We don't have a bird-bath per-se, but I have a couple of places where I put out water for the birds. This is the "saucer" that went under a flower pot, the pot got broken. I try and keep fresh water in it, the birds (and squirrels) like it. Here's an American Robin. SW Illinois, StLouis area.
Last night (Tuesday October 29), the band Renaissance played the first of 2 nights at the Wildey. Pretty sure it is our first show of 2024, it's been a slow year (for us). But when I saw Renaissance was coming, I decided to jump.
Renaissance has been around since the early 70's, generally lumped in with Progressive Rock, or "symphonic rock". I actually discovered them through my wife, back when she was my girlfriend (in college). Very possibly the only musical act she introduced me to... That said, they're a very solid 70's era prog/complex band built around a very impressive singer. And although they have the standard issues with 50+ year old bands (age and turnover), they were outstanding. Annie Haslam is 77, and not exactly spry, but her voice remains impressive. She was engaging with her between song banter, and a solid leader. The band was beyond capable, especially bass player Leo Traversa (but I'm biased towards bass players). They put on a pretty lengthy set, with an intermission, at least 2 hrs. I made a Spotify Playlist, it should be sharable.
And to make the night even better, they had a support act: Janet Evra. Sort off an odd pairing, a 3 piece Jazz band with samba feel, paired with a dense symphonic prog band, but it worked. She's on Spotify and have a few things on youtube. Check out her cover of Blondie's Call Me. I picked up one of her albums at the mech table, she seemed like a nice person (and signed the disc).
I only took a few photos, prefer to be part of the event. But here's a couple:
Renaissance
Janet Evra:
Last week I posted "Jarvis" one of the Trail Critter sculptures around our rails-to-trails paths. I was going through my archives and found a photo of another.
Cole: Located at Glen Carbon Junction, in Glen Carbon, along the MCT Ronald J. Foster Heritage Trail at Main Street, stands this lively 12-foot-tall hot pink canary. A nod to Glen Carbon’s origins as a coal mining locale, and the significant role canaries played in the practice of coal mining.
So, in the informal series of photos in and around hotels, I decided to look through some of my archives. Here's a few appropriate shots from December 2015, from the Holiday Inn Express in Oak Grove, KY, USA. These were posted at 365project back then. These three were taken from the back corner of the hotel's parking lot. Check out all of the series at: TAG
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All of these were taken with my Nikon Coolpix P340, which was a great little compact-digital camera. This was actually my 2nd P340, i had worn out my first one in January 2015. When the second died, they were no longer available. These days, the phone cameras fill that role pretty well.
Which do you prefer? Taken at Watershed Nature Center
I've posted a few times (here) about the Weekend Adventurer / My Adventure Challenge thing. They offer a series of hiking challenges; you log your miles, and they provide a patch. It's fun, and there's a Facebook community.
Anyway, I started January 1, 2023, with the Hiker's 365 challenge, to hike 365 miles in 365 days. This was a really good experience for me, inspired me to get off my tush and moving. As I was winding that up, I started with the 4x seasonal challenges: Winter 100, Spring Fling, Blazing Summer and Fall 50. I completed the last of these recently. The completion of these 5 challenges gets you another patch, The Ultimate Adventurer. I received that patch today:
It's een a fun 22 months. and I plan to keep on going to finish a 2nd 365 miles for this year. After that, I'll have to find some other motivation to keep going.
Meanwhile here's a few photos from yesterdays (short) hike at The Gardens At SIUE:
A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject. - Winston Churchill (ascribed to)
I received an email today from Shutterstock, one of the microstock sites I played around with back in the 2005-2009 time frame. It said:
"You have earnings in your account! If this amount is not claimed ASAP, your unclaimed earnings are at risk of being transferred to the appropriate US tax authorities in the state of the home address we have on file."
So I figured I'd check in for the first time in ages, see what it was about. My last payment was 3/2020, and my accrued earnings since then is a whopping $59.35. On the other hand, they've dropped their minimum payment from $75 to $25, so I can withdraw it! I did have to update my phone number and do another W-9, but that's no big deal.
Yeah, it's not even $60 in 4.5 years, but that's entirely passive earnings. And I'll take it!
There's a part of me that says I should send them some new photos, try and kick that up. Then I remember that microstock is a soul sucking game, and the rewards are paltry. I think my best year was under $400, it takes a while to add up at ~$0.50 per image average.
I suppose I should check in w/ the other microstock sites, though I think that there's only 1 other I still have photos with between mergers and failures.
Here's my Top 12 images at Shutterstock:
Part of the "Trail Critters" collection of sculptures placed around the rails-to-trails paths in our area. "Located in Troy on the MCT Goshen Trail along Old Troy Road, near IL-162, is Jarvis the fiercely fun 10-foot-tall teal bear; named after the township in which he resides."
I've seen 6 of the 8, but only photographed 3... or 4... I can't remember.
Following up my 10/15 post, some more photos from in and around a hotel. From our recent travels, this is HIE (Holiday Inn Express), Douglasville, GA. On the west side of Atlanta. We stayed here 2 nights, on points. Once again, the post title is from the old Elton John song: CLICK.
Check out the TAG to see more from the series.
We've had a lot of Bluebird activity recently, they seem to be checking out the nesting boxes. I presume they're laying claim to spots to shelter when it gets cold. These photos are a couple of weeks ago, but they're still hanging around.
I decided to go out comet hunting this evening, for Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)... I was barely able to see it for a couple of minutes with my naked eye, but was able to grab a few shots with my iphone. Not so lucky with my "big" camera, but used it (on the tripod) to steady the iphone. Fun outing, there were 8-10 people at the spot I settled on.
After my quickly created Haiku, I was bopping around the internet and found a couple of Haiku generators. I thought this one was pretty cool.
My prompt was: "it s a crisp clear autumn day. Birds frequent the feeder"
The response:
Golden light descends
Feathered friends flit, peck, and dine
Autumn's fleeting peace
Not bad....
I used to travel a LOT for business. Over the past couple of years, that's changed, but we've been doing more personal travel. Once upon a time, way back when, I decided to document travelling with a series of photos of hotel rooms, and the view from hotel rooms. That project didn't last too long, because... well, the average hotel room simply isn't that interesting. Or varied. But there's a few photos that worked out ok.
Anyway, I decided to revisit the concept during a recent trip. So here's a couple of photos from the Holiday Inn Express in Manchester, TN. We stayed here for 1 night recently. We were on our way to Atlanta area, and decided to split the drive... and drop by the Jack Daniels distillery (photos to follow?).
Anyway, here's a few photos from my phone, taken while walking around the parking lot. A little slice of life. I'll (probably) continue the program, and should dig through the archives for some of those old photos. Oh yeah, the post title is from the old Elton John song: CLICK
Just the words and melody - that's what moves your emotions. - Kris Kristofferson
RIP Kris Kristofferson, June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024...
A little late memorializing him, sorry.
During a hike today at Watershed Nature Center, I used the Merlin Ap to listen for birds. Over about 90 minutes, here's what Merlin heard (listed alphabetically):
Not a lot of post-processing, but here's the straight-out-of-camera version for comparison:
We spent Saturday with the grandkids at one of the local Apple Farms. Fun time, picking apples, picking pumpkins, just enjoying the time. Always makes it feel like autumn, even though it was a bit warm (pushing 90!).
Better Photo has announced the winners of their August contest, and I had a second place, along with several Finalists, etc. Always fun to get some recognition!
2nd Place winner:
