We saw one wildebeast urinate and then a second wildebeast drink it.
We also watched a goat pee and poop.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
iTunes 9 Home Sharing Works
Jen and I just set up Home Sharing on iTunes.
Now instead of just streaming music from each other's iTunes libraries we can actually use iTunes to swap files back and forth.
Eventually we'll just set up a music server somewhere and put everything in one place. For now though, this is kinda neat-o for nerds.
Now instead of just streaming music from each other's iTunes libraries we can actually use iTunes to swap files back and forth.
Eventually we'll just set up a music server somewhere and put everything in one place. For now though, this is kinda neat-o for nerds.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
9/11
We just watched a history channel documentary on the events of 9/11/01 in New York. It's just as horrifying today as it was 8 years ago.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Lowell Devils Tickets
Individual tickets for Lowell Devils games go on sale on September 14th. Let's hope the traffic jams on the roads leading to the Tsongas Arena box office don't cripple the city. Also, let's hope the city's telephone infrastructure can handle the massive demand.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
iTunes Finally Catches Up With Me
I've had three iPods. Technically I have had four, but I am not counting my iPhone.
The first one was a two gig nano. I put a few must-always-have-with-me records onto it and then would swap other stuff on and off every few days depending on my mood.
My second iPod was a 30 gig video. I loaded it up to nearly full very quickly (as in the first time I plugged it in) but left a little room to add new music as it came into my hands.
The third one was a surprise Christmas present given to me by Santa Jen. An 80 gig classic. I've had it for close to two years now and it is nearly full. I basically throw anything I happen to have in mp3 format onto it.
That's not what I'm really thinking about right now though. I'm thinking about the new iTunes 9.0 and what it calls Genius Mixes. Genius debuted in the last major iTunes release. (or was it two releases ago?) To use it you would select a song and it would sift through your files and it's database and create a short (20 songs was the default) playlist of songs that, based on it's algorithm, were complementary to the song you chose.
Genius Mixes are similar, although it doesn't require any user input. When you turn it on it creates 12 mixes based on your library. It gives a title based on genres, for example my library at work is currently playing a mix called Alternative Mix. It also tells you a few of the artists included. When you click on one of these mixes it will start playing relevant music. I haven't tested long enough yet, but I think it's supposed to keep playing until you tell it to stop. Kind of a nice feature if you like randomizing your library but want the randomization to be a little restricted.
Which brings us to the point. I set this functionality up all by my lonesome on my iPod Video about 2 years ago. Sometimes I know exactly what I want to listen to when I get into the car for my loooong commutes to and from work. Other times I want the music to pick itself for me. In other words, I just pick the shuffle all function and either listen to it for the whole drive, or listen to it until something really grabs me. For instance, yesterday morning I started with the shuffle all and about 4 songs in it played something by Mary Lou Lord that just hit the spot for me. I then switched to my Mary Lou Lord playlist and listened to that for the rest of the ride. The day before that I did the same thing but settled on Dada.
Sometimes though the random selections would piss me off. Say for instance that I feel like being a folkie but can't decide on who to listen to. Then say I go to the shuffle all and it plays me a string of jazz cats all in a row. That really doesn't help me. I could sort the library by genre and then shuffle that. That could work, but what if I'm in the mood for something broader than that? Say folkies and/or 80's rock bands from Boston? Shuffling by genre doesn't work for that.
What did I do? I set up playlists for shuffle use only. Lots of them. 60's rock. 70's rock. 70's prog rock. 90's rock. 90's rock bands from Boston. Jazz. Jazz guitarists. Jazz sax players recorded prior to 1960. Lots of stuff like that.
Essentially I created Genius Mixes. You're welcome iTunes 9.0. Call me Rob the Innovator.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the longest, boring-est, most pointless, useless post on this entire blog.
Your welcome.
The first one was a two gig nano. I put a few must-always-have-with-me records onto it and then would swap other stuff on and off every few days depending on my mood.
My second iPod was a 30 gig video. I loaded it up to nearly full very quickly (as in the first time I plugged it in) but left a little room to add new music as it came into my hands.
