ACL Festival 2007 - Fire and all...

Click on the pictures for a closer look.

So I managed to swing a wristband to the ACL Fest and while there I took a bunch of photos. I also took a few videos.

There was a fire at the festival and I got quite a few photos. Apparently some people were cooking and there was a faulty butane line. The fire ended up burning up a trailer and two 18 wheelers. Above is a pictures of the burned out Budweiser truck. This fire was not in the open public area but it was very close, as you can tell from the photo. There is a short video at the bottom that I took of the fire.

One of the favorites for me was the Gotan Project. The front man was very talented and made me crack up. There were three violinists, a pianist, a guitar player, a cellist, two DJs, a singer and an accordionist. You should visit their site http://www.gotanproject.com/ so you can get an idea of why they are great. The whole time everyone was dancing. I was up near the front and I was surround by young folk who were all fluent in Spanish. A couple behind me asked me where Bjork would be playing and I got out one of my maps and showed them. The lady then asked me if I had heard of the Gotan Project before and I said yes, she then asked if I understood what they were singing, and I said a little. :) I told her that I owned some of their music. She said that she was from Mexico city and had never heard of them. I think she was surprised that she had never heard of them and that I had. She of course has no idea what a music freak I am.

I also got to see M.I.A. and she was entertaining but I think the heat made the crowd a little lethargic. Her run dancing looked cool and funny at the same time. I haven't modified any of the pictures from her set yet. There were a lot of people to see her show as she has a new sound but also there are also political issues with her and they finally let her in the country.

Zap Mama was great and I was glad they moved them to a stage as opposed to the tent they were under two years ago, as they had a huge crowd and the tent wouldn't have sufficed.

I also saw Amy Lavere and she is very talented and her lyrics are a humorous and a bit dark. She can also slap that bass! I love that she wears a TCB - Taking Care of Business neckless. The video isn't the best quality but I am playing with this new feature. :)

Adam Hood put on a good show and I need to look at his site more so I can figure out which album to buy. He and his band have a good sound. Country rock, as it were.

I like taking pictures of people with reflective glasses as I try to catch what is in the reflection. In this case you can see the crowd watching him play.

I have never attached a video before and this was a little large. When I left Saturday night I stopped on Barton Springs, on the way to my car, to watch these guys. I enjoyed listening to them and was impressed with their home made instruments.

Read the bottom text of the sign. :) It says "Violaters will be towed to a place of Darkness and Tormanet!"" Heh.

~Elaine

Hola

Click to see some serious eye lashes. :) Luke loves cookies!

So it has been a little while and I am sitting on my couch trying to recall what I have been up to.

The day before labour day I drove to my parents and we had a big BBQ. All the kids were there, along with their kids, my aunt, uncle, cousin and her husband. Also, my brother's girlfriend was also there. Anyway, it was nice to see my dad in good spirits and a lot healthier.

The picture is of my sister's family. We took a walk while visiting my parents.

I went and saw a scary/campy movie about on labour day with David, Marsha, Cliff and Jennifer. The movie was much better than expected. I spent part of the movie covering my eyes and waiting for those watching the screen to stop groaning from what was on screen. That isn't to say that I miss calculated on occassion and saw entrails across the screen, but there you go. Black Sheep is a campy horror movie and be sure to have your volume on when you visit the site, you know, so you get the whole affect. http://www.blacksheep-themovie.com/

Outdoor soccer has started and I am thankful that most the paperwork has been completed and we have a good bunch of players, both as players and more importantly, people.

Marsha and I went out to eat the other night and that was nice. I mentioned to her that I am trying to be better about what I eat and then we ended up splitting a HUGE piece of chocolate cake and it was lovely. We then went to the Half Price Bookstore. It was fun. I then dropped her off and then hurried home as I had found a camera at the field the day before and the owner was meeting me at my house. It turns out that I know the wife of the person who left their very nice camera at the field. We talked a bit and he shared that he takes classes from Precision Camera so I am going to look into that option.

I babysat the other night. All four kids and it went well. I asked Amy how long the first movie was that she put in and she said at least 90 minutes. I had a feeling that wasn't the case so I read the back of the box and it was 34 minutes, then I read the other video's info, and it was a whole 11 minutes. Fortunately, the kids and I also had Hercules. Charlie, who had to work late, came home to Luke refusing to let Anna remove the first movie so we could watch Hercules. I was in the middle of asking Luke to use his words when Charlie got home. Heh. So Charlie and crew watched the movie for a while and then I ended up spending about 20 to 30 minutes throwing Luke and baby Cate onto the big bed, which was covered in pillows. They had fun. Then I ended up having to do that with all the kids, my back was a bit sore the next day but we had fun! I hung out until Amy got home and monitored Craigslist and managed to buy a last minute ACL ticket. I already had Friday off and so things fell into place.

I took a bunch of pictures at the festival and I will post some soon. Needless to say, last night I decided that three days at the festival was just too much so I didn't go today. They need more shade or to move it to October. I saw some great bands but when I go by myself I have a habit of walking all over the place when I should just settle and enjoy it all. I am thinking that next year I may go to some of the pre and post shows instead, as they are after dark = cooler and I suspect longer than a 45 to 60 minute set. We shall see.

Random thing to share, if you enjoy campy/cheesy movies, with action/spies and such, and aren't uncomfortable with a gay theme/love story, I so recommend D.E.B.S.. It cracks me up and it is PG-13. It is on TV right now and so I thought I would share. :)