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February 28, 2011

And Then There Were Three...

I picked up another Honda XR650L today. For those of you playing the home game, I now have 3 Honda XR650L motorcycles in 3 different time zones.

The reason for the new bike is that a car is just not a realistic solution to the travel puzzle in San Francisco. There's just no place to park a car at the flat where I live on Russian Hill. So, with a bike, I hope that I'll be able to get around town more quickly and find parking places more easily. The trick, of course, will be to navigate the city streets without getting killed.

This is a very dangerous city to drive in. Half of the people are only partially in our world. They're listening to ipods, tapping on the GPS, chatting in their cell phones. And that's just the drivers. The people walking are so crazy I don't know where to begin...they're wandering around wearing shoes that don't match, talking to themselves, wandering aimlessly in and out of traffic.

And of course, there are bikers and cable cars and other motorcycles and drunks and women and...welll..you get the picture. Pray for me.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 28, 2011 at 10:20 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

February 27, 2011

Captain Starfruit

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 27, 2011 at 11:22 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Red-Tailed Hawks

Above: Immature Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), as indicated by yellow eye color.

Above: Mature Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), as indicated by dark reddish/brown eye color.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 27, 2011 at 10:40 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 26, 2011

Postcards From Nowhere: San Francisco

I had the girls out in San Francisco for the long President's day weekend. Really ran them ragged, of course. Here's some photos from our little trip.

The images were all captured on one of these frames [Canon EOS 7D, 40D, 50D] and a [Canon L-series image-stabilized, ultra-sonic telescopic zoom lens (EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM) with ET-83C hood] or a [Canon image-stabilized, ultra-sonic telescopic zoom lens (EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM)].

The images are compiled into a 6 Meg (3:52 Adobe Flash slideshow(sf_girls.swf) that you should be able to open and view with any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.). To view the slideshow, just click on the photo above. If you want to view the slideshow as a Windows executable, you can play this version (sf_girls.exe), and it allows you to play, pause, skip forward, backwards, etc.

Image post-processing was done in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended. The slideshow was created using Imagematics Stillmotion Pro.

The soundtrack is 'Secret' by OneRepublic. I chose this song because I heard it while we were driving around California and when I asked the girls what it was, they actually knew the title to the song.

Click here to view the other slideshows.

Continue reading "Postcards From Nowhere: San Francisco"

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 26, 2011 at 11:11 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 24, 2011

San Francisco Sucks

Above: Dinner in the Marina district.

Above: Blooms of the Tulip Tree.

Above: Fortnight Lily (Dietes iridioides).

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 24, 2011 at 9:57 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Breaking Cracking Leaves

"breaking cracking leaves. 100 sneezes echoing i need a lulaby[sic]. sleep creeping in under my cheekbones and fingers slow words spilling in half time like instant replay in some sick and twisted dream game and my head is playing faint songs I've never heard. Typewriter on my knees and paper shaking searching madly for some word some scrap of something written down and lost again. I want to know what it feels like to hold a handful of worms in the crepuscular predawn of some stormy sunday. we are doing a dull thing with style not nodding or shaking our heads now you are trapped in my dreamworld. blink"

Above: One of Dan Plasma's dragons at 15th Street and Valencia Street/Caledonia Street in San Francisco's mission district.

Above: Caledonia Alley mural by Mark Bode.

Above: Caledonia Alley mural.

Above: Caledonia Alley mural.

Above: Artwork by Amanda Lynn at 1835 Folsom.

Above: Artwork by Amanda Lynn at 14th and Folsom St.

Above: Artwork by Amanda Lynn at 14th and Folsom St.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 24, 2011 at 8:52 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink

Windows 7 / Office 2007 - Microsoft Jumps The Shark

If you thought Windows Vista was bad, wait until you see Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2007. This is the final straw. Microsoft has changed every Office application to the point that any previous experience with MS Office should be considered a grievous disadvantage.

Everything has changed in every application. MS Word, is the worse. Essentially, the newest version of MS Word is less useful to me than the back of a discarded envelope and a ball point pen. MS Word 2007 is unuseable.

This is like when GM announced their stategy of "Planned Obselence". This is the death-knell for Microsoft. When they should have been out making cell phones like the dimwits at Apple, Microsoft was taking a moderately useful suite of applications and denigrating them, relegating them a long slide down the memory hole.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 24, 2011 at 11:57 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink

February 21, 2011

The Girls Depart

The girls got up this morning and sort of lazed around the flat, near death. We didn't leave until around noon. I drove them down to the See's Candy Factory in South San Francisco and let them each put together a custom assortment of chocolates. They chased birds in the parking lot and then we drove down Skyline Boulevard to kill some time before we went to the airport. I showed them where my laptop hit the interstate going 95 mph, crossed all 4 lanes of traffic, and somehow survived. Then, it was back to the airport and they got to their gates ok, although Katarina was under the mistaken impression that I was going to help her find her gate. I was like..."oh no...that's not how we do it. You find your gate...I'm following you." And she found it, no problem. This is how I always do with Jennifer. I'm trying to get her to take in the world around her, instead of just following me. My theory is that it builds confidence. Maybe just a festering resentment. Who can know. I'll miss them of course.

After their planes took off I drove around the city shooting graffiti. I have my old honey spots I return to time and again. What a beautiful city to be trapped in for a spell.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 21, 2011 at 10:26 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 20, 2011

SF Day 3 - Sourdough Turtles

Above: Baker Beach.

Last night, I didn't think I was going to live through the night. I think I caught whatever Jennifer had going on. I could not get warm. I got out of bed long enough to put on a pair of socks. Then I found some pillows in the closet. I piled these on top of me and basically shivered myself to sleep. At about 2:00 a.m., my fever broke and I woke up soaking in sweat.

The girls came in at 10:30 a.m. this morning. They were so exhausted they slept in longer than Jennifer ever has, I think.

I made it through the day on Ibuprofen. The sun came out today and the city was beautiful. Really spectacular. Still very cool..maybe even cold, mind you. But beautiful.

Because it was a short day, we only had time to hit Fisherman's Wharf, the Pier 39 Sea Lions, Ghiradelli Square, Lombard Street, the Golden Gate bridge, and a Justin Beiber movie. I wish we had more time so I could show them more of the city. So much to see, so little time.

Oops. Girls want a late-night sushi run, so we're off to the "House of Sushi". Scratch that. Make it "Chinese".

Above: Unidentified flower. Very common in SF, apparently.
Update: This is a plant of the genus Cyclamen, of the family Myrsinaceae.

Above: Posing in store security mirror.

Above: Girls with Alcatraz in the background.

Above: Alcatraz.

Above: Container ship heading to the Port of Oakland.

Above: Girls at Fisherman's Wharf.

Above: An unidentified bird near Pier 39.

Above: Sea lion resting near Pier 39.

Above: Sea lion resting near Pier 39.

Above: Girls posing before planters of Red and Yellow Tulips at Fisherman's Wharf.

Above: Sourdough bread at a SF bakery.

Above: Sourdough Turtles at the bakery.

Above: Sourdough bread at a SF bakery.

Above: Girls posing beneath trees near Ghiradelli square.

Above: Unidentified tree near Ghiradelli Square.

Above: Girls with milkshakes in Ghiradelli Square.

Above: Fountain at Ghiradelli Square.

Above: Jennifer posing with a tree that looks similar to the Palo de Arco tree, a common tree on the Baja Peninsula.

Above: Coit Tower.

Above: Coit Tower.

Above: Transamerica Tower.

Above: Crissy Field.

Above: Baker Beach.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 20, 2011 at 9:58 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

San Francisco Day 2

Above: View from our flat in San Francisco.

Above: View from our flat in San Francisco.

Above: View from our flat in San Francisco.

Above:Girls sipping juice in the flat.

Above: View of the flat in San Francisco..

Above: View of Hyde Street with unidentified trees.

Above: The girls at ocean beach.

Above: The girls at ocean beach.

Above: The girls at ocean beach.

Above: The girls at ocean beach.

Above: The girls at ocean beach with Sand Dollars.

Above: The girls at ocean beach with Sand Dollars.


Above: Fields of Mustard along a stretch of Scenic Highway "CA 1" designated as "The Cabrillo Highway".

Above: House along a stretch of Scenic Highway "CA 1" designated as "The Cabrillo Highway".

