Today at lunch I read this story in the Globe about a new round of litigation that the Ruby Jack Trail is up against. Stuff like this frustrates me to no end.

Basically the story is that the Joplin Trails Coalition is developing a 16 mile rails to trails project from Carthage to the KS state line and pretty much everyone along the way is trying to keep it from happening. Initially the plan was to extend all the way to somewhere in KS, but Cherokee County was so opposed to the forward thinking idea of fitness and recreation they passed a law that made it cost prohibitive and eventually the coalition gave up on the idea of having a trail in KS.

I was told by a member of the coalition that farmers will routinely dump old machinery or bales of hay to obstruct the trail, and surprisingly, one of the biggest opponents of the project was the Carl Junction school system. The trail is supposed to pass near the high school and they are paranoid about the “transients” that might hang out on the trail. I have biked and hiked on lots of trials and don’t recall ever being mugged or offered drugs. And heaven forbid the school system actually encourage students to get out and USE THE TRAIL.

The main argument for this most recent lawsuit is that the trail will degrade neighboring property values. I seen many small towns enhanced by these types of trails, but I don’t recall seeing any that were turned ghetto because of one. I just do not understand why someone feels that having a bike trail across the street degrades their property, but a half-rusted storage facility or a bank operating out of a trailer-house does not. To me this thought process defies all logic….but what do I know.

When I think of all the completely wrong things that happen today simply because people don’t care, it makes me loose all hope that the one thing around here capable of angering people enough to organize a class action lawsuit is a RECREATION TRAIL.

Some photographers knock the idea of putting a $5 piece of glass (UV filter) in front of your $500+ piece of glass (lens). Because I can be a bit clumsy at times I have always subscribed to the concept that a uv filter is the first thing you buy when you get a new camera or lens. Plus, I have done some testing and I have found no evidence that a UV filter softens focus or degrades image quality in any regard.

The other day I had a camera mis-hap and here is what happened. At first it looks really tragic, but it’s not. The lens was fine, literally without a scratch. Since the only thing I have to replace is a $5 67mm uv filter, this confirms to me that uv filters are a good idea.

One time I was eating dinner at someone’s house way up in Kingston, Ontario when a photo on the wall caught my attention. Something about it looked vaguely familiar. It wasn’t a famous natural feature like Yosemite Valley or the Grant Canyon… but as I set there eating I couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity. I asked the hosts about the photo and their son had taken it about 20 years ago, but they had no idea where.

About the time dessert was served it finally hit me… maybe this was the view that I randomly stopped and photographed along the highway when I was moving to California. Just the thought that it was the same spot was almost unfathomable because it was just a random mountain along the highway. I took a photo of the photo on the wall and when I returned home I dug out the photo in question to compared them.

Sure enough, it was the exact same spot. I framed the mountains slightly different and of course I was using black and white film, but it is definitely the same spot along I-70. Although to this day I have no idea where it was exactly.

I know everyone has been anxiously awaiting to see who the champion of the annual air hockey tournament was. Just like last year, the chamption was a tournament rookie… in this case it was 92.5’s “Kraus in the House” or as we called him…”Steve”.

Thanks to everyone who came out and participated this year – it was a lot of fun! And special thanks to my homie Ian for helping me keep things under control when we were running two games simultaneously. Turned out to be more work than I realized!

Here are some noteworthy events from this year:

• For the 4th year in a row, Kurtis played in the championship game.
• Dave, who was last year’s champion was the first person eliminated this year.
• Through a combination of well earned victories and being the lucky recipient of one of the many forfeits of the night…Fatt Matt made it all the way to the quarterfinals. What the ???
• The Freddy’s Frozen Custard Cake that Adrienne brought!

If you want to see more pics and highlights…click here!

This weekend Hannah and Matt and I went to LA to hang out. Although we really didn’t spend much time at the beach, we did see a nice sunset which you can see to the right.

Friday was mainly spent flying, beaching, and sitting in traffic. Then in the evening we met up with a few of my old friends from film school who are still out there working their way into the ‘business’. Saturday was spent hiking in the mountains at a place called Devils Punchbowl near the town of Pearblossom, CA. We finished off the trip with a nice evening outing to the California Pizza Kitchen.

Strangely enough, other than the afternoon we arrived, it really wasn’t very sunny most of the time we were there. If you want to see the photos from the trip… click here!

I am a huge fan of the night sky. I absolutely love it. So light pollution is something that has bugged me for a long time, even though a lot of people don’t even know exactly what it is or care. According to the international dark-sky association, light pollution is “Any adverse effect of artificial light including sky glow, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased visibility at night, and energy waste.”

Where I live, if I look straight up or to the north, I have an incredible view of the night sky. It is gorgeous. If I look to the east, west, or south it’s a different story. The sky glows and the ground is filled with light. My neighbors seem to love those high wattage ’security lights’ that cast light for a half-mile in every direction including sideways and up. Many of them have 2 or 3 in their yard as if they are afraid for even one square inch of their property to ever be in darkness. My personal opinion is that in most cases these fixtures are totally unnecessary, or at best, excessive, given the application. Ironically, the junkier the property, the more security lights they usually have.

It is staggering to think about how much energy could be saved if we weren’t so afraid of the dark. When I bought my house there was one of those hideous security lights in the back yard, which I immediately had disconnected. Partly because it was excessively bright and partly because I didn’t want to pay the $12 surcharge on my electric bill every month. I have been enjoying the stars ever since and loving it…