R. Wright Photography

Pipes

2012-01-20T22:17:00.000-05:00

My La Torre Personal. Wonderful large pipe. It smokes better every time I smoke it. It was a restored estate pipe that I paid under twenty dollars for off of eBay! A real bargain if you ask me!

My other eBay finds. This pipe rack came with a couple Dr. Grabows and a Kaywoodie and a Thermofilter that did not survive the restoration process, for some reason the stem warped. Anyway, the pipe on the outside in this picture is my Dr. Grabow Regal. A wonderful smoker that wasn't too hard to restore. The other is a King Erik "Topic" 103 from Holland. It's a smaller, thinner pipe, which isn't my usual style, but it's a good aromatic smoker.

Lighters

2012-01-20T22:07:00.000-05:00

Love this lighter! An ebay find. I could never get it to spark though. I suppose the flint wheel needs a really good cleaning, maybe one day. Right now it's just a shelf queen though.

My lighter collection. eBay and antique store finds.

Hey! Tip for people who are into old lighters or in the antiques business. Remove the flints from your lighters! After so long sitting up, the flint in lighters will dissolve and expand, damaging the lighter. I learned this lesson after cleaning flint dust out of many of my old lighters that I have purchased over the years.

My Zippo's.

Epiphone

2012-01-20T21:59:00.000-05:00

My alpine white Epiphone Les Paul Custom. I love this guitar.

A Cup Of Coffee

2012-01-20T21:55:00.000-05:00

An odd, but neat Johnny Cash story song off of his "Everybody Loves A Nut" album. I recently acquired a huge Johnny Cash collection. After much searching I now have all of Johnny's early albums (1960's - 1970's). These are my favorite Johnny Cash years and so hard to come by. Mostly all you ever find in the stores are best of collections with the same songs just in different order.

Cigars

2012-01-20T21:51:00.001-05:00

Enjoyed Oliva. Oliva is my favorite cigar brand. The first cigar I ever smoked was an Oliva Serie G. Romeo y Julieta comes in a as a close second to Oliva in my favorites list.

Lonely humidor. Time to restock!

Bloodworth

2012-01-20T00:23:00.000-05:00

Watched the movie Bloodworth on Netflix last night.

Interesting movie, but very odd. I was enjoying it until the end, most of the movie was reasonable, but a few things I thought were a bit over the top. Namely the part where the boy shoots his own grandfather. I mean, he's putting him out of his misery, but - nobody really does that! Kind of messed up the movie for me. I find a lot of indie movies to be odd like that. But that's just one man's opinion.

I can recommend these movies,

Righteous Kill with Pacino and Deniro. With those two in the lead how can you go wrong? Nice movie, with a somewhat surprising twist.

Planet Terror by Rodriguez. Part of the two movie Grindhouse. Just fun and bloody.

No Country For Old Men. If you haven't seen this movie you should. I watched it again the other night. Great actors and great story.

21. Better than I expected. Another fun, but intelligent movie with a mostly satisfying ending.

Grilled Cheese and Ham with Oregano

2012-01-17T13:53:00.000-05:00

Making a grilled cheese with ham and oregano. A perfect lunch time or aftershool snack idea.

My sandwich here turned out a little darker than I like, mainly due to using too high heat, but was still very tasty!

Oregano is not only tasty, but also very good for you, being rich is antioxidants!

Chattahoochee National Forest Part Two

2012-01-17T10:22:00.002-05:00

Love this picture! Look at the "smoke" in the hills.

Chattahoochee National Forest Part One

2012-01-17T10:21:00.000-05:00

Billie

Cody

Your photographer. Photo by Billie. She's been taking some photography tips from me.

Me again. Photo by Billie.

Me with the adventure vehicle. Photo by Billie.

Black and white. Love this picture. Photo by Billie.

All of us. (left to right, Randy, Cody, Billie and myself)

A (Sun) Day In The Life (Video)

2012-01-16T12:25:00.000-05:00

In this episode we cook a beef soup, discuss pipe packing and lighting, and some basic work in and around the shed. You'll also meet the dogs.

Thundershirt For Dogs

2012-01-15T13:24:00.000-05:00

Really... really? I just saw an ad for this on TV, and I just don't know what to say. I mean... really?

I don't think Puff would agree to wear it.

Standing Boy Creek Revisited (Video)

2012-01-10T20:36:00.000-05:00

Cody and I take another trip to Standing Boy Creek WMA in Columbus.

