Montreal...

This has been a long trip.

I flew to Montreal last Wednesday, the 15th of June. I was here on business, but I also wanted to try to work some leisure time into the trip, as well.

Mission, as they say, accomplished.

Montreal is a great town. If you've never been here, you're the poorer for it. In summer, there really are few places I enjoy more. The "Vieux Port" section is an amazing collection of restaurants, merchants, buskers and tourists and, on weekends, it's probably one of the most crowded locations in Canada. It's very, very French and, while I've never been to France, I have to imagine that walking the streets here isn't unlike walking the streets in some random neighborhood somewhere across the pond:

Rue St. Paul in Old Montreal

Rue St. Paul at night

If you like people-watching, this is the place to be. You never know what you're going to see, and some of it often defies any reasonable description. For instance, their are a lot of "balloon guys" in this area; those people who spend their days making hats and animals out of balloons for kids. These guys are usually a sight, wearing clothing that would likely never make it out of the closet if they were anything but a "balloon guy":

"Balloon Guys" in Place Jacques Cartier

Now, as comical as the official Balloon Guy uniform might be, it's actually relatively tame. I know, I can hear you now. "But, Steve, he's wearing polka-dots."

Completely understandable and, under normal circumstances, I would probably agree with you. Rare are the times when one can successfully pull off a polka-dot jumpsuit with a balloon hat. However, when you consider what else people are wearing, I think you'll see my point.

Case in point, I give you "Banjo-Canoe Guy:



Banjo-Canoe Guy along Rue St. Paul in Old Montreal



So you see my point.

Moving on...

Aside from the occasional hilarity of Place Jacques Cartier, there's far more in Montreal. On block up and about five blocks down is Basilique Notre-Dame de Montreal. This is arguably the single most impressive building in all of Montreal. Whether you count yourself among the faithful or not, it's difficult to not be awed by the sheer grandeur of this place:



 The eastern tower, nicknamed La Tempérance (Temperance),
was completed in 1843 and houses a carillon of 10 bells



The High Altar

Visiting the Basilica used to be free. There's now a very nominal charge of $5.00 (CDN) to visit. It's well worth the money, and it's absolutely worth your time.

Another "must see" in Montreal is the site of the 1976 Olympic Summer Games, Parc Olympique. The Olympic stadium is a futuristic looking building which has the tallest inclined tower on the planet, known simply as Montreal Tower. Interestingly enough, the tower wasn't completed until 1987:

Montreal Tower

Parc Olympique

The view of downtown Montreal from the top of Montreal Tower

Standing in front of the Olympic pool at Parc Olympique in Montreal



Back down in Old Montreal, one other thing that cannot be overlooked is the shopping. It doesn't matter if it's Chinatown, one of the countless souvenir shops on Rue St. Paul, or one of the artists along the back alleys of Place Jacques Cartier, there's probably something for everyone. Take me, for example. I'm not normally a "hat guy" but, c'mon. I have to admit, I was tempted: 

I could totally rock this lid



Alejandro, a painter in Old Montreal



A fruit merchant in Chinatown

There are plenty of characters in and around Montreal. To be sure, there are plenty in the Old Port. But, sometimes, you're lucky enough to catch some people, who aren't hanging out or doing business in the Old Port, who absolutely defy description:

This guy was one snappy dresser

There are no words

As I said, Montreal is truly one of my favorite cities. From restaurants to shopping to sightseeing, there's more than enough here to satisfy even the most voracious travel-appetite, and it just never seem to get old.

Cheers!

Austin, Texas...

This is going to a longer than normal entry, only because this trip was so cool. I was doing an album cover shoot for my buddy Jeff Pritchett, a guitarist out of Houston. I'd been looking forward to this trip for a while, and it was an absolute blast.

It started with me flying into Dallas. My frequent flyer points wouldn't cover the flight to Austin, so I flew to Dallas on Thursday and drove down to Austin on Friday. I was told the drive wasn't bad; a mere three hours. Ordinarily, a three hour drive isn't too daunting to me. I do it all the time when I'm in Canada. But, at the end of this particular three hour drive, if you'd have told me that I'd just driven for five hours, I would've believed you. 

The drive absolutely sucked the life out of me. I made it, though, and was happy when I pulled into my hotel on the north side of Austin.

