There are some really talented photographers out there! I aspire to do more of my own photography someday, but for now, I am content with discovering folks who are out there doing it as their full-time job (and rightly so, because they have a unique way of portraying their subjects!) Viewing their wonderful galleries of photos, trying to tuck away (in the back of my brain) their useful techniques and ways of "seeing" through the camera lens... being a willing student.

Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre, and Scott Haefner are such talents. They have this incredible way of finding the beauty in places long forgotten and dreadfully weathered by time. Stunning photographs that will tease you into imagining the time and era that these places were thriving, full of life and progress. It's nearly jaw-dropping.

I stumbled over this on a CBCradio3 blog the other day (even helped find out the very information that follows.) Jon Janes, the dude that IS The Mountain & The Trees band, is looking for help on his next album. The idea is actually pretty cool... keep reading!

"How To Play On A Mountains & Trees Album
(or how not to make a million dollars, but enjoy it just the same)

The Mountains & The Trees are recording a new album (to be released later this year) and there are several ways to play on said album:

#1 - Be The Mountains & The Trees (I just checked - that’s not you)

#2 - Be part of the Valleys & Seas Orchestra that often accompanies The Mountains & The Trees (there’s a chance this is you, but if not, read on)

#3 - Be you (the most likely scenario)

That’s right, *anybody* can be on the new Mountains & Trees album. All it takes is a few simple steps:

#1 - Go to https://download.yousendit.com/TzY1ZFhqb0JGOFJMWEE9PQ and download the .WAV file (”New Song (La La La Section) DEMO” or something like that)

#2 - Load it into your favorite program (Garageband, ProTools, Adobe, etc) and make a recording of yourself singing along to the “La Da Da DaDa Da” section (make sure it’s as high a quality as it can be - it’ll have to be for the end result)

#3 - Save the part of just yourself singing as a high-quality (VERY important) .WAV file and use http://www.yousendit.com to send the file back to info@themountainsandthetrees.com. Make sure to include your name/where-you’re-from in the e-mail!

That’s about it! If the file is of good quality, we’ll put it together along with the others and the local ones and make a chorus out of it. Bada bing, bada bang, bada boom, you’re on a Mountains & Trees album!

So what have we learned from all this?

#1 - It’s easy to get on a Mountains & Trees album

#2 - I like making lists with 3 different points

#3 - ...

Any questions, comments, concerns, compliments, or snide remarks can be sent to info@themountainsandthetrees.com.

Cheers!
- Jon, The Mountains & The Trees" (via Facebook)

So, there ya have it. Cool idea, right?! I don't know if I have the capability to participate (need to check with the Mr. about recording devices in our household) but will have to do it soon. In one comment Jon left on the Facebook post, he said they're taking submissions through mid-February.

I swear I had really good intentions when I said in a previous post that I would be posting more regularly! "Life" has been quite hectic but relaxing at the same time as of late.

I've enjoyed having more free time since "retiring" from roller derby. Actually, my retirement becomes "official" at the end of this month, which is nearly here! (Where has this month gone?!) Today, the new Vice-President (aka my replacement) for the league will be announced! My vote was hard to cast as there were two VERY capable women on the ballot that I wanted to vote for. I will be equally happy if either of them take the seat. I cannot wait to find out! My time being involved in roller derby is far from over, though. I intend to continue to volunteer as much as possible with my league (Tri-City Roller Girls) through the Bout Production Committee, working bouts, and kicking off "Team Super-Fan" which really just means I'll continue to boisterously promote derby and TCRG any way I can! Oh ya... keep an eye out for "Team Super-Fan"!!

Something else I "committed" to just yesterday is the Skull-a-day movement. I've been a big fan of the blog and idea for over a year now, and decided I am going to do my best to create, draw, discover (etc.) a skull every day for a year. Hmm... thinking about this more now... perhaps I should see if I can make it through a month first. *Haha* In any event, it should be interesting and fun. Hopefully I'll actually get my s*** together enough to actually POST my creations/discoveries on here. *fingers crossed*

In just under two weeks I'll be volunteering at the Hillside Inside festival. I. CANNOT. WAIT! Hillside Fest (the one that happens over a weekend in July at Guelph Lake) is so amazing and magical. I've considered volunteering over the past couple of years, but with my derby schedule, it's been impossible. I didn't even make it to the weekend festival last summer - the first time in what would've been my 5th annual attendance. It still makes me sad that I missed it. I don't want that to happen again. February 6th, 2010 will be my first Hillside Inside event, the Festival's 3rd annual, and man, am I looking forward to it! They have an incredible lineup, including Hawksley Workman, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Woodhands, Socalled, Ani DiFranco, and more! See... awesome! Find out more info about Hillside here.