High Museum - Da Vinci Exhibit

Last Sunday I took advantage of a day off to visit Atlanta's High Museum of Art specifically to see their limited time exhibition, "Leonardo da Vinci - Hand of the Genius", because, well it's da Vinci!

Back in May of 2007, I had the opportunity to visit da Vinci's final home in Amboise, France with Cindy and my mother-in-law. Le Clos Lucé is now a museum and, like High Museum, does not allow video or photography inside the house. It is difficult to describe the feeling of walking through the hallways, bedroom, study and work areas that this master also walked through. To see his work, sketches, engineering drawings, sculptures, paintings, machines and works in progress is to constantly marvel at the man many have called a genius and who, for all intents and purposes, personifies the Renaissance Man. Here is a photo of the exterior (one of many) that I took during that visit.



So of course, when I arrived in Atlanta and read that the High Museum was hosting an exhibition of some of da Vinci's work, well I HAD to go.

I walked about a half mile from my hotel to the MARTA station and within 20 minutes found myself in the arts district of Atlanta. The High (as Atlantans refer to it) is an impressive building with an obviously designed aesthetic sense to make the viewing of works of art as pleasurable as it can be, both inside and out.

Before even entering the museum you can see a larger-than-life statue of a horse based on sketches made by da Vinci. Inside, you find that originally he had planned for the horse to be rearing back on its hind legs, but concluded the cost of supporting the weight of such a large size statue at that angle was prohibitive.

Even on a Sunday afternoon, the exhibit hall was crowded with people who had the same idea that I did. The exhibit features approximately 50 works, including some 20 sketches that sculptures and unfinished works were based on. Some of these have never been on display in the United States previously. I can also say that most of the exhibit that I saw was not part of exhibits I saw at the Louvre or at Le Clos Lucé, and not surprisingly since many of them were labeled as being on loan from the Queen of England.

The exhibit highlights 3 aspects of da Vinci; his work as a sculptor, his work as a student of masters such as his mentor Andrea del Verrocchio and Donatello, and his influence as a mentor himself on students such as Rubens and Rustici. If you're in Atlanta and you have an opportunity to visit the exhibit, I would urge you to do so. Below is a photo montage of the exterior of the High Museum.

"High Museum, Atlanta-Da Vinci Exhibit"

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A Quandry

Do I want to buy it...



...or take it out on the water?

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Georgia Flood Disaster Slide Show

Last Sunday I was out in some of the hardest hit communities that were devastated by the Georgia September 2009 flood with our team of Community Relations specialists. These hardworking folks blanket disaster-affected areas from sunup until sundown with recovery information by going door to door. They took me to a mobile home community that had homes in one section that were completely submerged by the flood waters. Here is a small slide show I created using some of the photos I took from that area. The sights, sounds and even smells are heartrending. News media reports are that 10 people lost their lives by drowning as a result of this flood.

"Georgia Sept '09 Floods"

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Lex Luthor Visits Magic Kingdom!

Sunday morning I had the pleasure of getting my brother, sister-in-law, niece and her fiance into the Disney Magic Kingdom park. It's been more than a year since I have seen my brother, so I was excited to get the chance to spend some time with him. Everyone else was a bonus.

So it turns out that about a week ago my brother shaved his head bald and also shaved off his beard, something he'd never done in the past and thus caught me completely off-guard. My first thought was "Holy $h!7!!" because I was so surprised and it was such a different look for him, but I didn't verbalize that. I remember many years ago when my parents hadn't seen me for a while and came to visit. I had been letting my hair grow out for quite some time. When they arrived on my front porch and I opened the door the first thing my mom said wasn't "How have you been?" or "I've missed you" but rather, "Good God, you look like a woolybooger!" It scarred me for life and I could not be responsible for affecting my brother in a similar manner. So I bit my tongue and enjoyed just getting to see my brother, hug him and spend a small amount of time with him. However, brothers being brothers, I could not resist the urge, later when I was taking photos, to say, "I'm going to name this picture 'Lex Luthor Visits Magic Kingdom!'" and everyone laughed.

