 |
Just a quick update so you guys at least know we're alive and doing well.
I've started playing around with Flickr, the photo sharing site and have a few photosets there:
Astrophotography
Ark-La-Tex Star Party - a really, really long post is partially written and coming that will give context to these photos
Hot Springs National Park - from a water run we made last weekend, with hopefully more pictures to come from future trips
Clouds - mostly taken with my tiny little pocket digital camera
This way I won't have to clutter up my blog with all these photos you may have no interest in; I can just link over to Flickr.
I had heard about Amazon's new digital video service, but also heard it was heavily DRM encumbered. (I expected no less.) Then I got an email from Amazon featuring the CGI-enhanced origional Star Trek episodes. It still didn't interest me until I scrolled down the email and saw... Doctor Who. I am weak. They have selected sets of episodes from every regeneration, including some incredible episodes I haven't seen, like The Talons of Weng Chiang, most of the Key to Time season, Caves of Androzani and Ghost Light. I also made the mistake of mentioning this to Carolaina. I am weak. We may have to try out this "service" with the Carolaina's favorite, the first Doctor, with the episodes, The Aztecs, even though I would much rather buy a DVD and rip video that I could keep.
[Post a Comment]
On the drive home yesterday, these interesting clouds were off to the west. They must have been the trailing clouds from the cold front that came through a couple of days ago. They also appeared to be very high up.
[Post a Comment]
weekend and pictures (Tuesday, September 5, 2006 - 12:36:41 PM)
[Post a Comment]
|
Despite some notable exceptions, we had a pretty good weekend. First, though, take a look at this wonderful sunset picture I took on the way home last Tuesday (8-29-2006). This is exactly why I wanted my own highly portable little digital camera. I always want to be able to catch scenes like this when I'm driving.
For lunch on Saturday, we went to Grandpa's BBQ and the food was incredible as usual. I got a couple of pictures of Carolaina while there, but (while interesting) neither of them were worth posting here.
That afternoon we attended a wedding of a couple of friends of ours from our weekly game night. Christina and Jerrod were married on the day of our 7th anniversary! The ceremony took place at a beautiful park-like area at someone's home north of the county. Here's a couple of the better pictures my little camera was able to get:
Christina & Jerrod's Wedding 9-2-2006 |
|
The happy couple after the ceremony |
Earlier in the day, we had bought me a suit to wear to formal functions like these. We got pictures of me wearing it after the wedding using Carolaina's better digital camera. It seems I clean up well! I'll try to post one of those pictures soon.
Yesterday we spent a few hours over at Woolly Hollow State Park to celebrate our anniversary. She was feeling a little tired, so we didn't do the paddle boats or trails, but we did walk around a little bit and enjoyed lunch and hanging out at the pier. I now wish I had gotten pictures from the park.
We will be attending a regional star party at the end of the month, the Ark-La-Tex Star Party hosted by the Red River Astronomy Club. I am so looking forward to this event. This weekend, we had bought a couple of LED flashlights that I had hoped to convert to use red LEDs for the party. I held off on buying the second one until I was sure I could convert the first. After minor frustrations with it on Sunday afternoon, I was successfull! The little flashlight now gives a beautiful red beam--perfect for star parties. Yesterday morning I went back and bought the second flashlight and successfully converted it, after going through two other red LEDs. We should now be set for the star party.
[Post a Comment]
|
You Are Rowlf the Dog
|
Mellow and serious, you enjoy time alone cultivating your talents.
You're a cool dog, and you always present a relaxed vibe.
A talented pianist, you can play almost anything - especially songs by Beethoven.
"My bark is worse than my bite, and my piano playing beats 'em both."
|
|
Your Element Is Air
|
You dislike conflict, and you've been able to rise above the angst of the world.
And when things don't go your way, you know they'll blow over quickly.
Easygoing, you tend to find joy from the simple things in life.
You roll with the punches, and as a result, your life is light and cheerful.
You find it easy to adapt to most situations, and you're an open person.
With you, what you see is what you get... and people love that!
|
|
You Should Spend Your Summer in the Mountains
|
You're quiet, introspective, and a great thinker.
You need a summer vacation that gets you away from the crowds and the heat.
So retreat to the mountains, where you can clear your head.
|
I guess I should be pleased at the results of this one:  Your Score Summary
Overall, you scored as follows:
46% scored higher (more nerdy), and
54% scored lower (less nerdy).
What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:
Somewhat nerdy. I mean face it, you are nerdier than about half the test takers.
[View 2 Comments or
Post a Comment]
recent astrophotography (Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 12:48:30 PM)
[Post a Comment]
|
My astrophotography skills have been steadily improving ever since I've started and have been slowly getting equipment for it. The best photo I've gotten of Jupiter so far was taken a month ago. I know this isn't quite so recent, but since I've started attempting to collimate the scope, Jupiter photos keep getting ruined.
I managed to get quite a bit of detail. This is impressive considering that the scope hadn't had any kind of collimation done to it at this point.
Jupiter on 8-5-2006 |
- taken with a Celestron NexImage webcam
- 10 fps for 90 seconds using AMCap
- stacked & processed in Registax
- used 284 frames out of 810
- unsharp filter & two despeckle passes in Paint Shop Pro
|
Last night, after failing to get anything worth looking at from Jupiter, I decided to get a couple of shots of the Moon. It was there, nearly at half, and I was there so I thought, "why not?"
Moon on 8-30-2006 |
- taken with a Celestron NexImage webcam
- 10 fps for 90 seconds using AMCap
- stacked & processed in Registax in B&W mode
- used 251 frames out of 590
- cropped & reduced from 640x480 in Paint Shop Pro
|
 |
- taken with a Celestron NexImage webcam
- 10 fps for 90 seconds using AMCap
- stacked & processed in Registax in B&W mode
- used 258 frames out of 900
- cropped & reduced from 640x480 in Paint Shop Pro
|
[Post a Comment]
|
|
