Parental Units

So with the weather being screwy in New England my parents scheduled run to Florida was out of kilter and they had decided to leave Ct. today and get here Monday. Well yesterday morning my Mom calls and says "Hi, we are on the road. See you tomorrow." Then at 4:30 yesterday afternoon I get a call "See you in three hours and have dinner ready."

Well its a good darn thing that the house is clean and I actually had plenty of food in the house.
So that is where things are at. They made good time yesterday and decided to head straight here. 11 hours of driving time and they only stopped twice. Better than I do. I stop all time just to get out of the white line fever zone.

Dinner. Little 8 oz steaks, corn on the cob, rice and sweet potato fries.

Not sure what we are doing today. I think I will head down to Seagrove and we can go to some of the pottery shops and then see where things go from there.

Enjoy your Sunday. Time for coffee and host playing.

No parents allowed

So my parents were supposed to be arriving tomorrow morning as they head to Florida for a month. They were going to spend Saturday and Sunday night here then head south on Monday morning. Now it looks like they may not get to leave until Sunday and get here on Monday sometime. However they do not know that there may be a storm hitting here on Tuesday. Depending on what is going to happen with that storm I may suggest that they just head south instead of coming here. As things stand they will be several days behind schedule.

They can stop on the way home and I suspect that at the beginning of April the chance of a snow storm here will be very slim.

Going to an antique show and a record show/convention Saturday. They are both at the coliseum and are free to get in. Looking for something to put on the wall behind the tv. Who knows what I will find, if anything.

Fall of the Underwood

So this weekend I was in Asheville and meet up with fellow photographer Michael, aka Desolation Row, and his wife. They drove up from Jacksonville, Fla. for the weekend and we had a excellent time. Check out his pictures on Flickr if you have a chance.

The picture posted here was taken by Michael at one of our favorite sites. Yes that is the Underwood Motel sign. He went there to get some shots before the weeds come back to life.
Well to his horror and now mine the sign has been severely damaged. Somebody vandalised the top of the sign. It appeared that they tried to topple the portion that said "Hotel" by twisting it. I suppose that they were going to take this for scrap metal. How very depressing it is that one of my favorite places to shoot has been ruined by some idiots and now I can not get back there to complete my series of Underwood shots. Complete bummer.

Thanks to Desolation Row for the use of his picture.

A buzz in the air

It was a great weekend in Asheville as there was a buzz in the air emanating from the first real hint of spring. Low 60's weather brought out a lot of people to shake of of some of the rust that has built up over the winter. Although the weather this week does not look quite as promising everyone now knows that trees and flowers will soon start coming back to life.

It will be nice to finally be able to get out and about and explore, open windows and let fresh air in. Maybe an overnight camping trip is in the future.

Picture was taken at Gillettes Castles in Haddam, Ct. from one of their gardens.

North Mississippi Allstars

Heading down to Asheville to see these tonight. A good time will be had by all. These guys play some real rock n roll. Will also get in some photography so it will be good all the way around.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Teach me Tiger

This is for Tiger Wood, all his fans and all his haters. Now please go take a long walk off a short pier.

This song is by April Stevens, not Marilyn Monroe as many people think.

Support Locals

I was out shooting a couple of Sundays ago and saw this sign in front of a garden/antique store.
This sign is so true. You need to support your local merchants and help keep your dollars in the community. These are the people who make up the fabric of your community. Without them your town will become just like so many other places. Bland and dull with the same stores as every other town and nothing to distinguish it from other places. It may be a local garden shop, antique store, office supply store, artist or farmer that need your support. Do you pay a little more, yes you do. However if you are buying local you are supporting a local family who ends up paying your neighbors and that helps keep your community strong. It should not always be about buying cheap. You may buy cheap but when you buy cheap you end up buying more because the quality is not there. Local merchants care about the community and their reputation and they will work to get and keep their good name. If they do not they will not last.

Lazy and the Web

It seems that I have been pretty lazy lately. I have a couple different email addresses and I use one as my main address and the others for Flickr, Megashot and a couple other things. Well I do not always check the other email addresses everyday and when I checked them on Sunday I had many emails that had been recieved almost a week earlier. Oops. One from Ken was very good.

It fits right into the Monsanto story that I am going to post. Check this out and sign it today as today is the last day too do do.

Tell the USDA to reject Monsanto's application to market its geneticallymodified alfalfa -- a threat to organic crops.