The third one was a surprise Christmas present given to me by Santa Jen. An 80 gig classic. I've had it for close to two years now and it is nearly full. I basically throw anything I happen to have in mp3 format onto it.
That's not what I'm really thinking about right now though. I'm thinking about the new iTunes 9.0 and what it calls Genius Mixes. Genius debuted in the last major iTunes release. (or was it two releases ago?) To use it you would select a song and it would sift through your files and it's database and create a short (20 songs was the default) playlist of songs that, based on it's algorithm, were complementary to the song you chose.
Genius Mixes are similar, although it doesn't require any user input. When you turn it on it creates 12 mixes based on your library. It gives a title based on genres, for example my library at work is currently playing a mix called Alternative Mix. It also tells you a few of the artists included. When you click on one of these mixes it will start playing relevant music. I haven't tested long enough yet, but I think it's supposed to keep playing until you tell it to stop. Kind of a nice feature if you like randomizing your library but want the randomization to be a little restricted.
Which brings us to the point. I set this functionality up all by my lonesome on my iPod Video about 2 years ago. Sometimes I know exactly what I want to listen to when I get into the car for my loooong commutes to and from work. Other times I want the music to pick itself for me. In other words, I just pick the shuffle all function and either listen to it for the whole drive, or listen to it until something really grabs me. For instance, yesterday morning I started with the shuffle all and about 4 songs in it played something by Mary Lou Lord that just hit the spot for me. I then switched to my Mary Lou Lord playlist and listened to that for the rest of the ride. The day before that I did the same thing but settled on Dada.
Sometimes though the random selections would piss me off. Say for instance that I feel like being a folkie but can't decide on who to listen to. Then say I go to the shuffle all and it plays me a string of jazz cats all in a row. That really doesn't help me. I could sort the library by genre and then shuffle that. That could work, but what if I'm in the mood for something broader than that? Say folkies and/or 80's rock bands from Boston? Shuffling by genre doesn't work for that.
What did I do? I set up playlists for shuffle use only. Lots of them. 60's rock. 70's rock. 70's prog rock. 90's rock. 90's rock bands from Boston. Jazz. Jazz guitarists. Jazz sax players recorded prior to 1960. Lots of stuff like that.
Essentially I created Genius Mixes. You're welcome iTunes 9.0. Call me Rob the Innovator.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the longest, boring-est, most pointless, useless post on this entire blog.
Your welcome.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Open House
Jen just got home from an open house at the kid's school.
Both kids are awesome.
Like there was ever any doubt.
Way to go guys!
Both kids are awesome.
Like there was ever any doubt.
Way to go guys!
Apple "Rock & Roll" Media Event
Apple held a media event today. It focused on music. iPods and iTunes mostly.
There is a new iPhone OS update available today. OS 3.1. Hopefully it fixes the bugs that have bugged me. Specifically, the keyboard is REALLY SLOW on some apps. Also, the SMS and Email routines have a tendency to spin into landscape mode while I am holding the iPhone upright and not moving. That annoys me.
One of the big rumors was there would be a new iPod touch released that has a camera. Close but no cigar. It's the new nano that comes with a camera. A video camera no less. Also a built in mic, speaker, and FM receiver. Nice, but I can't imagine the average consumer would pick a nano over a touch given the touch can run app store programs and (in a wi-fi environment) is basically a pocket computer.
The new version of iTunes appears to be focused more on the iTunes store. By the sound of it everything there is changing. (at least the look and feel is) Movies will now come with all of the DVD extras. (for an extra fee?) Buy full albums (LP mode) will now come with extras such as artwork and lyrics and stuff. I like that upgrade very much, thank you. Also, for networks running iTunes on multiple machines, you can now drag songs from one shared iTunes into another and it will copy the files onto the second machine. That. Is. AWESOME!. I have been waiting for that since... ohhhh... day one.
There was one glaring omission in the Apple "Rock & Roll" event: The Beatles. It was rumored that The Beatles catalog would finally be available for purchase in the iTunes store. Nope, not this time. There was even supposed to be an interview with Yoko Ono published online last night that quoted her as saying today was the day. The article was immediately and (if it actually existed) somewhat alarmingly squashed and erased from the ether. Given the events of today I would suggest that the whole thing was a hoax. I know that's a leap of logic on my part.
