Winding Down

I can't believe this school year is almost over. Just one last project in my design class and a final exam in English and I'm done until 2012.

I thought I'd post a little of what we've been doing in design 1 because I don't want to bore you with my English research paper. The last project we finished just before Thanksgiving break was rendering our likenesses in a monochromatic scale.  Mine turned out pretty well  considering what I had to work with.

First we painted some 6x9 pieces of bristol board with 5-6 different shades of the color we chose to work with.  I chose orange but it looks more red after I scanned it.  Next the teacher took a photo of each student and we had to create a mosaic by cutting out swatches from the different shades and tints that we had painted.

It

It was a little frustrating trying to get the pieces to come out the right size. You had to have a pretty good idea of how you were going to lay it all out color wise, but it was like a puzzle and I like puzzles. The best thing about it is that paint really hides wrinkles.  I am by far the oldest student in this class and I may be more that twice my teachers age but this class and this teacher has taught me a lot.  For instance, I now know red is not my color.

End of the month round up

It's been a busy couple months will school and all but I've still taken some time to see some live music over the last 30 days or so.

MJ and I saw Niles Lofgren at the RamsHead late in October. Outstanding show. Mike had seen him quite a few times with The E Street Band but this solo (He did have a keyboard player that helped him out) show really showcased his playing as well as his songwriting. They also filmed on song for an upcoming video he's working on. I took some pictures and some video clips I'd like to share but I have since misplaced my camera so those pics may come later.

Last Saturday night we saw Bob Schneider again at the RamsHead. This was the forth time Is seen him there and this was a solo show and of course it was very entertaining. The only downside was one of the two women who shared our table with us. She claimed to be a huge Bob fan and she'd seen him countless times but she would not shut up while he was on stage. She'd make constant chatter about how great his songs were and how beautiful he was. I felt sorry for her friend who made efforts to keep her quite so everyone could enjoy the show but she was no match for the bottle of wine that made her a drunken blabbermouth. These weren't young girls either. They must have been both been in their forties and said that they had kids so they were old enough to know better. Luckily Bob records his shows and sells them on his website so we'll be able to here anything we missed. http://bobschneider.com/

Then Sunday night Eric and I went out to The Red Red Wine Bar to see a blues duo called Swampcandy.

Another fine show and although I still didn't have my little point and shoot camera (That's why I didn't get any shots of Bob and the drunk chick) I did have a backup that my nephew Jeremy gave me.  During the set break I asked if I could take a few shots and they told me "sure, go ahead".  I'm not used to this camera and the zoom and video didn't seem to work but I did get one or two good shots.  These guys are local and have a real rootsy sound.  I can't recommend them enough.  Of course I picked up a couple CDs which I had signed and I'll be glad to share with anyone who want to hear them.

http://youtu.be/v9LzyW1P82Q