Good timing - here’s the Bob and Doug McKenzie origin story:
Glaciologist and Earth system scientist at the University of Alberta. Luthier, photographer, baker, and coffee maker. Two-wheeled travel enthusiast and dog companion. He/him.
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Good timing - here’s the Bob and Doug McKenzie origin story:
Wait, a LOTR remake starring characters from an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet?
If wishes were horses, we’d all be eating steak.
Beautiful, Armand! The loaming light one sees when on the water in Greenland is unmatched. Here's a capture I took in 2001 (Nikon FE2, 105mm f/2.5, Kodak Ektachrome E100S):
In that case, it's definitely time for a re-viewing. (I'll not spoil the reference here.)
Ugh, I'm sorry to hear this. Perhaps it's time to rewatch Carroll Ballard's beautiful Never Cry Wolf (1983)?
“You see us as you want to see us… In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal…” (In other words: we all listened to all of these artists.)
“James Caird II”?
I’m strangely happy about the huge number of bug-splats on my motorcycle, leathers, helmet, and visor. (It’s good to know that pesticides haven’t wiped out the entire trophic level.)
It’s a beautiful day for a ride in central Alberta (so no, “beachside” doesn’t refer to an ocean beach).
Have you picked up any Boontling?
Plus they don’t even take a name or Alberta Health acct. number - just an email address or text number. I don’t have high hopes here.
Hey Albertans, If you’re hoping to get a covid booster this fall, you’ll need to pre-order your vaccine by Sept. 30. You can do so here:
Up, up, and away!
How is this even a question?! (The answer is yes.)
During the summer of '86, a buddy and I joyrode endlessly in his folks' Firebird. It wasn't a T-A, and it only had an asthmatic V-6; stock Hondas could blow its doors off (relatively speaking) in drag races. But it sure looked fantastic in Dresden Blue.
…and that exhaust note.
Great-looking truck. Caveat emptor: “The five-digit odometer shows 211k miles, although the Carfax report lists a reading in excess of 946k miles in an October 2008 entry.”
At long last, I’ll now be able to use all of my large-format lenses on both my Toyo 45AII field camera and my Horseman L45 monorail, without swapping lensboards. I bought this Horseman when film cameras were at rock-bottom value; I think I paid $200 for it.
The lensboard adapter mods are done, at least for now; at some point I’ll pick up some Testors model paint and blacken the filed areas.
I considered sending the adapter back, of course, but decided on this course of action instead. It’ll work perfectly well, at a much lower cost than the alternatives. Plus, as they say: a bird in the hand, yada yada yada.
I’m in the workshop, taking a bastard file to a beautifully machined Toyo Field-to-Horseman lensboard adapter. Unfortunately, the radius used for the adapter’s opening was too large to accommodate the raised light trap cast into the back of the Toyo lensboards.
Yes, yes it is!
If the pirogi shop isn’t selling t-shirts, they’re missing a golden opportunity.
It’s worth noting that absolutely love riding in the rain - though preferably in more appropriate gear, rather than kevlar-lined riding jeans and a leather+mesh jacket.
Water was running curb-deep on the roads, and I arrived home to a river running down the lane behind my house. I was very glad to find my basement sump pump merrily doing its job.
Well, that cracking thunderstorm was a refreshing way to wrap up today’s motorcycle ride. I wish I owned an Insta360 (or similar) camera so all y’all could see just how hard the rain was throwing down - it was like being the target of an infinite bucket brigade.
De Anza College is awesome! I took a couple of courses there a loooooong time ago during my undergrad days.
Yes!
I don’t know how a song can so perfectly capture the promise of a sunny August morning, but Kenny Garrett’s “Sing a Song of Song” nails it.
Congratulations!
(Pileated)
😍😍😍
Honestly, it must be done.
