November 20th, 2008 by Scott
Well it snowed again this week. Does this count as “climate change”? As I mentioned before, I was going to try and get some pictures up of the snow, so here’s a quick photo from out our front window of the second snowfall of the week and the winter.
The lake is off to the right of the house in the picture, obscured by the snow! Love the winter. Glad I’ve got four wheel drive!
November 20th, 2008 by Scott
I just saw a report last night (I think on CNN) about some riots from the far-left activists (protesting the recent vote to ban gay marriage) and the commentator brought up a great point that I agree with. Allow me to explain.
We just had several important issues determined by a democratic ballot. This country elected Barack Obama, the congress gained several democratic seats, and the people of California voted to ban gay marriage.
I feel that this is what makes this country the greatest country in the world. Every other year we elect officials, every four years, we elect a president. It is peaceful and has worked for over two centuries.
And this is why I congratulate President-elect Obama on his win. Do I agree with his positions? No. But he won, and he’s our next president, elected fair and square.
Sure, we elect some people over the years who aren’t the best leaders. Sure, not everyone can be happy with the results of the elections. But we accept the results and move on.
And this is what Republicans did on earlier this year. When McCain conceded and Obama became President-elect Obama, Republicans accepted this and began looking at why this happened and what we can do for the next election, like we did in 1994, to reclaim the congress and White House. We won a huge victory in that election (two years after Clinton was elected).
What is sad is the reaction from the other side. The people of California spoke and said they wanted a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Instead of accepting the voice of the people and the democratic results, the far left has decided to riot and attack.
And this next bit is what got me thinking:
Recent news has shown mobs of the far-left harassing an elderly woman holding a cross, mobs blocking traffic, more traffic, and much more. While they are a small minority, these are the people who have become the driving force in the new Democratic party.
Why is it that the left loves to brag about how tolerant they are and how inclusive they are and then when they don’t get what they want, they riot, harass, and literally act like little crying babies?
I’m actually sad for them. They don’t even seem to realize their hypocrisy. They don’t even seem to realize that they are not the inclusive, tolerant, group they so loudly claim.
November 18th, 2008 by Scott
This chilly weather brought some early snow and Zoe went wild in the snow! It was just a dusting, but it was enough to get her very hyper, and she started to dig down into the fresh snow.
If this is a sign of things to come, it looks like it’s going to be a cold, snowy winter! Must be ‘global warming.’ *grin*
November 14th, 2008 by Scott
Just a quick update today. I’ve been swamped with video production work. Most of it is animation, motion graphics, and visual effects work.
In fact, I’ve now got a second film under my belt on IMDB. And the cool part is that for the this most recent film, ’77, I’m listed right next to Richard Yuricich, a visual effects consultant who worked on 2001 and Mission Impossible, and I’m listed just a little under John Knoll. His works include visual effects supervisor for The Abyss, Star Wars, The Hunt for Red October, Pirates of the Caribbean, and much more.
It was an honor to work on the same film as these giants.
Add this to the new floor we installed, new dog, and a few other surprises, things are pretty darn cool. More soon!
November 5th, 2008 by Scott
Well gang, another report out that this has been a RECORD year for hurricane INACTIVITY. This year has seen the lowest activity in 30 years!
(Source)
It is still amazing to this day that people still believe in the environmentalists. The stats don’t lie. There is no man-made global warming. The only warming trend was a short one caused by the sun activity. Since the solar activity has subsided, the planet’s temperature has been cooling ever since.
And as a result, water temperatures cool, reducing hurricane activity.
October 31st, 2008 by Scott
This was my first and second night out taking photographs of the night sky.
One of the beautiful aspects of living along a lake in the mountains is the night sky is just magnificent. I’ve decided to capture as much of this as possible.
Since winter is beginning to creep up on us, the night sky is becoming cooler and clearer with the lack of air turbulence.
The first two photos are with a 50mm and the second with a 18mm lens, both set to 30 second exposure and aperture opened up all the way.
On the last photo, you can see the Milky Way Galaxy spreading from the bottom left (southwest) to top right (northeast) corners of the photo.
October 31st, 2008 by Scott
My brother moved to West Virginia from Texas (prior to that, he just completed two tours in the Army in Iraq as an EOD) to be near D.C. to work. Angie, my mom, and I spend Sunday in West Virginia visiting both my brother and his girlfriend at their new house.
We took a train ride while there, along the Potomac and saw a few eagles. Just awesome sights along the trip.
October 24th, 2008 by Scott
[flv:/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/ajdigital.flv 368 208]
I just finished Angie’s video. Click the link above to watch it! I created this specifically for her Live Digital Caricature work, which has been keeping us very busy.
You can see more of her work at http://livedigitalcaricatures.com
October 15th, 2008 by Scott
The silence from the global warming crowd has been, well, predictable. Allow me to fill the void:
Story 1 from Alaska: Glaciers are growing again
Two hundred years of glacial shrinkage in Alaska, and then came the winter and summer of 2007-2008.
Unusually large amounts of winter snow were followed by unusually chill temperatures in June, July and August.
“In mid-June, I was surprised to see snow still at sea level in Prince William Sound,” said U.S. Geological Survey glaciologist Bruce Molnia. “On the Juneau Icefield, there was still 20 feet of new snow on the surface of the Taku Glacier in late July. At Bering Glacier, a landslide I am studying, located at about 1,500 feet elevation, did not become snow free until early August.
“It’s been a long time on most glaciers where they’ve actually had positive mass balance,” Molnia said.
That’s the way a scientist says the glaciers got thicker in the middle. (Source)
Story 2 from Oregon: 118 Record Low Temps
Cold temperatures set several new record lows this weekend, including a low of 22 Saturday in downtown Pendleton (Oregon) that broke a 118 year-old record of 24. (Source)
Story 3 from California: More Record Cold
Temperatures dropped to 31 degrees in the Ukiah Valley on Saturday night and early Sunday morning, the coldest Oct. 12 morning since record keeping began in Ukiah in 1893, said Troy Nicolini, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Eureka. The previous record was 34 degrees in 1916.(Source)
As I’ve said before, we’re actually going cooler, not wamer, in recent history. After all, temps have actually been steady and/or falling for the past ten years, not rising like they make us think.
I just don’t understand why the global warming crowd won’t just admit that the temperature of the earth is affected by the sun cycles, not by us gas guzzlers. Sigh. Even in the face of pure scientific fact, they will refuse to accept what is obvious truth.
September 21st, 2008 by Scott
Today Angie and I had a gig at the “Monster Mile,” also known as the Dover International Speedway. It was an awesome experience and we had a great time, even though we had to arrive early in the morning (as in “the stars are still out” early in the morning).
Since we were brought in to entertain for the Nascar sponsors, we were allowed a little VIP bonus. Prior to the speedway being opened to the general public, we were allowed a glance of the track. I took several pictures from Pit Row and on the track itself!
Pretty cool!
And it is amazing at how technologically advanced Nascar racing has gotten. This is one high-tech sport.
For example, they inflate the tires with Nitrogen to prevent temperature changes as they race, and are acurate to within half a pound of pressure!
Get this: they don’t have speedometers! Instead, they gauge (no pun intended) how fast they are going by looking at their RPMs! When coming off the track, into Pit Row, they cannot exceed 35 mpg for safety. And the officials are strict about this. Last week one driver was penalized a lap for going less than a tenth of a mile per hour over that speed limit. Ouch.
Anyway, enjoy the pictures!
