This man's love of music is beautiful to watch/listen to...
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
An almost summer Thursday
A guitar 'workshop' of sorts with IgorA this evening. Two hours of counting the first 8 beats of "Where it Goes'. Great work, but my brain was fried by the end.
A bunch of truly interesting job prospects have surfaced in the last week and I am trying to get applications in for them all. So a large chunk of the day was spent with this here computer. I managed to get a walk up and down Phinney Ridge in this morning and made a few images along the way. Here are two from today and another from earlier in the week.
A bunch of truly interesting job prospects have surfaced in the last week and I am trying to get applications in for them all. So a large chunk of the day was spent with this here computer. I managed to get a walk up and down Phinney Ridge in this morning and made a few images along the way. Here are two from today and another from earlier in the week.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Ballard Spunk
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a story on the passing of Edith Macefield.
Photo: Karen Ducey / P-I
Photo: Joshua Trujillo / P-I
The Ballard woman who captured hearts and admirers around the world when she stubbornly turned down $1 million to sell her home to make way for a commercial development died Sunday of pancreatic cancer. She was 86.
"I don't want to move. I don't need the money. Money doesn't mean anything," she told the Seattle P-I in October.
She continued living in the little old house in the 1400 block of Northwest 46th Street even after concrete walls rose around her, coming within a few feet of her kitchen window.
Photo: Karen Ducey / P-I
Photo: Joshua Trujillo / P-ISaturday, June 14, 2008
So much to catch up with...
I keep putting this off, but the longer I do the more behind I get...
OK, so what are the pencils about?
Well, they are about the extravagant birthday gift I bought for myself - a pencil sharpener:
For years I have been using a small, hand-held pencil sharpener. Recently, I was given reason to suspect that the irregular sharpening motions of the hand-held sharpener was at least part of the reason my colored pencil leads were breaking as often as they have . So, for a whopping $11, I decided to go on a spree and buy this nifty little battery powered pencil sharpener. And guess what - it seems to work just fine. I have had only three pencils leads break in the sharpening of all my pencils, whereas in the past, almost every other pencil would break. The ones that are breaking now are likely doing so because the pencil was dropped and the 'lead' has cracked.
I had a wonderful birthday. The evening prior to teh actual date, I was joined for a birthday cupcake and a movie: Prince Caspian. That was quite enough birthday celebrating for me and I was entirely content that night. The following day, on my birthday proper, emails started flying around in the morning notifying various individuals that it was my birthday. By the evening, plans were in place to meet at Travgor's where we ended up having pizza and a rich, dense chocolate torte while watching an Elvis DVD. We also snuck in a Battlestar Gallactica episode before the evening was over.
But that wasn't all! The following evening, after the Tuning the Air performance we met for our usual post-show relaxing at the High-Life and,MB presented a beautiful and tasty raspberry tart that she made and we did the birthday thing again .
~~~
Tuning the Air: Though we haven't completed the current season, I'm beginning early planning for next season. The poster design is one piece of this early planning - and this is the first draft...
There is more to catch up with ( like the job I didn't get) but that is enough for now....
OK, so what are the pencils about?
Well, they are about the extravagant birthday gift I bought for myself - a pencil sharpener:
For years I have been using a small, hand-held pencil sharpener. Recently, I was given reason to suspect that the irregular sharpening motions of the hand-held sharpener was at least part of the reason my colored pencil leads were breaking as often as they have . So, for a whopping $11, I decided to go on a spree and buy this nifty little battery powered pencil sharpener. And guess what - it seems to work just fine. I have had only three pencils leads break in the sharpening of all my pencils, whereas in the past, almost every other pencil would break. The ones that are breaking now are likely doing so because the pencil was dropped and the 'lead' has cracked.
I had a wonderful birthday. The evening prior to teh actual date, I was joined for a birthday cupcake and a movie: Prince Caspian. That was quite enough birthday celebrating for me and I was entirely content that night. The following day, on my birthday proper, emails started flying around in the morning notifying various individuals that it was my birthday. By the evening, plans were in place to meet at Travgor's where we ended up having pizza and a rich, dense chocolate torte while watching an Elvis DVD. We also snuck in a Battlestar Gallactica episode before the evening was over.
But that wasn't all! The following evening, after the Tuning the Air performance we met for our usual post-show relaxing at the High-Life and,MB presented a beautiful and tasty raspberry tart that she made and we did the birthday thing again .
~~~
Tuning the Air: Though we haven't completed the current season, I'm beginning early planning for next season. The poster design is one piece of this early planning - and this is the first draft...
There is more to catch up with ( like the job I didn't get) but that is enough for now....
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Coldest June in more than a century
With less than two weeks to go until the summer solstice, snowplows were busy on Snoqualmie Pass in one of the coldest Junes ever.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/366473_weather11.html
At least 7 inches of snow fell in the pass overnight Tuesday, contributing to a trailer-truck rollover near Cle Elum, as June saw the coldest first week since records began in 1891, the National Weather Service in Seattle said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/366473_weather11.html
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Let's go downtown
While lengthy backups (that is another story) were running on the computer, it seemed a good time to take advantage of free First Thursday at the Seattle Art Museum and see what else might be opening tonight. Hopped on the MT15 bus to downtown (and that too is another story) and found myself in front of Benham Gallery. Well why not? The current show is a two person exhibition; Franco Donaggio and Dorothy Monnelly. I don't recall much about Monnelly's work, but that may simply be that I was so taken by Donaggio's that I didn't pay sufficient attention to what was on the other side of the room.
Donaggio's works are large (I guess approx 24" x 36") Lamba prints (Technical notes: Donaggio uses Kodak's ENDURA Metallic Paper and has these mounted on aluminum. Though his images are B&W, Endura is a color paper.) The work was beautiful. Reminiscent of a number of photographers (Burkholder, Uelsmann, Wynn Bullock, etc) yet the overall impression was of a direct, clear and decidedly dramatic vision. I found it difficult to believe the assertion that there was little Photoshop machinations to achieve these clear, clean prints, but no matter. The result is worth whatever work was required.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Radiant vs. reflective light
Shower, yoga and off to sitting. A small group (5) for sitting. Return home for breakfast. Millet and orange slices.
Much processing on the Bearded Iris and Vine image from yesterday to see if what conveys on the computer monitor can be presented in a print. Often, these images that looks so beautiful on the monitor do not translate well to the printed surface. After all, on the monitor, one is seeing light glowing from the screen. Paper reflects light, it cannot radiate light.
Friday, May 30, 2008
A resident of the State of Washington!
Thursday ~~~~
After reviewing the State of Washington driver’s guide in anticipation of taking a driving test, I drove to the Department of Motor Vehicles office to get a Washington State driver’s license. After waiting nearly an hour for my number to be called, when I got to the desk, I discovered I had everything I needed - but for my wallet (which contained my current driver’s license and means to pay for the license.) The clerk kindly processed everything that he could and gave a suggestion for a different office to return to complete the transaction tomorrow where I won't experience the same delays.
Met with Jenny and Jennifer from Sustainable Ballard for my interview. It seemed to go well - they repeatedly spoke as if I already had the job – but they also had at least two more candidates to interview, so I think it simply reflects their lack of experience in interviewing. They will make a decision in another week or so.
~~~
Prepared pea soup with a stock that began as the corn-cooking water at Travis's barbecue two weeks ago. The stock came out sweet and flavorful, making the soup seem lighter than pea soup usually is.
Guitar practice.
Friday ~~~
Were this the only thing accomplished today, I'd still be satisfied.
but there's more...
Effective today, Washington State is my official residence, having been issued a driver’s license. My California license was going to expire in the next two weeks, so this was a necessity. Now what were all those things I was postponing doing until I became a resident?
~~~
The lost data fiasco earlier this month wasn’t entirely as resolved as I thought it was. After running that data recovery program against the hard drive, it appeared that the files had been restored, albeit, with randomly assigned new filenames. But over the last week or so, as I’ve tried to weed through all these files to process and save them, Photoshop has been unable to open many - identifying them as corrupted. Today, in working with one I particularly wished to recover and discovering it unusable, I remembered another possibility. Though I had formatted the storage card from the camera, I’d left it aside until I was satisfied this whole problem was resolved. So I tried running the data recovery software against the storage card - and voila! – many of the files were still there and still useable – though once again, with randomly assigned filenames. Of course, now I have two sets of recovered files and it will still be weeks before I’ve reconstructed everything, but the overall situation is much improved.
After reviewing the State of Washington driver’s guide in anticipation of taking a driving test, I drove to the Department of Motor Vehicles office to get a Washington State driver’s license. After waiting nearly an hour for my number to be called, when I got to the desk, I discovered I had everything I needed - but for my wallet (which contained my current driver’s license and means to pay for the license.) The clerk kindly processed everything that he could and gave a suggestion for a different office to return to complete the transaction tomorrow where I won't experience the same delays.
Met with Jenny and Jennifer from Sustainable Ballard for my interview. It seemed to go well - they repeatedly spoke as if I already had the job – but they also had at least two more candidates to interview, so I think it simply reflects their lack of experience in interviewing. They will make a decision in another week or so.
~~~
Prepared pea soup with a stock that began as the corn-cooking water at Travis's barbecue two weeks ago. The stock came out sweet and flavorful, making the soup seem lighter than pea soup usually is.
Guitar practice.
Friday ~~~
Were this the only thing accomplished today, I'd still be satisfied.
but there's more...
Effective today, Washington State is my official residence, having been issued a driver’s license. My California license was going to expire in the next two weeks, so this was a necessity. Now what were all those things I was postponing doing until I became a resident?
~~~
The lost data fiasco earlier this month wasn’t entirely as resolved as I thought it was. After running that data recovery program against the hard drive, it appeared that the files had been restored, albeit, with randomly assigned new filenames. But over the last week or so, as I’ve tried to weed through all these files to process and save them, Photoshop has been unable to open many - identifying them as corrupted. Today, in working with one I particularly wished to recover and discovering it unusable, I remembered another possibility. Though I had formatted the storage card from the camera, I’d left it aside until I was satisfied this whole problem was resolved. So I tried running the data recovery software against the storage card - and voila! – many of the files were still there and still useable – though once again, with randomly assigned filenames. Of course, now I have two sets of recovered files and it will still be weeks before I’ve reconstructed everything, but the overall situation is much improved.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Thank You!
A belated 'thank you' to Nancy for the chairs. Explanation: Nancy had offered me two adirondack chairs. I thought about it and realized that the chairs would get the most use over in the Travgor yard - especially with the upcoming Sunday barbecue.
I checked with Travis and he agreed. So on Saturday, Nancy and Larry and I tucked the chairs into the back of my Prius and I took 'em over to Travgor's. Travis cleaned them up and Sunday they were put to use. Nice and comfortable! Thanks Nancy!
Catching up on the weekend.
Lost Pedro (Travis, ChrisG & Howard) played at Folklife on Saturday. I carpooled over with Curt and Collin (who is visiting from Chicago.)
Curt and Collin surveying the crowd at Folklife
Lost Pedro playing the final slot at Folklife
On Sunday a barbecue at Travgor's. You would think that social events with a lot of musicians would result in a lot of jamming, but I've been here for a year and seen/heard precious little music that wasn't a rehearsal or performance. Sunday, the gang made up for that with a fabulous jam session.
That's MB above using an almond jar as a shaker. As the evening wore on, we went downstairs to Igor's drum studio and jammed a little more.
When it got down to the final stragglers, someone suggested watching 'V for Vendetta'. As I'd never seen it, I lingered. Glad I did.
A great weekend.
Curt and Collin surveying the crowd at Folklife
Lost Pedro playing the final slot at FolklifeOn Sunday a barbecue at Travgor's. You would think that social events with a lot of musicians would result in a lot of jamming, but I've been here for a year and seen/heard precious little music that wasn't a rehearsal or performance. Sunday, the gang made up for that with a fabulous jam session.
That's MB above using an almond jar as a shaker. As the evening wore on, we went downstairs to Igor's drum studio and jammed a little more.
When it got down to the final stragglers, someone suggested watching 'V for Vendetta'. As I'd never seen it, I lingered. Glad I did.
A great weekend.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Black crow
(Entered this the other day but forgot to hit 'post'!)
Mesmerized by a large black crow today. I have the window seat at the café and he turned up pecking into the trashcan by the door. It was a discarded plastic bag with the remnants of someone’s lunch that was the bird’s prey. Several times he got very, very close to success when a café patron would interrupt progress. There is something fascinating about a creature using its instincts and skill on habitat designed for man, not bird.
The café stop is a break from preparing and mailing the Palo Alto gallery shipment of prints. Unfortunately, each of the prints in the shipment needed a second printing as the first printing revealed something that had not been detected in the earlier, smaller versions. In once case I was forced to go back to the raw file to retrieve image detail that had been lost in the processing of the image. Glad to have that detail still available!
~~~
Choco rang and suggested we walk. She took me to Ravenna Park – and what a wonderful find! Ferns and iris and whatnot. Cool and subdued under a high canopy of trees. Places of quiet like this - in the middle of an urban environment – are essential. I hope to make this a frequent destination.
Inspired by Choco’s garden, on arriving home I set about to plant the seeds I’ve been hording. Salad greens, melons, herbs, and cherry tomatoes were tucked into the little seeds trays I’ve been saving. Now for patient care.
Mesmerized by a large black crow today. I have the window seat at the café and he turned up pecking into the trashcan by the door. It was a discarded plastic bag with the remnants of someone’s lunch that was the bird’s prey. Several times he got very, very close to success when a café patron would interrupt progress. There is something fascinating about a creature using its instincts and skill on habitat designed for man, not bird.
The café stop is a break from preparing and mailing the Palo Alto gallery shipment of prints. Unfortunately, each of the prints in the shipment needed a second printing as the first printing revealed something that had not been detected in the earlier, smaller versions. In once case I was forced to go back to the raw file to retrieve image detail that had been lost in the processing of the image. Glad to have that detail still available!