I was able to bring my LF camera up onto the Wapta Icefield and Bow Glacier for my recent fieldwork. It's been nearly 20 years since I've exposed any 4x5" sheets of film - far too long! I can't wait to develop and print the small number of images I was able to capture. (Add'l info in alt text.)
Nah; it’s a great part of The City, and great even for short breaks from talks. A couple of decades ago, a nearby building (at corner of 3rd and Mission) had these murals painted on them; now the faces on which they were painted butt up against buildings (The Regis on one side, MOAD on the other).
Great name, too (fwiw).
Thanks for making every morning that much better, Mark. Congratulations on your retirement!
Like everyone else in Edmonton, I’m listening to Mark Connolly wrap up his final regular appearance with CBC Edmonton AM. I’ve been fortunate enough to join Mark and the rest of the amazing Edmonton AM crew a few times to talk about icy things. Each time was a real pleasure, and always good fun.
When I saw Ryan’s post+photos, my first thought was “Drew would know what/where these are.” My second thought was “that glacier is definitely not in the Rockies.” 😂
I hope the piano fits down there!
Oh, cool! There was definitely meaning for the birds here - but what, exactly? (Rhetorical.)
There’s a yellow-billed species (Pica nuttallii) in California’s central valley, but here in Edmonton we get the black-billed one. We also get a rare grey (or “ghost”) variant of Pica hudsonia here - they’re quite striking! (I’ll see whether I can find a photo, and will post if successful.)
I’d be much better served at this point to spend more time on the bass - it’s been too long since I’ve played it regularly.
Ah - that simplifies things! Beautiful shot of a beautiful bird.
The deceased bird, which by this time had been slowly decomposing for a couple of weeks in this spot.
There was a bit of an ostensible corvid re-creation of the classic 1986 film “Stand By Me” in the neighbourhood yesterday morning, as a number of magpie (Pica hudsonia) juveniles were checking out a deceased bird.
It’s difficult to tell given the colour balance of the image, but if this was taken in (or south of) California, this could be a tricolored blackbird (which has a white bar below the red shoulder patch, rather than a yellow bar).
More cush chords (where the root remains unchanged, but other chords in a progression undergo modal interchange - that is, are changed to a different key):
(Shout-out to bassist Bob DeBoo - he also contributes video lessons to Open Studio, and plays on this version of Closer.)
While I’m at it, here’s Adam’s SFW version of NIN’s very NSFW “Closer”:
I’ve played bass for nearly 40 years. Still, sometimes I get pianist envy - especially when watching Adam Maness’ Open Studio video shorts. Here’s one on cush chords. Just gorgeous:
I have/use the same - pretty remarkable.
Nice! (iPhone Pro?)
Wow!
Okay, this is very cool.
Well, if you can read this...
Sounds like a good time to snip off some privately-owned corners via eminent domain.
It’s always good to see my hometown live oaks!
Nice! It's probably still there - though you might be hard-pressed to recognize the place, given how rapidly and dramatically the glaciers are changing.
Taken with a borrowed Canon EOS 6D through a Canon EF 24-70mm f/4 L IS USM lens. 1/400 s @ f/10.
Inversion layers never disappoint when viewed from above.
Awesome - that's beautiful work! I'm just back from Bow Glacier (Banff Nat'l Park), and was bopping around on ice very much like this.
Damn. Love. Also, the "Studebaker-your-face" logo is pretty cool.
Thank you. I will be posting, so stay tuned! It should be a good trip - I’m really looking forward to it!
Agreed - I prefer taking the photo myself, rather than having a computer do it for me. I work with computers enough in my work life.
Yep, same. Also, mechanical rather than electronic cameras, watches, etc. I’ve not had access to a darkroom for about 25 years. This evening’s film holder loading session was the first use of my home darkroom - next up, developing film.
In this case I’ll also(!) be carrying a DSLR (for a photo survey of the area), but for my own personal use I’ve just never jelled with digital - the cameras, the look, the process. Plus, I’ve just put together a darkroom in my basement, and so I’m looking forward to printing the new negatives.
