tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254663762024-03-12T21:49:36.182-04:00inside the miche-inethe inner mind ramblings of a gymrat on a mission.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.comBlogger398125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-80664737466172644242013-09-22T21:01:00.001-04:002013-09-22T21:01:41.655-04:00expanding my horizonsyesterday i went on a photo walk with <a href="http://torontophotowalks.ca/" target="_blank">toronto photo walks</a>. a group that meets every couple of weeks to go out shooting together. saturday was a scheduled walk around the belfountain conservation area. i was excited to make this trip as belfountain has a waterfall and as you all know i am all about shooting moving water these days.<br />
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it was a rainy, wet saturday. so along with my first time shooting with a new group of people it was also my first time shooting in the rain. it was difficult keeping my equipment dry. just about everyone had a different way to try to work around the elements from ponchos, to umbrellas, to camera pouches. i had picked up some optech camera sleeves a long time ago and saturday was my first time trying to use it. i would not grade the attempt a raving success but i am hopeful that with more experience i will have more success with the sleeves.<br />
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overall i was happy with the images that i got but unfortunately there were some images ruined because rain droplets had collected on my lens. that was hard to deal with but it is part of the game. the display monitor on the back of the D100 is only 1.8 square inches. so i didn't notice the water droplets until i got the images downloaded onto my computer at home.<br />
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the group is quite the cross-section of personalities and i could see myself going on future walks.<br />
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my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/michesk8r/sets/72157635735324145/" target="_blank">flickr</a> set from saturday.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-78858614440909879242013-09-17T01:00:00.000-04:002013-09-17T08:33:58.463-04:00it's all starting to come togetheri am currently in a very good place emotionally. my last couple of experiences with my dslr have been quite personally satisfying. i really feel like i am becoming quite proud of the images i am capturing. don't get me wrong, it is still a process and i am still making mistakes but even with the missteps i am still producing images that prove that i am moving in the right direction.<br />
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that of course is not to say that i am still not ridiculously hard on myself, that is a character flaw that will likely be a constant. the upside of my flaw means that i will likely will always be striving for improvements. i will always be trying to learn new things and will always be trying to gain new experiences.<br />
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the other positive is that i am starting to have discussions that could potentially lead to 'professional' opportunities. people are seeing my photos, liking my photos and are approaching me with potential photo shoot opportunities. at this point, the opportunities are all still in the discussion stage but even being in the discussion stage is exciting. some of the opportunities have prompted me to spend some time gaining the required knowledge to ensure that i can produce the best possible product. that said, even if the opportunity never materializes that new knowledge will be mine forever. and you can't beat that!<br />
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i feel like the next phase in my 'growth' is to expand my 'world'. currently i shoot by myself or i go out occasionally with the poorboi. i have learned and will continue to learn tons from him but i also want the opportunity to shoot with other people, simply because there is so much more to learn. to that end i am hoping to start going out on photo walks with a local organization and i have also started a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/michesk8r/" target="_blank">flickr account</a>.<br />
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photographic social media sites like flickr and instagram provide photographers with a community. it can provide opportunities for critiques and other forms of interaction that i could only benefit from. the decision to start a flickr page was a difficult decision that i laboured over for some time. is my 'work' good enough? will the critiques be positive experiences or will the general consensus be to take up knitting? only time will tell.<br />
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i put up six images that i feel, at this time, are my best images and now i just need to wait and see what, if anything becomes of it. the challenge of course is to not log on every 38 seconds to see if anyone has stopped by yet.<br />
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things are currently going very well on the gym floor as well. i seem to have been able to consistently maintain a body weight of under 170 lbs. i believe that 165 lbs would be the best possible off-season weight for me and without too much effort i have on occasion tagged just over 166.5 lbs.<br />
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i am currently running a dead lift protocol. i still intend to best my p.r. of 405 lbs. the few times i have pulled that weight in the past has been only for a single rep. it has been a long time since i last tried to get that much weight up off the floor. in two weeks i hope to either be able to match my p.r. or best it by a single rep. the interesting thing about 405 lbs. is that the first rep comes off the floor with 'relative' ease but on the second rep it feels like somebody is standsing on the bar. i end up pulling like a mother f%#ker but the bar never even clears the floor. at this point my goal is to film that workout in the hopes of nailing the lift or at the very least discovering where the form break down occurs so that i can fix it. i will keep you all posted.<br />
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and now a few of the images from my last couple of photographic adventures... and as always enjoy!!!<br />
