tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56155192008-04-13T13:33:17.064-07:00Eric Richards Typing!Eric RichardsBlogger171125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-80287406535433387712008-04-13T13:33:00.001-07:002008-04-13T13:33:17.416-07:00Cougar Mountain Zoo and the ISO 1600 GoofBack in March, I visited the <a href="http://www.cougarmountainzoo.org/">Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah</a> early in the morning. It was my first time there. I knew that they had cougars, but they also have two Bengal tigers, reindeer, and birds - lots of cranes and macaws. Some photos are in my Puget Sound flickr feed: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericri/sets/72157603755341199/">Around Puget Sound - a set on Flickr</a> . I was quite proud of how the day started, which meant I was destined to screw up. Ah, pride. After the Woodland Park Zoo incident (not checking my white-balance before taking photos), I made a mental checklist to go over the camera settings before I started shooting. Auto-white balance? Check. Aperture? Looks good. ISO? 100. Alright, the basics are good, let's go. Some how, my magic fingers managed to change the ISO to 1600 shortly after I started taking some shots. Before I got to the crowned cranes I realized my goof with great horror and suppressed swearing. By then I had already taken shots of the tigers and cougars playing and it had warmed up enough that play time was over and the day-long naps had begun (get there at opening to see active felines). So in what could have been some nice shots, I've got lots of noise. Like if you look into the mouth of one of the tigers, you see color dots all over the place. Bummer. You can fix white balance in a jiff with RAW, not so much an ISO screw-up. Cougar Mountain is nice for being up close with the animals, but to do that they put some pretty heavy duty bars up between you and the predator, making getting good shots kind of arduous(shooting between the bars with a significant zoom). The staff is very friendly and ready to give you plenty of background on the animals. Oh, and I discovered while the cougars and tigers would play all cool and disinterested with me while I was standing there taking photos, one screaming happy child running around would get their attention in a flash. Very handy. <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:2ebe1f6f-a187-45cb-a676-e19ed440a96f" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Cougar%20Mountain%20Zoo" rel="tag">Cougar Mountain Zoo</a></div></div> Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-2287268364033443622008-04-01T15:14:00.001-07:002008-04-01T15:14:37.860-07:00Flying penguins found by BBC programme - TelegraphFirst, read the story, second, you must watch the included video: <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/01/npenguin101.xml">Flying penguins found by BBC programme - Telegraph</a> . This is almost as good as the bumper <a href="http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Swiss_Spaghetti_Harvest/">Swiss spaghetti harvest</a>. Kudos. Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-57923828392272935902008-02-11T10:24:00.001-08:002008-02-11T10:24:24.440-08:00HD-DVD, Thanks to NetFlix, You're Dead to MeWow, this is too bad: <a href="http://netflix.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=265">Netflix, Citing a Clear Signal From the Industry, Will Carry High-Def DVDs Only in Blu-ray Format - Feb 11, 2008</a>. While I own a few HD-DVDs, I mainly have been watching them via NetFlix. (Another sick-day for me, so time to catch up on some mindless blogging; hopefully what comes out from my fingertips is reasonable English.) I didn't go feet first with HD-DVD: I just bought the HD-DVD extender for the Xbox 360. And I've watched more than a few movies on it, but I can tell you that I've had more problems playing back HD-DVDs than I'd like (most recently, the climax for The Bourne Ultimatum - I thought that if I wanted HD-DVD to fail, I'd certainly rent HD-DVD disks and corrupt the climax to a movie...). So now... Blu-Ray? Maybe. I'd much rather just download the movies and burn them to a data disk or play them off the network. The nice thing about the HD-DVD plugged into the Xbox is that I didn't have to go and find another way to wire HD video and surround sound into my stuffed system. Here's hoping that one day I can download my NetFlix rentals directly onto my Xbox hard disk, maybe unlocking the next video in the queue after I delete what I just watched (and initiate the next download). <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:df3ab069-785f-4ba6-b7cf-d63ec0fdb16e" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/HD-DVD" rel="tag">HD-DVD</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/NetFlix" rel="tag">NetFlix</a></div></div> Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-66537096954352376382008-02-09T15:52:00.001-08:002008-02-09T15:52:03.004-08:00What's Up with The Brown Bag Cafe?Oh, no, what's up with the <a title="Redmond Brown Bag Cafe" href="http://www.brownbagcafes.com/">Redmond Brown Bag Cafe</a>? My Sweetie and I wanted to get out of the house today (we're both sick with a cold + cough and under the weather) and decided at the Brown Bag Cafe in Redmond would be good (good soup for my Sweetie, bad country-fried steak for Eric). We got there and my first impression was: "Wow, look at all this parking! Yeah! Score!" Next: "For sale sign?" Next: "'Open' sign not lit." Next: uh-oh. Looks like The Brown Bag Cafe is shut down. I had just called a little earlier to check on how long the wait might be but got their standard answering machine greeting. There were too many confused cars making their way in and out of the parking lot to get out and see if there was a note about what was going on. I might have to park nearby and see if I can find out the story. In the meantime: bummers. (Oh, I did a quick blog search: <a href="http://steve98052.livejournal.com/280480.html">one fellow mentioned he read the note and went to the Kirkland Brown Bag to ask what was up</a>, not getting much of an answer other than the owner had decided to close the Redmond location. Hmmph.) <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:1ed066f6-4c15-412c-b3d2-5baf2ab4190a" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Brown%20Bag%20Cafe" rel="tag">Brown Bag Cafe</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Redmond" rel="tag">Redmond</a></div></div> Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-16374640730932204372007-12-20T20:02:00.001-08:002008-01-07T11:31:27.912-08:00Leavenworth's Festival of LightsLast weekend, my Sweetie and I enjoyed our first trip together to Leavenworth, Washington to be there for their Festival of Lights.I put up some photos:<object id="PanAndZoom" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=" height="240" width="320" align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="_cx" value="8467"><param