Obstructions

here's a photo of my friend Birdy-tap link upper right
Birdy (s) sing a welcome as I cycle up then fly loops over me
for a piece of hotdog
Birdy is the only "official" talking NA bird species.
native on the Gulf Coast

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dpughphoto.com/images/boat-tailed%2520grackle%2520male%2520kure%2520beach%2520121205.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.dpughphoto.com/birds.htm&h=614&w=707&sz=130&hl=en&start=18&um=1&tbnid=_UiEJo_DhCFzjM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=140&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dboat%2Btail%2Bgrackles%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGLJ%26sa%3DN

beastly hyperlink

Quoted message said:

[snip]

The first obstruction today was a muskrat, paddling around a tiny
pond. As soon as I got my camera out, it crash-dived, so no picture of
a muskrat ramble.

Drat!

The next two obstructions are on a log and show that spring has
arrived:
http://i26.tinypic.com/xmqwdh.jpg

I wasn't sure that they were obstructions.

In fact, I saw only the one in the sun and wondered if it was just a
bump on the log. When I raised the camera, some ducks next to the log
took off, but the sunny bump just sat there.

What the hell, electronic pictures are free, so I took a picture, took
a step forward, and two frightened bumps hit the water with loud
splashes. (I hadn't seen the one in the shade.)

In case you can't quite see the two painted obstructions, here they
are, one in the shade, one in the sun:
http://i32.tinypic.com/29m9iyw.jpg

A little further on, a great blue heron flew up out of what I thought
was a dry flood plain toward the river. Then another great blue heron
did the same thing. And then a third. By the time a fourth gbh flapped
up out of the hidden pond, I had my camera out, but the huge bird flew
off behind so many trees that I never got a shot.

Drat again!

The next obstructions weren't great blue herons, but they were almost
as frustrating.

Here they are, the last three of a flock of twelve vanishing into the
brush before I ran after them:
http://i31.tinypic.com/2ns8f2o.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/wvbbyw.jpg

Sometimes I can't help thinking how much quicker and easier a shotgun
is than a camera.

The whole flock was full grown and hurried off into the brush as soon
as I saw them. I chased them, never getting a chance to take a picture
because they kept running as if it was Thanksgiving and I had a
hatchet in my hand.

Finally, they decided to prove that they can fly, taking off into the
sun. Only three were visible by the time I got a picture:
http://i28.tinypic.com/29w20t4.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/b3u5q0.jpg

That's just a puzzled hawk up in the left-hand corner:
http://i25.tinypic.com/70xrpg.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/23wl0n5.jpg

This obstruction was not a porcupine, though the sting of its
inhabitants can hurt more than a porcupine's quills. It's about the
same size as a porcupine, so it can fool you at a distance into
thinking that you've spotted a porcupine:
http://i25.tinypic.com/2a0l16d.jpg

It's lighter colored and not as fuzzy as a porcupine:
http://i31.tinypic.com/2eg7621.jpg

It lacks the tail of a porcupine:
http://i30.tinypic.com/23h4xsg.jpg

It hasn't got the barely visible front claws of a porcupine, which
were on display today:
http://i25.tinypic.com/2dm9mpe.jpg

Another view, with both front paws and their claws visible on the same
side of the branch, but with the dark face behind them utterly
invisible at fifteen feet:
http://i30.tinypic.com/ohi6nd.jpg

Gratuitous marsh hawk, which was hovering on the breeze on a cliff
above me, the sun glinting off its beak and the leading edges of its
wing-joints:
http://i28.tinypic.com/2v1m0du.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/2n03jac.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Gene Daniels said:

here's a photo of my friend Birdy-tap link upper right Birdy (s)
sing a welcome as I cycle up then fly loops over me for a piece of
hotdog Birdy is the only "official" talking NA bird species. native
on the Gulf Coast

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dpughphoto.com/images/boat-tailed%2520grackle%2520male%2520kure%2520beach%2520121205.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.dpughphoto.com/birds.htm&h=614&w=707&sz=130&hl=en&start=18&um=1&tbnid=_UiEJo_DhCFzjM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=140&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dboat%2Btail%2Bgrackles%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGLJ%26sa%3DN

Quoted message said:

beastly hyperlink

You could have done better with the equivalent URL:

http://tinyurl.com/2pewrr

Try it, you'll like it.

