Lamp Reflected

17 November 2007
Sick. Oh so sick. Paul and Laura were sick and I believe even Ben was sick. Marita Beth had been sickish with a pretty nasty cold-like thing. Kelly & Joseph had both been sick. But, I'd been in San Francisco and not near any of them. Still I got sick. Suck. On this Saturday, I should have been at TRF with my wife, but instead, I was at home alternating between sitting in the living room trying to catch up on some football (the good, English kind) and visiting the water closet. Guess which one I preferred? At one point, Terrill called and asked me to join he and his kid at No Frills Grill. For some reason, a temporary bout of insanity perhaps, I agreed and went out to join them. I wasn't out long and certainly didn't drink or eat my norm. By the time I got home I was pretty knackered and just wanted a sleep. But, first, a photo:

This is the pretty lamp globe made by our friend, Shannon, as reflected in the hurricane globe on the lamp next to it.
Cheers.

~KR (17 November 2007)

Watching:
Blackburn vs Aston Villa
0 - 2 at 58 minutes

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 1 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: REFLECTION, LAMPLIGHT, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

Coming Home to a Stoplight

I'm back home and I'm sick. Oh so sick. I managed a first class seat on the San Francisco - Los Angeles leg of the flight. Bliss. Being in first class enabled me to get to the toilet prior to throwing up. Did I mention I was sick? The flight was short, too short; I couldn't quite catch a nap. But, it was longer than intended after we sat on the tarmac for a while waiting for a plane to vacate our gate. Eventually we got shuffled to a new gate but not before myself and six fellow passengers had missed the connecting flight. Have I mentioned how sick I was? The last thing I wanted was to spend the day, sick, in the Los Angeles airport because there was no E-class available to get me home. One of the few things I really detest about flying on business is the inability of my company (an airline) to guarantee I can get home - even when flying on company business. Luckily a very sweet gate agent was able to locate management with the appropriate authority to book me an E-class seat on the next flight to DFW. So, I only wasted a couple of hours in LAX when it could have been much, much worse. As poorly as I felt all day, I didn't even think about my camera until I was in my own car, in my own state on my way home. I did take a photo; this one in fact: I was just thankful to be home. I'd been intending to go to TRF with MB, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to go down there. So, I got home in time to kiss my wife good-bye and go to sleep. Fitful, uncomfortable sleep, but at least it was in my own bed. Cheers. ~KR (16 November 2007) Watching: Blackburn vs Aston Villa 0 - 1 at Halftime Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320) Aperture: f/16 Focal Length: 23.2 mm ISO Speed: 80 Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: DFW, STOPLIGHT, SUNSET, CLOUDS, LIGHTFLARE, ARLINGTON, TEXAS, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

Landing in San Francisco

15 November 2007
Thursday and my last full day in San Francisco. I finished up at the office a tad early and went to a local place called the Elephant Bar for dinner. Before walking in, however, I walked over to the bayside and snapped quite a few pictures of planes landing and taking off from San Francisco International Airport. The light was fading so the quality isn't quite what I'd like, and the telephoto on my little camera doesn't have quite the oomph I might like, but still the photos aren't so bad. Here's one:
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I even managed to get some of the "mountains" and a sunset. Anyway, the Elephant Bar was overpriced and the beer taps weren't working, so I left. I'd spotted earlier in the week a place called Finn McCool's so I plugged that into the handy Garmin GPS device that I got with the rental car (a sleek Pontiac G6 GT) and went there. They didn't serve food. I had a few beers, stopped at the In-and-Out (again) and went back to the hotel. I had an early flight out. Sometime in the dead of night, I started feeling uncomfortable and by about 3am or so was full-on sick. I slept fitfully the remainder of the night until my 5:30 wake-up call. I blame Paul and Laura for making me sick. :-)
Cheers.

~KR (15 November 2007)

Listening to:
Everything I Do, I Do It For You by Bryan Adams
on Billboard Top 100 of 1991

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: SAN+FRANCISCO+AIRPORT, THE+ELEPHANT+BAR, LANDING, PLANE, AIRCRAFT, BRYAN+ADAMS, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

The Swingin' Door

14 November 2007
Back in 2002, Terrill & I did a whirlwind tour of the Cargo facilities in our system, visiting 12 cities in 9 weeks. One of those stops was San Francisco/San Jose where we spent a week. During one of our nights out we located a fantastic pub called The Prince of Wales in nearby San Mateo. Sadly, I wasn't keeping a journal nor carrying a ubiquitous photo-taker with me, so have no record of it as it was. In January of this year, it ceased being as it was and has become The Swingin Door, having been sold. The Prince of Wales had at one time been The Swingin Door as that's the name the bar had opened with back in 1955. Apparently it was a swingin' joint in its heyday and was frequented by many a famous personality. It would seem the new owner would like to recapture some of that original mojo.

