When I bought my house last year, I told myself that I would give myself one year to see if I could figure out a way to control the aphid/spider mite infestation that all 3 of my Crepe Myrtles had. For those not familiar with the issue, the aphids infest the bottom sides of the leaves. Once there they eat the sap and then proceed to crap the sap out on whatever might be below. This aphid crap is affectionately known as “honeydew” by some, but I like to call a spade a spade and refer to it as aphid crap. You feel it as tiny mist like drops falling from the tree above. If the infestation is bad, the mist can be heavy and annoying. It is also sticky and will get all over any furniture or deck that it is above. Heavy infestation can also cause mold and other problems for the plant. Since I have one large crepe myrtle that is in the middle of my deck that provides shade in the summer, I have been determined to see if I could control the problem so that I would not have to cut the tree down. That sounds harsh, but the shade the tree provides is useless if nobody wants to sit in the mist of aphid crap. It basically makes the deck unusable.

All this black crap that I had to power wash off of my deck was caused by the aphid honeydew.

This year I tried to take a scientific approach. Since I had 2 in the front yard, and one Crepe Myrtle in the front yard that were infested, I though I would try 2 different products to see which one worked best.

Update: I see this post still gets a lot of traffic, so I thought I’d share this update. The year after I wrote the post below, I used a Bayer 12 month systemic insecticide. You mix it in a bucket of water and pour it at the base of the plants. It wiped out the problem completely and hasn’t ever required a reapplication. The bushes have been Aphid free for the past 2-3 years now!

First up- Ortho Total Kill- Lawn and Garden Insect Killer. The list of bugs that it kills includes mites and aphids, and it also claims that it has long lasting effects, and keeps killing after application. I used this on the Crepe Myrtles in the front yard. Over a period of a few days, it did kill a lot of the aphids, but it didn’t do a real good job. After checking out ground zero a few days later, it looked like about %70 of the bugs were dead on the back of the leafs, but the rest were alive and well.

Next up- Ortho Systemic Insect Killer- This stuff rocks. Within 24 hours there was not a living aphid to be found. It totally killed all of the mites and aphids, and kept them gone for about one month before I started to notice a few bugs starting to come back. This one is the winner for sure. I think if I spray with this product about once a month, I can control the aphids, and live on a deck that is free of aphid crap.

I rented Black Snake Moan last week, and thought I would write up a short review of the movie for any of you guys out there looking to rent something for your enjoyment. As soon as the movie started I was worried. Within 2 seconds of the movie starting you see Christina Ricci’s rack in a sex scene with Justin Timberlake. Now don’t get me wrong, Christina is is smoking hot… but one of the old rules of thumb for movies clearly states that if there is nudity or a sex scene as a movie starts…the movie is probably going to suck. Afterall, if the movie sucks, people will keep watching if the get to see some skin.
Overall I’d say the movie was just ok. It wasn’t great, but wasn’t terrible. The movie had a cast full of big names like Miss Ricci, Samuel Jackson, and Justin Timberlake. However, the problem with the movie was that it was trying to straddle the fence with one foot on a trashy comedy, and the other on a serious life story. It’s hard to pull that off, and this movie wasn’t able to do it.

Trashy Comedy: Ricci plays a nymphomaniac young country girl who jumps every man she sees (including an 13 year old boy). She gets chained to the pipes of an old simple black country man who tries to “fix” her and get her life back on track against her will. Most of the movie she is in a cutoff shirt (right above her breasts, no bra) and panties. There are funny scenes where Sam literally pulls her by her chain back into the house. You get to see her naked…a lot, and the white/black old/young chain relationship is pretty funny.

Serious: They also try to tell the story of Ricci as being a sexually abused young girl who who finally sees the light and tries to reconcile things with her mother, and make things right with the one boy she truly loves. Sam Jackson also heals from his wife leaving him for his brother, and uses Ricci to help heal his pain and figure out what really matters.

