Category: Generic

This is a Test

This is a test, this is only a test.

I said I wanted to do two mixes of the June music songs. I don’t, however, want to upload both mixes to alonetone. The eventual Mac mix will be the official mix while the iOS mix will just be for fun.

Still, this is me we’re talking about. I’m going to want to post the iOS mixes here, and I don’t want to start uploading to bandcamp until everything is finished. So I need an alternative host site.

Since when did hosting sites start making you pay for a membership in order to get direct links to your own files, as opposed to url shortener’d links?

This post is a test of kiwi6.com’s direct links. If the little audio player at the top of the post shows up and plays a Break Even song then my search is over. If not… grrrrrrrr

Glen Ellis Falls

Here are the pics from the second waterfall we visited on our mountain get away. Why take my word for it when you can let the site itself give you the info…

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It says it’s a 600 foot walk. It was. They didn’t tell us it was vertical. It was almost all stairs. It was so worth it though. The river alone was worth it.

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This is not what we came to see.

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I want to go back with my tripod and take long exposures all day long.

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This is a bad shot, but you get the idea. This place is awesome.

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Again, this is not the main attraction.

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This is the waterfall itself as seen from the top. I totally need a wide angle lens for stuff like this. I also need to be able to hover so I can actually look down on the scene instead of just leaning over with the camera strap still around my neck.

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We were at the base of the falls here but I need a wide angle lens. I couldn’t get the whole thing into the shot. Not even close.

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This is a little more like it.

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And there you have it. The highlights from our stop at the Glen Ellis Falls. I would go back there in a heartbeat. Preferably with a wide angle lens and my tripod. This place was fantastic.

Not This Year

We’ll have to settle for one championship in the house this year.

My step son’s team took an early lead but the other team chipped away. In the bottom of the fifth (they play six innings) the other team took the lead. His team came back in the top of the sixth and retook the lead, only to lose in a walk off. It was tough to take, but it was a great game and they had a heck of a season.

They’ll get ’em next year.

Another Big Day for Little Humans

Yesterday was a huge day for my step kids. Today was no different.

First, my step daughter’s softball team won their league championship. Congratulations!

Next, she had another performance of the play she’s co-starring in. This time her mother, brother, father, and step mother got to see it too. All of the kids did another excellent job. It was definitely a little tighter the second time around. I wish they had a couple more showings, but there will only be the two.

Finally, my step son’s baseball team earned a spot in their league championship game tomorrow. We aren’t yet sure who they are playing, or what time, but there is a chance we’ll have another champion in the house tomorrow.

What a great weekend it’s been so far!

Jackson Falls

This is so cool. I have an actual backlog of pics to post here! Time to get caught up a little bit.

These are from our trip to the mountains a couple of weeks ago and will focus on the coolness that is Jackson Falls.

This was where we stayed. We got there a little too early to check in so we decided to just drive around the block. Little did we know that the waterfall we were hoping to check out while in town was on the same street!
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It wasn’t a sheer drop (we checked out one of those the next day) but more like a steep slope with lots of small drops. We parked in two places along the road.
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I love the mountains where the rivers look gold… apart from the spots that are white because they are violently getting hurled off of a small cliff.
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I thought about using the downed tree limb to make a raft to skirt the rapids, but then I remembered we had an SUV in the parking lot, so I could use that for my traveling needs instead.
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We drove a little further upstream and the view improved greatly.
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I had the polarizing filter on to cut out the reflections on the water.
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That bridge needed a sidewalk so you could view the river from above.
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The best views for us were upstream, but I have since read that if we’d gone further downstream they might have been even better.
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I never messed with the shutter speed. I didn’t go for long exposures because I didn’t want to bother using the tripod (next time though) and I didn’t go for shorter exposures to try and get the falling water sharper. I just stuck with the auto setting because it was more fun being a tourist than a wannabe photographer.
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Jackson Falls in Jackson, NH

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I was leaning my elbows on one of the big rocks. Can you see it on the bottom of the image?
Jackson Falls in Jackson, NH.

The polarizer cuts down on reflections, but it doesn’t help with shadows. Noted.
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So there you have it. The first of two waterfall posts from our get away weekend. I’m not sure when the second post will happen, but it should be soon.

Big Night for Little Humans

Tonight was a huge night for my step kids.

My step son is officially a black belt in karate. I am overwhelmed with pride.

My step daughter was a co-lead in a middle school production of an original play, written by one of her classmates. Again, I am overwhelmed with pride.

What a triumph of a night. They are the best kids you could ever hope to meet. I am so lucky to be a small part of their lives.