Surprise! Surprise!

Remember when I was explaining that the reason I was getting a new camera was to take pictures of our new arrival coming in November??? Well, babies come when babies come and Little Man decided that he didn't want to wait till November. Maybe he just didn't want to miss out on Trick or Treating!

The official press release is here, once on the site, click on the link that says "Learn more about the Baby Elephant, Click here". That will open up a Word document and give you the official press release. The short story is that Elly wasn't showing signs of labor when they checked her late on Sunday, but upon arrival on Monday morning they had a little surprise! It was a big surprise for G since he was supposedly starting his vacation on Monday. Instead of a relaxing vacation he has been spending anywhere from 12 to 20 hours at the zoo.

The little guy is just adorable. The 'rope' you see in the picture is so the keepers could keep a hold of him while he wandered around. This gave him the freedom to explore at will and still be kept out of any potential trouble. For the first 48 hours of his life someone had a hold of that rope at all times. See, since he was a surprise and early, he was small enough he could just walk right thru the bars that hold the rest of his extended family just fine! The baby proofing was rushed thru and he is now able to roam at will and stay on HIS side of the bars.

Now, let me give you a little logistics problem. Three elephant guys, 24 hours in a day, and there needs to be a minimum of two guys when they deal with Mommy or Baby. These guys are heroes in my book and doing a great job... on power naps <LOL>.......

Without further ado, I give you our newest addition.

Welcome to the World Little Man!

For the 'official pictures' that were released to the press, click here. More of my pictures are to follow. I have found a new favorite subject!

I actually had several other pictures in mind for this week, but due to our little 'surprise', I haven't had a lot of time. Hopefully I will get them in over the weekend. Just to wet your appetite I'm going to give you two words... Baby... and Meerkat <g> So, stay tuned for more fun and games!

Weekend Assignment #81: Favorite Sci-Fi Movies

Time for John's Weekend Assignment.... let's see what he has for us this week....

Weekend Assignment #81: Share one of your favorite science fiction movies. Note that this doesn't have to be the "best" science fiction film ever, or the most popular, or the most significant; it doesn't even have to be a good science fiction film. It just should be a science fiction film you enjoy watching over and over again -- the kind that always sucks you into the couch whenever it's on TV.

Oh, this is too cruel! I am supposed to pick ONE science fiction picture???? Oh, the inhumanity, the cruelty.... the... IMPOSSIBILITY!

A quick scan of our DVD/VCR collections shows you an eclectic mix. I have a lot of Disney/Pixar stuff, Both Shreks, Shark's Tale, The Incredibles, etc. Hey, I like animation! G has a lot of war movies and a pretty good collection of John Wayne. I have a few chick flicks. But, the majority is Scifi/Fantasy!

Just a quick look down the rack (of just the DVDs <g>) gives you everything from Clash of the Titans, to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, to Titan AE. We have... hmmmm.... let's see... All of the Star Wars currently available (and holding our breath for III, which will be out on Nov 1 <g>), both Spiderman's, The Incredibles, Total Recall, Hellboy, Big Fish, Apollo13, Both X-men, Robots, Constantine, both Tomb Raiders, VanHelsing, Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow, all the Star Trek Movies, ditto on all the Matrix stuff (including the Animatrix <LOL>), the Highlander movies, both of the Mummy movies, all of the James Bond stuff..... the list just goes on!

So, how am I supposed to pick just one?? <sigh> Fine, O.K... I'll pick...........

Highlander... The first one! And mostly because I love the character Sean Connery plays <LOL> and, since some people consider that a fantasy rather than a Sci/fi movie, I'll give you a straight Sci/fi pick.... Independence Day. That movie was just plain fun!

Extra Credit: Who is the coolest science fiction character ever? Note that this character doesn't have to be in the film you've selected asyour favorite -- consider the entire genre.

As for Extra credit..... Angelina Jolie IS the Tomb Raider! O.K.... these films weren't High Drama, or heck even well acted..... But, they were FUN!

Hmmm.... I'm off to go and watch a movie... probably a scifi/fantasy one!

Photo Scavenger Hunt (#44)

 

This week's photo shoot from Krissy at Sometimes I Think is:

Category:  Anything Autumn

Hmmmm.... well in most parts of the country there is a definite feel to Autumn... the leaves are turning... it is getting cooler.... Here, it is... different. Not bad, just different. We don't get much of a 'change of season' in Florida. There are no pretty leaves or cool weather. Here, we are watching for the last hurricane/tropical storms of the season and enjoying the nice days in between. So, finding something that said Autumn seemed like a lost cause unless I wanted to dig thru old pictures of when we were traveling. I thought about not doing this challenge at all until.....

Coming home from the place where I board my horse I looked off to the side of the road, and realized that there is something here that says Autumn to the locals.

