More Fun with Pictures

I didn't do as much picture manipulation today - it's been a really lazy day. We started off with a tug passing in front of our RV moving fast and leaving a wake.


I tried shooting a shot through the lens of my binoculars. It came our relatively poor but I found it interesting anything came out at all.


So I tried taking one backwards through the binoculars - oh well (laughing at myself)


I did get out close to the old board walk and got this picture notice how much clearer the sky is today - no smoke.


Well I'm a sucker for odd-ball pictures and got this shot of the ground nearby with an old timber embedded in the rock strewn ground.


Scrabble Score ~ The Scrabble Queen 296 ~ the contender 316 ---- Yahoo!!!!
Quote of the Day ~

“It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America" ~ Molly Ivins (see below)

Molly Ivins has passed away.

Published: January 31, 2007 10:00 PM ET
AUSTIN Best-selling author and newspaper columnist Molly Ivins, the sharp-witted liberal who skewered the political establishment and referred to President Bush as "Shrub," died Wednesday after a long battle with breast cancer. Ivins was 62. The writer, who made a living poking fun at Texas politicians, whether they were in her home base of Austin or the White House, revealed in early 2006 that she was being treated for breast cancer for the third time. "Molly was a hero. She was a mentor. She was a liberal. She was a patriot. She was a friend. And she always will be," the Texas Observer said in a statement upon her death. "With Molly's death we have lost someone we hold dear. What she has left behind we will hold dearer still." Managing Editor David Pasztor said Ivins died Wednesday afternoon at her home while in hospice care.

Playing With Pictures

I didn't get many pictures today on our drive to Coos Bay so I decided to give everyone a glimpse at how I play when I'm up late and Scrabble Queen is asleep (I stay up late and she retires early)

So here we are and all I have are four so-so pictures due to some smoke in the sky ( I always have an excuse whether I need one or not)

The first image is of the moon over Coos Bay at low tide.

Well I thought this one could use a darker sky to emphasize the moon a little and also stepped up the color (see Below). I also added a little "Oil Painting" touch.




This image was badly washed out by the smoke in the sky so.............


I heavily blurred the image and added lots of saturation and a little color shift.


The original here wasn't too bad but I wanted more color so...........


I shifted the color then did a little "Watercolor" trick.


You can really see the smoke in this picture so..............


I monocolored it a grey-blue and inverted the colors as well as adding a slight edge effect.


So now my secret is out I have proven the saying that "idle hands are the devil's workshop" or at least the saying "Give a monkey a typewriter and over time he will write only gibberish and not a great novel"

Scrabble Score The Queen 331 ~ the contender 306 (proving anyone can win at scrabble given enough time) Just kidding !!!

Quote of the Day~

There is an old adage that says, if you give a monkey a typewriter and let it type long enough; it will eventually produce the Encyclopedia Britannica. Well, we've got a pretty smart monkey (your basic industrial engineer), and a really fast typewriter (a multi-gigahertz PC). ~ Thom J. Hodgson is the James T. Ryan Professor & Director of Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering Institute

Education
University of Michigan: B.S.E., Science Engineering, 1961; M.B.A., Quantitative Methods, 1965; Ph.D., Industrial Engineering, 1970

Areas of Interest
Scheduling, logistics, production and inventory control; manufacturing systems; and applied and military operations research.

Middlefield Grand Opening

So it's Grand Opening Day at Middlefield Oaks, Ed's new residence here in Oregon. That's the Community hospital in the background just across the street and very convenient location.


And here is Ed to greet us in the lobby for the big festivities.


I went up to the second floor to take a picture from the walkway just above dining area. Down below is Ed, our neighbor Gail and Scrabble Queen at a table with a local resident who came to check out the facility for her mother.


Being the first resident at Middlefield Oaks Ed is big friends with all the staff especially the Business Manager Tina. She is a wonderfully nice lady with a very infectious smile.


Of course Ed loves the attention.


He also enjoys giving golf tips to anyone who will listen.


We moved outside for a ceremony complete with a Scottish Bagpiper, kilts and hat and all the traditional attire.


The Mayor's Representative was on hand to cut the ribbon with Leila one of the administrators.


Being the first resident Ed was put in the front row and was introduced to the crowd.


He stood for the introduction but refused to sign autographs.


