Sea Kayaks On The Fox River

XM Radio

I have grown dependant on my XM Radio in my truck. Liquid Metal. Deep Cuts. First Wave. CNN Headlines. You name it, I enjoy it. Strongly recommended for anyone that spends time in their vehicle.

http://www.cluelessinboston.com/

http://www.cluelessinboston.com/

As a former Bostonian for almost a decade of my life, I can appreciate expressive photos of the city that will alwasy be dear to me.  This website provides brilliant photos of the city taken by a very skilled lensman. 

A photo site for anyone who loves Beantown.

Canon EOS 7D in Five Minutes

A nice summary, if anyone can understand what he's saying. One correction: he mentions only 12 minutes in HD video--in fact, it records up to 29.5 minutes in HD video continuously (apparently, any more than this and it gets too "hot"), compared to only 5 minutes continuous for Nikon's current DSLRs.

DIllman's Summer Camp  (click for more details) is where I will be spending a week in 2010.  Cathy came up with the idea, and I jumped on the chance for having an olde fashioned summer vacation in the north woods of WI.  You see, the beauty here is that Cathy has her thing, and I have mine.

Dillman’s Bay is a nostalgic resort on the shores of White Sand Lake in Northern Wisconsin - just 12 miles from Minocqua. This classic vacation paradise offers a peninsula with full marina, tennis courts, playground, four beaches, picnic grounds, creative workshops taught by renowned instructors and space to relax.  Think "Baby" on Dirty Dancing.

Cathy is taking watercolor class all week with Tom Lynch, famous Naperville, IL artist, teacher (he has his own PBS show).  It's an intermediate class, and she is taking over 15 hours of local watercolor classes just to get ready to go to Dillman's.

Me, I have three goals in mind: write my short story for the autumn contest, kayak White Sand Lake daily and work on Eskimo rolls, and take photographs in natural settings.

I didn't mention bikes, hammock with reading and swimming. Total relaxation.  Total summer. Totally on my mind.

Coolkayaker1's Writer's Desk: Where The Magic Happens

Last Known (Only Known?) Film Footage of Jerome David Salinger

So Many Books. So Little Time.

Silver Jumping Carp Terrorize Illinois

J. D. Salinger Dies in Cornish, NH

My absolute favorite literary quote is this one passage in The Catcher In The Rye, which sums up the entire book in it's off-kilter, prophetic way:

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be." - The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield,Chapter 22

Apple Classic Commerical

Paddle Me Away To The Sunny Tropics (100mm, f 2.8, ISO 100)

The eBay listings continue--Sunday is the best day to have auctions end on eBay.  Sunday night at around 9pm, to be specific.  So, the seven-day auctions for two of my best, but least used, paddles, starts this Sunday.

Up next: guitars!

Apple iPad Is Here &: First Impressions: It Stinks

A giant (but not giant enough) 9.7 inch iPod Touch, uses same apps and everything, for over $699 with a measly 64 GB of memory.

Thank God I just went ahead an bought my netbook.

The Herrington Inn Lobby On Geneva Daily Photo

I am pleased to show you this photograph from my online friend and schooled photographer Kelly at http://www.genevadailyphoto.blogspot.com/

Full credit to her for taking a sabbatical from her blog, now to return with triumphant new photos of the town everyone loves, 40 miles outside Chicago proper (and only a Metra ride away), Geneva, Illinois.

I enjoy her perspective on the town, from many angles and with many views. This particular lobby is of the famous Herrington Hotel, the toniest place to stay in Geneva, where the Bushes, Clintons and foreign leaders (Gorby) stay. It is one block from my place, and I have walked into the lobby just to peek around. I've not seen anyone famous--or even infamous like Joey Buttafuoco--yet. It's well captured on Geneva Daily Photo, where I learn about photography from perusing Kelly's photos.

Guitar Lesson Night Means Week 1/2 Over

Yes, this is whare the magic happens in downtown Champaign.  Every Wednesday night for over 1.5 years.  It's where Sean, a virtuoso heavy, tone-chasing guitar teacher, works his magic with my son.  Much steel is plucked, much metal is burned through those amplifiers. 

Tonight, it's snowy, so the photo would look different.  Plus I am meeting my friend yanoer at the mall to inspect and sell two paddles (baby steps toward the camera--appreciate the comments of WFF under prior posts).

February 20, 2003 The Station, West Warwick, RI 100 Dead

A chilling video.  A wildfire within four walls.  Never forget.
(click the arrows on lower right of video for full screen)
96 died on the scene; 4 died later in hospital. 230 injured, some burned horrifically.

Details about the fire and its aftermath.

Canon EOS 7D 1920x1080p HD video...wow!

Out of the box video from Canon 7d, naterus on youtube:


Guardiansnapper on youtube says: So here is my first attempt at filming with a production Canon Eos7D just one hour after receiving it from my local camera store. Starting at 10pm I spent about 2 hours in total filming this an the Nanluoguxiang Hutong in Beijing which is popular with locals and tourists alike. Due to the lack of light its shot mostly at around 1600 to 6400 ISO.


Although I could carry a video camera around separate from my still camera, why would I? This is brilliant! Professionals take music videos and such with this camera. And it's not just the low frames per second, 780p "HD" that most under $1000 portables espouse, this is the real deal--1920x1080p HD at 30 frames per second. Smooooth! I continue to sell everything I own on eBay to afford this cool kitty!

Firesale

Listed on eBay, one of my awesome Meridian drysuits.  Two paddles out the door with good deal for my friend yanoer, and some more cash in my pocket.  Gilligan's Island full series DVDs,  my Pentax 20x60 Binos, two Bic Yakka inflatable kayaks on eBay.  It's all gotta go to pay for my new camera and lens.

One Semester of High School Down

I'm proud of my son.  He's done very well academically this year so far.  His first semester of high school.