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1,474 Megapixel view of the Inaugural

Click on the image below to see a spellbinding view of the recent innaugural by David Bergman.
Obama inaugural in impossibly detailed resolution

The photographer’s blogsite is here:

http://www.davidbergman.net/blog/2009/01/22/how-i-made-a-1474-megapixel-photo-during-president-obamas-inaugural-address/

Or at GigaPan here:

http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=15374&window_height=867&window_width=1663

Really quite a technical photographic achievement that now has become an amazing artistic accomplishment as well. Well worth your time. Scrolling around, you really get a feel for how cold it was. And it’s also interesting to see just how many cameras were there, between the crowd and the pros. Obviously, it was an important moment, and it was covered. I have done many stitched panoramas for online home virtual tours, but this is more extraordinary by an order of a magnitude. The equivalent of 220 photos stitched.

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Dinner and a Movie at the Cascade, with a few pix

Dinner and movie
We attended last evening’s Dinner and a Movie at the lovely Cascade Theater.
Dinner and movie
Sponsored by chef Doni Greenberg of Food for Thought/A News Cafe among others, this series showcases a food themed movie, and then features a cooking demonstration onstage. Last night, it was Doni, along with Nancy Matthews of Chocolat de Nannette fame. Mmm. Truffles. They have the recipe at the website. I learned a new word for mouth-watering: Ganache. You can click on the link for more.
Dinner and movie
This was the 3rd in the 4 part series. The movie “Babbette’s Feast” was unknown to me. To say it was slow starter would be an understatement. But the film really grows on you, until the climax, which was as satisfying as the treats Doni and Nancy had made for us all.
Dinner and movie
We had a glass of Shiraz and enjoyed the exquisite treats they’d made for the audience.
Dinner and movie
Slow-shutter hand-held view. What a great evening! I hope they continue the series.

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We're watching the Innagural today

Obama

An orderly change of government. Change we can hope for.

Please end this war in Iraq.

Please put the US back to work.

Please restore our place of respect in the world.

Not too much to ask for, I hope.

Just seeing your face as president means so much.

We are the United States of America.

Bush

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Redding Dragstrip Awards Banquet

Dragstrip Awards Banquet
Saturday night we attended the Awards Banquet for the 2008 Drag Racing Season for the Redding Dragstrip. It was held at Win River Casino Meeting upstairs. They gave a great prime rib dinner.

WinRiver Casino

We really like the staff of Win-River. They are very professional and every bit as good as any meeting providers I’ve ever encountered. And I’ve met many, in years at management at Kodak. I was impressed.
Dragstrip Awards Banquet
I’m only a casual fan of the sport, not a racer. I do their website, and do enjoy taking pictures out there. And it’s important to me that the dragstrip provides a safe place for street racers who would otherwise be racing on your streets. I really like that among the pros, it’s very much a family thing. There were lots of kids running around the banquet. A great time for all.
Dragstrip Awards Jacket

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Friday night at the ER

Entrance to Mercy ER at night
Friday night was hoppin’ at Mercy’s ER. Busy busy. I gave a loved-one a ride. Nothing exactly life threatening, but there was no other choice for late-night medical care coming up on a weekend. There were lots of other folks in various circumstances as we waited. If you’ve been in Shasta County a while, you’ve probably been to an ER some night you’d rather be somewhere else, along with all the others with similar wishes to be anywhere but here. All waiting around. Perhaps you’ve been here more than you’d like to remember.
Entrance to Mercy ER at night
We are told we have the best medical care in the world in the US. In Redding, we do have good care indeed. I am very grateful for the facility and the staff, and I am totally sure I could not do what they do with their patience and pleasant demeanor. My hat’s off to those professionals, and to Mercy Medical Center. The workers were all friendly and chatty, to my happy surprise. I’m pretty sure that after just a short while working there on a busy night, I’d be stone faced, saying just “next.” Many of the people in the waiting room were fairly rude under stress. The staff was not. Kudos to you folks.

Watching the anxious patients and their families on busy Friday night at the ER, you have to wonder if there isn’t a better way to handle things that are not life threatening, though. Meanwhile you wait…..

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Jury, it's not just a duty.

