There Was One???

I am a little groggy after having been up at 0200Hrs to watch the eclipse, but it was worth it. What a sight. I managed to get a couple pictures though not all turned out that well.

Looked for the Moon and got the Bird

watched eagerly for the eclipse but was rather disappointed. The moon did turn a bit dingy looking, but the air quality here in the "Valley of the Smudge" could easily account for the yellowish appearance. The light from the moon was a bit much for my Canon S3 so all I got were bright white lights, though I did capture a nice picture of one of the streetlights, just to the left of the moon. Odd how one blur of light resembles another while trying to focus a camera.

I did take the Leica out, but it is an old school camera so I have to use up the film, get it processed, and see what comes out, if anything. I had help with the exposures, but without a cable release the camera shakes as you take the picture and I am afraid all I may have some photos of blurry lights

All was not wasted, I was able to capture a couple of late evening forays by our Costa’s hummingbird and a young female at the feeder.

I talked a bit about carbon usage and found a calculator. It isn’t the best as it only accounts for travel and power usage in the house, no charcoal or wood burning. I think a reasonable person, even if he or she didn’t buy off on humans as a factor in Global Warming would at least want to minimize their part in wasting resources. The compact fluorescent bulb everyone is yakking about is one of those examples. You may not worry about carbon, but wouldn’t it be nice to cheat the electric company out of some of your hard earned money? Since money trumps right, according to our vaunted leader, then do it for the cash if not for the sake of your kids.

Side Note: I was going to go for the cliché and put a picture of a soap box here, but search as I might I couldn’t find one on the Net. There were some gift boxes, to be sure but nothing I could stand on. There were Soap Box Derby cars I could sit in, but that misses the mark. I could have used a peach crate, but they are rather flimsy, especially for a fat dude like me. That would just end badly. So you will have to settle for this rambling excuse vice a picture of Phos on his soap box. My profound apologies for this disappointment.

A Mélange from Tiny House

Quiet day today so thought I would take a moment and point out some interesting sites or sights, either way. There is some cutting edge art out there, all viewable from the comfort of your own home, no fee to enter the gallery - I mean come now, it doesn’t get any better then that. Try walking into the local art gallery without any pants on and see what happens. With these galleries no shoes, no shirt, no service is out the window. Along with the comfort factor you’ll be treating your senses to some thought provoking pieces. You may even feel your IQ climb a notch or two, but no guarantees. It is a rare opportunity on the net today to see something besides porn. These art sites actually provide something useful and cultural.

REMIX

CODEPO()

CRISSKROSS

Gnat's Glass

The Jewelry Godess

I am sure there are lots of others out there. You are assured of meeting lots of interesting people by following the links on my page, and following links on theirs, and on and on.

Make sure you look up at Moonrise on 3 Mar. Most places will be able to see a Lunar Eclipse. Head to this site to see what the coverage is like in your area, or check your local news site and once you get past who is leading the pack in American Idol, you may actually find something on the eclipse, or not. I am going to try to take some pictures and have been practicing the last few nights. Hopefully it will all work out – now if I could only get my neighbor to shut off his back light.

Lots of talk about carbon footprints since an Inconvenient Vice President got an Oscar for “Best Action with a Tube Sock”. I know I am going to owe nanuk lots of Laprohaig for the carbon I inject into the atmosphere every time I fire up ol’ Smokey. I use lump charcoal, nearly pure carbon, and toss in hickory or mesquite chunks to boot. And I grill a lot. I have toyed with the idea of switching to propane, but I really love the way the grill cooks and the taste the smoke imparts. On the other hand the air in Phoenix is the worst and with everyone driving and building and burning wood it isn’t going to get any better. Americans have a penchant for locating cities in the worst places. A huge city such as Phoenix and environs in the middle of a desert and down in a bowl to boot is not the optimal placement for any city.