My favorite camera / photography web site, The Luminous Landscape

About a year ago I came across a web site I really enjoy, called The Luminous Landscape. It's a very informative and interesting site run by Michael Reichmann, a Toronto, Canada based professional photographer who specializes in landscape photography (something I enjoy). The photo above is his photo taken on a recent photo trip to Antarctica.

Micheal does a lot of digital camera equipment reviews, and writes very insightful articles on myriad topics in the world of amateur and professional photography. He is very technically knowledgeable, but has a great sense of when to trust your eyes and go by feel rather than just relying on technical data (see a recent essay here). He's an excellent writer, and he also publishes lots of training materials on how to use photography and printing software.

He seems to be the type of photographer I would have been had I gone into this field instead of my current job. I'm a person who has both a highly technical and an artistic side, and Micheal seems to be like that, too. He even enjoys watches and wrote a cool little article here making an analogy between choosing a watch and choosing camera equipment.

These Go To Eleven

My blog title refers to having a beverage after a round of golf, but giving a nod / tribute to Tiger Woods' US Open win in a Monday playoff over Rocco Mediate, which went one extra hole, thus 19 holes. So the celebratory beverage after would be the 20th hole. The part about it being one louder comes from one of the more famous scenes from the 1984 movie, This is Spinal Tap.

John and Kira's Chocolate

I wanted to give some love to John and Kira's chocolates, who make some of the best things I've ever put in my mouth. Their chocolates and candies are probably some of the best quality desserts available.

I first tried their chocolates at Christmas time a couple of years ago, when my wife's uncle Stephen and aunt Tami generously brought an every-flavor sampler box (link here) to share at a family dinner we were having at the Blackstock's house. I saw the box of assorted chocolates on the buffet counter and popped one in my mouth, expecting to taste the typical Whitman's Sampler type candy, hoping not to get the syrupy cherry-filled one (ugh). Umm, no. They use Valrhona chocolate and very fresh, high-quality flavors (such as mint from a local elementary school organic garden, whiskey coffee, or pistachio) to create really exquisite chocolates. These are chocolates for grown-ups, not kids (although I'm sure kids with discerning taste will love them, too!). Best I've ever had.

For Valentine's Day, I got Natasha and assortment of the painted ladybugs and bees, and I'm also trying some of their whiskey-chocolate figs. These are no Fig Newtons!

Torturing my children (aka making them eat their dinner)

We had a bit of a parenting adventure last night at dinner. My kids are very picky eaters, especially Daniel (pictured below eating a cupcake -- one of the few things he actually likes). He really only likes carbs (bread, tortillas, french fries, chips, crackers, mac and cheese, cake) and chicken strips. He doesn't even like normal things kids like like pizza, apples, strawberries, bananas, etc. He'll eat fruit flavored yogurt, but not actual fruit. Sigh.

We had baked salmon and rice for dinner last night, and it was very good. We also put a couple of pieces of apple and banana on their plates. Most nights, we make something our kids like, but occasionally we make them try something new, and they're not allowed to get up until they try ONE bite of each thing.

Daniel did OK with the one bite of fish, but had serious issues with taking a bite of banana. I was incredulous -- it's a freakin' banana! Daniel acted like I was making him down a bite of tofu, or maybe cyanide-laced brussels sprouts. He actually tried one bite and gagged and spit it out before he finally managed to down one. I think this process took like 30 minutes.

Best Super Bowl Commericial: ETrade Golf Baby

I think the best Super Bowl commercial was the E-Trade baby golf commercial. Best line: "Why don't you try reading the rules, Shankopotamus!"



In other golf news, Tiger Woods reports on his web site that his knee is pretty much fully healed, that he is practicing "full bore", and that he will likely return to competition soon. He has not yet announced at which tournament he will make 2009 season debut. I think his return can't come soon enough. Last time I saw him, I was seeing things like this:



And this:



And this:

Looking for an escape

Cool article in Forbes about some really nice secluded island getaways. News of the economy and my inability to afford a nice vacation has me day-dreaming of places these this.

Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Scary health plan stuff in current Obama stimulus plan

Very interesting and scary information I just read about the current proposed stimulus plan. This column in Bloomberg.com by Betsy McCaughey details how this stimulus would create a new Health Information Technology organization.

In his stump speeches pushing the plan, Obama is only mentioning the parts about digitizing health care records to ensure easier access / flow of information / health records. I don't have a problem with this part. It's the parts about government taking over health care and dictating what treatments our doctors can prescribe that scares me. As McCaughey writes:

But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”

There are many things like this contained in the stimulus package that make me strongly oppose passage. See previous post for a plan I do support.