SPC - 'Favorite Songs' - #3

Every once in a while, I have to load this video on Youtube and listen to Foo Fighters play their entire album "Wasting Light" in an even more "raw" form than it comes across in all of its analog glory in the studio recording. Love to see Grohl's emotion come through so viscerally and to see Taylor Hawkins absolutely *wailing* on the drums. I don't tolerate much "scream" in vocals on the music I listen to, but I could listen to Dave Grohl scream/sing just about all day and not get tired of it.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that "Walk" is my favorite song on the album, but it was the one that occurred to me that I could easily portray visually for the SPC contributions.

If you don't have the 49 minutes to watch the entire thing, here's the start point for "Walk" on that video and here's the goofy music video.

SPC - 'Favorite Songs' - #2

"Drive" by The Cars (1984).

Something about the groove on this song has always appealed to me. A bit of research (Wikipedia - *cough*) merited some interesting facts I did not know about this song. The song was *written* by Cars' frontman, Ric Ocasek, but the lead vocals on the record were sung by the group's bassist, Benjamin Orr. Apparently, Orr also did lead vocals on "Let's Go" and "Just What I Needed."

SPC - 'Favorite Songs' - #1

Sometimes, when I have a bunch of snow shoveling to do, I'll take the time to get my iPod and earbuds and listen to music to pass the time. I almost always have my iPod set for full shuffle and with 3000+ songs, I just never know what I'm going to get next. I have found that certain songs take on unintended meaning while shoveling snow:
Vivaldi's "Spring"
Adele's Bond theme, "Skyfall"
Just about anything by The Beach Boys....

One time, Bananarama's "Cruel Summer" came on and I was amused by the irony.

When I decided to do "Favorite Songs" as a SPC theme for the month of February, it occurred to me that I might employ that irony with this song and a shot of one dressed inappropriately for the elements in this "cruel summer."

I can't hear this song without thinking of the montage from Karate Kid when Daniel is arriving at school on his bike, attending soccer practice and chatting with Ali (with an "i").

:-)

SPC - 'Flashback 2013' - #4

So, I think I've covered all eleven themes from 2013 here is this last of the SPC 'Flashback' contributions:

*Video (obviously)
*Widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio)
*blur
*tiny words
*many/mini
*white space
*orange
*blue
*symmetry
*superpowers (origami!)
* Um -- oh crap, I forgot 'internet memes' -- what an.....
(wait for it)
....EPIC FAIL!!


:-)

SPC - 'Flashback 2013' - #3

At school, Harrison is getting ready to celebrate the 100th day of school with a collection of 100 things. His collection is of 100 propeller beads in four groups of 25 beads (The clear beads are a little difficult to see). He was excited to get to use the hot glue gun for his project.

Hannah's science class is studying the solar system and her project (besides a written report) is a model of her chosen planet, Neptune. We got the traditional Styrofoam sphere from Hobby Lobby, but instead of painting it, we decided to use watered-down school glue on colored tissue paper. It gives the planet model interesting coloration and texture. We're letting it dry to see if any touch-up work is necessary and we need to work on the cross-section showing the inner make-up of the planet, but it is coming along nicely.

Flashback themes:
Blue
White space
tiny words
Many - propeller beads
Mini - Model Neptune
Orange - (incidental)

SPC - 'Flashback 2013' - #2

This was taken mere seconds before I walked out of this building as an employee for the final time.

In October, the company who had employed me for over 17 years informed me that the department for which I had worked that entire time would be outsourced to a company in Nashville, Tennessee effective January 1, 2014.

The months of October, November and December were spent alongside my long-time colleagues and friends assisting in the transition to the new company.

This day, I was the last one out of the building of only a very few who came in on a day that was officially a holiday.

I gathered the last few personal items from my area, put my key on my boss's desk, turned out the lights, locked the door and walked through the dark and cold of the lonely parking lot to the only car remaining in the lot.

Darn near poetic.

I am not quite sure what's next for me. I know I'll be OK, but I don't adjust well to change. I tend to be content and loyal. Risk-averse, some would say.

Still, there is a part of me that is looking forward to the adventure of something new.

I'll just feel better when I know what that "something new" is going to be.

Themes: Widescreen tiny words White Space (compare to this shot).

SPC - 'Flashback 2013' - #1

During the month of January, Self Portrait Challenge will be looking back fondly on the themes from 2013 and combining two or more themes into a new self portrait.

Here's my first:



Combining themes: Blue and Many

What to do when your family is effectively snowed in? Make hot drinks and start a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. You can see Harrison in the background. He likes puzzles and made his fair share of contributions to the joint effort, but he was taking an exercise break when this photo was taken, apparently.

Progress shot:


and completion:

SPC - 'White Space' - 2/3/4/5

So, like clockwork, December got crazy. I kept current with the weekly challenges, but I fell behind in posting here. Just catching up by posting my last four entries from December.

If you're interested in any background, click through to the image on Flickr and there should be a bit more detail about these shots:







This one (above) was taken as the kids and I attended a Living Nativity at a nearby Church before Christmas. Here's a bonus shot of the Nativity:

SPC - 'White Space' - #1

SPC - 'tiny words' - #4