Monday, January 21, 2008

In September we went to Iceland. Why? I have a good friend who grew up there and the stories he tells convince me it’s beautiful. Additionally, I belong to a photographers’ forum where there are a number of Icelanders. Their photos are fantastic. Plus I’ve never been there. And lets face it, at cocktail parties, who gets the greater wow factor: someone who just returned from Oakland; or someone who just returned from Iceland?  Not that there’s anything wrong with Oakland mind you, it’s just a place holder. Feel free to fill in the destination of your choice.

Here are a few more teaser images. But feel free to visit my full site, Digital Quixote, click on New and then on Iceland, for the whole story.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Casual Travel
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Click on any image to expand ...

A friend of mine and I took a short trip this week to McMinnville, Oregon to see a piece of aviation history; Howard Hughes’ H-4 Flying Boat nicknamed “The Spruce Goose.” It’s on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum along with many other historically interesting aircraft. It is the largest wooden aircraft in the world and big by any standard. 3 meters shorter than a Boeing 747, 17 meters wider than an Airbus A-380. It was built of wood because the government contract which funded it specified no materials critical to the war effort (i.e. metal) could be used in its construction. It was to replace shipping as a way to move men and material to Europe during WWII and avoid the threat of U-Boat sinkings. It was flown only once, on November 2, 1947 by Hughes himself. The war and therefore the purpose for the aircraft ended. It was never commercialized. Here are three more pictures of it.

The aviation museum also houses a bunch of interesting flying machines. Below is a P-38 Lightning and the interior of the Mercury-10 Space Capsule.

On our way back, we stopped at the Tillamook Air Museum housed in, you guessed it, Tillamook, Oregon. Frankly, the museum is a disappointment after Evergreen. The most interesting thing is the building itself. It was originally constructed as a hanger for Squadron ZP-33’s 8 K-Class blimps. These blimps, used in anti-submarine warfare, were each 251 feet long and all 8 fit inside the enormous hanger at the same time. The hanger itself is over 1,000 feet long, almost 200 feet high, and almost 3oo feet wide. Big enough to play 6 NFL Football games, at the same time, but sadly no extra room for paying fans. Below are photos of the hangar itself, an A-26 Invader and a vintage MiG.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Planes
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Monday, January 07, 2008

I am endlessly fascinated in media’s use of photoshop to define beauty, and remake celebrities’ images. So for your viewing pleasure ... a professional and a relatively subtle tour de force in the subject.

What you’ll see above are two images, both used without permisssion, of a Redbook cover showing Faith Hill ... and the original photo of her, ready to be manipululated to create the publication ready version. Now you may ponder what’s wrong with the original. According to jesbel.com (remixed by me to clean up the language) ... here are the sins that need Photoshop expiation:
1. SCALP: You know what we need here? Some more hair.
2. CROWS FEET: What’s this under those eyes?
3. THOSE CHEEKS: What exactly do you think she’s hoarding in there?
4. THAT EARLOBE: Please do some work on that earlobe of hers.
5. NECK: Well, it needs work.
6. LIPS: More lines!
7. CLAVICLE: I know they’re hot in New York, but … Also, get rid of that welt from the strap of her dress digging into her flesh.
8. BACK FAT: What is this, the new muffin top?
9. THAT HAND: What’s it DOING there? And please make it look like she’s sucking in her tummy like a good celebrity.
10. ASS: Chop!
11. ARM: Absolutely FINE, with about 50% less girth and 80% less Mystic Tan!

See the image below, to relate the photo to the sins of both commision and ommision ...

All right, see what you can do, and don’t stop till she looks at least as young as … well, I have faith in you.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Out and About
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