Theep Doughts

Friday Foto - Elijah 4 months

2009-01-16T09:49:00.001-08:00

Elijah 4 months, originally uploaded by philputnam.

Well, here you go, the bi-annual Friday Foto. I resolve to attempt to do better. Visit the flickr page for more info on the setup for the shot.

Moving?

2008-12-15T21:49:00.001-08:00

I've been on Blogger now for a few years, although the last two years are basically not included. Recently, I started a migration to WordPress, just to try things out. It was really simple to import all of my posts over, so I figured why not give it a look?

Head on over to www.theepdoughts.com to check it out. There are a couple of negatives, one of which is the lack of ads, which I'd like to add eventually if I were really gonna give blogging a shot in a serious way, but I like a lot about it.

So we'll see. For now I'll cross post on both.

The Public is Reminded...

2008-12-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

From a CBS2 Chicago report on the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, the reporter helpfully gives a disclaimer, lest we believe the worst about the man.

The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Of course, this is a standard disclaimer that they use at the bottom of all stories about criminal charges against elected officials, regardless of party affiliation.

I'm back....

2008-12-09T09:59:00.000-08:00

I'm back in the saddle again.

Flag Girl, FFF #28

2008-07-04T22:01:00.001-07:00

Flag girl, originally uploaded by philputnam.

A late Friday Foto, but we've had a busy day. Here's a shot from last night's festivities. And a bonus photo of the fireworks. I'll have more of these types of shots on my Flickr page.

Happy Birthday USA!

Saturday Night in Texas, FFF #27

2008-06-27T07:38:00.001-07:00

Saturday Night in Texas, originally uploaded by philputnam.

This shot was quite a challenge, very low light, but I wanted to capture a Texas evening in action. Another shot of Greune Hall, the oldest Dancehall in Texas. One of my favorite songs by Lyle Lovett is titled, "That's Right (You're not from Texas)". One of the lines says,

"At a Dancehall down in Texas
That's the finest place to be
All the women there are beautiful,
and their men will buy your beer for free."

The chorus goes on to truly define Texas hospitality:

"That's right, you're not from Texas,
That's right, you're not from Texas,
That's right, you're not from Texas,
But Texas wants you anyway."

Friday Foto Fun 26

2008-06-20T09:13:00.001-07:00

Greune Hall, originally uploaded by philputnam.

OK, back in the saddle again. It's been too long, and I have a ton of photos to process, but I'll try to keep it up. I'll probably be posting many of them on my Flickr page and my dusty old photoblog.

Took a great trip with my lovely bride for our anniversary and went to the Hill Country of Texas, a truly beautiful part of the country. This is a shot of the exterior of Greune Hall (pronounced "green").

(From Wikipedia) Gruene Hall was built in 1878 in the town of Gruene, Texas, which is now a part of New Braunfels. Billing itself as the oldest dance hall in Texas, Gruene Hall has played host to such acts as Willie Nelson, George Strait, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett, James McMurtry and the Old 97's. It was also used as a set for Michael (film), starring John Travolta.

God is in control...

2008-05-07T16:12:00.001-07:00

I was scheduled to be returning from an overseas trip today, but it was postponed two days before takeoff. I was disappointed, but not really upset. I figured there must be a good reason for it. One of the places we were supposed to visit to shoot video was Lebanon.

Beirut, specifically.

But a State Department Travel Warning put an end to that trip. Now, on the day I was supposed to be going to the Beirut Airport to begin my travels home, I see why the trip was called off.

Here's the important part:

Lebanon is in turmoil again today, but this time the turmoil is clearer than it has been in the past. As things stand right now, members of Hezbollah are thugging their way through the streets of Beirut, setting fires, fighting, and dumping piles of dirt and trash in the roads in order to shut down the city. Most importantly, Hezbollah has closed the highway that connects Beirut to Lebanon’s major airport. (emphasis mine)

So bottom line is, God is on His throne, and I'm just fine following His lead.

This Day in History, 1975

2008-01-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

Friday Foto Fun 25

2007-11-02T06:47:00.001-07:00

Rainbow over El Morro, originally uploaded by philputnam.

This was from a trip to Puerto Rico. We were preparing to shoot an interview overlooking El Morro (the fort in the background) when a brief morning shower came through. As we were resetting the equipment, this full rainbow appeared.

I hope you enjoy a nice weekend. The weather is finally a beautiful 70 degrees for highs and lows in the 50's. Glory.

Here's something scary for Halloween

2007-10-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

From this Washington Post article:

Gabby eyed the Sexy Super Girl but decided against it. A friend at her Catholic school had worn that costume for a Halloween parade and pulled the already short miniskirt way up to cover her tummy. "That didn't look very good." But Gabby did like the Aqua Fairy, a vampy get-up with a black ripped-up skirt, black fishnet tights and blue bustier that comes in medium, large and preteen. A medium fits a child of 8.

No.

How about the Funky Punk Pirate Pre-Teen, with an off-the-shoulder blouse and bare midriff?

No.

Gabby pointed to the Fairy-Licious Purrrfect Kitty Pre-Teen, which, according to the package, includes a "pink and black dress with lace front bodice and sassy jagged skirt with tail. . . . Wings require some assembly."

Cheryl Cirenza shook her head in exasperated disbelief. "This is all so inappropriate. It's really disturbing," she said, eyeing a wall of such girl and preteen costumes as Major Flirt in army green, the bellybutton-baring Devilicious and a sassy, miniskirted French Maid, pink feather duster included. She'd just turned down her 13-year-old daughter's request for a Sexy Cop outfit. "When I was their age, I was a bunch of grapes."

The positive thing about this is that there are parents who are saying no, but apparently there are plenty that aren't. What are my daughters going to face in 6 years? Hopefully the culture is shifting back from the unlimited permissiveness of the last generation of parents.

One Sentence TV Reviews - Jon and Kate plus 8

2007-10-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

The only thing cute about this show is the title.

Headline of the Day

2007-10-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

I love this one:

State report concludes Texas has too many reports.

Friday Foto Fun 24

2007-09-28T06:59:00.001-07:00

Radio Flyers, originally uploaded by philputnam.

Another long gap between FFF's. Here's my two oldest. My youngest just turned 1. How's everyone else doing? Anyone still bother to check this page out, continually let down?

We're ready for fall here. I always hate September in Texas. I always think it should be cool, at least in the evenings. It never is, and that always really bugs me. But hopefully a couple more weeks and we'll be highs in the low 80's and lows in the low 60's.

This is the season I always miss Kentucky the most.

Big Dumb Idiot

2007-09-27T07:30:00.001-07:00

me, originally uploaded by workspacevan.

So a guy had his iMac stolen. That's bad. Lucky for him, the criminal turned himself in in a most unusual fashion. In case you don't have the pleasure of being a Mac owner, all Mac computers have a built-in camera, and a nifty software called "Photobooth" that takes photos with it.

The criminal was playing with Photobooth, as we are all wont to do, but he happened to title it and click an "upload" button, though he didn't know what it uploaded to. Turns out it was a software that automatically uploads photos to the rightful owner's Flickr account. Imagine the theft victim's surprise when this photo appeared in his Flickr stream.

Of course, the image and story made it all around the web through Digg and Boing Boing, and before long, Flickr provided the IP address that the photo had been uploaded from. Eventually, the Big Dumb Idiot turned himself in, claiming that he got the computer from a friend of a friend.

Of course he did.

Friday Foto Fun 23

2007-07-27T07:03:00.001-07:00

Tall Trees, originally uploaded by philputnam.

Well, I'm finally starting to process the photos from a great hike I took with some good friends to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. There's lots more where this came from, just have to do the work of making them Blog-worthy.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Foto Fun 22

2007-06-22T10:44:00.001-07:00

Sad Clown, originally uploaded by philputnam.

Another long hiatus, but I'm back with new materials. Today's entry is a shot of a friend of mine who was nice enough to pose for me at my son's 4th birthday party. I'm also going hiking in the Smokies next weekend, so hopefully I'll have some fresh shots to post in a couple of weeks.

Happy Friday!