Personally, I preferred The Prince of Wales the way it was, but certainly if I lived in the area I'd happily return to The Swingin' Door for a pint or two and an award-winning hamburger. I did not, during this visit, venture upstairs which apparently is quite the place to be having been voted San Mateo's Hottest Spot for Entertainment. I was plenty entertained by the clientele.
Cheers.

~KR (14 November 2007)

Listening to:
Fjarskanistan by Amina
on Animamina

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: SAN+MATEO, CALIFORNIA, THE+SWINGIN+DOOR, PUB, BAR, RESTAURANT, BEER, AMINA, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

The Hungery Hunter

13 November 2007
After a very long day in which I trained a bunch of people, took a break, trained a bunch of people, ate lunch, trained a bunch of people, took a break and trained a bunch of people, I was tired and hungry. The In-And-Out burger just didn't hold me over and I really wanted a beer. The previous night while out, I had spied a promising looking restaurant just down from my hotel, so off I went, not even bothering to stop and change clothes. The restaurant was called The Hungry Hunter and apparently has been serving the city of South San Francisco (The Industrial City) for some forty years.

I walked into an immense (45 minutes or more) waiting list, so went on into the bar to wait. Luckily, they serve food in the bar, too. I got myself a simple lager called, appropriately enough, The Hunter, and tucked into the menu. The Hungry Hunter? Since when does one hunt cow? That's pretty much the menu. Cow of various types, shapes & sizes. But, that's ok. I like cow. I ordered a blued strip, ceaser salad, mashed potatoes and rice pilaf. Decent, but by no means write-home-about (but apparently good enough to write-in-a-blog-about). Then it was back to the hotel for, hopefully, a better night's sleep the previous one.
Cheers.

~KR (13 November 2007)

Listening to:
She by Kiss
on Dressed To Kill

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.077 sec (1/13)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: SOUTH+SAN+FRANCISCO, HUNGRY+HUNTER, RESTAURANT, BAR, DINNER, NIGHTTIME, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

Up Pompey!

12 November 2007
I spent the day travelling from mid-US to west-US, and despite gaining two hours in the transit, it still wiped me out. I had a quick bite to eat at a lovely little Italian restaurant called Cecilia's, then settled in for a quick night-time read. Even though my bookclub is currently reading Love in the Time of Cholera I just couldn't bring myself to take the book on the trip. It's actually a surpassingly well-written book. However, at nearly 100 pages in, I'd still to discern a plot, so I've set it aside. I'll finish it someday, I suppose. But having grown up in a time when fiction meant a plot that moves the reader along, I was struggling to enjoy it. So, I brought with me a non-fiction book: Up Pompey!

Up Pompey is a fantastic book where "a clueless American sportswriter bumbles through English football," although I believe that Chuck Culpepper is not quite so clueless as he might lead some to believe. I can't quite figure out, and I'm not through reading it yet, whether he's writing to an English audience and trying to prove the validity of "their sport" vs the inanity of "our" sport; or is he writing to an American audience and struggling to point out the superiority of football to American-football. Either way, and I believe however you feel about Associated Football vs American Football, the book is very well written and immensely enjoyable. I shall loan it to Terrill when he's done and look forward to the "Delusional Rant" that will be forthcoming. :-)
Cheers.

~KR (12 November 2007)

Listening to: Kirstie's by Millish
on Millish

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850
IS Exposure: 0.8 sec (4/5)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 1 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: UP+POMPEY, BOOK, ENGLISH+PREMIER+LEAGUE, SOCCER, CHUCK+CULPEPPER, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

Wine in the Winerack

11 November 2007
Ah, a week away and I'm behind again. This post, written on 19 November, belongs to 11 November. A photo of a fine wine rack. The rack was found and purchased on eBay for pennies some years back. It's recently been, once again, filled to capacity by some Gewurtzaminer by Fredricksburg Winery.

On the wall behind the rack you can make out the Cry of the Clan MacRalph and the slogan for East Wind Games: Ludo Ergo Sum (I play, therefore I am).
Cheers.

~KR (11 November 2007)

Listening to:
Victor, Fly Me to Stafford by My Little Aiport
on the ok thing to do on sunday afternoon is to toddle in the zoo

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: WINE, FREDRICKSBURG+WINERY, Gewurtzaminer, EAST+WIND+GAMES, LUDO+ERGO+SUM, CANON, PHOTOBLOG, MACRALPH

A Queue of Gas Guzzlers

10 November 2007
I took other photos on the 10th, but I'm using this one because it beggars me. I don't understand. We are in the midst of one of the worst fuel crises in modern history (not the worst, mind you, when adjusted for inflation) and yet our nation's gluttonous population insists on driving vehicles that are notoriously poor on gas mileage. I drive a small Mitsubishi because I have no reason to drive anything larger. In this photo we see three vehicles, all of which are larger than a)mine and b)their occupancy requirements:

