River Falls, WI Daily Photo

Crows getting lunch

2012-01-09T16:33:00.001-06:00

When i was leaving the bank, i noticed my second favorite animal (rabbit being first) grabbing some lunch from a nearby dumpster. Crows fascinate me, as they are quite smart, and an episode of Nature on PBS goes into how smart they actually are. I put out food for birds, and sometime nuts for them and the squirrels, and i'm always fascinated by their behavior, like how they will see me in the kitchen, and wait until i turn my back to grab the nuts and fly off. They are also bigger than any of the pictures i take of them seem to show. When they land on the deck and sit there, they seem as long as my arm, and are even more impressive up close.

On a different note, they must be enjoying the weather, it's been near or over 50 degrees F lately, and that is way, way warmer than it normally has been. You can also sort of see the lack of snow, last year we had over three feet of snow to this date, and we've so far got a fraction of that, and all of it has melted pretty quickly.

Where Lund's used to be

2012-01-02T15:08:00.001-06:00

There used to be a hardware store where this lot is now. Econofoods has decided to expand, and got a pretty big tax break to do it, which upset Dick's Market, the other grocery store in town, and the one i prefer for various reasons. So basically, it seems they tore down three buildings, are putting a lot there for better parking (it couldn't be worse than it was, which is saying something), and going to be some sort of work inside too. Not to mention, there is going to be a stop light at the intersection of the road i took this at. Get ready for lots of people not stopping for the lights, especially while people get used to it being there, and i'm guessing accidents too. This feels and looks odd to me, it's right downtown, and now a big lot, not the feeling most downtowns have or desire, but whatever.

I'm putting a panorama photo of the lot and such below, hopefully that isn't against the daily photo idea.
Only way to really get a good view of it all though. Click to embiggen.

Japanese kimono and Chinese garment exhibition

2011-12-15T13:36:00.001-06:00

A few hours ago was a Japanese kimono and Chinese garment exhibition in the Chalmer Davee Library on the university campus, with Japanese language instructor Magara Maeda shown here, showing how a kimono is put on and taken off. Various Japanese 101 students were also packed into the small space. I will say this town is blessed with so many cultural events and people willing to put them on and go to them. I have had a couple years of Japanese, and some self taught, but sadly through lack of use it tends to get a bit muddy in my mind, not to mention my horrible shyness makes me doubt myself, so yeah. I need to work on that.

River Dazzle

2011-11-26T00:30:00.001-06:00

Here is a shot of downtown with the streets closed off and people starting to gather, and the obligatory Packers fan. Speaking of the Packers, i'm not a huge sports fan, but it's pretty impressive that they've gone undefeated this season, lots of people i know are thrilled. A lot more people gathered for this, as it wasn't so cold as it could be, even though not spring like by any stretch of the imagination, it wasn't bad and the precipitation waited to start until a good deal afterwards. It's currently raining here now, not sure if it will turn icy or snow, hopefully not.

River Dazzle Parade Santa

2011-11-25T19:26:00.001-06:00

Here is Santa in the River Dazzle parade that i just got back from. It wasn't too chilly when i left, but although i dressed pretty warm, my nose got a bit chilly. As usual i wasn't surprised to see collage age kids not wearing winter jackets, some no jackets at all. There is more to the River Dazzle than i got pictures of, a rather varied chili cook off, twenty or so vendors, races, a display with camels and llamas in the park, etc. but i have a sick pet rabbit that has me worried, so only went to the parade. I'll be going through the photos later, but wanted to get one up today at least.

First substantial snow

2011-11-19T16:58:00.001-06:00

It snowed today, quite a lot actually, and i thankfully saw my first wild rabbit in a long time in my yard. Since i've had my front yard redone, i haven't seen any, and i was worried that they lost a lot of where they could hide, and it made me sad as it was always a bright spot to see them under the bushes. I doubt the snow will stay, its supposed to get warmer later in the week, not hugely warm, but enough to melt.

Drag Show Performer

2011-11-18T01:02:00.001-06:00

Here is one of the performers at the drag show. Not in order, this was her third outfit i believe, and i love the way the lights play off her hair and the feathers. Sadly, i totally forgot her stage name, along with all the other people who got on stage, and there wasn't a program either printed or on the web site, so sorry that with my horrible memory they will have to go unnamed.

I'm still trying to whittle down the amount of photos to the best ones, something i really do need to work on with my photography, i tend to "like" too many, and post them all, and i've read that ends up making even the best ones look worse. Oh well, hopefully i'll get that in my brain sooner rather than later.

Line for the Drag Show

2011-11-17T13:15:00.001-06:00

Last night was the UW-River Falls Drag Show, and this was the line about half an hour before start. I didn't bring a wide angle lens, so you might not be able to tell, but it started a good deal from the left, stretched along to the right, and then down to where i was, and then went even further. It was insane, i never expected this many people, but a pleasant surprise, as the event was in support of The Trevor Project, which aims to help with ending bullying and suicide among LGBTQ teens. I have a ton of photos to go through, and am still getting over the horrible flu i had, so it will take some time to get them all up.

Culture Fest 2011 - Thai Sword Fighting

2011-11-12T01:05:00.001-06:00

Here is the portion that was the Thai Traditional Sword Fighting, with Keng and Damrong. Last year they did a presentation to the theme to Mortal Kombat, also with a lot of humor. Before the fighting, the one guy told a silly joke and gave out cups with the Twilight Characters on them. They also spent a good while after the sword fighting cleaning up the dust that was used to make it dramatic.