Friday Foto Fun 21

2007-05-04T11:21:00.001-07:00

Blue, originally uploaded by philputnam.

Been a few weeks, but I got out last weekend and found my muse again. Bluebonnet season in Texas was great this year, and I got a few shots from a weekend shoot at magic hour.

It's a cliche kind of shot here in Texas, Bluebonnet photos are standard fare, but most of them don't have women this beautiful to do them justice.

As usual, you can see more pictures at my photo blog. You can also check out my Flickr page.

Friday Foto Fun 20

2007-03-30T08:06:00.001-07:00

Abigail 6 months, originally uploaded by philputnam.

My youngest turned 6 months old this week.

Friday Foto Fun 19

2007-02-23T15:34:00.001-08:00

El Morro, originally uploaded by philputnam.

In Old San Juan Puerto Rico, this fort has guarded the harbor entrance since the 1500's. I applied a fake lomo effect in post production.

See where this picture was taken. [?]

Don't forget to check out my photoblog where I (mostly) regularly post new pictures, and my Flickr page.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Foto Fun 18

2007-02-16T19:12:00.001-08:00

Grand Canyon, On The Tonto, originally uploaded by philputnam.

I know, I know. Been a while.

This was from the Grand Canyon Royal Arch loop that I (barely) hiked 2 years ago. I went through some of the shots from that trip, and this one was pretty dull, but had potential. A little Photoshop magic, and we got ourselves a photo.

Look closely for a little white dot in the middle right third of the photo. That's a helmet on the back of one of my hiking companions.

Friday Foto Fun 17

2007-01-12T12:43:00.001-08:00

Break of Dawn, originally uploaded by philputnam.

This was the same trip as my infamous Sand Cave photo. The clouds finally broke after a long weekend of not being able to see beyond 100 feet. At least they broke for 20 minutes, long enough to take this shot and a couple others I'll add soon.

This is also the first shot that I used for my before and after case studies on my photo blog. Go visit to see the "before" status. It's a pretty remarkable transformation.

Have a happy weekend!

Phun with Photoshop

2007-01-11T10:26:00.000-08:00

Over at my photoblog, I've begun posting some before and after samples of some of my shots. I'm always amazed at what a difference Photoshop can make to save an image that has good composition and colors, but are hidden by digital interference.

Go check it out if you're interested.

Friday Foto Fun 16

2007-01-05T00:36:00.000-08:00

Man's Best Friend, originally uploaded by philputnam.

Well, I haven't posted a Friday Foto in many moons. Here's a shot I took for some friends for their Christmas card. If you weren't lucky enough to be one of the 25 people that received one, you can still enjoy it through the magic of the internet and Flickr.

On another note, I've finally converted Theep Doughts to the new Blogger . I like the ease of editing layouts now, but I'm dumbfounded that they didn't roll out new templates as part of their new service. How do you do that? I think the template choices are identical to when I started this blog 2 years ago. Not one new option.

Google, take note. The snazzy new features are nice under the hood, especially for the user. But people want some new things to look at after a few years, and this is the perfect time to give it to them, when you're unveiling shiny happy additions to your service. A missed opportunity in my humble opinion.

Bad Dog!

2007-01-03T15:56:00.001-08:00

Bad Dog!
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

Well, we finally made it through the holiday season. I hope yours was good. Ours was very eventful, and we're very happy to finally be home, and ready to jump into 2007. Bring on the New Year!

To get things kicked off, here's a picture for you from our Christmas trip. And don't forget to visit or subscribe to my photo blog for more frequent photos.

Happy New Year!

Friday Foto Fun 15

2006-11-17T07:49:00.000-08:00

Downtown Action Raipur City, India
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

Another Friday, another new foto, never before seen on Theep Doughts. Of course, if you check my photoblog daily, you saw this last week. (You have bookmarked my photoblog right? Or subscribed to the RSS feed? What? You haven't? Fine, your loss.)

This was obviously taken on my trip to India, exactly a year ago actually. Boy, time does fly. The action in the city never really slows down, even at night. People are always going somewhere, usually on bikes or rickshaws, and the occasional water buffalo. (Sing with me, "Everybody's got a water buffalo, yours is fast but mine is slow.")

Enjoy your weekend. It's lovely fall weather here in Texas. And have a Happy Thanksgiving. I personally am thankful for all 3 of my readers. Even "anonymous".

Friday Foto Fun 14

2006-11-10T05:56:00.000-08:00

Sunset at Cabo Rojo
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

Wow, two weeks in a row of previously unblogged photos. This is a rare treat for you. This is in Puerto Rico, on the southwest point. The spot where I'm standing to take this shot is the same place the girls are standing in this shot. Here I'm looking back north, and in that one I'm looking west.

You have been checking my photoblog everyday, right? I mean, I'm posting a new shot there everyday, so I hope you're taking advantage of it. It has an RSS feed, so you can subscribe and get the new shots automatically with a feed reader.

OK, enjoy your weekend!

Election Day

2006-11-07T04:30:00.000-08:00

Vote early, and vote often, like me.

That is all.

Friday Foto Fun 13

2006-11-02T21:27:00.000-08:00

A Break in the Clouds
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

Ah...finally! A Friday Foto that isn't a repeat. This was a shot from an epic journey I took with some friends a couple of years ago, a journey to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and back again. The weather on this trip was unseasonably wet for the canyon. Lots of rain at night, usually right at bedtime. Huge gusts of wind whipped over the edge of the rim, along with lots of precipitation.

This shot was taken on the ascent out. A strong storm had just hit the opposite rim, which was about 8 miles away. Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds for just a moment, and I snapped this shot.

My Flickr page is located here. Don't forget my new photoblog here for daily pictures.

A sister for Theep Doughts!

2006-11-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

Fresh on the heels of a new sister for Abraham and Rachel, I'm proud to announce a new sister for Theep Doughts. A sister blog that is. I've started a photo blog, named Phetty Protos.

Why, you may ask, would I do such a thing, when all I do on this blog is post pictures anyway? Well, Phetty Protos uses a service called Aminus3, and is a true photoblog. The focus is on the images, and allows a better platform on which to view them. It also has a really groovy comment system. My goal is to have a photo posted 6 days a week. So you'll want to check it daily, as well as Theep Doughts. If you use RSS, you can track both of my blogs through feeds. If you don't use RSS, you really should.

I'll still post a Friday Foto each week here, but I'll try to add some other things and free up Theep Doughts to be what it was created to be...a compendium of thought...now with more raisins!

Enjoy the new photoblog, let me know what you think.

Friday Foto Fun 12

2006-10-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Pretty Woman - With Profile
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

"Yet another repeat!", the readers cry, as they surf to Theep Doughts to view this weeks Friday Foto. This shot was posted last year sometime, but I'm just now adding it to Flickr. I'll eventually post some fresh material. Until then, keep enjoying these greatest hits.

This photo used to be on page 2 of Google image search for "Pretty Woman", with lots of hits coming from overseas, particularly the middle east. Apparently "pretty woman" is the english syntax they use when searching for nekkid women.

Flickr Explore

2006-10-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

Flickr Explore
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

Wow, I didn't expect this. Within a couple of hours of posting my Friday Photo, it had made the front page of Flickr's featured shots, and had over 1000 views. Just had to brag about it while I can, cause I doubt it'll happen again any time soon. Thanks to everyone for continuing to visit.

Friday Foto Fun 11 - Sand Cave Redux

2006-10-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Sand Cave
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

Longtime readers of this blog will no doubt recognize this photo. I posted it not quite a year ago I think. For those people, I apologize for the repetition. Since I have recently started using Flickr, many of my favorite shots are slowly being uploaded. This shot has gone through basic image correction, unlike the first posting of it.

This was a shot of one of my friends, from Lupmo Technologies. We were camping in the Cumberland Gap last year, and the conditions were perfect for this shot. Unfortunately that meant our view of the Shenendoah Valley from our perch on White Rocks was obscured by the same clouds that make this shot beautiful.

Some new shots to come soon I hope, keep checking back.

