One drink too many and a joke gone too far.

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noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:38:00 +0000

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noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 06:19:00 +0000

On February 12th, 2010, it snowed... again. I have seen more snow in Alabama over the last few weeks than the last decade. Most people hate it, but I do not. I even went out and played in what snow we had. No, the above photos are not of me thrashing about on the ground trying to make my cripple snow angle look like he had not just fallen from the sky. The photos are just what was out there. They span all day ending with one really nice sunset.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:07:00 +0000

Since it was bitter cold, damp, and gray day, I decided to go on a photowalk. You may have noticed that I did not go alone.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 09:18:00 +0000

I don't remember when we were last above freezing. The above photos were taken a few days ago. I believe it was day five below freezing. The photos are of ice from our pet's outside water bowl; I knock the ice out of the bowl and refill it.

It has since snowed... sort of. We were not lucky here*. We got a dusting of snow, but it was enough to cause driving problems. Basically, black ice.

Everybody has been pretty much frozen in place since this "cold front" has come through. Monday, we will probably breach freezing and rid ourselves if any kind of ice problems. School should resume. Life should resume.

* Lucky is relative. The slight snow did not cause any troubles. There's the luck, but the flip side, the bad luck, is that there wasn't enough snow to cause any joy, any fun times, any play time, etc. The last time I was able to build a snow man was back in '94 I believe. That's a long time ago.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:40:00 +0000

'Tis the season. I went over to my friend's Saturday night and took some photos of their tree and Mother Mary shrine. Most are long exposure stuff because of low light. Plus I like the "glow" that longer exposure gives. See if you can spot the photo where my friend Melissa, aka the ghost of Christmas present, jumps into a shot.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:29:00 +0000

It snowed. No, I'm serious. It really snowed tonight. It did not stick, of course. Chunks of snow did fall from the sky, and I took the above photos. Most are night landscape slow exposure stuff, but a few are just random flash shots, which did capture the snow orbs. Snow orbs are the souls of recently departed pets. Mostly hamsters. No? Okay, they're just chunks of snow caught in the flash like dust but bigger and more Catholic.

Seriously, all the above photos were taken tonight. The difference between the rich night shots and the snow orb shots were exposure and flash. I'm just as shocked as you are.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:44:00 +0000

The Christmas Tree. The last photo was the tree about 75% decorated. Also, I may have tinkered too much in Lightroom with the photo. Oh well. 'Tis the season to tinker.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:50:00 +0000

We had some active weather today. It was severe in places, but didn't last too long here. After the storms had passed at sunset, I went out and took some photos. Some are a bit out of focus (soft in places), but it was low light situation and I did the best I could with a longer exposure. I'm thinking that because clouds are in motion, they tend to get a bit soft.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:15:00 +0000

Went on a photowalk today. The mosquitoes were so horrible, but I think I got some good photos today and video in spite of them. In the photos above, you'll notice I got some shots of the sun being reflected by clouds. I also followed some bees around as they went from flower to flower.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 03:08:00 +0000

The power went out earlier tonight during a thunderstorm so I took some photos of traffic through a window.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:23:00 +0000

Nothing like surprising some cats and kittens in the middle of the night with some extra cat food and a camera flash.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 05:12:00 +0000

Just some shots I took the other night when it was foggy. In a few of them, you can tell I caught some traffic on the road.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:13:00 +0000

Went on a photowalk today in the rain, taking tripod and umbrella with me. Had to pause at one point and wait on some lightning to die down. Holding an umbrella and a tripod at the same time didn't seem like the best of ideas.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:53:00 +0000

I took some photos today, some at my grandmother's house. I learned that there is an unpainted ceramic rooster named Elvis, and that, for some unknown reason, I can not take a good photo of my cat, Baby Girl.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Removing Belief or When Satan's Cheerleaders Get The Power

With the exception of a trailer for a movie named Satan's Cheerleaders and a clip from a safety video named Shake Hands With Danger, everything else in this video is supposedly real. Strippers, clowns, two different documentaries on Satanism featuring Anton LaVey and footage of an exorcism are all clumped together in this one.

