What a difference a hundred degrees makes

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This photo, titled “Thresher’s Row”, is one of my favorite pieces and has received some pretty nice complements at various gallery showings. I have a huge poster-sized print of it framed here at the house. I’m not sure if I’ve ever sold one, though. Anyway, I hiked up that hill east of Napoleon in the 100 degree heat, wearing a 20+ pound camera backpack, in a full leather racing suit. My Suzuki was parked down by the sign at the bottom of the hill (and was Photoshopped out of this piece). I did a gradient to black and white on the horizon to give the sense of these old threshers marching off into history.

I recently took a photo adventure with my friend Ken one early Saturday morning. This time I drove up along the fence line and hiked a shorter distance up the hill, albeit in the snow, to take another gander at the meandering line of old machinery. I didn’t get the exact angle as the first photo, but that’s alright. I was somewhat more appropriately dressed for a short hike this time, too; although I was decked out in proper attire for strafing rural highways on my motorcycle the last time I hiked this hill, I was in the hurtlocker due to the extreme heat! So far I have yet to visit this attraction when the temperature is in a comfortable zone. That’s alright; I do it for the photos…and the story.

That big blue atomic looking glow at the Capitol? Yeah, that was me

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This was an exercise in photography the other night, before the big blizzard blew in. I set my camera up on a tripod and set it up for a long exposure (20 to 30 seconds), then ran out in front of it with a blue LED keychain. I wore black, so I didn’t show up in the picture. I made a number of different attempts at this photo, resulting in blue streaks of light that drew patterns, bounded around on the lawn, or simply traced lines across the frame. This was my favorite.

One guy who’s probably okay with today’s winter weather

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Yes, I’ve been out wielding a shovel (in vain, mind you) in this morning’s blizzard. I grew up in the Rocky Mountains, and later moved back out there to work for a ski resort, so I actually like shoveling snow. It’s nostalgic in a way, and great exercise. Having said that, I so wish I had a snow blower right now!

One thing that has always amazed me is Bismarck’s apparently lackadaisical approach to clearing snow. I had an epiphany when I moved to Fargo for school back in the 1980s. I looked out of my window during a blizzard to find snow removal equipment working…and it hadn’t quit snowing yet! By comparison, it seems that Bismarck’s crews are told to wait until the snow stops falling. Well, using that logic, why not wait until May, or even forsake clearing the streets at all? Snow tends to melt in the Spring, after all…

Anecdotal evidence and asking around indicates that people think Bismarck is doing a worse job at winter street maintenance every year. I couldn’t agree more last week while skating down an unsanded ice rink called Washington Street over my lunch hour, literally driving around fresh traffic accidents while watching people skate sideways in my rearview mirror.

All grousing about my beloved hometown aside, let me direct your attention to the aforementioned abominable snowman. You’ll probably recognize him from the Rankin/Bass television Christmas specials that air on CBS this time of year. You can see him, along with the Grinch and other characters, in a highly decorated yard on the east end of Kennedy Avenue in northeast Bismarck, just a stone’s throw from the famous Northview Lane. If you head up 19th just a couple of blocks, you’ll find Longley Avenue temporarily renamed “Snowman Lane.” If you’re near the All Seasons Arena or YMCA area, head over to Sioux Avenue and drive down Toyland, one of Bismarck’s oldest neighborhood Christmas displays.

While it seems decorated homes get more sparse every year, these attractions (not to mention Christmas in the Park) are still in place, waiting for passers-by to share in a little Christmas cheer. Just make sure that the Public Works Department has managed to clear the roads, so you don’t get stuck in Winter Wonderland!

Obama deflection campaign sets its sights on North Dakota, land of corruption

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By now you’ve heard of the latest wildfire of indignation to hit North Dakota since that pinhead from National Geographic had the nerve to besmirch the name of our beloved state: this USA Today article calling North Dakota the most corrupt state in the nation.

Well, we do have Byron “Skybox” Dorgan who was embroiled in the Jack Abramoff scandal a while back. The media played that as a Republican scandal, but Dorgan (who’s on the Indian Affairs committee) was seen in Abramoff’s skybox at the MCI Center four years before he claimed in a press release that he’d “never met” the man. Next thing you know, he’s returning the money he never got from the man he never met…no worries. The lapdog ND media gave him a pass.

