Color or Black-And-White: Snowy Trail

 From a recent walk at Watershed Nature Center, on a snowy morning.  I shot this in color, but with the intention to convert to B&W.  I usually do it that way, to allow more control of the conversion.  Anyway, after the fact, I'm not sure which I prefer.  What say you?

Color version:

Black and White version:

Especially side-by-side (or stacked, actually), I think I prefer the color.  The B&W version is what I posted on Instagram, at 365project and at BetterPhoto

1973 In Music - January's Almost Made the Charts.

So, with my ongoing series of posts on music from 50 years go, and what we were listening to, I've thought alot about adding a list of great songs that made the Hop 100, but didn't make the Top 40.  As I've started a new year (and a new spreadsheet) I figured I'd give it a shot.

SO, for January 1973, I looked at songs that dropped off the charts during the month, but never made the Top 40.  And for the month, I counted 22.  Here they are, with peak position noted:

• No - Buldog - 44
• Trouble In My Home - Joe Simon - 50
• In Heaven There Is No Beer - Clean Living - 51
• Let Us Love - Bill Withers - 47
• You're A Lady - Peter Skellern - 50
• I Got A Bag Of My Own - James Brown - 59
• We Need Order - The Chi-lites - 61
• Everybody Loves A Love Song - Mac Davis - 63
• Angel - Rod Stewart - 65
• 992 Arguments - The O'Jays - 68
• I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock And Roll) - Gary Glitter - 71
• You're A Lady - Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando - 70
• Anthem - Wayne Newton - 65
• Mama Weer All Crazee Now - Slade - 76
• One Last Time - Glen Campbell - 78
• You Can Do Magic - Limmie and Family Cookin' - 84
• Jesus Was A Capricorn - Kris Kristofferson - 91
• Knock Knock Who's There - Mary Hopkin - 92
• I'm Sorry - Joey Heatherton - 87
• Choo Choo Mama - Ten Years After - 89
• The Red Back Spider - Brownsville Station - 96
• She's Got To Be A Saint - Ray Price - 93

I have playlists of great songs that made the Hot 100, but not the Top 40.  But for this month?  Not so much.  There's a couple I remember, but none I own.  I'll keep this up for a few months, see how it works out!

Happenstance we fell into...

 You probably (hopefully) know about my "other" blog site:  Happenstance Photography.  It's been around since at least 2006, though it has had several starts and stops and changes in focus.  Snce August 2012 it has been my place for posting B&W images exclusively.  No explanations, no pontificating, just the images, and (usually) the EXIF information and (where relevant) the location.  If you haven't seen it, please check it out!

Anyway, what prompted this post is that I've been negligent over here in the blog world, and I'm trying to do better. I've kept up here a little, but realized today that I hadn't posted to Happenstance in 5+ months!  Well, I'm committed to improving, and have some things in mind to push "accountability."

I've actually set up posts there for the next 3.5 weeks, every other day, so that's a start.

Watershed Nature Center, Sonw Day

 

Earlier this week, we had predictions of a snow storm, predictions ranged as high as 7" for our area.  We did get snow, and some areas near us got several inches, but our area wasn't more than an inch or two, and it started melting pretty quickly.  All in all, it made for a nice walk at the Watershed, and no issues on the roads.

Here's some photos from Watershed Nature Center, a nice outing!

On the Charts, January 1973

 Well, we're into a new year, and I've decided to keep up my postings of the songs that were on the Top 40 (US) charts 50 years ago (1973).  Ah, 1973.  Nixon was inaugurated for his 2nd term as president, but the Watergate hearings kicked off.  The Billie Jean King / Bobby Riggs "Battle of the Sexes" took place.  The most popular TV shows were All in the Family and The Waltons, and the movies The Sting and The Exorcist debuted.  And most importantly to me, my 13th birthday (midyear).  Crazy times!

All of the 1972 music posts can be seen HERE, btw.

Following the format from last year, here's the Top 10 songs for January 1973, based on the average chart position (US charts) over the 4 weeks:

• You're So Vain - Carly Simon  - 1.25
• Superstition - Stevie Wonder - 2.25
• Me And Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul - 3.75
• Your Mama Don't Dance - Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina - 5.75
• Clair - Gilbert O'Sullivan - 6.75
• Crocodile Rock - Elton John - 7.25
• Rockin' Pneumonia - Boogie Woogie Flu - Johnny Rivers - 7.25
• Superfly - Curtis Mayfield - 9.25
• Funny Face - Donna Fargo - 10
• Why Can't We Live Together - Timmy Thomas - 11.5

Carly Simon's You're So Vain was #1 for the first 3 weeks of January, With Stevie Wonder's Superstition taking over the last week. There were 56 individual songs on the Top 40 over the course of the 4 weeks.

Pretty great month, frankly.  I own 8 of the 10 songs, there's only one I didn't remember.  

In the past, I've included a list of songs that made their Top 40 debuts, I'll keep that up, I suppose:

• Could It Be I'm Falling In Love - The Spinners - 31
• Dancing In The Moonlight - King Harvest - 32
• Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend - Lobo - 33
• Love Jones - Brighter Side Of Darkness - 34
• Dreidel - Don McLean - 34
• Last Song - Edward Bear - 34
• Rocky Mountain High - John Denver - 35
• Daddy's Home - Jermaine Jackson - 35
• Do You Want To Dance? - Bette Midler  - 36
• Jambalaya (On The Bayou) - The Blue Ridge Rangers - 37
• Love Train The O'Jays 37
• Looking Through The Eyes Of Love - The Partridge Family - 39
• The Relay - The Who - 39
• Reelin' and Rockin' - Chuck Berry - 40
• Harry Hippie - Bobby Womack and Peace - 40
• I'll Be Your Shelter (In Time Of Storm) - Luther Ingram - 40

So welcome to 1973.  Let me know if there's something you'd like me to add, I'll think about it!

Color or Black-And-White: Tired

 I was walking on MCT Heritage Trail yesterday, and took this photo of a discarded tire just off the trail.  I've noticed it several times before, but this is the first time I took a photo,

I wasn't sure when I took it whether it would be color or B&W, and after looking at it both ways, I'm still not positive.  But after sleeping on it, I do have a slight preference.

What say you?

Obviously shot in color.  Simple iPhone photo, processed on my iPad using Snapseed Edit.  

I tagged it "Before and After", but that's not exactly true.  Neither is straight out of camera (SOOC), And the B&W isn't directly from the color version.  They're both steps from an intermediate version.  Anyway, I figured "close enough".