The only other thing that is drool worthy for me personally is that the new iPod Classic has a 160 gig capacity (I own an 80 gig classic that is about 98% full and never leaves my side) and the price has been reduced to about $240 or so. I'm too lazy to look up the actual price, but it's close to that. It's about $20 cheaper than the 120 gig Classics were selling for when you went to bed last night. I think that might be something to save up for as an upgrade. I am a storage capacity whore who cannot get enough memory. I always need more.
So today is the day that The Beatles Rock Band comes out as well as (finally!!!!!!) the remastered versions of the entire Beatles catalog. The stereo versions are being sold as a boxed set. I will save up for that and get it one of these days. I have everything the band has published, and I have mountains of stuff that they... ummm... haven't published. There is nothing new in these remasters for me other than the (hopefully, please please please) cleaner sound. I am going the audiophile root here and only interested in getting the CDs. Had the new remasters been released on iTunes I would not have even considered buying them there. I want the full resolution this time, thanks. As for Rock Band... I'm saving up for that one too.
So today is a big day for Apple fans and for Beatles fans. I hope you enjoy all the neat stuff as much as I am positive I will.
Happy 09/09/09.
as in...
number nine?
number nine?
number nine?
There is a new iPhone OS update available today. OS 3.1. Hopefully it fixes the bugs that have bugged me. Specifically, the keyboard is REALLY SLOW on some apps. Also, the SMS and Email routines have a tendency to spin into landscape mode while I am holding the iPhone upright and not moving. That annoys me.
One of the big rumors was there would be a new iPod touch released that has a camera. Close but no cigar. It's the new nano that comes with a camera. A video camera no less. Also a built in mic, speaker, and FM receiver. Nice, but I can't imagine the average consumer would pick a nano over a touch given the touch can run app store programs and (in a wi-fi environment) is basically a pocket computer.
The new version of iTunes appears to be focused more on the iTunes store. By the sound of it everything there is changing. (at least the look and feel is) Movies will now come with all of the DVD extras. (for an extra fee?) Buy full albums (LP mode) will now come with extras such as artwork and lyrics and stuff. I like that upgrade very much, thank you. Also, for networks running iTunes on multiple machines, you can now drag songs from one shared iTunes into another and it will copy the files onto the second machine. That. Is. AWESOME!. I have been waiting for that since... ohhhh... day one.
There was one glaring omission in the Apple "Rock & Roll" event: The Beatles. It was rumored that The Beatles catalog would finally be available for purchase in the iTunes store. Nope, not this time. There was even supposed to be an interview with Yoko Ono published online last night that quoted her as saying today was the day. The article was immediately and (if it actually existed) somewhat alarmingly squashed and erased from the ether. Given the events of today I would suggest that the whole thing was a hoax. I know that's a leap of logic on my part.
The only other thing that is drool worthy for me personally is that the new iPod Classic has a 160 gig capacity (I own an 80 gig classic that is about 98% full and never leaves my side) and the price has been reduced to about $240 or so. I'm too lazy to look up the actual price, but it's close to that. It's about $20 cheaper than the 120 gig Classics were selling for when you went to bed last night. I think that might be something to save up for as an upgrade. I am a storage capacity whore who cannot get enough memory. I always need more.
So today is the day that The Beatles Rock Band comes out as well as (finally!!!!!!) the remastered versions of the entire Beatles catalog. The stereo versions are being sold as a boxed set. I will save up for that and get it one of these days. I have everything the band has published, and I have mountains of stuff that they... ummm... haven't published. There is nothing new in these remasters for me other than the (hopefully, please please please) cleaner sound. I am going the audiophile root here and only interested in getting the CDs. Had the new remasters been released on iTunes I would not have even considered buying them there. I want the full resolution this time, thanks. As for Rock Band... I'm saving up for that one too.
So today is a big day for Apple fans and for Beatles fans. I hope you enjoy all the neat stuff as much as I am positive I will.
