CaptainOrange

Link to the Google Photos Album for My New Zealand Trip

Strange Angles in the Peterson Bldg. Not quite the Mendel Okay, the bit about the "lady's chamber" was an outright fabrication, but you're here... so that's good. Before I get into the pictures, a quick update on my stair running. This week I've bested my records at both the 5T and 10T times (where T=11 floors up and down). 5T stands at 15m08s and 10T is 32m30s. 10T took me about 55 minutes the first time. On with the photos... Picked a freakishly cold day to do some more stair explorations. Neither my trusty, if aging, Pentax K-x, nor my trusty, if aging, body had an easy time with the -30C wind chill. After getting politely kicked out of the Agri-Food Canada Research building (I had been inside looking at maps for several minutes without "checking in" at the security desk),  Found +Kent Pollard ,s  Peterson Bldg . I must say, the staff was a whole lot nicer there. A bit off the beaten path but, the stairs were unusual as prom...

Health Sciences Entrance. With all the reflections and directionality, it feels Escher-esque to me. Winter is settling in slowly this year. No rush. As one of the millions on the Canadian prairie who wondered last year where all the sun was, it was quite a thrill to be walking around mid November with just a t-shirt, a tripod and my camera. New Wing of Dentistry Old Dentistry/ Health Sciences You would think that I would be sick to death of stairs right now, but the truth is that my fascination is growing ever deeper. When I did up my last post I spent some time looking through old photos that I had of campus stairs to include. It reminded me two things: firstly, despite the simple going up and down thing they have going, there is great variety in stair design and secondly, my photographic eye has come a long way in a few years. So, I decided to revisit some of my favourites and see how many ways I could skin the same cat, so to speak. Stairs are stairs after all, but w...

James and I went to the Murray building yesterday to watch a frenzied feast for the brain -- a charity fundraiser for literacy. There is nothing more sexy than a bunch of 20-80 year olds spelling under the searing pressure of their uber competitive peers. The library entered a team. After watching from behind my camera for a few minutes I totally wished I had signed up. There is an explanation of how to play Speed Scrabble AND... if you are interested, you can find donation links through READ Saskatoon's website .  SPLs Team -- Happy before Pulverization :) Actually, they maintained a pleasant aspect all throughout the drubbing proceedings, which we kept telling ourselves, was in fact, for a good cause. Stylish costuming was in abundance. Dressed up as Saskatoon City Counsillors -- How Cute ;) The award for "Best Dressed" obviously went to this fabulous woman By the bitter end of several rounds, many words and many " not qui...

5 sec exposure and an inactive crowd made for a cool shot Although I have been a bit down for the last couple of months, it isn't as though there haven't been highlights. A big part of my coping with the bad weather of summer and the stress of putting on a new roof, guests and plumbing turmoil is diving into frivolous asthetic pursuits. fireworks over the Broadway bridge In early September there were some really terrific fireworks on the riverbank, just off Broadway Ave. I knew I needed to have a little fun, so I put on my Quester's robe, pulled up the hood and did a little climbing. Of course I took my camera gear. It was quite crowded and I enjoyed my strangely visible anonymity as I scaled the brickwork to my perch. If you've played Assassins Creed, you'll have a vague inkling of how cool I felt. As a side benefit, I got some nice pictures. Album:  Fireworks Leo's Favs... OAK! In the following weeks, I enjoyed more sun than we saw all summer. It...

Winter's Icy Grip Crushes Goose Vanguard I've been struggling a bit with this weather. It's a bit of an understatement (we may talk of that another time). Cold and lack of sunlight have me a bit down. I've been grouching at the girls, sighing a lot, and projecting gloom around the house in the evenings. Wendy gave me a kick in the pants last night and told me to take today off. I didn't have any work with the library scheduled, but I would have spent the morning making and canning chutney out of the beautifully ripe mangoes that I got on monday. Instead I went to Don's Photo and found an awesome deal. A used Sigma 70-210mm f/4-5.6 auto-focus lense for $40! It's twin was sitting next to it for $100 (they were both on consignment and the price on one had just been dropped). OK, so Sigma is a bargain brand, but it's my first telephoto--I'm excited. Naturally, I had to go take some pictures. 1st set, 0-0 I went to campus and fooled around a bi...

Being injured sucks. We've talked about this before. My elbow is still nagging me but, I have started a slow program of push-ups again. As well, you may have noticed that the spreadsheet up top has a couple of new times for the Arts Tower. Neither of them are PB's but both are very strong and I am encouraged by how good I feel at the top. Today I ran to campus (20min), stumped heavily up the first 8 floors of Arts (40sec) and then ran home (20min). My computer is back. Against what they told me were the odds, the data on my harddrive was indeed lost. Soooo, I have lost about 3 months of pictures. Ouch. That really hurts. You may recall that my ambitious photo campaign has been to assist my pathetic memory. Loosing 3 months is a blow that will certainly result in more regular back-ups. I do have all of the last 4-5 weeks of photos that I accumulated while my computer was in the shop. This is the one that I want to share with you today. So... you shake it. Yeah, you kn...

I was 24 years old . The previous year had seen me secure both my degree in English from the U of S and my wife. It would still be 2 1/2 years until Leora was born. In the most cliché sense, I had the whole world ahead of me. Of course I had just spent the last 4 months of 1995 living apart from Wen (as she tested out her first teaching job in Rosetown (wikipedia)). Shortly, I moved out of 518 Albert Ave. and into our first apartment. Small town life didn't agree really agree with me. Being an unconventional egg-head/vegetarian/freak from the big city, I felt watched and overtly judged wherever I went (but only because people were watching me). View Larger Map A perfect example is the cooking job that I got there at the Blue Baron -- a restaurant attached to a road-side motor inn. I was ´let go´ there after my 3 month probation. I challenged the owner (who was almost never in the kitchen) to tell me why I was being fired, and I was told that it was because the quality of the food ...

A friend of mine emailed me this story. It seemed questy, and I wanted to share it with the my like-minded readers. My friend has a nephew who has recently left the county. I thought since he is now out of the reach of the applicable authorities, I could safely tell this story... Oh, If you open the title of this post in a new window, you get a map of the activities as described. I didn't embed it cause Vin whines is concerned about load times. It's been a long time since I felt like getting into trouble on campus. To be honest, I didn't feel like it tonight. Sometimes I get to feeling like I'm too old to be climbing where I don't belong and like the magic of the night just doesn't do it for me anymore. That may be one of the reasons that I had children. Kind of cliche if it's true. Anyway, mine aren't quite old enough to be this kind of fun... yet. Fortunately, I have this nephew of mine. I'll call him 'David,' in order to protect his ide...

That's right. It is once again Quest New Year. For any requiring some historical info... here are my last 3 years posts: QE 15 QE 16 QE 17 But these posts are hardly Questing in themselves. They do, however, represent to a degree what my mental space is like during this spring-time of change, challenge and renewal. Last night I was up with a serious case of angst-induced insomnia. I have been concerned all this week that my old nemesis, Rust, was up to his deleterious ways. I'm finding it hard to push myself. To drive boldly ahead. Or rather, I'm not sure what those things are anymore. Winter is certainly playing a part, as it always does. But there may be more here... I've been Questing since my first year in university. QE 1, for me, was March 17 th , 1991. I draw a large part of my Quest ' mojo ' from those formative years. The problem is that those years were about becoming an adult, not just nominally, but literally. Transitioning to adulthood without losin...

Those of you who know me may know that I rarely take an escalator. What can I say? Today I was weak. I had a date with the Cosy Corner and I was excited to get there ASAP. Let this be a lesson to you all. "Preventative Maintenance" sure is an uncommonly apt name for it! Finally, there was the corner, beckoning to me. I ran with arms outstretched, despite the odd looks from passing students. The years had not been kind. While my memories of it remain bright and clear, age and disuse had caused a pallor to descend on the place. The sound of my boots echoed a dull thud as I inspected the area. At least the fire escape was as I remembered it. Alas the door had cobwebs stretching across the threshold. I reverently stroked them aside as I recalled many hasty exits, vaulting me from darkness to sunlight. I looked around and was unable to find a place to sit -- save the stairs and even then , the angle was all wrong -- the air not quite right... Just then, I was struck with a solutio...