Michelle normally is the Lobby receptionists but today she was driving the bus to bring people parked at the golf course just down the street. It's always nice to visit Ed and be greeted by her smile or Charlene's when I walk in for a visit.


We had a great flag raising ceremony by two young national guard men and again bagpipe music.


It was a solemn affair for the raising and all in attendance we very attentive and respectful of the flag and the young soldiers who raised it.


Now the only connection of this picture and the grand opening is that it was taken on the drive home. It's of what I call Mother Nature's stretch marks. Because of the population growth in the area and the need to maintain roads, black rock is ripped from the hillside and crushed for resurfacing projects.

On Safari

Today was a nice day. After all the really cold weather we are getting a break from the clouds and the cold and it was a sweltering 48 degrees today. Well Scrabble Queen had been watching the internet and knew this was coming so we went to Cottage Grove to pick up Super Putter to begin our journey to Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon about an hours drive south on Interstate 5.

Before we left Cottage Grove we drove by The Bookmine Bookstore (702 E Main, Cottage Grove, Oregon 97424, Phone 541-942-7414) where I had finally taken my photographs to sell on consignment. I took my camera in to get a shot of my pictures displayed there. Well here they are. The owner was kind enough to give me a nice rack near the front door.


They wouldn't all fit in that rack so two others we placed in this cabinet. Let's cross our fingers these sell so I can afford to get more supplies and produce a few more. I really have to thank Noelle Dass for showing me the ropes and how to mat and frame. She also guided me to Central Print in Eugene who did the printing. Another suggestion hooked me up with Vistra Framing & Gallery where I purchased the wonderful mats used with these pictures.


Cottage grove is a wonderful city full of murals but I'd never noticed this wonderful Coca-Cola wall.


Well we did make it to Wild Life Safari just in time to see these Zebras from 10 feet away. The safari is a drive-thru zoo windows up in the Lion exhibit and no convertibles allowed.


Loved this bald eagle perch (be sure to clickon the pictures for a larger view)


American Bison were well represented by the husky fellow.


The Elephants were getting pedicures


Then we were raided by the Rhea a huge flightless bird with orange eyes and a penchant for pecking on cars.....


Especially windows....


There were Yaks aplenty like this mother and child.


This East African Crowned Crane was really nice to see again (saw him last time here). This is the only crane to perch in trees, with a partiality for solitary trees that afford a wide view. They fly with neck extended forward with legs stretched horizontally beyond tail, except in cold weather when they tuck their feet under breast feathers.


Then there is the Cheeta. The exhibit was closed today but we got close enough to see this young Cheeta enjoying the sunlight and


.. we got to see his companion an Anotolian Shepherd named Ellie.


Luckily they had a sign that told us the story otherwise we may have wondered what they were feeding Sanurra


Oh! Yes there were Lions like this mateing pair and


A pair of beautiful Giraffes (starting to look like Noah's Ark)


finally we saw the Watusi Cattle that made us think of Jilly and Willie.

Snow and [Not snowballs]

Well we finally got some real snow and I was up late taking this shot of the Dowdy farm. It's more of one of my weird shots but I like the image.



And this one taken a little later at a different setting.



Now this is just a plain old snapshot with a flash so you can see the snowfall a little better.


In the morning the flowers were hiding under a blanket of white.


With a little light of day it's easier to see the the effects of the snow at Dowdy Farm.


Ed was getting bored at home so we went for field trip.



Our destination wasone of our favorite new spots. The pool room at Liberty Bowling Lanes - conviently in the diner portion of the lanes.


Well Ed was determined to win again (in two visits we were at Ed 5 - Paul 2) .


The shooting was fast and furious.


And we ended the day at ED 2 and.........


Paul 3 ........... Arnold was too stiff to play.


We finally stopped off at Walmart to drop off some film for Ed and exchange his faulty Tape player for a new one. It was a fun day but cold. This view from the Walmart lot was spactacular in person with the bright white hilltop between the blue sky, green trees andgolden grass field.


Scrabble Score ~ Scrabble Queen 288 - The Contender 325

Quote of the Day

“It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf.” ~ Henry Louis Mencken quotes (American humorous Journalist and Critic of American life who influenced US fiction through the 1920s, 1880-1956)