Culture Fest 2011 - Fashion Show

2011-11-11T01:22:00.001-06:00

Here are some of the people in the fashion show part that all got on stage together and lined up at the end part. My lens wasn't as wide as it could be to get them all in.

Culture Fest 2011

2011-11-10T13:16:00.001-06:00

Last night was Culture Fest at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, and it seems like they got the word out, it was pretty packed. Not standing room only, as there were a few seats, but a whole lot more than the last time i went. I took a lot of photos and it will take a while to get through them as i also have either a pretty bad cold or that flu that's going around, didn't feel so hot last night either, but glad i made it. This was one of the groups that really impressed me, doing the second of the girls performances. So while not in chronological order, it's one of my favorites just quickly looking at the photos. The program described them as "Asian Media Access Dance", although the MCs described them as a group front the Twin Cities of Hmong dancers, of various ages. Sadly, my brain wasn't all there, and i have completely forgotten their actual name. I'll try to find it out later, though.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T02:38:00.000-05:00

Today is Halloween, and since i've not really been out and about, here is a scary photo of a fly that i took a while ago. It's a fly, and that fly is in River Falls, so it counts, right? ;) As annoying as they are normal sized, they are pretty freaky when you magnify them. I'm not the best at macro photography, but i sure do enjoy the results, seeing what is usually hidden from view or goes unnoticed.

Songs of the Body, Modern Dance

2011-10-29T01:07:00.000-05:00

Here is Mari Kline doing one of the modern dances. I'll admit i'm a bit lost when it comes to modern dance, i understand it's very open to interpretation, and you don't always know the intent of the performer. It was interesting and fun though. I don't have a video of her dance, it just wouldn't upload for some reason.

Songs of the Body, Middle Eastern

2011-10-28T03:10:00.001-05:00

Here is Jen Bush doing a middle eastern dance performance. She had a couple costume changes, and in the picture she did a mix of middle eastern and flamenco dance, which was really interesting. You can also see that the dancers were pretty close to the crowd, and how hard it was to figure the lighting in there, with basically overhead lights and large windows that allowed the sun to come in.

Songs of the Body, Bharatanatyam

2011-10-27T00:57:00.001-05:00

Here is Jocelyn Gorham doing a presentation of her dance. Before she danced she gave a description of what the dance was, which i included a part of below. It was very lovely and detailed, and she did a great job.

Unrelated, been having horrible internet lately, i have AT&T, although i don't know if it's connected to being them, and this post took over an hour to get up as it's been dropping me off most of the day. I've only had a couple of hours online total today, and about that all week. Disconnects constantly, slower speed than i'm supposed to get, almost dial up slowness actually. I've been looking into switching, but when i talk to the only other option of high speed internet, they seem to think my house is a business and keep not believing me that it's not, and only want to talk business plans. Ugh, and it's supposed to snow soon. Sorry the complaints were longer than the description of the event.

Songs of the Body, Ballet

2011-10-26T00:40:00.000-05:00

Here is Lynne Butenhoff showing off some ballet, to various songs from Swan Lake, although i forget which. Again, the carpet caused some problems. Also again, a short clip below of one of her dances.

Songs of the Body, Ballroom

2011-10-25T01:17:00.001-05:00

Here are Gary and Nancy Sukowatey doing one of their ballroom dances, although as a lot of the people performing said, the carpet wasn't ideal. They have a dance studio in Roberts, WI, but i'm unable to find a webpage for it, although it does show up on the yellow pages. They showed several different ballroom styles, i forget which exactly though. Below is a short video of one of their dances.

Side note, someone i had met at one of these events previously asked me if anything else cultural was coming up soon, and i just discovered that there is going to be another Culture Fest 2011 on November 9th at 6 pm in North Hall on campus. I took photos of the one last year, and as usual i have a set up on flickr of them. Not sure if she will see this before then, but hopefully those who might be interested in it will now know.

Songs of the Body, venue

2011-10-24T11:35:00.002-05:00

This is where Songs of the Body took place, the lower level of the local library. Normally it's a gallery of local art, or other displays, but for this and and the martial arts thing the day before, they move things around and place chairs there. Not long after this they are going to get started on the haunted house that is down there. It's for smaller children, and is a pretty big deal from what i hear.

Songs of the Body

2011-10-23T15:45:00.002-05:00

I just got back from this Songs of the Body presentation at the local library. It was very interesting and fun, sad i missed the martial arts exhibition there yesterday morning, but i wasn't feeling so hot and couldn't make it. Glad i did make this today, more photos will follow, but this will be a little bit of a tease of what to expect.

Attack of the Moon Zombies

2011-10-20T18:32:00.000-05:00

I just got back from a screening of Attack of the Moon Zombies at the University Center of UW-River Falls, and after there was a question and answer session with the maker Christopher R. Mihm from the Twin Cities. It was a very fun throwback to 1950s sci-fi films, B-movie ones, especially similar to Roger Corman. It was impressive he's basically made a film a year since 2006, and seems to really enjoy making them in his basement mostly. As to the film, starts slower and gets more into the flow as it goes, but that is also kind of how a lot of 50s sci-fi movies were.

On an unrelated note, i was housebound for a week after the previous photo as my car was in the shop for a bad anti-theft immobilizer that prevented me from starting the car. Thankfully it went out for good only about a mile from home, in front of a business i am close with the owners and employees. Thanks goes out to them again for giving me a drive home.

UW-River Falls Art Installations 2011

2011-10-06T08:15:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of the art installations being around campus over on the university. Some very interesting ones out there, i seemed to have missed a few, but the rest of the ones i did get are over on my flickr in a set. It was also very unseasonable as when i was leaving at around 5pm the thermometer on the bank and in my car both said 88 degrees Fahrenheit. Not sure when normal fall weather is going to return, but it's weird being so warm with fall colors out.

