Thursday, February 18, 2010 | by nathan

Loud and Clear

Some amazing video by Tanner Herriott from Saturday night’s show. For the full-on awesome, click over to YouTube and watch them in 720p Hi-Def:

In addition to being awesome, these videos make me covet a digital SLR that can do high-definition video. Canon just introduced its new ti2 digital SLR, capable of recording 1080p High Definition video in 24, 25 or 30 frames per second and snapping 18 megapixel photographs. My absolute favorite thing about it, though, is that unlike other cameras with these features, this one might actually be within my price range. It’s possible I will reward myself for reaching 30 with a one of these cameras.

At any rate, enjoy the videos. Buy Orchid when it comes out on March 2.

Monday, January 25, 2010 | by nathan

The Quiet Place

Hey there, Internet Website! How have you been? Good? Replacing your diaper every time a new Apple Tablet rumor makes you evacuate in your pants? So glad to hear it; me too.

Me, I’ve been busy. I’ve been thinky. And then, this weekend, I’ve been lazy. Which is to say that my work life currently threatens to overtake my life me. The two of them are fighting so much that I’m about to pull this car over and give them both the frowning of a lifetime.

And so, to that end, I took Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, a week ago, and spent some alone time at one of my favorite spots on Earth, Red Rock Canyon State Park in western Oklahoma.

It was temperate, and mostly cloudless. The best part, of course, was that it was almost entirely deserted, it being January and all. That, and all your better Americans were out celebrating Dr. King’s birth by – I dunno – cleaning up a park, or registering voters. Me, I was out in nature with The Jesus. We totally didn’t contribute to the National Day of Service. But we also didn’t litter, so.

Anyway, I just needed some fresh air. The drive out to Red Rock – or at least, the way I go – is breathtakingly scenic, at least for people who love the plains as much as I do:

Someday I dream that that will be the view from my house. Perhaps without the concrete piping and the cell tower wires. But you get the general. Along the way I also met a very friendly herd of buffalo:

They were watching me like hawks, but in general they were pretty nice. I think it was because this guy was with them:

That drive really is gorgeous – you go out state highway 152 to Binger and then up to the Canyon, just south of Hinton. Listen to your best road trip mix.

Anyway, once I got there the stillness of the canyon proved to be exactly what I needed. I sat for awhile, read, prayed, was quiet. It was the perfect way to spend an extra day off work. The best thing – or at least, one of the best things – was the smell of the evergreens that grow all over the canyon. When I was a kid I used to get a rash when I touched them, but I never could stay away because of how they smell. I love them; it’s the smell of home, for me:

I’ve been going to this canyon since I was a little, little kid; I grew up just 20 miles away from it. It’s a little further away now, but I learned how to rappel here, I’ve hiked every inch of the trails, and I once ran afoul of a rattlesnake, though I got away just fine. I learned a lot about geology here. And when I’m stressed, or sad, or just needing to go to the Quiet Place, the Happy Place, this is the place I picture myself. Just thinking about it, I can almost smell the cedar trees. What’s your place like that?

Monday, December 28, 2009 | by nathan

First Car

We’re testing out the new wireless printer/copier/scanner my brother got us for Christmas, and by way of testing the wireless scanning capabilities we scanned this photograph of Brian’s first car. It’s a beaut, huh? He sold it when he went to college because he was afraid he wouldn’t have the time to dedicate to its upkeep. That’s a shame. My first car, on the other hand, was a 1981 BMW 320i; it cost $2500 and puttered out on me after just over a year. It had a manual sunroof and would die if you weren’t gassing it; lots of fun when you go to a high school with 2,000 students, all of whom are trying to get home at 3 p.m. out of two exits. I did love that car, though; there’s something so magical and freeing about your first car. I remember I spent every day between my 15th and 16th birthdays thinking, "When I can drive I’m so outta here."

And you know what? When I finally got my license in October of 1996, I was so outta there. I didn’t take off on some grand road trip, but every trip to the store, every stop off at the library, every friend who needed a ride home was a little bit more freedom and control, another mile closer to finding out who I was, whatever that meant. God, I loved it. Now I just have road rage and self-righteousness, although I do have a car I love and have been driving for a decade. Still, nothing compares to your first car, does it? What was your first car?

Thursday, December 24, 2009 | by nathan

Snowstorm on Cleveland Street

Okay, I don’t actually live on Cleveland Street. But:

1) the main character in my favorite Christmas movie did, and

2) my neighborhood is called Cleveland, so.

Anyway. A Christmas Carol from (a) Cleveland Street:

Silent Night:

Windswept night:

We are trapped:

In the worst snowstorm anyone in Oklahoma has ever seen:

And it took Brian five and a half hours to get home from work:

But he’s home safe now, and we have power and warmth, and we’re going to my mom’s house in the morning, instead of tonight. Praying for everyone stuck or broken down or car-wrecked out in the snow this evening. And the snow makes our house look pretty with all the lights on.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace. Amen.