Universal Joint Trail Replacement and Exploring Chattahoochee National Forest (Video)

2012-01-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

This weekend we took the Wagoneer up to the Chattahoochee National Forest for some forest service road exploring. The trip started off rocky. Around 10 pm and 40 miles outside of Atlanta, the rear drive shaft broke in the Wagoneer. It was frustrating and you can see some of my less than happy moments in the video, but we got her fixed up and had a very fun trip afterwards.

Summer Bar-B-Que!

2011-12-30T22:14:00.000-05:00

In this time of cold and early nights, let's dwell back to a Summer Bar-B-Que.

Nothing pleases me more than grilling out on a weekend, or after work. I grill only over hardwoods that I have harvested myself, and I love to try to cook anything I can over a smoky wood fire.

Country style ribs, coated in various spices and my own "secret" bar-b-que sauce recipe.

Looking good!

My other favorite grill treat, sausage!

Served perfectly.

Billie and Lilly.

Ossahatchee Creek Sign

2011-12-30T21:52:00.000-05:00

Old sign along GA 85 near the Ossahatchee Creek. I don't know what this sign was for, but I would love to find out!

Dirt Road - Harris County Style

2011-12-28T23:51:00.002-05:00

Dirt road in Harris County, Georgia, from inside the Wagoneer.

Julia and Gnome

2011-12-28T23:50:00.000-05:00

She loves that cat!

Gnome

2011-12-28T23:47:00.000-05:00

Gnome. Photo taked with my new 100mm f/2.8 Canon USM lens.

Cell Phone Pictures

2011-12-22T23:33:00.001-05:00

Here's a collection of pictures from my cellphone, taken over a period of half a year I'd say.

The Wagoneer the day I bought her.

Running out of gas for the first time. . .

Cody loves the Wagoneer, but I'm not sure how much he did this day. Late summer and out of gas!

When I first bought the Wagoneer it has a vinyl roof, as you can see. This was an option for early '80's Wagoneers and was apparently pretty rare. However in this case the vinyl was in too bad shape to save and I stripped it off.

This is why I had to strip the vinyl off the roof.

Getting the roof cleaned up.

Looking good.

Almost completely cleaned off, just waiting for primer and paint.

This bike will be mine, or if not this one, one like it someday soon. It's sitting for sale in front of a pawn shop on Veteran's Parkway. It's a 1969 Triumph. The fella wants 4500 or best offer for it. It was love at first site for me!

VG30E (300zx motor) in a junk, obviously a victim of an engine fire, probably caused by the infamous leaking injectors.

Old Chevrolet Pickup in junkyard. You don't see many like this in junkyards anymore!

Very cool old motor, in same junkyard.

Ah, my 1989 Nissan 300zx Turbo. In it's usual position on jackstands, where it spends way too much time.

At one of my fishin' holes.

Very cool old Chevrolet 4x4!

Our Jeep Grand Cherokee, where it spends way too much time!

Ah! Julia, my lovely, lovely daughter.

Inside of my Z before the swap.

Building A Shed

2011-12-22T23:04:00.000-05:00

There's a certain feeling you get when you build something and then a tree falls on it and squishes it. And then you say forget it! Then you decide to build it again. This is the story of my shed addition, or rather my "dry boat port."

My helper checks out the roof.

Tarring the roof.

My shed is very green. Used tin bought at Reeve's Wrecking was used for the roof. For the sides I used heavy duty pallets.

Coming together very well now. Of course, now the walls are completely finished, but those are photos for another day - when I take them. I'm pretty proud of my shed. In all seriousness, I find an art in building stuff like this.

After the hard work was over, we enjoy a fire.

Spider Of The Night

2011-12-22T22:21:00.000-05:00

This big creep likes to hang out on my back porch.

Enjoying A Pipe

2011-12-22T22:18:00.000-05:00

Enjoying a bowl of "Gatekeeper" in my La Torre Personal freehand that I bought off of eBay. It's a beautiful pipe, but my Dr Grabow Regal is a better smoke. Perhaps its just my smoking style, but I got much more flavor and a much cooler smoke out of the Dr Grabow.

Man, My Jeep Wagoneer Sure Is Awesome

2011-12-19T11:38:00.000-05:00

Down by the Flint River on Big Lazer Creek WMA.

Momma Kitty

2011-12-19T11:25:00.000-05:00

Momma Kitty on the porch.

What the hell Columbus. . .

2011-12-12T22:33:00.000-05:00

Well, the clutch system on my 300zx decided to start acting up on me. . . two weeks after getting it put together and running great. Looks like I will be replacing the master cylinder tomorrow and subing a 280zx brake hose for the clutch damper. Hopefully that will take care of all the problems. Right now the pedal starts sticking after a few miles of driving. We will see.