Satan's Cheerleaders 1977, starting Yvonne De Carlo, link at IMDB. Yes, that Yvonne De Carlo.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:25:00 +0000

Freak storms blew up on June 13th producing a tornado, straight-line wind damage, and power outages.

So... my mother and I went outside to take photos and shoot video. We took turns so we don't know who shot what on which.

Before the storm hit, smooth clouds rolled in quickly. There were white streaks breaking in the lower clouds, looking as if somebody had swirled a knife through them. In a few minutes, they were a churning, lumpy mess.

Some photos courtesy of B. Hodges.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sat, 16 May 2009 08:43:00 +0000

A few days ago, I took some night shots of a red moon in a red sky... and some time lapse street lights. Only two time street light shots in included. The rest are the red moon shots. Right after the shots, we had nearly a week straight of tornadoes. I have no proof of a connection, but from here on out, I'll be taking note of a red sky and moon on a humid night.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:49:00 +0000

I finally got around to watching The Strangers last night. The Strangers was directed and written by Bryan Bertino. I have to say that I think he did a fantastic job directing the movie. There are some wonderful moments where scenes aren't rushed, letting the actors breath. This lets the dread, suspense, and horror build. This movie did things that Rob Zombie couldn't do in Halloween. Granted, Rob was trying to do something different, but when you see scenes that remind you of the original Halloween that work on their own instead of being a rip off, you can't help but to wonder what would have happened if Rob had treated Michael Myers like Mr. Bertino treated his strangers.

There is a good deal of character development in the first part of the movie. Horror movies rarely do this anymore. In fact, regular movies rarely do this anymore. They just use a few devices to establish standard aka generic characters and push them into some focus group constructed plot. The Strangers is clearly not such a plot. In fact, their isn't much of a plot to the movie at all. That's not a bad thing. What was the plot to Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Some teenagers go missing around with an old house and bad things happen?

Unfortunately, there are problems with The Strangers. While the characters are fleshed out and we do get to know and care about them, somewhere near the end of the movie, they turn dumb and only seem to do things just advance the movie toward the end. I don't want to get into spoilers, but I will say that if bad things have happened, there's been a gruesome death, and somebody is heavily messing with you and your loved one, why would you leave them alone if you have a way of defending them? And there were a few times when I thought the strangers themselves were a bit on the dumb side. If you are playing with your food, you do have to play with it; not just wait for the correct timecode in the film to do something. And now for the ending. The movie had a good deal of dread build up like gunk in somebody's arteries, but it came time for the heart attack, its like the person died in their sleep instead of convulsing on the floor in agony. Yes, the ending was somewhat intense but didn't match the tone of the movie. Yes, it may have been too much to watch if it had gone further, probably have turned people away from the movie, but it built to that. Audiences knew something bad was going to happen, something horrible, something that we shouldn't see. You have to follow through and all the way through.

Flaws aside, the movie was refreshing and shows a lot promise for Bryan Bertino. I am concerned about a sequel, which is in production. I can easily see them taking the same "plot" and just doing it again like the horrid Saw movies. And I can also see them taking the strangers and making something out of them. I hope that happens. They were interesting.

One last thing, I am aware that The Strangers is just one big analogy for when relationships fall apart and everybody's baggage just tears what's left of people apart. The strangers themselves being just father, mother, and child of what could have been. But if I had started with that, you wouldn't believe it because I'm talking about a horror movie, and the consensus is that horror movies can't be that smart. Watch the movie and get back to me.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Sun, 03 May 2009 06:35:00 +0000

Lily from A Musing Propaganda on Vimeo.

I spent an evening shooting my friend's dog, a Maltese named Lily. Lily, of course, is the center of her own universe, and we are just there to provide food and help her up and down from the couch. Music by Robert Johnson. No, I didn't use "Hellhoud On My Trail", but that version may be coming. The song I used instead is "Kindhearted Woman".

The video is in black and white for a reason. Yes, I love black and white and enjoy the contrast it gives. But that's now why this time. I shot in low light, which added noise. When I did color correction to make sure Lily's hair was white, that added more noise. The solution was simple; go black and white and get better color correction/white balance. While I love my camera, I know I need to get a much better one especially since I like to shoot in low light.

Source: MinDV 620 x 480i 24 fps exported to 720p HD, Quicktime MP4, H.264, 24 fps, Frame Distance 30, Frame Recording On, Deinterlace On, Bitrate 3,120 kbits/sec.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:56:00 +0000

I went on a photo walk this afternoon just after the sun had set. I knew before I went out the door that the lighting wouldn't be the best, and that I didn't have a camera for low light. Still, I wanted to go. At the very least, I knew I'd get a walk out of it.

A lot of the time when you go out to take photos, you really don't get any magic shots. I don't think I did today, but it was good to get out and shoot stuff. That's the point; get out and shoot. I did get a few, as you can see above, that I thought were okay.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:55:00 +0000

Payola, in the American music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under US law, 47 U.S.C. § 317, a radio station can play a specific song in exchange for money, but this must be disclosed on the air as being sponsored airtime, and that play of the song should not be counted as a "regular airplay." The term has come to refer to any secret payment made to cast a product in a positive light (such as obtaining positive reviews). - Wikipedia

I just realized something. The same record labels today that are bending over backwards to keep all their music from places like YouTube used to "illegally" pay to get their artists played on radio stations. Payola. Pay to play. Pay for promotion. Now, if I make a video and use one of their artists, even giving credit to that artist, shouldn't I be allowed to do that since I am freely promoting the artist, which could make money for the record label? Granted, it'd probably only make money for the record label because their take is so high, artists barely make a dime. But that's not this rant. This rant is about how the record industry is now greedy hypocrites out of step and out of time.

But how could I say this? Isn't using material without permission stealing? Not everything is a yes or no answer. I've been using other people's music and, before I could shoot my own, other people's video to create things. Do you know how often somebody says, "I like that music. Who is it?" Since I almost always point out who did the music in the video, I am a slightly stunned when people ask, but I am more than happy to tell them who did the music. More often, it's a Charlie Terrell song they're asking about. And lately, Tom Waits. This may not be the same promotion as an ad in the super bowl exposing these artists to millions, but what's wrong with adding one more fan one at a time?

If I were making a penny from these videos, I'd say it's stealing. But I don't make a penny, half penny, or even a wheat penny. I do this because I like making videos, like the music, and like adding the music to the video. We can not let the pushers kill the art.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:53:00 +0000

Morning Snow from A Musing Propaganda on Vimeo.

On February 28th, it finally snowed here. I shot as much as I could, but it was cold that morning. And by afternoon, the snow was all gone. The video is sped up to 400% and the music, "Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow" is by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Source: MinDV 620 x 480i 24 fps exported to 720p HD, Quicktime MP4, H.264, 24 fps, Frame Distance 30, Frame Recording On, Deinterlace On, Bitrate 3,120 kbits/sec.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:32:00 +0000

On Saturday, February 28th, 2009, it finally snowed again. I can't even remember the last time it snowed. I took some photos and shot as much video as I could. Video will come later.

Note: I did replace the frozen cat's water.

Picasa Gallery for larger images.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:48:00 +0000

February Storm from A Musing Propaganda on Vimeo.

We've had some severe weather in the month of February. During a flash flood/thunderstorm, I went out and shot some video with my camera, tripod, and umbrella. Everything here is at 400% speed.

The song is "Motel Monologue" by Charlie Terrell from his album, Taking the Jesus Pill.

Source: MinDV 620 x 480i 24 fps exported to 720p HD, Quicktime MP4, H.264, 24 fps, Frame Distance 30, Frame Recording On, Deinterlace On, Bitrate 3,120 kbits/sec.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Hodges) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:41:00 +0000

I took some photos one cold, February afternoon. One of them has a frown.