
[![Sunflower](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-29-sunflower-oil-recall/471047037_fd9a387738_t.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/cuppini/471047037/)My wife works in an anchovy processing plant. They do the entire process: freshly caught fish go in and cans come out. Last Friday, she came home very stressed.

> **Her:** "We've had a disaster at work! All the cans we've sent out for the past few months have had contaminated oil in them!" **Me:** "Contaminated how?" **Her:** "With mineral oil." **Me:** "What's that?" **Her:** "You know, like motor oil. For cars." **Me:** "Yuck! That sounds serious! Was it your company's fault?" **Her:** "No, it came that way from our supplier. There's a national alert out about it."

She immediately called her family and told them not to cook with sunflower oil or eat any oil-based products, like mayonnaise or canned fish, that they had bought in the past few months. Within a couple of hours, the news had [hit the mainstream media](http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_16243.shtml) and the Spanish Health Minister was on TV saying not to eat sunflower oil until further investigation could be done. This was immediately followed by footage of Spanish sunflower farmers crying about how this scare was going to ruin them, and restaurant chefs complaining about how much it was going to cost them to use olive oil for all their fried foods.

The source of the problem was an oil supplier in the Ukraine, who mixed some cheap mineral oil into a shipment of sunflower oil sent all over Europe. I have been unable to get a decent explanation of the risks/symptoms from either my wife or the news media beyond "It depends on the quantity ingested, but you could die." Great. What isn't _that_ true of?

By Monday, the Spanish Health Minister was [on TV again](http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_16257.shtml) saying that, "Nevermind, it's safe to buy sunflower oil-based products again." My wife comes home from work...

> **Her:** \[sighs\] "What a big hassle this sunflower oil recall is for us at work!"**Me:** "But the minister dude said it was okay now, right?" **Her:** "The government is making us throw away our full tank of 6,000 liters of sunflower oil. Six thousand liters!" **Me:** "So the oil is dangerous?" **Her:** "Yes, but when we ask if we should recall all the cans we've already packaged and shipped, they say, 'Nah, no need.' It's such hypocrisy!" **Me:** "Ahhh, the old _Fight Club_ recall equation..."

One of better bits of [dialog from Fight Club](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/quotes):

> **Narrator:** "A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one." **Business woman on plane:** "Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?" **Narrator:** "You wouldn't believe." **Business woman on plane:** "Which car company do you work for?" **Narrator:** "A major one."

So that's the answer to what company my wife works for. As far as you're concerned, "A major one."

If you live in Europe, I'd spread the mayo extra thin for the next couple months.


Sunflower Oil Recall


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-28-more-tilt-shifting/2448368189_17043c159f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Golden Gate Tilt Shift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-28-more-tilt-shifting/2448368189_12196c0129_t.jpg" alt="Golden Gate Tilt Shift"/>
</a>

I have not yet lost my newfound fascination for [tilt shifting](/2008/04/18/tilt-shifting/). I've been searching through my photos for more candidates as well as looking for Flickr photos with [Creative Commons](http://creativecommons.org/) licenses (that means you're legally allowed to modify and republish as long as you cite the original source) to play around with. Here are the results of my recent efforts. <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-28-more-tilt-shifting/2436439116_607db19048_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Colindres Pequeño">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-28-more-tilt-shifting/2436439116_f78a71d144.jpg" alt="Colindres Pequeño"/>
</a>

Colindres Pequeño â€“ This one is a little too far away to see the tilt shift effect. Even in the [larger version](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/2436439116/sizes/l/).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-28-more-tilt-shifting/2436329908_2b172d1878_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Tilt-Shift Laredo">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-28-more-tilt-shifting/2436329908_c29fcde9dc.jpg" alt="Tilt-Shift Laredo"/>
</a>

Laredo Beach â€“ This one is only a little better. Again, it's better in the [larger version](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/2436329908/sizes/l/).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-28-more-tilt-shifting/2448368189_17043c159f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Golden Gate Tilt Shift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-28-more-tilt-shifting/2448368189_12196c0129.jpg" alt="Golden Gate Tilt Shift"/>
</a>

Golden Gate Bridge â€“ As if you weren't sure what this was a photo of. This one definitely looks miniature in the [larger version](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/2448368189/sizes/l/).

revver(849082)

This is a pan around the city of Copenhagen, a city very dear to my heart. The original panorama was taken by [Henrik Johansen](http://zoned.dk/). Since the panorama was so large, I had the idea to use the Ken Burns effect to move the camera around the image. I'm quite pleased with the result.

This video is also available at [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cAA-IaEg84), [Yahoo](http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2483758/7591858), [Metacafe](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1278561/), [Google](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8736986985879345916), [Revver](http://one.revver.com/watch/849082), [DailyMotion](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x58nqp), [Blip.tv](http://www.blip.tv/file/862185), [Veoh](http://www.veoh.com/videos/v7075576JKJh7NNW), [Crackle](http://www.crackle.com/#id=2265191), [Stupid Videos](http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/Copenhagen_Panorama/), [Sclipo](http://sclipo.com/video/copenhagen-panorama) and [Viddler](http://www.viddler.com/explore/rasman1978/videos/11/).


More Tilt Shifting


This is one of the most interesting articles I've read in a while. It's taken me all weekend to get through it all, but I'm already more conscious about each step.

> Walking is easy. It's so easy that no one ever has to teach you how to do it. It's so easy, in fact, that we often pair it with other easy activities – talking, chewing gum – and suggest that if you can't do both simultaneously, you're some sort of insensate clod. So you probably think you've got this walking thing pretty much nailed. As you stroll around the city, worrying about the economy, or the environment, or your next month's rent, you might assume that the one thing you don't need to worry about is the way in which you're strolling around the city.
> 
> Well, I'm afraid I have some bad news for you: You walk wrong.

[How We're Wrecking Our Feet With Every Step We Take](http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/) - New York Magazine


Walking.  You're doing it wrong.


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438617761_38e294fd67_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Thursday Sunrise">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438617761_b316ea8056_t.jpg" alt="Thursday Sunrise"/>
</a>

Occasionally the sky does something that makes me run to get my camera. I took the last two yesterday morning. Yesterday I had to get up at sunrise to go to the doctor to have some blood taken for analysis. Not because I'm ill, but because I'm healthy. It's been almost 20 years since I had any blood and urine analysis, so I thought it would be a good idea to get a "healthy" datapoint on my medical chart from my 30th year. <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438586551_f94ee968c2_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Blue Sky!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438586551_833edc8c1b.jpg" alt="Blue Sky!"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2439413652_1cf702f64c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Flat Clouds">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2439413652_464cbdcae8.jpg" alt="Flat Clouds"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2439417744_83cf1d5b79_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Textured Clouds">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2439417744_e03bb706dd.jpg" alt="Textured Clouds"/>
</a>

This was prettier to the naked eye than what the camera captured.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438598871_483c4fa53b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Angled Clouds">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438598871_72d17d7146.jpg" alt="Angled Clouds"/>
</a>

I'm pretty sure that the clouds on the right really are higher than those on the left. It's not just perspective. They also seem to follow the line from the rays of the sun. Bizarre.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438604133_ecefd92911_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Fluffy Water">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438604133_38de082986.jpg" alt="Fluffy Water"/>
</a>

Last Saturday, there were three or four of these little fluffy pairs of clouds, one above the other.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2439433320_44767bd820_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Fluffy Water">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2439433320_f72d948872.jpg" alt="Fluffy Water"/>
</a>

This one seems to be leaking. It was really windy, so I have to wonder of this is some kind of erosion. What's not clear is why the wind wouldn't just blow the whole cloud.

It reminds me of an [accretion disk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Accretion_disk.jpg).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438617761_38e294fd67_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Thursday Sunrise">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438617761_b316ea8056.jpg" alt="Thursday Sunrise"/>
</a>

This was the sunrise yesterday.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438618385_62623bf828_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Sunrise On Highrise">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-25-fluffy-water/2438618385_8bf3ed5a74.jpg" alt="Sunrise On Highrise"/>
</a>

The morning sun reflected off some apartment buildings in Laredo.


Fluffy Water


[![McKiss](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-24-celebrity-gossip-advertising/kiko.jpg "McKiss")](http://www.todocotilleo.com/television/kiko-rivera-pide-perdon-por-sus-arrumacos-durante-una-procesion/)Anyone who lives in Spain and has a television that they turned on this past Easter will have seen video of two celebrities kissing on a balcony under a McDonalds sign. I care _zero_ about the Spanish celebrity gossip scene that overruns the broadcast networks day and night. I do my best to remain uninformed about what's going on, so I don't really know who the kissers in said video are. Actually, in my search to find an image of them, I was unable to avoid learning that the man in the video is the son of Isabel Pantoja, the diva and queen of all that is celebrity scandal gossip in Spain. Whatever.

As I was watching this video loop repeatedly hour after hour as people discussed the implications of this new intimate relationship, I started subconsciously wanting a hamburger. That's when it hit me!

> **What if advertisers paid celebrities to do scandalous things on video with their products or in front of their advertisements?**

Obviously most of the real A-list celebrities will probably prefer their honor to whatever sum a corporation might pay for a faked scandal, which is probably [more than you might think](http://www.hollywoodgrind.com/fergie-gets-paid-4-million-for-nothing/). But some of the more cheeky actors might actually enjoy the challenge of trying to fool the paparazzi that hound them so doggedly.

It's not so hard to imagine, say, Lindsay Lohan's agent telling her, "Look, there's an offer from Pepsi that they will pay you $10,000 if you perform some stunt, at least 30 seconds long, involving Mountain Dew and your breasts while there are both video and photographer paparazzi around...with a $5K bonus for nipple visibility."

Would the companies really benefit? _Definitely_. If an "amateur" video were leaked to YouTube of some "bad boy" celeb, like Matthew McConaughey, picking a fight with someone in front of a KFC, I have no doubt that KFC's business would benefit from the added public awareness of its brand. And if McConaughey was heard saying something silly like, "I'm gonna get extra crispy on your ass!", people all over the country would pick up on it and repeat it ad nauseum (especially if Jay Leno's pocket got lined, too).

