Earl World

An Annoying Oil Change

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:37:00 +0000

Dear Jiffy Lube,

Thanks much for leaving the air intake disconnected after my last visit to one of your establishments for an oil change. No really, thanks. That helped me detect the smell of burning transmission fluid quickly. The fumes were getting sucked in to the seating area very quickly. Why were there fumes? The dipstick wasn't inserted properly and fluid was coming out, running down the lower part of the engine, and dripping on the hot exhaust manifold and burning. The smell let me pick it up quickly before the smoke coming from under the hood got too bad. I only went in for an oil change, so coming out with a transmission fluid leak was a bonus.

I returned and complained. I explained the situation to the manager and asked him to check everything they did. He said he'd fix it and clean up the mess. I pulled over a block after leaving a second time and checked the area where the leak was. It seemed to be fixed.

But I hadn't learned my lesson. I didn't check everything like I should have.

Two days later, after driving about 800 miles and parking in a spotless garage, I pulled the car out the next morning only to discover a fluid spot on the floor. Yup, I was leaking oil. Not a lot (thank goodness), but enough to be worrisome since I had never lost any oil before my visit two days before. Another bonus when I went to look under the car. The rubber flap that allows access to the oil drain plug and oil filter was sagging down because only two of the four clips that hold it in place were installed after the last oil change.

To make a long story short, a visit to a mechanic to put the car on a lift to check the drain plug at least slowed the loss. He didn't have clips, but used zip ties to secure the flap. When we got home I went to my Subaru dealer to get it fixed. They informed me that the filter used was an after market brand that doesn't seat well and leaks. A replacement from my dealer fixed the issue and my car is back to normal.

Was I bad for not checking the work done on my car after visiting one of your establishments? Yup. Did I expect quality service from Jiffy Lube that I wouldn't have to check and that wouldn't create problems? Yup. Did I expect the use of proper parts? Yup. If you don't have the right parts, should your mechanics say sorry, explain the situation, and not change the oil? Yup. Have I lost trust? Yup. Will I now drive miles across the metro area to visit my dealer for an oil change rather than visit the Jiffy Lube about a mile away? Yup. In the long run, it will be a time saver for me.

DDR Style Alarm Clock

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:31:00 +0000

Undoubtedly you've seen people in a video game arcade stomping on colored lights to the beat of a song like crazy people. That's the basic idea of Dance Dance Revolution -- to tap squares in a specific sequence at faster and faster speeds to keep in the game.

Some clever and also evil inventor thought that would be a good basis for an alarm clock. This little gem requires you to use your fingers to tap out a DDR style sequence in order to turn off the alarm. There is no way I could turn this off on the first try -- or the tenth try for that matter. You can order it on the ThumbsUp site by going here.

GDGT -- Gadget Review Site

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:04:00 +0000

Last month I read this New York Times article that described a new site for the review of gadgets called gdgt. Founded by guys that were involved with Gizmodo and Engadget, the new site is different in that all reviews are written by consumers rather than paid writers. I guess that could be good or bad depending on who contributes. Has anyone written any reviews for the site?

Second Strobist Bootcamp Assignment

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 22:37:00 +0000

The second assignment in the Strobist blog's summer bootcamp was food photography. The classic approach for a typical food dish photo is to have the key light coming from the top down using a softbox. I made a softbox quite awhile ago using a shoebox. I lined the inside with aluminum foil, cut a hole in the side just big enough for my flash, and topped it with tracing paper to diffuse the light. It was pretty well for a simple, homemade contraption.

The first photo is of red lentils, brown lentils, and split peas arranged in a bowl (thanks to Dianne) that is sitting on top of a black IKEA cutting mat. I used just a single flash into the softbox that was held pretty close to the subject just above and behind the bowl. I also used a silver reflector just below the camera in order to soften the shadow on the front of the bowl. I like the lighting and the colors.

