Pump #7

8 November 2007
The week in MIA is over and I've arrived safely home. Terrill had parked at the airport so he got me back to South Arlington sparing my wife the drive and me the wait. I had originally planned to fly from MIA back to IAH for another weekend at faire, but the MIA trip wrapped up early, if not completely successfully, and we headed back to DFW. On some levels I expect Marita Beth was releaved to not have to drive back to IAH on Friday night; but I suspect she'd have rather that than me not going to TRF for the weekend. In South Arlington, I retrieved my car from Firestone and headed to get a beer with Terrill & MB at our favourite local, No Frills Grill. After that we headed home for some decompression, but made a much-needed stop at the petrol shop. Here's the sign above the pump I was using.

Brilliant, eh?
Cheers.

~KR (8 November 2007)

Watching Birmingham v Aston Villa
Current score: 1 - 2 at 93:37

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction

Tags: BIRMINGHAM, ASTON+VILLA, PETROL, NO+FRILLS+GRILL, PHOTOBLOG, CANON, MIA, DFW, IAH, TRF

The Hall

7 November 2007
Three days into Miami and I just want to go home. It's hot, humid and I desperately miss Marita Beth (and my dogs). Have I mentioned that the work we do is not very glamorous? Yeah. This is a photo of the hallway at the Marriott SpringHill Suites where we stayed this time. That's how exciting and wonderful my day was. This was the highlight.
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Actually, that's not true. I'm just being a little cynical. I did attend the President's Conference today which allowed me to see first hand, just how much smarter the CEO of my company is than the average union-brainwashed employee. That was fun. And, the MD of the area took us to dinner at the Catch of the Day. Sea Bass, yummy! Unfortunately, I had left my camera in the boot of Lou's hired car so was unable to take photos of those, the real highlights of the day.
Cheers.

~KR (7 November 2007)

Listening to:
The Tea by The Mudville Project
on Portico

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: MARRIOTT+SUITES, MIAMI, FLORIDA, THE+MUDVILLE+PROJECT, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

Palm Tree Sunset

6 November 2007
Like I said in my last post, what's a trip to Miami without a photo of a palm tree. Right? So, here's Palm Tree Deux.

The work we do is by no means glorious, glamorous or high-paying. But, sometimes, just sometimes, it's rewarded by moments like this. The sunsets in Miami can be just spectacular and when you couple those fleeting bits of time with the "good for the soul" palmtree, you get rare, and wonderful, moments. I'm only sorry Marita Beth couldn't be there to share it with me. Not that I'd ever really want to take her to Miami. The people there are mad, as in crazy-mad. I'm not sure I'd be happy with her trying to drive through the insanity that is Miami traffic while I'm at work in a terminal somewhere. She's a fantastic driver in and of herself. But I'm relatively sure that no one who lives in Miami is a sane driver. And that hypothesis is based on experience. So, while I'll take her pretty much anywhere in the world, I think she'll have to visit Miami through my photos. :-)
Cheers.

~KR (6 November 2007)

Listening to:
Hear our Prayer by Patrick O'Hearn
on El Dorado

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: MIAMI, FLORIDA, PALMTREE, PHOTOBLOG, CANON

A Miami Palmtree

5 November 2007

What would any trip to Miami be without a picture of a Palm Tree. We're staying at a different hotel this time around, and just outside the backdoor is a beautiful, if small, lake. Ringing the lake is, like pretty much every like in Miami, a series of Palm Trees. Now, I'm not much into the tropics. I'm not a water- or a sun-baby, so I don't get the fascination of Southern Florida. But, like Terrill says, "How can you not like palm trees? Palm trees are good for the soul." I agree. I think they're pretty. Cheers.

~KR (5 November 2007)

Listening to: Little Star by Madonna on Ray of Light

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400) Aperture: f/3.2 Focal Length: 7.5 mm ISO Speed: 400 Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

