Tattoo You!

I got my first tattoo when i was 30, I chose my design because I've always loved horses and Phil Hartman one of my favorite comedians, drew this horse( he used to be graphic artist). It's on the cover of Poco's album "Legend". I did it also as part of a news story I was covering with John Purvis, I remember cause I had to keep shooting after I got the tattoo, Ouch.! I've gotten 3 others since then and after seeing my sisters and nieces new tatts I'm getting the itch to get a new one.

I don't see how people can get a tattoo outta a tattoo flash book. Why would you wanna tattoo that someone else has? It kinda defeats the purpose! I think it should be personal, individual and mean something! (Although I've seen some pretty cool flash tatts on girls!) I wanted to get another Native animal tatt. but I think that's too many totems on me and it can get too powerful and mess me up, I already have a horse, eagle, blackbirds and salmon! So now decisions, decisions, decisions... For a long time I wanted a Day of the Dead Tatt, but now everyone has one and I'll look like a poser, so that's out! I was thinking of The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Japanese artist Hokusai. Yeah its been used alot but it's so beautiful, but it would also mean color and that is where I'm hesitant...

I also like the idea of a Spanish retabo saint, but which one and what era and style? I think when I go home I'm gonna go through all my parents old pictures and see what i can come up with! I'll keep you posted!

Wild Things

I LOVE going to the movies, good or bad, happy or sad I see it! Today I went to see a beloved childhood book come to life "Where the Wild Things Are". I was real skeptical when I saw that there were gonna make this movie. Somethings are sacred and should not be messed with and this was one of those. How could they possibly recapture the magic of that book, my imagination like Max's used to soar when I read that book, I wondered how big the creatures were and was it cold where Max was? So many things that Maurice Sendak put in this book were so cool and weird to me, almost like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory even though the book only consisted of 10 sentences.

Usually with films like this CGI is used to portray the characters because of their complex appearance and stature but I like others felt they had to be real so they could be believable to both the audience and actor. They ended up using CGI only for facial expressions otherwise it was Henson's Creature Shop who created the Wild Things and they couldn't have been more real. The film was touching and magical and was, at least I thought poinient for today's single parent family. I often caught myself in the parents and child's shoes throughout the film and felt for their pain and problems. Growing up sucks no matter what age you are, the responsibilities and losses you assume are necessary though. I used to pride myself on being able to put myself in my kids shoes but have slipped lately, this film jolted me back to their POV and their trials of growing up.

Dr. Yoda Cometh...

I don't remember going to the doctor as a kid very much, I was a charter member of the emergency room club though because i was a stupid kid. I've always wanted to shave my head but I know I would look like had several brain surgeries because of the amount of scars on my head, I know, "that explains a lot...!" Well today I had to take my daughter to the doctor because she was sick, so I'm sitting there with all the grandmas and stay at home mommies trying not to stare at their snot nosed rugrats sneezing all over everything and trying to stay warm in the walk-in freezer of a waiting room. Fast forward to an hour and a half later, the nurse calls my daughters name and we are escorted into the defrosting room, eh... ummmm, the exam room, they ask my daughter to change into the exam gown which is a paper type shirt that has the texture of a shop towel and is printed with loving teddy bears prancing about. My son dies when he has to wear this!

Waiting, waiting, waiting... Dr Alva cometh! Dr. Alva is the only doctor my kids have ever known he's about 72 years old and is slightly hunched over like Yoda, Hey you know what he's just like Yoda!!! You think he's crazy and he mumbles but knows exactly whats up with the kids, a master Jedi, he's the best! As I watch him listen to my daughters breathing, he tells her "Breathe in, Breathe out" and it's not till the third time that i catch myself doing the breathing too like I was the one being examined! He asks whats going on and what symptoms she has and mumbles something and I nod my head like I understood and he leaves the room. The nurse re-enters and has a sample swab in hand an without warning jams it up my daughters nose like a unhinged nose miner, my daughter yelps and tears flow, I don't blame her it was kinda rough.

