Month: March 2009

Book Recollection: The 10 Big Lies About America

I am guessing you are tired of looking at bird pictures.  If so, you are in luck because tonight’s post is a book recollection.  My brother gave me this book as a gift (possibly Xmas or my birthday, I can’t remember), but in either case, I actually finished reading Michael Medved’s book awhile back.  Now that the birds are done for a bit, I figured I better wrap up the recollection before I forgot everything.  I was actually not familiar with Michael who apparently has a conservative talk show.  The premise of the book is his attempt to refute some common misconceptions (translated liberal distortions of truth) about my country.  It appears my brother has me correctly profiled since I did enjoy this read.  It was more like a fire hydrant of interesting information regarding America’s past.  My weakest subject is Geography (unless it is on a RISK board game).  A close second has to be American history – in complete contrast to my academic success in Mr. Beagles high school History class where I achieved an A+ (amazing the amount of effort you are willing to put in a class when the instructor goes the extra mile to make it fun and interesting.

A few of the refuted lies hit close to home.   The topic of America being founded on the genocide of Native Americans was relevant based on my university removing the most reverent symbol to American Indians that I am aware of (it was NOT a mascot, apparently it is okay if you buy them off – Florida State and explain to me how the professional teams don’t seem to get bothered by the so called activists – Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians come to mind).  As a result I will never give another penny to my alma mater and will continue to display the honored Chief Illiniwek.  Another topic regarded America’s guilt and supposed need to reconcile for past slavery.  I appreciate him taking on this sensitive topic and coming from the Land of Lincoln, I am astutely aware of efforts that were taken to end this activity.  I often find it interesting that people want to harp on the past without giving any credit to efforts that set the slaves free – America went to war over this and jeopardized the union of states to accomplish it.  The other very relative topic concerned reaffirmation that America’s founding fathers were immersed in faith.  My brother and I have had many discussions on this topic and both agree that the recent changes in coin design are covert attempts to rid our currency of the word “God”.  The latest attempt at putting the In God We Trust on the coin edge is simply so it will get rubbed off and then slowly desensitize us to the point we don’t notice it missing in the next design.

Overall, I thought it was a very good read.   I did not agree with all of his opinions, but to his credit, he did an excellent job of backing up his statements and supporting his opinions.  Follow the jump for the list of things that stood out from the read.

Continue reading Book Recollection: The 10 Big Lies About America

These Mallards Play in Water

I figured I would go ahead and close out the Davenport Iowa bird shoot.  We’ve done the eagles, the gulls and now presenting..

Mallard

That’s right, the Mallard Duck.  This guy was enjoying the 50 degree weather in march.  The shot turned out pretty good with the green shimmering nicely in the sun and you can even make out the water droplets on the duck’s feathers.  This was pretty fitting since the Quad Cities’ minor league hockey team is actually named The Mallards.  Here is another one with a different direction to the sun giving a slightly different shimmer pattern.

Mallard Duck

There were actually a number of them (can’t remember the proper term for a grouping of ducks at the moment).

Mallards

Believe me, it was extremely tough to get them to all go in the same direction.  You also have a nice mixture of the females included in this shot – clearly they were stiffed when the coloring was handed out.

Follow the jump to see some more shots of the Mallard

Continue reading These Mallards Play in Water

Dr. Livingston I Presume

 Gull

This post is a first for our little off-ramp on the Information Highway.  Today we have, in a sense, a guest blogger.  The pictures contained in this post were actually taken by my wife.  As with the previous posts, these were taken up in Davenport IA.  We had parked at the rollers on the Mississippi River looking for eagles and she decided to snap a few shots of a flying gull.  It actually took a while to identify this particular bird.  Previously, we had always referred to them as seagulls.  That name was mysteriously missing from the field guides I use.  After looking and relooking and re-relooking we have decided to go with a Herring Gull.  The beak does not appear to have a strip (ring-billed gull) on it and the range appears to fit.

Gull

Although they are often considered the vermin of the airways, these birds do have a certain aura about them that gives the appeal of a heavenly glow.  A very pure white with a touch of highlighting like a quill dipped in the inkwell.

