Busy weekend...Saturday OT, painting and the Vike's game...

I worked a few hours of OT on Saturday then had a paint brush thrust into my hands when I got home. It's a good thing that I stocked up on beer and B Movies so I had something enjoyable to do later in the evening. Two of three movies worked in our DVD player but the one that looked the most entertaining is that one that didn't work. It was a football movie and I believe I heard somewhere that the team it was based on was the Duluth Eskimos in the early 1900's. In fact I think they might have shot some footage up in the Twin Ports. Anyways, that movie decided it didn't want to load. The other two were of the Sci Fi genre, the first being a shootum up with aliens and the second was billed as being based about the Phoenix Lights incident of '97 but didn't prove to be factual to the event it was based on. If you're not familiar with the Phoenix Lights incident in '97 you'd do well to do some research on what happened there. Long story but a very interesting experience worth the read. We're not alone. I'm convinced of that.

I have been going through some of my photos from the 2008 season and used one to create this windows wallpaper in 1024x768 resolution. I like the composition of this shot taken with the 500mm down the entire length of the backstretch at Cedar Lake. I had taken my first shots during hotlaps up in turn four and worked my way around the parameter of the track as the light changed until I ended up in this spot. A few minutes after this shot was taken I lost my light and had to pack it up for the night and put the flash on. In manual mode you're looking at the viewfinder and pretty much eyeballing what you see, guessing your settings as the light changes as you keep moving towards the available light. It's an "on your toes" sort of shooting but you can catch a few sweet shots in the process. If you want to maximize the number of good shots you get you wouldn't try something like this but if you're looking for something unique it's worth gambling on.




Not bad for a $150 lens


It's interesting to read the reviews on this lens. Most people complain that they could not get any sharp images with it. I'm kind of hesitant to admit it but I have taken quite a few photos with this lens that have appeared in racing papers and magazines. Kind of reminds me of what my cousin used to say about his race car, "it ain't the chrome that make's it go." The same could be said about my camera equipment, I try to get the most out of what I've got.

The conspiracy has begun. The usual winter time bantering about the Superior Speedway and what sanction they will use in the coming season. There are a bunch of threats that something like 40 drivers won't compete there if they don't stay with Wissota. My take? As long as they have their Sprint specials I don't give a #^%@ what they do for their weekly deal. As a matter of fact I haven't made it up there for the Northern Nationals for a couple of years so it's really not a matter of concern at all for me anymore. At one time I enjoyed going up to Superior but I had some hassles at the gate and difficulty getting vacation on race days so I haven't been up there for a while. They were on my schedule this year but I think they must have canceled their spring IRA race because I never got up there. Maybe it was the weather, I don't remember. At one time I considered Sprint Car racing at Superior a must see event but kind of lost interest. That happens for me whenever a track loses "the list" and I have to deal with that king of thing. Maybe we'll get back up there now that Butch has the track again.

Another interesting topic on the boards. One central 100. Again, who cares? Just go to whatever is most convenient and fits your circumstances. I go to the Legendary 100 because it's CLS and you can never go wrong by attending a multi-day CLS show. Others my disagree but CLS invented the 100 and is legendary in that respect.

We'll, there's a lot more things to rant about but I'm going to tend to other matters now. Later!!!