Music

Since I was a wee lad music has been a part of my life. Although I have no musical talent and have been told that I am "rythemically challenged" . But I enjoy music.

One of my first memories is of my grandmother holding me as she danced to the battery powered radio before we had electricity in rural South Carolina. Hank would sing the blues and grandma and I would dance. She would tell me stories of how her brother-in-law played a tater bug mandolin. Late in the afternoon just before dark with the sweet smell of honeysuckle on the soft summer air you could hear the the tinkling sound of Uncle Gene's tater bug as he walked through the tall pines for a visit. And some where in the distance there would be the whistle of a freight train and you hear a pack of coon hounds strike the fresh trail of the old masked bandit.

Through the years I have heard many different kinds of music and much of it beautiful. But some how there is a certain charm and purity of the tunes of my childhood and Scots-Irish ancestry.

Aero delight

This is great. not only is it a unique aircraft but it is available at the right time. Of course current economic conditions may reek havoc with the introduction of a new and different type of aircraft. The FAA designation of a new type of aircraft classification, light sport aircraft, is a godsend to recreational flyers of limited means. Planes in this class must have just one engine, and maximum airspeed is 138 miles per hour. Flyers must stay below 10,000 feet, can only be flown during day light, in clear skies and away from busy airports. But that's still a lot of room to barnstorm. To fly these types of aircraft you need only 20 hours of instruction to get certified. For only $150K you can be up and flying. need I say, " Wow!"

Update

I have been ill. And during my illness i have had the opportunity to view many movies on DVD. Listed are the films and what for.

• A Scanner Darkly--for the video effect. And I liked Dick's story of Bladerunner
• Gods and Generals--I am of Southern blood
• Gettysburg--same as above
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World--I love period naval films and Russell Crowe is outstanding
• Das Boot--simply the best submarine film ever.
• Gladiator--I like Ridley Scott films
• Kingdom of Heaven--same as above
• Entrapment-- Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones
• Sentinel--a good story
• Phone Booth--a simple story, minimum number of actors, shot in seven days
• The Generals Daughter--Trevolta at his best
• The Last Samurai--Tom Cruise begins to act
• Highlander: Endgame--The last chapter of Christopher Lambert as the Highlander. I liked the TV series better.

And there were others and will be more before I am back to normal.

The Finishing Touches

Why not make your home grown DVD's look like the professionally produced videos. It's easy to do. If you are familiar with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements the project is simple. Here you see the cover I did for our Alaskan video. You can layout the entire cover in Photoshop or another image processing program and create the cover art from acratch or you could go to http://www.bmyers.com/public/1299.cfm?sd=60 and download the template. There is also an informative video to explain how to use the template. Basically, each element of the layout is on it's own layer. You simply replace the elements in the template with your own as illustrated below. Incidentally you may want to eliminate some of the elements. The layers with these elements are just left out of the final.

Remember that the background color can also be changed as well as other elements such as the green line. Once your familiarize yourself with the template it's relatively easy. You'll find it's easy to create professional results.

It's finished

Yes I finally finished this video. I seem to have more than my share of problems. Technically, that is. But it's probably my fault or at least I increase the probability by pushing everything. I want to see all the big screen stuff on my little screen. Like multiple images on the screen simultaniouly with several soundtracks. This shorty is almost right. I could have given more time to the preamble to the action either verbally or written. But I didn't. More editing of the scenes would have made things better, but , alas.... If you look at the pros and you see that thay may have 15 differend shots for a minute of action, the process becomes overwhelming. But it was fun to make.

Once upon a time in Texas

I was thumbing through this old sketchbook the other day when I found these pages referring to Billy Bob's Texas. The pqages brought back some memories of the largest honky tonk in the whole wide world. I'm thinking that a honky-tonk is a country-western bar. Billy Bob's fills the deal there in spades. It is the only honky tonk that has it's own rodeo and capacity for over 6000 guests. The place was once a holding pen for cattle when Fort Worth was a big stockyard town. Cattle would be gathered from all over Texas in Ft. Worth before being shipped north to the slaughter houses. The place doesn't smell like cattle but the floor does have a slope to it so it could be easily washed out. One thing that will catch your eye is a crystal sadle hanging over one of the many dance floors.

You'll see in the picture above that I do more than sketch in my sketchbooks. There's a Lone Star beer label obviously peeled from an ice cold long-neck while I was watching some Japanese cowgirls line dance. People from all over the world visit Billy Bob's and there is always live entertainment. You can learn your line dancing too. Instructors are always on hand. The great country music entertainers such as George Jones, Wilie Nelson and George Strait perform there. So, if you're ever in the Fort Worth, TX area, drop by Billy Bob's. I'm not sure that everybody knows your name. But as Mickey Gilley would say,"The girls always look better at closing time!"

