Tim's Blog - Random Events, Places, and Notes

The Sun Seeker

2011-05-24T20:36:00.000-05:00

The Sunseeker Statue at Allerton Park near Monticello, IL.

A God Of The Garden

2010-11-08T22:09:00.000-06:00

Garden of the Gods, Southern Illinois.

Sand Ridge State Forest

2010-06-07T13:18:00.002-05:00

Took a trip to Sand Ridge State Forest. The bugs were terrible, but, the views weren't bad. Would have been nice to be able to really settle down and enjoy them without being swarmed by gnats. This shot will have to do, and without the bugs, I'll take it!

Holy Page Out Of A Comic Book!

2010-04-30T09:48:00.000-05:00

I recently went on an outing to Trinity Lutheran church and was playing
with some HDR in the sanctuary. I've seen so many beautiful HDR images
done in churches, I wanted to give it a shot.

This one didn't have the rich reds and golds I was envisioning, but, I
kept pushing forward. This image is more or less, double processed. I
did the initial edit, then HDR processing, THEN back to push things in
Lightroom for a second time. I thought the end result looked like a
page out of a comic book.

Three Trees In Fog

2010-04-11T20:48:00.000-05:00

Headed out for a morning photowalk a couple weeks ago. There wasn't
much fog looking out my kitchen window, but, by the time I got to
Prospect Ave, the fog and mist was really thick!

It really cleans up the background letting these guys stand out in their
environment!

Gazebo In Fog

2010-04-11T18:19:00.000-05:00

Smoked Meat - mmmMMM

2008-10-04T16:36:00.003-05:00

One week later......

Last weekend, I invited a handful of people over for the first official cookout using the smoker Connie got me for Christmas. After trial runs and horrible (tasty) failures (heh), I had finally felt like I had the process figured out, and none-too-soon; Summer was almost over!! Checked the calendar, found a weekend that seemed to have no conflicts, and it was set!

Several days prior, I picked up a couple of Pork Butts totaling between 14lbs and 16lbs, got them soaking, rubbed down and all that, then, about 5:00am (Yikes!!) Saturday, crawled out of bed to get the smoker started. By about 5:30am, the roasts were on, and the smoker was up to temp by 5:40 or so, and I crawled back to bed. When it is first started, I can get the temperature stable and pretty much leave it for about 4 hours.

Most of the day was spent making final preparations for company, picking up last minute things at the store, icing down beer, sampling the beer to ensure proper coolness, etc.... Early in the afternoon, Connie asked if I was going to make baked beans again, and at that time, I was undecided. It kind of depended on timing, but, I had everything on hand in case I decided to (those boy scout years really paid off).

Backstory: During one of my "failed attempts", I decided to make baked beans, but, didn't want to heat up the house (it was in the heat of Summer) with the oven. So, I thought I'd try putting them on the smoker for a while. They turned out a bit runny, but, delicious!! There was some smoke flavor, and the pork was dripping into the pan of beans. It was over the top!! I had invited a couple of people over - last minute and Jeff U. was the only one that could make it.

Anyway, about 4:00 or so, I decided to go ahead and make the beans. The first thing Jeff asked when he arrived "did you make baked beans again?". Whew!! Good thing I did! haha! My target for having everything finished was 6:00pm, so, most people started showing up around that time. Well, you can't rush these things. The pork wasn't quite ready yet. So, I got out some chips and salsa to snack on. About 6:45, I pulled the pork off the smoker and let it rest for about 20-30 minutes, then, we started pulling it. At that time, it was still amazingly hot! With the help of Jeff and Connie, we got it all pulled in about half an hour, and by 7:30ish we were ready to eat!!

There was a huge mound of pork, the beans, slaw, several potato salads, herbed/roasted potatoes, spinach, chips, desert, and plenty of beer. Based on the amount of left-overs, I have to declare it a success! Everything was delicious!!

At one point, while re-filling my plate, Gordo was in the kitchen scooping the last bit of drippings from the beans on his pork. He declared that he was reuniting the drippings with the roast; it was like a party in his mouth!

After eating, we continued on drinking, telling stories, and just generally relaxing for the next several hours. Basically, we ate, drank, and fun was had by all!

So, I want to thank everyone who came, and to those that didn't....you missed out!!

Bell Smith Springs

2008-09-26T15:56:00.006-05:00

Whew!! Time flies!! A few weeks ago, Connie and I went to Southern Illinois for my daughter's birthday. It was all fine and great and happy birthday and all that. Then, rather than come straight back, we took a little overnight detour.

First stop: food! We stopped by a little local 'pub and grub' place hoping to catch the end of the race (Sunday afternoon). The layout was very odd, but, we didn't have much time, so, stuck with it. Connie went to the restroom, and I went to the bar. I first confused the bartender by ordering two beers....at the bar..

bartender: your waitress will bring them out, where are you sitting?
me: ummm...right here.
bartender: don't you have a table?
me: no
bartender: Oh, well, you can seat yourself.
me: I'm sitting here..."she" (pointing at the empty stool next to me) went to the restroom.
bartender: (lightbulb goes off) Oh, ok.

After getting that squared away, I asked if he can change the TV behind the bar to the race...he'll have to get someone.... I ask this of 3 employees, no one knows how to change the channel!!! Finally, between myself, Connie, and another guy at the bar, we convince one to try. She screwed up the other TV's in the bar, but, gets the channel changed on ours just minutes after the race ended. The whole ordeal took about 20 minutes. Unreal!!!!

Anyway, after downing a couple of beers and some food, we headed further South to Bell Smith Springs in the Shawnee National Forrest. During the process of deciding where to go, I reviewed pictures and descriptions of several locations in the area, and decided that this would be a good place to visit with only a little time to invest. I printed a map of the trails and directions to get there....you know, just in case. :-) First, I missed the turn I was supposed to take to be on the correct state highway. I didn't realize it was right as you exited the Interstate!! No big deal...we'll just take this highway that will intersect with the one we're supposed to be on about 10 miles up the road. Back on track, we follow the directions which has mileage included. The signs that you normally expect to see directing you to state/federal parks or local tourist info were sparse at best. We get about 2 miles from where the directions tell us to turn and I see a street named something that makes me think I should turn here. Sitting in the middle of the intersection (a 'T' in a gravel road) looking confused, a guy in a truck stops to ask if we're lost. I ask him how to get to Bell Smith Springs (straight or left) and he confirms that I *am* supposed to turn left here. So, the mileage is wrong on the map, and only sign we saw, and the road names are not the same. What an adventure, and we've not even got where we're going yet!!!

So, we turn left, and follow the road to our destination. It took a bit to get oriented and understand the map and the corresponding trail (it was a topographic map with only a general outline of the trail). But, we eventually got comfortable with where we were headed.

That evening yielded a few nice pictures.

This formation is called Devil's Backbone:

After some more exploration, it started to get fairly dark and we decide it's time to leave. We make our way out and start heading back to the highway to find a hotel. The nearest hotel is about 20 miles away in Harrisburg.

As we pull in to town, we find that the whole South end of town is without power. Traffic lights, businesses...everything. At one intersection, there's a cop with a flashlight directing traffic. We make our way to the other end of town (where there is power) and get checked in (at least this time, they didn't look at me like a psycho when I asked if they had Internet access). We get everything hauled up to the room and I decide to go pick up some beer (all that hiking you know)! I return about 15 minutes later with 2 bottles of water. It turns out that they only sell alcohol on Sundays from noon - 7:00pm, but, Shawneetown about 20 miles up the road sells until 8:00pm (it's about 8:30). That just doesn't make much sense to me. I can understand if you have an ordinance to not sell alcohol on Sunday at all, or even not before noon is fairly common (we're talking the bible belt, here, folks!). But, to cut off sales at 7:00pm???!!! I just don't get that one!! So, anyway, we enjoy the water and look at pictures / watch some football to pass the time.

Monday morning, we pack up, grab some breakfast, and get ready to head back to Bell Smith Springs. Except, when I saw the interstate, I knew something had gone wrong. How did I miss the first sign.....and the town that has a pass-through to the correct road???!!! I must really be out of it!! So, we stop at the Casey's just off the Interstate and turn back. I passed a sign that I thought said something about it, hit the brakes. and read the one from the other direction, and sure enough, it was pointing me to Bell Smith Springs!! I am a terribly slow reader, and can't read signs from a distance, and just didn't read fast enough the first time through. Then I figured out what happened.....I was supposed to turn at the edge of town (where the power was out the night before). So, we're back on track now, winding through roads - some of which are actually on the map, and see a sign pointing to a lookout tower called Trigg Tower.

Hmmm....I've heard of that...wanna go check it out? Sure! We head down yet another gravel road. Several miles later, we see a tower. It isn't marked in any way, other than a small parking lot that also serves as access to a horse trail (hitching posts and all). Honestly, I wasn't sure that was it. I really expected a sign or some sort of posting identifying it. But, after searching flickr later, it turns out that yes, it is in fact, Trigg Tower.

We took several pictures, both on top and from the ground.

Phooning on top of Trigg Tower:

After leaving there, we headed back towards Bell Smith Springs. As we headed back, we saw a sign pointing out some other local points of interest. We never found them. There were no further signs or directions. I guess you just gotta wander the gravel roads until you see a trail. Of course, some of the area isn't far from "Deliverance" territory, so, wondering around the woods in an unknown area may not end up being a good idea. heh! Everyone I've ever met down there seems pretty friendly, but, there's a lot of hillbilly potential. Anyway, since we didn't get distracted any more, we finally made it to Bell Smith Springs!! We walked the other direction from what we explored on Sunday night. But, first, you have to descend the stone stairs.

The one thing I had seen pictures of (some better than others) was called 'Natural Arch', so, that's what our destination is. As we headed to the trail, we stopped to look and take pictures several times. This is where we crossed the spring:

We finally made it to the Natural Arch. This is the largest natural bridge in the Shawnee National Forest.

This is the view from below:

After this, we decided it was time to head back. It was much easier finding my way out. I don't think I got lost once!!! There is still much of Bell Smith Springs that I didn't make it to. One of these days, I'll have to go back and see more of this small park.

Illinois River Flood In Peoria

2008-09-18T14:45:00.005-05:00

As most everyone around here knows, the Illinois River is well above flood stage and still rising.

After work yesterday (Wednesday 9/17) I thought I'd check it out and see how high the water was. I was surprised that it was already over the banks on the Peoria side and had flooded the parking lot under Joe's Crab Shack and Old Chicago, and had partially flooded Water Street near the intersection at Main.

People were sandbagging around The Riverstation / Martini's, and Liberty Park was under water...well, the sidewalk and gazebo was anyway. They also have put up an elevated walkway from the tracks to the back entrance of Old Chicago. I'm not sure at this point, but, I'm guessing before it's all over, you won't be able to get to the walkway either. But, it was kind of cool to be able to walk around on the platform and get a better view.

The water at that time was at 25.?? feet, and expected to crest on Saturday at 27.2 feet.

Here are a couple more pictures from Wednesday evening. I'm sure I'll get a few more between now and Saturday.

Old Chicago / Riverstation parking lot:

..and my favorite...The Gazebo at Liberty Park:

More Flood Pictures

2008-09-18T14:45:00.004-05:00

Here are a few more flood pictures from Thursday. The water had risen quite a bit since Wednesday evening. Benches and trash cans that were at least partially above water were completely submerged.

There were a couple of guys kayaking around which looked like a fun and unique opportunity. They put in at the corner of Main and Water streets, paddled through the parking lot under Old Chicago and up and down the "sidewalk".

The clock tower at the base of Main Street

The Walkway to Old Chicago was still accessible. But, the water was notably higher than it was Wednesday evening.

With the water still rising, I will likely be back tonight and/or tomorrow to see what changes there are.

Reception at One World

2008-08-28T14:24:00.003-05:00

As noted in my last post, the Peoria flickr group has several members' work displayed at One World. On Sunday August 24th, there was a reception for us and quite a few members, family, and friends came out to socialize and check out all the work on display. I think everyone had a good time.

Here is a picture of me and my entry:

There's still time to go check it out...the display will be up through Sept. 15th.

Photos Displayed at One World 8/19 - 9/15/2008

2008-08-15T14:18:00.003-05:00

The Peoria flickr group will be having a showing at One World from 8/19/2008 - 9/15/2008.

The group's tyrannical administrator has showed there before and was approached for another show earlier this year. Rather than taking the money and run, he floated the idea of using it as a tool to promote the Peoria Illinois flickr group. Most of the members are amateur photographers from the Peoria area (or used to be from the Peoria area). So, for many, myself included, this will be among our first time having our creations publicly displayed (at least in physical form rather than electronic) and available for purchase.

The theme is "Peoria's Bridges". All the photos will be of one of the 4 main bridges crossing the river. You'd be surprised at the variety of different directions they have gone.

Anyway, I encourage you to stop by and grab a bite and check out all the artwork created by the members of the Peoria flickr group.

Murray Baker Bridge

2008-08-14T11:46:00.003-05:00

The other night I had an idea for a picture of the Murray Baker bridge and the downtown cityscape. The thought was to use a wide angle, which can cause somewhat of a fishy distortion, and make a panoramic / stitched series of pictures. My thought was to create a fish-eye type of bendy picture of the bridge, with the city in the background.

So, earlier this week, I went down to the East Peoria side and tried to put my vision into action. I stood about 8 feet or so from the bridge right near the water's edge, cocked the camera off angle and made a sweeping arc for 7 shots. Then, spent the rest of the night messing with the software to stitch everything together and edit the final picture. It was a definite struggle for the software, I had to try lots of settings and adjustments, some of which failed miserably!!

In the end, it came out pretty much like I had envisioned, so, I'm happy about that.

