Flair!

OK, I've been hanging around a bit lately on Facebook. One of the cool little things (I picked up from my daughter) is Flair. You can collect these silly buttons, send them to friends, make your own. Yeah, it is pretty pointless, but I've had some fun with it. Above is a screenshot of my flair, including stuff sent to me by my daughters and even my sister-in-law. Also stuff I've made, and stuff I found browsing. Hey, it beats working 'round the house!

Random Tunes

Once again, got the iPod on random. Seems like it’s all pop/rock today, but I’m sure other styles will come up. And more live versions than I’d expect…. Here’s the most recent dozen…So, what’re Y’all listening to??

Old Love (live) – Eric Clapton - We’re No Good Together (live) – Tesla - Sunrise – Puffy Ami Yumi - I Am A Child – Buffalo Springfield - We Were Happy Then – The dB’s - Mean Mistreater (live) – Grand Funk Railroad - Magnet & Steel – Walter Egan - You Stand By Me – The Who - This Ol’ Cowboy – Marshall Tucker Band - The Quiet One (live) – The Who - The Way Young Lovers Do – Van Morrison - The Eagle & the Hawk – John Denver

Watching

Another image from the state fair…. The on site parking was behind the race track, so walking in we circled around the back stretch and Turn 2. The first weekend they were warming up the race horses, and we were able to walk right up to the edge of the track. The second weekend, they were doing sprint car racing, and the gates were all closed. But several folks were watching, from various perches. This couple were on the back of a pick-up (with ladder racks), which they had backed up to the fence. Anyway, I liked the overall look and feel. By exposing for the people, the sky was completely blown out, which gives a more isolated feel (I hope)

Round Barn Revisited

Way back in March, I posted a photo here of a round barn, just outside of Pullman, WA. That was taken on a grey day, with brown grass, and remnants of snow around... Just to prove that the weather does (eventually) get nice on the Paluse, here's another version.

This one was taken in early June, probably 10 weeks ago. And yes, I am indeed that far behind.

Build Me Up, Butter(cup)

One of the stranger attractions at the Illinois State Fair (at least to me) is the Butter Sculpture. Yep, some artist took 800 pounds of butter and created this sceen:

I kept wondering, is black butter (for the skunks) really within the spirit of the moment??? The butter sculpture has been a part of the fair since 1922.

Microstock - found photo

One of the disappointing things about microstock is that we seldom know where are images end up, or what they're being used for. But every once in a while we find one. I was recently doing some poking around, using a little program called Tin-Eye, and I discovered one of my images being used as a book cover!

I don't know for sure, but I think the image was bought from iStockPhotos. Possibly from Shutterstock:, the image is available at both places. Here's the original:

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Fabulous Fair Fun

We made another excursion to the Illinois State Fair yesterday, spent a lot of the day in the midway. The kids rode rides, the old fogeys watched! And a great time was had by all!

Silly Mutts

I haven’t posted many photos of our puppies, ‘cause they seldom stay still long enough to catch them… Here’s a few recent shots of the boys. They’re probably about 1.5 yr old, pretty much teenagers in dog world.

No, this isn’t any fancy post processing. Simply what happens when you take a camera from inside to outside in the mid-west, mid-summer . Yep, the lens fogs up. By the time I got it wiped down, they had moved off from the nice pose….
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This is Chuck (in the green collar). I’ve read somewhere that when dogs lay like this (chin on the ground) it means they’re relaxed and content. I’ll buy that!
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Here’s Stu (in blue!), ever inquisitive, and ready to start licking anything he can reach!
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Chuck and Stu are rescue mutts, the best kind of dog….

Over or Under?

Have you ever noticed that some folks put the roll with the end hanging over, while other have it hang under?? Not to sound like Andy Rooney or anything, but why do you suppose that is? Whether we’re talking bathroom tissue, or paper towels, or whatever. Is there a “right” way (and conversely a “wrong”)? Do people have specific logic for their preference, or is there some deep-seated, subconscious driver? Has anybody ever done a statistical analysis, with breakdowns by gender / race / national origin???

Me? I’m an over-the-top guy. And as an engineer, I can explain why, in more detail than you probably care to know.

The photo, by the way is from my microstock collection, and sells pretty well. You just never know, I suppose.

10,000!

Yesterday was a milestone, as I surpaseed 10,000 shutter snaps on my humble Nikon D70 DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex). Yee Ha, huh? Kinda like watching the odometer on your card roll over 1,000,000 miles. I'll have to be careful with my archiving, though, as the naming convention (DSC_1234.jpg) has reset to the beginning. I've had this camera a bit over 3.5 years, I suppose it is getting old by digital-technology standards... But it's still doing the job for me.

Image 10,001, from the Illinois State Fair:

Wedding Bell Blues!

My oldest daughter got married this past weekend, the wedding party got silly during the post-event photos:

I linked to this from the facebook page of one of my daughter's freinds, hope she doesn't mind too much!! My son, and my new son-in-law, seem to excel at the silly part!

No Photos!!

My oldest daughter got married yesterday, and I didn't take a single photograph! Pretty amazing. But I decided that this was the kind of event that I needed to fully experience, rather than document. I'm eager to see some of the photos taken by various guests, and the hired professional....

This old house

Another old bulding, near Murray, KY: