Prism Snapshot 1.4

I know what you’re saying…Clay, what hobby don’t you have. I don’t knit…I don’t…ummm…ok, well, I have a lot of hobbies. One of the hobbies I keep from my friends is kiting. No, not the plastic Baby Bat kites you used to pick up from Walgreens.  I’m talking the expensive stunt kite made from ripstop nylon, graphite spars and spectra line.  I’ve had a couple of stunt kits for about 15 years, but recently started reading about speed foil kites.  These are rectangular, contain no spars and look a lot like rectangular parachutes.

On a recent trip to San Francisco I visited a kite store and got the bug again, but this time, I wanted a speedfoil kite.  I tried buying one right there, but Jen convinced me it would be better to order it from Amazon.  She was right.  I saved $50.  I bought a Prism Snapshot 1.4.  Like the same suggests, it is 1.4 meters wide and it is a dual line kite.  Holy crap this thing is a blast.  It doesn’t break and it recovers from the ground.  It simply wants to be in the air.  It is also really quick.  The problem is, I want it to pull harder (please don’t say…That’s what she said).  I taught

Jake and the Prism Snapshot 1.4

Jake how to use it and he LOVES this kite.  Not only that, he is a pro at it!  He caught on right away.  You can guess what happened next….I gave him the kite so I could upgrade to something bigger and badder.

Prism Snapshot 2.5

I checked out the other sizes than Prism had to offer in their Snapshot line and settled on their biggest, the Prism Snapshot 2.5.  I picked it up this morning at a local kite shop called Air Traffic.  We have had a fairly windy weekend so I took it to the park this afternoon and was amazed by this behemoth.  First of all…it is bigger…much bigger, so it pulls harder, but it a little slower to turn.  I must have looked ridiculous to all of the people at the park because this kite was pulling me around like a kid pulling his mom around a Toys R Us.  I finally got the hang of it and was leaning back so much at times, I was practically laying on my back.

My next step is to convert the Snapshot 2.5 to a quad line kit  so that I will have breaks and I can put a kite killer on it (basically an emergency release in case you accidentally let go of the kite).

Now I am kind of anxious for the lakes to freeze over because I’m taking this sucker to Lake Calhoun and flying it while sliding across.  FUN!

Yummy Yummy For My Tummy

I’m not sure why I take more photos in the summer…oh, I know…because taking photos when it is -15 with a -40 degree windchill sucks.

I put some new photos in the Grab Bag album and created a new album of Halle making a mess with a fudgesicle.

Check out the galleries by clicking here!

So let’s get Jen some traffic and head over to her blog…

HalleTown

I dream of these every night.

My iPad is making me fat.  Ok, not really, but these ribs will if I eat them as much as I want to.  I was strolling through CostCo and they had a couple slabs of baby back ribs for $14.  What a bargain!  Wait…I don’t know how to properly cook ribs!  In comes the iPad and the Epicurious app.  I love Memphis style ribs and there was the perfect recipe.   That along with some tips from the Weber app on the iPad had me prepared to take on this project.

The results were absolutely amazing.  Rich smokey flavor with ultra-tender meat.  I can’t wait to make them again.

Here is a link to the recipe.

Jake & Halle - Click to Zoom

We went to Atlanta on Easter to visit with Jen’s brother and his family.  It was a fantastic trip and my inlaws showed us a fantastic time.

I was able to lug all my gear with me and take some cool shots.  Out of all the photos of Halle and Jake I have taken, this is hands down my favorite.

iStat Menus Main Screen

As most of you know, I live and die by my Mac…and because I come from the PC world (several years back) I always need to know what is happening with the internals of my computer as I’m using it.  I want to know how much memory I have left, what my hard drive capacity is, if my hard drive is being accessed, what the CPU utilization is and some other very geeky stuff that I really don’t need to know.  I have been using iStat menus for well over a year and love the info it puts up on my menu bar.

The new version changes iStat menus to a standalone app instead of a preference pane.  They have added a few thinks like moon phases, public IP, battery levels for your laptop and wireless keyboard/mouse, fan speed control and a bunch of other stuff that is cool, but I will probably never need.

For $10 you can’t go wrong!  Check it out here.

My Menubar and iStat CPU Menu

We had a blast and most of them hammed it up quite a bit.  One of my favorite shots is this one of my good friend on the team.  He really knows how to make love to the camera.

Halle and The Fuzzy Guy

Great weekend!  I was pretty cranky Saturday morning, but Jen & Halle made me a massage appointment on Saturday as a Christmas gift.  I have been under a lot of stress lately (not to say Jen hasn’t) and this couldn’t have come at a better time.  When I got to the salon for my massage, I asked for the deep tissue massage on my back, arms and glutes.  Holy crap was this woman strong!  I told her that getting a deep tissue massage is much like getting a tattoo, the first 5 minutes suck and then the endorphins kick in.  She worked out my crazy knots that I have been collecting since Halle has come into our lives.  You see, Halle loves to play a game with me where I chase her down on my hands and knees while chanting, “I’m gonna get you!”.  It hurts, but we have a blast.

Jake and I went to shoot photos (headshots and action shots) of a spectacular stunt team.  I can’t believe the stuff these guys do!  I will post some samples soon.  Jake was my assistant, but got a lot of time in on the trampoline.  Jen’s friend then came over and Jen and I went on an actual date after Halle went to bed.  It was great for just the two of us to get out.  Thanks K.

The other great part of this weekend was the little things…

• I arrived at a friend’s house that Jen and Halle were and Halle walked up to me, held out her arms and when I picked her up she gave me a big hug.
• She let me give her a bath without Jen being anywhere around.
• We danced to “Baby Got Back”…what an infectious song.
• I played Oasis’ Wonderwall on the guitar for her and it made her smile.
• She followed me around the house.
• She called me….daddy.

All of these things add up to a lot!  Now I have to spent the next 5 days seeing her for about 2 hours a day.  That sucks.

Happy Halle

Does that title sound like I am excited that the holidays are over?  Well, I am…a little.  I am craving a normal schedule once again because I have seen what that does for a 13 month old.  It makes her happy…much like this photo to the right.

Things have been going great.  Jen has become the sleep drill sergeant thanks to a book called “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child“. Wow, what an amazing change we have seen since Halle has been on a semi-regular sleep schedule.  Jen is also much happier…and not so crazy…shhh…don’t tell her I said that.

We travelled to Chicago to spend Christmas with Jen’s side of the family.  Her brother and his family drove up from Atlanta to meet Halle for the first time which was awesome.  Halle did great in the car for the total of 14 hours of winter driving.  She discovered the Wiggles thanks to a genius at my office who recommended them for trance-inducing travel entertainment.  She was right, Halle loved it.  She actually danced in her car seat….I’m not sure how, but she pulled it off and looked good doing it.  Halle loves to dance.  I can just give her a little techo beat (she loves The Crystal Method) and she shakes it like a Polaroid picture.

I have been taking photos and video, but haven’t had a lot of time to compile much.  I did add some photos to the Grab Bag album on our web site, so check ‘em out!