Anyway, here's the result, I hope you like it!

Could This Just Be A Coincidence??

2008-07-30T10:13:00.002-05:00

While making the rounds on the 'net the other day, I stumbled across a couple of pieces of information that just kind of make you wonder.

Earlier this week, Adobe announced the release of Lightroom 2.0 (Software for editing pictures), so, I was browsing some Lightroom / Photoshop related sites looking for reviews, videos, etc...

One site that I looked at was Photoshop User TV. It's a weekly video program put out by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and the guys that host it are Scott Kelby (President of NAPP) and Matt Kloskowski. Both of these guys are well known Photoshop / Lightroom guru's, authors, and workshop instructors. Anyway, one of the things mentioned in this week's show is a Worldwide Photo Walk that Scott Kelby is organizing. Basically, a photo walk is simply a group of photographers organizing a meetup and going on a walk to take pictures of the given area. The same kind of thing that the Peoria flickr group does on occasion. For the Worldwide Photo Walk, you can either join in on one in your city, or you can register to be a group leader and organize one in your own city if there isn't one already.

Completely unrelated to anything Adobe or photo walks, I was also browsing the forum at Peoria.com when I ran across a post that mentioned "National Go Topless Day". OK, you've got my interest. :-) :-) There is a website called GoTopless that is organizing major rallies in cities across the US. Their basic premise is that if men can walk around topless, then, women should have the same constitutional right. Yet, women are frequently arrested, fined, humiliated, and criminalized. So much for equal rights, huh??

So, what do these two seemingly unrelated items have in common? The date!!!! Both of these events are happening on 8/23/2008. Coincidence???? I prefer to think of it as genius!!

Bummer of a Concert Lineup

2008-07-25T07:45:00.000-05:00

What a bummer! I heard a few days back that Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift are coming to town. Now, I'm sure it will be a highly attended concert. Rascal Flatts is very popular and Taylor Swift, even though she's relatively new on the scene, is pretty popular herself.

The problem is, I really don't care for Rascal Flatts. I don't know why...just don't care for most of their songs. Sure, they have a song or two that I do like, but for the most part, I could easily pass on them. I like a lot of country music...but, generally the more upbeat stuff. Not the slower / sappy stuff, which seems to be what Rascal Flatts specializes in. But, Taylor Swift I really like. Even her slower songs aren't your typical slow ballad and most of her stuff is more upbeat / fun.

So, an opening act that I really like with a headliner I really don't...for $48.25 / $63.50 that's a tough one to drop the coin on.

Windfarm - Second Attempt

2008-07-24T13:56:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I was going to try to hit the windfarm north of Peoria under a full moon and see how that worked out.

This past weekend, I went out there (missed the full moon by one day..but close enough). I was watching for the moon and it seemed to be a late rise. I didn't get out there until about 11:30pm. As luck would have it, there was a storm moving in to the North, and within about half an hour, enough cloud cover moved in that the moon was obscured the majority of the time. Of course, when I headed out, it was perfectly clear..figures!!

I did have enough time to get a whole 3 shots! Yes..3!! Ugh!!

With this shot, I was playing with an idea I had the previous outing, but, since there were several of us, I didn't want to mess anyone's up shots. But, this time, I was on my own and free to screw things up as much as I wanted! :-)

I set the tripod up at the end of the access road and tripped the shutter. Then, walked up the road near the windmill and manually triggered my flash on full power trying to light up the blades of the windmill. I did this several times, then headed back and stopped the exposure to see what I had gotten.

If you look closely, you can see ghosts of the blades. So, the idea was right, but, I didn't have enough power to really get the job done the way I wanted. I have another idea on making it work, but, will have to wait to try it out. The real solution is more light, but, I don't have any sort of flash head that will put out more light, and anything that does, probably would need portable power packs or a small generator!!

Oh well, it was fun to experiment. :-)

Camping and (not) Canoeing / Turkey Run

2008-07-18T11:49:00.002-05:00

This past weekend was the annual Camping and Canoeing trip for the Peoria Jaycees. There were around 22 or so campers that went on the trip. Of these, exactly 0..that's right ZERO of us got any canoeing in.

We started off Friday afternoon. I saw the front moving in, and was hoping to get on the road before the rain hit. No such luck! I was in Heavy rain until about half way to Bloomington, then it let up a bit, but didn't get clear until past Bloomington. Fast forward an hour and a half or so and we get to the camp site.

It's freakin' steamy!! We weren't the first there, but, the 4th tent to go up..and we left before the big caravan. So, I didn't get my spot this year. Usually, I set up in the same location on the edge of our area. Jeff got his usual spot, and Tucker swiped mine! Bastard!! ;-) Honestly, I don't know if we would have fit this year as we used Connie's old-school tent which is much larger than my "3-man" tent that actually fits 1 comfortably.

So, we get the tent set up, and crack open a beer....next task - Fire! Fire! Fire!! heh heh!! Got the fire going so we could cook dinner, let the wood burn down a bit, throw some burgers on the grill and................. Rain!! Damnit!! Oh well, they still cooked, and weren't bad at all.

The rain let up for a bit, but, we got a nice storm during the night which finally put me to sleep. The next morning, the campsite was a virtual mud-pit! Breakfast was awesome, though!! Mary, Kate, Rick and Beth, Ritter, and David (and anyone else who pitched in) did an outstanding job cooking! Biscuits and gravy, eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes.....it was a feast!!

Calling the canoe livery to check on our reservation and the status of running the canoes turned out to be a bust. The water was too high. Most of the camp decided to go swimming at the pool at Turkey Run State Park. I hear they had a good time, but elected to stay back at camp myself.

That night, you guessed it...more rain! So, most of Saturday night was spent with everyone huddled under a couple of canopies...we made the best of it, but, the weather definitely put a damper on our usual camp-fire stories.

By Sunday morning, the weather had cleared out and it was beautiful blue skies and puffy clouds. The only problem was that's when we were leaving. :-(

Connie and I stayed back and were going to go hiking at Turkey Run State Park. First, after the final clean-up of camp, we went to the lodge at the state park and had breakfast. Barely! When we pulled up to the gate of the park, I asked about breakfast and the girl told us that they served breakfast until 10:00am and started lunch at 11:30. It was 9:51am....we had 9 minutes to park and get to the lodge and hope that we could still get in. Luckily, we made it! Since breakfast was almost over, we both elected to get the buffet. Normally, buffet food isn't my first choice. But, this was probably the best breakfast buffet I've ever had!

With our bellies full, we headed out to walk a few trails. Four of the trails were either completely closed, or had parts that were listed as "impassable" due to the water levels. When we got to the creek, I understood why the canoeing was shut down. What is normally a lazy little creek with nice clear water was moving quite fast very muddy, and about twice as wide as normal.

The stairs below the suspension bridge in the background were even partially under water! They usually stop renting canoes at 3ft (2ft is normal depth). This picture
was at about 4ft, and it had already dropped 1ft since that morning!

The hike was good, we saw several of the named features, but, missed a few due to time, water levels, and just plain being worn out!

Here is a picture of Connie and I in an area called Boulder Canyon.

The bright mid-day light made it difficult to get any good shots of the landscape (where were all those clouds from the past two days), but, I did get a couple of nice close-in shots.

A fern growing on the sandstone:

A mushroom (or toadstool..not sure) on a hillside:

After that, we headed back home and another year of Jaycees camping and (not) canoeing is in the books.

I'm hoping to get back over there for pictures later this year, and maybe even a canoe trip. :-)

Peoria Flickr Group Wind Farm Outing

2008-06-19T15:39:00.001-05:00

There had been some recent conversation about going and visiting the wind farm North of Peoria.

For those of you that may not venture North on Rt 40, which would be understandable, there is a wind farm that begins around Tanner's Orchard and continues on almost to Bradford. This is a relatively new development. I drive that route to Sterling once in a while for work, and I recall this past Fall/Winter going up there and seeing all these new windmills that weren't there before!! I believe there are about 100 of these giant turbines churning out 1.5 Megawatts each...enough to power something along the lines of 200,000 homes, I believe.

Anyway, the plan was to meet around 7:00 for some nice warm evening light, turning into a glorious sunset, then, finally, night time shots. Well, Mother Nature had other ideas. The sun was obscured by a blanket of clouds most of the time so no warm light, and a less than spectacular sunset was what we were dealt.

Still, though, there was enough broken cloud cover where we were at to get some interesting shots. This one was while the sun was still up.

Oh, and I liked how this one came out. It didn't receive much attention on flickr, but, I still like it!

Then, as time carried on, it got dark, and the clouds eased up even more where we were at, but, at the same time, a storm was moving in up to the
Northwest. When the half moon wasn't obscured by clouds, it did a nice job lighting the windmills. This is a 10 minute exposure. It's always cool to see what you come up with on long nighttime shots.

There are a few more from this trip on my flickr site if you are interested.

We are planning on another trip up there...this time under a full moon. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate this time!! :-)

Peoria After Dark

2008-06-19T14:41:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago, Lola Takes Pictures and I walked around downtown one evening after work. Initially, the idea was that she wanted to take some sunset shots of some buildings "in the 'hood", and didn't want to venture to that area by herself. By the time we got started, it was a little late for what she wanted, so we just walked around down town along Water street, then up by the courthouse.

We started by walking through Martini's and took some pics in there. The bartender was a little apprehensive when we asked if it was ok to take pictures, but told us to go ahead. I wasn't all that comfortable, so we took some pictures and moved on fairly quickly. I did get one shot that I thought was ok.

Then as we were walking down Water St. I noticed a photography studio and walked up the covered walkway and peeked inside. As I was walking back, Lily told me to 'Sit'. So, I did, and she got out her flash and started playing. After her battery went dead, we swapped roles and I took a few with the flash off to the side. At least until *my* batteries went dead!! haha!

From there, we moved on and headed up by the courthouse, stopping for a shot here and there along the way. After that, we headed back to our cars and took off. But, I decided to head to this old building a few blocks down on Washington St.

Initially, my idea was to use a flashlight and 'paint with light' on the 'used but nice' sign. The flashlight wasn't powerful enough from the distance I was at to really add much, but it did add a little. But, that didn't stop me! I had a play with lightroom / photoshop and came up with the image you see. A little on the digital art side, but I like it.

Next time, we're going to make sure to have fresh batteries in the flash units and make (bribe) Connie be our model!

Update

2008-06-01T11:11:00.002-05:00

It's been nearly a month since I last posted. Where'd the time go?? It's not that I haven't had things to post...I just haven't gotten around to it for one reason or another.

This past week was the last week of photography class. It was a fun class. I like going on field trips better than strictly classroom time. We didn't have any class outings after my last post, but, I've been out a few times with the camera anyway.

Some mushrooms I found a few weeks ago:

Then, I had to go to Springfield for several days for work. It sounds like I have to go again this week for several days, and maybe again next week. Not sure yet... But I did take a couple of pictures one night:

Other than that....let's see. I got the garden in a couple weeks ago. It isn't looking as good as I had hoped, but, it's coming along.

Oh! Ritter got engaged!! It was pretty cool! The Peoria Jaycees held a scavenger hunt, which was a lot of fun, and at the end, up in the heights tower he proposed. Everyone, including their parents / family were 'in the know', J.O. was the only one kept in the dark. Ritter was so focused on the proposal, that he nearly proposed to the wrong person!! The elevator doors opened, and he was expecting it to be J.O., but, it was someone else! Ritter was already in motion before he realized that it was NOT J.O. on the elevator that time (she was on the next run). Then, J.O. was so shocked, she had to confirm that it wasn't a joke, and that Ritter was, in fact, serious! LOL In the end, J.O. accepted and we all headed out to Ritter's parents place for a little celebration. Anyway, it was a great time! Congrats John and J.O.!!!

The pool of death has taken it's first victims in the past week. Little bastards!!

Oh, and I got in another practice round with the smoker!

I threw a 5lb pork butt on the smoker Memorial Day weekend. That is what 12 hours on a smoker looks like! I've been doing some reading, and it seems that even though the rule of thumb is 1 hour to 1.5 hours per pound, it isn't uncommon to go quite a bit longer. I still was surprised by how long it took, but, feel better about the process. This pulled pork had great flavor and was nice and tender. Could have been a bit juicier, but, it wasn't bad. Without bread, it was awesome! But, with bread...it could use a bit more juice. I'm curious how much difference there would be with a 10lb roast since all I've done so far is 4-5lb roasts. I didn't want to chance screwing up a large one while I was trying to learn how to run the smoker.

Bye-Bye Tree and Glen Oak Park

2008-05-06T16:38:00.002-05:00

I have had a dead tree in my back yard for a couple of years now. Well, over the Winter, it fell. Luckily, it didn't take out the garage, fence, or neighbor's shed. It couldn't have fallen any better, actually. When it fell, Connie and I cleaned up what we could by hand and left the main branches and trunk. A couple weekends ago, Jeff U. brought his chainsaw over and we had it knocked out in no time! It was cut and stacked within about half an hour!! The yard looks so much more open now. You wouldn't think a dead tree laying in your yard would take up so much (perceived) space. But, it really does. So, a bit shout out to Jeff!! Thanks, man!!!

This past weekend, I had to work a "midnight" outage in Peoria. Actually, I had to meet a vendor that does the preventative maintenance on our battery backup system. And it wasn't exactly midnight.... we met at about 1:30am Saturday. That sucked!! Then, I had a class outing to Glen Oak park at 6:30am!! Short night! Oh, and the weather was kinda crappy again! It started off looking like it would be a nice sunny morning with a few scattered clouds (can make for interesting light/shadows). About the time the sun was creeping above the treeline, all of a sudden, there was a significant blanket of cloud cover. That would have been pretty great for portraits, but, fairly boring flat light for landscapes.

