Anole By Samsung SIII

You don't usually see anoles in any color but solid green or solid brown. Rarely you'll catch one in transition as they warm up to operating temp.
Seeing as how this one let me shove my phone 3 inches from his face I have to conclude he was feeling poorly.

Kinda looks like he has some teeth marks on him, too.


Here's a crop at 100%:

Pretty sharp!

The camera on our new Galaxy S3 phones is quite the upgrade.
Flash exposures are way better, there's a macro focusing option, 8 megapickles, you can pull your favorite four adjustments out of the menus and onto the screen as shortcuts--for stills I have the timer, flash control, white balance, and exposure compensation. The video shortcuts can be the same or different--nice feature!
Full HD video.

The panorama mode works well enough, and for catching action you can do a burst of frames that's faster than anything I've ever seen.
There's GPS tagging, an HDR mode, and anti-shake, too. A fairly rich set of features I have to say.


I'm actually considering getting one of those gimmicky telephoto lenses for it just to see if they're worth a crap.

Only negative I have so far is that you can't silence the fake shutter sound when taking a picture.
I blame the perverts.


In other news, my old country band (now called The Natalie Rose Band) won "Best Country Group" at the San Antonio Music Association's award show tonight.



Wonder if they remembered me in the acceptance speech, since I had more than a lot to do with their success.
Most local country bands sound like crap, but through the end of 2012 I had them sounding better than many of the big stars. And my photos of them were on an entirely different level if I do say so myself.
Should have gone to the awards show to take my final bow with them, along with the former bassist who started the group in the first place.

In Thin Air

Up bright and early again, and we all went up Heavenly.


The gondola ride is nuts. I'm not fond of heights, but being enclosed isn't too bad.
Screw that chairlift thing, though.

Most of the way up there's an observation deck so we got out to sightsee.
It was WAY colder than down below, and snowing a little.



Gotta represent.

Up at the lodge level it was snowing harder for a little while.


Time to show off our hats:

Sylvia found a SPURS hat by Adidas at Academy a few weeks ago.

I wanted something a little wilder, or a different SPURS hat, and that took longer to find.
Then, at a different Academy we found mine:

A mohawk AND Spurs logo?
And half-price?
More than I could have hoped for...gonna wear it to a game someday.

We had planned to just sled on the innertubes, but it had gotten icy and windy so they shut that down for safety reasons. Bummer.
Then we chatted with the staff and got a full refund on the gondola rides, so we're going up again tomorrow and now all the girls have decided to ski.
If anything I'll sled, or just take pics and hang out at the lodge.
We spent a couple hours there today and it was nice if you like $10 pints of beer.
(I had a sandwich in my pocket + a flask of bourbon, so there)

The previous gondola photo is pretty tame.
A lot of the ride was more like this:



Tonight we went to dinner in the nicest restaurant at Harrah's.
Also pricey but good.
Then the girls played in the casino.
I was the big winner--put $3 in a machine and won a bottle of Aquafina.
Quit while I was ahead, proving that beginner's luck is real.

July Happenings

This would have been a typical photo for Zzakk's Garage.




If you're seeing a new header on top, this is where I got it:
A Beautiful Mess was at Luensmann's Ice House in New Berlin last week. Great show, nice post-rain clouds and puddles.
Another phone-cam pic.
I'm getting lazy, and actually look forward to our next free phone upgrade as much for the camera as anything else. They are getting better all the time, and you can't beat the convenience.



Here's A Milestone For You

You would have to know me pretty well to get the significance.
It's HUGE.
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I Went To The Movies!

One day in the middle of living life I suddenly realized it had been over a dozen years since I had stepped foot in a theater. Years later at a party someone was yapping about films and asked me what I had seen last, and the shocked reaction was kinda fun.
Then it got past 20 years and I thought maybe a quarter century was a good place to finally give in and end the run. It wasn't fair to Sylvia, cutting out a way to spend time together.

Problem was, I had decided that it would have to be a very special movie to get me to put up with all the downsides I remembered from my youth, and NOTHING looked good enough to be worthy. Came close to choosing that Dukes Of Hazzard remake with Johnny Knoxville and Jessica Simpson just for the irony and shock value, but I was quickly getting good results with my friends just from threatening such an act.

