Taken while i was waiting to catch an early morning flight from Houston Texas back to St Louis. It has a very big contrast between the light and dark tones.
Exposure: 0.1 sec (1/10)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Gate 21
Friday, August 08, 2008
New York gig marks end of the road for The Police
Truly the end of an era. I loved The Police back in the day and also Sting and saw him in concert several times in Houston. They did amazing things in the music industry and many bands copied their styles and sounds.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - British rock trio The
Police played their final concert together on Thursday and were joined
by the real police -- the New York City police band.
By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK (Reuters) - British rock trio
The Police played their final concert together on Thursday and were
joined by the real police -- the New York City police band.
Singer and bassist Sting, drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy
Summers reunited for a world tour last May and have since played 150
concerts for 3.7 million people, Sting told the crowd between songs at
Madison Square Garden.
"The real triumph of this tour is that we
haven't strangled each other," he said, adding: "That's not to say it
hasn't crossed my mind, or Stewart's, or Andy's."
There were
touches of the surreal in the final gig by the band that made its name
in the late 1970s and 1980s with such hits as "Walking on the Moon" and
"Every Breath You Take."
Sting took an unusual break after the
main set and before the first encore -- lying back in a barber's chair
backstage as two blond women shaved the salt-and-pepper beard that he
had been sporting, the most obvious sign of the passing years.
The beard had come in for some harsh criticism from fashion mavens in
recent days, though the former teacher was quoted by media this week as
saying, "The ladies love it."
His make-over was beamed to a
giant screen above the stage as fans cheered and chanted for more
music. He bounced back on stage fresh-faced and looking as lithe as
ever without his shirt to deliver crowd-pleasers "Roxanne" and "So
Lonely."
The band opened with the Cream song "Sunshine of Your
Love" and were then joined by around 20 drummers and musicians of the
police band for "Message in a Bottle."
They may be more used to
playing in a marching band, but the burly uniformed police officers
sang along and banged their drums with gusto as Sting strutted his
stuff in a police cap.
Later in the set, three young women who
looked like fans popped up on stage, joking around, dancing and taking
snapshots as the band played "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic."
"These are my daughters," Sting explained.
The band played all of its big hits, as well as a few cover songs,
ending the encore with "Every Breath You Take." The band came back for
a brief second encore before finally calling it a day with the song
"Next to You."
The concert marked the end of a tour that has grossed more than $350 million and was the biggest selling tour of 2007.
The Police fused punk with reggae grooves and intricate arrangements to
gain global popularity before splitting in 1984. Sting went on to a
hugely successful solo career, while Copeland and Summers have also
stayed in the business, recording and scoring music for the movie
industry.
(Editing by Vicki Allen)
Alton Illinois 1.21
Another photo taken using the kit lens for a wide angle showing the bridge and moon over it. You can see the light being projected from the top of the support piers. That is a very neat effect and it can be seen in several of the photos that i took in this set. This was taken from the Illinois side of the bridge. In the upper left you can see another jet flying in a line.
Exposure: 19 sec (19)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Alton Illinois 1.8
We are standing in Downtown Alton close to the water front. To the lest of my location is the Mississippi River and the Clark Bridge. I was set up at an intersection and i was using my 70-300mm for this photo. It was really neat as i was able to capture several directions of traffic trails at once. I love how the light bends when a car ot truck turns in a different directions. It is just amazing to me!!
Exposure: 30 sec (30)
Aperture: f/16
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Alton Illinois 1.10
"Sony 18-70mm"
This was a good photo of the bridge from the East side in the city of Alton. I was using the kit lens so i could get a wide angle shot of the center portion of the bridge. In the upper right corner you can see a jet flying. I love the crisp, bright feel that this photo has.
Exposure: 12 sec (12)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 20 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Alton Illinois 1.12
"Sony 18-70mm"
We were standing the a levee near the beginning of the bridge on the East side of the Clark Bridge. I was using the kit lens as i wanted to get a wide photo of the structure looking from East to West. It is a very interesting bridge in its construction and style. You can see the Moon over the top of the bridge with the light being projected from the top as well.
Exposure: 19 sec (19)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
Alton Illinois 1.13
"Sony 18-70mm"
I love the light that is being projected from the top of the bridge. There was so much light with several cars traveling West on the bridge that it got washed out but it creates an interesting effect no the less.