How the university described the Art Installations:

"What better way to enjoy today's beautiful warm weather than by a walk around campus to view the creations of more than 300 students from various UWRF art courses. Some 54 sites feature faculty and student outdoor works of art to view as part of the 20th Annual Outdoor Art Installation. This masking tape bike on the edge of KFA offers you a lesson on perspective as you view it from different angles. Everyone is asked to please respect the artistic ideas and to not alter or damage the artwork. Site maps identifying the individual installations can be picked up in Gallery 101 or 172 KFA. The installation goes through Friday."

more fall colors

2011-10-05T07:32:00.001-05:00

More fall colors from the north part of town, still in city limits, so as you can imagine, it's a pretty small town with the rural in it. This is actually a park, between the hill and farm area. Not really sure what else i can say here, other than the weather is nice and loving the colors.

fall colors

2011-10-04T16:14:00.001-05:00

Here are some of the trees changing colors on the north part of town, not the most artistic or professionally done photo of it, but it's getting pretty out there. Some years it changes in a day, or goes right from green to brown, but this year there are a lot of pretty colors. Did i mention it's been getting up to 80 degrees fahrenheit lately? Because that's pretty warm for October, especially since not long ago we had freezing temperatures. Still getting chilly at night, but this is a nice break. Even if it is weird seeing fall colors with such warm weather.

Sorry for the lack of photos, been in a not so great place, still not quite out of it, but will try better to get more photos.

Just too hot

2011-06-07T23:15:00.000-05:00

Here is a blue jay trying to bear the heat tuesday. It barely closed it's mouth, and held it's wings away from it's body, while looking at the food and water i put out. I'm not exaggerating when i say it's been hot, it hit officially 99F here in town, a record and over 20 degrees over average. It's been this way for a few days, over the weekend it got near 90, but the last two days were high 90s. It's actually buckled pavement on the interstate near town, and closed several of them. Pretty crazy. The squirrels were also having a rough time by my deck, moving slowly, they grabbed some of the food, but not as eagerly as usual. It does look like the temps will be going back to normal soon, at least i hope so.

Old cars in town

2011-06-06T12:54:00.000-05:00

While going to run errands in town, i noticed a lot, and i do mean a lot, they lined the northbound road for a block and some cars on other blocks too, of classic and antique cars. This is just one, i have twelve more on my flickr. There were several Model A Fords, some black, some beige. Model As will always have a special place in my heart, as my uncle Al restored old cars, had a lot of them, and after he passed he left a lovely Model A to my parents. I took a small engine class in high school, but i'm envious of people who can fix cars and even more so those that can restore them. Every time i've tried to fix something on my car (minor stuff, lights, etc) i get frustrated or it doesn't go the way i expected.

The drivers were all in the South Fork Cafe, probably getting ice cream, as when i was out it was 90F, and climbing. I'm pretty sure these cars don't have air conditioning, and it's not only hot, but humid too. Hopefully no bad storms hit them while they are out, especially hail.

Memorial Day Bunnies

2011-05-31T09:05:00.000-05:00

Before getting ready to go out yesterday, i spotted a wild rabbit in my yard eating the dandelions. I watched for a while, and a second one joined in. They didn't fight, but they did seem to not 'know' each other, dancing around each other and checking each other out. I take it as a good sign when i see wild bunnies being happy, and it usually does a pretty good job of making me smile, at least for a little while. In the may issue of National Geographic, there is an infographic of how many animals of different types that were killed for food in 2009, and there were 1.1 billion (with a B) rabbits, that doesn't even count those tested on for makeup, drugs, weapons testing, and for the fur, and whatever else people do to them. Did you know that the human HPV vaccine was found because of them? Sometimes the wild rabbits around here have symptoms of Shope papilloma virus (the rabbit version of HPV, the H stands for Human by the way), and it was the study of the rabbit version that lead to the human vaccine. Sadly didn't really lead to any help for the rabbits, i am leery to even let them play outside as the rabbit version can be spread by mosquitos and other insects that feed on blood. Anyway, people seem to assume the only reason i care about them is because they are cute, but there are many, many reasons, and knowing more about what we do to them and they have done for us makes me love them more.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-30T12:19:00.000-05:00

Today is Memorial Day, wasn't sure if the events were going to be outside or in the middle school as storms have been rolling through yesterday and today. Not sure why the third guy from the left is giving me that look.

Unity in the Community 2011 - Cuban Dance

2011-05-03T04:19:00.000-05:00

Last up at the University was a Cuban dance, i forget the name of it, but it was a dance to get ready for battle. The men had clenched fists, and the women had open hands. Very energetic with lots of motion and the men leaping over each other. This was the last event at the University that i caught, before i headed over to the Library in the evening, where some events were the same, but others different.

Unity in the Community 2011 - H2DC

2011-04-29T00:46:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-28T01:13:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-26T12:39:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-25T01:50:00.001-05:00

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

2011-04-24T02:56:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-23T01:51:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-22T02:13:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-21T13:27:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-18T22:31:00.001-05:00

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

2011-04-16T14:18:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-13T11:52:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-08T16:04:00.000-05:00

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.

Late snow

2011-03-23T17:47:00.000-05:00

The weather the last few days has been odd to say the least, started out with thunderstorms tuesday early morning, and continued off and on through the day. Turned to freezing rain as the sun went down, and then to snow. We in River Falls got a good deal, not sure how much, but past ankle depth. Several schools have closed in the Twin Cities due to it, and it's a very heavy snow too. This probably won't help with the flooding issues the rivers south of here have been dealing with. I know it's technically spring, but i can't wait until it really feels like it.

