Ninjas and Nachos

Mt. Magazine

2011-03-11T15:42:00.001-06:00

Hiking at Mt. Nebo

2011-02-27T11:07:00.003-06:00

Paris Pictures 6.

2010-10-01T12:27:00.001-05:00

Paris Pictures 5.

2010-09-30T14:41:00.001-05:00

Paris Pictures 4.

2010-09-30T04:18:00.000-05:00

Paris Pictures 3.

2010-09-28T11:42:00.002-05:00

Paris Pictures 2

2010-09-24T11:22:00.002-05:00

Paris Pictures 1.

2010-09-21T06:37:00.005-05:00

Click for bigness.

Some Pictures of St. Petersburg, Russia

2010-07-11T21:53:00.001-05:00

Some Pictures of Moscow, Russia

2010-07-11T21:37:00.006-05:00

Paris Vacation Pictures: The Fifth Set

2010-02-21T16:29:00.053-06:00

Some van Gogh paintings at Musée d'Orsay.

I think this is a Manet painting.

Inside Musée d'Orsay.

I can't figure out how they layered two different types of stone as cloth on top of the marble nude.

This is a great Monet painting.

A Renoir painting.

Here are some pictures of our detour to Köln, Germany to visit my Aunt and Uncle. This is us standing on a bridge over the Rhine.

Here you can see the cathedral, tv tower, the train station, and the train bridge.

Here we are crossing the Rhine on the train bridge. Apparently a tradition has started where couples write or engrave their names on locks, fasten them to the fence on the bridge, and throw the key into the river.

We also discovered a fence on a bridge in Paris that had a few of these locks too. It didn't compare to this though.

This is the floor of an ancient Roman dining room. It's all mosaic tile.

Another church in Köln.

This is the wall around an old town outside of Köln.

A church inside the old town.

The handles of an interesting door inside a church.

The door.

Becky and my Aunt checking out a craft store.

One of the streets in the old town.

A random guy in my shot of this street.

This spot is probably really nice in the Spring.

My Aunt and Uncle.

This cafe looks cozy.

My Uncle in front of the cathedral.

Can you spot the lock that Becky and I put on the bridge?

Some artifacts inside the cathedral in Köln.

The gold artifact supposedly holds the bones of the Three Kings.

This is a close-up of the back of the gold artifact.

Unfortunately it was dark outside when we went inside the cathedral, so it was kind of dark inside as well. The gold artifact is between the Christmas trees in the background.

The ceiling of the cathedral is incredibly high. You can see the gold artifact way in the back.

Pictures in the train station as we are about to head back to Paris.

Back in Paris and outside the Pantheon. The Eiffel Tower is in the background.

That couple doesn't seem as jazzed to be here as I am.

Inside the Pantheon.

A giant pendulum suspended from inside the dome in the Pantheon.

The crowning of Charlemagne.

Rousseau's tomb in the basement of the Pantheon.

Voltaire's tomb.

The basement has lots of famous people entombed there. Here is Marie Curie and her husband's tomb.

Becky next to the entrance of Lagrange's tomb. (He's the guy who discovered Lagrangian points!)

Braille's tomb.

Victor Hugo's tomb.

Dumas' tomb.

A painting of Death on the ceiling of the Pantheon.

An interesting painting at the entrance of the Pantheon.

When we got outside, the sky cleared.

Notre Dame and the courtyard in front of it.

The city was going to build a parking garage under the courtyard in front of Notre Dame, but they discovered a bunch of Roman ruins. Now they turned it into another museum. Here are some of the ruins. This is the entrance to a cellar.

Steps leading to a cellar.

More steps leading to a cellar.

The smooth path labeled with a "P" is an alleyway between to buildings.

The base of a column.

The small archways lit in red were part of a central heating system.

Notre Dame at night.

I'm trying to get creative with the Moon.

Mass in Notre Dame.

Ice skating outside Hotel de Ville.

Paris Vacation Pictures: The Fourth Set

2010-01-15T22:08:00.006-06:00

The Arc de Triomphe.

Champs-Elysées with a giant ferris wheel at the end.

Becky standing between the white lines of safety.

Under the Arc de Triomphe, next to an eternal flame.

The ferris wheel and the 3000 year old Egyptian obelisk! It's hard to see the pointy top, but it's covered in gold leaf.

The Arc de Triomphe again.

The Eye of Sauron sparkling on the hour.

The Arc de Triomphe as seen from the top of the ferris wheel.

The July Column in Place de la Bastille.

A sculpture of Aristotle in Musée d'Orsay.

Napoleon.

Musée d'Orsay is a converted train station.

This is a famous painting, but I don't remember the name of it or who painted it.

Enjoy the perspective...

Nope, it's a painting, not a photograph.

Paris Vacation Pictures: The Third Set

2010-01-15T21:11:00.005-06:00

Napoleon's tomb.

The angels representing some of Napoleon's battles.

Thumbs up for scale.

Napoleon depicted as a Roman emperor and pointing to the Napoleonic Code.

The view from Napoleon's tomb.

Napoleon II.

Napoleon bestowing honors on both military and civilian citizens. Apparently he was the first leader to do this.

The military church behind the gold alter. You can see the back of the giant gold crucifix through the window.

The organ at the back of the church.

Paris Vacation Pictures: The Second Set

2010-01-10T20:43:00.005-06:00

The Grand Palace.

Napoleon's tomb is in there.

