Saturday, April 30, 2005

Yellow Flower #7, Cottonwood Art Festival

Can you tell I'm struggling for picture material? These flowers have a plastic look to them that I find oddly appealing.

yellow flower #7

Next week is the Cottonwood Art Festival though. Plenty of photo material there. The John Gaar Band is playing both Saturday & Sunday, May 7 & 8th. I met his wife on a plane last year on the way back from JavaOne. She was a vendor. I was attending. She was really cool and made the plane trip fun for a change. They moved from Somewhere in California to Austin for a change of pace & hopefully luck. I think it's working out. We'll be there for the opening Saturday at 10:30am (yes, that early - he plays until 11:45am) in order to see him. I'll have my Astros hat on & Noah will be with us. Stop by & say hi.


Thursday, April 28, 2005

Close Encounters of The Third Kind

This is my brother at probably around 6 or 7 years old. I'm not sure really. I love this picture. The movie wasn't too bad either. He was born in 71, and CE was released in 77 according to IMDB.

walleyetom

He used to "wall his eyes" like that & it would drive my parents crazy. If I could have done it, I would have. I tried, but my eyes wouldn't go over that far. I just got a headache. He got to where he would just unconciously do it, I swear... it seemed that way anyway. Basically when he was bored. Hard to keep his mind busy with positive things to this day. Hell, who can?

Wonder if Han could turn this into a hantoon?

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

White River, Arkansas

Each summer around June 1st, I take a trip to the White River in Arkansas to fish for trout. We use a guide, so it's real "easy" fishing. I'll be leaving in a month for this place. It is beautiful.

White River, Arkansas

Here's my buddy Chris with a typical trout. We keep a few rainbows, but everything else goes back in the river. Chris is the one sitting down. They both have a mouth like a trout, so I thought you might be confused.

Chris with a Trout - White River, Arkansas

Here's another morning shot. The time in the EXIF data appears to be correct... 8am on 6/2/2001. That appears to be a Saturday, so it's the 2nd day of fishing. Ah... I can't wait.

White River, Arkansas

This is a view from the porch from Fulton's Lodge, a past haunt. Actually, I highly recommend it if you are a fly fisherman. We stayed at Sportsman's Resort the last couple of years. Kind of low budget / no frills, except for the cost of the guide.

View from Porch, White River, Arkansas

If you ever get a chance to visit, I highly recommend doing some fishing. And if Gator OR Buzz are guiding at Sportsman's, they are your best bet. I believe Gator is retired now, but comes out occasionally for the right price.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Wymer and Burdell

Ran across this scan of my grandparents Wymer & Burdell Young.

WymerAndBurdell

They say my grandfather used to walk 10 miles from his house on the head of Ellijay to her house on Rabbit Creek to court her. Yes, those are the real names of the little communities around Franklin, NC. Ok, maybe there was a wagon ride or two... but you can bet NO cars. From what I've heard, his hair color in this picture was the same color as mine. Red.

I can see the house she was born in from my parent's deck. They moved "back home" after my dad retired. I've been in that old house a couple of times. It was eventually sold & the new owners seem to be taking good care. I may ask for a tour next time I'm there. I was born in Texas, but both my parents are from this same small town. They moved to Texas in 66 and I was born in 67.

My grandmother is still living but is in a nursing home. She has good & bad days. My grandfather died several years ago. God bless them both.

BBB

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Linux GT



Linux GT
Originally uploaded by texas_mustang.
I've had this on my car for a year or so & finally got a comment on it. It was from a 12 year old.

Frisco Sculpture Garden #2

The same day we went to take Bluebonnet pictures, I made the wife drive through the Texas Sculpture Garden in Frisco. I did an earlier post on it. I couldn't get her to get out & walk around... we were to beat from earlier. I want to go back & do funny pics in front of the statues. My wife hates getting her picture taken, but she's getting used it it with the new Nikon D70.

A big fish that appears to be eating a house. Sorry, no names. Click on the picture to see all sizes at flickr.com.

Fish

This one reminds me of flowers. The iron petals opening towards the sun.

Iron Maiden

This could be a piece of office equipment.

Big Metal Thing

People dancing? These were scattered across the lawn.

Dancers

Is this a Kingfisher? I need to get out of the car & go read the signs. They have the artist & piece name.

Bird

This is either some people standing or a bunch of guitars in a corner, I can't decide.

People?

Ok, we all know what this looks like. Wife thought it looked like Marie's sculpture from Everybody Loves Raymond.

Vulcan or Vagina

A Horned Toad... I love it.

Horned Toad

Next time I'll actually get out of the car & shoot the signs in front of each piece.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Finally Bluebonnets

Found this place over near my office. It's not much of a secret, there were several other people there taking pictures. But we were able to get a few decent shots.

Noah in Bluebonnets

This one was a bit underexposed, so I tried to lighten it. It shifted the green in a way I don't like, but his face is much better.

Smile Big

I really like the Indian Paintbrushes too. He didn't seem to have a preference.

Indian Paintbrush

He kept finding things to grin about.