Exposure: 11 sec (11)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Thursday, August 07, 2008
26 cheerleaders get stuck ...
26 cheerleaders get stuck in elevator at UT's Jester Residence Hall
AUSTIN -- Forget Aggie jokes.
Cheerleaders attending camp at the University of Texas have provided
more than enough funny fodder for the state this summer.
Ever wondered how many cheerleaders can fit onto an elevator? We’ll give you a hint: Not 26.
But a group of peppy campers found this out the hard way at UT’s Jester Residence Hall.
Twenty-six cheerleaders packed into an elevator there, but it got stuck
and stayed that way for about 30 minutes.
Some of the girls passed out.
Others used their cell phones to call for help.
One girl was treated and released at a hospital and two others were
treated at the scene after the Tuesday night prank, officials said.
UT officials didn’t think the prank was all that funny.
“It’s dangerous, actually,” said UT police spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon.
“They’re lucky that that’s all that happened.”
Just a few
weeks ago, teens at another campus cheerleading camp had an entire
dormitory evacuated after they smelled an unidentifiable odor.
Hazmat crews descended on the scene and discovered the culprit: burnt popcorn.
But the benign source of the smell didn’t stop dozens of cheerleaders
from complaining of respiratory problems.
TSA to Allow Laptops in Approved Bags: Time
(WASHINGTON) — There's a new option for people annoyed at having to
take their laptops out of their bags at airport security. The
Transportation Security Administration will now allow travelers to
leave their computers inside "checkpoint friendly" cases.
The new rules, announced Tuesday and set to take effect Aug. 16, are intended to help streamline the X-ray inspection lines.
TSA said it reached out to bag manufacturers this year to design
laptop cases that would provide a clear, unobstructed image of the
computer as it passed through an X-ray machine. The agency said the new
bags will be available for purchase this month.
To qualify as "checkpoint friendly," a bag must have a designated
laptop-only section that unfolds to lie flat on the X-ray machine belt
and contains no metal snaps, zippers or buckles and no pockets.
Among the manufacturers selling TSA-approved laptop bags are Mobile Edge, Skooba Design and Targus Inc.
Mexicans in US illegally at more risk of AIDS: REUTERS
By Mica Rosenberg
MEXICO CITY, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Mexican men
living and working illegally in the United States are more likely to
sell their bodies for sex, take drugs or frequent prostitutes than they
would have been in their homeland, increasing their risk of AIDS
infection, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
And if they
are deported, they can take the virus back home with them, the
researchers told an international conference on AIDS in Mexico City.
"They are in a new environment, they are discriminated against, they
are living in harsh conditions, sometimes just in boxes covered in
plastic near the farms where they work," said George Lemp of the
California HIV/AIDS Research Program at the University of California,
who studied 458 Mexicans before and after they left their homeland.
"When people live that way, they engage in high-risk behavior," Lemp said in an interview.
About 11 million Mexicans live in the United States, more than half of
them undocumented, and a recent U.S. crackdown on illegal immigrants
and increase in deportations could make the danger of HIV infection
worse, conference delegates said.
The men in the study were
three times more likely to have sex with a prostitute in California
than they were before leaving Mexico, Lemp's research showed. They were
five times more likely to have sex while using drugs or drinking and 13
times more likely to have sex with another man.
The men were
more likely to use condoms in the United States, according to the
study. But their risk-taking behavior nonetheless increases the
possibility of infection, Lemp said.
In Mexico, 0.3 percent of the population is infected with HIV. In the United States, the infection rate is 0.6 percent.
Hispanics make up about 15 percent of the U.S. population. They account
for 18 percent of new AIDS diagnoses, according to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, but determining the infection rate
among illegal Mexican immigrants is difficult, as many do not seek
testing.
Steffanie Strathdee, a professor at the University of
California, San Diego, found that residents of the border city Tijuana
who injected drugs and had been deported from the United States were
four times as likely to be infected with the AIDS virus as drug users
who had not been deported.
New outbreaks of the virus are also being detected in small towns far from the border, researchers said.
Indigenous Zapotec migrants from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca
contracted HIV in the United States but were often too afraid of
deportation to seek medical care, a joint study by Mexico's health
ministry and the California HIV/AIDS Research Program found.
If
they return to their villages, they can infect their partners if they
do not know, or are unwilling to reveal, that they have the disease,
ministry researchers said.