Jobst Brandt

datakoll said:

here's a photo of my friend Birdy-tap link upper right
Birdy (s) sing a welcome as I cycle up then fly loops over me
for a piece of hotdog
Birdy is the only "official" talking NA bird species.
native on the Gulf Coast

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dpughphoto.com/images/boat-tailed%2520grackle%2520male%2520kure%2520beach%2520121205.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.dpughphoto.com/birds.htm&h=614&w=707&sz=130&hl=en&start=18&um=1&tbnid=_UiEJo_DhCFzjM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=140&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dboat%2Btail%2Bgrackles%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGLJ%26sa%3DN

beastly hyperlink

love the tufted titmouse

Quoted message said:

love the tufted titmouse ?

Well, can we interest you in a female cardinal or blue gray
gnatcatcher?
http://www.rbnc.org/images/birdband/bgna.jpg
http://www.palemale.com/femalecardinal.html

Gho: Reuenge his foule and moft vnnaturall Murther.
Ham: Murther?

Quoted message said:

Alas, the porpentine is not merely fretful, but inherently
"fuzzy"--

The local weather forecast for rainy afternoons this past weekend
turned out to be spectacularly wrong so I took my two-wheeled tripod
toter out for a couple of rides. I came upon a couple of obstructions
completely void of fur, warmth or fuzziness (more minor impediments
than obstructions really, but I didn't name this thread). Some
lounging lizards encountered along the way:

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1402b.jpg - alligator

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1526.jpg - american crocodile

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1573.jpg - another alligator

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/INF_9806.jpg - bike with tripod
(gratuitous nod to this being a bicycle newsgroup). Over rocky
sections, the whole apparatus rattles such that I approach
photographic subjects with all the stealth of a junkanoo band in full
song.

-------------------------------
John Dacey
Business Cycles, Miami, Florida
Since 1983 (25th Year!)
Comprehensive catalogue of track equipment: online since 1996
http://www.businesscycles.com
-------------------------------

John Dacey said:

The local weather forecast for rainy afternoons this past weekend
turned out to be spectacularly wrong so I took my two-wheeled tripod
toter out for a couple of rides. I came upon a couple of obstructions
completely void of fur, warmth or fuzziness (more minor impediments
than obstructions really, but I didn't name this thread). Some
lounging lizards encountered along the way:

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1402b.jpg - alligator

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1526.jpg - american crocodile

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1573.jpg - another alligator

Note to self: full body armor if ever invited on ride w/John.

Bill Sornson said:

John Dacey said:

The local weather forecast for rainy afternoons this past weekend
turned out to be spectacularly wrong so I took my two-wheeled tripod
toter out for a couple of rides. I came upon a couple of obstructions
completely void of fur, warmth or fuzziness (more minor impediments
than obstructions really, but I didn't name this thread). Some
lounging lizards encountered along the way:

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1402b.jpg - alligator

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1526.jpg - american crocodile

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1573.jpg - another alligator

Note to self: full body armor if ever invited on ride w/John.

Also: make sure you can ride faster than John. Much faster.

--

Kristian Zoerhoff
[email hidden]

John Dacey said:

Gho: Reuenge his foule and moft vnnaturall Murther.
Ham: Murther?

Quoted message said:

Alas, the porpentine is not merely fretful, but inherently
"fuzzy"--

The local weather forecast for rainy afternoons this past weekend
turned out to be spectacularly wrong so I took my two-wheeled tripod
toter out for a couple of rides. I came upon a couple of obstructions
completely void of fur, warmth or fuzziness (more minor impediments
than obstructions really, but I didn't name this thread). Some
lounging lizards encountered along the way:

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1402b.jpg - alligator

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1526.jpg - american crocodile

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_1573.jpg - another alligator

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/INF_9806.jpg - bike with tripod
(gratuitous nod to this being a bicycle newsgroup). Over rocky
sections, the whole apparatus rattles such that I approach
photographic subjects with all the stealth of a junkanoo band in full
song.

-------------------------------
John Dacey
Business Cycles, Miami, Florida
Since 1983 (25th Year!)
Comprehensive catalogue of track equipment: online since 1996
http://www.businesscycles.com
-------------------------------

Dear John,

Nice impediments, nicely photographed!