Gull

While I was trying to identify the species, it occurred to me I couldn’t see his feet (one of the gull types has yellow feet).  Guessing the belly is pretty fluffy allowing him to tuck them under for greater aerodynamics – or possibly warmth.  I saved the best image for last.  I really like this shot and left it a little larger to hopefully show a little more detail.  The sunlight radiates through the wings almost to the point of transparency.  Personally, I think their quite beautiful, but then again, I do not have to live with the pain of their constant scavenging.

Gull from the Heavens

Thanks again to the wife for taking some pretty shots

Riding On The Edge

While taking pictures of eagles down on the backwaters of the Mississippi we came upon a very interesting scene.  So interesting in fact, I had to take a few shots to prove it.

Ice Racer

The adrenaline junkie above was racing in circles on ice out in the middle of the backwater.  Although you cannot really tell it from the picture, he was on the throttle pretty good.  It took me a couple of attempts to even get him in the picture due to misjudging the pan.  This was old news to my Davenport IA born wife who apparently knew this was a common activity in the winter months.  I did not get a close look at the tires, but she says they have metal studs in the tread to keep traction.

However, the fact that people race motorcycles on the ice was not the most intriguing aspect of this scene.  I purposely cropped the image above so you would not jump to the odd part to quick.  When would you expect this activity to happen in Iowa… December, January, February?  Nope.. This picture was taken on 3/1 on a day where the temperature was up in the 50’s.  Here is a widened shot.

Ice Racer

The white stripe about 2/3rds of the way up is the line they were racing on.  Did you notice the water above that?  As you can tell by the land even above that, the winter months were passed.  I guess if you want to improve you need some incentive.  Losing an edge will surely drop that motorcycle in the middle of the water and last time I checked they do not float that well.

The good news is he was smart enough not to be out there on his own. This rider was actually going faster than the other one.   I left the water on this image for the full effect as well.

ICe Racer

While reviewing the other shots I took, I stopped on the next one because of the background.  It looked pretty eerie with the dark trees meshing with a similarly colored ground.  In fact, it looked like a scene right out of Sleepy Hollow or Harry Potter.

Ice Racer

Okay, maybe without the ice and the motorcycle rider and the… alright so maybe I watch too many stupid movies.  This brings to mind my 7th grade teacher who felt concerned enough to point out to my family that my horror book consumption might be at an unhealthy level.  I countered with the fact that a 7th grader spending his time reading 500+ page books rather than playing Atari (dating myself) can’t be that bad.

Anyway, I found it interesting and decided to share.  Clearly they knew what they were doing and against my best wishes, I did not see a single crash or an unplanned bath.

Eagles Through the D90

 Juv Eagle Taking Flight

I can’t remember if I mentioned if previously, but we purchased a new camera a month or so ago.  The previous pictures (particularly the wildlife photos) were taken with a Nikon D70.  I actually really like that camera and does a great job with the exception of low light.  The 70 can only go to 1600, but the Nikon D90 can go to 3200 which makes it better for the indoor dog show pictures my wife spends her time on.  The remainder of this year will be spend trying to figure out how to use all those new features.  We took it on a test run up in Davenport IA again and the shots were fantastic.  The reduction for this website cuts the quality some, however, they still stand out in my opinion.  The image above of the juvenile taking flight is one of my favorites.

For some reason there were no eagles at our standard spot (at the locks in Davenport).  It was a little late in the season and the temps were starting to head upwards generally signaling their departure.  Disappointed, we headed back to Davenport to see if they were down on Rockingham.  As we drove along the river I noticed a pair of them sitting up trees.  They were actually perched on the opposite side of the road from the river and basically in the front yard of a mansion.