name="_cy" value="6350"><param name="Movie" value="http://sc1.sclive.net/12.2.1268.1026/Web/Parts/PhotoAlbum/script/slideshow.swf"><param name="Src" value="http://sc1.sclive.net/12.2.1268.1026/Web/Parts/PhotoAlbum/script/slideshow.swf"><param name="WMode" value="Opaque"><param name="Play" value="-1"><param name="Loop" value="-1"><param name="Quality" value="High"><param name="SAlign" value="LT"><param name="Menu" value="-1"><param name="Base" value=""><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="Scale" value="NoScale"><param name="DeviceFont" value="0"><param name="EmbedMovie" value="0"><param name="BGColor" value="000000"><param name="SWRemote" value=""><param name="MovieData" value=""><param name="SeamlessTabbing" value="1"><param name="Profile" value="0"><param name="ProfileAddress" value=""><param name="ProfilePort" value="0"><param name="AllowNetworking" value="all"><param name="AllowFullScreen" value="false"> <embed src="http://sc1.sclive.net/12.2.1268.1026/Web/Parts/PhotoAlbum/script/slideshow.swf" quality="high" flashvars="assetsRSS=http://ericrichards.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!E02E2868380A574B!495/feed.rss" wmode="opaque" width="320" height="240" name="PanAndZoom" align="middle" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object> <a href="http://ericrichards.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!E02E2868380A574B!495" target="_blank"> Eric's Leavenworth Pictures</a> <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0" width="320" height="240" id="PanAndZoom" align="middle"><param name="FlashVars" value="assetsRSS=http://ericrichards.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!E02E2868380A574B!495/feed.rss"><param name="Movie" value="http://sc1.sclive.net/12.2.1268.1026/Web/Parts/PhotoAlbum/script/slideshow.swf"><param name="Src" value="http://sc1.sclive.net/12.2.1268.1026/Web/Parts/PhotoAlbum/script/slideshow.swf"><param name="WMode" value="opaque"><param name="Quality" value="High"><param name="SAlign" value="LT"><param name="Menu" value="1"><param name="Base" value=""><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="BGColor" value="000000"><param name="SWRemote" value=""><param name="AllowNetworking" value="all"><embed src="http://sc1.sclive.net/12.2.1268.1026/Web/Parts/PhotoAlbum/script/slideshow.swf" quality="high" FlashVars="assetsRSS=http://ericrichards.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!E02E2868380A574B!495/feed.rss" WMode="opaque" width="320" height="240" name="PanAndZoom" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object> <a href="http://ericrichards.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!E02E2868380A574B!495">Windows Live Spaces</a> Just for grins, I also uploaded the pictures to flickr, too (since I work on one of the most awesome Photo teams in the World, and yes, we publish to flickr in addition to Windows Live Spaces):<ul><li><a title="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericri/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericri/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericri/</a></li></ul>One thing that's cool about flickr is that I've allowed it map any pictures that I've geotagged. While I need to go through and geotag my Vancouver pictures (still), I uploaded one from my AT&T Tilt that was taken through locr, adding the latitude and longitude of the picture downtown. You can go to my flickr map to see that: <ul><li><a title="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericri/map/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericri/map/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericri/map/</a> </li></ul>(as more show up, more pictures should be available).The trip was fun. We arrived Friday and had the town pretty much to ourselves. We really liked hanging out at Uli's between adventures. We had dinner at Mozart's in the middle of a nice snow - I think about four-inches fell Friday night and Saturday started out with sunshine and was absolutely beautiful.By the time we took the shuttle to the <a href="http://www.icicleoutfitters.com/wintersleighrides.html" target="_blank">Icicle Creek sleigh ride</a> it was lightly snowing again, which was grand. Our driver, Aaron, was just as interesting to me as the sleigh ride itself.We got back in time for the big lighting festival, followed by a townwide Chicken Dance. Yes, I did the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Dance" target="_blank">Chicken Dance</a> and I believe I did it quite well.Sunday we got a quick walk in along the river park. I didn't realize that the park was so big, and goes to a little island. It's certainly worth putting time aside to escape the crowds and go enjoy the park.The one really, really smart thing we did thanks to my Sweetie was to take a bus. It was scheduled via Greyhound and we picked it up in nearby Monroe. On the way there, we passed one bad wreck (semi-truck with its cab on the side and one very crushed red pickup) and on the way back almost got crashed into (kid coming out of the ski slope floored his Explorer - gee, who knew you weren't supposed to floor the gas on ice patches?). Being without a car made enjoying Leavenworth easy, too.Oooh, and I typed on this long enough for MSN Soapbox to finish processing my short two-minute point-and-shoot video I uploaded of the beginning of our sleigh ride (again, uploaded via the very swanky Windows Live Photo Gallery):<a title="Leavenworth Sleigh Ride" href="http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=c6e172e0-372c-4b52-a69f-d32f56b15761" target="_new"><img height="84" alt="Leavenworth Sleigh Ride" src="http://a1078.g.akamai.net/f/1078/23830/v0001/msnuuv1.download.akamai.com/23830/thumbs/prod/9f/92/49/07cf77e0-b1d0-4a56-8971-a4549b49929f.jpg" width="112" border="0" /> Leavenworth Sleigh Ride</a><div align="right"><div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:22d4f9b3-32f1-41ec-9780-5c0728e98e63" style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: inline; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Leavenworth" rel="tag">Leavenworth</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Sleigh%20Ride" rel="tag">Sleigh Ride</a></div></div>Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-85801857923399237452007-11-09T18:57:00.001-08:002007-11-09T18:57:18.935-08:00'Veronica Mars': a Small Bit of Closure...This is the Veronica as an FBI agent Season Four preview that was pitched but didn't make it: <a href="http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2007/10/veronica-mars-s.html">'Veronica Mars': The fourth season lives! (On the Internet, anyway) | Popwatch | Blog | Movies | Music | TV: Entertainment Weekly</a> . It's a small bit of closure. Just a small bit. <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:34b2fbf8-c417-411d-a5e0-dcc4cb1213fb" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Veronica%20Mars" rel="tag">Veronica Mars</a></div></div> Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-90643255864337072782007-10-17T12:43:00.001-07:002007-10-17T12:43:33.874-07:00How I Got The Lady to Spin ClockwiseThis is popular right now: <a href="http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22556281-661,00.html">Right Brain v Left Brain | Herald Sun</a> . My Sweetie pulled it up for me last night. Yup, she spins counter-clockwise for me. Nope, no way to change. Studying the silhouette, I couldn't imagine how the image could. I focused on her feet etc etc and couldn't spin her clockwise. Then, I: <ul> <li>Right clicked on the image to save it to my pictures folder. <li>Saw that the image had a boring, technical name by default. <li>Gave it a new name that was nice and understandable. <li>Saved it. <li>Went back to the page, and, who-da-what-sa?!?! <li>She's spinning clockwise.