What is your highlight of the day? Please Share.

[skoo78]

Back from NY. Been kind of busy. Spent sometime wandering lower Manhattan after class, took some pictures of the structure they built at the WTC and the Brooklyn Bridge. NY was full of construction and maintenance with scaffolding everywhere. I did take a look at shot glasses while there but most were of the printed photo variety which didn't appeal to me. Did pick up one with just gold lettering though -no gold around the rim though.

Here's a couple of pictures of NYC. SPCNet had some issue with images so I dumped them on Amazon.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0760.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0775.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0784.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0751.JPG

Also realized I had pictures from earlier this year still on the camera. Can you identify these places?

https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0051.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0104.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0338.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0362.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0377.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0430.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0559.JPG


Went to the beach at Plum Island after I got back on the weekend. It's my favorite beach because you can literally walk out 100 feet and only find yourself in 2 feet of water. Found a bunch of tiny hermit crabs, two sand dollars and what seemed to be a piece of obsidian (which someone threw out after I got home). Wish I could live there. I only have pictures from my cell phone since I didn't bring my camera. Panoramas there would've been ideal.

WELCOME BACK darkcser!

I love the pictures! Makes me want to go to Manhattan and take my own pictures now (need to put on my "to do" list before I get very old). I bet it was easier to walk around Manhattan than driving right?

Curious, the first picture, is that the WTC structure you were talking about? It reminds me of a small version of Charles de Gaulle Etoile in France. The construction site reminds me of DT Minneapolis...constructions and maintenance everywhere. They are building a new park in DT and I'm anxious for them to finish it next year. Did you walk the Brooklyn Bridge? If you did, how long did it take for you to go to the other side?

Now, the challenge. Your photos from your previous trips. I have no clue where the places are from. LOL. All I know is that they are beautifully taken. If I have to guess, a couple were probably taken in Europe somewhere? :P I'm bad at guessing so you will have to tell me.

Panorama does wonders don't you think? I remember back in my 'many years' of college, photoshop class to be exact, I had to convert a set of photos taken of a scenery and make a panorama image out of it. It was a pain piling those pictures, but the end result was flawless. Now, with high tech cameras, it is so easy from just a pan and click away. Right?

Plum Island beach sounds nice. 100 ft distance and only 2ft deep? wow. (This next question is going to be silly) Is there a drop after 2 ft? Did you keep the hermit crabs as pets then? That sucks your precious Obsidian was thrown away. It's like finding gold...well to me that is. If somebody I knew threw it away, I would have cried.

I wish our beaches here in MN were like the oceans. The only "close to be an ocean" is up north in Lake Superior. I'm hoping to travel up north to Sugarloaf Cove with my small photography enthusiast team to take pictures of fall color leaves before snow hits (although I heard we might get a bit of snow Friday). Oh well, but this weekend is my friend's wedding and I'm one of her photographers. It's going to be an American and traditional wedding, so it'll be interesting. I just hope the weather is good to us and I hope I don't get sick afterwards. That's one thing about me and weather change. We battle a lot.

Thanks for sharing!

[darkcser]

WELCOME BACK darkcser!

I love the pictures! Makes me want to go to Manhattan and take my own pictures now (need to put on my "to do" list before I get very old). I bet it was easier to walk around Manhattan than driving right?

Curious, the first picture, is that the WTC structure you were talking about? It reminds me of a small version of Charles de Gaulle Etoile in France. The construction site reminds me of DT Minneapolis...constructions and maintenance everywhere. They are building a new park in DT and I'm anxious for them to finish it next year. Did you walk the Brooklyn Bridge? If you did, how long did it take for you to go to the other side?

Now, the challenge. Your photos from your previous trips. I have no clue where the places are from. LOL. All I know is that they are beautifully taken. If I have to guess, a couple were probably taken in Europe somewhere? :P I'm bad at guessing so you will have to tell me.

Panorama does wonders don't you think? I remember back in my 'many years' of college, photoshop class to be exact, I had to convert a set of photos taken of a scenery and make a panorama image out of it. It was a pain piling those pictures, but the end result was flawless. Now, with high tech cameras, it is so easy from just a pan and click away. Right?

Plum Island beach sounds nice. 100 ft distance and only 2ft deep? wow. (This next question is going to be silly) Is there a drop after 2 ft? Did you keep the hermit crabs as pets then? That sucks your precious Obsidian was thrown away. It's like finding gold...well to me that is. If somebody I knew threw it away, I would have cried.

I wish our beaches here in MN were like the oceans. The only "close to be an ocean" is up north in Lake Superior. I'm hoping to travel up north to Sugarloaf Cove with my small photography enthusiast team to take pictures of fall color leaves before snow hits (although I heard we might get a bit of snow Friday). Oh well, but this weekend is my friend's wedding and I'm one of her photographers. It's going to be an American and traditional wedding, so it'll be interesting. I just hope the weather is good to us and I hope I don't get sick afterwards. That's one thing about me and weather change. We battle a lot.

Thanks for sharing!

760 is actually on the edge of Chinatown in NYC. 784 is actually at the site of the WTC. As for the Brooklyn Bridge I went as far as the first support pillar before it started raining again so I stopped at that point.

51 Colosseum, 104 Saint Peter's Square (Vatican), 338 and 362 Mt. Titlis, 377 Lucerne, 430 Avenue des Champs-Élysées (in front of the Obelisque), 559 should be easy to identify -it has the world's most famous painting in it

I brought the hermit crabs home... and they died the next day. They sort of expired while I was at work and were quite ripe by the time I got home. Maybe I should've just my cat have at them while they were still fresh.

As for the obsidian I actually rooted around in the trash to no avail :<

Errr!!! My memory is so shot these days. I've been trying to learn Japanese (for entertainment purposes so I can read manga and play games), and it seems to be disrupting my normal memory -like my mind can only handle so much. I spent two hours looking for two rebates I received in the mail a couple of days back but just couldn't find them. I sort of remember thinking I should put them in my bag so I can cash them but they're not in my bag. Spent another 30 minutes look for a checkbook, found it but then was distracted by something else I found... and then the checkbook disappeared. Had me wondering if I was having hallucinations about finding the checkbook until I found it 5 minutes later leaning against wall. Maybe I also need to clean up my place, too many stacks of paper and mail laying around.

[skoo78]

760 is actually on the edge of Chinatown in NYC. 784 is actually at the site of the WTC. As for the Brooklyn Bridge I went as far as the first support pillar before it started raining again so I stopped at that point.

51 Colosseum, 104 Saint Peter's Square (Vatican), 338 and 362 Mt. Titlis, 377 Lucerne, 430 Avenue des Champs-Élysées (in front of the Obelisque), 559 should be easy to identify -it has the world's most famous painting in it

I brought the hermit crabs home... and they died the next day. They sort of expired while I was at work and were quite ripe by the time I got home. Maybe I should've just my cat have at them while they were still fresh.

As for the obsidian I actually rooted around in the trash to no avail :<

Errr!!! My memory is so shot these days. I've been trying to learn Japanese (for entertainment purposes so I can read manga and play games), and it seems to be disrupting my normal memory -like my mind can only handle so much. I spent two hours looking for two rebates I received in the mail a couple of days back but just couldn't find them. I sort of remember thinking I should put them in my bag so I can cash them but they're not in my bag. Spent another 30 minutes look for a checkbook, found it but then was distracted by something else I found... and then the checkbook disappeared. Had me wondering if I was having hallucinations about finding the checkbook until I found it 5 minutes later leaning against wall. Maybe I also need to clean up my place, too many stacks of paper and mail laying around.

Hey, is it VERY cold where you're at? Ready for winter?

I couldn't tell image 760 was the edge of Chinatown at all. You've traveled a lot and yes, if image 559 is where the world's most famous painting is in, then it should be Paris, France. Am I correct?

Out of all the European countries that you've traveled to, which one is your favorite? If I have the luxury of traveling, I would love to visit Paris and Rome. I've learned French for 8/9 years for a reason, but sad that I haven't used it for a VERY long time and lost it. I've also have some friends in Paris that I haven't seen for 10 years (only communicate through fb) and would like to pay a visit.

RIP hermit crabs. I think you're suppose to place them in a certain temp if I recall? I remember at Mall of America, there was a booth that sold hermit crabs and I wanted to buy one. I ended up not buying it knowing my cat, booger, would be curious and may try to play with it.

