Picture This

Hello all - hope everyone's summer is off to a good start. I've been working on a writing project the past 4-6 weeks that's taking up most of my free time, but I wanted to pop in and let folks know I'm still around.

I also thought I would post something fun. The company I work for has an annual barbecue to kick off summer. This year, like more than a few others, we had a torrential downpour the day of the picnic. My colleague S and I raced outside, grabbed some food (which was excellent), and then raced back inside, dodging the nearly horizontal rain the entire way.

Needless to say all of the outdoor events were cancelled because of the conditions. Fortunately one activity was able to move inside: the caricaturists. A colleague mentioned where they were, so I trekked downstairs and waited my turn.

I had a fun chat about music with the artist as he worked; it turned out we had similar taste, which made the time fly as he worked. (He joked that his wife was going to throttle him when he came home with five new albums we discussed.) 

In any case, here's the end result (which I really like, incidentally):

And for anyone who's curious, here are the other two. First, from 2018:

And from 2015:

I never cease to be amazed at how talented these folks are. Can't wait to see what the next one looks like. :c)

Hope to have more posts in the (relatively) near future. Watch this space... 

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In keeping with the post's theme, a few picture-related songs for you.

First, a standout track from The Kinks, from their 1968 masterpiece The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society - "Picture Book":

Next, a great song from the Nineties, Filter's "Take a Picture":

And last but definitely not least, one of my very favorite songs from one of my very favorite bands - "Camera," from R.E.M.'s 1984 classic Reckoning:

Such a beautiful, haunting song, which Michael Stipe wrote as a tribute to his friend Carol Levy, a photographer who was killed in a car crash.

I saw R.E.M. perform this as their first encore on the Reckoning tour that year. The crowd was in a frenzy when they came back on stage; much to the astonishment of myself and my friends, they chose to play this, one of their quietest and most somber songs. And they pulled it off; by the end of the song you could hear a pin drop in the sold-out 2300 seat theatre.

I distinctly remember talking with my friends on the way home, and how impressed we were, to a person, that they knew exactly what song to play at that moment, and how they were destined for great things. And the rest, as they say, is history...

Cassidy Gets Caricatured

Thought I'd share something fun; Lord knows we could use it these days, right?

The company I work for held our annual summer barbecue today. The food was terrific, and the weather was perfect (70, breezy, and overcast - i.e. no sunburn risk for the cadaverous-pallored likes of myself). Even better, they had caricaturists there once again, as they did a few years ago. I sat for one for the first time in a few years.

For reference, this is from 2015:

And here is this year's model (to quote Mr. Costello):

Alice and Deanna were kidding me earlier this afternoon about the apparent growth of, er, "the girls" in the intervening three years; I advised them it was a textbook case of artistic license. :D

Anyway, it was a fun day, and I'll be picking up a couple of frames to hang these up this weekend. :c)

Have a pleasant Friday, everyone!

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Since I quoted Mr. McClanus earlier, I thought I should share a few songs from 1978's This Year's Model, the second in his amazing run of classic albums (from 1977's My Aim Is True to 1982's Imperial Bedroom). First up is a great live performance from the Capitol Theatre in Passaic NJ of "This Year's Girl":

And here's another from the same May 5, 1978 show; probably my favorite song from that album - "The Beat":

Man, were the Attractions an incredible band or what? Going to be listening to some EC this weekend, for sure...