Poco - Concert Review

Last night (Friday 11/29/2019) we had the opportunity to see Poco at the wonderful Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, IL.  I've been a Poco fan since the mid '70's and saw them once before, in 1976 touring with the Stills Young Band.  Doesn't seem like 43 years ago!

When I saw they would be playing the Wildey, I made plans, and was on line and ready when the tickets went on sale.  As such, we were in the 2nd row.  sweet!  I'm sure I've mentioned before, the Wildey is probably my all time favorite venue, something like 330 seats in a theater originally opened in 1909 and renovated and reopened in 2011.

Poco has been around since 1969, and has associations with many of the key acts of the time.  They've had a few lineup changes, with members coming from, or going to, acts such as Buffalo Springfield (2), Eagles (2), Loggins and Messina, Souther-Hillman-Furay....   and pretty impressive set of associations.  Through it all, Rusty Young has been the constant.  A founding member, and the only member to be in every incarnation of the band.  A talented multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and 2013 inductee to the Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame.

On to the concert:

The band played a solid set, with a good representation of the breadth of Poco's catalog.  Three songs from the 60's, Seven from the 70's, one from the 80's, and six from the 2010's.  Including 2 songs from Rusty Young's 2019 solo album.  The newer songs blended well with the classics, and it was a superb show overall.  I'll be keeping an eye out for their next time through town, will try and see them again!.

Here's a few quick shots from my iPhone:

 Rusty Young plays dobro

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Lex Browning (guitar), Rusty Young (pedal steel), Rick Lonow (drums) and Jack Sundrud (bass)

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Rusty Young (guitar) and Jack Sundrud (bass)

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Taking a bow:  (L->R): Lex Browning (guitar), Rusty Young (pedal steel), Jack Sundrud (bass) and Rick Lonow (drums) 

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Take Off!

Tufted Titmouse taking flight. 

ACC-110: We Grow Too Fond Of It / Very Easy To Say Yes

Over at 365project, Album Cover Challenge #111 is well underway.  So looking back, here's my two entries to ACC110....  Yep, two entries this time.  Most of the challenges allow multiple entries, and sometimes I avail myself of the opportunity.  After all, This is one of my favorite challenges, as it combines two of my passions:  Photography and music.

Anyway, here ya go:

Jack Smith Cricketer - Very Easy To Say Yes

Band Artist is Jack Smith Cricketer. The random Wikipedia page was Jack Smith (cricketer), for a former English Cricket Player. I decided to drop the parentheses and make it one longer name. Because "Jack Smith" was rather boring.

Album title is "Very Easy To Say Yes" from a quote by Tony Blair: "The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes."

The photo is an oldie, probably fall 2003 or 2004. It has been in the back of my mind for an Album Cover Challenge for a while, but I didn't have a fitting Band/Album until now.

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Jacare River Group - We Would Grow To Fond Of It

My band name is from: Jacaré River (Bahia, Das Contas River)

My Album Name is from Robert E Lee quote: It is well that war is so terrible - otherwise we would grow too fond of it.

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My first entry, "Very Easy To Say Yes", made finalist, but that's all...

On to ACC #111!!



Check out all of my album cover challenge entries here.

Bluefield

Driving back from North Carolina, we made a side trip to Bluefield, WV.  This is where my grandparents lived from before I was born until the mid 70's when they retired and relocated.  It was apparently built in 1939 (according to the internet).  I haven't been back in 45 years or so, but I have a lot of strong memories from this house.

1001 Edgewood Drive, Bluefield WV, Front view.

Looks very similar to my recollection.  I dug up the old photo I have, which confirms that the exterior hasn't changed too much.  The covered bit over the entry is new.  Most of the trees / bushes have been removed, and that light fixture added....

Here's what it looked like pre '74:

A side view.  Again looks pretty much like I remember:

And a bit more from the back.The parking area is new.  Besides that, I can't comment.

And a bonus, form old scanned slides, from my youth, in this house:

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We also went into town, and found the bank where my Grandfather worked.  It was Flat Top Bank back then, now it is First Community.  My brother (via IM) was able to tell me the address, or I'd've never found it:

221 Federal St.
I have very little memory of this building, and only a little of the downtown area.  The bank building is currently being renovated, looked like the interior was stripped bare.

From the SW corner of Federal and Raleigh streets:

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From the SE corner of Federal and Raleigh streets:

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 From the SW corner of Federal and McCulloch streets

AND:

Looking up Federal St.  (to the South)

This mural was on the north side of the Coke and Coal Building, park of a little "pocket park" named "Chicory Square".  Click for larger version:

Lastly, the Federal St. entrance to Coke and Coal building, across

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It would've been fun to spend a bit more time than we did, and really explore the area.  But we were sleeping near Louisville that night...  We'll need to find a reason to get back before another45 years!

Accidental Barn

So, I was messing with my camera, while my wife drove across Indiana.  And I noticed a cool barn across the hill.  As I scrambled to get my setting right, the moment was racing away at 70 mph +/-.

