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Worth a mention, good for a laugh
TGIF…it’s a “feature” day at BD@BS!! Last week I missed (again), but you were all sleeping through your Friday afternoon and never looked back. See, installing cameras into all of your homes paid off! I have a few friends blogs to plug today and some new to my bookmarks…on with the sideshow!
crazying up the bottle – MooCow’s return from hiatus brings just as many laughs; but it’s better. Why? Because I and everyone else behind me says so. Clicky click click your little butt over there.
Life, Grad School, and Everything In Between – Laura’s heartfelt comments about her life as a grad student. working for a University…”when all she really wants is to be Audrey Hepburn.”
Where does the time go when it’s not around here? – Ah yes, Lisa writes her little heart out in a fun, upbeat and silly words for all to read. It’s hard to not wonder what she’s doing next, but you can find out by visiting her almost daily updated blog. (hint hint…keep going back)
the origin of shoeism – MaryJanes (a.k.a. Thérèse) has her blog reborn, just as good only if you talk about bacon she’ll beat you with the sole of an old shoe. Read her lucid day-dreamy blogs about her days and fun little conversations she has with her friends…we all have them, but she blogs them.
These Eyes Hold Pain – Are you “obsessed without a clue”? She is. Deep thoughts from the places we don’t all like to talk about; but we all have moments we get lost down there. Hearing from the gut spilled words will remind you it’s okay to hurt…because sometimes you have to hurt to feel the good. She isn’t really crazy (shh…just go along with it).
Cooking with Amy – Not sure what to eat tonight? Feeling adventurous in the kitchen? Check out what Amy is cooking tonight! Hints on how to cook with certain ingredients, recipes, food news, restaurant reviews, book reviews and some historical background about ingredients. WARNING: you might get hungry just looking at the pictures of some wonderful dishes.
The Casual Friday – Did you see this on the Blogger(tm) link listing? Brian gives you a “top 10 list” from the hilights of his day. Maybe a little too blunt for some, but fun to read example “Unsuccessfully attempted to break my all-time record for consecutive hours sitting on the couch” – you know you want to see what he was up to today.
Naked Drinking Coffee – I have a weird sense of humor at times and I need a little something different then the fluffy humor I usually follow. NDC is the place to be for that. Raw, funny, slanderous, scandalous and chalk full of things you wish you were saying…but you don’t.
…and not to pull your halo down – Hofzinser sketches with words and asks good questions along the way. Step-by-step guides for life as a guy…with links to other sites that have step-by-step guides for girls. Why what kind of guides you ask? You’ll have to click the link and read away to find out…otherwise I would spoil it.
Scorpio – InfoSpace
Now this is the kind of information I need just before going to a wedding this weekend. Lookout bridesmaids…because I’m not going to talk to you; but I might be wishing you were talking to me. HA! Liquid courage would be nice. As for tempting anyone to do just about anything…I tempt you all to pay me one million dollars! Waiting…waiting…yea okay then; apparently I need to work on the “just about anything” part.
“Your sign is known for magnetism and an impressive ability to tempt anyone into doing just about anything. So when someone absolutely perfect walks by, you’ll do everything in your power to entice them into spending time with you. If they’re already yours, so much the better. You just have to be yourself, and they’ll be just as infatuated as they were the first time you wooed them. If they’re not yours, let’s just say that situation won’t last for very long at all.”
Daily Horoscope: Scorpio – InfoSpace
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do. “
– Eleanor Roosevelt
This was my photo submission to: WereNotAfraid.com.
Weekend of music
Many of you know I have been following a local musician for some time now and I tend to rave about her music just as much as I rave about anything else online. I got to see two Tamara Bedricky shows this weekend…and I took a lot of pictures.
- Saturday night’s pictures from Small’s Bar @ Flickr.
- Sunday night’s pictures from Mickey Finns Pub @ Flickr.
The first show was at a small venue on Friday night not too far from my place. The sound was a little light at times, but the crowd was great. I was lucky enough to get in early and watch the line grow outside for this triple header show…I was anxious to see the mixed aged crowd’s reaction to all the bands.
Jeff Tessler another local artist opened to a small, but energetic crowd. Jokes about songs and asking his parents to plug their ears before hearing him play kept the crowd laughing. A young and humble musician with mature talent that kept me wondering when I would see him on the larger music bills within the next year. A trio of free CDs later made me think he might have a good idea: he records (usually) his shows and puts a live track from a previous show on a CD with some other songs and hands them out when he is finished. I already passed on two of my CDs and received the “thumbs up” from friends. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to hear him live again -soon.