To solve the noise problem, you need a modern spring-fork, like Frank
Lenz's Victor roadster, to silently carry your "novel compact
telescopic tripod":

http://books.google.com/books?id=oe5IAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PRA2-PR18-IA4,M1

Lenz used his self-timer and tripod to take his own picture in India:
http://i28.tinypic.com/2n8y2gw.jpg

That photo is from the Calcutta leg of Lenz's tour:

http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/Outing/Volume_26/outXXVI04/outXXVI04l.pdf

Details of Lenz's self-timer and new-fangled aluminum tripod:

"Time Attachment for Cameras: Mr. F. G. Lenz, who recently started
around the world on bicycle for Outing, showed us his ingenious
attachment to his 4Jx6J camera, which he made himself, for regulating
the time of exposure and also for regulating the time when the shutter
shall operate. Near the finder, attached to one side of the front of
the camera, he has a miniature music-box mechanism so geared that in
fifteen seconds from the time it is started it will throw the release
lever of the shutter and allow the latter to be operated. This is to
give him time to walk off from the camera after the mechanism has
started, that be may appear himself in the picture. He has an Asbury
Barker time-shutter mechanism for regulating the speed of the shutter,
and carries, to support his camera, a novel compact aluminium
telescopic tripod, which can be quickly extended for use."

http://books.google.com/books?id=oe5IAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PRA1-PA210,M1

Be sure to label your tripod "aluminum" so that no one mistakes the
modern miracle metal for silver:

"By and by I neared a good-sized lake not on my map. The Chinese told
me to go back to get around it. Back I went through the mud and slush,
the matter freezing solid in my forks every half mile, compelling me
to chisel it out with my screw driver. I reached the road inn again,
and to my chagrin my aluminum tripod was missing. Some thief had
stolen it while I was eating lunch during the day, no doubt mistaking
it for silver."

http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/Outing/Volume_24/outXXIV02/outXXIV02k.pdf

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

[snip]

The first obstruction of spring was lying across the bike path as the
clouds rolled in. It was trying to bask and keep warm, much like me
with my blue glove liners.

Coiled up to look small:
http://i27.tinypic.com/23u60p4.jpg

Stretched out to look longer:
http://i25.tinypic.com/mbspx1.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

[snip]

Purely as an experiment, I drove off yesterday with my camera resting
on the roof of my car.

(This kind of experiment is much rarer on my bicycle.)

Apparently, digital cameras are not magnetic, but they're highly
visible, even on a lonely dirt road. Someone picked it up in the forty
minutes it took me to drive back.

(Broken, I hope. Luckily, I'd taken no pictures.)

A local retailer craftily offered my lost camera's big brother on sale
this morning, with image stabilization and twice as much zoom, so I
was able to proceed to the next step in the experiment on my daily
ride.

This obstruction often glares at me from her cottonwood nest, but
she'd always flown off before I could get a picture with the old 4x
camera. Today, however, she sat still today, possibly flattered by the
new camera.

Here she is, glaring over her shoulder, at 4x with the new camera:
http://i31.tinypic.com/16k51dt.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/2psng5l.jpg

And with the added zoom:
http://i29.tinypic.com/2h4epet.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/vxkdxc.jpg

I like the new camera well enough that I may even look through the
manual.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

Dear John,

Those are much better pictures than the related obstructions on my
ride today:

Thank you, but I think anyone would expect results from all the camera
junk with which I've saddled myself on these little trips. Why the
tripod alone is a marvel of sufficient telescoping and articulating
complexity to stymie Pythagoras.

Quoted message said:

Coy look over one shoulder:
http://i31.tinypic.com/oqd4k2.jpg

Coy pause for a sunny pose:
http://i31.tinypic.com/312cmzs.jpg

A dim-witted friend scrambles back down the bluff to join the
photo-shoot:
http://i31.tinypic.com/eitmi1.jpg

Look, Ethel, is that a man with a camera?
http://i32.tinypic.com/2drgv2h.jpg

Yes, Myrtle, he's taking your picture!
http://i26.tinypic.com/1537as5.jpg

Ethel, I'm leaving before he sees my disfigured ankle!
http://i32.tinypic.com/idumh5.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Those are pretty good pix from the distance I reckon your subjects
stayed - enjoy the extra reach your new camera offers! I had another
crocodile sit for his portrait last weekend, but I don't think I was
able to capture the look of pensive meaning and passive beauty that
the subject had requested:

http://64.70.205.200/graphics/nikpix/CCC_2840.jpg

-------------------------------
John Dacey
Business Cycles, Miami, Florida
Since 1983 (25th Year!)
Comprehensive catalogue of track equipment: online since 1996
http://www.businesscycles.com
-------------------------------

Quoted message said:

[snip]

A roughly 16-inch long obstruction, posing to show how digital cameras
automatically overcome even the most incompetent handling:
http://i30.tinypic.com/igkcxc.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[snip]

A roughly 16-inch long obstruction, posing to show how digital cameras
automatically overcome even the most incompetent handling:
http://i30.tinypic.com/igkcxc.jpg

Below the size limit. You'll have to throw that one back.