A Well-Dressed Shadow

3 November 2007
A beautiful day. A little warm, but beautiful nonetheless. I was awakened by the canon - the signal for the faire to start its day - and took my sweet time getting dressed. I wasn't working this day, so it didn't really matter when (or if) I dressed for a day at faire. Eventually I did, and wandered toward Excalibur to find that Joseph was working. Apparently, they were short-manned, so Joseph stepped up and helped out. While there, I had him help me (ok, he did ALL the work) get my spurs attached. As we (he) were working on this, Kara showed up. What a pleasant surprise that was. So, since Joseph was working, I went out and about with Kara. At some point, I lost her, I'm not really sure how. But, Lala was there to keep me company. How's that? Switching one beautiful companion for another. Hooray. I hung out with Lala the remainder of the day, making runs back and forth to the Odeon stage where she was playing poster-girl for Sound & Fury (an amazingly funny act!). During one of these visits, Arsene (an exceptional Parisian clown) commandeered her for the show. Oops, I hadn't planned on that, I was nealry out of beer. So, I went and stood in the long line for a couple of Shiner Bocks. While there, my shadow came out to play. This is him:
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A dapper chap, this shadow. He's wearing a seriously wonderful chapeau from Lion Heart Hats at Scarborough Faire adorned with natural feathers from Excalibur; a chemise purchased some 16 or 17 years ago at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival; a "brain-fart" doublet from Pendragon Costumes; a tight, but great looking pair of slashed trewes from Kelly at Wasited Efforts and a pair of dun-coloured tall boots from a company I shan't sully my blog with naming (although I love the boots, the newly-discovered business practices make me very unhappy). In the shadow's hand are a mug from Wondrous Works in Wood and a camera by Canon. He's a well-outfiitted chap, my shadow.
Cheers.

~KR (3 November 2007)

Sitting in a bar in MIA waiting for a ride

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: TRF, TEXAS+RENAISSANCE+FESTIVAL, COSTUME, TEXAS, FAIRES, CLOTHING, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

TRF by Night

2 November 2007
Friday. And during this time of the year, that means a trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival to prepare for the next days of hard work. Upon arrival, MB set to work, while I took my new camera out and toyed with some settings. I like the way this shot came out

It's a little blurry, but it shows the nighttime vista that our next door neighbour has spent so much time and money cultivating. It's very nice.
Cheers.

~KR (2 November 2007)

Not listening to anything at the moment

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 10 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: TEXAS, TRF, RENAISSANCE+FAIRE, FESTIVAL, FAIRE, SHOPPE, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

Señor Abuelo

1 November 2007
My boss decided early in the day that he wanted to take me to lunch for a natal day celebration. I always take my birthday off as a matter of course, so he chose the day after. Who am I to say no to a free lunch? I called Marita Beth & she came up and joined us at Abuelo's for a quick bite to eat. She had her lunch and went shopping to finalize some fabric picking. I had lunch and went back to work. But, on the way back to the car, I snapped a photo of this excellent gentleman.

I don't know who he is, but I presume he's Señor Abuelo and it's his restaurant in which we just ate. Whoever he is, his fantastic mustachioed, top-hatted, concrete profile just needed a photograph.
Cheers.

~KR (1 November 2007)

Listening to:
Baby Come to Me by Patti Austin & James Ingram
on Billboard Top 100 of 1983

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: STATUE, Señor+Abuelo, RESTAURANT, CANON, PHOTOBLOG, TEXAS

The Floral Arrangement

30 October 2007
This is perhaps not the most amazing photo I've taken this year, but nonetheless, I do quite like it. I am appreciating having a macro setting on my camera. It's allowing a style of photography that prior to this camera required a bit of setup and a whole lot of effort.

This is, again, one of Marita Beth's flower arrangements after returning home from TRF. John, or his arranger, puts together some really pretty sprays for Marita Beth.
Cheers.

~KR (30 October 2007)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: FLOWER, FLORAL, ARRANGEMENT, CLOSE-UP, MACRO, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

Wall of Fog

29 October 2007
Another bout of fog descended on Arlington on this Monday morning. But, only in certain areas. The bottoms certainly had their fair share of it, being essentially wetlands. This was a bank of fog that was suspended over a fork of the Trinity River that runs through the bottoms.

It was just as thick driving into it as it appears. Quite interesting really.
Cheers

~KR (29 October 2007)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: ARLINGTON, BOTTOMS, FOG, CARS, DRIVING, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

Witchy Works

28 October 2007
It was a very long day, but I think it was mostly due to the fact that I had a very long drive home still in front of me for that evening. The fact that every Sunday night after a long day of walking around drinking beer and eating fatty foods there remains a nearly 5 hour drive home, really wears one out. Luckily, Joseph was in new boots so wasn't quite as interested as normal in constant walking (thank goodness, my feet still were swollen and hurting from the previous days walking). So, we sat a bit, we talked a bit, we visited with a lot of people. It was, all in all, a very enjoyable day. Joseph got wrapped up in a conversation with some folks I didn't know, so I wandered off. Just about the time the nightly fireworks were starting. So, I headed up there, set my camera on Fireworks Mode and started taking photos. At one point, a "witch" walked in front of the camera giving me this lovely shot:

I love the way my little camera handles fireworks. Nearly all the photos I took were pretty darned decent.
Cheers.