If you want to know more about Billy Bob's here are some links:

• http://billybobstexas.com/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bob
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bob

The Whatzit!

Once upon a time I was into designing web pages. Before I was aware of style sheets or any of the wild and crazy things that are now done at the norm. I wanted to design a web page for Claudette and Tony's website. From my sketchbook I found some drawings of old portable electronic equipment. So, I decided that the website would have this sort of look. It would be distressed yet high tech. This was created without the benefit of Photoshop and only a very rudimentary image editing was used.
The features are as follows:
From the top left, clockwise.

• "The Year in Pictures" is a slide show with the control underneath
• "Buddy Sings" is a video, a Windows mediaplayer is embedded
• The anime is just a pin-up image
• The "Panic" button causes the entire image to vibrate when clicked
• "X" marks the spot - - mouse-over links to games
• "Music" links to music as listed -- songs will play sequential

It was upgraded at Christmas for a vocal Christmas message. Creating this was a lot of fun and I would like to build another with more realistic appearance and RSS feeds.

No Title

I've always been a fan of comics. The stories and of course the art. From time to time an idle moment with my sketchbook will present some sort of strip. This has a very simplistic layout but the rendering and story isn't bad. But I am no Frank Miller!

From Your Book to Your Back

Once, when I was in the management game long, long ago i was reading about the poor state of quality in American products. One of those mentioned was Harley Davidson Motorcycles. The quality of Harleys have improved since the days when new models would drip on the dealer showroom floor. Upon reading this I began to realize an image in my mind. But what if the fluid leaking from the motor was blood instead of oil.

How could this be? If the engine was biological then a puddle of blood under the crankcase would not be unrealistic. What organ to better represent something living that the heart. It would also represent the very soul of the machine. With a few colored pencils I made a quick sketch. Many years later when I was introduced to image editing computer programs I created the same effect by photo editing. I felt that the term "Thumper" properly identified the motorcycle. Why not use it as and advertisement for a particular motorcycle brand. Hence, Thumper Motorcycles were born. What better method to advertise such machines than with tee shirt.

The tee shirt is available for sale at this link http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/item/white-tshirt/276028712 Remember: "Thumper Motorcycles Have Heart"

Sketching

Of all the creative things I do, sketching remains my favorite. It is second nature to me. I've kept sketch books for many years. They are like an illustrated journal of my life.

They act as a visual information repository through the years. But sometimes I'm not just recording what is around me, I also record what is going on within my mind.

A sketch book makes it possible to think visually. Frequently, when I view some mechanical device, I discover the operation by drawing the various components and discovering how the parts are related thereby revealing the operation of the mechanical device.

And of course it allows you the opportunity design paintings and work out the problems before attacking the blank canvas.

Unwinding

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Perhaps the copy has nothing to do with the video, but then maybe it does. Since I found out that my oldest son is destined for Iraq, I've been giving a little thought about what it means to be an American. Well, regardless, it's still the greatest country on earth. But, you know, sometimes I think that he folks in and around the wedding cake building have lost touch with reality. Look at some of the current goings on. Businesses are now being rewarded for being bad businesses. Billions of dollars are earmarked for failing banking institutions and those banks use the money to buy more banks. Let's not forget the infamous junkets of the top executives. I'm amazed at the lengths people will go to achieve sub-human status. And auto execs flying to Washington for a hand-out in their multi-million-dollar executive jets. I tell you, the folks working at McDonald's and Joe's Tire Shop are getting ticked off about this. This country was built by men with dirt under their fingernails and women that sweat. The average wage-earner is being crapped on by the government. How about those auto workers making $73 per hour. Now Detroit is trying to hide behind the fact that federal regulation is causing them to be less profitable. Not so! They pay their help too much. For those of you that remember, the auto industry used to say that cheap labor from overseas made the Japanese cars more popular. That was partly true, BUT the big reason was that the imports were better made. Better quality. The American auto business would never have lost their competitive edge if they had offered the buying public less expensive quality product. I don't think that the American auto industry is dead. It's probably not that easy to fix, but if they cut out half the management and cut wages by 50%, that would be a start to a recovery. Let bad businesses fail!. If people buy something they can't afford to pay for, let them lose it. The economy can fix it's self. The government is not the organization to repair business. It's still the greatest place in the world to live.

Sometimes you gotta rant!

TW3

That was, the week, that was. I used this title for this post. Actually, it was the title of a television show of many years ago. A show of political satire I believe. It was cancelled. Political satirist don't seem to last very long on commercial television. It was an interesting week.

