Ephemeral Epiphany

Charlie

2011-12-27T19:10:00.000-05:00

See what I mean?

Charlie

2011-12-27T19:09:00.000-05:00

Getting her to look into a photo is nearly impossible.

Smoky Mountains

2011-12-27T19:08:00.001-05:00

Smoky Mountains

2011-12-27T19:07:00.001-05:00

Smoky Mountains

2011-12-27T19:06:00.001-05:00

Smoky Mountains

2011-12-27T19:05:00.000-05:00

Smoky Mountains

2011-12-27T19:04:00.000-05:00

Smoky Mountains

2011-12-27T19:03:00.002-05:00

Waterfall

2011-12-27T19:03:00.001-05:00

Heavy rains, heavy waterfalls

2011-12-27T19:02:00.003-05:00

Elk at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

2011-12-27T19:02:00.001-05:00

Panorama, along Howard Gap

2011-12-27T12:41:00.000-05:00

Saluda, NC

2011-12-27T11:56:00.001-05:00

Saluda, NC

2011-12-27T11:56:00.000-05:00

Howard Gap Road

2011-12-27T11:55:00.000-05:00

I-26 from Howard Gap Road

2011-12-27T11:54:00.000-05:00

Saluda Inn

2011-12-27T11:20:00.000-05:00

Saluda Inn

2011-12-27T11:09:00.001-05:00

Unitarian and Lutheran churches, Charleston

2011-12-26T16:19:00.000-05:00

Waterfront Park

2011-12-26T15:51:00.001-05:00

White Point Gardens

2011-12-26T15:49:00.001-05:00

White Point Gardens

2011-12-26T15:48:00.000-05:00

St. John

2011-12-26T14:33:00.002-05:00

Silhouette of St. John the Baptist Cathedral

2011-12-26T14:33:00.001-05:00

Charleston, SC.

Magnolia Plantation swamp garden

2011-12-26T13:40:00.001-05:00

Spot the egret if you dare.

Savannah National Wildlife Refuge

2011-12-26T08:59:00.001-05:00

Savannah National Wildlife Refuge

2011-12-26T08:32:00.001-05:00

Panorama of Savannah wildlife refuge

2011-12-26T08:24:00.001-05:00

Bonus points if you spot the flock of red-winged blackbirds.

Panorama from AutoStitch

2011-12-25T16:51:00.000-05:00

Ogeechee River

2011-12-25T16:48:00.000-05:00

Not desaturated despite the look; rainy gray day.

