DeeAnn Talks TWOC at Ignite Portland 8

Though DeeAnn is unlikely to ever watch this video or acknowledge that she gave a great talk on Wednesday, you can still enjoy her presentation about our 2008 road trip:


http://youtube.com/watch?v=cZAez7fMNdg

And here are her slide images, which you may peruse at your leisure:


http://picasaweb.google.com/sparckl/IgnitePortland8

You can follow DeeAnn on Twitter as @DeeAnnSole. Her tweets may be infrequent, but always aim to be insightful.

~CKL

In Defense of Crappy Video

Here's what D and I saw this afternoon at 5:02 PM EDT:



You no like shaky-cam? Hey, Zoic gets paid to create stuff like this. On purpose.

Seriously, though--you can view professional footage on NASA TV, but it's not what we saw from the causeway. It's not our experience of this absolutely amazing event. And that is important.

No recording could ever capture how shockingly bright the rocket flame was, or the feeling of the engines' rumble and the sonic boom, or the enormous shadows cast across the hazy sky by the 22-mile-high smoke trail. This video is not a reproduction of, or a substitute for, what we witnessed today--it's only a memento, to remind us that we were there, that we were both overcome with emotion at the sight of a human triumph.

~CKL

Six Days Ago: Critter Country

Late start this morning. We were going to see if we could catch the 9:30 AM walking tour of the French Quarter, but D couldn't sleep last night, so we'll do that later. The good news is, I finished editing the footage from our visit to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center last Sunday:



Other than a few species kept in separate enclosures (e.g., cheetahs, rhinos), all the animals roam free inside the park. The only ones we weren't able to see up close were the zebras. Why not? For the same reason that Africans don't ride zebras like horses: because they're mean.



~CKL

From Beach to Canyon

It took me some time to figure out why Windows Movie Maker was crashing and to make it stop (hint: del qedit.dll), and then some more time to download proper background music over the hollow reed which this hotel calls an Internet connection. But finally, here it is, video from the first leg of our trip:



Today, we had a fantastic but tiring time at the Grand Canyon, thanks to American Dream Tours* and our guide, Daniel Maust. Photos will be up later, even though they don't do it justice. There is absolutely no substitute for being here in person.

Dinner: Yesterday's leftover chili and corn salad over brown rice. We thought about ordering a pizza, but it just seemed like too much work.

* Yes, I know their web site sucks. Their vans aren't pretty either: plain white, with the company name and DOT number painted in small block letters on the front doors. It's a small, family-run business, and they don't spend money on extravagances. They just do one thing very well.

~CKL