Free-falling firsts

The holiday weekend has come to an end and more adventures are chronicled at this very spot (if a stream of packets of bits being delivered to your house via the most complex network on earth can be considered "a spot"). I'll also catch up on some photos that have been brewing on my laptop for a while.

I'll start out with the most recent. My sis came down for the elongated weekend and we headed out for a lengthy motorcycle ride on Hwy 66 and 62 (two of my favorite roads in this area). I don't have any action shots but I do have a couple of us geared up next to the two-wheeler. As you can see proper gear is a small requirement of mine. I also believe this is the first picture of my new red Joe Rocket jacket.





Next up is the canoe trip at my home town with a bunch of the locals (a great group of people) last month.







And one of the most beautiful boats I've seen:


And a riverside flower sitting there ripe for capturing it's reflected photons:


Here's a few more flora photos, however I'll have to give credit to my sister for them as I grabbed them from her camera before she left!







And last, but certainly far from the least was another first I conquered this year. Just a little bit of jumping from a plane at 10,000 feet. Here's the crew who didn't chicken out:


Same crew (sans one)suited up:


I feel fashion was not the main concern when my jumpsuit was constructed. This is the moment when it really starts to set in that it's really going to happen.


Here's the other cool looking jumpsuit:


After free-fall and floating saftely back to earth:


The sis landing:


Post flight walks:


Check out the smile on that face:


I'm hoping to get some videos online but it will be a few weeks before they are delivered. Also video on linux is still giving me hell so I'm still trying a few things. It's certainly possible but apparently I haven't found the right combination just quite yet.

Mantii Mania

Well, It's been a while since I've had the chance to provide any updates. I finally spent one weekend home and not out and about which enabled me to grab some quick photos around the house. Here are a few friends I found in some of my landscaping (which I've put a lot more work into this spring).






They are just wee-lads right now, and I hope some will stick around once they mature. Much easier to photograph as well as keeping some of the bad bugs dead.

Here is a macro shot of my pre-bloom Spirea bush after some light misting rain (and a dash of Gimping):


And a bit more experimentation with refraction:


The car is coming along, but with more snags of course. Got it back down to my house, and did some body work, however it looks like one piston will have to come back out. It's drivable yet burning oil in one piston for some reason. I would be further along however due to other outdoor activities progress has slowed dramatically. I hope to get some pics up of some of the boating and triathlon(the aforementioned activites) I've done in the past month or so. Also (weather permitting) this weekend something very big might just happen! Stay Tuned!