The second photo is of my favorite vegetarian dish -- a lemony chickpea stirfry. The lighting setup was the same as the photo above. The recipe is from the 101 Cookbooks blog. It contains tofu, kale, chickpeas, the zest and juice from a lemon, and zucchini. The bowl is sitting on a red IKEA cutting mat. I wanted the red to compliment the green of the kale.

Bandsaw Skills

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:34:00 +0000

Thanks to the Random Good Stuff blog, I ran across this YouTube video showing a guy with some crazy skills on the band saw. I'd only have 7 intact fingers left if I tried to do something like this. Check it out!

Strobist Activity

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:02:00 +0000

I certainly have a backlog of photo work to describe -- things I've done over the last few months. The Strobist blog has probably had the greatest influence on my photo activities of late. The basic idea of the Strobist group is to get your flash or flashes off the camera to have the light coming in at different angles on the subject. You can use that approach to create interesting effects or enhance natural lighting and balance the overall exposure.

Since I'm new to the Strobist ideas and how to apply the concepts with my equipment, I've been experimenting with non-macro subjects. This summer the Strobist blog is having a lighting bootcamp where assignments are given every several weeks. The intent is to get the basics down by forcing you to try different techniques. The assignments have also been geared to try and help others in some way.

The first bootcamp assignment was to make two headshots that was somehow related to the state of the economy -- and also get a photo folks could use for a resume or website or whatever. One was to be a self portrait and the other had to be a friend. I've always wanted a teaching related photo so that one was easy. I talked Dianne into getting a photo in front of her computer since all her work is computer based.

For my photo below I used three flashes. High and right front I bounced a flash out of an umbrella for the main overhead light. A second flash with a grid came from the left behind my head and was focused on the writing on the blackboard. Finally, front low left there was a third flash to ease the shadow on the right side of my face. I was pretty pleased with the result.

For Dianne's photo, I first adjusted the exposure settings to get a good exposure on the monitor -- that was in effect my key light for the exposure. The main flash light came from high left bounced out of an umbrella. That light put a huge shadow on her face because of the ball cap. To reduce that shadow, I put a second flash low and right with a grid that was focused on the underside of her cap. If I were to do it again, I would soften that light a bit with a diffuser so there would be a little more of a shadow. But not bad for a first try. I'll describe some of my other Strobist style photos in future posts.

Roller Derby Bout Recaps

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:54:00 +0000

If you are here looking for a recap on the Cincinnati Rollergirl bouts against the Hard Knox Rollergirls, I've moved all my roller derby posts to RabidDerbyFan.com. Go there to check out my impressions of the Schooling of Hard Knox bout and other derby happenings in the area!

100 Things

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:01:00 +0000

There are several of these sorts of lists that I've seen circulating lately. I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and post my responses to this list that I saw on the Can You Keep A Secret blog. That blog is written by a Cincinnati area photographer, Sonja McGill. She has some great photos in her posts.

Here are my responses to the list -- I bolded the things I've done and put comments in parentheses. I'm glad I haven't done some of these.

