YELLOWJACKET NEST

I was out at the Hardcore Texas ranch house in Aledo, Texas one summer afternoon visiting my buddies Hippy Steve and William Bryan Massey III, head of kitchen operations at Fred's Texas Cafe, and spotted this yellow jacket nest up in one corner of the back porch.

So I got good and close and pointed my Nikon D80 up at it and took some shots.

As I was shooting, the yellowjacket on top of the nest turned my way and hunched down and fiercely stared at me, ready to attack my intrusion. I just said, "Hold on, buddy, I'll be finished in a sec."

Can you see the progress of the baby yellowjackets in the cocoons? See the one cocoon with the black head all shiny and seemingly ready to take flight? If not, click on the photo to get a closer look.

Man, insects are cool.

These yellowjackets look fierce as all get out and they are. Click for more about the yellowjacket flying badasses.

THE RANCH

This neon sign, which is pretty f-ing cool lookin', is for The Ranch country radio station that resides inside The Jett Building in downtown Fort Worth's ritzy tourist trap, Sundance Square.

I'm not a fan of modern day country (it's just rock 'n roll with a twang) but I am a fan of cool signs and this sign qualifies as cool.

From the dressed up cowboy roping the word "ranch" to the Texas state flag design below that to the rustic old fence that the word "ranch" is branded on.

All around cool and colorful.

If you enjoy country music check out The Ranch.

ZIPPO LIGHTER FROM VIETNAM WAR

My brother-in-law owns this Zippo lighter. I don't know the story behind it --- he wasn't in 'Nam --- but I think the lighter tells the story all by itself, at least the attitude of the chopper pilot who owned it.

CU CHI

(Click on the photo to see it large.)

FRED BURGER WITH CHEESE #2

Three ladies from work took me out to lunch and I got to choose the eatery.

I picked my favorite burger/ice cold beer dive, Fred's Texas Cafe, where my buddy, William Bryan Massey III, is the joint's head of kitchen operations and head cook.

I got the No. 1 burger in town, the Fred Burger w/cheese, which won the FW WEEKLY's 2007 Reader's Choice award for best burger.

Before devouring the mouth-watering and luscious-tasting all-American meal, I took out my travel camera, a Nikon D50 carrying a Nikkor 18-135mm AF zoom lens, and snapped this shot.

Now that you're mouths are watering I suggest you eat something immediately to satisfy your up-in-arms palette.

White Trash Photo Shows

Here's two video slideshows I put together using my photos, and those of some others, of my white trash redneck friends from over the past decade or so, living the low life while drinking Miller's High Life and listening to rock 'n roll like Molly Hatchet's Flirtin' With Disaster and Gary Glitter's classic arena rock anthem Rock 'N Roll, Part 2. You can also see these videos at my YouTube page. All of us somehow surviving divorces,needy friends, fucked up friends, the ups, the downs, the all-arounds, tales from Fred's Texas Cafe, cold ass beer, cheap booze, soul crushing shit jobs, pieces of shit cars, break downs --- mental and otherwise --- shopping for threads and footwear at thrift stores & flea markets, meeting all sorts of fucked up losers, freaks, weirdos and what the fucks?, suicidal depression driving us to near insanity, meandering through headbanging mid-life crisis's, doing the SSDD (same shit different day) routine, facing SNAFUs, barely making it through FUBARs, spending nights at dive bars with fellow barflies, reading Bukowski to make sense of it all, inhaling the bud, surviving chrushing thuds and and all sorts of crud.

Fuck it. Hell, yeah.

NOTE: The Anti-HeroArt.com website is no more.

SKITTLES THE YAWNING CAT

As we made a pit stop at a co-worker's house, while out perusing an estate sale and a couple of thrift stores, I took my camera inside with me and searched for Skittles the cat. She was on top of my co-worker's comfy bed fast asleep. After I woke her up I caught her in the middle of a yawn. Normally, my flash intimidates her and so I didn't have it attached to my award-winning Nikon D700, knowing how well it performs in low light.

I got this photograph while she was rising from her cap nap and stretching off the cobwebs with that big ol' yawn.

The ISO was 4500 for this shot and the in camera Noise Reduction was set at normal. I did some post production in Nikon's excellent Capture NX 2 software and you can witness the result for yourself.

I always describe cats caught in the middle of flexing their choppers 'Pavarotti Yawns' as it seems as if they're belting out a long note.

Skittles, or Skids, like most animals, has a funny side to her. She loves to "go spinning" and you can see a video of her doing just that by clicking here.