Old Folks Boogie.... New Music from Old People

So I've been looking for some new music lately, but not too far from my comfort zone.  So that's led me to look at people from the '60's / '70's / '80's who are still churning out music.  And thanks to places like Amazon Prime Music, Spotify (and even YouTube), it's easy to explore.  And, if great, purchase.   Here's some stuff I've been listening to lately:

• Joe Jackson - Fast Forward  (Released October 2015).   I'm really liking this one, purchased it outright.  There's some really super songs, almost everything is really solid.  Maybe 2-3that are... ... less good.  But the album is 16 songs and clocks in at just over 71 minutes, it's perhaps a bit long...  I agree with review on Allmusic: "a set of intelligent, sophisticated pop numbers that also leave room for him to experiment with a range of stylistic approaches ...  above all, this sounds like Joe Jackson, complete with his arch wit, polished songcraft, and intelligence that only occasionally dips into stuffiness"...  Joe Jackson is a comparative youngster at 62...
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• Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch 2 (Released May, 2016).  The second album from Tom Petty's "one-off" reformation of his original band.  It's very much a Tom Petty album, but has a nice loose feeling, the same kind of casual charm found on Travelling Wilburys.  Again, quoting Allmusic:  " the main charm ... is their casualness. Nobody here is attempting a major statement; they're simply laying back and tossing off songs".  And that's not a bad thing.  Tom Petty is 65....
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• Jeff Lynn's ELO  - Alone In The Universe (Released November 2015).  I became aware of this when Lynn performed "When I Was A Boy" on The Tonight Show.  I grabbed it on Prime not long after.   Jeff Lynn is 68.
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• Monkees - Good Times! (Released May 2016) - A surprisingly good album.  I initially dismissed, since I found 1996's Justice to be quite mediocre...  and Davy's passed on.  But this is a sold record.  As Allmusic puts it:  "...a joyous revival of the cheerful jangle that characterized the group's big '60s hits ... a buoyant love letter to everything that made the group".  Michael Nesmith is 73!
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• Graham Nash - This Path Tonight (Released April 2016).  just found this last night, and am really digging it on first listen.    I was a little worried, Nash has always seems a little pretentious to me, and overtly political.  But I'm not getting that feel here.   Really full sound, his voice is strong and clear, the songs are compelling.  One I've listened some more, I expect I'll purchase this one. Graham Nash is 74!
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Anybody have any other suggestions?

Album Cover Challenge - Jaun's Apologist

I've posted "mock" album covers before, here's the latest.  This is for the Album Cover Challenge over at 365project.  Using randomly selected band name and album name, create an album cover.  Details of the challenge here,

For this version of the challenge:
My Band Name: Juan's Apologist. I took a little creative license, my random wikipedia page was "Juan Carrasco (apologist)". I wanted to tweak it into something more interesting.

Album title: "those who can do nothing else." from the Cyrus H. Curtis quote "here are two kinds of men who never amount to much: those who cannot do what they are told and those who can do nothing else."

In The Husk...

It's not too long till the harvest comes... but not yet! 

From one of the small corn fields interspersed with Illinois suburbia, just a couple hundred yards from my office.

Saturday Night Sing Along

You Wreck Me

There's less now than there was before......  This was taken 8/17, ten days later than the previous image (below).

8/7/2016

Challenge

One more from the Criterium last weekend.  I was trying to get some panning-motion shots, but didn't ever get anything quite right.  But several of them made nice basis for effects...

What Would YOU Do?

So, over at the 365project site (where I've been kind of stagnant lately), they run challeges.  One that I especially like is called What Would You Do?  In that, a person posts an image, and folk edit it to their tastes.  The poster then selects 4 or 5 finalists, and people vote.

Anyway, I won WWYD #143 and was thus responsible for # 144.  I decided to take something old and see what folk would do.  This was from my high school days, shot with my trusty Canon TX on Ektachrome slide film.  Scanned 10-12 years ago

WWYD 144 Starting Point

Over 2 weeks, there were 15 entries of people editing this imahe.  Some pretty basic, some quite involved.  Check here to see all the entries. Voting is still ongoing, you can see the finalists and the votes here.

Meanwhile (and after the contest closed) I added my own version, call it "What I Did".  Pretty mundane, but I like it:

Criterium

Yesterday (Saturday 8/20) was the Edwardsville Criterium Festival.  This was the 7th year they've held this series of high-speed bicycle races, free kids races, live bands, and an open containers perimeter, all on the streets of Downtown Edwardsville.  I had never been before, but dropped in for a bit yesterday to get a feel for it.  Pretty cool.

I managed a few photos:

 

Where Have All The Good Times Gone?

With apologies to the Kinks:

 Where Have All The Good Times Gone

Sorry folks, I've been too long since I've posted.  I've been a bit scattered over the last few days, and haven't even touched my cameras since the 6th.  No excuses, I'll try step it up and get back in the game.

Meanwhile, it has been much longer since I've posted to my ongoing series of Top 40 hits from 1966/ 1976/1986...  That's a little more complicated.  That series is based on some data crunching I've been doing and my spreadsheet(s) have gotten out of whack.  I've decided to rethink the process, come up with something a bit more idiot proof.  My first attempt failed.  But I'll do something, I enjoy those Top 40 posts, even if nobody else does.

In Transition?

I drive by this old bulding just about every day... It has appeared on 365, more or less:
http://365project.org/lsquared/365/2015-08-03

The complex was sold several month ago, and they've been slowly making changes, They've taken down several of the newer, smaller buildings, but I can't decide if this one is coming down, or just getting a signnificant rework. Seems like they would've just knocked it down if that was the plan...

Below is a screen capture from Google-Maps Streeet-View, showing the site in September 2013.

This other view shows a bit more how much they've taken down.  The flatbed on the left is loaded with new bricks, so something will be here...

For local folk, this is the old Brooks Catsup facility, the World's Largest Catsup Bottle is just off screen (to the left)

Watershed, Van Gogh Style

Playing with Topaz Impressions...

Watershed Nature Center - 2016-08-06 - 4 Of 4

More for my son's Eagle project.  Click for larger versions

Watershed Nature Center - 2016-08-06 - 3 Of 4

More for my son's Eagle project.  Click for larger versions