A Partially Fulfilling Weekend
On Friday I bagged the idea to go out to see the Surfer Blood show at the Drunken Unicorn because I wasn’t feeling all that grand and decided that going to a smokey bar at 11pm wouldn’t help. I also knew that I had a big Saturday ahead of me so that made the decision making a little easier.
On Sunday I did something I hadn’t done in a long, long time — I washed the Jackmobile! That’s right, I went out and washed off all of the road salt that I picked up last week. Admittedly the task would have been a lot easier if I still owned a hose and didn’t have to splash buckets of (reclaimed rain) water on the car to wash it off. And now you know why it’s raining today…
Welcome To Closed Mountain
The “Plan” was to meet at Fox Bros BBQ at noon, head to the zoo for some photography, and then head to Stone Mountain in order to climb to the top and take photos of the sun setting directly behind downtown Atlanta.
I met up with some photogs for a fantastic lunch, served by a alluring young lady named “Luna” (according to the receipt). While eating lunch we decided that because the weather was so perfect Zoo Atlanta would be, well, a zoo, so we decided to head straight to Stone Mountain and scout out some photography before ascending the mountain.
As could also be predicted Stone Mountain was also packed thanks to the finest weather day Atlanta has seen this year on a weekend. What couldn’t be predicted was the amount of the park which was closed. I still needed a “motion/movement” photo to submit for critique and had mentally painted a
really cool shot of cyclists descending a hill and making a hard right-hand turn. I was stunned to find the outer road still closed, killing my photo idea completely.
For the amount of the park that was closed off either for scheduled maintenance or weather-related repairs I thought that Stone Mountain should be giving a discount on the entrance fee. I’m such a silly idealist some times…
ITP Flickr Pic
Sometimes a climb to the top of Stone Mountain results in a cloudy night, sometimes everything works out just right.
As an added bonus I managed to climb the mountain without having my heart explode or having to
call for medical assistance. So, I’ve got that going for me.
RealiTV Update : The Amazing Race – “Let The Villains Reveal Themselves”
I must give credit to those who edit RealiTV for they do it so well.
While watching last night’s The Amazing Race I’ve started identifying teams I hope to see get eliminated sometime soon because they seem mean and undeserving of winning (imho.) Who you may ask? The Lesbians for one. “But Paulie, you like women with short hair.” I can hear you all exclaim, but remember that lesbians have no need for me and while I have no disdain toward lesbians this duo seem to be excessively annoying. I’m also not sure that I care for the Asian couple with whom the Lesbian team has created an alliance.
On the positive side I was getting a kick out of Team Brokeback who proved that they might have a few more brain cells under those plastic-wrapped cowboy hats than most had given them credit for having. However, could a leg of the race be any better tailored for those who’ve lived on a ranch? I mean, llama dressing? Cow milking? Vittles roundin’? Yeeeesh!
Spoiler Alert Start
My “Pick Not To Click” last night was Team Clouseau, the detective team of Louie and Michael. ITP-Reader Terri picked Team Brokeback, and ITP-Reader Stacy picked the Team TriGrammaGrandaughter.
Things looked very bad for my as the detectives were not part of the two teams lagging way behind including Team TriGrammaGrandaugher and Team ThingOne, ThingGayOne. But then my hopes improved greatly as Team Clouseau drove right past the place at which they were supposed to perform the final Road Block for the leg. Could my luck have changed?!?! Nope, Grandma picked up vittles at the speed of a grandma and then managed to get kicked in the head by a cow while milking it. I thought that old people were supposed to be good at all of this farm shit!
In the end Team TriGrammaGrandaugher finished in last and were booted from The Race.
Spoiler Alert End
Last night’s leg was one of the few where I thought “Wow, that’s cool! I’d love to go there…”
My Return To The RPS Critique
While I was skunked trying to take a “motion/movement” photo on Saturday I was able to scrape on from the “recent” archive for submission. This shot of a girl swinging on a swing, was taken last Spring which, since it was taken within the past twelve months, makes it a legal submission by the club’s rules.