Not to even begin to mention how much extra play time a video would get if it were leaked that it might have been faked! Just imagine...they'd _never_ shut up about it!

The truth is that I have no idea how much of the celebrity gossip content is "manufactured", but I suspect that there's an untapped advertising gold mine there.


Celebrity Gossip Advertising


Just two photos that I took around town recently. The first is from a series of trees that line the street across from some [now demolished](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/2093703978/) houses. It's fashionable here to link neighboring trees together through grafting. These flowers were on one of the arcs between the trees.

The second photo is right outside a school entrance. It's easy to imagine the problem it solves: children pouring out of the school directly into the street. With the barrier, they have to make 90 degree turns and, thus, remain on the sidewalk.<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-23-rainbow-barrier/2435487375_34997f99bc_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Spring Flowers">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-23-rainbow-barrier/2435487375_3cc654fbf9.jpg" alt="Spring Flowers"/>
</a>

Spring Flowers.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-23-rainbow-barrier/2435491929_d5c19768b7_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Rainbow Barrier">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-23-rainbow-barrier/2435491929_f7def495d1.jpg" alt="Rainbow Barrier"/>
</a>

Rainbow Barrier.


Rainbow Barrier


[![Timelapse stars out my window](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-22-dizzying-night-sky/818246.jpg)](http://revver.com/video/818246/affiliate/20700/timelapse-stars-out-the-window/)Recently, I made another attempt at a timelapse video of the stars. The night was a lot clearer, but, unfortunately, it was both too cold and too unpredictable to leave the window open all night, so the light from the street lamps hitting the wall caused significant glare in the image.  As you watch this video, try to imagine what it would be like if either the Earth spun this fast, or that you could perceive time this fast. I'm pretty sure I would fall down dizzy any time I looked at the sky. revver(818246) This video is also available on [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sHvZhyQOZw), [Metacafe](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1246739/), [Google](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7339252143264664524), [Revver](http://one.revver.com/watch/818246), [DailyMotion](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x535us), [Blip.tv](http://www.blip.tv/file/829131), [Crackle](http://www.crackle.com/#id=2251469), [Stupid Videos](http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/Timelapse_Stars_out_the_Window/), [Sclipo](http://sclipo.com/video/timelapse-stars-out-the-window) and [Viddler](http://www.viddler.com/explore/rasman1978/videos/9/).


Dizzying Night Sky


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-21-alexanders-band-again/2430457237_e330b78ca7_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Leprechaun's House">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-21-alexanders-band-again/2430457237_d608be076a_t.jpg" alt="Leprechaun's House"/>
</a>

Last Thursday was a pretty sunny day. But, within an hour of shooting [this video](/2008/04/18/my-neighborhood-in-miniature/), as the sun went down, it began to rain. When I went to the window to see the storm, I saw another [Alexander's Band](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander%27s_band), just like [two years ago](/2006/09/15/alexanders-band/). With the setting sun low in the sky behind us, the rainbow was one of the brightest and clearest I've ever seen. [As Wikipedia says](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow#Visibility), to photograph the full arc of a rainbow, you'd have to have a wide-angle lens capable of capturing an angle of 84Âº. So I had to do some photo stitching to make a panorama, which didn't really turn out that great. But the actual phenomenon was magnificent.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-21-alexanders-band-again/2430473523_9e44d4678f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Alexander's Band">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-21-alexanders-band-again/2430473523_82f3c93ffb.jpg" alt="Alexander's Band"/>
</a>

It's a shame that the stitching broke the smooth arc.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-21-alexanders-band-again/2430457237_e330b78ca7_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Leprechaun's House">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-21-alexanders-band-again/2430457237_d608be076a.jpg" alt="Leprechaun's House"/>
</a>

I _knew_ there was a leprechaun in town! And now I know where he lives.

I love the two birds flying in the last photo.


Alexander's Band (Again)


It won't surprise my regular readers to learn that, as soon as [I learned about tilt-shift photographic effect](/2008/04/18/tilt-shifting/), I immediately set about thinking of how to make a tilt-shift timelapse movie. It would be nice, of course, to be able to set up a webcam in Times Square and tilt-shift that, but, alas, I live in a small town in Spain, and I only have one street that I can look down on at an appropriate angle. But the sun was out yesterday, so I set up my camera on top of two stacked bar stools (I don't have a tripod yet) pointing down at the street outside my house. My camera took a picture every 15 seconds for two hours and seventeen minutes, resulting in 548 RAW files. I optimized the exposure settings and loaded them all into photoshop, 100 at a time, sized them down to 800x600, ran a batch tilt-shift action on them, and saved them as jpegs. Then I loaded them into Quicktime as an image sequence, saved it as a movie and put some titles and music with iMovie. And voila! Things to watch for:

1. The sidewalk on the left gets wet somehow at the beginning and then slowly dries.
2. In that same spot, several cars park very poorly.
3. Two women on the right spend a good part of the second hour talking on the sidewalk, first in the blurry distance, and then by the lamppost.
4. See the clouds reflected in the cars' windshields?

revver(825651) This video is also available on [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTlmVUZGE_o), [Yahoo](http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2390515/7454697), [Metacafe](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1253858/), [Google](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8319694752658302819), [Revver](http://one.revver.com/watch/825651), [DailyMotion](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x54ble), [Blip.tv](http://www.blip.tv/file/836787), [Veoh](http://www.veoh.com/videos/v7000679JeT4EjZW), [Crackle](http://www.crackle.com/#id=2254564), [Stupid Videos](http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/My_Neighborhood_In_Minature/), [Sclipo](http://sclipo.com/video/my-neighborhood-in-minature) and [Viddler](http://www.viddler.com/explore/rasman1978/videos/10/).

I actually learned about this tilt-shifting stuff from [a timelapse video on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewandsarah/2411562117/). I've also done a tilt-shift on [one of my favorite photos on Flickr](/2007/05/29/aerial-manhattan/). It's a shame that I didn't remember it for the [last post](/2008/04/18/tilt-shifting/), because it's absolutely perfect for this visual effect.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-my-neighborhood-in-miniature/2424011660_8fa4fae3bb_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mini-hattan">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-my-neighborhood-in-miniature/2424011660_c1f1daa18e.jpg" alt="Mini-hattan"/>
</a>

Not bad, huh?


My Neighborhood in Miniature


[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/47787266_59ad1a1e43_t.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaptainkobold/47787266/)For the past month, I've started a new hobby. I used to think that people that kept little model trains and spent their time making miniature dioramas were a little crazy. But I've recently changed my opinion. I had the idea that it would be cool to create little miniature models of some of the places I've been and photographed. So I went down to the local crafts store, and purchased little trees and little people figurines, and have been spending my nights in my office making these little miniature models of my photos, and photographing them. This might seem like a waste of time to you, but it's truly fascinating to me. After a full month of getting only 4 hours of sleep every night, spending every waking moment, and roughly a month's salary on this project, I finally have some results to show you. I hope you like them. <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/2419146725_3d0d15d267_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Bien Aparecida Tilt-Shift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/2419146725_a7d334f1ed.jpg" alt="Bien Aparecida Tilt-Shift"/>
</a>

This is a model of the Bien Aparecida church a few kilometers from my house.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/2419150569_846fd7ccfe_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Leon Bullring Tilt-Shift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/2419150569_d0bbd5b977.jpg" alt="Leon Bullring Tilt-Shift"/>
</a>

This is a model of the León bullring. It was hard to get the lighting right on this one. The little bullfighting horse models were easy to find in Spain, though.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/2419157173_4ba58b1e7e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Grenada Homes Tilt-Shift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/2419157173_9a2293a646.jpg" alt="Grenada Homes Tilt-Shift"/>
</a>

Some houses in Grenada. This was the easiest one to make.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/2419966664_6d9acc998d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Extremadura Tree Tilt-Shift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/2419966664_659964fb19.jpg" alt="Extremadura Tree Tilt-Shift"/>
</a>

A tree in Extremadura, Spain. I couldn't quite get the tree right, but I'm pretty satisfied with it.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/2419968792_79976b9e31_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Grenada Tilt-Shift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-18-tilt-shifting/2419968792_4f08859461.jpg" alt="Grenada Tilt-Shift"/>
</a>

This is a replica of Grenada, where our honeymoon cruise ship stopped.

Pretty cool, huh?

### Coming Clean

Okay, how many of you fell for that hobbyist modeling farce? None of the content of this post above this point is true. Each of those images took me less than five minutes in Photoshop. I recently became aware of a type of photography called [tilt-shift photography](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_photography), which is a method of shifting the lens of the camera from the body slightly. This is, of course, extremely difficult. Luckily, there's also a method of [tilt-shift miniature faking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_miniature_faking), which can be done very simply with a photo editing program, such as Photoshop. There are many tutorials out there, but I mainly followed [this one](http://www.tiltshiftphotography.net/photoshop-tutorial.php).

### How It Works

Almost more fascinating to me than the methodology and optical illusion about tilt-shift faking is understanding _why_ our brains see these images as miniature models. From what I can tell, it's based on the fact that close-up photos of small objects tend to have a very small [depth of field](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field). But I don't think it's solely based on our perceptions of how photos normally are. I think that our eyes, when viewing something miniature, also create a depth of field effect where only a small portion of the field of view is in focus. Whether I'm right or not, it's a pretty cool phenomenon and I will definitely be playing more with it in the future. Now that I know what kind of photographs lend themselves to this effect (mainly shots from above), I will be mindful of opportunities to take such photographs.

There are plenty more examples of this effect [on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/groups/tilt-shift-fakes/pool/). Now that you know how it's done, you can look at any of these images and see a horizontal band of the photo in focus and the rest blurred. That's all there really is to it.

I still think that miniature hobbyists have a screw loose. If that's you, feel free to berate me in the comments.


