Illustrated Haiku

Something new up my sleeve!

Illustrated haiku – combining my photography and haiku…

Super(bowl) Ribs!

So recently I became the proud owner of a Traeger Grill. 

Love it.

I’ll never go back to propane.

It’s pellets for me.

So far, I’ve done salmon, beef roast(s), pizza, and of course, burgers.

For yesterdays’ festivities, it was time to tackle some ribs.

Slow-cooked overnight in beer, then smoked for 3+ hours (with maple and then apple wood pellets), and then some continued low heat for another hour or so.

One rack was done with a home-made bbq sauce (with some Crown Royal thrown in), and the other was done with a store-bought Marionberry (no – not the coke-sniffing D.C. mayor – the marionberry is an local blackberry version) sauce.

‘Nuf on the words – lets see, shall we?

Moist, very tasty, and perfectly done.

Photography: Business Images

A couple from here in Newberg has started a new furniture company, with sales to take place on the Internet.

They hired me to create their website images!  Once the site is up, I’ll post a link.

So here are a few from our first shoot – with more to come.

In Italy, They Call It An Innuendo

Dr. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Proctologist. Newest physician in the offices of Ben, Dover & Whu.

Aircraft Porn

I spent some time with my boys recently, and managed an hour or so at Historic Flight, a WWII aircraft museum, located at Paine Field, Mukilteo/Everett, Washington.

Some of the images are in HDR (High Dynamic Range) format, which is a new passion of mine.  Combining two passions (aircraft and photography) is even better!

I also managed to capture this image of Seattle.  There are too many damn trees in the way, but it was too windy at Alkai Beach to get a decent shot from there.

Drill, Baby, Drill!

“Can you work extra tomorrow?”

I’d just arrived for a 24-hour shift, and got hit up for some extra time while still checking out the ride for the day.

They needed a crew for a (apparently) long-planned disaster drill.

If you look in the dictionary, you’ll find:  Disaster Drill [dih-zas-ter dril] – noun 
     1)  An exercise designed to test the capabilities of one or more public safety agencies presented with multiple patients,
     2)  A completely unrealistic scenario established to create confusion, agitation, and hostility among participants,
     3)  Something to avoid at all costs.

But knowing this pay period is a little lean, I agreed to stay over past my shift that I knew would likely keep me busy for the entire 24 hours.

Surprisingly, we actually managed some sleep overnight.  Things were looking up!

Following a slightly early crew change, I met up with my partner for the day, and headed out to the drill grounds.

Via Starbucks for some breakfast.

Before long, we found ourselves in line, waiting for the kick-off.

After recounting the events from our shifts (my partner had also worked the day before), the smoke bombs went off, tones sounded, and we were underway.

We made 2 trips to the hospital with 3 patients, putting in 4 simulated large-bore IV’s and decompressing one simulated tension pneumo.

Man, you should have seen the look in that kids eyes when I unsheathed the 12-gauge in front of him…  Tee Hee

But the best part of the day was the radio traffic.

“All of the black people have been released to go to the bathroom.”

No, that’s not racist.  It referred to the ‘victims’ who’d been tagged ‘black’ or dead, by the triage team.

“Do we have an actual, physical, real person to drive the bus to the hospital?” 

Seems the bus filled full of the green, or ‘walking wounded’ actually needed a real, non-simulated driver.

And the best:  “The blacks (here we go again) have been moved to the zombie bus and are headed back to Station 6.”

And we were done several hours before I expected.  After a quick lunch supplied by the Salvation Army, we were cut loose, escaping the misery of missing out on the debriefing and getting to head home for a shower and a nap.

Oh, and an image from yesterday. 

After being dispatched, I checked the screen of the computer aided dispatch (CAD) system and saw this:

9,620 years old.  Damn, that’s old.  Ancient.  Uber Geriatric. 

The oldest person I’d seen so far on a CAD screen was a 189 year old who was in her 4th trimester.

Thankfully, neither typo proved to be true.

And all was good.

Hot Air

My consciousness was tickled this morning by a repeating noise.  It sounded like luggage being rolled across a rough floor.  Like a bag being drug off to school.

Perhaps a trash can being moved to the curb (albeit a day early).

Irregardless, it was starting to become annoying.

“Grab your camera & get out here!”   So much for sleep.

Hilda had returned home from work & was sitting out in the Tiki Lounge, when she was startled by the source of the noise:

This is the view, looking up through the clear fiberglas roof of the Tki Lounge.  I’m using a 50mm lens, no telephoto or zoom involved. 

Yes, this hot air balloon is that close. 

I’d been hearing the propane burners.

Here’s another image:

The balloons launch from the airstrip about a mile south of here.  Usually they go south, over farms, dairies, and vineyards.  Occasionally they come this way, but never this close to Mother Earth.  Well, not until they actually land.

And land they did, a few blocks away, in a baseball field.

And as a bonus, here’s an image from the garden:

 

Strange thing is, we didn’t plant sunflowers.  But, we did have a bird feeder, and it seems that seeds were scattered and…

From The Photography Front

I was hired to photograph Matts’ senior portraits.  Matt is a soccer player, so I know I wanted to create something involving that interest.  We spent a few hours wandering the streets and alleys of downtown Newberg, and the brand new George Fox University soccer field.

2010 Vacation

We’re back!  After 2452 miles, and 44 hours, 45 minutes behind the wheel, we made it back from Southern California. 

It’s been 40 years since I was last there.  Many of the orange groves are gone, but it was familiar.

We spent 2 days at Lego Land, a day in San Francisco, and a day travelling through Northern California. 

It was a blast.  Thanks, baby, for making it happen.

Background Intelligence

One of the first things I learned in photography was to always be sure of the background.

OK, it was one of the things I was taught.  Not that I learned anything…

This image is from a recent wedding I did.  I did not notice the seated guest in the background until well after the event, when I was working on the images.  I wonder what he was thinking/feeling at the time…

And from the same wedding:

It wasn’t until I was working on it in my computer when I noticed what appeared to be a man, at the rear table, slumped over and possibly with his head cut off.  I actually jumped when I saw it!

I just gotta start paying more attention…