The Floor Diaries, Part IV

Monday 1140 hours

At last the underlying floor is revealed. It's mostly hardwood under there, which is what we hoped. But it's in pretty bad shape. Paint smudges everywhere, weird shims made out of what appear to be roof shingles, termite damage, mysterious cuts, patches made from unfinished, mismatched boards. The contractor guys are dismayed at best. They say we really need to take out this floor, and fix the subfloor, and then put a new hardwood floor on top of it. Oh, and the reasonably nice hardwood floor in the kitchen was put down directly on top of this kind of old hardwood, which is Not Done anymore. But maybe we can just ignore that for now.

Big glue patch from the font door. It appears they used to have tile right under the front door. Why they heck didn't they preserve that tile when they put in the carpet?

Why is there a deep curved slot cut into the floor underneath the carpet? Bandsaw practice? Slot cars?

I'm the next room when I hear Don say, "OK, now THAT's a problem". I come out to see that he's found this power wiring underneath the carpet with a big nail driven right through it. Is it live? Is it safe? Hmmmmm.

We expected to some evidence under the carpet of where the old room boundaries were before the house was expanded. We had hoped they did something tidier than this, but that was probably overly optimistic.

The Floor Diaries, Part III

Monday 1140 hours.

Well, the carpet is pretty much gone, and they're starting to remove the pad. We're already pessimistic about what we'll find underneath, but at least the yucky old carpet is gone, gone, gone.

The Floor Diaries, Part II

Monday 0001 hours.

I waited until the last minute, then finally packed up the stereo. We strapped the Roll-or-Kari to the Hammond and moved it to the middle of the room. It's not all done, but we're going to need help with the remaining items. Off to bed...

The Floor Diaries, Part I

Sunday, 1700 hours.

We've just finished the Christmas Party. The last of the guests got to help me move the sofa into the garage. Pete delivered the loaner Roll-or-Kari that will make moving the Hammond tractable (God bless Pete!) Things are going pretty well, but we're fading fast.

Bosque del Apache, Day Three

Sandhill Crane
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, Day Three featured better weather than day two, although still bitterly cold. We had a great time at some of the now familiar sites on the refuge, as well as a great trip to a pond on the New Mexico Tech campus featuring a very approachable flock of American Wigeon. What a trip!

Bosque del Apache, Day Two (noon)

Well, we're hiding in the hotel from a brutal 40mph wind, doing an impromptu Photoshop lesson. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Bosque del Apache, Day One

Snow Goose
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

w00t! Bosque del Apache, day one. I shot over 600 pictures today, and managed to delete over 100 of them during lunch and dinner. There will be some keepers, including this landing goose. The sunrise and sunset light was outstanding. I'm really learning a lot on this trip about how prevailing winds influence landing direction, how to set manual exposure for flight shots, and which tripod heads to buy.

Bosque del Apache, Day Zero

Hi all,

Greetings from sunny New Mexico. We've had our opening night slideshow from our instructor, now it's an early bedtime, a _very_ early alarm clock, and our first sunrise with the geese and cranes. We're very excited!

-Bill

Pumpkins

Pumpkins
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I just wanted to show off the very diverse results of our Halloween pumpkin carving party. We managed to make a wolf, a cat, a Wallace, and a TROGDOR. And some very tasty roasted pumpkin seeds.

The 2006 calendar is done!

The 2006 wild birds calendar is done! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mary, Dan, Grant, John, Paul, and John for critique, advice, and encouragement. I'll be making more announcements about where to buy these in the SF bay area, but meanwhile you can order them on-line from my cafepress.com store.

We're going to New Mexico!

I have finally summoned the courage to sign up for Arthur Morris's bird photography class at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. I've heard he (pictured at left) is a great teacher. I've enjoyed his books and email newsletters.

So, this trip will mean many firsts -- first birding in New Mexico, first time travelling by plane with my enormous 500mm lens, first time shooting bird photos for three straight days.