Tilt Shifting


This morning, I went to check something on my Mac OS X [dashboard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashboard_(software)), which contains several weather widgets for various locations that I care about. One of them is my hometown, Morganton, where my parents still live. So you can imagine my horror when a javascript malfunction in the widget code produced these values1: <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-my-hometown-is-gone/2420887680_752d53c7ed_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Morganton Ceases to Exist">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-my-hometown-is-gone/2420887680_8a605d8fdf.jpg" alt="Morganton Ceases to Exist"/>
</a>

Without a moment's hesitation, I immediately fired off a worried email to my parents, asking if they were okay. My father quickly wrote back:

> We are doing OK. We have had to burn most of the furniture to keep warm, and of course, we cannot go outside at all. We are down to one dog now, and it is just the little one, but we are hopeful the weather will break in time for truckers to resume serving this area. Thawing ice for drinking water is probably our biggest concern right now, as we are having to use body heat for that.
> 
> How are things in Spain?

Brilliant.

1NaN stands for "not a number", and is what javascript gives you when you perform an illegal arithmetic computation, such as dividing by zero.


My Hometown is Gone


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2419175360_f1089b57dd_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Piggy">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2419175360_22b4607df7_t.jpg" alt="Piggy"/>
</a>

I had forgotten this little set of photos from my February trip stateside. One of the participants (the 2008 champion, in fact) of our little golf outing brought a little "dice" game to the party. He pulled out this little black case and proceeded to extract two tiny rubber pigs and set them on the table. Now, Dennis is a pretty charismatic and eccentric fellow, so we weren't really sure what to think. He began explaining the rules...  We took turns "rolling the pigs", and depending on how they came to rest, there were various point values. If a pig was on his side, you got zero points. If _both_ pigs were on their sides (and were facing in opposite directions!), this was called a "Pig Out" and you lost your turn, lost all your points for that turn, and handed the "dice" to the next player. As long as you had points on your roll, you kept rolling and accumulating points. So once you had points, you had to decide whether to pass to the next player and keep your points for that turn or gamble on not rolling a Pig Out.

He further explained that the various ways that the pigs could be on a flat surface had names. If it was standing on all four legs, that was a Trotter. On its back was a Razorback. Resting between its front legs and snout is a Snouter. Etc, etc, etc.

About this time we were thinking that Dennis had completely lost his mind and was making this stuff up, but he seemed to know enough to score our various rolls, so we played a game. Or at least for about 15 minutes before we lost interest.

So, imagine my surprise to find [a Wikipedia explaining all the rules to this game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pass_the_Pigs). Apparently it's a Milton Bradley game called Pass The Pigs, which is a commercial version of a much older game, called [Pig](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_(dice)). Who knew!?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2419175360_f1089b57dd_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Piggy">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2419175360_22b4607df7.jpg" alt="Piggy"/>
</a>

Blurry pig looks angry!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2419177888_ab339f133d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Dennis Rolls the Piggy Dice">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2419177888_a2d94452c1.jpg" alt="Dennis Rolls the Piggy Dice"/>
</a>

Dennis rolls the "dice" with hip-hop style.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2419180134_97dccb0a1b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Piggies with quarters for scale">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2419180134_1a5cc6d3c5.jpg" alt="Piggies with quarters for scale"/>
</a>

For scale. Those are US quarters.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2418360485_e019dfae32_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="HOT PIG SEX!!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2418360485_9abdf08cdf.jpg" alt="HOT PIG SEX!!"/>
</a>

Missionary Pigs. The inevitable formation that anyone over the age of 12 would put these pigs in, even without all the testosterone fumes and alcohol that were present at the time.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2418361961_a555f80aea_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Piggy 69">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2418361961_75a054f580.jpg" alt="Piggy 69"/>
</a>

Piggy 69, and a terrifying Dennis. Wait... it gets worse:

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2418366931_4db6c909d6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Choking Hazard">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2418366931_66a5559d5a.jpg" alt="Choking Hazard"/>
</a>

I'm pretty sure there was some documentation that came with the game warning against this kind of behavior. Better put these little pigs away before someone gets hurt.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2419181406_7f887d730b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Piggy Kit">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-17-pass-the-pigs/2419181406_084eaaae25.jpg" alt="Piggy Kit"/>
</a>

This is the little case they fit in. It reminds me of Hans Solo in the Carbonite...if he were two pigs.

So there you have it. That's what Pass The Pigs is all about.


Pass The Pigs


Every once in a while a computer application comes along that ends up saving you hours and hours of time over the period you are using it. For the Mac, a good example of this might be [Quicksilver](http://www.blacktree.com/). For a developer, it's an IDE that does extensive [refactoring](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_refactoring) for you. I do believe that I have found a new application that fits into this category: [Jing Project](http://www.jingproject.com/). If you are at all knowledgeable about computers, you will attract less knowledgeable people to you like flies on, um, knowledge. Not that they necessarily want to be your friend, but that, when they have a problem, they go to someone who they think can help. If you are one of these people that gets asked how to do things a lot, you will have spoken or typed the following words, or their equivalents, thousands of times:

- See where it says \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ down at the bottom of the screen?
- Click on the box where it says \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
- Okay, now drag that down to \_\_\_\_\_\_.

This type of communication is difficult and often just does not work. The wish that Jing Project answers is, "Wouldn't it be nice if I could just SHOW you how to do it?" [Go to their website](http://www.jingproject.com/) and watch the video tour.

_Wait!_ I just gave textual instructions about how to do something on a computer. That's what Jing is for!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-16-jing-project-best-app-ever/2417647743_b93a8b428e_o_d.png" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="2008-04-16_1018">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-16-jing-project-best-app-ever/2417647743_f03a23957c.jpg" alt="2008-04-16_1018"/>
</a>

This image was captured, edited, and uploaded to Flickr in about 5 seconds using Jing.

In one sentence:

> Jing Project is a screencasting application that lets you record images, or video of your screen with voiceover and then send it instantly to a server and provide a link for you to share.

I can feel that I'm going to be using this application almost every day. Both for showing people how to do things and, almost more importantly to me, for other people to show me what they have done to reproduce a bug in one of my applications. A huge bane for developers is when a user says, "X doesn't work," and provides no additional information as to just how X is broken. Users are often not willing to write down a list of "first I clicked on this, and then I got error message \_\_\_\_, and then I clicked on that" steps that they took to cause an error. With Jing Project, that's going to be easy for them and easy for me to see exactly what went wrong.

If you have ever been frustrated while trying to explain or comprehend a sequence of actions on a computer, and I expect that includes everyone that has ever used a computer, then Jing Project is for you.

I'd like to send a huge THANK YOU to the people over at [Jing Project](http://www.jingproject.com/). You guys rock!


Jing Project: Best App Ever?


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414191151_859175b32c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="King of Cantabria">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414191151_c29bb3c06a_t.jpg" alt="King of Cantabria"/>
</a>

Last Sunday, my inlaws, wife, and I climbed a mountain peak that we can see from our house: _El Pico de las Nieves_. According to [the info panel](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/2415082124/sizes/o/), there has been some sort of church on the mountain dedicated to the cult of the Virgin of the Snow since 1356. The peak is 778 meters above sea level. The tiny little chapel is clearly visible from my window in Colindres. The church there is called the _Ermita de las Nieves_. Ever since learning about this church, I've wanted to take my camera up there on a clear day and take panoramic pictures. Sunday was that day.  First, these are two photos I've taken of the mountain from my house.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2304750219_391742528e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="La Ermita de las Nieves">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2304750219_b489a0f0d4.jpg" alt="La Ermita de las Nieves"/>
</a>

Sunrise over the hermitage.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2356257470_a2556c5e68_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="La Ermita de las Nieves">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2356257470_0baff219b2.jpg" alt="La Ermita de las Nieves"/>
</a>

_De las Nieves_, indeed.

My local butcher, Bruno, had given me instructions about how to get there, but I wanted to double check. So I opened Google Earth and zoomed in on my house. I set the viewing angle to ground level and spun around until I could see Pico de las Nieves on the horizon. I double clicked on it, and Google Earth zoomed me right there. Once I had it located, it was easy to verify the instructions I'd been given.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2417165964_3a01ce9553_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ermita de las Nieves on Google Earth">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2417165964_e87002bc40.jpg" alt="Ermita de las Nieves on Google Earth"/>
</a>

The view from my house in Google Earth.

The road there was long and winding, but eventually we could see the mountain peak towering above us. It was unclear where to park, so, after we passed a few parked cars, we found a place to pull over. The temperature was about 9 degrees colder up there and the wind was ferocious. I grabbed my new expensive camera, the main reason I wanted to be there, and we set out looking for a way to climb up. About a hundred meters from the car, the beauty overwhelmed me, and I pulled out the camera, aimed it towards the rocky cliff, and pressed the shutter. I looked down at the preview screen to see my wonderful creation, and what do I see? "**NO CF CARD!**" Oh no!! I'd accidentally left my compact flash memory card in my computer back home!! My elegant camera and all the expensive optics were rendered useless because I had nothing to store the photos on. Ugh!

I wasn't about to lug that thing up the mountain, so I ran back to the car to leave the camera. Upon my return, I found Juan, Marce, and Marga billygoating their way up the mountain, climbing from rock to rock. I caught up to Marga, who was carrying the napsack, said a little prayer that my vague memory was true, and reached into the bag. _Yes!_ Before leaving home, I had thrown my old Casio point-n-shoot camera into the backpack just in case there was something worth taking a video of along the way. I was saved!!! I had a camera after all!

It was pretty hard going up the hill. There was one spot where we had to balance on some rocks with 4-5 meter crevices on either side. The crevices were only about 50 cm wide. If you fell down in there, you'd probably break your arm and get jammed down in there pretty good, but you wouldn't die. You'd just be cold and in agony for the 5 hours it would take to get a rescue team to you. Plenty to get my body into natural fear mode: sweating, pulse racing, etc. Eventually, we got up to a grassy area and found a guy with a long walking stick and an old dog. He looked like he probably walked on that mountain every week, if not every day. We asked him if there was a better way up and he chuckled and said that we parked on the completely wrong side of the mountain and that there's a nice easy path up the mountain on the other side. So we did our best to walk around the mountain, without going up or down much until we found the trail. Once we found it, we felt like idiots for parking where we had. Oops. At least no one got hurt because of our bad decision.