I hope your Christmas and New Year are happy, safe, and filled with delight and wonder.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 | by nathan

City of Blinding Lights

Laurie snuck a point-and-shoot camera into the concert, and so pretty soon I’ll have the benefit of getting to see some better photos from the show, but as you probably noticed, I was stuck taking pictures with my phone. It’s fine, the iPhone takes a decent photo every now and then, but the maddening thing is that once we got into the inner circle I looked around and saw no fewer than a half dozen people with digital SLRs, many of them the exact same model I’d left at home. It seems that once upon a time I let Tina Turner’s 700-pound head of security put the fear of God in me about taking cameras to shows, and now I’ve got an entire psychological complex about it. From now on I’m totally just going for it. SO WATCH OUT, ROCK STARS – I’m coming to steal your souls whether you like it or not.

And anyway, the whole prohibition on taking photos at concerts is ridiculous. Everyone has camera phones now – photos from concerts are going to end up online. Period. If these rock stars were smart they’d sell "photo passes" along with their tickets – $15 to bring in whatever camera you can lug in. In this day and age it’s good word of mouth. It’s not going to hurt DVD or ticket sales; if anything it would drive them. At any rate, I’m totally kicking myself for having such great seats to this show and not nutting up and sneaking my camera in like I did last year at Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at the Zoo Amphitheater.

Thursday, August 13, 2009 | by nathan

The Right Side of 6 a.m.

I have a friend who says that if she wanted to see a sunrise, she could just videotape a sunset and then watch it in reverse. In general I’m a fan of this line of thinking; who needs early mornings? Unfortunately, it seems, I do, as I’ve gained a bit of weight this year, and so every morning finds me struggling to drag my carcass out of bed and make it to the gym to do that thing … oh, Jeez, what’s it called … exercise. Move around. Turns out? It helps. Only the problem is you have to do it every day. I mean, we all know someone who smoked and drank every day of their lives and lived to be 98, but you have to assume this won’t be you. And as I have a few plans that involve not having to buy new jeans anytime soon, there I am, every morning.

I actually rather enjoy going. Which is to say, for me, that I try to keep a positive attitude about the whole thing. The other day when we pulled up in the morning, there was even more to enjoy:

Now. I enjoys my sleep as much as the next, and while a sunrise in and of itself will never be reason for me to see the non-dreamy side of 5:30 a.m., this did make it all worth it:

I’m not sure what they’re building down there, but there is a lot of construction, and I really loved the look of those cranes silhouetted against the sky.

Monday, June 8, 2009 | by nathan

People, Dancing

We had a wonderful time at the Okemah Jazz Festival over the weekend. The music very rarely became even jazz-adjacent, however, which is fine. We got to hear Susan Herndon play, which was nice as I’ve heard her name, seen ads for her shows, and yet somehow never actually encountered her music:

My favorite part came during the act that followed Susan. They were a sort of soul/R&B/rock and roll group, and it wasn’t their music that made it the best part of the afternoon. Their music was fine, but the part of the show that had me enthralled was that I got to watch people dance, which is always a great thing to do. They were constantly calling on the crowd to come down and make use of the expanse of empty grass in front of the stage:

Now, I’m usually the kind of person that would rather die before I’d get up and dance by myself in front of a bunch of people. Be it at a bar, a wedding, a bar mitzvah – I don’t care, I don’t want to be the first person on the dance floor. Part of this is my natural aversion to being on stage or having people look at me in any way. But another part is that I don’t want to take away from what’s going on with the music; I don’t want to distract audience members away from the band. This lady didn’t have a single qualm about doing it, though; she’s living her life to the fullest:

She was the first one to start dancing, and after a few songs she was joined by a few other people. This lady in particular seemed to be enjoying herself:

I ran this photo through the "Seventies" filter in Photoshop, because, well – the haircut. Anyway, don’t tell me that if someone told you that this photo was taken in 1979 that you wouldn’t believe them. I kid, but seriously this lady was having a great time. Best among them all, though, was the little girl who danced down front during the whole set. We later found out she was the lead singer’s daughter:

Adorable, right? Seriously, keep on the watch for this one. She had the moves and was a natural performer. She’s going to be famous one of these days and I’m going to get a cease and desist order telling me to take down this photo.

These people were having a great time dancing, and though I was too self-conscious to join them I did have a grand time watching. I got to sit there with my Frozen Rose, which is this wonderful concoction they have at Grape Ranch that’s basically a red wine smoothie (I think we’ll be drinking them in Heaven). Seriously, those things are the best; they give you a neat little buzz and keep you cool. So even though I didn’t get up and dance, I have absolutely no regrets.

Thursday, May 14, 2009 | by nathan

Storm Color

Brian got home from out of town last night, and the plan was to get together with friends and watch the Lost season finale (AND OH MY GOD CAN YOU BELIEVE IT OH MY GOD OH MY GOD). For over an hour before it started, however, there was the customary wall-to-wall weather coverage that is a part of every Oklahoman’s life in the spring. Usually this is fun, but here we were talking about freaking LOST, people! Brian and I cleaned up the house a bit and then got hung up watching the evening rerun of the Simpsons until our friends arrived. They dragged us outside to look at the clouds that were forming ahead of the storm, and I’m so glad they did, because check these suckers out: 

The local station did leave its weather coverage precisely at 8, and we got to see the first 75 minutes or so of Lost before the National Weather Service declared a tornado warning in Oklahoma County, at which point we were cut off again. We were bummed – pissed even – but then we just started MST-ing the weather coverage and though I’m sad I had to wait until this morning to find out what happened to the castaways (OH MY FREAKING GOD), I have to say I don’t know when I’ve had more fun watching weather coverage.

Thursday, April 30, 2009 | by nathan

We Interrupt This Interruption

I’m back from my blogging break soon. Brian and I are celebrating our four-year anniversary today and spending the next few days at Black Mesa.

Still trying to figure out why I have a blog; don’t worry, I’m not deleting it or giving up or anything, just trying to figure out where it fits into the rest of my writing life. I’m writing new GCN columns and it’s some of the most challenging, rewarding and best writing of my life. In general I’m inspired lately; trying to make sure the blog gets its appropriate share of that without taking over.

And given that I’ve received no fewer than half a dozen requests to talk about the whole Miss California-Perez Hilton thing, I may have a go at it, though I have to say, I don’t have much nice to say about either Perez Hilton OR Miss California, so.

In the meantime, comedian Paul Scheer (you may know him as Donny the Head Page from 30 Rock) visited the Michael Jackson Auction and came back with photos that might make it hard for you to sleep for the next week or so. Click the photo for more because OH MY GOD.

Friday, October 3, 2008 | by nathan

I Almost Surrendered A Very Expensive Camera For This, So You’re Going To Watch It And Enjoy It

I haven’t had a chance to write about the show yet. The main reason for this is that the show blew my face off so hard that I’ve been slowly reconstructing it from old bits of hoof – that’s why it looks that way – and part of this is because after the concert I had to get up at 5 a.m., fly my happy ass back to Oklahoma City, go pick up Sam at Jaye and Laurie’s, spend an entire day at work, then head to my mom’s house for fried chicken and a vice-presidential debate.

Mom & I had a great time in Kansas City, which is a much cooler town than I’ve been led to believe. We got there, picked up the rental car and checked into our hotel, before heading downtown for a fantastic meal at an Irish pub across the street from the Sprint Center. It was the first time I’ve ever had Shepherd’s Pie in America, and it was delicious.

I’d been racking my brain for ways to sneak my digital SLR into the show. My opportunity came when our rental car’s Garmin unit came prepackaged in a tiny little duffle bag, just the size of your fist, that had the word GARMIN stamped in big white letters across it. So I took the lens off the camera, stuffed it into one of the zip pockets inside mom’s purse, and put the body of the camera in the little GARMIN duffle bag, then put that in her purse, hoping security wouldn’t open it. They didn’t.

The show – wow. The show. Started with Tina singing a few bars of "Get Back" by the Beatles, then the curtains opened, and – well, I’ll let the photos show you the rest. I was happily snapping away through the first two songs, and then right at the beginning of "River Deep – Mountain High" a GIGANTIC dude came over, pulled my head down, and whispered in my ear that he was "head of security for Tina Turner." He informed me that this was my one warning and that he didn’t want to see my camera again.

That’s the sound of me pissing my pants.

Mom and I kept an eye on him the rest of the show, and I took photos when I could. By the end, though, he and the ushers were really skulking around trying to catch me, and I’d made up my mind that I’d rather surrender the camera itself than the photos – if he came back, I decided, I’d pop the memory card out and I’d SWALLOW that mother if I had to; luckily it didn’t come to that, though my picture-taking really sorta petered off after that. By "Proud Mary" I felt like there was pretty much a constant eye on me from somewhere, and so a few of the photos near the end are taken from my iPhone.

The show was about what you’d expect: a collection of hits, the standard dancers, tons of pyrotechnics. At one point they physically built Thunderdome on the stage and essentially re-created a scene from that movie, which was one of my favorites as a child. Following an intermission she and her band did something I wish they’d do more of: sat and did a short acoustic set, just sitting and singing. It ended with Tina flying above the crowd – and directly above mine and mom’s heads – on a freaking crane.

At any rate, it was an amazing, amazing show, and you may not be a fan of Tina’s music, but you’ve gotta hand it to someone who can be 68 years old and still doing this: