A NASA Photo Op One Hundred Years In the Making - 10/31/15

I've been working as a contractor at NASA Langley for ten years, which is exactly one tenth the time that NASA Langley, well Langley airfield has existed. The official anniversary date is July 17, 2017 and according to this article on NASA.gov,  "On that day, one hundred years earlier, construction began on the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. It was the nation’s first civilian aeronautics research facility."

Can you see me now?

I feel fortunate to work in such an amazing place full of history and hope for the future. The researchers and scientist I've had the pleasure to work with (I'm a multimedia specialist in the video department, so we get to work with a wide range of people) are as passionate and dedicated a group as you'll ever find anywhere. It's quite common to see a researcher retire, only to show up the following week to continue work on their project because they want to solve the BIG PROBLEM. Not because they'll get rich or famous, just because they can't quit until they figured it out, whatever "it" is. And the things they figure out advance the quality of human life, whether it's safer airplanes or satellite tech that gives us cell phones and accurate weather forecasts or creating spacecraft that allows us to explore our universe. All of those incredible achievements come down to a person applying their brain and heart to finding smarter, better ways to do things.

The obligatory selfie

So, on a drizzly Tuesday in October, we all took a break from the routine and stood together to mark this moment in time and recognize that the people make the place. I'm proud to have been a part of it.

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Here are a couple "behind-the-scenes" photos as everyone gathered together in front of the hanger.

The official photo was taken from a hovering helicopter from the Air Force Base next door. 

The Black Stallion - 10/23/15

Another day, another strange sighting on the drive home. This time I came upon this weird tri-wheeled vehicle that reminded me of cheesy sci-fi action flicks from the 1980s. I caught the name across the rear, a "Stallion". Apparently the base model is only $33,995.00. That's a lot of money to get rained on.  

This guy was towing a little matching trailer that must have been empty because it was bouncing all over the place. Here's a shot of the back and if you look closely, you'll spot the trailer hitch. If I had one of these, I'd wear a Batman outfit when I drove around town.

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Halloween Shotgun - 10/21/15

My intentions were good. I started the year off declaring I'd post an "image-a-day" and after an enthusiastic launch, was quickly overcome by all the usual suspects and then the shame hammer stopped me cold. But today, while driving home from work, I glanced to the vehicle to my left and saw a human skeleton riding shotgun and immediately recognized the manna that had been laid at my feet. Here was my chance to jump back into the "image-a-day" blog post, so here we are.

I love Halloween, mostly because I love the horror and monster genres. The candy ain't bad either....

OK HW

My Eight Mile - 8/1/2015

 Yesterday I got out for an eight mile hike. It's a route I know well in the neighborhood. I have mapped out several routes of varying lengths that begin and end at my front door. I'm fortunate to live in an interesting area with a beach close by and a park only a mile and a half away, so the walks are not just a bland sidewalk stomp through suburbia. I've been thinking about the passage of time lately; how quickly time moves through me or am I moving through time? How my walks and runs and hikes are small journeys that slip away before I can focus them to a point in my life. I wanted to do something to document what an average walk like this is like because one day, I may not live here anymore or I may not be able walk eight miles. I do know I am getting older and the old body will waste away sooner then I expect and the eight mile walk will be something I'll miss. So, "Hello there elder Hal Weaver in the future! Remember when you would tie on the old hike boots, plug-in the ear buds and stride on strong and springy legs down the lane? If not, then here's a little reminder of this time in the summer of 2015. Enjoy old boy!"

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The link to the route. You can match the photos to the mile markers.

Mile One - The Happy Mailbox - Those colorful reflectors always catch my eye.

Mile Two - Bayville Park - I love the tall pine trees in this park.

Mile Three - Pleasure House Point - Great nature area that I did not hike through on this route. Note- mind the low hanging fingers.

Mile Four - The Lesner Bridge - Here's the construction gantry lurking through the trees. The new bridge will be ready June 2017.

Mile Five - Live Oak Trees - Also in the Pleasure House Point  Nature Area.

Mile Six - I Got Fat Hands! - I must have had a lot of salt in my system as my hands ballooned up.

Mile Seven - Random Crepe Myrtle - My neighborhood is full of these beautiful trees and the bloom is on!

