More music

I’m always impressed by the single-man band type of music. It used to be that meant watching a guy with a billion instruments strapped all over his body working his heart out.

 

Now they just loop and layer:

(via Neatorama)

Two interesting music-related videos

First off:

Nyle - “Let the beat build”

Awesome because they recorded the audio and video sections all at once. In one take. So a ‘live’ music video you could say?

Nyle "Let The Beat Build" from Nyle on Vimeo.

(via UberSuper)

 

Secondly:

Humanthesizer. Music made by people who have been painted with conductive inks which trigger sound. Interesting more for concept than for the music made, although the music is nice too:

(via BoingBoing)

Journal – Jogging

I let the cold wind buffet my bare skin before the sun rises. I take in all the smells of the lake and the trail. The cow pond poo smell, and the scent of motor oil in the dry creek beds I pass over. The odd twilight as colors begin to be revealed. They coalesce from that dark blue of night, and soon there exists vibrant green, pale orange, dark red.

Scrappy jogs ahead of me, then falls behind, sniffing the underbrush. Birds call out in surprise at our passing. Frogs croak out a welcome to daylight. A heron takes off from shore, no doubt preferring to avoid us. A deer too wishes to avoid us, as it bounds away with scrappy in quick pursuit.

The jog makes me feel alive. It gives so much more energy than it takes. The four hours of sleep will come back to haunt me this afternoon, but for now I am vibrating with life.

While I was away

Melissa Ortiz linked to this video, and I loved it. No sound required, but it will take up eight minutes of your time.

 

Further evidence that women are crazy  :-) :

Pic of the day

I find photographic inspiration in parking garages for some reason.

I don’t know why.

Pic of the day

I made it out to the woods for a little hike with the dogs yesterday after work. Bushwhacking across hillsides and through creek beds, definitely a good time. 

A moss covered branch, taken with the 50mm f/1.8 lens. Me gusta.

Pic of the day

Scrappy-Doo, enjoying the pond near Williams.

He made a bee-line for the mud right after this shot. :)

Currently listening to

Song To Say Goodbye - Placebo

Pic of the day

I love sunrise from my bedroom:

Guns, Guns, Guns

Saturday found me and Chris helping a new tenant transport a table to her house. Conversation progressed as it does, and eventually it turned to guns.

 

Stacy (the tenant) had never held a gun. She didn’t understand the reason for guns. She was mildly scared of guns. We decided to change all that. So we convinced her and a friend to come out shooting with us, along with our third room mate Steve.

 

And so we piled everybody into the 4Runner and headed off to Dosie Pit. I have to say, this girl must be pretty trusting, to take off with four guys into the middle of nowhere with a vehicle full of guns…

 

At first she watched us shoot around for a bit.

Sam (Stacy’s friend) had some fun with the Kimber .45:

 

Steve had some fun target shooting with the Ruger .22 rifle:

 

Chris played with his new Springfield .40 for the first time:

And after watching the boys all have a blast, Stacy decided to pony up to the .22. Trepidation was heavy in the air:

 

We taught her how to hold it, how to use the scope, and then set her loose. A smile grew quickly on her face.

 

Then we brought out the big gun; the 12 gauge shotgun.

 

Steve:

 

With the obligatory ‘badass’ pose afterwards:

 

Chris showed Sam the proper technique for holding the firearm:

 

And he was soon rockin’ it like a pro:

 

Chris did some clay shooting, but I was too busy throwing clays to take pictures. :)

 

And then, we looked at Stacy… we asked if she was ready… she said okay, but only as long as she got to cock it, and make ‘the sound.’ How could we refuse? And so she got the walkthrough, was informed of what to expect when she pulled the trigger, and was ready to go.

 

Her stance was slightly less masculine, but we were just happy to see her with a big gun in her hands:

The smile on her face after firing off a round was huge.

 

As we neared the end of the day I gathered everybody together for a group shot, with guns in hand of course (check out the exposure test shot):

 

We picked up all our spent brass, loaded everybody into the truck, and headed home. I think Stacy left with a slightly better understanding of guns after we were done with her.

 

(Flickr Set)

Pic of the day

Coyote in the creekway:

Pic of the day

Another day in the heat. I have to escape. I gas up the truck, load the dog up along with a couple liters of water and hit the road.

I direct the truck north, looking for cooler temps. I head into the mountains, taking the back road to Williams. It’s nice once you gain elevation. I can open the sunroof and enjoy the cool air rushing through the truck.

 

At some point I pull off the road, needing to make a pit stop and water the dog. I find this, a lovely little pond in the middle of the forest.

A food post, no joke!

When the store has wild Sockeye salmon on sale, I just can’t say no. The bright red color really just catches your eye as you pass it in the aisle.

Personally, I like sockeye more than atlantic salmon. The flavor is more fishy, mildly sweeter, and seems a bit firmer while cooking.

 

My treatment of this fish was simple. An hour-long marinade in some soy sauce with ginger and garlic. Then a hot pan until just barely cooked through. YUM.

 

To accompany, I made my first-ever risotto (using Elise’s recipe as a guide), and it turned out pretty awesome. I think I pulled it off the stove a few minutes too early but since I’ve never had risotto before it’s hard to say.

 

See, I DO still cook. :)

So, what the heck do I blog about?

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself lately. I just don’t have much going on that I find interesting enough to natter on about.

 

So here is all the boring bits:

1. I’m reading lots still. Taking a break from war and peace (~600 pages in), and I’ve ready five others since putting it down. Another Vonnegut (I liked it more than Slaughterhouse), Zen and Now (didn’t like it as much as Zen), Basic Ideas (I severely disliked this book, for lots of reason), Sudden Awakening (cuz everybody needs a little spirituality), The Giver (read it as a kid, time to read it again).

 

I swear, I’m going to finish War and Peace though… hopefully soon.

 

2. To further feed the literary addiction, I have signed up for BookMooch.com. I list books I want to get rid of. People request said books. I ship said books. I get credit. I then request books from other people.  I now have Contact and Tortilla Flat on their way to me.

 

3. My ankle… yeah. After a full week of doing NOTHING physical I started going crazy. I tried walking a few blocks at some point during that week and almost cried. It stayed swollen longer than I expected. Then it bruised. A lot. Around the whole perimeter of my foot. It was like I had added blue and purple trim to my foot, but in a gross way. My mom says that means it was serious. :)

 

So, at long last, the swelling started going down, the bruising is now starting to fade, and I’m starting to exercise again. The gym doesn’t bother it much (squats are the only thing that hurt), but jogging is definitely something I will be slowly working back into. I’ve gotten back up to two miles. Hoping to do four by this weekend. I’m half-heartedly trying not to push too hard, but honestly? It feels so damn good to be moving around again that it is hard not to push it.

 

What the hell? For just hopping into a creek bed this thing sure was a bucket-full of trouble.

 

4. I’ve been cooking, but not keeping track of it. I made a baked chicken ziti, barbecue chicken, quinoa with turkey, chicken stir-fry, etc. I’ve got a 5-7 lb zucchini sitting at the house which I’m planning on baking up tomorrow. Tonight is steaks and veggies.

 

5. My diet has been steadily changing since I’ve moved. Not sure if it is just the new exercise routine, or just the need for a change.

 

LOTS of protein but very little red meat, which means lots of chicken/turkey and fish. And a scoop of whey protein powder every day.

 

Way more salad. Lettuce, avocado, cranberry, carrot, tomato, chicken, strawberries, blueberries, feta cheese, tuna or chicken, and no real dressing. I’ve been using either straight lime juice, or some balsamic vinegar with olive oil to dress it up.

 

I’m eating very little sugar. To the point where I actually crave candy bars, which never used to happen. Daily fruit intake is my main source of sugar.

 

I’m eating ALL THE TIME. Anywhere from five to EIGHT times a day. And whenever I’m not shoving food in my maw, I’m still hungry. If I didn’t feel so good I would think I had a tape worm.

 

6. Photography… what’s that? I haven’t picked up the camera since the photowalk.

 

The Chino Valley Fire service did use one of my older photos on a shirt for a fundraiser though. They were even nice enough to give me two shirts as payment! Maybe I’ll post some pics of those later? I think they rock.

 

7. I’ve started using facebook and twitter. That’s the majority of the socialization I’ve been getting lately, which is pretty sad. It’s also mostly nonsense that I post, so don’t get your hopes for intellectual stimulation up too high. :)

 

8. Scrappy-Doo remains an ever-faithful side-kick. Jogging 3 times a week, walks once or twice a week, and a few trips to the dog park knock some of the energy out of him, but not much. He is an energetic little son of a gun. Once the ankle feels good enough I’ll be heading out for more hikes, since that’s the best way I’ve found to wear him out.

 

Also – we found out that he is neurotic about balloons. Fill it half/half with helium and air, and you get a solid ten minutes of entertainment.

 

Once I settle in for the night to read a book or watch a movie he lays on the bed next to me and pretends to sleep. He’s such an awesome dog!

 

 

 

So, yeah. That’s about it. I’m alive, just boring. :)

Pic of the day

It sits apart, covered in the morning dew.

Another one from the photowalk. Yeah, I haven’t gotten out since then… Bad blogger!

Pic of the day

Sometimes the weeds grow high. High enough to get lost in.

A lamp, hiding in the vegetation at sharlott hall.

Singing the night time song.

Two in the morning. Home from a night out and I stop on the porch to enjoy the night air. The streets are quiet, all the lights are off.

Over the next hill I hear the coyotes singing to the night sky. Singing a night time song. I sing along.

Fun game

I made it the whole way through.

 

Perfect Balance

(via)

Pic of the day

It sits alone. Discarded. A thing, once cherished, now begins the slow descent into decay. The music plays no more.

A child’s xylophone, relegated to the backyard and the elements.

Pic of the day

Just another shot from the photowalk.

A single-exposure HDR of the Sam Hill building, now occupied by Prescott College.