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Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Uk ensemble playing the music of frank zappa? yes, and after a lecture by gail zappa. Thank you, ron pen.

Stuff White People Like

Without a doubt, Stuff White People Like is my favorite blog of the moment. Take a moment, click the link, and prepare to laugh, whether you agree or not.

Business Lexington Features Foxfire Hypnotica

Nice little piece on our pals Foxfire Hypnotica. Some pretty cool footage, fire wielders!

Really?!

Really?!
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Does this bus really say 'lamers?' that's just embarrassing (at least for the passengers). Seen in the parking lot at the Kentucky Horse Park

Buddy Holly, with The Everly Brothers, in 1958

Buddy Holly, with The Everly Brothers, in 1958
Originally uploaded by rattlingdjs

I love this picture. I've been obsessed, alternately, with Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers for years. They are the architects of rock'n'roll, and were worshipped by both the Beatles and the Stones. Buddy Holly was from the middle of nowhere (Lubbock), Texas, and the Everlys were from Central City, Kentucky. And they were giants. What a wonderful candid moment. Buddy's career from his first hit "Rave On," until his death "the day the music died:" a year and a half.

Another day at the Kentucky Horse Park

Photo_03
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Just a pretty day at the Kentucky Horse Park, where I'm doing some design work. It's a pretty great gig for moments like this, where I'll be sitting at my desk by the window, and suddenly think: "I'm going outside to pet a horse."

It's surprising how irresistable the urge is, even for full-timers there. You look out and see somebody on a horse, and visitors (or in this case, a staff member) smiling and conversing, and you think 'I better go out and pet that horse.'

And then you take a picture with your camera phone and post it to your blog.
:-)

Rappelling in UK Library

One of the coolest things I've ever (not) seen happen at UK, I'm grateful today for youtube, but sorry my pal Jamie is moving to ATL. We both learned about this happening this morning when she was my guest on Trivial Thursdays and she blogged it at It's All About before I could.

Yay, Jamie! Good luck in ATL!

Deejay Season for Mick

This is charity deejay season for me, which is pretty fun. So far, my favorite event has been H'Artful of Fun, partially because I've ended up as the intro guy on Mary Meehan's video for the Herald Leader.

The next stop is the Headley-Whitney Museum's fundraiser, Studio 54 Fashion Dance Party, this Saturday. You should come on out and disco!

Soccer Practice

Had our first soccer practice today under coach Bow Wow. Went well, but hear my initial trepidation, Gods of Pelé.

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Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

T-Mobile

balloon guy at retirement home

There is something just wonderfully tender about this.

new EBS-transmitter tower goes up at KET

new EBS-transmitter tower goes up at KET
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Construction Dudes do the all-important stand-about and walk-about that is so critical to all sorts of Big Machine Operations. (no, really)

new EBS-transmitter tower at KET

new EBS-transmitter tower at KET
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Crane putting up new transmitter tower at KET! Exciting Big Crane Times as they "snugged' one section onto another, no bolts necessary, apparently!

Family

Seaside New Years
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

this is a real family portrait to me:

my brother,
my mother,
my wife…

my beloved stepdad and … uh, four dogs?

this a real family portrait. whatever that means.

click the image to see the next two in the stream of the same shoot.

Very funny to do — to try to pose a family portrait … that I needed to be included in, too. "Oh, sure we'll just rustle the dogs; they'll fall in to line"

I think the pictures tell a different tale (and yes: tail) and one — accidentally — of family.

I've heard it from some of the best, I guess, now that I think about it. "It" is something about photography being an often accidental art.

"I'm just waiting every day to see what kinds of things will go wrong or mistakes that I'll make that have never happened to me before."

--mirthfully paraphrased from some guru at The Workshops in 2007. He was speaking about botching photoshoot after photoshoot throughout his otherwise celebrated, illustrious career. (ha)

Which reminds me — jeffries, time to book this year's dreamtime enlightenment odyssey. could this be it?

Skype Me!

Is anybody using Skype?

It's an amazing telephone alternative that uses the net to allow you to make phone calls. To any phone. And while you can enhance the experience with a variety of handsets and headsets and video cameras, you really don't need anything except your computer. This morning I called Lucy from my laptop on a wi-fi connection at Coffea Island. That's just cool. Did I mention that the connection includes live video? (assuming your laptop is connected to a webcam or such)

Plus it's free and/or unbelievably cheap (less than 3¢ a minute to call any phone in (practically) the world. Go sign up and install the Skype software so that I can have more Skype friends. It's free to talk skype-to-skype, and that includes a video feed, if you're into that kind of thing. Even if you don't have a video feed from your computer, you can see somebody else who does. That would be me.

OH. One more thing — Skype is just one implementation of Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VoIP for short), which is going to change The Telephone forever and for everybody. Why not get on board early? It's already happening. Some claim there are currently at least 1500 companies vying for a foothold in the nascent VoIP business. You've probably at least heard of Vonage, the biggest kid on the block currently. That could change; ebay bought Skype for large dollars and that was way back in late 2005.

I'm mickjeffries on Skype, should you choose to play.

Skype official website

lucy on the "car phone"

lucy on the "car phone"
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

We've gotten many laffs out of this brilliantly ridiculous cell phone "headset." You just plug it into yr. cell phone and then, um, hold it just like you would yr. cell phone. It's cool, but not quite as cool as this.

Apples in Stereo's Robert Schneider

Robert performs "Skyway" last night at the Big Fresh record release part at the Icehouse in Lexington. Good times.

Waving goodbye

My cross-country journey comes to end, just a few hours ago

Free Sandwiches!

One of my favorite things about Amtrak is a certain goodnatured haphazardness that seems to run collectively throughout the organization. One of the best examples of this was shortlying into our voyage. It's what I like to call the Free Sandwich Debacle.

The explanation: Over the PA, in a typically longwinded address, we were told that due to the breakage of "certain equipment" in the snack car (read: refrigerator) that "arrived in Portland that way" (read: not our fault), everybody on board was going to get a free sandwich, with chips and a cookie. In a box. With a coupon.

The fallout: In order to get our coupon, we were all instructed to return to our seats. No mention was made of any individuals who might for some unknown reason not want a free sandwich. After receiving our coupon we were encouraged to proceed fairly immediately back to the snack car (4 cars away in many cases), to get our sandwich. This led to a herd of people moving all in the same direction on the train, without consideration of the fact that these very people, in a very few minutes would need to move in exactly the opposite direction.

Now, the aisle on the train is somewhat larger than that on a plane, but still, folks, we're talkin' one lane. I got my sandwich and watched the well-intentioned hilarity unfold.

Pulling in...

I made it all the way from Portland, Oregon, to Ashland, Kentucky this AM and this was the scene as I prepared to, um, de-train? It was a great trip. I'm stil in Ashland, working at the PubLib here... I was on the train for 50 hours... awesome.