During the Bush administration, Monsanto illegally won USDA approval forits genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa by convincing regulators to bypassa mandatory environmental review. In response to a lawsuit by consumergroups, the courts then stepped in and banned GE alfalfa until the USDAfollowed the law.In December, the USDA released its belated review of Monsanto's GE alfalfaseed and determined that Monsanto's alfalfa met the Obama Administration'sstandards, despite the risk of organic contamination.This conclusion came despite the acknowledgment by USDA researchers thatGE alfalfa is virtually certain to "contaminate" normal seeds.Cross-contamination is the number one concern with genetically engineeredcrops.The USDA is accepting public comments on Monsanto's application throughFebruary 16. Tell the USDA that Monsanto's alfalfa cannot be approved --the future of organics depends on it.http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=5258&id=7696-2407603-nEXlzJx&t=14

Organic contamination is devastating for organic farmers, especiallyorganic dairy farmers, most of whom use organic alfalfa for feed. Thepresence of even the smallest amount of GE material can cause a farm tolose its organic certification. And court documents indicate that earlyplantings of GE alfalfa did contaminate conventional alfalfa. Yet the USDAmaintains that Monsanto's existing safety protocols are good enough. Thisis ridiculous!Even worse, the USDA concluded that the possibility of contamination oforganic fields is of no concern, since consumers won't care if theirorganic food or milk contains genetically engineered components. Yetcentral to the definition of the USDA Organic label is the total absenceof genetically modified ingredients. An overwhelming majority of consumersbuy organic to avoid GE products and would be shocked to learn the USDA isso cavalier about the risks of transgenic contamination.Tell the USDA you care about GE contamination. Keep Monsanto's genes outof our food!http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=5258&id=7696-2407603-nEXlzJx&t=15

Thank you for working to build a better world.Adam Klaus, Campaign ManagerCREDO Action from Working Assetshttp://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=11&id=7696-2407603-nEXlzJx&t=16

Did you know CREDO has a Facebook page?Click here to check it out!http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=3854&id=7696-2407603-nEXlzJx&t=18

Picture is in Greensboro right near work.

Monday

Well it is Monday morning and it looks look like a rain/snow mix later this morning. Hopefully it is a quiet day for Presidents day.

I painted the wall in the living room the Behr Honeydew and it looks really good. Now time to put some pictures up and complete the decorating. It should look really good.

Good Daytona race yesterday. Nice ending. Long race and I am sure there were many freezing people there yesterday.

Otherwise I did not do a thing. Very lazy weekend. Need to get motivated and get some shots on Flickr and Megashot. Just plain lazy.

Asheville this coming weekend and my parents the weekend after that. It will nice for some diversions and nice to get out of the apt. I always feel cramped in here.

Different than me

Yea, because we got two inches of snow last night and this guy is in Key West. Very odd winter since I have lived in Greensboro. Colder and wetter than normal. No big deal for me except that is has been crappy on the weekends.

Today I am heading to Home Depot and picking up my paint for the long living room wall. I decided to go with Behr's "Honeydew". It is a bit bold at first but also calming. It will be good to show the contrast of the tv and tv stand since those are black and black/brown. Once the wall is painted it will be time to go and look at a futon. Since I will be in Asheville next weekend and my parents will be here the following weekend I need to get this for the computer room/bedroom.

Other than that not sure what I will be doing outside of watching Napcar, err Nascar. Hopefully the races will be good. It will be cold as heck sitting out at the track today. The high is going to be 50. I have sat at that track when it is 50 and it is not that fun. It is usually windy and that makes it much worse.

I have been getting these massive headaches recently and I think it is blood pressure related. I went off the blood pressure meds for a couple days to see what would happen. Well I got another one of those headaches. They are almost crippling at times. Anyhow when I got home Thursday night I took my blood pressure and it was 170 over 100 so I immediately went back on the meds. Need to work on my diet and find a clinic I can go to until I get my insurance in two months.

Will be posting some pictures on Megashot and Flickr this weekend.

Enjoy your day..............................

Artist on the road

One of the things I like about being away from home is checking out art from artists selling a little shops or on the street. This is from South Beach in January of 2008. The artist is Douglas Blamy. He was very cool. I talked with him for some time and bought a little piece. It is of a toaster.

Here is a little YouTube clip of him.

Missing

If things were as they have been in the past I would be heading over to Tammy and Mike's after work today for Daytona weekend. I spent most Daytona 500 weekend with them for the last 15 years or so. It was part of the fabric of life. Going to the races at Daytona, seeing my brother, going to the local races, going to flea markets or St. Augustine, eating fresh oyster steamed on the grill and having wings during the race on Sunday. It was something I looked forward to doing every year. It just seems so odd not to be doing that. There are things you miss when you move away and this is one of them. I think of going over and the kids were little. Damm now they are young adults. Surreal.

Time to establish new traditions I suppose.

This is from the infield at Daytona in 2007. Taken from the roof of the garage in the "fan zone".
Just a few people around.

Blue Skies

A little blue here today. Looks like rain, again. However they are saying winds with gusts around 50 mph tonight and tomorrow. Gust 60 to 70 in the mountains. Crazy.

Have to get car insurance today. Should be a few hundred dollars cheaper than it was in Tampa. If that is case I'll be happy. That is a nice savings. Not much else is happening right now.

I think I will stop by Home Depot on the way home and look at some paint for that one wall.

I have narrowed it down to a light yellow, light gray or a light green. I think I'll get a couple samples and to some test areas and then decide.

That is it for today.

Pictures, Palin and The Saints

This was a good weekend for pictures. I joined the new photography website www.megashot.net and uploaded a couple pictures. Although there were some expected hiccups that websites get when they go live the site looks very promising and there is lots to explore and learn. There is no shortage of good photographers on there already. Makes me feel inadequate as a shooter. Here is the link to my page. http://fadingamericaphotography.megashot.net/

I got to out yesterday, we had sun, and get some shot. I did lots of driving and I discovered tons of shortcuts so when I go out and about now I have a much better feel for where I am going.

