I pass this little monument every morning on the way to the office. It’s sad to watch the crosses multiply as the year rolls on. But the news is not all bad. The last time I heard it mentioned in the news, homicides In Oakland were down 1/3 from last year. Lets’ hope this trend…
Author: thedude
Does the Pope Wear a Funny Hat?
Well, yes, but not every day. This red cappello romano is just so dang cool! Evidently, the pope’s choice of headwear is a big deal!
Holiday Manipulations
Before and after. This year’s greeting card began as three images – a classic Christmas painting by Haddon Sundblom, who painted at least one other familiar icon as well as a few stunning pinup girls. The Coca-Cola image came up while Googling “classic Christmas images”. The fact that there was already a little Jimmy in…
So Much to Be Thankful For
Wonderful friends, perfect Bay Area weather, fantastic food. An awesome day. Love to all of you from thedude and Kellster!
The Essence of Dudeness
For the last few years I have been hosting a web site featuring the work of an extremely talented illustrator named Charlie Powell. I have always been a fan of his work, so when he offered to paint a portrait of thedude in exchange for web hosting services, I jumped at the chance. Now thedude…
thedude and The Younger Dudes
While in the Midwest, thedude stopped in Franklin, Wisconsin to pay a visit to his favorite nephews – Jacob and Ryan. It’s hard to believe how tall these kids have grown. Ryan is old enough to drive a car and is looking for a college to attend! Man, I must be getting old.
A Beautiful Dream
Last night I had one of the most beautiful dreams of my life. You have to have known my friend Jeff to fully appreciate it, but I felt I needed to write it down anyway and share it with those of you who did. — Kelly and I were vacationing in a beautiful place with…
Our Favorite Fresno Fan-atics
The fabulous Fresno Bee ran a story last weekend on a couple of our most favorite people on account of their being rabid Fresno sports fans – at least one of whom can carry on ad nauseum about her beloved Fresno girls softball team. Yep – that’s the two of them on the left in…
Yeah, We Definitely Felt That One
The biggest quake to hit the Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta. A moderate P-Wave followed by a long slow S-Wave. All is well.
Unbridled Joy
My wife has been volunteering her time for the past few years to a really wonderful organization. Xenophon Therapeutic Riding offers special needs children a chance to ride on the back of one of their gentle horses under the watchful eye of skilled instructors. Many of these children must be lifted gingerly out of their…
Stuffed in Wisconsin
I didn’t think I was taking enough pictures on my recent short trip to the Midwest – probably because I was so busy consuming everything from a deep-fried “onion brick” at The Hub to Wendy’s amazingly decadent molten truffle dessert. Oh. My. God. Most people probably don’t think of a trip to Wisconsin as a…
Fleet Week in San Francisco
We braved enormous crowds to see the Blue Angels perform their magic in the skies over San Francisco. Low-flying F-18’s make for challenging subject matter, but I managed a few shots. My favorite is probably the shot taken through the exhaust from a navy ship parked in the bay. It’s not a PhotoShop effect –…
Klingons, Cupcakes and Art Cars
Where else, but at the Berkeley Art Car Parade, part of the “How Berkely Can You Be?” festival today.
Wrong Lens, Ten Minutes Too Late
I made the trek up to the roof to try and shoot the sunset again, with mixed results. The walk up the stairs was not a total loss, though. As you can see, when you put a few images side by side like this, the overall effect changes. The shots you see here are the…
Oakland Weather
This is odd weather for September 19th. We might get rained on tonight. Unfortunately, what I had hoped for – a huge thunderhead lit by the setting sun – didn’t quite materialize. At least not from this vantage point. Oh well, the pano quite accurately captures what it looked like. Look closely. How many vehicles…
Pre-Birthday Party Party
Today marked the beginning of what promises to be a long party season. My best man Steve kicked off a string of September birthday parties with a gathering at Tilden Park today to celebrate his 60th. Man, it’s hard to believe. It seems like Steve’s 50th was just a year or two ago. Time does…
It’s a Beautiful David LaFlamme Band
My new-found old friend Robbie set us up with VIP passes to the 40th Summer of Love Reunion in Monterey. The show turned out to be one of our all-time favorite live music events, mainly due to the “unstructuredness” of it all. No one seemed to care much about where anyone sat or if a…
Horsie Heaven
We had little time to spare on the way to the Summer of Love Festival in Monterey, so we stopped at the Equestrian Center at Pebble Beach and watched some of the horsies and riders warm up for the day’s competition. The morning was overcast and drizzly, but this didn’t dampen Kelly’s spirit a bit….
