Brendan Loy's Blogs & Linklog

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Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:16:25 +0600

WADEMAYE IVE BEEN HACKED!

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:09:41 +0600

WADEMAYE IVE BEEN HACKED!

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:09:32 +0600

Denver Tea Party photos

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:17:19 +0600

More of my photos are here, in my "Denver Tea Party" Flickr set.

This is a test... this is a test

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 11:54:12 +0600

Evening vistas

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:20:02 +0600

Venus over downtown Denver:

Crepuscular rays over suburban Denver:

Message-mobile

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:01:46 +0600

Just when I think my Election 2008 photo set is complete, I see something like this:

Heh. Clearly a Democrat. ;)

P.S. At least the driver isn't as outwardly bitter as this guy.

Star light, car bright

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:59:53 +0600

A car drives by as I take a picture of Orion above the Superstition Mountains:

Holiday's last hurrah

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:58:07 +0600

It always makes me a little sad to take down Christmas decorations. But alas, time marches on, so over the weekend I started doing so, leaving only the outdoor lights still illuminated. Those, too, will come down soon. But for now, they can still create pretty scenes like this:

Those would be these lights, seen through the window shades. I should also note that the wooden dining-room table and chairs are a new addition to our condo -- gifts from V, who just moved to a smaller apartment and so has no room for them. Thanks, V!

Anyway, here are the other outdoor lights, during yesterday morning's unexpected snowfall:

Also, in uploading these pics, I realized that I never got around to posting pictures last month of the indoor portion of Christmas-lights display. So here you go, from back in December:

That's a live tree, albeit a miniature one, which I bought at Whole Foods. (I was originally looking for a small artificial tree, but when I saw the mini real tree, I knew it was perfect.) We had to go with a small tree, on top of our entertainment center, to keep Loyette from getting into it. With another baby on the way, I suspect we may be going with small Christmas trees for the next few years. :)

Anyway, there were also some yellow and green Christmas lights to the left of the tree, but I didn't photograph those. (D'oh!) Finally, here's a shot of Toby resting in front of the fireplace:

Our cats definitely know how to live the good life. :)

Rocky Mountain high

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:22:34 +0600

Looking out the window on an evening flight from Phoenix to Denver:

See also here and here.

Happy New Year!

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:46:36 +0600

Two champagne glasses of milk, for Becky's and my traditional New Year's milk toast, sit on the Zaks' living room table in Arizona, while Times Square begins its countdown to 2009 on the TV in the background.

More Superstitions

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 08:55:08 +0600

The Superstition Mountains, shortly before sunset tonight:

And, fifteen minutes later:

Panoramas created with Calico. (Same goes for yesterday's rainbow photo.)

Merry Christmas!

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:54:02 +0600

Above: The Zaks' Christmas tree (elevated for baby-proofing purposes).

Christmas Day rainbow

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:52:58 +0600

Superstition Mountain, Arizona.

Venus, Jupiter and the Moon

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:16:42 +0600

The three brightest objects in the night sky, together for a close encounter Sunday, as seen from Gold Canyon, Arizona:

Venus is the brighter one, closer to the Moon. In the first photo, you can also see some airplanes taking off from Sky Harbor Airport.

Here's another shot of the heavenly trio -- you may need to squint in order to spot Jupiter, directly above Venus -- roughly 24 hours earlier, as seen from inside the Los Angeles Coliseum during Saturday's USC-Notre Dame game:

You can more easily see Jupiter in the larger version of that same picture. You can't quite make it out in this wider view, which also shows the Irish and Trojans lining up for a play. But trust me, it's there!

Yet another 24 hours earlier, here's a shot of just Venus and Jupiter (no Moon), as seen from Palm Desert, California, during our drive from Phoenix to L.A.:

The three heavenly bodies will make their closest approach to one another after sunset Monday. Definitely worth a look.

UPDATE: The climax!

Light and high beauty, indeed

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:49:55 +0600

The Moon, Venus and Jupiter, shining bright over Denver earlier this evening:

It was a Venus-Jupiter conjunction in 2005 that first gave me the idea for what would become the title of this blog, "Light and High Beauty." Tonight's stunning three-way conjunction of those same planets, plus the Moon -- the three brightest objects in the night sky -- was even worthier of that name. Absolutely beautiful.

The above photo, incidentally, was taken from the 33rd-floor sun deck of the Barclay building downtown. It's a 0.6 second exposure, with a 3.5 f-stop and a 200 ISO.

More photos here.

Panorama

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:08:41 +0600

The view from our seats in Section 25, Row 90 at the Los Angeles Coliseum for Saturday's USC-Notre Dame game:

Here's a larger version of the same picture (which I stitched together using a nifty piece of software called Calico). And here's an even wider view, and the full-size version thereof.

Smog, glorious smog

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:48:26 +0600

Anyone who's driven to California from Arizona will, I think, recognize this view: it's the moment when the smog cloud of Indio announces that you've left behind the near-emptiness of the desert, and re-entered civilization.