Tamara Bedricky was up next…full band and two new songs to dish out…one I had sampled previously, but I was not prepared for what I was about to hear. I like Tamara’s music and I think she has some talent…I think her songs would make it on the local radio circuit. However, I heard one of her new songs and I don’t think it would just make it on the radio; it’s an easy national hit. No bias opinion, just me listening to music and calling it as I see it…which could be WAAaaaaay off base, but it was the best song I have heard from her yet. If it goes to national mainstream radio I’ll wager that it will be a top 5 song for the summer. Why? I have no idea…just a hunch. The second song is also a work in progress and has an amazing personal aura about it. I was fortunate enough to hear it twice in one weekend and I can say that it will be one on repeat when I take long walks and want to be alone. It might not draw tears, but it will tug on your heart.
Stephen Kellogg and the sixers were the final act with great sound and a flair for entertainment – if they play a local show, see them. It’s worth $20 cover…but hopefully it will be $5 for cover and you can spend the other $15 on their CD. From covers to original music, it all sounds good when belted from these four guys that all take turns singing at different points. From playing while seated with the crowd to playing leap frog in the middle of the dance floor while another member flys solo signing or playing, these guys know what it means to entertain.
I got a chance to hang out with Tamara Bedricky and the head of her street team for a little bit on Friday night and I got a chance to talk about the show on Saturday before she headed down to Toledo, Ohio for her next gig. I was invited to tag along and take more pictures with the head of her street team…one hour later I was in Toledo and watching the band set up and do a sound check. Can you say awesome? I’ve only been following her music for a year now…sweet! Chatting with Tamara and her bass player I got a little insight in to their other music likes and dislikes while we grabbed dinner. Again a moment I’ll remember for a long time; how often to you get one-on-one time with someone who has a hit on two national TV shows, full length album, EP, promo DVD and merchandise to boot? Not that often in my social circle.
When the new album comes out I’ll mail 10 loyal readers a copy if you promise to tell not 5, but 10 friends about it. It would be nice if you email me too and let me know what you thought of it…I can’t promise anything, but if I hear she is headed your way I just might make the trip out to see you too. ;) Wow…now that’s a bonus!
“I’m sure one day I’ll hear a song that doesn’t stretch out it’s hand as my soul reaches out to shake in a memorable moment of ‘hello’. Until then, I’m content.”
– Babbling Dweeb [2002]
I can’t click right
Apparently I wasn’t paying attention when I made some recent edits (because I forgot my grammar like a silly lil dweeb) and I pulled down my last few blog posts. Let me fix that!!
I don’t feel safe(r)
I chose not to comment about something that happened to me last week after class because after a good rant I was over it. I read an article today that put the events back in my head; now I have to share.
I have been trying to get a particular shot figured out with my camera: streaking lights from cars. Basically you take a picture where the shutter stays open for more than a second (usually like 5 or 10 seconds). I have a shot in my mind I want to take, but before I scout a location I wanted to figure out my camera. So last week it was a little after 10 and I thought I would take a picture from an overpass near my house. After thinking about there not being a close place to park, but it being just far enough I didn’t want to walk (I was lazy) I opted for another choice. There is an intersection that is well lit and has some decent traffic on it about 5 or 10 minutes from my home…I headed out to take a peek.
This intersection is where two five lane roads converge. One has a speed limit of 45 mph and the other is 35 mph…sidewalks on all sides of the road and street lights. Normally this would ruin the shot I was looking for, but I didn’t care too much because I wasn’t looking to produce anything with it, I just wanted to see what setting I needed for car lights to show up as a streak. So I parked on the corner in a oil change parking lot that has an entrance to both roads just shy of the corner. It was well lit so it was obvious my car was there and it wouldn’t look suspicious. There are just mini-malls, car dealerships, a few small sports bars and a super store (like Meijer, Walmart, Super K-Mart…a grocery store with everything else). No offices or anything like that.
I got out my tripod (less than 3 feet tall) and put my camera next to the sidewalk. I took 5 pictures with different settings, waiting for traffic to move before each shot. I looked at the 5 shots, didn’t see what I wanted and decided that it was too well lit for me to see if I was or was not getting what I wanted. I packed up and left…total time? 10 minutes tops.
I got in my car and pulled out of the lot on the road, waited to turn (long long light to turn left) and proceeded to head home. Just after I made my turn I saw head lights coming up on me and FAST! I thought I was about to get hit so I took my finger off the gas and just looked forward thinking I needed to watch the road…praying it was a cop and not a drunk driver.