Speaking of finding and raising animals as pets, I used to have a pet snapping turtle that my brother found when he went fishing. We called her Cammy from Street Fighter. Anyway, she got to be almost 2 feet long and we couldn't raised her anymore so we let her go in a nearby lake. She swam away but came back to us. We had to tell her to go and left. It was a very sad moment. Man, as a child til today, we had so many pets that it felt like a farm house. LOL. Chicken, dog, wild birds, parakeets, guinea pigs, rabbits (domestic and wild), garden snakes, wild toad, turtle, hamsters, gerbils, wild squirrel, fishes of all kinds, and of course Cats.

By the way, my new cat, she's been pooping everywhere and not in her litter box. She isn't like Booger. Do you know why she is behaving like that? She left me her gift right next to my door one morning and I almost stepped on it.

Forgetting where you stash your stuff is a sign that you're getting old dude. Since your place is messy, you should hire wkeej and his team to clean (wkeej, if you're reading this, can you cross the border for your cleaning services? )

This past weekend, my friend's wedding photo shoot was fun and COLD. Although it was 8 hours long of taking pictures, holding a heavy DSLR Nikon camera and lens made my fingers and arms ached afterwards, but it was worth the pain. Very productive and educational as well. I observed the traditional wedding that came after the Church wedding and actually understand a bit more of it. The groom and his best man had to kowtow three times (and this is not like how Chinese kowtow) to each relatives, families, and guests...man, they got their work out for the day.

[darkcser]

Hey, is it VERY cold where you're at? Ready for winter?

I couldn't tell image 760 was the edge of Chinatown at all. You've traveled a lot and yes, if image 559 is where the world's most famous painting is in, then it should be Paris, France. Am I correct?

Out of all the European countries that you've traveled to, which one is your favorite? If I have the luxury of traveling, I would love to visit Paris and Rome. I've learned French for 8/9 years for a reason, but sad that I haven't used it for a VERY long time and lost it. I've also have some friends in Paris that I haven't seen for 10 years (only communicate through fb) and would like to pay a visit.

RIP hermit crabs. I think you're suppose to place them in a certain temp if I recall? I remember at Mall of America, there was a booth that sold hermit crabs and I wanted to buy one. I ended up not buying it knowing my cat, booger, would be curious and may try to play with it.

Speaking of finding and raising animals as pets, I used to have a pet snapping turtle that my brother found when he went fishing. We called her Cammy from Street Fighter. Anyway, she got to be almost 2 feet long and we couldn't raised her anymore so we let her go in a nearby lake. She swam away but came back to us. We had to tell her to go and left. It was a very sad moment. Man, as a child til today, we had so many pets that it felt like a farm house. LOL. Chicken, dog, wild birds, parakeets, guinea pigs, rabbits (domestic and wild), garden snakes, wild toad, turtle, hamsters, gerbils, wild squirrel, fishes of all kinds, and of course Cats.

By the way, my new cat, she's been pooping everywhere and not in her litter box. She isn't like Booger. Do you know why she is behaving like that? She left me her gift right next to my door one morning and I almost stepped on it.

Forgetting where you stash your stuff is a sign that you're getting old dude. Since your place is messy, you should hire wkeej and his team to clean (wkeej, if you're reading this, can you cross the border for your cleaning services? )

This past weekend, my friend's wedding photo shoot was fun and COLD. Although it was 8 hours long of taking pictures, holding a heavy DSLR Nikon camera and lens made my fingers and arms ached afterwards, but it was worth the pain. Very productive and educational as well. I observed the traditional wedding that came after the Church wedding and actually understand a bit more of it. The groom and his best man had to kowtow three times (and this is not like how Chinese kowtow) to each relatives, families, and guests...man, they got their work out for the day.

If you look to image 559 on the right you can just about make out the painting in question with the crowd standing before it. Rome was by far my favorite. I took 5 or so years of Latin in high school so I've always wanted to visit the Roman Forum, Colosseum, etc.

I had 4 years of Spanish in high school as well. Hated every second of it. Still gives me nightmares. I enjoyed Latin -absolutely detested Spanish.

Think the hermit crabs died from overcrowding. I had a bunch them in a large salad bowl. Maybe they need to breath too like turtles? I didn't have any dry land so they might have drowned. Wow, a two foot long turtle? How big was it when you first found it? I'd imagine it was pretty small for you to name it Cammy That's quite a collection of animals, how was the squirrel? Did it chew up the place, and um... defecate everywhere?

Do they still have that hologram store in Mall of America?

I always regard it as something magical when a cat just figures out to poop in the litter box. Maybe she's stressed or frightened? Have you thought about placing the litter box next to her food and water so it's close by or in a more sheltered area?

I actually spent about 3 hours cleaning out my mail pile this weekend. At the end of which I discovered that I had the rebates all along in my bag inside a notebook... which I thought I had checked pretty thoroughly before...

At the end of the cleaning I ended up with a bunch of old magazines that I used for target practice, and made a little video that I'll post on to Youtube some day. It turned out different than intended. I've used magazines before as a target backstop for pellet guns so I was pretty confident shooting the 2289 Backpacker at it. After a while I remembered I still had a fully charged Marauder left over from a few weeks back from missing out on a field target shooting event. I thought I shouldn't keep it fully charged for long periods so I decided to shoot some rounds from it. Knowing it to be much more powerful I even added a couple of additional magazines... this seemed like a good idea since I was pretty sure it couldn't punch through more than 6 magazine or so. The problem was that I double chambered the first shot (shot two pellets at the same time) which distracted from the subsequent eight shots as I wondered how that may have happened. It turned out the last eight shots grouped quite well (1 inch groupings at 28 feet, shot from a sitting position with the rifle braced on my knee). I was pretty happy with the results until I went to look at my target up close, and realized it drilled through all of the magazines and through the thin composite board behind it, and put a half inch deep dent on the metal door beyond... I tried to cover it with some white nail polish (used to paint my sights) but it's still a fairly noticeable dent... maybe I can fill it with silicone.

It's 60-70s here in the daytime. I rather enjoy this kind of weather if it's sunny. The best man has to kowtow? What is he? Backup groom?

[skoo78]

If you look to image 559 on the right you can just about make out the painting in question with the crowd standing before it. Rome was by far my favorite. I took 5 or so years of Latin in high school so I've always wanted to visit the Roman Forum, Colosseum, etc.

I had 4 years of Spanish in high school as well. Hated every second of it. Still gives me nightmares. I enjoyed Latin -absolutely detested Spanish.

Think the hermit crabs died from overcrowding. I had a bunch them in a large salad bowl. Maybe they need to breath too like turtles? I didn't have any dry land so they might have drowned. Wow, a two foot long turtle? How big was it when you first found it? I'd imagine it was pretty small for you to name it Cammy That's quite a collection of animals, how was the squirrel? Did it chew up the place, and um... defecate everywhere?

Do they still have that hologram store in Mall of America?

I always regard it as something magical when a cat just figures out to poop in the litter box. Maybe she's stressed or frightened? Have you thought about placing the litter box next to her food and water so it's close by or in a more sheltered area?

I actually spent about 3 hours cleaning out my mail pile this weekend. At the end of which I discovered that I had the rebates all along in my bag inside a notebook... which I thought I had checked pretty thoroughly before...

At the end of the cleaning I ended up with a bunch of old magazines that I used for target practice, and made a little video that I'll post on to Youtube some day. It turned out different than intended. I've used magazines before as a target backstop for pellet guns so I was pretty confident shooting the 2289 Backpacker at it. After a while I remembered I still had a fully charged Marauder left over from a few weeks back from missing out on a field target shooting event. I thought I shouldn't keep it fully charged for long periods so I decided to shoot some rounds from it. Knowing it to be much more powerful I even added a couple of additional magazines... this seemed like a good idea since I was pretty sure it couldn't punch through more than 6 magazine or so. The problem was that I double chambered the first shot (shot two pellets at the same time) which distracted from the subsequent eight shots as I wondered how that may have happened. It turned out the last eight shots grouped quite well (1 inch groupings at 28 feet, shot from a sitting position with the rifle braced on my knee). I was pretty happy with the results until I went to look at my target up close, and realized it drilled through all of the magazines and through the thin composite board behind it, and put a half inch deep dent on the metal door beyond... I tried to cover it with some white nail polish (used to paint my sights) but it's still a fairly noticeable dent... maybe I can fill it with silicone.