~KR (28 October 2007)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 2 sec (2)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 6.6 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: WITCH, FIREWORKS, TRF, TEXAS+RENAISSANCE+FESTIVAL, FAIRE, COSTUME, NIGHTTIME

Excalibur Leather

27 October 2007
My good friend Joseph came to Texas on Friday night. That meant that Saturday was full of companionship, beer & walking. Lots of walking. Since Marita Beth's shop is near the middle of the faire grounds, and Kelly's shop is near the front of the festival, there was much traveling between the two. This is Kelly's shop.

Well, actually, it's Ken's shop, but Kelly is the clockworks that makes it tick so smoothly. Excalibur Leather is full of fine quality goods from a fine man, and run by an exceptional young lady.
Cheers.

~KR (27 October 2007)

Listening to:
We Built This City by Starship
on Platinum & Gold Collection

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 125
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: TRF, TEXAS+RENAISSANCE+FESTIVAL, EXCALIBUR+LEATHER, PHOTOBLOG

Foggy Dew

26 October 2007
Marita Beth wrote recently that we don't get much fog in our area. She's completely right. Perhaps half a dozen times a year do we see fog, and of those, maybe one is truly dense, pervasive fog. It just doesn't happen very often. So, when it does, it's kind of special. I love the serenity that seems to accompany a foggy morning. So, this morning as I was driving through the Arlington Bottoms on my way to work, I resolved to capture a bit of that serenity on "film." I tried to do it from a moving car, but that wasn't working. So, finally, I pulled over, put my hazards on and took a couple of photos. I like this one the better of the two

but, I'm ultimately disappointed. I guess you really can't capture emotion on film. How sad.
Cheers.

~KR (26 October 2007)

Listening to:
Blonde Women by Marlene Dietrich
on Cocktail Hour: Marlene Dietrich

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 18.6 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Sheep, Cat & Dog

25 October 2007
I'm not prone to posting photos of our cat very often. There's many a reason for that, but suffice it to say that the cat and I are not necessarily the chummiest of pals. But, she's terribly cute sometimes. This evening I got home from my work-a-day life and found the cat curled up on my pillow. Since I'm allergic to cats, Marita Beth tries very hard to cover my pillow with other pillows or, in this case, stuffed animals. That way Artemis can't sleep directly on the pillow I have to rest my head on. Most days it works, but this time, Artemis snuggled down in between the stuffed sheep and the stuffed Border Collie that we had picked up in Scotland recently. It makes a cute photo.

I tried to take more, but the flash woke her and she scampered off. As I said, not the chummiest of pals are we.
Cheers.

~KR (25 October 2007)

Listening to
Tempted by Richard Thompson
on Richard Thompson - 1000 Years of Popular Music (2 CD & 1 DVD Set)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction

The Flower

24 October 2007 Hump day. I woke up pretty early today. I suppose the result of late nights and early mornings for a week while in London. I'm not sure whether I like it or not. But, while my dear wife slumbered in her bed, I got the coffee made, fed the pets and took some photos. Marita Beth & Kelly (over at A Wee Bit of JeLLy) have always taken great "nature" shots. Partly because of the excellent macro settings on their camera. Now, I have a camera with a macro setting, too. I'm enjoying it. This is a flower of some sort. Marita Beth gets beautiful arrangements of flowers from John at both TRF & Bristol, so each week, we have these wonderful flowers in the house. On Wednesday, this one was in full bloom, and I liked the potential, so I grabbed a few close-ups. If anyone knows what kind of flower this is, I'd love to know. Cheers. ~KR (24 October 2007) Listening to: One Way or Another by Yellow Scab Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Exposure: 0.1 sec (1/10) Aperture: f/2.8 Focal Length: 5.8 mm ISO Speed: 200 Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV Flash: Flash did not fire

Budweiser, Meet Shiner

23 October 2007
It's Tuesday and you know what that means by now. Dollar pint night and trivia at No Frill's Grill. Brett called me as I was driving home to query whether we would be there or not. It was, I suppose, never really in question. But, I'd just returned from a week long trip and was pretty tired, and Marita Beth has decided to get back into her weekly Tuesday night dance class. So, we went a little early for sustenance. I hung around and played trivia with Brett & Jill until 9:30 or so, then I, too, left. I was tired. During the entire day, though, I took only 2 photos. One too blurry to publish and this one:
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The Budweiser neon sign reflected in the swirly head of my Shiner Bock. I'm not sure if Budweiser has enough body to reflect a Shiner sign.
Cheers.

~KR (23 October 2007)

Listening to:
Heart of Glass by Daniel Lindenberg

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: SHINER, BEER, NO+FRILLS+GRILL, PUB, BAR, PHOTOBLOG, CANON