1. Started your own blog (you are here)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (saxophone in school bands)
4. Visited Hawaii (duh!)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Bathed in a river
7. Been to the Taj Mahal
8. Walked on a glacier in Alaska
9. Caught and held a snake
10. Spoke in front of a big crowd
11. Bungee jumped (but I watched Dianne do it)
12. Had a whirlwind love affair that broke your heart (don't know about whirlwind)
13. Found an arrowhead or fossil
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Rescued an animal
16. Ate sweet breads, glands or tripe (eeewwww!)
17. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (several times)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hiked to base camp on Mt. Everest
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort (lots of these)
25. Watched an animal being born
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Learned a foreign language
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Stayed up for more than 24 hours
31. Trained a dog to do cool tricks
32. Been on a cruise (sort of -- day/overnight trip from Greece to Italy)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community 36. Can drive a stick shift car
37. Won over $1000 in a raffle or lottery (I wish)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person (been to the top)
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Been serenaded
44. Visited Africa (went to Egypt in college)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Broke a bone (unfortunately)
47. Started your own business
48. Quit a job because you were totally unhappy
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the Eiffel Tower
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (snorkeling in Hawaii)
52. Kissed in the rain passionately
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in
55. Been in a movie (made 'movies' growing up with a neighbor)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Joined a prayer group
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
62. Gone whale watching
63. Received flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (this isn't ever happening)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (I have a couple)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar (yes, once -- ONCE! Yuck!)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
77. Broken something extremely expensive
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (does writing a thesis count?) 81. Visited the Vatican
82. Got a tattoo
83. Been to a coffee shop in Amsterdam (been there, but didn't get coffee)
84. Seen the aurora borealis in person
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (I guess a fish counts)
88. Had chickenpox (have the marks to prove it)
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury (as an alternate on a vehicular homicide case -- not fun)
91. Met someone famous
(several -- Linus Pauling and Hubert Humphrey are examples)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Toured the UN
95. Hiked to Machu Picchu
96. Swam in the Indian Ocean
97. Conversed with someone when neither of you spoke each others language (relates to #32)
98. Dirty danced
99. Been stung by a bee (nope)
100. Acted in a play

Better Get to Pigall's

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:40:00 +0000

Readers of the Cincinnati Enquirer probably read this story that reports Pigall's is closing at the end of February. I was surprised to read that story given that the restaurant just received a 4-star rating in the Mobil travel guide.

Hopefully Jean-Robert will open another spot that will be top notch.

In the process of looking around for that news, I discovered the wine me, dine me blog. It's obviously a blog about places to eat -- but it covers the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. It is always good to get an opinion about a restaurant. Stop over there to browse the reviews before heading out to eat.

Friday Flashback

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:25:00 +0000

Erika does a lot of Friday Flashback posts on her blog. I don't have the discipline to do that on a regular basis -- and my memory isn't that good. My dad sent some old photos recently that inspired this flashback post.

The first photo is me, just over two years old, sitting on cinder blocks that my dad used to build an addition on to the garage. You have got to love the Minnesota Twins baseball cap. My dad needed the extra space as he ran a bicycle shop and used the addition to store bikes that needed to be assembled. I do remember that part of the garage being loaded with bicycle boxes on occasion.

The second photo is of me riding a bicycle in a parade in Randall, Minnesota when I was twelve. It was a fourth of July parade. This wasn't just any bike. My dad spoked the wheels using many different length spokes so that the hubs of the wheels were off center. If you look closely, especially at the front wheel, you can see the hub is off center in the wheel. When you pedaled the bike it bobbed up and down or rocked back and forth depending on whether or not the wheels were in sync. It was quite a sight! The pole on the back held a sign for Dick's Broiler, a local hamburger joint that we stopped at now and then.

Winter Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:58:00 +0000

Along with a large area of the US, Cincinnati was hit with a large snow/sleet/ice storm. This was our first major snowfall of the season. There were a lot of closings and the roads were a mess.

Yesterday I decided to stay home and use a vacation day I carried over from last year to avoid the crazy drivers. Overnight we got about a half inch of ice. When I woke up and heard the weather forecast for several more inches of snow, I realized today was a work from home day. I spend most of my time on the computer and phone anyway, so it isn't difficult to work at home. It turned out to be the right decision as Hamilton county declared a level 3 snow emergency -- only emergency vehicles on the road -- to allow the plows and salt trucks space to do their thing.

It took Dianne and me about 45 minutes just to shovel our way out of the house and get to my car to clean it off for tomorrow. I heard on the news that in the last two days we received 7 inches of snow and a half inch of ice. I know that's not much to my Minnesota readers, but it causes a lot of problems in this area. At one point there were nearly 50,000 people without power -- mostly due to tree limbs covered with ice breaking off the tree and taking down power lines.

