Equinox...

 

Your car?  Well, yeah.  It's a crossover SUV, but that's not the Equinox I'm talking about today... this is the Vernal Equinox; the start of spring in the northern hemisphere.  It has been cooler than normal the 7 weeks (so far) we have been in Arizona.  We had to run heat again this morning; only 3 days we haven't had the heat on at some point during the day.

There will be almost equal amounts of daylight and darkness today, and gradually increasing daylight until the Summer Solstice.  The Equinox isn't "a day," but rather a time.  Here in Phoenix, the actual time of the Equinox will be at 2:24 this afternoon.  Of course, Mother Nature is not swayed by the timing of all this; she will run hot and cold when she darn well feels like it.

Superbloom...

 

That's what the news and weather people here in the Phoenix area are calling it - with all the rain and cool weather, they are saying, "The desert will be full of colorful blooms."  I got out on the CTX to see it for myself.

Spoiler alert: I didn't see anything resembling a Superbloom.  Oh, there were some yellow flowers (weeds?) in places, but I didn't see hardly any blooms on the cacti.

But, the riding was good - sunny, temps in the low 70s, a light breeze out of the east (after a windy morning), and I took the back, curvy road to Wickenburg.  It took some time to get to the good riding; not because of the distance, but the traffic was working against me.  I checked the Maps app before pulling away, and there was a LOT of red around the Interstate Exit closest to us.  I took side roads to the next exit to the west... and found myself stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic trying to get onto the Interstate.  Road construction had it down to one lane, so all that weekend traffic getting out of Phoenix made for a mass of vehicles.

My fuel level was down to 2 bars; with about 65 miles or so to get to Wickenburg, and not sure when I'd get out of the Interstate traffic (only 14 miles to go on the Interstate), I figured I better stop at the TA Travel Center at that exit.  With all the traffic, I wasn't the only one thinking it would be good to top off.  As luck would have it, the pump I found free (the only one) wouldn't take the credit card... I had to go inside to pre-pay... or wait for who knows how long to get a space at another pump.  Of course, there is the conversation: "How much are you going to pump?"  I said, "Two gallons."  His response: "Two gallons?"  Me: "It's a motorcycle - notice the helmet I am wearing?"  Him: "I'll put $10 on your card and it will refund back whatever you don't use."  Me: "So I don't have to come back in when I'm done fueling?"  Him: "Nope.  It will automatically refund what you don't use."  Me: "Fine."  This bullshit negates the pay-at-the-pump premise.

Finally able to get off the Interstate and onto the 2-lane road, I was immediately in the middle of the desert.  And no "Superbloom" to be seen.  I did mount a 360 camera to the bike, and brought my new gimbal to use with my iPhone... not a lot of "flora and fauna" but I did get some riding video and clips of the desert.  Alas, it is still the issue with "wifi interference" to get the video clips downloaded from my 360 camera, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.  I am in the process of downloading what I shot with my iPhone... that, too, will take a while, but at least it is happening.

So, there won't be any "Video at 11:00" (that's newscaster talk), but here's a "grab" from the video I took before heading out...

That thing coming up from the left handlebar is the 360 camera - it is mounted on an extendable "selfie stick" (the best way to use a 360 camera).  No way to mount the gimbal on the bike.

Looking through the phone video, I did get a couple stills of some flowers and cacti...

More video when I can get it downloaded.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling...

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day.  If you said, "Bing Crosby, 1939," you get 40 bonus points.  No, I didn't wear green today - not any kind of statement, I just don't have any green clothes.  It's not my color.  ;-)  Yes, my heritage is half Irish.

Did you hear that there are protests to remove the leprechaun from Lucky Charms breakfast cereal, due to the misappropriation of the culture of Irish people?  Of course, you didn't...

Joan and Steph made the traditional corned beef and cabbage supper tonight...

Well, it wasn't too traditional: the cabbage was cooked in with potatoes, with cheese, bacon, and butter.  I may lose my Irish card, because I am not a fan of corned beef or cabbage.  But, I sucked it up and had some of each.  Because the ladies went through the effort to make it.  Everyone else seemed to enjoy it, and that's what family is all about: treat each other with kindness and respect.  And eat your corned beef and be happy about it, because people starved during the Great Potato Famine.

 

A Preview...

 

Here's an advance look at the music video Mark and I have been working on...

Mark did the music production, I did the video production.  Videography by Cindy (Mark's wife), Mark, and me.  The "garage band" you see in the video is the group that gets together every other week or so; mostly friends of Mark's who also volunteer at MIM (the outstanding Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix).  They call themselves: the Brothers MIM.

Mark played lead guitar, keyboard, bass, horn section, background vocal, and programmed the drums.  I sang lead vocal, played guitar, and hand percussion (congas and lead triangle).  We did the music tracks in separate locations (Mark in Arizona, me in Texas), then worked on the video once we were together in Phoenix.  Most of the other videos we've done have had us in separate locations, so it was fun to be able to be together in this one.  And have the guys who get together in the video.

 

The Calm...

 

A new easy listening band?  Maybe... I don't keep up.  This is the calm after the storm.   "Isn't that supposed to be 'the calm before the storm'?" you ask.  Usually, I suppose.  But, this morning, we woke up to chilly temperatures and nearly still wind conditions.  Last night, thunderstorms rolled through the area.  We kept an eye on radar, since there was strong winds and hail in the northwestern part of the state.  But, the worst of it missed us.  Just rain, with thunder and lightning.  With the shade pulled back on the skylight at the front of our living quarters, we could see the flash, then count the seconds before we heard the thunder... it never got closer than a few miles from us.