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<br />michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-38314320723895660612013-08-25T22:33:00.001-04:002013-08-25T22:33:46.579-04:00tryin' to keep it all in perspectiveyesterday i had an opportunity to tag along with my older brothers while they played in a golf tournament. my interest in being there was not to play, the allure of the game of golf continues to escapes me. what got me out on the links was the opportunity to try to gain another skill set. i wanted to try my hand at sports photography.<br />
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i mistakenly thought that golf would not be that hard to shoot but i was wrong. there are definite rules about when you can fire your shutter, for example at no time during the back-swing. simply put you can only shoot from the time the player contacts the ball, through to their follow-through.<br />
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the course as well can limit where you can stand and the skill level of the player can determines where you stand. my quest to be ahead and to the left of the action was quickly pooh-poohed. i found out that have a brother who has a tendency to rocket the golf ball out that way.<br />
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trying to ensure tight focus was also a challenge that i did not expect. while the player was setting up their shot i would target my focus but what i failed to recognize is that during the act of swinging the player actually moves forward. so i was a bit disappointed as i felt my shots weren't as sharp as they could be. who am i kidding i was for all intensive purposes beating myself up over my perceived failings. stupid mostly because HELLO it was my first time and i was shooting a sport i really had no clue about.<br />
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i know that my family will get a lot of pleasure out of the pictures i took and if there is any critiquing to be had it will be of their golfing form and not of my photographic skills.<br />
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sometimes too much knowledge is a dangerous thing. prior to the tournament i did some research on how to shoot and i looked at a lot of golf photographs. i really hoped that i could emulate what i saw but i think i set myself up for an impossible task. i showed a few of my pics to the poorboi and he had to remind me that the professionals shoot with pro style cameras and lenses. as he reminded me i do not have comparable equipment and he felt that i did an awesome job with what i had.<br />
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another friend, who i will refer to as the little general also had some poignant words of wisdom for me today. she reminded me that if i continue to push myself to be perfect every time i press my shutter i run the risk of losing the joy that i have found with the camera.<br />
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i am lucky, i have some really great friends.<br />
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and as per usual a couple of pics for your entertainment. enjoy!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pEFGkO4Es2k/Uhq9AACgNEI/AAAAAAAAAUw/On6OKsIZxiY/s1600/DSC_8532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bzNLDosCzNg/Uhq9ALANNyI/AAAAAAAAAUs/89KxEUhFcyQ/s1600/DSC_8390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bzNLDosCzNg/Uhq9ALANNyI/AAAAAAAAAUs/89KxEUhFcyQ/s200/DSC_8390.jpg" width="132" /></a><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pEFGkO4Es2k/Uhq9AACgNEI/AAAAAAAAAUw/On6OKsIZxiY/s200/DSC_8532.jpg" width="132" />michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-56638172783200255282013-08-21T21:19:00.003-04:002013-08-21T21:19:54.388-04:00here comes the sun and i say... it will do for nowi am still here still distracted by the digital camera and still trying to learn as much as i can. even though i haven't been posting with the frequency i once did i am still shooting fairly regularly. however it is mostly just my mothers assorted flora.<br />
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i was having trouble sleeping last night and since i was wide awake i crawled out of bed and went looking for a sunrise photo opportunity. based on all my reading you are supposed to scout locations before you attempt to shoot a sunrise but i can't imagine just wandering around without the camera and if it is with you... wouldn't you just shoot?<br />
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the first location i went too was gated and i could not get in. my back up plan was to shoot a nearby fighter plane monument. sadly the large trees and thick vegetation that surround the plane made it hard to get a good sense of the sunrise in the pictures.<br />
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the trees that surround the monument were dark, the monument itself was dark and it was just before sunrise. if i exposed the shot for the plane then i lost all of the interesting colours in the early morning sky. if i exposed for the sky the plane and trees were overexposed. the best work around in this case was to use the hdr technique that i tried earlier. in this case i would say it was more of a successful endeavour than my last hdr attempt.<br />
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the key to sunrise photography is to face east when you shoot your subject. i have a couple of problems with that the first being my directionally challenged ass has no clue when i am facing east. i also still have to find an interesting subject to marry with the early morning sun. i would also prefer a location that is reasonably close to home and somewhere that isn't too sketchy or dodgy.<br />
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but until then... enjoy!<br />
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<br />michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-1668523130726243252013-08-04T14:14:00.003-04:002013-08-04T14:20:50.904-04:00into each day...i haven't been blogging as frequently as i have been. partially
because i am all kinds of distracted with the new camera but also
because there have been some challenges to deal with lately. since i'd
really rather this be a happy place where people can come to be amused
or entertained i have refrained from posting about the more shitty
events in my life.<br />
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the training continues, the shooting
continues, the writing however seems to be on a hiatus. i blame that
soley on the shoulders of the 'fro' and by extension onto the poorboi.