Anyway, here are a couple of shots from lower Glen Oak:

As you can see, everything is put back together. They had been doing some work on it last year (not sure how long they worked on it), but, it's nice and clean and put back together. Again, the radial beams on top can make some cool shadow patterns...just not that day. :-)

I have a couple more I might post to my flickr site if you check in over there (link to the right).

Class is almost over, there's only a couple more times we meet. So, there won't be a whole lot more of these class outing posts. But, still planning the occasional outing with flickr friends. :-)

More Starved Rock

2008-04-28T10:34:00.002-05:00

In my last post I mentioned more Starved Rock pictures... I know you all are probably turning blue by now waiting for these to be posted. So, here they are. You can breathe easy now!! :-)

Here are some pink flowers. Not sure what they're called...

...and a freshly popped Mayapple

A Waterfall in Wildcat Canyon

Finally, another shot from St. Louis Canyon

Starved Rock

2008-04-22T13:59:00.002-05:00

This past weekend our class had an outing to Starved Rock State Park.

Two weeks in a row we have a class outing, two weeks in a row, we have crappy weather! Truthfully, it wasn't all that bad. When we started out, it was raining. But, within the first hour, it had stopped. So, everything was wet, it was cloudy, and a bit on the cool side, but, it really wasn't bad. In this case, not having the bright sunlight was a good thing. It is much harder to work with the bright sun and heavy shadows than the soft filtered light from the cloud cover.

So, we met at 6:30am at Starved Rock, with a bit of delay from late-comers and worked on our specific game plan. After looking at a map of the park and some discussion, we decided on a starting point. By the time we got going, it was 7:30...great!! I could have slept another hour!!!

Anyway, we started off on St. Louis Canyon. This is an easy to get to location with an 80 foot waterfall being the highlight! After spending about an hour and a half or so here, we changed location and started on the trail to Wildcat Canyon. Wildcat Canyon also contains a main 80 foot waterfall, and a side fall that is probably about 50-60 foot. I didn't make it to the bottom (we walked the upper trail, not the river trail), but tried to get a couple of shots from the trail lookouts that have been built.

After spending some time there, everyone was pretty much done. Between the early start, dead batteries, and full memory cards (as well as other obligations), we headed back to the parking lot. By this time, it was somewhere around noon anyway.

I hope to make it back very soon...as the wildflowers and trees were just starting to wake up from the long Winter, and I'm sure there will be a huge transformation over the next several weeks.

In the mean time, here are a couple of pictures from the outing. These are from St Louis Canyon. I'll post up some other pictures later this week.

Panoramic shot consisting of 4 vertical frames stitched together:

This is actually the bottom frame from the panoramic shot above:

Concert and PAG Class outing

2008-04-15T16:42:00.003-05:00

For the first time in about 5-6 years, I completely missed beerfest!! :-( Normally, I am a good little worker bee for beerfest, helping load trucks, set up for Friday night, working Saturday, and even cleaning up on Sunday.

This year, however, I was pretty busy and missed it. Starting with Thursday night 4/11....Connie came over to do her taxes (since I had already purchased Tax Cut). Then Friday night, we went to see Dierks Bentley in Bloomington. There were two opening acts, Luke Bryan and Bucky Covington. Luke was very entertaining, engaged the crowd, and was much better than I expected for an opening act. Bucky, on the other hand, not so much. He did put up some effort and was very energetic, but just didn't connect with the crowd. I heard a few other people saying basically the same thing during intermission. Dierks was very good (as you would expect for the headliner). I thought that things started off a little slow..he played quite a few songs before even talking to the audience. But, as the set moved along, things got better. Once he started interacting with the audience, and even brought a girl from the front row up on stage and had her "help" with audience participation (singing along) and she tried to dance with him (which he admitted he can't dance). All in all, it was a good show.

Then comes Saturday morning.....*early* Saturday morning!! We had our first class outing from my current photography class through the Peoria Art Guild. We were to meet and be ready to shoot at 6:00am in Lacon. Top that off with the cold rainy weather that morning (and the late night Friday)...I was not looking forward to this!!

So, we show up and start walking around the riverfront there taking pictures of whatever caught our eye. As I was walking around, I ended up on the opposite side of the bridge (same side of the river) taking a few pictures. By the time I was done, there was only one other person left as the others had moved on towards town. I started that way and saw a couple of people down one block, but not everyone...so I kept going taking pictures wherever the mood hit me.

As I was walking back to the river to see if I could find the rest of my class, I was stopped by a guy asking what I was doing, was I a realtor, etc... I had just taken a couple of pictures of the police station / city hall, and I figured that may have something to do with the questioning. The guy then revealed that he works for the sheriff's department and started talking about this building and that and asked if I had about 5 minutes, he would like to give me a tour of the town. Not wanting to piss off the local law, I of course said "sure". :-) We rode around town for about 15 minutes all the while him giving me a history lesson on a couple dozen houses...this one is the old house, he was the main engineer on the bridge, and this house was build by , he was sent from Chicago to tend to the Mob business in the area, this house was built by who was a little....eccentric....etc.. etc..

Anyway, he was a friendly old guy, and obviously knew damn near everything there is to know about Lacon.

After he dropped me off and I headed back to the riverfront, there was one guy left just pulling out. He said the others had already left and he stopped for some coffee and cinnamon roll.

Here are a couple of shots I got that day:
First, one of the docks:

One from the "other side" of the bridge:

flickr gtg

2008-04-04T13:08:00.002-06:00

Can you believe it?? Two posts in a week!!!! Woooo hoooo!!!!

Last weekend (3/29/2008), the Peoria flickr group got together at the riverfront for sunrise. It was early and it was cold. The initial thought was that since it was warming up, we should get together and take some pictures. Well, it *was* warmer....I believe it was actually above freezing..by a degree or two.

We showed up about 6:30 and waited for others to show up. Took a few pictures right near our meeting location, then after sunrise, at about 7:30, we walked towards riverfront park and the marina.

I started off under the bridge looking East.

Then, kind of meandered around the park there and ended up at the Preston Jackson sculpture next to the Riverplex. As I eyed this piece of work, it was obvious that I needed to focus in on one particular aspect of it. I ended up with a couple different views, but this was my favorite (the other, as well as several other shots from the outing, is on my flickr site if you are interested).

Then, I started heading back and grabbed this shot of the fence silhouetted by the sunrise.

After that, the rest of the group had shown up and we started walking towards the marina.

There were several odds and ends along the way. The railroad turntable in riverfront park was a popular subject. Though a few decent shots were captured, everyone was pretty much on the same page as I have been...what the hell do I do with this? I know there are some interesting shots to be had, but, I haven't been able to figure out how to capture the size, environment, and detail yet.

As we kept walking, there was an old office building that has these vines growing all over it. Several shots were taken of that, some pretty creative. None of mine really came out the way I wanted.

By this time, there were 3 of us left and we headed towards the marina. After walking around that area for about 30 minutes, we headed back and began talking about the next gtg and ideas for that.

All in all, it was a nice outing, just a little on the cold side.

Another Month Gone By

2008-04-01T16:16:00.002-06:00

Well, here it is, nearly a month since my last post. Not a whole lot has been happening, and I just haven't felt like writing lately.

I have been spending some time playing with the camera / off-camera lighting and that has taken quite a few evenings. No great revelations yet, but, I think I'm getting a better understanding...hopefully, one of these days I'll at least be able to take a decently lit portrait (not even getting into directing / posing someone for a portrait yet)!! :-)

Played cards at Gordo's a few weeks ago....bubble boy..nothing new there!! LOL But, it was a good time. Then, I had to get up early the next day for a seminar I had signed up for. I totally forgot about it until Connie mentioned it as we headed off to bed. So, I had to double-check the date...yep! Tomorrow morning....damn!! It was a good seminar by a guy named Frans Lanting. He is a professional nature photographer that does a lot of work for National Geographic and several other magazines as well as having a few books of his own out.

A couple of weeks ago, Toby had a card game at his place. Nice crowd of 2 tables. That one I *didn't* bubble out of....I was out before we combined tables! I was getting somewhat short stacked, and picked up AA on the button. It had folded around to me and I (perhaps stupidly) minimum raised. SB folds, and Gordo in the BB called. Good! I was hoping to collect some chips rather than pick up just the blinds. The flop comes 2-4-X, and he checks, and I check behind him. I figured that with all small cards on the flop, me checking would tell Gordo I have big cards and missed, causing him to bet the turn, no matter what. Well, the turn comes...another blank, but now there is a flush draw possible. As expected, Gordo bets the turn, and looking at my stack, if I call, it will be a significant portion of my dwindling stack...so I push followed by an insta-call. Hut ohhhh..... Gordo flips over a 2-4 off-suit...two pair!!!! I got no help on the river, and Gordo felted me with a damn 24o..aaaarrrggghhhhh!!! :-)

Last week my dad came up for an overnight visit. He was going to be in Springfield and decided that if he was that close, he may as well come up and visit. That's the first time he had been up since I moved into my current house 5 years ago!!! They (my parents) have talked about coming up several times...but just never get around to it. So, that was nice. He got to see my house, meet Connie, and we all went to dinner at Gil's in Hanna City.

This week...tonight...I start another photography class at the Peoria Art Guild. This one is called Photographic Expedition. We will take several trips to locations around the area as well as classroom time. Should be a lot of fun!!

BBQ King????

2008-03-05T19:49:00.003-06:00

It depends on the kingdom!! If the kingdom stops with my back yard, then, yes!! I'm the BBQ King!!!! However, if the kingdom reaches down the block, the city, or beyond, that's another story!

Yes, folks, I finally broke out the smoker! The forecast was calling for the first day above 50 degrees, so I planned to get in a practice run with the smoker. I Did a little research and got my game plan together. Went and picked up a 4lb pork roast and the spices I didn't already have and some hickory chunks. Alright! Ready!

The process started on Saturday when I made the spice mix and got the roast rubbed down soaking up all those flavors. So far, so good!

Sunday around noon I got out and fired up the charcoal and got the wood soaking. By about 12:30 or so, the roast was ceremoniously placed on one of the racks and smoke was rolling!!

Being my first time using a smoker, I wanted to keep a close eye on things so I spent some time cleaning up the garage and watching the temperature gauge on the front of the smoker. A few adjustments here and there trying to keep just the right temp but, nothing too crazy. Then, by about 1:45 the temperature had dropped...the charcoal was running low! Damn!! So, I added a bunch more, but, it took about 20-30 minutes to get back up to temp (actually, too far). Ok, adjusting the vents a bit and things were back on track. Another hour or so goes by and I decide it's time to turn the roast over, and while I'm in there, I add more charcoal. It took a hit with the temp again, but nothing too bad. Within about 10 minutes, I was back on track. A couple of hours later the temperature is dropping again, but, I figure it is getting close to time for it to be done. So, I check the temp of the roast....140 (it should be 170 - 180). Damn! Add more charcoal (and water to the water pan) and wait a bit longer. Another hour....no love! A few more pieces of charcoal get thrown in, and I move the roast to the lowest rack. Yet another hour goes by, still, the temp inside the roast isn't where it should be. Leave it go a while longer...no change!!!!

If you're keeping track, it's about 8:00pm by now!! I was figuring on 4-5 hours, and there hasn't been any progress in the last 2-3. It was at this point I started considering giving up. A half hour later, I caved....I got out the roasting pan and moved the operation to the oven.

An hour in the oven....almost up to temp. 30 more minutes go by, and we're golden!! I get the roast out and let it rest for 20 minutes. But, when checking it, I decided it needed to cook longer. So, back in the oven for another hour. This time, I'm calling it! I shred the meat, discarding the fat and finally have a pulled pork sandwich at midnight!!

It smelled wonderful, and it actually tasted pretty good!

So, for all the trouble, at least I knew the flavor was good, it's just the cooking technique/process that needs work.

Some people may consider it a failure, but, I really feel like I learned a lot. That is exactly why I wanted to do a trial run with no pressure to actually feed anyone. :-)

First: Start with a lot more charcoal!

Second: I think the temperature gauge on the front is not even close to the temperature where the meat sits. There is a water pan that blocks some of the heat and when I reached in, I could feel the difference between the edges (where the temperature probe is) and the middle. I plan to get an oven thermometer and set it right in the middle to see what the front gauge reads when the middle is the correct temperature.

So, now, I just have to wait for another warm day for trial run #2! Maybe by the time it really gets nice out, I'll have this all figured out!

Wish me luck!!

Leap Day Project and Poker

2008-03-03T10:28:00.002-06:00

Several updates all rolled into one....

This past week we had Leap Day, February 29th. One of the guys in the Peoria Illinois flickr group who goes by lscan proposed a project where you take a picture each hour you are awake, and then post your best of that hour. Then, where multiple people post for a given hour, a vote is taken and the best of the best is determined. There was also consideration given to creating a photo book from the project and using it to raise money for a local charity. The details on that front haven't been worked out quite yet. Anyway, I participated in the project and got I think 11 or 12 pictures. But, haven't uploaded them yet. I missed the 12:00pm and 6:00pm hours, then ran out of ideas/motivation after 8:00pm. In other words, beer took over the number 1 spot in my priority list. :-) It was fun, but the time investment really adds up quickly. Hopefully, I'll get the pictures uploaded to flickr within the next day or so.

Saturday I did some running around...normal weekend stuff, then went and played cards at Zooks' homegame. It was a good time, and I finally cashed at one of her games!! I'm still down about $30 - $40 at her games, but, at least I made it to the money for a change! LOL

Sunday...watched some of the race, saw Stewart battle the outside wall (the wall won) and kind of let my attention wander away from the race at that point. But, caught up with things as it was nearing the end. That's when Jeff Gordon took on an inside wall. It was actually an opening to an infield area where he hit, and man was it brutal!!! Parts were flying all over and his radiator went shooting down the track. It was definitely one of the hardest hits I've seen in a long while!

