Hugh57's Photos on the Web

Super Bowl XLVI

2012-02-06T16:24:00.001-05:00

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Great friends, great food, and an exciting finish to a great game, what more could you ask?

Another great Super Bowl Party hosted by the ever gracious Tony Suarez. ;-)

Henry VIII: All Is True

2012-01-15T14:55:00.004-05:00

Another enjoyable evening of Shakespeare, courtesy of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (and its Production Sponsor, Charles Parsons); this time Opening Night of the seldom-staged Henry VII: All Is True by William Shakespeare (with some alleged involvement of John Fletcher; collaboration and/or revision). This is the play that literally brought down the house, as the Globe Theater was destroyed by fire during an early performance. According to Wikipedia:

On 29 June 1613 the Globe Theatre went up in flames during a performance of Henry the Eighth. A theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the wooden beams and thatching. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale. It was rebuilt in the following year.

Fortunately, no such misfortune befell the CSC's production of the play. :) And what a production it was! Strong acting, choreography, set design. And the costumes! If this production doesn't sweep the awards for which it is eligible, well then, they ought to not bother having them.

I was especially impressed with the scene where the Surveyor is relating to the King something the Duke of Buckingham had said, and the actor playing Buckingham appears in the front row aisle with a spotlight, performing the same lines in synch with the Surveyor. A very cinematic technique, done without audio editing equipment that a movie maker would use, and it came off quite well, in live theater. You really need to see this show!! It runs through February 5, and tickets, I understand, are still available.

Photography is not allowed during performances, of course, but I was able to take some pictures during the pre-show reception, hosted by the ever gracious Charles Parsons, as well as after the performance. You can see these pics by clicking here, or on the images.

Pixel is missing :( UPDATED: Now Home! :-D

2012-01-11T17:39:00.003-05:00

Pixel, my 6yo Maine Coon Cat (mix) pictured here, has been missing since Saturday. I let her out on Saturday evening during the first half of the Bengals/Texans game, and I haven't seen her since. If you are in the Glendale, OH area and you see her, please email me at hugh57b@gmail.com.

Missing:
Maine Coon Cat (mix), Female.
Name: Pixel. Approx 6 years old, 7.5 lbs
Last seen Sat. 1/7/12, in Glendale, OH

UPDATE 1/13: PIXEL IS HOME!!! :-D Apparently, she had been picked by a stray by someone on the street behind my backyard, and taken in by the Dog Depot, a dog grooming place about a half mile from my house. The owner had seen Pixel before, but several years ago, when she worked for Pixel's vet, so she didn't make the connection until yesterday [Thurs.], when I dropped a flier off at her dog grooming place. She had "fostered" Pix out to this lady in Wyoming, who had some thoughts that they might keep her, but their dogs thought otherwise. When I went over there, Pixel was in their garage, hiding under a pile of sporting equipment. A few calls and whistles from me, and she started mewing, so I was able to locate her by sound, and coax her out. She came out pretty eagerly, once she realized who I was. :-)

A Holiday show and a New Years Dinner (with fireworks)

2012-01-01T20:18:00.000-05:00

Went to see the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company's production of "Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!)" with several of the Bozinis. A very hilarious mashup of pop culture references and traditional Christmas stories. Alas, last night's performance was the last this season, but if you get a chance to see this show next Christmas season, I highly recommend it. Since the CSC doesn't allow photography during performances, I left my camera in the car, so I didn't get any photos. Pity. ;-)

After the show, it was down to 5th & Main to McCormick and Schmicks restaurant, where we were joined by several more of the Bozini clan, for a delicious dinner, as well as fireworks from Macy's roof across the street. I had the Lobster Bisque, followed by a Kobe Burger.

Fortunately, I did have my camera along for the dinner and fireworks, so just click here or on the image for more pics.

Kwanzaa 2011

2012-01-01T19:53:00.001-05:00

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The 5th night of Kwanzaa was celebrated on Friday night at Gwen McFarlin's house in Springfield Township. A very fun and convivial evening, featuring some great food, including Gwen's chicken dish, a tasty string-bean dish and a delicious Brie pie. Many thanks to Gwen for her gracious hospitality, and to all who attended for the great food and company.