MEXICO CITY, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Mexican men
living and working illegally in the United States are more likely to
sell their bodies for sex, take drugs or frequent prostitutes than they
would have been in their homeland, increasing their risk of AIDS
infection, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
And if they
are deported, they can take the virus back home with them, the
researchers told an international conference on AIDS in Mexico City.
"They are in a new environment, they are discriminated against, they
are living in harsh conditions, sometimes just in boxes covered in
plastic near the farms where they work," said George Lemp of the
California HIV/AIDS Research Program at the University of California,
who studied 458 Mexicans before and after they left their homeland.
"When people live that way, they engage in high-risk behavior," Lemp said in an interview.
About 11 million Mexicans live in the United States, more than half of
them undocumented, and a recent U.S. crackdown on illegal immigrants
and increase in deportations could make the danger of HIV infection
worse, conference delegates said.
The men in the study were
three times more likely to have sex with a prostitute in California
than they were before leaving Mexico, Lemp's research showed. They were
five times more likely to have sex while using drugs or drinking and 13
times more likely to have sex with another man.
The men were
more likely to use condoms in the United States, according to the
study. But their risk-taking behavior nonetheless increases the
possibility of infection, Lemp said.
In Mexico, 0.3 percent of the population is infected with HIV. In the United States, the infection rate is 0.6 percent.
Hispanics make up about 15 percent of the U.S. population. They account
for 18 percent of new AIDS diagnoses, according to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, but determining the infection rate
among illegal Mexican immigrants is difficult, as many do not seek
testing.
Steffanie Strathdee, a professor at the University of
California, San Diego, found that residents of the border city Tijuana
who injected drugs and had been deported from the United States were
four times as likely to be infected with the AIDS virus as drug users
who had not been deported.
New outbreaks of the virus are also being detected in small towns far from the border, researchers said.
Indigenous Zapotec migrants from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca
contracted HIV in the United States but were often too afraid of
deportation to seek medical care, a joint study by Mexico's health
ministry and the California HIV/AIDS Research Program found.
If
they return to their villages, they can infect their partners if they
do not know, or are unwilling to reveal, that they have the disease,
ministry researchers said.
Prison Unit
We were traveling through Huntsville Texas to get to Houston to visit a few more people before we were to travel back home. We stopped at the Texas Prison Museum and also I took a few photos of some of the TDCJ Units that are located along I45 South. This is one of them.
Exposure: 1/3200 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Death Becomes It 1.4
Up close and personal with the head...
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/25
Focal Length: 230 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Death Becomes It 1.3
Different view...
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/22
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Death Becomes It 1.2
So close you can nearly smell it!!!
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/22
Focal Length: 210 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Death Becomes It 1.1
I was on a golf cart with my brother going around the lake at our grandfather's house looking for something interesting to photo. We came across this gruesome animal and he said to get a few pics of it. I did and this is what i got. It is some kind of animal that has been picked nearly clean. There a total of 4 pictures in the "Death Becomes It" series. It was very hot and dry as you can tell but there was no bad smell from the skeleton which was very strange to me
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/22
Focal Length: 135 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Texas Prison Museum: Black/White
Texas Prison Museum
Exposure: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Monday, August 04, 2008
Me...
I took this while looking at a mirror in our bathroom. It is my "Self Portrait" if you will. I was cleaning my camera trying to get some dust out of the chamber and i had to take a "test" photo. This is how it turned out. I have the Quantaray 70-300mm lens on the cam which i shoot with most of the time.
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Mack: Preabsolutely
Thanks to Mac for letting me post this.
Preabsolutely
Perhaps the excessive use of the prefix "pre" began with advertisements by funeral homes: we were urged to preplan preneed for our predemise. But of course a plan by definition is a pre thing, and if you are planning your funeral that too is pre since you are not yet posed (or preposed) in the coffin under the scientifically-arranged (or prearranged) lights to make you look pretty. To say "pre-plan" is like saying "plan-plan." With the complementary use of "absolutely" as a universal four-syllable substitute for the perfectly utilitarian one-syllable "yes," the language took a divergent road in the yellow wood, and the way back is blocked by an avalanche of obscurantism.