Two Gentlemen of Verona preview this Saturday

Hi folks,

I'd like to invite you to the church this Saturday for some free theatre! A friend and I have been composing incidental music for this show, and I can honestly say the actors are fabulous. The director has done a great job of trimming the play down to an hour and making it kid-friendly. Thanks very much to University Church for letting us use its sanctuary. I hope you'll join us!


The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival presents:
Shakespeare On Tour's production of

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

- Saturday, October 15th, 2005, 2:30-3:30pm
- Free, Family friendly show, All ages welcome!
- Post-show discussion with the cast plus juice and cookies

Come join us this Saturday at the Church
1611 Stanford Avenue, Palo Alto, 650 758-9660


for more info about the show:
http://www.sfshakes.org/tour/index.html

Yosemite Fall Weekend

Yosemite
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We had really enjoyed the mountains during a weekend at Yosemite for our friend's wedding. I spent some time on landscape photography, and even processed some of them in black and white. It's a stunning valley, and trying to capture it with a photograph is _so_ hard.

Late Sunday night we found a movie at the visitor's center about the career and working style of Ansel Adams, who knew a thing or two about photographing Yosemite valley. What I didn't know is that he trained hard to be a pianist, and judging by his playing in this film, he would have been a darn good one.

In processing the photos from the trip, I had one or two moments where I thought the black and white image looked righht, and those were electric moments. Perhaps that feeling was what kept him going, too.

Albatross! Albatross!

Black-footed Albatross
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Every few years I venture out onto the ocean to look for birds. I generally get pretty seasick. Then, the Albatross shows up, and it's so friggin' amazing that I forget about everything else. Only a few years later, I'm ready for more. This time, for the first time, I took a camera with me, and tried to take some bird pictures. You can read about our weekend at birdWalker, it was fabulous.

By popular request, the Member Slide Night Gallery

I've had several requests for an on-line version of the pictures I showed at BABP Member Slide Night. So, here you go!

I survived BABP Member Slide Night!

Red-tailed Hawk
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Tonight was my first time to participate in Member Slide Night at the Bay Area Bird Photographers club. We saw images from about six or eight photographers, including Doug Cheeseman. I showed about 28 images from my laptop, including this Red-tailed Hawk which I just shot this morning. A slight majority of the images came from the Dell 3300 DLP projector; the rest were good old fashioned 35mm slides. The slides people had to contend with focussing the projector and not putting their slides in sideways; the laptop people had to contend with video connector adapters and wacky brightness/contrast/color settings, so everyone had their challenges. Altogether, though, it was an impressive body of work, and I came home wired and inspired.

A visit to CoffeeTec

How to grind coffee
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

With only hours left before our Photo Challenge deadline, Grant took me along on a visit to CoffeeTec, a local engineering firm that advises and outfits coffee roasters. Jay, the proprietor, was very generous with his time, spending almost an hour showing us around the shop and helping us take pictures of glorious old roasters he's restoring. Thanks, Jay!

Looking at Deadwood through Joss-colored glasses

We finally watched HBO's Deadwood last week. It's really good! Having never seen any of HBO's series before, I was a bit taken aback at the extraordinarily vulgar language. But on reflection and further viewing, it seems entirely appropriate.

The really striking thing was how I couldn't stop matching up each Deadwood character with its Firefly counterpart. Mal is Bullock, for example. Think about it. And be sure to see them both!

Bill's all-time best Onion Articles

In honor of all The Onion's back archives being made freely available, I humbly present Bill's All-Time Best Onion Articles:

I Enjoy Being a Battery

Angry God Clarifies "Don't Kill Rule"

Keep Your F*cking Sh*t Off My Desk"

Starbucks To Begin Sinister 'Phase Two' Of Operation

Man With Hammer-Induced Thumb Injury Appeals To Christ Almighty

U.S. Dept. Of Retro Warns: 'We May Be Running Out Of Past'

Bush Regales Dinner Guests With Impromptu Oratory On Virgil's Minor Works

Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory

Supreme Court Rules Supreme Court Rules (spinnity)

Bill Gates Grants Self 18 Dexterity, 20 Charisma (spinnity)


(Kudos to my friend Ken for noticing the new availability of these gems. There's even an advanced search page).