I suppose that I should have used Photoshop to convert the colors of the leaves to more Fall-like colors to make it appear as if I shot it more recently. (That’s an inside joke btw)
Tonight this photograph will be critiqued by local photographer Kathryn Kolb. I don’t suspect that it will place in the top spots, but that’s okay because I don’t consider it to be one of my best.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, trying to be productive
Current Music – listening to last weekend’s “Sound Opinions” podcast
Website Of The Day – Clicker is a good way to find television shows which are available for viewing on the internet.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Saturday = “climbing” Stone Mountain
Morning Weigh-In – did not check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 52
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1** (5)
Vegetarian Days – 5, Carnivorous Days – 16
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel
** – because I stayed in friends’ house
February Goals
- Not get fired from my job
2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
- Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
- Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I had to scroll past the Amazing Race recap – I’ll be watching it tonight.
It about killed me not to stay up late & watch it after I had watched USA hockey, & skiing last night, but Allan hasn’t seen it either.
I think the ski cross is the coollest new event.
I’m trying to be good and placing spoiling warnings around stuff for those who have a Sunday night life and haven’t seen The Amazing Race on Monday.
I watched the Olympics while hanging in Raleigh, but haven’t watched much since. I watched about twenty minutes of skiing last night.
I am not really a good example for the product which pays my salary.
Just because of your catchy team names, I’m really tempted to watch now. “ThingOne ThingGayOne” had me laughing out loud.
I’m suprised that boarder cross and skier cross have made it into the Olympics. Neither are what I would call mainstream, so I think they are simply trying to appeal to a wider (read that as “younger”) audience. They are cool to watch though.
Anyone know what the crowd was chanting at the US/Canada hockey match?? It sounded like the “air ball” basketball chant, but must have been aimed at someone.
-FP
probably just Ryyyyyaaaaan……… Millllller……… you suck. (that is my guess.) the other big chant was just Go Canada Go.
they could get rid of Ice Dancing. I mean come on, how is that a sport?
Any sport that can’t be measured… figure skating, the “trick” part of mogul skiing, gymnastics… isn’t a sport. Difficult to do- sure. Takes years of training- you bet, but so does playing the violin, and you don’t get Olympic medals for it.
I can’t imagine a usually polite Canadian crowd doing a chant that ends in “you suck”… must have been the ugly Americans.
I LOVE the catchy team names, too! Nicely done! Have you done them all yet?
I’m with you on the women: they’re just nasty! I really actually feel sorry for that Miss South Carolina girl (or whoever she is). The lesbians AND ThingGayOne are just so mean to her, mocking her and all. Poor thing! I totally want them to at least make it longer than either of those teams.
I really do keep wondering if Team Big Brother really are dating or if it’s just a publicity thing. She certainly doesn’t seem to like him very much.
I want to go to “Little San Francisco” too. The name amuses me, however, as I can only assume that it existed first.
If Canada yelled a chant which ended with “You SUCK!” they’d have to follow it by yelling “Sooooorry!”
I’ve not come up with catchy names for all teams yet. Some teams have yet to produce a personality worthy of naming. I used to use some of the names in recaps the done by a blog whose name I can’t remember (old age is such a bitch!), but I’m flying solo this season — feel free to contribute.
I’m with you about Miss South Carolina. I was certainly one of those who made fun of her “speech” at the time but really, put me on stage and ask me about geography or politics and what insightful ramblings would I produce? I don’t think she’s doing herself much good by wearing that ridiculous sequined headband however.
Now that you mention it, Team Big Brother team doesn’t have much of a spark between them. Perhaps it is a publicity stunt.
I finally watched Amazing Race last night – well – so far I’m liking Team Brokeback, they had some good sound bites. I’m wondering about the team we really haven’t seen at all – is it Dad & daughter? I’m guessing they don’t say enough stupid stuff – team Big Brother will fill up all those slots.