Friday Foto Fun 10

2006-10-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

Old San Juan
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

Back to the archives again this week. I took this shot in Old San Juan earlier this year. The dome is actually over a mausoleum building in a very old cemetary right on the coast. Click on the photo to go to my Flickr page, where you can see some wider shots. Or just click here.

You can see "La Perla" in the background. Those are the colored buildings on the hill. Basically it's a squatters town that was finally granted official status rather than kick everyone out. So...free housing on the most beautiful and historic real-estate on the island, rather than enforce the law. Gotta love the government.

Friday Foto Fun 9

2006-10-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

Sunset after Storm
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

Well, I took a lot of pictures this week, but they're all of a baby, so I'm gonna mix things up and go back to the archives for this week's photo.

This was the view of Puerto Rico from a ferry as we were returning from Culebra. As is often the case, it had been raining, and had just begun to clear up. I love sunset shots, but they really mostly look alike, especially on Flickr. But I like this one, so please forgive the cliche.

Friday Foto Fun 8

2006-09-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

Run To Me
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

After all the attention for my second daughter this week, I thought I'd post another gratuitous kids shot. This is my other daughter running toward me last week at the park. I'll need to take a new one of my son now, so he won't feel left out.

By the way, you can click on the picture to see a larger version, something I highly recommend to get the full impact.

Have a great weekend!

Abigail Mae

2006-09-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

Abigail
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

We are so happy to announce the birth of our third child, and second daughter,

Abigail Mae Putnam

Born September 25, 2006
9 pounds, 21 1/4"

Abigail means "The joy of her father."

Proud siblings Abraham and Rachel want you to visit daddy's picture page to see more of Abigail's first day.

We have a baby!

2006-09-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Name and details to follow soon. Mother and baby are healthy and doing great.
Thanks for your prayers.

Today...

2006-09-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

...seems like it might be the day. Serious contractions began about 1am, and have strengthened through the night. The midwives are here, and now we wait. Keep watching this space for updates.

I'm also very pleased to announce that Theep Doughts has negotiated exclusive rights to publish the first photographs of the new Putnam baby. We were approached by Vanity Fair magazine, who wanted to bring in Annie Leibovitz to capture the first public photo, but in my opinion, the old media is dying. The blogs will rise. The traffic generated by this exlusive photo could possibly crash our servers, so just keep reloading. You'll eventually get through.

The waiting is the hardest part...

2006-09-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

I've been holding off on today's Friday Foto, because it seems I might have a fresh new subject to photograph...Keep watching this space for news.

Friday Foto Fun 7

2006-09-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

Bass
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

I guess this is becoming more of a photo blog. I've had several other thoughts about many things this week, so I might post some non-photo items sometime soon. We'll see.

I took some photos this week for my brother, James. This is one of his guitars.

We're very close to a special announcement. Keep watching this space in the days to come! Have a great weekend.

Friday Foto Fun 6

2006-09-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

Star Wall
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

A holiday shortened week is already coming to a close. I hope yours was a good one. This weeks Friday Foto is from the archive. I took this one at the Qutb Complex in Delhi, India last November. Be sure to look at my India Set to see other photos from this location.

Keep an eye on Theep Doughts, as sometime in the next 2 weeks, the Friday Foto will be a special edition/addition.

History Check on Aisle 4

2006-09-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

Well, they got it half right.

OK Go - Here It Goes Again

2006-09-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

In Ecclesiastes 1:9, King Solomon the Wise wrote, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

Obviously, he never imagined this video would be created.

Friday Foto Fun 5

2006-08-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

Rose
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

Wow, busy week. I've been meaning to post some thoughts on the crash of flight 5191 in my former home of Lexington, KY.

Instead, I'll post another picture.

This weeks Friday Foto is a shot of my daughter that I took at my brother's wedding earlier this summer.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Foto Fun 4

2006-08-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

Bottoms up!
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

So here's my 3 day late entry for last Friday. I shot this one while I was in Amarillo last week also. It's one of the cars from the Cadillac Ranch. The official artist page is here. You'd be surprised by how many people stop at this attraction. There were probably 100 people who came and went in the 30 minutes I was there on a Friday morning.

Friday Foto Fun 3 - Tardy

2006-08-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

Lost History
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

Wow, I missed 2 Fridays. The first one I missed I was actually out of town and took this photo, and another one I'll post shortly. So this one counts for 2 weeks ago. Click on the photo to visit my Flickr page.

I added a Geotagging feature to some of my photos, so if you view this in Flickr, you'll be able to see where I stood to take the photo. From the photo, you'd think I was in the boondocks, but note how close it is to development.

Friday Foto Fun 2

2006-08-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Tanks a lot
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

This is a shot of a tank on the most beautiful beach in the world, Flamenco Beach, Culebra PR. A few years ago, there was a lot of commotion about US Navy exercies on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. Well, before the Navy was there, they were on Culebra Island, Puerto Rico, a couple of miles away. The natives got restless, so they moved the operations to Vieques.

This tank was one of the targets for the Navy maneuvers, but they've never removed it. In the meantime, Flamenco beach is frequently noted as one of the top 10 beaches in the world.

But the tank remains.

And Culebra is one of our favorite places in the world. No resorts, just empty, beautiful beaches. But you've got to work to get there.

How Lomo can you go?

2006-08-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

Originally uploaded by philputnam.

A friend of mine was experimenting with a digital Lomo effect on some of his pictures, so I decided to try on a few. Here's one result. I'm not sure what I think yet. I've got to experiment with more variables, especially on the ones with blue sky. The vignetting seems weird on those. You can see the rest on my Flickr page.

If you've got Photoshop and would like to try the effect yourself, the tutorial is here.

*UPDATE*

I made some adjustments to my technique, so the above picture is revised, as are the other Lomo pics in my Flickr set.

Friday Foto Fun

2006-08-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

Sparkle
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

I've decided to try and post a picture here at least once a week. Just because. I've got a ton of photos in my library, and this will force me to either keep shooting new material, or look back through my archives.

This is one of my nieces celebrating the 4th of July. Notice the ghost mom hovering around. Creepy.

D.G.

2006-08-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

D.G.
Originally uploaded by philputnam.

One of the highlights of our trip to Indiana last month was the chance to see our good friends, D.G and Tiffany Hollums on our way through Cincy. D.G. will always goof off for a camera, so there's a few more where this came from.

D.G.'s blog is here.

My Friend Flickr

2006-08-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

I signed up for a free Flickr account earlier this year and never touched it, so I'm giving it a shot right now. I might upgrade to the pro account if I like it. At the very least, it looks to be a nice place to easily share photos with others.

Any Flickr fiends out there who can give a testimonial on it's virtues?

My Flickr page is here.

4 Weddings and a Funeral

2006-07-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

That's been my year so far. The funeral was for my great-grandmother. The 4 weddings were for 3 family members and 1 friend. I haven't been to that many weddings in one year ever, I don't think, and we're smack dab in the middle of baby season now.

Anyway, last weekend Holly and I had one last hurrah before baby 3 gets here, and left the kids with my parents to attend Becky's wedding in Alabama. I'd forgotten how quickly you can travel without kids. It was a nice change. We also got to see our friend Luke. He will be switching to Mac someday soon. Mark my words. Life is too short to waste it on a PC, Luke. Some other notes:

Northern Alabama is absolutely beautiful. Birmingham is an especially cool city. I had no idea.
AA minor league baseball is not much better than A minor league baseball.
Louisiana has the worst rest areas I've ever seen in my life, and I've seen a lot.
Always, always, ALWAYS wash the lid of any soda you buy at a convenience store in Mississippi.

All in all, it was a fun trip. We got to see a lot of our old friends from Asbury, some we hadn't seen since graduation.

I took photos of course, and they're located here. If anyone that was there would like a full-res version of any of them, send me an email with a list of the names of the ones you want. The optimized size for the web is not really suitable for archival or printing purposes.

Journler

2006-07-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

Journler is a cool app for Macintosh, and I'm using it right now to compose this post. I'm not really sure how well it will integrate with Blogger yet, but it really has some powerful features for journaling and collecting thoughts. It integrates beautifully with the iLife apps (sorry Windoze users). For instance, if I'm writing about a song or photo in my library, I can actually link it to my post (I don't know how that would work with posting online).