And now for the pictures....

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414172019_cbf229d136_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Scaling the Cliffs">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414172019_f42be01974.jpg" alt="Scaling the Cliffs"/>
</a>

Resting mountain climbers.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415001310_bb51a52b17_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ermita de las Nieves">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415001310_075f25de37.jpg" alt="Ermita de las Nieves"/>
</a>

Yeah, there must be an easier way up.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414176939_0d50f77543_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Snowy Mountain Observatory">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414176939_6684ae8c94.jpg" alt="Snowy Mountain Observatory"/>
</a>

Some snowy mountains we could see in the distance. A woman that we met at the summit told us that the structure on the top of the middle mountain (click through to see a Flickr note) is a telescope from some space observatory. Cool.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414180521_3cef06baa5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mountain Lake">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414180521_95ddab04f2.jpg" alt="Mountain Lake"/>
</a>

A mountain lake we saw on our way up.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415008372_c0a29bfba7_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Where we parked">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415008372_fd8360ffb3.jpg" alt="Where we parked"/>
</a>

Looking back down at the car.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414185089_bb5895cae5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Looking down on Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414185089_fc19bd1fd3.jpg" alt="Looking down on Colindres"/>
</a>

Marga looking down at Colindres. She carried the backpack the whole way up and down, but I loaded it into the car once we got back. I'm a gentleman like that.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414188279_79e1a886e1_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Strange Square Thing">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414188279_2967e63e15.jpg" alt="Strange Square Thing"/>
</a>

I could not, for the life of me, figure out what the heck this structure was about. My first guess was a helipad, but that doesn't make any sense. The covered area is clearly for people who are watching, or doing something to, whatever is in the open grassy area. My best guess is that it is some kind of shooting range. I have no idea why it would be way up there.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414191151_859175b32c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="King of Cantabria">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414191151_c29bb3c06a.jpg" alt="King of Cantabria"/>
</a>

I felt like the King of Cantabria up there.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414193465_c2e8b30d7d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Basking Above Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414193465_7484259cfe.jpg" alt="Basking Above Colindres"/>
</a>

Basking in the sun with Colindres above my head and Pico Candiano to the left (click through for notes).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415022248_927db5630d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Budding Tree">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415022248_11429a1b8a.jpg" alt="Budding Tree"/>
</a>

Spring has even arrived up here...slowly. There are definitely young buds on this tree.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414199469_021d7e527f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="On Top">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414199469_a7e1f80066.jpg" alt="On Top"/>
</a>

Juan and Marga surveying the view.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415027448_a90ec6b0e5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Heart Shaped Forest">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415027448_af5605515d.jpg" alt="Heart Shaped Forest"/>
</a>

Marga said, "Look! It's a heart-shaped forest!" I quickly jumped in with a, "I'm glad you saw that. I planted that for you since today is our 6-month anniversary. I was worried that I would have to point it out to you, but you saw it on your own." She smiled.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415029646_0db45173e3_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Erik at the Hermitage">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415029646_edaa8155f8.jpg" alt="Erik at the Hermitage"/>
</a>

We've reached the Hermitage! Hooray!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415035278_0aed452933_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mile High Canines">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415033674_83b0dcfd46.jpg" alt="Mile High Canines"/>
</a>

When we got to the top, the wind was enough to keep you huddled towards the ground for fear of being whisked away. On the sunny leeward side of the church, we found a group of middle-aged hikers resting against the church. Their dogs had also found shelter from the wind.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415035278_0aed452933_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ermita de las Nieves">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415035278_18576308d2.jpg" alt="Ermita de las Nieves"/>
</a>

I presume this stain is rust that has washed off the bell and stained the side of the church.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414214923_4b852c4a36_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Looking down at the car">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414214923_59e4fc0f12.jpg" alt="Looking down at the car"/>
</a>

Look at the car waaaay down there. It's a good thing we didn't come directly up that way.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415041998_940f4c6c44_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Pico Candiano from above">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415041998_87f91633f3.jpg" alt="Pico Candiano from above"/>
</a>

Looking down to Colindres and Pico Candiano (click through for Flickr notes). We [hiked to the top of Pico Candiano last year](/2007/06/10/return-to-pico-candiano/) and thought we were really high up. Looks like just a little ant hill from up on Pico de las Nieves.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414226145_cb498aede8_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Pico de las Nieves Panorama">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414226145_05a01c1110.jpg" alt="Pico de las Nieves Panorama"/>
</a>

A full panorama from the side of the church. [View larger](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/2414226145/sizes/l/).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414229877_7be51a5774_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Inside the Hermitage">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414229877_b3fff0c7e7.jpg" alt="Inside the Hermitage"/>
</a>

The church was gated closed, but there was just enough of a hole to fit my camera and its flash through. I'm not sure what this church is for. Do people attend a regular mass up there? Just special ceremonies on special dates? Could you get married up there? I don't get it. I understand that "hermitage" implies that someone would _live_ up there, but where? Is there an upstairs bedroom where the hermit sleeps and then he/she spends every day praying at the altar? What about food? Does someone bring it for them? Color me confused.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415063728_d86c31f9b9_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Empanada de Atun">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415063728_e03aa52b48.jpg" alt="Empanada de Atun"/>
</a>

Remember that _empanada_[we bought on Saturday morning](/2008/04/14/laury-restaurant/)? It _really_ hit the spot at the top of that mountain on Sunday.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414242643_16b2d1e937_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mountain Cross">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414242643_3e8cf5000e.jpg" alt="Mountain Cross"/>
</a>

A cross overlooking a cliff.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414252871_9c4f1612ce_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Pico de las Nieves Panorama">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414252871_5c4d58142a.jpg" alt="Pico de las Nieves Panorama"/>
</a>

Another nice panorama. [See larger version](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/2414252871/sizes/l/).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415082124_42365dc317_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ermita Info">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2415082124_1bdf95830a.jpg" alt="Ermita Info"/>
</a>

The information panels once we reached the bottom, with the church just visible above them.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414262349_b25d86b93f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Stratified">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414262349_7c82d1c697.jpg" alt="Stratified"/>
</a>

Some stratified soil that interested me on the walk to the car. How many years of layers must there be in these two meters?

Of course, since we came down the right way to the area where we should have parked, we had to walk about a half kilometer around to the other side of the mountain to get to the car.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414266035_4e9b9aa278_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Looking up from the car">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-15-el-pico-de-las-nieves/2414266035_66cd52bc2e.jpg" alt="Looking up from the car"/>
</a>

We finally made it! As we drove back, it started to rain, and within an hour, it the Pico de las Nieves was completely enveloped in a rain cloud. Good reason not to live up there.

I'd still like to go up there with my good camera, and maybe a tripod, on an even clearer day. We could just barely see Santander, which is 38 km away, and I suspect we could see even further. After all 778 meters is exactly the height needed to see 100 km [to the horizon](/2008/03/25/distance-to-the-horizon/).


El Pico de las Nieves


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413332902_198701165f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Bollard Boy">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413332902_2718321cf8_t.jpg" alt="Bollard Boy"/>
</a>

After [an amazing meal at Laury](/2008/04/14/laury-restaurant/), my wife, her parents and I took a three hour stroll around Santander to get the digestive juices flowing. It was so nice to have some sunshine finally that I got a little shutter happy and took a bunch of photos. Believe it or not, I'm not posting all of them. <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412477419_170d594996_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Imprisoned Clown">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412477419_11bb39de39.jpg" alt="Imprisoned Clown"/>
</a>

I was sent to drop something off at the car and I passed this horrible window creature. It looks like he's asking for money or something. Does this really entice people to enter the shop? This is just how I like my clowns: behind bars.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413305304_488d72557d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Santander Town Hall">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413305304_4de1d64f8e.jpg" alt="Santander Town Hall"/>
</a>

Santander Town Hall.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413306828_d13bb1654d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Building Corner">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413306828_4e9ec9cb5f.jpg" alt="Building Corner"/>
</a>

Some building corner.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413308574_c63781c624_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Blob Faces">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413308574_d8f90edd46.jpg" alt="Blob Faces"/>
</a>

This race of alien balloon children wanted us to enter this shop, but we resisted.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413309942_8a38284807_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Behold These Clouds!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413309942_13f99bf84f.jpg" alt="Behold These Clouds!"/>
</a>

Behold these clouds you see before you!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413312968_fc58ac986a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Palm Tree">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413312968_7ba683518e.jpg" alt="Palm Tree"/>
</a>

Huge palm tree.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413315704_15293cb093_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Barnicles, I say!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413315704_0ab2e81f45.jpg" alt="Barnicles, I say!"/>
</a>

I think that "Barnicles!" should be an exclamation of disbelief.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413318128_1ef30437bc_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Big Black Bollard">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413318128_d1ebfcc45f.jpg" alt="Big Black Bollard"/>
</a>

Big Black Bollard.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413320742_93587c86b8_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Baby bollards with their parents">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413320742_a196827d1c.jpg" alt="Baby bollards with their parents"/>
</a>

Some bollards with their children.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413321726_88a2774ec0_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Life Preserver and Bollards">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413321726_71225b74e4.jpg" alt="Life Preserver and Bollards"/>
</a>

Life preserver, reflection, bollards, and a horrible building that looks like a stiff dead animal on its back.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413323296_721e4b0cef_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Lamppost and Bollard: Starcrossed Lovers">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413323296_f0f930473c.jpg" alt="Lamppost and Bollard: Starcrossed Lovers"/>
</a>

If slightly rusted inanimate black iron objects could feel emotions, this photo would be very romantic.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412499345_abf8ccf0aa_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Snowy Mountains with Airplane">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412499345_db6f17df71.jpg" alt="Snowy Mountains with Airplane"/>
</a>

Snowy peaks and a plane coming in for a landing at Santander airport. If you can't see the plane, click through to Flickr for a hint.

