Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

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Another Ranger.

Thursday, June 20th, 2013

This is the “front” side of the Armstrong family monument in Oakwood Cemetery.

armstrong1

This is the John B. Armstrong side:

armstrong2

Who was John B. Armstrong, other than a Texas Ranger? A serious badass, most famous for capturing John Wesley Hardin. Armstrong had been shot in the leg previously (according to his entry in the Handbook of Texas Online, it was a self-inflicted wound), and was using a cane:

When the train carrying Hardin came into the station, Armstrong entered the front of the coach. Switching his cane to his left hand, he drew his Colt .45 with his right and confronted Hardin and four members of his gang. One of the men drew and shot at Armstrong who returned the fire killing the man. Hardin’s gun had hung up on his suspenders allowing the Ranger time to hit Hardin over the head, knocking him unconscious. He unarmed the other three men.

(Some accounts say the bullet fired by Hardin’s man went through Armstrong’s favorite hat, seriously pissing him off, and that Armstrong’s blow knocked Hardin unconscious for two hours. These accounts are not well sourced, so I would take them with a grain of salt.)

Armstrong was also involved in the capture of Sam Bass, which is probably worthy of another post and some more photos next time I’m out near Round Rock.

Armstrong’s Texas Ranger Hall of Fame page. Armstrong on the “Badass of the Week” site (a little overwrought, but entertaining). Handbook of Texas online.

Posted in Cops, History, Law, Photography, Texas Rangers | Comments Closed

At the tone, leave your name and message.

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

I found this at the grocery store yesterday, and it amused me even more than the NCIS car. Plus, you know, it is an actual Hot Wheels car, not some cheap knockoff.

rockford

I think this is going to wind up in my collection for now, as my brother’s youngest boy is just a little young to appreciate The Rockford Files. However, I am looking for a Hot Wheels Porsche 911, so the three of us can sit at the kitchen table with it and a copy of the June issue of Road and Track and have an intellectual discussion of why the handling on the early 911s was so vicious.

Posted in 1970s, Cars, Photography, TV | Comments Closed

Another Ranger.

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

haley

Oakwood Cemetery, Austin, Texas.

Information about George Wesley Haley is hard to find online. If I dig up anything else, I’ll do an updated post.

Edited to add: here’s a second photo that I think I like just a bit better. Both of these were taken with the Nikon and 18-55 lens, but the second one used aperture priority instead of the auto setting.

haley2

Posted in Cops, Law, Photography, Texas Rangers | Comments Closed

More photography, and errata.

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

jm

I like Ron Franscell’s book The Crime Buff’s Guide to Outlaw Texas quite a bit. It has been a useful source on many of our photo excursions. However, Franscell gives the GPS coordinates for Michener’s grave as 30.19949, -97.45192. If you plug that into Google Maps, it comes up somewhere near Elgin.

Michener’s grave is actually in Austin Memorial Park Cemetery at 30.3325,-97.753167, at least according to the tag on this photo and Find A Grave.

Posted in Books, Photography | Comments Closed

One Ranger.

Monday, June 17th, 2013

hamer_1

Grave of Frank Hamer, Austin Memorial Park Cemetery, Austin, Texas.

For those of you unfamiliar with the late Mr. Hamer, obviously he was a Texas Ranger, and perhaps one of the most famous of the Rangers. Among other things, Mr. Hamer led the posse that took down Bonnie and Clyde.

American Rifleman profile of Mr. Hamer. Jeff Guinn’s Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, which I have previously recommended, also has considerable background on Hamer. Hamer’s Wikipedia entry.

Here’s a second picture that I actually like a little better than the first. It was taken with a different camera (the first one was taken with my Nikon D40X and the 18-55 kit lens). Note that I haven’t done anything to these two photos except crop them: I haven’t manipulated exposure, contrast, or anything else.

hamer_2

Posted in Books, Cops, Law, Photography, Texas Rangers | Comments Closed

A Bob Clampett cartoon!

Saturday, June 15th, 2013

mosasaur

(Onion Creek Mosasaur, Texas Memorial Museum, Austin, Texas.)

Posted in Museums, Photography | 2 Comments »

This amused me.

Friday, June 14th, 2013

I was out with my mother yesterday afternoon, and we stopped for lunch.

emerson

Something about the juxtaposition of the “this way to the bathrooms” and the Emerson quote kicks over my giggle box. I mean, what is the message they’re trying to send here: don’t follow the path to the men’s room, but instead go outside and…shall we say, leave a trail to mark your territory?

(Pieous, Dripping Springs, Texas.)

(By the way, the Bacon Bleu pizza and mozzarella plate were both really, really good.)

Posted in Food, Photography | 1 Comment »

Rabbit season!

