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)

IMG_4507f
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

IMG_3754f
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

Antarctica...

Those of you who know me, are aware of my fascination with all things Antarctic. I have been on the mailing list for Quark Expeditions, a leading Antarctic travel company for many years. I always pour over their catalog and marvel at the photographs. I am so intrigued, that I have even been known to base my reading selections on whether or not the story includes anything about this frozen continent! In fact, I recently discovered that the author (Kim Stanley Robinson) of a fiction book I read called "Antarctica" had applied for a special "grant" from the National Science Foundation's Artists & Writers Program. You can read more about this program here.

Basically, the program provides paid travel to and from Antarctica, room and board at the science station, and a loaner on cold weather clothing. Cool!

I stumbled across the blog of one of the latest grant recipients, David Ruth. He is a glass artist from California and he is studying the natural ice formations in Antarctica in anticipation of recreating the structures in glass. Check out his
Antarctica Blog.

What's on your Ipod? Version 1.0

After finally redeeming that Ipod anniversary gift card given to us by our friend Bill, I got to thinking. What does everyone else who reads the blog have on their Ipods (or other mp3 players)! So here's your chance folks! Post a comment about what is on your digital music device this month. Should be interesting!

Here's what I'm listening to:

The Fray - How To Save A Life

I've heard two currently released songs, the title track; How to Save a Life and Over My Head (aka Cable Car). Liked them both then ran across the videos on Google Video and realized just how good they were.














Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope

I happened upon her video for Fidelity on Google Video and it was unique in a Toris Amos / Bjork kind of way...

Wanted, One Groom.

Another great evening provided by Holly and the OHS thespians!

Troubadour Dinner!

On Friday night, we had the privilege of attending my cousin Hollster’s Troubadour Recital. It was a pretty cool evening with 50’s themed food, music, and trivia. Although I may be a bit biased, I think she was the best singer there! Her rendition of Crazy was awesome! I heard many in the crowd whispering to each other about how good she is. They rightly introduced her as Owensville’s own American Idol…awwwww!

Not to be left out, the fabulous milk shake cut-outs were courtesy of cardboard provided by my Uncle Ed. Also….Thanks to Aunt Jo for picking up our tickets and saving a table for us! I think I can speak for everyone…Mom, Darrin, Ryan, Holly, Ed, and Joanne, and say we all enjoyed ourselves!

Ham & Jam & Spamalot!!!

Saturday November the 4th, the Lacubrious Crew attended the afternoon show of "Spamalot". The show was GREAT, a real "Must See" for any Monty Python fan. It's got some new twists and characters that make it different from the movie “Monty Python and The Holy Grail” but it still contains a lot of the same or similar scenes. The “Lady of the Lake” was hilarious.

After the show we headed to the Schlafly tap room for some dinner and then off to the Erato Wine Bar to catch Javi.


Javi and Carl were in top form, and with Javi’s cousin David De Las Heras adding some extra percussion and backup vocals, it was definitely a show to remember.



To see more pictures check out our Flickr.

Paella!!!!

Paella
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

"The" Lacubriousone made her first authentic Paella! The ingredients included Valencia Rice, Valencia Peppers, Saffron, tomatoes, onion, and bell peppers, all cooked and served in her new Paella pan.

The result was "AMAZING" !!! Just like back in Madrid.

Birthday Weekend for Mr. Jonez!!

We started the evening with a trip to Growlers for a bite to eat and a great beer. From there we headed over to Lucas School House to catch a Javier show with a full band, including Moises!

The show was great and the venue was one of the best we have been to in STL!

Happy Birthday Mr. Jonez!!!

To see more pictures from the show check out our Flickr.

Birthday Weekend!!!

Mrs. Lacubrious Jonez
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

First to Blumenhof to see Steve Leslie, then to Brandt's to see Javier Mendoza.

Another Birthday at Brandt's
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

More pictures are available at our Flickr site. Want to know what Steve's songs are like? Check out his MySpace. Javier also has a MySpace.

Steve Leslie Cicero's Halloween Headliner!!!

Yes Headliner!!! And here is a picture of the poster that I took at Cicero's to prove it!!!

Yea, Cicero's is not the greatest venue, and the sound guy keeps the volume on "11" all the time, but the people that show up are there to here the music, and he doesn't have to worry about playing all danceable songs. The other good thing is that he will NOT have to play "Sweet Home Alabama"!!!

