God Dropped the Paint Can

A real place outside Bakersfield, CA. Thanks to Jerry Pisani at Trinity Parish.

RFSJ

A Different Statue of Liberty

My uncle Kevin sent this to me (click on image to enlarge):

RFSJ

I Wish More Bishops Were Like This

Have a look.

RFSJ

A Pretty Cool Hobby

My Dad and Mom and their dog have a hobby call "geo-caching." It came about when the Clinton Administration allowed non-military access to the global positioning satellites (GPS) in May of 2000. According to The History of Geo-caching:

On May 3, 2000, Dave Ulmer proposed a way to celebrate the demise of [scrambled access to the satellites]. He hid a bucket of trinkets in the woods outside Portland, Oregon and announced its location in a posting made to the USENET newsgroup sci.geo.satellite-nav. This announcement is remarkable for laying out the essence of the hobby that is still in place today. It's all there. The container. The trinkets. The log book. The rule of take something, leave something, sign the logbook. Dave Ulmer invented geocaching in one fell swoop in that newsgroup posting.

Within a day, the original stash had been found. Within days, more stashes had been hidden in California, Kansas, and Illinois. Within a month, a stash had been hidden as far away as Australia. The hobby was fast on its way to being a worldwide phenomenon.

Essentially, what you do is use a hand-held GPS receiver (see right)- very similar to the ones on cars - to find items hidden by other people. You are told the directions or the actual coordinates in latitude and longitude (for example, my parents' house is at: 41' 40.519N, 83' 37.992W) and your GPS receiver tells you where to go. As the Geo-caching FAQ notes:

It is deceptively easy. It's one thing to see where an item is, it's a totally different story to actually get there.

So I helped my dad hide a new cache yesterday. Most geo-cachers use a site called, obviously enough, geocaching.com to record their caches and announce new ones and contribute to forums about geocaching and all that. You (unfortunately, to my mind) have to have an account on the site to see most things, but the official record of the new cache is here (create an account to see it all). My parents have found 1509 caches others have placed, and have placed 21 of their own (see their log page here). They traipse all around NE Ohio and SE Michigan on the hunt, and when they visited me in Manhattan a year or so ago we found two in Central Park (there are more than that there, of course).

So it's kind of a fun thing, and it was wonderful to participate in what my parents like to do too. We got out and tramped around a bit, and I am thankful for being able to do so.

RFSJ

I saw a neat ad this evening

While coming home from Hunter College on the PATH train from the WTC station, I happened to be standing where I could look outside onto the tunnel walls. I saw a cool ad that animated itself as the train passed. It was a a pink carnation (I think, I'm a guy, I don't know flowers that well) blossoming open. At the end it says "Morning Stretch - Westin, the way it should be." I doubt I will have much cause to stay in a Westin anymore, although I did stay in them a lot when I was with Gartner, and the Westin/W chain is my favorite. But the ad itself was a delight.

You can see it here - scroll down to the pink flower item for the ad. There are some other cool things being done in NYC right now too - check out the Shuttle between Times Square and Grand Central - those are the "shuttle wrap" pix ont he same page. I'm gonna have to go ride one!

RFSJ

There's a Castle Outside New York

It's called Lyndhurst Castle, and it's just up the Hudson from Tarrytown, about a half-mile from the Tappan Zee Bridge. It's the former Gould suburban mansion, complete with Conservatory and Carriage House. At one time the Conservatory was known as having the largest metal framed greenhouse in the world. We went on Saturday and got there just in time for the 3:30 tour. There really isn't very much to the house, although it is decorated nicely for the periods. I'd have to say the exterior is more impressive than inside is. But it's definitely worth a see if you are in the neighborhood.

RFSJ

I want one!

an iPhone, that is. The NYT gave it a very favorable review, all in all. They're a bit pricy ($400 or $500, depending on memory) but maybe for Christmas (hint, hint....).

(Image courtesy of the iphone store.)

RFSJ

Everything You Always Wanted to Know...

....about rope but didn't know whom to ask: Knot and Rope Supply in Perrysburg, is your place. My dad works part time there doing all sorts of things like splicing lengths of rope and doing decorative work. Last year they had a commission to do some decorative net work for the Ann Taylor stores in New York. They also supply all kinds of maritime needs, as you might expect. Check them out and pass the word.

RFSJ