It also has a nice full screen mode, which makes writing a pleasure, and very easy on the eyes. Best of all, it's free, and always will be. So if you're a Mac user, it's worth your time to download it and see if it would be helpful to you.

Speaking of weird nature photos...

2006-07-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

This was one I snapped on a video shoot in Arkansas last year. Any clue what kind of lizards they are? I figured they were involved in some kind of odd, Arkansan mating ritual, as I saw the same scene with two rednecks in one of the local dining establishments, but it wasn't as photoworthy in its composition.

A Bug's Life

2006-07-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

The talented and prolific Rick Lee has posted a great picture of a bug he snapped on his windshield. It reminded me of a shot I took last year. A bug just waited patiently on the other side of the glass while I took multiple shots to get the right one. Of course, Rick's is much, much better, and his windshield was much cleaner than my window.

By the way, if you don't subscribe to Rick's feed or have his site bookmarked, you should, especially if you're a photographer. He consistently posts great shots of things he encounters during his day. It's a great reminder to me that there are pictures everywhere to be taken, not just of my kids.

Photo...By Special Request UPDATED

2006-07-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

Last year, in a comment about this photo, I received a special request for a picture.

"Hey Phil, do you have any pics of Puerto Rican girls with wind in their hair with a lighthouse behind them? If not, just a silhouette of a pretty girl standing on a cliff at sunset will do."

As you know, I try to accommodate any reasonable requests, but this one just seemed outside the realm of possibility. Nevertheless, I resolved to do my best on my next trip to Puerto Rico to fulfill the request.

As luck would have it, I was able to visit a lighthouse while I was there...at sunset! The lighthouse itself is featured in the latest "visit Puerto Rico" TV spot. OK, so far so good. It was even really windy, part of the request. Now if I could only find some pretty Puerto Rican girls, and if they'd only let me take their picture in front of the lighthouse, AND on the cliff for a silhouette shot.

I couldn't believe my luck, as these two nice ladies walked up to the lighthouse. I explained in my limited spanish my predicament, and of not wanting to disappoint my anonymous commenter. Luckily, my spanish was just rusty enough to be charming, and they happily obliged. As it turns out, the blond was from Sweden I think, but the other one is Puerto Rican, so I hope that doesn't diminish the effort. I really tried to find 2 Puerto Rican girls, but I've got to take what I can get.

Anyway, here is the result. If you have any special requests, just submit them, and I'll try to accommodate. It may take awhile, but I'll do my best.

UPDATE: Since July has been declared Blog Sweeps Month, then consider this my first contribution. Although my effort is not as ribald as Rick Lee's.

A Hundred and Ten in the Shade

2006-07-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

Man, it's hot. It's so hot...

"How hot is it?"

Hot and dry. I know some places have it worse, so I'm not really complaining, just informing. The title of my post is from a song on a great John Fogerty album, Blue Moon Swamp.

If you follow the link to the iTunes Music Store, be sure to check out the tune right before it, Blueboy.
It was the song that I bought the album for almost ten years ago. Every now and then a song has a riff or feel to it that just grabs me, and Blueboy was one of those songs. Of course, back then in the old days, you actually had to call the radio station if you didn't know the name of the song, instead of just searching iTunes.

Independence Day

2006-07-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day! We're in Indiana, visiting family and enjoying some time off. I'll have some thoughts on our trip soon. Until then, enjoy your day.

Company Website

2006-06-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Well, after a year and a half of a placeholder website, we finally got something basic online. Go check it out here.

After you check it out, please come back here (or use the contact link on the page) and let me know what you think. Specifically, I'm curious about the QuickTime movies. Please let me know if you're able or unable to watch the videos. I'm in the process of possibly converting to Flash video, which is more widely available, but I'll only go to that trouble if 20% or more of you can't watch the QT's.

Something more advanced will eventually be designed, but for now this should give a good idea of our services.

Ok, off you go. And if any of my faithful readers have need, (both of you) or know of entities that might have need of our services, please pass the link on. My babies need new shoes.

Weekend Notes

2006-06-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

The weekend is once again upon us. Some observations from Big-D.

• The Mavs are one win away from their first trip to the NBA Finals. That's big news around here, especially for life-long, long-suffering fans like me. We faithfully stood by when the Mavs won 24 games over a 2 year period. It's about time for a championship.

• We had a beautiful spring, average of 70 degrees for many weeks. Summer is now here, and we're mostly in the 90's every day. It's gonna get hotter.

• I'm going bowling tonight with my church group. I haven't bowled in a long time, and for good reason. It's always fun though, except it would be a lot moreso with some beer. But did I mention it's with my church? In college, my bowling form inspired the nickname "Skippy". You have to see it to believe it.

• If you haven't heard of KT Tunstall, I highly recommend looking her music up. Her big hit is "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", but it's actually the weakest of her album, IMHO. It was immortalized by Katherine MacPhee performing it entirely from her knees on American Idol. Great music and a great debut album if you're looking for something new.

Enjoy your weekend!

Brenthaven ( A Customer Service Story)

2006-05-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

I hate bad customer service. Really hate it. Unfortunately, I seem to attract it. And I don't think I'm overly demanding or unreasonable in my expectations. But I think companies, in general, have dreadful service and little regard for the customer. Things like getting told one thing on the phone and an entirely different thing in a retail location of the same company really chap my hide. (The key being that the company won't do in person what it said it would do on the phone). In my opinion, if I tell you that a representative of your company told me one thing, even if he was wrong, you should fulfill it if you possibly can. Don't "stick to your guns" just to honor company policy if I've gone out of my way to do something on the word of someone else in your company. It just doesn't seem that hard to me. Sometime I'll tell you that story. (hint: it was Apple Computer, and I generally love Apple) OK, rant over.

So, while I shouldn't be surprised by great service, when I do receive it, it is a huge relief. Such is the case with Brenthaven. I bought a Brenthaven bag for my Apple 17" PowerBook a few years ago. It was custom made for the dimensions of my computer and the construction was solid and tough. For 3 years it has followed me across the globe, from Puerto Rico to India, and a few points in between, and the bag still looks almost new. Amazing really. (Another story for another time was the incident of waiting faithfully on the curb outside the Caribe Hilton in San Juan. Seems I forgot to load it. Should've turned around one more time. Thanks Brent.)

One exception to the otherwise excellent condition was the shoulder strap. It's a fairly heavy bag when fully loaded, perhaps 15 pounds, and after 3 years, the webbing on the strap finally started to pull away. Somewhere in the back of my mind I recalled that the bag had a generous warranty attached to it. So I went to the "contact us" link on the Brenthaven website and sent a note. This was just the general contact link. I fully expected a couple of things:

1. That it would take several days to get a response from this generic contact form.
2. That when I finally received said response, it would be in the form of a boilerplate response that the shoulder strap is a wear and tear item, and it would cost $20 to replace it.

In fact I was only contacting them to find out how to order and pay for a replacement. I would not have expected a free part after 3 years, and was more than happy to pay 20 bucks for another 3 years, especially since the rest of the bag is in perfect condition.

Here is the response I received 2 hours later.

Sooo...all you need is a new shoulder strap?

EASY! Please forward to me your shipping information and I will get a new shoulder strap out to you right away.

Thanks for buying a Brenthaven and we are very glad it has worked out for you so well.

And within a week I had a brand spankin' new shoulder strap. Free of charge. They didn't ask for a model number/serial number, proof of purchase, warranty card, nothing. All they wanted was the address to send it to. Let me just tell you, with that kind of attitude and customer service, when I need anything that Brenthaven sells, I'll be buying it from them. And I encourage you to give them a look also. They have a quality product, and the best service I've ever come across.

Other companies should take notice. You'd better get back to the basics of customer satisfaction, because I promise you there's enough dissatisfaction out there for your competitors to do better than you and grab your business.

India...the Video

2006-05-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

If you'd like to see the video I shot and edited for Mission: India, click here to see a streaming version from Stonebriar Church.

