Sorry to miss this one... and Free $50?

Dennis and Eddie, certainly an odd pairing, but this is an event I'd love to attend. Sadly, it's up in Cleveland and I'm going to be attempting to drive back from Chicago, so won't be able to make it. This is another one of those weekends where everything seems to be happening everywhere at once. So, if you're in Cleveland, go to this thing and videotape it for me... maybe CSPAN will be there?

Dennis is one of the few actual progressives in Congress, and one of the few members to have the courage to fight for positive change. Even if he's not in your district or even your state, please consider doing the right thing and making a last-minute contribution to Dennis' campaign.

The FREE $50?

Ohio residents can get a $50 tax CREDIT for donating to Dennis (or other political candidates). "The credit is a dollar-for-dollar credit for contributions with a limit of $50 for single filers and $100 for joint filers."

That means that if you live in Ohio and give Dennis $50 today, you can get a credit towards your Ohio state income tax of $50 when you file, so it potentially costs you NOTHING to contribute $50 to Dennis. And while you're at it, why not kick in a little more? Contribute here please!

DISCLAIMER : I'm not an accountant, and this isn't tax advice, but check it out for yourself or check with a tax professional.

The shot is Dreamscapes, one of Eddie Izzard's biggest fans. Someday I'll shoot her covered in bees.

Daylight Savings... DOH!

Made the mistake of trusting my calendar printed last year to tell me when Daylight Savings Time ends, so I counted on "falling back" an hour this morning... guess I got some bonus sleep, but a little less accomplished. Next weekend for sure!

Doing a road trip to Chicago this week, but as usual when traveling, I'm having trouble finding locations, especially "nude friendly" ones. With highs in the 40s, it's a bit much to ask models to do outdoor nudes as I'm sure most women would object to having their nipples freeze off entirely. Any Chicago readers out there able to help a blogger out?

Widespread reports of vote switching on touchscreens, with voters touching the Obama button and McCain's name lighting up. To my knowledge, NO reports of it happening the other way around. Ever. Another reason to vote early, especially in Ohio. Or if you live in Springfield, USA:

I know I'd posted this a while back, but the video was pulled from YouTube, so here it is again.

The photo is Valentine from warmer, sunnier times in the California high desert.

What to think...

It's so hard these days to even know what to think, let alone what to write and present to the public. Using a blog as a "confessional" is just bad policy, even I know that. The funny thing is... well, not much of it is funny.

I think my state of mind will improve greatly once the elections are over, provided that Republicans near and far are gracious in defeat while Democrats are humble in victory. At least I hope so.

The shot is Megyn...

Spiders

The nominations and winners for the Black & White Spider Awards were announced today, and three of my shots were among the 37 finalist "nominees" in the nude (amateur) category.

I'd like to thank the models, Valentine (Torsion and Torso) and the duo of Malinda and Mandy (Moment).

Also congratulations to fellow finalists A. Owen Layne and Gary Breckheimer, as well as everyone whose work made it in the show. I certainly feel it's an honor to be included.

Ohio, shame of the nation

I'll admit I've been following political news too much lately, but it's getting so alarmingly ugly, I just can't turn away. And it seems every time something really offensive, or idiotic, or hateful or racist is reported, the dateline is always somewhere in Ohio. Everything from Joe the Plumber to Obama being hung in effigy by an admitted racist to some of the most idiotic and frightening people interviewed at a Palin rally... Ohio, Ohio, Ohio. Not to mention the Ohio GOP's last-minute court wrangling to try to disqualify tens of thousands of newly registered voters due to hysteria drummed up by the media over ACORN. Nobody bothers to get the facts, they just hear some wild-ass report and take it as gospel.

Then there were the idiots who spotted a suspicious variation on the US flag at an Ohio rally, where Obama had devilishly re-arranged the flag elements around his "O" seal, indicating Obama's intention to become a "potentate" and planning to create "an African count(r)y within the US."

The insidious flag in question? You guessed it. The state flag of Ohio.

So, on behalf of the handful of reasonable people who live in this state, I apologize for Ohio being the epicenter of so many shameful events and idiotic attitudes. Obama does have a strong chance of winning Ohio, if the people are allowed to vote.

The image is Siddella, who hails from the relatively civilized state of Michigan. Lucky her.

Does that make me crazy?

Probably...

Hard Times

Playboy is eliminating 80 positions, laying off 55 staff members.

Of course, I'm sure with all the free porn online, Playboy is getting spanked, financially speaking. Still, they attribute the layoffs to the financial climate.

Here's Carly, featured in several Playboy Special editions and on their website. Something tells me her position is safe...

Reverse Psychology

Communication is the key...

"I'm hot enough that I know I have your attention for at least 30 seconds."


"I'm Engel, naked on a large rock, and I approve this message."

