Flag Girl, FFF #28

Flag girl, originally uploaded by philputnam.

A late Friday Foto, but we’ve had a busy day. Here’s a shot from last night’s festivities. And a bonus photo of the fireworks. I’ll have more of these types of shots on my Flickr page.

Happy Birthday USA!

Saturday Night in Texas, FFF #27

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Saturday Night in Texas, originally uploaded by philputnam.

This shot was quite a challenge, very low light, but I wanted to capture a Texas evening in action. Another shot of Greune Hall, the oldest Dancehall in Texas. One of my favorite songs by Lyle Lovett is titled, “That’s Right (You’re not from Texas)”. One of the lines says,

“At a Dancehall down in Texas
That’s the finest place to be
All the women there are beautiful,
and their men will buy your beer for free.”

The chorus goes on to truly define Texas hospitality:

“That’s right, you’re not from Texas,
That’s right, you’re not from Texas,
That’s right, you’re not from Texas,
But Texas wants you anyway.”

Friday Foto Fun 26

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Greune Hall, originally uploaded by philputnam.

OK, back in the saddle again. It’s been too long, and I have a ton of photos to process, but I’ll try to keep it up. I’ll probably be posting many of them on my Flickr page and my dusty old photoblog.

Took a great trip with my lovely bride for our anniversary and went to the Hill Country of Texas, a truly beautiful part of the country. This is a shot of the exterior of Greune Hall (pronounced “green”).

(From Wikipedia) Gruene Hall was built in 1878 in the town of Gruene, Texas, which is now a part of New Braunfels. Billing itself as the oldest dance hall in Texas, Gruene Hall has played host to such acts as Willie Nelson, George Strait, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett, James McMurtry and the Old 97′s. It was also used as a set for Michael (film), starring John Travolta.

God is in control…

I was scheduled to be returning from an overseas trip today, but it was postponed two days before takeoff. I was disappointed, but not really upset. I figured there must be a good reason for it. One of the places we were supposed to visit to shoot video was Lebanon.

Beirut, specifically.

But a State Department Travel Warning put an end to that trip. Now, on the day I was supposed to be going to the Beirut Airport to begin my travels home, I see why the trip was called off.


Here’s the important part:

Lebanon is in turmoil again today, but this time the turmoil is clearer than it has been in the past. As things stand right now, members of Hezbollah are thugging their way through the streets of Beirut, setting fires, fighting, and dumping piles of dirt and trash in the roads in order to shut down the city. Most importantly, Hezbollah has closed the highway that connects Beirut to Lebanon’s major airport. (emphasis mine)

So bottom line is, God is on His throne, and I’m just fine following His lead.

This Day in History, 1975

Friday Foto Fun 25

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Rainbow over El Morro, originally uploaded by philputnam.

This was from a trip to Puerto Rico. We were preparing to shoot an interview overlooking El Morro (the fort in the background) when a brief morning shower came through. As we were resetting the equipment, this full rainbow appeared.

I hope you enjoy a nice weekend. The weather is finally a beautiful 70 degrees for highs and lows in the 50′s. Glory.

Here’s something scary for Halloween

From this Washington Post article:

Gabby eyed the Sexy Super Girl but decided against it. A friend at her Catholic school had worn that costume for a Halloween parade and pulled the already short miniskirt way up to cover her tummy. “That didn’t look very good.” But Gabby did like the Aqua Fairy, a vampy get-up with a black ripped-up skirt, black fishnet tights and blue bustier that comes in medium, large and preteen. A medium fits a child of 8.

No.

How about the Funky Punk Pirate Pre-Teen, with an off-the-shoulder blouse and bare midriff?

No.

Gabby pointed to the Fairy-Licious Purrrfect Kitty Pre-Teen, which, according to the package, includes a “pink and black dress with lace front bodice and sassy jagged skirt with tail. . . . Wings require some assembly.”

Cheryl Cirenza shook her head in exasperated disbelief. “This is all so inappropriate. It’s really disturbing,” she said, eyeing a wall of such girl and preteen costumes as Major Flirt in army green, the bellybutton-baring Devilicious and a sassy, miniskirted French Maid, pink feather duster included. She’d just turned down her 13-year-old daughter’s request for a Sexy Cop outfit. “When I was their age, I was a bunch of grapes.”

The positive thing about this is that there are parents who are saying no, but apparently there are plenty that aren’t. What are my daughters going to face in 6 years? Hopefully the culture is shifting back from the unlimited permissiveness of the last generation of parents.

One Sentence TV Reviews – Jon and Kate plus 8

The only thing cute about this show is the title.

Headline of the Day

I love this one:

State report concludes Texas has too many reports.

Friday Foto Fun 24

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Radio Flyers, originally uploaded by philputnam.

Another long gap between FFF’s. Here’s my two oldest. My youngest just turned 1. How’s everyone else doing? Anyone still bother to check this page out, continually let down?

We’re ready for fall here. I always hate September in Texas. I always think it should be cool, at least in the evenings. It never is, and that always really bugs me. But hopefully a couple more weeks and we’ll be highs in the low 80′s and lows in the low 60′s.

This is the season I always miss Kentucky the most.