To help make the works of our culture more accessible to moderns lost in that wood, I propose (or prepropose) the following re-makes (pre-makes?) of certain literary and cinematic icons of our time:
Casablanca:
Rick: "Last night we presaid a great many prethings. Absolutely. You presaid I was to predo the prethinking for both of us. Well, I've predone a lot of it since then, and it all preadds up to one prething: you're pregetting on that preplane with Victor where you prebelong. Absolutely."
Ilsa: "But, Richard, preno, I... I..."
Rick: "Now, you've got to prelisten to me! You have any preidea what you'd prehave to prelook preforward to if you prestayed here? Nine prechances out of ten, we'd both prewind up in a preconcentration camp. Isn't that pretrue, Louie?"
Captain Renault: "Absolutely."
Ilsa: "You're presaying this only to premake me prego."
Rick: "I'm presaying it because it's pretrue. Inside of us, we both preknow you prebelong with Victor. You're prepart of his prework, the thing that prekeeps him pregoing. If that plane preleaves the ground and you're not prewith him, you'll preregret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but presoon and for the prerest of your prelife. Absolutely
Ilsa: "But prewhat about us?"
Rick: "We'll always prehave Paris. We didn't have, we, we prelost it until you precame to Casablanca. We pregot it back last night. Absolutely."
Ilsa: "When I presaid I would never preleave you. Absolutely."
Rick: "And you never prewill. But I've got a prejob to do, too. Where I'm pregoing, you can't prefollow. What I've got to predo, you can't be any prepart of. Ilsa, I'm no pregood at prebeing prenoble, but it doesn't pretake much to presee that the problems of three little people don't preamount to a hill of beans in this precrazy world. Someday you'll preunderstand that. Now, now... Here's prelooking at you kid. Absolutely."
Gone With the Wind:
Scarlett: "Oh, Rhett, prewhere shall I prego? What shall I predo?"
Rhett: "Absolutely."
President Kennedy: "Ich prebin ein preBerliner. Absolutely."
John Wayne in True Grit: "Prefill your hand, you son-of-an-absolute!"
Ernest Hemingway: "There is prenothing to prewriting. All you do is presit down at a typewriter and prebleed. Absolutely."
Thomas More: "I predie the King's pregood servant, but God's prefirst. Absolutely."
Martin Luther King: "I prehave a predream. Absolutely."
President Roosevelt: "Yesterday, a date which will prelive in preinfamy, the United States of America was predeliberately and preabsolutely preattacked by naval and forces of the Empire of Japan…"
And now, let us close with a prayer:
"Our Father, who preart in Heaven, prehallowed be Thy Name. Absolutely. Thy prekingdom come, Thy will be predone, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Absolutely. Pregiveus this day our predaily prebread, and preforgive us our pretresspasses as we preforgive those who pretresspass against us. Absolutely. And prelead us not into temptation, but predeliver us from preevil. Absolutely."
-30-
"My attitude toward progress has passed from antagonism to boredom. I have long ceased to argue with people who prefer Thursday to Wednesday because it is Thursday."
-- G. K. Chesterton
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Leaf on the Water...
I was swimming in the water during last week's vacation in Texas on the lake. We went out at 10.30am and did not go in until 5.30pm. We got BURNT UP!! It used to be no big thing to stay out all day but we have not been on the lake during the summer for almost 3 years. I saw the leak floating and thought that it would be a neat photo. So i waded in the water to my wast with my camera in hand and and took several photos. I liked this the most. I love how the water shimmers in the sunlight and the leaf with its browns,reds and greens contrasts to the sandy water. I took the photo about 1.00pm in the afternoon so the sun was very strong.
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/9
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Sea Of Clouds 1.1
Taken from my seat on our flight from Houston To St Louis. Somewhere about the United States Over 20,000 Feet!
It was very hard to get this shot out the window as i was sitting in the outside seat on the isle. The lady by the window was kind enough to let me shoot through. I tried several in color but they did not turn out like this one did. I love the tall thunder heads peaking above the sea of flat clouds. They remind me of high mountains on a flat plane.
Exposure: 1/4000 sec
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 140 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Update...
I've Taken over 500 Photos this trip. i was able to get some really awesome shots of traffic on interstate 45 Looking South. i took many photos while traveling to see different family members. the camera has worked nicely and the new lens is amazing. it has been fun but i am Ready to be Home. I will have many photos to upload this week.
From RMStringer
From RMStringer
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Friday, August 01, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Native Hibiscus.
From RMStringer
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Ice Machine...
