Scott Newton Photo

I’d be remiss if I didn’t take note of the Orangeblood frenzy / mania sweeping the city and, hell, even the state. UT finally won the National Championship in major college football. After a proverbial 40 years spent wandering the desert of secondary status, (actually only 37 years, since 1969) Austin, and the University she hosts, finally feels Supreme in something she considers Truly Significant. . And what a game it was!!! Victory, at last. (Exult today, for tomorrow we lose Vince…) This is my friend, Scott Zubin, known fondly, and otherwise, as Zoob (and portrayed here as Blue Zoob). Zoob owns the Texas Chili Parlor, my fovorite bar. Four days after the Rose Bowl victory, we went down to Littlefield Fountain to make OUR personal memento, and at least a thousand other Austinites were trying to do the same exact thing…. I don’t have Vince Young here to show you, you’ll see enough of him for yourself in the future. He’s going to be the Michael Jordon of Pro Football. Mark my words.

We hosted this little ol’ band from Scotland in December. It was a fantastic show, as you may have seen on PBS’ Austin City Limits… If you want to see my music photography for Austin City Limits, spanning 27 years, go to this site: http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin Or this one for the ACL Music Festival: http://www.aclfest.com This site is more of a personal, whatever I feel like posting site.

Taken just last night, Christmas Eve. These are the boys…l to r–Orion, Zane, Scott and Hawk. Joy to the World. Peace on Earth. Goodwill to all Men. May the Spirit of the all-encompassing loving Christ Child permeate all. Merry Christmas.

Yesterday, December 8, 2005, was the 25th anniversary of John Lennon’s abrupt departure from his spot at the Head of the Parade. I miss him dearly. He was a hero in the ancient sense. He stood for something much bigger than himself. I think his legacy evokes and compels Standing For Peace on a personal level, too…so here’s an image addressing his lasting living memorial… We knew what the warmongers were doing almost 3 years ago, we knew we were being lied to, and we’re not surprised it’s turned out so poorly on so many levels. All We Are Saying Is Give Peace A Chance.

I’m including Freddie King here because I never hear his name anymore, and I consider him to be one of the best bluesmen I ever heard. He was also pivotal, in my mind, to Austin becoming the all encompassing musical center it’s become. In the early days of the Armadillo, when they were still searching for an audience, Freddie King would draw the hordes of hippies like nobody else. There was a musical and cultural cross-pollination that occurred on those hot un-airconditioned summer nights that set up all that came after. The hippies, it turned out, discovered they absolutely loved Freddie’s joyous renditions of the Blues Freddie died too young, but his Muse carries on, annointing others in their turn…

Back in the days before I knew better, I used a direct flash to light one of my favorite performers. I always find it startling to be able to see into someone’s mouth while they’re singing, and I really dislike flattening out ambient stage lighting with direct-axis on-camera flash. Nevertheless, it works here… It’s a good shot of Zappa at his sparkling, witty and irreverant best.

During a recent trip through the west, we caught more than a few art galleries. Images like this, universally, seemed to sell quite well… So, here’s my attempt at duplicating modern commercial Western art. I think it works pretty well; now, if I could only figure out how to glop on paint with my Epson printer….

I’m giving a talk at a UT PhotoJ class today. I’m going to try to pass on some of the things I’ve learned. My plan is to show some of these shots and talk about them. I thought it would be apropos to show a shot of myself , taken at their age, to the students I’ll be talking to. (This is what I looked like 32 years ago, fresh out of UT and even more freshly married…) Time changes everything but the core of who you are.

There’s so much going on with such subtle expression. In this shot it’s all about the secret smiles.

I love watching the constantly unfolding dance between the temporal and the relatively more permanent. How many times has that rock been frocked in gold?