Life in a small rural town

2011-03-19T03:30:00.000-05:00

Taken before the St. Patrick's Day events, but didn't have anything to do with the events, it's just a relatively common sight in a small rural town, a large tractor (or other farm equipment) driving down main slowly. Not too fun getting stuck behind them while on the road though, so many no passing zones and they go so slowly.

On another note, there are a lot more pictures of St. Patrick's Day in a set on my Flickr. Probably won't post many of them here like i've been doing of the other events, but who knows.

St. Patrick's Day Bed Races

2011-03-18T01:02:00.001-05:00

Thursday was St. Patrick's Day, and in the evening there were 'bed races' by various groups. This group kind of bent the rules, which were three wheels, but didn't mean they all had to be on the ground. Didn't help them though, i don't think they won as they kept pulling to one side or the other. The beds raced down one side of the street, the main street is split down the middle with trees and parking, then they shot hoops at the end, then raced back up the other side.

The day started out really warm for this time of year, and very sunny, as the rain seemed to not even get near here, but it started getting really cold as the sun started going down. There were a lot of people who didn't seem to realize how cold it feel, as they were not wearing jackets and some even were in shorts.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: H2DC

2011-03-17T01:54:00.001-05:00

Not sure if H2DC is the band they are dancing to or the routine, but their outfits were colorful and htey did a fun dance. They were also the last event of the night, so this is the end of the International Bazaar posts, as usual you can see all that i posted in a set on my flickr.

Side note, thursday there are St. Patrick's Day events downtown, and while it warmed up nicely in the last day or two, they are predicting rain, so i'm not sure if they will go on or not. I guess if pictures of them appear after this, they did.

Video of the start of the H2DC dance:

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: Hmong Dance

2011-03-16T00:37:00.000-05:00

Here is the Hmong dance portion, please ignore the out of focus part at the beginning of the video. I loved the colors of the outfits, and the dance was lovely.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: Eien (BoA)

2011-03-15T00:13:00.000-05:00

Here the dance team perform the song Eien by BoA (at least that's what's on the program, i don't really know the band or song enough to say really).

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: Magic Trick

2011-03-14T08:28:00.000-05:00

After the previous act, the next group wasn't ready, so the one presenter decided to pass the time with a magic trick. He had someone come up from the audience and pick a card. Then had her show it to the audience, put it back in the deck, and then put the deck in his mouth. Here he is showing the wrong card, after which he did some other things, and then eventually pulled the correct card out of his mouth. He has quite a bit of flair to his act and is quite funny too.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: La Adelita and El Marabino

2011-03-13T01:37:00.000-06:00

La Adelita and El Marabino by Rogelio Carrera, with video below.
Not feeling so hot, so keeping this short.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: Oendan

2011-03-12T00:34:00.000-06:00

Here are the Japanese students doing oendan, which is essentially Japanese cheerleading. I had camera troubles right before this, as i switched to a different memory card right before this, and it gave me errors a little bit after they started, and had to format it again, so i lost a lot of the shots of them.

Before the clip, i'd like to say my thoughts and hopes are with the Japanese exchange students and people there. The earthquake and it's after effects are just seeming to get worse as time goes on. From what i know, most of the local students are from south Japan, so hopefully their families are all safe, i do have pen palls up north though, in Tokyo and farther, and thankfully they all seem to be okay.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: Chinese Song Combo

2011-03-11T01:33:00.000-06:00

Here is a Chinese Song Combo singing a song i have no clue the name of, but they were good. They started on the main stage, then moved to the protrusion to finish up. Made for difficult lighting, but they did a good job.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: Purple Love

2011-03-10T00:08:00.000-06:00

Here are Jackson Chung and Becky Ji singing Purple Love. I didn't get so many good shots or video of them as they were at the edge of the stage and not lit very well. The song was good and they did a great job, but the lighting was a problem.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: AKB48

2011-03-09T00:14:00.000-06:00

Here are some of the Japanese students dancing to a song by AKB48, again with a short clip below. Which song, i have no idea, but it was amusing. Not sure if it was exactly para para dancing, but it reminded me of what i've seen of that.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: La Bikina

2011-03-08T00:08:00.000-06:00

Here is Carlos Baez singing a song called La Bikina. I forget what country he was from, or what the song was about, sorry about that, but here is a sample of it below.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: Taiwanese Song and Dance

2011-03-07T00:46:00.000-06:00

Here is the Taiwanese Song and Dance group, who started out in winter jackets, singing a slower song, then the lights went down and they performed in the dark with lights and the jackets off to a more energetic song.

Here is a bit of video edited together to show a bit of the performances. I did have some issues with either the camera or memory card, and it would only let me get short clips.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: Fashion Show

2011-03-06T02:00:00.000-06:00

The first part of the night was the fashion show, here being the Japanese part demonstrated by two Japanese students. They had a nice runway that came out from the stage a good way, but it was also frustrating that the lighting wasn't consistent over the whole stage and runway, it made exposure and white balance a nightmare.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: Announcers

2011-03-05T00:02:00.001-06:00

After the food, people moved to the Falcon's Nest, and here are the two announcers that bantered back and forth between groups. They were pretty funny and played off each other and the audience.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011: Dining Room

2011-03-04T00:04:00.000-06:00

Here is a hint at how many people were at the International Bazaar, and the balloons that seemed to keep getting in my way of shots. Of course i brought the lens that wasn't wide enough to get a good shot of the whole room, but still, a good show of the crowd.