Happy 09/09/09.
as in...
number nine?
number nine?
number nine?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Post Labor Day Blues
What a great weekend we just had. Labor Day weekend was wonderful this year. On Friday night Jen and I went out to eat and then went home and had a wonderful night flaking while watching movies on-demand. Saturday we slept late and flaked while watching DVDs and then we went to the Feast of the Three Saints in Lawrence and had fun being Italian (or pretending to be Italian in my case). Then we went home and flaked in front of a few more DVDs. On Sunday we spent the whole day (minus a trip to Manchester, NH for dinner) flaking in front of the tube. Monday we spent the whole day (minus a couple of hours working on learning C# for our development fun project) flaking in front of still another batch of DVDs.
In short we did almost nothing this weekend and we loved every second of it. We have seemingly been on the go pretty much constantly since the night I asked her to marry me. There have been very few times where we could just do nothing and enjoy it. Often the times we spent trying to do nothing were disrupted by thinking about things we would be doing once the doing nothing came to an end. Not this weekend though. This weekend we just stayed home together and enjoyed being together with nothing else hanging over our heads. It was pretty magical.
Now we're back at work and it sucks. Yes, it royally sucks ass. I want to go home.
At least this week there is an Apple presentation scheduled for tomorrow. It coincides with the release of The Beatles Rock Band. We're waiting for Christmas to pick that one up. At least that's the plan. I imagine it's at least possible that our wills will get weak and we'll cave in and get it sooner... maybe.
Still, no matter what happens over the next four days it's going to pale in comparison to this past three-day weekend. You might need some cheering up, so I suggest you watch this you tube video.
That's all I have for now.
Good Day.
In short we did almost nothing this weekend and we loved every second of it. We have seemingly been on the go pretty much constantly since the night I asked her to marry me. There have been very few times where we could just do nothing and enjoy it. Often the times we spent trying to do nothing were disrupted by thinking about things we would be doing once the doing nothing came to an end. Not this weekend though. This weekend we just stayed home together and enjoyed being together with nothing else hanging over our heads. It was pretty magical.
Now we're back at work and it sucks. Yes, it royally sucks ass. I want to go home.
At least this week there is an Apple presentation scheduled for tomorrow. It coincides with the release of The Beatles Rock Band. We're waiting for Christmas to pick that one up. At least that's the plan. I imagine it's at least possible that our wills will get weak and we'll cave in and get it sooner... maybe.
Still, no matter what happens over the next four days it's going to pale in comparison to this past three-day weekend. You might need some cheering up, so I suggest you watch this you tube video.
That's all I have for now.
Good Day.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Happy Labor Day
My advice to all who have Labor Day off is to do as little labor as humanly possible.
We're in full watching-movies-on-the-couch mode.
Happy Labor Day!
We're in full watching-movies-on-the-couch mode.
Happy Labor Day!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Feast of the Three Saints
Yesterday we went to the second day of the Feast of the Three Saints in Lawrence. It was me and the Mrs and her mother and step father. Jen and her mom lived in Lawrence years ago but never went to this festival. It was a first for all of us.
It was fun, but not quite as authentic an experience as we had hoped for. I think the Korean restaurant booth might have killed some of the Italian buzz for us. Still, we had a lot of fun wandering around the festival and Tripoli Bakery makes some damn good stuff.
Here are a few of the pictures I took...
My sweetie at the Robert Frost Fountain on the Lawrence Common.
I had exactly one goal for this festival. Gellato. Lots of it. Success!
My wife loves the gellato too.
My wife also loves shopping for hand bags.
The turtle races were awesome! This little guy was the winner.
This is the reason for the season. Outside of Holy Rosary Church.
Next to the church was a cool little archway.
Inside Holy Rosary.
We were supposed to go back for a copy of that cook book but we forgot to.
The headquarters for the festival?
Lots of fire crackers. We didn't stay for the explosion though. Sorry about that.
The Italian flag flying alongside old glory.
It was fun, but not quite as authentic an experience as we had hoped for. I think the Korean restaurant booth might have killed some of the Italian buzz for us. Still, we had a lot of fun wandering around the festival and Tripoli Bakery makes some damn good stuff.
