A Queue of Gas Guzzlers

10 November 2007
I took other photos on the 10th, but I'm using this one because it beggars me. I don't understand. We are in the midst of one of the worst fuel crises in modern history (not the worst, mind you, when adjusted for inflation) and yet our nation's gluttonous population insists on driving vehicles that are notoriously poor on gas mileage. I drive a small Mitsubishi because I have no reason to drive anything larger. In this photo we see three vehicles, all of which are larger than a)mine and b)their occupancy requirements:

All three of these vehicles had one occupant (visible - if someone was ducking out of view, certainly I wouldn't have noticed); the driver. I respect others need for larger vehicles. Large families, the working class (labourers, farmers &c.) and haulers need the larger vehicle. My wife drives a hugely ineffecient gas guzzler because she needs to. She needs the space to haul product back and forth across the state (and nation at times). She needs the heavy-duty tow package because she pulls around a trailer that that is longer and taller than her Yukon. There wasn't a tow package on any of the vehicles in front of me. All of them were squeaky clean on the exterior which leads me to beleive that they don't travel off-road very often, if at all, which means they probably weren't working-class vehicles. Going back to a previous statement, all of them had one occupant so I can make the leap that they weren't for large families (although that is a leap, I have no evidence one way or another). So, I have to ask again, why? Why do we continue to line the pockets of big oil and foreign nations by driving unncecessarily large and inefficient vehicles when other choices are available?
Cheers.

~KR (10 November 2007)

Watching:
Manchester United v Blackburn (down to 10 men)
Score: 2 - 0 at 78:23
(Come on you Rovers!)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: GAS, INEFFICIENT, MPG, SUVS, MANCHESTER+UNITED, BLACKBURN+ROVERS, MITSUBISHI, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

The Flame

9 November 2007
A day at the office. A rather rare thing these days; but consequently a day at the office means a day of catch-up and preparation. No photos during the day. When I left work, I headed straight home to see Marita Beth before she took off for the Texas Renaissance Festival. Since I'd just spent a week in Miami, and was soon to go out of town again, I chose a decompress weekend. So, I went home and hugged on my wife until she had to leave. She leaves later than I would if it were my choice to make, but she doens't have the same fear of striking a deer during a nighttime drive n the backwoods of Southeast Texas that I do. I hope she never learns the fear that comes from having struck way too many deer during nighttime drives. After she was safely on the road, I went to NFG to meet with Terrill who was kindly saving me a seat. It was just beer and burger time, and we weren't there long. But, I was there without my camera. When I got home, I realized that I had left candles burning in my absence. My wife is a gardner, preferring candles to other forms of gardening which she also does with a great measure of skill. But, because of that, there is almost always a candle or two burning in the house. Normally I remember this, but a week outside the norm and you forget things. So, I came home to a candle burning. Instead of snuffing it as I would otherwise do, I took the opportunity to make my photo of the day:
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This candle is by Designs in Wax. They are, in my opinion, some of the very best candles you can buy. They last for an inordinately long time and the aroma is simply stunning. Joe and his wife handmake these candles year around, and at least once a year we try to stock up. You can get them at the Texas Renaissance Festival and Dickens on the Strand in Galveston, TX. I expect they're available elsewhere, too, but I know you can pick them up at these places.
Cheers.

~KR (9 November 2007)

Watching:
Manchester United v Blackburn
Score: 1 - 0 at 33:19
(Come on you Rovers!)

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

Tags: CANDLE, FLAME, WICK, DESIGNS+IN+WAX, MANCHESTER+UNITED, BLACKBURN, TRF, DICKENS+ON+THE+STRAND

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