These two points don’t match up well. If they would have gone one way or the other, I think the movie would have been pretty good. However, it’s hard to have that heart felt “change your life” effect, no matter how good the acting is, when the scene before you find yourself watching Sam Jackson walk a half naked Christina Ricci through the fields for exercise, with a 40 fooot chain around her waist as a leash.

I also posted some new pics of Samantha and Jen in their galleries. Jen’s gallery can be found by clicking the pic above, and Sam’s by the link below.

And by the way….by the look of the view counts on Sam’s page, you perverts out there are all fans of Sam’s…well… you know.

I thought I’d give a quick weekend update. I have a few more pics from the photo shoot with Ally posted in my gallery. I’m going out of town at the end of next week and I’m not sure if I’m going to take my camera with me or not. I’ve been traveling a lot lately it seems. I’m not used to that….but still enjoying it.

Oh yea. We went to see Borat last night. A quick review: I laughed my ass off. The movie is funny as hell and pushed the realm of crazy/outrageous movies to a new level. If you are easily offended, or sensitive to political correctness you will hate this movie. There were scenes that made me really uncomfortable and that is difficult to do. The best thing I can say about this movie is that about %90 of the laughs in the movie were not in any of the previews or from the Ali G show. I hate when you go to see a comedy ,and the only funny scenes were spoiled in the previews. If you want a laugh and are not easily offended, go check it out. Don’t take your kids….grandmothers……nuns…..or Sunday school teacher.

Ties….I used to have to wear the damn things for work every single day of the week, but I don’t think I’ve worn one in the last two years. This week all of that nonsense had to change. I wore a tie not once, but twice. Not only that, I even wore cuff links once!

Restaurant week (which traditionally becomes restaurant month ) ended this week, but not before we went to three different meals for the event. Restaurant week is a charity that a lot of the high end places in Dallas participate in. Basically you get a 3 course meal at a high end place for $35. Something like 7 bucks of that goes to charity. Regardless it is a great chance to give a little back while also going out to places that you would probably never otherwise go. We went to the Capitol Grille, Nobu, and Arthur’s.

Monday night we went to the Capitol Grill. Of the three places I have to say this was my favorite. The service was top notch and the food was fantastic. The atmosphere was pretty formal I would say. There were lots of guys seated in their suit jackets who looked like they were doing some type of power play deals. I blew through the $35 price line with two vodka tonics and a glass of wine…but it was very well worth it. Great food, great service, and great friends.

Thursday night we made our way to Nobu, the new age high end sushi restaurant . Rob was over the bird flu by this point, and was able to join. He even brought little miss Liliana along. I was just in a dress shirt and slacks, but when I went over to Rob’s house he had a tie on….so I made him give me a tie just for the hell of it. Nobu was interesting. I felt like I was in Vegas. The decor was very new age with black rock walls mad of golf ball sized rocks, aspen (or birch?) trees in the middle of the isles and all around. Dance/techno type music plying pretty loud in the background. The service was just so-so. To me it was pretty slow at times. I would call the food was very good, but not fantastic. That was a perfect restaurant week place to eat. I probably would have been disappointed if I spent $100 a person going there on my own, but I’m glad that I was able to check it out for $35.

Vivek and Novie decided they were not done with the $35 goodness just yet. Saturday night we went to Arthur’s in Addison and had steak again. Novie was asking the week before about how cuff links work, so I wore my cuff’s to show her. Well…you can’t very well wear cuff links and not also wear a tie. So… I had to wear both and broke my dry spell. Arthur’s was very nice, but not as formal as the Capitol Grill. I really liked all of the fish tanks (they probably have 20 of them with beautiful fish). We had a nice bottle of wine and enjoyed our 3 course meal. The food was wonderful, and I would recommend their cuisine to anyone…..but the service we got was pretty crappy. It was a least 20 mins between dropping off the menus and taking our drink orders and ever seeing the waiter again. The first round of drinks never made it. From there drink glasses were often empty, and over all the service was just really slow.

