Long exposure time.

I am traveling to Seven Lakes, NC after a couple of evening photo sessions and the multiple lights of a feed mill on Highway 211 catch my eye.  As with many scenes I think to myself that this could make a nice photo, but I continue driving.  During the next 2 miles I am still thinking about the feed mill.  I have my gear with me and  am not rushing to another appointment.  I make a u-turn and head back to the feed mill location.  As I drive by I scope out a decent area to pull off the road to setup a tripod with camera. Conditions were great.  No moisture in the air and there wasn't any haze from the mill around the structure.   I dial in my camera settings, click the remote and wait for the photo to be captured.   After 5 or 6 shots I felt good about the results on the screen and packed my gear and continued my journey.    I've also included a few more long exposure photos that I have captured in the past.  I enjoy setting up a camera and tripod to capture some night time shots.  I like to capture the sparkle form the lights and as much detail as possible.

Perdue feed mill, Bensalem, NC

Perdue feed mill, Bensalem, NC

Cemetery, downtown Columbia SC

Downtown Columbia SC

Christmas decoration, Downtown Rockingham, N.C.

4th of July fireworks, Rockingham, N.C.

Rare snowfall at Harrington Square, Rockingham, N.C.

Disney Hollywood Studios, Florida

Washington Street, downtown Rockingham, N.C.

Pinterest. The new web addiction.

Facebook was in all of the headlines last week with the highly anticipated IPO announcement and reports of the large group of new millionaires to be born of the company.  This week a new website, Pinterest, has stolen some of the online attention.  Pinterest is exploding in many ways.

What is Pinterest? The websites explanation is a bit outdated:

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and share their favorite recipes.

Pinterest is fast becoming more than an organization website.   The news this week states that Pinterest is now the fastest growing site for referral traffic.  Several months ago Pinterest wasn't close to being in the top ten referring websites.   Now they have surpassed many sites to move to the top 5.  They have more referrals than YouTube, Google+, Linkdin and Myspace combined.  Yes, Myspace is still in the top ten.

What make Pinterest so exciting and hot?  Before I give my two cents I will confess that I am an addict.  I love food, traveling, new technology and photography.  I can find pics and info for all four on Pinterest with little effort.  With this said, the ease us use is why I think that Pinterest is collecting the eyes of millions of monthly visitors.  Eyes on a website equal increased value and potential investors. they may be positioning themselves for an early buyout.  I do not doubt that Facebook and Google are looking at the possibilities of buying this website before the other if made available.  It will be interesting to see what happens during the next year or even months.

 Whats the catch?

This is something that I was trying to figure out, because there are no ads and signup is as simple as receiving an invite.  the catch as described by blogging site LLSocial.com, if a user submits a pin that links to an e-commerce site with an affiliate program, then Pinterest tweaks that link to add tracking code for the affiliate, according to the report. If someone clicks on the image and actually buys something from the affiliate, Pinterest gets a cut of the sales, LLSocial.com said.   This is not an unusual practice from websites so don't be alarmed.

As I said above Pinterest is still an invitation-only network and is still in it's beta stages.  Something is going very right with this website.  If you are not on Pinterest you will want to check it out. Send me an email for an invite.  otherwise the waiting period from the site could be lengthy.


 I'll continue pinning my favorite photo, gadget, food item and destination photos.  I also hope that my wife remains addicted to the recipes so she will continue making some great treats like the Cookie Dough dip below.

Hula hoop moments.

I like to enjoy myself and have fun when possible.  The recent Arts Richmond Fire and Ice Gala gave me a chance to follow many other people to take a hula hoop for a spin.  It's not everyday that I get a chance to act like a kid and I was able to keep the large circular tube floating around my waist long enough to be satisfied with the attempt.  Did I care that someone else had my camera aimed at me?  No.  It was too much fun to worry about anything else taking place around me.

During a little research about the 1950's fad I found a scientific study titled:  "Kinetics of hula hooping: An inverse dynamics analysis"   This paper involved a biomechanical analysis of lower limb joint coordination during hula hooping. A lower extremity inverse dynamics model that incorporated kinematic input and force platform data was developed to compute the angular velocities, moments about and powers produced at the lower extremity joints. The abductor moments and powers were discovered to be paramount in maintaining hoop oscillations, as demonstrated consistently in the three study participants. However, hula hooping was demonstrated to be variable in terms of the involvement of flexor and extensor moments and powers of the ankle, knee and hip joints, resulting in the adoption of varying strategies by each of the three participants.

After reading the above and stopping myself from continuing the 14 page study, I realized that if I had concentrated on the scientific methods instead of just having fun, the experience would not have been as memorable.  The purpose was to full fill my desire to laugh for a few moments.  It was another chance to enjoy life and take advantage of an opportunity.

I saw proof during church today that anytime is a good time to enjoy life.  A little girl on the pew in front of me was in her own world.  First she was determined to hold a hymnal and sing even though she didn't know the words. She was smiling, singing her own tune and enjoying it.   Later during the service she accidentally burped, but kept her laughs to a minimum.  Next, she decided that she needed to produce a few fake sneezes.  Very cute in my opinion and not distracting from the sermon in process.  Finally she knew when it was time to prepare to leave as she opened her mothers purse to plunder just before throwing it over her shoulder as it was time to walk out. 

After watching the little girl play and be herself with dozens of people around, I realized that I had the opportunity to do the same thing with the hula hoop.  I hope to have many more hula hoop moments in the future.

Northern Tool + Equipment. A mans store?

If you like to build, disassemble and rebuild things, then Northern Tool + Equipment is a store that you should visit.  Northern Tool + Equipment is not an appliance store or parts outlet.  They have tools, and lots of them.  They also have equipment to use the tools with and many varieties of specialty products.  I  have visited the Rock Hill, S.C. location often and find some interesting items.

I think of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor when walking through the store and seeing various items from small to extra large and powerful! Grunt!   Need a hand truck?  How about more than a dozen to choose from with a few that could move a house! Grunt!  Grab a set of 4 industrial wrenches weight in at 30 lbs and sized up to 2 1/2" Grunt! Grunt!  Dozens of wheel sizes, submersible pumps, industrial pressure washers, deluxe meat tenderizers, bargain bins, solar panels, trailer hitches, toilet mugs, chain saws, air compressors....10,000 item catalog!  aah!! ' Hmmm!!! Grunt!  Yes, this could be considered a mans store full of toys to repair damage or do some damage.

One online review: "They seem to cater to large workshop/rancher/farmer types as compared to average homeowners."  I somewhat agree that Northern Tool + Equipment could easily become a farm supply and does have most industrial needs covered.  However, I have found several items to use from a heavy duty wagon to a small pry-bar set. I just like to go in a look around. The place is a huge toy store.

The official description: Since 2001, the Northern Tool + Equipment store in Rock Hill, South Carolina has been supplying the residents of South Carolina with a large selection of portable generators, pressure washers, water pumps, power tools, welding equipment and many more quality equipment products. This along with an extensive line of emergency storm supplies, makes the Rock Hill Northern Tool + Equipment retail store a convenient destination in preparing for and recovering from the might of Mother Nature.

We had our cake and ate it too!

I was glad to be a part of the planning for Art's Richmond's 2012 fundraiser event themed Fire & Ice.  In addition to dinner,dancing and a silent auction, we decided to add a cake baking contest to the evenings events.  We out together some guidelines and invited local bakers, or cake artists as we like to call them, to participate.

In the guidelines the cakes had to represent the theme and offer a bite-sized sample for approximately 150 people.  Guest were encouraged to vote for Best in Theme and Best in Taste.  We opened the contest and encouraged people to vote at a $1.00 per vote.   The area around the cakes quickly became busy with guests taking a look and sampling the artwork.  We also provided a prize for Best Overall based on the total of the guests votes for Best in Theme and Best in Taste combined with sponsorship money that each cake artist collected on their own.  We had six cake artists participate and his proved to be a very large part of our fundraiser.

Special thanks to the cake artists:  Bambi Provensano, Wanda Bullard, Tracy McNair, Melissa Newton, Micheille Coggins and Jackie McAuley for their hard work.

Winners:

Best in Taste:  Michelle Coggins
Best in Theme: Tracie McNair

Best Overall: Tracie McNair


This could possibly be an event on it's own.  Planning for the Second Annual Cake Showcase will begin soon.

Pinball Wizard?

During my trip to Charlotte this week I decided to stop and have lunch at Pinky’s Westside Grill at W Morehead St.  When I entered the building the first thing that I saw was a KISS pinball machine.  I had not seen one of these in a long time.  I have been a KISS fan since the late '70's. I've played their music and seen them in concert.  I considered playing a game, but my stomach forced me to continue with lunch as planned.   After my meal, I took a look around the restaurant and heading to my car.  As I reached for the door, I realized that the pinball machine was still there and I should play one game.  Two quarters later I was flipping the flippers and bumping the machine as the balls bounced off of the bumpers.  It was a very brief game considering my pinball skills are not as good as they were many years ago.

This machine is in great condition.  Upon research I found out some history and just about any part needed for a machine refurb can be foun on Ebay.  The original price of the machine in 1978 was $199.00.  Most recently the machines have sold for almost $4000.00

Kiss April 25, 1978
4 Players
Manufacturer: Bally Manufacturing Corporation
Date Of Manufacture: June, 1979
Model Number: 1152-E
MPU: Bally MPU AS-2518-35
Type: Solid State Electronic (SS)
Production: 17,000 units (confirmed)
Theme: Celebrities - Licensed
Specialty: Conversion Kit
Notable Features: Flippers (2), Pop bumpers(4), 4-bank drop targets (1), Rollunder spinners (2).
Used a different power supply than the other 3rd generation tables.
Design by: Jim Patla
Art by: Kevin O'Connor
Notes: A 'Kiss' prototype was built which used speech.

A quick view of the sunset.

In a previous post I commented about sitting in traffic.   Once again today it too me approximately 40 minutes to go 10 miles.   South of Charlotte, NC there is an area where Interstate 77 dumps hundreds of cars into I-485 traffic already loaded with hundreds of cars.  Traffic becomes a slow crawl with a few idiots constantly changing lanes to a complete standstill.  Today I witnessed an ambulance trying to get through the four lanes of congestion.  A few of us pulled off of the road, but I was sad to see the rescue vehicle come to a complete stop in front of me because cars were not getting out of the way.   For the next mile or two I expected to see a fender bender, but there was nothing.  somehow the traffic manages to magically thin out and everyone remaining races to get to their final destination.  Just before I was preparing to exit on Highway 74 east in Matthews, NC I caught a glimpse of the sunset in my rear view mirror.  I managed to get my iPhone changed to camera mode to capture the photo below.   The struggle through traffic was worth the view behind me as I continued my journey home.