About an hour after the snow stopped today, the sun poked out from between the clouds and lit up the ice covered trees. I took a couple macro photos of the ice covered trees outside our place (per Erika's request). If the forecast holds, it might not be until Sunday before the ice melts off the trees.

New Blog -- Rabid Derby Fan

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:25:00 +0000

I'm so prolific here on Earl World, that I decided to start a new blog :^)

Regular readers know I enjoy watching flat-track roller derby. Over the last few years I've had quite a few posts discussing local roller derby matches Dianne and I have attended. I know not all my readers are derby fans (although I'm not sure why) and not all the roller derby folks that read the bout recaps are interested in reading my other ramblings.

As a result, the Rabid Derby Fan blog was born. Starting this year I will be posting all my bout recaps to the Rabid Derby Fan site. If you are here looking for derby information, go to the RDF blog and bookmark it. There are a few bout schedule posts there now.

Baby Twitters

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:22:00 +0000

A few days ago I posted about Twitter -- the micro blogging service. Thanks to Hack a Day, I discovered that you can follow Twitter tweets from the unborn. A student at NYU developed a waist band with some electronics that monitors a baby's movement in the womb. The device sends a twitter when the baby kicks. Read more about it here.

You can see the Twitter feeds of the kickbee here. OK, it might not be the most exciting read, but it does have the cool geek factor going for it.

Botanical Art

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:08:00 +0000

Ping mag, now on hiatus, had a post about a 97 year old botanical artist from Japan. The interview and his work are wonderful! Below is one example of his work. Go here to see the whole article.

Split Tongue

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:03:00 +0000

YouTube is really amazing. There is something for everyone. Thanks to Boing Boing, check out what you can do with a split tongue.

Twitterholic

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:24:00 +0000

I've been a blog post slug lately, but you may have noticed Twitter updates (tweets) on my sidebar that provide a few updates. If you want, you can follow my tweets directly on Twitter -- I'm Cincisquirtle on Twitter.

One benefit of Twitter's popularity is that other services now integrate well with Twitter. One example is Facebook that can suck in Twitters and put them in your status. That's convenient so you don't have to make status updates in multiple spots. It's also good since I've become a big fan of Facebook. Send a friend request there if you want to add me. Besides status updates, you'll find photos, news feeds, games, etc.

One problem I have with Twitter is that it can be hard to find people to follow. Sure, it's easy to find tech evangelists like Robert Scoble or Guy Kawasaki, but it can be tough to find friends, specific feeds, or posts about topics. Thanks to Steve Rubel at Micro Persuasion I found Twitterholic. It's a Twitter stats site that lets you look at users sorted in many different ways -- date joined, popularity, number of followers, location, etc. Supposedly you can combine these, but I haven't played around enough. I was intrigued by the top Twitterers in the Cincinnati area that you can see here. Not surprisingly, Cincinnati Rollergirl and Enquirer reporter Miss Print ranks up there at #26. There are a lot of personal feeds, but some publications like Cin Weekly are in there too. Check out the site to find some feeds.

Dismembered December

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:26:00 +0000

On Saturday, Dianne and I drove to Evansville to watch the Dismembered December tournament put on by the Demolition City Roller Derby group and held in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum that was built in 1916. Four teams (Demolition City Roller Derby (DCRD) Dynamite Dolls, Naptown Rollergirls, Slay Belles, and Quad State Terrors) participated in 4 bouts. Congratulations to the Quad State Terrors for winning the tournament! It topped off the day to see them win the championship bout.

Evansville's Memorial Coliseum is quite the historic venue as seen in the fisheye photo above (click on the image to see a larger view). It reminded me a bit of a venue you might see in the movie Hoosiers. The track itself was laid out on masonite panels pieced together to protect the underlying floor. The panels seemed well placed and except for an occasional stumble getting on and off the layer, I didn’t see many skaters having issues with the seams between the panels. The jammers were pretty speedy when out in the open.