along with supplying me with a nikon camera body that quickly became
like crack to me. the poorboi has also provided me with some links from
which to gain information and/or knowledge about the art of photography.
one of those links was to the site of jared polin at FroKnowsPhoto.com.
the 'fro' has been posting videos and supplying information for about
three years. there are tons of videos to watch and since photography is
my new crack, i have been doing my level best to watch them which means
there is little time for anything else.<br />
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i wanted to try
hdr photography. an image that is composed of several exposures of the
same shot providing a photo with a high dynamic range. for the most part
the photos that i have seen in this style have been overly processed,
in my opinion to the point where they cease to look like photos to me
and look more like very high-end graphic novel imagery. but every now
and then i will come across an image where the hdr is so subtle that the
end image still looks like a real photo and that was my goal. i'd like
to say that i achieved what i set out to do but i really can't say that i
have. as i am still learning i am still making some mistakes during the
initial shoot that i think were amplified by the time i got to the hdr
portion of the exercise. but as they say you live and you learn.<br />
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the hdr images:<br />
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some other recent images:<br />
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until next time michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-43164886025425369312013-07-15T22:04:00.000-04:002013-07-15T22:04:04.409-04:00the neutral density filterthere is a distinct upside to owning a dslr. it has provided me with hours of amusement. is there a downside? well if there was one i would say it makes it really difficult to control the six-year old within who has a case of the gimmies and/or the i wants. photography is fun and there are countless things you can do with your camera and most times there is a gadget that makes that 'thing' that much easier to do.<br />
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in the scant few months since i have had this nikon i have been back and forth to henry's or hanks as the poorboi and i hath dubbed it, countless times.<br />
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first i had a camera body and needed a lens. then i just couldn't use any of my old camera bags and well i also <i>had</i> to have a new strap but in my defense the dslr is heavier than my slr. please note the weight issue as it becomes an issue later.<br />
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after i started experimenting with depth-of-field photography i just had to have a filter to help blur the backgrounds. i bought an ill-fitting neutral density filter and ended up exchanging it for a circular polarizing filter. next i purchased the accessories to clean my camera sensor, even though i was petrified to do it. i also purchased disposable plastic sleeves for shooting in wet weather and an a/c adapter it was a fairly pricey purchase, especially since i also left hanks with a 70-300 mm zoom lens. i really have <i>no</i> idea how that happened... i think it just followed me home... although there is a line of the bill-of-sale that negates that theory.<br />
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wouldn't you know it with the new lens i could no longer fit all of my equipment into my camera bag. so back to hanks i went. there was a brief moment of indecisiveness as i debated between the bag that would be <i>just right</i> and the bag with <i>a little room to grow</i>. eventually realizing that i couldn't be trusted i left with the bag that was <i>just right</i>. <br />
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the poorboi started to experiment with long-exposure photography and as soon as he started talking about it i found myself perusing hanks online just to see price the shutter release. i think i lasted about a week before i walked in and purchased my first shutter release. my first because i once again bought something that did not exactly fit the camera set-up i have. so the next day i was back at hanks to get that sorted out. the shutter release allowed me to start painting with light and that was all kinds of fun.<br />
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the poorboi however had graduated to long-exposure with a neutral density filter and i was totally stoked on the pictures he shot. i went back to hanks online and wouldn't you know it, the nd filter that would best suit my needs was not available in-store and on top of the filter i was forced to purchase another 4 gb compact flash card in order to get free shipping.<br />
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after the filter arrived the poorboi and i headed west to shoot moving water. well it turns out that my tripod was not quite sturdy enough to support my dslr. there was a moment of panic when the camera slipped, i had one hand on the camera body and the other holding the filter. at that moment i was sorely lacking in hands. anyway the day ended with a trip back to hanks and i now have a tripod that i can rely on.<br />
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these are some of the images from last week's long-exposure nd filter waterfalls shoot. enjoy!<br />
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<br />michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-25775331177389242162013-06-30T23:25:00.002-04:002013-06-30T23:26:33.684-04:00might as well face it you're addicted to nikoni have been having fun discovering some of the different things that can be done with a digital SLR camera.<br />
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as i mentioned in previous blogs i have been trying to learn how to capture birds in flight. there is a park along the waters edge that has a lot of airborne avian activity. my last attempt of bird in flight or BIF photography was thwarted by an overabundance of human traffic. the poorboi suggested that i needed to get an earlier start to my shooting day, he actually suggested a 5 am start... and no, i have no idea when he started smoking crack. although i was at the water's edge earlier than the time before i was still sawing logs at 5 am.<br />
