Bobonicon .. first convention.. Not that that was the highlight. WOAH!

WOAH I say!

I my my wife just spent.... wow four hours... wow!

Okay.. Ill start at the beginning...

There is a Sci Fi ish convention going on in Albuquerque right now.. with the unlikly name of Bubonicon...

Normally I wouldn't go as I never have thought to go but... Tim Powers was gonna be there and he is my favorite author..so.... Since I couldn't get to Vegas when he was there I was not going to miss the chance to say hi and shake his hand and say thank you....

Now... at the end of the night... well....

We just spent four hours chatting with Tim and his wife Serena... Tim was running back and fourth to panels so we talked and ate and talked some more. It was ( I think I used this too much but ) Awesome! I learned so much from Tim and a ton from Serena... I have lots to look up and lots to watch. Quite a lot in common and they are both down to earth real bona fide friendly and smart people. So much information going through my head...

We got home at 1045! PM! We never stay out this late... we never are on the other side of town... But Serena and Tim were so captivating... Boggles the mind. Poor Tim is running back and forth so much to panel to panel... and Serena has to deal with everything else...I do not know how they do it. Thanks to them for making us part of your day. Tomorrow..guess what... we are going to get together again and chat more.

 Now we are both decompressing LOL... what a evening. Also they have some art and things to sell and for sale... So if your in the area of the Marriott off Louisiana that's where the show is.

Here are a few misc shots... Laughing now.. for all that time not one picture of Tim or Serena.. not that I was about to stick another camera in their faces...and I even had the Nikon with me.

There were a lot of people wearing Steam Punkish stuff and one stormtrooper and a bunch of I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT.... It was novel.... This steam punk thing is pretty goofy.. overdone and overdone.

I didnt get a chance to hear Tim on a panel but I dont care... the time with Serena was great. Again. I dont know how they do it.

Here are some quick links.

Since it was brought to my attention by someone that you tube has great research information I was told about this segment.... LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd3VZ39tkfI

And... at the convention there was art to purchase... some very very good.. some very very bad!!! very bad... stop now.. no dont please... In the spirit of that...

http://www.neatorama.com/2013/08/23/THIS-IS-PAINTING/

This is pretty cool.. learning more things...

http://gizmodo.com/learn-everything-about-the-solar-system-with-this-aweso-1191526724

And for those who fly a lot....on planes

http://lifehacker.com/the-best-and-worst-airplane-seats-for-sleeping-1184009601

Okay.. off to bed soon.... have a good one... I did!

Naturally.

Thursday.. that was today right... waahhhhh ( not crying.. ash in Wuah.. Say it.. Wauhhhh way awww... now from your stomach...wauhhhh!! ) ..... Part of the day was paperwork.. part getting furniture for the office... that was tough because I had to get a tax free form.. get it to the store..get them to accept it... run back to the office...wait for the store to call me with the price.. verify the free delivery...verify what is the best days to deliver.. best days to pack up... called.. left message.... called again... got it all confirmed... sent emails and emails and more emails... worked on more paperwork... and there are piles more.. lol... wooo... lol.. Tomorrow is gonna be interesting.

Since there was no time to do much else I took yesterdays shots I put here and polized them... geee... what did you expect? Not like there is much time after work to do any shooting. I do not see anything letting up here in any near future and that is next year near future... It boggles the mind.

Gurgle... Here are some links for my friends....

And you thought we have problems here... I dont like it when the trees play hide and seek.

http://io9.com/massive-louisiana-sinkhole-devours-whole-trees-in-secon-1183454446

Now I do not know if New Mexico has any strange driving laws as much as strange drivers.

http://lifehacker.com/what-are-the-weirdest-driving-laws-in-your-state-1184137197

And since there is a run on spider pictures... well... try this...

http://lifehacker.com/make-a-no-kill-spider-catching-device-1179988064

And.. because...BALLOONS!

Damn interesting stuff here.... I think this is totally insane..

http://gizmodo.com/photos-of-the-greatest-failures-in-exploration-history-1184646154

I cant even start thinking this was a good idea even now... Ill bet if I could get funded for it I could get crew to chase a Antarctic hot air balloon flight... that would rock.. How many hops can you do in that temp and 30 gallons of propane... that would be cool.

Wooo boy!

I think I used a lot of bennie's up with higher headquarters today. Had some money to buy the boss some new furniture but we kinda were gonna go over... well... got the okay for most of it which was pretty nice. They really didn't have to but they did. So tomorrow I get to go see if I can get it to fit. That plus a bunch of other things and a kudos from HQ too.... Makes me feel better all around. Funny how much I like that.