The interior of the dome.

Napoleon's tomb! Each of the angels surrounding the tomb represent one of Napoleon's victories.

A carving depicting the return of Napoleon's body to France from St. Helena.

Paris Vacation Pictures: The First Set

2010-01-10T08:35:00.010-06:00

Here are some of the better pictures from my visit this Christmas break.

December 19, 2009 (the day I arrived in Paris):

The Seine next to Notre Dame.

December 20, 2009:

It's snowing!

December 21, 2009:

The streets near the Pantheon.

I'm at the Pantheon!

The Christmas season in Paris.

(The camera clock wasn't set for the rest of these)

It's amazing to just walk down a street and see something like this.

The Eiffel Tower (most of it).

I'm standing in front of the Grand Palace.

Now I'm standing in front of the Army Museum and Napoleon's tomb.

More pictures are on the way.

Independence Day and Zoo Pictures.

2009-07-23T15:52:00.003-05:00

July 4, 2009:

Becky, Janet, and David celebrating Independence Day on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
Here I am representing Michigan.

July 5, 2009:

The drive back to Little Rock involves passing through Transylvania.
In the background you can see one of the many prisons between New Orleans and Little Rock.

July 19, 2009:

The aardvark at the Little Rock Zoo.
Can you see what's hiding behind the foliage on Becky's right?

He looks as pissed off as Sam the Eagle.
Ellen and Mary throwing dust on themselves.

Ellen using the fence as a trunk-rest.
Surprisingly, the zoo keepers brought the elephants out of the enclosure and let people touch them while they ate. It was the first time I ever touched an elephant. They have rough skin and wirey hair.
Cats are all the same whether they are house cats or jaguars. They nap...
...use the scratching post...
...and play.
Becky figuring out what to go see next.

These guys kept tailing us. I think we were about to get mugged.

Little Rock

2009-06-27T11:20:00.001-05:00

March 27, 2009.
Heifer International headquarters is in the background.

That dog is a male.

The William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library. It looks like a giant trailer parked next to the abandoned railroad tracks and the river. The grounds are pretty though.

Me and my Dad.

Me and Becky.

This is near the visitor's center at Pinnacle Mountain State Park.

The view from near the visitor's center.

The Arkansas River.

May 16, 2009.
Skunk enjoying her spot by the living room window.

May 17, 2009.
Brooke, Ben, and the back of Becky's head on the Big Dam Bridge.

The view of I-430 from the Big Dam Bridge.

The view towards Little Rock.

March Beach Trip

2009-06-13T20:14:00.016-05:00

Here are some pictures of our trip to the beach from March 18 - 22. We split a condo near Seaside, FL with Becky's sister. I think it was Seagrove, FL. It was a fun trip and a great way to say goodbye to the freedom of joblessness.

My long-necked friend is a Saints fan.

The view from the balcony.

A cool looking beach house.

Another cool looking beach house.

Sunset on Day 1.

"It's not that hot."

A skim-boarder at sunset.

The military invades.

Another balcony shot.

Going, going, gone.

On this day Becky and I took a walk from the condo to "downtown" Seaside. This is a "hidden" public access path to the beach. The picture doesn't really do it justice. It was surprisingly beautiful.

Self-portrait.

Interesting houses on the walk.

Proof that your house doesn't have to be fancy to be on the beach.

Yeah yeah, I should be working...

2009-06-05T13:26:00.002-05:00

I just took the Pew News IQ Quiz. Here are my results:

How did you do?

Great Minds Think Alike.

2009-05-06T13:00:00.003-05:00

Apparently I wasn't the only one who saw a parallel between the swine flu epidemic and a zombie outbreak.

Check out this Reuters article.

The "swine flu."

2009-04-29T13:27:00.010-05:00

A couple of months ago I read World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War mostly because a friend of mine read the jacket and asked himself, "When did this happen? I'm a well-read individual. I keep up with current events and know a thing or two about history. How come I never heard about this?"

That still cracks me up.

Anyway, I came across this book in the library and decided to give it a read. I was surprised at how much I liked it. I was never a big fan of horror or zombie movies. I did like Dawn of the Dead (2004), Shaun of the Dead, and I Am Legend (of course) but that was the extent of it. After reading this book however, zombie stories now intrigue me. I have always been a fan of stories that take place after a cataclysm and how people struggle to survive. Zombie stories seem to put a fresh twist on this genre for me. If you haven't read it, I recommend you pick up a copy and give it a go.

I am currently reading The Zombie Survival Guide by the same author, Max Brooks. It's pretty good so far. I like that it puts some logic behind the whole fantasy of zombies. It reminds me of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual which does the same thing for the Enterprise.

Since I've had zombies on the brain recently (no pun intended), I can't help but see the parallels between the current swine flu outbreak and the impending zombie apocalypse. I recommend mentally switching out the words "swine flu" with "zombie plague" whenever you come across it in the news. It puts an interesting twist on things.

Remember, containment is key.

Do you remember these cartoons?

2009-04-18T00:06:00.006-05:00

A Quick Post From Yuppie-ville.

2009-04-02T21:19:00.003-05:00

Here's the view from our apartment!

I almost had to do this.

2009-02-25T09:54:00.004-06:00

Ultimate Alliance 2!

2009-02-08T09:13:00.003-06:00

The next installment of Marvel Ultimate Alliance is based on the Civil War storyline. It looks pretty cool!