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there were more birds out and about when i got there but they weren't necessarily flying. it was closer to 10 am before the birds actually got active. i did have a couple of new challenges that day; first it was a fairly overcast morning which was causing me a lot of difficulties with exposure settings and if that wasn't enough the auto focus feature on my zoom lens went tits up. up until that point the simple act of tracking the bird in flight, the art of keeping the bird within my viewfinder was almost more than i could handle. unfortunately with the AF on the fritz i was forced to rely on my ability to quickly master manual focus BIF photography. as there were 140 shots attempted and only 20 that turned out, i guess i didn't master it all that quickly.<br />
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lather that evening i decided to mess around with a little long exposure photography and specifically a technique called 'painting with light'. the basic premise is that you shoot at night with your camera set up with an exposure time that lasts several seconds. if your shutter is open long enough you can actually shoot pictures in the dead of night. the paint with light part comes into play when you move a flash light, torch or other device of illumination over areas of your subject. those areas can get a glow quality to them which can really make an interesting and dramatic image.<br />
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it is also possible to get the trails of light within the shot, the trails come from whatever device you chose to light your subject.<br />
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i was outside between the hours of 10:30 and 11:30 pm and i was well away from the street lights. i was shooting in an area that was really quite dark. up until the point where my eyesight finally adjusted, a good 30 minutes after i started, i'd been tripping over every single thing around. for future endeavours i will ensure that there is clear space within a 3 foot radius of where i intend to work and around my subject.<br />
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yesterday's subject of choice was my motorcycle and i was quite amazed at how clear the images were, even though it was pitch black out i managed to photograph some very dramatic looking blue skies.<br />
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here are some of the shots from yesterday's shoots. i do hope you enjoy.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-veA562dPWvM/UdD1bLL1PbI/AAAAAAAAARs/MJLMBEuJj-w/s432/DSC_6973.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-veA562dPWvM/UdD1bLL1PbI/AAAAAAAAARs/MJLMBEuJj-w/s200/DSC_6973.jpg" width="200" /></a>michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-90227193981715512752013-06-23T22:56:00.001-04:002013-06-23T22:57:26.834-04:00birds-in-motion failthere were supposed to be thunder shower activity for most of this past weekend. a weather forecast that had me pretty bummed out. i had spent most of the week researching bird in motion photography and i wanted to go out and practice some of what i had learned.<br />
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to my surprise sunday did not actually appear like the scheduled rain and thunderstorm activity was going to happen. so i grabbed my trusty nikon and headed out to my favourite bird site by the lake.<br />
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i guess i wasn't the only person who was looking to make the most of the fortuitous weather as there were a bevy of folks sunning themselves, picnicking or fishing on the rocks. i can only assume that because of the increase in human traffic the birds made themselves scarce. there were a scant few birds out fishing but they seemed quite content to stay well away from the shoreline and far outside of the range of my 70-300mm lens. i gamely tried to shoot anyway but there wasn't anything worth saving from my bird in motion efforts.<br />
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i was able to catch a few smaller birds lounging about in the trees and i also shot a couple of landscapes just so the day wasn't a total waste.<br />
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michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-32667404667440573152013-06-18T23:23:00.004-04:002013-06-18T23:23:49.536-04:00reasons why - part deuxwell it looks like somebody got to work early to do a little parking lot painting.<br />
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there was another image but it was painted onto the private lane way that leads to the building. i thought about taking a picture of it for you all to enjoy but it would actually require a bit of a hike to shoot and frankly i wasn't that invested.<br />
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i should add that the bruins logo was painted onto the parking space he uses. the image that i did not shoot was another painted version of the bruins logo with 2013 written below it. to the right of the logo there was a figure that i believe was supposed to represent lord stan's cup.<br />
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when i got to work the bruins fan was all kinds of motivated to 'talk' to me. he felt that i was the only person in the building with the photoshop skill set to create the images that he was tormented with all day. frankly i am insulted. most of the images he was sent was done by suits and to be honest my photoshop is stronger than that. regardless i neither confessed nor dimed out the guilty parties.<br />
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oh and bruins fan still does not have his travel cup back.<br />