Christmas with the Bozinis — 2011.2 CSC/Opera Edition

2011-12-18T23:58:00.003-05:00

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The second of two annual Bozini Christmas parties was held Saturday night, hosted by Nancy, Bob and Charles, with their usual uncommon flair. As usual, Her majesty Queen Victoria was especially pleased to welcome the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (who arrived shortly after performing Love’s Labour’s Lost on their Main Stage downtown), along with several members of the area Opera community.

A most enjoyable evening was had by all. And I'm especially looking forward to attending the CSC's Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!) on New Year's Eve! :-)

Santa Claus visits Waycross

2011-12-17T12:17:00.000-05:00

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Waycross Community Media had its annual visit from Santa Claus this past Monday, where children from the Waycross area were able to call in and talk to the Jolly Old Guy himself. More pictures, as usual by clicking here or on the image. Merry Christmas to all!! :-)

Christmas with the Bozinis — 2011.1

2011-12-11T14:51:00.002-05:00

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The annual two-part Bozini Christmas Party got underway this year, with Part 1 being held last night at Casa Bozini. As is traditional, an appearance was made by HRH Queen Victoria, who was looking quite her usual regal self this year, followed by a rousing round of caroling. Also, much food was eaten, and a festive time was had by all. :-)

A big Thank You from, and Congratulations to Gwen McFarlin

2011-11-26T21:29:00.000-05:00

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Gwen McFarlin, recently re-elected to the position of Springfield Township Board of Trustees, held a Thank You party for her supporters at her Springfield Township home on Saturday. Excellent food was eaten, petitions were signed, and plans made for the big Kwanza party to be held at the end of December. Congratulations, Gwen!

Dressing Up Politics

2011-11-15T15:59:00.004-05:00

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The Springfield Township Democratic Club held their Dressing Up Politics fundraiser this past weekend, which featured a Fashion Show with many Democratic elected officials from Cincinnati and Hamilton County suburbs serving as models. I was there to shoot video, but I did manage to get some still shots as well. Enjoy!

UPDATE 11/30/11: I've added a couple of dozen shots to the collection. Enjoy!

Another Batch of Bozini Birthdays

2011-11-14T15:26:00.000-05:00

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Another round of Bozini birthdays was celebrated this weekend, for Bozini's with Autumn Birthdays. So Happy Birthday to Charles, Virgina and Dick! :)

To honor the occasion, a delightful dinner was held at the Ruby Tuesday restaurant in Kenwood. A most enjoyable evening catching up with all of the Bozini family. :)

And the regular season comes to a close

2011-10-28T23:57:00.000-04:00

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It was the final week of the season for High School football, and Waycross closed out the regular season by covering Winton Woods in their game against Glen Este. It was Senior Night for Winton Woods, with recognition given to seniors on football team and the Marching Band. This included recognition for WWHS Senior, Marching Band Field Commander and long-time Waycross Volunteer Jason Dudley. Congratulations, Jason!

Unfortunately, Winton Woods and Glen Este had disappointing seasons, both being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs going into this week's action. Winton Woods managed to win for the home crowd, 35-21.

Next week, the football playoffs will start, and Waycross will be looking to cover St. Xavier and/or Colerain, both of whom figure to host games in the first round. Permissions have to be obtained for broadcast rights, so we'll have to see what happens.

Finneytown vs. Wyoming

2011-10-22T00:09:00.001-04:00

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It's late October, and once again time for the annual Finneytown vs. Wyoming game. As I said in my previous post, this game has historically been a blowout in favor of Wyoming, but this year proved to be a bit different. Finneytown jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half. only to give up that lead. But it did all come down to a 21-16 lead for Wyoming with 1:00 left in the game and Finneytown had the ball 4th and goal on the 2-yard line. A two yard run would win it, but Finneytown unfortunately fumbled, and Wyoming picked the ball up and ran for a game sealing touchdown. So final score: Wyoming 28-16 over Finneytown, which is very close the the 28-17 win for Wyoming win that I predicted before the game.

