Thu Mar 24 05
Taking the Next Step
I love my iPod. It's an iPod mini and it goes everywhere with me. In the car, I use it to listen to my favorite CDs on the radio. That's just cool.
I also love the new Battlestar: Gallactica. Part of it is childhood nostalgia of watching cheesy 70s TV on a lazy Saturday. Part of it is because the show is good. It has interesting characters and is well done.
I also love DVD commentaries. I recently watch Citizen Kane for the first time (I know!) and then went back and watched it with the commentary turned on and was amazed at how much more interesting it was.
I know you're wondering how all of these can be related. But they can. For years it seemed like the Sci-Fi channel was wallowing in the status quo. But now, they are breaking out. They are developing new shows that are done well. The Dune series started things and Battlestar: Gallactica is a continuation of that. But what they are doing now is going beyond that. You see, BSG has a podcast of the commentary for each episode. You can download it and then listen to it while you're watching it. Or, if you're like me, you can record the episode on your DVR, watch it, then watch it again with the commentary playing on your iPod headphones.
If you're not familiar with podcasting, check out iPodder and download it. Once you've got that, be sure to subscribe to the BSG commentary podcast. And welcome to the future of television entertainment.
Posted by Court at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)
Sat Mar 19 05
Geocaching: GCMX36
Cache Blitz: Wrongway's Return
After finding the Travel Bug, I was excited and headed off to the next cache. Unfortunately, gas was running low. Even worse, I was in Canada and gas is double what it is in the States. I headed towards the next coordinates and saw that I was getting quite close. That's when my GPS started acting up. It was directing me one direction, but as I went that way, the distance kept going up. I followed for a bit longer but gas was running dangerously low. It's a good thing I started looking early because gas was much harder to find than I expected.
Back to the geocaching and my GPS. Looking at the map on the GPS seemed to put the cache in the river. That didn't make a lot of sense, but I tried to follow it the best I could. That led me to a small neighborhood off the island. The neighborhood was incredible. The houses were perfectly arranged and colored. It was a little creepy, but still interesting. I found a small path that seemed to lead in the general direction of the cache so I followed it around to the river's edge.
I continued following the path around until it led to a beach. The beach was nice, if a bit dirty. I searched around a little bit, but didn't think the cache was here. Back to the truck and work. I punched in the coordinates for work and started heading in that direction. As I was heading back, I decided to try the coordinates of the cache again. Surprisingly, the cache appeared to be very close. And that's when I saw the beach. I had not seen it before because I came from the opposite direction.
I pulled into the parking lot near the beach and headed towards it. The site was again not far from the parking. This beach was nicer than the first beach but still seemed a little dirty. I spent several minutes searching for the cache, but was unable to find it.
Posted by Court at 12:22 AM | Comments (0)
Fri Mar 18 05
Geocaching: GCK2DZ
Business has taken me from Seattle to Vancouver, BC. I had never been to Vancouver before and it is simply beautiful up here. Unfortunately, work has kept me quite busy. Even worse, work involves warehouses and little else. Fortunately, someone was kind enough to put a cache on an island filled with warehouses.
Work was winding down and there was still a little sun, so I headed out looking for a cache. Some of the guys at work helped with the layout of the island and I was off. This cache location was just down the road from my warehouse and was fairly easy to find. Well, at least getting close was easy. Finding the parking lot was a different story.
Once the site was found though, the cache was an easy find. The view from the beach was very nice though. It was somewhat industrial, but still nice.
The other bonus of this cache was my first Travel Bug. Bearing has been from Oklahoma to Ohio to Ontario to Vancouver and will now make it's way back to the States and hopefully find a home near a nice industrial park.
Posted by Court at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
Tue Mar 15 05
Geocaching: GCJ3N9
Pirates of the Kent-Meridian: Count Canterbury
After the last cache, I was excited about my caching. I hopped back in the truck and headed to the next coordinates. The coords were close, but still confusing. I followed them around through several strip malls while the distance ticked off. The GPS said I was very close, but I still didn't see a park. Finally, the stores cleared and there was my park.
It was a small park, but very nice. There were plenty of kids around playing on a variety of playground equipment. I started counting the "stones" on the climbing wall there. Twice. Three times. The numbers just didn't come out right. Finally, I just started looking around. The encrypted clue lead me to a stone wall that ran along the back of the park.
I looked in every crevice. Twice. Three times. And I still couldn't find the cache. I have a sneaking suspicion that the cache had been looting. That was frustrating, but the park was very nice.
On my way back to my truck, I walked past a family flying a model airplane. I must have looked a bit out of place with my camera around my neck, and GPS and paper in hand. I smiled and they did to and then the father asked if I was from the city. I smiled and explained that I was actually from Illinois. It took awhile, but I ended up explaining the whole situation. They seemed interested and wanted to know the web site so I told them. Hopefully, they'll start geocaching as well.
Posted by Court at 12:17 AM | Comments (0)
Mon Mar 14 05
Geocaching: GCKTYQ
Business has taken me on the road and I brought my GPS and camera. That means geocaching in a different state. This time, it's Washington.
I've been to Washington once before, and it is one of the has some of the most natural beauty I've ever seen. It's hard to explain because it seems like such a perfect blend of everything I love. When I look up, I want to see a clear open sky. I want it to be big. That is one of the reasons I love Illinois so much. I feel like I can see for miles. I get that same feeling in the Seattle area. But at the same time, there are mountains in the distance, evergreens everywhere and lots of water.
Work ended early, so I headed out to explore the city of Kent, WA. The trip was a little difficult. This is only my second trip to Kent, so I don't know the roads well at all. But I trusted my GPS and followed it all the way there. After leaving busy roads and entering a small neighborhood, the numbers starting ticking down. Of course, that only led to more houses, but I was getting close. The road wound around away from the coordinates until it dead-ended... in a park.
The park was small, but quite nice. There were kids playing and others milling about. I headed down the trail away from them and into a light forest. The GPS led me down the trail until it started to lead directly into the forest. I followed it for a bit, until the trail disappeared. I turned back to the main trail and followed it back, keeping an eye out for the cache.
After a few minutes, I found it. It was very well hidden and I never would have seen it unless I had gone past it first. I took nothing and left nothing.
Posted by Court at 11:53 PM | Comments (0)
My Gear
Camera
I have always enjoyed taking pictures. One of the problems I have run into is that I don't like taking pictures on a lower end camera. I find the pictures to be sub-par and I don't have as much control over the pictures.
That's why, when I bought a camera, I went for the gusto. I love this camera. The quality of the pictures it takes are unbelievable. 7.1 Megapixels is a lot. It's more than I need, but I'm glad I have it. I wouldn't want it any other way.
GPS
I have never had a GPS before, and never really needed one. When I went looking for a GPS, I didn't have many requirements. I just wanted something that would get the job done. Any extras were.... just extra.
That's why I went with the Garmin eTrex Legend. It looked like a good GPS without anything fancy I didn't need.
I like the GPS. It's not perfect, but it gets the job done. I have some problems picking up satellites from time to time, but that goes with the territory.
Posted by Court at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)