Texas Newts (Why Google isn't always the best choice)

2006-05-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

Last year, I posted this picture of a newt that I saw while driving down the freeway here in Texas. At the time, I said that Newts are not native to Texas. I must confess, I made no attempts at research before posting that tidbit, and reader “cath” was kind enough to correct me:

two kinds of newts are native to tx. 

* Notophthalmus meridionalis (Black-spotted Newt) 
* Notophthalmus viridescens (Eastern Newt)   http://www.zo.utexas.edu/research/txherps/salamanders/  

how the heck did you see that little thing while driving on the freeway?

How the heck indeed Cath. Call it “mad eyeball skills”. Or call it a lie. The fact is, a reader requested a macro photo of a newt, and I delivered. Another reader has requested a photo of some Puerto Rican girls at a lighthouse. That’s a tougher one, but I’ll do what I can. Watch this space for more details.

Anyway, back to Cath. Looking back at my referral logs as to how Cath found my photo to begin with, I discovered that Google led her here. What was the search string that she used? “texas newt translucent”. And if you type that into Google, who is the top hit? Your’s truly. I feel bad for the dozens of people who have, in the course of serious, scientific research, have stumbled here and found a photo of a non-Texan Newt. So there you have it. Perhaps Google should look over their algorithms or something.

Wow, It's been a while.

2006-05-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Someone named -d posted a comment that I really should post something new. Although -d is certainly one to talk. Hello Pot, meet Kettle.

Hypocrite.

Anyway, she’s right. I didn’t even realize that I only had 2 posts all year long. That’s pathetic. And yet a few of you faithfully check in each week to see what new things are going on here. I thank you, and I apologize for my negligence. So here’s an attempt to get the ball rolling again. We’ll see what happens.

Awfully quiet...

2006-04-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

Shhhh! Did you see that? I think I saw something move in here...right over...THERE! I did! Oh wait, it was my reflection in a mirror. But I guess I could go ahead and turn the lights on and dust some things off while I'm here. *cough cough*

Coming September 2006

2006-01-25T20:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Festivus!

2005-12-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

Today is Festivus, so after you've decorated your aluminum pole, be sure to proceed to the airing of the grievances and finish with the feats of strength. If Festivus isn't your thing, then Merry Christmas. I hope it's the best ever for you and your families. Last year, my friend Erich wrote a truly great post on the Christmas Truce of WW1. Now would be a great time to read it.

HDV...I'm impressed

2005-12-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

I've been digitizing footage from a shoot in Puerto Rico and one in India, shot with JVC's new HDV camera. It shoots 24 frames per second, just like film, but we shot it in 30 frame per second mode, progressive scan (which means each frame is a complete image, unlike your standard tv picture, which breaks the frame down into 2 separate images and "interlaces" them together).

That short lesson is important because the old rules of video said that screen grabs were difficult, and virtually unusable. HDV is not the resolution that you could get with a digital camera, so this picture wouldn't do well for an enlargement at all, but it's downright good for many other purposes. I'm just really pleased with the results, especially since it's a $6000 camera, separate HD lens included. It's a brave new world we're living in.

India

2005-12-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

OK, I guess I should start posting some images from my trip to India. India was a photographer's paradise. I took 2000 pictures, and could've taken 10 times that many, but at some point you just have to stop and say, "OK, I've probably got enough." We were shooting in HD video, so we came back with lots of great shots. I'll post some of the better ones here as I have time. Here are 2 of my favorites.

She turned me into a newt!

2005-12-20T11:36:00.000-08:00

An anonymous poster asked for more photos, and included a special request:

I for one would like to see a photo of a lizard - I guess a newt would do, as long as it is a close-up and you can see the flecks of water on its translucent skin.

Since this is a reader-responsive blog, I searched far and wide, as newts are not native to Texas, but imagine my surprise when I happened to see one in the median as I was driving along the freeway. I checked my Audubon Society field guide that I always carry with me, and confirmed that it is, indeed, a newt. So enjoy. If there are any other anonymous requests for specific photos, I'll do my best to accommodate.

Saying it ain't so don't make it not so.

2005-12-19T13:05:00.000-08:00

This compelling Reuters article popped up on the wire today.

"Bush momentarily switched the names of his two greatest nemeses in a news conference at the White House where he was defending his decision to authorize eavesdropping on Americans suspected of links with al Qaeda and other organizations in the U.S. war on terrorism.

First of all, Reuters, those two people are not George Bush's personal nemeses. They are America's. It is incredibly irresponsible to reduce Osama Bin Laden to such a trivial level of dialogue in the name of presenting a "gotcha" to President Bush. Bush said the following:

In the late 1990s, our government was following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone and then the fact that we were following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone made it into the press as the result of a leak," Bush said.

And guess what happened. Saddam ...Osama bin Laden changed his behavior. He began to change how he communicated. We're at war. And we must protect America's secrets."

So why is this news? I've heard plenty of people mix up the names. The names are ubiquitous in our national consciousness, he had been mentioning Saddam in the press conference already. It's not a far stretch for anyone to get the names mixed up in an hour long nationally televised presser. The final sentence of this comedic piece clears up the reason for it's existence.

The Bush administration sought to convince Americans before the invasion of Iraq that Saddam Hussein's government had links to bin Laden's al Qaeda. No such links have been proven.

So this article's sole purpose was to ridicule the President, trivialize the dangers we face, and lastly, to advance the New History as Reuters sees it. To say that "no such links" have been found is a blatant falsehood, and Reuters knows it. Saddam offered asylum to Osama, Saddam paid suicide bombers, Saddam had a known terrorist training camp at Salman Pak complete with a fuselage of a 727 aircraft. These details are not new, but the media has conveniently forgotten what many of them reported in 1999, as documented by this article by Michael Reagan in Front Page Magazine:

Here’s what ABC News reported on January 14, 1999: Citing an alleged key military adviser and a man believed to be "privy to bin Laden’s most secret projects" who had been apprehended, ABC News said: "The U.S. government alleges he was under secret orders to procure enriched uranium for the purpose of developing nuclear weapons. These are allegations bin Laden does not now deny. ‘It would be a sin for Muslims not to try to possess the weapons,' bin Laden told ABC. 'But how we could use these weapons if we possessed them is up to us.’"

Commented ABC: "With an American price on his head there weren’t many places bin Laden could go unless he teamed up with another international pariah, one also with an interest in weapons of mass destruction. ‘Osama believed in the enemy of my enemy is my friend and is someone I should cooperate with. That’s certainly the current case with Iraq,' " an ABC reporter involved with the bin Laden interview said.

And the ABC narrator added, "Saddam Hussein has a long history of harboring terrorists, Carlos the Jackal, Abu Nidal, Abu Abas – the most notorious terrorists of their era all found shelter and support at one time in Baghdad.

"Intelligence sources say bin Laden’s long relationship with the Iraqis began as he helped Sudan’s fundamentalist government in their efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Three weeks after (Clinton’s bombing of a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory) on August 31st, bin Laden reaches out to his friends in Iraq and Sudan. Iraq’s Vice President arrives in Khartoum to show his support for the Sudanese after the U.S. attack.

"ABC News has learned that during these meetings senior Sudanese officials acting on behalf of bin Laden asked if Saddam Hussein would grant him asylum. Iraq was indeed interested. ABC News has learned that in December an Iraqi intelligence chief … (who in 1999 was Iraq’s ambassador to Turkey) made a secret trip to Afghanistan to meet with bin Laden." During the meeting, ABC says their sources reported that "bin Laden was told be would be welcome in Baghdad."

ABC News was not alone in revealing this trip. In 1999, The Guardian, a British newspaper, reported that Farouk Hijazi, a senior officer in Iraq's mukhabarat (Iraq's intelligence service), had journeyed deep into the icy mountains near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in December 1998 to meet with al-Qaeda men. Mr. Hijazi is "thought to have offered bin Laden asylum in Iraq," The Guardian reported.

