365 / 28: Gruene Hall

How about a little local flavor for today's 365 photo? Here is the legendary live music venue Gruene Hall, smack dab in the middle of downtown Gruene, Texas. They've decked it out for the holidays with a wreath right there amidst the famed logo.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm

Lisa On Location Photography

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365/27: Canon EF 50mm 1.8 mark I

I spent today home sick, trying to sleep off sinus congestion and a nasty sore throat. I'm better now, thanks. But hovering in the house all day put a crimp in my 365 photo acquisition. I suspect "pictures of the lenses I use" will become my go-to feature when I don't have anything else better to run, but hey, a least you folks get to see the cool toys Lisa and I play with. This here is a personal favorite of mine: The Canon EF 50mm 1.8 mark I. The (good) optics are the same as the current EF 50mm 1.8 mark II lens available for around $120, but the build quality of the lens is much better. I believe the autofocus in the older model lens is slightly faster and more accurate, but more importantly, it has a easy-to-use manual focus ring, which is something the newer version can't claim. I bought this lens used back when I first started getting serious about infrared photography. Ever since my Rebel XTi was converted to full-time infrared, it's become my absolute favorite go-to lens for portraits. From my vantage point, it's an even better performer in infrared than in visible light. It's a workhorse, and one of the oldest EF lenses Canon ever produced: Judging from the serial number on it, it rolled out of the factory a month or so before the first EOS cameras became available for sale in the U.S. That makes it at least 25 years old, and still earning it's keep.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Aerosmith Music from Another Dimension
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365 / 26: Tatonka

Through a series of unfortunate events which I'll not bore you with, I spent today in Cuero, banging my head into a proverbial wall. On the way home, my Picture Of The Day was the furthest thing from my mind. So much so that when I drove past the woman parked on the side of the road taking pictures of buffalo grazing in the nearby pasture, the only thing that crossed my mind was, "She's got a nice lens. That looks like the Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L." About a mile later, the lightbulb went off in my head, and I turned around to get today's shot.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon FD 500mm f/8 reflex

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: The Kinks Live in London, 1973-1977
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365 / 25: Black walnuts

I love the very idea of Texas black walnuts. Yes, they're good to eat, but they've never been a popular home orchard or commercial crop simply because they're too darn hard to get at! They've got one of the thickest shells of any nut in the natural world, and even squirrels have to put in quite a bit of effort to gnaw through all that hard wood armor. But they're lovely trees, and I will always find them fascinating.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Jefferson Airplane The Worst of Jefferson Airplane
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365 / 24: Stuffed squash

So with the Thanksgiving holiday and all, a craving for stuffed acorn squash came over me (Lisa's not such a big fan of the winter squashes, but hey, she wasn't cooking dinner, I was). I made this a few times years ago, until I accidentally burned them one meal, and haven't fixed the dish since. In fact, I lost the recipe. But thanks to the miracle of the interwebz, I poked around and found a couple of appealing vegetarian recipes (since Monkey Girl doesn't do the meat thing), combined the most likely elements of them and produced a new and original stuffed acorn squash recipe, with portabella mushrooms, wild rice, quinoa, spinach, feta cheese and some other stuff. The verdict? Not bad. There are some things I'd do differently next time, and a few things to add to bring out the flavors more, but all in all it's a dish I'll certainly revisit in the future.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Jefferson Airplane The Worst of Jefferson Airplane
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365 / 23

Whew! Shooting a wedding makes it quite a challenge to get in a 365 photo project shot. You just get all photographed out. "But wait," you might say. "If you were shooing a wedding, can't you just use one of those photos?" Ah, but the whole point of the 365 challenge was to start taking photos that weren't work-related. In the rules Lisa laid down on Day One, neither of us can use images from a paid photo session. Which mean no weddings (although, technically, I could probably use the shots I took since Lisa's pretty chintzy when it comes to paying me--don't tell her I said that, okay?).

In any event, I was feeling pretty uninspired. Some hay bale-by-moonlighet shots I tried didn't come out at all, and a few other options I rushed and wasn't satisfied with. We'll try those again at a later date. Tonight, boring though it may be, my 365 image is the view down my Newtonian telescope's optical tube. I'll try to do better tomorrow. Promise.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 22: Nuts

Today we went to Columbus to celebrate a belated Thanksgiving with my Mom and brother Chris. Such are the compromises you make when you've got two sets of relatives to juggle and keep happy. Today was also Monkey Girl's 14th birthday, which Lisa so eloquently covered in her preceding post.

Visiting Columbus is always bittersweet for me, because it drives home the fact that my happy childhood memories have been supplanted by family conflict. The old homestead has been neglected as an outgrowth of this, and while Chris does his best to fix and maintain what he can, it's more than one person (or really, several people) can handle. The fact that he lives in Waco and I live in New Braunfels doesn't help matters any. Today, he and I took a walk in the sprawling back yard, figuring out out to protect the fig trees (which I'd planted for Mom last year) from deer, and what to do with some of the old outbuildings that have fallen into serious disrepair. As we walked under the pecan trees our Dad had planted 40-something years before, I stopped occasionally to pick up a pecan. Most were bad, infected with pecan scab disease. I could tell by whether they'd separated from the husk, and also by weight. Rotten pecans are very light. Almost all the hybrid pecans Dad had planted were bad, vulnerable to the disease without regular spraying. The one native in the back yard, though, had produced many, many good nuts. The downside was these nuts were quite small compared to the others. I did find a few good hybrids, but many more natives. I thought back to our days as kids, picking up so many pecans we couldn't carry them all, so many big nuts that even the dogs would happily crunch the shells to eat the sweet meat inside. It made me think about how life is a series of trade-offs, be it fat delicate nuts or small, hardy ones; or happy childhood memories contrasted to melancholy adult reality. The sum of these trade-offs, for good or ill, equals the human condition.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Various artists Cool on the Coast
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Friday Night Videos

Last week The Wife and I went to the Aerosmith show in Austin. It was a mighty fine show, so I thought today I'd give some love to the opening act, the quintessential 70s rockers Cheap Trick. Here's one of my favorites of theirs, Dream Police.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Aerosmith.

