Awkward family photos for our ’80s Christmas cards

Daughter Erin has been getting some mileage on Facebook posting our family Christmas card images from the ’80s, and labeling them awkwardly for a laugh. Actually, they are pretty amusing in retrospect. Growing up Murphy meant that you couldn’t just have a “normal” family photo. Oh no. It had to be some unique creative expression. Of course, not every kid grows up with a paper-mâché T-Rex in their yard with flashlights for eyes, so the scenes may have raised an eyebrow or two. But it was the ’80s, you know. A different time. Anyway, laugh if you must. We certainly did when we made them. Click to embiggen.

Even the dog can't believe it.

Awkward family Christmas photos. If you don’t have any, well, sorry. We have plenty.

Merry Christmas from ReallyRedding.

Total e-clips photos from Redding

I really wanted to take images of last night’s rare total eclipse of the moon from Redding, but it was too cloudy. So I went and found the total of e-clips that I had in my shop instead. All 5 of them.
I also found d-clips, c-clips, and snap-rings too. Save ’em for later. I have blogspace to fill, you know.

If you think my blog headline was misleading, check out this doosey from the RS yesterday, and then do the math per-capita. Reading the post, I reached the exact opposite conclusion than that of the headline. Made you click though. I’m sympathetic. Like I said, I’ve got blogspace to fill too. But I don’t pretend to be a newspaper.

Getting high at Highland Park -images

High on a lift known as a cherry picker, that is. I went up yesterday to take some photos and video of the beautiful new subdivision under construction by Palomar Builders in Redding. It was a spectacular day, and the view from the lift was gorgeous. It’s really fun to see this spectacular new neighborhood under construction, and imagine it as a built out neighborhood of energy efficient homes. Especially nice too, to see many people hard at work, employed at things getting done. Many thanks to Tom Papac and Jeb Allen of Palomar for inviting me out for the unparalleled bird’s eye view. Click on the first image to see our new slideshow.


Sunny December days in our glorious valley town. It’s ReallyRedding.

Visualizing friendships

Ran into this interesting blogpost over at Facebook by Paul Butler. A statistician plotted pairs of friendships by location, and came up with this really interesting graphic.

Click on the image to enlarge to 3.3mb. It’s a persuasive graphic. And, in view of the fact that founder Mark Z has been named Time Magazine’s person of the year, it seems even more compelling. Do read the blogpost.

Me, I haven’t been much of Facebook fan. I suppose I should be. In my line of work, much of the value I bring is in knowing people and networking, and it appears FB has really become “all that.” The very real privacy concerns are well justified. But again, being a “secret agent” in the real estate field leads to slow starvation. So much for personal privacy.

I am resolved to do better at Facebook. I think you can find me at this link. “Friend” me and I’ll try to be a better online amigo.

Art Hop images include fashion show

We attended the Art Hop function Saturday night at the spa on Oregon Street. BTW> You can buy this historic building on Oregon Street if you’d like.

Designer Will Curtis (left) was showing off his latest work, seen here with few of the models.

Here’s a few “Art Hoppy” shots I took of Erin, modeling some of Will’s creations. There’s a bunch more on Facebook.

A couple more images of the spa. Did I mention it’s for sale? Listed by Kimberly Pederson of Coldwell Banker.
Art. Fashion. Spa. It’s ReallyRedding.

38th Annual Special Needs Kids Christmas Party

The 38th Annual Special Needs Kids Christmas Party was held at the Elks Lodge again this year. Organized by the Shasta Association of REALTORS Social Committee. The event was a great success, as always. Here’s a short video offering a taste of what was missed if you weren’t there for this heartwarming event. Thanks to all the participants and the vendors who helped!

Special Needs Kids Christmas Party 2010 Redding CA from Skip Murphy on Vimeo.

Erin’s Thanksgiving in Mexico

Here’s some tropical weather for you to bring the heat on a brisk Redding December day. Erin spent Thanksgiving in Mexico with some friends for a wedding on a Princess Cruise ship. Looks like fun. Lobster for Thanksgiving? Well, alrighty then…


All shot with a small Nikon point and shoot camera. Not ReallyRedding, but not bad either.