While The World Was Hung Over - I Was Taking Pictures of Gators

A juvenile gator from Viera Wetlands, in Brevard County, Florida. Handsome fella, huh? Might as well enjoy these times in the wild cause the news reports that La Nina (the tramp) is back which means hurricanes. Click here for the story. Al Gore blames it on global warming. Whatever the hell it is, enough of the hurricanes. How about something new like frogs or locusts? Or dogs and cats sleeping together? I dunno, but I don't want to go through any more hurricanes until 2017.

Of Course, the latest here in Florida is that a state legislature wants to ban the term "illegal alien" from all official records and use the word "immigrant" instead. I think this is a good move since I've yet to see anyone come across our shores who looks like this:

That's all for now infidels. I'll see y'all in the swamp!

While The World Slept, I Was Taking Pictures of Eagles

I'm back after a weekend of mega shooting. Saturday in the Glades with Artie Morrie and his IPT and yesterday at Viera Wetlands in Brevard County where I got this shot of the Bald Eagle. I changed the background in photoshop as it was cloudy and drab man. Now it is hip no?

Man I dig Adobe Lightroom 1.0. It's what I've been waiting for since I went to the Mac.

I also got a sneak preview at Canon's new EOS 1D Mark III which Artie had for his review. 10 fps now that rocks people and the quality is outstanding.

That's all for now. I have nearly 1000 images to go through. Ciao infidels.

It's Friday. When's Suppertime?

It's the end of the week infidels. Busier than ever. Heading out to the Glades manana for an IPT with Art Morris which will be exciting. Hope to have more images. I also hope to get my Adobe Lightroom. It was supposed to ship already dammit. Let's see, I just finished this book,

The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America -- fantastic book. I downloaded the whole thing into my IPOD from Audible.Com and heard it this week in its entirety during my long commutes. I'm now listening to LBJ - by Doris Kearns Goodman. It was praised as one of the top Presidential bios by the WSJ this week, so I'll be listening to it for the next week or so, and then I'll be chilling with Huck Finn which I downloaded as well.

I guess that's the only advantage of long commutes, you can educate yourself by listening to books. The new IPODS are great in this regard. You get the unabridged versions and no CD changes. Bitchin dude!

It's been a circus here in Broward this week with the Anna Nicole Corpse trial. That's all you see on the news down here. There's more important crap going on the world, and they keep force feeding us this crap.

Finally, Wade's injury looks bad -- really bad. Let's see how the rest of the season works out for the Heat.

It's 9:45am and I want my drink already. Until next time -- I'm a ghost!

My Life Has Gone to the Dogs

Canine words of wisdom:

"He who seeks rest finds boredom. He who seeks work finds rest."

-- Dylan Thomas

"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else."

-- Yogi Berra

"I've got to go find a Pic-a-nic Basket."

-- Yogi Bear

"Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff."
-- Frank Zappa

"What, me worry?"

-- Alfred E. Neuman

It's Monday, It's Cold, It's a Holiday, I'm Working

Makes you want to shave your head and get some tattoos huh? Anyways, some words for the wise or the wise at heart:

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." -- Albert Einstein

Baby Blue

Another hectic week infidels. And to make matters worse, my fishing trip which was scheduled for Sunday had to be postponed due to the weather. The forecast for SEverglades City/10,000 islands area for this Sunday is:

NORTHWEST WINDS 25 TO 30 KNOTS BECOMING 20 TO 25 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET AND UP TO 6 TO 8 FEET WELL OFFSHORE. NORTHWEST SWELL 2 TO 3 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. BAY AND INLAND WATERS VERY ROUGH IN EXPOSED AREAS. ISOLATED LIGHT SHOWER

That coupled with temps in the 40's is not condusve to catching fish. Hence, I'll fish in March.

It's also been a circus here in Broward County with the media all over the place at the Courthouse (down the block) having a feeding frenzy on gets Anna Nicole's cadaver. With all that is going on in the Country, that seems the most important as far as the media's concerned.

To finish the week, I will post one of my favorite Dylan tunes. I've managed to transfer nearly every Dylan album to my IPOD. His lyrics stand alone in greatness. So to join the blue bird, it's all over now, Baby Blue . . .

---------------------

You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last.
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast.
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun,
Crying like a fire in the sun.
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense.
Take what you have gathered from coincidence.
The empty-handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets.
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home.
All your reindeer armies, are all going home.
The lover who just walked out your door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor.
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you.
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you.
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore.!!!
Strike another match, go start anew
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

--- by Bob Dylan

Have a great weekend!!!

Free As A Bird

Free As A Bird - by the Beatles

Free as a bird

It's the next best thing to be

Free as a bird

Home and dry

Like a homin' bird I fly

As a bird on wings

Whatever happened to the life that we once knew

Can we really live without each other?

Where did we lose the touch

That seemed to mean so much

It's always made me feel so free

Whatever happened to

The life that we once knew?

Always made me feel so free

Free as a bird.

New Avian Species Discovered

An 8 year old orthinologist discovered this new species of bird in South Florida this past weekend. I could not find it in Sibley's or other avian guides. Maybe a relative of the ivory bill woodpecker? Perhaps it is simply a valentine's day bird ready to catch a ride on the wind . . . ?

or perhaps a 2nd grade school project? Further study is necessary.

Until next time infidels. Salut!

They Call it Stormy Monday in South Florida

Today is a good day for the blues . . .

They call it stormy Monday, yes but Tuesday's just as bad.
They call it stormy Monday, yes but Tuesday's just as bad.
Wednesday's even worse; Thursday's awful sad.

The eagle flies on Friday, Saturday I go out to play.
The eagle flies on Friday, but Saturday I go out to play.
Sunday I go to church where I kneel down and pray.