Now we have Senator Kent “Countrywide” Conrad, who is under investigation for getting a sweetheart mortgage deal on property in Bismarck. He too claims he had no idea what was going on, but an NBC News special report interviewed the guy whose job it was to MAKE these politicians know that they got special treatment. I actually lived in the 8-plex he got a loan for; Countrywide’s policy is to loan on no larger than a 4-plex.

Conrad owns this apartment complex near the capitol and claims it as his legal address so he can continue to live on the east coast complements of ND citizens. Even better: he provides another apartment in this complex to Senator Dorgan! I never saw either of them at this apartment building when I lived there, leading me to conclude that they keep those addresses on paper only so they can continue to run for reelection as North Dakotans. Oh, and Conrad gave some money to Habitat for Humanity as penance for his unwitting cronyism, and the KFYR’s and Bismarck Tribune’s of the state sucked it up like always.

These two alone have enough corruption for the entire state. As far as the USA Today report goes, we in ND have fewer people than other states, but plenty of government. The ratio is tipped. Besides, we prosecute our criminals (except for Conrad and Dorgan, we send them to Washington) when they abuse their public office. This whole thing is irrelevant, though; it’s just a ploy to deflect attention from Illinois, the state of the Obamessiah, who the media helped elect and will continue to shield as long as he’s able to hold office.

Previous posts about Conrad’s and Dorgan’s “residences” can be found here and here.

All is the way it should be, finally

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It seems like it was only a couple of days ago that I lamented the fact that the capitol hadn’t been displaying its Christmas colors. I expected the familiar Christmas tree shape to light up on the day after Thanksgiving, for some reason. I’m not sure where I got that idea from, but in asking others I found that many of them had the same impression.

I was about to wonder if they’d be skipping it this year, given how atheists all over the place freak out at the sight of something representing Christmas or Christianity and try to sue it out of existence. Look how they tried to sue the city of Fargo for having a Ten Commandments monument on city property! But then I got a note on Facebook from Attorney General Wayne Stehnejem saying that December 9th was the night the windows would light up. I waited eagerly, and tonight the windows (and star above) were lit. Fantastic.

It just seems that little bit more like Christmas now that Bismarck’s most prominent landmark is part of the display. Familiar things like this are what make a hometown more lovable!

Kira’s Tree

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This tiny little tree really appealed to the camera last Saturday, as I visited my friend Bruce and his family to wrestle with Windows on their behalf. I’d wrapped up a cleanup day at our church after an early morning photo trip with Monte, a new photography friend who I met while working as a ringside boom operator for a SHOtime boxing broadcast a while ago. The morning was VERY frosty. When we drove across the new Memorial Bridge, steam was literally billowing over the bridge, swept downriver by the cold, blasting wind.

This little tree reminds me of the tree in Charlie Brown Christmas; perhaps that’s why I like it so much. Standing just over a foot tall, it’s a tough little conifer. My friend’s daughter planted it as part of an Arbor Day project from school last summer, and it has since survived encounters with the lawn mower and an uncle’s tractor tire. It’s a beautiful little tree, especially decked out in a fresh coat of thick frost.

There were many other varieties of trees in Bruce’s yard, each with a different type of needle sporting jagged white frost. I took many photos, and some may appear later, but this was one of my favorites. The frost along the river was VERY thick, but in town there was nothing of the sort.

This is one of the sights Monte and I saw early in the morning. This fencepost juts out of the frozen ground at a neat angle, just north of Horizon Middle School. The top of the post remains parallel to the ground, however, which is why it caught my eye. A thick wood parallelogram with frost-covered loops of rusty barbed wire is a great ingredient for a winter morning photograph!

Regardless of weather, I love getting up and chasing down unique photos. This frost didn’t hang around forever, and it was provided by just the right conditions of warm river water and cold, harsh wind. I may not take the best photos in the world, but I try to make each one indicative of a moment that was unique at the time my shutter clicked. There are plenty of those moments to be had in Bismarck and Mandan, and I’m going to continue to capture my share of them.

