Let's Rodeo San Antonio?

I don't remember lasers last time I went to the rodeo.


Or pyrotechnics.


I can't remember the name of this event--Mutton Mayhem or some such...
4-7 year old kids hanging onto the back of some pissed-off sheep.
Truly awesome.


The Calf Scramble is also a favorite.
30+ kids trying to rope one of the baby cows released en masse.
I like how this girl had her calf by the neck and wasn't letting go despite being in danger of getting stepped on. She held that sucker down for several minutes while all her loser friends failed mightily.

San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo 2010

First, the stock show:

These kids work really hard on raising some of the most beautiful animals you'll ever see.

We were lucky to go on the day of final calf judging.

The top animals sell for $100,000+, which is meant for college scholarships.

This is the reserve champion, who got away from his little girl for some amusing moments during the rodeo.


Rodeo is next

The 789 By N2A

The company name N2A stands for No Two Alike, meaning that they will never duplicate one of their custom cars for another customer. All original.

The 789 makes me a little crazy--it's my favorite model by far.
First, you either provide a 2005-2009 Corvette ($60,000) or pay N2A to find one for you. That's your performance and reliability right there--you know the 789 is going to haul ass and corner like it's on rails.

See? All 'Vette inside, plus under the hood and everywhere else.

But the body that N2A hangs on your 'Vette is insane.
They take the look of the nose from a '57 Chevy, the sides from a '58 Impala, and the tail of the '59 (all the sexiest bits!) and make them from 80% carbon fiber and 20% fiberglas (so the paint will be smooooth) all for the bargain (?) price of another $80,000.

This is what money looks like.
The sky's the limit for upgrades beyond the minimum $140K.
And no 2 are alike.

Awesome!



Went to the Rodeo today and took 421 photos. Can't face the idea of editing so many, but should have a few for you on Sunday.

Toys For Musical Boys

Just posted over at 'thew's Reviews.
Check it out if you need a dose of my bad writing.

Wood And Smoke

This large ashtray was hand-carved in the Phillipines from a single piece of mahogany sometime in the late '60s or so.
A recent gift that I really like; expect to see it again.

I'm Back

Computer is rebuilt all strong and smart--Thanks, Buz!
This photo represents my success because Photoshop and ACDSee and Opera all played together nicely.
There are a few minor glitches so far, but nothing that can't be easily fixed with a little research.
Or a hammer...just kidding.
I think my new antivirus program needs to have it's paranoia dialed back a bit.

Saturday is free so I might get to do some shooting, as well as Superbowl Sunday in the Hill Country.
I have a backlog of photos that need taking, and now that my computer is fixed and the last Loud Nine show is behind us there's nothing preventing me from catching up.

Tick...tock......tick...tock.......

My main harddrive failed yesterday.
If you have a Maxtor drive and it starts making a sound like your car's turn signal relay, it's already too late to save anything.

Last week's photos are gone (no biggie) plus a thousand bookmarks and a few dozen documents that can all be re-written if they're important enough.
Maybe 50 folders of stuff I grouped together for various reasons, which is the biggest loss from a convenience perspective.
Some mp3 conversions will need to be made again, too.
If I really gave a crap about the bulk of My Documents, I would have backed it up, right?


On a +plus side, the fix revolves around a much bigger harddrive for very little money, and I'll be moving to XP after a year of feeling that Win2K just wasn't getting the job done anymore.
(shut up)

***Just got off the phone with my tech (Buz is The MAN!) who helped me get our spare computer connected to the internet, so now there's less pressure to rush my rebuild--going to take my time and do it right.
He's sending me some cool new apps and double the RAM, which is doubly exciting.

I've been wanting to make these changes for a long time, so maybe this was a blessing.

Both Buz and the guy at my computer parts store recommend Seagate® drives.
I can definitely recommend against Maxtor, as they're the only ones that have ever failed on me.
We're dealing with a very small sample size here, but 100% of my Maxtors have failed compared to none of my others.
A very old Western Digital drive is still working, as is an equally ancient Fuji. They don't make them like that anymore...
My WD external is fine, but then it's still new--give it time.

A Maxtor external drive failed on me last year, so they are on my "No Buy" list forevermore.



Probably no new photos until the rebuild is done, so check back next week?