Eagle Pair

This had the added benefit of a clean shot since it was the only tree (granted huge) in the yard.  I learned my lesson a long time ago, so the image above was a quick shot from afar.  Never waste the moment by trying to get too close before the first shot.  Eventually, I worked my way a little closer which didn’t seem to bother them at all.  It never occurred to me before how much more sinister the juveniles look than the matures.  Guessing the juvi is a little cocky sitting next to the 2nd in charge of the skies (Owls being the top of the chain since they will actually attack and kill an eagle).   I finally moved into position and capture this stunning shot.  The full sized image is a lot better and really brings the talons out on the mature.  I’ll probably make this my background.

Eagle Watch

Follow the jump to see some more pictures we captured while we were up there.

Continue reading Eagles Through the D90

The Death Card

DeathcardI am trying to muster enough energy to make a post after an exhausting Sunday.  It started with a training run in the hills of Jubilee State Park – yep, the one our EX-governor had the historic site closed on.  They have a daunting 13% grade hill that I spend a lot of time running up to train for the Bix7 in Davenport IA.  I had planned to catch up on some outside house work, but it started raining on me in the last mile or so of the run which I should have expected, since the local weatherman forecasted the rain would not start until tomorrow.  Trapped indoors, I decided to get another task out of the way – the Endless Set for Rock Band 2 on drums.  That’s right folks, 84 songs straight for the coveted achievement.  This took me from 3:30pm until 10:30pm because I opted against the “Iron Bladder” achievement which is given for those who can do the set without pausing (crazy).  Needless to say, I think my Rock Band fix is covered for the next couple of weeks.

I’ll dig deep and get this post covered.   Last night my wife and I headed over to the gambling boat for a little fun.  We set pretty conservative limits for ourselves.  So, when the big gamblers come out to play, I often find myself simply watching them try and beat the odds.  As is almost always the case these days, the low end tables are filled with people playing well beyond the table minimums.  I’ve decided these people need the attention and like to stand out from the pack.  In the high limit areas (where they belong) they are simply just one of the regulars if not the little guy depending on the spending ratios.  I was watching my wife play a machine and noticed two guys sitting at the blackjack table across the aisle.  Table minimum was $15 and had 3 or 4 other people playing hands in the 15-25 dollar range.  As far as I could tell, both guys were playing the same card spot with the guy on the end doing the majority of the betting and the guy next to him kept augmenting the bet at various times.  They had just won a 75 dollar bet and were given their winnings in $25 chips.  Catching my attention, they did not pull the bet off the table and let it ride.  They won that hand too and stacked their 6 new $25 chips on top and let it ride again.  Another win and they let those additional 12 chips ride as well.  Amazingly, they pulled a push on a 17, but left it out there for another.  Then fate came through and the dealer pulled a 20 over their 19 putting an end to their little grab for $1200 glory.  Thinking the show was over I turned back to my wife’s machine.  Twenty minutes or so later I look back to the table to see about 10 people standing around the perimeter of table.  Glancing at the card spot, I see another high stack of green chips on the line .. but this time they have their audience.  The guy augmenting the bets starts stacking blacks ($100) under the 25’s.  A couple of wins later, they have well over $1000 out there.  Maybe this is a good time to remind everyone that the table minimum was $15.  Then next deal draws a 7 4 against a dealer 9.  Sure enough, they doubled the stack and pulled the death card – in this particular situation a 4.  Dealer turns a 10 and the pile headed toward the bank.  Immediately the crowd dispersed and the show was over.  Sheepishly they reset to a $25 bet and stared at the ground.  No more high fiving each other or glowing to the crowd.

Were those sly smiles I saw on the rest of the players at that table? It appears the pedestal has been trimmed a little.   By the way, Michael Jordan was in town last night to watch his kid (Whitney Young) play for the State Championship.  They ended up winning thanks to the little Jordan’s efforts.  Hopefully, he’ll turn out more productive that the one the Illini got.  Thanks to their pathetic showing in the NCAA tournament, they are watching from the sidelines.  I mainly bring this up because I kept hearing people wonder out loud if Michael would be showing up based on his historical affinity to gambling.  I never saw him so apparently he has that under control now.

