What's This Button Do?

I found an innovative method of learning more about my new Nikon 7100.  It turns out it came with this thing called an ‘owner’s manual’.  Simply amazing the information that was contained in that Rosetta stone of photography directions.  While translating the hieroglyphics on the back of the camera, I flipped through the pages of the manual.  I was learning more about the basic settings, as well as discovering the ‘Effects’ option on the settings dial.  The 'Effects' option provides a quick way to introduce artsy perspectives on the world.  Here are highlights of the various effects taken during this past summer’s vacation.

Miniature Effect:  Golden Gate Bridge

 Sketch Effect:  Glacier Point Visitor Center, Yosemite NP 

 

Miniature Effect:  Vernal Falls, Yosemite NP

The next 'effect' is good ole fashion being in the right place at the right time.  As we headed through the Yosemite Valley after dinner one evening there was a minor traffic jam, I was sure it was a few bucks in the meadow, then Jill exclaimed, "There's a bear in the tree!, A bear in the tree!!, Pull the car over, a bear in the tree!!!  What made the shot even better were the bucks who  wandered under the same apple tree for this multi-fauna shot: 

 

The bear decided to keep snacking on apples, mainly because apples don't run away at the slightest noise. 

For the rest of this Friday’s Note, you can consider me the crazy uncle with the old slide projector.  I have ventured into the world of video for the first time.  Or course tossing my camera into video mode put a spot on the camera sensor, which was more than annoying.  I really tried to keep my summer vacation movie to the equivalent of two slide trays, but I could help to spill over to a virtual third tray.  Rest assured, the pictures in the video are less than 1/10 of the pictures that were taken.  You will have to watch the movie to see the final trick that I learned, night shots. Especially what happens when you paint a daughter with too much light and end up with one of the coolest mistakes I've ever made.  Hope you enjoy this vacation synopsis. 

Summer 2014 Vacation Video:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMWiKEAisAk&list=UUnfYdrEuaQRBbPNyMBkG88w

Spodee Sez

For four years I trekked from the north campus dorms down the path towards the Case quad.  The path was a paved alley with old stand-alone garages bordering the walk periodically.  There was one particular garage that was a magnet for graffiti and old frat party posters.  The owner of the structure decided to clean things up and painted the stucco wall a lovely shade of beige.  It wasn’t long before the uniform beigeness was interrupted by slogan spray painted at the top of the wall, some 12 feet off the ground.  The clever graffiti artist painted –

Spodee sez, do graffiti where ever you want, as long as you’re tall enough.

That simple message stayed on that wall the rest of the semester.  For some reason it made me smile each time I passed and looked up at it.

The rest of this Friday’s Note presents a series of neighborhood art photographs that show considerably more creativity than Spodee did all of those years ago.  Each of these pictures is from The Mind Unleashed website.  I wish I had taken many of these pictures, but none of them are mine.  Just thought these would bring a smile to your Friday.

This one reminds me of the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon I've had at my desk for the past 20+ years.  Calvin exclaims, 'ignorance is bliss' as he rambles out of control in the red wagon accompanied by Hobbes.

 

Other than the Calvin and Hobbes wagon ride down the railing, I think my favorite are the following two pictures and the added creativity of time of day.

Ill Tempered Fowl

After dropping the girls off at the front of the Kennedale Performing Arts Center I was forced to park in a far off lot since parking was at a premium with SUVs from AR, OK and TX as far as one could see.  I was hiking back to the auditorium when a big guy got out of his truck making the same parking lot trek.  Upon first appearances he was approximately 6’4’’ 240 lbs, bikers T-shirt, large tatted up arms, scruffy goatee and wrap-around black sun glasses.   Picture the ‘Lone Rider of the Apocalypse’ from Raising Arizona.   I figured that I’d reach across the suburbia geek to Road Warrior cast member chasm.  

Me:  Glad today is the last day of competition (we had made the hour trip from home to the competition numerous times this week).

Tough Guy:  Yep, a long drive.

Me:  Where’s home?

Tough Guy:  Killeen. 

Me:  Wow, that is quite a commitment to drive that far throughout the week.

Tough Guy:   Yep, but if it helps to build my daughter's self-esteem, it’s worth every penny!