Here are some of the photos I took and one I'm in with my brother. It WAS good to see him!

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Closing Some Tabs

Too many tabs open in Firefox so it's time to say a bit about them and get them closed.

My friend Michelle wrote a great article about sci-fi themed lodging around the world.

If you are a user of Gmail, GoogleDocs, GoogleCalendar or any of the other free apps that the "Don't be evil" giant offers and ever think the day may come when you'd like to move your data from Google...well Google is ahead of you. They have formed Data Liberation with an eye toward you freeing your data so you can move it into or out of Google whenever you're ready.

About 10 days ago Twitter announced changes to its Terms of Service and Mashable-The Social Media Guide promptly predicted the 10 People You Won't See on Twitter Anymore. I know WilW is much happier.

Over at DIYPhotography.net readers were asked to submit their favorite photography book selections. When the votes were all tallied, the results became 10 Photography Book Recommendations By DIYP Readers. I own several books on photography, but it just so happens I do not own a single one of the recommended books. I believe that may explain my lack of photography skills. Amazon Wish List, here I come!

I happened to catch a bit of "Glee" the other night because Cindy asked me to DVR it so she could see guest star Josh Groban (who didn't even appear until the last 8 minutes). I don't understand the appeal of this show. In my opinion, the Sears Blue Crew commercial was more entertaining.

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EPCOT Food & Wine Festival - 2009

Here's a photo from the 2006 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival that I took one day when I was there with my friends Rhonda and Michelle. I wasn't able to stay long, but I did manage to get about 50 shots before having to leave.



As you can see, even though we were there on a weekday it was still fairly crowded at the food and beverage locations,

This year The 14th Annual EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival begins in about 6 days on September 25 and runs through November 8. In addition to the excellent food and wine offerings, there will also be some excellent musical offerings during the Eat to the Beat Concert Series.

I don't know if I'll get to go this year, but it looks like another great time at the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow.

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Characters In Flight Balloon Ride

During my photowalk the other morning at Disney's Marketplace and Pleasure Island, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to indulge in a photoflight via the Characters in Flight Helium Balloon ride. The balloon, anchored lakeside in Pleasure Island, rises to a height of 400 feet and the $16 ride typically lasts 8-10 minutes, but since I was the only one on this flight and no one else was waiting below, the pilot said we'd stay up a little longer to "advertise."



This balloon is the largest helium-filled balloon in the world, with a volume of 210,000 cubic feet of the lighter-than-air-gas contained in the balloon that, the pilot told me, is made of a material of secret composition. Unlike those cute novelty balloons you buy in grocery stores or florist shops that deflate and sink to the ground after a few days, this balloon only has to be filled with helium once a year. Day, night and seasonal temperature changes necessitate the addition of oxygen to the balloon, but the helium itself lasts a year. The balloon, which is 105 feet high, 72 feet in diameter and has a circumference of 240 feet, and the attached gondola which is 19 feet in diameter and holds up to 29 guests, are tethered by a steel cable that is attached to a motorized pulley system that reels in the balloon at the end of the ride to a landing pier in the lake.

I enjoyed myself immensely and took SO many photos. But I put only the best of them on my Flickr page for you to see.

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Disney Marketplace/Pleasure Island Photowalk

Did a photowalk at Disney's Marketplace and Pleasure Island the other morning.



My Flickr page has the best of the shots.

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This Brought Back Memories

I was looking through some old photos today and this one brought back some memories. Anybody else here remember this guy?

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Shelfari - Neil Gaiman's Library

Over at Shelfari, a social media site for booklovers, they have started a new feature on their blog where they will ask some of their (and our) favorite authors about books on their shelves. The first author they thought of is one of my favorites, Neil Gaiman. But instead of asking about books on his shelves, they asked if they could take photos of his library. Below is just ONE photo of ONE section.



