Maybe I’m throwing too many pics at you all at once but…
This one was the result of fooling around one day with Photoshop filters and contrast. I guess the only knock I have on this one is that people who see it tend to think Mich looks stressed in it - like she has a headache or something. That wasn’t the idea. Oh well.
Had a wonderful night last night with Bev and Gerry who are in town for a visit. The Kamloops Francophone Society has an annual show that always features a great Francophone band that you’ve never heard of. Last night it was Suroît from Iles-de-la-Madelein, Québec with their wonderful blend of traditional Acadian and modern sounds. These guys can sure sing and play (30+ instruments). A great time was had by all. If you’d like to hear some of their stuff, check out their MySpace page here.
**Udated Feb.21 ** Thanks for the comments people and your critical eyes! I’m enjoying hearing what people’s thoughts are - they are diverse.
It’s pretty easy to find a good picture at Angkor Wat, Cambodia. That said, this one is one of my favorite shots that I’ve ever taken. Now for fun, I also gave it the B&W treatment (cause I wanted to learn the technique). Anyway, I’d love it if you’d tell me via comments which you prefer.
Back in ‘96 I was fortunate enough to be in a position where I had five weeks that I didn’t have to spend at work or school. What to do with such time on my hands? Well I had long figured and stated that though many Canadians frequently traveled to exotic locales such as LA, Palm Springs, Mexico and Hawaii, not nearly as many had seen their own country. I was certainly guilty of that crime! So I packed my tent, fly rod, camera, discman and sundries, kissed my mom and sister goodbye, and pointed the tires east. I didn’t make it all the way across (I ran low on time), but after 118 hours, 48 minutes behind the wheel and 13,016.0 km of pavement behind me, I felt I’d begun to connect with my country. Previously, I’d never been east of Edmonton. Shame on me.
After driving east across the prairies, I had decided to shake things up on the way back and return through the States. Something struck me on that return leg that I had to capture in words; the difference between us and them (you know who I mean).
Border
I drive across the mighty Canadian prairie
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
abandoned barn
cows
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
turnoff to distant town with no services
telephone pole
_______________
I return via the Interstates
telephone pole
telephone pole
BILLBOARD
telephone pole
BILLBOARD
BILLBOARD
BILLBOARD
telephone pole
EXXON MEGASTATION WITH FASTFOOD TOO!
telephone pole
OK, it’s crappy poetry, but it’s how I felt at the time.
Anyway, it was on this trip, in Montreal as I recall, that I purchased “Last of The Ghetto Astronauts” by the Matthew Good Band. I’ve been a fan of Matt Good’s work ever since. As a result I tend to read his blog a fair amount. It includes a diverse range of topics from human rights issues to world events to mental health issues to the music and personal sides of his life as well. Recently he made an interesting post. I read it and something about it struck me. I got distracted and didn’t give it my full attention. Later, after a colleague at work (also a Matt Good fan) mentioned the same post to me, I took another look.
“The Only Juno Worth Receiving”, and its subsequent comments triggered the memories of my trip across the country, and though expressed far more eloquently than I could, inspired this post of mine.
I’ve got so many shots that are sitting on the hard drive and haven’t been shared. So I thought I’d start a new category called “Pic of the Day”. Now, this won’t mean everyday of course, but when I’m going through shots and see something that catches my eye for some reason, I’m going to post it here. It’ll be pretty random, but hopefully enjoyable for you to see.
Today’s shot is a new one. I took it with the Rollei (yes, that camera uses film! Remember film?) on our recent Nicaragua trip. Paul was awesome enough to get my film processed for me in the big city and mail it up to me. This is one of the few from this roll that I’m happy with. It is of some lovely Nicaraguan street vendors hawking their bananas. We bought a bunch from them before I took this shot. They were so tasty that I had to get another bunch before we moved on.
Well, it seemed there were no wardrobe malfunctions this year at the halftime show. Just good old rock ‘n roll! He did a nice medley of old classic crowd pleasers with a quick new one thrown in. Here it is…
Part 1
Part 2
When it snows all day at the ski hill, it can be a lot of fun!!
