Hello folks of The Farm. It’s been a couple weeks as last week, I just didn’t have anything. This week, isn’t much different but let’s see what can be done.

At the end of my rambling you’ll find a video that is my latest slide show. Yes, I’m using the blog to self promote. I hope I’m allowed that once in awhile. There are two subjects covered by that video. One is Street Photography and the other, a little more subtle, the point of my sub-title The Key Of C. In case you’re wondering, that’s the musical key the soundtrack is in. There’s a specific reason for that choice.

I’ve spoken before about what my parents gave me when I was growing up. Not speaking of material items here but what they put in me to help shape who I am. I’ve talked previously about my 3 main hobbies in life, model trains, music, and photography. At some points I’ve tried to incorporate one with the other or both to have all 3 a part of the current routine. I got my interest in all three mainly from my father. A better part of my later teen years were spent with all three of those interests as I was growing up. Many leave their childhood interests behind when they grow up and become adults. Some rediscover them in later years and dust off the old boxes from the attic. Well, for me, the boxes never got put in the attic and in fact were never packed. The biggest difference, when it comes to interests, for me now vs when I was a kid, is the toys are now more expensive. I’m not happy with the circle of train track tacked to a piece of plywood, the Layout fills my basement. I’ll show you all the trains and elaborate on that story another time. This one is about the music and the pictures.

Now, I hate posed pictures. That is, pictures of people standing either alone or in groups with some BS ‘cheese’ smile on their face. It may be fine for record of what they looked like at that given moment but that isn’t what interests me. Most of my family photos that I’ve taken are random shots. The people are usually either eating or talking and most don’t like the pictures I take of them. In other words, when it comes to people pictures, I prefer more of an interaction type photo. Even if they’re just walking down the street. Action, even if implied always makes for a better picture, in my mind. Of course Dad was always on to my game so any photos I have of him in later life, he’s giving me the one fingered salute. The pictures you will see in the video posted below, are just that. They were taken last weekend at a local street fair as people passed by, I just randomly clicked the shutter on my pre-focused camera as it sat on my lap. My friend was at the show selling her wares so I had a front row seat to the crowd as they walked by. None of them knew they were being photographed but this is something I do quite often when I go out to events where there are people. I don’t have any stills of them posted anywhere and I won’t but, for the first time ever, they are being shown, about 4 seconds at a time, in video form.

The Music- My father played an accordion as his main instrument. In fact, just about everything he ever played had a keyboard on it. However, only on the accordion could he play in anything but The Key Of C. That is, with a piano, organ, synthesizer, etc, it was always key of C (there are no black keys in the C scale). He always said his left hand was tuned to buttons on the accordion. Right hand, he could play anything in any key. I think in truth, he just didn’t care to learn to transfer it so everything we ever played together, unless he had the squeeze box out (as he called it), it was in the key of C. Every day when we would come home from work for many years (it seemed), I would flip on the amp, strap on the guitar, and he would later join me. We even had my sister in on the act playing drums (but that didn’t last very long) for awhile. One day, I let my folks in on the secret that I could sing a few bars as well. Remember a few weeks ago, I thought I was going to be a Country star out in California? This is in part, where that came from. Within a couple months, dad had built up a 4 track recording studio. That was something he always had an interest in, even as a kid. So, with microphones set up, we began to record music for all posterity. Once in awhile we’d let loose of some blues improv during which, my father always said, I was talking to him when I played. Truthfully, the blues was usually a jazzed up version of Amazing Grace or some other gospel tune to the point, the songs weren’t really recognizable but we had great fun playing them. Dad passed in 1999 but whenever I want to feel connected to him, I play, in the key of C, some music. I’ve set up my own recording rig now and that is how I am able to bring you the sound tracks on these slide shows. Sometimes the music and the photos are related, most times not. Sadly, those old tapes do exist, some were recorded over for other ‘projects’, but the machines to play them are long gone and beyond my scope of interest. For some of the sounds I use in my recordings, I always find myself going back to what my father would have liked. Personally, I think he had good taste but there aren’t many people who don’t like the sound of a Hammond B3 Jazz organ. Listen for it in the music. It isn’t exact, but it’s close, and I know he would have loved it. Mom would have been thrilled with me doing music again too. I had put it down for a little while but the ability to download lyrics without having to buy the song and write them out, has renewed a large part of my interest. None of my music is perfect or even close. In part, I do that on purpose to keep the youtube copyright crawlers away from my videos. In part, I just simply suck at some parts of it but they are necessary for the music. I’m not perfect, neither is my music 😉

Without further delay, I give you People Watching set to the tune, Drift Away. Enjoy and thanks for putting up with me on another Saturday.

to watch at YT  PEOPLE WATCH

See you next weekend with something else. Til then,

Peace.