Speaking of the desert, here's a shot from about an hour earlier, showing one of the Mordor-ish mountains that lines I-10 in southeastern California as it passes through the Mojave Desert:

They're seriously a bit spooky. As Eomer says in the Return of the King, "Those mountains are evil."

No silent prayer for the faith-departed

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:36:15 +0600

The Band of the Fighting Irish, making its first-ever visit to the Los Angeles Coliseum, spells out "BON JOVI" while playing "It's My Life" during halftime of Saturday's USC-Notre Dame game:

The lyrics of "It's My Life" declare that it "ain't a song for the broken-hearted" -- but with the Irish putting forward an utterly inept offensive effort that put an exclamation point on two consecutive horrible seasons, that's debatable at best.

Another fiery Denver sunset

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:42:15 +0600

I took this photo out my car window while driving home from work on Tuesday:

Who?

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:41:33 +0600

The owl statue on Ted and Ginny's back porch:

The Superstitions

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:39:13 +0600

Clouds and sunlight interact this evening in Superstition Mountain, Arizona:

And a bit earlier, when it was raining over the mountain:

The view from our window

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:57:04 +0600

Sunday, November 16, at 6:43 AM:

Later that day, at 4:53 PM:

(See also here.) And, ten minutes later, at 5:03 PM:

The mirror of Galadriel

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:10:09 +0600

Actually, it's just a pool of water at the UT Gardens in Knoxville, back in September. (I'm finally starting to sort through some of my photos from the busy last two months.)

Post-election pics

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:43:42 +0600

I saw this car in a mall parking garage on Thursday:

Heh. A bit bitter, are we?

Meanwhile, even the cut-rate liquor stores were urging people to get out the vote:

Again, here's my full Election 2008 photoset on Flickr.

Unknown "structures" tugging at universe

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:54:12 +0600

Obama vs. Pelosi? Sounds good to me!

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:39:11 +0600

The blogosphere is dead, long live the blogosphere

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:24:20 +0600

Secretary Shays?

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:12:28 +0600

Begich may yet beat Stevens in Alaska

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:48:59 +0600

Reid ratchets up the anti-Lieberman rhetoric

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:57:09 +0600

Dave Barry: "the CNN hologram is the single stupidest thing I have ever seen on TV, and I am including Carrot Top in that statement"

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:50:34 +0600

Not like the others on the dollar bill :)

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:48:29 +0600

In first-ever intrastate electoral-vote split, Obama wins Nebraska's second district!

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:53:30 +0600

Lieberman reportedly unhappy with Reid's offer, flirting with GOP [link fixed]

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 04:04:16 +0600

Undefeated Utah rallies to beat TCU, 13-10, on touchdown with 48 seconds left

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:22:36 +0600

Election 2008

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:24:12 +0600

I've been posting a bunch of election-related photos -- from both Tennessee and Colorado -- in my Election 2008 Flickr gallery. The gallery goes all the way back to January, and continues through today's Obama rally in Pueblo (where I took the picture above).

Needless to say, I'll be taking and uploading more election-related photos over the next few days.

Ah, the South

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:04:00 +0600

On the list of things I'll miss about Tennessee: funny messages on the church sign down the street.

"Seven days without Jesus makes one weak." Heh.

You say Tomato...

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:03:37 +0600

One of our favorite spots in Knoxville: the Tomato Head patio on Market Square.

Farewell

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:35:02 +0600

Leaving my office in Knoxville for the last time, Friday, October 24.

Brendan Loy's Blogs & Linklog

I recommend putting the comments after the close of the &lt;div class="xfolkentry"&gt; tag. Let me know if that works. B

WADEMAYE IVE BEEN HACKED!

WADEMAYE IVE BEEN HACKED!

Denver Tea Party photos

This is a test... this is a test

Evening vistas

Message-mobile

Star light, car bright

Holiday's last hurrah

Rocky Mountain high

Happy New Year!

More Superstitions

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day rainbow

Venus, Jupiter and the Moon

Light and high beauty, indeed

Panorama

Smog, glorious smog

No silent prayer for the faith-departed

Another fiery Denver sunset

Who?

The Superstitions

The view from our window

The mirror of Galadriel

Post-election pics

Unknown "structures" tugging at universe

Obama vs. Pelosi? Sounds good to me!

The blogosphere is dead, long live the blogosphere

Secretary Shays?

Begich may yet beat Stevens in Alaska

Reid ratchets up the anti-Lieberman rhetoric

Dave Barry: "the CNN hologram is the single stupidest thing I have ever seen on TV, and I am including Carrot Top in that statement"

Not like the others on the dollar bill :)

In first-ever intrastate electoral-vote split, Obama wins Nebraska's second district!

Lieberman reportedly unhappy with Reid's offer, flirting with GOP [link fixed]

Undefeated Utah rallies to beat TCU, 13-10, on touchdown with 48 seconds left

Election 2008

Ah, the South

You say Tomato...

Farewell

I recommend putting the comments after the close of the <div class="xfolkentry"> tag. Let me know if that works. B