Racing on water AND land

Hopefully you've been following along with my adventure in the PRESS SECTION of the Coronado Speed Festival....so you already know that I was too chicken to zoom around a race track at break neck speeds.... Well, let me show you the ONE THING I would have volunteered to ride on! A Hover Craft! The US military calls them Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC). (BTW: I know that's not the best photo you've ever seen, but I wanted you to see it in relation to the car and the man so you can fully appreciate the SIZE of it! Holy cow, huh?) They’re high-speed, fully amphibious hovercraft capable of carrying a 60-tons over water and land at speeds in excess of 40 knots! (To furthur illustrate the size, last week it transported 9 hummers and crew!) This one is owned by the Navy - they had it on display at the Speed Fest. This young man is in charge of deck operations. He gave us a very informative tour! (Okay, I felt a little bad taking this picture so I need your help. Of course I asked his permission before I took the photo, but I feel bad since he probably thinks his picture could run in Newsweek or the New York Times or something. The poor guy probably called home and told his mom someone from the PRESS took his picture! SO, here's where you can help.... maybe you guys can pass it along to someone, so he will get his 15 minutes of fame?) This next photo shows where the observer is stationed - he peaks up through that glass encased dome and relays information to the driver. (I do believe that means the Navy sanctions "backseat drivers!") This LCAC will carry tanks, trucks, men, gear -you name it! And just in case you didn't know this was the propeller, they've labelled it for us: I found this nice little video on youtube so you could see it in action. "Carrying equipment, troops, and/or supplies, the LCAC launches from inside the well deck of an amphibious warship, then travels the waves at high speed, runs right through the surf zone near the beach, and stops at a suitable place on land. Its cargo walks or rolls off. The LCAC returns to the surf to pick up more. Rinse. Agitate. Repeat."

Gentlemen, start your engines....

Members of the media and military were invited to ride along in some of the races. ...and just to set your mind at ease, NO I did not volunteer. (Yikes, are you kidding me? I get nervous going 30 mph!) But lots of brave people took the challenge! (A dedicated paramedic and ambulance? THAT'S why I didn't take a test drive!) How about a peak at the car's interior? Not too luxurious is it? And of course you climb in through the window! (umm...help...) Speaking of having trouble getting out of a car - how about a car that's only 18 inches high? I'm pretty sure the grocery carts at Costco are bigger than that car! How many grocery bags can you fit in that? (She's smiling because she just spent 20 minutes trying to get in the car!) "I want to be a race car passenger: just a guy who bugs the driver. Say man, can I turn on the radio? You should slow down. Why do we gotta keep going in circles? Can I put my feet out the window? Man, you really like Tide...” Mitch Hedberg

The Pits

Took a break from the track to rest my ears with a walk through the pit area. Don't ask me to identify cars, describe engines or marvel over certain makes/models. Sorry, just don't. What I WILL do though is show you some things that struck my fancy..... Like the headlights? Once I got past the "duh, I guess race cars wouldn't need headlights" ...I had to admire the clever use of duct tape! Please don't tell my hubby that I thought the coolest part of the car was the duct tape -- he'd pass out and die!! :P Matchy-matchy? And don't tell my hubby I liked this next car because of its PAINT JOB... Tomorrow we'll head over to the start of the races! "If you think the last four words of the national anthem are 'Gentlemen, start your engines,' you might be a redneck." - Jeff Foxworthy

Coronado Speed Festival

For the 11h straight year, new was OUT this past weekend at the Coronado Speed Festival. Yep, rather than NEW race cars, this festival featured VINTAGE racing machines! The vintage racers ZOOM around a 1.7-mile course set up on Naval Air Station North Island's runway. Before we get to the racing...I have to tell you something EXCITING! Ready? I got to experience the action from the PRESS AREA! Cool, huh? I won a little contest over at The Digital Photo Guy blog (Thanks, Lee!) and the prize was a Media/Press Pass for the event!) Yay! (See....I told you it was exciting!) So first of all, take look at THESE babies: Ahhhh...... I can tell you it felt darn nice to be sportin' those as I walked around the front lines....hanging out with the likes of the TV News crews! (I didn't see Katie Couric but I bet she was there looking for me.) Okay, okay, enough about me. I bet you are wondering what I got to see? How bout this: And this? (BTW: Which of those first two photos do you like best? First one was taken with a fast shutter; second one was panned with a slow shutter and neutral density filter....???) The cars include Trans-Am “pony cars” from the late '60s and '70s; Can-Am sports cars, vintage NASCAR stock cars and IMSA sports endurance cars. (And "No" I don't know what all that means, but since it was advertised, I thought I would pass it along to you - I want you to be informed!) Part of the festivities included letting service men and women drive the race cars. This led to some pretty WILD driving! BTW: Shot that with my 100-400Lmm lens at full zoom, sorry the focus is a bit off -- I guess that's why I'm not gettin paid like the REAL press people! ;-) If you come on back tomorrow, I'll show you a few more interesting things about my adventure... "Auto racing is boring except when a car is going at least 172 miles per hour upside down.” Dave Barry

