Anika braces herself for the “countdown to noon” at the Portland Children’s Museum—celebrating the New Year in other time zones for the sake of those who have early bed times.
Personal
Gary Numan
One of my highlights from 2010 was getting to photograph Gary Numan last month when he played in Portland. He was one of my heros when I was growing up. Though in this country he is often remembered as a one-hit-wonder with 1979’s “Cars” the English and those how have followed his career know that he was and is one of the pioneers of techo and industrial music. Many younger artists cite Numan as an influence. Though I’ve seen him perform once before, this was the first time I was able to photograph him. I even got to do a short Q and A with him via email when I was writing a preview of the concert for Oregon Music News. The article is available here. I was only allowed ten questions for the article. The last question will make sense to anyone familiar with his music. I wish I could have asked a follow-up to his (very graphic) answer:
Q: Has having a family made your imaginings of the future any less dystopian?
A: No, it’s made it worse, unfortunately. I worry for them more than I ever did for me, and that was bad enough. I see very little to be optimistic about, especially in the U.K., which is just sliding downhill so fast it’s scary. It is no longer the country I have loved with a passion since the day I was born. It has grown new arms, new teeth, and it is tearing itself apart and eating the pieces. It’s all very disappointing and it has forced me to dramatically rethink my own future and the future of my family.
Christmas Eve in St. Johns
My part of North Portland was rainy and eerily deserted on 
Christmas Eve. It will be interesting to see if New Year’s Eve is different.
I just went though Facebook and sent friend requests to all the people I could find who were using one of my photographs as a profile picture.
Fun With Panning
I’m been trying to syndicate my blog onto social media via its rss feed. There has been progress, but it is slow.
Oaks Park
We thought about going to the State Fair on Labor Day, but opted instead for Oaks Park, Portland’s small, local amusement park. Apparently, most of Portland had the same idea. Also, several unions were having their Labor Day picnics on the park grounds. This all made for a sea of people unlike I have ever seen before at this location. Who’d of thought that one could wait an hour on line to ride the little kid’s roller coaster—but we did, as well did a lot of other people. For a small ride, this coaster really throws you around. Anika, my daughter, hid her face the whole way. My camera almost flew off my neck a couple of times and my wife, Summer, waited for us at the gate.