Tour de California

So, I have a really good friend who LOVES, *LOVES LOVES LOVES* the Tour de France. Interestingly enough, she is not a biker, or bike racer, or bike club member herself, she just really loves cycling as a sport. Through association, I too have become a fan, albeit not quite as religiously as my girlfriend. We recently met up in San Francisco and got to watch the Prologue and Stage I of the Amgen Tour of California. My photos are up on flickr.com.


(Above: Michael Rogers #41, T-Mobile)


(Above: Levi Leipheimer #21, Discovery Team on stage after winning stage 1.)


(Graeme Brown # 13 of Rabobank (center), Greg Henderson #47 of T-Mobile (left), and Allan Davis #27 of Discovery Team (on the right) take the stage...Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour.

Alice in Quicktime Wonderland

That is to say, I made a HUGE assumption it was done with Quicktime. But it could have been created in Dreamweaver, or Adobe-somethingorother or Flash?.... Now that I think about it, I'm really not sure... but don't you almost always get one of those stupid and mostly pointless notes on a Flash website saying something to the effect of; "If you don't have Flash by now dummy-head you cannot see cool stuff on this website that will for purposes not described here, preform a temporary hostile take-over of your computer"????
Should I just re-title the blog as...Alice in My-Computer-is-on-Mushrooms Wonderland? The point is this, I don't have the fabulous pop-up book (yet) so this variation (link below) of through-the-rabbit-hole is a minute or two worth of online-joy.
Alice In Pop-UP Wonderland

J. Otto Seibold where are you? Did someone forget to re-register the domain name Jotto.com?

Cool Art books: Beatrix Potter

Quite some time ago, I discovered an art book about Beatrix Potter. After reviewing her drawings and watercolor landscapes I have to say I'm even more impressed with her work. The scope and range of her talents were perhaps far and beyond what we were familiar with in her illustrations of Peter Rabbit. I haven't seen the movie yet, but look forward to a lazy Sunday afternoon perhaps when there's more time. I offer here a few examples from Beatrix Potter's Art.


(Caterpillars from the 'Dalguise 1875' sketchbook. These were drawn when Beatrix potter was nine years old. On the next page of the sketchbook she added observations on their habits. Pencil and watercolor)


(Studies of a Hazel dormouse, 1887. 'When I was a cchild I had a favourite dormouse - a sleep little animal...' This was Xarifa, a much-loved pet, named from a ballad by J. G. Lockhart. Pencil and sepia ink.)


(Six heads of herwick rams, drawn some years later than the Scottish Blackface. Pencil.)



(Heads of an amiable pig ? 1910. Drawn as preperatory studies for The Tale of Pigling Bland. 'The poor little cherub had such a sweet smile.' Pencil and watercolor.) -AND- ( Sheep's head, in a daringly experimental style and a vivid palette. Particles of pure color shimmer with light. Pencil and watercolor.)