I've got a clique but it's more like a family

The final blogging about the Pow Wow Festival.  Difficult to believe it has been almost a month already since I was in Florida taking these pictures.  Why is it that you plan things, daydream about how wonderful it will be, it comes and goes in a flash and you wonder.....where did the time go?  This is why I always plan to have things to look forward to!

I have 3 other shows coming up for which tickets have already been obtained.  One in late September, one in late October and one the first week of December.  Between those shows, my regular social calendar and the holidays, I'd say that the rest of this year is shaping up nicely.  That brings me to AFTER the holidays.  There's always that post holiday let down.  At least for me there is.  The buildup for Christmas with all the music, decorations, Christmas spirit, and the movies.  I am all about the Christmas movies and the holiday baked goods.  I LOVE to bake. 

But how could I have post holiday let down knowing that 311 day and the cruise will be coming up??  It just means I'm that much closer to those events.  I have been trying to decide which one I should go to.  My initial thought is obviously, hello...............BOTH.  But it all costs money and time off work.  We shall see.  It will work out one way or the other.  Things have a way of doing that.

With all that being said, below is the final series I have chosen from Pow Wow.  I had the most amazing time (as if you couldn't tell).  I met some cool people who I was able to connect with on Facebook and will perhaps encounter at future 311 events!  Most festivals probably result in the same fashion..meeting new people and maybe keeping in touch but I don't have anything to compare to since this was my first fest.  I think that overall though, 311 fans are just that great.  You can go to a show by yourself and leave with new friends.  That's why this entry has the title that it does which of course, is a 311 lyric.
 
Hopefully the next time I'm posting 311 images, they will involve Las Vegas and a cruise ship.

This little guy was at our campsite from day one

Ink

Ozomatli

The Riverspot

Moss

The Robot

Cool as the blue water all around

Rockstars

Rockin the flag

Hexum glow

From the VIP Lounge area

Water misting fans - the best thing to stand in front of in Florida's August heat

G.Love bassist

River spot launch complete with pool floatation device

Mid air

....and the finish

 

it's easy to do when you're up with Sexton

hands up

Nick

Tried to get one of these posters but they were all spoken for

Mandale

Cornhole

Champagne.  California on the brain.

I wanna make a mess

A rhythmatic genius

I call this one "The Hulk"

P-Nut in a Pow Wow hat

I wanna blow off stress

Just creatures for awhile

To all my friends, it's not the end....

 

Waiting for Irene

Since I have been absent most of this week I figured today would be a good time to upload shots from my memory card and take some new ones.  In anticipation of this hurricane, I thought I would share a few images that I took just today.  Lila and I are keeping each other company as we stay put in the apartment together.  She is always a good subject for more than one reason..she is photogenic and also very cooperative for my camera!

Early afternoon just as it started to spatter raindrops

This made me literally laugh out loud

I promise I'm not strangling her even though it kind of appears that way

Play with me and I'll love you forever

Garrett Dutton makes me happy

Just one photo today.  I am short on time and hope this week should be the last of my Pow Wow Festival photos.  Can't drag that out too long and I have other photos I have since taken that need to be shared as well.  I don't want to get behind. 

Today's photo is from, you guessed it!  Pow Wow.  This was Saturday, Day 2 of 311 and also the last night of the festival.  G.Love was coming out and I got down in front and met some cool people there.  I didn't anticipate staying in that spot for so long but I couldn't give up my 'real estate' knowing that people would crowd in as time went on.  I didn't want to fight my way back up front after leaving and be inconsiderate (you know, like those people who just push their way through, spill beer on people and don't care?  Yeah, that's not my style).

G.Love's set was almost identical to the one I saw a few weeks prior at Artscape in Baltimore which I blogged about here:
http://ashotfromthearm.blogspot.com/2011/07/artscape-day-1.html  
Man, I just looked at that blog entry and the images are almost embarrassing compared to the Pow Wow images.  I guess I just have to chalk it up to the fact that I did what I could with my short lens at night time and then cropped most of them so they're even grainier than normal.

Anyway, Garrett rocked it out at Pow Wow and he (like everyone else) was sweat covered.  He jumped into the crowd a few times and people in my section (including me) reached out and touched him.  At first I thought, that was awesome, I'm never this close!  Then I thought, sweat.....ew.   He ended up tossing out his harmonica into the crowd and the girl right next to me got it.  She was about as tall as Snooki from the Jersey Shore and I'm 5'10" so I'm not sure how that happened but whatever.  Would've been cool to have the harmonica I photographed him using.  Next time I'll just have to be more aggressive.

More later!