Second day out on the new lens

Dowitcher
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

My friend Ashok took me to the Hayward Regional Shoreline yesterday, where we discovered that the shorebirds are back! Woo! I had a great time and shot over 200 pictures. The new lens is working great, even delivering sharp images with the 1.4X teleconverter.

First day out on the new lens

Snowy Egret, Palo Alto
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, I took the new lens out for a test drive this morning. I didn't get to the duck pond until nearly 9:40am, by which time the light was already rather harsh. Still. The lens performed perfectly, the weather was delightful, and this little guy posed very patiently. Woo hoo!

Zen and the Art of Organ Maintenance

Inside the Hammond C3
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We had a swinging rehearsal at our house tonight to officially welcome the Hammond C3. Afterwards, Pat showed me how to perform the required annual maintenance of the organ by putting the prescribed amount of official Hammond Oil into the reservoirs in the back of the instrument.

World's best anniversary present

[So, I walk into my local camera store this morning, armed with the name of the famous naturalist and photographer who knows the owner plus a printout showing the prices available at the large mailorder camera store in New York. I want to make a big purchase, I want to do it locally, but I don't want to pay a premium. I'm expecting a conflict. I hate conflict.]

Me: Hi, is [name of owner] here?
Owner: Hi, what can I do for you?
Me: I was sent here by [name of famous photographer]. I'm interested in a Canon 500mm. And believe it or not, my wife is actually encouraging me to buy it.
Employee: Quick, get his money now!
Owner: Well, what kind of price would make you interested?
Me: If I could match the price from [mail order place], I'd be really happy.
Owner: No problem, we'll order it, i'll be here next week
Me: Great!
Owner: Be sure to take your wife out to dinner before the lens comes in!

Dan and I walk across the street to get some coffee. I'm feeling all tingly. And they even had the Kirk quick release plate in stock.

Woo!

Healdsburg Guitar Festival

Main Exhibit Floor
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Pat Smith invited me up to Healdsburg for the Healdsburg Guitar Festival this weekend. This festival brings together an impressive collection of high-end luthiers and guitarists from bluegrass to classical to jazz for an intense weekend of concerts, workshops, and exhibits.

We performed for an hour in the Cabaret (a respite for those overwhelmed by the exhibit floor), after which I was Pat's teaching assistant for a workshop entitled "Stuff about the Blues". The next day we were the host band for Tom Ribbecke's legendary festival party, hosted at his nearby workshop. Despite the long drive, we had a great time!

Ashland Day Four

The Belle's Strategem

A delightful 18th century play by a female playwright, this show makes a wonderful counterpoint to Shaw's The Philanderer. Both are concerned with the changing roles of women in a changing society. Strategem offers a less cynical take on marriage, and seems to offer a lot of social commentary on the comparative manners of English versus continental women. Apparently, this play hasn't been performed in nearly a hundred years. I hope it gets another revival soon.

Ashland Day Three

Richard III

Probably the best show of this weekend, perhaps the best show of this OSF season. This sequence of the history plays that began several years ago with Dan Donahue fabulous portrayal of Harry becoming Henry V. James Newcomb hinted at greatness last year with his portrayal of Richard in Henry VI. He commands the stage this year as Richard III, by turns beguiling and terrifying, flitting around the stage with alarming switfness on crutches only to brought to the ground by his deformity. The barren set, punctuated only by two enormous columns, keeps attention riveted on the characters. I also loved the haunting character of Queen Margaret, who haunts the back of the set everytime her name is invoked. Robin Goodrin Nordli's blood-curdling delivery of Margaret's dire insults was outstanding.


Twelfth Night

It's hard for new performances of Twelfth Night to distinguish themselves in my memory, having seen this play quite a few times. OSF can produce just such a performance, as it did last year with an inspired Los Vegas setting of Comedy of Errors. This year's Twelfth Night is particularly noteworthy for Ken Albers's excellent performance as Malvolio. Where most actors make Malvolio into a blustery, overblown character, Albers offers us a quiet, intense figure, still pompous but much more believable. The power struggle between Maria and Malvolio during the late-night kitchen brawl was wonderfully believable and quite different from any other version I've seen.