And before you know it we're talking 28 years.
Last time I went to the movies was in 1984, and it was freaking Purple Rain at Ingram Park Mall.
How do you beat that for a story you're going to have to tell a LOT?

Ted

Maybe it was subliminal since that's my Dad's name, but seriously the first full-length feature film by Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane that's full of F-bombs and bong-hits sounded like a resolution that'll crack me up while helping my street cred.
The very early "restricted" trailers a few months ago had convinced me within seconds, so I made it known expecting to get held to my promise this time.
We went to Santikos Silverado tonight, and it was freakin' awesome.

More leg-room, unsticky floors, reclining chairs, great sound, and flawless digital projection?
Nobody trying to stab me afterwards?
I was more impressed than I thought I would be by the theater experience.

Obviously it hasn't escaped my attention over the years that the tech has gone WAY up, but as someone who's been away forever I have to admit that the overall experience was much better than expected. Part of that falls on the shoulders of our fellow audience members, who didn't suck at all. And the movie was hilarious. I'm really glad I saw this before it trickled-down to my usual free or $4 pawnshop system.

Just in case you missed the 1970s and '80s, we used to smoke up a storm and drink as many snuck-in beers as possible back then. Bottles rolling down the slope...

Craftiques

One thing you may not guess about me, what with all the rock bands, guns, and yard work that gets featured here, is that I really enjoy antique shops and flea markets.
We will drive to Boerne, New Braunfels, Fredericksberg, Bandera, Blanco, Helotes, etc to poke into the dusty corners looking for old stuff.
Locally, we get our fix at both Craftiques locations, but prefer the closer Bandera/Poss store to the bigger one on NW Military/Braesview.

Craftiques is unusual for the "Craft" part, which usually translates to crappy birdhouses, cheapcheapcheap homemade jewelry, and other useless junk, although sometimes we'll be impressed by a creative idea well-executed.
We go for the 'tiques.


On Sunday there were so many odd and disturbing items I shouldn't have bothered putting my phone away, because it kept getting pulled out again 2 minutes later.

I just thought this was ugly, and except for the glimpse of lamp cord never saw how it's supposed to light up. But according to the tag it's a TV lamp.



This diving helmet barometer was pretty bad at a distance, but the "With Deep Friendship" bit cracked me up. Whoever thought of that should work for our newspaper, which is full of weak, obvious, and downright stupid headlines.



For some reason there were nuns everywhere. Last visit, not a single one.
I like how this one's hands have bubble wrap. No comment.



Creepy, on a swing.



Bizarre folk art or pottery class project.
Makes no sense to me.



N'Sync bobbleheads FTW!
If the fat one's (sorry, Joey Fatone's) face looks blurry it's because I couldn't resist checking the bobble factor.

Mystery Solved

In this post from December 2011 (3 items down) I mentioned finding a possible homeless person's "nest" in the alley behind our house.
We only live four houses up the street, so since then I've made it a point when driving out of the 'hood to look for evidence as I pass the end of the alley.

Several times last week I spotted new blankets while leaving on some errand but always forgot to check it out by the time I got home. Would have used the notepad app on my phone to leave a reminder, but operating such fancy devices while driving is against the law now.
I was out back crushing aluminum cans a few days ago when I finally remembered, and this is what I found:

I was a little ticked-off the first time, because someone was essentially squatting on our property.
According to the city, we are responsible for the upkeep back there, and apparently the people across the way know this because that guy's mower and weed-whacker are strangers to what lurks between our fences.
It took me years to get the jungle behind our fence under complete control after the previous tenants (renters!) let it go to hell, and with the exception of occasional piles of blankets and pillows it's now the neatest stretch of the alley by far.

When I thought it was a homeless person's camp I wasn't really angry because their situation was obviously more tragic than mine. Felt bad whenever I felt mad, y'know?
In my head there was also the possibility that some teenagers were using the "bed" to hook up, or that one of our adult neighbors had a cheatin' heart and no imagination--and that raised my indignation a few notches.


In the above photo did you notice the empty hydrogen peroxide bottle?
I was confused at first, until I found this:


Having met a few glue and paint-huffers in New York's urban alleys while loading band equipment into grungy bars, I'm schooled enough to know that they "decant" the product into another container before inhaling it. With canned air like this it's important so you don't freeze your mouth and lungs, as I learned on a startling episode of 'Intervention'.

Someone is abusing inhalants in my alley, and they're hitting it hard enough to need a lot of comfort or having to sleep it off?!?
Screw that.
Gloves are off.
Huffers are unpredictable and dangerous.

The latest pile is already in the landfill and if it happens again (how many old blankets/comforters can they have?) I'm taking measures.
Surveillance is ramped up already and between my garden hose and band spotlights, a harshed buzz is the least of their worries. Wouldn't mind getting a stealthy photo of the perp "inaction", but a few of the SAPD busting them will be just as good.

December Miscellany

Went to a fine Christmas party, but only took one picture, and it was in the bathroom:
Wonder if anyone noticed a big flash in the gap under the door?
Sometimes I would rather drink and play with fire than take pictures.


Spotted at Target:




Doing yard work, I discovered that someone's been camping in our alley:
Five blankets/comforters, two pillows, and 2 books--'Garfield's 30th Book' and 'The Biggest Loser Calorie Counting Guide'.
When I tell this story, the reactions are evenly divided by gender.
Every woman says "How sad" and every man gets a little annoyed that there was a bum right behind my house for who knows how long.

With several weeks of regular rain the campsite was a soggy filthy useless mess, so I filled up our trash receptacle and it's long gone.



Remember this post from last year?
We finally know what the steam engine looks like with all it's lights:




I had forgotten all about this:
They contacted me a few years ago and asked permission to use my photo, which was nice considering how many times I find my work on sites that never asked and don't give me credit.
If you click on the pic it goes to that image on my Flickr pages, which is why I remembered. Trimming the fat, I was about to delete it.

Back In Texas, I'm Number Two

Our Thanksgiving trip entailed a ton of driving and other stuff, which I'll detail soon.
I averaged maybe 4 hours of sleep per day, with long stretches of none.
So imagine my delight at having to serve jury duty on my first full day back.

The Bexar County Courthouse is great, as are the people who run things.
No complaints there.
It was just the idea of getting up really early and off-schedule yet again, then sitting on my tired old butt for another full day that made me sad.

After 2.5 hours of boredom I was trying to keep from snoring when the guy next to me started a conversation about my book.
Terrific--a new best friend. Just what I need.
He had never heard of author Elmore Leonard (Seriously? Must be a heavy rock you live under) so I opened up to the page with "Also By..." and pointed out the ones made into movies like 'Mr. Majestyk' and 'Get Shorty', among others.
Right then the bailiff started the first real action of our day by announcing that they were assembling two 20-person jury pools who would meet in the hallway.

Mi amigo kept talking at me, so I almost missed it when my name was just the 2nd one called that day.
Wow--a huge surprise. So soon!?!
Also a mixed blessing--easy instant escape from Lenny Chunkbutt, but what if I end up on a long trial that jacks my entire holiday plans?

So the 40 of us line up in order out in the hallway (I'm still #2, hehe) and it's explained to us that we've been selected to provide two juries for 2 different courtrooms...pause...pause...BUT that because the threat of a actual jury trial has come along this far, both sides have suddenly settled.
Sweet relief on the part of everyone.
As soon as we can trade our juror badges for a card certifying that we've fulfilled our obligations, every man woman and idiot among us is free to go. Again, I was #2.
I liked the part where they said "...you can go to work or back to bed. Your boss has no way of knowing you got off so early".
Like I said, the folks who run things at the courthouse are great.
Funny, honest, friendly, helpful--typical San Antonians.

I was starting my truck for home by 11 AM, and am looking forward to spending my $6 check on beer once it arrives.