</li></ul> Let me check again... Yup, still clockwise. <a href="http://lh3.google.com/Eric.J.Richards/RxZl3Nm4gTI/AAAAAAAAABY/yQ8Z_AwlNek/BrainSpinningLady%5B6%5D.gif"><img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="400" alt="BrainSpinningLady" src="http://lh4.google.com/Eric.J.Richards/RxZl3dm4gUI/AAAAAAAAABk/Ok6EpMAEP2o/BrainSpinningLady_thumb%5B4%5D.gif" width="300" border="0"></a> (Oh, no, I inserted her and she wasn't spinning, so I had to go through Live Writer to ensure it wasn't dorking with the image: made it original size and removed the drop shadow. Now she's back to spinning counter-clockwise. Sigh.) Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-91744846043044378382007-09-27T20:16:00.001-07:002007-09-27T20:16:20.795-07:00Marc OlsonThanks to a random Facebook-moment, I just found out tonight that <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/marco/">Marc Olson</a> passed away last week. I only knew and worked with Marc for a brief time while transitioning around the Office team, but every conversation I had with him was a delight. One of my big regrets moving out of Office and to Live was that I wouldn't have a chance to work with and learn from Marc. I can't begin to imagine how much he'll be missed.  <a href="http://www.legacy.com/nwclassifieds/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=95027000">Marc Alan Olson, 1965-2007</a>.Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-55372527276780499452007-09-15T08:36:00.001-07:002007-09-15T08:36:46.795-07:00Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, and BioshockHere's a snippet from a New York Times article about "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and how Alan Greenspan, part of the Collective social circle with Ayn Rand, responded to early criticism of the book: <blockquote>Shortly after "Atlas Shrugged" was published in 1957, Mr. Greenspan wrote a letter to The New York Times to counter a critic's comment that "the book was written out of hate." Mr. Greenspan wrote: "'Atlas Shrugged' is a celebration of life and happiness. Justice is unrelenting. Creative individuals and undeviating purpose and rationality achieve joy and fulfillment. Parasites who persistently avoid either purpose or reason perish as they should."</blockquote> (From <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/business/15atlas.html?ex=1347508800&en=8fc42c352603df91&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">Ayn Rand’s Literature of Capitalism - New York Times</a> ) Well, it ends up that I'm currently playing the fantastic game <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioshock">Bioshock</a> for the Xbox 360 right now. Sure, it's great fun and all and fantastic graphics, but the back story of this underwater city of Rapture is especially engaging for me because it's about a failed Ayn Rand hero-like figure and this great endeavor he brought about. The word "parasite" above stands out because it is often referred to in the unraveling story (you find lots of recorded diaries) and posters around Rapture. Rather than "Who is John Galt?" you see "Who is Atlas?" posters. Just as Ayn Rand wrote about a failed communist community, Bioshock lets you have a peek into a failed Objectivist community and the issues and breakdowns that ensued. Fifty years in the making... <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:934ecf09-59c4-44ae-b360-aea908ac2aae" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Ayn%20Rand" rel="tag">Ayn Rand</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Atlas%20Shrugged" rel="tag">Atlas Shrugged</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Bioshock" rel="tag">Bioshock</a></div></div> Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-81095225943350734572007-09-08T10:35:00.001-07:002007-09-08T10:43:56.994-07:00Interesting Quote from The Battle of ThermopylaeLast week, I watched the film <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_%28film%29">300</a>. It was kind of an accident because I just wanted to see how the first few scenes looked (okay) but then I just kept watching it. I enjoyed it. It's based on a graphic novel around The Battle of Thermopylae. I was reading about the battle on Wikipedia and hit this quote: <blockquote>"Good heavens! Mardonius, what kind of men are these against whom you have brought us to fight? Men who do not compete for money, but for honor"</blockquote>(from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae#Aftermath">Battle of Thermopylae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</a>.)Some takeaways for me:<ul><li>I'd love a dose of Spartan culture in our culture. For many it's too indulgent and too entitled.</li><li>Another meditation on sacrifice: <a title="Articles of Faith Our culture's slouch toward sloth not whole story" href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/330818_faith08.html">Articles of Faith Our culture's slouch toward sloth not whole story</a>.</li><li>I have totally missed out on knowing about this battle and all the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae_in_popular_culture">pop-culture references</a>. That makes me sad.</li><li>When Queen Gorgo sends off King Leonidas with the farewell, "Spartan! Come back with your shield - or on it," it reminded me of an illuminate quote of <a href="http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/shortstories/longwatch.html">Heinlein's Lazarus Long</a>:</li><ul><li>"… Roman matrons used to say to their sons: 'Come back with your shield, or on it.' Later on, this custom declined. So did Rome."</li></ul></ul>I think about that last quote a lot and what it means to be in a state of decline.Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-45375311112961478322007-09-06T21:48:00.001-07:002007-09-06T21:48:34.408-07:00Meet Trina, my Daemon<a href="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/MeetTrinamyDaemon_132A2/TrinaEricDaemon.jpg"><img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="366" alt="Trina-Eric-Daemon" src="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/MeetTrinamyDaemon_132A2/TrinaEricDaemon_thumb.jpg" width="504" border="0"></a> And she can be visited at <a href="http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/?254380">The Golden Compass</a> Trina page. And you can go to the site to discover your daemon. I can't wait for the movie! <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:2eb8011b-ca41-4c6b-b861-5eec01dc4663" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/The%20Golden%20Compass" rel="tag">The Golden Compass</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Daemon" rel="tag">Daemon</a></div></div> Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-17307140099123929532007-08-27T12:00:00.001-07:002007-08-27T12:00:02.324-07:00I can't stop laughing - OMG!!1!I tried to show my Sweetie <a href="http://icanhascheezbuger.com/">http://icanhascheezbuger.com/</a> off my laptop yesterday but I couldn't stop laughing, especially at this one...  <blockquote> <img src="http://i0005.photobucket.com/albums/0005/icanhascheezburger/2007/7/20/7/128294157204688750OMG1WA.jpg"> …WARE HIZ EYE GOES?</blockquote> <a href="http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/08/26/omg1-ware-hiz-eye-goes/">OMG!!1! « I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?</a>Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-15877541428762643872007-07-01T13:26:00.001-07:002007-07-01T13:26:16.373-07:00Toto at Chateau Saint Michelle(First, I'm doing better at making the T in Saint silent when talking about Chateau Saint Michelle. I get it right half the time.) We went to a misty concert at Chateau Saint Michelle back on June 17th. When you're a member of the CSM wine club, you get tickets to a special summer concert. They provide a choice of two, and this year it was <a href="http://www.toto99.com/">Toto</a> and <a href="http://www.brandicarlile.com/nf/index.html">Brandi Carlile</a>. Well, we ended up choosing both by getting Toto for 'free' and paying a very affordable rate for Ms. Carlile. But before this decision, as a further demonstration of my age, I was thinking hard about Toto. I was pretty sure I remembered them as the band that did "Rosanna" but I was fuzzy beyond that. Fortunately, their web site has a video that touches on all their hits to jog your memory. "Oh, they did that song? Sure I know that one. I haven't heard it in a long, long time, but I know that one." So first of all, we enjoyed the wine being provided for the members. If you're local to the Eastside / Seattle area and love wine, <a href="http://www.ste-michelle.com/Main_Aboutwineclub.cfm">you should be a member</a>. I absolutely loved the Malbec from the barrel tasting. I can't wait until it's released. Right before Toto started, the folks sitting next to us won the Willows Lodge retreat giveaway. I'm pretty sure this is the second year in a row that someone next to us has one a big raffle item. We must be good luck. Toto started (ooo, and now with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leland_Sklar">Leland Sklar</a>), and given that they have a bunch of new music, played probably about ten songs straight of rocking stuff I'd never heard. We happened to be hanging out up front (and protected from the rain from the overhanging stage design) when they played "Rosanna." Nice. And we ran into Alex Rector. We wandered back to our blanket and hung out until they played "Africa" - their so-long-and-farewell song - and then hoofed it for the Subaru. It's the first time in a while that I've been to a concert where, well, I wasn't a big fan of the band I was just there to hang out and have fun. Mission accomplished.Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-25978592572050997902007-07-01T13:05:00.001-07:002007-07-01T13:05:06.378-07:00The Police at Key Arena in SeattleWell, I'm a bit late sharing this, but I was lucky enough to go to the 2nd "The Police" show in Seattle on June 7th. Here's a flickr site search with a number of results: <a title="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%22The+Police%22+%22Key+Arena%22" href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%22The+Police%22+%22Key+Arena%22">http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%22The+Police%22+%22Key+Arena%22</a> It was a fantastic show: tight, well run, and highly energetic. And I had a pretty good seat, too. Sting would talk to the audience here-and-there, but either my ears are shot or his mic was tuned more for singing than talking because I couldn't make out a single echoey word he was saying. Sting's son was the opening act and I got to see maybe three of his songs near the end of the set. Main thing that impressed me: he got up high on one of the amps and jumped down. Do that, pops! The audience was really revved up and did a good job singing along (surprise!). My only grief was, having had done a team hike to Rattlesnake Ledge that day, aching feet that stood in disbelief that everyone in the audience wanted to stand for two hours straight during the concert. Well, also that Eastside and Seattle traffic is such a nightmare that it took well over an hour-and-a-half in my stickshift to get to Key Area from Redmond. My left leg was begging for mercy. But it was worth it! (Except for the part thinking about the Synchronicity album released back in the summer I graduated from high school... 1983 and that was... twenty-four years ago... o... m... g... I'm old. When did that happen?)Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-84732512785809423122007-07-01T12:46:00.001-07:002007-07-01T12:46:45.735-07:00Eric the Blackberry SlayerAnother <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus">Sisyphean</a> endeavor: <img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="180" alt="Blackberries-and-Bella 007" src="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/ErictheBlackberrySlayer_B3B3/BlackberriesandBella007.jpg" width="240" border="0"> How to prove, during the late summer, that you're new to the Northwest: "Oooo, blackberries! How wonderfully special! Let's go get some!" I turned my back on one small patch of blackberries and before you knew it, the patch was crawling up a small tree just beyond our fenced back yard and engulfing it. I spent a good chunk of Saturday hacking back the invader and yanking it out of the tree. I've pushed the patch back to a thatched wall between my neighbor and myself. I'm too pooped to go on right now. Luckily, very little blood was spilt.Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-33301775875323277202007-06-28T12:00:00.001-07:002007-06-28T12:00:36.072-07:00Derek K. Miller - Dead man walking?Best wishes to Derek as he deals with his health news (<a href="http://www.penmachine.com/2007/06/dead-man-walking">Derek K. Miller - Penmachine words music comment - Vancouver, Canada: Dead man walking?