Lakes, Skies, Winters and Work.

I wonder if that lake really is that blue? Or if it's just dirty rotten photoshop tricks! Either way, it's certainly nice to look at... here, I have another, from a different angle...

Actually, that isn't the same lake, is it... Is it? The features are similar, but I'm having a hard time matching exact features. Must be a different lake in the same general area...

Greetings, y'all! How's life treatin' ya? Good, I hope. Things are mellow here. That'll change once I pick the rest of the Wagner Women up at the airport on Saturday. Then it'll be back to normal (read: crazy) around here. It's been nice and quiet here this week, for which I am grateful. But it will be nice to have the fam back again.

Kind of uneventful, really. Wish I had some fascinating tidbit to share with you. Just normal life stuff. I've been able to sleep in my own bed this week, which is terrific. Implementing new systems at work, which looks promising. Getting a (difficult) hold on my freelance graphics responsibilities, which is rather grueling. And just chilling.

I better dip into my go-to bag of goodies and see what I have for you tonight...

Everything I'm reading about this next video is in a language I don't understand, lol. It's pretty self-explanatory. A few thousand people all releasing these little paper lanterns into the air at the same time.



Must be amazing to see in person. Must not be fire season in that part of the world.

Here's another "sky event" video, this time in reverse. Looks like a couple gliders release a few thousand LED lights attached to streamers over what looks like a big music festival of some kind, to very cool effect.



Also one of those things that likely is amazing to see in person, but only so-so in film. Like anything, I suppose. Take the pics of that lake up at the top of this post. Such is the nature of pictures, I suppose, that only a limited glimpse is available. I remember the first time I went snowboarding up at Lake Tahoe, at Heavenly, and when we went down the main lift toward the parking area... as we started the long descent down the face of the mountain, the whole lake just appeared in front of me, literally filling my vision to the edges of my peripheral sight on both sides, and the ground dropped away beneath me. It was stunning - I felt like I was floating in another realm or something. I tried taking pictures the next day, but that sense of overwhelming awe couldn't possibly come through in a photo.

Anyway, those two video clips are like that, I'm sure. Way cooler in person.

There's a similar distinction, I think, between watching film and watching a live play. Two different beasts entirely, I know... but there's something about seeing something performed live that is impossible to convey in video form.

Theater acting and film acting are completely different arts. You can be infinitely more subtle on film. You have to be full intensity on stage, or else you'll appeal to no one beyond the first few rows. If you want to see an incredible study of this, watch a movie called The Dresser, with Albert Finney and Tom Courteney. Two amazing, Oscar-nominated performances.

Let's see... what else have I got? Lemme check my drawer...

Oops, wrong drawer...

Speaking of animals in strange places, check out this X-ray...

I thought they normally bury their heads in the sand...

I'm still not reading anything substantial lately. I've casually read numerous "free samples" that I've downloaded for my Kindle app (fantasy/sci-fi stuff) but nothing that really wowed me enough to buy the full book yet. But that's a problem I won't have for much longer... A Dance With Dragons will be messily devoured by me, very soon. I've purposely tried to avoid reading any reviews on blogs to this point, except to try and get an over-all sense of whether the book is good or not. So far, from what I've carefully gleaned, the consensus is very positive, and apparently there are several bombshells I can look forward to (woot!)... Can't wait!

Figures... I finally take down the sidebar link to the TV Legends YouTube site on the right side of my blog over there, and then I find an interview to link to! If you're a fan of Jonathan Winters, you will definitely find his interview series fascinating. Here's a sample clip, and here is the site with the full interview, if you've got a couple hours to kill... He's traveled quite a road.

Well, I suppose that's enough for now. I better get back to work...

Wish me luck!

Adios,

Dave the Luckless

Shoes, Food, and Star Wars... Everything A Person Needs...

Be sure to click that panorama shot and see it bigger. That's a pretty stunning view, methinks. I don't mind the people further back the trail (to give it a sense of scale) but I find the person up close distracting for some reason... anyway, certain pictures like this I label with the word "novel" as I archive them, since they inspire me, as far as potential places I want to put in my fantasy novel... I see a pic like that, and I just "see" stuff happening there. Now if I could just make sense of it and get it on paper...

So I spent a long weekend in Albuquerque visiting the in-laws. Wifey and two-thirds of the Wagner Kiddos were out there already, and they will remain through the ninth. Eldest stayed here throughout.

Had a good time; I'm glad I went. (Nice semi-colon use there, eh? Eh?) The highlight of the trip I cannot share with you (MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!) and, sadly, the rest was not blog-worthy enough to elaborate upon. Bottom line, it was cool to see Wifey's siblings and mum... and Uncle James' shoe collection...

I know he looks sad and/or bummed, but I snapped the pic before he was ready, so it's my fault. There aren't many people I know that smile more than James. He's a good egg. AND he's a manager at a Foot Locker in ABQ... and a bit of a shoe collector... makes Wifey's collection look small (almost). I guess you could say shoe collecting "runs" in the family! BUAHAHAHA!!!!

And now, Furious Pete eating a 750g jar of Nutella in 2.5 minutes...