Seriously... This could be a good stepping stone to much bigger and better things.

If you are free on Halloween, please join us and support Steve.

See Steve's website for more info.

Canon 85mm f/1.8 Prime ROCKS!!!

Baby
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

I think I am starting to get the hang of the new lens!

Here is a link to more.

Javi on Cassette????

I found this cool website that lets you create fake cassette images that you can label any way you want. I think it looks very realistic! What's weird is that LacubriousOne and I just found our old cassette collection while cleaning out a closet a couple of weeks ago.

Too Cool - An Atmark Mug!

Very cool design - I want one! I originally found a link to this on Deadprogrammer.com. The actual weblink is http://store.artlebedev.com/catalog/kitchen.

Jane Jane's Last SunMotel Show

Jane Jane and Javi-Air SunMotel
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Cicero's on 9-28-2006

Jane Jane is off to San Diego CA. to join a dance company!!! But we did get to see her last performance with SunMotel at Cicero's. Now the lacubrious crew has a good excuse to head out west.

Good Luck Jane!

More pictures of the show are available on our Flickr Site.

Long Birthday Weekend - LacubriousToo Turns 40!

Me
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

What a great weekend!!!

It all started on Thursday night when after receiving an email from Steve Leslie LacubriousOne and I decided to go to Helen Fitzgerald's with Uncle Ed. It was a great evening! The band sounded great! It was a little rough getting up for work Friday morning but well worth it.

Friday evening we headed down to the the Zoo with the Lacubrious Jonzes and our good friend Kurtis to see Javi's first show after getting back from Spain. We were running a bit late and only got to see the last half of the show, but did get to talk to Javi, Carl, and Julie for a bit before we went looking for dinner.

Saturday morning I went down to the with my friend Bill. We hit Dave & Busters for a while and then went to the Mills to eat lunch at Tony Roma's. GREAT BBQ!!. On the way home something strange happened, we were talking about winerys as we drove down hwy 94, when Bill decided to turn into Balducci to check out the view. When we rounded the corner at the top of the hill THERE WAS LACUBRIOUSONE!!!! Turns out my trip with Bill was a carefully crafted plot to get me to Balcucci for a surprise party! The party was GREAT! I will put up more pictures ASAP.

A big thanks to everyone for coming and an even bigger thanks to my wonderful wife LacubriousOne for making this a birthday I will never forget.

Steve Leslie at Helen Fitzgerald's

Steve Leslie at Helen Fitzgerald's Angle
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Thursday night we went the see Steve play his first booking at Helen Fitzgeralds. Thanks again Ed for giving us a ride. This was the first evening of my LOOOONG birthday weekend. More on that to follow.

Steve Leslie on CBS Early Show!!!

Our friend Steve Leslie is now competing in the second round of the Living Room LIVE! contest.
So please click the link and support Steve by VOTING!
(located on the left side of the page about half way down)

UPDATE: The winner of this round (Final Round 2) will be announced Friday morning.

Final Update - Well we made a good effort, but when you go up against someone with literally thousands of MySpace friends, you just can't click fast enough.... Sorry Steve....

My Uncle's Theory on family events....so true!

We were at Kim's last month for a great Deck cook out, and we were discussing some old family events. As that discussion was happening I came up with the following thoughts :


When something happens within the family, or better yet at a family gathering it becomes a family "Story". It will be told over and over and over again. The "Story" will remain exactly as it happened when it is told among that generation.

As we tell that "Story" over and over and over and over again for more than ten years it becomes a family "Legend". It becomes a "Legend" as it has now been passed on to a new generation of the family to live and enjoy. The "Legends" sometimes get embellished to make them more appealing. The new generation will put their own angle on telling the Legend, but they will keep the "Legend" alive.

Upon the unfortunate demise of any family member involved with the incident after 25 years, I believe the story then becomes "Mythical". This "Mythical" event will have more embellishments added in to it as most of the people who have heard about this event know it only second hand, and weren't there when it was just a "Story".

I will give you a few examples.

Two Christmas's ago Barb who like the rest of us makes fun of Kevin
for falling asleep on the Holidays, gave us all a Christmas memory.
This is a Family "Story"

Some ten years ago, Darrin slipped on some ice down his driveway, and Kim followed slipping after him on the ice as well. Neither was hurt, and they finally made it safely back to the house. Now as you can see I do not know all the details to this event, but some ten years later this family "Legend" lives on.