Now Playing: Cheap Trick Live at Budokan
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365 / 21

For Thanksgiving, as we do every year, we visited relatives in the piney woods outside of Bastrop. Fortunately, this part of the county was spared from the wildfires that caused so much damage last year, so we're certainly thankful for that on this holiday. Following a magnificent dinner put together by my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and assorted pot-luck contributions from friends-and-relations, my little boy and I took a nature hike through the woods. He found a centipede. And a velvet ant. And some grasshoppers. And I also let him take pictures of many of these things with my camera. I, on the other hand, took this one as a memento of our little adventure together.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 20

Vulture feather. Algae bloom. Picture of the day.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75 2.8

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Shakira Laundry Service
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365 / 19: Red

If the leaves turn red, it must be autumn.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon FD 500mm f/8 reflex

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Stan Getz Stan Getz vol. 2
Chicken Ranch Central

365 / 18: Done with mirrors

Maybe it's just because I gravitate toward the offbeat and unusual, but the Canon FD 500mm f/8 reflex lens has become one of my favorite lenses to shoot with. Maybe it's because I'm into astronomy and this mirror lens uses the same basic conceptual design as Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes. I dunno. I dropped a lot of hints to Lisa before she surprised me with this as a Christmas gift last year. The conversion from Canon FD to EF mount took several months (and several pints of blood, as I impaled myself several times in the process) but once I finished, I had a workable 500mm mirror lens with focus confirmation capabilities. It's a fully manual lens, so that last part was a biggie as my eyes aren't quite so sharp and eagle-eyed as Lisa's. Some photographers may scoff at this old-school lens. It's slow. It's dim. It's manual focus only. But son-of-a-gun, it's got a huge reach at 500mm and is light as a feather compared to out other telephoto lenses. It's got a steep learning curve and can be unforgiving, but I've gotten shots with it that I'd never have a prayer at getting otherwise. I can't believe how well it performed at Aerosmith the other night. Of the Texas State/Texas Tech football game, or the Texas Renaissance Festival... I think it's safe to say some of the most fun I've had shooting this past year has come while using this lens. That makes it a keeper in my book!

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Stan Getz The Girl From Ipanema: The Bossa Nova Years
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Farscape: Exodus from Genesis

My Farscape rewatch continues with "Exodus from Genesis." The third episode produced, it's still very clear the series is awkwardly finding its way. At the same time, we see the emergence of some of the personality and world building that will come to define the series down the line.

The story is straightforward--Moya encounters a particulate cloud in orbit around a star, uses this cloud as a shield to hide from a Peacekeeper Marauder scout ship filled with a detachment of commandos. The cloud is actually a spacefaring species of insect, which spawns in hot environments. The swarm boards Moya and begins manipulating the ship's environmental controls to increase the heat. Crichton discovers one of the roach-like creatures in his quarters, and in a panic, squashes it. The swarm takes samples of the crew's DNA and uses that to construct automaton duplicates of Crichton, Zhaan, D'Argo and Aeryn in an effort to take over the ship. The increased heat inside Moya sends Aeryn into a state of fevered delirium. Turns out that Sebaceans (the Peacekeeper race) cannot tolerate excessive temperatures--that rules out Peacekeepers ever colonizing Texas--and will slip into a permanent coma if she can't cool down. Through Zhaan, the crew establishes contact with the swarm and realize the hostilities were a mis-understanding, that the alien "Drak" didn't realize Moya was a ship when they boarded and Crichton impulsively attacked the insect in his quarters out of fear. They establish a truce, with Moya's crew moving to an isolated part of the ship that will be kept relatively cooler while the Drak completes its spawning process. Unfortunately, the Marauder returns at this point and the Peacekeeper commandos attempt to storm Moya. They kill several of the automatons, and the Drak believes Moya's crew has broken the truce and begins raising the heat precipitously across the ship. Crichton negotiates a plan with the Drak--he, and a dozen of his automatons confront the now-delirious commandos. He subdues the commander, and then sends them packing with a warning to Crais not to continue pursuing Crichton or else he'll use his powers of duplication against Crais. The Drak finish spawning, the ship's temperature returns to normal, and Aeryn survives.

Commentary: The episode is a bit reminiscent of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, in that an alien life form invades the ship and conflict springs from misunderstanding. That's been done before. That said, scriptwriter Ro Hume threw the kitchen sink in here with Peacekeeper commandos, alien doppelgängers, spacefaring insect swarms and whatnot. There's a lot going on here, with alliances and broken alliances and general mass confusion for most of the episode, with pretty much every side in the dark as to what's going on for the majority of the episode. The most significant development is the introduction of Sebacean heat delirium, which will play a much more prominent role further on in the series. Whilst barely hanging on to her sanity, Aeryn demands that Crichton kill her if she slips into a coma, as permanent brain damage will take hold then and Peacekeepers consider that vegetative state a fate worse than death. At the end, Aeryn asks Crichton whether he'd have gone through with her request and he pointedly doesn't answer. Regardless, a bond--however tenuous--has been established between the Sebacean and human.

