wear and tear).  But the tire is gone.  ;-(

Spotify Wins - Pure Prairie League

I made a post recently about my frustration over them not having one J.J. Cale album.  Shockingly, they haven't rectified that failure.   Anyway, listing to some tunes today, I pulled up Pure Prairie Leage and lo-and-behold, they now have PPL's debut album, which they didn't have the last time I looked.  Bravo!

PPL's first album didn't make much splash, didn't chart at all upon it's release in March of 1972.  Seven Months later (and with new plays on bass, drums and steel guitar) they were back with Bustin' Out, which made #34 on the album charts, and gave us the song Amie which is a classic rock staple.

I didn't discover PPL until '75 or so, when Amie was re-released as a single.  Checking my vinyl of their debut album, it is a re-release from 1975, I presume as a result of the song Amie.  Anyway, I really like the debut album and the band in general. The entire first side is stellar, with Tears, Take It Before You Go, You're Between Me and Woman.  I always liked PPL, but they never really had a consistent line-up, which (I think) hurt their ability to generate any sort of inertia.  They had 14 different members over 7 albums in the '70s, and nobody played on all of them.  But I own 4 of those 7, and like them all.  And have seen them 3 or 4 times through the years.

Anyway, THANKS Spotify for having this one!

I See Myself

 

“When I look at my work, I see myself” 

- Sam Abell

Quote from a video...

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This is my photo, of course.  I'm no Sam Abell.  

1975 in Music

 So, I quit doing monthly music posts a while ago.  But as we hit the 1/2 way mark of 2025, I revisited my playlists of 1975 (50 years ago).  There a Top 40 playlist and a Not-Top 40 playlist (covering #41-100).

I created a new playlist, merging those, and implemented it in spotify.  113 songs, 7.5 hrs.  Check it out, let me know what you think:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Y7E27RRDkUaeueU2lVeYC?si=de4a5963fa82491d

1975 - Favorites

Havin' A Cow...

 

This cow hangs out over the sidewalk, next to the Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, IL.  This was Edwardsville Frozen Foods going back to 1947, then the Goshen Butcher Shop in 2017.  Sadly. it appears to be closed. But the cow remains, at least.  

Spotify Fails - JJ Cale #8

I've used Spotify for a while, but just upgraded to a subscription 3-4 months ago.  Overall cool, but occasionally frustrating.  They have lots and lots (and lots) of music, intersoersed with some head scratching omissions.  I figure to start a series vent my frustrations.

First up:  J.J. Cale's album #8.

This is one of my favorite J.J. Cale albums, and J.J. Cale is one of my favorite artists.  I have almost all of his "original" releases...  including all of his 70's and 80's releases.  Spotify has 14 of his 15 studio releases, 20 albums when you include compilations and live releases.  But not #8.  Why?

It's not a record label thing, they have other albums of his released on Mercury.  It can't be popularity, they have other albums from him that didn't chart as well.  So why?  They do have some of the songs available through compilations, but only 1/2.  Missing songs like Reality and Living Here Too.

At least I still have it on Vinyl, and on CD, and ripped to my iPod.  But if I'm going to transition to streaming, they need to be more complete.

Throwback Thursday, Watershed Nature Center

 I've taken a lot of photos at Watershed Nature Center, This one is from way back in April of 2003.  That's my son at 3 yrs old, he's 25 now!  Lots of memories at this place!

This was taken with my long-gone Kodak LS-443 compact digital, my second digital camera!

Being Ignored is a great privilege...

 "Being Ignored is a great privilege...

That is how I think I learned to see what others do not see."

 - Saul Leitner

This is the closest I have to his style in my recent photos, but not very close at all...  I'll need to study and try.