First ever bollard-based video on the internet? [My request](http://www.flickr.com/groups/bollards/discuss/72157604518593038/) for the [Bollards Flickr Group](http://www.flickr.com/groups/bollards/) to allow videos (a brand new feature on Flickr as of last week) has been denied, unfortunately.

> I have watched your video and think a frame of it may have made a half decent photo (nice light) but the audio and overall dullness of it convinces me further that video certainly does not belong in this group if at all on Flickr. No video in Bollards for me.

Elitist snob.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412502781_d0fdc0c3c4_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Fishing Rod">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412502781_4d4bce4a4a.jpg" alt="Fishing Rod"/>
</a>

A fishing rod basking in the afternoon sun.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413330578_d61755964c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Diving Boy">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413330578_0686c9cc41.jpg" alt="Diving Boy"/>
</a>

In Santander, there's a set of famous statues of boys playing on the docks. This diving kid is pretty well done.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412509777_92bb8c7d95_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Bollard Boy">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413332902_2718321cf8.jpg" alt="Bollard Boy"/>
</a>

Big rusty bollard boy.

revver(815359)

We saw some spectators gathered around a fisherman. He had caught a cuttlefish. I can see where it got that name... It just wants to be held.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412509777_92bb8c7d95_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Reflected Bench">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412509777_31b49998ed.jpg" alt="Reflected Bench"/>
</a>

Bench reflection.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413338218_74c9bfb99e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Santander Harbor">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413338218_64a187841d.jpg" alt="Santander Harbor"/>
</a>

The marina.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413338664_27792be97e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Aquador">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413338664_fb56c1e3bd.jpg" alt="Aquador"/>
</a>

Aquador! Sounds like a superhero's nemesis.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413340702_b6c64d673c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Reflected Yacht">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413340702_c763f30684.jpg" alt="Reflected Yacht"/>
</a>

Reflected yacht.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412516765_d037a0222d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Some sort of measurement device">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412516765_f829b52a3c.jpg" alt="Some sort of measurement device"/>
</a>

I'm certain that this is some sort of nautical measurement device that's been bolted to the concrete for posterity, but I'm curious to figure out how this tool would be used. Any ideas?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413344256_28b2b8df91_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mast Reflection">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413344256_5dc4c9bfe0.jpg" alt="Mast Reflection"/>
</a>

Mast Reflections

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413345104_8c1c6057ca_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Sailboat Race">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413345104_2742e05f85.jpg" alt="Sailboat Race"/>
</a>

There was a sailboat race going on.

revver(815428)

I experimented with speeding up this video, but I've decided that it's more fascinating in real time and with the sounds of the jangling riggings. Not to mention my father-in-law's commentary.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413345582_b100dca75c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Lunar Fishing">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413345582_7c99ac2513.jpg" alt="Lunar Fishing"/>
</a>

Moon and fishing pole.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413349542_625374f908_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Santander Docks Panorama">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413349542_71be41a376.jpg" alt="Santander Docks Panorama"/>
</a>

Full Santander docks panorama.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413351152_6e66f1f79d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Lotsa Balls">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413351152_d27220a55a.jpg" alt="Lotsa Balls"/>
</a>

Metal balls flee towards a vanishing point.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412528261_0f168fecae_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="City Lamp">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412528261_d0cd375489.jpg" alt="City Lamp"/>
</a>

A city lamp.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412529931_d2b406d439_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="plaza">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412529931_01d64b4f0f.jpg" alt="plaza"/>
</a>

This is the square where all the young people go to party at night. I've been there a couple times. The restaurant that [I took my folks to](/2006/09/01/market-pizza-and-santander/) was just up the hill there.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412532723_540880b84b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Beer Almost Gone">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412532723_98b51c40d3.jpg" alt="Beer Almost Gone"/>
</a>

Only a couple more sips left in this beer. How sad.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413360268_7f2c64f0d6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ventilador (Fan)">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413360268_8f3a3c1475.jpg" alt="Ventilador (Fan)"/>
</a>

For people that don't know what _ventilador_ means in Spanish, someone has drawn this nice picture. Cool name for a bar.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412536531_1d6991bf8c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Banco Santander Arch">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412536531_0600e758ab.jpg" alt="Banco Santander Arch"/>
</a>

Banco Santander is a huge nationwide bank.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412537691_ee07ae74f3_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Bollards Aligned">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412537691_6da736124a.jpg" alt="Bollards Aligned"/>
</a>

This bollards were _perfectly_ aligned with the setting sun, so that the top of each one just barely cast a shadow on the base of the next one. Nice.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413365972_7b8182286d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Farmacia with Diving Boy">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413365972_b63f1475d6.jpg" alt="Farmacia with Diving Boy"/>
</a>

In case you doubted the ubiquity of those statues, this is a pharmacy shop window.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413368014_2a158655dc_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Dented Serving Dish">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413368014_1c2b402880.jpg" alt="Dented Serving Dish"/>
</a>

Why would I want a serving dish that's already so dented?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412543307_cb1309ed62_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Toy Guns">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412543307_e3ca6cfda3.jpg" alt="Toy Guns"/>
</a>

Terrifying toy guns. Or at least I _think_ they're toys.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413371228_042eed3f2e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ham Store">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413371228_efe7271868.jpg" alt="Ham Store"/>
</a>

This is such a typical Spanish shop. Look at all those wonderful Spanish hams hanging up there.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412548485_454a2bb32f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Jamones">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412548485_fca80b0516.jpg" alt="Jamones"/>
</a>

From the same shop as the previous photo.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413375506_65debab3df_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Creepy Nymph Thing">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413375506_1a615aa655.jpg" alt="Creepy Nymph Thing"/>
</a>

The creepy/sexy wood nymph with the huge golden crystal ball is pretty interesting, but check out what's behind her. The text reads: "I.T. Witch". It's a witch using a laptop with, argh, a real mouse.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413378574_4d2c26cd98_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Santander Bus Station">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413378574_1dc744456e.jpg" alt="Santander Bus Station"/>
</a>

The Santander bus station.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412554071_f724b34060_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Once Offices">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412554071_92d335d7a0.jpg" alt="Once Offices"/>
</a>

This is the castle of the con-men that are [taking all my money this year](/lottery-year/).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413382002_b805cd1b96_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Garlic and Peppers">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413382002_1321b16cca.jpg" alt="Garlic and Peppers"/>
</a>

We stopped by for a beer in one of our favorite restaurants in Santander. Isn't that a lovely sight?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413383724_f3712a016e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Cheeses">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413383724_3a05324a12.jpg" alt="Cheeses"/>
</a>

Some cheeses.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413392772_1082255114_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Hanging Jamones">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2412564431_0d0f729b31.jpg" alt="Hanging Jamones"/>
</a>

There are Spanish hams hanging over the bar. I took this panorama from my bar stool.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413392772_1082255114_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Brass Knuckles">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-14-afternoon-walk-in-santander/2413392772_8d6233ecbb.jpg" alt="Brass Knuckles"/>
</a>

Brass knuckles. These severed hand door knockers have always disturbed me a little.

And thus concludes our Saturday in Santander. Two hours of eating and three hours of walking. Needless to say, we weren't the least bit hungry upon returning home, so the _empanada_ we bought [that morning](/2008/04/14/laury-restaurant/) was saved for our destination on Sunday.


Afternoon Walk in Santander


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411011477_8611ea752e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Tiramisu!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411011477_4fc3191a80_t.jpg" alt="Tiramisu!"/>
</a>

What a weekend! My in-laws came to visit and we spent Saturday in Santander, and on Sunday morning [we did something I've been wanting to do for a long time](/2008/04/15/el-pico-de-las-nieves/). But let's start with Saturday first. The store where my father-in-law and I bought our suits for our wedding is owned by a man who also owns a _really_ posh restaurant in Santander. With our purchases, we were each given a 70€ voucher for the restaurant. Saturday we cashed them in.  As we piled in the car, it was decided that, on the way to Santander, we would stop in Santoña, which isn't really on the way at all, to buy a tuna pie. There's a bakery in Santoña, hidden in a warehouse where you would never look for a bakery, that makes the most amazing _empanadas_, pastry pies. And the best of those is the one with tuna and tomato. Unfortunately they were out of them, but had some in the oven, so we had to wait ten minutes. When we finally got our pie, which was piping hot and smelling of heaven, I had to carry it to the car. This was, of course, total torture because we were about to go to a really expensive restaurant and we had to abstain from this poor man's delight. So, on our way to Santander, we stopped back at home, which was now on the way, to leave the pie there.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411774512_07bdbd6945_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Empanada de Atun (Tuna Pie)">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410944881_b6cd7fefce.jpg" alt="Empanada de Atun (Tuna Pie)"/>
</a>

The smell emanating from this bag was so delightful that it actually made me weak in the knees.

Once in Santander, we meandered our way to the restaurant, stopping in a couple bars to try the local fermented grapes.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411774512_07bdbd6945_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Picture Speed Dial">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411774512_53e29a534a.jpg" alt="Picture Speed Dial"/>
</a>

Where we parked, there was a shop for "mobility products", which is what my employer primarily sells, so I had a peek. These phones struck me as particularly ingenious for people that are unable to type in the numbers on the phone. Every button can be programmed and then has a picture of the person to call. Nice.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410952411_75116853fd_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Bollard People">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410952411_71c1d2714b.jpg" alt="Bollard People"/>
</a>

The Spanish are so Catholic that even their bollards have nativity scenes!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411782000_7f57f3648e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Shellfish Robot Face">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411782000_58c0cf9dc2.jpg" alt="Shellfish Robot Face"/>
</a>

This horrible, horrible creature was in one of the bars we visited. It's made entirely of shellfish and would _not_ stop staring at me.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410958563_a4b3720a17_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mejillones (Mussels)">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410958563_c9a83d21cd.jpg" alt="Mejillones (Mussels)"/>
</a>

Some mussels in a delightfully spicy sauce. At first we commented amongst ourselves that there was way too much sauce, but three minutes later we were sponging the plate dry with some bread.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411789670_943703de22_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Real Madrid vs. Barcelona Foosball">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411789670_955e0fa558.jpg" alt="Real Madrid vs. Barcelona Foosball"/>
</a>

The two main archrival soccer teams in Spain set for a foosball match.