</a> ). We crossed paths at last year's Gnomedex 6 and he was kind enough to take a picture of my Sweetie and I in a super-retro pod chair at the Experience Music Project party (I would link to the picture, but... well... geek belly and pod chairs don't go together too well. But I love the enthused expression on my face and my Sweetie looks great. Cropping to the rescue.). Best wishes, Derek.Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-10130292576674052742007-06-27T12:39:00.001-07:002007-06-27T12:39:03.792-07:00Booked into FacebookHey, I'm having fun with Facebook. I had tried Friendster and never got beyond my Sweetie as my friend. I guess since I'm a corporate guy Facebook is more interesting to me. My public profile: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/p/Eric_Richards/673881861">http://www.facebook.com/p/Eric_Richards/673881861</a> My Facebook badge:  <a title="Eric Richards' Facebook profile" href="http://www.facebook.com/p/Eric_Richards/673881861" target="_TOP"><img alt="Eric Richards' Facebook profile" src="http://badge.facebook.com/badge/673881861.113.1605956463.png" border="0"></a> <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:46f4e86e-caa3-411e-bdb4-6fafc50b8f6e" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Facebook" rel="tag">Facebook</a></div></div>Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-32283703414291036372007-06-25T12:13:00.001-07:002007-06-25T12:13:27.990-07:00Lunch Time Bloggin' with Windows Live Writer BetaI've been on a non-intended blogging break, with a lot of "ooh, I should blog about that!" thoughts but little typing. So, given an actual free lunch hour, I thought it would be good to get back into the blog groove. I just downloaded an installed my favorite blogging tool that has recently been updated, Windows Live Writer. Very nice. You can find the latest beta here: <a title="Windows Live Writer Beta" href="http://get.live.com/betas/writer_betas">Windows Live Writer Beta</a>. There are also new betas for: <ul> <li><a title="Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta" href="http://get.live.com/betas/messenger_betas">Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta</a> and</li> <li><a title="Windows Live Mail Beta" href="http://get.live.com/betas/maildesktop_betas">Windows Live Mail Beta</a>.</li></ul> Good stuff.Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-16145859341787863542007-05-28T12:37:00.001-07:002007-05-28T12:37:37.371-07:00Seattle Northwest Folklife 2007Saturday my Sweetie and I went to our... 2004, 2005, 2006... fourth <a href="http://www.nwfolklife.org/">Folklife festival at Seattle Center</a>. <a href="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/SeattleNorthwestFolklife2007_B183/FolkLife001crop3.jpg"><img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="303" src="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/SeattleNorthwestFolklife2007_B183/FolkLife001crop_thumb3.jpg" width="400" border="0"></a> It was a mixture of seeing bands, going through the vendors, getting some food we usually don't have access to (sambusa! beignet!), listening to the street performers, and enjoying the very nice day. One of the bands I loved from 2004 showed up again: <a href="http://www.skweeztheweezle.com/">Skweez the Weezle</a>. Fun! Well, except for the fact that they sang the song with the chorus "<a href="http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=%22What+do+you+do+with+a+drunken+sailor%22&src=IE-SearchBox">What do you do with a drunken sailor?</a>" and now it's stuck in my head. We got there early and by 5pm is was some kind of packed: <a href="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/SeattleNorthwestFolklife2007_B183/FolkLifeCrowdCrop1.jpg"><img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="183" src="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/SeattleNorthwestFolklife2007_B183/FolkLifeCrowdCrop_thumb1.jpg" width="400" border="0"></a> It was a smaller festival this year, and dancing was off the menu for us. So, it wasn't quite the tragedy that the Big Bamboo Hall wasn't opened for day long swing dancing. Maybe next year. <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:0bad7a1b-62ba-46fc-8569-2a25fe3c9891" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Folklife" rel="tag">Folklife</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Seattle%20Center" rel="tag">Seattle Center</a></div></div>Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-10311874716528498592007-05-20T17:19:00.001-07:002007-05-20T17:19:47.240-07:00Recent MoviesSome recent NetFlix delivered movies I've watched at home, from best to worst. <h3><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Departed">The Departed</a></h3> We watched this Friday night. Sure, it was violent but still a nice story, though a bit contrived in places. The ending was a bit of a surprise. We watched one of the extras and it's interesting how a tightly-knit community will resort to self-policing. I scanned through the plot summary of Internal Affairs, the Hong Kong movie this was based on, and I'm surprised at how much the two fit together. HD-DVD notes: I didn't really get any sense of increased quality given that this was on HD-DVD. <h3><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Men">Children of Men</a></h3> Another dystopian society movie, though not too far in the future. I never really connected with the main character. Two things I appreciated was the high-tech touches of the future that they didn't dwell on (mostly interactive ads playing on any flat surface) and a deep appreciation for the terror of occasional random bullets passing through an old building. HD-DVD notes: a wee bit increase of quality. Funny thing was: this started out very jumpy and slow in my Xbox HD-DVD player. This was after being paused for a long time. I ejected & started over and all was well. <h3><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerks_II">Clerks 2</a></h3> Profane. Very very profane. Though touching, too. I didn't have high expectations for this and it delivered more than I was expecting. I've sort of exited my Kevin Smith man-child fanboy phase and this was a nice way to wrap it up. I first watched Dogma and then Chasing Amy, Clerks, Mallrats, and Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back. My favorite scene was Star Wars fan vs. Lord of the Rings fans fighting it out - verbally - which was a better film trilogy. Anyway. A film specifically for the View Askew film universe fans and no-one else. HD-DVD notes: wow, I noticed a lot of increased video quality here. Second to V for Vendetta. Which is kind of strange for a movie pretty much all shot in a fast-food restaurant. <h3><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grudge_2">The Grudge 2</a></h3> Another movie I had very, very low expectations for. The original The Grudge had succeeded in creeping me out... to the extent anytime I heard my squeaky door leading to the garage I'd think of Kayako's croaking haunting. Wow, this movie sucked. How does something like this get made, let alone edited and finalized and released? And under Sam Raimi's watch? It was a mess with no chance for any sort of redemption avoiding the curse. I was getting more and more pissed off as the movie went that I really didn't care for any of the booga-booga supposed-to-be-scary moments. It could have been so much better with just one story line vs. three. Of course, The Grudge 3 is going to happen. Oy.Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-64224725686898929182007-05-06T14:42:00.001-07:002007-05-06T14:42:25.421-07:00What's *That* Bird?It's strange when you drive for just a short bit and start to see animals that aren't local to your home area. Well, once you get into the Cascade Mountain range, let alone east of it, you're in an entirely different eco-system than moist, verdant Puget Sound. The first thing I noticed: a black and white bird that swooped like a jay and had a striking white semi-circle pattern along its back when it flew. I kept watching these birds trying to figure out what they were. Related to the crow? Then I noticed some dark blue feathers along their back. Hmm. My one picture of the bird didn't turn out so well: <a href="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/WhatsThatBird_CECB/Yakima081.jpg"><img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="180" src="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/WhatsThatBird_CECB/Yakima081_thumb.jpg" width="240" border="0"></a> So finally I started looking for it. What do I think it is? A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-billed_magpie">black billed magpie</a>. See <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/record_species_158_3.html">National Geographic: Lewis & Clark—Animals—Black-Billed Magpie</a> or <a title="Black-billed Magpie" href="http://www.ronstorey.com/California/HTML/BlkBilledMagpie.html">Black-billed Magpie</a>. It would see that it is indeed in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvidae">crow family</a>. <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:5ae253f8-d1e8-4c66-8c50-50017ff9e8f6" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Birds" rel="tag">Birds</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Black%20Billed%20Magpie" rel="tag">Black Billed Magpie</a></div></div>Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-5707183269923632022007-05-06T14:13:00.001-07:002007-05-06T14:13:30.881-07:00Yakima Valley Vacation WeekendLast weekend, my Sweetie and I took a vacation trip over to Eastern Washington to discover the Yakima Valley region. It happened to be the Spring Barrel tasting weekend, so that worked out for getting some early tastes of upcoming wines. Here are a few notes regarding what all we did. First, I was impressed out how quick the trip to Yakima was. Just over two hours and we were in a totally different climate, with open, rolling hills and sage brush. We stayed the first night at <a href="http://www.whistlinjacks.com/">Whistlin' Jack's Lodge</a>. It is right on the Naches River and very down home. I could see this as an idea base for lots of hiking and other trips. Everyone there was super-nice to us (especially when we shared we were having an anniversary weekend celebration) and Don Forgey in the lounge was a delight, especially when he sang us a song in celebration of our three years. The next day was big. We enjoyed breakfast at Whistlin' Jack's and talked to the wine steward about which locations to visit in Rattlesnake Hills and Zillah that day. She holds vintner appreciation dinners and we ended up incorporating her recommendations into the following list: <ol> <li><a href="http://www.sagelandsvineyard.com/">Sagelands Vineyard</a> (71 Gangl Road, Wapato, WA 98951)</li> <li><a href="http://www.massetwinery.com/">Masset Winery</a> (620 East Parker Hgts. Rd., Wapato,  WA 98951)</li> <li><a href="http://www.bonairwine.com/">Bonaire Winery</a> (500 S. Bonaire Rd., Zillah, WA)</li> <li><a href="http://www.twomountainwinery.com/html/index.cfm">Two Mountain</a> (2151 Cheyne Road, Zillah, WA 98953)</li> <li><a href="http://www.agatefieldvineyard.com/index.html">Agate Field Vineyard</a> (3321 Roza Drive, Zillah, WA 98953)</li> <li><a href="http://www.portteus.com/">Portteus Vineyards and Winery</a> (5201 Highland Drive, Zillah, WA 98953)</li></ol> (<a href="http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=E02E2868380A574B!216&encType=1">Overview map created as a shared Windows Live Maps collection</a>.) Here's a very high-level panorama from Sagelands: <a href="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/YakimaValleyVacationWeekend_C05D/PanoramaSagelands4.jpg"><img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="125" src="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/YakimaValleyVacationWeekend_C05D/PanoramaSagelands_thumb4.jpg" width="500" border="0"></a> Agate Field was my favorite wine selection out of them all. That night we stayed in downtown Yakima. That's an interesting city to me just because it would seem to be in transition towards revitalization. Our downtown hotel was attached to what used to be the area's mall. We walked around and saw pretty much closed store after closed store. The big box retailers had moved in near the highway and downtown, well, it's not a ghost town, but it certainly seems empty. Saturday: <ol> <li><a href="http://www.columbia-crest.com/">Columbia Crest Winery</a> (Columbia Crest Dr, Plymouth, WA 99346)</li> <li><a href="http://www.desertwindvineyard.com/">Desert Wind Vineyard</a> (2258 Wine Country Road, Prosser, WA 99350)</li></ol> Saturday our big trip / pilgrimage was to <a href="http://www.columbia-crest.com/">Columbia Crest Winery</a> given that our house-wine is usually a Columbia Crest vintage of some sort. Columbia Crest is a sister winery to Chateau Saint Michelle. While we've experienced many a friendly tasting room, nothing compared to the absolute overly generous and friendly service that Columbia Crest brought out for us. And it wasn't too crowded so you didn't have to deal with the pointy-elbow wine crowd. We managed to get back just in time to enjoy the tasting at <a href="http://www.desertwindvineyard.com/">Desert Wind Vineyard</a> in Prosser. We had enjoyed their Ruah recently. They have a new building right off of 82 and a very nice deck area to relax and enjoy. After Desert Wind we wound our way through the country side to find our 3rd place to stay, the <a href="http://www.cozyroseinn.com/">Cozy Rose Inn</a> B&B (where I have to say I enjoyed the most awesome sauce ever to accompany a filet mignon). Sunday was my dry-day given that we were heading back to Redmond. We visited: <ol> <li><a