Around 1980 there was a family dinner at Betty and Ernie's house on Morehouse street. Aside from Betty and Ernie the dinner guests included Barb, Kevin, Kim, Kevin II, Ruthe, Ernie, Lena, Grandma Baksay, Joanne, and me. This was the dinner that the now "Mythical" phrase was created "Ba Jo Ruthe". So you see, this story some 26 years later is now "Mythical". Even though the kids were there they didn't hear the uttering of that famous phrase, they just have heard it happened. I am not even sure of all the dinner guests, but I still tell the story as I was in the Kitchen when Betty "coined" that phrase.

Obviously the "Mythical" events live on in our own mind as we remember them. Please feel free to share a "Story", "Legend" or "Mythical" event and send it to everybody you have in your e-mail from the family. As I will end this e-mail now I will not go in to the "Thanksgiving Cat Litter Turkey Legend" or the infamous "Cold Spaghetti" myth at this time.

Love to all who receive this, and truly know that you are what family is all about.

Ed

Out-Foxed...

My Dad trapped this fox last week! It's been manacing his waterfowl for quite some time...as luck would have it, the animal out-foxed Dad and escaped from the pen! I read online that they are actually very curious and intelligent.

Make Laundry Time More Exciting!

Make Laundry Time More Exciting! Whirlpool is going to be testing
Internet Connected appliance in Atlanta...

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2006/07/10/story5.html

Roman Columns

Roman Columns
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Another reason to love Cordoba...nearly every time they excavate to add on to a building they uncover some archeological find! This was next to a hotel in the City Centre...they began excavation and uncovered several roman columns so they began piecing them back together and placing them upright next to the building. The site was still actively being excavated for more column pieces.

Mesquita

Mesquita
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

There are currently over 900 arches within the Mesquita....each subsequent addition to the building added more. Most have been restored but there were a few that have yet to be and they appeared somewhat crumbly and faded, but still structurally sound...not too bad considering the age of the building.

Mesquita

Mesquita
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Kim in the Mesquita...

Mesquita

http://static.flickr.com/68/172093116_d465f50409_m.jpg


Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

This is within one of the many chapel rooms within the Mesquita. Amazing...nearly every surface in this room was covered with paintings. No flash was allowed so I had to brace the camera against one columned wall in order to allow the shutter to remain open long enough for a clear exposure.

Mesquita

Mesquita
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

This is inside the Mesquita in Cordoba, Spain. Very cool building....construction first began in the 700´s and it was expanded four times!!!

Back in Madrid!!!

Sorry for the lack of posting! We have been in Cordoba and the hotel there, while more modern than the one in Madrid, did not offer free internet access. At 9 euro for two continuous hours, plus it wouldn´t work with the handheld, we decided to just be incommunicado during our stay there. Be sure that we will be "back" posting, as we took notes of our adventures and tons of photos! We´ve put copies up on Ed´s laptop as a backup storage solution...


We are heading back home tomorrow! I can´t believe how the time has flown, especially over that last 4 days! We´re heading out to enjoy our last night in Madrid & in Spain...Buenas Tardes!

----more later----

Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Street Scene

Street Scene
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Demonstration at Puerta Del Sol

Demonstration at Puerta Del Sol
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Puerta Del Sol

Puerta Del Sol
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Plaza De La Cruz & Debajo del Angel

Plaza De La Cruz & Debajo del Angel
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Chocolate y Churro

Chocolate y Churro
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Catedral de la Almudena

IMG_09832
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

Catedral de la Almudena - we wandered here on our fist night in Madrid.

Wednesday in Madrid...