Waiting, waiting... Dr Alva returns and delivers the bad news, shes got the flu. We pay the clerk and leave with suckers and a array of stickers, she's upset but offers me a sucker and the healing begins...

Passing the Mantle...

I lost track a long time ago on how many concerts/bands I've seen , or remember seeing in some cases! I've been going since 1975 and I haven't stopped. I have a "Bucketlist" on bands I've yet too see and unfortunately some I'll never see IE; Sinatra, Bob Marley, Micheal Jackson, The Doors, you get the point... But recently I've been able to mark a few off that list, last year I saw Willie Nelson, front row (Thanx Alain!) and last Saturday I bought tickets to...Drum roll please, or maybe a cannon shot would be more appropriate, AC/DC !!!

It's just one of those bands that have slipped through my fingers for some reason , maybe destiny, because this time I will be able to take my 11 year old son Tristan! Now for those of you out there who think, isn't he a bit young or isn't it too loud? I say NO! He's already seen Ricky Martin, Sugar Ray, Matchbox twenty, Elton John, Chicago and will soon also see KISS too! I am also gonna require earplugs because of my lack of hearing due to rockin' it too loud in the 70's- 80's ! I've never associated AC/DC with devil or evil rock, they've always fallen into that "All our songs sound alike" categories like ZZ Top and Bon Jovi but a bit better!

I've tried to set a standard for him on what is good rock music and what is crap, but I've left it to him to make his own choice. He chose the Beatles all by himself contrary to my friends belief! So what I want is for him too see some of these bands before the choke on a sandwich, crash a airplane or just get to old to rock out the stage any more! Yeah, Angus is starting to look silly in the schoolboy outfit and spandex is not very flattering on a 57 year old Paul Stanley but I wouldn't have it any other way!

So I've turned into a "concert Dad" but that's cool, he still wants to sit with me and sees that I'm there to see the band and not to be seen, I can live with that, and I'll be damned If he'll wave his cell phone en lieu of a lighter, I'm buying us Bic's so we can kick it old school together!

This is "Hookerween" eh... I mean Halloween!

Why, Why, Why??? Why did Halloween turn on me? Ya know I love holidays ,all of them. It gives us a chance to celebrate or remember people or just relax. So I had been kinda looking the other way for the past five years when Halloween came around, I saw it starting to get super popular, I mean "jagunda" popular, It had kinda came outta the shadows as more than a "Candy" holiday and became a celebration, like Christmas. OK here's where I show my age... (Start "When I was a kid" rave here....) When I was a kid Halloween was spooky and cool. You made your own costume from crap you had lying around the house, you went trick or treating by yourself and stayed out as long as you wanted, you used a pillow case for your cache of goodies and you actually pranked people when they had no candy or weren't home! I could go on and on on what was so cool about it, but that's not the point.

Halloween is now "Hookerween" or " Targetween"! I can't stand the costumes, ALL of them that they sell in the store, but especially the ones where the make the characters/costumes look like Hookers! Since when did witches look like Penthouse models and wear a little more than lingerie! It's the only day of the year a girl has the chance to dress like a total hooker and get away with it, is that it? Then these costume companies have the gaul to make that costume in a XXXL with the same cut and design, so that gives the big girls a opportunity to look like a hooker too, Why??? I mean I wasn't looking atcha' before so I'm not looking atcha' cause you look like Vampira at the Sizzler! Then Halloween has moved into corporate America, everybody wants a piece of the Halloween pie now. You can buy Halloween Ziploc bags, milk, bread, macaroni, tampons... you name it it's branded with Halloween!

I'm not asking for Halloween to be death and monsters and total macabre, I just want it to be fun, mischievous and spooky! Maybe the onslaught will end with the bad economy and people won't buy as much, I hope so! I know this sounds hypocritical but I loved the film Nightmare before Christmas because of it's portrayal of Halloween, It was spooky, sweet and FUN!