href="http://www.kestrelwines.com/">Kestrel Wines</a> (2890 Lee Road, Prosser, WA 99350)</li> <li><a href="http://www.hoguecellars.com/">Hogue Cellars</a> (2800 Lee Road, Prosser WA, 99350)</li> <li><a href="http://www.hinzerling.com/">Hinzerling Winery</a> (1520 Sheridan Avenue-Prosser, WA 99350)</li> <li><a href="http://www.silverlakewinery.com/">Silver Lake</a> (1500 Vintage Road, Zillah, WA 98953)</li></ol> (<a href="http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=E02E2868380A574B!223&encType=1">Another overview map collection</a>.) Silver Lake has a wonderful tasting room / picnic area. <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/brian_jones/">And we ran into someone I knew from my Office days: Brian Jones</a>! It was a great surprise. Brian is a wonderful guy with a very hard and interesting job helping to spearhead XML document standardization. And we learned something from the gentleman running the entry-way barrel taste at Silver Lake. While driving around, we say these little rusted cannon-looking devices scattered about the fruit orchards. My Sweetie figured that they must be heaters for the trees. Yes. They are known as smudge pots: a little pot belly pot filled with diesel and a chimney furnace attached to the pot. The diesel is lit. The gentleman said it looks like fields of jack-o-lanterns... jack-o-lanterns that turn the air black. It was just a few weeks before our visit, so future travel heed this: don't visit before the Spring barrel tasting. Panorama from the Silver Lake outside dining area: <a href="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/YakimaValleyVacationWeekend_C05D/PanoramaSilverLake1.jpg"><img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="135" src="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/YakimaValleyVacationWeekend_C05D/PanoramaSilverLake_thumb1.jpg" width="500" border="0"></a> After Silver Lake we went into <a href="http://www.toppenish.net/">downtown Toppenish</a> because of their legendary Western-theme murals. We parked downtown and just sort-of wandered about, coming across mural-after-mural showing local history. I liked the humor in the <a href="http://www.toppenish.net/attractions/mural.php?mural_id=43">Irish Dick</a> mural. If you like pictures of Western history, go to the <a title="Come See Toppenish's 70 Murals" href="http://www.toppenish.net/attractions/murals.php">Come See Toppenish's 70 Murals</a> page, click on the first one, and just keep going "Next." (Oh, and my Sweetie tracked down a nice taquirra near the Irish Dick mural, on Washington, between Beech and Alder.) Then we headed home. The trip home always seems longer than the trip to get there. I'm very much looking forward to visiting the Yakima area again - and beyond. <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:d8b161ba-140c-498c-9d67-ce533df25b70" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Yakima" rel="tag">Yakima</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Zillah" rel="tag">Zillah</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Wines" rel="tag">Wines</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Travel" rel="tag">Travel</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Toppenish" rel="tag">Toppenish</a></div></div>Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-85264971963760673982007-05-06T12:41:00.001-07:002007-05-06T12:43:27.014-07:00Woodinville Farmers Market and Then Some Both the Woodinville and Redmond Farmers Market opened Saturday May 5th. I was really curious about the Woodinville Farmers Market because they said that they had relocated to the new Woodinville Village site... which is still under construction and pretty much just flattened earth with plumbing and electrical runs. So, I jumped in the Subaru Saturday morning and shortly saw, yes, they had relocated. On a section of field, right off of RedWood Road. <img height="149" alt="RedWood 003.jpg" src="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/WoodinvilleFarmersMarketandThenSome_B261/clip_image002.jpg" width="407"> So, I bought some flowers, a loaf of bread, and a medium bag of Kettle Korn (my summer-time vice). I dropped those off at home and then headed to Redmond. The Redmond Farmers Market was going full swing, too, with a bit of a change: the parking lot right next to the market is totally secured now, I assume by one of the Marriott buildings nearby, so there's no right nearby convenient parking. A quick view: <img height="307" alt="RedWood 006.jpg" src="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/WoodinvilleFarmersMarketandThenSome_B261/clip_image004.jpg" width="409"> (The elderly lady all the way to the right sitting down has been at the Redmond Market since it opened.) No lettuce yet, though lots of veggie starts and some interesting decorations for the outside (I'm trying to think of what to hang along the small trail in the back of our property to help blaze where the trail leads when things are a bit overgrown). I'm pretty use to the Redmond market and there are plenty of familiar vendors setup in their usual spots. To top off the afternoon, I went by Red Hook Brewery's pub and sat outside (the outside seating area is already open! Although the resident black birds have been causing quite a mess.) and had a California Burger and Blackhook on nitro while reading the Saturday Wall Street Journal. Very nice. After that, I went for a walk around the buildings to enjoy the sunshine and decided to take a picture of the carbon overflow spouts that occasionally erupt with <a href="http://www.ericri.com/blog/2006/05/foam-that-ate-woodinville.aspx">berry smelling foam</a>: <img height="256" alt="RedWood 008.jpg" src="http://www.ericri.com/blog/img/WoodinvilleFarmersMarketandThenSome_B261/clip_image006.jpg" width="296" border="0"> ...looks like it must have happened recently because the ground underneath looks pretty moist. Happily moist, I'm sure. I walked some more and noticed a lady park in a curious out of the way place back near the break-area of the Red Hook. Soon, she was out of her car and catching up to me as I walked along the back way to The Barking Frog. I looked over and it was <a href="http://www.theherbfarm.com/HfHistory1.tmpl">Carrie Van Dyck</a> of <a href="http://www.theherbfarm.com/">The Herbfarm Restaurant</a>. (!) I shared with her that I realized it was just over two years now since I'd been to The Herbfarm. "What are you waiting for?!?" she kindly replied. We had a quick chat and parted ways. I wrapped up my walk by looking over the Challenge Course down the river from The Willows Lodge. First, I looked at the loop challenge, quite happy that I accomplished that part on my trip to the zip-wire descent. Though I needed some advice to swing once I reached the mid-point. Then I looked at the one challenge I had to back-off of: the individual, hanging swinging steps. The trick was to move