Back ... sorta

Lots of stuff going on. Picked up the camera again. At least partially. Have two projects I'm working on. The first is a play on the Quien es mas macho idea. It involves people in every day activities wearing luchador masks. The second is a shot of the cedar trees decorated to look like Christmas trees. Every year people decorate along the road I drive to work everyday. However, often times the decorations are left up well past when they should, and they look ragged. I'm feeling tattered and ragged right now though, so it fits. Hopefully I won't walk away from this project.

Tattooing is ongoing. Just working on the shading. JiuJitsu is a constant. I use it as an escape. At that moment, during those 90 minutes nothing else matters. Work may suck and life might be a drag, but it all goes away for that time period. Sometimes we all need an escape. I know I have more to say, but sometimes my inner monologue needs to stay inner.

A quick one

I'm pleased with my "toy" film camera. So much so, I think I'm going to keep shooting film for awhile (maybe even buy an old cam on Ebay). I'm not forgetting digital, but like most older things it just has more soul. Think the deep bluing of an old 1911, an old church pew, the honest wear on an older shotgun, the deep brown of a saddle polished by years of use. Soulful.

More photography coming

Lately I haven't been able to find my muse. The camera just hasn't been calling to me. Might be the 700 pictures I took while in Rockport (which reminds me, I need to burn those to DVD for the Bride & Groom).

However, I have been fascinated by a dumb little plastic camera. The Holga. So, while ordering a new flash from B&H (Canon 430 EX II), I added a Holga and 120 film to my order. Shooting film is more intimidating for me. You don't know if you did it right until possibly weeks later, and by then it is way too late. On the other hand, shooting digital can lead to being lazy. Light isn't right? Shoot it, it might come out or we can just do it again. Lazy.

Hopefully this little plastic camera is just the muse I need to get me back on track. My current project is portraits of interesting people in their work environment. Admittedly, the only picture I have taken so far is of my tattoo artist, but since I go see him on Saturday I might re-shoot with the Holga. Depends on how I feel after another 3-4 hour tattoo session.

Fair warning, more crappy photography is coming. Might even shoot some pictures of the owls I'm having tattooed on my chest.

Boomsticks Blogmeet AAR

OK, so it really isn't an After Action Report. Rather, a brief synopsis of the fun we had (however short it may have been).

The Background:

A couple weeks ago I was blogsurfing, when I hit Speaker Tweaker (Where sometimes things go bang). He mentioned that all the cool kids where getting together, and we should as well (I'm inserting myself in as a "we" simply because I read the blogs). He left an open invitation, and like the fat kid who finds a lost birthday part invitation, I wanted to eat cake. He and Murphy started planning.

The runup:
I told my wife, who then mentions we had a party that night in San Antonio anyway. Score! Seems to be working out, until I started on the details. She didn't want to take two cars. Makes sense to me, but she wasn't excited about shooting. It just isn't her thing (no big deal I can understand). We decided that 9AM was too early anyway and we would show up late. Still excited. I started loading mags.


The Day:
Loading the truck, I realized I didn't want to lug a ton of firearms down to San Antonio then have to explain to my in-laws what I am carrying and why I have them. They don't know I blog. It's easier for me to complain, talk about the stuff they don't know about (tattoos), and frankly I just don't want them to know.

This brings up a dilemma. What to bring. I decided to bring the Sub2k 9mm and my cursed 1911. I'm still not sure why I decided to bring this particular pistol, as it has never worked properly. Typically giving a failure to feed. Last time out it worked almost flawlessy, but I wasn't lucky this time. (As an aside, if anyone knows a smith who works on 1911s who can do the work for say $200 I would appreciate it).

We roll in with no problems (Yay GPS!), and walk in. The range is nice, although I'm glad I brought ears with me, as you park in a central area and shooting is going on all around. I walk into the pistol area and quickly realize I don't know what anyone looks like. The range is cold, and I'm able to listen in on several conversations. Through this I pick two groups that might be the people I am looking for. Only one has a CZ52. Bingo, I walk up and casually ask if Jim was part of the blogmeet. Fortunately he was. I pulled out my doomed pistol and lay it on the table.