The first bout was between DCRD and the Naptown Rollergirls team – a team that was a mix of all their skaters. It was a good bout, but the DCRD team had the edge at the half with a lead of 28 to 18 that they increased in the second period to finish with a score of 58 to 22. The photo at right, such as it is with the natural light, shows some of the action between the teams. I wasn’t keeping a tally, but it seemed Naptown was hurt a lot by penalties. There was one point in the second period where one of the Naptown jammers, Ivanna B. Naughty, had several trips to the box including back-to-back penalties that really slowed the Naptown scoring.

The second bout had the Slay Belles (a pick-up team composed of DCRD skaters and skaters from several teams including Naptown, Radioactive City, and Lafayetter Brawlin' Dolls) pitted against the Quad State Terrors (made up of mostly Black-n-Bluegrass Rollergirls with a few additional skaters like Nastee from R.O.C.K. and Envy Myoni and Celia Graves from DCRG). To say the least, the Slay Belles struggled the entire bout. The Belles were trying hard, but their lack of experience and limited coordination/communication during the jams really hurt them. Quad State got a couple skaters at the front of the pack in every jam to control the pack and effectively shut down any offense. That, combined with solid Quad State trailing blockers that nudged Slay Belle jammers to stop their progress, made things rough for the Belles. In one jam with a skater in the penalty box, Nuk‘em held three Belle skaters back for a few laps by herself (see photo below). Jamming duty was shared by Roseanne Scarr, EMolition, Pistol Whippin' Wendy, and Envy MiYoni. The photo at the right shows Juwana Hurt clearing the way for jammer Envy MiYoni. There were a lot of grand slams and at the half Quad State was ahead with a score of 54 to 0. Near the end of the second 20 minute period, one of the Slay Belle jammers finally got lead jammer status and the place erupted with applause. On that jam the Belles managed to get three points on the board. The match ended with Quad State dominating with a score of 115 to 3. Unfortunately at one point in the match Arche Enemy and Rockscar took a tumble together in turn four and Rockscar was hurt and carried off by the EMTs. The announcers later mentioned that Rockstar broke her tibia and fibula. The DCRD page today says her surgery the following day went well. I hope she gets well quickly.

The third bout was the consolation match between the Naptown Rollergirls and the Slay Belles. It was another struggle for the Belles as Naptown came out strong and dominated the less experienced skaters. Unfortunately, skater I Teazem went down hard in turn 2 during one jam. I was coming down from the mezzanine after taking the fisheye photo above, so I didn’t see the spill. The EMTs took extra precautions with her neck and she was carried out to an ambulance on a stretcher. Today the DCRD homepage indicated she is doing well with some head pain. I certainly hope the EMT measures were precautionary and that she gets well soon. At the half Naptown led with a score of 93 to 6 and sadly the trend continued in the second full period so Naptown ended up winning with a score of 177 to 6.

As one would expect in a tournament, the last bout between the DCRD Dynamite Dolls and the Quad State Terrors was the best of the day. However, it was a long day of derby and a lot of spectators left after the Naptown consolation match. Perhaps they were Naptown fans wanting to get back to Indy before it got too late? Quad State continued their recipe for success using jammer speed, pack coordination, and tough blocking to establish an early lead and hold it throughout the match. The photo at right shows a typical Quad State configuration with Nuk'em, Nastee, and Juwana Hurt controlling the front of the pack. Considering the group hasn’t been skating together long, it was impressive to see how well they came together and used each others’ strengths to make an effective team. But the DCRD skaters were tough and made the Terrors work for the victory. In the initial jam, one of the DCRD blockers gave Juwana Hurt a solid shoulder in the pack to perhaps send a message – Juwana wasn’t hitting hard in the initial Slay Belles match. Juwana caught up with the pack and sent a tough shoulder block message right back to the DCRD skater. You can see the result of another one of Juwana’s blocks in the photo to the right. All the Quad State blockers contributed and really worked hard to control the front of the pack and the inside lines (see the photo below). At the half Quad State was ahead with a score of 46 to 17. In the second period, DCRD did make some adjustments and the scoring was about equal. However the Quad State victory was never in jeopardy and they won the bout with a score of 74 to 43.