I did manage to get some pictures of the Finneytown band, who were dressed up for Halloween. :)

The second game of a double weekend

2011-10-15T21:03:00.001-04:00

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Just a little over 12 hours after leaving Colerain High School, Waycross and volunteers were at St. Xavier High School for their game against the defending State Champions, the St. Edward Eagles. Before the game, I overheard a St. Edward's player asked if they were going to win, and he said yes, it was "in the bag." Well, I've been helping cover St. Xavier Bombers football for about 20 years now, and I learned one thing about 19 years ago: Never bet real money against St. X. The Bombers won, 17-10.

Coming up next week is Finneytown vs. Wyoming. This has historically been a blowout, with Wyoming usually stomping Finneytown. But Finneytown beat Indian Hill last week (a major upset) and both they and Wyoming are now 5-3 on the season. So there is some hope that the game will actually be an exciting game for a change.

First for a double weekend

2011-10-15T00:45:00.003-04:00

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Waycross is covering two football games this weekend, Colerain vs. Lakota East, and St. Xavier vs. St. Edwards.

First up: tonight was the Colerain game. A very pleasant night, though there was a thunderstorm skirting to the north of the stadium. Didn't look like it was going to affect our game (indeed, there was a beautiful sunset in the west), and fortunately, if there was any lightning, the refs didn't see it.

Finally got a chance to leave the production truck during the game so that I could get a few pics of the game itself. And it did include a Colerain touchdown! Oh, and Colerain won, 28-7. :)

Next up: Tomorrow afternoon at St. Xavier

King of the Road

2011-10-08T01:10:00.002-04:00

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Friday night and time for some more high school football. This week is was St. Xavier hosting LaSalle in the annual King of the Road game, in which the two schools, located on opposite ends of North Bend Road, battle it out for the right to say "We Own The Road." St. Xavier won that battle this year, 45-21. As usual, I was working in the Waycross TV truck (I ran replay this week), so I didn't get any pics of the game itself, but I did get quite a few of St. X and LaSalle's Marching Bands.

Band Night and a Barn Burner of a game

2011-09-24T02:00:00.001-04:00

This week Waycross covered Walnut Hills vs. Winton Woods in high school football. Unlike the other football games we've covered this year, which were blowouts, this game actually was exciting right up to the final minute with the lead changing a few times in the 4th quarter. In the end, Walnut Hills held on to win, 31-28, which unfortunately leaves Winton Woods' postseason prospects highly doubtful.

In addition it was Band Night at Winton Woods High School, in which the High School Marching Band was joined by the 7th and 8th grade bands, in a halftime show that featured a tribute to the Beatles. Click here or on the images for a bunch of pics of the band, with longtime Waycross volunteer and WWHS Marching Band Field Commander Jason Dudley dressed in Sgt. Pepper garb.

A Midsummer Night's Dream for an autumn evening

2011-09-19T16:22:00.001-04:00

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A lovely September night for a Shakespeare in the Park performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Burnet Woods in Clifton, near the UC campus. The rain fortunately held off until well after the show ended, so the show went off without a hitch. Afterwards, it was off to the Clifton Skyline Chili at Ludlow and Clifton with friends Nancy, Charles and Dick, as well as Luigina and Rob.

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And a great show it was. Burnet Woods, in my opinion, provides the perfect setting for a play set largely in a forest, the cast was energetic (not to mention hilarious; you really get an idea of where Monty Python was getting a fair chunk of their material), and the costuming added the crowning touch. If the CSC ever puts on a production of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, Cary Davenport, pictured here playing the part of Francis Flute (who is in turn playing the part of Thisbe), has to play the part of the Red Queen. A tip of the hat to Heidi Jo Scheimer, the CSC's Resident Costume Designer, for inspired work on all the costumes (though in Cary's case, it's the beard that really completes the look, not to mention his facial expressions).

Alas, this was the final performance of MSND for the 2011 SitP season. There is a final performance of Julius Caesar next weekend, but I don't think I'll be able to make that.

I just wish this company had been around in the early 70s when Mrs. McCann, my ninth-grade English teacher, was trying to make me read Julius Caesar. Apparently she, along with my dad, a college English professor at UC, were of the opinion that Shakespeare was writing for them (i.e., English teachers) and that these plays were meant to be read, rather than seen. I strongly disagree. Reading these plays just doesn't do it for me. To truly appreciate Shakespeare, you should see the plays performed, by a company as talented and enthusiastic as the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.