The most unfortunate aspect of the episode is the physical appearance of the Peacekeeper commandos. Each of them has very heavy eyeliner applied in a stylized fashion. Dear lord in heaven, who thought this was a good idea? I assume the intent was to project the impression of bad-ass warpaint used by a hard-core fighting unit. Instead, they looked like wannabe glam rockers pissed off because they couldn't get into the Gary Glitter show. It's just flat-out embarrassing.

Crichton Quote of the Episode: "We call 'em linebackers. Or serial killers. Depends on whether they're professional or amateur."

Now Playing: Pink Floyd More
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LoneStarCon 3 membership sale!

Just a quick heads-up on a LoneStarCon 3 media announcement I just sent out today. A good deal if you've got a geeky significant other you need to find a stocking stuffer for!

LoneStarCon 3 offers limited time membership special

November 19, 2012

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – LoneStarCon 3, the 71st World Science Fiction Convention, has announced a special two-week membership sale running Nov. 19-Dec. 2.

Attending memberships will be available for the reduced rate of $170 until midnight, Dec. 2. In addition to full access to the convention, attending memberships entitle the holder to make nominations for the Hugo Awards, receive pre-convention publications and advance information featured guests, exhibits and special events such as the LoneStarCon 3 International Film Festival.

"The committee saw this as an opportunity to say 'Thank you' to the fan communities who've given LoneStarCon 3 so much encouragement and support," said Laura Domitz, convention co-chair. "Think of it as getting a jump on the end-of-year holiday spirit."

Regular convention membership rates are scheduled to increase Dec. 31.

LoneStarCon 3 will be held Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 2013, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. The Mariott Rivercenter and Mariott Riverwalk will serve as the host hotels. This marks the first time since 1997 that the Alamo City has hosted a Worldcon, when LoneStarCon 2 drew thousands to the downtown convention center.

The guests of honor list for LoneStarCon 3 includes Ellen Datlow, James Gunn, Norman Spinrad and Willie Siros, with Paul Cornell serving as toastmaster and featuring special guests Leslie Fish and Joe R. Lansdale. Artist guest of honor Darrell K. Sweet tragically passed away Dec. 5, 2011.

MEMBERSHIPS

Attending membership rates for LoneStarCon 3 are normally $180 for adults, $110 for young adult (17-21 years old), $75 for children (16 and under) and $480 for family memberships. The listed membership rates are good through December 31, 2012. The sale only lowers the rate for adult attending memberships ($170) and family memberships ($460).

LoneStarCon 3 is also offering a military discount rate of $110, which is not subject to future increases.

ABOUT THE WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION

Founded in 1939, the World Science Fiction Convention is one of the largest international gatherings of authors, artists, editors, publishers and fans of science fiction and fantasy entertainment. The annual Hugo Awards, the leading award for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy, are voted on by Worldcon membership and presented during the convention.

LoneStarCon 3 is sponsored by ALAMO, Inc., (Alamo Literary Arts Maintenance Organization), a 501(c)3 organization. For more information about LoneStarCon 3, memberships or hotel information, visit www.LoneStarCon3.org.

Now Playing: Fleetwood Mac Tusk
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365 / 17: Say "Cheese!"

Lisa's not the only on who can take cute pictures of our kids. Bug decided he wanted to get in on the action, and I was happy to oblige. Say "Cheese!"

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Jefferson Airplane The Worst of Jefferson Airplane
Chicken Ranch Central

365 / 15: Aerosmith!

Okay folks, here is my much-anticipated, much-delayed photo no. 15 for the 365 project. You'll recall from my previous post that the CF card I was shooting the Aerosmith concert with went belly-up right at the end of their show. More than 90 minutes of Aerosmith, not to mention Cheap Trick's opening act, were lost. All I had was the encore left. Lisa, always the pro, handed me a spare CF card to try and get something in the closing minutes. Despite being more than a little flustered, I did manage to get a few keepers (I'm particularly aggrieved about losing my shots of Steven Tyler singing a Beatles medley with the guys from Cheap Trick). Since Lisa already stole some of my thunder by going with a Steven Tyler shot for her 365 entry, I'll balance the scales with this shot of Joe Perry ripping his guitar atop a baby grand piano during "Dream On."

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon FD 500mm 8.0 reflex

But look! I have some bonus shots as well! Here's Austin-area resident Joey Kramer on drums! (This man gives the best damn drum solos I've ever seen. This concert, after a rousing traditional drum solo, he chucked his sticks and continues the solo with his hands and head. When I saw Aerosmith in '88, Kramer abandoned his drums and took electronic drum sticks off the stage and performed a solo on the audience. That is genius, I tells ya!

Next up is Tom Hamilton, Aerosmith bassist. What is there to say about Hamilton other than the fact that his sublime bass line from "Sweet Emotion" is the single most influential impetus in making me want to learn the bass guitar. I never learned, mind you, but if I had, it'd be because of Hamilton.

