Look What I Found in Blender Magazine…
Right Brain vs Left Brain
This is the craziest thing – and very cool! In this fun little test, if you see the dancer moving clockwise, then supposedly you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.
It says that most people will see it move counter-clockwise – which I find interesting. Evidently some people are also able to try to focus and change the direction. I wasn’t able to.
Oh, and their descriptions of both types are very good – they go a little deeper than the typical left brained are practical and right brained are emotional.
Can you guess which way I saw it turn?
Lukas Rossi at the Viper Room
I got the opportunity to shoot Lukas Rossi at the Viper Room last night for ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM, and it was such a great show!
Lukas is sounding better than ever. His voice has always been extremely expressive, but I think some of that got lost on TV. But live, on his own, with just a guitar and one other musician onstage, you really get the best of Lukas. It was a very memorable night!
I’ve Been Tagged!
The super-talented Denice Woyski tagged me over a week ago, and now I’m passing it on. It’s just for fun – list 8 things people probably don’t know about you, and then tag another 8 friends. It’s the Power of Eight!
Eight things about Cheryl
- I’ve never been drunk or tried any drugs.
- Despite my best efforts to simplify, I still own far too much clutter.
- I love my iPhone despite the first bill I got, which was $2000.
- I like a desk with NOTHING on it, except my monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
- I’m not over reality TV yet. I still love it!
- I don’t own a convertible right now, and it’s really rough…
- One of my favorite things is a room service cheeseburger at a $400 a night hotel!
- I still have all my old darkroom equipment and will someday set it up again. I love silver!
I am tagging:
- Allana
- Susan Yee
- Hillmama
- Phil DeFalco
- Elisa
- KTD
- Bouffe
- And I’m unofficially tagging brand new blogger, John Riedy. Heather and Kristine officially got to him first, but I figure he can use an extra link to his new blog, so there you go!
The real point of all this is to spread some link-love around and get Google to notice some of my friends…
INXS at Valley Center
As soon as I committed to going to Canada to see INXS in early July, they announced a handful of dates in California in late August. The very last show, for that leg of the tour was in Sault Saint Marie in July, and I was there. And the very first show, after a five week break, was August 24th at Harrah’s Casino in Valley Center, and I was there too.
The two shows were very different. Sault Saint Marie was a lot of fun – it was my favorite of the Canada shows – but it wasn’t that memorable. Valley Center on the other hand, was very memorable! I think time off is good for anyone, and it seemed to be be very good for INXS. Where the Sault Saint Marie show was a tiny bit slick and predictable, the Valley Center show seemed fresh. And JD was his saucy best that night. It was a serious turn on!
One of my East Coast friends came out for the concert and to spend a few days in San Diego, and we met up with some other friends at the venue. After the concert we wanted a drink, and as we headed to the bar we ran straight into Kirk and JD on their way to the elevator. Kirk made a quick exit, but JD was willing to be delayed, so I shot a few images with my iPhone as he interacted with one of my friends, but the casino was so dark, it was hard to get anything good. Other people started to notice him at this point, and a crowd was starting to form, so I wanted out – somehow being in a big crowd pushing toward a rock star is not my idea of fun! But before I went, I wanted to thank him, and he was listening intently to a guy drone on about the show. So I reached out and touched his stomach to get his attention and said “You were great tonight” and I intended then to move on, but he turned to me with this blindingly beautiful smile and said “Thank you” and then he pushed against my hand with his stomach muscles, making his abs ripple beneath my fingers. I just laughed, and said thanks, and slipped away. It was just such an aggressively flirtatious move, and it was fun! Somehow, every time I interact with JD I leave feeling really good. It’s a true rock star that can make that happen!
We then made our way to the restaurant, and soon after we saw Jon wander by alone. And when a fan stopped him, he was more than willing to stop and talk. More people approached and he ended up staying about twenty minutes, talking to people in the restaurant, until the band’s tour manager came and got him. I didn’t talk to him, I was happy at our table, but it was fun to see him be so relaxed and willing to just chat.
It was a fun night. The concert was one of the best I’ve seen, and after the concert wasn’t too bad either!