Want to point out that I really did enjoy the educational aspects, and was honored to participate in our court system yet again.
The only reason I sound at all cranky was that I've been living on a 3rd shift kind of schedule for most of my life so mornings aren't my strong suit by a long shot, especially when I'm completely wiped-out from the previous week of hard travel and minimal sleep.

I Don't Get It

Spotted on the street yesterday:
The low pants have been out of style for at least three years.
The green hat was like part of a halloween costume.
His T-shirt is still around his neck, but otherwise off. Is it smart to advertise your abs when your re-pregged woman is right behind you?

Except for the shoes (which probably cost the same as a month's supply of baby food and diapers) this clown isn't wearing ANY of his clothes correctly. I would hate to find out that he works in a hospital, although that would be a stretch.
Fry cook?
Even that worries me.

(Sorry, but I'm getting cranky in my old age).





Here's something I knocked out last night:
(The picture, not the whisky). I'm saving it for a special occasion, like an emergency Civil War style amputation or maybe the start of the NBA regular season.



Last night was amazing.
Had to be the worst thunder storm since way before the drought started.
It was scary for awhile, but I loved every minute of it.
Just wish I could figure out how the water got into our garage.

A Lot On My Plate

This week I'm very busy, what with several just-completed band trailer repairs, a 3-day weekend of shows coming up, and figuring out how to work this thing:
This is my first "smart" phone, the Samsung Fascinate.
What strikes you right off is the sheer size of it.
(Remember when phones used to get smaller every year?)
It's posed on a $20 bill to illustrate it's dimensions, including just how wafer-thin it is.

The "Super AMOLED" screen is 4 full inches tall (or wide) depending on how you hold it--works either way and auto-rotates the image. 800x480 pixels. From my limited testing so far I'll give it a rating of Gorgeous/Accurate/Holy Crap!
Makes the backlit LCD on my DSLR look small and weak, and it was nearly state of the art a few years ago.
I haven't watched any movies on it yet, but a couple of games looked superb, as do my own photos--which incidentally just showed up on their own after I signed into my Google account.
It looks like every pic I've ever uploaded to all of my blogs past and present are there.
Creepy.

I only thought I might want a smartphone for the bigger and better screens so I could carry around a compact digital portfolio of my work, but I have to admit that the mobile internet and apps and games are already catching my fancy.
Sylvia said "Since we have to pay for the data plan every month anyway, use the shit out of it!"
No problem, baby.

I also like that it has a standard 3.5mm jack, so when I want to use it as an mp3 player or watch videos, any earbuds or headphones will work in stereo. Our last phones were mono.
And it came with a 16gb microSDHC card already installed.
It's like Samsung was reading my mind!
Every feature that was important to me is here, but I have to admit that Sylvia picked the Fascinate and I just got really lucky.
A quick Google of the specs and I was totally on board.


We had always assumed that since we're Verizon customers, going to their stores and/or website would be the place to get the "best buy".
Nope.
The Big V still has the Fascinate at $200 each, plus you have to deal with a bunch of double-talk and poorly answered questions when it comes to your bill.
We expected an even worse experience at BB, but within 15 minutes the automatic doors parted and we felt like Bonnie and Clyde.
(Speaking of BestBuy...
Unlike a lot of people, I don't hate them.
It helps that I've never needed knowledgeable salespeople, although I fondly remember when you could go into any Sears and find someone in every department who had a firm grip on the facts. The internet, and before that catalogs and writing letters to the right people, worked pretty well.
When they have the lowest price on something I've already decided to buy, that's where I go).

Which would YOU choose--$400 or Free?
I guess Verizon will still make an obscene amount of money from our new data plans over the contract period, but all those pictures of Ben will cover more than 25% of it.
Don't even know what to make of the published MSRP of $600 each. As a portable media player, internet device, gaming unit, photo portolio, phone, vid/still cam, etc, they might be worth it.
As long as we don't go crazy and start spending money on endless downloads of content and apps that add to our monthly bill, it's a sweet deal.
Just being able to check weather radar before loading-out of a club has me excited, in the unlikely event that it ever rains here again.

My job right now is to figure out how to convert and transfer the music, movies, and photos we already own to the new devices.
Now that Sylvia has Angry Birds on hers, I probably have plenty of time.