Finally, we arrived at the restaurant, which is so good, apparently, that it doesn't even need a web site: [Laury](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=c7T&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=laury+restaurante&near=Santander,+Spain&fb=1&view=text&latlng=43459724,-3828824,11726176249179904969).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411791154_1a6ca327ff_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Laury Menu">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411791154_316ae97f03.jpg" alt="Laury Menu"/>
</a>

The menu in the front window to ward off any upper-middle, middle, or lower class patrons. [Click here to see bigger](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/2411791154/sizes/o/).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411793744_c9a01c5efd_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Unsliced Steaks">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411793744_4413498126.jpg" alt="Unsliced Steaks"/>
</a>

Right out in the open when you walk in is this huge half cow next to a red hot grill. Questionable sanitation, if you ask me.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411798796_ce8391ee73_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Lobster Pool">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411798796_a200593f90.jpg" alt="Lobster Pool"/>
</a>

A lobster doing the "if you don't kill me soon, I'm going to die of boredom anyway" stroke in the pool.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411804276_b148e4bae2_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Laury Menu Cover">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411804276_1c43c1f2d7.jpg" alt="Laury Menu Cover"/>
</a>

Finally, the real leather-bound menu.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410979815_9977e24227_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Lan Rioja Label">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410979815_f898dd4259.jpg" alt="Lan Rioja Label"/>
</a>

LAN wine. This has to be one of the more interesting wine bottle labels I've seen. The text reads,

> Wines do not last a lifetime in the bottle. They evolve and mature, put also get old... and die. We want this aged red wine that you have in your hands today to be shared in all its splendor and plenitude. Keep this wine in the best conditions possible. Do not save your bottle for a better occasion that never arrives... Decide to drink it at its best moment and enjoy it.

How funny! Apparently the wine companies have problems with people buying and then not ever drinking it and letting it go bad. The other thing that strikes my scientific mind is, what on earth are the units for the y-axis of that chart? Any wine connoisseurs out there have any idea?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410982897_da201e864f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Rabas">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410982897_75e5285ebb.jpg" alt="Rabas"/>
</a>

Rabas. Calamari.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411817182_8a67466f21_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="1 kilogram steak">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411817182_aa7319eca5.jpg" alt="1 kilogram steak"/>
</a>

Juan, with his _chuletón de buey_. Now, on the menu, it said that the _chuletón de buey_ was 34€ per kilogram. I understand that some posh restaurants give prices by weight like this, so I figured the actual amount might be a huge 500 grams (1.1 lb). But then, on the bill, it cost us 34€. So I can only assume that Juan's steak was _ONE KILOGRAM!!_ Obviously, that's the uncooked weight, but so are all the other meat weights your brain is comparing it to right now. Wow!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410995451_fcb21efa61_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Entrecot de Buey (Ox Steak)">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410995451_f4cab154c8.jpg" alt="Entrecot de Buey (Ox Steak)"/>
</a>

My much more reasonably sized sirloin steak.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410998571_d6da127d9a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Fried Taters">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2410998571_bc7275466a.jpg" alt="Fried Taters"/>
</a>

Some nicely salted fried potatoes for the table to share.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411829700_60f0f8c6ac_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Medium Rare">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411829700_22821f87eb.jpg" alt="Medium Rare"/>
</a>

Delicious!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411006277_7d3468df69_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Flat Con Natilla (Flat with Custard)">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411006277_2957e9d3e3.jpg" alt="Flat Con Natilla (Flat with Custard)"/>
</a>

Juan ordered a flan with custard that was amazing.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411011477_8611ea752e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Tiramisu!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411011477_4fc3191a80.jpg" alt="Tiramisu!"/>
</a>

My tiramisu. Lovely.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411843656_c31d721001_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ice Bucket">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411843656_1eb6000824.jpg" alt="Ice Bucket"/>
</a>

Marga normally orders _café con hielo_, which used to confuse the heck out of waiters in England. In Spain, it's normally served as a normal espresso, but with a glass with a few cubes of ice in it. I've never seen them bring a huge bucket of ice like this.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411022657_13e46ecfa2_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ice in Coffey Cup">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411022657_e46d548d7e.jpg" alt="Ice in Coffey Cup"/>
</a>

Out of after dinner digestive boredom, I put a cube in my empty coffee cup.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411852550_f176d23bf7_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Bamboo Silhouette">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411852550_061108bcb3.jpg" alt="Bamboo Silhouette"/>
</a>

The window of the restaurant had this bamboo silhouette design on it. Very posh.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411857974_6c185b7835_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Globe Thing">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-13-laury-restaurant/2411857974_5d3707816f.jpg" alt="Globe Thing"/>
</a>

Outside the restaurant, we passed by this globe sculpture with the zodiacal symbols around it.

To lighten photo density, the afternoon walk that took place next will be the subject of [my next post](/2008/04/14/afternoon-walk-in-santander/).


Laury Restaurant


I took some photos just now on a grocery errand. It was so sunny when I left the building, but when I turned the corner, I found this dark looming storm cloud ready to pounce on me. If a storm pounces, does that make it _cumulonimble_? <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-11-stormy-friday/2405972406_180787690e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Vanebow">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-11-stormy-friday/2405972406_a2b5f84f26.jpg" alt="Vanebow"/>
</a>

Vanebow. I was hoping to get the rainbow right behind the weather vane, but there was no way to position myself with the vane between me and the bow.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-11-stormy-friday/2405143693_bbb4f04b16_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Splish Splash">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-11-stormy-friday/2405143693_881eef39a6.jpg" alt="Splish Splash"/>
</a>

Splish Splash. There seems to be a gutter malfunction at this corner of the town church.


Stormy Friday


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-10-how-to-change-the-color-of-objects-in-photoshop/2397905265_679d2d3219_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Easter Peas">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-10-how-to-change-the-color-of-objects-in-photoshop/2397905265_36c9ecdce6_t.jpg" alt="Easter Peas"/>
</a>

I know very little about editing photos in Photoshop, and am far from being an expert, but I enjoy playing with it and figuring out how to accomplish the alterations that I'm imagining. Earlier this week, I saw this friend's [awesome photo](http://www.flickr.com/photos/isogloss/2396806844/) of a pea pod and thought it would be cool if the peas were all different colors. So I downloaded the photo and opened it in Photoshop.  Showing my ignorance, I went about it the wrong way at first. I started by using the polygonal selector to make a selection around each pea and copy it to a new layer. Then I tried to play with the Levels settings for each pea layer. The results were pretty disgusting, and the borders around the selection were too hard. It looked like I'd physically cut them out with scissors, colored them, and pasted them back on the original image. Yuck.

Finally I figured out how to really do it:

1. Use the polygonal selection tool to make a selection around the object you want to color.
2. Feather the selection a little bit (I used 6 pixels).
3. On a new layer, fill the selection with the color you want (select the color and hit alt-backspace).
4. Remove the selection, and apply a Gaussian Blur to the layer. I used a setting of around 8 pixels. This will cause the color to bleed, just a little bit, outside the original selection. If this is a problem skip this step, or add the blur without removing the selection first.
5. Set the blend mode on the layer to "Hue". This is the key step.
6. Optionally you can modify the opacity of the layer to reduce the effect.

No doubt there are at least 17 other ways to accomplish the same thing, but this is how I did it. And here's the result:

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-10-how-to-change-the-color-of-objects-in-photoshop/2397905265_679d2d3219_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Easter Peas">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-10-how-to-change-the-color-of-objects-in-photoshop/2397905265_36c9ecdce6.jpg" alt="Easter Peas"/>
</a>

Check out the original [here](http://www.flickr.com/photos/isogloss/2396806844/).


How to change the color of objects in Photoshop


My mother-in-law was diagnosed with sleep apnea a couple years ago and uses one of those machines that blows air into your nose when she sleeps. Several of my parents' friends have similar diagnoses and machines. Recently, my wife has started telling me that she notices that sometimes, as she listens to me snore, I stop breathing for several seconds at a time. This, of course, is the definition of [sleep apnea](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_apnea). So I went and told the doctor, and the doctor set me up an appointment with a pneumologist. Today I had that appointment. I entered the hospital and asked how to get to _neumologí­a_. The woman, in perfect bureaucrat form, told me to "walk down that hall until you get to another desk like this one, and ask the lady there." Eventually, I made it to a hallway with a door that said _neumologí­a_ written on it. The hallway was full of people that looked like they were waiting to be called. So I sat down and waited, cursing my lack of forethought to bring a book. My only entertainment was chuckling naughtily as the doctor down the hall came out of her door marked _audiologí­a_ and shouted names at the top of her lungs. After an hour, I figured out that the proper protocol, which is not posted anywhere, is to knock on the door, interrupt whoever is getting a consultation at the moment, and hand in your appointment sheet. There's no computer in the doctor's office, so he and his secretary have no way to know what names to call except if people give in their papers. Sometimes I forget how low tech Spain can be.

Once in the doctor's office, I was asked a series of questions, including this one set of particularly silly ones. Your available responses are A) Never, B) Rarely, C) Sometimes, or D) All the time. The questions were:

1. Do you ever get sleepy while sitting and reading a book?
2. Do you ever get sleepy watching television?
3. Do you ever get sleepy after eating a big meal, with no alcohol?
4. Do you ever get sleepy when you lie down in the afternoon, should your schedule permit you to?
5. Do you ever get sleepy in meetings?
6. Do you ever get sleepy while talking to people?
7. Do you ever get sleepy while waiting for a traffic light while driving?

Anyone who says "Never" to those questions, at least 1 - 5 is a total liar. I understand that the point of the questions is to flag people that say, "Oh yes, I fall asleep watching the television every afternoon after my big lunch without alcohol!", but still. I wanted to add, "I often get sleepy filling out questionnaires," but the doctor didn't look like he had a humorous bone in his body.