Here are a few of the pictures I took...
My sweetie at the Robert Frost Fountain on the Lawrence Common.
I had exactly one goal for this festival. Gellato. Lots of it. Success!
My wife loves the gellato too.
My wife also loves shopping for hand bags.
The turtle races were awesome! This little guy was the winner.
This is the reason for the season. Outside of Holy Rosary Church.
Next to the church was a cool little archway.
Inside Holy Rosary.
We were supposed to go back for a copy of that cook book but we forgot to.
The headquarters for the festival?
Lots of fire crackers. We didn't stay for the explosion though. Sorry about that.
The Italian flag flying alongside old glory.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
iPhone astrophotography
You know you've been missing this awesome recurring feature... Here
you go!
you go!
The moon over Newbury Comics' parking lot in Salem, NH. Also, the little spec in the moon-free image might be Jupiter... I think.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Does This Make Me "Published?"
Yesterday I posted a bunch of pictures I took while wandering along the Spicket River in Methuen.
Today I see this. Do those look familiar? Do you see a familiar link in the sidebar?
If you look at the post from yesterday with all the pictures there is a comment saying I have been linked to on http://methuencommon.com/.
I like the site a lot. A hyper local news site for my town. Granted I am far from up on current events in Methuen. I've been living there for a bit over a year. I lived in town once before for about 10-11 months many years ago. I am slowly learning my way around but there are tons of things I have no idea about. Like, did you know there is a residents only beach on a pond in town? I had no clue. I believe there is also a railroad trail. Who knew?
Last Christmas Santa got me a nice little book on the history of Methuen... I can't recall the title or the author. When I get home I'll check the book and add an addendum at the end of this post. It had a section on historically interesting things to see in town. I have been meaning to check some of them out and take a picture or two but I really haven't gotten around to it. Both busyness and laziness are the culprits there. The dam was the spot that interested me the most, and a large part of that interest was due to the fact that there is a public parking lot right next to it.
I'll get to some of the other places when I can. Some of them I've seen while driving around. Like, what the heck are those tower things in that funeral home parking lot (I know and some day I'll share), and have you noticed half of the town is surrounded by castle walls? (I have and some day I'll share). There is also the library and the music hall that are obvious targets for me.
As for this site being linked from another site, it's not something I've ever given any thought to. I just do this for fun. I have no agenda or anything like that. Hell, I don't even have a topic most of the time. I have had a few pictures from my Flickr account that were used without my permission and I squashed that very quickly thank you very much. I take my copyrights very seriously and no one will use my stuff without my say so. In this case I feel different though. Methuencommon.com can link to me if they want, I'd just like to know about it. I actually added them to my RSS reader so I'll probably catch anything if they do. I'm happy about this. I don't contribute much to the town other than pay sales tax at the Loop and such. This might be a fun way to get involved a little.
Now I just have to get out and take more pictures of my town!
hmmm one added thought... does this mean I have to start proof reading? (shudder in fear)
Today I see this. Do those look familiar? Do you see a familiar link in the sidebar?
If you look at the post from yesterday with all the pictures there is a comment saying I have been linked to on http://methuencommon.com/.
I like the site a lot. A hyper local news site for my town. Granted I am far from up on current events in Methuen. I've been living there for a bit over a year. I lived in town once before for about 10-11 months many years ago. I am slowly learning my way around but there are tons of things I have no idea about. Like, did you know there is a residents only beach on a pond in town? I had no clue. I believe there is also a railroad trail. Who knew?
Last Christmas Santa got me a nice little book on the history of Methuen... I can't recall the title or the author. When I get home I'll check the book and add an addendum at the end of this post. It had a section on historically interesting things to see in town. I have been meaning to check some of them out and take a picture or two but I really haven't gotten around to it. Both busyness and laziness are the culprits there. The dam was the spot that interested me the most, and a large part of that interest was due to the fact that there is a public parking lot right next to it.
I'll get to some of the other places when I can. Some of them I've seen while driving around. Like, what the heck are those tower things in that funeral home parking lot (I know and some day I'll share), and have you noticed half of the town is surrounded by castle walls? (I have and some day I'll share). There is also the library and the music hall that are obvious targets for me.