They floated me a few days, but finally called me to serve. I sat with the hundred or so of our fellow jurors in Shasta County waiting to do our duty. There was fellow Chamber Member, Kurt Mitchell of Edward Jones. Also seen there were was fellow agent and friend Lara Wells Osborn of Coldwell Banker. All taking a day (or more) off to do our civic duty. Good to see our citizens exercising their rights and duties under our judicial system.

We watched the video from the judge, and listened as staffers talked us through the process. Did you know it’s against the law to take pictures in the Jury Assembly area? I didn’t. You learn several new things at every chance to serve.

Courthouse

As it turned out I was juror 11. The plaintiff acted as her own attorney, in pro per, as I understand it. (Note to self – NEVER DO THAT!) We sat through her day in court, but she seemed to have no case. The opposing attorney absolutely SHREDDED her, although very kindly and professional, all the while. The judge, Cara Beatty was exceptionally patient and understanding, and made an excellent impression. That’s how all judges should treat people. It was dismissed mid-afternoon on a motion, mercifully. You should have heard people’s comments as we walked out the Courthouse. Wow, they were very patient in the jury box, but the conversation at deliberations would have been flaming, I’m sure. Glad we didn’t get there.

As I arrived in the assembly area, my shoe disintegrated. These were Clarks, supposedly a good British shoe. I wonder if this was a knock off? Naturally, I sat in the front row of the jury box, so all assembled in the room could clearly see my toes. Nice. If ever there was a good indicator that I need your business, this was it. I need new SHOES!
Clarks shoes

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League of Women Voters Soup Supper at Lema Ranch w/pics

I’ve been called to jury duty today. If you need Real Estate help, Erin’s got it covered.
Soup Supper at Lema Ranch
We attended the League of Women Voters Annual Soup Supper at Lema Ranch last evening. Lot’s of great people and atmosphere.
Soup Supper at Lema Ranch
Plus excellent food was in abundance. Everybody brought an interesting soup.
Soup Supper at Lema Ranch
Erin received an award for her work with the League, seen above with Susan Wilson.
Soup Supper at Lema Ranch
Our speaker for the evening was Mike Chuchel, the Unit Chief/County Fire Warden of CalFire in Shasta County. He spoke about fire safety and about last season’s horrific lightning sparked fire event. People, you need to pay careful attention to the 100 feet of defensible space rule! Mike says they are going to start citing offenders this year, instead of simply warning.
Soup Supper at Lema Ranch

There were hundreds of fires last summer. Thousands of acres burned, but few homes were lost, due to the hard work of our many firefighters from all over the state. Mike had lots of interesting anecdotes and statistics about the season. As he pointed out, you may not think it was such a big deal, but how many other events here can you think of where the President of the United States showed up to look? Plus our Governator came here 4 times in one month. It was a very big deal. I hope we never see its like again, but the warm January evening does not bode well for the dry winter we’ve had so far.
Soup Supper at Lema Ranch
Lema Ranch is as stunning at night is as it is by day. What a lovely resource. It was a terrific evening!

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Rare historical Drag Racing video from Redding CA 1962 or 63

I posted a very rare short video of a day at the races in either 1962 or ’63 at the Redding Dragstrip in Redding. It’s fascinating to see what it looked like back then. The video appears to a be a dub of an 8mm film titled “Drag Day”, and made by the Sparman family. Shot in “Sparmascope” no less. Really fun to watch:

Our great thanks to the Sparmans for preserving this bit of our history about 45 years ago. I am tracking down another one like this that is also very interesting, and hope to post it soon. If you have any old movies or videos of the Redding Dragstrip, I’d appreciate hearing from you. As of now, it looks like our dragstrip is the oldest continuously operating drag racing facility in California. Redding has always been a big car town, and these images reveal a glimpse of our past.

As an aside, I run the website for the Redding Dragstrip, since a neighbor found out I had the ability, and their previous web person bowed out. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ve met lots of nice folks. You can view that website HERE.

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Redding restaurant economic stimulus plan

I was fairly gushing a couple days ago about the Redding restaurant, Rivers, which is a favorite. I need to include another favorite, CR Gibbs. They have produced a new menu that is wildly creative and fun.
CRGibbs Menu in Redding
Click on the image to get the biggie size image of the new menu. This menu is really fun, and the food is a terrific deal. See you there!