UW-RF International Bazaar 2011

2011-03-03T15:25:00.002-06:00

Last night was the 2011 University of Wisconsin River Falls International Bazaar, which kind of took me by surprise, as last year it was at the beginning of April and closer to the Unity in the Community event, which this year is in the second half of April. You can't tell from this photo of two of the Korean (i think, going by the food they were serving, but i thought it was Japanese dress) students (River Falls actually has quite a few foreign students for it's size, and from what i have heard it's because the TOEFL requirements are not as hard as Madison or similar schools, and there are quite a few foreign students, which makes for nice diversity in such a small town.), but the crowd was quite large, larger than the other times i've gone. The food tickets, which were free but they used them to make sure they had enough food, were "sold out" quite some time before the doors opened and they had people wait to see if some didn't show up. The second part of the event, which took place in the Falcon's Nest, has a good deal more people than seats, i've never seen that before. The seats down below were all filled, the seats in the balcony were full and there were a good deal of people standing and watching. Quite impressive. They also moved the fashion show from the ballroom where the food is, like it was last year, to the Falcon's Nest, probably a good move, with so many people.

Side note here, i find it funny that the one girl is serving with one hand, and checking her cellphone with the other. I have issues with anxiety and phones, so i tend to avoid cell phones unless necessary, and find it interesting how many younger people are seemingly permanently attached to cellphones. Being born in 1970, i remember wandering around town (a small town of 800 or so people, though) without a way to contact people, and talking to a friend who has a pre-teen child he mentioned he has one. At least he isn't one who is running up four or five figure bills texting like i've read about. Technology sure does seem to be changing things quickly lately, or i've just not been paying attention.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Transform Ya Mix

2011-02-24T04:39:00.000-06:00

As the final dance, while they tabulated the votes for who should win, all the girls from the dance team came out to dance to Transform Ya Mix, not sure how to describe that song, but that's what it was called on the program.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Circus

2011-02-23T08:09:00.000-06:00

Here are Danny Johnson and Jontae Koonkaew with Jenna Luebker dancing to Circus, and they did a great job, but it also seems the two guys have done break dance for many, many years, so of course they won. Kind of seemed wrong to have the group who wasn't supposed to be dancers be as good or better than the dance team member, but that could just be me.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Dream On

2011-02-22T04:38:00.000-06:00

Here is Dr. Caskey dancing with Carlee Diggins to Dream On. I didn't seem to get too many of them closer together, for some reason, and you can tell i'm sitting off center here, with the angle of the stage.

It finally stopped snowing, hopefully. Not sure how much came, but it seems a lot. I probably should get a snow and rain gauge, as a lot of hits to the blog are people asking how much snow fell in River Falls (that is probably only going to get more, oops).

More snow

2011-02-21T07:07:00.000-06:00

Slight break from the previous images to show what fell yesterday and last night. Kind of hard to tell, but seems over a foot. I went and filled the bird feeders as they were empty and the birds and squirrels seemed pretty hungry and not able to find the food well, and it was pretty hard to push away from the door and walk in. Still sort of doing "something" out there, either snow or freezing rain, the windows are covered in little icy dots, and felt things hitting me when i was out there. The funny thing is that most of the snow was starting to melt off, with the temps in the 50s the past week or so, and then this hits. Saw on the news that Bloomington got around 18inches, and that was supposed to the most locally, so i'm not sure how much exactly we got.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Zuit Suit Riot

2011-02-20T05:20:00.000-06:00

Here is Brady Hannigan with Sam Wickland dancing to Zuit Suit Riot. I especially liked his expression that he had most of the time, with his tongue sticking out.

Big storm headed this way, up to 20 inches of snow expected with wind guests around 50mph too. Not looking forward to it after the spring like weather we had for a while there.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Sexy Back

2011-02-19T00:02:00.000-06:00

Here is BJ Letourneau with Kayla Bachmann, and they danced to Sexy Back. They did a good job, but the sunglasses threw me for some reason. Only a couple more to go with these, then on to African Night.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: It's Raining Men

2011-02-18T05:11:00.000-06:00

Here is Joe Ganske dancing with Kelsey Jaeb to It's Raining Men, and here she is reeling him in like a fish. He bounced and jumped closer to her about three times. Not the clearest picture, but i found it amusing, and couldn't resist posting it.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Audience participation

2011-02-17T02:56:00.000-06:00

This was the part where they had people from the audience come up and had a dance contest. I forget the prize that was offered, and this wasn't the guy who won, but i liked it the most. There was also an intermission around this part, with snacks and a silent auction outside the room.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Outta Your Mind

2011-02-16T00:03:00.000-06:00

Here is Gotmer (i assume that's a nickname, for what i have no idea though) dancing with Carlee Diggins to Outta Your Mind, and almost dropping her backwards. Thankfully he didn't, and no one got hurt, but it was pretty scary for a bit there.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Whip It

2011-02-15T01:13:00.000-06:00

Here is Dr. Perkins dancing with Sam Wickland to Whip It. Not sure where the cheerleading theme came from for the song, but oh well. They did do an impressive job though, as you can probably tell from the photo, with Dr. Perkins upside down.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Hold My Hand

2011-02-14T00:07:00.000-06:00

Here is E-Man dancing with Sam Russell to Hold My Hand. His full name isn't E-Man, that's just his nickname, but i'm having a devil of a time remembering his full name, i think it was Emmanuel with a last name i'm sure i would get very, very wrong. He's one of the athletes that performed, and actually did a pretty good job.