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i swear to god we work.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-30706568970416177332013-06-18T06:20:00.003-04:002013-06-18T06:26:45.167-04:00reasons why...reasons why you shouldn't leave your travel mug unattended - a photo essay<br />
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as i mentioned previously the folks at work take their hockey seriously. yesterday one of the employees left his travel mug behind on day he was out of the office. his email was inundated with several emails, a few of the attachments are included below for your enjoyment.<br />
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he should be back in the office today so i am sure there will be some form of revenge or rebuttal to be had.<br />
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<br />michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-85953028215514830482013-06-15T17:59:00.003-04:002013-06-15T20:38:37.651-04:00woman vs beast(s) - the sequelwell my friends not only is my father locked in the eternal battle of supremacy man vs squirrel, or de skee-wirl dem as it is pronounced in my house but it would appear that it is my mother and father united against the neighbourhood squirrel population.<br />
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my mother however has stepped up the game and introduced weaponry to the conflict. it seems that my mother keeps a small bag of stones near the front door in a bag. when she see's a squirrel in the front yard she hustles out to the front door to grab her ammunition as fast as her senior frame will allow. she then arms herself with the projectiles.<br />
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now before you feel inclined to report my mother to PETA allow me to finish describing the event. she then opens the front door and tosses stones underhand! somewhat in the general vicinity of the squirrel, give or take ten feet. now what concerns me most about the stone throwing is the concern for who might actually be harmed by the tossed stones that land harmlessly in the grass on the front lawn.<br />
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here's hoping my dad doesn't find the stones later with the lawn mower!!<br />
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i finally got out with the camera today, i hope that i was successful, i tried to play with the new lens and i was trying to use a feature that i haven't been successful with before. if anything turns out i will be sure to share.<br />
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all in all today's experiment with the new lens went pretty well<br />
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michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-91285161039760731842013-06-10T22:56:00.001-04:002013-06-10T22:56:21.951-04:00the walking deadyou may have noticed that i disappeared suddenly. now while i would love to tell you that i had won a lottery and had been gallivanting across the countryside with my millions that simply was not the case. first and foremost i have never gallivanted a day in my life and anyone who said i have is a damn liar!<br />
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the reality is that i have been working on a couple of projects that had me burning the candles and both ends and a bit in the middle. since last friday i have been stumbling around as though i had wandered off the set of resident evil. as luck would have it both the writing challenge and pixel poker in were temporarily put on hiatus and <i>not </i>by me!<br />
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even thought i was finally able to finish everything late last night and i still resembled an umbrella corporation casualty for the better part of the day. i managed to dive into my bed for a bit this evening where i spent some quality time staring at the inside of my eyelids with such focus and attention that you would have thought i was watching an IMAX or an ultraAVX presentation.<br />
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i am hopeful that things will be back to normal from here on out.<br />
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my last complaint is that for two weeks i have had a new camera lens that i have not had the time nor the energy to go play with. here's hoping that is something else knocked off the to-do list this week.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-15145914909522980112013-06-05T00:28:00.002-04:002013-06-05T00:28:50.356-04:00there seems to be a strange trend of late around here separate families sharing a single dwelling.<br />
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to a point you are supposed to pay attention to your neighbours and your world around you. i don't pay attention as well as i should. at best i guess you could say that i might look up one day and notice something and think... <i>hey?!</i><br />
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there is a black family living in one of the houses across the street. they had a couple of vehicles and it was not uncommon to see someone outside. recently i noticed a second row of vehicles in the driveway and some new people. to be honest i thought the black family had moved out but every now and then i would see one of the family members. then i thought maybe somebody was involved with a caucasianbut now it seems like there are a bunch of people in that house. it has to be the dwelling version of the clown car.<br />
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a couple doors down from that house there is yet another multi-family dwelling. the occupants of this house frustrate met. it would seem as though they have yet to divvy up the household tasks. well since i have never been inside the house i probably shouldn't have phrased it that way. but suffice it to say that i struggle daily not to go over there to ask when the goat is showing up. to suggest that the grass on the front lawn is a tad lengthy is an understatement. i believe at this point a small child or a purse dog could easily be lost in the hay they have out front.<br />
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the question remains will they cut the grass at any point this year or will they just wait till it dies off naturally in the fall?<br />