Week 4

2011-09-17T08:44:00.002-04:00

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Week 4 of the High School football season, this week was Finneytown vs. Taylor. As usual, I wasn't able to take pictures during the game (I'm generally pretty busy wrestling with an approx. Year 2000 Windows computer, using Excel 97 (97!), to keep the score, down & distance, etc. up-to-date.). But it was a beautiful night (partly cloudy, temps in the 50s), and I did manage to get some pictures of the Marching Band as they marched past the production truck.

Caesar on the River

2011-09-10T23:46:00.002-04:00

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Went to another production of Julius Caesar, put on by the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, this time at Bellevue Beach Park. The park is right on the Ohio River, approximately across the river from Eden Park. A rousing performance as far as it went. Unfortunately, a drenching shower started shortly after intermission, forcing the players to cancel the remainder of the performance. All the players were scheduled to perform in A Man for All Seasons at CSC in downtown Cincinnati later in the evening, and hence couldn't wait out the shower. Naturally, the sun came back out shortly after that decision was made, but then again, the rain returned while we we walking back to our cars. So it was a good call, after all.

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Afterwards, we went to York St. Cafe in Newport for light dinner and dessert. A wonderful outdoor dining experience, with wonderful company, and desserts to die for!

On the Road To Morrow...

2011-09-10T01:11:00.003-04:00

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Today, we at Waycross were on the road to Morrow. All our teams were on the road (except St. X at Colerain, which we couldn't cover because ONN preempted us), so we packed up and went to Little Miami High School in Morrow, OH (near Lebanon) for a game between Northwest and Little Miami. Northwest won by a lopsided score of 42-7, despite getting penalties what seemed like every other play. But a very fun shoot, and a very solid crew, even if the game itself was a bit boring.

...and the start of Fall

2011-09-03T15:30:00.003-04:00

And with Fall, comes the start of the High School football season. Actually, the season started last weekend, but I missed that due to Context 24.

Last night, Waycross covered Colerain vs. Ryle at Colerain High School's Cardinal Stadium. And a very hot night for September, as the area was under a heat advisory. On the way over, my car's overhead indicator said it was 100°F outside (actual temp — not a "feels like" index!)

As usual, I was in the truck updating the Deko graphics computer with the score, down & distance, etc. during the game, so I was ony able to get pictures before the game. Oh, and the final score: Colerain 37, Ryle 0. Pretty much a blowout from the start, plus the fact that Ryle's quarterback suffered a knee injury in the first quarter.

The end of summer...

2011-09-01T00:34:00.001-04:00

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The end of summer brings with it the end of another fantastic season of Greenhills Concert on the Commons. As usual, the American Legion Post #530 Concert Band provided a most enjoyable evening of patriotic marches, show tunes, and other standards. And the Concert on the Commons has had great luck with the weather this year -- another beautiful evening for an outdoor concert, the last of the summer to be covered by Waycross. :)

Context 24

2011-09-01T00:22:00.002-04:00

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Went to Context 24 in Columbus last weekend; great fun, as usual. The surprise Special Guest was John Scalzi, who graciously agreed to appear and do several panels, readings, signings, etc on Saturday afternoon. He was the last-minute substitute for the scheduled Guest of Honor, L.E. Modesitt, who unfortunately had to cancel when his wife became seriously ill the previous week. But Scalzi was available, for Saturday afternoon anyway, so it was all good. All in all, a very enjoyable weekend!!

Earthquake

2011-08-23T17:40:00.011-04:00

Was napping early this afternoon, and when I got up, the Internet was abuzz with news of a 5.9 earthquake centered in Virginia, between DC and Richmond, and apparently felt by many here in Cincinnati, though not by me.

Apparently, the ground around my house must have some shock-absorbing sponginess about it, because this quake did not, as you can see, even knock the Charmin off the edge, even though it was perched precariously on the edge of the table. Nor was my collection of bobbleheads disturbed. Everything in the pictures is in exactly the same position it was in last night. Also, Pixel, my cat, who was inside at the time, did not seem to notice anything amiss.

