Saturday afternoon at Blumenhof

IMG_7066f - Steve Leslie
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Myself, Lacubriousone, and her mom spent a great afternoon sipping wine, eating cheese, and listening Steve.

The weather was perfect!

Quote of the Day...

This is a quote from a freelance writer whose blog I read and who happens to have a book coming out in a couple of weeks….I thought it was fitting for what some members of my family are going through.

“It is important to recognize that how you live your life and how you embrace your experiences, regardless of what those experiences might bring, is always a choice, and that no one has control over how you react to these experiences other than you. You can choose to get bogged down in misery or you can choose to find a way to crawl out of it.”

--Allison Winn Scotch

Javi - Rockin' out at Brandt's

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Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Caught another Javi show at Brandt's. He was accompanied by Carl and Eric.

Brandt's Cafe

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Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Another great night out at Brandt's Cafe. Plus we got to meet a new friend, Amy. She's a long time friend of Javi's bass player Eric and 5 years from retiring from school teaching. We're looking forward to seeing her again at Finale.

Erato Wine Bar - Date Night

Okay, so no one wanted to go out the night before Easter with us, so LacubriousToo and I headed down to the city on our own! We grabbed a bite at Qdoba then coffee from Starbucks (no-decaf, late night that it was to be) and drove down to the Erato Wine Bar on Grand Ave.

As usual, Javi was performing! Eric Grossman and Carl Glad joined him and it was a great show. We also got to see Javi's sis-in-law, Jane! She was in town from SF to see the family. Those of you who follow the blog will remember her as "Sweet Jane Jane" the keyboard player from Javi's alter-ego project Sun Motel. And as if that weren't enough, Javi's other sis-in-law was in town from England and recalled how we had met just last year at Brandt's Cafe. I apologize, I can't recall her name just now!

L-Too and I split a couple of bottles of Spanish wine (Codice) and a fab cheese plate (Machego, Chevre, St Andrews) over the course of the evening. Yum!

I think we headed home around 1:30am, grabbed a latte on the way! All in all, a very pleasant evening!

L-Too should be posting photos on flickr sometime soon!

Javier Mendoza - CD Release Show!

IMG_6491f - Javier
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Good times! We got quite a few new fans to join us at Lucas School House for the concert.

The only complaint was that too many people in the crowd were talking (loudly) through the show! Hello, go downstairs if you want to gab, we're hear to see Javi!

Long-Time-No-See Friends

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Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

During our trip to Colorado, the not-so-die-hards took a day off from the slopes and drove and hour or so from Breck to see some old friends and former Unionites! Duke & Tami! They live in Salida and we haven't seen them in a couple of years. We met, did lunch, took a stroll around town, then grabbed a couple of beers and some talking-talking-talking before heading back in time to pick up the hardcore-skiers. It was great to see them and we really need to get together more often so we can swap travel stories!

Breckenridge, Colorado - More of The Year to Try New Things!

We came.
We learned.
We conquered the mountain.

...or at least that one green run

...and definitely not the lift (oh, how it vexed me!)

But a couple of bruises and one sprained ankle do not a wussy make!

Here's some photos to tie everyone over....thanks to Kurtis our videographer for the trip.

More verbiage to follow!

Cusco by night

Cusco by night
Originally uploaded by * Click-Clack-Kodak ! *.

After listening to Javi's new song "Night in Cusco", I wondered, what does Cusco Peru look like at night?

I did a Flickr search and found about 500 night shots!

Here is a picture to give you an idea what it looks like. If you click the picture it will take you to the respective Flickr stream of the photographer.

Thanks to my fellow Flickr members for making their images available!

International Day!!

Here are a few photos from this years ECC International Day "featuring" (IMHO) Javier Mendoza and friends.

ECC Art Gallery

20070202_0168 - Javier Mendoza
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Lacubrious Jonez making all the right contacts, Javi and Carl were hired to play the ECC art gallery re-location event. The show was AMAZING!!!! My guess at total attendance would be at least one hundred.