Today was a long, long day! It began with Darrin and I waking up late ( darn the travel alarm )...but we made it to breakfast in time to meet the Webers and talk with Domingo, our fabulous waiter in the hotel cafe. He has been very funny and animated, helping us with our Spanish and telling us jokes and the like. We headed out to find the Madrid Vision Tour bus which Domingo said we could catch at the Calle Seville. So we walked around Puerta Del Sol (or Sol as they simply say around here) and up Calle Arenal, but we had trouble getting the bus, so we walked down Calle Atocha to get on the bus near the Prado Museum. Few things about the bus....numero uno....no a/c as advertised...hot...hot...hot. And the handicapped ramp ( rampa) is broke...but the buses are low enough that Darrin could easily "hop" on. We rode the bus back to Plaza Mayor and found a little place to eat Paella...yum! There are soooo many little cafes in the area...it is unbelievable. They are side by side one after another. Then we wandered into the Plaza Mayor to the tourism office to ask about getting AVE (high speed train) tickets. (Call for them or go to the Atocha Train Station) So back on the bus to the Train Station we went! Where we thought we would be smart and go to the automated ticket machine and bypass the long, long wait in line...ha.ha...jokes on us. We got our tickets for the Saturday day trip to Toledo and our Sunday tickets for our 4 day stay in Cordoba...only to find out that only one car on each train is handicapped accessible and only one seat is designated as for a wheelchair....DIOS MIO!!! So we took a number (A223) and waited (A189)...and waited (A194)...and waited (A203) for about an hour to get to the ticket counter. In our broken Spanish we asked to change (cambiar) our tickets (billetes) because (porque) of the wheelchair (silla de ruedas). It was no problem, the agent fixed us right up! So we left feeling we had accomplished a great task!!! So we went down a couple more streets from Atocha to find another restaurante vegetariano, which we found but it was closed so we put it down for Friday since we would be back in that area then. THEN....I told you this day was long! We walked back up Calle Atocha...and walked (andando Y andando Y andando...dios mio!) Until we stumbled upon a nice plaza called Plaza Santa Cruz where we parked ourselves at the Corner Cafe for pizza & beer (yes, not very Spanish I know) 3 rounds of cerveza later we headed back to our hotel and stopped for dessert at a choclateria along the way. Talk about yum!! You get this little coffee cup full of thick, dark chocolate served with churros, fried dough sticks to dip into the chocolate....very, very good! See the pictures to follow!

We are here!




MP3 File

Estamos aqui! - We are here!

We´re here, made it to the hotel and managed to get lost in the streets...all on the first day!
We´re having some technical difficulty with the hotel internet...but hope to have it worked out soon! We have some great photos already! I have recorded a audio blog, but with the internet problems I have not been able to load it...Check back though! We plan to go to an internet cafe today...


I forgot to add that we wandered over to the Palace Real...well not on purpose! But it was so beautiful at night. We took some photos of the Cathedral next to it.


Dinner was at a little cafe and we had manchego sandwich & rioja...

Countdown To Spain!

Paparazzi

Paparazzi
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

More from grandma's party.

Grandma's 80th birthday.

Hold still!
Originally uploaded by dehmystic.

May 27th was Grandma's 80th Birthday! We all (about 28 of us!) celebrated at the Hawthorne Inn Banquet Center in Union....courtesy of Uncle Ernie & Aunt Ruthe from Connecticut. We had a great meal, great fun, and Grandma was so surprised to see everyone. She had a great time opening all her presents, but what she really wanted was candy! Such a sweet tooth on her! In addition to family, the activities director from the nursing home was there and some friends from Mom & Dad's church in Gerald.

Testing the audio-blog!

Give it a listen!




MP3 File

Vacation Itinerary...

MrLacubrious has been working very diligently to get the following itinerary together for our vacation to Spain!!!

June 5^th Madrid -Arrive in Madrid Settle in, Shopping, Eating, Drinking, and basic Chill
June 6^th Madrid -First Madrid Card day (Need more detail)
June 7^th Madrid -Second Madrid Card day (Need more detail)
June 8^th Madrid -Third Madrid Card day (Need more detail)
June 9^th Madrid -Train or bus to the castle near the valley of the fallen and/or Chill
June 10^th Toledo -AVE Train leave in the morning back at night
June 11^th Cordoba -AVE Train leave in the morning start site seeing
June 12^th Cordoba -Finish site seeing in Cordoba in the morning and take a bus to ruins in the afternoon
June 13^th Seville -AVE Train day trip from Cordoba round trip
June 14^th Granada -Day trip to Granada from Cordoba bus or train
June 15^th Madrid -Train back to Madrid for last night party
June 16^th Madrid -Head back to the airport.

Bald Bill's B-Day

Today was Bill's B-day! A group from work all went out to eat at Cracker Barrel to celebrate. While we were there, we met a man at the next table whose name was also Bill and he was also bald and yesterday was his birthday! So we had to get a picture of the "Bald Birthday Bills" together.




































A gal at work sang Happy Birthday then planted a Big One on his head!