Category: outdoors

Some Photos…

September 18, 2006

Broasted Mushrooms from Chicken Shack

Nothing much to say besides that rowla.nuxx.net is coming along nicely. Here’s some photos I took over the past few days:

· Broasted Mushrooms from Chicken Shack
· Danielle holding a garter snake which she caught as we were walking around a trail in the thumb area.
· A large, and I believe edible, mushroom found not far from where Danielle caught the snake.
· Standing on a crappy beach just north of the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron
· Inside of rowla.nuxx.net showing the new disk controller, SATA cabling, and 2x 320GB disks.
· A little bit of metal work which I did to patch unneeded ‘vent’ holes in the side of the case.
· Side of rowla.nuxx.net’s case, closed, showing how the patched parts look.

Survival Research Labs at ZeroOne in San Jose on August 11th, 2006

August 17, 2006

(Click for images in gallery…)

Ahh. My photos (photo gallery retired) from this weekend’s SRL show GHOSTLY SCENES of INFERNAL DESECRATION have been uploaded. I didn’t caption any of those of the show itself, but some of the pre-show ones are described.

The small photos above don’t really do the set justice, so all I can really recommend is that you take a look at the album itself. And yes, the show was incredible. There’s something mindblowing about seeing people who have spent time building fairly incredible machines demonstrating them. And truely incredible machines at that. Tesla coils, oxyacetylene cannons, devices for throwing pieces of wood at incredible speeds, jet engines, hovercrafts, and more.

Also, be sure to watch ‘s video clips which have been posted to YouTube here: Short · Longer

His photos can also be seen here.

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GHOSTLY SCENES of INFERNAL DESECRATION

August 12, 2006

Tesla coil running as the pitching machine strikes a walking building with animal skull heads…
(Click for full size…)

Well, yeah. I don’t have much more to say about the SRL show except that it was incredible. Absolutely incredible.

From having a V1 buzz bomb engine pointed at us and fired up to seeing a device which shoots 2×4’s at a few hundred miles per hour shooting a small vehicle which someone is driving… yeah. I’m still blown away.

More pictures will come later. I don’t have all my photo tools here right now, so that’s just a quick one processed on the server. But… yeah. Wow. Definitely worth it.

Oh, and we got to meet and hang out with and his girlie for whom I (unfortunately) can’t remember her LJ username. :\

Yes. More later. Definitely. And if you should somehow find the chance to see SRL one day, do it. Do not hesitate. Just… Yeah.

Click that image up above for a full rez photo. There’s a ridiculous amount to see there, and it’s only a narrow view of the whole event. Photos don’t do it justice.

found things moved from livejournal outdoors

Moblog Update

August 4, 2006

Intestine found at Holland Ponds
(Click for more moblog photos…)

Yesterday Danielle and I went wandering around Holland Ponds {Park | Nature Center} over near my house in Shelby Township. The original idea was to look at the nicely swollen (from the rain) Clinton River, but we ended up finding a few other interesting things. All I acquired photos of was the large piece of intestine seen above, and a number of pictures of snails:

· A handful of snails.
· A snail on a board.
· A snail eating some poo.

Also, here are some other moblog photos:

· Three enclosures for MIDIbox SID-NUXXs.
· Tasty banana nut bread from The Daily Grind in Utica.
· Apple Hardware Test running on my G5.
· Quick chilling some Jolly Pumpkin beer.

Uhm, yeah. That’s all for now. Time to get back to trying to figure out something…

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Cicada Killer

July 29, 2006

While wandering around Holland Ponds Park today I came across three cicada killer wasps flying close to each other and regularly landing on some flowers. From what I’ve read, while they are very large, noisy, and somewhat intimidating, they are barely a harmful to people, and their sting (if they happen to sting you — which is rare) won’t hurt you, unless you happen to be allergic to them.

I managed to get that photo above, and these other two: 1 · 2

That one there was probably around 1 1/2″ long… Definitely big enough to make me wonder / worry slightly.

This page, Prof. Chuck Holliday’s Cicada-Killer Page has a bunch more info about them.

Now, to shower and get the DEET off.

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IS&S

July 5, 2006

ISS Passing Overhead
(Click for full-resolution, giant image…)

For some reason I wasn’t able to spot STS-121, but I did manage to both see ISS passing overhead and get a photo of it. This was a ~20 second exposure just as it was heading towards the horizon. The exposure was actually long enough that the rotation of the Earth is evidenced by the slightly streaked stars.

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Thumb Area Redux

June 5, 2006

Point Aux Barques Lighthouse
(Click for more photos…)

Yesterday I left my house, got a cheese sandwhich from Jimmy Johns, some gas, and a bit of cash. Then I headed east down 23 Mile Road to I-94 and up to Port Huron. Once in Port Huron I headed north / west along M-15 until I reached Port Austin, at the tip of the thumb. After that I wound my way south, eventually ending up near home. Then I grabbed some Thai food and went home. Not long after that it was time for bed.