A couple of weeks ago I was reading about the passing of one of Mr. Gaiman's cats, Pod, in her sleep from old age. Lorraine wrote about it in her blog and referred to Pod as "one of Boss's Library Cats" which I found quite endearing. I could not help but try to imagine what Mr. Gaiman's library might look like and so now am very glad to actually see this great writer's library.

The old adage "A writer must first be a reader" is obviously true in Mr. Gaiman's case. I could not find a count of how many volumes are in his library, but it is obviously in the thousands, if not tens of thousands.

Here are the high-res photos, if you'd like to gaze longingly at the individual titles. Right now though, you'll have to excuse me as I need to go wipe the drool off my chin.

Oh, before I go, if you want to be a Shelfari-friend of mine, here is the link to my shelf.

P.S. Right after I posted the above I came across a new post of photos of Mr. Gaiman's upstairs reference library. I need a mop.

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Disney Animal Kingdom Photos

Last Saturday Cindy and I took our granddaughter Heather, our niece Rhyan and her husband, Townsend to Disney's Animal Kingdom for a morning of fun. We all walked around a bit and then took the safari ride together. Then it was time for Grandma, Granddad and Heather to leave so we could get Heather to her pool party with Rowan, while Rhyan and Townsend continued their visit to Nahtazu.



Photos of our morning at Disney Animal Kingdom are on my Flickr page.

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Weekend With Heather

Our 3-year-old granddaughter Heather came over Friday afternoon to spend the night and Saturday with us. Here are some of the best shots of her weekend.

First up is Friday afternoon playing on the living room floor with her building blocks. She finally sweet-talked Granddad into building a castle for her.



Next up is from Saturday morning right after breakfast with Granny, Grampy, Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Wendy, Aunt Amber and cousins Rhyan and Townsend; Heather is holding the huge lollipop/all-day-sucker that Uncle Jeremy bought for her.



After breakfast we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Here is Heather holding the stuffed panda bear toy that Grandma and Granddad bought her.



Here's a photo of Heather taking a rest on a stone bench before we left Animal Kingdom.



After we left Disney's Animal Kingdom we went to visit our friends George and Caroline so Heather could enjoy a pool party with their daughter Rowan. Here's Heather after some fun swimming.



I'll be uploading more photos of our Weekend With Heather to my Flickr page in the next few days.

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Sheepback Mountain Cabin Progress III

We're very fortunate to have our realtor, our contractor, Art who visits from Orlando and Rebecca in the Maggie Valley, North Carolina area to keep us updated with photos of the cabin on Sheepback Mountain as it's in the process of being built. The three of them have been kind enough to capture various stages of our dream as it becomes real and we are very grateful.

Just to update you a bit; after talking with the road-naming officials we discovered we could not have our little road named either Mountain Creek Trail or Enchanted Forest Drive (nor any variation of those) since there are already an abundance of streets and roads with similar names. We submitted several other possible names we would like and were told that Candlemaker Trail (in recognition of Cindy's business, Mountain Creek Candles) was acceptable and so the official petition has gone out to the other 5 owners whose land touches the road. We need three of them to sign off as having no objection and then the road will officially be named.

Here are some photos that Rebecca took this past Sunday. As you can see, the outer walls of the basement are up now and our little cabin is taking shape.

This first photo shows the view from the top of our property and what I call the "REAL" road (an already named, and graveled road that our property touches) looking down on the property. The road you see in front of the cabin basement walls (below the trees and nearest to you) is what we hope will be named Candlemaker Trail. We were happy to see how sunny the cabin area is (though sorry to lose the trees that had to be cleared for it) since we're hoping to use solar panels on the metal roof to cut our electrical costs.



This next photo is from the top of the road we hope will become Candlemaker Trail looking down on the basement walls. The area around the wall nearest you and to the right will be backfilled at some point in the construction, leaving only the driveway side on the left and the farthest side which faces the creek below open and visible. Inside the basement, the right half will be Cindy's candle and incense shop where she will create her wondrous wares. As you can see, she has a door leading out to the creek and, for when the weather is inhospitable, a window next to the door to look out to the creek. The left half will be our one-car garage and a utility room. Stairs from the first floor will come down right in the middle and there will be a wall dividing the candle shop from the garage.