Studio Update
The studio is so close to being done! Floor, desk, shelves, cabinets, lights, more lights, fireplace, lots of appliances – I’m technically not renovating, I’m just “redecorating” – but it’s still pretty intense!
The new bamboo floor is installed – I did the first half myself, then hired a couple of guys to help me finish it the last day. It sounds so easy to just slide a wood floor together, but it’s harder than it looks and includes measuring, cutting, gluing – so lots of steps. I did a better job on the section I did alone, but it all looks great – even the parts that aren’t perfect!
My brother Michael installed the chandelier. I’m totally in love with this light fixture! It’s wrought iron and has drop crystals – but instead of cut glass crystals like a traditional chandelier, they’re rounded and very modern looking. Once the chandelier was up I had to get the wrought iron curtain rod and window scarf up on the window next to it, so I could see now how that corner finished. It’s one little corner – but it’s done – and it’s beautiful!
I just finished building a wall – a real wall with 2×4’s and dry wall and joint compound. It feels great to see something so permanent and know that I did it myself. I’m also building my kitchen counter – and that is truly an adventure because of the limited space I allotted for that area. It wasn’t a big priority for me, so it got a tiny corner, and it’s been tough making it all fit. But I think I’ve got it figured out. As long as I have room to get food and drinks ready for a party, I’ll be happy. Because I plan to throw a lot of parties – very soon!
I’ve also put together my little fireplace, and a little cabinet for the kitchen. And I have boxes with shelves and a chair – waiting to be put together.
My biggest project still mostly undone is building my desk. You can see the wood desktop I put together in the middle photo, leaning against the boxes. I wanted a very simple desk – almost a table actually. I don’t like clutter on my desk – and I didn’t want drawers. And I wanted real wood. Well all the desks I saw that I liked were over $2000 – and since what I want seems so simple, I figured it couldn’t hurt to try and build it myself? So I ordered some big farmhouse table legs online, and I had the perfect shade of pale blue paint custom mixed at Joe’s Hardware, and I glued together a bunch narrow boards to form the top of the desk. All that’s left is to put it all together!
And I had to include a portrait of my current best friend! I hate saws, I really do. I’ve been having dreams about cutting off fingers, etc., but.. this guy is so fast, so helpful, and because of him I’ve been able to do sooo much! So I’m grateful, but I’ll still be happy to say goodbye in a week or so…
A Day in Toronto With an iPhone
I spent a day in Toronto at the end of my trip with absolutely nothing planned – my favorite kind of day! I slept in, ordered room service, then hopped on a tour bus and let someone else drive me around the city, while I shot with my iPhone. I had fun playing with movement – the camera doesn’t have any settings to manipulate, but you can still get some fun stuff with moving subject matter.
If you look carefully at the images below, you’ll see when the bus went over a bump – because there’s a funky dip in the sidewalk. Or when other vehicles were moving fast, because the body of the vehicle gets stretched waaaaay out.
It was fun, and I saw a lot that day. I liked Toronto – it reminded me of New York City, and as the tour guide pointed out, that was partially because so much film production happens there, and the city often subs for NYC in the movies.
INXS in Canada!
Note: The first three photos in this post were shot with my iPhone – when you don’t have a real camera with you, it’s cool to have something, anything to shoot with – and the iPhone actually does a pretty good job! The last image was shot with a “real” camera.
As soon as my seminar in Atlantic City ended, I hopped on a plane for Ottawa. One of the members of RockBandLounge.com had arranged a BIG party at the Ottawa Bluesfest, the night INXS was headlining. She’d convinced them to give us a corporate box, complete with our own private bartenders, plus catering. I just couldn’t miss that!
I wanted to see INXS, but the real draw for me was meeting the Canadian members of the forum. Over the last two years I’ve become really close to some of them, and it was starting to seem really odd that we’d never met in person. It was just time to make that happen! And I wasn’t the only American who felt that way – we ended up with two of us from California, one from Seattle, one from Texas, and half-a-dozen from the East Coast of the United States – plus a lot of Canadians!
