Last week I went birding after reading reports of woodcock and a whip-poor-will in a field nearby. I haven't heard whip-poor-wills since I was a kid when I would hear them almost every night in the summer. I haven't had the chance since I started birding seriously to add them to my life list (same for the Woodcock). So I was rewarded last week (May 8...my sister's Birthday) when I went and heard the lone Whip-pool-will. Oh, it was fantastic to hear one, knowing the population has been on the decline in NY. I also heard and saw the woodcocks. Later, another birder posted seeing and hearing the same thing I had heard. He made a recording of this, so I was please to know that this is the very same Whip-pool-will (and you can hear the Woodcocks "beeent" in the background) that I heard on May 8th.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Whip-poor-will
Last week I went birding after reading reports of woodcock and a whip-poor-will in a field nearby. I haven't heard whip-poor-wills since I was a kid when I would hear them almost every night in the summer. I haven't had the chance since I started birding seriously to add them to my life list (same for the Woodcock). So I was rewarded last week (May 8...my sister's Birthday) when I went and heard the lone Whip-pool-will. Oh, it was fantastic to hear one, knowing the population has been on the decline in NY. I also heard and saw the woodcocks. Later, another birder posted seeing and hearing the same thing I had heard. He made a recording of this, so I was please to know that this is the very same Whip-pool-will (and you can hear the Woodcocks "beeent" in the background) that I heard on May 8th.
Monday, May 12, 2008
The New Blues Brothers
Well, you could probably write this story yourself:
You go to a birthday party. You have a nice dinner. You have a few drinks. In walks the Karaoke guy for the party. People started singing. Some are great. Some are not. Some are cool. Some are creepy. You think, I can do better then some of these people, or at least look equally foolish. So you sign up for a song. You think, "this song is easy, and short, and I've had enough to drink now." So you go up and sing. Then someone makes a video of it. And they send it to you. What are you to do? Put it on the blog of course!
You go to a birthday party. You have a nice dinner. You have a few drinks. In walks the Karaoke guy for the party. People started singing. Some are great. Some are not. Some are cool. Some are creepy. You think, I can do better then some of these people, or at least look equally foolish. So you sign up for a song. You think, "this song is easy, and short, and I've had enough to drink now." So you go up and sing. Then someone makes a video of it. And they send it to you. What are you to do? Put it on the blog of course!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Topozone has been sold to Trails.com
I used Topozone a lot. It was a website that I could use to see topographic maps in the U.S. Of course, I would use these inconjunction with lots of other map systems, especially Google Maps.
To my surprise, when I went to Topozone today, a notice said it had been sold to Trails.com. I have never used Trails.com, primarily because it is a paid service. I'm sure their product is a good one, but I don't see why I need to pay for maps that are produced by our government.
Looking around a bit, I found a link to another service someone recommended called ACME Mapper. I found this very simple, yet very powerful, and best of all, I can still find the good old USGS Topo's on it. In fact, it's easier to use then Topozone was.
Out with the old...in with the new...
To my surprise, when I went to Topozone today, a notice said it had been sold to Trails.com. I have never used Trails.com, primarily because it is a paid service. I'm sure their product is a good one, but I don't see why I need to pay for maps that are produced by our government.
Looking around a bit, I found a link to another service someone recommended called ACME Mapper. I found this very simple, yet very powerful, and best of all, I can still find the good old USGS Topo's on it. In fact, it's easier to use then Topozone was.
Out with the old...in with the new...
Monday, April 21, 2008
Backyard Project
We began destruction of the backyard.
Yup, were are destroying the backyard. No fear though, we are going to bring it back to life. We are tired of the grass lawn. We had to carry our gas powered mower up a flight of stairs to mow the back lawn. We hate doing that. So instead, we are going to leave just a small spot for grass, plant a garden, make a path, and add some plantings for the birds and butterflies (and all the critters who like to dine on that stuff as well).
We had a magnificent weather weekend, so we were able to get some landscaping cloth put down. This will be the base layer for our work. We have a raised bed kit on order. We raked and cleaned out the exiting beds. We repaired some of the damage from the sidewalk plow over the winter. We erected a compost bin. We hung a couple of new birdhouses.
Still lots to do...we'll keep you posted, and put up some pictures in the future.