ABC News continued: "Intelligence sources say they can only speculate on the purpose of an (Iraqi-bin Laden) alliance. What could bin Laden offer Saddam? Only days after he meets Iraqi officials, bin Laden tells ABC that his network is wide and there are people prepared to commit terror in his name that he does not even control."

Here’s what bin Laden told ABC News: "It is our job to incite and to instigate. By the grace of God we did that."

Further, Bill Clinton also spoke of this connection. The media knows it. But it seems to have forgotten what happened 9/11 because they hate Bush so much. If you yourself doubt it, just do a google search for Saddam Al qaeda connection and read articles like this. The media hopes you won't, and will just continue to believe their "truth".

UPDATE: Of course, I find one MSM mention of Ted Kennedy mistakenly referring to the newly elected Senator from Illinois "Osama Bin...Osama...Obama." But you have to look at the very end of a glowing article about the rest of his speech to get there. No ridiculous article, no accusations that it's a slip of the freudian nature, no suggestions that Kennedy actually thinks black people are terrorists. Yet Bush does it, and it proves a nefarious plot to mislead the American people. Sheesh.

Another Lame Apology

2005-12-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not posting.

You say Bombay, I say Mumbai

2005-11-06T17:34:00.000-08:00

So here I am. If I had been a faithful, dedicated blogger, the sort of communicator that puts his message ahead of all else, then you'd know where "here" is. Instead, I am left to bring you up to speed after the fact. I do apologize, and have hopes that I'll be more diligent to post quick updates occasionally, because what I have to say is that important.

"Here" is India. I'm currently in a hotel in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), home to 20 million people. I'm here shooting a video, which should be a fun experience. Do keep my family in your prayers, and pray for my safety as well. Our flights over here were relatively uneventful, but it's now been a full 30 hours since I left, and I've only had a couple of hours of sleep. I don't have much in the way of pictures, because airports are relatively un-original. I'll post when I can, although internet access will likely be spotty where we'll be staying. But keep checking back, and I'll try to share something interesting.

Sand Cave

2005-10-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'll have more backstory on this later, but I wanted to go ahead and post a cool picture I took in Kentucky at Cumberland Gap Historical Park. This is Sand Cave, a cave with...well...lots of sand.

Click to enlarge

BREAKING NEWS! RITA UPDATE!!!!

2005-10-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

Rita missed us. I know, that was 3 weeks ago, old news. I've been busy, but I wanted to put everyone's mind at ease. We received zero inches of rain. It was a little breezy, but that's all. I should be grateful. A hurricane is a hurricane, even several hundred miles inland. We could've used the rain though. It's been a long, dry summer. It's finally cooling off a little, with highs in the 80's.

I apologize for my long absence. Work has kept me very busy, (I'm trying to nail down a marketing and advertising contract for this company.) and blogging is a luxury item until I can find a way to make my fortune with it. But I am aware that my absence was keenly felt. I frankly don't know how the blogosphere has held up without my witty wit and museable musings. But never fear, I do have some items to share. I've just returned from another trip to Kentucky. While there, I took some time to go hiking with friends in Cumberland Gap. I'll share some of that as time allows.

Chance of Showers

2005-09-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

They say we're gonna get some rain around here this weekend. Good thing too, cause it's been a hot, dry summer.

Seriously, say a prayer for the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, and for the 1.5 million people that are en route somewhere to get away from Rita.

Evacuation...Texas Style

2005-09-20T20:07:00.000-07:00

As a possible category 4 hurricane heads for the coast of Texas, the disaster evacuation plan is being properly implemented. One of our local commuter trains is headed down to Galveston to evacuate seniors who can't make it out on their own. The nice thing about this train is that it's a diesel and can therefore go on any rail line, as opposed to the light rail in Houston and Dallas. This train normally goes between Dallas and Fort Worth, and runs a few miles away from my house.

It can be argued, I suppose, that there's no way we would risk flubbing this one, given the consequences of Katrina, but I don't think that's the case. The governor just implemented a plan that has already been established. Alabama and Mississippi also seemed to have no problems getting their people away from the storm. So what's the difference? Corruption and imcompetence in the Louisiana governments, that's what. But I digress. This post is not to bash Louisiana, although it accomplishes that. I am merely pointing to the greatness of Texas. I suppose it would be prudent to wait until everything goes well and the storm has passed. But that is not the Texas way. Luckily, I can delete this post later if things do go amiss.

Anyway, the Trinity Railway Express has a cool paint job also. Can you imagine the Louisiana flag emblazoned on the side of their train? Or worse, Minnesota's? (Come on, Phil. Now you're just being provocative.)

Yup.

UPDATE: Rita is now a Cat 5 storm, and there's a chance it could still be pretty strong when it reaches Dallas, if it stays on it's projected course. I also corrected my spelling that Erich was kind enough to point out.

Looters aren't dummies

2005-09-17T16:04:00.001-07:00

Found this little note from this article.

The Wal-Mart store in uptown New Orleans, built within the last year, survived the storm but was destroyed by looters.

"They took everything _ all the electronics, the food, the bikes," said John Stonaker, a Wal-Mart security officer. "People left their old clothes on the floor when they took new ones. The only thing left are the country-and-western CDs. You can still get a Shania Twain album."

"Oh we've got both kinds of music...country AND western." -The Blues Brothers

There's a reason we call them "Acts of God"

2005-09-12T06:35:00.000-07:00

Amidst all the emotion of the past two weeks, some items have become established fact, established by the media. I've avoided jumping into the fray, not wanting to discuss the political issues of a tragedy while my friends are still cleaning up debris from their homes. I still don't want to jump into a huge political discussion, but I feel that some items of "fact" must be corrected, namely that the Bush performance in the face of this disaster was inexcusable and cost perhaps thousands of lives. The truth is, as information is finally getting out about what happened, it appears that the governor of the state and the mayor of New Orleans have a lot of explaining to do.

Unlike other's that I've read, I'm willing to cut them a large amount of slack. This was a once in a century storm, and I'm afraid people expected too much of some people that have never had a situation like this arise. This is not to excuse blatant blunders (like letting the Amtrak leave town empty, or letting the 200+ buses get flooded, rather than use them to evacuate), but it is to say, Hurricanes are bad. There's a reason we call them "Acts of God". As cocky as we humans get, building levees, developing flood control, we will never be able to "defend" against a hurricane. We are lowly humans, and He is God. This world is bigger than us, and always will be.

Anyway, here's a good article to read about the federal response, and how it compares to previous federal responses to natural disasters. Without this comparison, then there is no basis to say that "the federal government did a terrible job".

READ IT HERE

The View from Up Top

2005-09-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

What would a trip to Wilmore be without a visit to High Bridge? The High Bridge homecoming festival was held while I was there, so I went with my parents to check out the festivities. It was great getting a chance to be a part of small-town americana again. There was music...

Here's a shot of my parents enjoying the show. See if you can guess the inspiration for the title of my post...

OK, actually the title of my post is for this...

Note the riverboat down below, from Shaker Landing. For those unfamiliar, High Bridge is still the tallest railroad bridge over a navigable stream. It used to be quite a tourist attraction, with people coming down by train from Cincinnati to hang out at the park and look at the bridge. The park is now restored, and the pavilion that was the site of many dances to bluegrass music over the years is once again the site of some great bluegrass music. Our culture doesn't just dance much anymore though, so everyone sits down to listen.

High Bridge is fascinating to those of us who lived close because it's our little secret. You can't get to High Bridge unless you're trying to. The road ends there, although if it went through it would shave about 30 minutes off the drive to Harrodsburg and Danville. Once, while touring the Smithsonian, I saw a model of High Bridge in their railroad section. It's probably still there. So this wonder of engineering and piece worthy of the Smithsonian is in Jessamine County, KY. Countless idiots have ascended the banks of the bridge to walk on it, and I'm sure in its 100+ years, there have been plenty of deaths on it.

Many years ago, they raised the level of the track so they could widen it, and to support ever heavier trains. They straightened the approach at the time, and much of the old railbed still exists. This guy has a lot more history on the bridge, including lots of pictures of construction and renovation. He's also lobbying for a "rail trail" to follow the old bed, as a hike from Wilmore to the bridge. I don't live there anymore, but I'm all for the idea. The old bed followed the river for a while, and covers land that is not easily accessible, but is some of the most unique in the area.