From RMStringer
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Quantaray 70-300 mm DI f4-5.6
This is my second lens for my Sony A200. I love it and for the price, it can't be beat!
# Lens Construction: 9-Groups 13-Elements
# Angle of View: 34° 21‘ - 8° 15‘
# Type of Zooming: Rotation
# Diaphragm Blade Number 9
# Minimum Aperture: f/32
# Minimum Focus Distance: 59in.(1.5m) in normal setting/ 37.4 in. (0.95m) in macro mode (f=180mm-300mm range)
# Macro Magnification Ratio: 1:2 (at f=300mm MFD 0.95m)
# Filter Diameter: ø62
# Weight: 435g (15.3oz)
# Diameter x Length: ø3.0 x 4.6in. (ø76.6 x 116.5 mm)
Quantaray''s lightweight, compact, high-image-quality telephoto zoom lens with macro capability of 1:2 that can be used with digital cameras. This new lens is a Di type lens using an optical system with improved multi-coating designed to function with digital SLR cameras
Four Mistakes That Killed the Record Indstry Before File Sharing
Broken RecordA musician's look at the changing music industry with Jeff Balke |
Posted by Jeff Balke at July 23, 2008 10:14 AM
Most everyone who follows the record industry knows that it is
slowly imploding and most don't care seeing as how its leaders have
basically ignored technology and tried to sue people to push their
profit margins back in line. But, the demise of the record industry
actually began long before technology gave it the final push over the
edge. It started in the 80's with the birth of the CD and the
swallowing of independent record labels by major corporations to the
point that now there are only four majors left.
In each critical moment, record labels had the opportunity to think
ahead and look beyond their immediate revenue streams. Like many large
corporations, they were unable to do so. As a result, they forgot that
music is about people and they continue to ignore that fact at their
own peril.
For myself, I believe the record industry - and this includes radio
- made four mistakes that preceded their ignorance of technology and
lawsuit happy antics of present day.
1. CD sales are not the same as record sales.
At first, this may seem like semantics, but my distinction is
between the actual compact disc - the physical item - and the concept
of a record - the music an artist records to put on a CD. When the CD
was invented, profit margins for what were once moderate sized labels
shot through the roof. If you had a back catalog of good music, you
were about to become a millionaire if you weren't already because
everyone was replacing their vinyl with CD's.
Record profits resulted and multi-national corporations took notice.
In much the same way "dot com" start ups managed to convince venture
capitalists to back questionable opportunities, independent labels
began to entertain offers to sell themselves to the highest bidder.
Corporations saw this as a long-term money making venture that would be
great for their portfolio and their shareholders.
What they failed to realize is that the CD gravy train would soon
come to an end as people finally replenished their collections and went
back to their normal buying routines. The years of off the chart sales
came to an abrupt end and corporations were stuck with bloated record
divisions and they had no clue what to do - the end result when you
replace creative minds seeking talent with bean counters seeking profit.
2. Longevity trumps the flavor of the week.
Because labels were feeling the pinch and because they were now
subject to corporate budget constraints, annual reports and
shareholders, they began to look for ways to cut costs. One of the
first places they looked was artist development and promotion. I
remember reading about how A&R departments were slashed to the bone
and promotions departments saw their budgets cut dramatically.
Labels, in a desperate need to justify their existences, cut off
their noses to spite their faces. Instead of trimming corporate expense
accounts and the bloated salaries of their higher ups, they decided to
rely on things like cross promotion, radio, television and other forms
of media to do the legwork their promoters had done previously.
Worse yet, they focused on one-hit wonders and bubblegum pop to push profits ignoring their own rich history and tradition.
It's expensive to develop an artist. It is common knowledge that for
every 12 artists signed to a label, 10 lose money, 1 breaks even and 1
makes enough to pay for the development of all the others put together.
It's a really risky business. But, the small independent labels didn't
care because they wanted to discover the next Bob Dylan or Bruce
Springsteen. They knew that one major success could make up for a
string of costly failures.
Unfortunately, that equation doesn't work in the corporate
environment. You have to justify your budget every year, every quarter.
If the only way to do that was to release lowest common denominator
music that would sell fast but fade just as quickly, you did it.
They even managed to forget how they got to this point in the first
place somehow missing that what are now termed "heritage" artists like
Springsteen, Tom Petty and others were what sustained them over the
long haul, not The Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. Those were bands
and musicians developed over years and they didn't come cheap, but they
made up for it in the long run.
For years, the way music got from artist to fan was the same. One
department (A&R) would discover and develop artists helping them
with everything from day-to-day expenses to making records. Another
department (Promotions) would take the finished product and promote it
using teams of college interns, radio promotions staff and others. They
would pass the actual product on to distributors who would send their
representatives to record stores to convince stores to buy records. The
promotions interns would put up displays in the store and hold
promotional events designed to help artist, distributor and record
store. The employees at the store would talk to their customers and
play the music in the store.
That system worked really well for a very long time. But, once
again, the big corporations saw an opportunity to cut costs by making
independent deals with big box retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Best
Buy. The result was the death of distribution companies and independent
music stores (as seen today with the legendary Morninglory Music going under after 38 years in business) and even chain music stores. This may have seemed like a smart financial decision, but they got it wrong again.
What the suits failed to realize was that the chain of people
working on selling music for them was key to making sales. Even now in
the age of blogs, people still listen to what others suggest when it
comes to buying music. Prior to the internet, those people included
DJ's (we'll get to them in a second) and record store employees. After
your friends, these were the people you trusted to know music.
Even worse, retailers like Target only put about 300 titles per year
on shelves out of 3000 or more possible releases, honing it down to
ONLY the most salable (according to them) artists and records. A good
record store could not only steer you towards a great alt rock record,
but also to a blues record that influenced that alt rock band you like
so much.
I'm not naive. I realize that with iTunes and other forms of
downloading, the days of the music store were rapidly coming to a
close, but the labels, instead of acting as partners with stores as
they always had, turned their backs on them prematurely before anyone
had ever heard of an MP3 or Napster. It not only cost thousands of
people their jobs, it placed limited stock on the shelves narrowing the
choices for people even further. Like cutting development, they were
forgetting that it takes more than just a pretty face and a catchy hook
to sell records and the more options you put out there for people, the
better your chances of developing artists who will sell for you for
more than just a few years.
4. Killing the DJ
I think there is real truth to the idea that video killed the radio
star, but the radio industry helped it along by killing off the primary
link between listeners and stations: the dj.
Much like the chain of distribution, there was a long history of
record label staffs sending music to radio stations where program
directors and DJ's would play what they thought their audience wanted
to hear. DJ's took chances and, as a result, broke artists for labels
and made them an awful lot of money. There was always corruption and
undue influence exerted on DJ's, but a large percentage were in it for
the music
When the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was signed into law, large
corporate radio empires like Clear Channel destroyed the listener-DJ
relationship by flooding markets with stations owned by a signle entity
with programming decisions made at a regional level, far removed from
the DJ and his/her show. DJ's were replaced with "on-air personalities"
more about selling ad revenue than "spinning hot wax" as they used to
say.
While the record industry may not have been directly involved, they
sat by and did nothing and even encouraged the centralization of power
because it made it cheaper for them to peddle music. They didn't have
to call or visit hundreds of DJ's anymore. Now, they just went to a
central nexus.
Just like destroying distribution removed variety from the shelves
of retailers, centralizing programming ended variety as we once knew it
on terrestrial radio. In the Steely Dan song "FM" they talk about how
FM stations in the 70's would play pretty much anything from reggae to
blues to rock and everything in between. It was all about the
relationship between DJ and listener, between people. Once that
relationship was destroyed and stations began playing the same narrow
play list, people began to abandon radio in droves.
---
Long before the record industry was, in their estimation, attacked
by downloaders and people believing music should be free, the record
industry itself compromised its own business through questionable
decisions, corruption and the corporatization of music. Art and
commerce always have and always will have a tenuous relationship. But,
when the pendulum swings so far to one side, it is no shock when it
eventually comes flying back the other direction. So, record execs, the
next time you look into a camera or into a room full of onlookers and
try to tell us that file sharing and video games killed your business,
don't waste your breath. Instead, take a look in the mirror and you'll
probably find the culprit.
In the news...
Elderly woman prohibited from photographing empty swimming pool "to prevent paedophilia"
An 82-year-old woman in Southampton, UK was told she couldn't take
photos of an empty wading pool because she might be a paedophile.
Because, you know, anything that children touch regularly becomes part
of their souls, and if a paedophile looks at those objects, it's just like sexually assaulting a child.