to the next one by swinging your free leg behind you, getting some balance, and then cross over your other leg quickly to the next step. Easy to think about. And with that, I called it a day and headed home to chill with Bella. (Started within Word 2007 but that hung trying to post [bucket 342245435], let alone being unhappy with my inserted pictures. Let's try Windows Live Writer and see how things go... wow, that was fast. So fast that I doubted it actually published! Okay, time to strip out two of those "..." auto-corrections from Word and publish again) <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/woodinville">Woodinville</a> - <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/redmond">Redmond</a> - <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/farmers+market">Farmers Market</a> - <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/red+hook">Red Hook</a> - <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/the+herbfarm">The Herbfarm</a>Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-15457533083458564152007-03-31T15:58:00.001-07:002007-03-31T15:58:10.632-07:00Bogged DownWe are well into Spring. Everything is in bloom, including the salmonberries. And the blackberries and springing back to life. Recently, I decided to take out some blackberries along with retrieving some abandoned items that have been giving me the slightest bit of grief everytime I saw them. We live on a hill. Most of our property consists of trees going up the hill. Through our property runs a little stream, year 'round. We have a long driveway that goes up and up to the house and to our separated poll barn. Typically, while taking a rest outside of poll barn, I'd look down the hill coming off our road and into the stream and see long abandoned balls from the previous family: basketballs, volleyballs, and soccer balls. All resting down near the stream. And I'd make a mental note: "I need to climb down there one day and pick all those balls up." And I'd wonder why they'd leave such expensive items - perfectly good I'm sure at the time of their loss - discarded down by the stream. Last Sunday was the day. Armed with my short machete, I cut through blackberry (avoiding salmonberry as much as I could) to get to the abandoned balls. And I made a ecological discovery. I was walking on the land between the stream and the steep hill that runs along the road. Ends up this soil is a bit lower than the stream and wet. Soggy. Boggy. The soil is saturated and there are pools of standing water. And as I made it to the abandoned balls, my right foot went so deep that it was stuck. Then my left foot was stuck. At this point I dropped the machete, wavered back and forth, put my hands on my hips and gazed across the stream, contemplating the blooming skunk cabbage and thought, "You've got to be kidding me." With one big yank my left foot was free. And I landed on my butt. The <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Beaker">Beaker</a> in my mind suddenly started running around with thoughts like, "Ah! What if your big butt starts sinking!" I wasn't at a good yanking angle but I pulled on my right foot again. Nothing. "Ah!" I positioned my left foot and both hands on the most stable dirt I could find and gave one big huge yank. Ploopf! Freedom! I scurried backwards up the hill, cursing the muscle-cramp I now had in my right calf due to the extraction. I then carefully ambled over to the abandoned balls, flinging them to an open area I could easily collect them from later. Every step back desperately sought reasonably solid ground (I could stand to sink an inch or two but three inches set me on edge). I think I understand now why the balls were abandoned. I have more abandoned items to retrieve (strangely, some dog toys across the stream -- do coyotes steal dog toys to play with?). I think I'll wait for things to dry out a bit. <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:c0700ac3-92d5-47c7-82fa-ad39c9b7c159" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Eric%20Richards" rel="tag">Eric Richards</a></div></div>Eric Richardstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615519.post-28261538339620923382007-03-31T15:28:00.001-07:002007-03-31T15:28:19.940-07:00Seattle Magazine's Best of the Food BlogsJust a listing of <a href="http://www.seattlemagazine.com/">Seattle Magazine's</a> "Best of the Food Blogs" for the Seattle area: <ul> <li><a title="Cornichon.org" href="http://cornichon.org/">Cornichon.org</a> --- <a title="Syndicate this site (XML)" href="http://www.cornichon.org/index.rdf">Blog Feed</a>.</li> <li><a title="Gluten-Free Girl" href="http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/">Gluten-Free Girl</a> --- <a href="http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss">Blog Feed</a>.</li> <li><a title="Orangette" href="http://orangette.blogspot.com/">Orangette</a> --- <a href="http://orangette.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss">Blog Feed</a>.</li> <li><a title="Seattle Bon Vivant" href="http://seattlebonvivant.typepad.com/">Seattle Bon Vivant</a> --- <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/SeattleBonVivant">Blog Feed</a> (ick, partial feed).</li> <li><a title="tastingmenu" href="http://www.tastingmenu.com/">tastingmenu</a> --- <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/tastingmenu">Blog Feed</a> (ick, partial feed, too; what's up with that, Hillel?).</li> <li><a title="Accidental Hedonist" href="http://accidentalhedonist.com/">Accidental Hedonist</a> --- <a href="http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php?tempskin=_atom">Blog Feed</a>.</li> <li><a title="Cook & Eat" href="http://cookandeat.com/">Cook & Eat</a> --- <a href="http://cookandeat.com/feed/">Blog Feed</a> (partial).</li> <li><a title="Talk of Tomatoes" href="http://talkoftomatoes.com/">Talk of Tomatoes</a> --- <a href="http://www.talkoftomatoes.com/feed/">Blog Feed</a>.</li> <li><a title="Roots and Grubs" href="http://rootsandgrubs.com/">Roots and Grubs</a> --- <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/rootsandgrubs">Blog Feed</a>.</li></ul> Oh, the last one, Roots and Grubs, has a <a href="http://www.rootsandgrubs.com/2007/03/31/good-dog-dead-dog/">post today that says the Good Dog, Bad Dog</a> sausage restaurant in downtown Portland has closed. I only went there a couple of times and now I regret everytime I walked by and didn't stop. It was one of those whimsical store-fronts that always made me smile. Molly has a shot of the sign in her <a href="http://www.molly.com/2005/07/13/portland-typographic-style/">Portland Typography post</a>. <div align="right"> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:da4104c6-d479-4c67-9ee9-b251cae3a12e" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Seattle" rel="tag">Seattle</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Food" rel="tag">Food</a></div></div>Eric Richards