1. I caught a sever cold
2. my big screen TV crashed
3. a volunteer project became a nightmare
4. my oldest son has military orders to Iraq
5. my ex-wife wants to be my friend on facebook!

Nuff said.

TW3

The Oil Change

Let me tell you how all this happened.
Well, you see, my wife come in and said that she had just had the oil changed on her Toyota for only $21. Said she paid $20 for the oil change and $1 for a cup of coffee. 'Course I could tell that I had not changed her oil on her schedule by the way she said it. She prob'ly went by the owner's manual, so she done it herself.

I said, " I change my own oil so I'll know it's done right!" and I added, "I think I'll change mine now." Knowing all the time the old F-100 had about 16000 miles since the last oil change.

I left the house and me and Duke, he's my dog, went down to Auto Zone to get a case of oil. I stopped by Joe's Party Shop on the way back to get a case of beer. It was a hot July day and I didn't want to get dehydrated.

We got back to the house about a quarter to ten and I pulled the tab on my first beer and started to work. Duke started on a nap and before long I could tell he was dreaming 'bout chasin' rabbits. I found WCKY on the radio and Tanya Tucker was singing "When I die I may not go to heaven..." and I got the truck positioned over the ditch where I usually change the oil. Finally, I found that old dishpan I used to catch the oil in. For the looks of it she had been using it to carry dirt to plant flowers. I pulled another tab and started to work. for some reason I couldn't find the right wrench to pull out the oil pan plug and wound up using an adjustable. I hate to use 'em. Well the wrench slipped of the nut and I skinned a knuckle and uttered a few choice words that I didn't learn in Sunday school. Naturally the plug fell in the pan and splashed hot oil on me. I uttered a few more choice words, climbed out from under the car, and grabbed a tee shirt from outa the truck to wipe off the hot oil. Then I noticed that it was my Rusty Wallace Blue Duece tee shirt. It was the one autographed by Rusty hisself at the last Southern 500 me and Mudcat Larson went to. I figured that a cold beer was just what I needed to cool off a bit, so I pulled a tab. When I started to pour the oil in I realized that I hadn't changed the oil filter. I looked all over that carport for that oil filter wrench and finally used the old tried and true method:drove a screwdriver through it and twisted it off. Got the new one on okay. Had another beer. As I was pouring in the first quart of oil I noticed a sound like a liquid being poured into a bucket or something. Then I realized that I hadn't replaced the drain plug in the oil pan. I banged my head on the hood and scrambled to pull the pan out from under the car. I got the plug out of the pan and managed to get it installed again by using the adjustable wrench. I had really worked up a sweat by now and needed a cold beer r

eally bad. So I grabbed me one and pulled the tab top but I had so much oil on by hands that the can slipped right through my hand and spilled on the ground. Now I'm not a tender hearted guy, but when I see a perfectly good cold beer spilled out on the ground. It almost brought tears to my eyes. I opened another one, sucked it down and finished the oil change. After closing the hood I thought I'd just finish off the last beer before going down to Auto Zone to get another quart of oil to replace the one that I had lost by not having the oil pan drain plug in. I threw all the empty beer cans in the back of the truck 'cause Darlene would give me what for for litterin' up the front yard of the double-wide. So I cranked up the old F-100 and Duke jumped in beside me for the ride to Auto Zone. The old truck sounded real good with those duel exhausts and they was playing Skynard on the radio. Life was getting better!

Jus' when I was pulling out into 176 the blue light flashed and the siren howled. I muttered something not very nice to myself and drove the truck over to the side of the road, Duke was still nappin'. And who should appear in my rear view mirror but Dickie Johnson. Dickie is the local law around here. Dickie never cared too much for me since I bloodied his nose on the playground in the fourth grade. And then, ole Duke became the proud poppa of his dawg Lucy's litter of pups. He sauntered up beside the truck swinging his billy club in his hand.
"Well, well, what we got here? I believe it's Bubba Thrailkill!" he said through his grin. There's a name for the kind of grin he had but I ain't gonna use it here. Mama might read dis.
"Hey, Dickie." I says, "Long time, no see."
"Been doin' a little drankin' have you?"
"Not me! Nosiree!"
"Well, sir, I just believe you have. Look at all them beer cans in that truck bed." he said, still a grinnin'.
" I think you better take a little ride with me, Mister Bubba Thrailkill . And I believe we got us a DUI!"
So Duke and me was put in the back seat of the police car.
I says, "Dickie, they ain't got no door handles back here in this car!"
"They don't want you jumpin' out."
"But what if there's and accident."
"I'm a safe driver, don' concern yo'self"
"I think you violatin' my rights!"
Dickie started to get kinda mean and ugly when I said that and I remembered somthin' my daddy told me onct. He said that man with the star was always right even when he was wrong.

