I'm not a Facebook fan, for the record. However, the popularity of the site means easy integration with many photo tools. One such tool is Lightroom coupled with the Facebook addon. We use this to quickly and easily post our album to Facebook.
Taking advantage of living in London, Ningning and I spent my birthday in Barcelona, Spain. Loved the Gaudi works! As one friend put it - a man that can make concrete flow like silk. Visiting Barcelona? You must visit The Sagrada Familia: Gaudi’s last work. Photos posted on Facebook. Watch an HD tour of the church - use the password silk.
Upgrading to the Canon 5D... needing a new laptop, monitor, HDTV, etc.? I have found TechBargains.com a great resource to find steals & deals or to research the lowest price.
These are amazing times in the film/video industry. In late 2008 Canon introduced the Canon 5d Mark II to the industry. The camera arrived as a digital SLR with a full-frame sensor AND it shot HD (1080p) video. What has been achieved since then? Many videographers and studios are starting to switch to the 5d for its VIDEO capabilities. A new "revolution" of HDSLRs was born with the 5d. What do people love? The amazing depth of field that the 5d brings (everything feels so in your face) and being able to shot incredible video with a small, lite, mobile package. That amazing, shallow DOF creates focus pulling problems which is the downside (and Canon chose not to output 1080p video while shooting... SD only).
I learned today that House's finale has been shot with the 5d. Wow! Greg Yaitanes, the exec. producer and also the director of the season finale of ‘House MD’ talks about shooting with the 5d in this interview. It is a good read for anybody using/considering the 5d.
Yes, Ningning and myself own one of these cameras and a few Canon L lenses. It is dramatic and fantastic what this little camera can do. This weekend we went away to Zushi (Japan) and took some biking video. Honestly, I am still learning the camera and that's taking away from "telling the story." But things are improving. The video will be online here soon. Stay tuned!
Want to see a personal example? We shot this Sakura video a couple weekends back entirely with the Canon 5d MKII. Enjoy and make sure to watch in HD.
UPDATE. I've returned from the Ukraine trip. In the span of about 10 days, went to Kiev, L'viv, Ukraine, Horodok, Ukraine, and the Carpathian Mountains. Was spectacular to see everybody again - both the team from the US and more importantly, Vitally/Lubimor and my other UA friends. Thanks for the good times!
Australia - Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns, Port Douglas
Ten days in the northern/eastern Australia sun! The thought alone will relax you. I was privileged to live it with three friends. Started out the journey in Tokyo. Our chariot was JetStar (think RyanAir or Southwest) direct Tokyo (NRT) to Cairns (CNS). The red-eye was comfortable and I got enough sleep - nothing fancy. We had a few hours in CNS before departing domestically for Brisbane (BNE). Caught up on sleep and was woken by some friendly police. (Somebody reported people sleeping outside the airport. Go figure.)
AUS Favorite Images in Brisbane and Gold Coast and Cairns
AUS Favorite Images in Cairns and Port Douglas
Gold Coast:
Stayed at the Sheraton Mirage, Gold Coast. Starwood has a great property here! The room was meters from the ocean, literally, 30m to the sand, surf, beach and cool, clear water. We explored the GC downtown - having dinner, shopping, and normal touristy things. The real fun came when we biked from north of surfer's paradise all the way down to Pt. Danger. Each way is about 30km. We did it in a day with plenty of stops and sight-seeing. Got to see cities like Palm Beach, Tugan, Currumbin, Coolangatta, Burleigh Heads, Broadbeach, etc. Also had a great trip inland. Spent a day visiting the rainforests and treking in/around Springbrook. Lunch was in the valley at Ninmimbah. Then we drove down to Byron Bay. Famous for its lighthouse, this hippie town is a great place to explore. Australia's most easterly mainland point is here. (Of course, we stood on the most easterly point.)
Brisbane:
Had two evenings in Brisbane. Spent one night hanging out with a colleague - and having dinner (JoJo) on Queen St. The other evening was with the Bea's family. They were super gracious hosts! Dinner and desert and even coffee were all specially prepared. The desert was a homemade Kiwi/Aussie favorite -- pavlova -- and we are still debating who created the desert first. After dinner we went to Mt. Cootah and then South Bank / Streets Beach in Brisbane. Streets Beach is a man-made beach smack-dab in the middle of downtown. Thanks to the whole family for making the evening special!
