Category: Art

Friday Morning Moon

The moon appears bigger when it is low on the horizon, but the detail that reaches the photo sensor is not as sharp. The light has to travel through a much longer column of air to reach the camera lens so there’s much more opportunity for distortion and diffraction to effect the final photo. The clearest moon shots are when it’s directly overhead.

Friday am moon

Flat Rock Creek Pool

I snapped a few pictures of the rebuilt facilities at Flat Rock Creek pool in Lenexa this morning as Kasey & I were walking. The facilities look great, I’m hoping it opens on May 26th like the others. The thumbnails below are cropped, so click on each to see the full photo.


Updated: I’m going to update this to be a bit more helpful since people keep landing here when searching for the pool. The pool has been closed since 8/5 & will reopen in May 2013. Here’s a overhead view of the pool’s location:

The pool is located between i-35 and Quivera Dr. on 103rd st.

Here’s the complete schedule and hours for all City of Lenexa Pools, from their website:

Pool Facilities and Hours
Lenexa’s public pools open for the season on May 26, 2012. The city provides three pools for the community’s enjoyment:
Ad Astra Pool
83rd & Maurer
913.492.7946
Closes for the 2012 season Aug. 5
Flat Rock Creek Pool – New facility opens this season!
103rd & Hauser
913.888.3202
Closes for the 2012 season Aug. 5
Indian Trails Aquatic Center
87th & Greenway
913.888.4659
Closes for season Sept. 3
See below for detailed information about hours, amenities and facilities.
Pool concession stands
Each pool is equipped with concession stands for cash-only purchases. All food and drink must be consumed in the concession area (water in a plastic bottle may be taken on deck.) See sample concessions menu.
Ad Astra Pool hours
Open Swim
Monday-Saturday – noon to 8 p.m.
Sunday – noon to 6 p.m.
Lap Swimming/Water Walking (Users must have progression in the water, either swimming or walking):
Daily – noon to 12:30 p.m.
Monday/Wednesday – 4 to 5 p.m., 6:15 to 8 p.m.
Tuesday/Friday – 4 to 8 p.m.
Thursday – 3:30 to 6:15 p.m., 7:30 to 8 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday – All day
Pool Rentals
Sunday: 6:15 to 8:15 p.m.
Schedule Modifications
June 12 – Diving well closes at 4:30 p.m. for Lazers dive meet
June 14 – Pool closes at 4 p.m. for Lazers swim meet
June 19 – Diving well closes at 4:30 p.m. for Lazers dive meet
June 26 – Diving well closes at 4:30 p.m. for Lazers dive meet
June 28 – Pool closes at 4 p.m. for Lazers swim meet
July 4 – Pool closes at 6 p.m.
July 5 – Pool closes at 4 p.m. for Lazers swim meet
July 10 – Diving well closes at 4:30 p.m. for Lazers dive meet
Pool amenities
610,000 gallons
On-deck shade structures
Zero-depth entry
8-50 meter lanes
1-meter & 3-meter diving board
Baby pool
In-deck spray feature
Concessions
Near Ad Astra Park

Flat Rock Creek Pool hours
Open Swim
Daily – noon to 8 p.m.
Splash with Me (For youth ages 5 years and younger. Adult supervision is required. Members only. Swim diapers and swimsuits are required to be worn by children not bathroom trained).
Monday-Friday – 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Lap Swimming (Users must have progression in the water, either swimming or walking. Available to members only.) Monday-Friday – 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Pool Rentals
Daily – 8:15 to 10:15 p.m.
Schedule Modifications
July 4 – Pool closes at 6 p.m.
Pool amenities
247,000 gallons
On-deck and in-water shade structures
In-water benches
Zero-depth entry
Interactive water feature (mushroom)
3-25 yard lanes
1-meter diving board
In-deck spray feature
Basketball goal
Climbing rock wall
Concessions
Near Flat Rock Creek Park
Indian Trails Aquatic Center hours
Open Swim
Daily – noon to 8 p.m.
Schedule Modifications
June 22 – Pool closes at 4 p.m. for the Great Lenexa BBQ Battle
July 4 – Pool closes at 6 p.m.
September 3 – Pool closes at 6 p.m. for the season
Adapted Season Hours (August 13-September 3)
Monday-Friday – 4 to 7 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday – noon to 7 p.m.
Pool amenities
Zero-depth entry
8-25 meter lanes
3/4 -meter diving board
In-deck spray feature
Climbing rock wall
2 large water slides
Sand-pit
Concessions
Within Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park and Roses Pond
Questions may be directed to the Community Center at 913.477.7100.

Kristin Thomson and Erin McKeown on Making it as a Musician in an Increasingly Networked World

Many of my friends are in the arts & music, and almost without fail they are compensated less than they deserve for the value they add to our lives. Here’s the Berkman Center on the modern music scene, the devilish deals, and revenue streams.

Newly empowered musicians now find themselves juggling dozens of career-related responsibilities, from booking their own shows to composing witty tweets. How are today’s musicians balancing it all and, even more critical, how have these changes impacted their earning capacity?

Kristin Thomson — independent record label owner and Consultant for the Future of Music Coalition — and Erin McKeown — internationally known musician and Berkman Fellow — discuss the changing landscape for musicians and music fans, focussing on how musicians are managing their assets, building teams and allocating their time in an increasingly networked world, and drawing on data collected through FMC’s groundbreaking Artist Revenue Streams project, a multi-method, cross-genre examination of musicians’ and composers’ revenue streams in the US.

More here

via Kristin Thomson and Erin McKeown on Making it as a Musician in an Increasingly Networked World – YouTube.

2012 Redbud Riot

It’s time for the annual redbud blooming photo – so here it is:

Redbud riot
Redbud riot

I’m also challenging myself to learn aperture, lighting, and exposure settings better even though my camera does it automatically. I’ve set to Av mode on the Canon for the rest of the month, which means manual aperture adjustments. Right now I’m going for depth of field, so I’m at f 22 with the lens set at 24 mm for this photo.

Big things have Small Beginnings: Prometheus – Official Full HD Trailer – Ridley Scott

In the distant future, two superpowers control Earth and fight each other for all the solar system’s natural resources. When one side dispatches a team to a distant planet to terraform it for human colonization, the team discovers an indigenous race of bio-mechanoid killers.

Ridley Scott, director of ‘Alien’ and ‘Blade Runner,’ returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Genre: Science Fiction
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace
Release Date: June 8, 2012

… and I for one welcome our new nanalienbot overlords.

Under grey leaden skies

The rift between two Spring storms allowed me to get a quick walk in today, and I got a good shot of a neighbor’s tree where flowers bloom in seeming spite of the cold grey rain. I’ve also developed a new respect for cinematographers — trying to shoot a stream and pan its length is terribly hard to do — I had to trash every one of my five attempts today from aggregated shake, blur, and bad focus effects in each.