The Matlock Report

Pictures For You, By Me

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Just a guy who discovered that he liked taking pictures.

  • 4th of July Weekend 2026 – Canterbury Park

    WordPress is telling me that I am quickly running out of space so maybe we should try doing a “best of the weekend” sort of thing. Maybe?

    On Thursday, July 2nd, John Jude and Kynferrarigirl start from gate 6 in Race 3 (Quarter Horse – 250 yds – Maiden). Not exactly sure what happens but maybe their gate opens a split second early? Kynferrarigirl dumps Jude right after this picture. Jude was ok and up and riding in his next race, otherwise I’m probably not posting the picture.

    Meanwhile Thrity Four Below (#1) with Fernando Fonseca-Solo is a Maiden no more.

    Crew Dragon getting a little saucy with his groom prior to winning the 5th race, a one mile claiming event on the turf course.

    Friday, July 3rd, gets underway-ish with Little Trouble (#5) and jockey Constantino Roman crushing the competition in the second race, an allowance optional claiming on a Good turf course.

    The 3rd race is Starter Allowance/Optional Claiming on the dirt where we see Riverside (#1) and jockey Luis Fuentes cross the finish line before Jackman (#2) and jockey Constantino Roman.

    The 3rd of July wouldn’t be complete without FIRESWORKS so here’s a couple of pictures from later in the evening!

    Back at the track on Sunday, July 5, to close out the weekend.

    Benz Lake Echo and jockey Sachin Parris are escorted to the starting gate prior to Race 1.

    Jockey Olivia Bethke shows us what a third place finish looks like coming back after Race #1.

    That Type Ofa Deal and Constantino Roman edge out Mor Tiger Paw and Olivia Bethke in a Maiden Special Weight affair at 6 Furlongs on the main track in Race 2.

    The 3rd Race at a Mile on the Main Track shows us the battle for position just after the starting gate!

  • Canterbury Park – June 6, 2026

    Today was a good day of racing, even if it was hot. Dave’s Faves flexed its muscles in the first stakes race of the day by producing a 1/9 winner. Glorious.

    Wait…. wasn’t there just 6 horses? Interesting way to kick off Race 1;

    Race 1 goes off with one less horse.

    Instant Love (#3) and jockey Manny Americano sprint to the wire in this Maiden Special Weight affair on the turf.

    An Optional Claiming race on the Turf in Race 3 sees Bodenheimer (#6) and jockey Manny Americano charging to the wire over Philo Beddoe (#5) with jockey Kelsi Harr and High Probability (#1) with jockey Alsonso Quinonez battle in the stretch drive.

    The third place finisher in race 3, It’s Bobs Business (#3), and jockey Jose Riquelme return after a hard fought finish.

    Thunders Rocknroll (#2) and groom walk the ring before heading to the track.

    Track Tip Sheet, Dave’s Faves, picked Thunders Rocknroll (#2) and jockey Manny Americano to win the $50,000 Lady Slipper Stakes. She opens at 1/9, closes at 1/9 and crushes the field in the meantime. The power of Dave!

  • Willie Wisely – “She’s 30” – Icehouse, Minneapolis MN

    Well, well… “She” has turned 30 years old and Willie has gotten everyone back together for a big old party!

    Willie started out the set with some non-She acoustic numbers by himself. The band came out after and rocked hard. They tracked through the entire “She” album and it was glorious. I am pretty sure that I was at the CD Release show at the 7th Street Entry 30 years ago, this was just as much fun!

    After a few numbers, the all-star band hits the stage!

    Here’s the band: Willie Wisely [Vocals, Guitar], Ken Chastain [Percussion], Peter Anderson [Drums], Tommy Barbarella [Keyboards], Geoff LaCrone [Guitar] and Strawberrius [Bass]. I mean damn!

    MY EYES saw her pretty face, MY HANDS (well, they didn’t do that cuz if they did I’d need a), LAWYER, etc. etc. Karen Paurus shows us that Love Is Wrong.

    The main man!

    I don’t know what StrawB did to elicit the look on Peter’s face but the series of five or so shots with that look on his face is priceless!

    One more for the road!

  • Wesley Stace – May 2, 2026 – Eric’s Backyard Woodbury, MN

    A long, long time ago in 1991 I bought a Sire Records sampler called “Just Say Anything”. The CD was amazing, I think over time I bought the CD of almost every artist that appeared on that compilation. The opening track to the CD called “Warning This Is A Parental Advisory” featuring Steve Wynn and John Wesley Harding. The CD also featured a song called “The Devil In Me” from the John Wesley Harding album “Here Comes The Groom”. I bought the CD and loved every song on it. Due to whatever factors, I spent a lot of time unfamiliar with some of Harding’s later work. Every once in a while his music would return to my brain and I would go to Spotify and check out some of his other albums and always enjoyed them. Fast forward a long time, and I received a notification that Wesley Stace was on tour, Wesley Stace being the given name of the man who used the JWH moniker for so many years. I found that this was going to be a house concert and contacted the host and purchased tickets for Amy and myself. We pulled up and staked some real estate in Eric’s backyard about 45 minutes before Stace was to appear. I have a setlist that I wrote down but since I don’t have any reason to be believe that most of the titles are correct so I’ll pass on posting it.

    During the show, Stace regaled the audience with audience of around 70 people with stories about working in and around Minneapolis over the years including albums with The Jayhawks and working with Ed Ackerson. As a big Polara fan, his words brought joy to my heart.

    As the night wore on and the sun went down, good pictures were hard to come by, maybe someday I’ll be a good enough photographer to get better night shots but until then, these will have to make due.