Grilled Romaine

Have you ever heard anything so crazy as Grilled Romaine? Well the recipe was invented by Alton Brown of Food Network's "Good Eats." (LOVE that show, BTW!) Anyhoo, I happened to have all the ingredients on hand so I whipped it right up and it is DELISH! (Mike has decided it's his new favorite salad!) Lemme show you how easy it is to make! First cut the heart of romaine in half lengthwise so that the root keeps each piece together. Lightly brush the cut side of the romaine pieces with some olive oil. Season with pepper. Place some parmesan cheese in a shallow pan large enough to lay the romaine in and press the cheese firmly onto the cut side of the romaine until it adheres. (Just a note here - I've used fresh grated parmesan as well as the Kraft green can parmesan - both work nicely) I should have already mentioned, but a few hours before dinner you need to pour a couple tablespoons of red wine vinegar in shallow pan and place in the freezer. Allow the vinegar to freeze, approximately 2 hours. Once frozen, scrape with a fork to create a shaved ice texture. (Yes - I KNOW this sounds wacky -- trust me on this) Now right before you are ready to serve your salad, spray a nonstick griddle with vegetable spray and preheat over medium-high heat. Place the romaine in the pan and cook until the cheese turns golden, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Place the romaine, cheese side up onto plates and sprinkle with the vinegar ice. Serve immediately. Trust me on this -- YOU WILL LOVE IT! "I kept thinking, 'Somebody has to make a food show that is actually educational and entertaining at the same time... a show that got down to the 'why things happen.'" Alton Brown

Sssssssnake!

Matt spotted this in our yard: EEK! We do NOT like snakes in our yard! (Now I don't want you to worry about me - I took these photos with my zoom lens from FAR away because this is a WESTERN RATTLESNAKE!) Our visitor a baby - we know this from his size and from his rattle. (Did you know the rattle forms as he sheds layers of skin? Yep - each segment of the rattle is formed as the skin is shed...) Want other fact...? Well rattle snakes are born live in nests of 4-12...ummm....gulp.... Rocket was bitten by a rattlesnake in our backyard several years ago so we are always on the lookout for invaders! (Thankfully, Animal Control will come pick them up and release them somewhere far, far away!) "A rattlesnake loose in the living room tends to end all discussion of animal rights." Lance Morrow "After a hard day of basic training, you could eat a rattlesnake." Elvis Presley "When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him." Franklin D. Roosevelt "Trust him as much as you would a rattlesnake with a silencer on its rattle." Advice to President Truman on J Edgar Hoover

Here one day, gone the next!

A 40 year old apartment complex next to our church was designated for demolition. I thought it would be cool to document the process. Let's start off with my "Sunday after church" shot: Now wouldn't it be exciting to see the first swish of the wrecking ball? Well, sorry. I forgot to go over Monday morning. I know, shame on me for letting you down. Well, do you think Tuesday morning will offer just as much action? Let's see: RATS! Can you believe that by Tuesday, the darn thing was already DOWN and all CLEANED UP? SO much for my action shots! “What wise men established in 100 years, the fools demolish in 2 days.”

A Snoot

Ever hear of a snoot? It's a little photo gadget that enables you to concentrate the light from your flash for dramatic cinematic lighting! Would you say this qualifies as dramatic? If I had used the flash "normally" the whole room would have been illuminated....(nothing WRONG with that, it just wasn't what I was looking for) In order to limit where we let the beams of the flash travel, we need to make a little cover for the flash. You can buy these at the camera shop, but I'm gonna show you how to make one for about a dollar. Aren't you lucky? First get some self adhesive velcro (you know if I was on TV I'd have to call that "hook and loop tape" but since I'm not famous, I get to call it VELCRO!) :P And one sheet of black fun foam. And a pair of scissors. Wrap the foam around your flash, add a bit of extra for overlap, then stick on the velcro. (Now this won't hold if you were out shooting in a tornado or something, but it will hold perfectly for your quick little photo shoots!) And come to think of it, I don't think you should be shooting a tornado anyway! NO snoot: WITH snoot: (And let me add right here, that it definitely DOESN'T need to be this long - This is just the width of the foam. Try it out and then do some trimming.) "Sometimes what makes a photo sing is not so much where the light is, but where it isn't." David Hobby

τρόφιμα

I'm guessing you know me well enough by now that you KNEW I had to try the food before we left the Greek Festival. (Did you guess our title is Greek for FOOD?) Mike & I chose the Greek Combination Dinner -- WOW! We started with Salata (Greek salad with feta cheese) Then enjoyed: Souvlaki (shish Kabob) Spanakopita (spinach phyllo pie) Pastitsio (Greek lasagna) Pilafi (Greek rice) Kouloura (Greek Bread) Dolmathes (Grape leaves stuffed with rice and meat) They also had lamb... I definitely did NOT try this (um......GROSS!) Gyros And TONS of pastries! Well, it was a good thing we had a bit of a hike back to the car because after all that we were STUFFED! "Nicko! Don't play with the food! When I was your age, we didn't have food!" Maria Portokalos(My Big Fat Greek Wedding)