Lazaretto Creek

2011-12-25T13:48:00.001-05:00

McQueen's Island

2011-12-25T12:14:00.000-05:00

Panorama from AutoStitch

2011-12-25T11:29:00.001-05:00

Bonaventure Cemetery

2011-12-25T10:18:00.000-05:00

Yet another from Forsyth Park

2011-12-24T13:30:00.000-05:00

Forsooth

2011-12-24T10:23:00.000-05:00

Forsyth Park #2

2011-12-24T09:57:00.001-05:00

Forsyth Park, Savannah

2011-12-24T09:26:00.001-05:00

I Heart Siri

2011-12-23T17:02:00.000-05:00

Jacksonville, FL

2011-12-23T16:42:00.001-05:00

Flagler Beach

2011-12-23T14:17:00.001-05:00

Emeralda Marsh panorama #2

2011-12-22T14:07:00.001-05:00

Emeralda Marsh panorama

2011-12-22T13:50:00.001-05:00

Mount Dora Christmas lights

2011-12-21T20:31:00.001-05:00

Eustis Lake Walk

2011-12-21T20:30:00.001-05:00

Trimble Park, Mount Dora

2011-12-21T15:18:00.001-05:00

Ocala, FL

2011-12-20T12:31:00.000-05:00

Tupelo, MS

2011-12-19T16:35:00.000-05:00

Charlie at the Tennessee River

2011-12-19T14:54:00.001-05:00

Tennessee River #2

2011-12-19T14:52:00.001-05:00

Tennessee River

2011-12-19T14:51:00.001-05:00

Water Valley #2

2011-12-19T12:24:00.000-05:00

Water Valley

2011-12-19T12:22:00.001-05:00

Double Arch Bridge, Birdsong Hollow

2011-12-19T11:37:00.000-05:00

Entering Natchez Trace Parkway

2011-12-19T11:13:00.001-05:00

J Percy Priest Reservoir, #2

2011-12-18T17:16:00.001-05:00

J Percy Priest Reservoir, #1

2011-12-18T17:15:00.001-05:00

The Mulberry, Elizabethtown

2011-12-17T21:12:00.000-05:00

Outside Bowling Green, #2

2011-12-17T21:07:00.001-05:00

Outside Bowling Green

2011-12-17T16:59:00.001-05:00

Elizabethtown

2011-12-17T15:02:00.001-05:00

Good movie.

Charlie, Twin Lakes

2011-11-24T08:46:00.000-05:00

Infamous grandstands

2011-08-20T19:40:00.001-04:00

Boy Scout bridge

2011-08-20T19:33:00.001-04:00

Nubian goat

2011-08-20T17:17:00.000-04:00

Time for Fun

2011-08-20T15:58:00.001-04:00

Shuttle

2011-08-20T15:44:00.001-04:00

Tractor parade

2011-08-13T18:52:00.000-04:00

Mark Booth with Peregrine Falcon

2011-08-13T18:05:00.000-04:00

Mark Booth and Jack

2011-08-13T16:36:00.000-04:00

...And Midgets

2011-01-01T17:17:00.000-05:00

Highway 18, Home to Giants

2011-01-01T17:15:00.000-05:00

Montpelier, Indiana

2011-01-01T17:06:00.000-05:00

Fear for Pixar

2010-11-26T20:43:00.004-05:00

I saw Tangled today; entertaining, but perhaps only the fourth-best animated film of the year.

John Lasseter of Pixar fame was listed as executive producer; anything Lasseter touches should be better, but this was fairly standard Disney fare.

What concerns me more was the trailer for Cars 2 that preceded it. I admittedly wasn't a big fan of Cars, but the sequel looks like a disaster.

I think everyone hoped that Pixar would infect Disney with their creativity and risk-taking, but for a company averse to sequels, it's worth noting that of their four films for 2010 and beyond, three are sequels (Monsters Inc 2 is planned for release in late 2012).

Steve Jobs, are you paying attention? In another quarter or three, you could buy Disney outright with the cash Apple has in the bank; maybe it's time to shake things up a bit.

Greensburg

2010-11-25T13:42:00.000-05:00

Rushville

2010-11-25T13:13:00.000-05:00

New Pal

2010-11-25T12:41:00.000-05:00

Dead Man's Cell Phone

2010-10-16T22:52:00.003-04:00

I completed the Sarah Ruhl Indy-area trifecta tonight by catching Dead Man's Cell Phone, performed by the Carmel Players.

It was entertaining, but in retrospect, I wish I hadn't known it was a Ruhl play. During the first act, I waited for it to capture me like In the Next Room or Eurydice; I finally had to reset my expectations in order to enjoy myself.

Not that the actors let me down; I think they did a fine job. However, the script itself simply wasn't up to the level of the others, or perhaps it didn't play to my sensibilities–your mileage may vary.

Nonetheless, the play was well-cast and performed. Diann Ryan took advantage of a juicy role as the domineering mother, and Catherine Nading was delightfully wicked. I was unsurprised to discover via the playbill that she had formerly played Lady Macbeth; I suspect she took to that character like a fish to water.

Greg Howard was deliciously amoral. Despite being the "title" character (and perhaps fittingly for someone playing a dead man) he had far too little stage time: his monologue directed to the audience was the first scene that really grabbed my attention, and sadly it didn't occur until after intermission.

The stage hands played to the audience during scene transitions, but I found the effect uneven at best. Suzie Catering made sure she was noticed, but the other performers mostly failed to leave an impression.

Overall, I'm glad I went, but it won't be one that sticks with me like the other Ruhl plays.

