The little-heralded band The Buffalo Muttons Siblings was briefly unknown in the late 60′s as a rip-off of both The Cowsills and The Partridge Family. Driven by their money-hungry father, they recorded and released at least one single a week – all of which sank quickly past the bargain to the trash bin. After years of their dad’s crappy songwriting, the kids secretly wrote and recorded a protest song, Feelin’ Stabby. Sadly, he discovered and destroyed the tapes before they could be released. Afterward, he forced the family to record Simon and Garfunkel’s similarly-named song, which scored him a chart hit and record company bonuses. His kids got some extra TV time.

November 5, 2011. Kala Point, Pete Townsend, Washington.

What I did today: the Sixth [Mostly] Annual Kala Point Photo Exhibition. Lots of great photos to see, and folks dropping by to chat up. Mad props to Phyllis Wurscher for organizing the show.

January 29, 2012. Kala Point, Pete Townsend, Washington.

I put together this “ego card” for the Sixth Kala Point Photo Exhibit, using MS Project and the photo in the middle¹. As you can see, it’s dark and dingy, so I used Publisher’s simple editing tools to lighten it and bump the contrast. The contrast push made the noise more obvious, but this is a 4×6 print on inexpensive paper so it’s tolerable.

When I was done, I decided to run the original image through my normal workflow and ended up with the bottom image. The noise processing is impressive, except that it loses all of the brush-strokes in the paint and makes the photo feel sterile². Pushing towards perfection isn’t always a good idea.

¹This is a detail of a Japanese kite, similar to this one.
²Serious Artist Critique.

March 4, 2006. Fort Worden Kitemakers Retreat, Pete Townsend, Washington.

The tin-foil hat both protects his brain from attack and focuses his mental energy through his eyes. Here he’s fighting off a confetti monster from Sirkis IV that’s siphoning data from the ship’s network.

October 1, 2011. Kinetic Skulpture Race Parade, Pete Townsend, Washington.

Carli was just popping in for a quick drink at the Tiki Bar before heading back to the beach. Maybe she could get one with a cute little umbrella?

September 4, 2011. druid labs pnw.

“Maybe I shoulda left that rotten orange alone,” muttered Bruce. “Haven’t seen snakes this bad since the Pi Upsilon Kappa Eta¹ days.”

¹Yeah, it’s infantile. Frat-like, you could say.

August 7, 2011. Barbara’s garden, Chimacum, Washington.

You’re not here. If I don’t see you, you don’t exist. But for FSM’s sake, could you maybe wash your feet?

January 21, 2012. druid labs pnw.

A heavy supply wagon makes is slow way through the mountain passes. Two bloodied guards are all that are left after an earlier bandit attack.

September 10, 2011. Point Hudson, Pete Townsend, Washington.

Gulls check out the leftovers from a crabber. (As seen through our portable “telescope” – 800mm zoom!)

Larger image. Heavily processed!

October 17, 2011. Pete Townsend Bay, Port Hadlock, Washington.

Everyone knows who the rich kid is: the one with the year-round suntan.

August 14, 2011. Pete Townsend, Washington.