PS: So far, the 5 megapickles camera looks pretty good. It actually focuses on specific things!
Hope I don't get sucked into the current iPhone wormhole of leaving my "real" camera at home and using apps to try and make art out of snapshots, but we'll have to wait and see on that.

LG EnV2 Problem Pictures Won't Display FullScreen

My new phone is a hand-me-down LG EnV2 on the Verizon Network.
I'm really happy to finally have a qwerty keyboard for easier texting during my loud rock shows, and the main LCD screen is pretty freaking sweet.
320 x 240 pixels inside a roughly 2" x 1.5" display--nowhere near my new camera's LCD by orders of magnitude, but it beats my previous phone all to hell.
For one thing, viewing angle isn't critical.
It's big and bright and the colors closely match what I'm used to seeing on my computer's Dell CRT.

A problem the previous owner had was that .jpgs of my pictures which were transferred to the phone via Micro SD card would only display really small, as seen in the photo below.

A rare few older pictures would go full-screen just fine, but the vast majority were tiny no matter what I tried.
Being clever, this phone's previous owner discovered that using the phone's cropping function would fix the problem. I don't normally approve of anyone altering my work, but at least the pics I took could be shown at a decent size even though cropped a little.
It was a functional solution, and Google searches never turned up a fix.
Of course it goes without saying that the owner's manual was no help.
Ask a Verizon or LG rep for advice?
Don't make me laugh.

*****Fast forward to yesterday*****

I like being able to whip out a few of my photos on a device that's already with me. Sometimes the conversation (or job opportunity) requires it.
You can make a sale or at the very least share some laughs.
I've been doing this with my old phone for years, but it's smaller vertical screen meant that most of my pics looked little and had to be viewed from a precise angle to match my original.
So I was highly motivated to make this LG EnV2 submit to my wishes.
And for once I had an entire day to sit at the computer with several graphic programs running so I could try every possible idea as soon as it came to me, while also learning how to navigate the phone better.

The EnV2's 2mp camera delivers 1600x1200 resolution, so I started there.
Then I tried going all the way down to the screen's native 320x240 pixels, with every possible size in-between.
Nope.
They all looked the same--tiny.
After that I used programs other than Photoshop to re-size my files.
Still nothing works.

I knew from looking online that 500kb was the file size limit, or else you have to crop in-phone, but I was using the exact files that have been displayed here at Views Of Texas which are usually around 200kb or less.
Hmmm...so what else is the phone's crop function doing?
And I kept going back to the random older photos of mine that would always display nice and big like I wanted.
What was different about them?

Then a little fact hit me--I started using the free version of Neat Image noise reduction many years ago to fix my old camera's high-iso and long-exposure noise problems, but after a little while started using it as a PhotoShop plug-in instead of a stand-alone program for more control over the final product.
And the random pics that displayed full-screen were all old enough to have been run through Neat Image after they had been through PhotoShop, instead of as a plug-in.

So, what else does the free version of Neat Image do to a .jpg besides tame ugly digital noise artifacts?
Well......it strips the camera settings file (exif data) that is automatically embedded inside every digital photo by the camera!

And that was the fix!


Seriously, this is a HUGE difference in view-ability.
I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one who cared enough about seeing their pictures as big as possible and also managed to find a way to make it happen on these popular phones.
What a dumbass thing, for always-embedded .jpg exif data to force the display to go all tiny unless you actually took the pic with the phone.
I'm still: Shocked. Pissed. Amazed.


Rather than run all of my photos through NI whether they needed it or not, I chose to keep them as close to the original as possible by simply opening them in PhotoShop and then using the 'Save For Web' protocol that I already knew would strip the exif data from the files.
Now there are a buttload of my pics looking good on the LG EnV2.

Even after a huge number of web searches I was only able to solve this problem through trial and error.
That's why this blog post's title reads like a Google search query--hopefully someone gets relief by stumbling into View's Of Texas.
It's a stupid design mistake on LG's part, especially since they didn't bother to pass it along to the owner's manual people.

I feel sorry for all the folks who want to carry around some snapshots and can't make their expensive phone do what it should without some big secret pain in the ass.