Red

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What can I say? Been jammin’ to some classic Sammy Hagar on the ol’ iPod while doing dishes, and it made me think of this photo. I recently processed it for a photo contest with the theme of “Red” as well. Say…maybe Brian was listening to some Sammy when he thought up the theme…

These berries hang from a tree on the North Dakota State Capitol grounds, one of my favorite hangouts ever. When I was in high school and for a short while after, that was my favorite haunt. I had a lot of friends there, and it’s a great place to hang out at night. I particularly enjoyed reading on the steps of the library, playing frisbee in the parking lot, or coloring (yes, box of 64) under the lights. These days I think loitering near the capitol at night will get you thrown out or fined. Too bad…it’s a waste of a great place.

Who was showing their Christmas spirit Saturday night, and who wasn’t

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Color me disappointed. I was hoping that the State Capitol building would be adorned with colored windows to form a Christmas tree, as is typical for the Christmas season. I had expected it to be so the day after Thanksgiving, but sadly that was not the case this weekend. Hopefully that situation gets rectified soon.

As I drove through the capitol grounds, I noticed that the Sakakawea statue was getting a face full as the snowfall began to intensify. I set up my camera in the middle of the road with a clamped aperture and long shutter delay, set the timer, then splashed the statue with light from a handheld flash unit to fill in the shadows. I’m quite pleased with the way it turned out. Then it was on to one of my favorite Christmas destinations:

You can always count on the folks of Northview Lane to make sure that the Christmas spirit is alive and well! Even without a whole lot of snow on the ground, this street is a winter wonderland every year. I’ll probably take my family through it tonight, now that we’ve had a bunch of flurries overnight!

There was already plenty of traffic; the locals know when this display goes online each year, and there were plenty of people driving up and down the hill. Friendly hint: TURN OFF YOUR HEADLIGHTS and just use your vehicle’s running lights if you want to enjoy the show and make it more pleasant for others. It’s hard to enjoy the lights when someone’s high beams are blasting you in the face; that’s what happened to me last night.

This tree is a lot bigger than the photo implies. It’s also adorned with some of the coolest Christmas decorations I’ve seen, and the yard sports a lit menagerie of Christmas characters and critters.

Atop the hill is this house, which has an elaborate animated display of lights that keep time with the Christmas music broadcast on 107.5 FM. There are often people stopped near this house with their car radio going, watching the different lights (and MERRY CHRISTMAS spelled out on the lawn) flash and twinkle in time with the music. I found out that a motorcycle friend’s father-in-law owns the house, which was pretty cool. Josh and a few friends were out on the sidewalk across the street with a boom box and Santa hats, waving to passers-by. Josh told me that on the 20th they’re going to have elves out there, giving candy to kids that come by, so save the date on your calendar! Tell them I sent you. I’ll probably be there with my little boys too, as one of them will be turning two.

Until (and after) they get the capitol lit for Christmas, make sure you frequent Northview Lane this Christmas season! Oh, and if I may make one last suggestion:

Pick up this CD. Keep it handy for Christmas. I actually dubbed mine to MiniDisc™, since the stereo I put in my truck plays MDs instead of CDs. Once the snow flies in the fall, I put this disc in…and it doesn’t come out until the snow’s gone for good in the spring. Of course, I also have my iPod connected, but that’s another matter.

That’s all for now. Put in your Vince Guaraldi disc, get some hot chocolate, and head for Northview for a dose of Christmas spirit!

No, this isn’t from a new Superman movie

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I thought of so many movie/music references I could make to title this post…Superman of course, with his crystal palace; Crystal Palace from “War Games”; “Dark Crystal” if you’re into the whole Jim Henson thing; or songs like Crystal Ship (which Duran Duran does a GREAT cover of, btw).

This photo came about when I ran out to the Garage Mahal to grab a plastic dish out of my “bachelor fridge.” I had a bowl of my notorious “Four Alarm Hamburger Noodle Bachelor Chow” in there, and it had seen better days. I figured now would be a good time to put the bowl and lid back into service. The frost that had formed on the lid, however, was begging for a photo. That’s what you see above. I took a quick shot with my macro lens while the frost started to melt, then went back to doing dishes. I wouldn’t mind seeing frost like this outside sometime, too! Remember this frosty photo?