"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.