Getting Sick

It's been a long time since I've gotten sick, I took a interest in my health five years ago and started drinking green tea and watching what I eat, I wish I could say I exercise more, but I don't- Wait, if you call chasing your kids around all day and picking up constantly after them exercise then YES! but I digress. Sunday I woke up feeling really bad and ignored it until Mr Toilet's call could no longer be ignored and it came with fury... It was coming out both ends at the same time, I cleansed my colon and then some! How about that bile too, Yum-O! After that drama I passed out for 2 hours only to wake up to my kids waving a KFC drumstick above my nose asking me if I was hungry, those secret 11 herbs and spices do wonders to awaken the nausea all over again, they should use that instead of ipecac! Hence round Two... Back to bed!

Three peaceful colonel-less hours later I reawaken feeling a bit better and decide I need water and some sorta food. I make it downstairs to the pleasant aroma of cold KFC and coleslaw, no repeat! I make myself a bowl of rice and like Cain from Kung Fu I meditate while eating it and and savor every soy sauce soaked grain, alias it stays down!

I don't know where I got this bug, a bad jellybean, tainted lemonade, where ever it came from I sent it home running in fear, I was fine Monday morning , swine flu... come and get me!

Squeezing the Trigger

I press down ever so lightly but quickly and click, the deed is done! I've been taking pictures since I was 15 years old, I didn't really know what I was doing till I was 17, but I liked the idea. back then it was film, wait... until eight years ago it was film and I always tried to be frugal with my film, Man, I wanted to put my winder on continuous when I was taking pictures of girls it sounded so sexy and impressive but alas it was always one picture at a time, gotta still pay for that Kmart processing!

My point is because I was cheap, frugal, careful or whatever you wanna call it I always felt you could get your shot in 1-2 pictures, and now that I'm all digital, I'm still that way, sometimes I'll take someones picture and they'll say " Is that it? " and I'll say "yeah", its because Ive spent 45 seconds setting up that "ONE" shot all it takes is 1 or 2 frames and I have it! I'm trying to get better at this, I now will shoot 5-6 to make sure and try different settings.

A friend once called me a purest and she was right I guess, If I could still use film everyday I would, maybe I'm more of a minimalist..after all it's just that one moment were looking for huh!

Why does 32 miles make a difference...

I've lived in El Paso, Texas for 17 years now and before that Las Cruces for almost eight. There's always been one thing I don't understand and can't live with about the differences between the two towns, it's the green chile thing! Why is it that right up the road in Las Cruces; hell, even closer the south Mesilla Valley, you can go to a restaurant and get green chile dishes and green chile served as a condiment ie: pizza/burger topping , but in 90 percent of the restaurant's in El Paso they act like it doesn't exist!

C'mon!!! El Paso claims to be the "Mexican Food Capital of the World" or whatever, and yet when you look for green chile in the restaurant's they say, "No we don't have it" or "It's too hot!" But they eat jalapenos with all their meals and put hot sauce on EVERYTHING !! Is it a Mexican thing or a New Mexican thing, I've yet to figure it out! Oh, and another thing they refer to green chile as "Chile California" yet 95 percent of it is grown in the Hatch/Mesilla/Deming area! This has got to be the most ass backwards town! I would think El Paso would embrace this and feature it as part of their local promotions for the city, but that's thinking progressively... God forbid!

Why the Trout???

Coming up for a name for this blog was kinda weird, I mean what do you call something you really know nothing about? I didn't wanna give it a simple name like "The DQ Blog" or sumpin' stupid like that, so I thought what do people do on the Internet that has something to do with me at the same time, well aside from a few rude and em brassing titles I thought " People fish" People love to go fishin on the Internet and see what they come up with and I do it too for relaxing, just like real fishing my favorite pastime and hobby, Hence "The Trout Chronicles"

How often will I write about Trout? I don't know , I don't care, but I will write about all my stupid adventures in my crazy yet interesting life.I promise you I will only write when I think its worth reading, I tend to put myself in situations just so I can see the outcome or just to see how people react, so it should get interesting! I wish I could tell you how often I will update this, again I don't know...blah,blah,blah!!! Check back when you 'member maybe I'll send out a posting update, we'll see...