Red and blue lights…a cop.
I pulled over into a strip mall and waited. It was getting darker so I turned on my interior lights just to make it safe for all of us. The officer asked for my license and I got it out politely telling him I needed to take off my belt to do so. While I got my license out I asked him if there was a problem. His response with a cold tone “we’ll get to the problem when I find out who I am talking to.” Very polite I said “okay” and handed him my license. At this point I am a little concerned, thinking “are my plates expired again? Shit…I hope my registration is in the car…and my insurance, damn did I put the newest one in here?” then I thought “WAIT…this is the first time I have been pulled over and NOT asked for my licence, registration and insurance…what…” the cop was back at my window. “Do you want to tell me what you were doing in the oil shop parking lot?” THANK FREAKING GOD I was not a smart-ass and my first reaction was a puzzled look and I said “uh…yeah, I was taking pictures [turn on the other interior light, tripod is on the floor and camera on the seat; pick up the camera] with my camera of the street lights for a project I am doing where the car lights show up as streaks on film and I needed to test the settings on my camera [camera turning on] I just took 5 of the same shot [scroll through the 5 pics] and didn’t get the effect I wanted. I just packed up and left after these. [holding the camera out the window] I thought that since I was in a public place, well lit and right on the sidewalk I would be fine. I used no flash or any lights at all so drivers would not be distracted.” He says “okay, wait right here.” turns around and I hear something and at this point I notice someone behind the car — I think it’s the owner/manager of the oil shop. Officer returns, hands me my license and says “you can go.”
Now, I stuck my head out the window and said “Thank you” and he didn’t flinch. I put my license away and I think to myself…”Just leave, just leave” but honestly I am pissed off. The officer was doing his job. I am okay with that. What I am not okay with is I did not get an apology nor did I get the typical police “have a good night.” Listen, I pay your f-ing salary and you just harassed me without apologizing for a misunderstanding. Jerk.
When I go to pull out of the lot I see the person that was behind my car…an older gentlemen that was on a motorcycle I saw stopped at a light. I saw him look at me and thought nothing of it. He called the cops on me…suspicious activity. Now, let’s get the fact out in the clear: I had a hairy hairy beard last week I had been growing out without shaving as a tribute to Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France (whole diff story) – where am I going with this? I am not Arabic, but with a full intense black beard I look like I am Arabic and I have had trouble at the US/Canada border before when I have my beard. Had my last name been something middle-eastern sounding I am pretty sure things could have been much worse for me. Why do I say that?
Read the article that pissed me off today…
[sniped from: Independent Press Association]
Colored? Carrying a camera? Banned in New York
By George Joseph, India Abroad, 24 June 2005. English Language.Taking photographs in New York City can be dangerous, especially if your color is brown.
Rakesh Sharma, a filmmaker from India who captured the violence in Gujarat in his film Final Solution, learned it the hard way. His crime: taking photographs of taxis, pedestrians and buildings around Park Avenue and 39th Street in Manhattan around the Metlife building.
Full article: IPA NY Voices That Must Be Heard @ Independent Press Association
Maybe I should call the cops when I see someone on a motorcycle and say they look like a scary biker gang member and I think they just robbed a store or did something horrible because they ride a motorcycle.
[the point]
I love America and I am one of the last you’ll hear bitch-and-moan about things here. I don’t get vocal about the war on terror, the war in Iraq or political issues unless it’s the time in my eyes for me to say something. I’m not going to do it now either. What happened to me was NOTHING. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time…if the guy on the motorcycle could even see my beard he has amazing vision because I was not that well lit up to look Arabic – I just looked like someone sitting on the ground at 11pm. I’m crying over a stupid apology from a cop; it’s pathetic of me. However, in the case of Rakesh Sharma [man in article] and the complaints against NY police treatment, there is nothing pathetic but the officers that were involved. To me THEY are terrorists.
To bold of a statement to make? Maybe. I don’t have a solution for a better way to find out who is good and who is bad. Innocent people will get caught up in the mix. I don’t have a solution for solving terrorism. Most likely we can only hope to limit it; conquer it doesn’t seem possible (at present day). However, I feel comfortable saying: what we are doing now doesn’t seem like much of a solution to me; it seems like we are just adding to the problem.
“When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.“
Oscar Wilde; An Ideal husband, 1893
.: the babbling dweeb :. 