How great it is to be completely surprised by a situation.  I would have never guessed upon first look that he would have taken the conversation down that path.  It was then I realized we weren’t so different.    I prefer to think of us both as tough guys.  Well, kind of, sort of.

We spent the past week at the Dance Showcase USA national competition.  Two daughters, 13 dances and all the bobby pins that can be jammed into heavily sprayed hair buns.  The competition committee regrouped the classification of dances, which both surprised and disappointed us seeing that it meant a number of our team dances would compete against each other for just a few spots in the, wait for it, THE GRAND SHOWCASE FINALS, FINALS, FINALS. 

Side story, as I was standing in the crowded lobby of the auditorium I heard a father trying to console his daughter who had finished in first place during the preliminaries, but then finished fourth in THE GRAND SHOWCASE FINALS.  The father said, ‘Honey, you were awarded the national championship on Thursday, this is just a chance to give some other kids trophies to make them feel better!’.   So I said, ‘Go ahead and believe what your father says if it makes you feel better, but today is what really counts when you are competing against the best selected dances for trophies that are twice the size!’   Ok, so I really didn’t say that, but the evil twin father in me sure was thinking it.  With an silent maniacal laugh as I twist my imaginary handle bar mustache. 

Back to the core blog story.  Our studio had two dances qualify for THE GRAND SHOWCASE FINALS, but unfortunately our other dances didn’t make it, especially a parent favorite titled Angry Birds.   The Angry Birds routine dated back to the previous year's dance recital.   In competitive dance you get to see the same routines again and again and again, but during recital you see for the first time the dances created during the many other classes the girls take throughout the year.   While traditional ballet can be formal and even stuffy at times, Angry Birds delivered a breath of fresh ballet air where their instructor encouraged the girls to see what ‘tricks’ they could do while on pointe shoes.   The end result was a recital routine that we parents absolutely loved and we pretty much demanded that Angry Birds be competed the next season.   During one event this spring a judge provided the following feedback in his critique of the dance.  “When I heard the name of the dance announced I thought oh no, this is going to be cheesy, but then you started the performance and the choreography and your execution was such a creative surprise and so entertaining – loved it!” 

At the national competition an area of the lobby was setup to hock pictures and videos of the dances and it was there where a couple great Angry Birds stories came to light.  While a flock of our dancers were looking at pictures, some other moms looked over their shoulders and had asked 'Were y’all in that dance?' Replying with yes, the women then said 'Man! That was an awesome dance! It was so unique and different! It was so cool!'   A little later one of our parents and daughter was searching through pictures when a stranger came up to the table and fumbled through the event program searching for information and then requested that the videographer play the Angry Birds dance.   Noticing his awkwardness, the worker asked if his daughter was in the dance to which he replied, “No, but I’ve brought my wife here and told her she just had to see this dance!”  At that time a couple other random parents spoke up and said, “I saw that dance and loved it.”   Talk about building self-esteem – having multiple random strangers request a viewing of your dance makes the girls stand just a little taller – even taller than pointe shoes raise you up. 

So after all of that, here are two dances for your viewing pleasure.  My daughter is the yellow Crane with an attitude.  Just before the dance starts, you can hear me yell ‘attitude encouragement’ from the back of the auditorium.  While my daughter gave me the 13 year old eye roll when I asked if she liked me yelling before her dances, a couple of her teammates told their parents that they get psyched when I yell – so I figured one eye roll and a couple positive votes was a go sign for a national competition chance to crow.   Though I had pre-warned the strangers who came and sat right in front of me, you should have seen them duck when the shock wave hit them.

Angry Birds:  http://youtu.be/wVrCK4nTwEk

The second video is the Danza Española (or as I called it, Dancing in Spanish), a more traditional ballet including both my daughters.  This dance finished second at THE GRAND SHOWCASE FINALS.  The only team to beat them was an Arkansas based team that was a little older and performed a fantastic routine.  Also, we were ecstatic that our girls beat the team dressed like waitresses from the Titled Kilt, shaking their scantily clad backsides to the song Timber.  Queue the maniacal laugh. 

Sarah starts the dance in the front middle of the little ones.  Alex starts as the fourth fan dancer on the far right.  

Danza Espanola: http://youtu.be/LhOWKZmT9lU

But wait – there’s more.  Proof they can perform a non-ballet routine, here is their jazz dance which is both Charlie’s Angels and NRA approved.

Bullet Proof:  http://youtu.be/cPm9vMGPm_Q

Ms Jennifer and Ms Rebeca, thank you for everything you have done for the girls.

 

Finally, as a means of staying sane throughout the competition season I started a list of songs, that if used, should instantly disqualify the routine.  Ideally, with a big Gong Show style hook removing the contestants from the stage.   Among our team parents it simply became known as, ‘The List’.  If you don’t think songs can become a complete beat down, try sitting through three, 12 hour days of competition. 

The List

Little party never hurt nobody
Send in the clowns
What's a girl got to do
Puttin on the ritz
Hot chocolate
Car wash
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend
Material girl
My boy friend is back
Rockin robin
Sassy girl
Do the conga
God bless Texas
Grease lightning
We're in the money
Its raining men
My strongest suit
Popular
Any song using a top hat

 

 

As Geniuses Go

A few years ago I was driving to work listening to the local sports talk show.  The Ticket talk show is famous for doing imitations of sports personalities while making fun of them.  They refer to the characters as ‘Fake so and so’ such as ‘Fake Jerry’ for the Cowboys owner or Fake Jason for the head coach.  They are a pretty funny bits most of the time.

With that as the background I joined into the middle of another fake bit, or so I thought, with this player making these unbelievable brag-a-docious statements.  Real gems like, “I’m the best that has ever been, just look it up – I am the greatest.”  The interview seemed to go on and on with the host letting the ‘fake’ player orchestrate their own self love-fest to the point of narcissist nausea.  It was only at the end did it become apparent that this interview wasn’t a bit, this was no ‘fake’, but rather a real interview with Mike Vanderjagt, the then place kicker for the Cowboys. 

The same Mike Vanderjagt that Peyton Manning referred to as, “Our idiot kicker who got liquored up”.  The same kicker who at the end of the playoff game between the Steelers and Colts (his previous team), shanked the would be game tying kick so badly it missed the field wide right let alone the up rights.  I would like to thank him for that gift leading to the Steelers fifth Super Bowl Title.

It’s been years since I’ve heard that level of self-confident excess, but now think there is a source of self-admiration-energy so strong it eclipses even the mighty Vanderjagt.  When I came across this tool over the weekend I was stunned by the simplistic greatness that is the Kanye West Self-Confidence Generator.  Follow this link to the website where you can gift yourself a shot of Kanyefidence.  Then another, then another.  It is spell binding.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/06/05/kanye-west-self-confident-quotes-generator/10036311/

I think all that is needed now is to create a game where you get to guess which quotes are real and what quotes people may add as ‘fake Kanyefidence’.  That would be a cool game.  Really the coolest.  I mean the “COOLEST OF ALL TIME, BACK TIME AND FORWARD FUTURE AND RIGHT NOW TIME.”  

The edge of doom

Last year I was trying hard to avoid the Kroger Valentine Tent of Shame and came up with what I thought was a creative, kid-like, construction paper idea.

 

This is the valentines that I gave to Jill last year.  

The red glitter indicates the various surgeries that I've had over the past few years.  I put the extra effort out to label the various scars as you can see with the silver pen.  I spared no expense. 

 

Here is the inside of the valentine -

shamelessly trying to score points.

 Somehow the humor was lost in cardio-translation.

 

I wonder if the tent is still open?

 

Well, I have to take advantage of the convergence of

Friday and the 14th

 by passing along the following.

 

SONNET 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
   If this be error and upon me proved,
   I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

 

W. Shakespeare

 

And here is how I came to be aware of the 116th Sonnet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49CEeoSg4t8

 

Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas

Candle Power

Last January I posted my first 'favorite pictures of the year' entry.  For no other reason than having a good excuse to flip through last year's memories, here is a collection of some of my selections from 2013. Twenty-thirteen didn't have blockbuster excursions as the year before, but some nice pictures came out mainly due to the sheer number of the pictures taken.

The first picture is from the Smooth Criminal dance my daughter Alex's team performed.  I really liked this frozen in time moment.  They girls look like they are levitating above the stage.  Alex is the one just to the right of the sign and she is looking to the right.