All three of these vehicles had one occupant (visible - if someone was ducking out of view, certainly I wouldn't have noticed); the driver. I respect others need for larger vehicles. Large families, the working class (labourers, farmers &c.) and haulers need the larger vehicle. My wife drives a hugely ineffecient gas guzzler because she needs to. She needs the space to haul product back and forth across the state (and nation at times). She needs the heavy-duty tow package because she pulls around a trailer that that is longer and taller than her Yukon. There wasn't a tow package on any of the vehicles in front of me. All of them were squeaky clean on the exterior which leads me to beleive that they don't travel off-road very often, if at all, which means they probably weren't working-class vehicles. Going back to a previous statement, all of them had one occupant so I can make the leap that they weren't for large families (although that is a leap, I have no evidence one way or another). So, I have to ask again, why? Why do we continue to line the pockets of big oil and foreign nations by driving unncecessarily large and inefficient vehicles when other choices are available?
Cheers.

~KR (10 November 2007)

Watching:
Manchester United v Blackburn (down to 10 men)
Score: 2 - 0 at 78:23
(Come on you Rovers!)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: GAS, INEFFICIENT, MPG, SUVS, MANCHESTER+UNITED, BLACKBURN+ROVERS, MITSUBISHI, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

The Flame

9 November 2007
A day at the office. A rather rare thing these days; but consequently a day at the office means a day of catch-up and preparation. No photos during the day. When I left work, I headed straight home to see Marita Beth before she took off for the Texas Renaissance Festival. Since I'd just spent a week in Miami, and was soon to go out of town again, I chose a decompress weekend. So, I went home and hugged on my wife until she had to leave. She leaves later than I would if it were my choice to make, but she doens't have the same fear of striking a deer during a nighttime drive n the backwoods of Southeast Texas that I do. I hope she never learns the fear that comes from having struck way too many deer during nighttime drives. After she was safely on the road, I went to NFG to meet with Terrill who was kindly saving me a seat. It was just beer and burger time, and we weren't there long. But, I was there without my camera. When I got home, I realized that I had left candles burning in my absence. My wife is a gardner, preferring candles to other forms of gardening which she also does with a great measure of skill. But, because of that, there is almost always a candle or two burning in the house. Normally I remember this, but a week outside the norm and you forget things. So, I came home to a candle burning. Instead of snuffing it as I would otherwise do, I took the opportunity to make my photo of the day:
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This candle is by Designs in Wax. They are, in my opinion, some of the very best candles you can buy. They last for an inordinately long time and the aroma is simply stunning. Joe and his wife handmake these candles year around, and at least once a year we try to stock up. You can get them at the Texas Renaissance Festival and Dickens on the Strand in Galveston, TX. I expect they're available elsewhere, too, but I know you can pick them up at these places.
Cheers.

~KR (9 November 2007)

Watching:
Manchester United v Blackburn
Score: 1 - 0 at 33:19
(Come on you Rovers!)

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 125
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: CANDLE, FLAME, WICK, DESIGNS+IN+WAX, MANCHESTER+UNITED, BLACKBURN, TRF, DICKENS+ON+THE+STRAND

Pump #7

8 November 2007
The week in MIA is over and I've arrived safely home. Terrill had parked at the airport so he got me back to South Arlington sparing my wife the drive and me the wait. I had originally planned to fly from MIA back to IAH for another weekend at faire, but the MIA trip wrapped up early, if not completely successfully, and we headed back to DFW. On some levels I expect Marita Beth was releaved to not have to drive back to IAH on Friday night; but I suspect she'd have rather that than me not going to TRF for the weekend. In South Arlington, I retrieved my car from Firestone and headed to get a beer with Terrill & MB at our favourite local, No Frills Grill. After that we headed home for some decompression, but made a much-needed stop at the petrol shop. Here's the sign above the pump I was using.

Brilliant, eh?
Cheers.

~KR (8 November 2007)

Watching Birmingham v Aston Villa
Current score: 1 - 2 at 93:37

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction

Tags: BIRMINGHAM, ASTON+VILLA, PETROL, NO+FRILLS+GRILL, PHOTOBLOG, CANON, MIA, DFW, IAH, TRF

The Hall

7 November 2007
Three days into Miami and I just want to go home. It's hot, humid and I desperately miss Marita Beth (and my dogs). Have I mentioned that the work we do is not very glamorous? Yeah. This is a photo of the hallway at the Marriott SpringHill Suites where we stayed this time. That's how exciting and wonderful my day was. This was the highlight.
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Actually, that's not true. I'm just being a little cynical. I did attend the President's Conference today which allowed me to see first hand, just how much smarter the CEO of my company is than the average union-brainwashed employee. That was fun. And, the MD of the area took us to dinner at the Catch of the Day. Sea Bass, yummy! Unfortunately, I had left my camera in the boot of Lou's hired car so was unable to take photos of those, the real highlights of the day.
Cheers.