4,000 calories, 200g fat, 400g sugar. I've never tasted the stuff; looks kinda gross to me. (There's another semi-colon for ya, woohoo!) Furious Pete has some other great videos, if you like that sort of thing. He's rapidly becoming my favorite competitive eater...

I tell ya, the more I lurk around the competitive eating world, the more amazed I am by the sheer volume of drama - and I mean the eaters as well as the fans. I'm enjoying it immensely, actually. There seem to be some genuinely insane people in the CE world - both fans and competitors. I love it. Of course, I grew up a wrestling fan, so I suppose I'm pre-conditioned to enjoy the sport of CE... something about the equal parts of "disgusting" and "amazing"...

I watched the big Nathan's Hot Dog Eating event on ESPN on the fourth, as it unfolded, which was cool. And of course, the event itself was overshadowed (for me) by all of the accompanying drama. I won't get into it here. If you want to catch a glimpse, check out EatFeats (not just the stories/articles, but the comments as well! That's the best part!)

Hey! A Funny Pic that ties together the last two topics! Yeah, I'm clever like that...

OK, shifting gears a bit...

I met with my new personal trainer today. Yep, it's time to get in shape. You know, I hate to beat a dead horse here, but there really is something to this whole "midlife crisis" thing. Of all the near-overwhelming urges I've felt over the past year (buy a new car, get teeth fixed, get a tattoo, run screaming down the street pulling out my hair, etc.) I think the one that makes the most long-term sense is to try and get in better shape. It may seem odd to pay for a personal trainer when Wifey could easily fill that role with the knowledge and experience she has, but the fact that I basically live with a personal trainer has never really helped motivate me to act on that. Too much between us, I suppose...

So, I like this guy, and the facility is terrific, and best of all, it's right by the rug shop. I can walk there, work out for an hour, clean up, walk back, and leave the shop at the time I normally would. I'll work with him twice a week, at least through the end of the year. Then maybe I'll look better on the outside.

The inside is another matter altogether. But I have a plan of attack for that as well. I'll elaborate on that another time...

And now, turn up your speakers and enter the "music time-machine"...



Ah, I love it.... I think the music and sound effects made Star Wars the movie it was, as much as anything else.

Here's a couple Star Wars-related pictures that have been languishing in my archive. Might as well drop them in here...

Would you wear that? You would earn the admiration of nerds everywhere! Geek Chic...

That kid's dad = Dad of the Year...

It's almost July 11th! You know what that means! I know, I know... it's Middle Daughter's 16th birthday, but I mean, other than that! YES! The 10-year wait will be over! A Dance with Dragons will be released! Woohoo! I will get it the day it comes out, and dive straight in. I hope I remember to stop to sleep and eat... and breathe...

OK, well, I suppose I should get back to work on the newsletters for my clients, which are late again. Dangit. One more goofy picture and I'm out...

Adios for now;

Dave the Semicolon

Don't July To Me!

Well, a series of odd technical difficulties have prevented me from updating the blog before I left town. I won't bore (either of) you with the details. Had some stuff to share, guess I'll save it for when I return on the 4th. I'm writing this from my iPad in Albuquerque! Gee, aren't I tricky? If I can get a chance to fire up the laptop and get a decent connection, maybe I'll update sooner.

Have a great weekend, y'all.

Stomping Grounds, Accent on the Stomping...

Greetings, eh. Back from camp; back into the real world. 5 days away from civilization, in extreme isolation... of course, that's not the full truth. I had my iPad, which proved to be very useful in distracting myself from the compounded weight of the camp sub-plot that involved me. And I had my cell phone, and laptop... about the only aspect of civilization that I lacked was Starbucks, so really, it wasn't much different from my normal routine...

Camp was a positive experience. I alternately filmed and napped.  A highlight was, of course, setting the camera aside and tromping around the paintball course, though I only have two and a half battle wounds to show for it. It was only 5v5, among which were a couple timid squatters, so the action was unfortunately rather light. Sounds semi-masochistic, but I wanted to get pummeled. There's something indescribably satisfying about strolling up on a crouching teammate who's hunkered behind a barricade, walking full upright and steady up to his position, in full view, with poorly-aimed paintballs flying around me, while I ask "where is he?" about the enemy, and then moving forward inexorably, firing at (and pinning down) the enemy gunmen as I methodically close the distance, to destroy them, flush them out, or get pummeled in the attempt. I simply cannot hide, or stop moving. Just stomp forward, onward, moving, shooting, slowly, relentlessly... I savor it.

And now, as much as I would love to shift this line of thought skillfully into a personal parallel and elaborate upon the far more important battle I waged (and still wage) inside, I will instead, with great restraint, leave it at that.

Camp is over for the year. Now all that remains is steeling myself for the hours that will need to go into this year's camp video.

Too bad I didn't have one of these cameras with me...



That's kind of creepy, actually. Creepy-cool. Has kind of a sci-fi feel to it, in my opinion... like that machine in Bladerunner that could examine a photo, moving around in the background of the pic, zooming WAY in, around corners, to reveal what was unseen in the original picture...

Now THAT is funny...

Lemme see, what else do I have saved up here to show you?

Three guesses as to what the caption to this picture should be...

I'm not really feeling it tonight. I've run out of steam. Let me regroup and hit up a new post after the weekend. Just wanted to hop on and check in, really.

Dave Moot