And we had the druids […] and they built Stonehenge. One of the biggest henges in the world… No one’s built a henge like that ever since. No one knows what the fuck a henge is…
Eddie Izzard (Dress to Kill)
Monthly Archives: January 2014
Snowpocalypse 2014, Pt 2
My commute is, on average, about 5-7 minutes (I’m spoiled, I know).
This morning I spent about 20 minutes scraping the snowpocalypse off of my car. Which means that last night’s weather effectively quadrupled my commute time.
This causes me a bit of frustration… at myself mostly. Because this ‘first-world problem’ could have been easily avoided… if I’d bothered to finish moving those last few boxes out of my garage (which I leased solely for purpose of housing my vehicle) before the torrential snowfall.
Today’s Score?
Snowpocalypse: 1
Procrastination: 0
Well played, snowpocalypse, well played.
Snowpocalypse 2014
Ok, ok, it’s not actually that bad.
But it is snowing an awful lot, and visibility is rather shitty. I think the weather reasonably qualifies as “blizzard conditions”. Joy.
And tonight I drove down to Thornton to collect another wayward bin. Yup, that was a 60 mile trip (in a blizzard) for one bin.
Full of what?
You guessed it:
Books.
*sigh*
(see my earlier post about having too many books)
But, hey, one more reason I’m glad to drive a Jeep.
Stay warm kids, and drive safe.
Photo Editing
Photo editing for Contraband has been completed.
668 shots whittled down to 3 group and 48 performance selections. Images have been cropped, cleaned up, labeled, zipped, and sent forth to the band.
My favorite shot from the set? This gem:
Frozen
I accidentally froze my salad.
How does one accidentally freeze one’s lunch?
Well, apparently the area of the mini fridge (the one that lives under my desk) directly beneath the “freezer” compartment is also inclined to have freezing temperatures.
Needless to say, lunch today was… strange…
Playing Photographer
I’ve completed the first round of sorting and clean up on the photos I took at the Contraband show last night.
When I’m playing event photographer, I spend the whole event shooting, and I try to get as many shots as possible. JS was a little surprised last night when I told him how many pictures I took, but I’ve really found that it’s a numbers game. Especially when you’re shooting a live event with lots of motion in low/weird lighting. I’m usually lucky to have 10-20% of the shots come out. (Maybe I’m just not a very good photographer.)
I hit about average this time: of the 668 shots that I took, I’ve trimmed down to just over 100 that might be good (around 16%).
Next up: cropping and clean up, then whittling down to the best shots to send to the band.
It looks like I haven’t quite left my days of involvement with the music industry behind me, and, as it turns out, I’m ok with that.
Contraband
- Stepped outside my comfort zone tonight and attended a Ska concert. Those of you familiar with my traditional musical leanings (goth/industrial, electronic, etc.) may be raising an eyebrow at this. But when your friend is in the band and asks you to come, you go, even when it’s on a Sunday night…
The band in question is Contraband, who describe themselves as a fusion of Ska and Reggae. Not a small group, they consist of nine (yes, nine) musicians, including trumpet, trombone, two saxophones, two guitars, bass, keys, and drums. And they all managed to squeeze onto the tiny stage at the Skylark Lounge for JUK’N and JAM’N for JIMSTOWN, a benefit show to raise money to help rebuild flood damage in Jamestown, CO.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, particularly since I don’t believe I’ve ever attended a Ska performance, but I quite enjoyed myself. The music was lively and so were the performers. I’ve always felt that the music itself is really only half of a good performance, it’s the musicians and the mood they project that can really make or break a performance.
These musicians, they were comfortable, they were confident, and they were having fun. And when the band is having fun, I assure you that the audience is too. In fact, they conveyed such a feeling of lightheartedness in their performance that they managed to create a much more intimate atmosphere than I expected in a bar.
Intrigued? Contraband will be returning to the Skylark Lounge on Friday, February 21, 2014.
Can’t wait that long? Lucky for you, they released a five track EP (Whitewater) in 2012 and you can download a copy for your very own from bandcamp. Also available: sheet music for the win.
On a side note, I got to pull out an old friend for the event (my Canon 60D) and revisit my past persona of band photographer. Many photos were taken (including a pretty excellent group shot) and some of them even turned out pretty well. Once those get sorted and edited, I’ll splice a few in here. Edit: Photo splice complete.
And don’t get me started on the guilt trip I’m giving myself about how long it’s been since I touched my clarinet…
Me&
JC: I haven’t had that many boyfriends!
G: Hey, if it went to the bonezone, I’m counting it.
Me &
Speaking with D about her kiddos…
D: If only all of my poor life decisions could look so good 10 years later.
Yoga
Signed up for yoga at work.
They have a lovely woman who comes in to the FTC office on Wednesdays during the lunch hour to teach us. This was the third week of this session, and I am sore.
Mind you, I expected to be sore. But it’s always interesting to sit down at my computer afterwards (or the next day) and notice oh, there’s a muscle that I didn’t even know I had, and it hurts.
But, I think it’s going well, y’know, other than the falling on my ass repeatedly. It’s very relaxing, and it definitely pushes my physical boundaries in a way that I haven’t explored previously. I’m quite looking forward to developing better flexibility and balance, and maybe even learning to relax better.