It was a great day out, and I also got some cleaning up done in the garage and a little DIY photography project done. Thanks Jeff for the material, it worked out perfectly, and I have enough left over to make 2 more!!!! I did a couple test shots and with the bare flash, the entire wall (as much as fit in the frame) was well lit...with the modifier I made, about a 2ft circle was all that was lit!

There's more to report from the weekend....but I'll save that for a post of its own.

V-day and Other Catching Up

2008-02-21T15:24:00.003-06:00

Yeah, it's a week late, but, I guess better late than never!

Just after my last post, I started coming down with a cold / sinus thing. It's been almost two weeks, and I'm still fighting it! So, I've done my best to stay in and do as little as possible. Partially, just to stay out of the cold, and partially because I haven't felt like doing anything other than sit in front of the computer (in front of the space heater) or on the couch watching TV. I am feeling better than I did last week at this time. I didn't even consider going to the card game Toby was trying to put together. In fact, I took a sick day from work that day and didn't leave the house for 4 days except to get more cold meds and have dinner at Connie's on the evening of the 4th day (president's day).

Anyway, enough of the pity party, right???!!!

Valentine's day was fun and entertaining. Connie picked up a pizza and brought it over and we stayed in, which was perfect if you ask me!! :-) No crowds, no reservations, or waiting forever for a table. When I started thinking about celebrating V-day, gifts, and all that, the first thing that came to mind was chocolate (duh)! It may seem cliché, but, when someone loves chocolate as much as Connie, you can't go wrong!! Well, unless you end up with a chocolate O.D. on your hands!!

Photo by Connie

But, wait!!!!! There's more!! This requires a little background, so bear with me.

About a month ago, Lola Takes Pictures started a new group on flickr she called the 60-day project. Basically, it's a shortened version of a 365 project. The idea is to take a self portrait each day and post it to the group. You are the one that has to set up the shot (framing, zoom, light, etc...) and also press the button to take the picture (this is where long arms or the camera's self timer come in handy). Anyway, there was a post in the group about ideas for pictures and possibly even designating specific subjects/criteria for a given day. for example, sweatpants day, or red, or hat day. Just some sort of theme. Well, even though I am not participating in the project, I came up with a brilliant (in my opinion) suggestion of "topless day" :-) The initial reaction was the expected "you go first!". But, after that, they started thinking....how do you define topless? Taking a picture while topless doesn't mean you have to actually show anything that would get higher than a 'G' rating (I could be topless and take a picture of my feet for example). So anyway, there were a couple pictures posted in the vein noted above followed by 'ok your turn!'.

Not to be outdone, I had to come up with an idea. So, I thought about it for a couple days and formulated a plan. After I had the plan worked out in my mind, it was time to execute and see if I could pull off what my mind envisioned. After many attempts, I finally was happy with the end results. By this time, it was a week before V-day...the timing was perfect!

For those of you still following along, a printed / framed copy of this was another V-day gift!

For those of you who may not be Seinfeld fans, this was my attempt at a tribute to George Costanza and his efforts to seduce a girl that worked at the film developing place he used.

Some of you may be wondering what I got for V-day (or maybe not). I got a remote control for the camera packaged with a nice 'bouquet' of heart-shaped suckers. :-) While that may seem a little untraditional, it was a great and thoughtful gift! Sure would have made the self portrait above easier!! As it was, I had to try to set focus (on nothing), press the button to start the timer, and run to the couch and get my pose before the timer ran out! A wireless remote rocks for those situations!!!

Moving along.....Sunday was the Daytona 500. I was supposed to go to Connie's brother's but, since I had been sick, I was left behind to watch the race by myself (which was fine by me...I was feeling pretty crappy still). With great anticipation, I waited for the start...and waited, and waited... Why can't they just tell you when it is really going to START rather than list it on the tv guide as starting at 2:00, but not really starting for another hour and a half or so???? They eventually got under way, and it was a rather uneventful race for the first 1/2 or so. Then as it got closer to the finish, there was more excitement and a few more cautions. It was during two of these back to back cautions that I dozed off. We're talking about 30 - 40 laps (out of 200) left. Yes, you guessed it....I slept through the last of the race, waking up for the very last corner. That sucked!!! haha! If I time things right, I usually can catch the beginning, nap through the middle of the race, and wake up for the last several laps when things start to heat up. Not this time, though.

Fog

2008-02-08T09:47:00.000-06:00

So, how about this weather??? This weather sucks! This weather is crazy! Gotta love Illinois Weather! yeah yeah yeah..... Everyone's talking about the weather. I'm just as guilty as the next guy, I suppose.

But, how about that fog a couple of days ago???!!!!! heh :-)

No, really. That was some pretty damn stout fog! The forecast called for it to lift by noon, but, it seemed to pick up steam after noon and into the night. I went outside to "check the weather" (A.K.A. smoke break) about 2:00 or so, and from Adams St. could not see Old Chicago at all (two blocks away) and could just barely (after staring at it) make out an outline of the twin towers (1 block away). At that point I knew I had to play with the camera after work.

So, after work, I head down to the riverfront. Initially, I was thinking to go across to the other side of the river and shoot towards downtown. However, when I got to the riverfront, I knew that all I would get is a wall of fog. There's no way you would have seen the city...I couldn't even see the buildings / lights a block away. Ok, this side of the river it is!

I started walking around snapping pictures of this and that all the while being amazed that I couldn't even see the bridge from the docks near the Spirit of Peoria!!

I really like the way the fog obscures the horizon...you never really see where the water ends and land (or sky for that matter) begins.

As I walked around, I really wanted to try to get a nice shot of the bridge disappearing into the fog. I tried several angles and decided that this was my favorite.

This was exactly what I envisioned! Relatively clear close in, and gradually fading into nothing! The fog was great for cleaning up messy backgrounds and other distractions. The isolation really allows you to focus on the subject.

As it got darker, I headed back towards The Tavern On Water (or Roxy's or Crooked Waters or whatever you know it by). I stopped off by the docks and grabbed this shot.

I was lazy and didn't carry around the tripod, as it really wasn't needed early on. But, as the light diminished, I had to bump the ISO for this one (which means more digital noise, especially in the shadows). So, this took a little extra work to clean up, but, I thought the end result was fairly nice.

As I walked on and it got darker, at one point I stopped and just looked out across the river. It was really pretty creepy. First off, you couldn't see anything across the river..no hints of street / business lights, no buildings, nothing! All you got was a wall of fog. The water was like glass, and every now and then, a couple of chunks / sheets of ice would float by. Without any other anchor, it had somewhat of a disorienting affect. As I said, kind of eerie.

Anyway, it was well worth the hour or so I spent there! Though, driving home was a challenge! ;-)

Matthiessen State Park

2008-01-29T11:03:00.000-06:00

With the deep freeze we've been in lately, I have been trying my best to stay inside. Seriously! To the point of grabbing extra smokes from my truck so I don't have to walk outside "tomorrow"! LOL But, in looking for a silver lining, the below freezing temps and snow we've had in the past week or two was sure to have the waterfalls frozen up at Starved Rock State Park and Matthiessen State Park. So, when the forecast for this past weekend called for temps actually above freezing, I thought it would be a good time to head up that way (before everything melted away).

We took a trip to Matthiessen State Park on Saturday. It was a nice little trip, and for Winter shooting, it really couldn't have been much better! Good thing we went on Saturday, because, by Sunday afternoon, nearly all the snow was melted away, and the ice was already iffy in some spots on Saturday (though we did see a couple of guys ice fishing).

Here are a couple of pictures I got from the trip:

First, this is of the main falls in the upper dells area. On top of these falls is the pond where the guys were ice fishing. I used a pretty small aperture to try to lengthen the time the shutter was opened to get a nice soft/silky feel to the actual falling water down the middle.

Next, this shot is of 3 or 4 smaller cascading falls that feeds what is known as Giant's Bathtub. There really wasn't much color anyway, so I scrapped what little there was and went with a black and white processing. I really like the way it turned out (and am looking forward to a Spring/Summer shot from the same place).

There are a couple more shots on my flickr site if you're interested.

Published

2008-01-25T11:29:00.000-06:00

For the first time, one of my pictures was actually published in a real print magazine!

A couple of months ago, I was contacted right here through my blog by Jonathan Wright of Peoria Progress about using a picture I took of the LST-325 while it was docked here in Peoria in late August - Early September.

This is the shot he was interested in:

The new edition just came out and you can see it in both the print and web versions. I am listed with all the other photographers in the front of the printed publication.

Oh, and here's the direct link to where my shot appears in the web version. And here's a link showing where you can pick up the print version.

Anyway, it was exciting for me, since I consider photography a hobby. :-)

Since Christmas....

2008-01-13T11:28:00.000-06:00

What's been happening since Christmas???? Let's see......

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Went to Zooks' home game...I was the first to bust out and had zero success in the cash game which followed.

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For the first time in several years, had no plans for New Years Eve. I heard of several parties, but didn't garner an invite. That didn't slow me down, though!! Connie decided that we should go sledding! I hadn't been sledding since...well, grade school. With the fresh snow that day, the timing was perfect! We headed to Detweiller Park since that's the only decent hill I could think of (the shelter area where the Jaycees hold their annual Easter Egg Hunt). We get there and the road is chained off with a sign stating "sledding area closed".. I didn't even know it was an official sledding area...who knew!!??!! haha! Anyway, we decided the only thing we could do is give up and go back home. Ok, not really, we completely disregarded the sign/cable and walked back to the hill. Being New Year's Eve, and very cold out, we had the entire hill to ourselves! Such is the life for the outlaw! Anyway, we had a blast! Even landing in the woods wasn't enough to dampen our spirits!

New Year's Day, I followed through with a tradition I picked up from my mother and made Ham and Beans (and of course, cornbread). I think it was the best batch of ham and beans I've ever made!!

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The other day the neighbor came over asking for help setting up his new laptop. He (and his parents) were absolutely clueless! He couldn't even answer what he needed set up (was he trying to set up an Internet connection, a specific piece of software/game, etc...). His questions were along the lines of "how do I turn it on/off" and "where do I plug it in (power)", etc.... I got things as far as a registration error from Insight and told him he needed to call them to figure out why the system errored on registration. I'm just hopeful that this doesn't turn into an ongoing support situation.

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This past week, I traveled to my office in Sterling. I hadn't been there in a really long time. The techs there are well experienced and pretty much handle things themselves. Most of the time any special attention can be handled through e-mail or the phone.

I had the back seat of my truck filled with equipment I was transporting (the reason for my trip). The first thing I notice since my last trip is all the windmills. There is a rather large wind-farm that stretches between Tanner's Orchard and Bradford! I had seen windmills in the far distance along Rt 40, but, these were all new since my last trip! I was amazed all these were up since my last trip!

Anyway, about 15 miles outside of Sterling, I had a tire go down. Damnit!! It was the first time I've had to change a flat tire on my truck...that's over 6 years with nothing more severe than a slow leak. Where's the jack??? Under the back seat! So, here I am, it's something like 26 degrees, the wind is piercing, and I'm emptying all the equipment out of the back seat to get to the jack! It sucked!!! LOL After I figure out how to get the spare tire out (there's a cable on a wench that you lower using an extension and tire iron which is accessed through a small hole in the bumper), it was fairly smooth sailing. Except the fact that the spare tire was half flat as well. Oh well, it was enough to get to town and an air pump.

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Tucker's home game...at least I didn't bust out first!! haha! It was really kind of sad....Gordo was excited because we had a lot of new players that we had never faced (or maybe once). He loves trying to figure out new players and trying to keep them guessing about his play. So, what happens, Gordo gets sat at a table of almost all familiar players.....then ends up getting taken out first. What a bummer! Myself, I ended up finishing one off the bubble. Out of 3 full tables, I finished 7th and top 5 got paid. All night I was pretty card dead. The best hand I got was AKo which I got 3 times and only hit once. Not one single pocket pair and even the decent hands were very few and far between. By the time I busted, the cash table was full, and it was about 11:00 so I headed home...I guess I'll have to wait for Tucker to post the results.

********
What I haven't been doing is taking any pictures. I hate the cold and have a hard time being inspired at this time of the year. I was looking over pictures from the past several years and confirmed what I already knew. I have taken very very few (if any) pictures during the Winter...particularly Jan - March. I really need to force myself to find something interesting this time of year....

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T20:11:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! This year, I decided to stay here instead of going to my folks' house. I go down most years, but, not all. Chels was not going to be there (poor thing is in Jamaica...so sad!), and I was just down in Sept. and Nov. so, decided to just relax at home.

I did talk to mom and dad and everyone seems to have had a good holiday. There was one change this year....instead of cooking, mom ordered dinner from 17th Street Bar and Grill....several slabs of ribs and a couple pounds of pulled pork, etc... I'm sure it was tasty!!

Christmas afternoon, I had to go to Connie's for the gift she got me because "it won't fit in [her] car". hmmmm.... I'm completely lost... Unlike myself, she didn't ask for ideas or a list or anything. So, I have no idea what to expect, let alone what could be so large to not fit in her car. I get there and it's covered up in the living room....I still have no clue!! Maggie tried to tell me it was "thin screen" TV... You know, they're the next big thing!!!! LOL Anyway, I "unwrap" it and Tada!!!!!

She got me a smoker!!!!! In our random conversations, I had mentioned it would be cool to learn how to do ribs / bbq..have an all day cookout, etc.., but, I'd never done that and didn't have a smoker. One thing I've noticed over the years, she's a great gift giver!

