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Archives for August 2012

Butterflies In Our Butterfly Garden

August 21, 2012

Today we have some remarkably good photographs of two different types of Butterfly. One is the “American Lady Butterfly” (my favorite) and the other is the “Viceroy Butterfly.”

You’re probably more familiar with the Viceroy Butterfly because I think it’s more common to see them flying around the area. But if you look closely at the American Lady Butterfly, you can see a lot of great detail, such as its fur, its tongue and its eyes. And its antenna. It’s great.

Now, I do give credit when credit is due, so I will tell you that I did not take these photos. It was her. All her. But I edited them and almost as remarkably beautiful as these pictures are, they were edited and uploaded with a similar graceful and elegant touch.

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly With Tongue Out

Monarch Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly on Purple Lilac Flower

Monarch Butterfly on Pink Flowers

Monarch Butterfly on Bush

Pearl Crescent Butterfly

Pearl Crescent Butterfly on Pink Lilac Flower

Monarch Butterfly

Pearl Crescent Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly in Connecticut

Monarch Butterfly in Hartford, Connecticut

Filed Under: Nature & Outdoors Tagged With: Flowers


Working Through the Sharps and Flats

August 21, 2012

I am pretty excited right now. For weeks, I have been looking ahead in the material and had this sinking feeling that something terrible was on the horizon. I think it was those sharps and flats I told you about yesterday.

Well, as it turns out, they aren’t so bad after all. They are actually kind of fun. Sure, it’s going to take some time getting used to using my pinky for some notes, but really, it’s all quite logical and what I learned today filled in some gaps I was wondering about.

Guitar Sharp Notes

Guitar Flat Notes

I think I’ll do fine with the exercises that follow. I’ll also learn the chords I’ll need to play “The Entertainer” and “Fur Elise” and then I’m sure I’ll be practicing those songs, along with the others in this session for quite a long time.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Guitar


Hummingbird Pictures – In Flight

August 20, 2012

We have had the tripod and camera set up in the kitchen for a few weeks now, waiting for those perfect opportunities to take photos of whatever stops by. Well, recently, with the introduction of two Hummingbird feeders, we’ve had some action packed days.

As I sit and work in my new downstairs office, I oftentimes hear the “click, click” of the camera shutter behind me. There she is, snapping away. Seems like I’ve passed to torch and now have a budding photographer living with me.

These photos were taken by her. I touched them up a bit in Photoshop, but didn’t crop at all. We have series after series of new photographs that I want to post here, so I can’t be bogged down by working on each individual one. If there is something you like and would like me to spend some time on it, please let me know and I’ll do so.

Young Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds

Hummingbird at Bird Feeder

Hummingbird Landing on Bird Feeder

Looking Straight at Flying Hummingbird

Hummingbird Approaching Hanging Bird Feeder

Hummingbird Near Flowers

Hummingbird Taking Nectar From Flower

Hummingbird in Central Connecticut

Hummingbird Hovering Above Beautiful Flower

Hummingbird

Approaching Hanging Hummingbird Feeder With Liquid Food

Hummingbird Sitting on Branch

Hummingbird Resting on Tree

Still Hummingbird

Filed Under: Pets & Animals


Guitar Sharps, Flats & Naturals

August 20, 2012

I have great news – I am officially moving on to the Sharps, Flats and Naturals section of Session 4 in Gibson’s Learn & Master Guitar. This is pretty exciting because it means that I am comfortable with everything up until this point, which was a lot.

Now, I’ve heard that it’s quite common to wander around in Session 4 for months. I’ve been working on it for a bit over a month now, so I’m a little nervous. I know I’ve mentioned that I haven’t worked on any chords – and that may pose a problem because there are two songs in the bonus material that require use of the Am and the E chords found later on in this section. I’ll have to go over them to play “The Entertainer.” Also, I wonder about using Sharps and Flats. I have a funny feeling that these two little words are going to throw things into disarray. I’ve been working to hard so get things one way and now the guitar gods want to tell me to do it another. We’ll see how that works out. I suppose I’ll just have to put things on hyper slow and deal with it.

Guitar Sheet Music

Guitar Sharps, Flats and Naturals Practice Sheet Music

This also means that I have to pop the lesson CD back into my computer and work with Steve Krenz again. I haven’t worked with him in a long time, so that should be fun. The way I operate is like this – I hear what he has to say and then I go off on my own for as long as it takes to learn what he had to teach. Then, when I hit the next section, I head on back to him for some more teaching. I’ve gotten this far like that, so I plan on doing it for the duration.

I’ll let you know how these sharps and flats are working out when I get into the nitty gritty.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Guitar


Octave Jump Exercises – Session 4 Bonus Materials – Gibson’s Learn & Master Guitar

August 17, 2012

Ahhh, the dreaded octave jump exercises in the Session 4 Bonus Exercises. I’ve been reading the Gibson’s Learn & Master Guitar Forums regarding these and they are by far, the most difficult skill to master so far.

Guitar Octave Jump Exercises

Guitar Octave Jump Practice Sheet Music

I did well with the first octave jump exercise in the “Sixth String Exercises” (bonus materials). It took me almost two full weeks to get it, but I did and now those quarter notes aren’t even an issue. I could easily warm up to the exercise. I also did well with exercise 2 and 3 in the “More Sixth String Exercises” (bonus materials). Now, by “well” I mean it only took me a few days to master the exercise and now I use them as warm ups. Each time I play them, I think less and less about what I’m doing.