The first night, we took it kinda' easy. Jeff had just driven in from Houston, and neither of us was too ready to spend much time exploring the local night life. We decided on dinner at Uncle Billy's, a Bar-B-Q joint overlooking Travis Lake. Good ol' pulled pork with beans, and a view that was pretty damn impressive:

Sunset over Travis Lake

Dinner at Uncle Billy's

Neither of us had too much life left in our tanks following dinner, so we decided to call it a night. Jeff dropped me off at my hotel before heading back to his sister's house, where he was staying. We agreed on breakfast the next morning.

Saturday was going to see the lion's share of the shooting, so we wanted to make sure that we had our nourishment. Jeff recommended what is, apparently, a local legendary eatery, Juan In A Million. They serve something called the Don Juan Taco and, if you order it, you'd better bring your A-game.

We did not bring our A-game.

Eggs, cheese, potatoes, bacon, and presumably a whole host of other things that aren't good for you, all wrapped up in steamy hot tortillas:

Breakfast at Juan In A Million

The first thing I noticed about this joint was how crowded it was. After spending an eternity looking for a parking spot, we walked around the front of the restaurant to see no less than 20 people waiting for a table. I expected the hostess to tell us we'd have about an hour wait. "About ten minutes" was the response to our question about the wait. It was ten minutes that were worth waiting.

Breakfast for the two of us was a whopping $12.00.

After breakfast, we decided to go scout around for places to shoot. Our first stop was a park called Auditorium Shores, which is adjacent to Lady Bird Lake. It's across from downtown Austin, and it's ridiculously picturesque:



Downtown Austin, Texas



Downtown Austin, Texas at night

Auditorium Shores has a pretty large "leash free" zone for dogs, and there were no shortage of them. As the temperature was hovering near 100 degrees, the dogs availed themselves of the lake to cool off:

Dogs at Lady Bird Lake

These dogs had little interest in swimming to the shore

Auditorium Shores also had a bit of significance for me. I'm a huge Stevie Ray Vaughan fan. I never got to see him in concert, but I'd always wanted to visit his memorial at this park. He's cast in bronze, holding his Fender Strat, and he's wearing his signature hat and poncho. It was alnost weird, really; this larger than life statue on the banks of the lake. But it's a way, I suppose, for people to show their respects in a way, and I certainly showed mine:

Stevie Ray Vaughan

We decided we'd come back to Auditorium Shores that night. We liked some of the locales we found, but we both thought we'd get better results at night.

After Auditorium Shores, we decided to head over to the Capitol Building. Jeff wanted to do some shooting there to get some true "Texas" flair:

The Texas State Capitol Building in Austin

Taking a break in the Capitol Rotunda in Austin

We spent about an hour or so shooting in and around the Capitol; lots of cool little niches and architecture to use. After deciding to move on, we stepped outside the front steps into a protest against the TSA. While I won't get all political and get into what the protest was about (you can get that by Googling "Texas TSA protest", it was interesting to see the vast array of characters all pissed off at the Federal government:

They are not happy

Protest on the steps of the Texas State Capitol Building

After that exercise in the 1st Amendment, we decided to head up to the South Congress district, which is just a few blocks from the Capital building. "South Congress" is a funky, hip part of town with cool shop after cool shop, as well as cool eateries along the road:

One of the local eateries in South Congress

We decided that it might be time to enjoy a cold adult beverage, so we headed over to the Continental Club. I've heard of this joint. Stevie Ray played there "back in the day", as well as guys like Junior Brown and Johnny Winter. Much to our chagrin, though, it wasn't yet open when we arrived:

The Continental Club

As the Continental was closed, we concluded that it was time to head down to 6th Street. 6th Street is to Austin what the Gaslamp District is to San Diego. It's where you go when you want to go to a restaurant, hear a band, or just relax in a quiet pub for a beer.

We started with a Guinness as B.D. Riley's, an Irish pub which was quiet and cool. I gotta' tell ya', there's nothing like a Guinness in an Irish pub. Jeff and I decided that, if one Guinness was good, two would be better. That second one was pretty tasty:

There will be no brawling in B.D. Riley's

Jeff and I at B.D. Riley's on 6th Street

After B. D. Riley's, we decided to simply walk along the street. We were still scouting locations at this point, and enjoying refreshments along the way. 6th Street is simply one of the coolest stretches of city street anywhere in America. Walk into one bar and, if you don't like the music, walk out and go into the next, which is usually the next door you come to. And it's no big secret that Austin is proud of its' extensive musical heritage:

A rather large sign along 6th Street

We soon found ourselves in Coyote Ugly. I've heard of this bar; I never saw the movie, but I suspect it wasn't a whole lot different than this place. Bartenders tell dirty jokes over the PA, berate customers for whatever they deem offensive, and even enjoy the occasional cocktail with the clientele. In short, it was pretty damn cool. Reanna, one of our bartenders, took great care of us, and I'm pretty sure she threw a few back with us, as well.