As for this site being linked from another site, it's not something I've ever given any thought to. I just do this for fun. I have no agenda or anything like that. Hell, I don't even have a topic most of the time. I have had a few pictures from my Flickr account that were used without my permission and I squashed that very quickly thank you very much. I take my copyrights very seriously and no one will use my stuff without my say so. In this case I feel different though. Methuencommon.com can link to me if they want, I'd just like to know about it. I actually added them to my RSS reader so I'll probably catch anything if they do. I'm happy about this. I don't contribute much to the town other than pay sales tax at the Loop and such. This might be a fun way to get involved a little.
Now I just have to get out and take more pictures of my town!
hmmm one added thought... does this mean I have to start proof reading? (shudder in fear)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Phil Kessel
This is intriguing. The New England Hockey Journal website has a page up right now under Boston Bruins that has a headline but no story. The headline is:
Bruins trade Kessel to Blues
By Douglas Flynn
Sep 03 2009 3:33 PM
The story however is blank. There's nothing there.
Are they messing with us? Are they jumping the gun? Do they know something we don't know and are just getting ready to release it?
So my weak little mind starts speculating... who could we get in return for Kessel? (on a side note, trading Phil Kessel is a HUGE mistake on the Bruins part. The only way I would accept that as a solution to the Kessel-is-a-restricted-free-agent issue is if he has told them point blank that he will never ever sign in Boston again. I don't see that happening though. Trading a 30+ goal scorer will be devastating to the Bruins in the 09-10 season.)
How about perenial trading deadline victim Keith Tkachuk?
How about young super defenseman/very poor golf cart driver Erik Johnson?
How about Brad Boyes? (Robert pauses a moment to let that one sink in... )
No matter who we get, this has got to suck for Phil Kessel. First cancer, now hockey in St Louis? You have to feel for the poor guy.
Don't trade him, sign him. I want our 30 goals back.
Bruins trade Kessel to Blues
By Douglas Flynn
Sep 03 2009 3:33 PM
The story however is blank. There's nothing there.
Are they messing with us? Are they jumping the gun? Do they know something we don't know and are just getting ready to release it?
So my weak little mind starts speculating... who could we get in return for Kessel? (on a side note, trading Phil Kessel is a HUGE mistake on the Bruins part. The only way I would accept that as a solution to the Kessel-is-a-restricted-free-agent issue is if he has told them point blank that he will never ever sign in Boston again. I don't see that happening though. Trading a 30+ goal scorer will be devastating to the Bruins in the 09-10 season.)
How about perenial trading deadline victim Keith Tkachuk?
How about young super defenseman/very poor golf cart driver Erik Johnson?
How about Brad Boyes? (Robert pauses a moment to let that one sink in... )
No matter who we get, this has got to suck for Phil Kessel. First cancer, now hockey in St Louis? You have to feel for the poor guy.
Don't trade him, sign him. I want our 30 goals back.
Spicket River Walk Pictures
This is going to be a long one kids, get your yawning and bitching out of your system now because I don't wanna hear it.
As mentioned yesterday I did a little photo exploring along the Spicket river in Methuen. I started at the dam and worked my way along the river walk that I didn't know was there. Then I went up around the block past the town's oldest fire station and into the town center before calling it a morning and going home.
Here are a bunch of pictures taken in wicked bright sunlight with a lens that was just dirty enough to distort the images a little. Nice!
The Spicket Falls Dam
Based on a lot of these pictures I would guess that the water level is really low. I would like to see it when the dam is open.
The river heading away from the dam.
The Osgood Street bridge. I don't know if that's the official name of the bridge, I just know that that is Osgood Street.
I like to take pictures of signs that will help me figure out what the hell the other pictures are.
Methuen wildlife: Pigeons.
I've driven past this a few times but never stopped to read it. Imagine my surprise when it was just the sort of thing I was hoping to see. A Riverwalk along the mighty Spicket.
Now we're on the other side of Osgood street.
