So this was the other house in my neighborhood to have a tree fall due to the tornado. Unfortunately, this neighbor was not as lucky as the one in the previous post.
Naturally, I was not the only one on the scene with a camera.
Taken with a Powershot SD500. ISO unknown; 1/636 seconds at f/2.8.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Project 365: Day 2 - Trees
Project 365: Day 1 - The Aftermath
I was going to start my "Project 365" yesterday, the thing where you post a new picture every single day for a year, but the tornado and subsequent power outage put that on hiatus.
Idea from: http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/
A tornado, in northern Virginia! It's been 24 hours and there is still no power on my street, probably because there are several trees lying on the road on top of the wires.
Taken with a digital Rebel XTi. ISO400; 1/160 seconds at F/7.1. Canon EF-S 17-85mm lens at 85mm.
There were two fallen trees that I found out about. One next door to us, which, thankfully, only took down the neighbor's fence (and power lines). Then there was another down the street, which was apparently sucked up out of the ground and then thrown onto this one dude's house...naturally, as is always the case when misfortune befalls another, there were plenty of curious neighbors armed with cameras swarming the scene.
In any case, the lack of power made for a boring (and hungry) night. My dad didn't want anyone leaving the house, and our stove was crippled by the lack of electricity, so we ate buns and sandwiches for dinner. Savage!
Monday, June 02, 2008
2008 Honda Accord Coupe LX-S, Pictures, part 2
A few pictures from the interior of the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe. A continuation from the first part of the Review, found at: http://bobbypd.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-of-2008-honda-accord-coupe-lx.html.
Unlike the Civic (which used mostly LEDS), the Accord uses actual dials on its instrumentation panel.
You've heard it before probably, but the Accord has a lot of buttons on the center instrument panel. After a while it grows on you, but I still take a while before finding the exact button I'm looking for - not fun when I'm driving!
The space in front of the clock is a perfect place to stick a GPS unit on (you can see the cradle for my Garmin 360 in this picture). The CD player has room for 6-cds. The steering wheel has buttons for radio/CD station, volume control, and cruise control.
The space in the back is quite limited in the Honda Accord Coupe. The rear windows are also small and really hard to see out of while driving. This is the Ivory-colored cloth interior.
Was this post helpful? Interesting? Not? Leave a comment, ask a question, or rate this post using the star control below!
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Things to Do in Las Vegas, A Guide with Pictures
A series of posts about possible things to do - other than gambling or partaking in the nightlife - in Las Vegas. With pictures.
My brother accrued enough comp points to room and feed me at a hotel (Bally's, on the Strip, no less!) so I decided to fly out to Vegas to sightsee and to see the family. The comp didn't cover airfare, so I booked a ticket with JetBlue thru Expedia; I got the ticket less than a week in advance, so it was a little pricey, but the hotel room was only reservable for a particular week, so there wasn't much I could do. It was a direct flight and every seat had a TV so I guess I can't complain. Well, the flight attendants did talk pretty loudly while everyone tried to sleep, and they were red-eye flights, but eh.
The Fountains at Bellagio
Bally's was nice enough. My room had a queen size bed, a little wet-bar, a sitting area, and of course, a bathroom. The one thing it was missing was a wireless internet connection - there were plenty of wifi signals bouncing around, but all of them required payment. I asked about the business center, but I scoffed at the price of $5 for 5 minutes of internet usage. Since I needed directions to the various sights I had hoped to see, I gave up and paid $12.95 for the wired, in-room, internet connection for 24 hours.Vegas in Three Days - Links
Besides the above attractions, there were lots of things to do and see in the city itself. It was interesting enough to walk through the various themed casinos (to try my hand at the tables!), and along the streets to see the various casino frontages. I thought the hot, dry air was refreshing, but make sure to bring/buy lotion and eye drops!
The Fremont Street Experience. As opposed to The Strip, Downtown is pretty kitschy, and the casinos kinda dark and depressing, but might as well go for the experience eh?
Was this post helpful? Interesting? Not? Leave a comment, ask a question, or rate this post using the star control below!
Las Vegas - Day Three: Red Rock Canyon Pictures
Red Rock Canyon was an easy 20-minute drive out of Las Vegas. We just took Route 159 West straight down; it's got a lot of traffic lights while you're still in the city itself, but it's the most direct route. Getting in is $5 per car.
As always, click the image to see it full-size.
Not surprisingly, the canyon is named for red rocks.
Red Rock has a bunch of hiking trails (list available here) dotted along the canyon range. To get to the various parking points, visitors drive along the one-way 14-mile scenic trail (shared by joggers and bikers) - maps are provided at the visitors center.
Places for rock scrambling are plentiful along the various trails.
The first stop we came to, Calico 1, along the scenic loop seemed to have the most visitors looking for photo-ops. There was a rather steep hill leading to some rocks which about a quarter of the people scrambled up. Shoes with better traction would probably be a good idea here (as in any other canyon). After getting our pictures, we descended the rocks and walked back up to the parking area...to be honest, after that, my friend and I were already winded, so we probably shouldn't have run up that rock with such gusto!
The entire scenic route was well-paved, but there were certain hiking trails accessible only through dirt roads. We decided to go on Keystone Thrust, which entailed a short 5-minute drive up a bumpy dirt road. After parking, we first took the .15 mile walk to see a spring, and, man, after walking back up to the parking area, we were just completely drained (yeah, I need to start going to the gym more often!). I really wanted to see the Keystone, described as the most significant geological formation of the park, but...
We decided that soaking up the scenery from the car along the road was just as good. At particularly nice spots, we just parked the car and got out to take pictures. Traffic along the road is light and as it is a one-way road, there is plenty of room for faster cars to pass. Red Rock's Scenic Road is basically free and just a short drive out of Las Vegas proper, so it's definitely something to consider on a trip to Las Vegas.
see also:
Flickr Album - Las Vegas Shenanigans
Las Vegas - A Guide
Las Vegas - Day One: Lake Mead and Hoover Dam
Las Vegas - Day Two: Glass Skywalk at Grand Canyon West
Las Vegas - Day Three: Red Rock Canyon
Was this post helpful? Interesting? Not? Leave a comment, ask a question, or rate this post using the star control below!
New York to Tax Online Purchases
New York is so outrageous with its taxes. Starting today, they are going to start charging taxes on purchases made at online retailers - until today, they only charged taxes on online purchases from retailers who had a real physical presence (brick and mortar) in the state. Both Amazon.com and Overstock.com are suing the state and hoping for an injunction on this new law:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/30/technology/yang_amazon.fortune/index.htm
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956576-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