As I mentioned above, I had to ask for a list (I think clueless pretty well describes my gift giving abilities). :-) This was one of the things on Connie's wish list.

She *says* this is her favorite. She's nice like that. :-)

Oh, and Mary who reads my blog but never comments....I also got a bottle of UV Blue!! LOL

Anyway, it was a great Christmas! I hope yours was as well!

Happy Festivus!

2007-12-23T15:52:00.000-06:00

Some groups consider today to be the day to celebrate Festivus. So, Happy Festivus!!

There is actually a lot more to Festivus than most probably are aware. For one, there is the traditional celebration of Festivus that the Seinfeld episode "The Strike" was based. Some traditions are different than that on Seinfeld, others seem to be similar. But, in any case, feel free to "air your grievances" here! :-) "I got a lot of problems with you people!!!"

The Week In Review

2007-12-14T11:41:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, I went to Tucker's home game and for once, I didn't bubble out!! Actually, I went out one before the bubble!! LOL Early on, I was doing well, catching cards, etc... Then, when we combined tables, I went card dead, and missed when I had a decent starting hand. Finally, I hit a hand or two...then back to missing everything.. I was getting short stacked and picked up a middle pair. Raise! Of course, the big stack of mr. runner runner didn't go away...he re-raised (minimum) and I pushed the rest in. So, it's my 77 against AJ. The flop comes, and I'm still ahead, but mr. runner-runner has a ton of outs....turn...7, ok, trips!!! River....runner-runner hits his flush (again)!!! Damnit!!! Poker is a cruel cruel game!!

After that beating, I was so depressed (not really) that I basically hibernated the rest of the weekend! Actually, I did get out a bit on Saturday afternoon and cleaned out the garage a bit so you could actually park *in* the garage. The Ice that was forecast scared me. :-) That evening, Connie came over and I made dinner and Italian beef for Sunday (and Monday and the rest of the week...yes, it was an enormous roast)and we watched movies and football the rest of the weekend. What better way to spend a Winter weekend than that???

Monday night, I met up with a couple of flickr folks and we took some pictures downtown. It was chilly, but still a good time.

The courthouse plaza with Christmas lights

Spirit of Peoria and Bridge

So far, Lily hasn't posted any of the same shots that I posted (the advantage of being the first to post). :-) Actually, between Jason, Mike, Lily and myself, none of the shots are really even close even though we were all within a couple hundred feet of each other the entire time. It's always cool to see what others come up with in the same situation.

Tuesday and Wednesday...not much happened. Work, home, work, home.... Thursday night, was the last day of photography class. :-( So, unfortunately, I doubt you'll be seeing any other corn-poo pictures in the near future. ;-) But, there is another class planned in the Spring that I'm interested...we'll have to wait and see once the schedule is posted.

Tonight is the Jaycees Christmas party. Always a good time!! So, my agenda today includes buying a gift for the gift exchange. I have no idea what I'm gonna get this year. I guess I'll know it when I see it.

Photography Class

2007-12-07T10:46:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, well....several weeks ago, now...we got an assignment in photography class to take pictures of an item which we were given. We were to take pictures in interesting / unexpected locations, interesting compositions, etc...

My subject was an ear of corn. Now, what the hell am I going to do at this time of year??? I thought of a few ideas that I thought would be cool during the Summer...say in a bean field, or on the grill, etc.... But, at this time of year, I was having a tough time coming up with ideas (also, note that there really isn't much fresh corn on the cob around right now). Add to that, the fact that I didn't get around to shooting for a couple of weeks and the corn I was given, was looking a bit past its prime.

I asked at work if anyone had ideas, and shared my first idea with them. Louis came up with the following as a concept.

Stabbed corn, bleeding butter...I thought it was a cool idea, and this was fun to play with. I only wish I could have found those real cheap plastic corn-shaped holders...instead, I had to use these "fancy" ones which was the only thing I could find at the store.

Next, you have the first idea that came to mind when I found out I had an ear of corn for a subject.

I thought about how no matter how much you chew corn, it seems to reconstruct itself in your digestive tract and comes out in whole kernels in your poo. I just carried it one step further. :-)

Birthday Weekends

2007-12-07T10:02:00.000-06:00

I already wrote about Thanksgiving weekend, which was the weekend before my birthday. It was a pretty good weekend, starting with Wednesday night at the Rec Room, and continuing with Thanksgiving, dinner, new curtains, etc.....

Then, on my actual birthday, I got to work in Macomb at midnight!! yay!!!! Couldn't even go to Math Club that night.

But, the following weekend was pretty awesome! Gretchen took me to see Sugarland here at the Civic Center. Actually there was a group of us....6 chicks and me! Nice ratio, huh?? :-) The show was great and we had a good time. Then, we went to the bar for a couple of drinks and to try to score some autographed stuff, which some in our group did....just not me. But, on the up-side....my bitches bought me drinks in honor of my birthday, so it's all good!! Thanks bitches!!! LOL It was a great night!

But wait...there's more!!! I also got an LCD HDTV for the computer room and a blackberry cobbler and ice cream from my girl! Those rocked!! The pie was awesome as usual (not such a huge fan of cake) and I just finished the last piece last night. The TV is sweet! It's the first HDTV I've had, and I was shocked at the difference it makes. LCD's are sharper than regular CRT TV's in the first place, and the digital nature of an LCD really shows the shortcoming of regular broadcast programming...but the HD channels are freakin' sweet!

Saturday night, Jeff, Tucker, Toby, and myself all went to Zooks' home game and had a good time. Jeff played well and took first, Tucker 3rd, and I was the bubble boy, which is pretty amazing considering I was 175 away from doing out with blinds being 100/200 (Toby caught up on the river and killed my stack). But, we still had a good time. I ended up making back a few bucks during the cash game, but, ended up down overall for the night. Oh well, cheap entertainment with good friends...or is it the other way around??? hmmmm... :-)

Sunday was spent doing laundry and crap and watching football IN HD most of the day. :-) All in all, a great weekend!

You Can Get Anything You Want...

2007-11-27T19:55:00.000-06:00

...at Alice's restaurant.

I hope everyone had a good holiday and has recovered from their turkey comas.

The Thanksgiving tradition started on Wednesday night with drinking, darts, socializing and procrastination (can you say casserole?)! Though, I sucked at darts, I excelled at drinking and socializing. :-)

Thursday started off nicely, but, then driving down to Southern Illinois was a bit rough. I hit the St. Louis area (within radio distance anyway) right about noon. Just in time for the Thanksgiving tradition of Alice's Restaurant. I think I've listened to that on Thanksgiving every year since high school. "Yes, sir, officer. I cannot tell a lie....I *put* that envelop under that pile of garbage." You gotta love it! haha!

Anyway, made it to my folks' house and had a snack while waiting for dinner. Chelsea, my sisters, brothers in law, and nephews all showed up and we had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat (heh) and ended up nearly comatose on the couch for the rest of the night.

Then, in great anticipation of "black Friday", I slept in! No bargains for me! Call me crazy, but, there's no way I was going to be standing in line in 20-something degree weather at 4:00am (or earlier) when I could be sleeping in a nice warm bed!! I spent a good part of the afternoon working on Chels' computer. The sound wasn't working, and I'm not exactly sure how, but when I left, it was working. Whew!

Friday night, my parents took me out for dinner for my birthday. We went to 17th Street Bar & Grill. They have awesome barbecue! Award winning, in fact, they've been featured on the Food Network and Bon Appetite chose them as the best ribs in the US! In addition to dinner, mom made me some curtains for my family room. All I really wanted was for her to put a hem in the ones I already had (which were left by the previous owners), but, she wouldn't do it because she said they were ugly and sun-bleached. Maybe I'll actually get them hung up sometime in the next week. :-)

Saturday, I went to my sister's place to check out all the work they have been doing remodeling. It's a completely different place!! So, we hung out and visited a while. Then, after I left, I stopped by the lake to play with the camera. This is what I ended up with.

After that, I met my other sister and her husband out for dinner and drinks. Sunday morning consisted of get up, shower, have breakfast (B's & G's w/sausage), and hit the road. The drive back sucked even worse than the hung-over drive down! Traffic was very heavy and I had rain all the way to I-155, at which point it turned into freezing rain / sleet, and snow!! Of course, about half an hour after I got home, it stopped! :-/ Figures! After unpacking and all that, I called Connie to invite her over for dinner (BTW, can you stop and pick up dinner on the way over? LOL!!). She agrees, only to call back about half an hour later to say she's sick, and isn't coming. I guess I should have just gone to the store myself! haha!

Monday....work...back to the grind. But, wait, that's not all....then, I have to work Monday night (midnight) in Quincy, and Tuesday night (yes, midnight) in Macomb. I swear, I'm going to wear my truck out this week!

That pretty much brings things current. I still haven't done my assignment for photography class...guess I'll have to do that tomorrow! Yikes!

Easy Rider???

2007-11-18T12:10:00.000-06:00

Saw this test on Zooks' blog and thought it would be fun. Right on!! I guess I need to see Easy Rider now (I've only seen parts of it). haha!

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Street Photography and Landscapes

2007-11-18T11:30:00.000-06:00

A group of us from the Peoria flickr group got together over lunch one afternoon for some street photography. Not my normal thing, but, thought it'd be interesting and I got a few shots that I liked. Most were not really what most people consider street photography, but, it's all good!
First, one that *is* pretty much street photography. The mother - son team at the Haddad's cart.

Then, as we moved on, I took this quick grab of the Commerce Bank Building.

I really liked how this turned out with the dark and monotone(ish) look.

A bit later, we ventured into City Hall and while trying to figure out how to get an interesting picture of the different floors and dome, Lola Takes Pictures thought the best perspective was from laying down on the floor!

You can see the reflection of what she was going for in her sunglasses, and the shot she got can be seen here.

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The assignment for this week of digital photography class was landscapes. Of course, this assignment came just after the daylight savings "fall back", so it's pretty much dark by the time I get out of work, leaving very little opportunity for anything other than night shots. I did get the chance to go out for a while over the weekend, so ventured out to Glen Oak Park. Luckily, there was still enough of the Fall colors left to make an easy task of find some cool shots.

First, one of the lagoon:

I got lucky with a brief break in the clouds to throw some light on the trees across the lagoon and really make the remaining colors pop!

I also found this scene along one of the paths leading to the lower Glen Oak Park area. I really liked the close up perspective of the near steps as they lead up the hill.

==============

This week's assignment was a "grab bag", where we were assigned a random object that we are to use in interesting or unusual compositions. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my subject....I have a couple of ideas, now it's just a matter of pulling them off.

It's been 9 days....continued - final chapter

2007-11-08T16:32:00.000-06:00

Sunday was awesome! After all the night life from the weekend.....stayed in bed late, always a good start to the day! Finished sorting and editing the pictures from Saturday, grabbed lunch, then turned on football. Napped a bit, turned on the race, napped some more, watched some more t.v. and went to bed about an hour earlier than normal! Pretty near the perfect Sunday!

It's been 9 days....continued

2007-11-08T14:53:00.000-06:00

Now, we've made it to Saturday... Saturday morning, there was a meetup scheduled for the Peoria flickr group. Several of us had a pre-meetup meetup for breakfast. After Friday night, I'm amazed that I made it to breakfast by 7:30!! So, we grab a real breakfast at Bob Evans in East Peoria before heading to Forest Park Nature Center. I tell you what.....between the liquid dinner Friday night, and breakfast Saturday morning....let's just say it's a good thing I have access to a toilet downtown because the assplosion was about to break containment!! After taking care of that emergency pit stop, I made my way to the nature center.

We spent the next few hours walking the trails, taking pictures, and generally giving each other a hard time. Early on, we saw a flock (??) of wild turkeys scratching around foraging in the woods. As I was trying to get a clean shot, I started down a side trail through the woods (looked more like a deer trail or something than anything man-made). I noticed that as I crept closer, the turkeys slowly shifted away from my location. Others from the group were opposite and left of me, so I figured that I would either flush them their direction, or piss them off and have them charge me. Luckily, I just flushed them towards the people to my left. All that, and I didn't end up with any shots I was happy with.

While walking the trails, we were keeping in mind that the assignment was "details" (several of us at the meetup are in the same class). Here are a couple of shots from that outing that were taken specifically with the assignment in mind.

To see others, you'll just have to visit my flickr site

Fast forward to Saturday evening...We're deciding what to do, and I'm anxiously awaiting all of these calls my friends promised on Friday night. Yes, folks, that's the sound of crickets...NOT my cell phone ringing! So, we ended up going to Old Chicago to grab a bite and a couple of beers, which turned out to be a great decision. The entertainment was well above normal..there was a chick having a birthday there, and her friends were...interesting. About the closest way I can describe them was neo-emo or something. Good times, good times!

It's been 9 days....continued

2007-11-08T13:59:00.000-06:00

So, it's Friday night....Jaycees happy hour. We meet at Kelleher's on Water Street. I walk in, don't see anyone there yet, and decide to head to the bar to quench my thirst. hmmmm....what to order....The far taps...can't read them, oh well.... Middle taps, nothing is jumping out at me. The nearest set of taps...Hop Juice! That sounds interesting, I flag down the bartender and order a Hop Juice. He goes and picks up this little rounded glass like you would expect if you ordered a brandy or something. At that point I should have known what that meant, but, I just thought it was being marked at a premium beer or something like that.

About this time, Dubby points out that they are hiding upstairs in the back...never would have found them up there!! LOL. I have my beer, now, and go to join Dub and Supervisor Squirrel. Dub was looking pretty damn good in a new shirt, also.....he told us himself, so I know it's true!! Anyway, more people filter in and we have the upstairs filled before long.