Above: Unidentified flower just North of Santa Cruz along a stretch of Scenic Highway "CA 1" designated as "The Cabrillo Highway". Update: This is the bloom of the "Pride of Madeira" (Echium candicans or Echium fastuosum), a shrub from the borage family (boraginaceae), native to the Madeira archipelago, 250 miles north of the Canary Islands. Madeira is known as the "Pearl of the Atlantic".

Above: Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: The girls at Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: The girls at Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: The girls at Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: Egret at Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: Sea Otter eating Abalone at Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: Sea Lions at Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: Raft of Sea Otters eating Abalones at Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: Pacific coast at Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: Fishing boat at Moss Landing State Beach.

Above: Unidentified bird inside Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Above: Unidentified flower in Ed Ricketts Park in Monterey.

Above: Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Above: Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Above: Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Above: Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Above: Rock formation in Monterey Bay.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 20, 2011 at 1:05 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 18, 2011

Kids in the City

Above: Jennifer anxiously waiting Kat's arrival at DFW.

Above: Kat and Jen united at DFW.

Above: Kat and Jen heading to baggage claim at SFO.

Above: Kat and Jen waiting in the cold rain for the rental car shuttle that never came.

Above: Heading north on 101 into the city.

Above: Shrubbery in the city.

Above: Sushi anyone?

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 18, 2011 at 10:01 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 16, 2011

Postcards From Nowhere: Morrison, CO

It's really stunning how much my images are improving with this Canon EF 600mm f/4.0L IS USM Supertelephoto lens. I'm shooting the same birds that I always have, only now, when I'm looking at the images, I can see that these animals are in a desperate brutal fight for survival. They all look so nice and pretty with the 400mm lens. But man, you point that 600mm at them and suddenly I'm like...wow...I had no idea. No clue.

Also, today I ran into a cool fellow named Rodgers Naylor down in Morrison painting on the side of the road. Now, this is not unusual to see in the Carmel valley in CA or in the Star Valley in Idaho. Or even on the mountain passes around Breckenridge and Aspen. But I don't see it much around here, so I stopped to talk to this would-be-artist and he was quite nice of course, and a brilliant painter.

We talked at some length about the color of the sky. What color the eye sees and what color the brain remembers and what people are willing to accept as believable when they see it on canvas.

Brilliant conversation, of course. And the weather is just stunning. The snow is melting and motorcycles are out. It was probably in the 60's today, if I'm not mistaken. Not a bad day, all things considered.

I've really been juggling the frames around on the lenses this week. Trying to figure out what frame I like on each lens. It's not as simple as you might think. I get the new Canon EOS 7D tomorrow, but I'm not sure if that will make things better or worse. There is such a thing as the Paradox of Choice, after all.

The images were all captured on one of the following frames:

and one of the following lenses:

The images are compiled into a 7 Meg (2:00 Adobe Flash slideshow(painter.swf) that you should be able to open and view with any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.). To view the slideshow, just click on the photo above. If you want to view the slideshow as a Windows executable, you can play this version (painter.exe), and it allows you to play, pause, skip forward, backwards, etc.

Image post-processing was done in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended. The slideshow was created using Imagematics Stillmotion Pro.

The soundtrack is 'Everyday' by Carly Comando. I chose this song because I heard it on a television show back in November and it was driving me insane trying to remember it.

I don't normally go for all of the cheesy Ken Burns Effect pans and scans. But I did throw a few zooms in on this slideshow just to try to convey how radically the 600mm lens has improved the detail I'm pulling out of these birds.

Always, of course, the help of Whatbird.com is greatly appreciated.

Click here to view the other slideshows.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 16, 2011 at 10:12 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 13, 2011

New Frame

Picked up a Canon EOS 7D today. I haven't picked up a new camera in quite a while and I just didn't like the idea of hanging the 50D on back of the 600mm lens. I think the 7D will sit on the end of the barrel a little better.

I'm trying to get all of my gear assembled and working before we go to Hawaii. I don't like buying brand new gear and then going on a big trip without feeling comfortable with the equipment. By the time we get to Hawaii, I'll have a new camera (7D), new lens (600mm f/4), new tripod (Gitzo), and a new gimbled mount (Wimberley II). So, the trick is to cobble it all together and play with it in the field before we start island hopping. Reading manuals in the field on vacation sucks.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 13, 2011 at 9:14 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Gitzo Tripod and Wimberley Mount

I'm open for suggestions for a carbon fiber tripod and Wimberley mount.
Update: I'm tentatively looking at a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod and a Wimberley II mount.