Ashland Day Two

Napoli Millionaria

A multi-generational family drama about life during wartime. A moving script, brilliantly acted, fabulously costumed, with a set that powerfully evokes the narrow streets and crowded living conditions described in the program notes. Particularly great performances from Linda Alper and Richard Elmore.


Love's Labors Lost

I'm certain this is not Shakespeare's wordiest play, but I think the program notes were right to say it is one of the plays most centrally about language itself. The characters spend most of the play delighting or amusing each other with improvised poems, witty insults, and dopey love sonnets. After having seen this play several times, I still don't understand the emotional flow of the ending. The abrupt appearance of a messenger announcing the death of the King of France and the suddenly serious conversations of the four previously happy-go-lucky young couples feels out of place. It's almost as though Shakespeare didn't quite know how to end the thing. OSF applies its usual high standards to this production, but I can't say this play is a favorite.

Ashland Day One

Gibraltar

This compelling new play was the result of a unusual collaborative process between the playwright and several of the company members. It weaves together a collection of brief stories about love gone wrong. The performance we attended was cursed by an electrical power failure that forced both an unscheduled intermission and the running of the second half of the show with houselights up. Despite the intimate nature of the New Theatre, both cast and audience stayed in the moment and were not distracted by the lighting irregularities, a tribute to both.

The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus

I really enjoyed the lavish, macabre staging of this play on the Elizabethan stage. With its heavy candlesticks, occult symbols, and piles of skulls, it evoked Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Far and away my favorite aspect of this production was Ray Porter's portrayal of Mephostophilis -- mysterious and menacing, tightly controlled but prone to frightening bursts of temper or appetite.

Izzy likes corn

Izzy likes corn
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Does this seem like normal pet behavior? I've known about Izzy's prediliction for corn, but never before had the opportunity or inclination to acquire such graphic photographic evidence.

Harry Potter release party

We had a great time attending the Harry Potter release party at "M" is for Mystery bookstore in San Mateo. They turned the alley behind the bookstore into a Diagon Alley with various vendor booths, lots of folks in costume. As always, it's so cool to see that many kids so excited about reading!

GrooveLily @ Little Fox Theatre

GrooveLily did an excellent show tonight at the Little Fox Theatre in Redwood City. Sound was excellent, thanks to their Bose gear along with a clean house PA. This is a very nice venue, highly recommended.

I really enjoyed myself. I especially loved the revised live arrangements of songs from their older records (especially You Take Control or Weight of the World). These folks can really _rock_ one second and be terrifically sensitive the next. Their message is fundamentally upbeat and encouraging, despite all the lyrics about how hard it is to make it as a musician. Great stuff. Now make us a live album already!

Set 1:

Looking forward to looking back
Live Through This (Are We There Yet?)
Snow Song
Can't Go Home
Give the Drummer Some
Every Little Bit (cover of Patti Griffin)
Million bucks
No room in your bag

Set 2:

Patiently
You Take Control
wheelhouse ... Open roads
wheelhouse ... Way to see america
wheelhouse ... Givin' it all away
Weight of the World
Try Again
Apocolyptic Love Song
The Odometer Song

changes at birdWalker

I uploaded some changes to birdwalker today. The change I intended to upload was a new scheme for browsing through trips with next and previous links at the top of the page. Try it out and let me know what you think (You could, for example, start here).

I accidentally uploaded a new "species of the day" entry on the front page, with a photo (when available) and a map showing all the places where we've seen the species. I love the way the trip entries look in the right hand-column -- now I just need to make up something plausible to put in the left-hand column!

