Guns and Trees

Check these guys out

2008-04-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

Exposure: 5 sec / f11, bracketed @ +/- 1ev. Images merged in Dynamic Photo HDR, GIMP "cartoon" filter added, curve adjust in PS 7.

Also in BW

Texas

2008-03-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in the Lone Star state. I managed to walk away with a few decent pictures to prove it. Y'all enjoy now!

HDR

2008-02-18T00:06:00.000-08:00

I got a plug in that can fake HDR images form only one JPEG. Until the real HDR software arrives in the mail, it will have to do. These are pretty rough, but it'll get it right with practice.

Proud Infadel

2008-02-13T13:54:00.001-08:00

Remember this guy from last year? He's the mascot for the Religion of Perpetual Outrage

Fun With Photoshop

2008-02-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

I'm sure the purist will say that using PS and various Plug-ins is cheating and played out. Whatever, smell it. By the way, the shot of the bridge girders was taken by Kim G.

Death Valley 1.20.08

2008-01-21T17:29:00.000-08:00

Here's some pics from DV...

My Best Decision

2008-01-18T14:46:00.000-08:00

It seems like so long ago...

MUD!

2008-01-06T11:55:00.001-08:00

Internet was down a while (stupid Charter) anyway, here's some pics form Holcomb Valley New Years Eve 2007. Oh yeah, that's Amy gettin' down in the black truck. Infact, she drove the whole trail, ice, snow, mud and all.

Too Cool.

2007-12-06T17:40:00.000-08:00

What can I say, that's my boy.

Speeking of guns...

2007-12-04T10:23:00.001-08:00

I dug up this little gem form T's bachelor party. I think Don was saying, "I can somehow suspend the propane bottle above the campfire, then we could just use a slug to hit it." Todd looks like he just wants to bayonet someone.

The Been's first Christmas Tree

2007-12-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

That's right, I said Christmas.

Mom's jaunt to Mormon Rocks

2007-12-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

Took mom up to Mormon Rocks on Monday. The plan was to rappel the "bunny slopes" but after the trek from the west side (RR workers were in my usual parking spot), Mom was a bit apprehensive about sliding down a rope. I worked out though because I forgot the rope. It was a nice day either way.

Zion, again

2007-11-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

Took mom and sis to Zion for their inaugural visit. It was a quick trip (3 days) but there was time to drag them up to Angels Landing. Later, mom, sis and I put a way a pitcher of some local apricot heffewizen. Oh man, it was a good trip.

El Chupicabra

2007-11-05T16:08:00.000-08:00

This mythical creature showed up in the backyard recently.

More Wind and Fire

2007-10-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

Hen I posted, Wal-Mart on the south side of 215 fwy and the Starbucks strip mall where both closed. The fire had jump the 215 and both north and south bound traffic had been stopped. The 15 fwy through Cajon pass is also shut down. According the Forest Service IC they may get an air unit into Arrowhead before sundown. The Incident commander said if they can get a helicopter, they might have a chance at stopping the Grass Fire. It's still windy and expected to remain so through the night.

It's Fire Season!

2007-10-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

Remember 03? Well, it's a repeat. After 3 days in the wind tunnel, we finally got our fires. Is John Schlesinger planning a visit?

Mojave Road

2007-10-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

We tackled the old Mojave Road this weekend. We picked up the trail outside of Needles and finished at Afton Canyon. All in all, a great time and incident free, almost. Somewhere during the last 10 miles, J.W. hydro locked his Dodge Ram in a water crossing. He stalled out in 3 1/2 feet of water with a locked up motor. After towing him out, we put the truck on an incline and drained 5 gallons of water from the exhaust. When we tried the motor, nothing. It was still locked up. When we pulled the the throttle body off, we saw that the intake manifold had about a gallon of water in it! We used a combination of siphoning and a Coleman mattress pump to suck out the water. Next, we pulled all the plugs, breaking one, and prayed. The motor cranked over and shot water out each spark plug port. After some drying and a jump start, we got the truck running albeit badly. We finished the trail and nursed J.W.s truck back to Barstow on 7 cylinders. Quite an adventure indeed. It helped that we were well prepared and had enough technical know how to get out of the jam. We are theorizing that when J.W. started crossing, he went too fast and flooded the intake. To make matters worse, when he backed of the throttle, back pressure sucked water in tho the exhaust and past the catalytic converter. Could have been worse though. More pics when Blogger gets their act together.

