Okay, couple things in advance, just to be clear.
1. This is not the guy it looks like; it’s another guy who looks like him.
2. This is not the way the picture looked when it came out of the camera. Photoshoppery has happened here.
3. That said, it DOES look like him, dunnit?
This is actually Suresh Shah of Houston, at the Gandhi Library’s 1000 Lights for Peace walk last Sunday. And just in case you’re interested, there are pictures from the walk hidden behind him.
Back to Texas World Speedway just outside College Station…
I grew up around cars like this, and around people who like to drive them at high rates of speed.
Until I learned my own limits, I tried to be one of those people. I picked up a few interesting lessons along the way, and now, I photograph other people driving them fast instead. It’s almost as much fun as driving, and having me on this side of the camera is safer for everyone.
I mentioned a post or two back that I was moving galleries to a new host. This is the first REAL test. There are pix behind this one. Go look. (Warning: There are a LOT of pix behind this one.)
That I have not posted here in over a month.
For which I apologize, more or less.
However. I can explain.
SmugMug, which has been hosting the extended galleries behind the blog here, has raised their hosting fee far beyond what I’m willing to absorb, given that this blog and those galleries are a non-paying proposition.
Therefore I’ve spent much of my spare bloggery time working on the back end here, so that those galleries will stay accessible when my prepayment with SmugMug runs out. (The new address for the gallery main page is http://rcmckee.com/gallery. )
Just to be clear, because they’re good folk with a legitimate business to run… I have no personal issues with the service or the people at SmugMug; if anyone’s looking for hosting for event photography or other e-store retail/print sales, they’re great – and with the price increase they’re still among the most reasonable places out there. It’s just that, as I mentioned, I make no money from this blog or the galleries, and in case anyone’s missed it the newspaper business is, in technical terminology, circling the drain.
That being the case it’s important to reduce all nonessential expenses – and hosting with SmugMug because I’m too damn lazy to set up and learn the gallery software that comes FREE with my rcmckee.com webhosting is about as nonessential as it gets.
Also just to be clear, I still work with the same labs they use; if you decide you have to have a copy of anything I post here, please feel free to contact me directly and we can set that up.
Anyway if my absence has been noted, that’s why.
Rumors of my demise, untimely or otherwise, are mistaken, as far as I know. Could be wrong about that any time now, though.
So that’s it. There will be more photos…
And, because this is the InterToobs…
Have a cat.
Last night, Mayor Annise Parker, public officials and religious leaders, and a much-too-small number of Houston residents held a candlelight vigil on the steps of city hall to remember the victims of a mass shooting at a Sikh Gurdwara (temple) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
Sometimes being an early riser pays off…
Lesson for the day: If you’re going to chase eclipses on an empty tank, it’s a good idea to find one in the parking lot at the gas station. That was almost not fun.
Second Lesson: This blog theme squeezes wide pictures. If it looks distorted (as, f’rinstance, the moon is distinctly oval rather than round) try using “view image.” The moon is NOT egg-shaped.
Third Lesson: I gotta get the sensor on this camera cleaned.
Got over to Baker-Ripley Neighborhood Center for a few minutes to check out their “Taste Of” event. Wish I’d been there earlier as it was a whole lot of fun. Imagine a High School World Geography Fair “all growed up” and you’re pretty close…
Music, FOOD, costumes, FOOD, smiling laughing people, FOOD, and… Food.
And a picture or two.
I generally like horchata, a lot… but this is the first time I’ve had it Salvadoran style. And I like this version BETTER. More body, more taste, more spice… cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, I think. I’m not sure. But I’ll go for more of that any time…
(Got there just in time to miss the Honduran cuisine samples. Dammit…. next time. Won’t sleep in.)
Now THIS is when you know the economy’s bad…
Even the pirates aren’t hiring…..
Again with the parades. Because, well, I can. They’re fun… and I get to watch (and shoot) a lot of folklorico without editors complaining.
Plus there were these other guys….
Had to cover an event in the Heights the other day, and due to a communication mixup I got there half an hour early. Left me time to look around at the venue….
This is from Nic Noblique’s “Heavy Metal Peep Show” at Gallery M Squared in the old Heights Theater. There are a number of pieces, ranging from about 2 feet to about 10 feet. They’re bright, they’re colorful, I have no idea what they’re about. (I’m not an abstract sort of guy.)
But they ARE colorful.
Moving closer:
But not TOO close…
And they’re not all blue…
(Indian Paintbrush, it’s called. Look closely and it has almost the exact same structure as the Bluebonnet, and they’re commonly seen together. I’ll have to do my homework but I’m betting they’re closely related… kissin’ cousins or better.)