Nobel Achievement

Just a quick congratulations to economist/author Paul Krugman on winning the Nobel Prize for Economics. Apart from his academic work, he's also been a leading voice speaking out against the disastrous policies of the Bush Administration, from a reasoned and clear-thinking viewpoint. Unlike many "pundits" he always backs up his positions with sound research and informed logic. He's one that shows that facts have a liberal bias... Wonder if Paul reads this blog? If so, how about a shout out, Paul? :)

Here's Anomaly, in two places at once...

too small!

I keep seeing ads and special deals on these SD Micro cards, shown here (more or less actual size) with an SD adapter that brings it up to about the size of a postage stamp. The micro cards are mainly for use in camera phones at the moment, but my Rebel Xti uses the "full size" SD cards, which are still so small that I'm paranoid about losing one or leaving it in a pocket and it going through the wash. If Canon or someone decided to adopt the SD Micros for a camera, I'd have to seriously think about a way to manage them!

It's also crazy how you can get 2GB cards this size for under $8. By crackies, I remember the days of paying many hundreds of dollars to get 256MB of RAM into a computer... well I remember further back than that even, like when nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em, but for some reason, these SD Micro cards just boggle my mind.

Up top is PXE, who isn't too small... she's "fun size."

A real "Joe Six-Pack"

Sarah Palin keeps talking about how she and McCain are on the side of "Joe Six-Pack" as some sort of condescending coded shorthand for "working class (white) Americans" but this video of AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumka seems to do a great job of addressing an unspoken issue in this election.



Thanks to Zoe for posting this and bringing it to my attention.

It's here...

Well, perhaps as a reward for voting on Sunday, or more likely because I ordered it several weeks ago, my new Canon 50D showed up today from Amazon. Had just a few minutes to look it over, but it feels really nice. The new LCD on the back is razor sharp, and some of the controls and interface elements have been fine-tuned. Looking forward for a chance to put it thru its paces and see what I can do with it, especially how the new sensor performs in low light.

(And please spare me the "it's not the camera, it's the vision" lecture posts. I KNOW that a great camera does not a great photographer make, and that some amazing photographers work with very simple and modest gear. That doesn't mean "real photographers" don't appreciate the advantages that technology has to offer.)

Also had a shoot yesterday, violating my self-imposed hiatus because she's a great model and a friend and she'll be moving to the east coast very soon, so I wanted to get in a shoot before she left. Since the new camera hadn't arrived yet, I had to shoot with my back-up camera, the Rebel Xsi. While it is a fine camera, for some reason, the controls are arranged somewhat differently, and it took me a while to get in the groove with adjusting the exposure, etc. (Why would they make a camera where the f-stop has to be adjusted with essentially a "shift" key?) A little like shaving left-handed at the start, but I got the hang of it and we got some very nice stuff. I remember a couple years ago going through the same kind of transition when I upgraded from the Rebel XT to the 30D, and I did OK with that eventually.

Anyone still out there?

Rocked the Vote!

Voted today. Yes, today... Sunday. Went down to the board of elections for the much touted early voting. Essentially, it was filling in an absentee ballot and giving it to them, but it does feel good to have it in the box. They said the early votes would be thrown away counted first thing on Election Day, which is vaguely reassuring. Also got to vote against two of the biggest local turd sandwiches... I do hope they lose big this time.

By the way, Monday is the last day to REGISTER in Ohio, but early voting continues until November 3. Click the big blue graphic at the top of the right column for more information.

So, does this mean my TV and computer will stop harassing me about the election? Does it mean I'll shut up about it here? We'll have to wait and see. Then there's this startling report, enough to take the wind out of any wonk's sails.

Here's Missy, feeling the pinch.

1,100 more nails in Dayton's coffin

It was announced Friday that 1,100 GM workers in Dayton will lose their jobs just in time for Christmas. Just two days ago, Bush quietly signed a spending bill that included a $25 billion auto industry subsidy, supposedly to help the development of fuel-efficient vehicles. For what seems like decades, progressives have been pushing to raise mileage and emission standards, but US automakers resisted, claiming it would drive them out of business (a position stalwartly supported by oil companies). Meanwhile, these same auto makers have done quite well selling high-mileage cars elsewhere around the world. But evidently they couldn't convert the Dayton plant to produce anything but "light trucks" so it'll just be shuttered. Maybe if we're lucky, someone like Honda or Kia will buy the place, but that's not very likely, as I'm sure GM has been starving the maintenance of the place. It's probably also so contaminated that it would cost millions and millions just to tear it down, so it will just sit there, another ghost in the ghost town.

Don't Vote...

Somehow I like this better than Puffy's "Vote or Die" initiative...



Register online to vote or in Ohio, you can register and vote the SAME DAY until October 6 ...find your polling place here.

The good news: I just heard that "Five Plane" McCain is shutting down his campaign in Michigan -- guess he's giving up there! The bad news: I'm guessing those resources will be redirected to Ohio. (Refer to yesterday's entry, below.)

The shot is Spilt Sugar, coincidentally, from Michigan!