The Winds Are Back

2007-10-08T11:29:00.003-07:00

It's that time again folks. Santa Ana season. For those of us in the "Berdo", we have a 2 months of -50% humidity (where H2O is sucked out of you and redistributed to those less fortunate or unwilling to produce their own) and a constant 30 mph wind with gusts up to 187.6 mph in the canyons and passes. You people down in the "Cucs" and "Up There Land" don't know nothin' bout wind. Whens the last time you played "Find the Trash Cans" a block away?

And don't forget the annual mend the fence get together. This is when the neighbors stop by and say, "You may remember me from last year. Yeah, well the fence is buckling again so I'll be doing some mending on your side of the yard." That's when I say, "No sweat, needs some help?" And they say, "Oh no, I do this every year, so It's no problem."

Another lovely perk about wind season is the haunting banshee like shrill of a stiff breeze finding it's way into any available crevasse afforded to by a much neglected bedroom window seal. May be I'll finally replace those two sliders upstairs.

Well, enjoy the nice breeze in your part of the valley. I'll be up here collecting my roof tiles from the 215 fwy and watching the STOP signs bend in half.

Kardinal

Jam Master "D" in da house!

2007-10-08T10:52:00.000-07:00

GO SOX !

2007-10-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Bean Town's two biggest fans. They ah wicked cool.

If Don were here...

2007-10-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

We would need to make one of these. It's powered by chainsaw motors. I've got one to start with. Link below. http://www.dolmar.com/755.php

Baldy 10.02.07

2007-10-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

I Tackled Baldy with Matt and the boys. We started at Maker Flats and took the fire road to The Notch, then via Devil's Backbone to the summit. The boys did well we had minimal stops until the final summit push. We made the summit by 10 AM (started at 7:30 AM) and it was glorious. We had Temps in the 40's to 50's with a nice breeze. On the way down, we planned to return down the Bowl Trail and check out the plane wreck on the southwest face. It wasn't until we passed the only other hiker on the mountain that I realized we had taken the wrong trail off the summit. I asked If he started at Manker and said, "No, the village." I though the scenery was a little different.

We ended up going 4 miles out of our way and finishing at the visitor's center, 5 miles down the hill. MAN, that decent is steep. From the ridge near West Baldy to the gulch at Bear Flat, it is absolute torture. The decent was down Steep, rocky and loose switchbacks through shoulder wide thickets. All sun, no breeze. Anyone who wants to hike up from the Village is nuts! Anyway, Amy's dad picked us up and drove us back to Manker Flats. All in all, a fun day.

Go Angels

2007-10-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Fisheye

2007-10-01T08:59:00.001-07:00

"...as an everyday piece of equipment it has limited applications and it's novelty value can quickly wear off."

Whatever.

Zion

2007-09-24T16:49:00.001-07:00

Here's some pics from the August adventure.

Aidan Crawls

2007-09-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

Took a short video of The Bean.

Update on The Bean

2007-09-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Bean is 7 months now and crawling up a storm. He went from toppling over last week, had a taste of crawling, and is now pulling himself up on his feet. I love this stuff!

Intro

2007-09-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

So here it is. I took a shot at this blog thing a year ago. It wasn't for me. I often shun new fads or gizmo's until it becomes too inconvenient to do with out them. I supposed blogs are the new way of catching up with folks. Sort of a grown up version or My Space. Detest that site by the way, but more on that some other time.

Anyhoo, BLOGs look to be the new way to go. I selfishly spew my vile hatred and conservative viewpoints and share cute pictures of my son all in the same place. Awesome. And really, who's going to read it? Friends, family, weirdos stalking me on the web (I should be so lucky)?

I suppose I felt it's time to share parts of my life, at least until the next fad comes along. So, stay tuned all 15 of you who may wonder bye, there's more to come.

Kardinal