The challenge, and I’ll say “challenge” here because it is indeed a challenge, but much less of a challenge than the first octave jump exercise, is exercise 4. You can see it in the photos above. The same exercise from the previous page has morphed into a new beast. The quarter notes turned into eighth notes and instead of only going up the scale, now we have to go down as well. I’ll tell you that this threw me for loop the very first time I looked at this, but it’s much better now. I am plan on working on this exercise for a few more days.

I’ll tell you something – I really don’t mind spending my time on these exercises. They require me to use all notes learned thus far on all six strings. It’s not like I’m missing out on something. I mean, I’m playing guitar, which is what I wanted to do. And it feels great. Just to let you know, my record runs strong – I haven’t missed a day yet.

I read a post on the forum last night where someone was venting about how they feel as though they are regressing in Session 4. There was a lot of support in the responses that followed, which was really good to see. Quitting guitar is really easy to do. Support is crucial and when I start feeling the frustration, I head over to the forum simply to remind myself that I’m not alone. I haven’t responded to any posts such as these, but I would like to offer some advice here. And this comes from what I’ve experienced so far and it’s regarding motivation and progress.

First off, (I know I’ve mentioned this before) make sure you eat something before playing. When you need to dig down mentally, you need energy. If you do this on an empty stomach, you’ll play like an idiot.

Second, use the metronome as a tool. Practice playing through the exercise in chunks and then practice playing them through. Then turn on the metronome to see where you are. Turn it off and practice again. Then turn it back on. Keep doing this until you’ve done all you need to do. Give the exercise a check mark and go have a beer. Enjoy.

Third, learn how to read music. If you don’t know how to do this yet and you’re months into learning how to play the guitar, I don’t know, you really need to do this. All you are going to have is issues going forward. It’s really one of those things in life. Get it done. Stop what you’re doing and just practice that.

Before I started going through this course, I thought that reading music was a given. As I play and read, I am finding out that there is a large population out there that is trying to avoid learning this skill at all costs. I wonder about this. The other thing I wonder about is the population that has decided to only learn chords, but that’s something for another day.

Anyway, I’m creeping up on three months here and things are rolling right along. I have my good days and I have my bad days. But, I’m using all six strings in first position and I’m feeling good. After I finish up these octave jump exercises, I move into sharps and flats and then I get to try my hand at “Fur Elise” and “The Entertainer,” which I have heard stories about. Man oh man.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Guitar


Tony’s Track Days – New Jersey Motorsports Park – Millville, NJ

August 17, 2012

I’ve got this good buddy who was talking to me one day. He told me that he needed to liven things up a bit. Liven things up in his life. I wondered what he was talking about. Next thing I know, I’m talking to him on the phone and he’s sending me pictures of him riding his motorcycle around New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ. I sat there for a little while, letting my jealousy wear off. I mean, look at these pictures.

I’m not sure which was worse – me not riding next to him or me not being there to take these pictures. The pictures you look at below were taken by the track photographer.

So what is it? What did he do and where did he go?

It’s called Tony’s Track Days and it’s located (as I said above) at New Jersey Motorsports Park. From what I can gather, when there aren’t races going on, you can go to this track, or another one in New Hampshire (New Hampshire Motor Speedway) for a good time learning and riding. Tony’s Track Days provides it all. You should check them out if you’re interested in this kind of stuff.

Tonys Track Days, LLC
PO BOX 60843
Longmeadow, MA 01116
(413) 783-8763

That’s important, but let’s get to the really important stuff – and that’s pictures. I have quite a few and I’ll post them below.

Suzuki GSXR 750 Coming Around Track at Tony's Track Days

Profile of Suzuki GSXR 750 on Track

Crotch Rockets on Race Track

Two Sport Bikes Leaning on Track

Suzuki GSXR 750

Suzuki GSXR 750 Coming Around Bend

Blue and White Suzuki GSXR 750

Suzuki GSXR 750

Sportbikes Leaning Around Bend in Track

Two Crotch Rockets Racing

Riding a Suzuki GSXR 750

Multiple Bikes Racing on Track

Sport Bikes Racing on Track in New Jersey

Crotch Rocket Leaning Around Track in New Jersey

Suzuki GSXR 750 Leaning

Sport Bike at a Distance

Sport Bike Coming Around Corner

Front of Suzuki GSXR 750

Suzuki GSXR 750 Top View

Suzuki GSXR 750 From Above

Suzuki GSXR 750 Riding Fast

Blue and White Suzuki GSXR 750 From Above

Blue and White Crotch Rocket From Above

Two Sport Bikes Riding Around Curve in Track

Motorcycle Racing on Track

Motorcycle Riding on Track in New Jersey

Riding a Motorcycle on a Track in New Jersey

Motorcycles Racing at Tony's Track Days

Solo Suzuki Sport Bike Practicing on Track

Suzuki GSXR Practicing on Track

Bikes Practicing at Tony's Track Days

Motorcycles on Track at Tony's Track Days in New Jersey

Filed Under: Fitness & Recreation

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