KKUP Jazz Marathon, July 10, 2005

KKUP Jazz Marathon
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Hey you all, it's time again for the annual KKUP Jazz Marathon in Santa Clara. Come hear me perform with the Pat Smith Trio on Sunday, July 10th, at 5pm. We'll be playing out in front of the KKUP studios at 1241 Franklin Square in downtown Santa Clara. The music starts around noon and runs all day, so grab your lawn chairs and get on over there! See the KKUP website for more details.

Kern River 2005

We're just back from an outstanding four day trip to the Kern River valley. Our fearless leader, Bob Power, showed us a lot of beautiful mountain birds, including some Mary and I hadn't seen in a long time. One of them, the Green-tailed towhee, has been my nemesis for eight long years, ever since Mary saw it on one side of an interstate rest stop while I was on the other side.

This trip was also notable because I rented a Canon 500mm f/4L from Keeble and Shuchat and dragged it with me everywhere. Although it got heavy from time to time, I really enjoyed using it, and got some decent results, most of which are posted at birdWalker.

You can look at the thumbnails for all the pictures organized in by date, the Kern ones are at the top:

You can look at the reports for days one, two, three, four of the trip, click on the little Cameras to see the photos.

The Tubes, San Jose

Roger Steen in action
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Last night I went to see The Tubes playing at a park in downtown San Jose. They played a great show! I was particularly impressed with the guitar playing of Roger Steen. His soloing can be virtuostic, but more often has instead that thoughtful, melodic quality that I so admire about Eric Clapton.

Quick trip to Cape May

Grey Catbird
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We just had a quick trip to Cape May (see details for day one and day two) where we worked on familiar east coast birds like this here Gray Catbird. Hot and humid, but well worth the trip.

Hooray for summer!

American Avocet
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I love the part where I can get in a few photos after work and the light is just getting good. On this particular tuesday I was practicing flight shots, and these guys were moving slowly and predicably, so I got them in focus.

you know you're an XSLT geek when...

you know you're an XSLT geek when you've read about and start to understand the Muench technique for building an index over an XML document that helps you remove duplications from collections. [thanks to Joe Pallas for tracking down the URL]

Blessing the Rectory

University Church Rectory
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

After many years, University Church in Palo Alto, California blessed its new Rectory on Saturday. I served on the Pastoral Housing Committee for at least five years, and to be honest I had many doubts we would ever get to this point. Many thanks to our outstanding project manager Duane Bay, without whom this would never have happened.

bye bye, piano

bye bye, piano
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, the time has come to return Pastor Foster's piano. At least he has a parsonage with a lovely Great Room that accomodates the piano very nicely. I was a very fortunate to have had the use of this vintage Steinway D for several years, and I bid it a fond farewell.

My Mom Rocks!

My Mom and Brother
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

How do I come by this cool photo of me, my Mom, and my brother? Because my mom made this cool scrapbook from when I was thirteen. And this is just one of several big volumes of really cool stuff from my childhood. Thanks, Mom!

South Texas Slideshow available

Neotropic Cormorant
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I've put together a slide show from the South Texas Tripat at flickr. You can watch an automatic slide show, or page through at your own rate. Enjoy!

My Cliff Swallow published in Berkeley

My Cliff Swallow photo has been published by the Berkeley Daily Planet in an article entitled Cliff Swallows Use Social Strategies for Survival. Check out the article, it's very interesting!

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Rediscovered in Arkansas

Holy Cats!

Inca Dove

Inca Dove
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Well, we're back from Texas, and I'm finally starting to sort through all the pictures I took, including this cute lil' Inca Dove who seemed to be nesting in the Frontera Audubon parking lot.

South Texas Day Five

50 species, including four life birds.

(Will have to write more trip notes later. Just got home at midnight sans luggage after changing our plane tickets in Dallas. Grrr, gosh darn airport luggage office. Meanwhile, you can admire the species list for the whole trip)

South Texas Day Four

83 species, including four life birds.

An overcast day with winds from the northeast gave high hopes of being a premium fallout day, but we had to settle for quality over quantity at Padre Island. Life looks at the Cape May Warbler at the convention center were enough prize to distract us from a "low" day total.

Our first trip to the convention center turned up only, ho hum, Blue-winged, Nashville and Tennessee Warblers, 2 orioles, Indigo Bunting and a few other passerines. We took a break by going to look at plovers, terns and gulls on the beach behind the convention center itself. On our return, the Cape May Warbler was spotted almost immediately by the 5 or more photographers with large rigs pointed right at the bird's last known location.

We stopped at the beach and jetty at the south tip of the island, then said good-bye to South Padre and headed out to Bensen for owls and nightjars. An elf owl emerged from a known location at 8:14 pm and was quickly joined in a near-by conifer by a second bird. In the dusk, we observed multiple food exchanges between these two birds before it got too dark to see them at all. A much more satisfying experience than a simple check-mark on a list.

Birds observed by others on the trip include: Clapper Rail, Least Sandpiper, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Bank Swallow, Cave Swallow, Grey Catbird, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Clay-colored and Savanah Sparrow, Hooded Oriole

(notes by Mary)

South Texas Day Three

112 species, including 5 life birds.

Weather was extremely hot and muggy, with varying clouds and occasional breeze.

In addition to the female Northern Parula, we observed a hybrid Northern x Tropical Parula.

Other critters included Pocket Gopher, Coyote, White-tailed Deer, Eastern Cottontail, and Spiny-backed Orb Weaver.

Today we celebrated our 450th life bird, a Grasshopper Sparrow seen at Santa Ana NWR.

South Texas Day Two

112 species, including 9 life birds

Weather was extremely warm and humid.

We started the morning at Sabal Palm, then spent the afternoon at the convention center at South Padre Island, returning to Harlingen by Old Port Isabel Road.

Birds seen by others on the trip include: White Ibis, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Green Kingfisher, Bewick's Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Grey Catbird, Scarlet Tanager, Chipping Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting, Painted Bunting.

There was an alligator just off the boardwark at South Padre Island convention center.

South Texas Day One

49 species

Arrived at McAllen airport around 3:18pm. By 3:54pm, we'd shown Dolores her first life bird (Great-tailed grackle) while on the way to the Best Western in Harlingen. We stopped there only briefly, then ran down to Laguna Atascosa NWR for picnic supper and birding. It was really wonderful to see so many of the highlight birds right away on the first day.

Mammals: mexican ground squirrel, collared peccary.

"Beer Butt Chicken"

"Beer Butt Chicken"
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Yes, that's right, we're headed back to Texas. Bright and early tomorrow we're headed through Dallas to McAllen for five days of glorious birding. Groove-billed Ani here we come!

"Christy" (return of big trash)

"Christy"
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

It's time once again for what we like to call Big Trash Day, where once a year Santa Clara picks up darn near anything you leave on (or near) the curb. I always enjoy photographing the interesting juxapositions I find walking to the train this time of year.

All hail Art!

All hail Art, newly ascended demigod and holder of third highest all-time score in nethack.

(Art phoned us and we got to tune in via telnet to the server and watch his ascension in real time. Congrats, Art!)

Rookery heating up again

Great Egret
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Last night I attended the monthly meeting of the Bay Area Bird Photographers club, where I saw an excellent presentation by local photographer John Cang. He had many interesting suggestions about how to go beyond traditional bird portraits and make more interesting photos. I also heard that the rookery next to the Palo Alto Duck pond is getting busy again. I've got to get back out there some morning. This egret is one of my favorite shots from last year's rookery shots.

recent changes to birdWalker

Just wanted to mention some recent changes to birdWalker:

* Species lists, when subdivided taxonomically, are subdivided by Family. Formerly, they only subdivided by Order, which was confusing. Here's an example.

* The CSS should work properly on Firefox and Internet Explorer on both Mac and Windows.

* Randomly selected photos should stay the same for an entire day, so the Featured Photos on the front page should be there all day.

On watching college basketball

So, back in the old days, when I wanted to watch Illinois during the
NCAA Men's basketball tournament, I pretty much had to live with whichever games my regional CBS affliate wanted to show me. Or go to a sports bar with satellite TV. For the first game on Thursday night, we
tried the latter -- we did go to the Old Pro in Palo Alto, but it was
too loud and too crowded for our tastes. Then again, it was also
St. Patrick's day.