Mile Eight - The End of the Line - This is not my house, just a little cottage behind our house.

There Goes the Neighborhood, UP! - 6/24/2015

The neighbor across the street is rebuilding his place. The old place was falling down and kind of scary, so we were glad to see it go. The lot was vacant for seven months. During that time we had an unobstructed view of the Cheasepeake Bay, then the building began. We were told the new building wouldn't be any higher. Yeah, right! The old place was only three stories and this one is four. It'll be interesting to see if it starts a trend in the neighborhood. OK HW

Say Hello to My Little Friend - 6/22/2015

I found this lovely little green snake on our patio tonight. He was perched up on this plant and looked comfortable. I wondered if he was trying to catch some bugs.

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Blind Willie - Lo-Fi-Ga - 6/15/15

Last fall I started my series of "Lo-Fi-Ga" carvings. Tiny, forgotten gods that are coming back to set some things right in the world. The motivation was an exhibition of miniature art at the Charles H. Taylor Center called "Small Works" that's done every year around November. Last year I submitted two Lo-Fi-Ga pieces and a small woodcarving called "Maya Bird". They all sold before the show opened, so the curator, James Warwick Jones, asked me if I had anything else, so I created two more Lo-Fi-Ga carvings. "Blind Willie" is the one of those and he sold too, so I haven't seen him since the show. I love blues and jazz music and was thinking of the faces of some of those old musicians when I did this piece. "Blind Willie" is the god of the late night steam whistle cry from a westbound train.

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Hopping You have a Jiang-Shi Birthday - 6/12/2015

So I had a birthday recently and it was a "Big One" by most standards. I turned 50 years old. How I got here and the speed it happened is a discussion best left for another time. Even though the official day was last weekend, the party is still going on. Today I received in the mail an awesome package of hand-drawn birthday cards from my older sister and her daughter (my niece) and my great nieces. It did my old heart good to see those sweet bits of colorful construction paper magically transformed into birthday cards by toddler's hands. What I'm sharing with you tonight is what my big sis did for me. She sent my 3,000 yen for my upcoming trip to Japan and did this fantastic drawing of an Asian Jiangshi or "Hopping Vampire/Zombie". She is a better artist then she knowns! I love this drawing. Thank you sis!

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A Sideways Grin - 6-1-2015

I did this Lo-Fi-Ga a couple of weeks ago and posted him on Instagram, but forgot to put him on here until tonight. I don't have a name for him yet, in fact have a  bunch of nameless heads rolling around the studio. For now I'm calling him "Sideways Grin", a line from an old Tom Waits tune. He's lying on a stack of unfinished bases, which I need to sand and paint, etc., the kind of easy, mindless work that's good to do while I wait for the muse to return.

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Rise of the Radishes - 5-31-2015

Well, actually so far, it's just one, but I'm excited anyways. We never do a big garden, just a few small things, but it is still fun to eat veggies you grew yourself. This year, we have some Better Boy Tomatoes, Basil, Rosemary and Radishes, which I'm growing from seed. I like growing Radishes because they are easy to grow, come up quickly and taste great on a salad. I threw about a dozen seeds in this pot, but this is the only one to sprout so far. Stay tuned for the full crop report to come!

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Speed Art - 5/28/15

Janet and I attended a wonderful art social event at the Chrysler Musuem's Glass Art Studio in Norfolk, Va, called "Come Art My Party" and it was a bit like speed dating. The price of admission was 3-5 images of your art and during the evening each artist was given one minute to show their stuff and talk about it. I thought it was an effective and fun way to build community. I enjoyed seeing such diverse work and having a chance to share my efforts. I choose my Lo-Fi-Ga" series and folks seemed to enjoy the idea and scale of the work.

Most importantly, connections were made, met new artists and enjoyed talking with them about their art and getting acquainted. One person I chatted with was William Sprueill who shared his moody, black & white human figure photographs; his website (Bonehead Art and Media). I also met Robin Rogers, who works at the Glass Studio and he and his wife Julia are glass artist and currently have a show at the TCC Visual Arts Center in Portsmouth, Va called Percipient Minds that will be up through June 24, 2015.

