Storm Clouds Sliding By (for now)

Moon Setting Through Pines on Misty Saturday Night

North to Alaska 2011

Eagle and Woodpecker shot in harbor at Knudson’s Cove after day of fishing in the channels south of Ketchikan, Alaska

Lose yourself in the Milky Way, feel small and big at the same time

Plains Milky Way from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

(Tip: Click on the arrows between HD and Vimeo in the video frame and watch it in full-screen)

Far from starscape-dulling city lights, farmer and photographer Randy Halverson spent three weeks creating a new video of the spinning night sky.

Shot from his central South Dakota farm, the video (above) features the Milky Way, which appears to our eyes as a fuzzy band but is actually an an edge-on view of dust lit by billions of stars. Summer is the prime season for North Americans to catch the Milky Way.

“Now is the first good time of the year to go out and see it, and maybe the best,” said Halverson. “There’s not as many mosquitoes, it isn’t too muggy and the rattlesnakes aren’t around. Those can be trouble.”

Battling strong winds and clouds, Halverson used a robotic camera rig to snap hundreds of still photos in about 20 three- to four-hour shoots. Back at his computer, he stitched together images from the best shoots. Each second of the video spans about 14 minutes of actual time.

As the Earth spins, the stars appear to spin with it. Longer exposures make them appear as streaks. Zooming airplanes, sunlight reflecting off satellites, and a ruddy orange glow from the town of Winner, South Dakota some 40 miles away are visible in the footage.

“Do Not Use For Fire Protection”

“If kindled properly, nothing can douse the flame of your heart: be it the fire of love, creativity, generosity or whatever fuels the fire of your soul. But still, stay thirsty my friends!” — The Vinman

The “Thank You All” Vibe: March 17, 2011.

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A rain(bow)y night Vibe

Yesterday’s post took a lot of time and energy, but was well worth the effort.  Tonight, the Vibe is a relaxing share on a rainy night of hockey on television.

Witnessing this was one of 2010′s best gifts to me — a double rainbow somewhere between Minneapolis and Osage Minnesota. I saw it after visiting one of Earth’s finest citizen’s and one of my best friends, Kevin Featherly. I stood there for ten minutes as the Sun poked in and out of the clouds causing the rainbow and fast wind-driven clouds to shift colors and move like ballerinas across the sky…………..

Write it: Reader’s Choice, Topic One

(Note from The Vinman: This is a long-read piece. It is a complex question on a specific incident and event that requires a deep read. But I asked for topics )

From New York, my beloved sister Co sent this:

I would love to read about your perspective of time as it relates to the internet. I was intrigued by the notion of needing to educate “at a break neck pace,” and it struck me because this morning in the NY Times they reported that they’d made a mistake in their coverage of Senator Gifford’s shooting and declared her dead erroneously, again because of this need to get the info out on the internet immediately. Do we all really need to be this sped up – and/or does the internet need to be cognizant of speed for some good reason? Or, could a news agency or website be known for being thoughtful, accurate, creative, not necessarily fast?

(VjK) I need to begin by saying the Arizona tragedy (like many similar) – and the question posed – makes me process a response quite carefully. Frankly, it gives me pause because in the fall of 1993 a crazed lunatic – much like the trigger man in this case – walked into a Family Fitness Center in El Cajon, CA less than a mile away from me and killed four innocent people there before turning the gun on himself. Having just put El Cajon’s The Californian newspaper to bed, it was my job to stop the presses (yes, I yelled, “STOP THE PRESSES!”) and collaborate by phone with our reporter on scene and write a front-page article to be delivered only hours later.

Unfortunately, that was not similar to Gifford’s shooting in one way: Police and medical staff on the scene confirmed quickly that those who had lost their lives were dead instantly. Chaotic as the scene was, in a similar shopping center, it was cleared and roped off quickly. And there was no instant ongoing reporting other than radio and local television, neither of which were in a 24/7 news cycle then. The national news picked it up within hours, and I will never forget the relief in my sister Co’s voice when I answered her call to the newsroom from the East Coast to make sure I (and my future wife Sheila) were okay. She had been worried the killer had hit our gym not knowing which it was.

