Hot air balloon.

On the way back into town, i saw this hot air balloon hovering pretty low, so i got some shots of it. Not sure what is going on, why it was so low, a private thing, or what, but it was close to a perfect day weather wise.

My heart has joined the thousand, for my friend stopped running today.

About an hour and a half ago, my eight year old rabbit Emily passed away. I have no idea what happened, she just started screaming and convulsing, then passed. It may be over 90F outside, but air conditioned inside, so that wasn't it. Whatever the cause, i'm heart broken right now, and will miss her terribly.

My heart has joined the thousand, for my friend stopped running today.

Storms on the horizon

Today we've had a good deal of storms move through, but mostly to the south and north of us, none seemed to actually hit us, but we did get a decent amount of rain which we seemed to need. I took this as the sun was setting, and while it didn't get the creepy color of orange that covered the sky, you can see the dark area by Dick's. That was constantly flashing with lightning. Looking at the radar it looked only a few miles south, right over Red Wing, Minnesota.

Summer Concert Series 'Charlie Parr'

Here is Charlie Parr performing at the Summer Concert series tuesday evening. He performed solo with two instruments, and about five songs or so.

Chill on the Hill Summer Concert Series 2012

Tonight was the first of the Chill on the Hill Summer Concert Series with Two bands, 'Charlie Parr' and 'Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapels'. Every tuesday until the last one on August 7th has a band or two in the Melvin Wall Amphitheater near the university campus. It was a gorgeous night, at least before i left, cool, not hot, and a nice breeze, could have gotten colder once the sun went down, but was lovely until then. There were a LOT of small bugs buzzing around, not many annoying ones like mosquitos though, did get bit once, but most were gnats and such. They really will show up in photos that have them back lit. This is pretty much a teaser until i can go through the photos.

Unity In the Community - Dance theater

Here are some of the dancers from the dance theater program doing a Cuban dance at the university portion of Unity in the Community last week. On a related note, i read opinions in the paper and other places (i'm not going to link to them to even give them that satisfaction) that show why we need these events, frankly disgusting, racist, bigoted, and ignorant comments that make me ashamed to live in the same country as those who feel that way. I would like to say it surprises me, but i know from first hand experience that it exists, i just wish we were better than that.

Still working on the photos, i was out of town recently and didn't have much time to go though them, but will be soon i hope. As i get them done they will be going up in a set on my flickr here.

Unity in the Community 2012

Here is Locos Por Juana from Florida performing at the University part of Unity in the Community at UW-River Falls yesterday. It was originally planned to be outdoors, but due to rain earlier in the day it was moved to the Falcon's Nest in the University Center. The part of the event at the university was a mix of Locos Por Juana and various student dances on a side stage. There was also an event later in the day at Veteran's Park downtown, outdoors since the weather got quite nice by then. As usual it will take me a while to get all the photos up.  

More of the Drag show

Here is another shot of the Drag Show at University of Wisconsin River Falls, this one of a drag king, which a woman dressed up as a man, as opposed to a drag queen, which is a male dressed up as a woman. The show was a mix of both, with most of the drag queens from the Twin Cities, although a couple students also were, but if i'm not mistaken all the drag kings were students.

I'm slowly getting the photos of the event up on a set on my flickr here, but i'm a bit distracted as one of my oldest pet rabbits is quite sick and not really getting any better. She had a serious infection that showed up on a blood test, and after a stay overnight at the vet, has been getting a lot of medications daily. She seemed to be doing slightly better, but the last couple of days has only hid and nibbled on food. Thats a bad sign, and she's acting a lot like Zack did before he passed. I know i have to brace myself, but they all mean the world to me, so it's hitting hard.

UW-River Falls Drag Show 2012

Tonight (wednesday) was the drag show at the University of Wisconsin River Falls, and here is one of the performers dressed as a Borg from Star Trek. It was the day after my birthday, so while not on it, it was nice to get out and have fun. The Falcon's Nest where the event was held was packed more than i've ever seen it, even though it seems to have not been advertised that well, a good time was had by all it seemed, even though it showed how out of shape i am with walking around getting photos for several hours. Might take a while for me to go through all the photos and get them up, i took many, many ones as i was trying something new (fixed lens with a wide aperture for the low light). It means i couldn't sit in one spot like i've done previously and zoom in, so my feet are killing me.

Work on Cascade

Cascade Avenue is closed now, not sure for how long, but i took this the same day as the International Bazaar. Cascade is one of the main roads through town, so i'm sure this causing a lot of troubles. River Falls is set up oddly, with several streams and rivers keeping most roads from going all the way through, even though it's quite small, so most people tend to use certain ones most of the time. One personal gripe i have about Cascade is that it's 35mph for a good part of it, and people tend to never go slower than five miles per hour over the speed limit. This is through residential areas, which also includes the university, and people cross the road a lot. I'm surprised there haven't been more accidents on it, but people seem to always be in a hurry lately without thinking.

UW-River Falls International Bazaar 2012

Last night was the annual International Bazaar at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. I almost missed it this year as i hadn't seen information before yesterday, and only knew about it as i am subscribed to the Falcon Daily email newsletter. It also didn't help that i had gone to the dentist earlier in the day, and then had a panicked trip to the vet with my pet rabbit Kitty, who as it turns out is quite sick. I'm still waiting to hear from the vet as to how she is doing, she was so bad she had to stay overnight. Hopefully no news is good news. Anyway, i'll be getting to the photos of the event later, not sure how quickly though with al that is going on.

Roots and Bluegrass Festival

This weekend was the second annual Roots and Bluegrass Festival, and while i do believe i missed quite a few of the bands due to not feeling the hottest and it being so hot out, i did get to several. It was interesting to see so many bands like this just playing in the street. Many bands were in the various taverns, restaurants and coffee shops,  but several would venture out and play on the sidewalk. It was surprising that while walking around outside you wouldn't see many people, but then each venue was packed to the brim with people. No surprise that this time i also took my infrared camera out, with the ir flash, which really did help inside places, and the flash wasn't a distraction. I'm still working on photos, so they might take a while to all get up, but as usual they will be on my flickr in a while.

(unrelated side note, something seems to be up with the city daily photo gadget on the side there, not sure if it's permanent or what though. Sorry)

St. Patrick's Day 2012

Yesterday was St. Patrick's day, and there were bed races and other events downtown, where for a part of the evening they closed off the downtown part of main street and allowed people to drink beer out of special event cups. I decided to go with my infrared camera again, so while the image is black and white, just pretend everyone is wearing some sort of green, because most were. I am not sure what bed races had to do with the holiday, but it seems to be a popular event to hold. Some of the beds didn't quite seem like beds, but a lot of them seemed to enjoy the races and there was a pretty large crowd. It was also very, very warm, getting up to if not over 80F, and even overnight it didn't cool down much. Today was also close to the 80s.

There are many more images of the events over on my flickr in a set, some converted to black and white, others how they look right out of the camera with little (slight things) corrections.

Dreary Day

Yesterday it was over 50F, today it's 36F and raining, with sleet predicted for later. This winter has been one of the most confusing for weather i've seen a long time. You may also note the lack of snow in this panoramic photo looking out over my front yard. Still, better weather than when my car broke down on saturday twenty miles from home, in the middle of nowhere. I'm beginning to see why several people i know moved south or spend winters down where it's warmer.