Rare commentary

Since my commentaries are never stellar, I try to keep it to just the pictures. However, I was reading an article this morning on one topic that always gets me going: the environment and what we are doing to keep it somewhat stable. It's rare that I will use this space for actual real thoughts on the world, since so many others can say things so much more eloquently than me, but here it is anyway.

I have always been of the opinion that the government is dominated mostly by the interests of corporations. This is obviously seen in the lack of a push for more environmentally friendly energy sources, where officials tend to obfuscate the message of the scientific community. Frequently, in an effort to present both sides of an issue in a fair manner, it is represented by the media that no consensus has been met on the effects of pollutants on our environment. This impression is decidedly false. We are in for drastic climate changes, perhaps sooner than anyone (including our ever trusted computer models) can predict, due to the very nature of the positive feedback climate system.

It doesn't look like we'll be able to sit idly by and let these trends continue if we hope to fight anything close to what might already be a losing battle. There are many places for tips on energy conservation if people would just seek them out, but it may take more than that. A shift in how our country produces energy for it's needs is obviously necessary, even at the expense of some big businesses. I wonder how long we can really afford to wait.

Long time

It's been a while since I've posted anything, even though I have been taking some shots. I haven't been really happy with too many of them, but here are some that came out better than most. My favorite of the bunch is the wine labels.

On the way home today the sun was peeking around the openings in the clouds after storming all day. I didn't get the camera until I made it to the house, so I missed all the cool cloud cover and shimmering nonsense. I did get this one off which I though was interesting, even if the light was getting low.

Inside, I still like the way the lighting works in this alcove. It gave me a chance to play with the new tripod a bit too, and I can actually take low light shots without wobbling the camera all over the place. I'll have to get a full size one at some point so I can get the angles and heights that I want.

I took when things were starting to thaw out before brunch with the Soudans and friends. I liked the way the texture in the ice looked, and I think the branches make for a compelling backdrop.

At brunch, there were a ton of bottles lined up around the "Oak Room" at Mario's. So I took a picture of the lineup (below) and the labels up close (above). I like the label picture better, and I couldn't quite capture the way the light was coming in through the window and illuminating all the bottles. It works a little bit, but I couldn't quite get the angle that I wanted to catch the light and the row.