Well ole Dickie hauled me and ole duke down to the cop house. He put me in a cell while I was complaning about leaving my truck by the side of the road. He said he'd take care of and that kinda bothered me. But I decided that I would be good 'cause I was at what you might call a disadvantage. I noticed that there was a new toilet in the cell and Dickie tolt me that I could go home if I just paid a fine but I would still have to go to court in a coupla weeks. I said, "Okay, I'll use my one phone call to call Darlene"

"Sweetheart, you ain't gonna believe what happened!" I says on the phone. And then I tolt her.
"I'll come get you out, but I'm not gonna use my money. Where's your check book at?", there was a hint of irritation in her voice. I wished I coulda seen her. She looked real good when she got her dander up like that!
She came and got me out and pretty soon we were on the way to get the truck out of the impound yard. Yeah, that costed me too. Just one last stop and then we could go home. I had to get Duke. Down at the humane society I found ole Duke. These women were takin' care of him. I really don't understand those women at animal shelters. They say it's not right to pull out a tomcat's claws so he can't tear up your furniture, but think it's a good thing to have him castrated. I wonder what the ole tomcat would think about that?

Well I finally got home and went into the kitchen, got me a glass of cold iced tea and sat down at the kitchen table. Darlen comes in and leaning on the doorway asks, "How much did that oil change cost you? Mine was only $21 and that included a cup of coffee."

I looked at my check book and started to figure. She took it out of my hand saying that she wanted an accurate figure and said it costed something like this:

• $25.00 oil and filter
• $2500.00 DUI fine
• $100.00 impound fee-truck
• $75.00 impound fee-Duke

Total $2700.oo

I know it costed a lot to change my oil but at least I KNOW IT WAS DONE RIGHT!

Veterans Day

There was the thunder of drums as the color guard moved
forward. We were at the Lightsey Chapel at Charleston Southern University. It
was a Veterans Day musical celebration. Images of that symbol of America, the
eagle, were flashed on the overhead as the band played The Star Spangled
Banner. It brought a tear to the eye of true Americans. Throughout the
performances of patriotic music I thought of those men honored on this day. Oh,
sure, there were the generals and admirals honored for great accomplishments,
but what about the rest of us? Not career soldiers but regular guys who heard
the call to go to the aid of their country? Men that were mechanics,
carpenters, farmers, and laborers. The measure of the true backbone of our
defenses, indeed the measure of American manhood. And some, some would make the
supreme sacrifice. I have always been proud of my own military heritage. My
ancestors have never been admirals or generals, but soldiers and sailors. They served during the American
Revolution, Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean War and Viet Nam. I have a son who
continues to serve in the US Navy. All returned but one. The video is homage to
Uncle John.

Twisted

I've just watched Twisted. This movie stars Ashley Judd, Andy Garciam and Samual L. Jackson. It's a cop drama, a so-called film noir. But there is very little darkness and no one has a trench coat and there is no voice over. It is still a good flic. Just enough sex and violence to make things interesting. Judd plays a newly promoted police inspector and Garcia is her partner. Jackson is her mentor. Everything is cool until men she has slept with - almost every male in San Francisco - begin getting killed. Therein lies the mystery. The acting is great and the views of San Francisco bring back memories. I think maybe I saw Waldo, one of my favorite sea lions, at Pier 49!

The worlds fastest car

The SSC Aero is one bad automobile. It has a top speed of 256 mph right out of the box. This is not some fancy exotic eurotrash, it's made in the good old USA. It's not powered by a 12 cylinder engine or boxer style engine or a W-16 but a good old American V-8. No ABS, traction control or automatic transmission on this hot rod. It's a drivers car with a six-speed manual transmission and will smoke the tires at any time. There is one downside to though. The gas tank will only hold 32 gallons. At top speed you can only go about 30 miles between fill-ups. The Aero burns four gallons per minute. But you can go in a hurry. See the Jay Leno video at: http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/jay_leno_garage/4289707.html?page=2

Tinker time too

I have just loaded my first
View Larger Map Google map into my blog. This will be very helpful when describing our vacation trips in the future. Also I should be able to do overlays of the properties in the family and it would be an addition to my S.O. Young Video if i can transfer these images to video. But I've done that already in the video of plantation video.