Reanna, one of the crazy-good bartenders at Coyote Ugly in Austin, dancing on the bar

We spent some time on the deck at Coyote Ugly, and before long, we were approached by one of the bouncers, a rather intimidating guy with one of the most bitchin' beards I've ever seen. He just wanted to sit down and shoot the breeze before the place started coming off the rails. Mack's a former Marine, and he also competes in beard contests. Unbeknownst to me, there's actually something called the World Beard and Moustache Championships. Who knew? Mack's been growing his beard for 14 months, and I think he's gonna' do pretty well in anything in which beards are judged. I mean, c'mon, look at this; it's awesome:

Mack, one of the bouncers at Coyote Ugly

Somehow I managed to leave alive

After hanging out at Coyote Ugly for what proved to be way too long, we walked back to the truck to get ready to do some shooting. The truth is that, up until this point, I'd been doing a lot of shooting with the Canon G12. I know I talk about this camera a lot, but it's deserving of it. It's one Helluva' camera. A number of the shots that will end up on the album cover were taken with the G12.

After doing some shooting in the parking garage we were in, we decided to head back over to Auditorium Shores and do some night shooting. It was a bit of a challenge, but both Jeff and I were happy (well, he happier than my hyper-critical self) with what we ended up with, so we counted it as a success.

A quick edit of one of the shots from Auditorium Shores

After spending about two hours shooting, we'd both had enough. It was a long day and, the longer we stayed out, the longer it would be. Jeff dropped me off at my hotel and headed out into the night.

While we'd originally planned to shoot Sunday morning, as well, I don't think either of us were too eager to get out into the heat of sunny Sunday June morning in Austin, Texas. Instead, we decided that we were satisfied with the shooting of the day before, and simply opted for a (very) late breakfast before I had to drive back to Dallas to catch my flight.

It would be another life-sucking siege of a drive but, hey, at least I had coffee:

You'd Think I'd Learn...

I travelled a lot in May.

I'm on a first name basis with the folks at the Aviator Club in Denver and the Molson Grill in Toronto.

My stack of travel receipts is gettin' kinda' high.

But, travelling is what I do, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

This weekend, though, will be a little different. The vast majority of my travel is because of my day job. Every so often, though, I get to travel for me. "Me" likes travel. "Me" travels well. "Me" doesn't know the wait staff in any airport lounge.

"Me" digs travel. In January, "Me" went to Daytona in January, and "Me" went to Long Beach in April; both trips to shoot racing. "Me" is trying to work out a trip to Mosport Park in Ontario, Canada, to do some shooting there, too.

This weekend, I'm headed to Texas; Austin, to be exact. I've been hired, for an album cover shoot, by a guy out of Houston. I've had photos on covers before (sort of a montage deal with other photos by other photographers), and I've had photos in liner notes before, but this will be the first time I've been hired to do the whole shebang. I'm kind of excited and mildly apprehensive. I figure to shoot several hundred shots over two days, and maybe five or six of them are going to be used. That's cool with me.

I've never been to Austin, but I've heard a lot about it. There's no shortage of live music there, which is a good thing, I figure to hear a lot of music, enjoy some cold frosties, and do a lot of shooting.

The downside, I think, is gonna' be the weather. As I type this, it's 80 degrees in Austin. It's midnight in Austin. It should only be 80 degrees at midnight in, I dunno', Vegas. I don't mind the heat in Vegas. I like it when it's hot in Vegas.

But I'm not going to Vegas.

I'm going to Austin.

The other thing to contend with is going to be the humidity. Vegas doesn't get any real humidity. Hell, San Diego doesn't get much, either. Austin? Oh, believe it. I'm really not looking forward to it, and I know I'm not ready for it. It's gonna' be so humid it'll be like breathing gravy. I've never actually had to breath gravy, but I gotta' think it would suck.

But, like I said, Austin has never before had the opportunity to enjoy my company, so away I go.

I'm just hopin' that "Me" can find a way to stay cool...

The Month Of May...

May was a doozie.

For the first time since I was in the Navy, I spent more time "on the road" than I did at home. The last time that happened, I was deployed aboard the USS Princeton (CG 59) doing anti-drug ops off the coasts of Central and South America. That was 1997.