So that's High Bridge, a surpisingly influential part of living in Wilmore for so many years. I can't believe I wrote so much about it. It's just a friggin' bridge.

Biloxi Blues

2005-09-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

With all the attention of New Orleans, the reporters forgot for several days that Katrina hit further up the coast also, stronger in fact. Now that things are stabilizing in NOLA, I guess the news channels needed some new material. Now a full 10 days after Katrina made landfall, I saw overhead video of Biloxi and surrounding areas right on the coast. It was unbelievable. The devestation in NOLA is bad and makes for good TV, and it is disturbing to see the city flooded with water, but there was NOTHING left of the houses they showed on Fox News last night. Nothing. Except lots of debris where people used to live. It was as if a bomb had gone off and leveled everything to the ground. They covered several miles of the coast in the story, and it never got any better. I've never seen anything like it. They estimate that a 20 foot storm surge had pounded the coast.

My friend Becky is from Biloxi, and has been posting some pictures and thoughts. Thankfully, she left town, and her apartment was spared from the type of devastation in the pictures. Be sure to check her site for frequent updates.

My Old Kentucky Home...

2005-09-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the things I miss most about Kentucky, the beautiful, misty mornings. I tried to appreciate them while I could. There were many mornings when the fog would hang low along the rolling hills of the horse farms, while the stone fences seemed to hold the fog inside the fields. It made the drive into Lexington worthwhile at 7 am. The drive to work is no longer beautiful for me, although I do pass 3 Starbucks on the way to the office. And it's only a 3 mile drive.

Young Idealists

2005-09-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

I saw this gathering as I was driving by Asbury's campus on my visit. I thought it would be a familiar site to many of my readers. It's been 12 years since I was this young and ideal. Take a good look at the faces...now guess which one will write the next edition of the Asbury Redbook.

Survey Says...

2005-08-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

If you've read Luke's Audible Mind blog, perhaps discovering it from my site, he'd like to know about it.

Kentucky Blogging, Part 2 - The Nectar of the gods

2005-08-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

Ale-8-1 (A late one) is probably not new to most of my readers. It's a great ginger ale from Winchester, Kentucky. You can find it in stores in surrounding states, and Dallas has a great store that stocks just about every regional soft-drink they can find, but it's really expensive there as you might imagine.

There was nothing like knocking back an Ale-8-1 after mowing the lawn. I miss that now, and have to settle for beer, but it's not the same. So I was glad to be in KY and taste the love once again. Unfortunately, I was unable to take any home with me, since I was flying.

There seems to be some disagreement as to the proper way to spell Ale-8-1. To settle the matter, I will post some pictures of the bottle.

It's a Doggy Dog World

2005-08-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

I'd like to first acknowledge that I know the proper phrase is "dog eat dog world", but there are people that exist that believe that the title of my post is the correct incarnation. Perhaps you are one of them.

Anyway, the point of the post is to welcome my friend and occasional commenter, Lupmo, to the blogging world. He's started a blog and company, Lupmo Technologies. Be sure to check his site and welcome him. I believe we're going to see some very exciting things come from his company.

Kentucky Blogging, Part 1

2005-08-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was in Lexington, Kentucky for several days. It was a nice visit that reminded me of what I liked about living there (scenery, horse farms, unique restaurants), and what I hated about living there (traffic, traffic, and traffic). Most people look at me funny. When I tell them that the traffic in Dallas is better than the traffic in Lex. (My, that was a poorly placed period.) But if you hit a light in Lex, you could easily read a chapter of "Mere Christianity" before you'd need to move again.

Anyway, I took some nice pictures that I'll share here in the next few posts. Some will be to taunt others (Ale-8-1 photos), and some will be to share the beauty and history of my home for 8 years, (and the place of my birth).

Irony

2005-08-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

So I'm actually in Saratoga Springs, New York this week, visiting a client. His wife is the daughter of the CEO and Chairman of Reader's Digest. They have a great old home, and I happen to be staying with them. Well, as often happens, I received a call from nature, and used the facilities here. Imagine my shock when I discovered that there were no copies of Reader's Digest in the bathroom. There was no reading material of any kind, in fact.

The Reader's Digest was a staple of bathroom reading as I was growing up. We used to fight over who would read the joke sections first. The occasion of the arrival of the new Reader's Digest was much heralded each month. So I thought for sure that such an atmosphere would exist in your home when your father is the CEO. I was wrong, and I think it says something about our culture. I don't know what, but something.

Hello.

2005-08-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

OK, since my adoring public has grown increasingly impatient, I will post once again. When I started this blog a couple of months ago, things were at a lull in my business. The last few weeks have been extraordinarily busy, which is good, but the silent victim has been my online publishing.

So I now will make a few posts, if for no other reason than to give "anonymous" more fodder for his criticisms.

One More Reason...

2005-08-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

...I'm glad that I'm a Mac user.

Friday's Featured Foto

2005-08-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

This was a church in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Actually, it still is a church.

A Scientific Conceit

2005-08-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is the coolest story of the week. It's short. Go read it and come back. I'll wait.

`Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit'' to illustrate a point, said New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth of the Princeton Theological Seminary. ``Now we have found the Pool of Siloam . . . exactly where John said it was.''

A Gospel that was thought to be ``pure theology is now shown to be grounded in history,'' he said.

The last line is a bit of hyperbole, I think. There have been plenty of findings over the years to prove the truth and accuracy of the Bible, and as Christians, we don't really need these discoveries, because by faith we believed them already. (Well, most of us.) But it's still nice to see the "scholars" disproven while the Bible is proved accurate. By the way, I have no problem with scholars. The pursuit of knowledge is a good thing, and a Biblical principle to boot. But it's always good to remember that "scholars" are just people, and we should not blindly accept what they say simply because they've read a little more about it.

Young Geniuses

2005-08-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

Today marks the release date of a new album from one of the best groups in existence, Nickel Creek. Their album, Why Should the Fire Die? hit the streets after months of anticipation. It doesn't disappoint. These kids write and play some amazing music. Their debut album, released in 2000, was an instant classic, essentially creating a new genre, "New Grass". Now I never liked country growing up, and I still mostly despise the twangy, mournful steel guitar sound, but these guys are making me appreciate the mandolin and fiddle. Their second album, This Side, solidified them as the real thing. They write most of their own music and infuse it with a depth of intelligence and emotion that belies their youth.

They are not a "Christian band", although they are Christians, often performing hymns as part of their concerts. At one of their shows, the encore was "Be Thou My Vision", every verse, without amplification. Everyone pushed to the front of the room, and it took awhile for the ears to get used to the low volume, but everyone was literally holding their breath as they sang in 3 part harmony. It was more moving than any altar call I've heard at any "Christian" concert. Did I mention they're kids?

I actually heard them the first time on "Prairie Home Companion" back in 2000. I guess Garrison Keillor is good for something after all.

Music for a Muser

2005-08-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

My regular guests will catch the humor of the title. I used to listen to music quite a bit. A lot, in fact. Not just the type of listening where you turn on the radio while getting ready. I'm talking about active listening, where one sits in a room perfectly positioned between 2 very good speakers, turns the volume up beyond a level where conversation is possible, let the wall of sound flood the consciousness, and listen, paying attention to all the layers of the piece. Children cut into that type of leisure for awhile, followed by the political season where talk-radio and reading took my spare time. I'm now cycling back to a stage where I really crave good music, and want to play more. I still know enough piano to tinker with some songs, and I'm attempting to learn guitar. But I'm mainly starting to listen to music again.