Finally, we have Steven Tyler, the quintessential front man. He gets all the attention, and it's easy to see why when you're photographing Aerosmith--he's always doing something interesting, and his flamboyant dress, acrobatics and personality make for dramatic shots. Of all the band members, I got far more engaging shots of Tyler--even during the limited time I had to shoot during the encore. It's hard to choose just one, but this will do.

Aerosmith fans might note that I've omitted guitarist Brad Whitford. That's not intentional--I had a bunch of him from early in the show. But during the encore, he lingered in a dark corner of the stage and I was unable to get any decent images of him at that time. If Mr. Whitford feels slighted, I'll be more than happy to set up a personal photo session with him the next time he's in the Austin/San Antonio area. My treat.

I'll have a review of this show, along with some more photos, later. I'm pretty bushed now. Gonna get some shut-eye.

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Aerosmith Music from Another Dimension
Chicken Ranch Central

365 / 16: The element of frustration

You may be wondering why I have no 365/15 entry, but instead am posting my 365/16 image instead. The answer would be the subject of today's photo: This Transcend Compact Flash memory card failed on me last night with two--count-'em--two songs remaining in Aerosmith's concert in Austin. It is dead to the world, unrecognized and unresponsive to cameras, computers and other assorted electronic stick with which I've poked it. To say I am out of sorts about this is something of an understatement. I'll have my day 15 entry in a few hours, but the fact that the vast majority of some pretty nifty Aerosmith concert shots are now lost (as well as all of my Cheap Trick photos) a wee bit disappointing.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing:
Chicken Ranch Central

Friday Night Videos

I first saw Aerosmith in concert at the Summit in Houston back in 1988. That was during their Permanent Vacation tour, and I was a senior in high school. It was a great show, and I remember wondering aloud how the band could possibly gone off drugs completely as they'd claimed, because Steven Tyler and the other members were manic whirlwinds of energy during the entire show. That album contains some of my absolute favorite Aerosmith songs--"Rag Doll" and "Hangman Jury"--but for my money, their best post-addiction album is Pump. Absolute greatness on nearly every track. And the band started taking on more socially daring subject matter, specifically the hard-hitting "Janie's Got a Gun." Wow, what a great song. It still pisses me off that MTV and radio forced the band to produce edited versions to get airplay. Some horrors should never be sugar-coated.

Sadly, Aerosmith gravitated toward more slickly-produced, top 40-friendly music after this, and none of their subsequent albums come close to Pump. I'll see them tonight in Austin, 24 years removed from my first live viewing of the band. Scary to think I'm now older than the band members were when I saw them the first time!

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Urban Dance Squad.

Now Playing: Aerosmith Permanent Vacation
Chicken Ranch Central

365 / 14: Bur acorns

Fall continues to offer an abundance of nature scenes to shoot for this 365 photo challenge. Today, we have bur oak acorns. I love acorns, the very concept of them. I like the massive, oversized bur acorns the most, particularly those with hairy acorn cups that look like birds' nests. They just sing "autumn" to me.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Aerosmith Pandora's Box
Chicken Ranch Central

365 / 13: Primary mirror!

To pretty much everyone reading this, my photo today is going to be exceedingly boring. For me, however, it is a thing of beauty. What you are looking at is a 6" f/5 parabolic primary mirror for a Newtonian telescope. My telescope. I've been without since March, when I sent my original primary mirror off to be resurfaced. It came back badly chipped and unusable. I've finally gotten a replacement, and this makes me happy. As soon as I post this, I'm installing it in my telescope. Naturally, it's cloudy tonight so I won't be able to test it out. Such is life.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 50mm 1.8 mark I

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 1/Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53
Chicken Ranch Central

My luck is EPIC!

Unfortunately, that epic luck is all bad, at least where it comes to astronomy. The rest of my life, I figure I'm at worst break even, if not somewhat ahead overall. But when it comes to astronomy? Forget it. I'm like Charlie Brown trying to kick that football.

A telescope mirror was delivered by FedEx today, a replacement for my old 6" f/5 mirror that was badly chipped and rendered useless back in April. I've gone the whole summer observing season without a working telescope, a painful ordeal I will expand on more fully in a future post. But today I was getting a replacement, perhaps not as good as the mirror I lost, but one that will allow me to resume backyard astronomy. Yay!

Except said package was not on the front porch as had been indicated. The Wife looked all around the front of our house where it might've been left. Nothing. Then she checked the neighbors'. Again, nothing. Seriously verging on a personal meltdown over the senseless unfairness of the universe, I called in a missing package report to FedEx.

FedEx wanted me to check again. Particularly around the car washing supplies, because the delivery driver made sure to leave it with the car washing supplies.

Which is very interesting, because we have no car-washing supplies at our house, outside, inside or otherwise. If you've seen my car, you would understand this.

So, The Wife set out into the neighborhood again, looking for homes with car washing supplies out front. And she found one, down the street. The house didn't look like ours. The address wasn't similar to ours. Yet this is the house the driver decided to leave the package at. The Wife retrieved it, and I let FedEx know we've located their lost delivery.

The Wife hasn't opened it, though. The last time I opened a shipping container with a telescope mirror in it, little broken pieces of shattered glass came out. At this point, I'm conditioned to expect the worst. Will find out this evening when I get home if my (bad) luck holds.

Now Playing: The Police Message In A Box
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Meadmaking redux

So, yeah. Despite having a grand old time at the inaugural Texas Mead Festival, I haven't actually made any mead in more than a year. In fact, the only homebrew I've done in quite a while is a dark ale about 8 months ago (which is aging quite nicely, thankyouverymuch). Overall, not a great track record when I'm trying to refine my skills to make libations that taste more like the professional beverages I sampled at the Mead Fest and less like rocket fuel or sour mash.

