Unity in the Community 2011 - H2DC

Here is the hip hop dance group H2DC, i forget if they are part of the dance theater, but i'm guessing so, or at least a student group. They also performed at some of the other events there i photographed, if they look familiar. I do want to say those two microphone stands were my bane, without getting up in people's faces (which i hate to do) they kept getting into my frame, and were hard to avoid. Didn't help that i wasn't feeling so hot then (and still) that i wasn't up to moving around too much.

Unity in the Community 2011 - Sisters and Brothers of Islam

Here are the Sisters and Brothers of Islam group (two of them at least in the photo) doing what they called a hair dance, and in the later part there was a lot of hair movement. This group performs several times, but they do a good job, so i don't get sick of seeing them perform.

Unity in the Community 2011 - Native American Council

Here is the student who is presenting the Native American Council with a few dances. Very vibrant clothes, and very energetic dancing. She reminded me of the pow wows i've been to.

Unity in the Community 2011 - Spoken Word Poetry

Next up was spoken word poet, Sydney Arnold, a student at the university, who did three poems if i remember right. I was taken aback at first as she reminded me a lot of a weird blend of two of my ex-girlfriends, although it's hard to explain exactly why. Not that it matters, just thinking about it.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, and since it's Easter, i'm posting a photo of two of my pet bunnies, Amanda and Jerry, who are going to be spoiled today, as they help me get out of the bed even when i feel bad physically and emotionally (like this weekend, partly sick, partly other stuff). Not sure what else to say, other than i hope everyone is doing well and hopefully it's warmer and nicer weather where they are.

Unity in the Community 2011 - Mongolian Foot Juggling

Next up was the Mongolian Foot Juggling performer. She did some impressive things with her feet, then went into a costume change and a dance, then showed some items like a miniature house, clothes, and other things.

Unity in the Community 2011 - Jasiri X

Here is Jasiri X, master of ceremonies for Unity in the Community, introducing the various acts and showing videos of songs he did on the projection screen. Odd that the light was so bright that it made it hard to see a lot of the videos.

Unity in the Community 2011

Yesterday was the main day for the Unity in the Community events in town, and while they were planned to be outside at both the university and downtown locations, it being 30F and snowing moved them inside, thankfully. I'm a little slow going through the photos due to not feeling so hot, probably from the weather and a thing that is going around, so i wanted to get something up today at least.

Mock Crash

This evening there was a mock drunk driving crash on the campus of UW-River Falls. It was interesting, i got there quite early and watched them set up, get the "victims" ready, and then present it, and i was very impressed how professional they all were and how seriously they took it. From what i could tell though the people watching, not so much. Some of them did, but a lot were goofing around. I know, it's fake, no one was really hurt, but after seeing so many actually get hurt by drunk driving and not paying attention, it's frustrating seeing so many people on cell phones, not paying attention, etc.

Just the other day, i stopped at a crosswalk for an elderly woman to cross, the same crosswalk where a lady was killed by someone who says they "didn't see her", and i was almost rear ended by an SUV. I was stopped, and saw a large object coming fast in my rear view, and heard tires squeal. It got less than a foot from my car before stopping. I don't know if they were on a cell or what, but i drive a bright yellow vehicle, recently had new brake lights installed, and they should have had plenty of time to stop if they were paying attention, going slower, or whatever caused this. If they had hit me, it would have probably pushed me into the crosswalk, hitting the woman. The irony of this, a few blocks later there was a car accident with an ambulance.

People don't take cars seriously, and how dangerous they are. Road rage is another common problem too, so many people get mad if someone goes too slow, passes them, etc. You wouldn't believe how many times where i pass someone who is going quite slowly (ten to fifteen mph below the speed limit), and when i pass them, they speed up like i'm trying to race them (i've been told it's because i drive a VW New Beetle, for some reason).  Life is too short to get upset over something that can spiral out of control.

Drive safely, pay attention, and calm down. Not only your life, but the lives of others depends on it.

Mid April Snow

It snowed last night, quite a lot from what i hear around 3 to 6 inches, and this was taken around noon so some had melted. We are also predicted to get snow sunday too, although the weather is so unpredictable lately, who knows. Usually all the snow is gone before my birthday (sunday), but this year it doesn't seem like it will be.

Spring flower

I was out in my yard yesterday, seeing what has come up, and while i had my IR camera with me, i saw some of these purple and orange flowers blooming. Not sure what types they are, and it doesn't really look the color with the eye as it does here, it was nice to see some things coming up and blooming as the trees don't even have leaves yet, although they do have buds. This is sort of a mixed bag, as when i last checked the weather forecast, they were predicting possible snow on saturday, the day before my birthday. I'm more than ready for green and no more snow, but that might not be the case.

Downtown in IR

I had one of my older digital cameras converted to IR by Lifepixel, as they had (and seems still are) a huge sale where i got it near half off. I had always wanted to do it, and that sale just sold me on it. Took close to a month to get back, as they were really busy, but i feel it was worth it. It came today and since it was got close to the 70s today, it was a good time to get out of the house, with all the stress in politics and other world events.

I had just stopped at the red light, which oddly doesn't show up in IR, so i knew i had time to get off a quick shot. The exposure and such could be better, but i like it. The sky was actually bright blue, with small wispy clouds, not the odd green it looks like. This is the main intersection in town, where Main (which runs north south) crosses Cascade (which goes mostly east west and passes the University). The hotel head is pretty new, and has already changed franchise, and i'm not sure or not if they are still using it for student overflow from the dorms.