Planet Terror

I've just watched the Robert Rodriguez movie, Planet Terror. This movie was made to look like the pulp pictures of the 50's and 60's. It has all the scratches and distressed marks of a film damaged by having been shown hundreds of times. Rodriguez carries the trend further with the plot and story line. A green gas escaped form the army rendering locals as zombies. But have no fear there is a one legged go-go dancer with a machine gun prosthesis as heroine. There is a lot of blood and guts and gore for everyone. Bruce Willis makes an appearance as a bad guy. It is a fun flick,( if you like your fun bloody) on the level with Sin City, but is not for the squeamish.

Eagle Eye

We went to see Eagle Eye this afternoon. it was like a private showing we were the only people watching screen 13 at the local multiplex. The movie was good but not without some room for improvement. This sci-fi flick was about humans controlled by a massive computer. interestingly enough we had watched the conclusion of The Last Enemy on PBS last evening.

Eagle Eye has plenty of action although I felt that some of the crashes of vehicles became somewhat gratuitous. The paceing of the film could have been better along with character development. The female lead was practically characterless. I felt that he super computer had been pirated from a "60's James Bond movie. Eagle Eye keeps your interest but except for crashes it would have been a good flick to sleep by. Oh, yes, I thought the drone flying through the tunnel was a bit much.

Tinker Time

Hey, hey, hey! It's time to tinker again. Today I got my webcam to operate and my scanner also. So...I'm a happy camper. But I have always been a happy camper because I like camping. Even happy in a tent beside the Rogue River in a tent. The Rogue was one of the first US rivers to where boats with jet drives became popular. How's that for an aside? It's been kind of a bummer of a day. I think it was due to the time change. Sometimes the human body does not adapt to mandated changes of government. Government represents the biggest waste of human energy on the planet. I have been reading a book on Google Hacks that is interesting.

Whatever?

Wow! I think this is really neat. More than the art itself. It shows the thinking process of creation. He tells how the sculptures are conceived and then the creating thereof. Although I am not overly fond of the sculptures I find the presentation fastinating. Another thing which makes this very interesting is that he invents the processes for manufacturing his kinetic works.

1. Idea
2. Inventing the tools to create the physical manifestation of the idea.
3. Manufacturing the sculpture.

From the TED website:
A modern-day creator of "twittering machines," Arthur Ganson uses simple, plain materials to build witty mechanical art. But the wit is not simply about Rube Goldberg-ian chain-reaction gags (though you'll find a few of those). His work examines the quiet drama of physical motion, whether driven by a motor or by the actions of the viewer. Notions of balance, of rising and falling, of action and reaction and consequence, play themselves out in wire and steel and plastic.
Ganson has been an artist-in-residence at MIT (where the Lemelson-MIT Award Program named him an Inventor of the Week, and where his show "Gestural Engineering" is ongoing) and has shown his work at art and science museums around the world -- including a current, held-over show at the phaeno in Wolfsburg, Germany.

New look

I am rebuilding my "TYoung Artist" website. I'm using photoshop a lot to work on the images. The above is the beta version.

fine'

I have finally finished the book of our Alaskan vacation. I did it using Blurb software and of course they will print it. The process is really simple. Pick a template and add your text and photos. I don't really like using templates although they present a fool proof layout. Blurb does not allow you to use your own layout. However, you can overcome this by doing your layout on Photoshop and uploading your page as a single photo. I processed all my photos with Photoshop. I'm just learning to use the software so it took me quite a bit of time. Previously I had used Photo Delux but found I needed the additional features of Photoshop. Claudette did the writing. Actually it was her daily journal of our travels. In about a week and half we'll see the results.

Today

Video.
AKA slideshow. 
I did strip the sound from some video taken on site.
Just the latest

Thoughts

Occasionally I like to do some thing that promotes thought or piques ones curiosity. the video at the left is such. What is the train and what does it represent? It's rather dark . Does evil lurk close by? What of the cryptic command: "Watch this man!". Which man was it and why watch him? We never know because the film burns to an end. Maybe, it's just a flashback to a Ludlum novel?

Camping

There is something about camping in the great outdoors. Perhaps the clean mountain air or just the lack of noise. Devil's Fork State Park in Oconee county, South Carolina, is a great place to find both. We camped there for three days in October. Fishing luck eluded us but there's always next time. When looking at Lake Jocassee one is reminded of the legend that on occasion the lake will suddenly become violent with wind and whitecaps even on a sunny day. It is caused, they say, by the spirits of the Cherokees buried beneath the waters in their ancient cemetery.

Sat. A.M.