You can see more photos I took at the bout in my Flickr set here. Also, Jack King took photos at the event for Quad State and will undoubtedly have some excellent shots despite the lighting.

Overall it was an interesting day of derby that helped fill the off-season dry spell for this crazed roller derby fan. Thanks to the Demolition City Roller Derby group for making the effort to organize and host the event during a busy time of the year. It was a long day, but I found it instructive to see teams with varying skill levels battling back-to-back. It helps me appreciate the skill, techniques, and strategies of the game and how skaters and teams adjust (or not) to changing situations. It really is an interesting (as well as entertaining) sport to watch once you get the hang of what to look for. If you haven’t been to a flat track roller derby match, you have to check out a team near you next season!

Finally, a special thanks to the Black-n-Bluegrass Rollergirls for the invitation to the tournament and to all the Quad State Terror skaters (see the photo below) that made us feel welcome. Congrats on winning the tournament! Look for big things from that group in the 2009 season.

Thinking Styles Quiz

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The results of this quiz shouldn't be earth shattering to anyone who knows me. What is your style?

Your Dominant Thinking Style: Modifying

Super logical and rational, you consider every fact available to you.

You don't make rash decisions and are rarely moved by emotion.

You prefer what's known and proven - to the new and untested.

You tend to ground those around you and add stability.

What's Your Thinking Style?

Red and Yellow

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:43:00 +0000

Michele has several knockout rose beds in her garden. They give a lot of red color to the garden that really stands out in the Fall. The photo at right, a fisheye view, gives an idea of how many flowers were in bloom a couple weeks ago. That was taken using the natural light and shade on the plants. There are some insects on the flowers, but nothing like those found on the sedum flowers.

The first photo below is a close up of one of the rose blossom taken using a few flashes to get a good depth of field. I like the soft texture of the rose petals.

The second photo below is of a plant that gives some more yellow color to the garden. It is one cluster of flowers on a Lantana. The cluster is about the size of a quarter and they branch off of some medium length stalks. I was intrigued by how the little rectangles unfurl into trumpet shaped flowers.

Survivor Gabon

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:33:00 +0000

I'll admit it -- I'm a reality TV junkie. One of my must see reality shows on broadcast TV is Survivor.

For the past several seasons folks have organized a Survivor pool at work. This year Carla is running the "team building exercise." My Survivor contestant is Jacquie, which is appropriate since she grew up in Minnesota. You can read her whole bio here. She seems like a solid competitor and, more importantly, someone who does not have an annoying personality that grates on the other contenders. Go Jacquie!

Favorite iPhone Applications

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:22:00 +0000

There aren't a huge number of free applications for the iPhone that I use a lot. But there are two of them that are really cool.

The first is Shazam. Have you ever been listening to a song and wondered what the title of the song was or who was singing? With Shazam, you simply hit a tag button when the song is playing. The software listens to the song for a few seconds and checks the sample against its database of recordings. Generally within a few seconds it returns the song title and artist along with links. It works pretty well even with background noise. I use it in the car when I'm listening to the radio and I hear a song I want to write up for the Songs in Haiku site. I just hit two buttons and bingo the song is tagged on my list of songs. No need to try and write something down while driving. You don't need an iPhone to use the service. Check out their web site.

The second application is called Trailguru. It's an application that keeps track of bike trails, hiking trails, etc. using a GPS. The iPhone ap uses the built in location services to record a trail as you walk or bike. It also keeps track of stats like average speed, distance traveled, etc. The screen capture below shows a trail that Dianne and I created while walking around the Deerfield Towne Center area. The green flag was our starting point outside of the Polo Grill. We walked along and did some window shopping -- the blue line. The red flag is our stopping point at the car. The Google map photo was taken while the strip mall was under construction, so it just looks like a barren field. But it gives you an idea of what the service does.