Thanks' to Charlotte Potter and the good folks at the Glass Studio for putting the event on. It was an inspiring evening that fed my creative soul.

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Choose a Different Path - 5/26/2015

Met my old friend Casey of COGfoto for lunch today at a Sandy Bottom Park. I'm grateful for a break from eating at my desk and it's good to catch-up. It feels good to get outside and after lunch, we usually have time for a quick walk around the lake. Today we took a different route that led us to a long row of these incredible, Thistle-like flowers. We both saw an opportunity for today's blog post, so hauled out our phones and got a couple of shots. I think it's interesting to see how we each shot the same subject. Stumbling across these flowers made me glad we tried a different path.

If anyone knows what that flower is, please let me know.subject.

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Furiosa - 5/25/15

I saw "Mad Max Fury Road" over the weekend. It was an intense orgy of action and weirdness and I loved it. George Miller is a student of cinema, a lover of the silent era and it shows in the masterful design of the ballet of death and the relationship of humans against a desolate wasteland. This film made me think of "Lawrence of Arabia" and John Ford Westerns. The production design was straight out of "Heavy Metal" magazine, in fact by my estimate this was the most Heavy Metal movie ever! But all that aside, the image that stayed with me the most was the Charlize Theron character, "Imperator Furiosa" with her black warpaint and tragic, liquid blue eyes that seemed to always be somewhere between rage and sorrow. Today's art time was spent carving a new Lo-Fi-Ga inspired by that character. It's not meant to be a portrait, I just loved the style of black make-up covering the top half of the face and those blue eyes. This is the first Lo-Fi-Ga that I've painted, all the others I left totally natural. So what do you think of the paint?

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Romaine Will Never Die! - 5/24/2015

Last week my mother told me about growing more Romaine lettuce from the "butt" of an old head and I had to give it a try. All you do is trim the root end a little and place the core in a little water. It took a couple of days before I saw the sprouts, but now they are going strong. I did some research to find out what's next, (SPOILER ALERT - you plant it in dirt), so that'll be next. Give it a try it's easy!

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Hello Stranger - 5/20/15

A new Lo-Fi-Ga was born tonight and I have no idea what to name him. Got any suggestions?

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Alien Roadkill - 5/18/15

I found this alien carcass in the parking lot in front of the laundromat tonight. This poor visitor from another world had a "Close Encounter of the Last Kind". Perhaps I should do an autopsy on him.

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Rising Sun - 5/17/15

I got some time in the studio today. I should be working in there everyday. It's good for my soul. This piece was inspired by a Mayan Sun glyph. Cedar is the wood; more scrap from the fence project. This could make a cool belt buckle.

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Happy Friday! Here's a Dead Squirrel - May 15, 2015 - Image-a-day

It's been a while since I posted a dead animal pic, so here you go. I found this little fellow while I was out on a four mile walk. I also found five pennies and cleared a fragment of a rusty saw from the road. Whenever I'm out for a walk, I like to clear nails, screws and any other tire-threatening metal from the streets as a way of taking care of my fellow motorists. I figure it's good karma too, something that this little, half-mummified rodent could have used more of.

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Ralf and I Make an Exquisite Corpse - 5/3/2015 - Image-a-day

My good, old pal Ralf Schulze over there in the Aardvark Farm sent my a sweet mail art letter recently crammed with all kinds of weirdness. One interesting bit was an unfinished drawing with an invitation to complete, so I did. This is kind of collaboration is sometimes called an "Exquisite Corpse", a game that artists, particularly surrealist will play to keep the creative juices sharp. I feel fortunate to have a friend like Ralf who prompts me to continue to play at art; just have some fun and not take the art-making too seriously.

The animated GIF is fun, but makes it a little difficult to clearly see the two individual drawings, so here is the original drawing that Ralf did on April 10, 2015.

And here is what I added this morning.

I look forward to many joint projects like this in the years to come!

Thanks' Ralf!

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I Want My Mummy - 5/2/15 - Image-a-day

I was happy to get some time in the studio today. I have a couple of woodcarvings started and moved them a little further down the line. Then I jumped into a new Hickory Nut Husk carving and another Lo-Fi-Ga was born. I don't have a name for it yet, but it looks a bit like a goofy mummy. What do you think I should call it?

OK HW