Source: youtube.com via Tim on Pinterest
This new song by M. Ward is fantastic. His new solo album is due out in April. Don't know M. Ward? He is the male half of She and Him. Don't know She and Him? I can't help you. You should look into getting a life.
Source: youtube.com via Tim on Pinterest
One of Wilco's latest. To be sure, their latest album, The Whole Love, is pretty unbalanced. However, I do like this song, Dawned on Me, quite a lot.
Source: youtube.com via Tim on Pinterest
There are lessons to be learned here. Life changing lessons.
You could have been famous with legions of followers. You could have been rich, living the life of ease. People could have been calling your name. You could have been a rock and roll star.
If only you had taken those accordion lessons.
Who would have guessed?
Those of you that know me well, know that music is as important to me as photography. I could no more give up my ipod as give up my camera. As I go about my life, music is my soundtrack. A soundtrack that I can control. In that role, music can bring back powerful memories of good times or bad because songs become associated with events or times in my past.
Anytime that I hear the song Omaha by Counting Crows, I think of a business trip that I took while my wife and I were still dating. She gave me a cassette with the song on it, and it became the sound track to the entire week. Now, the song brings back those first few months of our relationship. Hearing Omaha evokes those feelings of new found love, anticipation and excitement.
A couple of years back, I discovered the band, Great Lake Swimmers and instantly fell in love with their music. Thoughtful and intelligent lyrics played with quiet integrity. Their album Lost Channels had just been released and quickly climbed to the top of my listening rotation. This was an album stocked with songs that you could sing along with or quietly absorb.
I bring up the Great Lake Swimmers because they have just announced a new album. New Wild Everywhere will be released April 3rd. They have given us a sneak peek by allowing us to hear the first song off of the album and I am as excited as the first time I heard Pulling On A Line.
So, without going on any further, here is Easy Come Easy Go by The Great Lake Swimmers. I hope you enjoy the catchy tune.
https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F1469891&show_comments=false&show_artwork=false&color=5c978c&show_playcount=true
Great Lake Swimmers – Easy Come Easy Go (radio edit) by nettwerkmusicgroup
These are two portrait images that although very soft, I like very much. I would like to shoot them again to get them sharper? Why are they so soft? Well, I was shooting in dim light at f1.8. Combine the narrow DOF that resulted with the wide open aperture along with the my struggle to focus in dim light and you have the perfect condisitons to produce the soft images you see.
Still, I am happy with the light and compositions. Next time around, I would shoot with a nnarrower aperture, lower ISO, and use a tripod.
New Year's Eve, I took a friend up on an invitation to attend a Civil War ball held annually in SOuth Charleston, OH. I am not a reenactor and I really didn't know what to expect.
I don't think that I have ever used the word "enchanting" in my entire life. However, enchanting is the only word that really covers my experience. The ladies in their hooped skirts and the gentlemen in their tails and dress uniforms were a spectacular sight.
Just a little costume failure. Nothing that a couple safety pins couldn't remedy.
The ball was held in an old 1880's era opera house and the proceeds from the door charge went towards the upkeep of the building.
The small music group played throughout the evening and the guests waltzed and danced reels non-stop.
The ball is held twice a year, on January first and mid summer. I think I will plan on joining them again and again. After all, we can all use a little enchantment in our lives.
I had a fantastic New Year's Eve. For the first time in several years, I actually went out. Really! We normally stay home on New Year's Eve and have some family over for a fun evening of hanging out, eating and drinking. However, this year, I received an interesting invitation that just could not be turned down. And so, I braved the cold mean streets of Ohio and ventured out into the dark evening, only to find a lot of light and great music. I'll tell you more about my evening as the week goes by. How about you? What did you do for New Year's Eve?
Around this house, we are big fans of the Dave Matthews Band. As soon as I downloaded this image, I thought of The Dreaming Tree. Not familiar with the song? You are in luck, I uploaded it just for you.
A pretty picture for your eyes, a wonderful song for your ears, and great words for your mind… What more could you ask for?
I am a big fan of people. I really like them in all of their infinite variations. I like watching them and I love listening to their stories. If they have a talent that I envy, then I am even more impressed. What I don't like are crowds. I don't like the feeling of being pressed in by people.
When I saw this woman playing the fiddle at the Faire at New Boston, I noticed that she always closed her eyes while she was playing. Was that to escape the press of on lookers? Did she need to run from the crowds?
My first thought was that she was like me and by closing her eyes, she could pretend that the crowds were not there. However, the more I watched and listened, the more that I realized that she was caught up in her music.
More than just listening, she was experiencing the music in a very personal way that could not be shared with the rest of us. I imagine that she could feel the notes as they vibrated loose from the instrument and rose into the air. Hers was a private reverie. A oneness with the music, not an escape.
When I am editing a photo on my computer, I sometimes have a similar experience. I can become enmeshed in the image. If I am working on a landscape, I let my mind wander within the scenery. If the image is a portrait, I can sometimes lose myself in the person's eyes. To go even further, I can relish the brilliant colors in a photo, letting my eyes absorb them and process them. Tones, contrast, and saturation become like the individual notes in the fiddler's tune. Like the woman lost in her music, I can become lost in the beauty of an image.
tim mcmurdo 