It was a magical night. The venue was really beautiful, and the sky though filled with storm clouds in the distance was completely clear over the concert. No rain at all! And so many people! The crowd was really huge, and soooo enthusiastic. It was my first INXS concert in over a year, so I really enjoyed it. Plus it was kind of fun to sing along to those songs with people that I shared Rock Star with – and who agonized over who INXS should choose, and would their “guy” win. They’re a passionate crowd – my kind of people!
And the tickets? They were printed with RockBandLounge.com on them! How fun is that? The girls above are two of my favorite Canadians!
The audience was invited to submit text messages that scrolled by on a big billboard on one side of the stage – and there were a lot of messages about our group. It was obvious we were having a lot of fun, and people noticed! There were messages asking if any of us were single, if we wanted company, and the messages got progressively saucier as the night wore on. Anyone with a General Admission ticket couldn’t get up to where we were, but people in the other corporate boxes could, and some of them left their own groups to come dance with us. It was that much fun!
Ottawa was great! We even went to high tea at the Fairmont Hotel – very, very classy!
And since I was going all the way to Canada, it made sense to go to more than one concert – there were three all within driving distance, so several of us planned to hit all three. But as the planning progressed, and the dates got closer, the thought of that much driving seemed like a bit much to some of the group, so we decided to fly instead. I was sort of looking forward to seeing more of the country, so flying wasn’t my first choice, but it turned out to be a smart decision, since we then had more time in each place to explore.
It was my first time on a tiny little plane – you know the kind you have to walk out onto the runway, and then climb stairs to get to? And there are only ten rows of seats? And they go bump, bump, bump, and knock, knock, knock? At first it was a little scary, but after I got used to it, I actually enjoyed it. Especially flying over the lakes – so much water you’d swear it was an ocean.
I had a front row ticket for Barrie, Ontario, and second row for Sault Saint Marie – so I definitely got my INXS fix! All of the shows were a lot of fun, but I think the highlight of the trip (after the socializing) might be discovering Sault Saint Marie.
If it didn’t get cold in Sault Saint Marie, I’d be seriously considering moving. Such a beautiful little town with a great concert venue, and a real downtown area with little shops, and lots and lots and lots of old houses that are in perfect condition, and wild flowers everywhere you look. I just have to keep telling myself that snow and ice and cold are coming, and it’s not always a perfect summer day there. In San Diego, it is pretty perfect all the time, so I’m definitely spoiled! But if it was summer year-round in Sault Saint Marie, I’d be very tempted…
I finished out my trip with a couple of days in Toronto – a very nice city – but Ottawa and Sault Saint Marie are so special, it’s hard for Toronto to compete in my mind!
Under the Pier
Just a quick note about the photography seminar I went to – one of the days was spent with a photographer I find really inspiring – John Michael Cooper. I shot this with my iPhone – its JMC and his wife Dalisa, working with a couple of models under the pier near the Trump Taj Mahal, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
I came away from his presentation completely blown away – he’s that good! I just love it when another artist can knock me out like that – it’s really rare, and wonderful. He was definitely the highlight of the whole week!
Trashing the Dress in Atlantic City
The hot trend in photography right now is something called “Trash the Dress.” Basically it’s a bridal session after the wedding, where the photographer and client can create crazy-beautiful images without having to worry about keeping the dress perfectly clean and unwrinkled. “Trashing the Dress” is a catchy name, but it’s usually a misnomer since it’s rare for the dress to actually be ruined. The dress may get a little dirty – or wet – or sandy – depending on where the session takes place, but even that isn’t necessary.
I attended a seminar for photographers in Atlantic City last week and a couple of the participants decided it was the perfect opportunity to put together this type of session. Twelve brides, over fifty photographers, and two TV stations showed up. It was a BIG deal – and a lot of fun!
We were divided into groups and “assigned” a bride – I got lucky! Sandy was beautiful, had a great dress, and was perfectly willing to get wet and muddy. The weather in Atlantic City had been muggy all day, and the fog was really low – it was beautiful and very different than what I’m used to in Southern California. Overall it was a great experience! And knowing the story appeared not only on the local New Jersey and Philadelphia TV news, but also on German TV made it especially fun!
And click here to see a series of images of Sandy playing in the surf – it’s huge, but in my opinion, worth it!
The local Atlantic City paper’s take on the event…
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/top_story/story/7490596p-7386114c.html