My first trip saw me in Alberta; Edmonton, Calgary, Medicine Hat, Red Deer and Canmore, specifically. It was a good trip that I chronicled in a previous entry.

After that ten day trip, I came home. For a whopping four days. After that, it was off to Toronto for eight days. That trip was for a trade show, and it was a pretty damn good time.

I tried to take more pictures in Toronto than I usually do. Toronto's one of those cities which, after a couple of visits, you just don't figure there's much to take pictures of anymore. While that's true, I thinki, to an extent, I did try to take photos on this trip. Truth be told, there are portions of Toronto which are pretty visually striking. Why not shoot them?

While I didn't take a ton of pictures, I did manage to get a couple here and there. The weather was absolutely lousy, so that kinda' put a damper on things and, when it wasn't raining, I was busy walking from Point A to Point B, in a hurry, so I could avoid the impending rain.

Without a doubt, the most obvious subject of photos in Toronto is the CN Tower. It's big. It's really big. AT one time it was, at 1,815 feet, the tallest free standing structure on the planet. The elevator up to the observation deck, of course, is an exterior glass elevator. Needless to say, this probably isn't the best place for an acrophobic.

But it's still cool, and I didn't hesitate to jump on the elevator and head to "360", which is the revolving restaurant which sits just atop the observation deck. It's in the Guiness Book Of World Records as the worlds highest revolving restaurant, and also for having the world's highest wine cellar.

Sitting in "360" in the CN Tower.

The CN Tower as seen from the base.

The view from the Observation Deck of the CN Tower.

After a week in Toronto, it was time to head back to San Diego. I'd had a lot of "road time", and was looking forward to a little bit of down time.

Aisle seat... Just how I like it.

Once back in San Diego, I had to get ready for a concert shoot; the Barenaked Ladies. I've gotten to know them a bit over the years, and it's always a fun shoot. They were playig at Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay in San Diego, which is a great outdoor venue right on San Diego Bay. I spent the better part of the day with them, and I was given unfettered access to shoot that night. The last time that happened was with Styx back in 2007. Normally, you get to shoot the first three songs and that's it. BNL allowed me to shoot all night, and from anywhere I wanted.

The first three shots were taken from the front of the stage, but I spent a good deal of time on the stage wings, as well. That's just something that doesn't happen.

Ed Robertson and Jim Creeggan

Kevin Hearn and Ed Robertson

Jim Creeggan, looking out on the crowd.

Me with Ed Robertson, backstage at Humphrey's.

They're one of my favorite acts to shoot (I've shot them three times now), and they're a great bunch of people; everyone in their organization is.

So, now I'll enjoy short week before heading out again. Tomorrow's Memorial Day, so no work on Monday. Thursday afternoon I leave for Dallas, Texas. I'll drive to Austin on Friday to do a two-day album cover shoot for a Houston-based guitarist named Jeff Pritchett. This will be my first "dedicated" album shoot, and I'm looking forward to it.

And, who knows? Maybe, at some point, I'll get a chance to do, I dunno', nothing for a while...

May 1st, 2011...

I've kept this blog for a while now, and I've always made it a point to never get political in my postings. I've endeavored to keep my personal views on issues of politics out of this particular public eye.

That will change this evening.

I will also apologize now for the language which I also try to keep out of my postings.

Let me just say that I think May 1st, 2011, is a great day.

Like practically everyone I know, I will never forget where I was when I learned of the attacks of 9/11. It was a Tuesday morning, and I was in bed. It was about 6:00am, and I remember hearing a panicked voice on my answering machine. It was my brother, who was calling from Florida. He was yelling into the phone to wake me, to tell me that the World Trade Center had been attacked. I remember turning on the television and sitting in both utter horror and amazement.

How could such a thing have happened? How is it that some third world jackass was able to conduct what is widely viewed as the single most horrific, and successful, attack on the western world? How is it that this cave dwelling piece of shit was able to all but bring us to our knees?

However it happened, it happened. We identified countless failures in our security as a result, but the reality is that it took the deaths of almost 3,000 Americans, of all colors and faiths, to get us to that point.

As I will never forget where I was on 9/11, nor will I ever forget where I was at 10:42pm on May 1, 2011, while I was in Edmonton, Alberta, when I first learned that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. Not only had he been killed, but US forces had his body. A directed attack in Abbotabad, Pakistan, by United States Special Forces, resulted in the death of who was, and let's be honest here, the most reviled man in modern history.

