For zombie fans (you know who you are) the date May 11, 2007 is one you want to mark on your calendar. That’s the day the movie 28 Weeks Later opens in the US. This of course is the much anticipated sequel to 28 Days Later.

Go watch the trailer!

Mmmm… stir fry!

I’ve decided I like this “getting out of the house and exploring with my camera” thing so I did the same thing tonight. It was another nice day in Seattle. They’ve been far too rare lately! I grabbed my camera and headed for Dr. Jose Rizal Park on Beacon Hill in Seattle.

But you’re saying, “Hey Mike, isn’t that a skyline similar to the ones you posted yesterday?” And you’d be correct. I navigated my way to the park but it wasn’t as nice as described online. The views were obstructed by trees and shrubs and it didn’t look like the kind of place you wanted to hang out at after dark. I did take a few photos though.

Now then, I went later in the evening because I wanted to try to capture night shots of the Seattle skyline. Since Beacon Hill was a bust, I decided to head back out to Alki since it was more or less on the way home. I setup down below by the water this time and spent a few pleasant hours enjoying the evening. As time passed the light would change and I’d take a few more photos. I think this one is among my favorites from the evening.

I was shooting off a tripod of course, in using manual shutter speed so I could bracket the shots. I use the built in self-timer for night shots to help avoid vibration.

More sun in the forecast, so I expect I’ll be looking for someplace to visit over the weekend…

Today was a frustrating day on several fronts. I realized I needed a break this afternoon when I found myself sitting at my desk ranting at my computer. It didn’t seem fazed. At that point I had to laugh at myself and realize that I needed to go do something else for a while.

There’s a park across Elliott Bay from Seattle called Hamilton Viewpoint Park. It’s a highly recommended spot for photos of the Seattle waterfront.  I had been planning to check it out and today turned out to be a great day to do that! The weather was nice, it was quiet there and I spent several hours taking photos as the light changed from day to dusk.

It was just what the doctor ordered to sooth my frazzled nerves. A small selection of photos from today’s outing are up on Flickr.

New camera mount has been installed on the motorcycle and the weather was decent enough today that I was able to take it out for a test spin over lunch. Overall, I’m pretty happy with it.  Still a few minor things to sort out. The nice thing is that I have the flexibility to shoot onboard video from different perspectives, which the video demonstrates.  I plan to install a couple more mounting points for additional flexibility before I’m done. That’s the advantage of a modular mounting system!

The kids and Kiko were over this weekend. I spent most of it cooking and cleaning! We had planned to go see “The Last Mimzy” on Sunday but we had a minor emergency to deal with and that threw our schedule off.

Poor Lindsey woke me up Sunday morning in a panic because the toilet was overflowing.  Oops! She had tried to staunch the flow of water herself but it was rapidly spreading into the hall and towards the kitchen. Fortunately the entire area affected is linoleum with throw rugs so no real damage done. Still took us a while to mop and towel all the water up. That then led to a marathon session of towel washing and drying, and ultimately the photo above.

After that excitement we decided to relax at home the rest of the day… so we did!

Look like sun is in the forecast for the next couple of days.  I’ve got the new camera mounts for my motorcycle so I’m hoping to take it out for a test spin tomorrow and have a video ready for YouTube Tuesday.  Cross your fingers!

Matt and I have been on a music free-for-all here lately in case you haven’t noticed! He passed this video I’m about to share with you on to me just today when he came over. Now, I have to tell you that my son has harder tastes in music than I do by far. Dark, angry metal, screaming vocals, etc.  So you can imagine I was a little shocked when he gleefully had me play this video for the first time… your kids just never stop surprising you!

I have to say I do like the beat. It’s the kind of song you can really get up and jump around with… not that I do that kind of thing.

The latest Flickr phenomenon…

Sounds like a “B” movie but in fact, tonight was the night Lindsey and I visited her school for a PTA-sponsored hotdog roast, book fair and reptile program! They brought in the Oregon Reptile Man to put on a 60-minute show featuring creatures from his collection. His presentation spanned the gamut from tortoises and lizards to a wide variety of snakes.  Even an alligator!

For many of the reptiles, he had kids come up and help handle them when it was safe to do so. Others, he just displayed himself. The venomous snakes had been devenomized but their bites could still be painful.

His presentation was fast paced but informative, and very funny too! Perfect to keep the attention of both grade school kids and their parents.  Afterwards all of the kids got to come up and pet a tortoise, a Frill Dragon lizard and a Burmese Python.  Lindsey pet all three. Her favorite reptile of the night was the python, but I liked the cobra and the rattlesnake.

On the way home, she declared that when she grew up and had her own home, she was going to have a dog, either a Golden Retriever or a Husky, and a small non-venomous snake.  We’ll see how that goes…

My son recently picked up an EP by the band Sick Puppies. I assure you, I expected something radically different based on the name of the band. Their music is fairly mellow all things considered, though they still rock. I *knew* I had heard one of their songs before.  It finally dawned on me that they were the band that provided the music for the “Free Hugs” video. Their next full length album is due out in April.  I’ll be looking forward to it.

In the mean time, here is a live performance of the song “All The Same” from the “Free Hugs” video. Nice to see they’re actually talented, so many bands seem limited to the studio these days.

Updated 03/22: If you like this live video, a higher quality version plus three additional videos from the same performance are available here.