It's 60-70s here in the daytime. I rather enjoy this kind of weather if it's sunny. The best man has to kowtow? What is he? Backup groom?

Ok, image 559: the painting on the right, sorry, I do not know; BUT, the one on the far left, I do. It is "The Wedding of Cana" by Paolo Veronese, right? I know you took the picture in France, I just do not know the city.

Is Latin easier to learn than Spanish? You know, French is harder than Spanish. I rather learn Spanish than French if I knew in 10+ years in advance it was needed in MN. It would help a lot with my clients I serve. Curious, why do you detest Spanish so much?

Yep! you heard it correctly. Cammy grew to be 2 ft long turtle. She was a heavy gal. We had her when she was only 2 inches long and became a member of our crazy family. Out of all the animals we raised, my mom hated the snakes the most. She didn't want to come near it. LOL. As for the squirrel, my mom didn't want us to have it in the house so we kept it in the garage. One winter morning, my dad started the car to take us to go to school. By the time we went inside the garage, we saw the squirrel's frozen stiff body. It died either from the cold or carbon monoxide. So sad.

I haven't been to Mall of America for a long while. I usually go MOA twice a year close to the holidays and that's about it. I believe the Hologram store isn't there anymore. I know there is a Barbie and Star Trek exhibition that is going on.

I think my cat, Bano 2, is frightened. She is afraid of doors somehow. I know because I've been observing her and she would stand at the foot of the entrance, meowing away. I literally had to pick her up and take her inside my room. Phobia? I hope she overcomes it. She is a cute little furball.

Talking about cleaning, I have to clean my place too. It's becoming a jungle. My niece (6 yrs old) wanted to help clean to get some money for her to save up for christmas. Mind as well have her start young in learning how to work for money.

Man, I guess you need more than just magazines for shooting targets. Phone books should work better right? Hope you fill the dent good and learned your lesson. Hey, whatever happen to your bow that you went in to customize?

In the Hmong traditional wedding, the best man act as the groom's helper, i.e. carrying stuff, basically be with him. it's a tradition that he and the groom have to kowtow. They have to do that when they first enter into the Bride's house and when they leave. The suckiest part is the departing piece. The groom and best man may possibly be intoxicated with alcohol by that point and they have to kowtow. The Bride and her "Green Lady" (think of her as the Maid of Honor. Her duty is to follow the Bride and watch her in case she have cold feet or ran off with another man) dress up in Hmong traditional clothing and stand close by until the guys finished kowtowing. Overall, this traditional wedding can be 1 or 2 days long; add the American Church wedding piece with reception, it becomes HELLA LONG. Interesting eh?

[LuNaR]

been a while lol

today i walked a random grandpa across the streets

[wkeej]

The Bride and her "Green Lady" (... ran off with another man)

happened before?

[skoo78]

been a while lol

today i walked a random grandpa across the streets

LuNaR! Thought you fell off the face of the earth! Lol.....ur such a sweet guy!

happened before?

Yes it did. Forgot to add that the Green Lady and Best Man is from the Groom side of the family. So, if the Green Lady didn't do her job and the Bride ran off with another man, the Green Lady will be in deep trouble. This was a tradition that was passed back in our home country to the States. I remember my dad told me about a cousin that ran off with her bf. She was forced to be in a marriage that she did not want to be in. I gave her props. Lol. Force marriages use to be a common thing in the Hmong community back in the 80s and 90s (in the states). Now, I haven't heard much about it. I know it is still happening, but it is less comparing back in the Asian countries.

I was a Green Lady a couple of times in my young years. Got yelled at by the Groom once because I didn't watch the Bride. I fell asleep. Heck, I was fifteen at that time and it was like 2 am! I dreaded being the Green Lady. Oh...and guys from the Bride side will flock to the Green Lady to offer drinks. It's a way of saying "our sister is marrying to your side of the family and we are now family. If you see me I.e. Family junctions, you call me Uncle ..." Green lady will have to drink the cups (usually alcohol, but if Christian, I see sodas used instead). Sometimes Green Lady is lucky to have her guy relatives there to drink for her instead.

Interesting eh?

[wkeej]

The Hmong community is quite big in States. 260k. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong_people. at the end of whole article.

What "props" did you give to your "escapee" cousin?
The Green Lady has to wear "green" clothing?

[skoo78]

The Hmong community is quite big in States. 260k. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong_people. at the end of whole article.What "props" did you give to your "escapee" cousin? The Green Lady has to wear "green" clothing?

Yes Hmong community is big in the States. In Canada, I have a cousin and friend that live in Toronto. There is a small population in Kitchener as well that I am aware of.

The prop I gave her was...A big thumbs up for being brave enough to runaway from the forced marriage. Although her parents, especially her, reputation was went down the drain, she was happy that she did it. No, the green lady doesn't wear green clothing. It is the English translation of the Hmong word for it, "Nam Tais Nstuab". She wears her Hmong outfit or else the Bride's side can lend her one for her to wear.

[darkcser]

Ok, image 559: the painting on the right, sorry, I do not know; BUT, the one on the far left, I do. It is "The Wedding of Cana" by Paolo Veronese, right? I know you took the picture in France, I just do not know the city.

Is Latin easier to learn than Spanish? You know, French is harder than Spanish. I rather learn Spanish than French if I knew in 10+ years in advance it was needed in MN. It would help a lot with my clients I serve. Curious, why do you detest Spanish so much?

Yep! you heard it correctly. Cammy grew to be 2 ft long turtle. She was a heavy gal. We had her when she was only 2 inches long and became a member of our crazy family. Out of all the animals we raised, my mom hated the snakes the most. She didn't want to come near it. LOL. As for the squirrel, my mom didn't want us to have it in the house so we kept it in the garage. One winter morning, my dad started the car to take us to go to school. By the time we went inside the garage, we saw the squirrel's frozen stiff body. It died either from the cold or carbon monoxide. So sad.

I haven't been to Mall of America for a long while. I usually go MOA twice a year close to the holidays and that's about it. I believe the Hologram store isn't there anymore. I know there is a Barbie and Star Trek exhibition that is going on.

I think my cat, Bano 2, is frightened. She is afraid of doors somehow. I know because I've been observing her and she would stand at the foot of the entrance, meowing away. I literally had to pick her up and take her inside my room. Phobia? I hope she overcomes it. She is a cute little furball.

Talking about cleaning, I have to clean my place too. It's becoming a jungle. My niece (6 yrs old) wanted to help clean to get some money for her to save up for christmas. Mind as well have her start young in learning how to work for money.

Man, I guess you need more than just magazines for shooting targets. Phone books should work better right? Hope you fill the dent good and learned your lesson. Hey, whatever happen to your bow that you went in to customize?

In the Hmong traditional wedding, the best man act as the groom's helper, i.e. carrying stuff, basically be with him. it's a tradition that he and the groom have to kowtow. They have to do that when they first enter into the Bride's house and when they leave. The suckiest part is the departing piece. The groom and best man may possibly be intoxicated with alcohol by that point and they have to kowtow. The Bride and her "Green Lady" (think of her as the Maid of Honor. Her duty is to follow the Bride and watch her in case she have cold feet or ran off with another man) dress up in Hmong traditional clothing and stand close by until the guys finished kowtowing. Overall, this traditional wedding can be 1 or 2 days long; add the American Church wedding piece with reception, it becomes HELLA LONG. Interesting eh?

Image 559 -that's actually the Mona Lisa. Attachment 9876 It was a bit underwhelming. I enjoyed Latin because no one really corrected your pronunciation, you certainly didn't have to converse in it and I had a great deal of interest in myth and legends so Aeneid, Iliad and Odyssey, etc. made decent reading. Spanish I hated because I was just terrible at pronunciation (in Spanish), and some of the teachers were out to get me -I once got a zero on a major test because I wrote in pencil instead of pen (only time I ever received a D, in fact the only time I've received anything less than a B was in Spanish where I consistently averaged a C). While I like to think I went to a decent high school I have to say that some teachers there were full of sh!t, and had no business being educators.