Yesterday I was a art show "sitter". It was for me to sit with the display of art at First Federal Peoples Choice Art Show in beautiful downtown Charleston. I'm not sure what my purpose was. I think for Charleston Artist Guild PR. It amazes me why one of the major requirements for show judges is not to have a sense of sight. Why would one choose a blind judge for a visual display? There were some good paintings. Marginal greatness was hinted at in some. It seems that is this area shows should have the title of "101 ways to paint a marsh " or perhaps "101 ways to paint an egret"! All the marshes and egrets are great subjects. BUT, there are thousands of other subjects. Why must there be so much realism? Cannot the boundaries be stretched? While sitting I did the above sketch---maybe it'll be in the next show. It's not an egret!

Fuel economy

In these times much has been said about fuel economy in our automobiles. The performance segment of this gearhead society is usually at odds with the eco-sensitive crowd, However, our friends at "Top Gear", the British television show have an interesting take on this subject of fuel economy. They stage a contest between a Toyota Prious and a BMW M3. Note the results in this video. (all Top Gear videos are available on YouTube)

Time to xperiment

Time to try something new again. So I'm embedding a YouTube video.But since I did not like the video, I've minimunized the images but I do like the song. Perhaps I will add my own images. This song was once a staple on the "Beach, Boogie, and Blues" radio station here in South Carolina. I think the station went hip-hop or something.

AK-1

Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye.Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye. Na, na, na, na...na, na, na, na...Hey, hey, hey...Good-bye./

Floatplane--Supercub

I videographed this airplane at Lake Hood Alaska, the most active floatplane base in the world. The supercub is the most common bush plane in Alaska. The following is from Wikipedia.
While based on the design of the earlier Cubs, the addition of an electrical system, flaps, and a vastly more powerful engine, make it a very different flying experience. Although the "standard" Super Cub was fitted with a 150 hp (112 kW) Lycoming engine, it was not uncommon to see them equipped with a 180 hp (134 kW) powerplant. The high-lift wing and powerful engine made the Super Cub a prime candidate for conversion to either floatplane or skiplane. In addition, the PA-18A (an agricultural version) was produced for applying either dry chemical or liquid spray.
The Super Cub retained the basic "rag and tube" (fabric stretched over a steel tube frame) structure of the earlier J-3 Cub.
PA-18 Super Cub 150 (G-HACK) at the Great Vintage Fly-In Weekend, Kemble, England, in May 2003
The first true "Super" Cubs had flaps, dual fuel tanks, and an O-235 Lycoming engine producing about 108 hp (115 hp for takeoff only). However, a 95 hp Continental without flaps and an optional second wing tank was available. Their empty weight was, on the average, 800-1000 lbs with a gross weight of 1500 lbs. These Cubs would take off in about 400 feet (at gross weight) and land in about 300 feet (thanks to the flaps). The Super cub is renowned for its ability to take off and land in very short distances. With a light wing loading some can take off in 50 feet and land in 30. The O-290 Lycoming powered Cubs (135 hp) followed and would take off in about 200 feet. The landing distance remained the same at about 400 feet, or 300 feet using flaps. With the use of the Lycoming O-320 at 150-160 hp, the Cub's allowable gross weight increased to around 1700 lbs while retaining the capability of a mere 200 feet for takeoff.

This and that....

I'm still recouping from the Alaska trip. And that is good. Just a bit of readaption to the time zone if nothing else. There is much of the "earthiness" I like. They tell it just the way it is. There is a fiercely independent spirit there. Locally I've been working to add some order to my collection of video and still pix from the AK trip. But, alas, I must create a piece of art (a monoprint) for a show in Charleston. I have cut back on painting and am pursuing other creative endeavors. Video can be a time sink. Maybe I will use the AK photos as a book rather than a DVD.

Back home

The trip home took a while. But it was worth it. our trip had take 14 days and a combination of all modes of transportation except train. The primary reason for the trip had been to visit my son, David, in Homer Alaska. it is said that the farthermost west you can co on a US highway is Homer. We flew to Seattle and then to Anchorage. We rented a car in there and began discovery of the biggest state by car. We traveled south of Anchorage stopping along the way to see the sites. The highway followed the shoreline of Cook's Inlet. The rain drizzled which was became an everyday occurrence. We visited David and Aimee in Homer and the quaint little town of Talkeetna. The TV series Northern Exposure was based on this little town. we visited the Point Lodge on Lake Louise, AK. Claudette's brother had build the lodge back in the 80's. We did some paddling there and enjoyed our stay. We met the cruise ship Spirit in Whittier. it was my first time on a cruise ship. The ship stopped in Sitka, Juneau, Skagway, and Katchecan. In Katchecan we took a boat tour into the Mystic Fjords. We transferred to a floatplane for the trip out of the fjords. We had a great time.

xperimental

I have long been a fan of space exploration. So I just had to have a clip of some NASA ships and tests. Also it is an experiment with embeding.