Reading others' description of the quake made me feel a little like Monty Python's Ralph Melish (link to YouTube is audio only):
"June the 4th, 1973, was much like any other summer's day in Peterborough, and Ralph Melish, a file clerk at an insurance company, was on his way to work as usual when... (da dum!) Nothing happened! (dum dum da dum)"

I'm certainly not complaining about missing this event, mind you. After some flood damage to carpets in my house earlier this year, I could certainly do without an earthquake. ;-)

Bacchanal Steel Band at Colerain Park

2011-08-20T01:02:00.002-04:00

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School has started in many districts in the Cincinnati area, but summer isn't quite over yet. Friday night featured another great concert thanks to the great folks of Colerain Township, this time featuring the Bacchanal Steel Band. Wonderful summer music for a beautiful summer night!

G Miles and the Hitmen at Greenhills CotC

2011-08-18T00:11:00.000-04:00

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Greenhills Concert on the Commons' winning streak with the weather continues -- another gorgeous night! This concert featured a great blues band, G. Miles & the Hitmen.

And for Tony and I, a blast from the past; a surprise visit from Dick Hagerman, a Waycross volunteer from way back. I don't think either Tony or I had seen Dick since Bill Clinton was President.

Dick Hagerman sighting

I was going to take a whole bunch of pictures, but I was almost to the Commons tonight when I realized I had left my Canon at home, and there wasn't time to go home and get it. Oh well. I made do with the camera on my smartphone, which seems to suffice, though it requires work in Photoshop Lightroom to get them to look halfway decent. So if some of these pictures are a little fuzzy, or the color is off, or there are noise bands, that's why. ;-)

Cry Havoc!! And Let Slip the Dogs of War!!

2011-08-15T17:06:00.005-04:00

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Shakespeare in the Park came Sunday evening with a traditional staging of Julius Caesar (though some of the traditionally male roles were played by women, this was not the gender-reversed version of the play that the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company staged back in April). Just as the show was about to start on the lawn of the Harry Whiting Brown Community Center, a rainstorm came through sending players and audience scurrying into the nearby Scouthouse, where the play was ultimately staged. Of course, by the time the players were finished setting up inside, the storm had passed, and the skies were clearing. But the show went on inside, where, in my opinion, the audience was better able to hear the actors, without being drowned out occasionally by passing trains. :-)

All in all, a most enjoyable evening of Shakespearean theater.

A Taste of Colerain with a concert by Naked Karate Girls

2011-08-13T02:36:00.002-04:00

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The Naked Karate Girls rocked the Colerain Twp. Admin. Complex again for an appreciative crowd at A Taste of Colerain (an encore or sorts of their concert on the Fourth of July). Again, absolutely beautiful weather (which alas, won't last -- it's supposed to rain and storm Saturday and Sunday). Not to mention the great food available; I forget the name of the restaurant whose booth I got it from, but a delicious chicken tenderlion sandwich w/lettuce and tomato. :-)

Magnolia Mountain

2011-08-11T02:09:00.008-04:00

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Gorgeous weather for the Greenhills Concert on the Commons. This week featured Magnolia Mountain, a band that describes itself as "Americana" and seems to be a mix of rock, country, bluegrass and folk, or what Tony called simply "Mountain Music." A sample of the concert is here. Really, they were quite good, and the concert was graced with one of the most gorgeous sunsets I've ever seen at a Concert on the Commons.

Next Concert on the Commons: next Wednesday, featuring blues band G.Miles & the Hitmen.

Connie Pillich on Columbus Report

2011-08-09T04:25:00.000-04:00

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Ohio Representative Connie Pillich (D, District 28) came by Waycross Community Media Studio's Columbus Report Monday night for a chat on various subjects of interest to Ohioans, including the state's budget, election laws, redistricting and other sundry subjects. She also mentioned that she will not be running for reelection to her seat in the state legislature; instead, she will be running for U.S. Congress, likely in the 1st District, a seat now held by Republican Steve Chabot. I say likely -- nobody really knows what the district maps are going to look like, what with Ohio losing two seats in Congress. We'll see...