As I'm sitting there drinking the Hop Juice, I see a beer menu on the table. As luck would have it, I chose the beer with the highest alcohol content they have (9.9%...for reference American standards are generally around 4.2%). Yep! I'll have another! And another! And some Heavy Handed IPA....

In the mean time, we decided to play shuffleboard. Game 1, Jeff U. and I pull out an amazing win! I was down to my last puck, and we were behind by 5-6 points. Victor had landed a couple of 3's and a 1, meanwhile, I hadn't done any good that round. Last puck, I managed to knock BOTH of Victor's 3-pointers off and stick mine!! I heard they ran that one on Sports Center!! Well, maybe not, but they should have!! LOL! Then, game two...well, lets just say that after Ritter had a really awful start, Jeff and I got are asses kicked! Damn, this beer is good!!

About this time, talk has started to develop of playing darts. We head out to The Recovery Room where we run into Rob and Ang. It was nice to see them as I hadn't run into them for a month or so. Chit-chatted with them for a while then started the dart games. Dubby and I were partners and somehow took both games we played (sorry squirrel...I didn't *mean* to be a point whore!!!). On the other board, apparently, there was some wagering going on between Ritter and Gordo....Shocking, I know!!! But, I think Ritter and Tucker won breakfast...Semen Special...er, fisherman's catch, anyone???? ;-)

After that, I was ready to call it a night, and was asking around if anything was going on Sat. night. Of those I asked, no one really had anything in particular, but they would call and we could figure something out.

All in all, a pretty good night.

It's been 9 days....

2007-11-08T13:42:00.000-06:00

..since the last update, and I've been nudged with the 'you need to update your blog' again. I've been meaning to update for nearly a week, just haven't gotten around to it. But, once again, one of my (2 or 3) faithful readers has stepped up to keep me on track. :-) I'll break this up into several short posts based on subject / time lines rather than one monster post covering everything.

So, roll back the calendar to the beginning of the month. In Digital Photography Class, the assignment was dealing with light and shadow. I did the assigned study of shooting the same thing, from the same location at various times of day. The point being to see how differently things can be in different colors / angles of light. The shots were illustrative, but, nothing exciting to post. I did have one shot that was ok. Still could use some work, but it was a quick edit for class and I didn't save all the steps, and don't really feel like starting over at this point.

The assignment for this week is 'details'. More on that later.

Fall Colors

2007-10-30T09:28:00.001-06:00

This past week / weekend I was able to get out and try to capture some of the Fall colors in the area. Plans to go to Starved Rock / Pere Marquette State Park / Garden Of The Gods just haven't quite worked out. It seems that there is always something going on that would cut a trip short or I'm just too damn lazy. So, you will have to settle for Peoria area shots.

Grandview Drive:

Grandview Drive again:

I have noticed that over the past day or two many of the yellows are turning towards brown, and a lot of leaves have fallen. So, I think for the most part, we have passed the peak. That's not to say there aren't any good colors left, but, there is a definite shift towards browns.

Photography Class

2007-10-27T16:21:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I decided to sign up for a Digital Photography class through the Peoria Art Guild. The class will focus on camera controls, basic photography concepts, and a small amount of post processing (Photoshop or similar).

So far, we've had two weeks of class. Each week, we discuss a general concept, and make sure everyone knows how to use their camera to exploit that concept. Then, we have homework to exercise what we've discussed and have to bring in several prints for review / critique. This is the part of the class I most look forward to. I have done so much reading and playing, I feel I have a pretty good understanding of the technicals in using the camera controls. Where I have difficulty is execution.

The first week's assignment was "36 points of view". We discussed framing your subject (basically the "rule of thirds") and Depth of Field (how much of the picture is in sharp focus from near to far). To keep some consistency throughout the class, we were to photograph a person at a location of our choice. We could have the subject move a few feet if needed, but, basically, we were to take the same shot from 36 different points of view (above, below, near, far, all sides, etc....). Hut ohh! People / portraiture is probably the furthest style of photography from my comfort zone! Hence, all the landscape type of pictures I generally take / post. I just haven't developed the eye for poses and all the little distracting things that seem to find their way into your shots, not to mention my horrible timing and I seem to always get the really bad facial expressions or catch someone mid-blink. Oh well, class is all about learning, right? Right!

So, after getting the assignment on Thursday night, I start thinking about who, when, where, etc... Oh, and we were supposed to use available light...so no flash...night is out! Anyway, the next day, Connie asked how class went. I told her that it went well, oh, and by the way, I need to talk to you...see...I have this assignment.... :-) She agreed to be my subject (whew!!). I tried to convince her that lingerie shots would be best (figured nude was pushing it heh)...she didn't buy into it.

Next, I decided on Riverfront park as the location, and the time was pretty much restricted to the only time that worked for both of us...about 4:00 Sunday.

We met at the designated time and actually had a pretty good time. Though, I think she was about as uncomfortable as I was most of the time. It all worked out in the end. Here are some of the shots I took to class:

This one (above), the only real suggestion was to loose the light colored building in the background of the lower left corner.

This one was a slight deviation from the assignment. But, I liked it quite a bit, so went with it. :-)

So, I made it through the first week of class and really feel like I learned quite a bit through the process (i.e. mistakes). A big "thanks" to Connie for being such a good sport!

This week's assignment...light and shadows. hmmmm.....

Note:due to the width of the current template, the pictures are resized to fit. If you click on them, the originals don't have those jaggie edges. I'm just too lazy to make yet another copy for the sole purpose of posting to the blog.

Peoria flickr Meetup

2007-10-20T19:48:00.000-05:00

Last night, a group of people from the Peoria Illinois flickr group got together to attempt some sunset / night shots of downtown. We decided to meet on Fon Du Lac drive.

Unfortunately, the cloud cover that was supposed to be gone in the morning hung around until well after dark. So, sunset was less than spectacular to say the least. But, we didn't let that get us down.

The group leader, Dave Vernon, brought a rather large toy to play with.

This thing is enormous!! ...and heavy! In case you're wondering, Dave's "bipod" is Lola Takes Pictures. Unfortunately, none of the shots I tried with it turned out. It was getting fairly dark when I tested it, and the wind was really strong, so even mounted on a tripod and with image stabilization turned on, everything came out blurry.

I did manage to grab a couple of shots that I liked. This one I cropped to a panoramic aspect ratio just for fun.

After we were done there, a few of us headed downtown to the Civic Center area. I set up to take a night shot of city hall, and after a couple of shots, I thought I'd strike a pose!

Anyway, it was a good time. Oh, and yes, Gordo, I'm following your advise and getting new friends!! Hopefully, I won't get in trouble for not mentioning it when someone gets new glasses or a new shirt. And if I'm REALLY lucky, I won't have to help pay off any of their gambling debts. :-)

The Past Week...

2007-10-11T22:23:00.000-05:00

Wow! Another week gone by and I haven't gotten around to posting anything. Not that I haven't thought about it, just not gotten around to it. So, this is going to be a mix of things.

Let's see... Last Friday, after work I went out to Banner Marsh to see what I could find to point the camera at. I ended up with a couple of post-worthy shots.
First, some prairie grass in the sun:

Next, the skyline and marsh after sunset:

Which brings up something I was just thinking about the other day. Isn't "prairie grass" or those prairie restoration areas just romanticizing what's really going on? The reality of it is, it's a bunch of weeds no one wanted to mow. I think next year I'm gonna get one of those prairie restoration area signs and put it in my yard so I don't have to mow.

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Saturday, I just did crap around the house most of the day. Then Saturday night, Went to The Owens' "Fall Bash '07". Drank lots-o-beer and had a great time!

Then, paid my dues on Sunday!! I was feelin' pretty rough for about half (ok 3/4) of the day. However, I still made it to the wings party (as in Buffalo wings....not the Paul McCartney band) Ritter had in honor of Gordo. We had a poker game that afternoon and 15 played, so that was a pretty good turn out! It was a really good game. But, I think Kate still hates me for busting her aces with my 7's (hit trips on the flop)!

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Monday, I was finally feeling better (the miracle of sleep)! Being Columbus Day, I didn't have to work, so got to catch up on things around the house. My big (if you can call it that) project of the day was tearing up some of the yard for more garden space next year. It wasn't that much space, but it sure felt like it when I was out in the 90 degree October weather! While out there, I went ahead and pulled up one tomato plant that wasn't really doing anything. While tearing it out, I found a couple of these on it!

It's a tomato horn worm, and they're huge! Survivor man could live for a week of a couple of these!! (note: I don't know if they're really edible)

Well, that pretty much does it for anything new. The rest of the week has been fairly uneventful.

401 Water Street

2007-10-02T13:37:00.000-05:00

Over at the Peoria flickr group, we have been having some "assignments" lately. The members of the group, in an attempt to generate more traffic / interest, have been coming up with themes or topics to photograph, hopefully, while keeping the overall focus of the group (Peoria) in mind.

One of the recent assignments was 401 Water Street. This was an interesting subject, because with everyone shooting the same building, you get to see how others interpret, approach or envision the same subject.

I had an idea in mind, and it was similar to several other entries (but there were several completely different perspectives submitted as well), except I knew I wanted to use a ultra-wide angle for the perspective.

Here is my first attempt:

This is what I was going for! Dramatic shot of the sculpture in the foreground, with 401 Water Street (including the illuminated water tank) in the background. The colors popped, exposure wasn't bad, and the sculpture definitely grabs your attention. (click the photos for a larger version)

But, I still wanted to try something more. So, I made a second visit. This time, my goal was to get a similar shot compositionally, but do it a little earlier at night during "the blue hour". By the time I got set up, it was actually a few minutes late, but, there was so much cloud cover that there wasn't much of a blue hour anyway. Since I'm here, I might as well snap a few.

In an attempt to try something different, I processed this one a bit more radically. I ended up desaturating all the color channels except yellow, then faded the desaturated layer slightly to let just a touch of color come back through.

I thought it added an interesting twist. You can focus on the textures, and still have some color to add interest as well, but not steal the show. I also like the blotchy sky...I think the nearly monotone blues/blacks leading into the darkness adds to the mood.

I have been thinking of yet another attempt and trying a few other ideas. This type of assignment was perfect...some boundaries, but not restrictive.

Back In Black

2007-09-25T22:03:00.000-05:00

The chipmunk population was knocked down for a couple of months, but, they've come back pretty strong in the past few weeks.

On Sunday night, I walked into the garage and heard an unusual noise. I stopped and looked around. Then, I saw it....there was a damn chipmunk in the bag of sunflower seeds I had sat on top of two stacked coolers!!!!! I don't know how the bastard climbed up there....chipmunks (A.K.A ground squirrels) don't really climb like a regular squirrel.

So, I decided it was well past time to resurrect the Pool of Death

I set the Pool of Death up inside the garage and caught 4 in one day!!!!! I wonder how many brothers and sisters they have?????? Too bad I don't have a few rat snakes around, that'd take care of the problem!! If anyone has a rat snake or two they don't want, let me know!!!

Update to Southern Illinois Trip

2007-09-24T11:40:00.001-05:00

Pelican line up
Originally uploaded by chymerikaen

In my previous post "Trip To Southern Illinois", I mentioned seeing 40+ Snowy Egrets in one spot.

Well, after seeing this, along with a couple other shots by chymerikaen, I believe this flock of pelicans is what I saw. What can I say....we were driving down the highway and I just got a glimpse....

Still, I am envious of this shot and the opportunity to see that many pelicans...right here in Illinois!!

Summer Is Winding Down

2007-09-17T12:08:00.001-05:00

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been slipping into a minor depression....well, maybe depression isn't the correct term...saddened is probably better. It has become increasingly apparent that Summer is coming to an end.

It all started a few weeks ago when "the never-ending salsa bowl" ran out. See, this is the first year I have planted a garden at my current place (and years since I have had one due to rentals, no space, etc...). I planted tomatoes, Serrano peppers, Cayenne peppers, Basil, Cilantro, and bell peppers. I love fresh tomatoes, and love making (ok...eating) home-made salsa as well as pasta sauces. Around mid July, I had enough tomatoes and Serrano peppers to make my first batch of salsa. From that point on, every time the salsa bowl got low, I'd make more. This lasted until probably about September, when I was running low on tomatoes. I've had a slow but steady supply since then, so the salsa bowl is back up and running. But, I know within a few more weeks, it'll be all over for the '07 salsa bowl. Sad, sad.

Then, just this past week, I was going out and it was chilly enough that I put on jeans rather than shorts. Also, have had to close the windows at night a few times due to the cool temps. Yep, Summer is on its way out. Now, don't get me wrong, it's nice to not have to run the air conditioner non-stop, and I look forward to Winter food like chili and stew, and Fall has its beautiful colors. But, are they worth the cost of no more beer gardens or fresh home-grown veggies or grilling out?? Or is the fact that you have to get up when it's still dark, and get off work when it's already dark?? I don't think so...

For a long time, I have always liked the warmer weather. I like the snow, but not the cold. But, I have never really dreaded the end of Summer like this year.

Trip to Southern Illinois

2007-09-11T10:40:00.000-05:00

Over Labor Day weekend, I went "down South" to Southern Illinois. I always make the trip "home" over Labor day weekend for my daughter's birthday, and this year was no different.

We were going to do her birthday stuff (dinner, cake, presents, etc..) on Saturday, after which, she was supposed to be leaving for the weekend. However, something happened with her plans and she ended up sticking around for the weekend. So, that was nice...got to see the family and daughter over the long weekend.

Of course, as usual, I got about 3 calls over the weekend about things happening back here in Peoria...that weekend, there's always parties, cookouts, poker tournaments, etc... This year was no exception. I tried to talk one event organizer into having a card game "here". But, once "here" was defined as 4 hours South, things didn't go my way. haha!

Sunday evening, though, dad and I went driving around the National Wildlife Refuge around Crab Orchard Lake.

I always enjoy hitting that area around sunset. I'm sure it would be just as beautiful at sunrise...but, I'm never awake to see it. :-) I was hoping to get a really spectacular shot of a Snowy Egret, but didn't have any luck. I saw a few, but they were generally too far away, or if we had stopped and gotten out of the truck, I'm sure they would have taken flight (been there done that). I did get a shot of a Great Blue Heron, but it is far from spectacular.

There was one spot/scene that I am dying to get a shot of, at least under these conditions. As we were driving along the highway, we came across a cove that was LOADED with Snowy Egrets! There had to be 40+ birds there! Which, from what I have seen and from what I have read is somewhat unusual. The sun was setting, the trees lining the lake were in shadows, so the reflections in the water were pretty dark, but, it was peppered with all these beautiful white birds and their reflections (the water was like glass). But, since we were driving down the highway, we didn't stop right there. We did look for a way to get back there from a side road, but the only side road leading to that area has been closed off for several years now.

After that, we went back to the house, had beer and brats and just chilled for the rest of the evening. Monday, got up, mom made a huge breakfast, and we ate, then I headed out for the 4-hour trek North.

Nothing too eventful on the ride home, but I did see a buttload of cops and more motor homes/campers/boats than I could count. This is the first sign that it's time to start storing food for the long hibernation season that will be here before you know it.

LST-325 Visits Peoria

2007-09-11T10:19:00.000-05:00

I know, it's a bit late as the USS LST-325 has already left Peoria, but, I thought I'd post anyway.

The ship was docked here in Peoria from about August 22nd - September 5th (give or take a day). Originally, it was going to be here for a week, but, rains up North caused the Illinois River to rise past flood stage, so, we got to enjoy the LST-325 for a little longer.

A shot I took from the walkway just North of the Murray Baker Bridge.

Background Information Taken from http://www.lstmemorial.org:

"This LST (Landing Ship, Tank) is an amphibious vessel designed to land battle-ready tanks, troops and supplies directly onto enemy shores. Ships of this type proved to be enormously useful during times of war and peace both. This particular LST was originally known as LST-325 during the Second World War, USNS LST-325 during its arctic operations in the 1950's, and later L-144 (A/G Syros) while it was in the service of the Greek Navy."

While in Peoria, over 21,000 people visited/toured the ship.

While I'm not a Navy buff or anything, it was neat to see this ship and I got to take quite a few shots during my 2 visits.

Congrats!!

2007-08-27T23:21:00.001-05:00

Just a quick note to say 'congratulations' to Mr. and Mrs. Brad Gordon!!

The wedding was very nice, and Mary was simply beautiful!! I had a great time at the reception, as well.

However, there are a couple of things I am curious about.....

1. It seems there was a misprint in the program. Something about Ritter: Friend of the groom. Friend????? ;-)

2. During the prayer after you were presented married, You were being blessed for this and that...and children??!!!! Little Gordo's running around, wow!!! Kinda scary, huh?? So, when is Mary due?? May-June??? :-)

State Fair: Joe Nichols & Sugarland

2007-08-26T14:23:00.001-05:00

Finally! I got through all the photos I took last Sunday at the Illinois State Fair! What a chore that was!! I guess that's the price of a nice day out and a great concert and the ease (and low cost) of digital photography.

We got to the fair a couple hours before the show was to start to have a chance to walk around and check things out and get some fair food. Well, kinda fair food....I got a BBQ sandwich from 17th St. Bar & Grill, a Southern Illinois favorite. Even though I wouldn't consider it true fair food (how can it be without a stick???), it was awesome! Great flavor and very juicy! We thought about getting something on a stick, but the vendor that had all the crazy stick / fried food had a huge line...so we skipped it.

After walking around for a while, we decided to take a load off, and ride the sky tram.

It was a nice relaxing ride with a cool perspective.

As you can see, the sky was a little questionable. There was rain in the forecast, and we were seeing dark clouds pretty much all around us at varying points throughout the afternoon. It rained like crazy in Peoria, but, luckily, it held off for the fair/concerts. :-)

After that, we started heading towards the grandstand for the concert. The seats were very good, except for one slight thing...almost directly in front of us was the video crew. They weren't really in the way, but the cage around them was a little distracting, but not terribly.

The opening act was Joe Nichols. I didn't know many of this songs, but a couple, and he did a couple Hank Jr. covers. All in all, he put on a good show, but definitely not headliner material yet. I believe he won the horizon award from some country music organization this year...so, he's still pretty new with plenty of chance to grow.

After Joe Nichols, the headliner Sugarland took the stage. They were incredible!!! Very high energy show!! They only have two CD's, but managed to fill all the time they had with their hits, and a few covers.

The first time you see or hear someone live, you always wonder how much they will sound like their studio stuff and how much is doctored or how many tries before they select the clip for the CD. Sugarland sounded very much like their CDs, which is always nice. I'd definitely go see them again!

One last thing; I would like to thank Louis for letting me borrow his Canon 70-200 F/2.8L lens. I have the F/4 version which basically means his lens works better in low light situations. All concert shots were taken with the borrowed lens.

For 'gullible'

2007-08-22T22:28:00.002-05:00

Grand Nationals Weekend in Peoria

2007-08-22T20:14:00.001-05:00

OK, so I didn't really participate in most of the festivities this past weekend, but, I did go downtown to check out the bike show and bands. It was ok, but all in all, a letdown.

See, for the first half the day, it was rainy (blech) so I didn't get too motivated to go down and check things out. But, later in the afternoon, things cleared up, and I decided to give it a shot.

I got downtown a little before 6:00pm, paid my $15 admission (Ouch!!! which is why I didn't go last year) and started walking around to check out the custom and classic bikes. Well, I found that the awards had been given out, and there were only about a dozen bikes anywhere in there. That sucked!

After the 10 minutes or so it took to check out the bikes, and feeling ripped off, I decided that a beer or 6 would provide the needed attitude adjustment. OK, another $15 gone, but at least I feel better! :-)

After a couple of beers, South Side Cindy & the Slip-Tones were playing.

I really like that band live. They play bluesy / classic rock type of music, with a mix of covers and some original material. I also picked up a couple of CD's while there and gave a listen the other day. I'm not as much a fan of the studio work...A live recording would be much better at capturing the energy.

So, another band plays Exit or something along those lines (they say they're really popular in Europe, but I'm not so sure about here...)...I wasn't too impressed. Just one of any other non-descript hard rock bands, IMO. Then, after an hour delay, the headliner Joan Jett played. I didn't get any photos as I didn't feel like fighting the huge crowd after the 5 hours I was there, but, she sounded great! Most bands that were popular 20 years ago and still hanging on, don't sound like you remember them, which leads to disappointment. Not Joan Jett! She sounded remarkably like she did 20-odd years ago. Impressive!!

Anyway, that was my Saturday night...disappointed in the number of bikes left, South Side Cindy ROCKED, Joan Jett put on a good show, and I'm $30 lighter.

A few more pics are on my flickr site

State Fair: Martina McBride

2007-08-21T16:18:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I got the chance to go to the Martina McBride concert at the State Fair in Springfield (Not DuQuoin...yes, Illinois has two "state fairs").

So, we get to the fair about an hour before the show starts and have a chance to walk around... First stop, the butter cow!! Yes, you heard me. If you aren't aware, every year, there is a gigantic cow sculpted out of butter in the dairy barn. This has been a tradition for 85 years! On one hand, it's pretty amazing what they come up with out of butter, but on the other hand....Why???

After the butter cow, Corndogs and lemon shake-ups were in order (can you go to the fair without getting *something* on-a-stick??). A brief session of people watching and we headed in for the show.

Martina was awesome!!! I had seen her before, and would see her again! That girl can sing!

She's just as good live as she is in the studio. She sang pretty much all the favorites, including a few from her newest CD. As she left the stage, we were wondering what she would do for an encore. In my limited experience, it seems that artists save their most popular / signature song for the encore, but, she had sang pretty much everything we could think of.

When the band retook the stage, the guitarist started with a rockin' solo more reminiscent of Van Halen than anything "country". This was cool, yet unexpected. Then, they busted immediately into "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey! Martina freakin' NAILED it!!! No, really, if you didn't know better, you would have thought Steve Perry took the stage! When they finished that, they hit another cover...Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot". Again, a great job! I had seen this on an episode of CMT's Crossroads, and thought she did exceptionally well then. It was a great song to end the night...Fun, upbeat, and just a little different. As I said, I'd definitely go see her again!

More Martina concert photos

Updates coming...

2007-08-19T11:58:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy few days and a very musical weekend. :-) This week I hope to have pictures from Martina McBride and Sugarland at the state fair in Springfield, and a few bike pics and South Side Cindy and the Slip-tones from downtown on Saturday.

By Request...

2007-08-15T19:07:00.001-05:00

Hotter than a porn star?

2007-08-14T00:02:00.000-05:00

[Am I] Hotter than a porn star?

Absolutely!!

That was part of the conversation between Beth (AKA Wilma Flintstone) and I on Rock The Boat this past weekend.

It's amazing what having a stripper on board will do for conversation!

Between Aspen Reign, and the Hardees girls, there was definitely a lot of eye candy, photo ops, and conversation!

Actually, the conversation I mentioned above started when I saw Beth on the top deck, and she said that she heard that there were hot chicks up here (not exact quotes...forgive my beer-clouded memory). My response: "so you thought you'd come check 'em out too??" HAHA "NO! I figured I should come up here too!" Whoops! Wrong Answer!! Damnit! LOL

So, later, while dancing, Beth says "Whew! I'm hot!". My response (I know the answer this time), "YES YOU ARE!!!" After verifying that yes, she is in fact, "hotter than a porn star", what else could I do?

I summonsed Louis over with the camera!!! I figured, the picture with Aspen was just warming up for the picture with Beth! So, was I right??

Oh, and Ritter got new glasses, and a nice new shirt that is a shade of green which I believe, several female passengers mentioned having tops in the same color.

Rock the Boat is a seriously good time. If you weren't there, you really missed a fun night!

Note: All photographs by Louis Elrod.

Proper Guy Protocol??

2007-08-03T15:41:00.000-05:00

Last night, I went out with some friends for a couple of beers. Seems harmless enough, right? Well, I have been left with questions regarding the proper protocol in a situation that arose. No, this has nothing to do with which urinal to choose, or when it's ok to use the sink. :-)

After we'd been enjoying tall cold ones for about an hour, "R" looks at me and brings up the fact that I haven't said anything about his new visual normalization devices (glasses). My response was something along the lines of "yeah, I noticed, but didn't know I was supposed to comment on them, ya girl!! oohhhh I like the way you've styled your hair!!! oooohhhh That's a really sharp tie!!!" I pretty much got told to screw off. :-)

So, after this little exchange and the laughter died down, "J" says that he commented when he first saw R and his new specs. OK, So you're both girls!! Ha! Fast forward about another 1/2 hour or so and a few more friends join us. First thing out of "M"'s mouth... "Hey, R, nice glasses" WTF???!!!

So, now, I'm berated for being the only insensitive bastard to not compliment R on his shiny new glasses. "You know, we're not Neanderthals anymore....it's the 90's" Huh?? the 90's???!!! No, we're past the 90's, and by the way, the whole Metrosexual thing has passed, it's over! LOL

So, my question is this: Am I just an insensitive ass, or was I just adhering to proper guy protocol and the others need to get over their sensitive metro phase? I think a man-law is needed for universal compliance!

Peoria Flickr Meet-Up

2007-08-01T20:43:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, the admin for the Peoria flickr group started arranging a meet-up. A chance for other Peoria flickr-ites to get together and bring out all their toys (camera gear). For those of you that may not be familiar, flickr is a photo-sharing site. The plan was two parts with breakfast in between. Session 1, meet at 5:00am !!! Well, I was the only other one (besides the organizer) that showed! haha But, it was a good outing, and I enjoyed it.

After sunrise, we refueled at Steak and Shake...not the best breakfast I've had, but, it was cheap. Anyway, after that we headed back for part 2. hmmmm... Still no one else. Oh well, let's just walk around a bit since we're here. As we get down by the landing on the riverfront, I noticed a shiny red car above us (we were on the docks). Well, that's worth investigating!! We walked up to the landing and there was a car show that day. That was an unexpected treat! Got some more good shots there.
You can see more pics from that day (both sunrise and car show) on my flickr site

Poker Champ!

2007-08-01T20:36:00.000-05:00

background: A group of us play a weekly poker game/league. We keep track of points based on finish position each week. The top finishers get to play a freeroll game against each other for the season championship. Currently, seasons are 6 months each.

Yes, I am the champion for this season (season 2)!! We were down to 3 players, and all I can say is JJ > 22, then there were two! We played a few hands, then decided to "chop" it, and since I had more points going in, I was awarded top honors for season 2. Let's just not talk about season 3... ;-)

Camping and Canoing

2007-08-01T19:54:00.000-05:00

Back about a month ago, a group of Peoria Jaycees went on our annual camping and canoing trip.

As has been the case for the past few years, I went a day early to do some sight-seeing / exploring the area. Where we go is by Turkey Run State Park in (Parke County) Indiana. Parke county's claim to fame is the "Covered Bridge Capitol of the World". I had started the covered bridge tour last year, and since we weren't going canoing on Friday, that meant I got to finish the tour this year. Well, there are 3 or 4 that I didn't get pictures of due to private property, arson, etc. But, anyway....
You can see more covered bridges on my flickr site

It really is amazing to think that you can still drive across many of these. The people that built them, really knew what they were doing, they have lasted for over 100 years in some cases. And they built these things over creeks without the heavy equipment we have today.