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210 words monday night and 126 words tuesdaymichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-8797924270872366842013-06-02T23:32:00.003-04:002013-06-02T23:32:52.893-04:00you can run but you can't hidethis was the weekend of the toronto pro show and it might be a surprise to learn that i didn't attend. that i didn't follow the results or look at any pictures. to be honest i haven't attended a bodybuilding show in several years. have i lost interest in the sport? no. the problem is it is still too painful for me to go.<br />
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the first show year after my injury i went to a couple of shows, mostly because i had helped another competitor with his posing. being in the audience knowing that i could not compete was really difficult for me. it was salt in a wound difficult. not long after that realization i also ceased and desisted on the bodybuilding message boards.<br />
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i really thought it would have been a temporary measure but here we are 5 years later and i am still a ways from getting back on stage. the desire is still there, the dream is still there but alas the left quad is not there... yet<br />
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when i got to the gym today i learned that competitors had booked the gym for post-show photo shoots. so while the rest of us trained there were the tanned and oiled flexing and lifting among us. i caught the scent of protan in the air and frankly it all made me kind of sad. in fact i'd be lying if i didn't admit that thought seriously about leaving but i will be damned if i let anyone run me out of my gym.<br />
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in other news a very healthy 477 written words today.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-89222485308204843672013-06-01T22:16:00.000-04:002013-06-01T22:16:10.618-04:00lack of exposurei was given some free tickets to henry's digital imaging show. the exposure show was an expo, presentations by guest lecturers, hands-on demos and tips shared by some renowned photographers and videographers.<br />
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i thought it might be interesting so i went to check it out. i was a little disappointed to be honest.<br />
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i am still at the point where i predominantly need more one-on-one sales assistance than was possible to get during this event. the sales counters all had a 4:1 customer to salesperson ratio and there was never a free salesperson.<br />
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i want to make another purchase but at this point i am not sure what it should be. lens? filter? flash?<br />
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there were lots of product on sale and on display but since i don't specifically want anything... suffice it to say that for me the show was an exercise in futility.<br />
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at least the tickets were free.<br />
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i am behind on my word count reports so let me take the time to catch up now.<br />
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125 words thursday<br />
166 words friday<br />
190 words todaymichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-7072422106449651222013-05-30T00:03:00.001-04:002013-05-30T00:03:59.081-04:00if i only had a dollar......for every time some one came up to me in the gym and confided in me what they were taking, what they used to take or what they wanted to take i would be a very wealthy woman.<br />
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i am not entirely sure what it is about me that makes these people treat me like father confessor. am i supposed to absolve them of their sins and then tell them to go squat ass to ground? should i be impressed? should i feel somehow closer to these people who's names i don't even know because they told me?<br />
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and why do most of them say the weirdest things? like the guy who laments about how he took what he took and then he stopped and he got all small again. yeah? research much? or the ones who complain about expensive it is to buy protein, creatine and the like to supplement training. are they under the misconception that gear is somehow cheaper? do they believe that by taking gear they are no longer required to take protein and such? i suspect in fact they do because a lot of people who have spent a lot of money clearly do not have physiques to envy.<br />
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don't they realize that it makes no sense to put indy car fuel in the smart car you only drive on sundays to the supermarket? if your going to use the high octane gasoline at least make sure your putting it in a high performance vehicle.<br />
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but mostly if you do, if you did, if you want to... keep it to yourself. it really is none of my business. but mostly don't tell me because i don't know sh*t about it and i can't help you.<br />
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265 words today.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-71201604185808070012013-05-28T22:20:00.002-04:002013-05-28T22:20:36.135-04:00rampant foolishness aboundsfrom time to time i will get in here and bemoanthe stupid, useless training practices performed by some of the population at my gym. i am not sure what the hell happened this evening. it was like there was a mass of bodies warming up for their cirque du soleil audition.<br />
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guys hanging off of all the equipment. some were either inverted like bats. others were hanging in the pike position and shifting from the left to the right and my personal favourite the idiot who felt the need to do inverted pushups at the cable station.<br />