Tomorrow... more things.. much more to do. But its the "getting things done" that I like the most. I enjoy that part... check.. put that check mark in that box... move on! Now.. what am I going to do for dinner?

I did spend time today looking for an extra power supply for the Surface. Ya know I have only found one place for it and its about 80 bucks!! Laughable! There is one without a power connector at Best Buy for 40 bucks.. guess they are getting the money.

Maybe I will get out this weekend and take some pictures... since I really cant fly... well maybe.. dunno yet. But I did hunt down some wide angle shots I could make... Not bad. Still haven't had time to find a stitching program.

Well here you go... I am going to do some more polars tonight to fill in a set for a gallery. Yup.

I really like this one.. It looks just right.

Dipping your toes...

Lets Fly!

Patriot.

Morning Glory.

Woah!

If you see something you like in these I can get you a copy.

Links for tonight.

Wow... nice... not... can you say so breaking the law its sad.

http://gizmodo.com/the-nsa-can-reach-75-of-all-us-internet-traffic-1175746567

This is awesome.. woo hoo... huge and float-able.

http://gizmodo.com/giant-military-hovercraft-lands-on-crowded-beach-becaus-1178684399

Been here done that... so much to do that there was no time to study or learn what you need.

http://gizmodo.com/nobody-wants-to-fly-air-force-drones-because-its-a-dea-1179733596

And.. just something that is very interesting... what power...LOL

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mackenziekruvant/facts-about-cheers-you-may-not-know

Going to find some foods.

Wide laughter

Well... Whos Line Is it is very funny. The new one. Not bad so far. Im laughing... been a while.

Even though almost everyone is bald... hahahhahahahaa... so old! Whos talking... hahahaha

It was a day. Had things to do and again.. waiting for others sucks. Other then our IT who got us some bandwidth when I was stuck waiting... I applaud ye! Hopefully HQ will not mind the extra cost. Cause its the only way we can get more bandwidth where we are. I am still waiting on the Sunport to call me back after me calling them twice a week for the last two weeks.. nothing... great huh! Well hopefully we are good now.

Only four or five things to deal with now. Two of which I still have to wait for others.. though they are hopefully being worked on as I speak.. its mostly sit and hope for an update or info. Tomorrow is going to be busier. Yeesh. Well I should be able to get in earlier for the next three days... yay... cant wait!

I did do some quick wide angle edits that I may go back and polar... they are from Cedervale and Encino NM,

Leak Proof.

Tres Views.

I see you....

Out of soda...

Vista City...

New Management...

Surprising what makes a good wide angle picture. Too bad I keep framing my pictures so I don't have to edit them.. then going back and finding something that can be edited down. I have to find a good stitching program.

Wednesday tomorrow? We fun.

Links?

Wished I could go to these places.. I love this kind of place to shoot...I think I could get more interesting shots than these.... yeah... I know.. but I think I could...How bout someone funding me?!

http://gizmodo.com/an-ephemeral-tour-of-europes-abandoned-industrial-ruin-1173257449

This is a good thing.... I am tired of all those little ads....yawn

http://lifehacker.com/disable-ads-on-youtube-by-enabling-a-youtube-experiment-1171802208

This needs to be used in NM. People cant seem to pay attention to whats around them. constant texting and eating and digging in places with their head down and such.... 

http://www.neatorama.com/2013/08/20/Basic-Driving-Lesson/

I am so very mad! I knew I was getting ripped off..... Whats next.. half filled chip bags? Twinkies with half the filling? And guess what.. the price is higher I bet!

http://www.neatorama.com/2013/08/20/Scandal-Double-Stuf-Oreos-Dont-Have-Double-the-Creme/

Nate's gonna be mad!

Off I go!

Reverse polars

As I was stuck resting today I had time to edit a video and do some pictures. The video is of my balloon...me flying... two cameras... not set up right.. the split is overlapped. Oh well. Its still pretty cool.

http://invisibleblack.zenfolio.com/p715442282/h60ece48b#h60ece48b

It was a fun flight. Loads of laughs and I landed in the same place I have landed three times before.. that for a hot air balloon is very novel.

Now I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if I reversed the polar orbits. I think these came out pretty cool. A couple if you stare at the center will make you go all wobbly.. or is that me... Again.. I would put some of these up on my wall if I had wall space.

Peek A Boo...

Rainbow Ryding Ripples...

Spiral Tye....

Hopped Up.

Where is it?

Love that one..

Just keep looking at it...