Saturday, we sat down to watch the games at our house. I decided it
was time for something different.

On those rare occassions when our game was on KPIX, it was a simple
matter of watching the TiVo connected to good, old-fashioned Comcast
analog cable.

When they switched to some other (lesser) game, I used Firefox and the
Windows Media Player 9 browser plug-in to watch streaming video of the
Illinois game via Comcast High-speed Internet through my Linksys router to the Airport card of my Powerbook. From there it was a simple matter to
connect the stereo audio and S-Video output from the Powerbook to the
Onkyo A/V Receiver.

A few commands listed on the LCD of my Harmony universal remote allowed me to switch between the two inputs.

Oh, and after the game we switched the RealOne player and listened to the post-game interviews with the players and the coach.

What could be simpler?

And then there were 16...

Illinois Final Four 1989 t-shirt
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Hey, well, we made it past Nevada. Don't want to jinx Illinois's chances in the tournament this year by actually wearing this old shirt yet, but if we win next weekend, I definitely will.

Hammond C3

Hammond C3
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I love my Hammond! I'm not actually storing it at my house right now, and I don't make time to visit it at Pat's house nearly as often as I should. What a sound, man, what a sound.

Illinois Final Four 1989 t-shirt

Illinois Final Four 1989 t-shirt
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I'd just like to say that my university's men's college basketball team hasn't lost AT ALL this season. How 'bout yours?

"foohud"

"foohud"
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

in the end, you'll have to ask spinnity for the full story about "foohud". She says that's what the Una Mas guy wrote when she ordered a Foghat burrito. Since then, "foohud" has become a legend.

Surf Scoter, Mountain View

Surf Scoter, Mountain View
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I took another trip back to Shoreline Lake and found this cutie right next to shore

my brother gives birdwalker a facelift

My brother John, despite being utterly preoccupied with little Sarah, found time to (1) suggest Gill Sans as a Tufte-approved font for our birding site, and (2) design a favicon for the site. Thanks, John!

flickr, flickr, flickr

Hey all,

While sitting here at the Blue Rock Shoot in Saratoga (totally free WiFi!) I have decided to plunk down my hard-earned cash on a flickr account. (In the interests of full disclosure, I will add that I was pushed over the edge by the knowledge that my very creative friend Cassidy, originator of the graffiti archaeology movement, has a big presence there.

flickr is far and away the most interesting social networking website I've played with, even though it has the fewest number of people I already know. Something about fact that all the participants are creating and posting photos gives it a very creative feeling.

flickr is also far and away the most aesthetically pleasing photo sharing website I've ever used, even though it doesn't (yet) have the kind of bird photographer community I find at fredmiranda.

Anyway, I'm enjoying posting stuff there and being the recipient of near-instantaneous random acts of positive feedback as people discover my latest uploads. Rather addictive, actually!

New bird photos: Common Goldeneye, Ring-billed Gull

I was out shooting this morning and saw that the Common Goldeneye are starting to do their wacky mating behavoirs. As one bird was showing off I got this picture. Then, a Ring-billed Gull landed right next to me and started screaming. I got this portrait before he flew off again.

birdwalker release notes

Hey all, I updated birdwalker today. Noteworthy changes:

* You can view map versions of any species, trip, county, or state page.

* I created bogus, non-ABA-countable species pages for Dowitcher and Yellowlegs.

* Marked Audubon's Warbler, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Red-shafted Flicker as non-ABA-countable

I'm really digging this map stuff. For example, here's the map of sites I've birded in my home county.

I have a niece!

At 2:29pm Eastern, my sister-in-law Susan gave birth to her first child, Sarah Elise Walker, 7lbs 5oz. Susan, Sarah, and my brother John are all doing fine. May God bless and protect them.