Makes me glad, as a father, to live here in the UK, where the
clear-eyed, sensible view of paedophilia is doing so much to ensure the
safety of my daughter from assaults by strangers (an occurrence that is
so rare as to be practically nonexistent) while doing practically nothing
to protect her from the people who are statistically most likely to
assault her -- her family, her friends' parents, her teachers, and
other people known to her, who account for the overwhelming majority of
assaults on children.
>
An amateur photographer was told she could not take snaps of an empty paddling pool because she might be a paedophile.
Betty Robinson was ordered to put away her camera by a council worker when she began snapping the outdoor pool.
'It's absolutely ridiculous – it's bureaucracy gone mad,' said the 82-year-old widow from Southampton.
She was with friend Brenda Bennett as she took pictures of the city's common – where the pool is situated.
My Gear List!
Here it is:
Sony a200,
Sony 18-70mm lens,
Quantaray AF LD 70-300mm Super Macro,
(1) 4gig CF Card Lexar Platinum 80x
(1) 2gig CF Card Lexar Platinum 80x
(1) 2gig CF Card SansDisk Ultra II 15mb/s
6 filters( 3 @55mm and 3 @ 62 UV, Polarize, Red for B/W photography)
(2) Batteries,
A Dynex TriPod,
A Dynex MonoPod,
Gorilla Pod,
Lowepro bag "Nova 2 AW"
Lowepro Neck strap "Transporter"
Opteka Timer Remote Control,
Opteka Wireless Radio Remote Release
Other:
Sony DSC-H1 5.1 Megapixel as second Camera
LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel CMOS Cell Phone
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Sony a200,
Sony 18-70mm lens,
Quantaray AF LD 70-300mm Super Macro,
(1) 4gig CF Card Lexar Platinum 80x
(1) 2gig CF Card Lexar Platinum 80x
(1) 2gig CF Card SansDisk Ultra II 15mb/s
6 filters( 3 @55mm and 3 @ 62 UV, Polarize, Red for B/W photography)
(2) Batteries,
A Dynex TriPod,
A Dynex MonoPod,
Gorilla Pod,
Lowepro bag "Nova 2 AW"
Lowepro Neck strap "Transporter"
Opteka Timer Remote Control,
Opteka Wireless Radio Remote Release
Other:
Sony DSC-H1 5.1 Megapixel as second Camera
LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel CMOS Cell Phone
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
DSC06646
I wanted to try to get them in Black and White to see if it turned out Ok. Let me know what you think. I think that this was a hard photo to take because of the cats were not really dark nor was most of the background.
Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Black and White on Black and White!
This turned out very well if i do say so myself! I love the contrast between the Zebra's and the ambient background. The St Louis Zoo is a really good zoo and i will make many more trips to it.
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 100
DSC06730
I took this photo in the Butterfly Dome at the St Louis Zoo yesterday. We went to it during spring break but there were not that many in it because of the cold weather. This time there were hundreds of them all over the place. I was able to get many neat and interesting photos this time. I am really glad that we went to the zoo yesterday as the weather was very nice and not really that hot.
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
St Louis Zoo Set.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmstringer/sets/72157606341576869/
RMStringer
++++++++++++++++++
My BLOG: BOB's Thoughts...
Link - http://renigade.blogspot.com/
My Camera: Sony DSLR a200
My Pictures: RMStringer
Link - www.flickr.com/rmstringer
DSC06474
I took this today at the St Louis Zoo. All the animals were out today unlike when we came out at spring Break. I love the on the Giraffe and want to have it blown up as a big print. I am really glad that i bought the Quantaray Lens and i am just amazed at how it worked today.
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 210 mm
ISO Speed: 100
St Louis Zoo
We went to the St Louis Zoo today and i took my a200 of course. I used my Quantaray LD 70-300 lens in a Landscape creative style and i took all the photos in 16:9 HD Aspect Ratio.
I took 469 photos of all the different areas in the Zoo. IF you ever are in St Louis, i strongly suggest going and visiting there. The great thing about the zoo is that all you pay for is the parking and it costs $10.
No fee is charged for entering the zoo and if you can find parking, your trip costs nothing. I had to park on the street and it was FREE!!!
RMStringer
++++++++++++++++++
My BLOG: BOB's Thoughts...
Link - http://renigade.blogspot.com/
My Camera: Sony DSLR a200
My Pictures: RMStringer
Link - www.flickr.com/rmstringer
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