Author: gfox (old content)

Fireworks Release

Tuesday night I zipped out to Macaulay Point Park to watch the fireworks and to take a few pictures. It was a little windy and tiny bit chilly standing out in the dark near the water as I anxiously waited for the show to start.

Shooting fireworks can be easy and fun provided you have the right equipment. Start with a camera that has a bulb setting (ie the shutter stays open as long as you press the shutter button). Must, must, must have a sturdy tripod, and a cable release is pretty handy too.

With the camera pointed in the right direction, fix the aperture and focus then get ready to shoot. Try to anticipate when the big bursts are going to happen and mash the cable release button. Vary how long you keep the shutter open. Take lots of pictures.

I’m very happy with a number of my images, but of course I had over 75 to pick and choose from.

Can’t wait for next year.  Hopefully I can make it out again.


Yoshi Thunder

Remember that lightning and thunder I mentioned? Well, it picked up again around 12:30 in the morning.

Yoshi doesn’t like thunder.

Yoshi pushed his way upstairs through a baby gate.

Yoshi barged into my bedroom.

Yoshi made a lot of noise and kept nudging me with his nose. My back actually. It was warm and the duvet was down so he was nudging my bare back. At 12:30 in the morning. Cold, wet dog nose while I am trying to sleep.

Aaargh.

Zoned Sideline

Great Ulti game tonight. It was a little warm out, but there was nooo wind! It was cloudy making it easy to see down the field, but the tradeoff was that it was muggy.

I had a great time at the game. I felt like I was running well, playing well, making good hard cuts. I caught a couple points and threw a couple points.

We were zoned a couple times which was an interesting tactic in calm weather, but we managed to march the disc up the field consistently, then unfortunately it would get thrown away or dropped near the end zone.

We were so close to winning for a while. We were down a few points, then managed to claw back to an 8-7 score.

During one point I was in the stack and one of my teammates made a cut and the throw to her was made. It sailed high and wide. I sprinted off after it, and managed to track it down to prevent the turnover.

Another point we were doing a lot of give and go’s right up the sideline. The score then was 2 points apart. I caught the disc and knew I was close to the line. I looked down and to my dismay my left foot (the one I landed on) was very close to the line and my right was even further out. I did a double take and called myself out. We were close to the end zone too.

Throughout the game we could see lightning in the distance and hear the occasional grumble of thunder. I was kind of hoping it would open up and pour on us, but that didn’t happen. 🙁 The fields are drying out quickly and tonight the ground was pretty hard.

Now I am home, needing a shower, then it will be time to hit the hay. I have to miss next weeks game, so in two weeks I will be out there again.

Jumped Breathers

I got out for a great mountain bike ride this morning. A friend of mine is making a return to mountain biking, and yesterday he suggested a ride at the dump. I had the time and jumped on it. I switched over the slicks to my knobbies and the bike was ready.

The forecast for today was a high of 24 and sunny, so I knew I wanted to be done before lunchtime. Add in that Sox had an appointment at 1 and I needed to look after Sprout, that meant riding early in the day. This suited me just fine since I wanted to beat the heat.

We started riding around 9:30, and the tour of the dump was just under 2 hours. I tried to find a route that took us on some good climbs but avoided some deadly descents. The route wasn’t perfect, but my buddy wasn’t afraid to walk 🙂 I really wished I had brought a camera with me though. It was so gorgeous out and there were lots of flowers and trail riding shots I could have snagged.

I felt great throughout the ride. The temps were perfect, traction was excellent, and technically I was riding very well. I love these kinds of rides. My cardio felt good too, even though we stopped a few times for quick breathers. I’m looking forward to getting out again.

I do need to get a new front tire for my Chameleon though. The 2.65 Kujo is getting low on tread and really isn’t needed on that bike. It is big, wide and heavy and I would like something new. Also the casing is coming apart in chunks. 🙁 I can fully justify spending money on a new tire 🙂

The fam is going camping soon, and I think I will be able to sneak in a ride up in Parksville, near to where we are staying. Yay.

Ultimate Prep

Had an early ultimate game tonight. We were short a few players which meant more field time for everyone which was great. It was windy (as usual in Victoria) which made for a lot of turnovers and a lot of long points. Surprisingly very few zone defense points since the other team was short players.

I felt I played pretty good despite many, many bad throws. My cuts were good and I was often getting clear of my check and catching the throw. My defense tonight was pretty good too, even though half the points I played I was checked/checking a woman.

I had one defense move that I have to relate. I could see who the handler was going to throw the disc to but I was pretty far away. I saw the handler wind up and heave the disc so I started running. Right on the sideline I jumped as high as I could, but I mistimed my jump. I jumped too early, yet it felt like my hangtime was extra long for some reason, and I actually managed to knock down the disc. Awesome.

My pre-game prep is working well for me too. I try to eat well throughout the day and drink lots of water. I then try to eat something resembling dinner sometime around 2 hours before gametime. During the game I drink very little water. I stick to small sips just to wet my mouth. Riding to the game helps me warm up too which I know is good for me.

I’m really enjoying this season and when it is done I might see about playing pick up on Sundays. I definitely notice an increase in my cardio.

Lagoon Feeding

Sunday was a fun family day. We headed out to Witty’s Lagoon with some friends for a special CRD exploration day. The drive out was fine, but the walk down to the beach was long and a bit arduous with the chariot stroller Sprout was in.

Once on the beach he had fun. CRD had a tent set up, and they had seined a couple tide pools to show us the different fish and wildlife that live in those waters. Very cool to see the Shrimp, Peneye Gunnels, Fluffy Sculpins, Pointy Sculpins, pipe fish, and crabs. My favorite though was the barnacle covered rock. I’d never seen barnacles feeding before so that was pretty interesting.

At our blanket we also built some sand castles, dug holes, ate lunch, then got ready to leave. Sprout really didn’t want to get into the stroller and ended up walking back to the car, which was a distance of over a kilometre. Over that same distance Sox also ran into three different sets of people that she knew. Weird.

Family days are fun.