I see Sarah Palin was out this weekend blabbing about at the Tea Party convention. There was all kinds of press yesterday about it. Big deal I say. there were 1,100 convention delegates. Hell there more people at some Super Bowl parties this weekend. Maybe we just need to let her have all the press she wants and then we can see what a fool she is or America will be the fools and elect her.

Congratulations to the Saints. After so many years of poor teams and after Katrina the city has the Super Bowl champions and they also elected a new mayor Saturday. Lets hope this the beginning of the turnaround for the city.

Picture is from 2008. A repair shop/junkyard in Valrico, Florida.

Saturday in the Gray

Looks like a gray sky day. Need to go to the bank and deposit some cash, then do some shopping.

Have to look at getting a futon for the second bedroom/office/whatever room. Whatever I get will be cheap. No more than $150.00. I also need to get a vacuum cleaner. Outside of that I think I may head downtown if the sky is light enough and do some shooting and get a feel for what the downtown scene is like. Then I guess it will Nascar Saturday with the Bud Shootout tonight.

Otherwise no real plans for today. Well shall see what happens.

Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Ice Ice Baby aka UPS Sucks

Well it looks like more bad weather will be here tonight. They are saying ice, snow and freezing rain from midnight through the day tomorrow. That ought to create a mess. There was a large number of accidents yesterday because of black ice. Looks like the worst of it will be north and west of here.

Well I nominate UPS as my shitty company of the week. I sent a $150, 000.00 bid out Monday to be delivered to Winston Salem as an overnite early a.m. delivery. It cost $50.00 and they had to deliver it before 8:30 a.m. They delivered at 10:47 a.m. The bid was refused because it was too late. They did not even have it on the truck until 7:41 a.m. There was no way it could have been there by 8:30. The reason they said it was late, weather. Fuck You UPS. How lame is your delivery service. Never again. It will be Fed Ex from now on. When I put in early a.m. delivery and you are operating under "storm conditions" as your customer service people told me yesterday there should be an alert that pops up on the computer warning your customer.
You also will not refund us. Complete bullshit. You suck if you can not deliver an overnite package 25 miles down the road within 18 hours of picking it up. Once again, FUCK YOU.

The picture was taken in Rural Hall, NC. This one needs to be shot again in better weather. Very interesting place.

Have a good day.

Americans Bitch Constantly

My favorite three letters that usually mean "Always Bring Camera". I found this on the beach just south of Cocoa Beach.

However for today these three letters do mean "Americans Bitch Constantly". This morning on the news I have heard people bitching about the terror trials being held here, gays in the military, and people complaining they are stuck in their house because of the snowstorm.

Give me a break people. It amazes me that people are so afraid of another terrorist attack because the trial is being held here. A little reality check. One will happen again and while it is possible it may happen near where the trial is held I suspect that is not the venue they are looking for. Stop being afraid of the terrorists and live your pathetic fearful life. The terrorists feed off of people like you.

The next thing are comments that people would feel uncomfortable with gays in the military. This is so pathetic that it is even hard to understand. Do not be so insecure in your own life that you have to worry about a gay person hitting on a soldier during battle. They want to defend the COUNTRY just like anyone else. Time to move on to something that matters people.

Lastly there are stories on the news about people who have been stuck in their house since the snowstorm. It was 5 or 6 inches people. Get real. If you need to hire somebody to plow your driveway or shovel your driveway, shovel your sidewalk I suggest you hire somebody to do it for you. Get on the phone and call family, friends, your church or some other group. Hell, I bet if you called your local Boy Scout troop they would come and do it for free.

Please America "Grow a Fucking Set".

And yes this is a bitch. And yes I did keep these letters. I am going to incorporate them into some piece of art.

Right Turn

Who says snow can't look nice.

Not much going on today. Grocery shopping after work and paying rent today. That is about it.

Ken, here is another photo toy. Poladroid.net You can turn regular pictures into Polaroids, it is pretty neat.

Going to do my income tax this week. Should get a decent amount back. I could use the cash.

Lets Swim

So we had the big snowstorm this weekend and it was not much overall. It started snowing Friday night around 5 p.m. and stopped around 8 a.m. Saturday morning. It then turned to freezing rain for a couple hours and that is the problem. There is a decent amount of ice on the side streets, however the major roads are supposed to be ok. They have not plowed or shoveled the anything here at the apt. complex. WTF is that about. I also noticed by one of the buildings that some lazy motherfuckers had taken their dog out for its doodie and let the dog piss and shit right at the bottom of the stairs. How does one think that is close to acceptable. That person needs a punch in the head to wake them up.

Now it looks like rain tomorrow and maybe a little ice in the morning and the same again for Friday and Saturday. Should be interesting.

The Monsanto story is coming along good. I want to make it just more than a rant.

Ken, here is a site that is pretty cool. http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Check it out and I think you can spend some time finding some pretty neat stuff.

Tammy, sorry if the last post mad you mad. I took the shot because the view was good.

This is the pool at the complex.