And the Moon shall turn to blood

And the Moon shall turn to blood
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

I'm looney for the lunar eclipse! Hey, is that where they got the word "looney," from "lunar"? Yes. Yes it is.

Waiting for the eclipse

Jupiter and moons
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

While I wait for the eclipse (which doesn't start till around 2 a.m.), I figured I'd get the telescope out and see what I could see. This is Jupiter and its four brightest moons (click to go to Flickr and see notes about which is which).

Shoot the Moon

Moon
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

I got a $18 adapter today that allows me to turn the telescope that has been collecting dust in my closet for years into a freakin' big lens for my Nikon D70 camera! Expect more shots like this ... probably exactly like this ;-)

D3 vs. D300 -- hard call if you have an extra $3200 laying around

Both Nikon cameras are real -- in fact, more real than rumored.  They look amazing.  The D3 is the more "pro-level" camera, but it costs $3200 more than the D300, which is still a pretty great step up from the D70.  They come out in November, which happens to be my birthmonth, so maybe I won't have to decide which one to get and my wonderful friends, family, and even blog readers will chip in for the D3!  Hey, everyone -- start saving now!  And remember, there is no reason at all why I can't have both cameras.

Saved from embarrassment

I went to the local camera shop to see if I could get on a waiting
list for the new nikons ... Got there just in time to hear one of the
workers laughing to his friends about how some guy came in asking to
get on the waiting list for a camera that didn't even exist yet. Then
he asked what I wanted ... "just looking."

Man, though, I had better get on that waiting list when there is one!

Almost as exciting as an Apple announcement

Rumor has it that Nikon is going to annouce two new DSLR cameras tomorrow, the D3X and the D300.  I've managed to stick with the D70 despite the D70S and the very tempting D200 ... but the 3 series might be too much to pass up.  I just wonder how much these are going to cost and how impossible they will be to get when they come out.

Learn from my mistake and don't make blackhead jokes

Everyone who knows me knows I likes me the redheads ... perhaps more than what could be considered "normal" or "healthy" or "non-criminally sane." So imagine my surprise when Laurel showed up last night with her hair dyed jet black!!!  Turns out, I like that, too!

Here's your future

I really liked this week's episode of Weeds -- especially the ending.  Well, sure, it would be difficult not to like the ending if you're a straight man, but I also enjoyed the song at the end.  Weeds doesn't seem to list their music in the credits for some reason, but I discovered a website, heardontv.com, that steps right in with the solution.  The song was, "Here's Your Future" by the Thermals, a Portland, Ore., band!

Not so meaty

Meteor
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

Fortunately, after a weekend of clouds, the Seattle skies cleared up just in time for tonight's Perseids "peak" ... although I only saw 18 meteors in two hours.

A meatier shower?

Perseids 1
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

Even though the Perseids aren't at their peak, I was still able to get a couple of photos with meteors in them, just standing on my porch with a tripod and the camera set for 15 seconds exposure. I didn't see either of these with the naked eye, but I've seen 5 others so far.

Commodork

Oh man, I can't wait to get this book!  Should be here by Thursday.

Oh, Lala!

"Lala" from the TikiBar TV vidcast is now on her own show on the CBC -- Exposure.

Is this your name or a doctor's eye chart?

Laurel thinks "Dyslexic Heart" and "Alex Chilton" sound exactly the same, although DH is Paul Westerberg solo and AC is Paul Westerberg in the Replacements.  To which I have only two words in reply: Tommy Stinson.  I rest my case.  (And I like both songs.  And they do kinda sound the same.)

Back online

Thank GOD. The problem was that our cable modem was connected to an amplifier (we have 8 cable outlets to the house, so we needed an amplifier to boost the signal to all the rooms). Over time, the connections got loose, and the modem's ability to push through the amplifier got worse and worse, until finally it died. So we got a new modem, a bypass on the amplifier, and a few new, tighter connections!

Desperation dialing

Still no internet -- it has popped on for half-hour spurts a couple of times in the past two days, but that's it. I realized, though, that I have a faxmodem attached for the one time a year that I might need to send a fax. So I am now on dial-up at a blazing 49.2 kbps. That wouldn't be too bad for just some quick email checking or posting to the blog, but it is turning out to be painful because my computer is set up for broadband -- as soon as the modem connected, four or five program started grabbing at the limited bandwidth with all their pent-up download demands. Ugh.