Smooth Jazz in the Park Festival 2011

2011-08-07T02:46:00.009-04:00

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The 10th Annual Smooth Jazz in the Park was held on a hot Saturday night in August. The weather people were warning that there may be thundershowers and such in the area, but they fortunately never materialized. So an excellent Jazz concert was held featuring an excellent group from Columbus, by the name of fo/mo/deep. Unfortunately, I didn't catch their explanation of the group's name. But it was great music, whatever they call themselves.

VRN 2011

2011-08-04T22:15:00.005-04:00

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The 2011 VRN (Volunteer Recognition Night) for Waycross Community Media volunteers took place tonight at the Forest Park Senior Center. A lot of wonderful awards given out, including Jason's fifth straight Volunteer of the Year, and a national Hometown Video Award (pictured at right) given to Waycross volunteers for our coverage of last year's Smooth Jazz in the Park (congratulations, everybody!). In addition, I was recognized with a "longevity" award, in recognition of my volunteering for 20 years now. This award came with a Skyline Chili gift card and two tickets to a Reds game. Not a bad haul. Now if the Reds would just get in gear...

MU Steel Band returns to Concert on the Commons

2011-08-04T17:14:00.002-04:00

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The Miami University Steel Band returned to Greenhills Concert on the Commons for another great concert. And the weather, for once, wasn't near as hot, and besides the A/C in the Waycross production truck worked! (knock wood...)

A party for Tony's birthday

2011-08-01T13:08:00.006-04:00

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A fun time was had at Casa hugh57, celebrating Tony's birthday. Steaks (with hot dogs for the kids) were grilled, followed by pumpkin and/or apple pie with ice cream.

Didn't get too many pictures (somewhat busy on the grill cooking steaks), but what I did get, here they are. :-)

A hot one to close out July

2011-07-28T10:40:00.003-04:00

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A hot night for a concert (esp. considering that the A/C in the Waycross production truck wasn't working). But it was OK in the shade, which is where most people stayed while listening to Tex Schramm and the Radio King Cowboys at Greenhills Concert on the Commons.

Google+

2011-07-14T15:51:00.001-04:00

[I posted this on Facebook (where at least for now, I have a wider audience) as a Note, it occurred to me I might want to post it here, too.]

Fiddling around with Google+ -- not a whole lot there yet. For one thing, rather few of my friends are early adopters of this sort of thing, so few people that I know, aside from James Allen (thanks for the invitation, James!), a few science fiction writers, and 1 or 2 other local friends, not many people that I know personally are there yet. Unless and until that happens, it's hard to get a feel for how well this compares to FB.

I haven't yet seen a way to sort the Stream (equiv. to News Feed) from Most Recent. The "Circles" are an interesting idea, but until more people come on board, I'm not sure how, or how well, it will work. Likewise for integrating Google+ with other Google services, such as Gmail. There are no games (yet, anyway) like Farmville or Mafia, which I consider a feature, not a bug. ;-)

So anyway, it looks promising, but it still needs work. If anyone wants an invitation, either FB message me (include your email address), or send me an email. :-)

ETA: One of the great features of Google+ is that you can edit your post (or "status" as FB calls it), rather than having to add a correction as a comment or new status. I never understood why FB couldn't include such a simple function.

Eight Days a Week/Tom Enderle Car Show at the Concert on the Commons

2011-07-14T05:30:00.000-04:00

Another summer Wednesday, another Concert on the Commons; this time, a Beatles tribute band called Eight Days a Week, coupled with the annual Tom Enderle Car Show.

One nice thing about doing graphics for a Beatles cover band -- I need to bring the song title up at the very beginning of the song, but I often have to wait a couple of bars to confirm that the song they're playing matches the graphic I bring up (many bands skip around on their set list without telling me). With the Beatles, I can "name that tune" in one chord! And these guys stuck to their set list, which always helps. :-)

An Evening of birthdays with the Bozinis

2011-07-11T16:03:00.006-04:00

A most enjoyable evening spent with friends celebrating birthdays occurring in the spring and summer. Originally scheduled for Joe's Diner downtown, it was moved to the IHOP on Ridge when it was discovered that the AC at Joe's had broken down. Pictures here.

A couple of concerts to post...