So anyway, I started a new batch of mead on Sunday. I took 11 pounds of clover/wildflower honey (pretty generic stuff) and dissolved it in hot water on the stove (never actually bringing it to boiling, mind you). I added two teaspoons of yeast nutrient, then poured the honey and enough cold water to make five total gallons in my 6-gallon fermentation vessel.

While that was going on, I had my yeast starter warming up. The yeast I pitched is Lalvin D47, also known as the wine yeast Cotes du Rhone. I've never tried this strain before, but it's supposedly good for medium and dry meads, and as I'm shooting for a semi-dry/demi-sweet batch this time out, it will hopefully fit the bill. I started it in a glass of apple juice with an extra spoonful of sugar, and it took off very quickly. By the time the must in the vessel had cooled enough to pitch the yeast, I had a very active glass of yeast. I stirred the must vigorously to oxygenate it, then let the yeasts do their thing.

After taking a sample of the must and running it through my hydrometer, I got a specific gravity reading of 1.085, which should give me a final alcohol content of approximately 11.1 percent. Of course, that's going to change slightly, because I'm not making a traditional mead. Once the primary fermentation tapers off, I'll rack the mead and separate into smaller containers. I've got about 15 pounds of pears from my moonglow pear tree in the back yard that are ripened and frozen in the deep freeze. I plan on crushing them and adding the nectar to make a type of perry/cyser. The moonglow are considered a dessert pear, but the do have a stronger flavor than any store-bought pear I've ever tasted, so we'll see how they work. I also still have some frozen plums from earlier in the year for one of the smaller batches, and plum mead has traditionally been one of my more successful meads (even if I've failed miserably at plum wine every time I've attempted it).

Right now it's a case of hurry up and wait for the yeast to finish it's job. Since this is Texas and it's relative warm even in the fall and winter, I've got the fermentation vessel in a shallow tub filled with two inches of water. I keep the vessel wrapped with moist towels and the ceiling fan blowing to cool the must and reduce the amount of undesirable fusel alcohols generated. I also agitate the vessel regularly, to release dissolved CO2 (there's a lot of it!) that builds up in the liquid and can contribute to stressed fermentation. So yeah, I know enough about this stuff to be dangerous, but not enough to actually produce an unequivocally "good" vintage of mead. Maybe this time...

Now Playing: Rafael Kubelik Dvorak: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8
Chicken Ranch Central

365 / 12: Hint of autumn

It's cold, cloudy and dreary out now, but this morning we had a bit of sun. Just enough to illuminate a hint of autumn.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Lisa On Location Photography

Now Playing: Sting Mercury Falling
Chicken Ranch Central

Farscape: I, E.T.

My Farscape re-watch continues with the second episode, "I, E.T." Although it is officially the second episode, it didn't originally air until after "Thank God It's Friday, Again." It really makes the viewer wonder why networks and/or cable channels insist on airing episodes out of order. I can't discern any valid purpose in doing so (in this instance at least).

A Peacekeeper beacon booby-trap hidden aboard Moya abruptly begins transmitting a homing signal, one certain to bring Crais and the Peacekeeper Command Carrier running right to Moya's location in the Uncharted Territories. Not to mention the piercing audio component causes Crichton to suffer uncontrolled facial tics. To muffle the signal while the crew devises a way to silence it for good, they attempt the risky move of actually landing Moya on a nearby watery planet. Leviathans live their entire lives in space, but legends of Leviathans touching a planet's surface and living to tell about it convince the reluctant Moya. They land, and Moya submerges into the mud of a swamp. Crichton, Aeryn and D'Argo leave the ship to look for a particular type of naturally-occurring anesthetic effective on Leviathans, while the diminutive Rygel squeezes into the space behind the bulkhead and begins the process of cutting the homing beacon out of Moya's neural net. Zhaan, the Delvian priestess, uses her abilities to absorb some of the intense pain away from Moya.

Before long, Crichton, D'Argo and Aeryn get separated when a search party of natives--generally human-looking with the exception of odd ears--attempt to capture them. Crichton hides in a barn adjacent to a radio telescope, and is subsequently knocked out by a young boy packing some sort of taser wand. The boy's mother--who initially called in the report of a UFO to the authorities--holds Crichton captive, but eventually comes to realize how lost and unthreatening he is. She lets him go, Crichton rescues D'Argo--who'd managed to get captured--and they escape back to Moya just in time to throw the numbing chemical on Rygel's surgery and effective an escape back into space.

Commentary: Weak episode, I'm sorry to say. As much as Farscape distinguished itself with originality, this plot comes off as a tired re-tread of a basic premise used for at least one episode of every Star Trek series, plus the original Battlestar Galactica and quite possibly Buck Rogers and Babylon 5, although I can't quite recall specific episodes. The military's interest in capturing the aliens is perfunctory, with no socio-political commentary developed to any real extent. The entire plot consists of a by-the-numbers series of events without depth. Huge hints are given out that the "anesthetic" Crichton and friends are out looking for is actually salt, which isn't really clever and has no payoff. In fact, the "quest for salt" has no real payoff as the surgery on Moya is completed without it (yes, the salt numbs her pain enough to launch off the planet, but come on, the whole wrap-up is entirely anti-climactic). The best thing to be said about the episode is that the slower pace of the plot allowed for some much-needed character development. D'Argo is still a one-note "Fight first, ask questions later" dope, but Rygel gets a little depth, showing that underneath his pompous self-importance lies a core that will come through when it counts the most. Aeryn remains angry about her circumstances and Zhaan is the compassionate caregiver. Pilot is still something of a mystery, but his uncertainty and far-from-omniscient knowledge of Moya are interesting touches that hint at interesting backstory to come. Also, we get to see commlink badges used by Moya's crew, which are never used again as far as I can recall. Farscape was great at introducing little bits of detail that were ultimately discarded as not worth the effort.