Capiltol Grill

Nobu

Arthur’s

Location: Standard and Pours, South Side Lamar.
Well, I decided to get out of my comfort zone a little bit and try out a new music venue last night. While I’ve lived in Dallas my whole life, I must admit that I do not know the south side of downtown well at all. So I decided to make the trip down there to check out Standard and Pours in the basement of the old red brick Sears building. The atmosphere was very nice. S&P is a cozy little coffee shop that serves alcohol and some food. I didn’t notice anyone smoking (Dallas ordinance maybe?), and the shop was very pleasant to be in. There were a few tables and some large couches in front of the small stage area. It was also very well lit (which makes taking pics much more easy!).

I arrived just after eight, and got there just as Jayson Bales and Dave Wilsonstarted their set. It would seem that Jayson just landed a recording contact and had he advance versions of his CD available for purchase. I’ll see if I can get around to writing a review of the CD sometime soon. Jayson and Dave played very well together and had an easy going light rock/acoustic sound. Typical of a small music venue, the artists were able to engage the crowd in an informal and informative fashion. One of the highlights came when Jayson’s young son asked his Dad if he would play “Yes Jesus Loves me”. Dad hesitated, but then obliged and the whole crowd joined in.

They had a friend from the audience join in for a few songs. I didn’t catch the gentleman’s name but he really helped to add to the music. Maybe if Jayson, Dave , or Pascal are reading this, they can post his name in the comments section..

If you like live music, you will probably enjoy Standard and Pours. They have live music almost every night of the week and it looks like there usually isn’t a cover. Some great acts like Salim Nourallah and Kacy Crowley will be playing there very soon. Check the calendars in the links above. Check it out!

S&P’s myspace

I was trying to decide which review to write for you guys today: The live Bend Studio recording of Ian Moore, or Patrice Pike. Well, since Patrice Pike is going to be on CBS tonight for Tommy Lee’s new show Rockstar Supernova, the Tommy Lee Project I thought I might as well post her review. Especially since it looks like Patrice’s show from June 2006 might be on sale very soon, and might very well be the most recent recording of her music available. The review below is from a recent (2005) recording curently available from Bend Studio, but if you are interested in the June 2006 recording, please e-mail me at here and I will send out a blast as soon as it is made available (and no, I don’t use or sell any e-mail addresses).

Ally from Bend Studio was nice enough to send me one of Patrice Pike’s recordings from a show at her studio last year along with the Ian Moore recording that I ordered. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I must admit that I was amazed at the recording quality and fidelity of the music. Too often live show recordings sound terrible, but the 2 live CD’s that Ally recorded sounded fantastic. On top of that, I was impressed that Ally recorded the show in it’s entirety, leaving in the discussion with the crowd at her little studio. Instead of chopping out the entire dialog, she left it in and has the collection available on her site as a 2 disc set. If you are interested in Patrice Pike’s music, want to see how she performs in the raw without a recording studio or full band… or just want to hear some fantastic live music and also get a glimpse of her real personality I would highly recommend the 2005 show recorded by Bend Studio (available here) The CD is about half way down the page (Ctrl+F and then type Patrice, and you will find it). I think you will enjoy the music, and would highly reccomend the CD’s to anyone.

Pic’s from Patrice Pikes June show at Bend Studio here

A review of that show is here

Bend Studio

Patrice Pike’s Myspace

Last night was a good night. The plans for the night were : go home, go to the gym, go to bed. What actually happened: Berto got a kitchen pass, so we got pickled, puffed on a few cigars, and went to see Superman Returns with Blake and John.

I really want to write this review because I was happily surprised with the movie. All of the reviews I heard on the radio and TV were very negative. All I heard this week was: The movie was terrible, it was too long, and too many religious overtones. I’m not sure what these guys are smoking, but I didn’t find any of that to be the case.

The basic acid test that I use to recommend a movie is this: was it worth my time, and was it worth my money? That is, did it entertain me enough to be worth the green and the time? This movie was worth both to me.

