Official Photographer

I've become one of those people who take pictures of everything. I don't reserve my camera just for special events, I also constantly snap shots of the every day. When a gathering does occur I relentlessly take photos of the festivities and as a result end up with lots of great moments caught for posterity - which means that I have been named the Official Photographer of the DMB tours I attend. Not by the band of course, but by my friends who also travel to lots of shows.

It's an honour to be responsible for capturing these memories, not to mention a whole lot of fun. And now someone who I think is amazing, has also taken note of my pictures. Recently I got some exciting information from a friend in Nevada; Mike Doughty posted some of my pictures on his blog!

Check out the three posts on September 20th, those are all my pictures from the show in San Francisco and Mike generously credits me for each of them. How cool is that?



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Vegas to Santa Barbara to L.A.

We've made it to L.A.! I've got a few minutes before we run out to the show, so I'm taking the first chance I've had all weekend to post a little something. Vegas was amazing of course, love that city! I doubled up my investment on both the roulette table and the slots, the show was incredible, and we partied hard Vegas style. Road tripped to the beach the next morning and our motel was a block from the Pacific. Those two days in Santa Barbara went fast, lots of partying, lots of Halloween madness, and two more great shows. We ended up being a group of about 18 people in SB, and this morning 9 of us continued on to L.A. I rode with three others in a Mustang convertible under the California sun - love it. I have second row seat tonight, so it should be a fantastic way to end out this year of Dave Matthews madness. Lots of pictures to come, for now, just a taste.

Leaving For Las Vegas

As usual, down to the wire, I'm not packed, I'm freaking out, going to miss my flight, have to get a post in before I go.

I'm off to Las Vegas tonight where tomorrow night at the MGM Grand Arena, there will be a Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds show to attend. The next morning, we're piling into a rental van and driving across the desert to the California coast where for two nights in a row at the 4,562 capacity Santa Barbara Bowl, there will be two Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds shows to enjoy.

Oh, it's going to be LEGENDARY!



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Ironic Tuesday

I just found out that today is Take Back Your Time Day.

'A project of Cornell University's Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy and an alliance of academics called the Simplicity Forum, the group promotes Oct. 24 as a day to find a work-life balance and begin healing what it calls the "epidemic of overwork, overscheduling and time famine."' (article)

So I thought, hey, maybe I can take part in relaxing... until I realized that the 24th was today. I've been at my day job since 7:30 this morning. After work I'm running across town to another office to work on a contract job I'm doing for another Federal department. I'll need to squeeze in a quick trim with my stylist (luckily in the same building) before driving through three towns to get to school. I won't get out of class until after 10 p.m. tonight when I can finally think about getting home. There's certainly no time for dinner or any relaxation, because by the time I get back home, it'll be long past my sleep time. So thanks Take Back Your Time Day, but I regret that I won't be able to do any of your suggested activities like "visit elderly relatives, cancel an appointment, plant a tree, meditate or go for a long walk."



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Wook, This Cow's For You

DMB @ Red Rocks

A collection of pictures from my first trip to the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, September 9-12, 2005.

Random Lyric #4

And I wish we never parted,
I wish we had a choice,
Cause now I roam these bitter lands,
A face without a voice.

-Graham Parker, Black Honey

500 Pound Potato Battery

So when I was looking for a potato image to use in a post earlier today, I came across a site about a battery somebody made in the back of a truck using 500 pounds of potatoes. This, I had to share. Especially the disclaimer at the bottom of the page;

"Don't eat potatoes after using them for a battery."

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Conversation With An American #1

"Hey, have you seen Talladega Nights yet?"

"Hell no - I'm Canadian!"

"What?! What does that mean? What do you have that we don't have?"

"Class."



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Potato/Potahto

Whenever I have interviews with the RCMP, and they start talking about their members, I have to suppress a giggle because my instinct is that they're talking about penises, not police officers.

Maybe I make that association because so many cops are dicks.



As for the job, do I really want to be referred to as a civilian member?


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Spageism #6

"I got to do one of my favorite English words yesterday."

"Huh?"

"An electroencephalogram!"

"Ohhhhh... you're so fucking weird."


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Headline Of The Day #2

Officials urge Canadians to throw out carrot juice

In all seriousness, it is about a potential botulism toxin being present, but still, that headline? It rocks.