The last 2 photos are taken from the driveway and garage entrance. On the right, out of frame, is what we hope will be Candlemaker Trail and on the left, out of view because of the steepness of the land, is the creek that flows through the property. The pile of wood on the left is most likely the framing for the ceiling of the basement and the floor of the first floor. The cabin will have 2 floors above the basement, so even though the footprint is small because we did not want to disturb any more of the land than necessary, the actual square footage of living space will be more than enough for the two of us and any family or friends that visit and stay for a while. As an added bonus, the view from our upper porch area facing the mountains to the south should be spectacular, especially in the fall and winter when the trees are bare of leaves.






Cindy and I are very excited to see the work being accomplished and thankful to our friends for making sure we have photos to look at since we can't be there.

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Sheepback Mountain Cabin Progress

Our friend and soon-to-be mountain neighbor Art is in the process of building a cabin on Sheepback Mountain also, though he is building his himself and with his own hands. I greatly admire him and his ability, though he is quick to point out that he is only building a rough, one-room cabin. Still, he has cleared his own area, leveled it, put in a foundation and is now erecting wall frames made of the very tree trunks he cleared earlier.

Anyway, Art left Orlando last week and spent a 4-day weekend in Maggie Valley working on his cabin. But he took time to go by our property and take photos of the progress. Below is one shot, showing a mailbox (even though we don't have an official address yet) and, as an extra added bonus, we found out that we get to suggest a name for the road that leads to our driveway. We have submitted Mountain Creek Trail or Road (since "Mountain Creek" will be the new name of Cindy's handmade candle enterprise) and Enchanted Forest Drive (since my first impression of our property when I initially laid eyes on it 2 years ago was that it seemed like an enchanted forest). Now we're waiting to hear if one of those can be used.



You can see more of Art's photos on his Flickr page.

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Old Photos Of Twins

Over at Mental Floss, someone posted scans of a cache of Victorian era photos of twins, like this one.



But look at the boy in the back and the girl on the right; they look absolutely evil, like they would crawl out of the photo and do horrible and despicable things to you if it were possible.

There are some other creepy ones in the collection, so take a look and feed your nightmare machine.

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Lake Eola Photowalk

Last Sunday I spent the day with Cindy at the Eola Market where she sells her handmade candles and incense. Early in the morning, before it got unbearably hot in the sun, I did a Photowalk around Lake Eola shooting about 250 photos of things that caught my eye.



You can see the best 46 of those on my Flickr page.

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Podcasts I Like

One of the things I really enjoy about my new iPhone is that the ease of downloading podcasts through iTunes has finally managed to make listening to them something that I am really into now. My daily 30 minute drive from my hotel to the office and return trip in the evening is time well-spent as I listen to programs of interest to me. Although I usually read at lunch time, I've begun listening to podcasts too

Here's my first impressions on some of the initial batch of podcasts on various subjects I downloaded and listened to over the past 2 weeks.

I really enjoy Mignon Fogarty's podcasts, Behind the Grammar and Quick and Dirty Tips For Better Writing. Mignon is the author of a helpful little book titled Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, but her podcasts are what a lot of people are familiar with. Three reasons I like her podcasts; First, she talks about some timely, informative aspects of grammar, writing and language that always leave me feeling like my time listening to her was well-spent. Second, she has some great guests and interviews with writers and people in the writing field. Third, it's her name, man! How could you NOT like someone named Mignon?

Chris Marquardt's Tips From the Top Floor photography podcast is emerging as one of my favorites in the photography field. His podcasts are short, usually confined to one subject and he gives clear, concise, easy to understand information. I've listened to three of his podcasts so far and all have been very informative.

Barnes & Noble Meet the Writers Podcast - the one I listened to was a very good interview with C. J. Box.


The Word Balloon podcast by John Siuntres - I listened to a lot of crappy comic book podcasts before finding this gem. I've listened to two podcasts and they were both excellent interviews with writers Greg Rucka and Katherine Immonem. I'm looking forward to the 2-parter with Brian Michael Bendis.

I'm exploring other podcasts in the genres above and a few other subject matter areas, so I might drop another post in here sometime in the future to give you my opinion on any other good ones I find.

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Buffalo Trace

Last Friday, after leaving Daniel Boone's grave site, I drove over to Buffalo Trace Distillery, one of the stops on Kentucky's Bourbon Trail. My unfamiliarity with the name Buffalo Trace was explained right at the beginning of the tour when Don, the tour guide, revealed that the distillery was bought some years ago and renamed, but that they originally produced (and still do) Ancient Age bourbon, which I did recall from my younger days.



And if, like me, you were wondering where the name "Buffalo Trace" came from, there is an interesting explanation. Located on what was once an ancient buffalo path on the banks of the Kentucky River, the distillery's namesake is a tribute to the buffalo that created paths followed by America's early pioneers. The Sazerac Company, a New Orleans, Louisiana-based producer and importer purchased the distillery in 1992 and decided to take the distillery back to its roots with the renaming. In Louisiana, they call a path a "trace" so, to honor the old buffalo path it was built on, the distillery was christened "Buffalo Trace."

Pretty cool.

The tour was interesting and the tour guide was very informative and personable. While it is true that all bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon, the fermenting and distilling process is much the same in general for all whiskeys. When Cindy and I and her parents were in Scotland 3 years ago we toured several Scotch distilleries and while on the Buffalo Trace tour I remembered a lot of the same information from the Scotland tours.

One of the important differences is that bourbon distilleries use their aging barrels one single time. What do they do with all those used barrels? They ship them to Scotland for them to use with their Scotch, to Mexico for them to use in making some dark Tequilas, to the Caribbean for their Rum and to Canada for their Canadian whiskey.

The one thing I wish was that they would have given us a tour of the actual distillery. We saw the storage area and the bottling area, but not the distillery itself. Again, though they are all basically the same principle and I saw several of them in Scotland, it would have been interesting to see how they do it specifically for bourbon. That lack almost made me think about going to one of the other distilleries on the trail, but it was getting late in the day and I had other things to do.



Of course the end of the tour is what everyone goes for; the samples. I tried one of their sour mash products known as "White Dog" that could have easily been called white lightning! Despite the very tiny amount in the cup, my throat burned for 20 minutes after downing it. I don't see how anyone could really drink that stuff straight or drink much of it unless they had a very high tolerance.

It was a fun tour; very interesting and enlightening. If you get the chance, I recommend you take a tour of one of the distilleries on The Bourbon Trail.

Pictures from the tour are up on my Flickr page.

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May I Take Your Picture?

Another request for use of one of my photos I posted on Flickr has come in. This one was from my time in Cedar Falls, IA last year and a website wants to use it as a header image on each page of their site when they release the re-design. I think Cindy was more excited than I was. As I said to her, "It's not a big deal to me when someone wants to use your photo for free. If they offered to pay, THAT would be a big deal for me." LOL

But I would be lying if I said it doesn't give me a good feeling. This is the third time I have had someone see my photos on Flickr and ask if they could make use of them. I always say yes, just asking for attribution and, if possible, a link to my website.

Here's the collection from Cedar Falls. See if you can figure out which photo they requested. Or if they've already used it in the design then you won't have to search, LOL.

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"Thriller" In Lexington

Last Thursday night the Mecca Dance Studio, a 200-student dance school in Lexington, KY, performed their version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video in Cheapside Park near downtown Lexington as a tribute to the late artist. After getting off work, I drove downtown to see what I might see. I got to take a few dozen photos (though only a handful are viewer-worthy) which you can see by going to my Flickr site here.



I also had the opportunity to use my iPhone 3G S to take some video for the first time. I've embedded it below and I didn't think it was all that bad, but I DO wish the iPhone 3G S had some zoom capability. The paper mache Michael is kind of creepy, but the performance was good and everyone on "stage" obviously had a good time. As you can see, the crowd filled the park area.

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