Gotta stop looking at it.. wooo woozy. Hunting up more files for this edit. Another gallery I expect.

Links.. lol

Pretty funny...  I think I have heard a few of these from the kids...

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/18-geeky-parents-captured-these-kids-crying-for-bizarre-reasons

Hmm... I know someone who needs some vocal lessons...

http://www.neatorama.com/2013/08/19/Sing-the-Snore-Away/

This is awesome.. as I work with a past aviator I can see how cool it could be...

http://gizmodo.com/this-f-35bs-vertical-night-landing-makes-it-look-like-1168396460

Cool stuff... more history found.

http://io9.com/archaeologists-discover-an-assyrian-seawall-from-a-lege-1168873823

Polar Autos

I have been super under the weather lately. Feeling pretty awful. Not visibly sick but feeling numb, over temped and wobbly. Going to get checked out tomorrow. So I spent the day staying calm and quiet. I did some polar edits of non polar things.. more to the point I polar edited some vintage autos. Not very many shots would work and those that did were tough to configure. It took ages. I cant believe how few I did get done. Here are a couple of the shots.. surprised how many are orange or reddish backgrounds.

This last one is my favorite for the day. Turned out pretty cool for what it is.

Oh.. wobbly head!

Shows what you can do with a mundane picture. Whats next to try out. Though these are worth processing.

Ghostbusters... who ya gonna call?

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/24-interesting-things-you-may-not-have-known-about-ghostbusters

Yeah ... facebook.. its sucky but still usable.. when it gets real sucky people will leave.. or as soon as a better alternative comes along.

http://gizmodo.com/a-guy-hacked-zucks-wall-after-facebook-ignored-his-bug-1163729527

Oh yeah.. no will power at all....

http://lifehacker.com/making-too-many-choices-drains-your-willpower-so-plan-1159216174

It looks like anyone can be an artist.. or try to be... even code...

http://gizmodo.com/watercolor-paintings-can-be-made-with-code-1162418254

Right!

TopGunning and other things

Whenever I go out to shoot the balloons and everything associated with them LOL.. I always keep my eye peeled for the out of the ordinary or interesting... to me... that is... not sure how interesting things are to others. But I digress..

It was a good day to take photographs. Blue sky, Cloudy a bit. Sun at my back for the most part, camera set to standard. I did think that when I started taking pictures that the sun was causing some darkining but I cant see where now so I have to check that later. What I did get look pretty good though on some I think they are washed out a bit. Maybe...maybe not. I did some editing.. I landscaped and then ran a few through the tone mapper just for photographic. See what you think.

World Balloons. Nice and colorful but there is a bit of a haze between me and them... so....

Deepening of the colors brings the punch back.

And a polar of the first shot.

I think I will go back and do a polar of the second shot as its more bold.

As I said I look elsewhere too while out...so... I saw a couple of interesting items... like this with a nice bit of back focus... 

And deeper... love the picture...

And guess what... this is fun too...

Wild!

Vanilla Creme

Vanilla Creme Bold

Vanilla Creme Spin

Maybe too many Vanilla Cremes.

So you see the difference between the standard shot and the deepening of the shot. The polar was just for fun. There are more shots from today on my web site that are in their native non edited at all version.

http://invisibleblack.zenfolio.com/p685732471/h6a37325e#h6a37325e

I will do some more editing with these shots of today because I went out of my way to get shots that could be used in various editing processee... is that a word? No? Damn! Ill still use it...

Off to do some more editing as I rest... Tomorrow if I can get out of bed I will hopefully get some more good shots of the Pilots and Balloons and Scorers and maybe some other things again too..

Links

LOL.. Ive made jokes about parking a camper across the street from my office , setting up a chair outside with a cooler and parasol table.. this wold be nicer!

http://www.neatorama.com/2013/08/16/The-Tiny-House-Hotel/

Camping.. yeah.. Camping for me is a hotel without an elevator.. but If I did.. this would be the one way if I didnt have the mini house above.. It would work but I would put some type of rubber around the perimiter of the screen to make it a better seal.

http://lifehacker.com/camp-in-your-car-with-magnetic-window-screens-1152001260

A few of these I ahve posted before but here is a clearing house for all of it... nice!

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-infographics-and-cheat-sheets-that-make-life-eas-1154316001

Never update your equipment unless your home..plugged in or at work plugged in.. Never update anywhere else... lesson learned.

http://gizmodo.com/travelers-beware-google-play-might-delete-all-your-boo-1159832224

Click the links.. there is some good stuff there.