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November 21st, 2005

  1. Houseblingers

    November 21, 2005 by Gail

    decorated house - garage doors
    [photo by gail on the web]

    Thank you Boing Boing! Until now, I had no clue what to call these people. You know, the ones who decorate their houses to the point where you can’t see the house anymore? HOUSEBLINGERS.

    This house is too new to be in our neighbourhood, yes. I took this shot in Allentown (further south near Philadelphia) last December. At night it could be seen from space.

    I don’t have any nightshots of such houses in our neighbourhood yet, but rest assured, there are some local houseblinger zingers. They’re busy buying their turkeys and baking up a storm for American Thanksgiving (this Thursday), but come this weekend, there will be lights!


  2. Sting on YouTube.com

    November 21, 2005 by Gail

    I finally found a home for my video of Sting performing “Roxanne”. The video is a bit jumpy at first (what can I say? security evasion), but levels out in the second half.

    May 4, 2005
    Wachovia Arena, Wilkes-Barre, PA.


  3. Some Chicago

    November 21, 2005 by Gail

    Chicagotree archway

    So I was mucking around in my photo archives searching for Chicago pics, and had a tough time trying to find some decent prints to scan.

    Lots of problems: poor composition, crappy exposure, grainier than a Saskatchewan silo. That’s what happens when you use a point-and-shoot — no control over anything. Seems like a big waste of money developing the film, come to think of it. I didn’t own a computer until the middle of 2000, so I was scanning these — from a trip at the end of ’99 — at internet caf�s. An even bigger waste of money. (Digital cameras, despite their many shortcomings compared to film, at least let one practice technique without dropping a small fortune in developing costs.)

    David and I both love Chicago, and were discussing back in the spring how much it would cost to get there. Our options:

    • Tri-Pacer
    • renting a faster plane
    • commercial airline
    • train
    • driving

    The Tri-Pacer only goes around 100mph/160kph and renting a faster plane would cost us a pretty penny (especially with rising fuel costs), so we were tossing around the idea of commercial airlines or Amtrak. At the time, David wanted to save up days off to visit me in Vancouver, so we eventually abandoned the idea. But, we’ve since revived it for a potential honeymoon plan when David is healthy enough to make the trip (also because I can’t leave the U.S. while my spouse visa is pending), so maybe a visit to Chicago will be sooner rather than later. We’ll see.