After feeling around my neck for strange reasons why my trachea might be blocked and using a tongue depressor (It's been _years_ since I've had that done. I'd forgotten how horrible it is!), his diagnosis was that I look healthy and there's nothing to worry about. He said that everyone has occasional sleep apnea during REM sleep, and that, as long as you don't have more than 10 apneas per hour and feelings of sleep deprivation, then there's no need for any treatment or further testing. I asked if there was any danger if one were to go untreated, and he said that the only harm from sleep apnea is not getting enough rest and having a car accident because of it. So I feel reassured.

The doctor did give me an extremely low-tech way to prevent snoring, though. He suggested that I sew a little pouch into my pajama top, so that it would be right in the middle of my spine. Then, when I go to bed, put _a golf ball_ in the pouch. This will apparently prevent you from sleeping on your back, which is the position most likely to induce snoring. Ouch! I can already imagine the nice circular bruises such a remedy would produce. No thanks.


I have sleep apathy, not apnea


I introduced my in-laws to my new camera on Sunday. Here are a couple photos from Sunday lunch. <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398377292_dd95287622_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Fond of Grandpa">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398377292_d2f8bc0b00.jpg" alt="Fond of Grandpa"/>
</a>

A great profile of Grandpa and my glance of admiration. Belén's first attempt with the 40D is pretty impressive.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398377878_54df21f5d8_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Sister-in-law">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398377878_0ac47cd022.jpg" alt="Sister-in-law"/>
</a>

Rosy cheeked sister-in-law.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398378540_c4421aa73e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Grandpa and Me">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398378540_5cd0a62274.jpg" alt="Grandpa and Me"/>
</a>

Grandpa and me. Great shot of my chin dimple. How many hundreds of kids, throughout my lifetime, have told me, "Do you know you have a hole in your chin?"

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2397546569_8b893c14d2_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Uncorked">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2397546569_8bfb3653a3.jpg" alt="Uncorked"/>
</a>

Uncorked.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398380874_1b1a951f7e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Crate of Strawberries">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398380874_a28600abfd.jpg" alt="Crate of Strawberries"/>
</a>

Crate of strawberries for dessert. Grown in Andalucia, Spain.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398381650_eb2f3228ab_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Strawberries">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398381650_731f0417c6.jpg" alt="Strawberries"/>
</a>

Mmm!

[Previously](/2008/03/05/last-weekend-in-mondragon/) I took some photos of Snow White, and I was [sent back](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/2311512033/#comment72157604051451503) for some dwarf pics.

![Four of Seven](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2397551445_3406b55f3c.jpg)

Four of seven.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398387076_44b6f6f4cb_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Three of Seven">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398387076_2dd021f8dc.jpg" alt="Three of Seven"/>
</a>

Three of seven.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398385142_ed78b4564a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mini Minstrels">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2398385142_693189b7d4.jpg" alt="Mini Minstrels"/>
</a>

Mini minstrels. Does anyone recognize these as fairy tale characters?

And finally we end with a period of reflection...

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2397555977_ed05e5b342_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Watery Roof">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-08-sunday-lunch/2397555977_f9f4f64ed8.jpg" alt="Watery Roof"/>
</a>

This watery roof has intrigued me since my first visit to Mondragon 7 years ago. This is the view of the elevated sidewalk. There is always a thin layer of water on this rooftop. I have to think that it's for insulation purposes. I wonder how effective that is.


Sunday Lunch


As [suggested](/2008/04/01/old-colindres-photos/#comment-2324), this morning, I went and took a photo of the Colindres Town Hall from more or less the same angle as the 60-year-old photo I found on the internet [recently](/2008/04/01/old-colindres-photos/).

Not content to leave it as only a "before and after" photo, I downloaded some photo morphing software and made a little video. I used to play with morphing a lot back when it first came to the personal computer 15 years ago. So, without further ado...<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-07-ayuntamiento-de-colindres/2396043168_ec3630a892_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Colindres Ayuntamiento (Town Hall), 1948-2008">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-07-ayuntamiento-de-colindres/2396043168_ec3630a892_o.jpg" alt="Colindres Ayuntamiento (Town Hall), 1948-2008"/>
</a>

The before and after photos.

revver(796380)

What I love about it is how you can clearly see the difference of photographic angle because the morph gives you the sensation of the camera moving a little bit.

This video is also available on [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3lOk_a4zm8), [Yahoo](http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2327135/7300505), [Metacafe](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1227028/), [Google](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7595943607949864165), [Revver](http://one.revver.com/watch/796380), [DailyMotion](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4zur4), [Blip.tv](http://www.blip.tv/file/806923), [Veoh](http://www.veoh.com/videos/v6603513pTwmCygR), [Crackle](http://www.crackle.com/#id=2242460), [Stupid Videos](http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/Ayuntamiento_de_Colindres_19482008/) and [Viddler](http://www.viddler.com/explore/rasman1978/videos/6/).


Ayuntamiento de Colindres


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394270752_1c6300b439_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Vitoria Cathedral">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394270752_70c75dc91b_t.jpg" alt="Vitoria Cathedral"/>
</a>

On Friday, I went with Marga to her dentist appointment in Vitoria. It's about 80 minutes away, but the orthodontist there has a great reputation and did a pretty darn good job with Marga's teeth. From the looks of it, they are making money hand over fist. Every time we go, they have some new gadget that makes their offices more futuristic. Now, you don't even go to reception, you check in yourself with a touch screen. Fancy!

On the brisk walk from where we parked to the dentist office, we passed by the cathedral. I'd walked by it before, but on Friday it was absolutely breathtaking shimmering in the setting sun. The photos I took were taken as we walked by, with just a brief pause to frame each shot. Every single gargoyle made me long for a telephoto lens and more time. They are absolutely amazing. The Vitoria cathedral has gotten quite a bit of publicity lately as the inspiration for Ken Follet's most recent novel, _A World Without End_. To my surprise, there's even a website, called [kenfollettvitoria.com](http://www.kenfollettvitoria.com/), dedicated to this relationship. Check out the videos in the [downloads section](http://www.kenfollettvitoria.com/downloads.html). His attempt at saying thank you in Spanish for a statue in his honor is pretty funny. The Spanish release of _A World Without End_ this past January was the largest single day sales of any book in Spain ever, even bigger than those books about that Jerry Potter kid.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394270752_1c6300b439_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Vitoria Cathedral">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394270752_70c75dc91b.jpg" alt="Vitoria Cathedral"/>
</a>

Approaching the cathedral.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2393441471_1e6da68e23_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Vitoria Cathedral">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2393441471_7cbf73e474.jpg" alt="Vitoria Cathedral"/>
</a>

A little zoom.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2393443415_ac511b72e1_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Elongated Rhino">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2393443415_806a5395d1.jpg" alt="Elongated Rhino"/>
</a>

There was this bizarre rhino-wiener-ceros. From what I could tell, it had just given birth to this little rainbow-legged creature.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394275372_8afd45efa6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Vitoria Cathedral">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394275372_c434fd14b1.jpg" alt="Vitoria Cathedral"/>
</a>

'goyles.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2393447031_3cc3ff27b5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Bird over Vitoria Cathedral">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2393447031_0a20242185.jpg" alt="Bird over Vitoria Cathedral"/>
</a>

The circling birds didn't remedy the creepiness, in case you were wondering.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394277170_72818a3b9e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Pretty 'goyle">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394277170_296e6af385.jpg" alt="Pretty 'goyle"/>
</a>

Cropped from the last photo. Awesome.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2393448139_8169b66b3d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Vitoria Cathedral">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2393448139_2f386754ac.jpg" alt="Vitoria Cathedral"/>
</a>

The front entrance was completely on the shadowed side of the cathedral.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394278540_14817376b5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Accordian 'goyle">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394278540_6f75f9b1c9.jpg" alt="Accordian 'goyle"/>
</a>

This thing reminds me of that guy in [that Pixar short](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geri%27s_Game), but now that I've looked it up, there's really not any resemblance.

While Marga was in the dentist, I took a short walk and took the following two photos.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394280220_782f2251b8_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Tortured Basque Souls">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2394280220_98c0b2f107.jpg" alt="Tortured Basque Souls"/>
</a>

Tortured Basque Souls. I'm sure that this sculpture was originally designed to be very patriotic and a symbol of Basque unity, but...god, how _awful_! It's a good thing there's [a support group](http://www.flickr.com/groups/iwus/pool/) for this kind of stuff.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2393452131_cd67030811_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Puffy Blonds">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-06-vitoria-cathedral/2393452131_0fe3ecea8b.jpg" alt="Puffy Blonds"/>
</a>

The cute blond twins caught my eye, as they were designed to do. What decade do we live in, again? I really hope Big Hair isn't making a comeback.


Vitoria Cathedral


I'm ashamed to say that I have yet to read any of his books, but I've seen a few hours of video from his lectures. Let's just say that Richard Dawkins [refers to him](http://richarddawkins.net/article,1716,In-honour-of-Dan-Dennett,Richard-Dawkins) as his "intellectual elder brother". Check out this excerpt from an essay, entitled _Thank Goodness_, that Dennett wrote after nearly dying from a heart problem.