~~~
Choco rang and suggested we walk. She took me to Ravenna Park – and what a wonderful find! Ferns and iris and whatnot. Cool and subdued under a high canopy of trees. Places of quiet like this - in the middle of an urban environment – are essential. I hope to make this a frequent destination.
Inspired by Choco’s garden, on arriving home I set about to plant the seeds I’ve been hording. Salad greens, melons, herbs, and cherry tomatoes were tucked into the little seeds trays I’ve been saving. Now for patient care.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Solo Piano Phase
Travis sent a link with this video (from top-40.org)
Reich invented his original "phasing" technology in the beginning of 1960's. He was using two copies of the same tape loop, playing simultaneously on different machines, and over time, the slight differences in the speed of the tape machines causes a flanging effect and then rhythmic separation to occur. Originally, phasing was only a studio experimental technique for tape loops, but in 1967 Steve composed a Piano Phase, a piece of music for two pianos. It was his first attempt at applying the phasing to live performance.
Reich invented his original "phasing" technology in the beginning of 1960's. He was using two copies of the same tape loop, playing simultaneously on different machines, and over time, the slight differences in the speed of the tape machines causes a flanging effect and then rhythmic separation to occur. Originally, phasing was only a studio experimental technique for tape loops, but in 1967 Steve composed a Piano Phase, a piece of music for two pianos. It was his first attempt at applying the phasing to live performance.
Two pianists are playing a rapid twelve-note melodic figure over and over again in unison. As one player precisely keeps the tempo, the other speeds up very slightly until the two parts line up again, but one sixteenth note apart. The second player then resumes the previous tempo. This cycle of speeding up and then locking in continues throughout the piece; the cycle comes full circle three times, the second and third cycles using shorter versions of the initial figure. Typically, two pianists play the Piano Phase without breaks at any stage for fifteen, twenty minutes or so.
But on the October 2006, Peter Aidu performed this composition with an absolutely unique technique. While playing on two pianos, with a left hand on one instrument and the right hand playing separately on the second piano, he was recreating the sounding of two performers!Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
I am cooking (photographically speaking)
Quiet rain this morning.
~~~
The rain slowed to the barest of drizzle. So – camera in hand – I set out to make use of the flat, simple light of an overcast sky. I barely arrived at my destination when the sun came out. This necessitated a return home to get the tool I’ve been planning to try under sunny skies – a diffusion umbrella. I must have been an entertaining sight to the passing motorists, contorting myself to hold the camera and umbrella in just the right places, while the wind did its best to blur my subjects and turn me into Mary Poppins. I worked until it was time to go home and attend to the bread dough I’d begun last night.
The afternoon brought more clouds. At this point, the data recovery tool I’d purchased was dominating the iMac as it churned away recovering my lost files - so to make use of the time, I went out again with the camera until it was time to get the bread in the oven.
Since the TTA team moved to Fremont Abbey, I have not been happy with any of the images that I've taken of Jax in that space. This is true of Howard as well. This seems to partly be the result of the lighting, and in Jax's case, the distracting 'stuff' behind her. So, last night I began to try and understand this. Unfortunately, I'd brought the wrong lens for the task, having left the macro lens on the camera. So unless I was going to photograph Jax's left nostril with the detail of a bearded iris, that lens wasn't really going to to useful. Still, I made a few...
Jaxie giving Mary Beth guidance on the seating experiment.
a rehearsal image
~~~
The rain slowed to the barest of drizzle. So – camera in hand – I set out to make use of the flat, simple light of an overcast sky. I barely arrived at my destination when the sun came out. This necessitated a return home to get the tool I’ve been planning to try under sunny skies – a diffusion umbrella. I must have been an entertaining sight to the passing motorists, contorting myself to hold the camera and umbrella in just the right places, while the wind did its best to blur my subjects and turn me into Mary Poppins. I worked until it was time to go home and attend to the bread dough I’d begun last night.
The afternoon brought more clouds. At this point, the data recovery tool I’d purchased was dominating the iMac as it churned away recovering my lost files - so to make use of the time, I went out again with the camera until it was time to get the bread in the oven.
Since the TTA team moved to Fremont Abbey, I have not been happy with any of the images that I've taken of Jax in that space. This is true of Howard as well. This seems to partly be the result of the lighting, and in Jax's case, the distracting 'stuff' behind her. So, last night I began to try and understand this. Unfortunately, I'd brought the wrong lens for the task, having left the macro lens on the camera. So unless I was going to photograph Jax's left nostril with the detail of a bearded iris, that lens wasn't really going to to useful. Still, I made a few...
Jaxie giving Mary Beth guidance on the seating experiment.
a rehearsal image