I didn't quite make it.  Didn't beat the foreground tree.  Didn't get the exposure right, or the shutter speed, for that matter.  But I kind of liked the overall feel, and decided to do some "painterly" effects.  Not sure I'd hang this one on my wall, but it does capture the mood of the moment (IMHO).

The resulting photo actually made it to the "popular" page over at 365project, which just goes to show.

Happenstance Photography - Top Images of 2016

Time for something a little different.  I was looking back over the past few years at my Happenstance Photography blog, and decided to see what my Top viewed photos have been year by year.  Pretty easy, I just copy-pasted from the stats page to Excel, and sorted by views.  I'll go with the Top 5, + ties.

So, to continue, here are the most popular posts from 2016, sorted by most view to least.

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Overlooked

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Throwback Thursday - Jacob's Ladder

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Links To the past

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Rainy Saturday - WNC

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Indiana Wants Me...

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There you have it.  Not necessarily my favorites (but could be!), nor my "best"...  just most popular.  Check back in 2 weeks for 2017!

Life is in the side trips

Whenever possible, follow the “brown signs”. Life is in the side trips.

I was going to explain "Brown Signs", but google tells me it is an international convention.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist_sign 

I've been away for a few days, sorry if you've missed me.  But I made a trip to North Carolina for my younger daughter's wedding.  And I got sick.  Anyway, we were driving home, crossing Indiana on I-64, and decided to take a wander.  Just a side trip to see what we might see.  The thought was to head south from the interstate to the little town of Tell City, then follow the Ohio River for a bitWhy Tell City?  Well, why not?  I had been there once, in the early 90's, on business.  That's as good a reason as any.

So, we're headed do Indiana Rt. 37, and see a Brown Sign for a National Forest.  With a binocular icon!!  So we had to check it out.  It turned into a really nice side trip.

This was Lake Celina, between the towns of St. Croix and Tell City.  I managed a few photos I'm happy with, both with my iPhone and my Fujifilm X-T3.

Here's one:

This was my iPhone, for the wide angle.  Tweaked on the phone (with snapseed ap), and posted to facebook from car. 

And from the X-T3:

Not a beautiful day, overcast, cold....  But calm and quiet.  And a nice respite from the road.There will be more photos once I slog through and process them.

Happenstance Photography - Top Images of 2015

Time for something a little different.  I was looking back over the past few years at my Happenstance Photography blog, adn decided to see what my Top viewed photos have been year by year.  Pretty easy, I just copy-pasted from the stats page to Excel, and sorted by views.  I'll go with the Top 5, + ties.

So, to continue, here are the most popular posts from 2015, sorted by most view to least.

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Lee And Garrett, East St. Louis, IL

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Untitled #3431

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Storms On The Prairie

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Farmland, SW Illinois

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Echo

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Chicago Bridges

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Between the Lines Of Age...

There you have it.  Not necessarily my favorites (but could be!), nor my "best"...  just most popular.  Check back in 2 weeks for 2016!

Waiting For Winter, Coincidentally

I was looking through the photos on my phone the other day, and came across one from late November 2018.  Taken at Cliff Cave Park over near Arnold, MO.  Coincidentally, I had been in Arnold earlier this week for work, and had stopped by Cliff Cave Park.

Now, the photo on my phone was unprocessed, I did some magic with snapseed.  Here's the original.

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Meanwhile, after I posted this, I got to wondering about what I did post that day last year.  I'ts easy enough to check.  So the image I posted was taken with my Nikon P340 compact digital camera (RIP).  The vantage was pretty close to the middle of this photo.  And processed remarkably similarly.  And named the same (thus the coincidence)!  Here 't'is:

Red Tailed Hawk

He (She?) was kind enough to pose for me before flying off.

Check out the Mike Cross song:  Red Tailed Hawk.

Like a Red Tailed Hawk, I would dance upon the wind

I would sail along with the spirits of my kin

I would glide loop and dive as I flew across the land

Like a red tailed hawk I would would fly through the sky

Free again

Mellow Yellow

Along one of the trails at SIUE...  Just a little strolling before commitments....

Fly Me To The Moon

I was leaving the local park at sunset today, and noticed this jet headed towards the moon. I couldn't resist!

Full disclosure: The moon is about 240,000 miles from the earth. The jet isn't really headed towards the moon, it's an optical illusion. It was likely leaving St. Louis airport which is about 20 miles west of this spot. I doubt is was more than 2-3 miles high...

Quite a bit of noise, but the light was fading fast.

Fly Me To Moon is, of course Sinatra

Frosty

Welcome to November!

This is straight out of camera, from my iPhone.

Makes me think of a cold morning, perhaps at a campsite along a mountain stream. Perhaps getting ready to canoe, or fish. But it's just some landscaping rock in the parking lot where I work. Hopefully nobody saw me down on my knees being creative!

Incidentally, the title "Frosty", besides defining the weather this morning, is from the old Gatemouth Brown song. Which is NOT about the snowman!
Frosty