> As I now enter a gentle period of recuperation, I have much to reflect on, about the harrowing experience itself and even more about the flood of supporting messages I've received since word got out about my latest adventure. Friends were anxious to learn if I had had a near-death experience, and if so, what effect it had had on my longstanding public atheism. Had I had an epiphany? Was I going to follow in the footsteps of Ayer (who recovered his aplomb and insisted a few days later "what I should have said is that my experiences have weakened, not my belief that there is no life after death, but my inflexible attitude towards that belief"), or was my atheism still intact and unchanged?
> 
> Yes, I did have an epiphany. I saw with greater clarity than ever before in my life that when I say "Thank goodness!" this is not merely a euphemism for "Thank God!" (We atheists don't believe that there is any God to thank.) I really do mean thank goodness! There is a lot of goodness in this world, and more goodness every day, and this fantastic human-made fabric of excellence is genuinely responsible for the fact that I am alive today. It is a worthy recipient of the gratitude I feel today, and I want to celebrate that fact here and now.
> 
> To whom, then, do I owe a debt of gratitude? To the cardiologist who has kept me alive and ticking for years, and who swiftly and confidently rejected the original diagnosis of nothing worse than pneumonia. To the surgeons, neurologists, anesthesiologists, and the perfusionist, who kept my systems going for many hours under daunting circumstances. To the dozen or so physician assistants, and to nurses and physical therapists and x-ray technicians and a small army of phlebotomists so deft that you hardly know they are drawing your blood, and the people who brought the meals, kept my room clean, did the mountains of laundry generated by such a messy case, wheel-chaired me to x-ray, and so forth. These people came from Uganda, Kenya, Liberia, Haiti, the Philippines, Croatia, Russia, China, Korea, Indiaâ€”and the United States, of courseâ€”and I have never seen more impressive mutual respect, as they helped each other out and checked each other's work. But for all their teamwork, this local gang could not have done their jobs without the huge background of contributions from others. I remember with gratitude my late friend and Tufts colleague, physicist Allan Cormack, who shared the Nobel Prize for his invention of the c-t scanner. Allanâ€”you have posthumously saved yet another life, but who's counting? The world is better for the work you did. Thank goodness. Then there is the whole system of medicine, both the science and the technology, without which the best-intentioned efforts of individuals would be roughly useless. So I am grateful to the editorial boards and referees, past and present, of Science, Nature, Journal of the American Medical Association, Lancet, and all the other institutions of science and medicine that keep churning out improvements, detecting and correcting flaws.

I do urge you to read the rest [here](http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/dennett06/dennett06_index.html).

Check out this series of six short clips from YouTube. Brilliant.


Daniel Dennett is my hero

Halfdan's Trial


Yesterday, [Hubbers](http://www.hubbers.com/blog/) [recommended](/2008/03/28/the-rasmussen-family-vault/#comment-2316) a website called [Geni.com](http://www.geni.com/) to me. It's a family tree management application. But it can be useful for so much more, because it allows quite a lot of information, such as birthdays, addresses, etc., to be entered about each person, which is only visible to the rest of the family. Remember how [one of the benefits I found](/2007/12/15/whats-the-point-of-facebook/) in Facebook was in storing your contact information in one place that is accessible by only the people you want it to be? Well, that's also a benefit of Geni.com, at least for family members. There does, also, seem to be some notion of "Friends" in Geni.com, but I hope they keep that aspect of the social networking to a minimum. I only heard about Geni.com yesterday, but I quickly filled in my immediate family (the interface is amazingly easy), and sent them all invitations to join. Most of them have already joined. My grandmother has already filled in the birth dates and places for all of my uncles, aunts, and cousins. And my second cousin once removed, Mark, the guy that sent me all the photos in [my previous genealogy post](/2008/03/28/the-rasmussen-family-vault/), has filled in a large portion of his branch of the tree from memory, and promises to do more when he's got the actual data in front of him.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-genicom/2379979448_73a8f50f77_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Second Cousin, Once Removed">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-genicom/2379979448_7eb9f4e6bb.jpg" alt="Second Cousin, Once Removed"/>
</a>

Geni.com will calculate this kind of stuff for you. I'd never be able to figure out Mark's actual relationship to me on my own.

Geni.com also claims to allow export to a standard genealogy data format called [GEDCOM](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEDCOM), which, in theory, means that the information could be transferred to another genealogy application should one wish to.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-genicom/2379996882_3caee6c547_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Best Online Profile Question EVER">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-genicom/2379996882_8eee88a4fb.jpg" alt="Best Online Profile Question EVER"/>
</a>

Is this not the best online profile question _ever_?

All-in-all, I'm quite impressed with Geni.com. I think the benefit of being able to share information to your entire family, rather than have it in a three-ring binder on my grandmother's bookshelf, is worth any possible risk of having such information readily searchable by a third party. Their privacy policy seems pretty sound. The real benefit of this application is the collaboration aspect. The fact that my cousin Mark can fill in photos and birth places of his side of the tree, and my wife can fill in surnames of her aunts on her side, and my grandmother can enter birth and death dates of distant ancestors _all to the same tree_ is really amazing! Every time I refreshed my view of the tree yesterday, there was more information available because a relative eight time zones away was updating the database. Very cool.

Plus, you can embed a reduced portion of the tree in your blog if you so desire.

[View more of Erik's tree](http://www.geni.com/share?t=5584985823880106573)  |  [Get your own family tree at Geni.com](http://www.geni.com/)

![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-genicom/Jmx*PTEyMDcwNDIwNjg3OTkmcHQ9MTIwNzA*MjEyNDQwMyZwPTExNTg5MSZkPSZuPQ==.jpg)


Geni.com


For some reason, the other day I thought I'd search Flickr for photos of Colindres. I, of course, am the dominant supplier of [Colindres photos](http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=colindres&s=rec&z=t) to the internet. But in amongst my photos of [flowers](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/1452239957/) and [bollards](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/2368772965/), I found some nice ones from long ago, showing just how much Colindres has changed in recent years.

Of course these won't interest any of you nearly as much as they interest me, but I'm posting them anyway.[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-old-colindres-photos/2088813982_28ff12875a.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/21528936@N05/2088813982/)

Colindres Town Hall, 1948

[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-old-colindres-photos/2088813992_3fa7c3ee4b.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/21528936@N05/2088813992/)

Colindres, 1958. Notice the complete absence of all of Laredo's sprawl to the right.

[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-old-colindres-photos/2088813996_bd3bf24748.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/21528936@N05/2088813996/)

Colindres, 1962

[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-old-colindres-photos/2088814002_b215e8e862.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/21528936@N05/2088814002/)

Colindres, 1962. You can clearly see [the town church](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/1292668091/). If you look across the street from the church and up a little bit, you can see the [crumbling mansion with the widow's walk](/2007/12/13/ferntasia/).

[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-old-colindres-photos/2088814008_75dbb2f5e3.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/21528936@N05/2088814008/)

Colindres Town Hall Square, 1962.

[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-old-colindres-photos/2088178671_c3a37387fd.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/21528936@N05/2088178671/)

A main Colindres intersection, 1967.

[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-old-colindres-photos/2088968200_bb73f3e47c.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/21528936@N05/2088968200/)

Colindres from a hillside, 1967.

It's pretty amazing how much Colindres has grown in just 45 years.


Old Colindres Photos


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381261054_22d8c8724c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Horse Face">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381261054_77c8fc7377_t.jpg" alt="Horse Face"/>
</a>

For a brief window in the afternoon last Sunday, the sky opened up and revealed a lovely blue color between the towering cumulonimbi before quickly going back to the London mist we were smothered in for all of March.  That reminds me, I had a great conversation with a neighbor on the ride up in the elevator yesterday.

> Neighbor: ¡Cómo llueve, eh! ¡No para! Me: Sí­, todo el marzo. Neighbor: Sí­, todo muerto. Me: No, marzo. Ha hecho... Neighbor \[shaking head\]: Ni un alma por la calle... \[door opens at her floor\] Me: Hasta luego.

Translation:

> Neighbor: Man, it's raining hard! It doesn't stop! Me: Yeah, for all of March. Neighbor: Yep, everything's dead. Me: No, March. It's been... Neighbor \[shaking head\]: Not a soul on the street... \[door opens at her floor\] Me: See you later.

Surreal. I'm reasonably sure that my pronunciation wasn't entirely at fault.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381256186_f8ec0f596c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Rusty Anchor">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381256186_71bf405b58.jpg" alt="Rusty Anchor"/>
</a>

An old rusty anchor down by the docks.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381256688_d61cc7770c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Rusty Broken Claw">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381256688_29e8404ed3.jpg" alt="Rusty Broken Claw"/>
</a>

Magicians aren't supposed to reveal tricks, but this is how I [escaped from The Claw](/2008/03/18/wilson-and-the-claw/) the other day.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381257710_f724b042e4_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Equine Umbra">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381257710_8228eb27ce.jpg" alt="Equine Umbra"/>
</a>

This horse normally lives in this corner lot, but I hadn't seen him in a year. But this Sunday, he was grazing peacefully when I went up to the fence to take his picture in the low afternoon sun. He immediately came over to investigate.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2380424205_dac74b7cc2_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Rusty Horse">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2380424205_52852f7e40.jpg" alt="Rusty Horse"/>
</a>

Is the title of the post starting to make sense now?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381261054_22d8c8724c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Horse Face">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381261054_77c8fc7377.jpg" alt="Horse Face"/>
</a>

Finally he realized that I didn't have any treats and his interest waned. It was time for us to continue walking anyway.

This is as far as I could carry the "rust" theme, I'm afraid.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2380426077_e4483e256f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Worn BMW Logo">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2380426077_7acdf2761c.jpg" alt="Worn BMW Logo"/>
</a>

This faded BMW logo caught my eye so I had to go photograph it. I'm very pleased with this photo. See the lamp post reflected in the chrome bumper? Well here it is...

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381262498_8ea724fd78_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Lamp Post">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381262498_5dd961e33b.jpg" alt="Lamp Post"/>
</a>

Marga took this photo. As I was taking the previous masterpiece, she said, "Whoa! Why don't you take a picture of that lamp post with the blue sky!" There was a definite subtext in her statement of "Stop photographing everything and let's walk!", but I think she partially meant it literally, too, so I gave her the camera and suggested she take it.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381263862_cd1893404d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Guard Dog">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2008-04-01-rust-colored-things/2381263862_500fcc276e.jpg" alt="Guard Dog"/>
</a>

Then, out of nowhere, this german shepherd ran up and started barking at us from the other side of a wall he could have easily of leapt over. I'd always noticed the "Beware of the dog!" sign at that house, but never seen the canine. He was really ferocious and terrifying, but I mustered the courage to put the camera in his face, and he turned all cute and adorable for a split second while the shutter was open. Jerk.

That's all for now.


27 posts from April, 2008