Check out these applications.

Day Trip to Louisville

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:30:00 +0000

Dianne and I drove down to Louisville early to look around before the evening roller derby bout. Our first stop was the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory -- the spot where the Louisville Slugger baseball bats are made. I had a Louisville Slugger bat growing up as likely did a lot of folks reading this post.

I thought the factory tour was interesting. You followed the manufacturing process starting with a rough billet all following it all the way through finishing. They were manufacturing bats when we were visiting and many of the machines were being used. Unfortunately they didn't allow photography on the tour. :^(

The building also has a batting cage, small museum area, a gift shop, and various displays. The photo above and right shows Dianne near one of Adam Dunn's bats that is on display near the wall of signatures. She is holding our little bats we got on the tour of the manufacturing area. If you're in the neighborhood and have any interest in baseball it is worth a stop. It's an easy place to find. There is a HUGE bat outside the building. The bat is over 4 stories high! Here is a fisheye photo showing Dianne at the base of the bat. The fisheye lens exaggerates the size, but it is quite large. Click here to view a larger version of the photo.

After visiting the museum, we walked along Main street towards downtown. There is quite the mix of old buildings (some well kept and some not) and new buildings. There is also a mix of shops ranging from Army Surplus to upscale galleries and restaurants. It was very clean though -- which could be because there was very little pedestrian traffic to make any kind of a mess. The photo below shows some of the old buildings on Main.

We also walked toward the Ohio river and found a park overlook near the dock for the Belle of Louisville riverboat. The photo at right shows Dianne looking out toward the river with the Belle of Louisville docked below in the distance. Click on the photo to see a larger image. There was a large statue of William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame) there. As usual, Dianne struck the same pose as Clark in the photo below.

After that we drove around the University of Louisville (a lot of angry cardinals in the pavement around the school) and also drove in to Churchill Downs. Overall it was a relaxing day in Louisville. See a few more photos from our visit in this Flickr set.

Sour Smash Roller Derby Bout

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:53:00 +0000

Dianne and I capped off our visit to Louisville yesterday (more on other activities in a future post) by attending the Sour Smash event at the Kentucky Expo Center where the Derby City Roller Girls hosted the Black-n-Bluegrass Rollergirls. We thought, and rightly so, that the BBRG would need a couple more people in the crowd cheering for them. It was a good match with the BBRG beating DCRG by a score of 106 to 41!

The Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls took the lead on the first jam and never looked back. They easily adapted to the faster surface and the pack was moving fairly fast. The photo above and right shows BBRG jammer EMolition and DCRG jammer Envy Miyoni. The first period was a bit strange in that there were several zero/zero jams. At face value, that isn’t out of the realm of possibility. It was just the way the jams were called off that was strange – sometimes the DCRG lead jammer was ahead and in the open and called off the jam without even trying to get one or two points before the BBRG jammer could catch the pack. There were some tough blockers on the DCRG team – of particular note was Sk8 Ninja who dished out many hard blocks. The photo at right shows Morgue Ann le Slayer going down after a hit from Sk8 Ninja. Despite the DCRG blocking, there were several jams where the BBRG scored 4 or 5 and DCRG had zero. EMolition, Roseanne Scarr, and Morgue Ann le Slayer were rotating as jammers and at the end of the first period BBRG was ahead by 28 to 13. The photo below shows everyone looking at Roseanne to either block or help her.

The second period was generally more of the same, with a lot of tough blocking. The BBRG had a great rotation of blockers including the Hurt sisters, Hot T. Molly, and Buckhead Betty. There were a couple jams when the BBRG pack was less well organized and not able to help their jammer as well as they could, but in general there was good teamwork and excellent defense! The photo at the right shows Juwana Hurt putting the hurt on a DCRG jammer. The photo below shows the defense on both sides as Morgue Ann gets hit as Buckhead Betty dishes out a hit. At the end of the second period BBRG had opened up their lead and the score was 55-25 in their favor.