Friday, June 14th, 2013

rabbit

Posted in Museums, Photography | Comments Closed

Werewolf?

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013

There, wolf! There, castle!

wolf

(Dire wolf, Texas Memorial Museum, Austin, Texas.)

Posted in Geek, Museums, Photography | Comments Closed

It’s a bird! It’s a plane!

Monday, June 10th, 2013

Actually, it’s a big sort of bird-like object. And DARPA apparently used it as the basis for a model aircraft back in the mid-1980s.

northropi

(Quetzalcoatalus northropi, Texas Memorial Museum, Austin, Texas.)

Posted in Birds, Geek, Museums, Photography | Comments Closed

Tarkus!

Saturday, June 8th, 2013

tarkus

Texas Memorial Museum, Austin, Texas.

Posted in Museums, Photography | Comments Closed

Random CrapCam ™ photos that amused me.

Friday, May 17th, 2013

IMAG0315

HEB Central Market: the place to go for all your Juggalo needs.

I have a three-year old nephew who loves his “trucks”. So whenever I’m at the HEB, I check the toy aisle and try to pick up a Hot Wheels car or something for him. I noticed this at the HEB yesterday:

IMAG0320

I don’t know who the target audience for this is. Little kids shouldn’t be watching NCIS, and I doubt adults are big into toy cars. (Collectors are an exception, but is there really a big audience of NCIS collectors, as opposed to Star Trek or Star Wars ones?)

No, I didn’t buy it: the three-year-old is not a big NCIS fan, and it was $5. The Hot Wheels were 97 cents.

(To answer another question: this was the only NCIS branded car they had, though there were also some “Greenlight Hollywood” vehicles with branding tied to one of those auto auction shows on some cable channel. I don’t remember which one; sorry.)

Posted in Photography | 1 Comment »

Can’t afford it (take 2).

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013

Don’t really feel like I have a need for it, since I’ve been happy with my D40x, and the step up from 10 to 14 megapixels doesn’t seem like that big a jump to me. Also, I’ve already got the lenses.

But if I were looking for a new DSLR, $500 for the D3100 with 18-55 and 55-200 zoom lenses strikes me as being a heck of a deal.

I assume Nikon is blowing the D3100 out in favor of the D3200. And the 55-200 lens isn’t the VR one. But still, this strikes me as being a good bit of starter kit.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of all three cameras I’ve mentioned from Digital Photography Review. Note that I’m not getting any kickback from Nikon for this; I just like my camera.

(Precision Camera doesn’t list it on their website, but I have seen the same deal in their store.)

Posted in Photography | Comments Closed

Can’t afford it.

Monday, May 6th, 2013

Have no practical use for it.

Camera is not included.

Want one anyway.

(I wonder if you could build a business around this device.)

Posted in Photography, Planes | Comments Closed

Radio silence.

Thursday, April 25th, 2013

There just hasn’t been much newsworthy in the past day or so. I’m having trouble working up energy to write about TMQ’s mock draft column (further proof that Easterbrook is more funny to himself than he is to real people). I’m also having trouble with the latest Travis County DA development:

More than 170 Texas attorneys filed a brief Thursday in support of jailed Travis County district attorney Rosemary Lehmberg.
Austin criminal defense attorney Betty Blackwell said that Lehmberg, who pleaded guilty Friday to driving while intoxicated, has received a harsh sentence of 45 days in jail, a $4,000 fine and a 180-day drivers license suspension.

“Hey, Rosemary? Betty. How are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. Listen, Rosemary, I need a favor.”
“Well, Rosemary, I’ve got this client…”
“Look, Rosemary, when you were in jail and needed a hand, I stood up for you. Now you’re not willing to help me out with a little deal here?”

This is exactly the kind of thing I was afraid was going to happen. And, you know, I’m not sure it makes a difference. The petition to remove Lehmberg is based on the law, and the law says you can get thrown out for being intoxicated. Lehmberg’s confessed to DWI. As far as I know, the law doesn’t say you can get thrown out for being intoxicated unless you get a bunch of your friends to testify about what a great person you are.

Anyway, instead of content, have a couple of photos.

austin1

This is the Austin skyline, facing south from the 27th floor observation deck of the Main Building at the University of Texas. (Yes, that observation deck.) Taken at 1/60 and f/22, with the Nikon 55-200 VR zoom at 55mm. Just to the right of the Capitol, you can see the Frost Bank Tower, or as some of us like to call it, “the nose hair clippers”.

capital1

This is the upper portion of the Capitol, taken at 1/30 and f/22 with the same zoom at 200mm, and cropped some in iPhoto.

Posted in Law, Photography, TCDA, TMQ watch | Comments Closed

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