Author: Mark E. Johnson

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-31

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  • I tried, but couldn't resist … and joined the Tablet Speculators: http://visualjournalism.info/?p=1190 #
  • Watching the kid at PH run her hands through her hair then handle food, not really okay with me. Have to go with a #fail and order cancel. #
  • Jet planes need to fly faster. Five hours to Nevada is just too long. Tow, maybe three, would be okay. #
  • Oh God no … five young women in front of me en route to Vegas for a bachelorette party … and they are already drunk. Long flight ahead #
  • I want to drive around down there. http://yfrog.com/atugoj #
  • @BFarrar Does that mean they're paying photographers more? That would be nice. in reply to BFarrar #
  • Uh oh. I maybe in the wrong place. #SCCA http://yfrog.com/1evtfgj #
  • Anyone who's allowed to speak to a group of more than three people should be required to take a public speaking course. Or hand out tomatos. #
  • Okay, life is weird. In a bowling alley in a casino at an #SCCA convention debating the legality of rental cars. http://yfrog.com/1do1eqj #
  • Pretty sure I just saw a slot machine featuring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Vegas is weird. #
  • RoadRally Board Town Hall starting up. #scca #

Space

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The hotel I’m in is pretty, well, non-descript. If you don’t go outside, you could be a anywhere, to be honest. I could be in downtown Athens. No windows, no character.

Just space …

Canon PowerShot G10, 6.1 mm, ISO 200, 1/10, f/2.8

Canon PowerShot G10, 6.1 mm, ISO 200, 1/10, f/2.8

Canon PowerShot G10, 30.5 mm, ISO 200, 1/20, f/4.5

Winging It

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Late last year I got one of those phone calls I probably shouldn’t have taken. Was I interested in stepping up, serving at a higher level, giving back to my community.

Of course I was … then I realized it wasn’t my local, or even regional community – the call came from the Sports Car Club of America and I was being asked to join the National RoadRally Board. (Yeah, not as altruistic as you thought, is it?)

I’ve been rallying for almost two decades now, it was time to do it. It was just a monthly phone conference, some committee work here and there. Nothing strenuous. Oh, did I mention I have to go to the SCCA National Convention?

Yeah, that slipped by me at first … so Thursday morning, I dropped a kid at school, packed up and headed west. The convention is in … Vegas.

Las Vegas.

As in, Nevada.

I’m such a Vegas kind of guy … I mean, I’m more than happy to throw my life around inside a car on a twisty road at night in the snow. But tossing my money away? Not really me …

Once I got here, though, I realized something else: I have no idea what I’m doing here. I had some short conversations yesterday where I think I offended everyone in the rally community at some level. I don’t like the way the national championship is structured. Not a big fan of the way the convention is going. Scared at the near total lack of diversity in the rooms. And everyone here is … well … older.

I suggest the hotel put away all the eggs and bacon, no one can afford a heart attack here.

Anyways, some images from the trip and space so far …

Canon PowerShot G10, 6.1 mm, ISO 80, 1/500, f/5.6

Canon PowerShot G10, 6.1 mm, ISO 80, 1/1600, f/4.5

Canon PowerShot G10, 8.1 mm, ISO 80, 1/1000, f/3.5

Potential, Unrealized

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Years ago, one newspaper shooter won an award for a shot out his windshield of a stop sign seen through rain drops. For the next six months, every one of us tried to do the same thing.

And more than a decade later, some of us are still failing at it … shot a few moments ago in the parking lot outside of a coffee house …

Canon PowerShot G10, 6.1 mm, ISO 80, 1/250, f/2.8