Thursday, May 31, 2012

Moon Over Elementary School Band Concert

Sports

The Red Sox are two games over .500!  26 wins and 24 losses!  Break out the duck boats, it's parade time!  They officially have the highest winning percentage of any last place team in the majors!  In all seriousness, Baltimore has lost five in a row and we've closed the gap in the AL East to 2.5 games.  That's right, only 2.5 games in the standings separate first place from last place.  Yes, Virginia, this is a super tough division.

The Los Angeles Kings took game one of the Stanley Cup finals in overtime last night.  I tried watching the game, I really did.  I just had 10000000000000000 other things going on and was not able to pay attention for more than a minute or two at a time.  Eventually I gave up on the television and switched to radio.  The NHL iOS app lost it's audio stream to the Kings radio broadcast as the third intermission was starting.  I decided to put on some music rather than listen to the inane analysis and L.A. commercials.  When I switched back to the game it was over.  Urgh.

Go Kings!
Go Red Sox!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

East vs West

East Coast:
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West Coast:
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East Coast:
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West Coast:
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East Coast:
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West Coast:
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East Coast:
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West Coast:
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East Coast:
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 West Coast:
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East Coast:
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West Coast:
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East Coast:
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West Coast:
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Three Years Ago Today

Today is Jen and my third wedding anniversary.  Three years ago today was the best day ever.  Really.  It was the best day ever.  Each day since has been great too, and in many ways each day has been better than the one before, but three years ago today was just an incredible day.

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5-30-09 to 5-30-12

Happy third anniversary to the love of my life, my wife Jen.

I love you sweetie and I would do it all again, and again, and again.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Hipstamatic Guide

I haven't watched this.  I'm just saving it for later.

NHL Stanley Cup Finals Predictions

You know... these posts are much more fun when the Bruins are still playing.

I picked eight out of 12 series in the first two rounds combined.  There were two series in the Conference Finals round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and wouldn't you know it I picked them both correctly.

I picked the former parent club of the former Lowell Devils, better known as the New Jersey Devils over the New York Rangers and I was right.  Want to know something?  It feels good to bet against New York and win.  It feels good in a special way that only a Boston fan can understand.  Granted the Devils are practically a New York team, but what are you going to do?  9/13

I picked the former parent club of the former Lowell Lock Monsters, better known as the Los Angeles Kings over the Phoenix Coyotes.  Phoenix, where ice is more myth than fact.  Yeah, I know that Southern California is a desert too, but let's be real... Hockey in Phoenix is wrong.  I know there are three or four actual Coyotes fans living in Arizona, but having an NHL team in Phoenix is just a little offensive.  Florida, Tennessee, and Southern California are all offensive too, but somehow they aren't nearly as insulting as Phoenix.  But I digress...  The Kings have now beaten the #1 seed in the West in five games, the #2 team in four games, and the #3 team in five games.  I'm not the least bit surprised.  I never doubted this one for even a fraction of a second.  10/14.

And now for my prediction for the Stanley Cup Finals.  Given the previous paragraph (and the last two predictions posts) I think you can guess where this one is going.

New Jersey Devils vs Los Angeles Kings: Quick against Brodeur.  It sounds like deja vu from the last round, with the young gun goalie matched up against the aging giant.  Damn I love a good cliche!  The Devils have been awesome in this post season.  Really top notch.  The Kings have been better.  I don't see the Kings taking their fourth 3-0 series lead here.  I think this is going to be a much tougher series than they've become accustomed to.  Still, they are rolling like no team I've ever seen.  The Devils will lose in six or seven and the Kings will hoist the Stanley Cup.

There you have it.

Go Kings!

Bar Harbor Weekend Pics Part 3 - Thunder Hole and Nubble Light

Here is the third and (probably) final picture bomb from the Bar Harbor weekend get away.  We are still in Acadia National Park, but now we are working our way along the coast to Thunder Hole.

This is about a half a mile down the road from Thunder Hole.  We stopped here, wondering where in the holy hell was Thunder Hole.
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Crashing waves?  In the Atlantic?  No way!
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The obligatory bird-flying-over-the-ocean pic.
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At last we come to Thunder Hole!  Unfortunately, Thunder Hole only sounds like thunder when the tide is in.  We were about four hours early for that.  It's still a cool little sight though.
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When the tide is in, the water goes crashing into this little gap in the rocks and it is supposed to produce some serious noise.  We were lucky to hear one hearty crash, and I think I have that on video, but mostly it was just water filling up the hole, and then water draining almost completely out of the hole.  Still cool.
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With the exception of a sandy stretch aptly titled Sands Beach, the whole shoreline was rocks.  It was a very impressive sight.
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The love of my life, humoring her dumb ass husband-with-the-camera.
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Lobster traps.  Everywhere you go, lobster traps.
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Now sadly we leave Acadia National Park.  We spent the rest of the day wandering around downtown Bar Harbor and dipping in the hotel's pool.  On the way home, my amazing wife took me somewhere that erased a glaring omission from my tourism life.  Back on our honeymoon we went to Point Loma in San Diego and saw the lighthouse.  I told my beloved that I had never been to a lighthouse before, even though I have lived my whole life in New England.  Once we went to New Castle Island in Portsmouth, NH and I could see a lighthouse (or two?) in the distance, but I cannot think of a time when I had actually been to one. 

We were taking the scenic route home, sticking near the coast, and Jen proposed a detour.  She didn't tell me where we were going, but I followed her directions as I will follow her anywhere.  Where did we end up?  The Nubble Lighthouse in York, ME, that's where.  I have now taken pictures at a real life New England lighthouse.  Thanks lovey!
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That bird standing on the tall rock was there for a long time.  It reminded me of a meerkat standing sentinel.  Yes, I have been to a zoo recently.
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I think we could be comfortable living in that house.
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There was a lobster restaurant right next to the lighthouse.  I wonder if the lobster traps belonged to them?
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More rocks, and a little boat launch.
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This is why the good pictures of the lighthouse have the lighthouse way over to the left side of the image.  Damn power lines screwing up my shot!
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That's better.
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Finally, the love of my life one more time.  She blinked on purpose.  I love that smile.
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Bar Harbor Weekend Pics Part 2 - Cadillac Mountain

Here is part two of the weekend in Bar Harbor Photo Bomb.  This one will be kinda long.  These are all from the top of Cadillac Mountain.  We were standing on the highest elevation along the East Coast of the United States.  We planned to come here in time for the sun rise, but the draw of the snooze button was way to strong.

I could have spent the whole day just walking around the path at the summit.

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The reason for our weekend celebration:  The love of my life:  My wife of three years (tomorrow).
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I tried to keep the other tourists out of my pictures.  In this one, I failed.
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If you squint a little, you can actually see forever.
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I kept asking her to pose.  She was indulgent for a little while. 
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The mountain itself was just as interesting to me as the harbor and the ocean.
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That's the second largest swimming pool on Planet Earth.
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The view kind of reminded me of Point Loma in San Diego, without the military base.
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A gigantic boat that looks tiny from this distance.
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That looks a little too straight to be natural, but who knows.
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There's that tall ship again.
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Leave it to the douche canoe to try and get artsy with the tree on top of the mountain.
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I love her so much!
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And we'll end this one with another shot of the boats.
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