Adam Curry lives

If, back in 1983, you told me that I'd be downloading an independent radio show featuring Adam Curry over my cable TV cable to a 5GB portable music player, I would not have believed you. Nor would I have believed that Adam Curry is automating his website using Userland Frontier. Truth is stranger than fiction.

"Why do the white gulls call?"

Roll credits for Return of the King. Even after several times through all of these, I still get misty for Denethor's death scene, the farewell at the Grey Havens. I would still edit out almost all of Gimli's annoying comic relief scenes (especially the drinking contest and any line involving "tossing"). I still think these films _rock_.

LOTR marathon resumed

Back from dinner, hyped up on coffee, rarin' to go.

LOTR marathon paused

Ok, we're stopping at the beginning of chapter 33, disk 1, ROTK to go to dinner. Making good progress. Does Elrond tell Denethor that Aragorn is going to take the path through the mountain? Back after dinner.

Done with Two Towers

From what I've heard, it's after two movies that most people hit the wall. We've got a dinner invitation, so we won't get through all of the third movie until after dinner.

Seeing the first two back-to-back helps you better perceive the arc of various themes -- Aragorn's decision to accept his destiny as King, Smeagol versus Gollum, Frodo being consumed by the Ring.

Helm's Deep

(When earlier I said "at the Black Gate" I meant Frodo and Sam, not Aragorn)

Battle of Helm's Deep. Time for some serious butt kicking.

At the Black Gate

We've gotten to the Black Gate, and started on the cookies. We're holding up well.

Finished first movie

OK, well, one down, two to go. Woo!

Made it to Rivendell

Well, so far so good. Viggo rocks.

Lord of the Rings (extended edition) marathon begins

OK, here goes. We're going to try to watch all three extended editions today. Made english muffins with egg, strong coffee. Laid in supply of biscotti. Roll Fellowship.

My first treo blog

My first treo blog
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

So, I had to try uploading a camera phone picture to Flickr and blogging it. Pretty slick, once you get the infrastructure figured out. The big question -- is ATT (Cinqular?) charging me per message for this?

favorable review of my employer's product

I am pleased to mention that the product I work on all day for my employer, Reactivity, has been favorably reviewed by Network Computing magazine.

He writes, "I went out today and found 10 Hawk Owls and 3 Great Gray Owls"

There comes a point in your birding career when a sentence like "I went out today and found 10 Hawk Owls and 3 Great Gray Owls" makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. And then you look at his photos. Holy cats.

Wings over Merced

The rolling thunder of Steve Shunk's annual visit to San Francisco continues with this year's edition of Wings over Merced, including great looks at Sora and Cattle Egret. Our 2005 year list has already reached 156, woo!

(Also: I posted a new version of birdwalker that actually knows about the year 2005, and has a few other bug fixes. Enjoy)

High Tide Weekend wraps up

We wrapped up our three days of high tide birding with a swing through sites in the east bay, including some amazing looks at rails and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow at Arrowhead Marsh. Here's the day list, including a photo of very cooperative Canvasback.

Life bird, dude!

Today we saw our very first Yellow Rail, and it was a doozy! Here's the day list. I am just beginning to understand that these January high tides are not at all a nice experience for the Rails and mammals that get flooded out of their homes. Sure makes for high drama at the swamp!

Greetings from Novato!

Greetings from the Best Western Novato Oaks Inn, where we are winding up the first day of the big Paradise Birding High Tide Weekend. I have posted our trip list for today, including an impressive 93 species for us (99 for the group as a whole). I had a few decent photos of passerines found at the Coyote Point museum, but might not get around to posting them tonight.

The new $20 rainpants from REI were a success, the afternoon was not even rainy. I call it a complete success.

Photo Challenge: Best of 2004

I am very pleased to announce the results of the Best of 2004 Photo Challenge. This is a fabulous group of photos, well worth your time to view.

worth a look: College Photographer of the Year

I recommend a look at the winning images from the 59th college photographer of the year contest. Amazing stuff, especially Kevin Nibur's "Ahead by a nose".

Birds love the new feeder

Birds love the new feeder
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

They found this feeder overnight, and have been mobbing it ever since.