As for whether Latin was useful or not I'm not too sure. In theory many word roots especially medical terminology stem from Latin but probably just as many stem from Greek. The only direct use I had is to trying to decipher "magical chants" in various fantasy stories (e.g. Omnes conspecti, omnes auditi, In nocte usque ad saxum commutate Dum caelum ardeat) which are usually in Latin for some odd reason -maybe a "Hermetic tradition". Incidentally Bayonetta (the DMC-like game) featured Enochian instead of Latin which was pretty surprising.

Wow, winters must be pretty cold in MN. They're pretty cold in MA at times down to -10 F. That is quite sad. Was the squirrel friendly? Were you able to pet it without it going all crazy on you?

When I fist got my current cat DiDi, she hid in the closet for about a day or two. She has just been spayed so maybe that had something to do with it.

We don't get phone books anymore -at least not the full-size ones. Using magaines or any kind of paper also tends to get very messy as the pellets act like a hole punch when they go fast enough, and scatter little circles of paper everywhere. I was shooting into a block of modeling clay for a while but once you put 10+ rounds into one it gets messy as well. As for the bow I'm a bit paranoid about shooting it since I think it's currently set to a 70lb draw. Shooting my 25lb draw bow I've shattered two more arrows, and lost another (it just flew between the rafters of the target hut, and disappeared) so I can only imagine what would happen with 3x the force. There doesn't seem to be a place close by where I can get it tuned so I guess I'll wait until another trip to Cabelas.

Dual wedding ceremonies? That's quite a lot to handle. The preparations must be staggering. You got yelled at by the groom when you were fifteen? Was there a real possibility of a runaway bride back then? Were you allowed to manhandle the bride to be if she attempted an escape or just expected to sound the alarm?

[skoo78]

Image 559 -that's actually the Mona Lisa. Attachment 9876 It was a bit underwhelming. I enjoyed Latin because no one really corrected your pronunciation, you certainly didn't have to converse in it and I had a great deal of interest in myth and legends so Aeneid, Iliad and Odyssey, etc. made decent reading. Spanish I hated because I was just terrible at pronunciation (in Spanish), and some of the teachers were out to get me -I once got a zero on a major test because I wrote in pencil instead of pen (only time I ever received a D, in fact the only time I've received anything less than a B was in Spanish where I consistently averaged a C). While I like to think I went to a decent high school I have to say that some teachers there were full of sh!t, and had no business being educators.

As for whether Latin was useful or not I'm not too sure. In theory many word roots especially medical terminology stem from Latin but probably just as many stem from Greek. The only direct use I had is to trying to decipher "magical chants" in various fantasy stories (e.g. Omnes conspecti, omnes auditi, In nocte usque ad saxum commutate Dum caelum ardeat) which are usually in Latin for some odd reason -maybe a "Hermetic tradition". Incidentally Bayonetta (the DMC-like game) featured Enochian instead of Latin which was pretty surprising.

Wow, winters must be pretty cold in MN. They're pretty cold in MA at times down to -10 F. That is quite sad. Was the squirrel friendly? Were you able to pet it without it going all crazy on you?

When I fist got my current cat DiDi, she hid in the closet for about a day or two. She has just been spayed so maybe that had something to do with it.

We don't get phone books anymore -at least not the full-size ones. Using magaines or any kind of paper also tends to get very messy as the pellets act like a hole punch when they go fast enough, and scatter little circles of paper everywhere. I was shooting into a block of modeling clay for a while but once you put 10+ rounds into one it gets messy as well. As for the bow I'm a bit paranoid about shooting it since I think it's currently set to a 70lb draw. Shooting my 25lb draw bow I've shattered two more arrows, and lost another (it just flew between the rafters of the target hut, and disappeared) so I can only imagine what would happen with 3x the force. There doesn't seem to be a place close by where I can get it tuned so I guess I'll wait until another trip to Cabelas.

Dual wedding ceremonies? That's quite a lot to handle. The preparations must be staggering. You got yelled at by the groom when you were fifteen? Was there a real possibility of a runaway bride back then? Were you allowed to manhandle the bride to be if she attempted an escape or just expected to sound the alarm?

Ok darkcser, I did not see the painting of Mona Lisa until I really zoomed into the image to look at the individual pictures (with my glasses). My eyes were focused on the big golden frame image where a small group of crowd stood. LOL. Guessing game is fun (although I am horrible at guessing and give up easily). Got anymore photos for me to guess?

Wow, I don't blame you for hating Spanish. I can't believe you got a 0 on your test just because you used a pencil. *SMH* Well I'm glad you like Latin. Man, I wouldn't know what to use Latin for unless in a Catholic church? Deciphering magical chants for fantasy stories is (e.g. Omnes conspecti, omnes auditi, In nocte usque ad saxum commutate Dum caelum ardeat) I did not know what you just typed, but I tried to read it and FAILED. What does it mean?

Huh, I thought over where you live, it would be colder than MN. I know you guys get hit heavily with snow, comparing to the Twin Cities. MN can get to below 20 sometimes. That is when I rather stay home and not go to work. I have a love and hate relationship with snow Last Year, I got snowed in at work and had to stay for 2 days until the snow stopped and the snow plow came to shovel the parking lot. During my stay, I was going insane! I missed my bed, my clothes, my cats, and my computer.

Maybe I will have to spay my cat, Bano 2 then. She so playful and wild.

Funny, I still have phone books dropped onto my doorsteps. I use it mostly for footstool. I guess if you shoot that many rounds into paper, you will get a big mess. Overall, you'll get a mess someway or another. Man, your bow is mighty strong then. Curious, are arrows expensive to buy?

Yes, it is a Dual back-to-back wedding ceremony. I don' t know how the Bride and Groom can handle it, but I know without their friends and families, the wedding couldn't be possible. I've been to a wedding (I was the photographer also) and it was 12 hrs long! Whew! Got my weight lifts that day. I was a brides maid (american version) for one of my friend before and man, it was the last. All I can say is...B.R.I.D.E.Z.I.L.L.A. (scarred me lol). If any of my friends ask me to be their Bridesmaids again, I will have to say no, but will sing or do something else for their wedding.

Yes, I got yelled at by the Groom when I was fifteen. He woke me up (at 2 am) and told me to go over where the Bride is because she was crying with a group of women. He was afraid that the women would say harsh words to her or try to force her to change her mind in not getting married. I could tell he was pissed at me from the tone of his voice and facial expression. Yes, there were runaway brides back then. If a bride was to ever run away, the Green Lady will have to sound the alarm. I don't know if she should manhandle the bride. If I was in that situation, I wouldn't physically do anything to her. Probably just shout the top of my lungs like a siren. LOL.

[darkcser]

Ok darkcser, I did not see the painting of Mona Lisa until I really zoomed into the image to look at the individual pictures (with my glasses). My eyes were focused on the big golden frame image where a small group of crowd stood. LOL. Guessing game is fun (although I am horrible at guessing and give up easily). Got anymore photos for me to guess?

Wow, I don't blame you for hating Spanish. I can't believe you got a 0 on your test just because you used a pencil. *SMH* Well I'm glad you like Latin. Man, I wouldn't know what to use Latin for unless in a Catholic church? Deciphering magical chants for fantasy stories is (e.g. Omnes conspecti, omnes auditi, In nocte usque ad saxum commutate Dum caelum ardeat) I did not know what you just typed, but I tried to read it and FAILED. What does it mean?

Huh, I thought over where you live, it would be colder than MN. I know you guys get hit heavily with snow, comparing to the Twin Cities. MN can get to below 20 sometimes. That is when I rather stay home and not go to work. I have a love and hate relationship with snow Last Year, I got snowed in at work and had to stay for 2 days until the snow stopped and the snow plow came to shovel the parking lot. During my stay, I was going insane! I missed my bed, my clothes, my cats, and my computer.

Maybe I will have to spay my cat, Bano 2 then. She so playful and wild.

Funny, I still have phone books dropped onto my doorsteps. I use it mostly for footstool. I guess if you shoot that many rounds into paper, you will get a big mess. Overall, you'll get a mess someway or another. Man, your bow is mighty strong then. Curious, are arrows expensive to buy?

Yes, it is a Dual back-to-back wedding ceremony. I don' t know how the Bride and Groom can handle it, but I know without their friends and families, the wedding couldn't be possible. I've been to a wedding (I was the photographer also) and it was 12 hrs long! Whew! Got my weight lifts that day. I was a brides maid (american version) for one of my friend before and man, it was the last. All I can say is...B.R.I.D.E.Z.I.L.L.A. (scarred me lol). If any of my friends ask me to be their Bridesmaids again, I will have to say no, but will sing or do something else for their wedding.