Sarah Ruhl month in Indianapolis

2010-10-10T20:27:00.006-04:00

Phoenix Theatre, In the Next Room, September 30-October 24, 2010
Butler Theatre, Eurydice, October 6-10, 2010
Carmel Community Players, Dead Man's Cell Phone, October 14-24, 2010

Clearly Sarah Ruhl, the playwright for all three, is a popular woman in Indy this month. She won a MacArthur Fellowship, but having such a prominent presence in our city is surely the greater honor.

And how are the plays? Glad you asked.

Butler's performance of Eurydice was poignant and beautiful. The spartan stage was, if anything, more evocative than an elaborate set would have been, and the student actors were quite capable. The Stone chorus provided exposition where necessary and comic relief that was sorely needed for such a dark, moving story. The father/daughter relationship was heart-wrenching.

The Phoenix has done their usual masterful work on In the Next Room. It's hard to single out any particular performances, because everyone who took the stage did so with élan, but Michael Shelton and Lauren Briggeman are the heart and soul of the story, and each conveys a complex mixture of strength and vulnerability. Briggeman in particular grabs the audience and takes us with her on her roller-coaster ride of emotions; her evocative facial expressions are evidently finely honed.

Angela Plank has shone in several recent plays for the Phoenix, and her performance here does not disappoint. She plays a difficult, understated role with grace.

Dwandra Nicole similarly has a restrained role through most of the play, but her monologue near the end leaves no doubt as to her acting skills.

Scot Greenwell doesn't appear until the second half of the show, but acts as the catalyst for Nicole's speech and compels Shelton and Briggeman to confront the problems with their marriage. His is a rich performance with no false notes.

In the Next Room runs for two more weeks; despite its unorthodox subject matter that will undoubtedly turn off some who read its subtitle (you'll have to find that out for yourself), it is as close to a must-see performance as you're likely to find in central Indiana.

At least until the next Phoenix production.

Of money and visual display of information

2010-10-05T21:30:00.002-04:00

And speaking of good visual display of information (and Apple)...

Horace Dediu's final chart of phone manufacturer profits and growth is a marvel, both of display and content.

Of lawsuits and visual display of information

2010-10-05T21:22:00.004-04:00

Dramatic improvement over the Guardian's take. Tufte, your turn.

Update: Here's my version. Rougher than the one from Design Language, but I think that one sacrifices too much by pursuing aesthetics. Mine could be cleaned up by someone with a sense of design, certainly, but I find mine much easier to scan.

Update #2: Dan Moren's version is vastly easier to process than any of the above.

Celtic Spring

2010-09-18T22:51:00.002-04:00

I have been going to the Indianapolis Irish Fest for many years, and I've seen great performers (how I miss you, Gael Sli), but I've never seen a show as entertaining as those put on today by Celtic Spring. TV watchers may already know of the Wood family, courtesy of last year's America's Got Talent, but today was my first exposure to them. High-kicking musical fun of the highest order, alongside haunting renditions of Amazing Grace and Sleeping Tune.

Simply magnificent. Thank you for coming to Indianapolis.

Editors untie!

2010-09-11T00:40:00.002-04:00

Spotted in Macworld UK (emphasis mine):

While some attorneys using iPads must still rely on desktops or laptops for long document creation or editing, LaRow said he and others in his company find that using a Bluetooth keyboard with the iPad is working just fine for creating long memos. LaRow is also using a Bluetooth mouse supplied by Apple when he sits to use the iPad.

What's this? Without a cursor, a mouse would be largely unusable, and so far as I know there's no mouse support for the iPad. Curious.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Stable Boy and the iPad

2010-09-08T19:23:00.002-04:00

A compelling anecdote about the user-friendliness of the iPad from Forbes. Try that with a netbook.

Deep Fried Butter

2010-08-19T11:50:00.000-04:00

My oh my, that's good. Couldn't refrain this time around.

Are you kidding me?

2010-08-16T19:51:00.002-04:00

Legally compel manufacturers to include an FM radio chip in all mobile devices? Seriously? Did I wake up in some alternate universe? Nope, still have my beard.

