Archive for July, 2007

Vacation at Val’s

Published by -MiKe- on July 15, 2007 in Personal. 1 Comment

So yeah, I made it to Valerie’s in one piece yesterday, and the shit hit the fan. Talk about a circus!

Val's House - Morning After - Front Yard(ish)

I came down to take pictures for Al’s 70th Birthday Party, and it was crazy. Over 180 people attended. There was a live band, a convention-sized tent, four fully stocked open bars, an inflatable “moon bouce,” movie screen and full buffet. The total budget ran right around $15k, to give you an idea, and it showed it.

Val's House - Morning After - Back Yard

I got up around 4:30am yesterday morning to catch a plane at 10am in Manchester, NH and arrive in Radnor, PA at about 2pm. Basically, I am exhausted.

All in all, though, everything went pretty well. Recently all of my 1gb CF cards started dieing on me, so I had to pick up some new 2gb CF cards for a whopping $21.99 (big money, big money, big money), and they worked out pretty well. I did have a scare in the beginning, while my short lens was having some connectivity issues with my Maxxum 5D. I would lose control of the camera for a second or so at a time, while the camera was under the impression that there was no lens attached, and I was losing shots because of it… Luckily the symptoms subsided after a little while, and the night when on as planned.

It seems like Al had a great time, so I am pleased as pie right now.

Since yesterday was so crazy today is my vacation, and I am about to go take it. Heading out to the pool now, for some fun and sun. Later this afternoon I am heading to the Genius Bar to get my Mac looked at, then Verizon for a new phone. Happy days…

Holy CRAP!

Published by -MiKe- on July 14, 2007 in asides. 0 Comments

I just hit the deal of a lifetime… One of those “too good to be true” things I’ll bet.

Micro Center, a local electronics store down here around my aunts house in Radnor, PA, is selling “Direct from the manufacture” (sales guy talk) 2gb CF cards for $21.99.

Micro Center 2gb CF Card

You can believe I just bought 4! Christ… I hope I don’t get burnt for this (four dead cards that take my uncle’s birthday party with them)… I’ll review them in a month or so.

Past few weeks

Published by -MiKe- on July 10, 2007 in General. 1 Comment

Well it’s been a bit, again, and now summer is in full swing.

Quite a bit has happened since we last spoke. It’s hard to wrap my mind around just how fast this summer is going by.

Tara AllainThe Miss Maine pageant went off pretty well. You know, back in June. Karissa Staples passed on the title of Miss Maine to Tara Allain and the controversy began.

Tara is a good looking young lady, and smart, and talented. You know, just general Miss “Some State Here” material. However, usually “Some State” is the contestant’s home state, and when it’s not, people get pissy… In this case, Tara meets all the criteria to run for, and take home, the Miss Maine title, by residing in the state of Maine for such and such number of months out of the year. Unfortunately, as Tara hails from Worcester, Mass, the finicky folks in the crowd decided to put up a fuss…

And being the webmaster (and in turn, receiving all mail sent to missmaine.org, but not a real mail account) I get the mother-load of complaints. To top it off, administration refuses to make a public statement about it, so I am liable to keep receiving them as word gets out… I feel like saying “I don’t get paid enough for this,” but bitching like that requires that you get paid for it in the first place… Which I don’t…

[2008-01-07 Update: I noticed some links coming in regarding this post (particularly this topic in this post), and I thought I would elaborate. Things have been officially cleared up. It wasn’t long after this post that the head of the board started explaining things to those who were concerned, and there is no longer (hasn’t been for months) confusion about Tara’s legitimacy. She meets all the criteria to run for Miss Maine, and she has turned out to be a wonderful representative for our state. We’re all quite proud of her, and feel she’ll do quite well at the 2008 Miss America Pageant in Vegas in two weeks. See you there!]

Whats a good pageant without a little controversy. Donald knows what I’m talking about. Continue reading ‘Past few weeks’