Port Douglas:
Flight from BNE to CNS was short and easy, even though it was super early AM. Another friend from Tokyo -- Ningning, who had been vacationing in Sydney -- met us at the airport. The three of us drove to Port Douglas approximately 70 km (40 mi) north of Cairns. ("Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin died at Batt Reef, off Port Douglas.) The drive is breathtaking. It reminded me of the coastline in Ayr, Scottland and coastal Route 1 in California. We stopped at Rex Overlook. Seems Rex Lookout is a favorite spot for "hangies" and "gliders". We got to witness several hang-gliders and one parasailer take off and fly up/down the beach. Quite a sight; quite a site.
We proceeded north to the Sheraton Mirage, Port Douglas. On the first day, we watched Hikaru fall in love with "high tea". Spent the afternoon exploring the beach and pools and then dinner in downtown. A highlight: playing cricket on the beach. We three were walking along and came across 4 Indian's playing cricket. They invited us to play. Hikaru, Ningning and I took turns being the batter, bowler, and fielder. Pretty cool experience. Next morning, the pool and beach were home. Daintree Forest and Mossman Gorge were visited in the afternoon. Site seeing over, we drove back to Cairns and met-up with Sherley.
A few days later we were back in Port Douglas to go diving the Great Barrier Reef - the largest coral reef system in the world! All four of us went out on Poseidon - a catamaran based in Port Douglas. Ningning and Sherley snorkeled while Hikaru and I dove. The diving was done on Agincourt Reef about 39 nautical miles [72 kilometres] from port. Cruising to the reef took about 1.5 hours in rough seas. Some of us will remember that cruise more favorably than others. :) Diving was pretty spectacular; each dive was at depths around 16m @ ~40min dive time. Got to see coral, large fish - and one noteworthy shark! The girls had a great time snorkeling, too. Even Ningning -- who wasn't real sure of the snorkeling idea - did great. The cruise back to port was uneventful, well, for three of us. :) Please see the pictures! There are also 2 videos available in the extended entry.
Diving Agincourt Reef at the Great Barrier Reef
Cairns:
Tourism is Cairns' primary income source followed by sugar production. There wasn't much to do in Cairns - we did some shopping, cooked an Aussie barbie at the flat, and toured the local downtown and port. But otherwise we took day trips... to Kuranda, north to visit Palm Cove, relaxed on the beach near Palm Cove, and took in the Cairns Tropical Zoo. My birthday fell on a day while we were in Cairns. We celebrated with a barbie and then the 3 others surprised me with a Tiramisù cake - really appreciated!
Kuranda: Village in the Rainforest is Kuranda's motto. We took the scenic railway to/from Kuranda. The rail-line passes through the Cairns' valley, up past waterfalls, and around the Barron Gorge. In Kuranda, a small tourist town, you can visit several small zoo/nature preserves and the Kuranda Heritage Markets.
AUS Favorite Images in Brisbane and Gold Coast and Cairns
The space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven soared into orbit today, headed for a March 17 docking with the International Space Station. We were out playing baseball and saw the shuttle launch!
My sister sent out this photo of Cari - my little niece. Too cute! The Visa card is subtle; the face indicates she wants to be out shopping. Typical girl :)
Can you imagine - a World Series game in St. Pete, Florida? And more impressive, the Rays are playing in the World Series! Wow. Tampa just knocked off the Red Sox (after beating the White Sox). Now game 1 is in St. Petersburg at the Trop.
Caleb (my bro-in-law) came down. Without tickets in hand, we headed to the stadium. Thankfully, a previous colleague taught me the art of scalping tickets. (Thanks Scott!) Stubhub was selling tickets at 3 and 4 times face. Humm. Not a good sign but Stubhub is always more than reality. (My rant about how much I hate ticket brokers and Stubhub will come at a later time. To all you who got burned by buying extra tickets in hopes of selling them for big bucks -- I hope you lost your shirts!)
We started walking around talking to everyone. MLB had setup a "scalping area" around the stadium but later closed it down. Brokers, sellers, and buyers were all at Ferg's. Quickly we found some black guy who wanted to sell us row "A2" seats for 2x face. No thank you. (A2, I don't believe, even exists.) We found a couple who wanted to sell good lower deck seats for 2+x face - over $500 USD, each. No thank you. Around Ferg's we found a ton of tickets. Lots of people were selling - suites for face, uppers for 2x face and less, lowers and press box for 2x face and up. Let's just say that people were selling but I didn't see anybody buying. Finally, we found a guy with section 106 tickets (darn good seats!!!) for face. He had bought them that day for his daughter-in-law and granddaughter but they couldn't make the game. Our luck. He just wanted face for them. Sold!
Watching Game 1 of the 2008 World Series in Tampa in section 106, row N was absolutely an amazing experience!!! Gov. Charlie Christ was sitting in the same row just a few seats over. The atmosphere was electrifying. The cowbells were loud. The fans beside us were all season ticket holders -- quality Rays fans.