Crichton Quote of the Episode: "Kinda like Louisiana... or Dagobah. Dagobah. Where Yoda lives."

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365 / 11: Ladybug

I set out to take an entirely different photo today, but just happened to come across this little ladybug resting on an acorn. I hadn't expected to see any insects about because of the chilly weather, but it didn't seem to bother this little fellow much.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 10: Yeast is Yeast (and Ywest is Ywest)

Doing a little homebrew tonight. Currently dissolving 11 pounds of honey into a pot full of water with which to make honey wine, otherwise know as mead, the beverage of choice for discerning vikings everywhere. My photo today is dedicated to yeast, those miracle plants without which the magic of fermentation could not take place!

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 9: Johnny Football!

I confess, this is not the photo I planned for today. But when the opportunity presents itself, who am I to say no? Truly, a thing of beauty!

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

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Friday Night Videos

Whatever happened to Urban Dance Squad? I utterly loved their hit "A Deeper Shade of Soul" back in the day. The video is simple, but they look like they're having a blast. And I really dig that Charlie Brown shirt. I need to get one of my own.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Jerry Harrison.

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365 / 8: Mission San Xavier

Well, anyone who knows my photographic interests realized as soon as I agreed to participate in this 365 Photo Challenge with Lisa that I'd be including some infrared images. I'm a huge fan of the otherworldly look of infrared when done right. I suppose the only surprise is how long it took me to get around to actually shooting some IR for this challenge--a full week! Today's effort is a false-color infrared image of the San Xavier Mission replica at Aquarena Center in San Marcos.

Camera: Canon Rebel XTi/400D 720nm infrared-modified
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm

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365 / 7: Honey Locust

Thought I'd go for a little change of pace today, with a simple, straightforward image: A corkscrew seed pod of a honey locust/thorny locust tree.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

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Scuba IV

So, technically and officially, my scuba lessons are complete. That went by fast, or was it just me? My third lesson consisted of equipment checks and procedure discussion, but go cut short because we were unexpectedly locked out of the pool. We followed up the next day with an extended pool session, and covered a whole heck of a lot of ground, er... water.

After a quick review of skills learned last week, I was introduced to deep-water entry. Then we went through air share and other emergency procedures. I learned what it feels like when you run out of air (believe me, it's unmistakeable). I learned that it's possible to have a severe coughing fit with your regulator in place and come out no worse for the wear (that wasn't in the lesson plan--I just kinda winged it). Finally, we did rescue procedures. The last was a bit complicated--NAUI is one of the few scuba certification organizations that still includes this training, but I feel it's important information to know, if only to prevent a well-meaning diver from making a bad situation worse and endangering more lives.

And... that's it. By taking private lessons because of my hectic schedule, I've completed the entire pool training component in a two-week period. The learning curve is amazing. Even more amazing, I've successfully mastered all the skills--at least enough to satisfy the novice-level requirements. All that remains for me to earn my scuba certification is A) complete the online testing (which I'm in the process of working through now) and 2) complete my two-day open water certification dives. There's good news/bad news on that last front. The bad news first: The next scheduled open water certification dives are this weekend at Lake Travis, which I can't make because of preexisting schedule conflicts. The good news? There's a dive trip scheduled for Balmorhea State Park in early December that will count for my certification dives. Even though it's a bit of a drive, Balmorhea offers warmer, crystal clear waters that makes for a far better dive experience than Lake Travis or Canyon Lake. Score me!

Since that dive is several weeks weeks away, there's a concern that my newly-learned skills would atrophy in the interim, so we've set up one additional pool session to revisit all the things I've learned these past two weeks, and also to give me a chance to work on buoyancy control (which is one area I still haven't got a handle on 100 percent).

But still, wow. Almost there. Hard to imagine, but 20-plus years of delayed gratification is about to be resolved in my favor!

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365 / 6

Rumor has it, there was an election of some sort yesterday. Living in New Braunfels, one of the deepest crimson communities in the red state of Texas (81 percent of voters cast straight-ticket Republican ballots yesterday) the reaction to the election outcome has proven somewhat impassioned. I call this one, "Letters To The Editor, November 7, 2012."

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

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All over but the crying

So, the presidential election is over for another four years, with house, senate and gubernatorial races on hold for another two. With President Obama winning a second term and quite a few high-profile, radical tea party types losing, I believe the country is in marginally better shape than it was before this night began. I pray that the grown-ups step in an re-take control of the Republican party, and set the goal of running the country as their number one priority rather than orchestrating a policy of obstruction with the goal of limiting Obama to a single term. That failed. Hopefully, the next four years will be different. There are enough Blue Dog Democrats in congress to find common ground on legislation, reasonable, balanced legislation that can pass in the Democrat-controlled senate.