The Devil Wears Target

Target Devil So I sat down tonight to make a quick post because I’ve been a little lax on the posting duties as of late, but an hour later and I am finally getting around to actually typing something.  The root cause of this delay is Paint Shop Pro … in particular Paint Shop Pro Version 7 – a.k.a – the former efficient, productive and simple graphics package until they decided to be like Adobe and SCREWED it up.  All I wanted to do was draw the Target symbol to put the devil image on.  In the previous version, which I considered myself a master on, I would be able to crank that task out in less than a minute.  But thanks to apparent idiots at JASC, they decided to start converting their product into the cumbersome (but agreeably top notch) competitor Photoshop.  So after getting frustrated enough to actually go to the help manuals, failing in getting an answer there and then finally Googling it I was able to make three FILLED circles which I layered to generate the rings (two reds, one white in the center).  This required me to take the selection tool, change it to a circle, create an appropriately sized circle, then go over to the spray paint tool, re-pick the color – because the stupid color choice stays with the tool and not as an overall default – and then proceed to fill the selection.  I have decided to go ahead and install Photoshop now since I might as well use a quality tool if I have to go to that much trouble to make a @$%@$% circle.  Note, I even tried to simply set the line color and size so it would basically make a thick line making the process even quicker since that would only require two steps….. but of course, that did not work either.  Sigh – all that and I produced a fuzzy picture.

Sorry for the vent, it torqued me pretty good.  Now back to the “quick” post I wanted to make.  All of this effort was to simply comment on a situation my wife and I had outside the local Target store.  A week or so back, I was walking down from the Peoria PetSmart to look at a TV Target had on sale.  As I approached the store, a sneeze came over me.  Fortunately, I kept my eyelids closed so my peepers stayed in their socket.  Upon opening my eyes, I noticed a lady had exited the store and was staring at me.  She responded with “Bless You”.  Preparing to respond with the standard thank you, she followed with “Oh sorry, just a habit”  Pausing mid-step I looked at my wife in complete surprise to see if she had heard the same thing.  Never before has anyone apologized after wishing something positive.  This ended up being pondered the entire time I was in the store.  The conclusion I have come to is she either decided I was really the anti-christ or is so beaten down by the liberal media that she is ashamed or afraid to publicly acknowledge being a Christian.  If this is true, it is very sad.  Although I am not the most religious person I know, I am clearly not a Satan follower and not about to get mad at someone for a passing blessing.  Note, if this extends into any form of trying to preach to me, then we are on a whole different level with a different opinion.

Unfortunately, I was so surprised I didn’t have the chance to really respond that it was okay.  Anyway, I thought it was intriguing.  Oh, on the limited posts so far in March .. the truth of it was I’ve been stressing through a potential temporary layoff at my place of employment.  Good news, I made it through this cut. I better never get my hands on a bank lender at the root of this global economic downturn.

The Ding Factor

Car Door DingsWelcome to March everyone!  I must admittedly say I had a poor blog showing last month.  Things have been a little hectic lately at work reacting to the bank snakes that put the world economy in a tailspin.  Looks like I need to step it up this month to make up for it.  For starters, the other day my wife and decided to do a little shopping.  After hitting a bunch of stores we decided to drop by a local Maid Rite for a nibble.  My wife was driving and picked a spot near the door.  This made me uncomfortable instantly because door dings are in my hate peeve list.  Yes, this is definitely one of the times where the hate word is not an overstatement.  What rational person believes it is socially acceptable to bang their car door against another person’s car?  Anyone?… Anyone?   I can force out a few scenarios, but in general there is no excuse.  I was about to accept the parking choice when I looked over to the car next to me and noticed it was a two door.  This bristled on me until I noticed a baby seat in the back on my side of the car upon which I ordered my wife to move immediately.  This resulted in a stern look, but this was not a choice situation, the DING FACTOR was through the roof.  This resulted in some impolite comments from my wife thanks to the extra distance having to walk in the cold, but trust me, it was worth being able to enjoy my lunch without a nervous tick watching my door panels.  Instead, I was able to sit comfortably in the window booth and watch for other ding victims.

So you might be asking yourself, what are the various DING FACTORs to look for (follow the link)

Continue reading The Ding Factor