The Gitzo GT5541LS is the one they recommend for the 600mm f/4 lens. The problem is that it's described as an "eye level" tripod, but the maximum height is 153 cm or 60.24", which is 5' tall, which is not eye level. Not for me, anyway.

For a tripod to be eye-level for me, it will need to be about 5' 8" high, or approximately 174 cm.

The Gitzo GT3541XLS is a fairly tall tripod, which might be a more suitable height for me. The maximum height is 198 cm or 78", which is 6' 6" tall.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 13, 2011 at 1:37 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Fiddling with the Canon EF 600mm f/4.0L IS USM Supertelephoto Lens

Above: Male American Kestrel near Morrison, Colorado.

So, now that I've had a couple of days to fiddle with the new lens, I've noticed that the settings are fairly similar to the Canon EF 100-500mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens. So, I was able to start using it right away. I understand almost all of the controls.

The focus range switch has 3 positions instead of 2. So, this is a little more involved than what I'm used to. Plus, in the never ending Quixotean quest for multi-culturalism, the Celsius scale, and the Metric system, the measurements are all in meters. So, essentially, you have to look at your subject, make an estimation of the distance in feet (sorry, we're in the United States here - people don't think in meters), convert this guesstimate into meters, and then figure out which of the 3 range selections is the most appropriate.

The Metric System (used in Uganda, Namibia, and Iran).
a) 5.5 m to ∞
b) 5.5 m to 16.2 meters
c)16.2 m to ∞

Now, quick...there's a bird out there in front of you...probably about 30 or 50 feet away. Which setting do you use? Hahaha. Exactly. Now you see the game we're playing. It sounds simple enough, but it's not easy.

The Not-Metric System (Whatever it is that we use - who knows)
a) 18 ft to ∞
b) 18 ft to 53 ft
c) 53 ft to ∞

So, it's sort of important to know how far out 18 ft and 53 ft are, so that you can get the camera to focus quickly and accurately. Especially, when you're trying to shoot something as fickle as a bird that isn't overly thrilled that you're pointing a mortar-sized lens at it.

Picture this...you're standing on the side of a road with no shoulder holding about 15 pounds of camera above your head, pointing up at the sky, trying to keep your balance. Now, you have to look through the lens and find what you're trying to photograph. This is not easy.

Today, for instance, I was shooting the 600mm lens with the Canon 1.4x teleconverter, so you have the same field of view as an 840mm lens. It's one thing to see the subject with your eyes. Finding him inside the lens is a bit more challenging, shall we say.

Trying to do this and give the impression that you know what you're doing is next to impossible.

Yesterday, I was shooting this field of prairie dogs and some woman asked me "How big does the eagle look with that lens?" Of course, I had no idea there was an eagle in the vicinity. I thought the DDT had killed them off back in the '60's.

A more humble person might well have said "What eagle?" But not me. I couldn't stand to have a housewife in a mini-van one-up me, so I just smiled and said "not very big". I should have just walked over and handed the camera to her. She's probably more qualified to operate it than I am.

To steady the lens, I've taken to killing the truck engine and leaning the camera on the window or on the top of the Tahoe. You really do need something to rest this beast on. Maybe I'll pick up a bag of kidney beans or rice next time I'm at the grocery store. Those actually work remarkably well for tripods.

The 800mm lens has a much shallower depth of field than my other lenses, of course. And this is something I struggled with yesterday. Today, however, it dawned on me that more light translates into a greater depth of field if you just crank down the aperture a few f-stops. So, when I spotted a Male American Kestrel, I shot him for a bit and then cranked down the aperture so that, hopefully, I got some decent shots of him.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 13, 2011 at 12:26 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

MSOutlook Won't Resolve Hyperlinks

I can't get hyperlinks to work in MS Outlook.

I ran some commands suggested by this site and got an error on "regsvr32 Mshtml.dll" that said:

"Mshtml.dll was loaded, but the DllRegisterServer entry point was not found. This file can not be registered."