Yes, I got yelled at by the Groom when I was fifteen. He woke me up (at 2 am) and told me to go over where the Bride is because she was crying with a group of women. He was afraid that the women would say harsh words to her or try to force her to change her mind in not getting married. I could tell he was pissed at me from the tone of his voice and facial expression. Yes, there were runaway brides back then. If a bride was to ever run away, the Green Lady will have to sound the alarm. I don't know if she should manhandle the bride. If I was in that situation, I wouldn't physically do anything to her. Probably just shout the top of my lungs like a siren. LOL.

Let me check through my photos. I'm the type of person to take photos as a reminder that I've been somewhere so quality may be lacking in many of them since I don't really know anything about composition.

Yes, a zero is really difficult to average away when your cumulative average is a C. I seriously thought about writing FU in pencil just to make a point but didn't. The teacher got sick, and had to be replaced with a substitute a month later so I felt some sort of karmic retribution at work. Suppose she could've been stressed over some illness but that's no reason to take it out on me since it's not like I was just doing it to annoy her.

"Omnes conspecti, omnes auditi, In nocte usque ad saxum commutate Dum caelum ardeat". All who see this, all who hear this, turn to stone while in the night until the heavens burn. Something to that effect. It's the spell that Demona uses to turn people to stone during the night (affecting everyone watching the TV broadcast) from the TV show Gargoyles (from Disney). Which I have to say was a masterpiece... although Darkwing Duck was one of my favorites too... at least on the US side.

Arrows are about $6 each or so for entry level carbon fiber, and then maybe another $1 for a target point (arrowhead). If you damage the vane or nocks then it's more to replace them. Special arrowhead like broadheads can run around $10 per arrowhead.

I went to the range with a friend of mine from work on Saturday and we put about 200 rounds of 22lr/9mm/.223/.357mag down range. First time shooting .357 mag, and it stung my wrist. Didn't do that great. Everything grouped within 8 inches at 30 feet except for a .357 mag flyer. Fired off another 600 rounds of BBs on Sunday trying to learn instinct shooting (shooting without using the sights -partly because I lost the rear sight on my BB gun) with mixed results. Supposedly after a few hours of this you should be able to shoot a small 3 inch disk out of the air when tossed in front of you... but the best I could do was to hit a sitting bottle at about 13-15 feet. I used to play a FPS (Tribes) fanatically, and after thousands of hours into it I could just sort of go into the zone, and shoot on an instinctive level. Wonder if it's possible in real life.

Saw Equalizer over the weekend. Surprised to see it set in Boston with easily recognizable landmarks. Kind of an odd slow start to the movie -I thought I went to the wrong movie after the first couple of minutes but then it really picked up.

[skoo78]

Let me check through my photos. I'm the type of person to take photos as a reminder that I've been somewhere so quality may be lacking in many of them since I don't really know anything about composition.

Yes, a zero is really difficult to average away when your cumulative average is a C. I seriously thought about writing FU in pencil just to make a point but didn't. The teacher got sick, and had to be replaced with a substitute a month later so I felt some sort of karmic retribution at work. Suppose she could've been stressed over some illness but that's no reason to take it out on me since it's not like I was just doing it to annoy her.

"Omnes conspecti, omnes auditi, In nocte usque ad saxum commutate Dum caelum ardeat". All who see this, all who hear this, turn to stone while in the night until the heavens burn. Something to that effect. It's the spell that Demona uses to turn people to stone during the night (affecting everyone watching the TV broadcast) from the TV show Gargoyles (from Disney). Which I have to say was a masterpiece... although Darkwing Duck was one of my favorites too... at least on the US side.

Arrows are about $6 each or so for entry level carbon fiber, and then maybe another $1 for a target point (arrowhead). If you damage the vane or nocks then it's more to replace them. Special arrowhead like broadheads can run around $10 per arrowhead.

I went to the range with a friend of mine from work on Saturday and we put about 200 rounds of 22lr/9mm/.223/.357mag down range. First time shooting .357 mag, and it stung my wrist. Didn't do that great. Everything grouped within 8 inches at 30 feet except for a .357 mag flyer. Fired off another 600 rounds of BBs on Sunday trying to learn instinct shooting (shooting without using the sights -partly because I lost the rear sight on my BB gun) with mixed results. Supposedly after a few hours of this you should be able to shoot a small 3 inch disk out of the air when tossed in front of you... but the best I could do was to hit a sitting bottle at about 13-15 feet. I used to play a FPS (Tribes) fanatically, and after thousands of hours into it I could just sort of go into the zone, and shoot on an instinctive level. Wonder if it's possible in real life.

Saw Equalizer over the weekend. Surprised to see it set in Boston with easily recognizable landmarks. Kind of an odd slow start to the movie -I thought I went to the wrong movie after the first couple of minutes but then it really picked up.

It's okay if you do not know anything about composition when taking pictures. If you really want to know, just remember the "Rule of Thirds" and work your magic into it. So, bring on the pictures and let's play guessing game.

Wow, the chant is kinda...creepy. Makes me don't want to watch TV anymore in case I turn to stone. Anyway, Darkwing Duck was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid too. Launchpad was my favorite character. He's a big goof ball and his clumsy way always save the day! Man, talking about children's cartoon TV shows, every morning before and after school and during the weekends, my siblings and I would watch He Man, GI Joe, Thundercats, Voltron, the Smurfs, and of course, Dragon Ball Z. In fact, we watched Japanese anime too. Guyver and Samurai X were my favorites.

Wow, arrows aren't cheap. I'm surprise that they don't sell in bundles, or do they? Have you ever custom made arrows before?

Man, I wish I have the luxury of shooting my dad's bb gun again. Need to go buy some more pellets for it. I remember shooting it about 10 feet away and I was surprise to hit the empty cans for the first time. My dad was impressed as well. I guess playing "Time Crisis" at the arcade during my teen years paid off. Talking about shooting, I'm going to go shoot some ZOMBIES again this year with paintball! Last year was fun. I felt like I was in one of those Zombie flicks.

Man, if you can shoot disk out of the air like nothing, you can become the next Rambo or Terminator.

I haven't even seen a preview of Equalizer. What is it about anyway? I've watched Annabelle and all I can say is, "eh..." It could have been better. I admit, there were some creepy scenes, but it didn't rise to the suspense level that I've anticipated. I'm waiting for "Ouija" to come out.

This past week, had two major events for work and it was success. Friday night was a fundraising social event. Met numerous of professional people and had three glasses of wine (didn't get drunk). Lost my favorite pair of high heel shoes, but just yesterday, I got the news that it was found! Yay! Saturday night was the survivor banquet. Awesome turnout. Survivor stories were very touching and moving. oh and I sang. I intro myself with a small speech in HMONG, and I failed so bad speaking it. I was too nervous that I became illiterate. Had to apologize to the crowd and crack a joke or two for them to laugh. But overall, DID WELL IN SINGING. A+.

[darkcser]

It's okay if you do not know anything about composition when taking pictures. If you really want to know, just remember the "Rule of Thirds" and work your magic into it. So, bring on the pictures and let's play guessing game.

Wow, the chant is kinda...creepy. Makes me don't want to watch TV anymore in case I turn to stone. Anyway, Darkwing Duck was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid too. Launchpad was my favorite character. He's a big goof ball and his clumsy way always save the day! Man, talking about children's cartoon TV shows, every morning before and after school and during the weekends, my siblings and I would watch He Man, GI Joe, Thundercats, Voltron, the Smurfs, and of course, Dragon Ball Z. In fact, we watched Japanese anime too. Guyver and Samurai X were my favorites.

Wow, arrows aren't cheap. I'm surprise that they don't sell in bundles, or do they? Have you ever custom made arrows before?

Man, I wish I have the luxury of shooting my dad's bb gun again. Need to go buy some more pellets for it. I remember shooting it about 10 feet away and I was surprise to hit the empty cans for the first time. My dad was impressed as well. I guess playing "Time Crisis" at the arcade during my teen years paid off. Talking about shooting, I'm going to go shoot some ZOMBIES again this year with paintball! Last year was fun. I felt like I was in one of those Zombie flicks.

Man, if you can shoot disk out of the air like nothing, you can become the next Rambo or Terminator.