Active music listening is much like a fine wine tasting. Various influencing factors can "color" the sound your ears hear, and while you might not be able to pick out with the naked ear that something was amiss, if the cleaner sound were introduced, even an untrained ear would be able to tell the difference. I was fortunate to find, some years back, a pair of really good speakers on clearance at Circuit City, and music has never been the same since. I was suddenly able to hear layers of sound that I never knew existed before on many of my favorite CD's. I was hearing music the way the producer heard it in the studio. I pulled out CD's I hadn't listened to in years, and it was like I was listening to a brand new album. If you're going to take up music listening as a hobby, I highly recommend a decent receiver and excellent speakers. The receiver does matter a great deal. Yamaha makes the cleanest, affordable amp that won't color your music. Now, if the budget won't allow such an expenditure on speakers, don't let it stop you from this exercise. Music is meant to be processed, just like other artforms. You stare at a painting to discover the beauty and to interpret the artists intent. You dissect complicated paragraphs of history's greatest philosophers and thinkers to try to understand what they're conveying. You talk about films and what the director meant by using this color of that Tupperware®. The great musicians of this and previous generations deserve no less.

So I intend to add a good deal more music discussion to my upcoming posts, primarily because it's what I'm interested in right now. In the days to come, I'll talk about many artists and albums that I believe are underappreciated/undiscovered. Feel free to chime in with some of your favorites that I may not know about.

I've previously talked about my upbringing a little bit. One of the forbidden fruits of my youth was "SECULAR MUSIC"!! (cue forboding music-dom dom dom) I don't mean to demean my parents in any way here either, they were doing what they believed was best for us. But the idea was that all music that didn't talk specifically about God was secular. Now, there were some very fine christian artists, but not really a lot of world-class musicians. I really wasn't exposed to the musical greats during my formative years, which is a bit of a surprise considering how important music was in my family. (My dad's a songwriter/recording artist, all of us play some instrument) So college was really my first opportunity to discover the genius of guys like Stevie Wonder and Wang Chung, and I would say my real formative years started there. So I'm still discovering some of the greats, and I'm excited to introduce you to some of them.

So join in and let me know who your favorite artists/albums are.

Respect for Life...Even unto Death

2005-08-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

I was encouraged to find this blog that challenges my assumptions about abortion clinics. All this time I've been under the mis-guided idea that these clinics have no respect for human life, and just want to see as many women have abortions as possible as part of their agenda. I'm glad to see I was wrong. Here's a key paragraph:

Our clinic is the kind of place where women can ask, as one did today, if we would bless and baptise her baby. i was able to do that for her. honoring her pregnancy as she herself chooses is part of what we hope to do for each woman. using water (she had planned to bring holy water with her but had at the last minute forgotten it) and saying the words i know from my catholic upbringing, i did as she asked. she had a name in mind for the baby, one that could work for either gender and i gave it that name.

we want to be a clinic that respects life, that honors women's choices. the two are compatible. believe me!

Listen, baptizing a baby you just slaughtered is not respect for life. In your case it's just good old-fashioned customer service. What gymnastics must the mind go through to come up with reasoning like this? I hope this is a parody site, ala "Screwtape Letters" to demonstrate how morally bankrupt this industry is, and to try to show the truth about abortion in stark terms. But I don't think it is.

Words fail.

Hat Tip: The Corner

Human Nature

2005-08-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

This may make me the world's worst father for posting this on the internet, but it's such a telling commentary I'm going to do it, if only for a short time. Abraham started toilet training this week, and I snapped this picture 2 days into the process. He already knows what to do.

Note that he's not reading some Thomas the Train shlock. It's a Guitar Center catalog, and he's checking out the high-end microphones. That's my boy.

No Guarantees

2005-08-02T20:57:00.000-07:00

Twenty years ago today, William Mayberry of the Dallas area was driving home from his work as an auto mechanic. The sky was cloudy, and storms were forecast. Texas has legendary summer storms that can come out of nowhere, wreak havoc for a few moments, and then be gone. But the only evidence so far were white puffy clouds. Hidden inside those benign-looking clouds, a ferocious storm was brewing, a localized weather catastrophe waiting to happen. It's called a microburst. A microburst creates tornado-like winds blowing straight down to the ground, and is not easy to predict or to even see the symptoms. This one happened to be located right in the landing path of Runway 17L at one of the busiest airports in the world, Dallas/Fort Worth International.

Delta Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 with 163 passengers on board was cleared for landing, and was on final approach. The pilots, seasoned professionals, saw nothing out of the ordinary. All the planes that landed ahead of them mentioned no problems. As a microburst forms and produces a downdraft of up to 160 mph, an updraft is obviously created on the perimeter. (An explanatory graphic can be viewed here.) As flight 191 entered the microburst, and updraft increased the aircraft's speed past the acceptable level for landing. To compensate, the 1st Officer pulled back the throttle. The Captain immediately recognized the first effects of wind shear and cautioned the 1st Officer that the updraft was going to go away. It did, almost as soon as he said it. The pilot started to push the throttle back up, the crew yelling "Way up! Way up!" The throttle was wide open as the plane entered the core of the microburst, but the force of the downward pointing wind kept the plane from recovering. There was not enough airspeed to push through it.

The airplane hit the ground in an empty field a half-mile short of the runway. It bounced in the air, crossing over highway 114, a six-lane freeway on the north side of the airport, and finally crashed in a field just short of the runway. It slammed into two 4-million gallon water tanks, filling the field with knee-deep water and jet fuel. 137 people were killed, one of the most deadly in US aviation history. One of the victims was William Mayberry, the auto mechanic.

He was driving in his Honda on highway 114, and never saw flight 191 dropping from the sky. The plane crushed his car, an engine cowling slicing through his body as it skimmed the surface of the highway. He was 28 and left behind a 26 year old wife and two young kids.

I'm normally a (what I believe to be) healthily cynical person, and the lessons I take from funerals about living each day to the fullest, as if it were my last, seem to be quickly forgotten, and I'm cynical because I know how easily I forget once the emotion of the moment goes away, and my perfect life resumes. William Mayberry is a constant reminder to me. I think of him every time I drive by the two 4 million gallon water tanks that still stand on highway 114, a short ten-minute drive from my house, a landmark that I pass weekly.

William Mayberry never saw it coming, he didn't see his life flash before his eyes. One moment he was here, the next he was facing his maker. His tragic ending is a tangible example that I'm not guaranteed another day to do the things that God requires, and its a reminder we need much more frequently than the rare funerals we attend of people who went too soon.

Saturday Flower Blogging

2005-07-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

It's too darn hot to get out and work in the yard, so I thought I'd post some garden pictures. A friend of mine has these very unique flowers in his backyard. They're called Passion Flowers. The different parts of the flower supposedly tell the story of the Passion of Christ, but I think it's a little bit of a stretch. It's still a beautiful, unusual plant. It's a climbing vine, FYI.

Here's another view.

And here's a close-up.

UPDATE: Rick Lee has many more photos of plants.

Musable Musings from a Muser

2005-07-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

Well, this is sure to offend somebody, so my disclaimer is that it is not my desire to offend, only to observe. I never really read blogs regularly until last year about this time, during the presidential campaign. News was fast and furious, and I loved the instant analysis/opinions etc. I was hooked after several blogs took down Dan Rather's fake Texas Air National Guard memos. I knew that a new media world was upon us, that power had been wrenched from the powerful.

Of course, the number of blogs by normal people like you and I has exploded over this last year. With so many people trying to think of clever titles for their sites, there are bound to be redundancies. This leads to my question: When did we as Americans start to do so much darn musing? As I look over titles of blogs, I think "musing" comes up more than any other, right in front of "random" (sorry Becky), "rantings" and "notes" (sorry Erich). I'm not denigrating anyone who uses these words. They're all fine words, good words, words rife with meaning. It's just that I never heard much about "musing" before blogging came en vogue.

Me: "Hey, what are you doing."
You: "Oh, just musing."
Me: "Cool. Muse away."
You:
Me:
You:
Me: "Anything?"
You: "Nope, still musing."

I find it interesting.

My second observation is this. When did seemingly normal people start to think of themselves as lunatics or relatively unstable. You've seen them. "Ravings of a Certified Crazy Person", or "Stark. Raving. Mad." It's not socially acceptable to publicly identify yourself as a little off your rocker, so why is it cool to be nuts in the online publishing world?

Anyone? Feel free to muse about it in the comments. But take your prozac first, please.