Old Vibe Spurs New Vibe for 2011

Two skaters in their own Winter Classic on Rush Lake Sunday. (c) Vince Kern 2011

The Universe smiled on me today even though the snow-less landscape outside my window belied how cold it was in my part of Earth.

You see, like you, I’ve spent a good amount of time lately recharging, pondering 2010 and thinking about spending more time doing things that are helpful and meaningful for me and others. And the fortuitous Friday celebration of both Christmas and New Year’s Day provided The Vinman with two solid long weekends to recharge, ponder 2010, plan and prepare for 2011.

On the way home from filling SheRock’s Explorer with gas, an old vibe provided the perfect moment for the new. It was at the same time unexpected, transitory, infinite, expected and perfectly symmetrical to my life and thoughts lately. And it all came merely because I was looking for a picture with an open mind.

An open mind that had passed up on two pictures I’ve planned to take for sometime because I only had my iPhone for a camera. The two shots I can get anytime deserve better. But open enough to see if the lake down the street from my house could give anything up.

The walk to the shore only made me wonder if one of my goals to take a picture a day (inspired by some creative colleagues) would only lead to contrived shots and glad I had been smart enough to wear my new flannel-lined jeans out of the house. The lighting was poor and my hands pained from the cold as I looked though the lens.

“Nothing, what can I do with this?” I thought as I panned to the southwestern vista of the surprisingly frozen lake after a few days of 50-degree temps. Should I sacrifice quality for a pic a day? Heck, anyone can do that. Maybe my muse was getting his ass kicked by a joy-shitting adversary?

And then I heard it. The sharp pitch of a steel edge cutting into a turn with a deepening bass tone as the blade digs deep. And “thwack!” a “clap” of the puck back on the ice and I turned to see the unmistakable silhouettes of, of, no I don’t know them…….Of me and my brother?

Recovery, a Rabbi and Twitter: A Match Made in Heaven

Another of my videos from #140conf, the Real-Time Web and “Now.”  Enjoy!

The Recovery Rabbi: A Tale of Love Support via Twitter

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From his website, http://recoveryrabbi.tumblr.com here’s the Recovery Rabbi’s “about me:”

Rabbi Yisrael Pinson, is the Director of the Daniel B. Sobel Friendship House – a rabbi and spiritual mentor to the Jewish recovery community of Metropolitan Detroit. Since joining the Friendship Circle in May 2002 he has galvanized the outreach efforts of the Friendship House by becoming the spiritual mentor of the more than 500 addicts and their families who seek spirituality and support from the organization.

Rabbi Pinson received his high school and college-level education at several intensive private schools the world over, including the distinguished Machon LeSmicha Center for Ordination in Melbourne, Australia. Rabbi Pinson has served communities and individuals from the Caribbean to Canada and is fluent in four languages.

Rabbi Yisrael Pinson has helped create a Jewish Recovery Community in Metro-Detroit where recovering addicts and their families are helped through support, guidance, friendship & community. Rabbi Yisrael facilitates Jewish Recovery meetings, where recovering addicts from all 12-step programs meet and share regularly. He also teaches classes on Judaism & Recovery.

They’re Not Internet Friends, They’re Just Friends

So, I’ve threatened to restart my blogging several times in the last couple of years. My wonderful mother-in-law Mary keeps sending messages through my wife Sheila to blog more. The muse-thief responds by stalking me with work and other joy-shitting techniques over which we all have power but too-often shelf.

Anissa Mahew is the most recent example of someone over whom the muse-thief has zero power. He doesn’t even spend a lot of time chasing her because she’s proves so much stronger. So I’d like to share her with you.

It was my honor to attend an event put on by Jeff Pulver with the help of many wonderful people spreading the “now” of the real-time internet composed of tools like the internet, Twitter, Facebook and many others. It what we do with them that count or as someone there said,  “Twitter isn’t cool. Doing interesting things using Twitter is.”

Check out her blog at:  http://www.freeanissa.com

and on Twitter @anissamahew

Please spend 10 minutes with Anissa. You won’t regret it. — The Vinman