I haven't even seen a preview of Equalizer. What is it about anyway? I've watched Annabelle and all I can say is, "eh..." It could have been better. I admit, there were some creepy scenes, but it didn't rise to the suspense level that I've anticipated. I'm waiting for "Ouija" to come out.

This past week, had two major events for work and it was success. Friday night was a fundraising social event. Met numerous of professional people and had three glasses of wine (didn't get drunk). Lost my favorite pair of high heel shoes, but just yesterday, I got the news that it was found! Yay! Saturday night was the survivor banquet. Awesome turnout. Survivor stories were very touching and moving. oh and I sang. I intro myself with a small speech in HMONG, and I failed so bad speaking it. I was too nervous that I became illiterate. Had to apologize to the crowd and crack a joke or two for them to laugh. But overall, DID WELL IN SINGING. A+.

Went to Plum Island again. Found another piece of possible obsidian or rather a couple of pieces of it. Whatever it is I can't scratch it with a knife, and the non-abraded surfaces are glossy. This is strange in that the US East coast should be sedimentary so either it washed up from a long distance (unlikely given it's a rock) or maybe glaciation pushed it from some place far away. I'm tempted to hit it with a hammer to see if I can shatter it into little and hopefully sharp pieces. Supposedly some surgical blades are made from obsidian for their sharpness.

Here's a couple of pictures of the beach. I have more but I can't seem to load them to AWS for some reason. Looks like there's a 1mb limit or something per file which is odd.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0822.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0823.JPG

Saw model airplanes being flown in an airfield near Plum Island. Evidently they have miniature jet engines that can fit into a 5 foot lone plane, and they actually run on jet fuel. It was pretty impressive watching them being flown from radio control -without cameras on the planes evidently. Landing them must be pretty difficult if you have to just eyeball it from the ground. They were also 7-10K a piece so messing up could be costly... and dangerous with the jet fuel or the weight of the plane alone.

Also had a lop ear rabbit on the weekend. It ran around with my cat loose in the house for about 24 hours or so. Initially it wasn't afraid of my cat, and would run up to her freaking her out. It was kind of funny to see my cat leap out of the way when the rabbit got close. My cat was really curious too about the rabbit. After watching them for a couple of hours it looked like they weren't going to kill each other so I left them alone. In the morning I found out that the rabbit can jump on top of tables, and it took chunks out of a watermelon, a pumpkin and a pear... along with several cardboard boxes. Later I went food shopping. When I returned I found both my cat and the rabbit under a futon. The rabbit didn't want to come out, and my cat went to nap somewhere else. Looked like the rabbit was kind of freaked out with a scab on his ear. My guess is my cat must've clawed or bit him on the ear. With my cat I'm familiar with her attack vectors so I'm not really concerned with picking her up. The rabbit however caused me a bit of apprehension with its growling, and sudden twitchy movements. He left on Sunday -I hope it wasn't too traumatic for him. I have some pictures and videos so I can dump them on AWS once I figure out what's wrong.

Ah yes, Bio Booster Guyver and Kenshin Rurouni. Did you ever see the end of the Kenshin manga? I think my absolute favorite anime from the old days was Bubblegum Crisis.

Do you have a BB gun or pellet gun or a combo? There's a story (most likely an urban legend) of a guy who lives for several month in the wild using a Crosman pumpmaster to bring meat to the table during an economic downturn.

Wait, people dress up as zombies, and you get to shoot them with paintballs? After I saw your post I looked around here, and the closest thing I found was an airsoft field hosting a zombie event where they give you fake guns (presumably non-shooting since the zombies didn't have any eye protection).

As for shooting prowess, do you remember the TV series "Sledge Hammer"?

Equalizer is about an eccentric but kind hearted older man who works at Home Mart (Depot)... who evidently used to be some uber government assassin before he "retired".

I don't think I can drink 3 glasses of wine without spacing out. Did you sing traditional songs or something modern?

[skoo78]

Went to Plum Island again. Found another piece of possible obsidian or rather a couple of pieces of it. Whatever it is I can't scratch it with a knife, and the non-abraded surfaces are glossy. This is strange in that the US East coast should be sedimentary so either it washed up from a long distance (unlikely given it's a rock) or maybe glaciation pushed it from some place far away. I'm tempted to hit it with a hammer to see if I can shatter it into little and hopefully sharp pieces. Supposedly some surgical blades are made from obsidian for their sharpness.

Here's a couple of pictures of the beach. I have more but I can't seem to load them to AWS for some reason. Looks like there's a 1mb limit or something per file which is odd.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0822.JPG
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0823.JPG

Saw model airplanes being flown in an airfield near Plum Island. Evidently they have miniature jet engines that can fit into a 5 foot lone plane, and they actually run on jet fuel. It was pretty impressive watching them being flown from radio control -without cameras on the planes evidently. Landing them must be pretty difficult if you have to just eyeball it from the ground. They were also 7-10K a piece so messing up could be costly... and dangerous with the jet fuel or the weight of the plane alone.

Also had a lop ear rabbit on the weekend. It ran around with my cat loose in the house for about 24 hours or so. Initially it wasn't afraid of my cat, and would run up to her freaking her out. It was kind of funny to see my cat leap out of the way when the rabbit got close. My cat was really curious too about the rabbit. After watching them for a couple of hours it looked like they weren't going to kill each other so I left them alone. In the morning I found out that the rabbit can jump on top of tables, and it took chunks out of a watermelon, a pumpkin and a pear... along with several cardboard boxes. Later I went food shopping. When I returned I found both my cat and the rabbit under a futon. The rabbit didn't want to come out, and my cat went to nap somewhere else. Looked like the rabbit was kind of freaked out with a scab on his ear. My guess is my cat must've clawed or bit him on the ear. With my cat I'm familiar with her attack vectors so I'm not really concerned with picking her up. The rabbit however caused me a bit of apprehension with its growling, and sudden twitchy movements. He left on Sunday -I hope it wasn't too traumatic for him. I have some pictures and videos so I can dump them on AWS once I figure out what's wrong.

Ah yes, Bio Booster Guyver and Kenshin Rurouni. Did you ever see the end of the Kenshin manga? I think my absolute favorite anime from the old days was Bubblegum Crisis.

Do you have a BB gun or pellet gun or a combo? There's a story (most likely an urban legend) of a guy who lives for several month in the wild using a Crosman pumpmaster to bring meat to the table during an economic downturn.

Wait, people dress up as zombies, and you get to shoot them with paintballs? After I saw your post I looked around here, and the closest thing I found was an airsoft field hosting a zombie event where they give you fake guns (presumably non-shooting since the zombies didn't have any eye protection).

As for shooting prowess, do you remember the TV series "Sledge Hammer"?

Equalizer is about an eccentric but kind hearted older man who works at Home Mart (Depot)... who evidently used to be some uber government assassin before he "retired".

I don't think I can drink 3 glasses of wine without spacing out. Did you sing traditional songs or something modern?

Those are beautiful pictures of the beach. Makes me want to dip my feet in the ocean and go ocean fishing. The only time I strolled on the ocean beach was in San Francisco; however, it was at night time. I couldn't see anything but waves crashing to the shore and heard sea lions nearby.


Whatever you found at Plum Island, take a picture of it. I would like to see how it looks like. Did you managed to shatter the object? It would be cool if it was a foreign object from out of space.


Talking about planes, every time I'm in one, I get nervous. I think it is all because of not knowing what lies ahead. Hearing horrific news about planes crashing/missing/being hijacking AND from watching Final Destination probably are some reasons why. Now Ebola, I may have to drive around the states instead of riding on the airplane.


Did you buy the rabbit or you found it? Poor rabbit must be terrified. Anyway, I assume that during your absence, the rabbit must have left many "gifts" around your house I use to have a mini rabbit and it was aggressive also. Every time I tried to pick her up, she would growl and try to bite me. At the end, I had to let it go. I also had another rabbit, I called her Webby, and she loves my late cat, Bano. Webby would chase Bano around the house, prowls like a cat, and even cuddle next to Bano. It's very interesting to see how animals communicate.


Unfortunately, I've never watched the ending of Kenshin Rurouni. In those years, I've watched too many anime that some, I've never finished. i.e. Crying Freeman, Bastard, Vampire Hunter D, Fist of the Northstar, and other lighthearted anime like, Mysterious Play, and Inuyasha.