Friday night is when most everyone showed up. Big party night, Friday. Then Saturday, we spend the day canoing or I should say floating with direction from sand bar to sand bar cooling down with a nice cold beverage. ;-)

It takes us about 5 hours or so to go 4 miles (they "allow" about 2 hours). By the time we're done, most everyone has been curing their hangovers with more alcohol and is feeling no pain. After a rough day drinking, we head back to camp and make dinner, then everyone is so exhausted from the rigors of the great outdoors, that they are creeping off to their tents by about 9:00 or so. I was the last one to fall this year, and I crashed about 11:30. Then, everyone is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the butt-crack of dawn and start packing up. I've never understood the big rush to get out of there, but everyone is loaded up and rolling by 9:00. I'm usually the last to leave. Maybe it's just that Camping and Canoing is my favorite project all year.

Looking forward to next July!

Those damn rules.....

2007-08-01T19:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I've only had this blog for a couple of months, and I've already broken two of the top rules of blogging.....

First, the cardinal rule, never blog about work. Oops... Broken!

Next, you must keep your viewers' interest (i.e. fresh content). I've managed to ignore my blog for over a month. I've been called on this by at least two people, now. So, I figured I better get my lazy ass to posting.

Sorry for the blog neglect. :-)

The Pool Of Death

2007-06-29T13:25:00.000-05:00

Over the past year, I have noticed a significant increase in the number of chipmunks in my neighborhood. These cute little guys are everywhere!

Well, cute as they may be, they're basically rats with racing stripes!! They are destructive little creatures. They dig up your yard, I've seen them going up underneath the neighbors' siding, they've broken through a cement patched hole in my front step, taken up residence in my garage (and made a hell of a mess in there), etc...

This year, I decided to go to war with these rodents!! I talked to a neighbor, and he had called an exterminator that basically told him it was useless...he could treat the property, but unless everyone did the same, they would be back. So, I started doing some research on the Internet. There are have-a-hart traps, sonic devices, predator urine, Juicy Fruit gum, and all sorts of gadgets and remedies. Most have mixed results based on others' posts and experiences.

But, one device seemed to have a lot of success and was so simple, I had to give it a try. It was called "The Pool of Death" (PoD) on the site I was reading. Here is a picture of my very own PoD.

Genius!! Simply fill a bucket with water (not all the way), throw some sunflower seeds in there (they float), and provide a ramp (diving board) to get to the top of the bucket. The fleabags can't resist the seeds they see/smell below!!

I know, I know....it's cruel. But, I really don't want these destructive creatures in my garage, or worse, in my house (yes, if they can find a way, they have been known to come into houses/attics).

So far this year, I have caught about 17 or so of them (7 the first night when it was set up *inside* my garage)!!! The population is much more under control, now. I set it up in the evening about once a week and collect one or two by morning every time. They breed like rabbits (not exaggerating), I highly doubt I'm endangering the survival of the species.

a couple words of caution, though...I'm running out of grave sites (mark them, you don't wanna dig them back up!!!), and I have heard that other critters (for example, raccoons) can knock over the ramp/bucket...therefore rendering the PoD useless.

Mmm Mmmm Good!

2007-06-28T20:25:00.000-05:00

Hopefully, Campbell's will forgive me. :-)

This is the first year (at my current house) that I have tried to grow any veggies. The *vast* majority of my yard is shaded for most of the day, so finding a suitable place is a challenge to say the least. I have contemplated this ever since I moved in. But, this year, I decided to actually give it a shot. There is a small strip along the side/back of my garage that used to be flower beds or something a couple owners ago, and that's where my little experiment would take place.

4 tomato plants, 6 pepper plants (of different varieties), basil, and cilantro were my selections (think salsa and marinara sauce / pesto). 4 pepper plants are sad...a bloom every now and then, nothing more. These are the guys on the back side that get the least light. Won't waste my time there in the future. Cilantro..I planted in a pot...well, as I learned, once the soil reaches a certain temperature, it sends out shoots and turns into coriander. Bummer.

That leaves the basil, which is doing "ok", two chili pepper plants that are also ok (I'll have peppers eventually), and the 4 tomato plants. The tomatoes are really the whole point of my little garden. There's nothing better than fresh home-grown tomatoes. These guys are doing really well (they got the best spot in my little strip of sun).

As you can see, I have several that are nearly ready, and it's not even July!! whoo hooo!!! Tonight, I picked the first one of the year (the left-most one hiding behind the front guy). He was accompanied by grilled butterflied pork chops and potatoes. Damn, was it good!! Three others are almost ready, and will be plucked within the next several days. God, I love Summer!!!!

Next year, I think I'm gonna venture out into the yard a bit further rather than go behind the garage. But, until then, I'll be happy as a pig in slop with my tomatoes!!

Bass Ackwards

2007-06-25T18:05:00.000-05:00

It's craziness...CRAZINESS I tell you!

I stumbled upon what I think is a very bizarre rule / policy / process at work today.

See, last week, we had been asked to provide a list of all equipment we were in need of. If we had any specific needs/features in mind, we should list those, otherwise, we would likely end up with old equipment from surplus. We compiled the list and sent it off.

My supervisor advised that we work "through normal channels" for some of the items, one of which was a keyboard. So, I sent the request to the person/department that deals with smaller items like that. The keyboard we requested was one with the programmable hot-keys (you know, like virtually every other keyboard made in recent years) for mail, Internet, My Computer, etc....

This request was misunderstood, and it was thought to be for an ergonomic keyboard (the ones with the the two halves angeled towards each other). Well, it turns out that there are a bunch of those in stock, but to get one, you need to have a doctors note!!!???!!!!!

How crazy is that???!!! A keyboard that is designed to prevent repetitive stress syndrome / carpal tunnel cannot be obtained until you are already afflicted with said disease/syndrome!!!!! After you've crippled yourself, though, no problem, we'll let you have one of these that are already purchased and collecting dust.

Just seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen. I asked for an ergonomic keyboard, was denied until I am actually crippled, now I can get one. Is it just me, or is that retarded??

As for the keyboard we really wanted, it will likely have to go through a whole approval process where we have to list 3-5 bullet points of *why* this keyboard is needed rather than a "standard" one (from storage/surplus), 3-5 bullet points explaining the risk to the organization if this particular keyboard is not purchased, etc... So, it would cost many times more than the keyboard's purchase price in time/effort/paperwork to get it approved.

I'm sure glad I already have my Swingline stapler!!!! :-)

Poker Woes

2007-06-11T22:04:00.000-05:00

This past week for poker has sucked! I have been playing in the FullTilt Message board Thursday night HORSE (Hold 'em, Omaha Hi/Low, Razz, 7-card Stud Hi, 7-card Stud Hi/Low) league. For the first 3 weeks, I haven't done too bad, and actually cashed once.

So, I'm kinda diggin' this HORSE stuff, and I started playing cash games instead of just tournaments. At first, I was doing well, but this past week...I'm down about $30 or so (I've won some back at other tables and had a few sessions where I was up)...and this is playing $0.25/$0.50 limit!! Between crappy cards, missing draws, and getting outdrawn, it's just sucked! Besides that, if I actually knew what I was doing, it might help. ;-)

Also, went to a friend's house and played Hold 'em the other night...2 places got paid...I finished 3rd. :-(

Oh well, it's a new week, I've been doing some reading, and hopefully, things will get better.

24 Hours In The Cache River Natural Area

2007-05-27T14:59:00.002-05:00

Last Weekend (6/20-21/2007), I had the opportunity to visit the Cache River Natural Area in deep Southern Illinois.

This area is, from an environmental standpoint, well decorated. It has been designated as a Wetland of International Importance (only 19 of them currently exist in the US), the National Park Service has dedicated two National Natural Landmarks, and three state nature preserves exist within the area.

I started off at the Heron Pond Trail. This trail travels along side of the Cache river and Bald Cypress swamps. Along the way, I saw these flowers in one area. This was the only red color I recall anywhere along the path.

Continuing along the path, I got to what was definitely one of the top highlights. There is a boardwalk / dock with handrails going out into the middle of the swamp. From here, you get clear views of a Bald Cypress swamp

The Cypress trees have flared trunks, called buttresses. Additionally, they grow these stumps called knees. The knees are an extension of the root system which add stability to these sometimes enormous trees in such a loose base.

The swamps are nearly completely covered in a brilliant green carpet of Duckweed. This stuff is amazing! Most of the plants leaves are very small, maybe 1/4" - 3/8" across, and its roots are suspended in the water. They are not anchored in the soil/sediment at all. If a snake, fish, frog, or even a boat/canoe creates an opening or trail through it, the Duckweed immediately begins drifting back to fill the gaps. Within seconds, the carpet has repaired itself!

Next, I visited the state champion Cherry Bark Oak. Huge tree!!! (still need to post a photo of that..wonder how I missed it). Continuing on, the next trail or two, were uneventful for the most part. I didn't really have a map, so was just winging it. I later found out that the next two trails were simply connecting trails to other areas of interest.

One of these areas is Little Black Slough. Another Bald Cypress / Gum Tupelo swamp, but it has more open marsh area. There weren't many places to get a clear look at it, but here is one really nice view.

After Little Black slough, I decided to head back, as it was getting towards late afternoon, and there was an area called Wildcat Bluffs / Lookout Point that sounded like a good place to be for sunset. I walked a lot further than I thought with my leisurely stroll, stopping for pictures...I was fairly worn out by the time I got back to the truck!! I also had only taken a partial bottle of water with me as I thought the trail was only about 1.5 miles (I didn't realize I had gone on two connecting trails and part of a third until I found a map that night).

This is pretty rural country, and I decided to find lodging and something to eat/drink before continuing. Google maps had indicated 3 hotels a few miles away at the Interstate. On the way through town, I noticed that everything except the gas station / convenience store was closed (Sunday evening after 5:00pm).

I went back to the Interstate where I exited, and, nope...no lodging there. hmmm.... I had to continue to the next exit where there was not three hotels...but one that was closed down, and one that was listed twice on Google, but was no longer associated with any major chain. Oh well, I have one choice..it'll have to do.

So, after getting that taken care of, I headed out to find Wildcat Bluff...not an easy task! There was one sign on the highway, but a couple critical points along the way didn't have signs.

Eventually, I found it, and there were even maps of the area at this location (tells me that not as many people visit this location). I walk the mile or so trail to Lookout Point.

That brings me to the end of day 1.

Day two starts out with breakfast.

I ask the hotel desk clerk where's a good breakfast. She tells me that right across the highway, behind the gas station, there's a local place called Jumbo's Char and Grill, that's what I'm looking for. With a name like Jumbo's, how can I go wrong??? So, I head to Jumbo's, and it's exactly what I expect...a local diner with good breakfast at a reasonable price. While there, I plan my day (now that I have a map with some descriptions of the sites/trails).

I have spent an afternoon in the Upper Cache River area, now, most of what I want to see is in the Lower Cache area, so I head that way. I start off in Section 8 Woods Nature Preserve.

The particular area I go to has another boardwalk into the swamp. This is right off a state highway, so no real hiking involved, but, it is still an amazing sight. One of the attractions here is the State Champion Water Tupelo tree. Honestly, I am not 100% sure this is the actual state champion, but I think it is.

While in this area, I could hear the Herons and Egrets barking from several locations. This is pretty dense area, and it was difficult to get a clear line of sight for anything.

I did, however, see a huge tree fall (insert 'if a tree falls in the woods' joke here). It came splashing down, hitting several other trees along the way. It doesn't sound too exciting, but it really was. To hear the cracking begin, then escalate and see this giant fall...what are the chances of being there at that exact time.

As it fell, it sent a snowy egret scurrying and squawking in disapproval, as well as at least two other large birds. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a shot of the events.

Now, it's time to move on.... Next stop, Buttonland Swamp. This area has access for small boats and canoes (I sure wish I had a canoe for this). There were some beautiful views here, but, most were obscured by Button bush, Reeds, and various other vegetation. If you had a canoe, I am sure you could see some amazing areas, and wildlife.

There is one point that has an overlook area that teases those of us stuck on the land with what we are missing.

After visiting Buttonland Swamp, I backtrack a bit to another area of Section 8 Woods to Big Cypress access/trail. This is a really nice little trail that takes you to a Bald Cypress who's base is more than 40' in circumference; this buttress is huge! This tree is over 1000 years old!!

While there I saw a couple of other interesting things. First, was a large dragonfly. I found him hiding on the under-side of a Cypress knee. I tried to keep my distance as he seemed very aware that I was there and shifted position a couple of times. I wish this image had more Depth of Field (F/7.1 at 130mm wasn't enough).

What I didn't notice until I got home, was that he had just molted!! You can see the old skin just above him!! If I had only gotten there a bit sooner!

The other thing I found that was completely amazing to me, was two trees growing from one base!! The main tree is a Bald Cypress, and growing right out the side of it is a Tupelo Gum tree!!! As you reach the canopy, it's hard to distinguish one tree's branches from another, but I could definitely make the distinction visually (but not photographically). Even so, the trunks and bark are definitive....this is definitely two different types of tree!!

Upon leaving this area, it was mid afternoon, and I had a 5 hour drive home, so this was the end of my outing. There are still a few things I would like to see in the area, so maybe one day I'll make it back to that very unique area (at least for Illinois).

For more pictures (and larger sizes which most of these really need), please visit my flickr page and click on the Cache River set.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed following along on my 24 hour journey.

First Post!

2007-05-27T14:55:00.000-05:00

I guess this is equivalent to "hello world" in programming. :-)

First post of my first blog. Is there anything more exciting that that!!! Yah, I know...sad isn't it?