We had tried to go last Wednesday, but Luke fell asleep on the way. On Thursday we tried again, even though Liam was sick and sleepy.

We didn’t get any good pictures of the two of them together, but some with Luke by himself aren’t bad. I’ve also included some "outtakes" showing what kind of mood Liam was in.

I apologize in advance for the corny titles and captions. Apparently corniness is a symptom of sleep deprivation.

Family photo

When got to the Cannon Center, Liam had been cooped up in the car most of the day, and he decided that he was not going to be happy unless we let him crawl around. Luke was enjoying himself until he tripped and fell pretty hard. I think that threw him off the rest of the night.

Luke's Jimi Hendrix Impression

Neither of the boys were as enthusiastic as we had hoped. They never took their eyes off the stage, but the big smiles we were expecting just weren’t there. Cassie and I have speculated as to the problem, but we really have no idea. Luke was dancing and singing to one of his Wiggles DVDs before we got out of the parking garage. It’s just one of those things I suppose.

Murray playing his guitar

All that said, we’d go back in a heartbeat. In fact, Cassie has already been trying to talk me into catching another stop on this tour. It’s probably not going to happen, but we’ll definitely see them if they come back to the US in a year or two.

Anthony and Jeff

We were under the impression that they would do mostly songs from their newest DVD. That had me a bit concerned, because they boys haven’t seen that one yet. As it turns out, they did maybe one song from their new DVD. the rest were old favorites.

The Drum Line

The Finale

Cassie and Luke

I also took the switch as an opportunity to upgrade from Adobe Lightroom 1.4 to 2. I don’t really need any of the new features, but the third-party Flickr plugin for 1.4 had some issues that were corrected in the LR2 version.

Currently, the plan is to retire the space shuttles in 2010. Orion isn’t scheduled to be ready until 2014. However, there are various proposals out there to extend the life of the space shuttle program and/or speed up the development of Orion.

At the very bottom of this post is a real treat (sarcasm warning!). It’s the only recent picture of myself that I can stand to look at. It’s not good mind you, just tolerable.

Brandon and Keshia

Keshia

Keshia and Peyton

Jaxon and his dad, Jason, my first cousin.

My little cousins: Jaycee, Jaxon, Jaylen, Lila, and Kyla.

Jaxon and his grandmother, my aunt, Kathy.

Luke getting down to the reception music.

Me (Photo credit: Renelda Owen, my aunt)

The pictures aren’t that great for two reasons. First of all, I used my Fuji point and shoot instead of my Canon SLR. I did this primarily because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle Luke and the SLR on the walk to the Ford Center. Also, I was a little concerned the security guys might flip out if I pulled out the SLR. As it turns out, that fear was completely unfounded. There were only a couple of rent-a-cops around the Ford Center, and I saw other people with SLRs. Also, Luke wasn’t real thrilled about being strapped into his stroller. Now that he can walk he likes a little more freedom.

A large tent set up for the journalists covering the debate just east of the Ford Center.

I plan on going back up there in the next few days with my SLR. Hopefully they won’t move anything around until I have a chance to take more pictures. With a tripod and a little time, one could take some really nice pictures around twilight. They have some very interesting lighting on the exterior of the building after dark.

Earlier in the week, the was some concern over whether or not the debate would actually be held. The latest news I’ve heard is that the debate will definitely take place, but possibly without McCain. Early this evening one of the Memphis stations was reporting the McCain “advance team” had done a walk through of the Ford Center. Also, it was being reported that both parties had reached an understanding on the financial bailout. However, it turns out that’s not the case, so it’ll definitely be interesting to see if McCain shows up. If he doesn’t, a one man debate will be interesting as well.

A lot of Oxfordians, myself included, will be upset if the debate doesn’t proceed as planned, with two candidates.

Since I subscribed to the blog a few weeks ago, I’ve particularly enjoyed 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony, War in South Ossetia, Beijing 2008 – It’s a wrap, Preparing to rescue Hubble, and Scenes from Iraq. Of course not every post is as awesome as those, but most are worth having a look at, and the good ones are certainly worth the wait.

I learned about The Big Picture from an equally interesting source. (Yes, I read too many blogs.) Jeffrey Friedl is an American living in Kyoto, Japan, with his wife and son. He is a computer scientist, photographer, and father, so he and I have a lot in common. He is the author of O’Reilly’s Mastering Regular Expressions. His posts on life in Japan are very interesting. If you’re interested in photography, life in Japan, or just like reading about the lives of interesting people, his blog is well worth reading.