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seriously who in the hell left the gate open?<br />
<br />
back when i first started training there it was a muscle-head gym. there were huge guys and gals lifting big ass weight. back when people were actually trying to build muscle. these days it is like the males and females of the population are scared to death to actually engage their muscle fibres.<br />
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i almost forget about the goober who demonstrated a new way to do cable crossovers. first he raised the tail of his shirt over his head to expose his chest. he then proceeded to perform a set that didn't even cause a single muscle to contract.<br />
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again i ask what is the point?<br />
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and now that i have that foolishness of my chest i will conclude today's rant with the news of 119 written words.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-78202006316714545262013-05-27T23:00:00.003-04:002013-05-27T23:00:50.606-04:00in briefi'll keep this one brief. <br />
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169 words.<br />
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i know it wasn't worth the trip to acton. i'm sorry, i promise to do better in the future.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-65776731192721456292013-05-27T00:05:00.000-04:002013-05-27T00:05:27.265-04:00if at first you don't succeed?i took the camera out again today. i went back to a sites i had been previously. i wanted to try to shoot some boats and i had really hoped to catch some reflections off the surface of the water. i got some reflection but not quite what i had in mind. it is likely that it was just the wrong time of the day to be shooting for that. but nevertheless i did get some shots that i am pretty proud of so the day was a win.<br />
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if you are keeping track back in early february i sent the game scene from my basketball story to a woman who had played collegiate ball, coached and refereed. she promised to take a look at my scene and provide feedback. she confirmed receipt of the scene but i never heard from her again.<br />
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in early march i sent the game scene to a woman who is the head coach of a collegiate women's team. she promised to take a look, provide feedback and answer any further questions i had. a month passed before i sent a follow-up email she apologized for not responding earlier and promised to reply by the end of that week. i never heard from her again.<br />
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today i sent the game scene to a journalist who covers collegiate women's basketball. my fingers are crossed that the third time is the charm.<br />
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much of what i wrote today was just re-working the game scene before i sent it off and that is why i am recording a mere 15 words.<br />
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and some pictures for your amusement... or maybe just mine.<br />
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<br />michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-65795077270983489352013-05-26T00:10:00.003-04:002013-05-26T00:10:41.299-04:00the song remains the samethe bloke and i discussed my failing and we have decided to continue the challenge however the new end date is the 2nd of july. an extra 30 days tacked on for those who are counting.<br />
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i went to see the fast and furious sequel. fast and furious 6, again for those who are counting. the american muscle car is a beautiful thing and i for one believe you have to support a movie franchise that plays homage to some of the best that ever was. the '69 stang briefly starred in this sequel and that beauty had my inner car chick salivating like one of pavlov's dogs.<br />
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i had a discussion with a guy at work who could not believe that they had enough material to make six fast and furious movies. as long as they keep showing the classics i will happily be spending my money on fast and furious seven through to seventy!!<br />
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it was a pretty pathetic 31 word showing but the important thing is that i didn't blow it again.<br />
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hopefully tomorrow i can get out with the nikon, i itch to shoot.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-63365484670476570502013-05-25T01:57:00.003-04:002013-05-25T01:57:41.960-04:00doh!well i done did it. i failed.<br />
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i run a dual monitor computer set up. when it comes to graphic applications i just prefer to have on screen dedicated to the file and the other monitor for the sub-menus. 'flash', the new machine has a video card that supports the dual monitor set up but unfortunately the second slot was for a hdmi connection.after work today i went back to the store to buy two new cables; a dvi-hdmi cable and a dvi-dvi cable.<br />
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back at home i was busy setting up the dual monitors. since the machine is new there are still frequent updates that have to be run. i lost a half an hour getting the update for all components of my CS6 software. the updates finished a scant five minutes before the start of the wnba pre-season. i intended to watch the 8:00 game and head to the gym at its conclusion.<br />
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i stepped onto the gym floor around 10:30 p.m. when i was back in the locker room after my workout i suddenly remembered that i had not yet written anything for the challenge. i quickly checked the time and to my horror it was 12:24 a.m. which meant that i had officially failed to write every day for 30 days. i immediately sent the bloke a congratulatory message and now i await the trash talking and the victory dance... although based on the way the bloke walks i am sure it would be more like a victory shuffle.<br />