On the Road Again

Currently we are in NJ. Recently we stopped in Bethesda, MD to visit with Sera. It was good to see hear. She came to our hotel which was adjacent to the Metro station which was very convenient for her. She visited for about two hours with us. we had dinner at the hotel.

We are visiting Mark et al . Friday afternoon we went kayaking on the Raritan River. Mark has kayaks ad we loaded them on his car for the 15 minute drive to the river. It was a good paddle with Mark and Nathan in the singles and Claudette and me in the double. The temp was about eighty and most of the river is shaded.
Saturday we went to Philadelphia and sow all the historical stuff. Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell were impressive. The multimedia presentation at Constitution hall was great.
Along with the many interactive exhibits. Of course we had to have a cheese steak sandwich. "Sandwiches on South" was the name of the restaurant. And it was good. Philly was impressive.

Playazul

After several days of construction projects in Batey #7 near Barahona, Deminican Republic, it was good to have a chance to unwind at Playazul. It was a stretch form building privvies.

mission trip

The video says it all.

deserted

Today's photograph is of the New Mexican desert. I don't know why I like the desert but I do. Perhaps it's the big sky and never ending sunshine. Or, perhaps , the stillness and quiet. I like to paint pictures of the desert and almost all of my new mono-prints are of the desert. It has irregular forms and almost monochromatic, simple and complicated. Rough and delicate. I like to recreate these feelings in my work.

Saturday

2day was good. The image is a collaboration of a long time. Almost 20 years ago I did a sketch of a motorcycle with a human heart in place of the regular motorcycle engine. I had been reading a magazine article about the poor quality of Harley Davidson motorcycles. The article described how a brand new Harley on the showroom floor would be leaking oil. Oil is the lifeblood of an engine. What if the puddle under the motorcycle was blood? But mechanical things don't leak puddles of blood. Then the engine must be biological. What typifies that more than the human heart. From the marker sketch came the idea, but it was years later before I found that Internet images and image processing programs allowed me to create the above image. The animation is just a bit of fun.

On another note, I rebuild the T Young Artwerks website. See it at www.tyoungartist.com This image is now on a T-shirt at http://www.cafepress.com/1391647.276028712

Memorial Day

Memorial day has just passed, a time to remember those who paid the supreme price. This video is homage to my uncle, John Henry Young. He was my fathers oldest brother. He had two brothers in WWI but only one returned.

Sunday afternoon

Just some sketches from my sketchbook. virtually everything I do creatively begins in the sketch book. I also use to experiment with different techniques. It is also my constant companion when traveling. But not quite as constant as my main squeeze! It is predominantly black and white and most of it is in black ballpoint pen, usually those freebies you pick up at motels. Recently I have started using pencil, since i have found hairspray (I use it as a fixative) in a small travel aerosol. The color work is either in watercolor or water soluble markers.

Some of the stuff is just absent-minded dreaming with a pen in my hand. The center page is a preliminary sketch done plein aire for a painting. The sketch is a year-old and I haven't been able to do a big piece that has the spontaneity the the color sketch has. The page on the lower left is exploring a cactus form. I was stylizing the simple form and abstracting it. And now off tho the sketch book? Where is my MOTEL6 pen? Is the light on for me?

2DAY

It has been a while since I posted. Sometimes the electro-mechanical devices don't work exactly right.

One good thing about low tech is that there are few problems. The expression of visual creativity can be extremely low tech. For example, this new piece was made of newspaper pen, pencil and glue stick. I was watching television when the creative urge hit me. I grabbed the old sketch book (9 x 12) and some newspaper. I wanted to create a design with a variety of textures. I also wanted to have a three dimensional element. The work was created intuitively, no sketches were involved. I used cut and torn pieces to get the variety in edges and the overlapped pieces give a sense of depth. The line work adds a bit detail of primitive symbology. Am I "saying" something with this piece? Maybe... television is boring?

just stuff

There is always something good about posting an original image. Something that only existed in the neatherlands of your mind. The above seems organic to me: growing, expanding, morphing. The act of creating is itself sometimes intoxicating but different from Two Buck Chuck. As you become a part of the process not unlike ink and paper or binary code or spray of the transparents something happens. Almost euphoric.

I continue to explore the craft of creating the mono print via conventional and contemporary ways.