Unfortunately, that’s pretty much exactly when I sold mine, along with all of my Nikkor AI primes. Still kicking myself for that. (I did hang onto my two F bodies and pre-AI lenses; I’ve always preferred the feel of the earlier kit.)
I’m pretty excited as well - in this case, I’m glad it’s contagious! I’m heading up to the Bow Glacier in Banff National Park. I have some work to do up there, including a photo survey of the glacier and nearby portion of the Wapta Icefield. Seemed like a pretty good opportunity to drag up the 4x5!
That sounds about right. I’m well aware of what I’m setting myself up for - the hike to our field site (which I’ve hiked about a dozen times over the past ~8 years) is approximately 10 km (6 mi) with a 750 m (2500’) elevation gain. So it’s not negligible.
I’ve just loaded up ten 4x5 film holders, five with Ilford FP4+ (ISO 125), five with Ilford HP5+ (ISO 400). I should probably weigh my camera gear pile, but am working on the principle of “what you don’t know can’t kill you.” I’m pretty sure it’s going to hurt me, however.
That unlevel horizon was making my eye twitch.
Some quick scans (using a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED) of the test roll of Ilford XP2 Super I ran through the 1956 Leica iiif w/Elmar 5cm f/2.8 lens I recently picked up. It did not disappoint! This is not (and won’t be) a film I shoot regularly, but it’s pretty great. Two Bridges.
At 4000 dpi (e.g. via drum scan), that would be roughly equivalent to 89 megapixels - with each pixel containing full RGB information.
Haha, awesome!
Years later, I’d frequently see one parked near the UC Berkeley campus. It wore a “Ralph Nader for President” bumper sticker. I always wanted to ask its owner whether (s)he was being serious or ironic.
A friend of mine in high school had one, and other members of her family owned several more. I have very fond memories of riding around in that car - whether or not it was “unsafe at any speed.”
I get it; for what it’s worth, I’ve never taken any safety precautions for any other earthquake, before or since (though they’re not much of a concern in central Alberta).
It was after getting to the doorway that I watched the building sway and road surface 'wave'...
_______ had those two looking for their __________.
I'm the sort of weirdo who loves that sort of thing (plus being on the ocean in big sea states, tentbound in Antarctic blizzards, etc.). It lasted long enough for me to think to myself, "ya know, perhaps you should get to a doorway for this one."
I still vividly remember the Oct. 17, 1989 Loma Prieta ("Bay Bridge Series") earthquake. I was just ~17 miles from the epicenter in downtown San Jose, CA. Watching the apartment building across the street sway as the Rayleigh waves rolled visibly by - well, that was a trip.
Noice!
Now I regret disassembling the seismometer I'd been testing in my garage.
what have i done to deserve this ad
…but we’ll be staying in the ACC’s Bow Hut - so I won’t need to carry a tent or stove. At this point, I honestly don’t know whether I’ll carry it or have it flown up. Overall, I’d prefer to carry it - but we’ll see once everything is together in a pile.
Whatever AA said instead of “don’t scrimp…” was probably less useful advice (provided one wanted to shoot an 8x10 in the High Sierras). I’ll have to figure out the weight and volume of the rest of my gear before deciding. I’ll be carrying tools, a radio, and food for a week-plus…
1. Ok, I’ve got nothing
There’s a chance I’ll carry the camera gear up with me - I’ll be hiking both in and out; the helo is for moving equipment - but there’s an admittedly greater chance that I’ll have the 407 carry it up to our field site. Either way, I’ll be the donkey carrying it back down.
As one does.
Let’s unpack this, shall we? Trump is apparently claiming that: (1) the Epstein files were made up by Comey, Obama, and Biden to make him look bad; and yet (2) Trump’s name doesn’t explicitly appear in the files.
Cooper’s are notorious for ignoring NOTAMs.