I was happy the way the movie was made, and how it kept true to the classic “SuperMan” style. This movie was the first movie of this type in a long time that I’ve seen that reminded me of watching the original movies/shows when I was a kid. The studio’s didn’t kill it like they have some other classics by taking a great movie or character and make an ultra modern interpretation that becomes removed from the original. This was a Superman sequil that felt just like old movies. For the most part the special effects were pretty good. Some of them tried to go too over the top and looked too animated (like some of the Spider Man scenes). It was long, but kept me engaged. I wouldn’t say that it is a must see film, but it was a good movie by my standards. The people who are freaking about the religious overtones have too much free time on their hands to find things to bitch about. There were 2 lines in the movie that discussed the world needing/wanting/needing a savior. It’s a super hero movie….what is it without someone who saves the world from the bad guy?

I wanted to get a new all around lens for my camera before we went to the Mexico trop . My goal was to replace the standard lens with something more capable. I wanted a lens that was a good all around lens to keep on the camera the vast majority of the time. I was looking for modest zoom ability coupled with good wide angle shooting. Most of all I wanted a faster lens because I don’t like using a flash when I don’t have to. On top of all of this I didn’t want to spend a grand to achieve this.

After snooping around on the web, I found the Sigma 28mm-135mm f-2.8. So far I absolutely love this lens. It is 2 stops faster than the standard lens (the 77mm filter size helps that out also), and has just the right mix of wide angle and zoom abilities for the majority of my shooting. Even at 135mm, it is as fast as the fastest setting the stock 18-55mm canon lens is (f 3.5). In low light situations, you can really notice the speed difference. I’m able to shoot without a tripod and without a flash in conditions that the standard lens would laugh at and ask me for a 1/5th of a second shutter speed (can you say blllluuuurrrrrr?).

I was surprised at how harsh some of the reviews for this lens were online. The more I read into them, the more it made sense to me though. Most of the guys slamming the lens were comparing it to high end ultrasonic and image stabilized lens. Well, yea, this thing is going to focus more slowly than your $1500 ultrasonic. If you are an architecture photographer shooting a $2000 wide angle to make sure your lines have zero distortion, you won’t like this lens either. My point of reference is from the stock lens, and this thing focuses faster, and takes better pics than the stock lens by a long shot. I don’t notice any barell distortion, but I’m not a structural photographer. If you are a pro photographer comparing this to a pro lens, then you will probably not be happy. If you are like me and want a great all around lens that takes great pics for less than $350 bucks to replace your stock lens, you will love this Sigma

Other reviews with pics from the same lens:

Ian Moore
Dreams Hotel
Patrice Pike
Anju’s Dream Bill

I’m not sure that I’m going to handle this review the same way that I have my previous music reviews. I think I would prefer to give credit to the people who played and quick kudos and thanks for the music. The show Saturday night at Bend Studio was a little bit different because it wasn’t just a show, it was a tribute to a friend of Bend Studio who recently passed. So this show was about more than just the music and I don’t want to detract from that.

If Ally or anyone else would like to elaborate on Anju, please do so in the comments of this post. I was not fortunate enough to know her; all I know is that she was a friend of the studio and a tremendous supporter to the artists. Ally put together a bill of three of her favorite performers to come and play “Anju’s Dream Bill”.

The show opened with Salim Nourallah , followed by Kacy Crowley, and concluded by Billy Harvey. All three performs entertained the crowed as they shared their craft. The audience requested songs, sang along, snapped on queue, and had a fantastic evening listening to the dream bill. Salim made sacrifices of his own just to be there (including the promise of sleep), while Kacy proved that big voices hide in little women, and Billy Harvey kept the crowd smiling with his music and his antics. I enjoyed the night very much, and I think that the show achieved its purpose of celebrating the life of a friend who has passed with music and friends.

Updated: more pics from the show here

Other Bend Studio Reviews

Bend’s Myspace

Biilly Harvey’s Myspace
Salim’s Myspace
Kacy’s Webpage