It's that "light travels faster than sound" thing... kinda like: some people appear bright until they open their mouth and speak.  But, I digress.

The weather where we are didn't get severe.  Rufus did sit a little closer when the thunder rumbled, but he didn't seem too bothered by it.

This morning: bright sunshine!  Winds less than 5 mph.  Cold enough that I put on a jacket while making pancakes, bacon, and sausage on the griddle outside.  Then took Rufus for a walk.

We are ready to take on our day.

The Ides of March...

 

If you said, "The band that did the song Vehicle, 1970," you get 25 bonus points.  If you said, "The song you finally got worked out to be your ringtone," you get 30 bonus points.  If you said, "From the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar: 'Beware the ides of March,' as a soothsayer's warning to Caesar," you get 35 bonus points.  If you said all three of those, you get an additional 10 bonus points, making it a nice round 100 points.

For more information that you don't care to know: the word “Ides” is derived from the Latin word “idus,” which refers to the middle day of any month in the ancient Roman calendar. The Ides are specifically the fifteenth day of the months of March, May, July, or October, and the thirteenth day of the remaining months.

Whew - I feel like Cliff Clavin.  If you said, "Cliff Clavin is the character on the TV series Cheers who knew all kinds of trivia... well, maybe he didn't know it, but he always shared it," you get another 30 bonus points.

I need to get a life.

An image for "Beware the Ides of March"...

(That photo was from my Facebook Memory from 7 years ago... it's been around a while.)

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I got together today with Mark and two of his friends, Ron and Tom, to make some music; at Ron's house, which is near downtown Phoenix.  That meant I-10 all the way there, and the traffic is a big ol' ball of suck.  And Rain.  So, I took the car, not the motorcycle.  I would have needed the car anyway, since most of my gear is at Mark's house, I needed to bring a guitar today.  And Mark had to bring two guitars, a bass, two amps, his pedalboard and a bunch of ancillary gear to support all that.  He and I have it relatively easy when everyone gets together at his house, since we don't have to cart a bunch of gear around.

While helping Mark get gear out to his car, he said to me, "This is almost like the old band days, having to carry all this stuff around."  It's a bit easier, since the amps can be carried with one hand, opposed to the "good ol' days" when it took two young, strong guys to carry just one amp... and there were multiple amps... and a PA... and a drum set... and - well, you get the idea.

Ron had put out some guitars, so the rest of us could try some variety.  One of those guitars is a rarity: a mid-60s Rickenbacker - here's a photo of Mark giving it a try...

A fun afternoon!

A gimbaling situation...

 

"Too much time at the casino, Jim?" you ask.  That isn't a typo.  Over the weekend, I was looking at the gimbal Dan uses - it's a DJI and works great with his iPhone.  I've been considering one for a while, but his was the first I've ever held

"All those videos and you've never used a gimbal?" you ask.  Thanks for asking.  And, no.  Most of the videos I've done with the scoots and motorcycle were done with an action camera early on, and a 360 camera the last several years.  I really enjoy the 360 cameras because they are like "having a camera crew in your pocket."  Literally, I can have the view in front of the bike, looking back... or looking forward... or off to the side... panning from front to back... an overhead view... or on the back of one bike, getting a front view of the following bike.  There is so much you can do with these cameras.

But, they do tend to distort the view due to the extreme wide angle lenses.  And even the most narrow view is still pretty wide angle.  But, you can't beat what they can do on the bikes.  Shooting video this past week for the music video Mark and I are putting together (getting close to the finished product), I did shots of the "garage band" with a 360 camera.  When Mark and I got together last Friday, we used my iPhone 14 Pro for some half-length clips.  Some on a tripod, a few hand-held.

A gimbal would have been nice - especially the DJI, as it has tracking (follows your movements) and horizon lock.  Cindy was out of town, and Joan didn't come with me to Mark's place, so we were limited to what we could do with the two of us together to the phone/camera on a tripod.

I can also see where it would expand my options when shooting stills or video with the bikes... not while we're riding (which is where the 360 cameras shine), but once we're stopped somewhere...like being able to have up to an 8x zoom feature, which the iPhone with the DJI app can do.

The DJI Osmo 6 looks like this...

It folds small enough to be able to cart it along.  It unfolds fast and gives you more "control" over the phone functions: essentially allowing more stabilization that the already good iPhone has built in.  A wheel to handle the zoom functions, which also allows you to make focusing choices.  A joystick to control movement.  A level horizon line.  The ability to switch from stills to video, rear camera to front,  horizontal to vertical, all with convenient controls that fit your hand.  And, as you can see in the above right: it comes with a mini tripod that attaches to the handle, allowing you to put the camera down and walk away from it (to get in the photo or video) while still maintaining control... or use it as a handle extension, allow you to brace with both hands.

I put it through some paces this evening, testing the different functions; looking forward to giving it a try with some good outdoor lighting soon.

Joan asked me, "What are you going to use it for?"  I don't have any particular imaging use in mind; much like I didn't know how I'd use the 360 cameras... until you get them.  So, we'll see.

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Yes, I missed the opportunity to title this one, "Gimbaling Man," and could have been The Allman Brothers.