Jack at Play

Spring is Here

Spring is well under way in Northern Virginia!

I recently got a new toy to play with. I've been wanting and waiting for a digital SLR camera for about twelve years now, so after saving a bit of money, using several birthday gifts, and pestering my wife, I now have a Canon T3 DSLR.

I spent most of today trying to figure out what the multitude of buttons on this camera control. I managed to underexpose quite a few photos, overexpose others, and a few turned out decent. The picture above doesn't seem as sharp as it really is - I'm shooting in RAW format, but haven't figured out how to post from that format, so a standard JPEG is what you get.

I have a lot of work to do on my photo compositions, but with this new camera the practice is fun!

Compositions in Black and White: Vol.1

Where's Waldo?

I recently rediscovered Prince William Forest Park.

PWNF is a National Park that is close to our house. I can leave the house and be deep into the woods in less than twelve minutes. The park is 15,ooo acres and features many hiking trails, a scenic drive, and two long forks of a fishable creek.

I've spent several days hiking the trails and reminding myself just how out of shape I have become. I think the National Park Service should be required to place additional warnings on the trail head signs. Something along the lines of "Fat Guys Be Warned - This Will Hurt" or "If You Walk Down This Really Steep Hill - Remember That You Have To Walk Back Up It".

After walking about 5 miles along the most secluded trail in the park, I found myself alone with just the budding trees and the chattering squirrels as company. There are no roads or camps any closer than 3 miles. There is absolutely nothing but forest for miles around me. As I paused to catch my breath from yet another set of switchbacks (I call them Satan's Staircases), I spotted a dash of color. Upon further investigation I found this...

Look closely.

Does anything look out of place?

Help the Children

This isn't a tearful plea from Sally Struthers asking you to send money.

Rather, it is a request to help out Jackson's kindergarten class learn about the United States.

The teacher has asked the kids to get postcards from as many different States as possible. The kids will pin the postcards on a giant U.S. map to help them identify each state.

So if you are one of our 3.2 regular readers, please send a postcard with a short note detailing a fun fact about your state to the class! For those readers that might not be in the United States but would like to Help the Children, postcards from all locales will be appreciated!

Postcards can be sent to

Ms. Fightmaster's Class

c/o Ashland Elementary School Rm 101

15300 Bowmans Folly Drive

Manassas, Virginia 20112

Thank You!

Dr. Seuss

Jack and Daddy went to see The Lorax this morning.

Jack's school loosely organized an outing that invited all of the kids to go see The Lorax. On a Saturday morning. At 10am. Daddy was less than thrilled about the scheduled time.

Classmates and teachers from the school filled the lobby and theater. Walking into the theater with Jack was like being the unknown person that tags along with the celebrity on the red carpet. Jack was smiling and waving as throngs of people shouted his name and waved hello. That guy with Jack? Oh, he's just "Jack's Dad".

As we seated ourselves comfortably in the fifth row (Jack chose the seats), the manager calls for our attention and informs the crowd that the 2D movie system in our theater is not working. And that we will be watching the 3D version for no extra charge. Alright. This ought to be interesting - neither Jack nor Daddy have ever watched a movie in 3D.

After the glasses were handed out and the theater dimmed, the movie previews started. With no sound. Picture if you will a theater full of 5-8 year old children and their parents, with images playing across the screen and no sound. Approximately 3.7 milliseconds passed before the comments started. "There's no sound! Mommy I can't hear! Why isn't there noise?"

Right before the riot reached full bore the theater filled with the soundtrack to the show and the crowd let loose a mighty cheer. At least Daddy could now abandon his hastily made plans of grabbing Jack and diving under the seats to avoid bodily harm.

Now, Daddy has never seen a 3D movie and despite having no first hand knowledge of the subject, he had dismissed the technology as a gimmick. Something that would distort the movie watching experience with poor attempts at re-creating 'real-life' points of view.

Daddy was wrong.

The 3D experience with an animated film is quite cool. Daddy was amazed how neat it really is to see the movie pop into a great vision complete with depth. Jack had to be settled down a couple of times after leaping out of his seat to grab for things that were right in front of us!

-Time for a quick movie review-

The story of The Lorax followed the Dr. Seuss book faithfully and made the point of caring for the environment while not being cheesy or condescending. The Lorax was voiced by Danny DeVito - a great casting choice. The boy's grandma is a scene stealer. The Once-ler is a bit frightening to the kids at first. The real stars of the show though, are the animals. The film has singing and dancing fish. And a bear that loves to eat (go watch the movie, you'll laugh at the bears alot!)

-review over. Roger Ebert or Gene Siskel I'm not!-

So despite being surrounding by lots of young children at a really early hour on a Saturday morning and paying $15 for two drinks and a tiny package of Skittles, Jack and Daddy had a great time watching The Lorax!

Temptation

Yes, those are chocolate filled Twinkies.

No, you don't want to know the nutrition info for these.

And yes, they are wonderful.