So, let’s see… While that description was short, what sort of things did I see yesterday…

· The longest pedistrian suspension bridge in Michigan. (photo gallery retired)
· White Rock, which in 1807 indicated the furthest northeast point where non-native people could settle.
· What had once been a seagull.
· The Port Hope Chimney, a memorial to the original town.
· A true two-hole outhouse. (Yes, they really exist.)
· The Point Aux Barques Lighthouse.
· Huron City, an old logging company town which is now a National Historic District. (photo gallery retired)
· A Gadsden Flag flying on a museum.

Oh, and of course, lots of Lake Huron. It was quite a nice day. Despite both suddenly having a sore throat (which has lingered throughout today) in the middle of it and walking into this window^† and hitting my head pretty hard I had a great time. It’s really nice to just get away and wander like that. I haven’t done such a thing since… Last weekend (in London) and the weekend before. And before that. Hmm. I think I notice a trend here.

Anyway, if you’d like to see all of the photos, they can be seen here: Thumb Area (June 4, 2006) (photo gallery retired)

^† I was walking through this small room of vending machines, looking at them, and not really thinking. When in the room the glass appears pretty clear, and being floor to ceiling there was nothing to catch one’s eye. Also, the glass is in a location where one would typically locate a door. All of this together with my inattentiveness caused me to walk into the glass panel, solidly hitting the side of my head on it. Heh.

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Coyote?!?

May 6, 2006

Coyote?
(Click for full size image…)

So today I showered and shaved, applied sun block to my head, and headed out to Holland Ponds Park to test out the new lenses I received yesterday. In short, they seem really nice… But that’s not what this post about.

No, this post is about the animal pictured above, which I believe to be a coyote. I was walking quietly along a path when I saw something largeish in front of me, and I was only able to bring the camera up and fire off a few shots. Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to turn AF off, so focus is actually on the branch in front of the animal. Also, I only had it in single shot mode, so I wasn’t able to get more than three shots. That one there is the only decent one, I think.

Do any of you think that it might be something else? According to the Michigan DNR coyotes are found throughout Michigan, but I surely didn’t expect to find one in a park at ~1:30pm.

Also, turtles are very hard to photograph. They seem to notice if anyone is within 100′ of them, and then they dive right off of whatever log they happen to be on. I got a few decent shots of turtles — including one the size of a hard hat — but nothing I’d call great.

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Erma’s Frozen Custard, et all.

April 24, 2006

Erma’s Is Open!!!
(Click for more moblog photos…)

So, I screwed up. I thought I had a dentist appointment today, so when arriving at my dentist’s office at 5:50pm, he was there alone, most of the lights were off, and he was rather surprised to see me. We discussed what’s going on with his computers for a bit, then I headed home. Well, that was the plan, but then I ended up heading over to Holland Ponds Park to wander around.

Here’s some photos from there. The one with the flag in it would have made a better title photo, but… Yeah. Just look at them:

· A nicely twisted, mangled tree in Holland Ponds Park in Shelby Township, MI.
· A plastic American flag hanging from some dead branches, found along the bank of the Clinton River in Holland Ponds Park.
· Another portion o the previously pictured engine which I came across in Holland Ponds Park.
· An engine block I came across in Holland Ponds Park.
· A nesting Canadian Goose setting on top of a fallen tree in the middle of the Clinton River in Holland Ponds park.

After that, I decided to use the last $2 in my wallet to head over to Erma’s Frozen Custard in Utica for some classic southeast Michigan frozen custard. Mmm. Erma’s being open means that springtime has definitely arrived.

And yes, that’s where this icon is from.

Now, I’m home. Just simply home. There are sheets in the laundry, the precipitate from disposing of the ferric chloride is drying in the garage^†, I’m making some final tweaks to my SIDbox’s board layout, and there is another bottle of Dark Horse’s Double Crooked Tree IPA chilling in the fridge, waiting for me to drink it later.

^† I use ferric chloride to etch PCBs. Well, the solution I have was becoming a bit weak, so I decided to dispose of it. In retrospect I could probably have used it a few more times, but… Oh well. It’s already neutralized.

In order to dispose of it, one needs to add a base (I used baking soda) until it’s pretty neutral, then it is let set in order to separate. The liquid can be poured off the top, and the precipitate can be thrown out. Unfortunately the precipitate stains with ridiculous vigor, so my laundry tub now has some brownish orange stains in it. Ah well.

In a few days I should be able to safely toss the containers of dry chemical, then head to the dollar store and get a few more. I’ll also have to source some more PCB etchant. That’ll be harder to find…

food moved from livejournal outdoors

Yes! Michigan

March 14, 2006

Ice on the breakwater off of Port Austin, MI.
(Click for more…)

So, yeah. On Saturday I had nothing to do and no one to do anything with, so I made my way over to M-53 and drove to the top of the thumb. While up there I ended up stopping at the State Dock in Port Austin before heading west along M-25. I took M-25 all the way to Bay City, then I-75 down through Flint and such, and eventually home. I also stopped at another breakwater / beach in Caseville, saw the Pioneer Sugar Company’s plant in Sebewaing (if you’ve eaten Michigan Beet Sugar, it probably came from here), walked around on some beaches, and got a bunch of photos. So, if you want to see those photos, either click on the photo above, or click here: Thumb Area (March 11, 2006)

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