Smooth Criminal - Premier Dance Team - FDF

The next picture comes courtesy of the fourth of July and the vantage point of the patio roof top of Randy's Steakhouse.  This picture illustrates the the power of cropping the original picture.  The result is the very top of the grand finale.

Fourth of July coming to a bright close

While the next picture isn't incredible exciting I selected this picture since I was trying get the picture of the little red finch with a shallow depth of field so the background would be out of focus.  Out of all of the pictures I snapped at Williamsburg, this is the one that I've selected to share.  This pictures was taken along the moss covered wall that surrounds the Capitol.  I was pretty happy that I was able to pull off this snapshot, now if I could only remember how to do it again.

Red finch in artsy shot

The next picture was actually taken by Jill as she was trying out her new Nikon.  I really love this picture taken during the December Dallas Ice-a-gedin.  The picture is from the backyard looking back through the crate myrtles to the patio with the lights hanging off the pergola.  The picture seems to invite you into the very middle of the picture.

Light the way home - Photo:  Jill Steele

The next two pictures are linked together in purpose.  The first is more of a cheap parlor photography trick taking advantage of the collection of votives being prepared for Christmas Eve luminary display.  I like the picture for the geometric symmetry that it delivers making the middle seem to bulge out from the rest.

wait, let me take a picture before we bag'em

The second picture is the culmination of an idea I've had for the past ten years.  I've wanted to line the meandering sidewalk across the street from the house with luminaries for years.  The sidewalk runs along the canal and provides a great chance to provide a Christmas candle powered gift to all that might drive by.  Some years we were out of town and other years the north Texas winds were just not fire friendly enough. This year however the stars aligned and with the help of my three home bound assistants, we lit 80 luminaries on Christmas eve. This picture just captures about a third of the luminaries that were placed.  It was fun watching cars turn onto the street and suddenly slow down and pass by the whole length of the display very slowly.  I was lighting the last of the candles at one end when a car at the other end stopped and thanked Jill for this 'magical display'.   Gift mission accomplished. 

Candle light magic on the 24th

I've saved my favorite picture for last again this year.   After many years of working towards a new, formal church, our congregation dedicated our new St. Francis of Assisi this past December.  One advantage of being the current parish council chair was being able to get into the church the days before the dedication for a picture shoot.  I had already taken many pictures, most of the grandness of the church and the symmetry of it's interior.  I was just about to pack up and leave when the stain glass window of Our Lady of Sorrows caught my eye.  While the whole window is beautiful, I was really taken by her face and the way the light was coming through the glass at that moment.

Our Lady of Sorrows - St France of Assisi

I hope you have enjoyed this year's version of 'look what happened last year'.

Das Boots

I received one of the best Christmas presents that I could have received.  Ok, truth be told, I bought the gift myself over Thanksgiving, but the sentiment was there.  During the latest trip to the Burgh I journeyed to the REI store determined to replace my boots from 1995.   After looking around and staring at the boot display and getting over the sticker shock I found a pair that spoke to me on a front display table.  After slipping them on and trying out the pho-rock in the store the sales guy asked if he could help me.  Like a kid getting a new toy, “I’ll take these in a nine.” I said and the reply was ‘you’re wearing my only 9’,  to that I said, ‘I’ll wear these out the door then’, lifting one foot to emphasis the point.

Franze Joseph Glacier, NZ

This pair of boots has some pretty big shoes to fill.  The last pair lasted 18 years and countless miles around this big blue marble.  It all started with a friend I’ve known since elementary school saying he was going to New Zealand and wanted to know if I wanted to tag along.   New Zealand had long been on my bucket list, even before the term was even coined by Hollywood.  Something about standing on the opposite side of the planet has always intrigued me.   To get ready for the trip I took the first steps and made it to my local REI store.  Just walking into that store puts me in a good mood.  I ponied upped and bought a good pair of Timberland boots.   Paying for a good pair of boots was heartburn for me given my frugal nature, but it’s an investment that has gone way past protecting my ten toes.  These boots were in actuality a ticket to adventures in locations far and wide.