    The show ended with a cover of a song by Jill Sobule. Sobule may be best known for her song “I Kissed A Girl” from her mid nineties self titled record. I loved that record but that isn’t my favorite song by far. Sobule tragically passed away in house fire just about a year earlier in Woodbury. It was beautiful tribute to a friend to end the show.

    At the conclusion of the show, the merch table opened up and I perused what was there. I ended purchasing a 13 disc set of albums redone as solo acoustic versions of other albums. I cracked in to one yesterday on my drive to see my son play tennis and of course started with “Here Comes The Groom”. Wes came back to the table and was signing things and signed the CD binder. I got to shake his hand but stopped short of telling him that I was going to cry all the way home when he didn’t play my “Red Rose and the Briar” request. I have it on the “Secret Series” collection now though so that’ll be 98% as good. Thanks so much for everything Wes (and Eric), what a fantastic evening!

  • Willie Wisely with the Tommy Barbarella Organ Combo – April 11, 2026

    I’ll admit it, I’ve been a bad fan. I don’t even remember the last time I saw Willie play and that’s horrendous. Either I find out about it after the fact or have some lame excuse, I don’t know…. it’s been a while. However, as an early birthday gift to myself I was excited to find out he was playing at the High Hat in St. Paul. I had never been there, it was a strange little venue but very intimate. I liked it. The Tommy Barbarella Organ Combo consisted of Tommy Barbarella (he really shouldn’t need an introduction) on Keyboards, Jeff Bailey (Hamline University, Doc Severinsen, Minnesota Orchestra, SPCO) on Bass, Riley Gulotta (Carnival Cruiselines, McNally Smith) on Guitar and Dave Anania (Blue Man Group/Greazy Meal) on Drums. It was my first time taking concert photos, it was fun and would to have some more opportunities to do it again.

    Upcoming shows at the High Hat including a special one on April 11, 2026.

    Master of ceremonies for the evening, Willie Wisely!

    The Ringleader of the Combo, Tommy Barbarella (big picture above) along with Jeff Bailey (left), Dave Anania (middle) and Riley Gulotta (right)

    Willie belts out the hits (his and other people’s as well)!

    Just a small sampling of the equipment used to help bring Artemis II back to Earth.

    When you are so cool that you can take a selfie during a gig!

    Willie deciding whether or not to play “Surreal” to completely flummox the band.

    If you don’t recognize these hands, then you are not paying attention.

    Don’t forget the guitars….

    The hardest working guys in showbusiness!

    Take us out Willie…..

  • The Last Day and Some Airport Photos

    Due to timing of when we had been eating dinner on the cruise, I wasn’t able to get photos at sunset and I really wanted to and the last night on board we had at 6:00 dinner reservation so I was able to get a round of photos before we went for our excellent dinner.

    Since I have become quasi-obsessed with airplane pictures, here are a few from MCO before we left for the cold of home.

  • Port Stop: St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

    Amy had arranged for an underwater adventure in St. Thomas. I had no idea what to expect but the thought of it scared the hell out of me. They took us near an island and people could snorkel while the underwater part was broken into three groups. We rented a camera that could shoot underwater for the occasion, it did not disappoint.

    I had never snorkeled before but was so glad that I went in when we got there. Here’s a few pictures from the boat ride and then snorkeling:

    Then came the main show…. you get on what is the equivalent of an underwater scooter and they take you to a location and you can get pictures there. Since we had the camera, we figured why not.

    An underwater biker gang.

    And they’re off!

    Hey, that’s us! Look at all those fish!!!

    A few pictures on our way back to shore…. and yes, we did pass Epstein Island.

  • Port Stop: San Juan, Puerto Rico

    Our ship rolled into San Juan early afternoon but before we could debark I had to take care of some business as things at home were falling apart. Literally. Anyway, while I was making phone calls, I was taking pictures. I mean, how could you not?

    Finally off of the boat, we got to do some walking around the city!

    We went to find dinner at the oldest restaurant on the island and got lost. We stopped at a hotel for directions and the guy behind the desk told us not to go there and sent us somewhere else instead that was a block or two away. This place was outstanding, we met a couple from Indiana and had dinner with them. It was so much fun, the food was great. I still am lamenting not ordering the Grouper.

    Dinner ended and we walked back to the ship after a great day….

  • Vacation! Port Canaveral and Grand Turk

    Well, we managed to escape the cold and snow of Minnesota for a 7 day cruise in the Caribbean. With illness and airport issues, the trip started off a little rocky but it just gave us more to be thankful for I guess.

    We disembarked from Port Canaveral and spent time at sea before arriving in Grand Turk. Here’s some pictures from the ship and from our port stop.

    A few pictures of some other ships at port.

    Before we left there were birds, lots and lots of birds.

    Amy and Boni (left) posing on the deck. Random fingers (right) celebrating our departure.

    After we departed, the party began on the Lido Deck.

    Finally…. after several days at sea we arrived in Grand Turk!

    This is the marker for when John Glenn came down in Grand Turk on February 2, 1962.

    Here are a couple pictures of our ship… Carnival Venezia

    Finally…. a couple of birds at Margaritaville.

  • Vacation! Flight to Orlando and Hotel

    We left for our trip on Saturday. The day was filled with stress as illness and troubles at the airport seemed to be around every corner. We did, however, eventually make it to Orlando in preparation for our cruise. Here are a few pictures from inside the airplane.

    Next door to our hotel in Orlando there were a couple of food trucks. I went out before dawn and was getting some pictures in the area where they were located.

    After a break, and first breakfast, I came back out and finished up with some pictures of the grounds and some of the flowers and trees around the hotel.