Stomp

Last night I attended Stomp in Calgary at the Jubilee Auditorium with Kelli and her parents. It was pretty amazing to see and hear the variety of rhythm and music composed from the sounds of brooms, chairs, PVC piping, and match boxes, just to name a few. The biggest surprise came when I began to realize it’s as much a visual narrative as it is about the sound.

Stomp in Calgary

Here is my sneaky snap shot that I took at the end of the show (photographs are discouraged). I assume it’s because flashes and LCD screens are distracting, so I made sure to turn both off.

Astro-09 High Altitude Photos

Balloon and payloads just after launchThe following photos are from a set taken with a Pentax k10d from a high-altitude sounding balloon during an experiment conducted by Oklahoma State University while testing a new cosmic radiation detector.

According to the original poster, the k10d performed flawlessly in the harsh vacuum of space at temperatures below -60F.

Balloon and payloads just after launchPentax k10d in impact protection box prior to flight104,000 feet above earth

“The payloads are attached to a sounding balloon which climbs to over 100,000 ft. The balloon is tracked with GPS telemetry systems. When the balloon is launched, it is about 12 ft. in diameter. At peak altitude it is between 40-50 ft. in diameter before burst (or commanded cut-down).”

(via)

Kid’s Hope Ethiopia Triathlon

I just got back from my trip to Calgary and the Kid’s Hope Ethiopia Triathlon.

I didn’t swim nearly as fast as I had hoped but I’ll choose to blame it on the fact that I couldn’t get very good rotation on my arms while wearing my wet-suit. Every stroke meant pulling against the elastic fabric of the neoprene and I’m sure the lack of training never had anything to do with my inability to keep my time under 10 minutes.

Bryce Meldrum running in the Kid's Hope Ethiopia Triathlon

JULY 5, 2008 — OKOTOKS, ALBERTA, CANADA — Triathlon competitor Bryce Meldrum, of Calgary, Alberta, makes a crowd pleasing mad dash sprint to the end of the Foothills Charity Triathlon for Kid’s Hope Ethiopia. — PHOTO BY JEFF MILNER.

Nevertheless our team did very well—especially against the other teams—not so much against the individual tri-athletes many who amazingly swam, biked, and ran faster than the three of us working together.

The race was put on by Kids’ Hope Ethiopia, the same charity organization that Bryce happens to work as a Project Coordinator.

So against other teams, we came in 8th out of 21 and my individual swim ranked me 4th. I think the highlight for me was seeing my team-mate Bryce making his crazy sprint to the finish line and then paying the price after the race. It’s not hard to love a competitive team-mate.

I can almost see myself getting into doing the whole thing myself, but then again, it’s a lot easier said than done, especially from the comfort of my office chair.

Wedding

My friends, Dave and April, were married on Saturday. I was lucky enough to be along with the wedding party and take a few candids at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden in Lethbridge.

Here’s one of mine catching the official photographer in action:


Dave and April on their wedding day

LETHBRIDGE – 31 MAY 2008, David Logue and April (Matise) Logue pose for wedding photos in Lethbridge’s Japanese Garden.

It’s a great place to take photos; I highly recommend it.

Malaysia – Days 27 and 28

I took a ride down south to the ancient city of Malacca this weekend. We left Saturday afternoon and stayed overnight. There are some really beautiful and historic things to see. The city itself is very old and the old churches and mosques seem that much older with their thick stone walls and missing ceilings.

The monument pictured here was constructed on behalf on Queen Victoria. The inscription reads: “Victoria Regina 1837-1901 Erected by the people of Malacca in Memory of a great queen 1904”.

The church on the hill used to have a bell tower to warn the village/city of impending attacks via sea. I believe it was built some time in the 1600’s. It had a tunnel leading to another building on another hill. Here is a panoramic view from inside the church.

On Sunday we raced back to KL and caught up with the group (we were a little late but luckily they waited for us) and headed up North to see the fireflies. This trip to see the fireflies was already paid for and we had a nice meal before heading out on the river in a really quiet boat. It was quite dark and the fireflies looked a lot like blinking Christmas lights. They congregate around a specific kind of tree and blink in unison. It’s quite something to see. Unfortunately there was no way to photograph them, at least with my camera.

Malaysia – Day 26

I shot a few photos on my way to work this morning. This one is of the Jalan Petaling Street sign that marks one of the main roads in Chinatown. At night this place fills up with booths hocking cheap watches, belts, fake cologne, shirts, shoes, and just about anything else that tourists like to buy. I’ve been told not to buy anything from these guys because the shirts fall apart after one wearing and some of the DVD’s don’t actually work, etc. The advice for those that do want to shop here, is to take whatever price they originally give you and try to get the item for half that much.