Yup, were are destroying the backyard. No fear though, we are going to bring it back to life. We are tired of the grass lawn. We had to carry our gas powered mower up a flight of stairs to mow the back lawn. We hate doing that. So instead, we are going to leave just a small spot for grass, plant a garden, make a path, and add some plantings for the birds and butterflies (and all the critters who like to dine on that stuff as well).
We had a magnificent weather weekend, so we were able to get some landscaping cloth put down. This will be the base layer for our work. We have a raised bed kit on order. We raked and cleaned out the exiting beds. We repaired some of the damage from the sidewalk plow over the winter. We erected a compost bin. We hung a couple of new birdhouses.
Still lots to do...we'll keep you posted, and put up some pictures in the future.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Carving Faces
This weekend, we got together with some local letterboxers to work on carving faces. Laura and I had a great time. We have been wanting to have some small gatherings with local boxers to work on these things, and to build some community in our letterboxing circle here. I printed out lots of faces of famous people, and we practiced transferring them with xylene, and then carving them. I tried to pick a variety of levels for people to carve, but most people were intimidated at first. But everyone gave it a shot, and I think the results were really great. Afterwards, we managed to get to the Abandoned Subway box, with the help of RocNRon who had been there before. Laura wouldn't let me go to do this one alone, so with a group of six of us, we did it! We also finished up planting a new series called Hoodoo Blues. Here's a link to a music site I set up to support the clue. You will find some good old blues tunes and videos there.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Story at Work
First, sorry its been so long since I have posted. I guess I didn't think many people were reading this...then I found out lots of people were reading it. So, onto the update.
I went to New Hampshire this past weekend with Dick to go to the League of Advancement for New England Storytelling (LANES). Dick and I presented a workshop on podcasting, and how it can be used by storytellers. It went off without a hitch, mostly because Dick was there for technical and moral support. Thanks Dick!
We also learned a lot about storytelling, and met lots of great people. The nightly "concerts" were amazing...these guys really know how to tell a story. I'm feeling more energized and creative right now, for all my different interests.
I went to New Hampshire this past weekend with Dick to go to the League of Advancement for New England Storytelling (LANES). Dick and I presented a workshop on podcasting, and how it can be used by storytellers. It went off without a hitch, mostly because Dick was there for technical and moral support. Thanks Dick!
We also learned a lot about storytelling, and met lots of great people. The nightly "concerts" were amazing...these guys really know how to tell a story. I'm feeling more energized and creative right now, for all my different interests.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
New Orleans
We had a great time visiting New Orleans this pas March. I'm not a big "city" fan, but the French Quarter of New Orleans is totally awesome! I loved the food, and culture, and sights, and shops. Would love to go back. This video is of the courtyard of the little condo we stayed in. Dick really set us up finding this place that he usually stays in for jazz fest.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
More progress
You can click on this for a slightly larger pic.
It now has road markers, town names, water body names, and that big text you can actually see in the photo.Still need some finishing touches, but at least it looks like a map now.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Mottled Mucks: Bling Bling!
Hooozaaaahhh! to the Mottled Mucks!
Check out the news!
The team that raised the most money this year was the Plucky Mucksters who raised $1,302!!!! This is a remarkable amount of money for a single team to fundraise. It is the second year in a row that the Plucky Mucksters have come in first place for most money raised by a single team. The Plucky Mucksters team members include Bob McGuire, Deirdre Anderson, Susan Danskin, and Gary Kohlenberg. The second place team, the Capitol Cuckoos with members Jane Graves, Alison Van Keuren, John Hershey, and Larry Rowland, brought in $905. And, the third place team was the Mottled Mucks with members John Ballou, Amy Dreibelbis, Chris Langman, Dick Beery and Dom DeFazio, who raised $738. Ten teams raised over $250 and four teams raised over $500!!! We also received a number of cash donations from local businesses including Terry Precision Cycling, Wild Birds Unlimited of Johnson City & Ithaca, Nucor Steel, NYSOA, Bass Pro, and Avinet.
The total raised by all the teams was $10,411.10, breaking the goal of 10K. Way to go teammates, and way to go to all our idividual sponsors! We couldn't have done it without you. Special props to Dick and Sandy Beery, and to our coporate sponsor Micron Industries!
Monday, October 29, 2007
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