There is a footbridge across the river. The Riverwalk only went so far on this side of the water but it goes a little further on the other side.
There is a gazebo and everything. There was also a very small playground area.
Man that sun was wrecking havoc on my dirty camera lens. I should really look into learning a safe way to clean that thing.
Here is the dedication on the footbridge.
I would guess that the water level covers the rocks on the right when the dam is open.
Looking back at Osgood Street.
After crossing the river I continued along the path.
This is my favorite spot. Most of the path was raised quite a bit above the water's edge. At the end you could walk down right onto the rocks at the edge and wander around a little. There was also a turn in the river accompanied by what looked like an increase in the downhill grade. The current picked up quite a bit.
Click on this one, then click the all sizes button, then click original. That blows it up to full size. You can see the water bugs pretty clearly. More Methuen wildlife. Okay, so you can't see them that clearly, but you can see them.
Looking back at the start of the bend.
Don't ask me why, but I thought this tree was cool.
I like taking blurry pictures of light reflecting off water. If you don't like it, tough.
The stone wall is kind of cool too.
Leaving the water behind I thought I'd take a shot of the picnic area just in case a certain wife and step kid or two might have interest in a Sunday afternoon picnic at some point this fall. Just in case.
Looking back toward the bandstand.
I kinda like this one.
I couldn't resist including an old mill building. I think this one is condos or apartments now.
This was taken from the road near the top of the dam. I couldn't find a walk way to get me to the foot bridge right over the dam. Maybe another day.
This was in the fire station parking lot.
And we end this endless post with the clock downtown. The building across route 28 on the right is The John Hancock Masonic Lodge.
As mentioned yesterday I did a little photo exploring along the Spicket river in Methuen. I started at the dam and worked my way along the river walk that I didn't know was there. Then I went up around the block past the town's oldest fire station and into the town center before calling it a morning and going home.
Here are a bunch of pictures taken in wicked bright sunlight with a lens that was just dirty enough to distort the images a little. Nice!
The Spicket Falls Dam
Based on a lot of these pictures I would guess that the water level is really low. I would like to see it when the dam is open.
The river heading away from the dam.
The Osgood Street bridge. I don't know if that's the official name of the bridge, I just know that that is Osgood Street.
I like to take pictures of signs that will help me figure out what the hell the other pictures are.
Methuen wildlife: Pigeons.
I've driven past this a few times but never stopped to read it. Imagine my surprise when it was just the sort of thing I was hoping to see. A Riverwalk along the mighty Spicket.
Now we're on the other side of Osgood street.
There is a footbridge across the river. The Riverwalk only went so far on this side of the water but it goes a little further on the other side.
There is a gazebo and everything. There was also a very small playground area.
Man that sun was wrecking havoc on my dirty camera lens. I should really look into learning a safe way to clean that thing.
Here is the dedication on the footbridge.
I would guess that the water level covers the rocks on the right when the dam is open.
Looking back at Osgood Street.
After crossing the river I continued along the path.
This is my favorite spot. Most of the path was raised quite a bit above the water's edge. At the end you could walk down right onto the rocks at the edge and wander around a little. There was also a turn in the river accompanied by what looked like an increase in the downhill grade. The current picked up quite a bit.
Click on this one, then click the all sizes button, then click original. That blows it up to full size. You can see the water bugs pretty clearly. More Methuen wildlife. Okay, so you can't see them that clearly, but you can see them.
Looking back at the start of the bend.
Don't ask me why, but I thought this tree was cool.
I like taking blurry pictures of light reflecting off water. If you don't like it, tough.
The stone wall is kind of cool too.
Leaving the water behind I thought I'd take a shot of the picnic area just in case a certain wife and step kid or two might have interest in a Sunday afternoon picnic at some point this fall. Just in case.
Looking back toward the bandstand.
I kinda like this one.
I couldn't resist including an old mill building. I think this one is condos or apartments now.
This was taken from the road near the top of the dam. I couldn't find a walk way to get me to the foot bridge right over the dam. Maybe another day.
This was in the fire station parking lot.
And we end this endless post with the clock downtown. The building across route 28 on the right is The John Hancock Masonic Lodge.
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