Bin Laden wasn't hiding in caves in the mountains, but rather in a high-dollar compound in Pakistan. How we learned he was there is something I don't really care about. The fact of the matter is that we found out where he was, and we went in and we killed him.

Payback is, as history shows, a bitch.

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Edmonton, and I'm actually giddy. When I first heard the news, I let out a yell. Could it really be true? Well, it certainly appears so. Osama Bin Laden; the man we have searched for for almost ten years, is dead, and US forces killed him. It also bears mentioning that, during the firefight that killed Bin Laden, not a single US serviceman was injured.

Now, off this blog, I'm pretty critical of Barack Obama. I don't like him. I don't think he should be President. I think he's a neophyte politician who, somehow, snowed enough people to put him in the Oval Office. But, as critical as I can be of the man, I can also give credit where credit is due. I'm proud that my President, whether I like him or not, had the balls to make the move that needed to be made, when it needed to be made. Our Special Forces have proven, once again, that they are a results-driven organization and, even when the task is daunting, they can get the job done.

Kudos to our Armed Forces, and kudos to President Obama.

It sounds cliche to say, especially because I feel this way every day but, today, I'm proud to be an American. I'm proud to call home the country which, in its' own effective way, exacted justice for the deaths of 3,000 people whose only crime was going to work one Tuesday morning.

Now, I assure you, I'm nowhere naive enough to think that "the war on terror" is over. It's not. Lord knows that are enough sick bastards out there who are all too willing to step into Bin Laden's shoes. But Bin Laden was special. Bin Laden was a rock star. Bin Laden was larger than life.

And, tonight, Bin Laden is dead.

And we killed him.

And, for that, I'll go to sleep with a smile on my face tonight...

Go West...

Whenever I visit Calgary, I make it a point to make the hour drive west to Canmore. Canmore is a small town with a population of around 10,000. It's the quintessential "mountain town". You won't find any Wal-Marts or Costcos out here. Instead, you'll find small "Mom & Pop" stores dotting the main street. Only when you get closer to the Trans-Canada Highway will you see a "chain" anything, in this case a McDonald's, a Tim Horton's, and a Holiday Inn.



Downtown Canmore, Alberta.

 The drive out isn't bad at all. Unlike the trip to Medicine Hat, this drive is almost over before you know it. But you still get some pretty majestic views along the way. I've been all over the world, and I just don't know if anything comes close to matching the Canadian Rockies:

The Canadian Rockies in the distance along the Trans-Canada Highway.

Taken at one of the many turn-outs along the way.

Once you get into the mountains, you have to be aware of where you are or, more importantly, what else is where you are. Wildlife is abundant out here, with deer and elk being the most prevalent. And Canada wants to make sure you're paying attention:

And if you hit one, you're gonna' have a really bad day.

A deer in the brush not far from the highway.

I'd decided I wouldn't spend the night in Canmore, but would drive back to Calgary this evening. My buddy Tom and I had dinner at this killer Italian restaurant in Canmore, said our goodbyes, and I was on the road.

Just outside out of Canmore, on your right, you'll see the imposing peaks of what are known as "The Three Sisters". I've been up here as late in the year as August, and these peaks always have snow on them. They're probably the single most recognizable landmarks out here:

The Three Sisters, just east of Canmore, Alberta.

While I've been up here in April before, I don't recall ever seeing the weird weather I've seen on this trip. Indeed, even the locals say it's unusual. On Thursday, when I went to Medicine Hat, I had to contend with a storm the size of Texas. Today, as I drove east back to Calgary, I saw one of the more odd cloud formations I've ever seen. It looked like something out of a science fiction flick:

I have no idea what this was, but it was really weird.

While you pass countless signs during the drive which tell you how far away from Calgary you are, after a while you become kinda' numb to them. But there's one landmark, as you enter Calgary, that is absolutely unmistakable. Calgary, you see, played host to the 1988 Winter Olympic Games (the biathlon and Nordic events were actually held in Canmore, by the way). One of the lasting features of those Olympics is Canada Olympic Park, located on the western edge of Calgary. Before you see the sign for Canada Olympic Park, though, you see this:

The Olympic ski jumps at Canada Olympic Park, including the 90 meter tower.

Not long after stopping at the Olympic Park, I was pulling into my hotel parking lot. I dig days like today. I love going to Canmore. I love being there, and I love the drive. Leaving is a bit of a downer, I guess, but I know I'll be back; hopefully for the Canmore Folk Music Festival at the end of July.

At least, if I come back in July, I know I won't have to worry about snowball fights...