Two days ago I got up to my alarm clock. I shut it off, and then was tickled by the thought that I technically don’t have to turn the thing on again until that last week of August. Yea for me 
Work for the Man has officially moved from ‘driver’ to ‘repairer’ (the Baritone Doctor …you know him and love him) and as a result I luckily get to set my own hours at work for the summer. Although that’s not always great (I like to procrastinate and set myself up for loooong days) it does mean that I can saunter into the shop and then leave at whatever time I need. I do of course have a quota to meet (the Baritones seem a little thick this summer too btw) but I can do them any day/time I choose …more or less. Sunday’s are nice for example ….ditto with weeknights. But yeah, the alarm is officially off.
This last weekend was sorta busy. Did some playing with King Muskafa and the Wafer Thin Mints …and also got to some outdoor shows. They sometimes call Edmonton ‘Festival City‘ (‘city of champions‘ too …but not lately) as there’s always something going on. The Works and the Edmonton International Jazz Festival are happening as I type – why everything is allowed to overlap doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me however …we only have so many ’summer’ days available, so we tend to jam everything into a small time frame and the result is an over-saturation that hurts both the performers as well as the shell-shocked audience. But they’ll keep jammin’ them in there though …I suppose. Much will be missed, as there’s only so much one person can see. This time around I saw my buddies Karen and Joel and also caught some tunes from Ian Alleyne.
Karen Porkka
Ian Alleyne
Joel Gray
As for the important question …the answer seems to be placebo. Yep, my study with the U of A Neurobiology Dept. came to an end today with my final fast/ultrasound/questionnaire/your-check’s-in-the-mail visit and it was revealed to me that I was actually on the placebo. That’s good news …sorta. Good because I feel less violated, but bad because I was hoping to use the anti-depressant as an excuse for not finding the motivation to get a bunch of music stuff done. Oh well …here’s to some nose-to-the-grindstone efforts in the near future.
As a creative plus however, I have been getting out more and more with the new camera and I really like the new (old) Nikkor AF 75-300mm lens I picked up recently. Extended it looks quite menacing, but it allows me to stay around 5 ft. back from my subject while still getting in close. This is nice for pictures of flowers with bugs on them. Yep, I hate bugs. Bees/wasps especially. Anyway, it also makes me realize I need to put some more effort into the actual shots – in particular, start using a tripod if I’m going to have the macro function engaged at all. Even in good lighting, the subject (while in a close-up mode) dances all around my viewfinder. A tripod will fix this …Im hoping. Here’s a sunset thingy taken a short while back …clicking on it will get you to my Flickr! site where I’ve posted a few other favorites.
Tomorrow is Canada Day too …maybe I’ll get a few fireworks pics? I really have no excuse not to seeing as my house is only blocks from the launching site. I’m sure I’ll find one though…