Although I've voted for specific Republicans in the last few election cycles, I can't say I like the Republican party at all, not with it's rightward shift over the past decade. Not with its purges of moderate members and insistence on ideological purity. The moderate Mitt Romney who ran and lost in the primaries four years ago was a much stronger candidate than the arch-conservative Mitt Romney who won the nomination this time around. I'd make similar statements about John McCain prior. I fully expect the GOP to double-down on tacking right, however, and this saddens me. Government works best when both sides see the value of half a loaf, but that may be a quaint vestige of a bygone era.

What really saddens me is the $6 billion spent on this election cycle. That much money could fully cover the funding shortfall for Texas schools. It could cover some of the federal deficit. It could sponsor thousands of Pell Grants or kick start all sorts of advanced scientific research. Hell, that much money would pay for the lion's share of the long-since-cancelled Superconducting Supercollider. It is insane for that much money to be spent on political campaigns, the advertising equivalent of carpet bombing. Corporations, unions, billionaires and the like have no business inserting themselves into elections in this manner, and I sincerely hope that both parties in Washington realize the damage this volume of money is doing to the system now that the post-Watergate campaign finance reforms have been upended by the Supreme Court. I hope meaningful checks can be put on this money in a bipartisan manner, and elections return to becoming property of the people, rather than the domain of the well-heeled.

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365 / 5

Today is election day in the U.S.--not that anyone could miss such an all-consuming event. I voted two weeks ago, as Texas has open early voting. Have you voted yet? If not, I urge you to go do so. I don't care who you vote for--just choose what you believe is the best candidate for each and every office. That's the best any of us can do.

Thousands have marched, fought, struggled and even died over our great country's 200-year-plus history to win and safeguard that vote. It'd be a shame for all that sacrifice to be in vain.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm

Lisa On Location Photography

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Farscape: Premiere

A little over a year ago, I set for myself the goal of rewatching the entire Farscape series from beginning to end. I failed to watch a single episode in the ensuing 12 months. I had an excuse--that Chicken Ranch book utterly consumed my life. But since the book is now essentially finished (revisions pending) and Farscape remains to this day my favorite show ever (sorry Firefly), I've taken up the challenge and begun my long-delayed rewatch. And I've decided to share my impressions here with you (blogging more often is another something I'll do now that the Chicken Ranch book is no longer consuming my life).

The first episode of Farscape, titled "Premiere", throws a lot of plot at the viewer in a very small amount of time. Watching this episode, I'm amazed at how dizzying a pace they set, not really pausing to breathe. Here's the skinny: Astronaut John Chriton suffers from Great Man's Son syndrome, as his father (played by Kent McCord of Galactical 1980 infamy) was one of the last astronauts to walk on the moon. John Crichton is about to launch on the space shuttle to test a theory of his own devising, in a craft of his own design (looking remarkably similar to NASA's X-38 lifting body design) called the "Farscape Module." The experimental theory itself isn't outlined clearly, but it is apparently some variation on a gravitational slingshot, albeit one that minimizes atmospheric drag allowing the craft to pass much closer to the planet's surface, thereby accelerating faster without burning up. Typical Hollywood rubber science, but at least there's a grain of fact buried deep within.

Anyway, Crichton launches and begins the experiment. All is going well until a wormhole opens up in front of him (as wormholes are wont to do) catapulting him across the galaxy into the middle of a firefight between fighter ships piloted by human-like aliens known as Peacekeepers and a giant bio-mechanoid prison ship populated by political prisoners trying to escape. The Farscape Module collides with a fighter, sending the latter crashing into an asteroid and exploding impressively. The prisoners tractor beam Farscape aboard, hoping they can use the wormhole technology to escape. Chrichton proves useless. The prisoners manage to effect an escape on their own (the living ship, Moya, is able to starburst--a sort of short-range hyperspace jump) so they imprison Crichton with a captured Peacekeeper, Officer Aeryn Sun. Sun promptly beats Crichton up as a traitor to his species before gradually accepting that the human is an actual alien. The gloriously dysfunctional crew is introduced in short order--Dominar Rygel XVI, a pint-sized, greyish Muppet character who happens to be the self-important deposed ruler of the Hynerian Empire; Ka D'Argo, a towering Luxan warrior with non-prehensile tentacles growing from his head and a temper that leads the viewer to categorize him as a Klingon stand-in; Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, a bald, blue-skinned Delvian priestess and anarchist, the spiritual center of the group; Pilot, an elaborate, four-armed animatronic alien surgically grafted to the living ship; and Moya, the living Leviathan ship itself that never actually speaks but communicates through Pilot. It's never quite clear just how intelligent or sentient Moya is, but instinct plays a great role in her behavior.

By cooperating, Crichton and Aeryn escape and flee to a nearby commerce planet, with the idea of joining back up with Aeryn's military detachment. Unfortunately, the pilot of the fighter that Crichton collided with was the brother of Commander Bialar Crais, who is bent on bloody revenge. When Aeryn makes a half-hearted attempt to defend Crichton, Crais condemns her on the spot. Facing certain death, Crichton and Aeryn escape (along with the captured D'Argo) and flee back to Moya. With Crais' Peacekeeper Command Carrier closing fast, Crichton uses his gravity/atmosphere/slingshot theory to accelerate the Leviathan away from danger... for the time being.

Commentary: Now's probably a good time to mention Farscape was the brainchild of the Jim Henson Company (to show off the talent and capabilities of the Creature Shop) as well as Rockne S. O'Bannon, creator of Alien Nation among other credits. Production values for the episode are top-notch. The aliens do indeed look otherworldly, as opposed to human actors with funny bumps glued on their noses. If you're watching this on DVD or Blu-Ray, be sure to turn on the commentary track after the first viewing, because there are a lot of amusing Easter Eggs hidden throughout the production. The entire episode rushes by at breakneck pace, and really feels like a pilot, in that it's setting all the chess pieces on the board for future stories. Characters are broad types--the greedy one, the figher, the mystic, etc.--and not given much room to grow. This is to be expected, being the pilot episode. However, a lot of the wit and clever writing that made Farscape such a fan favorite isn't yet on display. Even Crichton has little personality beyond being the confused and lost Earthman. A nice touch was the "translator microbes" injected into him early on, shades of the Babel Fish from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Also, the utter dysfunctional nature of the crew is a big change from most traditional SF television, and something that will play a much bigger role later on in the series. It's hard to say the pilot episode would win anyone over outright, but it certainly offers enough promise to bring viewers back for another episode or two, to see if this series is going anywhere worthwhile.

Crichton Quote of the Episode: "Boy, was Spielberg ever wrong. Close Encounters my ass."

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365 / 4

Today's photo: A Great Egret.

And as a 365 bonus photo, it appears I caught him on his lunch break:

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon FD 500mm 8.0

Lisa On Location Photography

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365 / 3

Every year when we attend Wurstfest I make a point to visit the Spass Haus, which is a wonderful, cozy, pub-like German beer hall decked out in wall-to-wall hardwood. My favorite part? It is decorated floor-to-ceiling with more than 17,000 beer bottles from all over the world. It is Jerome Nowotny’s “World’s Largest Beer Bottle Collection,” acquired by Wurstfest nearly three decades ago. It is mighty impressive. During my bachelor days, I amassed quite a large beer bottle collection myself, the product of Double Dave's Pizzaworks "Global Beer Expert" promotion. Alas, when we got married, Lisa made me get rid of it. I always remind her of this when we visit the Spass Haus, and she always rolls her eyes.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

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365 / 2

Do you folks have any idea how difficult it is to engage in a 365 photo project challenge with your wife when she's a phenomenal photographer? Yes, I help her out as a second shooter and know the difference between aperture and shutter speed, but really, I'm merely a glorified hobbyist at best. Take yesterday for example. She turns around from her desk, takes a shot of the kitten sitting behind her, and is finished with her first 365 entry before anyone knows what's happened. And with her eye and skill, it becomes art instantaneously. For me, on the other hand, the first installment turned into an ordeal, with Plan A, Plan B and Plan C failing miserably before I came up with my puffer fish photo. It's frustrating how Lisa makes it look so easy. It makes me feel like my reach is exceeding my grasp, as far as this 365 photo challenge is concerned. Which is what gave me the idea for my entry today. I call it "Metaphor." And yeah, that's how I usually feel trying to keep up with her!

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

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365 / 1

Guess what? I'm doing one of those 365 photo challenges, wherein I shoot and post a photo every day for a full year. It's a challenge between myself and The Wife, and will be fully chronicled at the Lisa On Location photography blog. The idea is that the competition between the two of us will keep us going well past the point where we'd normally give up such an effort. It certainly helped tonight, because my plan A, plan B and plan C for my first photo of the project all collapsed into a steaming heap of wreckage.

Here is my official entry for the 365 challenge. It's my Figure-8 puffer fish, which I'd never photographed before. He didn't particularly like the attention, but curiosity eventually got the better of him. It's no cute kitten, but they're interesting critters none the less.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

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Friday Night Videos

I remember when Jerry Harrison released his solo album Casual Gods in the interim between the Talking Heads' True Stories in 1986 and Naked in 1988. Actually, it came out only three months before that final Talking Heads album, and was pretty much overshadowed by it. Which is a pity, because the disc overall is very strong and deserves wider recognition. "Man With A Gun" was the second release, and while not an energetic rocker like "Rev It Up," it sets down a moody, badass groove and takes no prisoners. Enjoy!

Previously on Friday Night Videos... John Cougar Mellencamp.

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Scuba II

Second scuba lesson went well. And by that I mean I didn't drown or humiliate myself in some unspeakable way. After a run-through of all the equipment I'd be using and instruction in its proper use, I strapped on a BC, tank and regulator and hit the pool.

The first half of class was taken up with safety/recovery drills. Basically, I had to learn how to recover my regulator if it somehow came out of my mouth, remove my BC and tank in case it became entangled, and clear my mask if it came off my face. None of this came naturally. The first thing I had to do was learn how to breathe. Turns out, I was instinctively taking very deep breaths before going under, then breathing very shallowly, which left a lot of residual air in my lungs. Extra air = float to the surface. Every time. Once I learned to exhale deeply and inhale shallowly, that problem resolved itself. Recovering lost regulators went well, too. Removing the BC and air tank, not so well. I lost balance half way through and toppled over, needing rescue by my instructor. Clearing my mask went well... and by that I mean it only took one nose full of water to remind me to only breathe through my mouth.

After that, I got to swim around 12 feet under in the pool for a good long while, learning how to control myself and move underwater. It was pretty fun, although it still doesn't quite come naturally for me. By the end, when I learned proper exiting techniques, my stress levels had almost subsided to normal. Unfortunately, I was pretty darn cold by the end, which really messed with my concentration. Next time I'll opt for the wet suit.

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