I think that these shouldn't work in IE 8, however.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=281679&sd=RMVP

Upgraded IE. Couldn't figure it out. Couldn't figure it out. Finally found this post:
"Note: Microsoft also has a global setting that disables hyperlinks by default for email items classified as junk. The setting is under Actions | Junk E-mail | Junk E-mail Options... "

Of course, they don't go on to explain how to fix it. Or what the setting is. But this is the answer:
In MS Outlook 2003, got to Actions > Junk E-mail > Junk E-mail Options and uncheck the box next to the text that says "Don't turn on links in messages that might connect to unsafe or fraudulent sites. To help protect your security, we recommend that you leave this check box selected."

Now, I'm not telling you to uncheck the box. If you feel that it's not safe, then by all means, don't do it. My problem is that Outlook sucks so bad that I can't create rules to filter my emails like I want so about half of them end up in the Junk Email folder. So, that's why I have to click on links in my Junk Email Folder - It's not my fault. It's because MS Outlook sucks.

Now, I'm noticing that MS Outlook converts my emails to plain text. It says up at the top plain as day "This message was converted to plain text because MS Outlook sucks."

OK. It doesn't say the part about "because MS Outlook sucks." But the first part of it is there, which implies the latter.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 13, 2011 at 7:37 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 12, 2011

First Day in the Field

So, today was my first day in the field with the new Canon "Cannon", as I like to call it. First of all, I should mention that this camera garners a lot of attention. I had people stop their cars and ask me what type of lens I had. The police approached me for taking photos while parked in the middle of the road. Total strangers asked for me to take their pictures. So, obviously, if I'm going to walk around with this thing, I'm going to have to get some business cards printed out just so people will leave me alone. At this point, they don't even ask if I'm a photographer. There's no plausible denial at this point. I think I've lost that battle.

I shot the camera free-hand, and after a day in the field, I can tell you that my arms and wrists are sore. It's one thing to be able to raise the camera up to your eye. Quite another to old it steady above your head while shooting birds all day. This is more challenging than I'd imagined.

These images aren't great, but for my first day out, I'm happy with them. I need to work with a tripod and a remote shutter release, of course. But a lot of these images were shot from further away than I normally shoot. A large part of bird photography is getting lucky and having the bird sit still while you approach him. The closer you get, the better the shot.

Saw several hawks today. Mostly Red-tailed hawks. Some mature, some immature. Also, I shot a female American Kestrel. We saw a mature Bald Eagle, but it flew before I could get any shots.

Above: Female American Kestrel, as indicated by the lack of blue on the leading edge of wings and the lack of pronounced markings on the breast.

I assume that the bird above is an immature Red-tailed Hawk. (Verifying at Whatbird.com).

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 12, 2011 at 10:14 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

Who Says Money Can't Buy Happiness?

Whoever said money can't buy happiness probably couldn't afford a Canon EF 600mm IS USM lens.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 12, 2011 at 12:28 PM : Comments (3) | Permalink

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The new toy arrived last night. This lens is crazy big. I dunno what made me think I needed this. You need a crane to carry it around. Photos will be posted shortly, of course.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 12, 2011 at 8:38 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 11, 2011

Postcards From Nowhere: West Virginia, Ohio, PA

This week, I took off Thursday morning for West Virginia where I found a old steel mill and snapped a few photos. Eventually, I found my way back to work, but it was good to get out for the morning and squeeze off a few shots in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

The images were all captured on one of the following:

The images are compiled into a 6 Meg (3:50 Adobe Flash slideshow(stay_with_you.swf) that you should be able to open and view with any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.). To view the slideshow, just click on the photo above. If you want to view the slideshow as a Windows executable, you can play this version (stay_with_you.exe), and it allows you to play, pause, skip forward, backwards, etc.

Image post-processing was done in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended. The slideshow was created using Imagematics Stillmotion Pro.

The soundtrack is 'Stay With You' by The Goo Goo Dolls. Don't read too much into the song title or lyrics. I chose this song because when I went down to PPG ice skating rink in January, they were playing this song and I thought it was pretty cool.

Lyrics in the extended entry.

Click here to view the other slideshows.

Continue reading "Postcards From Nowhere: West Virginia, Ohio, PA"

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 11, 2011 at 9:16 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 10, 2011

Wow

Today was...uh...insane. No other way to put it, really. This week has been the craziest week in a long time. And I mean full-on crazy. I could write a book on what happened this week if only I had the time.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 10, 2011 at 5:30 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 7, 2011

Postcards From Nowhere: Pittsburgh, Morrison, Charlotte

Here's a slideshow of some shots from Pittsburgh, Morrison, and Charlotte.

