Aurora Borealis engulfs the night sky. Camera pointing straight up. Taken north of Vegreville, AB, Canada.
Nikon D80/Nikkor 10.5mm Fisheye DX

Aurora Borealis as the sun begins to rise.

May 18, 2013; 03:34
Near Ardrossan, AB, Canada 53º43’42″ N, 113º7’27″ W
Nikon D700; Nikkor 10.5mm Fisheye DX

I did something I never thought I’d do. I paid for a convention photo op.

Michael Biehn is at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo this year. He played Corporal Hicks in Aliens, which is one of my favourite movies of all time (the other being Singin’ In the Rain). But here’s the thing, I didn’t want to have the typical photo op, where you’re just standing there all smiley. I wanted something funny.

So my brother Sam let me borrow his plush Chestburster. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it. Maybe it would be attacking us. Maybe it was coming out of my chest. So Chestburster came along and sat in the hatchback of my car, peering out the window. Where he stayed… as I forgot him when I went into the con.

Now what will I do? My photo session was coming soon and I had no props and no ideas. I turned to Google images and looked up images of Hicks and Ripley. That’s when I found this:

Perfect! I had an image to work off of.

When I went into the photo area and met Michael Biehn. He shook my hand, and I told him it was an honour to meet him. I showed him the photo of Ripley and Hicks and asked of we can do something like that. He studied the photo. The camera man was pressuring us to hurry up, and kept yelling “3…2…1…” and Biehn put his hand up and told him to wait. Okay, that’s when I was thinking “COOOOOL!!! He stopped time for me!!! Take that rules and regulations!”

He then gave me back my phone, and said “I got it!”

He set me up accordingly then we took the photo. I thanked him not knowing exactly how he posed since he made sure I was looking away.

Then I got my copy of the photo:

YES YES YES!!! I think I got the most ridiculous and hilarious and awesome and, oh, AWESOME photo I could ever ask for with Biehn! Totally made my day!

P.S. If that was (and I am sure it was) Jennifer Blanc sitting on the floor holding my cameras for me, she is a totally darling! Thank you for safeguarding my things!

Here are a couple of my favourite photos I took from Naked Cyber Cafe‘s grand re-opening party.

Acta non Verba with Luna Dance Fusion:

Two dudes hugging:

For April Fools’ Day 2013, Google Maps has a Treasure Map mode. I found Vegreville’s treasure! What treasure does your city have?

UPDATE:

NO WAY! Street View gives you a pirate telescope view! It’s me in the Rice Rocket! HAHA!

• Geomagnetic activity
• Clear Sky charts
• Weather
• Memory cards
• Camera Battery
• Fuel

But sometimes if you think there’s a chance you can pull it off, it’s worth driving out and just looking at the sky with your own eyes. In the daytime today it was mostly clear so I went out tonight hoping for the same clarity, even though we are currently under a snowfall warning. There was also winds gusting to 50km/hr but I thought I’d try it anyway (the problem being the wind could shake the camera). Instead, I encountered a lot of haze so I turned back. No photos tonight.

Another thing people can check for, which I never do, is road conditions. I drove through some pretty hefty snowdrifts tonight but I also have top-of-the-line snowtires.

Old.
Outdated.
Not well maintained.
Only a niche market believes in it.

Man, I’m going to miss Google Reader.