Thursday, August 30, 2007
Pig Out In The Park
Took the kids to Riverfront Park and the annual Pig Out in the Park celebration held over the Labor Day weekend. Caught the Shook Twins. They were very good. I was especially impressed with their use of loops, i.e., recording short instrumental and vocal parts, looping them so they're in time with the song and then playing over them.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Take a Stand Day - Spokane
Lunar Eclipse
Stephanie and her cousin, Kalilah, visiting from Illinois agreed beforehand to be awakened at 3:00 am so they could see the eclipse in its totality phase. Josh was understandably not keen on that since he had done the one-hour run and was pretty tired. The girls thought it was worth it. The moon was a copper color. I tried to take some pictures with a 300mm lense and the ISO set to 1600, but the exposure time still allowed for the moon to move ever so slightly. Oh, for some really high-end equipment. Maybe when I win the lottery--but I have to buy a ticket which only slightly increases my odds of winning, eh?
Monday, August 27, 2007
Moonlight Hour Run
Sunday, August 26, 2007
From Where I Sit
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Remember Gopher?
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
A Freethinker's Lament
Bring out both love and hate
As they try to explain what life means.
I look and I see
They make no sense to me.
They don't answer much of life's schemes.
If you live by these rules
Then everything's cool
Yet many of us can't agree.
Were they given in love
From a power above
Or were they some leader's decrees?
Many people of science
Who put their reliance
On what they have learned to be true
Set aside what they know
For the "truth" they are told
Lies in Genesis 1 and 2.
I know I'd appreciate
If you people of faith
Worry not that I'll go to hell.
Sure, pray and sing songs
But we'd all get along
If you'd accept that I think for myself.
We live and we die
And there's no reason why
And there are plenty of faiths for your choosin'.
But I think that it's odd
That you think there's a god
Who gave us some brains to not use 'em.
Not as polished as I'd like it to be, but it gets the point across.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
A Travesty of our Justice System
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Riverfront Park Pavilion
Great Kids
CEO Suicide
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Meteor Shower
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Barry Bonds...
Just Havin' Some Fun
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Cycling the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes
Josh rode my Trek and Kathy rode her Giant.
We started in Plummer and rode to Harrison and back. It was a beautiful ride.
Crossing the lake on the old railroad bridge was a treat. We saw numerous osprey and a couple of bald eagles. One osprey hit the water right next to us but came up empty taloned.
Along the way we discovered this interesting piece of art along side the lake. Cool!
We found a great ice cream shop in Harrison. A single scoop in a waffle cone costs a little over three bucks. But the waffle cone is packed with ice cream. This was the high point of the ride for the kids. And we needed the energy boost because we had a headwind the entire 15 miles back.
Terrorists Not Welcome at Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center
I guess if I was a determined Taliban-Islamofascist-Shiite-Sunni or other of the innumerable possibilities that would be characterized as an Al-Qaeda-type terrorist, I would be a female with a newborn in an explosive-laden child carrier. Come on, it's a visitor center. If they have anti-aircraft missiles they are well hidden. Say, maybe those lasers for the laser show are actually dual purpose.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Ross Lake
Josh and I went to Ross Lake last Wednesday. We canoed six miles along calm waters to our first camp site at Rainbow Point. The mountains surrounding the lake are beautiful. Rainbow Point has three camp sites so we shared the spot with several other people.
The next morning we hiked along the East Bank Trail to May's Creek.
Later the wind kicked up pretty strong and we had to paddle three miles over rough waters to Devil's Junction. The wind, although coming from behind, kept catching the canoe and trying to turn us sideways. Every once in a while a big wave would splash us. It was just a little frightening for both of us. Along the way we stopped in at Devil's Creek. The waters were calm there so we rested and glided up the creek. It was awesome. After a snack we headed back out on the lake and went the last mile to Devil's Junction. It's a single camp site so we had the place to ourselves. The next day we paddled nine miles back. Fortunately the winds were calm so it was an easy three-hour paddle.