The RIAA has done enough damage. Please, someone, let's legislate them out of existence. (Yes, that's a feeble attempt at humor, not an exercise in hypocrisy.)

Folk heroes

2010-08-12T02:43:00.002-04:00

Curious how the last two folk heroes both emerged from the airline biz: Sully & Slater. Not bad for an industry that never seems to actually turn a profit.

Under construction

2010-08-07T15:25:00.000-04:00

Calorie Alley at the Indiana State Fair

2010-08-07T15:23:00.000-04:00

I refrained. Barely. But since I'm still here, there's time to recant...

Alpha & Omega

2010-07-05T12:11:00.003-04:00

Seeing trailers for this film just drives home how much of a lead Pixar and Dreamworks have over most of the industry. Predictable plot, primitive graphics. I'm guessing it'll be in at the dollar theaters well inside of a month.

Of Forest Tunnels and Watery Fields

2010-06-27T00:06:00.003-04:00

Just west of Fairland Indiana [maps.google.com] along 400N, one temporarily leaves the corn and soybean fields and travels through a dense canopy for roughly 3/4ths of a mile. It's quite an unexpected pleasure.

Because I didn't take the time to figure out how to capture it photographically during my Saturday road trip (my 2nd of the summer, and much more random than Friday's jaunt), here instead is a partially flooded field along 550W. Also iPhone 4, edited in a different app.

Arlington Elementary School

2010-06-26T23:50:00.004-04:00

Took my first summer road trip yesterday; it was also my first road trip with my new iPhone 4, and as importantly, the first road trip with my new iPhone 4's camera.

This is a beautiful school in Arlington, Indiana [maps.google.com], along my favorite road trip highway, 52. The photo was taken on my iPhone and edited with one of its apps.

Per a Word document on their website (really, you couldn't put this in HTML or PDF?):

The mission of the RUSH COUNTY SCHOOLS is to provide an appropriate educational program and learning environment which will effectively:

MEET THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF ITS STUDENTS AND CITIZENS;

HELP ITS STUDENTS ACCOMPLISH EDUCATIONAL GOALS WHICH ARE SIGNIFICANT, DURABLE, AND/OR TRANSFERABLE.

It's a little discouraging that some of Indiana's school systems don't know that SHOUTING IN ALL CAPS IS A LITTLE HARD TO READ. I'm also disappointed in the use of "and/or"; it makes an already wishy-washy mission statement even less significant and/or durable.

Wayfarin' Stranger

2010-06-19T15:17:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure there's a more beautiful rendition of a more beautiful song than Tim O'Brien's performance of Wayfarin' Stranger, from "Songs from the Mountain."

Wrenching violin (fiddle?) work, heart-felt vocals. Highly recommended.

The Chronically Unreasonable Steve Jobs

2010-06-18T09:04:00.001-04:00

The article says it all.

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/steve-jobs/6/18/2010/id/28810

Sent from my iPad

Why FaceTime Matters

2010-06-07T20:36:00.003-04:00

The Europeans are pointing out that they've had video calls for years and never use the feature.

My question is this: can you switch in-call?

My guess is that the killer feature for Apple's new FaceTime feature is the off switch.

I'm talking to a family member and I mention that my dog has wandered into the room. "Here, let me show her." The key is this: I would never make a video call to a family member except as an experiment, but to be able to fire it up and show something interesting? That's way cool.

Without music...

2010-05-31T13:58:00.001-04:00

Truth, Beauty, Science

2010-05-30T22:55:00.001-04:00

A World Without Monarch Butterflies

2010-05-30T20:08:00.000-04:00

...is too horrible to contemplate.

Memorial Day

2010-05-30T20:00:00.001-04:00

Missed Opportunity

2010-05-21T09:06:00.001-04:00

The one moment in Robin Hood where I thought to myself that the movie could redeem itself was a brief hallway confrontation between King John's advisors, played by William Hurt and Mark Strong. If the movie had just focused more on interactions between those characters and less on, well, just about everyone else, I think it would have been much more interesting.