I have never seen "Sledge Hammer". I googled it and saw it was a tv show in the late 80's?


As for BB gun or pellet gun, it's a combo. Crossman pumpmaster eh? That will be interesting for me to try. I can debunk it if the urban legend is true or not then.

Yes...Zombie Paintball...We get to shoot them as they appeared out of the fields and shafts. The zombies are pretty well protected, even their eyes. Oooh, and paintballs glows in the dark. The only suckiest thing about this place is you're on the hayride shooting zombies. There's this other place that I am going to try this year. You actually walk through the woods and shoot zombies! My best bet, I will enjoy it more than the hayride.

Talking about zombies, there's this new haunted attraction in Minneapolis called Feargazm that I want to go check it out. Also, there's this other place called "The Soap Factory Basement" that I want to go too and the place is haunted.

Sounds like Equalizer is an interesting show to watch. It reminds me of Taken. BTW, I can't wait for Taken 3 to come out. Liam Neeson is a bada** and I enjoy the plots so far.

Yeah, when I was in my early 20s, I was hardcore in drinking hard liquor. Now, I haven't touched much of it unless it is a special occasion and I prefer wine.

I sang a modern song in Green Hmong.

[darkcser]

Those are beautiful pictures of the beach. Makes me want to dip my feet in the ocean and go ocean fishing. The only time I strolled on the ocean beach was in San Francisco; however, it was at night time. I couldn't see anything but waves crashing to the shore and heard sea lions nearby.


Whatever you found at Plum Island, take a picture of it. I would like to see how it looks like. Did you managed to shatter the object? It would be cool if it was a foreign object from out of space.


Talking about planes, every time I'm in one, I get nervous. I think it is all because of not knowing what lies ahead. Hearing horrific news about planes crashing/missing/being hijacking AND from watching Final Destination probably are some reasons why. Now Ebola, I may have to drive around the states instead of riding on the airplane.


Did you buy the rabbit or you found it? Poor rabbit must be terrified. Anyway, I assume that during your absence, the rabbit must have left many "gifts" around your house I use to have a mini rabbit and it was aggressive also. Every time I tried to pick her up, she would growl and try to bite me. At the end, I had to let it go. I also had another rabbit, I called her Webby, and she loves my late cat, Bano. Webby would chase Bano around the house, prowls like a cat, and even cuddle next to Bano. It's very interesting to see how animals communicate.


Unfortunately, I've never watched the ending of Kenshin Rurouni. In those years, I've watched too many anime that some, I've never finished. i.e. Crying Freeman, Bastard, Vampire Hunter D, Fist of the Northstar, and other lighthearted anime like, Mysterious Play, and Inuyasha.

I have never seen "Sledge Hammer". I googled it and saw it was a tv show in the late 80's?


As for BB gun or pellet gun, it's a combo. Crossman pumpmaster eh? That will be interesting for me to try. I can debunk it if the urban legend is true or not then.

Yes...Zombie Paintball...We get to shoot them as they appeared out of the fields and shafts. The zombies are pretty well protected, even their eyes. Oooh, and paintballs glows in the dark. The only suckiest thing about this place is you're on the hayride shooting zombies. There's this other place that I am going to try this year. You actually walk through the woods and shoot zombies! My best bet, I will enjoy it more than the hayride.

Talking about zombies, there's this new haunted attraction in Minneapolis called Feargazm that I want to go check it out. Also, there's this other place called "The Soap Factory Basement" that I want to go too and the place is haunted.

Sounds like Equalizer is an interesting show to watch. It reminds me of Taken. BTW, I can't wait for Taken 3 to come out. Liam Neeson is a bada** and I enjoy the plots so far.

Yeah, when I was in my early 20s, I was hardcore in drinking hard liquor. Now, I haven't touched much of it unless it is a special occasion and I prefer wine.

I sang a modern song in Green Hmong.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0864s.jpg
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0862s.jpg

I took a picture of some of the pieces I found. Was going to shatter one of the smaller ones but I've misplaced it. I might sacrifice the 2nd largest one. I was busy this weekend at a fun shoot at the range I go to. Got the chance to shot clays and bowling pins with a 22 revolver (had a near perfect string of 10 with 12 rounds on the clays and 10 targets with 11 shots on the pins in the morning -but didn't do half as well in the afternoon). Tried trap for the first time where I got about 1/3 of the 25 targets -thought I was getting better after the first 5 shots where I hit 3 times in a row but then I lost it. Also had a very poor show of shooting steel plates with a 9mm, out of 15 plates and 18 shots I think I hit... 2. Complete choke on that -the night before I shot pretty consistently on an 8 inch target at 30' so I thought 8 or maybe 6 inch steel plates at 25 feet would be easy. Evidently I consistent shot low and hit the frame because I could hear the pinging sound but the plates didn't fall. The range officer told me I was shooting low so I tried to compensate by shooting higher but must've over compensated. Total fail there, maybe I messed up my sights somehow. Also had the chance to shoot an AK for the first time at 150' -got a 3/4/5, and then I think a 4/5/5 on an AR both with iron sights sitting down with a bench rest.

Yeah, the missing/downed planes this year is just shocking. You'd figure that in his age of GPS and satellite monitoring that a plane could just disappear, and remain missing is mind boggling.

The rabbit left little gifts all over the floor and some on the rugs too. It didn't help that my cat was playing with it... Supposedly the rabbit will recycle the green ones but I didn't see any of that.

The rabbit came from Craigslist (the previous owners had an old golden retriever in addition to the bunny), and was only making a temporary stop at my place. Here's some pictures of cat and rabbit.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0837s.jpg
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0839s.jpg

I saw most of the Anime series on your list with the exception of Mysterious Play. Most of the corresponding manga have been fan translated to completion at this point.Evidently many of them had much more manga than anime like Bastard for example.

Just had my first attempt at gunsmithing (well an airgun). I swapped out the plastic breech on my Crosman Backpacker 2289 for a steel breech, and mounted a red dot scope on it. Think I finally have it zeroed for 30 feet -I had to shim it with a piece of tinfoil.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0858s.jpg

I'm all in a funk now about how different ranges seem to completely screw up my aim. Maybe I'm missing something critical.

Wow, the zombie stuff sounds great. I wish there was something like that around here. I was tempted to go out to an airsoft field but the pictures they had on their site showed some pretty hardcore people.

[skoo78]

https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0864s.jpg
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0862s.jpg

I took a picture of some of the pieces I found. Was going to shatter one of the smaller ones but I've misplaced it. I might sacrifice the 2nd largest one. I was busy this weekend at a fun shoot at the range I go to. Got the chance to shot clays and bowling pins with a 22 revolver (had a near perfect string of 10 with 12 rounds on the clays and 10 targets with 11 shots on the pins in the morning -but didn't do half as well in the afternoon). Tried trap for the first time where I got about 1/3 of the 25 targets -thought I was getting better after the first 5 shots where I hit 3 times in a row but then I lost it. Also had a very poor show of shooting steel plates with a 9mm, out of 15 plates and 18 shots I think I hit... 2. Complete choke on that -the night before I shot pretty consistently on an 8 inch target at 30' so I thought 8 or maybe 6 inch steel plates at 25 feet would be easy. Evidently I consistent shot low and hit the frame because I could hear the pinging sound but the plates didn't fall. The range officer told me I was shooting low so I tried to compensate by shooting higher but must've over compensated. Total fail there, maybe I messed up my sights somehow. Also had the chance to shoot an AK for the first time at 150' -got a 3/4/5, and then I think a 4/5/5 on an AR both with iron sights sitting down with a bench rest.

Yeah, the missing/downed planes this year is just shocking. You'd figure that in his age of GPS and satellite monitoring that a plane could just disappear, and remain missing is mind boggling.

The rabbit left little gifts all over the floor and some on the rugs too. It didn't help that my cat was playing with it... Supposedly the rabbit will recycle the green ones but I didn't see any of that.

The rabbit came from Craigslist (the previous owners had an old golden retriever in addition to the bunny), and was only making a temporary stop at my place. Here's some pictures of cat and rabbit.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0837s.jpg
https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0839s.jpg

I saw most of the Anime series on your list with the exception of Mysterious Play. Most of the corresponding manga have been fan translated to completion at this point.Evidently many of them had much more manga than anime like Bastard for example.