Greed vs. Humanity

I haven't posted for a while due to some technical problems. I've been enjoying watching the political scene. The whole thing is such a facade. I have come to believe that greed is the common element in all socio-political endeavors today. Politicians say the things that will get them elected. Once they are elected they vote and create the legislation that their financial supporters desire. Greed is responsible for many of our woes. Our automobiles get poor gas mileage so that the oil companies and automakers can make more money. We are poisoned by over-processed foods that have been genetically altered to produce higher yields and therefore more profits for the giant food conglomerates. Our children are becoming the "obese generation" as consumers of the fast foods as taunted by Madison Avenue. All in the name of profits.

intelligent design and other things

This drawing of the cat has nothing to do with intelligent design. Or does it? Anyway, I'm probably thinking of doing a series of cats doing different stuff. It just seemed like a cat would like to go skin diving. They do like fish, don't they?

I had a most unfortunate experience recently. I failed a guinea pig! Or, perhaps a guinea person. But that doesn't sound really correct either. Perhaps, test subject, is the proper term. That does sound very clinical. It was very clean there and the people had on white lab coats. I have experienced many failures in my life starting with being rejected by Nora Jean Thompson in the third grade. I thought I could out grow it, but, alas, over 50 years of effort have been to no avail. And now in my 63rd year I am rejected as a test subject! What's a guy gonna do? The advertisement in the Post and Courier made it sound so easy. At first they said that I was overweight. And they that too many of the hair follicles on my head were dead. Then there was the possible reaction with my drugs. It's very hard for a man to earn a quick hundred fifty bucks.

Back to intelligent design. I pick intelligent design over Darwinsm any day.

!@#$%

I continue to work on the monoprint technique. There are so many variables involved. I think that one of the reasons that I like it is because of it being a tactile method of creating images. The physical act of tearing the paper to create the masks is much more "touchy-feelie" than watercolour. Watercolour has no tactile feature. I also like to maneuver the ink with my fingers of other tools. The paper, as in watercolour is, has a major effect of the image creation process. In the above image the ink was printed on a very non-porous surface and consequently would not dry quickly. This inability to dry quickly gave me the opportunity to manipulate the ink to create soft edges and other textures. I think that I'm just on the tip of the iceberg now. More to comes.

and then some...

I have finished reading Fast Food Nation. It was recommended by David. It explores the effect of fast food restaurants have had on American culture. The most frightening writing concerns the lack of concern major corporations have for food safety. Before reading this book I had a completely different opinion of the US economy and the relationship between business, government and the consumer. I have always been of the impression that less regulation was the best regulation. This opinion was based my experience in corporate America. My experience was in a management capacity. Perhaps the root of my misconception was the belief that man is basically good. Apparently ethics are only applicable when there is no profit motive involved. The book documented instances when tainted meat was sold as hamburgers and people actually died from them. But the meat suppliers did not immediately pull the meat of the product without coercion. I assure you that if you read this book, you will never look at a hamburger the same again. And you may become a vegetarian.

Holy Week Pix

Whiskey Falls

A friend of has a nephew in this band. I ripped the clip from TV and edited a bit.

!@#$%^&

This is what I have been doing today. The small painting is a study for the demonstration painting I will be doing tomorrow night at the Folly Beach Arts & Crafts Guild. It is only a 9 x 12 but the demo will be larger.

While doing thepainting I will explain some of the rules of composition, value, color harmony, as well a watercolor painting technique. The video is a part of a DVD I'm making about my artwork. This segment is about my watercolor paintings.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Sometimes I get back to painting for a creative release. Especially when I'm asked to do a painting demonstration at a local art guild. For my subject mater I naturally chose the southwest. There is something about the landscape representing huge geometric shapes that I like. Watercolor is the medium of choice here. It is the most magic of mediums. I seems to have it's own mind and never ceases to surprise.
This center piece is of course computer generated. I was to be part of a video short. Unfortunately the copy did not show up very well on the screen. There were resolution problems and it was delegated to the scrap heap. This has added to the problem---THE HUGE SCRAP HEAP. In this case: a storage problem. The storage problem for digital is not as critical as hard copy problems. Rarely to I destroy a drawing, painting, or sketch. When you look at over 40 years of stuff the amount is intimidating. But it could be worse. I was not so proliferate in my earlier years.

The photograph is simply that of a space capsule. No more no less.

Aeronautica

Sometimes you undertake a project without any consideration about how much time it will take. Such as the project at the left. This whole idea began with wanting to add the sound of a shutter on a camera closing synchronised with images in a slideshow. Simple idea...but then the "What if?" syndrome is started.

• What if I added captions?
• What it I added video?
• What if I added titles?
• What if I added a background image?
• What if I added background music?
• What if?

That's how a project that should have taken a few minutes took a few hours and a few hours more. But it was a learning experience.