If just Tampa had won. The Phillies beat them 3-2. (Full article is below.) Take a look at the photos.
Flew back from Japan and spent the night visiting with my parents in D.C. Saturday we went to the Air and Space Museum near IAD. Wow, what a large impressive place. Take a look at the Enterprise Space Shuttle panarama photos...
Went and watched a "footy" (rugby) match today. Local team, Sydney Rabbitohs stunned the Manly Sea Eagles 40-32!!! It was quite an upset.
"Manly skipper Matt Orford labelled today's 40-32 loss to South Sydney as the worst defeat in his time at the club as the Sea Eagles handed top spot and minor premiership favouritism over to defending NRL champions Melbourne.
Orford was dumfounded by his side's inept display in which the Sea Eagles conceded 40 points for the first time in almost three years, especially as it came just a week after they pushed the Storm all the way in a brutal contest at Brookvale Oval."
Today I took a rest from city life and made the 2.5 hour trek / ~110 kms west to the Blue Mountains. (Called the Blue Mountains because from Sydney they look blue.) The rails are being worked on this weekend past Blacktown. That meant train to Blacktown then bus to Katoomba. Not a bad ride, actually, as they used charter buses between Blacktown-Katoomba. And I got to see the highways and byways.
The mountains themselves are not what is special -- it is the deep valley's between that make the hills look like mountains. "The range rivals the Rockies in length, but nowhere near in height." Spectacular views can be obtained while hiking all over the hills. (See the photo set below!) NSW park system is very similar to USA based parks/forest services. All the trails and stairs were well constructed.
"Katoomba: Katoomba is the largest town in the Blue Mountains though it was unknown until the Katoomba Coal Mine opened in 1879. Named after the Aboriginal tribe which inhabited the area, it is home to the most famous site in the mountains - the Three Sisters. Legend has it they were three beautiful young women who had fallen in love with three men from the Nepean tribe from the foothills."
I took the train/bus combo to Katoomba then walked the 1-2kms to the Three Sisters/Echo point. My trek started with several lookouts, Prince Henry cliff walk, then onward down the Furber Steps. Saw the Katoomba falls, walked along Federal pass and Dardanelles Pass. That lead to the Giant Stairway - 900 stairs that take you from the valley base to the top of the mountain. At the top is the three sisters rock formation.
There is a Ruined Castle nearby (you can see it from the hilltops). That bushwalk is a full-day. Wish I had known about that earlier because I would have gone earlier, taken a lunch, and completed that hike.
Walked back into town, ate, and went back to Sydney. The legs were tired -- the steam room and sauna and jacuzzi felt so good! See inside the extended entry for several Blue Mountain links.
Bobby, Kim, Alex and I went and watched the Red Bull Flugtag competition today. News article and images recap the event below.
A record crowd of 110,000 gathered down by the bay to witness 35 teams launch their human-powered flying machines at Red Bull Flugtag Tampa Bay. It was the first craft of the day, local team Tampa Baywatch, that took home top prize with their hotter-than-"The Hoff" skit and a flight distance of 109 feet. "We knew we were going to fly, but we weren't sure how far. We were all freaking out a little bit being the first team off with over 100,000 people watching you. It's just amazing -- once in a lifetime," said Tampa Baywatch pilot, Keith Humphrey, who was joined on the flight deck by his twin, Kevin Humphrey, and teammates Chris Elmore, David West and Kevin Riley.
Red Bull's Flugtag competition came to Tampa Bay today. What is Flugtag? Teams build "air"craft and "fly" them off a ramp into the water. The flight is preceded by some show. Flight time/distance get measured and determine the winner. Several friends and I went to Bayshore, Tampa, and watched the event. (110,000 were estimated to be in attendance!)
What better place to celebrate America's independence then in Paris. (big grin) Here are some photos from a recent weekend trip - over 4th of July holiday - to Paris and Cergy, France. Thanks to Gabe's family for letting me stay with them!
Visiting Gabe and Family in Cergy and Paris France
Garrison Keillor - A Prairie Home Companion at Wolf trap
Mom, dad and I saw Garrison Keillor - and the Prairie Home Companion show - at Wolf Trap today.
The show was broadcast live from the Filene Center at Wolf Trap, America's national park for the performing arts in Vienna, Virginia. Special guests included poet laureate Billy Collins, Canadian singers and songwriters The Wailin' Jennys, and joining The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, the amazing "Shoe Horns" of Dave Bargeron, Jon-Erik Kellso, and Scott Robinson. Also on the show, the Royal Academy of Radio Acting: Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman, The News From Lake Wobegon, and many more.