2011-07-05T20:08:00.009-04:00

Last week, I took some pics at Greenhills Concert on the Commons featuring the UC Community Concert Band. A gorgeous night for my first CotC this year (It's their third -- I wasn't able to make the previous two in June).

And then yesterday, on the Fourth of July, I helped Waycross cover the Colerain Twp. 4th of July Spectacular at the Colerain Township Administration Complex. Another gorgeous night and a great concert by a band called Naked Karate Girls. Followed by a spectacular fireworks display put on by volunteers from Colerain Township. A great time!

Hometown Wildlife

2011-05-29T06:08:00.006-04:00

Came home from the store yesterday and found my neighbors all gathered around my mailbox.

Turned out they were looking up the tree behind my mailbox, at this little guy who was trying to make it back to his nest, after apparently being knocked out of it by the recent storms.

Fuzzy Nation Tour

2011-05-11T01:16:00.009-04:00

John Scalzi's new book, Fuzzy Nation, was released today. It was also his 42nd birthday, which he celebrated with a signing in Dayton, (Beavercreek, actually, at Books & Co. on the Greene). Scalzi read from Untitled 2012 novel, the working title and basic description of which we were all sworn to secrecy. We are allowed to say, however, that it is awesome.

Pics are here.

Harmony Kara Jeffries arrives

2011-05-05T02:49:00.007-04:00

Harmony Kara, AJ and Sarah's new daughter, arrived tonight (May 4, 2011 at 10:06pm). Pictures are here. :)

Updated the State Wrestling Galleries

2011-04-30T20:41:00.004-04:00

I took several days off from upgrading gallery styles in order to deal with some minor flooding that occurred in my house over Easter weekend. I'll likely post some picture of the damage (wall to wall carpeting and its padding soaked) in a few days. Today, I managed to upgrade the three Waycross galleries of pictures from State Wrestling 2007, 2008 and 2010. See my Galleries Updated page for the links.

Forsooth, do you grok my jive, me hearties?

2011-04-21T07:14:00.002-04:00

All galleries of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company performances are now upgraded to the new style.

The title of this post, BTW, is an xkcd reference, for those that don't know.

Updated a couple more and added a gallery from the holidays

2011-04-20T17:42:00.002-04:00

I've updated my page to include a couple more galleries whose style I've upgraded (A Northwest football game, and Jazz in the Park 2010). I've also uploaded some pictures from a Kwanzaa party I went to back in December, that I never got around to uploading, probably because they were taken with a smartphone camera indoors with low light and didn't come out as well as I would have liked.

Starting to look the way I want it

2011-04-19T06:23:00.005-04:00

This blog is starting to take shape. I've made a page (on the right sidebar, under "Pages") listing the galleries that I've updated to the new style, and generally customized the blog to resemble my actual website.

I have to say that I'm happy with the Google Blogger service, and I'm impressed by the level of customization that it allows. A great deal better than the easy setup 1&1 blog offered by my web host. It uses WordPress, but has very limited functionality. There was a way around that, namely manually installing WordPress on my webspace, but it involved setting up a MySQL database, some editing of config files and then manually installing. In other words, more trouble than I was willing to go to. I decided to try Google, which I already use for a number of other things, instead. So far, so good. :-)

Galleries updated so far

2011-04-18T01:56:00.021-04:00

I have redesigned a number of galleries on my site, that should make the individual pictures easier (on a desk/laptop PC or Mac) to see with their captions without scrolling. Also, when resizing your browser's width, the pic will resize as necessary. This resizing should also make it easier to view the picture pages on smaller devices, such as smartphones, tablets (incuding Nook Color) and notebooks.

[Edit 4/19/2011]:
I've put the list of photo galleries I've updated thus far on its own permanent page. A link to it (aside from the one I just made in this paragraph) is on the right sidebar under "My Websites."

Updating my website and starting a new blog

2011-04-18T01:28:00.001-04:00

My website is being redesigned to better facilitate viewing images on various devices and to better conform to CSS layout practices. So if something doesn't look quite right, that's probably why. ;-) I'll likely be using this blog as a means to communicate updates and additions of pictures to my website. Stay tuned. ;-)