A Very Beautiful Day
I’ll share my thoughts about the Summer of Love Reunion Concert in Monterey this weekend as soon as I recover from the effects of the Jesus Weed. In the mean time, have a look at some of the sights.
Beautiful Bass Lake
Occasionally thedude finds beauty in things that are not exploding or spewing flames! This weekend’s trip to Bass Lake found us sipping cool beers on the deck at Ducey’s while enjoying this splendid view.
Far Out Flame Out
We made a promise to ourselves that we’d never miss another Fire Festival at the Crucible. The sights and sounds are just so cool, er, hot. So flaming-hot-stainless-pneumatic-alien-stilt-walker strange. So smack-you-in-the-face with a white-hot-stove-pipe cool. A billion BTU’s of climate-changing fun. You jus’ hafta see it to believe it. More pictures coming soon.
thedude’s Photo in Copenhagen
Hey Dude, Have a look – it looks super cool! – it’s dye-sub printed directly on a sound-absorbent panel. Thanks for allowing us to use the pic!! Best regards from Copenhagen – Sten Jauer, Art Director LAND DESIGNLAB APS | VESTERGADE 12A 3 | DK-1456 COPENHAGEN | DENMARK Thanks, Sten! I think it looks great…
Hot, Fun-Filled Fourth
Many thanks to our hosts Hi-Suk and San Ju for a wonderful day at their gorgeous country home in Guinda, Califirnia. (Don’t feel too bad – we never heard of Guinda, either.) July 4th was the hottest day of the year so far – at least 110 degrees. Ugh! Luckily, the couple have a gigantic…
Pinot Days, D40x Mini-review
In a perfect stroke of luck/magic, I have a new coworker, who is also the Director of a very cool wine and food event called Pinot Days. Nice – another wine and food lover in our midst. One who routinely throws parties for 4,000 friends. I’m impressed! This is the first event I ever shot…
Seventy Big Ones
I just hope that we’re as happy and healthy as our dear Aunt Mary when we celebrate our seventieth birthdays. Well done! Thanks to Mark and Lori for organizing a great and classy party.
A Lot Nicer than a Cemetery
Chris and I agreed on our first visit to a columbarium that the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland was worth visiting. Not at all gloomy. My ashes could live happily here. Unfortunately, there were hundreds of other people at tonight’s open house/music event. And the music? Let’s say it was – experimental. That sounds…
More From the Mystic Beat Lounge/Harmony Festival
As difficult as it is shooting under these conditions, you can occasionally get some wildly colorful shots. Motion blur is unavoidable as using an on-camera flash is not an option in an environment this dark. Luckily, a little motion blur can work in your favor by helping to convey the mood.
You Haven’t Changed a Bit!
You gotta love the Internet. This week it helped bring me back together with my roommate from 27 years ago. We exchanged a few emails and I learned that my old friend Rob Espinosa would be performing today at the Novato Art and Wine Festival. Kelly and I watched Rob play with the David LaFlamme…
Mystic Beat Lounge
Last night’s Mystic Beat Lounge, held at the enormous Grace Pavilion in Santa Rosa was headlined by “Hallucinogenius” Simon Posford, aka Shpongle. His performance was the highlight of the evening, but an earlier act, Australian band Ganga Giri really blew me away. This was another of those impossible-to-photograph events where lighting can only be characterized…