George Strait & Big Z

Yesterday (May 27) was one of those weird days. I spent a couple of hours in the dental chair getting a tooth ready for a crown. Normally I would say that was a bad thing, but in this case it gave me a rare opportunity to see a day time Cubs game. Yes, the dentist has a TV within viewing site of the chair. Carlos Zambrano (Big Z) was attempting his 100th career win for the 2nd time. No, he didn't get it - he got tossed in the top of the 7th instead, leaving the game with a 2 - 2 tie agains the Pirates. Here's the deal: The Pirates had one on third. Carlos threw a wild pitch which sent Giovanni Soto chasing. Z covered the plate, placing his right foot between the plate and the base runner. Soto corralled the ball and tossed it to Z, who applied the tag as the player bellf-flopped a slide in. The camera angle and zoom weren't sufficient for me to tell if the runner was safe or out. The umpire called him safe setting off Z. Now for the real tricky part. Z got tossed for making contact with the ump. I watched the replay at least 3 times and the ump leaned his left shoulder the way of Z. If he didn't touch Z, he was within a whisker. Z reacted and leaned in as well. The rest is history and I'll have to let the MLB sort it all out. The real loser of the whole altercation was the Gatorade drink dispenser in the Cubs dugout which had just been rebuilt after being stuck by an ill tempered Dempster a day or two earlier. Dempster used his left fist on the machine, Zambrano may have put it out of it's short lived life using a bat on it in lieu of his body. Sure beat an episode of Rachel Ray, which the dental assistant had tuned the TV to. Good thing my dentist is a Cubs fan!



George (King George) Strait. What a fitting title and tribute, Artist of the Decade. Great interpretations and performances all around by the artist performing his songs. My special accolades go to Taylor Swift sining Run and to Jamie Foxx for his redition of You Look So Good In Love. I didn't even know Jamie was a singer. I think he may have stole the whole show.

By the way, if you don't have the Troubador album by George you are really missing out.

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Macrolite, Taylor Swift and more...

It's not a very pretty device, but it does get the light where you need it when taking a macro shot. For less than $40, a mere 1/10th of what you would spend on any type of macro light from a large manufacture, you could have this one. It's to simple a 5th grader could make one. Be sure to check it out if you like to make your own accessories and take macro shots. It's at http://www.alanlook.com/gear along with the other contraptions I've concocted. They aren't all pretty, but the do work and cost less than manufactured units.

I don't generally talk about my dreams. I'm not a person that really takes a lot of stock in them. The other night I had a dream that ended up with me at a Taylor Swift concert. (Get your mind out of the gutter). Funny the evening started out with me at the Shirk Center shooting some kind of event. As I was leaving, I saw the Tri-Valley roller derby team on the track in Wilder Field. Strange, roller derby isn't a high school sport. Well, since I had my gear I thought I would get a few shots. As I got into the field, the event switched from roller derby to a Taylor Swift concert. It was now all Romeo and White Horses. Standing in the pit, minding my own business taking in the music and photos of Swift for about 3 songs I was approached by a burly guy in a yellow shirt. Event Security I guess the 3 songs I was allowed to photograph was over. Looking over my shoulder as I left were 6 thousand fans with point and shoots taking photo upon photo. Why didn't I think to bring a $100 camera instead of $10,000 worth of gear? Thank goodness I woke up.

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