~KR (7 November 2007)

Listening to:
The Tea by The Mudville Project
on Portico

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: MARRIOTT+SUITES, MIAMI, FLORIDA, THE+MUDVILLE+PROJECT, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

Palm Tree Sunset

6 November 2007
Like I said in my last post, what's a trip to Miami without a photo of a palm tree. Right? So, here's Palm Tree Deux.

The work we do is by no means glorious, glamorous or high-paying. But, sometimes, just sometimes, it's rewarded by moments like this. The sunsets in Miami can be just spectacular and when you couple those fleeting bits of time with the "good for the soul" palmtree, you get rare, and wonderful, moments. I'm only sorry Marita Beth couldn't be there to share it with me. Not that I'd ever really want to take her to Miami. The people there are mad, as in crazy-mad. I'm not sure I'd be happy with her trying to drive through the insanity that is Miami traffic while I'm at work in a terminal somewhere. She's a fantastic driver in and of herself. But I'm relatively sure that no one who lives in Miami is a sane driver. And that hypothesis is based on experience. So, while I'll take her pretty much anywhere in the world, I think she'll have to visit Miami through my photos. :-)
Cheers.

~KR (6 November 2007)

Listening to:
Hear our Prayer by Patrick O'Hearn
on El Dorado

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: MIAMI, FLORIDA, PALMTREE, PHOTOBLOG, CANON

A Miami Palmtree

5 November 2007

What would any trip to Miami be without a picture of a Palm Tree. We're staying at a different hotel this time around, and just outside the backdoor is a beautiful, if small, lake. Ringing the lake is, like pretty much every like in Miami, a series of Palm Trees. Now, I'm not much into the tropics. I'm not a water- or a sun-baby, so I don't get the fascination of Southern Florida. But, like Terrill says, "How can you not like palm trees? Palm trees are good for the soul." I agree. I think they're pretty. Cheers.

~KR (5 November 2007)

Listening to: Little Star by Madonna on Ray of Light

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400) Aperture: f/3.2 Focal Length: 7.5 mm ISO Speed: 400 Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

A Well-Dressed Shadow

3 November 2007
A beautiful day. A little warm, but beautiful nonetheless. I was awakened by the canon - the signal for the faire to start its day - and took my sweet time getting dressed. I wasn't working this day, so it didn't really matter when (or if) I dressed for a day at faire. Eventually I did, and wandered toward Excalibur to find that Joseph was working. Apparently, they were short-manned, so Joseph stepped up and helped out. While there, I had him help me (ok, he did ALL the work) get my spurs attached. As we (he) were working on this, Kara showed up. What a pleasant surprise that was. So, since Joseph was working, I went out and about with Kara. At some point, I lost her, I'm not really sure how. But, Lala was there to keep me company. How's that? Switching one beautiful companion for another. Hooray. I hung out with Lala the remainder of the day, making runs back and forth to the Odeon stage where she was playing poster-girl for Sound & Fury (an amazingly funny act!). During one of these visits, Arsene (an exceptional Parisian clown) commandeered her for the show. Oops, I hadn't planned on that, I was nealry out of beer. So, I went and stood in the long line for a couple of Shiner Bocks. While there, my shadow came out to play. This is him:
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A dapper chap, this shadow. He's wearing a seriously wonderful chapeau from Lion Heart Hats at Scarborough Faire adorned with natural feathers from Excalibur; a chemise purchased some 16 or 17 years ago at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival; a "brain-fart" doublet from Pendragon Costumes; a tight, but great looking pair of slashed trewes from Kelly at Wasited Efforts and a pair of dun-coloured tall boots from a company I shan't sully my blog with naming (although I love the boots, the newly-discovered business practices make me very unhappy). In the shadow's hand are a mug from Wondrous Works in Wood and a camera by Canon. He's a well-outfiitted chap, my shadow.
Cheers.

~KR (3 November 2007)

Sitting in a bar in MIA waiting for a ride

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: TRF, TEXAS+RENAISSANCE+FESTIVAL, COSTUME, TEXAS, FAIRES, CLOTHING, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

TRF by Night

2 November 2007
Friday. And during this time of the year, that means a trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival to prepare for the next days of hard work. Upon arrival, MB set to work, while I took my new camera out and toyed with some settings. I like the way this shot came out

It's a little blurry, but it shows the nighttime vista that our next door neighbour has spent so much time and money cultivating. It's very nice.
Cheers.

~KR (2 November 2007)

Not listening to anything at the moment

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 10 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: TEXAS, TRF, RENAISSANCE+FAIRE, FESTIVAL, FAIRE, SHOPPE, CANON, PHOTOBLOG