I'm not going to force a play by play, but here are some of the highlights:

*"Is this screw supposed to look like this?" Crap, no.

*Bang. Why did my magazine just blow out the bottom of my Keltec? Hmm, something isn't right. Why does this brass have a whole in the bottom? Looks like a case head failure. Time to switch ammo.

*I might be crazy, but I didn't think the Mosin was too bad. "That's because you are a masochist." Fair enough.

*"Did anyone notice the disconcerting number of holes in the tin roof of the rifle range."

*"We only allow slow shooting from the bench. No more then 3 shots every five seconds." Possibly related to the holes in the roof?

*"Time to go." Looks like I'm done guys, my wife has been way more then patient with me.

Aftermath:
I had fun. Next time I will be more prepared. Why I decided to bring that pistol I don't know. I kinda felt like the Ahole of the world, but at least had a good time when I shot that Mosin. I think I have one of those on my list. I can only imagine the impression I left. My ADD was firing and I was a spazz. Oh well, it happens.

Here are a couple more images:

Jim & the Sig 556


Speaker and the M44


I'm not sure how I missed a picture of Murph. Probably more of me being a Spazz.

Ink finished ... for now.

I need a touchup on the right side, probably more shading and bars around the bottom.

I have a major bummer of a post coming. We lost one of our pups, and I need to get my head around it. Writing should help me out, but I want it to be less stream of conscience and more remembrance.

Not much to say.

Been kinda quiet lately. Not for lack stuff going on, but I just haven't had much to say. I actually has one post done, but realized it was way too stream of conscience. I even had trouble keeping up with the thread. I nuked it.

BJJ has been interesting lately. I've been working on some positions, and noticed that people have been adapting to what I've been doing. The triangle choke has been high percentage lately but people have against it better. I'm either telegraphing too much or people are getting better at defending. Maybe a bit of both. The flip side, is that I have been baiting the triangle choke to pass the guard. Some folks have gotten wise to this and are switching to the armbar right away.

In non-BJJ news, I need to get a photo tent. Something I can shoot knife macros in without getting hotspots on the blade edges. Two new knives are landing or will shortly. I picked up a Benchmade mini-griptillian and a Spyderco Mule (The new M4 version). It will be interesting to test the Previous Mule, so I can compare the two steels (one is 52100 and the other is M4). If anyone in the Austin area has a belt grinder they would like to sell inexpensively or a vertical bandsaw let me know. I have been getting the itch to try making knives again. Given enough time, I might be able to make a belt grinder. Couple wheels, some steel, a variable speed motor, and the belt. Although with my luck I would buy $1k in tools to save $400. Penny wise and pound foolish as they say.

I have my 10 year college reunion in two weeks. For once I am planning on attending. Should be interesting to see how everyone is doing. I tend to keep up with most folks, but occasionally I can't reach anyone. Pictures of the school will follow.

"The good 'ole Blues Brothers Boys Band?"

Rabbiteach convinced me to go out and listen to some music. One of her friends plays in the Burnett Jones Band, and the were playing at Poodie's Hilltop. We got there a little early, which is shickong since I managed to drive about 20 miles further then I should have (and then had to back track). It was a blast! Burnett Jones sounded great, and Poodie's looked like it hadn't changed since the last time we went (probably 2 years ago).


(taken with my phone)

Burnett Jones plays a mixture of Classic Country, Texas Country (Pat Green, Cory Morrow, etc), and their own stuff. I need to get their CD as it is sometimes difficult to hear in Poodie's, but the custom stuff was good.

Following Burnett Jones' set, they had a band from Dallas called Eleven Hundred Springs. 1100 was even louder then Burnett Jones. Maybe i'm getting old, but I like to be able to actually hear the music, not just feel it through the sound waves. They also didn't sound much like their album, but that could have been them trying to excite the crowd. We left mid way through their set. Not because we didn't like them, but I didn't want to drink anymore beer (BJJ in the morning), and because the combination of smoke and volume was giving us a headache. I'm still going to download their album.


Sorry for the crappy pictures. Poodie's is an "interesting" place. I need to take a good camera there and take some portraits. Lots of character in the faces of the people there.