Grin

And running away from me. I had a hard time taking these... much harder than I remember that last time I took pictures of someone in Bluebonnets. Of course they were older than 19 months old.

Noah Loves It

Here's a decent shot of the field. It also was marked no trespassing, but there were tons of people enjoying the day. It was around 70 degrees.

Fields of Red and Blue

And that was that.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Wildflowers?

There is an open field near my home that I drive by everyday. Last year I noticed a variety of flowers growing just back off the road around some newly sprouted trees. I decided to go and give this place a personal visit this morning. The area is fenced off but has a very convenient break near a power transformer. I parked my car there & entered cautiously. There are no trespassing signs everywhere, but I generally ignore those if I have my camera. Much of this land was recently purchased for a new Presby hospital.

This was the flower that got me motivated to look. The wife & I had correctly identified it at a distance on a drive-by as a buttercup. These were huge. As always you can see the original on flickr.com by clicking any picture. This might make you want to sneeze.

buttercup

I believe this is an Indian Blanket. I couldn't get a bunch of them together, which gives a "tapestry" look.

Indian Blanket

Not sure what this is, but I liked it. I think it might have started out without those leaves protruding through the flowers, but that's a guess. They all looked this way.

DSC_2311

These are the flowers off an unidentified but very familiar bush. (that can be a funny statement... think about it)

I'm going to keep an eye on it.


DSC_2313

Yellow.

DSC_2332

Okay, here's where I think it gets interesting. These are irises according to the wife.

Iris

and this one...

Iris

and this one.

DSC_2328

There were probably 25 or 30 of these growing around this area. All coming up around trees that were obviously planted in rows forming the outlines of yards. I am going to have to do some research & see how long it's been since there were houses here.

The irises were the reason for the ? in the title. Not really a wildflower here... or are they?



Saturday, April 16, 2005

More work

I am now a member of the JSR 270 expert group. Can you pick out my company?

JSR 270: J2SE 6.0 ("Mustang")


Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Rangers Opening Day 2005

Yes, I made it this year. Last year I missed the best game eva, but never again. Of course they lost this year, but there are 162 games in a season. I could see it coming... my loss sensing skills are second to none since I was born in Houston and lived through years of oiler & astro torment. We started at Chris' house, drove to pick up tickets at Preston & 635, then to pickup one more person. This was my designated driver. (at least on the way)

Blair

Here's part of our group waiting near mockingbird & 35 for someone to change clothes. That was the last stop then we were finally off to the game.

Waiting on Bentley

It was supposed to be a more civilized version of our prior opening days. It was no different. Beer, beer, beer and more beer. Don't worry, we had designated drivers. We started with a tailgate party with hotdogs & burgers of course. This is Todd, the cook, talking to upchuck girl before the game. I can' remember her name (no reason to) and just remember her puking outside the car after the game.

Todd and Upchuck Girl

Here's a shot of Bentley.

Bentley

This is the very ugly Chris who I've known since 1987.

Chris

The truck doors served fine as urinal cover.

Whizzer

Oh yeah, there was a baseball game too. We ended up on the home run porch. I hate sitting up there... we were planning better seats but I guess someone complained so we went cheap again. Next year I'm buying my own tickets and we'll split up after the tailgate party. I was able to shoot at 300mm and get some ok shots. I would have liked to have been closer though. I'm used to better seats. Enough whining.

DSC_1702

I think this is Blalock getting brushed back. (below)

DSC_1705

Angels right-fielder.

DSC_1690

Maybe Blalock again?

DSC_1711

Play at the plate.

DSC_1815

Here's another shot of Bentley.

Bentley

Play at 1st.

DSC_1845

Continued play at 1st.

DSC_1846

And that was that. The Rangers lost after leading through the late innings. We ended up tailgating for 2 hours after the game, which pretty much wore me out.


Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Geronimo!

Geronimo!

He owns the company that does some of our yardwork. I say some, because the neighbor kid is supposed to do it, but I find that I have to supplement his service with extras from G. It is interesting to note that G once worked for the company, then bought it outright & does a much better job. I hadn't seen him in a few months. He just got back from winter in Mexico with his family.

He did our beds last week & stopped by today to settle the bill. He was in his Chevy Silverado with the custom paint job of the sea. I love the paint job on this truck. He says it's 5 years old and he's about to have it touched up. Some place in McKinney, TX did the work.

the hood

Geronimo Hood

the tailgate

Geronimo Tailgate

I think it rocks. Remember, to each his own. He thinks it is art. I'm inclined to agree.

Monday, April 04, 2005

Dallas Arboretum

We went to the Dallas Arboretum on Saturday. It was ok, except for the crowds. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I had hoped, and didn't get any good ones of my son. Very disappointing. That was our 1st trip. Next time it will be valet parking & we'll have a picnic basket with us. As always, you can click on these to see the full size image.

Yellow Flower

I can feel my nose starting to run already...

Yellow Flower

We took the shuttle bus... it was filled with the sound of sniffles on the way back. Allergies were in full force.

Purple Flower

I'd say this is my favorite shot. The tulips were already starting to look a bit old, but the red is still appealing.

Red Tulips

Not a bad place, just don't go during Dallas Blooms.