One unsung virtue (frequently considered a vice) of compact digitals is
that the nature of their very small sensors means they have a broad
depth of field in most conditions.

The upshot is that it's fairly easy to get your subject in focus and get
it all in focus, even in a close-up like this.

Of course, you are also in broad daylight, so the camera was probably
stopped down for all its worth, thus helping things along even more.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

Quoted message said:

[snip]

Scofflaw obstructions, wrong side of fence:
http://i31.tinypic.com/ddgynn.jpg

Law-abiding obstruction, legal side of fence:
http://i30.tinypic.com/qq32fk.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

[snip]

After sunny 80F weather yesterday, it was cloudy and 50F today, with
something called rain predicted by the ever-hopeful meteorologists.

The cold weather may have led this potentially deadly obstruction to
huddle right next to the bike path:
http://i31.tinypic.com/17eqfd.jpg
http://i28.tinypic.com/2nkront.jpg

They can sting, but I refuse to believe that they can puncture tires.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[snip]

After sunny 80F weather yesterday, it was cloudy and 50F today, with
something called rain predicted by the ever-hopeful meteorologists.

The cold weather may have led this potentially deadly obstruction to
huddle right next to the bike path:
http://i31.tinypic.com/17eqfd.jpg
http://i28.tinypic.com/2nkront.jpg

I trust that second photo was obtained using a nice zoom setting.

Quoted message said:

They can sting, but I refuse to believe that they can puncture tires.

When my wife feels like tormenting me, she repeats the old wives tale
that hedgehogs kill snakes by rolling over them.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

On Wed, 14 May 2008 02:38:45 GMT, Ryan Cousineau <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[snip]

After sunny 80F weather yesterday, it was cloudy and 50F today, with
something called rain predicted by the ever-hopeful meteorologists.

The cold weather may have led this potentially deadly obstruction to
huddle right next to the bike path:
http://i31.tinypic.com/17eqfd.jpg
http://i28.tinypic.com/2nkront.jpg

I trust that second photo was obtained using a nice zoom setting.

Dear Ryan,

No zoom, about three feet away. The top of the swarm is at about chin
level.

They were just sitting there this morning, buzzing faintly, but not
flying, so they didn't seem likely to attack me.

They were still sitting there this evening when I sauntered past,
dropped the leash and told the dog to be good, took a few fuzzy
pictures in the fading light, and finally sat down at arm's length and
steadied the camera on my knees.

Digital camera doing its best in bad light, but blurry:
http://i31.tinypic.com/2yvt7nr.jpg

Camera braced on knees, looking up, but still not enough light:
http://i25.tinypic.com/30kd0e1.jpg

Naturally, I had the flash turned off, since they might have resented
it.

I'm still amazed that the camera can do so well in such dim light and
make it look so bright, even if it's fuzzy due to the long exposure.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

[snip]

A trio of pointy obstructions that think it's spring:
http://i29.tinypic.com/jtxchi.jpg

Never yet found one of those needles in my tires.

A larger and more garish obstruction that was accompanied by at least
a dozen drops of water:
http://i28.tinypic.com/xo2vk7.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

[snip]

A windy day, so a flock of obstructions were swooping and soaring
above the junipers and pines at the edge of the south bluffs of the
Arkansas River.

I tried to ignore them, but they kept teasing me, so I got out my
camera and took this picture:
http://i26.tinypic.com/2cqk9zn.jpg

Too damned close against too damned many trees.

This was a little better, faintly showing the bald red head:
http://i27.tinypic.com/2ng6a7l.jpg

After that, I gave up and ignored the flock of obstructions, who kept
swooping back toward me, having a fine time on the wind blowing up
from the cliffs.

But then they starting going "cronk-cronk-cronk" at me, which wasn't
right because turkey vultures are pretty much mute.

Sure enough, there was a ringer in the flock, soaring a bit more
awkwardly along the cliffs and making its hoarse, horrible call
whenever the vultures flew too close:
http://i26.tinypic.com/2hsanon.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/5xlrg0.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/23vezww.jpg

Whoops, wrong obstruction:
http://i26.tinypic.com/152dhzq.jpg

Back to the noisy one:
http://i27.tinypic.com/35at0td.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/4rdqhl.jpg
http://i32.tinypic.com/23mn9tf.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/erfz9z.jpg

Normally, you just see that obstruction flying in a straight line
instead of beating back and forth, soaring into the wind and daring
you to take pictures.

This solitary obstruction just felt like posing near the road:
http://i25.tinypic.com/16ne5j.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/30955sn.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/x3sw7n.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/21czceq.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel