So many epic days, but I haven’t been getting any shots. It’s been to rad to stop. Best day of the year so far? Whistler with 58cms overnight.
Here’s a shot of Barb at Apex. Sort of overexposed and not that well composed, but you get the idea.
Month: December 2006
Happy Birthday Zappa!
Actually, the 21st would have been Franks birthday, but tonight one of his offfspring (Dweezil) was in town with some members of the old band to relive some of the old man’s glory. How could I, a long time Zappa disciple, NOT go?
It was like the high school reunion I never had. So many faces from the past. Sort of eerie….
As for the show, well ….. I wasn’t expecting much. The body of work that Frank put out over the years is astounding in it’s breadth and depth. Not many musicians are interested in it, or even capable of it. I figured we see a sort of watered down representation of it, you know…”We’re Only In It For The Money” kind of vibe.
Luckily, I was wrong. The opening bars of Inca Roads slammed into me with a force that literally brought tears to my eyes. The band was a mixture of old band members like Napoleon Murphy Brock, Terry Bozzio, and Steve Vai along with many new faces that were chosen according to a strict selection process. Overwhelming to experience the raw talent of superb musicians striving to achieve perfection with such challenging material.
That’s Dweezil above, sounding so much like his dad, and below you’ve got Napoleon on sax and little Stevie on guitar.
Oh, and little Terry Bozzio, that cute little drummer…
Freeaking insane. Three straight hours of incredible music. I hear he’s coming back soon. It was too bad that some of his biggest fans weren’t able to see the show. Hame, Paddy, and Lump…..I was thinking of ya.
Merry Christmas, Eh?
A little Christmas cheer anyone?
I’m usually out of town for Christmas, but this year, Barb had to work the holidays so I got to tag along on the Christmas Lights ride.
This is just a bunch of old schooler Shore riders cruising the neighborhoods and checking out the light displays. There may have been some bottled cheer involved….
We only got about two blocks before we had to stop to “warm up.” These stops were pretty frequent. Hey, it was damn cold for Vancouver. This stop was in the woods, so we had a bit of a fire.
Good ole’ Jimmy Pattison. He’s not afraid to light up the neighbourhood. Too many people were all scared to put their lights on this year. A couple of winter storms and they get all freaked out.
Yes Dave, that’s a classic.
I got a new camera a little early for Christmas. These shots are courtesy of the Canon G7 Barb got me. So many new settings to try….
We tried to finish the night with a bonfire on the “beach” (a strip of undeveloped land on the North Vanouver industrial foreshore), but old man winter had other ideas. We got a headrush from trying to fan the blaze, but not much else.
So we left and rode across MacKay Creek. You can see Norona about to get his feet wet there. He’s the guy in the middle of the creek with a snowman attached ot his bars….