While in New Zealand we navigated the two islands seeing much of the landscape that is spectacular when not blanketed by the long-white-cloud.   While I didn’t bungee jump off of Skippers Bridge, my boots and I managed to get off the beat and path, tramping at the base of Mt Cook, spelunking through the Waitomo Haggas Honking Holes,  jet boating up the Shotover Canyon and hiking on the Franze Joseph glacier.   The mammoth scale of the glacier was a deep blue impressive experience.  That is the guide in the red jacket and shorts.  Never mess with a guide holding a ice axe which she is using to cut the steps you are going to use to traverse the glacier. 

Walter's Wiggles Zion NP (view from top)

My boots and I followed up the kiwi trip with a hike around the national parks of the southwest the following year.   I remember getting back home from the trip and seeing the layers of dust on my boots and smiling since the dirt reminded me of all of the switchbacks I had traveled.  The boots made it up the nearly vertical climb of Walter Wiggles hike in Zion NP and then made a full-moon, midnight hike into Bryce Canyon.  

South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon NP

Bryce Canyon with it’s crystal clear air and a full moon made the hoodoo landscape seem like another planet.   If you believe in foreshadowing, it was at the visitors center waiting to sign up for the ranger led night hike that I met a couple and their two daughters hitting the national parks for adventures.  I was so impressed that they had set out across the country with no agenda or time table other than the date they had to be back home.   The trip ended with a hike to Phantom Ranch on the floor of the Grand Canyon.  Here is a picture of me on the South Kaibab trail descending into the canyon.  You do more smiling going down than on the reverse trip.  My boots got a rest at bottom as I took them off to cool my feet in the Bright Angel Creek since it was 105 in the shade down there.   The canyon is a fantastic place to feel small.

Cascade Trail, Grand Teton NP

My three year tri-fecta of great trips was topped off with my first visit to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier national parks.  The Tetons are my favorite place on the planet.   Seeing the sunrise against the mountains defines purple mountains majesty in a real life watercolor that lasts a fleeting 15 minutes.  My boots and I made it to lake Solitude, an alpine lake at the top of the Cascade Trail, a hike that spanned 8am to 6pm and a 150 bpm heart rate.   

A perfect way to kick back and take a load off is found on the porch of Roosevelt Lodge in northern Yellowstone.   Built a hundred years ago as celebration to Roosevelt’s visits to the park, the front porch has dozens of rocking chairs where people from around the world sit and rock and share stories of the day and the wildlife they encountered.  Here is a picture of my boots and my brother-in-law and I kicking back at the lodge enjoying a Moose Drool libation. 

Boots up and end of the day spirits, Roosevelt Lodge YNP

On our first anniversary trip, Jill and I went to western Canada.  I was sure to remembered my boots, but forgot my jacket at home.   I’m not a smart man.  We drove north and went on the Columbia Ice field in the Jasper NP.   After trekking around the glacier and up and down other trails, Jill suggested that I take a day and relax playing a round of golf at the Banff Springs resort.  When I asked what she would do while I was golfing she sheepishly said, “I thought I’d spend a little time at the spa.”   By the way, when you hit a drive that ends up 10 yards from a bull elk, that is where your ball stays on that hole.    

Hitchin' a ride, YNP

After a number of years went by, I was so excited to share my Teton and Yellowstone adventures with my girls.  The rule on that trip was the DVD players had to be put away anytime inside a park.  I think moving forward the rule will be expanded to cell phones.  There are so many connections to make in the world and none of them include little rectangles, apps and ear buds.  The same pair of boots made this family trip, but on this go around sometimes the boots had to carry two of us.   Here Sarah gets a ride on the path near the Upper Falls of Yellowstone.

After visiting the other side of the planet and hiking through a dozen or so national parks, my boots circa 1995 had given their all.  Their final act was tramping through Pine Cove camp as a chaperon for my daughter’s fifth grade trip.   The soles long worn smooth and now pulling apart from the rest of the boot, they had no more adventures in them.   

So on to my new boots.  The salesman at REI was impressed by the tattered and well worn membership card as I checked out.  I left the store with a huge smile knowing that I hadn’t just bought new pair of boots, but I had really purchased set of foot passports for many trips to go on.

Adventures come in many forms and sometimes can even be discovered in a snow covered backyard.  Here is the first adventure of the new boots, sled riding with Sarah at my sister’s place over Thanksgiving vacation.

Approaching land speed record for flexible fliers

I hope you find a sturdy set of boots and let them lead you to great memories.

For my daughters – “No, flip flops are not boots!’