Multimedia
I wish I was in New Orleans
8:46 p.m. February 9, 2016 : St. Charles rests, nary a sign of the handful of Mardis Gras parades, except of the random bead strands, the occasional barricades and side-street Porta-Potties. A homeless man sleeps in an alcove near Avenue Cafe. The neon lights and lit store-fronts illuminate the way for wanderers toward downtown, heralding the decadence and debauchery on Bourbon. Trolley tracks wait for the car to return to service, it's path cleared of trash, and the dirt and soil trodden by a million steps. This city of a thousand ghosts can't be put to rest yet tonight, as there's a few more hours to go before God calls for us to repent, fast and pray to ancient saints and saviors. I won't be partaking in that time-honored tradition of beads for bare tits, but perhaps one day I'll bear witness to this event. Until then I rest and recuperate and prepare for the second Market trip of this vacation and the long drive back home.
February 10, 2016: Ash Wednesday, and we are all freed from guilt and sin, washed away like the trashed sidewalks and littered streets. Some of us sleep off the regrets from yesterday, and some walk through the sunlight hugging the Mississippi and its swells. The water laps at the stonework embankment. Today begins the long drive home. Soon, we'll be home, but New Orleans will weigh heavy on my heart for months, maybe years, to come.
February 10, 2016: Ash Wednesday, and we are all freed from guilt and sin, washed away like the trashed sidewalks and littered streets. Some of us sleep off the regrets from yesterday, and some walk through the sunlight hugging the Mississippi and its swells. The water laps at the stonework embankment. Today begins the long drive home. Soon, we'll be home, but New Orleans will weigh heavy on my heart for months, maybe years, to come.
Sea changes ~ The road to Homer
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Thanks to a snafu with the airport's rental car agencies, I managed to procure a BMW for my week spent in Alaska. While my host worked, I spent most of my days traveling around the Alaskan highways exploring coastal areas and beautiful culture. First row of pictures is Ninilchik, Alaska, and it's wonderful Russian Orthodox church and town. The second row of pictures and audio file are from Homer, Alaska.
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Ninilchik, Alaska
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Homer, Alaska
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I reached the end of my daily road trip in Homer, Alaska. So much of the nightlife and restaurants are built on a sandbar/pier construction, but the down-home mystique of this gorgeous town centers around the waters and sea life. I managed to find a washed-up starfish.
Come out to play
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Every year the organizers of XenoCon, a Quad-City area gaming convention, schedule a three-day weekend to host scores of gaming tables, vendors, auctiones, and more.
Dave Williamson, owner of Games Plus 1, helps organize the event with local gamer Wesley Dau, and Williamson also runs a booth as vendor at the convention. Many types of games are demoed, played and ran throughout the weekend, including popular role playing games, table top board games, and collectible card games. The convention has been expanding slowly over the years to increase the number of games it can exhibit to experienced and inexperienced gamers alike. |
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The Post Mortems
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Devin Alexander and Al Raymond of The Post Mortems, a drum-and-bass duo from the Quad-Cities, discuss their music and an upcoming show at the River Music Experience, Davenport, Iowa. Originally started by University of Iowa students, the band transitioned from three-piece to duo. The Post Mortems played their last show March 21, 2015.
Articles: Links:
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Faces in flame and an Alaskan sunset
This is a series of photos and an audio recording I managed to capture during my trip to the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, in 2012. The photos edited in post with the help of Rashah McChesney.
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I fashion myself a very unskilled street photographer. My favorite technique is using a tiny Canon and a 50mm and shooting things in the moment … and sometimes from the hip. I like those moments that happen in an instant, and then they’re gone --forever. Street photography has this rare ability to capture those images forever.
Visiting Alaska, I was invited to hang out with friends on an Alaskan beach and bonfire. Some photos are raw, while others are edited. I learned a lot about lighting and noise and focus on this night. But I also learned sometimes in the heat of the moment you strike gold. |
Something unpredictable ...
This is a series of photos and an audio recording I managed to capture during my trip to the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, in 2012. Sorry for the spikes at the beginning and ending of the audio, as it was recorded raw to SoundCloud with no editing. You can also clearly hear my shutter clicking away. :/ The photos were edited in post with the help of Rashah McChesney.
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This fateful August day I stuck around the Sports Complex parking lot, Soldotna, Alaska, casually observing roller derby compatriots and best friends, Katie Kirsch and Amanda Black, taking turns singing songs and strumming on an acoustic guitar. I managed to snap a series of photos with my Canon and 50mm lens. The duo pulled out a white binder, the thumbed through pages songs, trying out different tunes and learning various chords. Katie took a moment to show Amanda where to finger on the guitar neck during one song. Their vocals for songs like Green Day's "Good Riddance" hung soft in the air.
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