The images were all captured on one of the following:

The images are compiled into a 5 Meg (3:08 Adobe Flash slideshow(2011_bubbly.swf) that you should be able to open and view with any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.). To view the slideshow, just click on the photo above. If you want to view the slideshow as a Windows executable, you can play this version (2011_bubbly.exe), and it allows you to play, pause, skip forward, backwards, etc.

Image post-processing was done in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended. The slideshow was created using Imagematics Stillmotion Pro.

The soundtrack is 'Bubbly' by Colbie Caillat.

Lyrics in the extended entry.

Click here to view the other slideshows.

Continue reading "Postcards From Nowhere: Pittsburgh, Morrison, Charlotte"

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 7, 2011 at 10:54 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

The Butcher Bird

Jennifer and I were driving up the canyon yesterday when I saw a small bird fly across the road. I wasn't clear what it was, but I stopped to get a shot because it looked unusual enough that it caught my attention.

As it turns out, it was a Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor) eating a male House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) with an unusual orange coloration.

This is the 2nd time I've seen a Northern Shrike eating a male House Finch in the winter. (Here's one I shot in December of 2009.)

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 7, 2011 at 6:45 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 6, 2011

Postcards From Nowhere: PA/CO

Here's a slideshow of some shots from Pittsburgh and Colorado.

The images were all captured on one of the following:

The images are compiled into a 6 Meg (2:55 Adobe Flash slideshow(2011_angeles.swf) that you should be able to open and view with any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.). To view the slideshow, just click on the photo above. If you want to view the slideshow as a Windows executable, you can play this version (2011_angeles.exe), and it allows you to play, pause, skip forward, backwards, etc.

Image post-processing was done in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended. The slideshow was created using Imagematics Stillmotion Pro.

The soundtrack is 'Angeles' by 'Elliott Smith'.

Lyrics in the extended entry.

Click here to view the other slideshows.

Continue reading "Postcards From Nowhere: PA/CO"

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 6, 2011 at 10:39 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 5, 2011

The Windows Phone

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 5, 2011 at 12:44 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

My new toy

Last night I finally broke down and shelled out a few clams for a new lens, the Canon EF 600mm f/4 L IS USM Super Telephoto Lens. This is a large lens, as in ginormous. Here's a photo of a guy shooting it freehand. I'm pretty stoked.

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 5, 2011 at 9:11 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink

February 4, 2011

Go Pens!

A bunch of us went out on Wed night, per usual. This time, however, we somehow scored the company's luxury suite to watch a Penguins game at the new arena, Consol Energy Center. The new building was constructed immediately adjacent to the old Mellon arena.

So, I don't know where Pittsburgh is getting all of the cash, but they've built at least 3 new venues recently. The Steelers and the Pirates used to play at 3 Rivers Stadium. Then the city built two new parks, PNC Park for the Pirates and Heinz field for the Steelers. Once those were completed, they demolished 3 Rivers Stadium and turned it into a parking lot.

More recently, they built the Consol Energy Center next door to Mellon arena. Mellon arena is currently surrounded by a chain link fence while they debate what to do with it. My guess it's going to be a parking lot fairly soon also.

So, in any event, we went in an watched the Penguins beat up on a bunch of pansies masquerading as an NHL hockey team - The New York Islanders.

It was more of a prize fight than a hockey game. I've never seen more fighting in my life. I kept expecting the Hansen brothers to show up.


In any even, toward the end of the game, the NY Islander's goalie DiPietro put a cheap shot on Matt Cook and that started a free-for-all on the ice. With 16.5 seconds left on the clock, Johnson skated across the ice like lightning. He was across center ice before I knew what was going. He threw off his gloves and mask and cold-cocked DiPietro, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Brilliant. Definitely a game-defining moment. With the score at 3-0, a bunch of numb-nuts had already left the game by the end of the third period to beat the traffic, I assume. I'm sure they were kicking themselves listening to it on the radio on the drive home. Classic.


Posted by Rob Kiser on February 4, 2011 at 9:43 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink