http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=56198.0

 Knitted Yoda Ears for Halloween...

 

I went out to the desert near Joshua Tree National Monument this last weekend with some friends.I own a 4X4 truck and I love to drive down dirt roads.  This is a photo out the window of my truck as I was driving back down a mountain. Note the angle fo the window and the horizon. It wasn't that steep, but it was interesting. I was driving back down to that road you see a the middle of the photo.

We sat around and talked a whole lot. It was very relaxing. I really enjoy the desert and the sunshine and sitting in the shade. It was like being back home again. I'll go to the desert for any reason, any time, just to be there.

They were there because is was opening day of quail season, so they were up at 5am to go shoot innocent little birds. Now, I don't find hunting morally incorrect, but I'm not a fan. I like to shoot guns, but not at animals. I own guns, but for self defense in my home, so I guess you could say that I own guns to kill people, not animals.

I didn't take a lot of photos this trip, because I was too relaxed. There was a nice sunset, so I did take these next few. They're just nice photos from the cabin that we were staying at.  

After the sun went down, I used the flash to take a couple more. I like these shots. Yes, it was a full moon, or really close to it.

 

We stayed at a friend's cabin/shack that his grandfather built when he homesteaded the 40 acres back in the 1930's or so. The area is being built up all around his lot. More and more newer houses going in.  It's a pretty old cabin, so it doesn't have running water. It does have electricity and propane, so we can turn on the lights and cook food and use the refrigerator, but when it comes to using the bathroom, this is what we get to use, an outhouse.  It's pretty scenery that you get to look at while you use it, since the door is not really there any more.

 

 

This is the reason that none of our wives come with us on the trip. 

 

Of course, I drove into to town and used the bathroom at WalMart...

Here's my shot at it.

 1. "Our Song" for my wife and I is "The Chicken Dance".

2. I hate "The Chicken Dance" song. (but I love my wife.)

3. My son is older than Lex.

4. We went to Death Valley on our honeymoon. (and she still married me...)
http://www.furnacecreekresort.com/galleries/inn.htm

5. I've been to India and eaten local food on a banana leaf, with my hand, while sitting on the floor of a mud hut in a  village. (by the way, it's not really "mud"....)

6. My first ticket was for "Engaging in a speed contest" where I blew off a 1970 Cuda with a 440 six-pack. It was right in front of a cop sitting in a gas station. Lost my license for a month. (It was not my last ticket...)

7.  I can roll my tongue. I can show Duece if he wants to see. I bet I could teach him how to do it.

8. When I was 18,  I was thowing eggs at passing cars on Halloween night, from the parking lot of the church I attended.  My Youth Pastor, Wilbur, drives into the lot and asks me if I want to be a witness at a wedding. I thought he was joking, but in a few minutes, a VW van pulls up and a few people get out. We all went up to Wibur's office where he proceeded to perform a wedding. He always thought that anyone who wanted to get married in a church ought to be supported, since that was probably the only time in their life they'd be in church. I signed the wedding certificate as a legal witness for people I'd never seen before....on Halloween night..after throwing eggs at cars....

 9. I'm afraid of spiders and I have my wife kill them when we find one in our house. They just creep me out.

10. I saw Peter , Paul, and Mary in 1969.   I saw Seales and Crofts in 1972.   I saw The Dead Kenedys at the Whiskey A Go Go in 1978.   I saw the Plasmatics, with Wendy O. Williams, in 1980. http://www.plasmatics.com/

This illustrates my musical taste spiralling out of control as I grew up.

A couple days ago was my wife's birthday. I took the day off and we went to have fun. We drove to San Diego and saw the Maxfield Parrish exhibit at the San Diego Art Museum.

We've always liked Maxfield Parrish. His painting are famous and everyone recognizes them when they see them, even if they don't recognize the name. He painted from about 1902 until the 50s. His most famous work is from 1910 to 1930.

I always thought that his style was very photorealistic fantasy. The stuff he did was looked very real, almost Norman Rockwell real, but of fantasy subjects.  He painted some very amazing images that really move people. That's why I was amazed to find out what he was really all about.

Two things surprised me. First, that the images were photrealistic because he actually took photos of his subjects and used them to paint the pictures. He would use the same model for many of the same characters in one pictures. they had photos that he took of himself, using a string to pull the shutter. The pictures looked so real because they are real people from photos

The next thing that shocked me was that he decided to "democratize" art and be what he called a "popular artist". He made this decision on purpose. He wanted lots of people to be able to see good art, not just the wealthy patrons that usually got to see it. His most famous work was used in calendars for the Edison company. His art was in millions of home across America. He illustrated a lot of books, mostly children's book, fairly tales and such.

I saw the original of this painting, Lute Players. It was like 12 feet tall. It was intense. The color of the blue sky was mezmerising. They made lithographs of it for sale for cheap by cutting off the top half and making it a couple feet wide instead. I saw the original one. Wow.

I find his stuff amazing to look at. I sat in front of a couple of them for a long time, just gazing at the colors and shapes. In 1932, at the height of his fame, he decided that he was tired of painting "girls on rocks" and started to paint only landscapes. He did this for the next 20-30 years, but these paintings were not as well received and never became as famous as his earlier stuff.

He was very much into nature, and I guess he could be considered part of the "Arts & Crafts" movement of this time period. I was awestruck by seeing some of his most famous paintings in person. They inspired me. I want to go do art.

I went to a car show in my home town of El Segundo, CA. They shut down main for 5 blocks and parked over 500 cars there for you to walk around. They had a band playing rock and roll, food, beer, and lots of people. Click on the photo to see all of the photos I took.

Hello world.

I do have some other places that I'd like you to vist and click on ad links if you want.

The very best place to learn anything about the city of El Segundo, California, is at another blog I run at http://www.elsegundo.net

If you are a Rockstar INXS fan, please visit http://www.rockstar-inxs.com and post something in the forum there. Brandon went home last night and I'm so glad I won't have to listen to him any more.  

 Of course, my greatest claim to fame on the web is http://www.survivor.com which I put up years ago for a friend's software company.

Another friend of mine runs the best automotive web site at http://www.curbsite.com if you want to read reviews of cool cars.