But anyway, I went to Advance Auto on Victory Drive this morning to order the brake hose. As I am heading in the store I see this guy running across the street towards Advance Auto, making eye contact with me. I double check to make sure my door is locked and head into the store. As the CSR is looking up my parts the same dude comes into the store, still in a hurried fashion. I keep an eye on him as he enters. He's dressed in blue jeans that have seen better days and a hoodie pulled over his head, he's a white guy, probably late twenties, and his skin looks like he sees too much sun. But faster than I take in his description I recognize him for what he is - a damn crackhead.

He starts hollering at the CSR, "Patrick, Patrick! Can I look at that part?" And points to something behind the counter.

Patrick the CSR replies, "No," with a sarcastic laugh. Then pauses "what part?" Crackhead points, and Patrick the CSR oks him to go and look at it.

As Mr. Crackhead is headed to look at his part he comes uncomfortably close to me and asks, "Do you need any help today?"

I give him an appropriate fuck off look and simply reply "no" and he proceeds about his crackhead business.

But I brush him off, as long as he keeps his distance and goes about his own business he doesn't bother me much. After all, working at a pawn shop, I am more than used to dealing with crackheads.

So, I order my part and go back home. A few hours later Billie, Julia, and myself head out to go buy some supplies for the new mouse tank. (More on that later.) But first I go to Autozone to pick up a new clutch master cylinder for the 300zx. I take Marathon from South Lumpkin Road to Victory Drive and drive right by O'reilly's. In the parking lot of O'reilly's is an obvious crackwhore waiting for someone to come and pick her up. She gives all the cars going bye the eye. She's obviously cold, but waiting for some money to come in the parking lot.

I was unaware you could go to O'reilly's for brake fluid and a blow job.

And it is not like the people working in O'reilly's don't know she's turning tricks in their parking lot. This isn't the first time I have seen her loitering there. Anyway, I go to Autozone and get my part. Everything goes smooth and I proceed to Petco to get the supplies for my mice. On the way back home, I stop by Advance Auto, who by this time will have my brake hose in for the 300zx. Pulling into the parking lot, I see the same cracked out white dude, again running across Victory Drive, this time away from Advance. He is heading towards another crackwhore walking Victory Drive. This time I pay more attention, they debate back and forth a few minutes and he comes running back across the roads to Advance and towards a black guy walking into the parking lot. I shake my head and go into the store to get my part. However, Billie and Julia are still sitting inside the locked Jeep outside so I keep an eye out the window, what with the crackhead running around and all.

Well, a few minutes later I watch as he heads towards one of the Advance Auto CSRs, a black female this time, pulling into the store in one of their delivery trucks. They exchange a few words and SHE PROCEEDS TO BUY CRACK OR METH FROM HIM. I don't know my drugs from a distance, but it wasn't green. No way of doubting the exchange - money and drugs switch hands right out in midday. He knows no one is going to bust him today, and that the store has nothing against him dealing there. He then runs inside the store with her and runs behind the counter and picks up a few bags of something looking like cat litter and carries them out to the truck for her. She drives off and he approaches a black fellow entering the store. The fellow promptly tells him to fuck off and he resumes his post RIGHT BY THE ADVANCE AUTO FRONT DOOR.

I get my part and leave Advance Auto, keeping an eye on him in the rear view mirror. He maintains his spot right outside of Advance Auto.

Now, I do my civic duty and call the police and report a crack dealer loitering in the Advance Auto parking lot. But I know it will do no good. For one thing, the police response in South Columbus is horrible. Even though there is a South Columbus Precinct, not 10 miles away from every place I have ever needed the police in South Columbus.

Now in the past I have argued that South Columbus really isn't as bad as some people think, that it has been cleaned up and is still being cleaned up. But today, I realized how mistaken I am. Obviously Advance Auto endorses drug dealing and O'reilly's endorses prostitution. I can say that I will no long be doing business simply out of pure disgust with either of these auto parts dealers on Victory Drive. I will drive the extra fifteen minutes across town.

I know that crime is essentially a sad fact of life, and I know prostitution is the oldest profession there is. But, all of this is so out in the open on this side of town, and to my eyes no one really cares. Any given day I see more police in North or Central Columbus than I do in South Columbus.

But what the hell Columbus? How long are you going to turn a blind eye to the crack dealings and prostitution right out in the open? Will it forever take police thirty minutes or more to respond to a call in South Columbus? Today I lost a lot of hope in Columbus.