Did you know that there are moisture-sensitive stickers inside your cellphone's battery compartment?
They use them to diagnose problems and void your warranty whenever possible.
A small white circle around 1/8" in diameter with red crosses is how Verizon/LG do it.
The closer the circle gets to plain red/pink, the more excessive moisture you have exposed your phone to.
Before you take it in to be "fixed" (replaced at your cost) take my advice and remove the battery, open the charger and MicroSD card hatches, and place the phone in an open position in front of a fan for 24-48 hours to dry it's guts out.
If you're lucky, it didn't really sustain permanent damage.


***** UPDATE *****
While getting the EnV2 activated a few days ago I shared these findings with my Verizon dude, Ray.
He got a little excited because he's had the same problem and also has customers ask him about it periodically.
From his reaction I can assume that LG and Verizon either haven't figured out that there's an issue (hard to believe) or haven't figured out a solution (easier to believe).
Or if they know as much as I do, maybe they just don't care enough to pass this tip along because it makes their programmers look like idiots.
Seriously, this was a dumbass design flaw that makes absolutely no sense, which was why it was so hard for me to solve--I tried all the stuff that made sense first.

I would LOVE to know if this has been fixed on the new EnV3.
Guess I'll be visiting my buddy Ray soon so we can test one.

Fix It, For Good

Modern electronic items are disposable.
With the exception of many PCs (due to their modular, up-gradable design and excluding Macs) most TVs, cameras, DVD players, PDAs, PMPs, cellphones, etc are so tightly packed into their cases that it's impossible to locate defective parts let alone replace them.
If it isn't a software problem you're probably out of luck.

So do what I do--have some fun, vent your frustrations, and share it with the world.


This Motorola phone was a terrible device.
Compared to our LGs it falls off the bottom of my ratings chart.
So I chucked-up a 1/2" drill bit, clamped it in, and drilled it into oblivion.


Since the flash used in the first photo "froze" the spinning drill (you can see some flying bits of plastic) I used my workbench lights for this one.
Yup--all the way through!




Do Not leave batteries in whatever you're going to kill.
And especially don't leave something plugged into the wall!


Those nice holes give me a few options for step 2.

Any ideas?

Modelling Light Test

I've had this LG phone for 26 months and it has done all of it's jobs well.
But I'm overdue for a new one (FREE!) and am looking forward to it.
During gigs I text home a lot because of the volume at work, so I really want a qwerty keyboard.
My old LCD sceen wasn't bad for it's era, but the bigger new ones have finer resolution and your viewing-angle is less critical.

This photo was merely a test of the modelling light I added to my main flash/umbrella stand.
I built a lightweight bracket system that puts a standard light bulb near my flash head, for several reasons.

A) By shining a "hot light" at my umbrella I can easily see if it will be reflected anywhere on my subject. As soon as I started shooting this scene, a reflection of the umbrella showed up on the phone's screen and I was able to adjust my camera angle to eliminate it.
B) With the extra light close to the subject in my dimly-lit "studio" (it's a 75 watt standard bulb) autofocus was instantaneous, which is a big improvement compared to shining a flashlight on whatever I'm shooting to help the camera find focus in the dark. I'm able to use both hands on the camera, which can be important whether you're using a tripod or not.
This shot was handheld, and I really appreciated the added freedom.
C) I can actually see an approximation of what my flash will do, as far as angle and softness and placement of shadows. This is also a big help.

You might notice an orange-ish tint in the supposed-to-be-black background.
When I made the shutter speed long enough to get the phone's screen bright enough to suit my tastes it also allowed my new modelling light to affect the exposure's color-cast. My camera was white balanced for flash, and incandescent bulbs will appear very orange-ish at that setting.
Not a problem.
I have an on/off switch in-line with the light socket for master control, but digging into my supply of band lighting toys I can add ultimate convenience by also turning it on/off using a wired momentary button under my foot or employing a wireless system with a little keychain remote.

What I like best is that this whole project cost me zero dollars and does the job well.
Boxes of crap and parts come in handy sometimes.

More to come.....