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Collinsville is a sleepy little town in western Connecticut, a former mill-town that now plays host to tourists and leaf-peepers. And of course, photographers. A few years back, I joined my brother and his photographer friend Joe for a little photo/video jaunt through the town. As we passed by the mill that sits right on the Farmington River, Joe snapped this stunning photo of the changing leaves. While he was making magical photos, I was off shooting video, which you can see below:

*Photo courtesy Joseph M. Arthur Photography.

Ok, I’m not one to post a lot of ads on here, especially without getting paid for it, but this is just too cool not to share. This ad from Nike is pretty inspiring, but is also technologically and artistically cool. Take a look.

If you hadn’t already heard, Google announced that they will be offering bike directions on their Maps application. This is great news for all cyclists, as now you can plot routes and save your maps. It’s also great news for bike commuters looking for better ways to get to and from work. Some of the best news is you’ll get to see bike trails and bike lanes right on the maps. Doing a search for bike directions here in Portland, Maine, I notice that not all bike lanes are on the map yet, but as this service is developed I’m sure we’ll see more.

Good for Google for taking the initiative to promote alternative modes of transportation! (Unfortunately, the maps can’t be embedded so I’ll just provide a link.)

This is fantastic! If you love craft beer, or if you just want to watch a fun, well-produced video about a brewer going to Europe to collaborate on a new beer, then watch this video from Stone Brewing Co. Co-owners Greg Koch and Steve Wagner, along with Head Brewer Mitch Steele went first to Norway, and then to Scotland to pair up with Nøgne Ø and BrewDog, respectively, all to create some great specialty beers. Take a look at the 27 minute video below to see the entire trip. You’ll love it.

Our daily lives can be quite hectic without us even realizing it. Even if you take a vacation, you try to pack as many sights into a short period of time as you can because you see the end before the trip even begins. But when you have no firm end date in sight, when you don’t have to cram lots of things into a limited to-do list, it comes time for you to learn how to slow down.

In part 3 of my interviews with Laura and Russ of The Path Less Pedaled, they discuss coming to the realization that their freedom to choose comes with a price.

A few years ago, I was sent to London, England for work. My crew and I were there to video tape some very cool technology segments for a show we were working on. One day of the week we spent there, I had some time where I could go shoot what’s called b-roll: it’s the footage that covers other video that is related to what’s going on in the segment. I know, bad description, but you get the idea. This day, I decided to grab a few snapshots, and as I was getting some video, I also snapped this shot of Westminster Abbey. The architecture in England is truly stunning, and the Abbey is absolutely gorgeous. While I didn’t get to go inside, the starkness of the Abbey’s stone exterior set against the bright blue sky (one of the few sunny days we encountered there) was beautiful.

Dave Pidgeon over at Compass Points saw that there was a need for well-produced outdoors videos on the web, so he went out and did it himself (I’m right there with him on that point…it’s why I started PTV). Enter Compass Points TV, Dave’s video version of his blog, where he does video trip reports and other videos. He’s just started his second season with a trip to Ricketts Glen in Pennsylvania. He and his buddy went on a hike to see the official National Natural Area that boasts 21 waterfalls in 7 miles. That is a hike I must take someday.

My buddy Casey over at Just Northwest does a cool little video series called The Northern Rangers, where he and his buddy go out and do fun things in the outdoors. Their most recent adventure was at the I-5 Colonnade Mountain Bike park in Seattle, Washington where local volunteers helped to build a series of urban mountain bike trails right under the highway! The video’s a bit shaky, but the content is great.

Stuff.

Everybody has it, and most of us have too much. It hides in corners and under beds. It clutters our closets and our drawers. We hide stuff in pantries and under sinks and hell, right out in the open. Knicknacks, curios, trinkets, souvenirs, and thingamajigs fill our lives, and because we clean and neaten and straighten, most times we don’t even notice. That is, until it’s time to move. Then we realize just how much stuff we actually have.

When Russ and Laura of The Path Less Pedaled took the self-imposed directive to ride their bikes across the country indefinitely, they had no idea that the first challenge would show up right at home. In part two of the PTV interview, Russ and Laura talk about paring down their stuff to just what they need; a task not for the faint of heart.

Down by the Maine State Pier, just off to the left across from the Narrow Gauge Railroad, is a marina where a sailing school is based and marine maintenance work is done. On one of my acquaintance walks, where I was wandering around getting to know my new home, I came on this large beam covered in black, shiny mussels. The beam must have just been removed from the ocean for cleaning. I thought it was fascinating to see so many of these little crustaceans and realize that they were living beings.