Preview of Javier Mendoza's New Album

Preview of Javier Mendoza's New Album

 

So last night, Javi was gracious enough to drive out to FrCoMidAmerica.  His agenda was as follows:

 

#1 Check out the ECC venue(s)

#2 Grab some grub with the Lacubrious Crew

#3 Check out LacubriousToo’s Dad’s house, also known as the potential site for the next “It’s Good To Be Live” recording.

#4 Kick our butts at bowling.

#5 Share a sneak preview at the new studio album!!!!

 

Well, 4 outta 5 ain’t bad.  Way to go MrsLacubriousJonez, for kickin’ butt at bowling! She’s one cool customer when it comes to the pins.  The boys thought they had a chance. Javi even upped the ante by betting he could get 3 strikes and then we would have to bring 4 extra people to the CD Release Party….alas instead we get to pick the set list for Erato Wine Bar on Feb 8^th!!!

 

Although, we will probably still bring in a few extra people to the CD Release….mark your calendars for March 30^th!!!!!!

Brandt's on Saturday

A great time was had by all!!!! And Lacubriousone got to add five more corks to her collection...

New Years Eve

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Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

I must say that this was the best New Years yet for the Lacubrious Crew! We had an excellent five course dinner at Brandt's Cafe and also got to hear Javi with a full band including David Karns. It was great to hear them play some of the older tunes.

I will expand on this post as time permits.

As usual there are more pictures on our Flickr.

Digital Photography Resources

I happened upon the Digital Photography School web site the other day and found it to be a great resource. Regardless if you use a point and shoot camera or a DSLR the tips, forums, and Flickr group are great places to find answers to any questions you might have. The current posting is titled 16 Digital Photography Tips for Christmas.

Two other resources I have found recently are DPReview and FredMiranda.com. DPReview is is one of the primary sources on the web for extensive reviews of all digital cameras ranging from point and shoot to high end DSLRs. They also have great forums with info. on cameras, lenses and almost any other accessories for digital photography. FredMiranda.com is a site that collects reviews on digital photography hardware from a vast number of members, many of whom are ether professional photographers or long time amateurs.

The New Guy! - (UPDATED)

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Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present one of the latest additions to the “Friends” part of “Javier Mendoza and Friends”. This new bass player’s name is Eric Grossman. You might know him from the band “K’s Choice”. Eric played for them from 1999 until 2003 when the band parted ways. Their most popular song was “Not an Addict”. Eric's current day job is recording and touring with Sarah Bettens, formerly the lead singer of K's Choice. Sarah has just finished a new album and will be touring to promote it this summer.

You can see more pictures from both the Finale and Brandt’s shows that we attended over the weekend on our Flickr.

FYI. Most of the pictures that you see from these two shows were taken using my new 50mm f/1.4 lens. What do you think?

Holly gets to prove herself in a new arena!!!

My cousin Holly (of Owensville High School Fame) recently tried out for the East Central College Theatre production of Beauty and The Beast. She earned a part on the adult choir! You can bet we will be there to see her performance. Wooo hoooo! Way to go girl!





Performances:
March 10, 11, and 18 at 2 pm
March 15, 16, 17 at 8 pm

The Ubiquitous Drip Picture

Surface Tension
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

It seems that there is a law that states:

"Every camera enthusiast must attempt a picture of a falling drip of water."

So here is my first attempt. I like that it is so dark. It makes the picture look like it was taken in the middle of the night. It's amazing how the water forms such a perfect sphere. If I would have had more light, I could have taken it at a higher ISO to eliminate some of the sensor noise. Maybe I will try it again some time.

What would be a good title for this picture?

Great Evening at Brandt's

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Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

The Lacubrious Crew had yet another great evening at Brandt's Cafe.

Check out the rest of the pictures on our Flickr page.

Winter is Here!!!

Winter
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Well the storm closed down I70 near Columbia, and there are more than 500,000 people in Missouri and Illinois without power.

On the bright side, I got to take my first winter pics with the Rebel XT. I am thinking about having this printed for Christmas cards.

What do you think?

This one was hand held with my Sigma 55-200mm lens. Here is the EXIF data on the shot:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Program: Aperture priority