The third period saw several other BBRG skaters wearing the jammer star to get more experience and score some points. I probably will miss some folks, but Jewel B. Hurt, Aine Ass, and Hellaina Havoc all got lead jammer status. I think those additions to the jammer rotation helped spread the workload and allowed BBRG to widen their lead even more. The BBRG defense was also tough -- as shown by the Hurt sisters slowing up Envy Miyoni at right. The DCRG fought hard the entire way and they were dishing out their fair share of hard blocks. I haven’t travelled to very many away derby events, but the DCRG crowd has to be one of the most vocal that I’ve heard. It makes for an exciting derby event and must help motivate the DCRG skaters.

The Derby City folks know how to put on a fun derby event. The Kentucky Expo Center is a nice venue (although parking is $6) and they have a solid, clear sound system that made it easy to hear the announcers. The announcers were good and helped to whip the crowd into D-C R-G chants periodically. I’m not convinced about music playing during the jams, but their DJ did a great job picking tunes to add to the excitement.

During the breaks between periods, several of the BBRG folks came over to say hi. That was nice, but I wasn’t sure how well received that would be in the middle of a sea of DCRG fans :^) After the match, Dianne and I were able to talk to several of the BBRG skaters. Special thanks to Buckhead Betty and to Morgue Ann le Slayer for coming up and introducing themselves to Dianne and me. Dianne got a photo of me with Juwana Hurt (above) who had several great hits during the evening. We also got to talk with EMolition and Dianne got a photo of me with her too. It was exciting to see EMolition back in competition and she certainly posted quite a few points for BBRG. We met and talked with BBRG fan T.J., who can’t wait for BBRG to get WFTDA status and take on the Cincinnati Rollergirls in the future. We’re fortunate to have a couple derby teams in the area and there should be some exciting local derby action to see! Finally, we also got to talk with Skinny Minnie who unfortunately did a number on one of her fingers that was really swelling up fast. Hope you are doing ok.

I posted quite a few photos from the bout in a Flickr set that you can see here. There are a couple nice series of photos taken in rapid succession that shows the action unfolding. In particular I liked this series (first, second, and third) showing a sandwich block on Morgue Ann le Slayer that works out well due to some quick thinking in the pack -- and this series (first, second, and third) showing a failed attempt to slow Roseanne Scarr.

Congratulations to all the BBRG team on a big win to finish the season!

Chrysanthemum Bonanza

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:19:00 +0000

When I was visiting Michele's garden a couple weeks ago, she had several pots of chrysanthemums that were bursting with color. The photo at right shows one of the pots on her porch, taken in the morning sun with a fisheye lens. They really add color to the garden.

The first photo below is a close-up of one of the blossoms. The early morning light gives the petals an almost golden color. After spending some time taken insect pictures, I discovered another pot in the back garden. By that time it was later in the morning and as the sun got a bit higher the flowers lost a bit of that gold hue. In the background shade you can see some purple flowers that are from a pot of asters.

Finally, the third photo below is a set of photos taken from one mum pot, on the same day, that shows how the flower opens up. I wonder what time span this represents if it were a single flower. I was intrigued by how the color changes as the flower opens up. The photos show the actual colors as best I can. Go here to see a larger version on black.

Energy Sword

noreply@blogger.com (Earl) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:52:00 +0000

After our visit to TDI, we each got a ka-bar knife to carry if necessary. They come with a tight clip for your belt that is very difficult to yank off.

While that is nice, all Halo fans know that type of knife is like a pea shooter compared to the power of a Covenant energy sword. Well, you can get your own energy sword at this site. OK, it's a replica. It's probably not sharp or sturdy. But it still looks cool and might intimidate any attackers.