Thursday Night

"Let's get Del Mar for dinner... is that okay?"

"Yeah, totally! Del Mar is nothing to shake two sticks at."

"Is it something you could shake one stick at?"

"Yeah, it's totally one stake shakeable."

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"These are crazy!! How do you walk in these and not fall over all the time???"


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Post Haste

Oh my I can't believe how busy I am.

I got back from Charlottesville, ran straight into a major deadline at one of my jobs, and whole other workload issues at my other job, plus an assignment for school. I finally got a bunch (117!) of pictures from the trip uploaded onto Flickr to abate the demanding fans of my incessant photography last night... only to have them all insist on seeing some of the 1243 other pictures I took because they loved them so much!

So the blog has suffered as a result. As a cop out, here is a link to my Series One C-ville pictures. Series Two, due to high demand, will be out as soon as possible.

Enjoy these very out of context photos of my fellow devoted DMB fans in the band's hometown!

C-Ville

I'm in Charlottesville, Virginia and loving it! This place is amazing; the landscape, the architecture, the people, the wine, the music, and everything in between makes C-Ville one great town. I left Vancouver early Wednesday afternoon and America West flew me to Phoenix, then Las Vegas, through Philadelphia, and then into Charlottesville late Thursday morning.

It was pure exhaustion. Not to be defeated by a brain numbing lack of sleep, after meeting the "Inn Keeper" of this hostel/bed & breakfast (Alexander House) and a couple of the guests, I cleaned up and started driving. I explored the countryside and discovered endless curvy roads through plains and wooded hills that made me wish I was riding a motorcycle.

I visited a couple of the local wineries and ended up at Blenheim Vineyards, which is Dave Matthews' vineyard.



I bought six bottles of wine and have no idea how I'm getting them home.



Next I cruised some more, with the rental car sun roof open so that I could enjoy the brilliant day that it was, and made my way to The Best of What's Around organic farm, which is Dave Matthews' farm.The farm store was closed for the summer and a sign was posted saying that their produce could be purchased at the Scottsville Farmer's Market on Thursdays. Lucky for me it was Thursday, so I went down to Scottsville and checked out the little Farmer's Market.While I was in town I went to a local cafe and had a coffee and deep fried mozzarella sticks at one of their sidewalk tables. Along with a cigarette. Ah, so health conscious! I swung by the Monticello visitor's centre, decided not to go in, and instead drove downtown. I headed for the top of the parkade that I walked up to four years ago and took an almost identical series of pictures. Except these ones were on a digital rather than disposable camera, and done at 4:30 in the afternoon, instead of the crack of dawn. These pictures are mostly of the Pink Warehouse, where Dave Matthews Band played their first gig 15 years ago on the roof.
I wandered the pedestrian mall that is historic downtown Charlottesville and ran into Crumbo, a taper I met at Alpine Valley in July. I hope he's taping this weekend! Later, I ate at an outdoor table at The Hardware Store Restaurant - a local institution. After getting a little tipsy on Whisky Sours, I walked it off and drove back to the hostel to prepare for a live show that wasn't DMB. The hostel was deserted when I returned and I found out that I had the whole house to myself until the next day. So I padded about like it was my home and pretended to live in this cute little house in Charlottesville. I think I'm certifiable. Anyway, at about 10 p.m. I walked downtown to Miller'sto catch John D'earth and his amazing band jazz up the joint. Dawn Thompson sang on some songs as well, and they were all phenomenal. Incidentally, Miller's is where Dave Matthews used to bartend (notice a theme here?), and is where he met the first members of the band and convinced them to play with him. Miller's is also a local institution, where John D'earth has played Thursday nights "for like, 20 years!" said the t-shirt vendor.

And now I've made it back to the hostel. I've been given a lock key and helmet to use the hostel bicycle. Mare, the inn keeper, has been so wonderful and generous, but I don't think I really want to ride the bicycle. Now I have to, or her feelings will be hurt. Jeez. Where the hell am I going to ride to? Up that hill or the other one? This does not jive with my coffee, fried food, and cigarette regimen. Tomorrow the influx of DMB fans from all over North America and probably beyond will begin in earnest. I hope I can find some of the folks I've met over the summer, but even if I don't, I've already had a fantastic trip - and it's only been one day.