Sunset in Manhattan

Not much to write about today and the title speaks for itself.  I shot this through a hotel window at sunset.  Amidst the chaos of New York City, it can still look so peaceful which is what this photo displays to me. 

A peaceful image on a lazy Sunday. 

Brothers Past makes you rage your face off

Last night I went to a local show with some friends to see a band called Brothers Past. 
Check them out here: http://www.brotherspast.com/

It was my first time seeing them live and it was a super fun time.  I plan to see them again and frankly, wish that I had seen them long before last night.  Good energy, nice beats, and all around enjoyable.  I'd be surprised if someone could listen to them and not tap along or if you're in the car...."car dance". 

Part of the fun for me at shows is to observe other people.  It's great fun and nice to see people in their groove and the moment.  There was one guy in particular last night who was just totally and completely RAGING.  Not just here and there but the entire time from start to finish.  It was awesome! He just did not care about anything other than the music, being there, and rocking out.  I told my friends in the middle of the show, "I'm blogging about that guy tomorrow". 

If only I had my camera with me last night to photograph the guy. I'm pretty sure that any image of him would've been blurry even on a higher shutter speed. He was like the human version of the Tasmanian Devil.

So I thought of what image I could use to sort of correspond with the theme here and this was the best one.  It is yet another shot from Pow Wow.  I got this guy with the dreadlocks "mid headbang" and those things were flyin'. 

Bad moon rising

I caught some of the Lebowski cast reunion's live stream last night which was pretty cool.  I heard someone from the audience shout "eight year olds, Dude" when John Turturro was speaking.  It was humorous.  I didn't know this, but the scene at the bowling alley where his character 'shines' the bowling ball?  The shining wasn't part of the script but rather John Turturro's added flair, so to speak. 
I love fun facts.

Today's image is another from the Pow Wow Festival.  The moon was photograph worthy and I had my camera (obviously).  So when I decided to share this as the photo for today, I immediately thought of the song Bad Moon Rising by CCR.  Which made me think of one of the many fabulous Lebowski quotes:

"Wouldn't hold out much hope for the tape deck though. Or the Creedence." 

Stranger flowers yet, there will never come a day that I will ever regret

It's 8/16/11 so of course I'm referencing '8:16 am' off of 311's album Grassroots.  I still have a ways to go in sharing images from the Pow Wow Festival.  I had planned to include 8 photos today, but I decided why not double that and make it 16 instead?

So here we are, more 311, and more of my chatter about how badass they are.  If I ever need a pick me up, to pull myself out of a funk, some workout motivation, or just want to rock my face off, the iPod dial turns to them.  Or even if I'm in a perfectly fine mood, it's probably still turning to them especially lately because I'm still amidst my Pow Wow "afterglow" as a friend recently put it. 

One of the focuses in their musical catalog is staying true to yourself, being positive, and loving what you've got in life...and I can get behind that 100%.  Everyone has daily battles.  No matter how large or small, they are still battles that we have to overcome.  That's part of the journey and what makes us stronger and wiser.  I completely believe that we have the power within us to make the most of a situation.  It's mind over matter.  You have to take a bad situation and turn it into something positive.  Otherwise, you will just drown and what good is that?  Negativity accomplishes nothing except more negativity.  If you are positive and thankful for what you HAVE been blessed with, then that positivity spreads to those around you.  These days it saddens me to see what people have been consumed with in this world.  Money, possessions, worldy things.....you can't hug a Lexus or a bank account.  It's family, friends, relationships.  It's people.  It's who leaves a mark on your heart.  It's someone who will be there for you no matter what.  My dad said this to me when my grandfather was in hospice.  He said, "it's family that matters.  You can't take a Cadillac to heaven." There wasn't one minute that my grandfather was in that room alone from the time he was admitted until after he passed away there.  One of us was always with him and he knew it.  That's love. 

Another tangent, but it still relates back to the message that 311 puts out there. 
Know what's important. 
Be happy. 
Stay positive and love your life.

With that, here are some miscellaneous images from Pow Wow.  I was glad to capture the first shot there.  This girl's smile made ME smile.  I wish I knew who she was so I could send her a copy.  This entry is a little heavy on Nick and P-Nut images, but who cares?  I'd be sharing them eventually.  I hope you enjoy viewing the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Radiant

Tiny little fellow

In the moment

Pow Wow banner

glo

our campsite flag

quiet Sunday morning at the river spot

Dreadlocks and water bottles

Beat that thing

Nick with mic

SA

Hexum action

Two peas in a pod

Group drum solo and Tim in hiding

Nick was too sweaty for the tank top I guess

P-Nut engaging the crowd at the end of the first night