And I say, "Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy on me.
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy on me.
Just trying to find my baby, won't you please send her on back to me."

The eagle flies on Friday, on Saturday I go out to play.
The eagle flies on Friday, on Saturday I go out to play.
Sunday I go to church, where I kneel down, Lord and I pray.

Then I say, "Lord have mercy, won't you please have mercy on me.
Lord, oh Lord have mercy, yeah, won't you please, please have mercy on me.
I'm just a-lookin' for my sweet babe,
so won't you please send him home, send him on home to me."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
By the way, the image is of my office building the other day during a nice sunny day when the clouds were nice and puffy. The image was taken on my camera phone so the quality is not top shelf, but hey, this is the net so who cares. Of course the view outside my window looks more like this...

By the way, that's my office on the far left, 16th floor. So enough of the weather and get back to work. Until next time infidels remember these words of wisdom:

Quos amor verus tenuit, tenebit

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Howdy infidels. Man I've been so busy, not much time to post. But I have some random thoughts for the day:

1) Screw Vista - Go Mac! Infidels, I've been saved and have converted to the Intel Power Mac Pro. I shall never buy a Windows machine again. No more Microsquish and all that jazz. This is the most powerful machine I've ever used and it's so easy to use. The only problem with the Mac is that you tend not to sleep. Let's see, I've been on photoshop processing my recent images. Then, I've been on i-tunes downloading some great new stuff and some podcasts. Then, I've been tinkering with Garageband. I picked up one of those 49 key Midi USB keyboard controllers (works right off the USB) ... and it gives you access to all the digital samples and synth sounds and pads on the Mac. Throw in some cool loops from the Garageband library and presto, I ended spending a few hours creating a 64 bar track with drums, percussions, bass, and keyboard riffs. My own digital recording studio. Then, at some point, I'll use my music to create slideshows and movies with i-movie and presto, I'll never sleep again as I'll be having so much fun playing with all these programs. Who knows, I may just start songwriting again. I guess I'll need to fix myacoustic guitar and get an audio to USB converter so I can record vocals and guitars. I'll be getting an i-pod tommorrow and I'm ready to rock. (The only thing Microsoft is good at is at the Xbox 360. That is addicting I must admit, esp. the NBA 2K7 game. Simply a blast shooting hoops.

2) Speaking of Rock, I just heard this artist today that is amazing and a must purchase for lovers of Hendrix style funk. Robert Randolph is a steel guitar player who plays the pedal steel like Hendrix (with distortion) and to a cool funk beat. This has to be one of the few new artists out there that has blown me away. Finally, something fresh to listen to in the current musical desert. A must listen people. His new album has Clapton, Dave Matthews, and others on it. A spectacular product.

3) Finally, in a few days I should be getting my Adobe Lightroom for the Mac. At that time, my workflow should speed up and I'll have new images. I was using Breezebrowser on the Windows system because it is so easy to browse your images with it. I do not like Bridge. Lightroom will solve my problem. So watch out folks, this train's a comin.

That's all for now. I'm on a caffeine buzz at the moment. A product of my 4 shot sugar free vanilla latte (made at home of course -- who needs Starbucks -- well I do, since I buy their beans and their vanilla syrup). Although, I'm currently using the restaurant quality Cafe Pilon beans. Tastes as good.

Ciao

Incoming

This is what a double crested cormorant looks like when it's coming head on for you. You better duck folks . . . This birdy was photographed at Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park.

Which speaking on the Glades, it was good to see that the President's budget is asking Congress to spend $ 235 million on the Glades next year. Of this, 64 million would go to fund a comprehensive plan to restore the natural waterflow and ensure safe drinking water. The remainder would to to restoration work and to the park itself.

We could use more money, but times are tough. Let's see how much of the proposed figures survive the congressional debate.

Interview with Nicole Rowell-Ryan, the daughter of the late nature photographer Galen Rowell Podcast Available

Photo: © GALEN ROWELL

Got this notice today from the Sierra Club about their new new radio show and podcast called Sierra Club Radio. They recently did an interview with Nicole Rowell-Ryan, the daughter of the late nature photographer Galen Rowell (whose photo is above). Rowell was arguably the top American nature photographer of the last half century, and on the show, Ms. Rowell-Ryan talks about her memories of her father as an artist and an adventurer.

You can find a link to the show on their website at http://www.sierraclubradio.org

The show aired on February 3, 2007. The podcast is also available in the iTunes music store. Just search for “Sierra Club Radio”

FYI: The DVD with Rowell and Lanting on outdoor photography is a must. Check it out here.

Duck Weather on a Monday

Well infidels, the weather here the last few days was great if you're a duck. I'm sure those of you who saw the Superbowl say that we was getting soaked and still are. And of course, I get a friggin flat tire this morning, thats to the mungbrain who let a bunch of nails out in the street. Sometimes I wonder if tire companies go out there and throw nails and screws into the street. Anyways, got it plugged and back on the road. No shoot this week due to the weather. Hopefully next week we'll go back to our normal dry weather for this time of the year. Blame it on El Nino and Global Warming and the Martian Winter as well as Fan Mail from a Flounder. The whole world's sure gone crazy.

See you out in the field infidels and don't forget your rubber boots.

It's Friday - Time to Get the Gear Ready Once Again

Well, its the weekend coming up again and time to get those batteries charged for some more shooting. Of course, we'll have to take a break for the Superbowl. Hopefully, an interesting game this year.

In any event, we close off cormorant week with a picture of Chicago lawyer and photographer Paul Klenck getting some wide angle shots of the cormorants at Anhinga Trail. Florida's the spot to be in winter and spring for avian and nature photography folks. You can pass on the chazzerei with their South Beach parties and debauchery which is in high action this weekend. I'll settle for the tranquility of mother nature.

Have a great weekend infidels.