Just had my first attempt at gunsmithing (well an airgun). I swapped out the plastic breech on my Crosman Backpacker 2289 for a steel breech, and mounted a red dot scope on it. Think I finally have it zeroed for 30 feet -I had to shim it with a piece of tinfoil.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/darkcser/trip/SAM_0858s.jpg

I'm all in a funk now about how different ranges seem to completely screw up my aim. Maybe I'm missing something critical.

Wow, the zombie stuff sounds great. I wish there was something like that around here. I was tempted to go out to an airsoft field but the pictures they had on their site showed some pretty hardcore people.

Snow!!! Yes, Minnesota is snowing! I was wondering if it's snowing over there too? It's a bummer that it's snowing during my vacation though. I was planning to visit parks around MN and WI and take some nature photos while hiking. There's this one place in WI that I wanted to capture but due to snow and slippery roads, it was harder to commute. I'll have to wait until it dies down during this week to drive there then. However, I got some shots of Minnehaha Falls, a place I haven't been to since my teen years, last week before it snow. It was VERY cold that day but I managed to get a few images. Tell me what you think (there are other pictures in there so feel free to browse through it also).

http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6ba55e8c.jpg

http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/...psb7b6772c.jpg

http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7f100d7d.jpg

So, did you break the object that you found into pieces? BTW cool pictures of the objects.

How was it when you were handling the AK for the first time? Are you going to invest in a AK in the future then

Your cat seems very interested in the rabbit. The rabbit reminds me of mine that I used to own. Her name was Webby (the second) and was exactly the same size and color coat like yours. Sadly she passed away from an accident. She got squashed by a log outside one day. She was a very friendly rabbit and enjoyed being "a cat" with my previous cat, Bano. Those two were like best friends. I'm thinking of buying a Hamster or a Guinea Pig to add into the family of animals. I wonder how the two cats are going to react to it.

Mysterious Play is an interesting anime and I enjoyed watching it when I was young. It reminds me a little bit of Inuyasha, where the girl travels to another dimension. In this one, the girl was sucked into an Ancient Chinese book and began her adventure, meeting interesting people and her identity as a Priestess, while the book wrote itself about her story. It would be awesome if they did a movie/series on this. I would watch it in a heartbeat.

I wonder, how is airgun like comparing to other rifles? Is it easier to handle?

Sadly, I didn't go zombie shooting this past Halloween. It was too cold to go out and stay in line for hours. Instead, I chilled at a coffee shop with a friend of mine and listened to a local artist singing old 40s-80s songs. My other friends went trick or treating and got some candies. I guess you're never too old to go trick or treating.

Well Thanksgiving is around the corner, so it'll be great to see everyone together feast. Usually during thanksgiving, there are more than one feast to go to. Last year, I went to three thanksgiving feasts! I do not know how I manage to eat all that, but boy, I was stuff! This year, I told my siblings we need to make more healthy food, so I shall see if that happens. Not only thanksgiving is going on, but it is the weekend of Hmong New Year. Haven't been to the event for the longest time, so maybe this year I'll go to check it out.

[darkcser]

How large is the fall? I can't really get a sense of size from the pictures. Those are great pictures, did you adjust the color balance for all of them or are are they mostly as is? I'm going to miss all that greenery when winter sets in. It snowed here about a week ago but no accumulation except on cars.

I was hoping that cat (DiDi) and rabbit (Billy) would get along... they're similar in color so I thought it would make for a good picture if they got cozy... but instead I got some videos of them chasing each other.

Been busy trying out more red dots -I bought a total of 3 recently thinking to replace my scopes with them. Now I have 3 scopes and three red dots... and 4 guns to mount them on... maybe I didn't think that through. All of them are pretty cheap though as I didn't want to commit to anything pricey until I had a better sense what works for me. Sighting them is a pain since I had to add a shim to some of them. I was tempted to buy an AK after firing one... although they're not readily available around here.

Air guns come in a couple of different flavors. Break barrels use a spring or a gas piston for power, and they need to be held in a special way "artillery hold" to be accurate. Single or multi pumps, PCPs and CO2 powered ones can be pretty accurate without special holds, and have very low recoil. I personally find it easier to hit things with an airgun of the latter types than a real firearm because there's little recoil, and they are quiet enough so that I don't flinch or blink when I fire.

Ah, Fushigi Yuugi. I've been psychologically scarred by that series -to this day that I still find myself humming the intro song.

There were a lot of kids out trick or treating this year around where I live. Reminded me of what it was like when I was a kid.

After Thanksgiving at my parents, I'm planning to drive to Maine Friday morning in hopes of scoring some deals. Cabelas opens at 5am in the morning so I'll be heading out at 3am or so. Maybe I'll try to string together some other stores along the way to make it worth my while. There's nothing that I want in particular except maybe another case of 22LR so it'll probably be a lot of driving with not much to show for it or conversely I end up buying a lot of things I don't really need. Been thinking about getting my folks a Chromebook because I really don't enjoy removing malware from their laptops. I tried running Chrome OS and a Linux system from an USB stick but it didn't work, and I didn't want to dig.

[skoo78]

How large is the fall? I can't really get a sense of size from the pictures. Those are great pictures, did you adjust the color balance for all of them or are are they mostly as is? I'm going to miss all that greenery when winter sets in. It snowed here about a week ago but no accumulation except on cars.

I was hoping that cat (DiDi) and rabbit (Billy) would get along... they're similar in color so I thought it would make for a good picture if they got cozy... but instead I got some videos of them chasing each other.

Been busy trying out more red dots -I bought a total of 3 recently thinking to replace my scopes with them. Now I have 3 scopes and three red dots... and 4 guns to mount them on... maybe I didn't think that through. All of them are pretty cheap though as I didn't want to commit to anything pricey until I had a better sense what works for me. Sighting them is a pain since I had to add a shim to some of them. I was tempted to buy an AK after firing one... although they're not readily available around here.

Air guns come in a couple of different flavors. Break barrels use a spring or a gas piston for power, and they need to be held in a special way "artillery hold" to be accurate. Single or multi pumps, PCPs and CO2 powered ones can be pretty accurate without special holds, and have very low recoil. I personally find it easier to hit things with an airgun of the latter types than a real firearm because there's little recoil, and they are quiet enough so that I don't flinch or blink when I fire.

Ah, Fushigi Yuugi. I've been psychologically scarred by that series -to this day that I still find myself humming the intro song.

There were a lot of kids out trick or treating this year around where I live. Reminded me of what it was like when I was a kid.

After Thanksgiving at my parents, I'm planning to drive to Maine Friday morning in hopes of scoring some deals. Cabelas opens at 5am in the morning so I'll be heading out at 3am or so. Maybe I'll try to string together some other stores along the way to make it worth my while. There's nothing that I want in particular except maybe another case of 22LR so it'll probably be a lot of driving with not much to show for it or conversely I end up buying a lot of things I don't really need. Been thinking about getting my folks a Chromebook because I really don't enjoy removing malware from their laptops. I tried running Chrome OS and a Linux system from an USB stick but it didn't work, and I didn't want to dig.

The fall is about 53-feet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnehaha_Falls

The two images of the fall, I tweaked a little bit to enhance the color. As for the leaves, non was tweaked (I was surprised of how it turned out). It could have been better with a tripod though. I had to use the stone walls to support my camera. At one point, I had to use my arms to act as a tripod and as still as I could be, hold my breath to take pictures. It was crazy and cold, but worth it. I'm waiting for it to freeze to take another picture of it.

Well at least you got some video clips of Billy and Didi. My new cat, Bano, she had her claws stuck on the sofa and was wiggling like crazy to get out of it. You know, she loves to eat anything. She even steals my other cat, Booger's food. Besides cat food, I she loves eating human food, especially noodles. LOL....When we have food, she's already there waiting for us to feed her or else she waits when food accidentally drop onto the ground to eat it. She's out "live" garbage collector.

Since you're a gun guru, I guess you can answer this. Are there any differences in red dots? Thanks for the explanation of airguns and your preference btw. It sounds like it is easier to handle then.

Why is Fushigi Yuugi psychologically scarred you? LOL...just curious.

Did you hit Cabelas then? How was crazy Black Friday then? Did you get a Chromebook for your folks? I hate malwares/viruses. Sometimes, I would give up trying and send it to the Geek Squad to fix it.