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now i maybe a loser but i am not a quitter. so even though i lost i did write 207 words.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-67981244746508095472013-05-23T22:43:00.000-04:002013-05-23T22:43:24.651-04:00i'mmmmm baaaaack!!well that did not take long at all. i guess there is a bit of a difference between how fast a machine with 2 MB's runs and one with 10 MB's. i had my files uploaded onto the new machine in no time at all. i have yet to re-installed all of my software as the first order of business was to get the poster completed. which i did.<br />
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part of my ability to get up and running quickly was aided by yet another sick day. i am really starting to wonder what the hell is going on. i never used to get headaches frequently and when i did get a headache it usually meant i was about to get sick. but even then the headaches weren't much to speak of. it feels like i am getting them more frequently although it is probably because they are more severe these days. i don't really want to use the m-word because i don't experience the haloing, the vomiting and any of the other gnarly symptoms that accompany a migraine.<br />
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hopefully my head will feel free from the vice grips tomorrow, perhaps my throat will not ache and if i am truly lucky perhaps there will be no nausea.<br />
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my fingers are crossed.<br />
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now to catch you up on the writing challenge. it was 185 words yesterday and i added 254 tonight.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-63101499209099848892013-05-21T22:55:00.002-04:002013-05-21T22:55:53.093-04:00my next challengeover the next few days i will be backing up machine a and getting it ready to take it offline during that same time frame i will be loading information onto machine b and getting it ready to go online. i hope to have machine b up and running by sunday late afternoon so that i can finalize the poster art and deliver for monday.<br />
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does anybody have a delorean and a flux capacitor i can borrow for a few days?<br />
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although that might not be a good plan since hitting 88 m.p.h. would have me flirting with a street racing charge. i suppose i'd be ok if i went for it on one of our super highways at only 42 kms over the limit i might be just shy of the automatic impound street racing charge. i'd sure as hell hate to lose marty's delorean to impound.<br />
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f.y.i the writing will continue during the machine switch. it will just have to be done manually and there likely won't be any blog updates until it is complete. blogger and my cell don't work together too well.<br />
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be back soon!michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-89386047071157291242013-05-20T22:27:00.003-04:002013-05-20T22:27:53.176-04:00a little research is a dangerous thingwell it is little wonder that i was experiencing such difficulties with my files yesterday. according to what i read today 8 MB of RAM is recommended for CS6 applications. it would appear that i am still working with 2 MB's.<br />
<br />
TWO!!!<br />
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what the hell was i thinking? i might as well be just tryin' to chisel sh*t outta stone!!<br />
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so guess who is currently pricing new machines?<br />
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yeah you guessed it the woman who very clearly needs to join the rest of y'all in 2013!<br />
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and 205 words.michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25466376.post-19928094562335580382013-05-19T23:57:00.002-04:002013-05-19T23:59:11.885-04:00posters, pictures and pixels... oh my!!i spent the balance of the day fighting with the poster design. but eventually i got something that i feel comfortable enough to submit for approval.<br />
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it has become apparent lately that it is time for a new machine. uploading, copying and or organizing my digital picture files are far too RAM intensive for the machine i have now. and that doesn't even begin to cover the challenge of working on a 3' x 4' poster. frankly all the calculations was giving my computer fits. which meant that i was having fits my damn self. it was one 'application not responding' error after another and trying to save the file was no picnic either. it is not uncommon when i am designing for me to have illustrator and photoshop running concurrently. trust me when i tell you there was no concurrent today.<br />
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my hand in digital poker has been played. interestingly enough it was one of the first shots i took. no wait it was the first shot i took on the first day i went out. i went out on three separate occasions and i just never got the shot i wanted.<br />
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sometimes you get an image in your head of the shot you want but try as you might it is just not there. and even though you have taken some shots that are esthetically pleasing and interesting in their own right, because you didn't get the shot you have in your head, you just aren't happy. it probably isn't a bad thing to go out with a target shot in mind as long as you are smart enough to shoot other things while you search for the elusive shot. you just can't let yourself get so focused on what isn't there that you overlook what is.<br />
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i also had a decent word count today 135 words. i will take it!!<br />
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<br />michehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10623841948354198539noreply@blogger.com0