Another unrelated note, i hope everyone up here enjoyed the almost 50 degree weather, felt like spring. Sadly i am pretty sure it will get cold again soon, but it's nice to have a break from the very cold, very snowy weather.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Ella Tiene Fuego

2011-02-13T01:05:00.000-06:00

Here is Dr. Vonk dancing with Jenna Luebker to Ella Tiene Fuego. This was my favorite couple, sadly they only got third place, but they seemed to have the most fun, with a professor who seemed to have the most amusing moves. Also unrelated, am i the only one that thinks the name "Dr. Vonk" sounds like a comic book villain name?

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: Paquita

2011-02-12T00:44:00.000-06:00

Here is Ben Gesmer dancing with Emily Terwedo dancing to Paquita. His friends persuaded him to remove his shirt before hand, so that's why he is topless. She did a good job, but as you can probably tell, i thought he was a bit stiff and awkward. Good try though.

Side note, earlier this evening (friday night), i found out there was an event called African Night held at the KFA building, an hour before it was to start. Wasn't sure about going as such short notice and still a bit under the weather, but it sounded neat and worth the effort. Long story short, i cleaned up a bit, and went, and it was fun, although i regretted eating all that food an hour earlier as there was lots of African food to try out. I'll write more about it when i get the photos done, but i wanted to mention it.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls: All That Jazz

2011-02-11T00:08:00.001-06:00

Dr. Schultz dancing with Kayla Bachmann to All That Jazz. Something i didn't get good pictures of is that on the screen behind them, before each group, they had some pre-made videos of them practicing and talking about working together.

"Dancing with the Stars" UW-River Falls

2011-02-10T02:07:00.000-06:00

The UWRF Dance Team held an event called "Dancing with the Stars" wednesday night, where there were contests that had faculty and sports team members dancing with members of the dance team. I'll probably post more pictures of it as the week goes on, but feeling very run down now, not sure if it's the flu/cold that is going around, or the very strong perfume that someone was wearing that had my nose itching and me sneezing most of the time.

Here are members of dance team performing for the first dance, where they all came out, before the team ups happened. Still working on how to do better low light stuff, worry about it being too noisy with high ISO, but with no flash, i'm limited to slower shutter speed. Could be the lighting isn't the best either, okay to watch, but not photograph it seems.

Want to say i'm kind of sad that this was the first time they did this thing, and it got around three times the people (and this had a charge too) that the Culture Fest did. Not sure exactly why, but i'm guessing since there seemed to be a lot of the football team there and performing, that probably had something to do with it.

IR cold day in the snow

2011-01-12T13:25:00.000-06:00

Here is a shot i took just a little while ago, using an IR filter on my digital camera, looking down Cascade Street towards the university campus. It sees things differently than regular with the IR filter on, leaves tend to turn white, and other things, since it's usually a several second exposure. It's cold, but not as cold as it has been, and the blue sky even came out a little, not that you an really tell, but the white in the sky are the clouds, and the rest was blue. School hasn't started yet, but there were a good deal of cars, maybe people moving in to dorms or what not, but i was surprised at the amount of cars once i got closer to campus and tried to find a place to park there. (I didn't, for the record.)

Reindeer tracks?

2010-12-28T15:55:00.000-06:00

On my way out yesterday i noticed these tracks on the now on the roof, but it was pretty dark and overcast, so i got a picture of them today. Are they reindeer tracks? I'm guessing no, as i've seen squirrels up there, but it made me have a bit of a smile. It's also nice that it's clear out, after being so grey and cold, it's actually pretty warm too, over 30F (-1C or so) and the snow is kind of melting. You can kind of tell there was a lot of snow up there, from getting close to two feet in the area, and i'm enjoying watching seeing New York get a lot too. Not in a mean way, but to know it's not just us and to see how other cities deal with it. The Twin Cities are still having snow emergencies, even though the snow hasn't come for a little while, but with freezing drizzle predicted for thursday through saturday, i'm thinking snow would be better.

Christmas 2010, with a bunny

2010-12-25T18:55:00.000-06:00

It's Christmas today here, and right after i got done talking to my parents on the phone, i saw this wild rabbit eating bird seed that had fallen and gotten covered in snow. I was pretty surprised as it was broad daylight and he was surrounded by squirrels and birds. Pretty brave, but then he did dart off when he saw me with the camera. I'm sure food is a bit hard to find for the wild animals around here lately, as the snow is pretty deep. Anyway, after a pretty depressing stretch, it was nice to have this little surprise of cuteness on Christmas.

Hawk vs Crows

2010-12-17T11:03:00.000-06:00

The other day i was sitting in my kitchen, and i saw this hawk on my deck, i'm guessing looking for the squirrels that frequent the feeders. That's when things got surprising. I saw the two crows that also hang out in my yard go after the hawk. The hawk was bigger than the crows, and it was just two crows, but the crows were so aggressive and focused that the hawk ended up hiding in this tree until they moved away and then it fled pretty quickly. I didn't see the hawk get any hits on the crows, they kept it off balance and went from all sides. I'm constantly impressed with how smart crows are, but i am also now more impressed with how brave they are, if you've ever seen the beak and claws on hawks close up, you know what i'm talking about. Sadly i couldn't get any good shots of the chase, they were just all too fast and kept going in directions i couldn't get through the windows.

Peace in the East

2010-12-14T09:16:00.000-06:00

Taking a break from the cold (-20 without windchills this morning) to show the Peace in the East event that happened a little while ago at the university. The Islamic and Jewish student groups put on several displays and fashion shows, and here the belly dancer that is in the other local events was teaching people to do it. There weren't many people sadly, but like the other events, i only found out about it randomly. Some of the students were walking around the student center before telling people to come and have fun, but turn out was still pretty light. I'm still impressed that such a small university town (12,000 people or so) has events like this and Unity in the Community, where a city i lived in that was larger previously didn't. Still, i wish there was a better way to get the word out about these things.

Plowed out

2010-12-13T05:22:00.000-06:00

Here is a shot out of my front door of the snow after being plowed out yesterday. You can see the pile of snow by the car that was put there after the city plowed the street the first time, that's just my short cul de sac too. You can also kind of tell how deep it was by the snow near the bottom, it was almost knee deep there (not counting where the piles added to it), but also less in some spots. The photo is a little blurry as it was taken out the storm door, it was very cold, and it was starting to fog up quickly. Sadly we are expected to get another two to four inches in a day or two.

Big Blizzard

2010-12-12T05:05:00.000-06:00

Yesterday started with a winter storm warning, but looked very light, that it may pass and be fine. That was wrong. Areas around here got over 20 inches of snow in basically half a day or so. It just came down so hard and fast, i could almost watch it pile up on the deck. I could also barely see the apartment buildings and grocery store that are about a block away. While the storm came down, i saw this squirrel and several birds trying to get at the food that was buried with the broken feeder. Most of the time he wouldn't pop his head up, so it was probably nicer under the snow, the wind was blowing pretty hard.

Snow and sick

2010-12-06T06:36:00.000-06:00

We had a decent sized snow saturday morning or late friday night, not as bad as they were expecting, but several inches. Some areas around the twin cities got eight inches. No snow emergency was declared though, so it wasn't so bad.

One of the reasons i haven't posted the past few days is i got that not so fun stomach bug that is going around up here. Nothing makes me want to do nothing like vomiting a lot, hopefully that wasn't too much information. So this picture of the snow is out my front door, as the sun was coming up

9th Annual Culture Fest - Dance Group

2010-12-02T06:29:00.000-06:00

This was a very fun dance group that i forget the name of, but there were more than these two.

Sorry if these aren't the most interesting, or described that well, i really need to get better at that.

9th Annual Culture Fest - Love Song

2010-12-01T02:19:00.000-06:00

Here is the romantic song being sung, and one of the singers being handed a flower, but not accepting it right away. I'm thinking it was part of the performance, even though i have no idea what the words were.

9th Annual Culture Fest - Lion Dance

2010-11-30T01:31:00.000-06:00

Before this was a short intermission with snacks and food from a restaurant i forgot the name of. Very good though.

Here is the lion (with two people in it) from the Ha Family Lion Dance Troupe. There were musicians to the left, and both were very entertaining. There was candy and lettuce that lion ate, and then shared with the audience out his mouth, not vomiting, it should be noted. They told the story behind it all, and it was not something i was aware of, even though i love these along with the dragons.

9th Annual Culture Fest - Boxing

2010-11-29T01:22:00.001-06:00

Here are the two kick boxers who did a great show. At first the guy whithout the shirt came out and told some jokes, showed off his new "tattoo" (not sure if it was painted on, think so) of the school logo and mascot, and then showed off some kick boxing. It was pretty amusing as at one point they played the theme from the Mortal Kombat movie, and fought in slow motion. Very impressive, funny, and made me feel very, very out of shape.

9th Annual Culture Fest - Twin Cities Group

2010-11-26T01:09:00.000-06:00

This is just part of a very large group at the Culture Fest from the Twin Cities, i think University of Minnesota. Very good song, many different people singing different parts.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T00:50:00.000-06:00

Since Thursday is Thanksgiving, i thought i'd take a break and post one of the things i'm most thankful for, my bunny named Kitty. One of the four (the others are named Amanda, Emily and Jerry), and one of the most headstrong. She's got a skin condition at the moment that the vet can't figure out, but it doesn't seem to be serious. I'm thankful for them because no matter how low i get, how bad things seem, i just have to think about how they need me and care for me, and i can breathe again.

Now if i could just get them to help me clean, that would be perfect. ;)

9th Annual Culture Fest - Ukelele

2010-11-24T02:23:00.000-06:00

Here is another of singers who also played a ukelele and guitar, and when he played the guitar he sung a very funny mix of modern songs that normally aren't sung with an acoustic guitar. Don't ask me to remember or know those songs by name though, not really my type of music, the originals i mean. He got a great reaction to his performance too.

9th Annual Culture Fest - Swing Dance

2010-11-23T00:11:00.000-06:00

Here are two of the many swing dancers that performed at the Culture Fest. They were very acrobatic and energetic and impressive. Not sure what swing dance has to do with culture, but it was enjoyable.

Side note, looking around i saw that there was another event at the university monday night, Peace in the East, where the Jewish and Arab student groups got together and did things. It was smaller than this, but i got pictures of that and will most likely post those after these.

9th Annual Culture Fest - Three Singers

2010-11-22T02:33:00.000-06:00

Another Culture Fest shot, this time three singers and a musician. I'm getting spacey on where they were from, what song was played, and all that other information. Not exactly sure why, but it's showing me i need to get better at making notes for these things. They were very good, like everyone there though, so you'd think i'd be better at remembering the names.

9th Annual Culture Fest - Dance

2010-11-21T16:37:00.000-06:00

Here are three more dancers from Culture Fest, there were more in this part of it, but would move around a lot more. I'm kind of blanking on where they were from or names, another reason i wish there was a program or something, even if just online.

Unrelated note, very icy last night. My car was coated with ice, and the roads in the twin cities were very bad with lots of accidents. There is an article on the Star Tribune site about how many accidents on the road and even by people walking there were. Stay safe out there people, winter is here, although not everywhere.

9th Annual Culture Fest - Belly Dance

2010-11-20T00:06:00.000-06:00

Here is the belly dancer that was the first "performer", after the fashion show. She is the same bely dancer that was at the Unity in the Community events the last few times i went. She's very good, but it was funny at the start of her dance that they had troubles with the music and she stood there for a while, waiting.

9th Annual Culture Fest - Fashion Show

2010-11-19T00:15:00.000-06:00

This was the first part of the Culture Fest, but not the first country to show fashions. Here are two of the Japanese outfits. There were more, i believe five people total for there. Basically several countries came out showing traditional dress, do a little gesture type thing.

9th Annual Culture Fest

2010-11-18T00:12:00.000-06:00

While checking out the website of the local university, i noticed an event posting about the 9th Annual Culture fest. This surprised me for a couple reasons, that i've lived here since 2002, and never heard about 1 through 8, and i only found out about this one a day or two before it happening. I'm not sure how these are advertised to the student body, but to the non-university people, it wasn't advertised at all. Not even on the local paper website, although i'm not sure if it was in the print edition, which is only out once a week. I debated going, as i wasn't familiar with the North Hall Auditorium, and if it would be good for taking pictures without bothering people too much, luckily it had a balcony that not many people used, and then after intermission, no one other than me. Hopefully the sound of the camera didn't disturb them.

I'll be posting pictures of the event for a while, even though i have a rather large amount of them in a flickr set here. Several of the performers were similar to the unity in the community events previously, but with some variations, hopefully enough to be interesting to those here.

Snow rabbit

2010-11-17T11:00:00.000-06:00

Here is a snow rabbit-man. I guess i should just call it a snow rabbit. Whatever i should call it, it's cute, and quite big too, close to five feet tall or over. I saw it on the grounds of the apartment building i live by and go past on the way to the closest grocery store. I mostly find this funny as it's pretty well done, close by me (who loves rabbits) and not something i see everyday.

Injured squirrel

2010-11-16T13:20:00.000-06:00

I saw this poor squirrel today, and tried to catch it to take to the vet, but even though he had a bad foot, he easily out ran me. Not sure how his foot got injured, but it looked like it was gone or close to at least. Hopefully it wasn't a person who did it, while i'm sad it was hurt, if it was other wildlife, it's more understandable. He would eat, and when he put is back right foot down, he could feel it hurting, and would shake it out back and up a lot.

Once when i saw a rabbit with a bad leg, i asked the vet what i should do. She told me that if it the wild animal can get away from me, it should be able to get away from predators and not to worry about it so much. Also that if it's eating, it's not fatally injured or sick. I feel less bad about wildlife doing what they need to survive, but when it comes to people, they can be cruel for no good reason. So hopefully it was an accident or such that caused this.

First snow of the season

2010-11-13T13:46:00.000-06:00

We had, and are having our first snow of the season, and it's a doozy. Winter storm warnings all over the area, currently snowing, but was sleeting and slush over night and into part of today. River Falls seems to have missed the brunt of it though, as parts of the twin cities is expected to get up to ten inches during it. I wouldn't doubt it, as it's one of those spiraling storms that seems to just linger, and the snow is coming down harder now here.

The picture is something i always dread happening to me in a storm like this. One of my neighbors got a flat and they were changing it in the wet snow. Not pleasant. Hopefully this storm will pass and we'll be back to the 70s, but i really doubt it, and should get used to the snow again. That's part of living in northern Wisconsin.

New Kwik Trip

2010-11-08T20:35:00.000-06:00

There is a new Kwik Trip on the north end of town, and it has this "thing" blowing around by a fan at it's base. I'm not sure why, but it kind of freaks me out. Maybe it's the expression, or how it moves, but it does. Not sure how long they plan to keep it there. It's odd, i saw a ton of cars with people just hanging out on the backs of them, like Kwik Trip is the new place to 'hang out'. It is a pretty small town, but there has to be something more exciting to do in town, right?

A Crow on Halloween

2010-11-01T00:53:00.001-05:00

Saw this crow on halloween in one of my trees while waiting for trick or treaters to show up. It was huge, which doesn't quite show how big here. It was a pretty impressive bird, and i've been noticing a lot more crows in the yard than normal for some reason. I do find them to be very interesting birds, especially after seeing the episode of Nature on PBS called "A Murder of Crows".

Speaking of trick or treaters, this year was an unusual i think, a lot, and i do mean a lot, of very young children, and not one high school kid. Lots of the young kids were in big groups of about four families, some single families, but pretty steady for a couple of hours. All had pretty cute costumes, not one an NFL team jersey which seemed rare from previous years. All and all, a good turn out, but then the weather was good, even if it got colder as the night went on.

I've been bad at posting for a variety of reasons, probably best to not go into them here, as i'm sure no one is really interested. Hopefully i can find the motivation to get back to posting regularly, although it's getting into that part of the year where things look and feel drab as leaves have gone, and everything is turning brown or grey.

Running of the Llamas

2010-09-13T20:38:00.000-05:00

Saturday was also the Running of the Llamas event in Hammond, WI, and while not quite in town, it was only a handful of miles away. I have a ton more pictures of it on my Flickr, as it was a great time and lots of interesting things happening. Sadly i was starting to feel not so hot and had moved out of a good spot after the second heat of them running, and with so many people it was hard to get shots over their heads. So i headed home before the end. The llamas and alpacas were adorable, they reminded me of larger, strange versions of my pet rabbits. They even made similar sounds, a low humming type thing, or a sigh, hard to explain. I have a short video up on my flickr though, and if you listen you can hear a couple of them making it over the sounds of people talking.