Last Autumn, our first since moving here, I kept seeing the strangest things in the fields. The farmers were making long 'humps' and covering them with black plastic and running lots of sprinklers on them. And there were lots and lots and lots of these fields all covered in 'humps' and black plastic. At first I couldn't figure out what they were, until finally I had a Duh! moment.

I live near the "Strawberry Capital" of the world and all of those fields were full of... strawberry plants! Come Spring they even have a huge "Strawberry Festival" here that attracts quite the crowds.

So, here is my picture of Autumn:

Click here if you would like to join us and play the Photo Scavenger Hunt!

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Critters!

For my first picture posted from my new camera... I give you the Blogfather's Monday photo shoot:  

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Critters!

Early fall seems like a good time to capture these guys in pictures, because they're out and about storing up for the winter:

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Catch a critter in a picture! For the purposes of this photo shoot, a "critter" is a creature that is not a pet, so no dogs or cats, but mice, squirrels, pigeons, badgers, hedgehogs, wolverines, deer, dragons, sasquatch or any other sort of ambulatory thing is acceptable (as are bugs).

I spent last Saturday at one of my favorite places... The Zoo! It was a great opportunity to try out my new camera and play with some of those really cool buttons!! I'm sure that you'll be seeing other pictures from that day in future entries, but for this photo shoot I wanted to choose a truly 'wild' animal.

I was walking along one of the paths at the zoo and out of the corner of my eye caught movement. Thinking it was probably one of the anoles or a frog, I moved closer to take a look and try out a 'close up' with the new camera. What I found was this little guy. After taking a look from a safe distance and determining by his head shape he was not venomous, I moved in to snap several pictures of him from different angles.  While I was taking his picture, several more people came along and commented on him. I believe he is a black racer. They are fairly common here and help in keeping the pests down.

 

If you want to play along with the photo shoot, click here and check out By the Way.

New "Baby"

I have been drooling over the digital Canon Rebel Cameras for a while. A long while! In fact, when I started drooling, they were 6.1 megapixel. The current version is 8 megapixel.

My current digital camera was a Sony Cyber Shot 2.1 megapixel, and I was was starting to find it not quite accomplishing what I wanted. I wanted something that gave me options to not only crop and still get a decent print picture, but that would also allow for more creative choices. While the Sony was a great intro into digital cameras, it was starting to leave something to be desired. My main frustration was with the dreaded 'picture lag'. This often caused me to get pictures of my subject as it headed away from me rather than the picture I actually wanted! Things that were originally a nuisance had become a major annoyance. I knew that I wanted to move up to something more sophisticated. I had used a film Rebel SLR some years ago, so I was leaning towards wanting the digital version of it as my next camera/toy/obsession. G. was even coming on board with the idea of this possibly (probably <g>) being my Christmas (Anniversary, Valentines Day, Birthday, you name it for the next year or so) present.

Enter the baby elephant.......... Wait, you say, how does a baby elephant come into this??? Well, we were discussing that the little elephant was coming soon, and I was whining (a little cheese with that whine, my dear??) that although the pictures I would take would be great for the Internet and sending to friends, I wouldn't be able to do much more than print up some uncropped 4x6's of the new little one. Luckily, this was whined/mentioned while in the company of some people who had seen some of the pictures I've taken of other animals in the past. They were also a little sad that, although I was going to be getting a better camera, I wouldn't be getting it until after the newest addition had joined us..........

Long story made shorter, G. decided that not only should I go ahead and receive said present a little early, but that I should get it immediately. This way I would have time to learn what all the little buttons are for -before- said addition arrives. (It didn't hurt that there was a special going on that allows me 18 months pay the camera off without any interest being charged!)

Meet my newest Baby

My next dilemma is this: I don't want to add too many pictures here because I know some people still have dial-up, and I already push the envelope of what is annoying for them with the amount of pics and graphics I currently use.... and yet, I'm about to be taking a whole lot more pics in the coming months... What to do? What to do?  My solution is to start a separate Journal where I can put the additional pictures. That way I can say something along the lines of "See this really adorable picture of <insert animal or subject here>. Want to see more? Go here!"  My original title got scratched. I was thinking Photographs & Memories of an Eclectic Mind (kind of staying with the theme <g>), but there is already a journal called Photographs & Memories out there. Now I have to come up with a name for this proposed new Journal. I've got a few ideas rolling around in my head, but I thought I would take it to the creative people here in J-land and see what you come up with. I'm really looking forward to reading your thoughts and notions on this. Meanwhile, I will keep mulling over ideas and names hoping something apt will present itself. 

Weekend Assignment #78: Things to Take

Well, today seems to be a day for 'playing along', so how about a trip over to the Blogfather's journal for this week's Weekend Assignment?

John writes:

Weekend Assignment #78: You are preparing to evacuate your house due to an upcoming threat. You have already packed up all your essential items, people and pets. You have room for three non-essential items. What are they?

Remember, you already have your essentials: food, medicines, water, clothes, and all the people (including the furry ones) who live with you. "Non-essentials" are things you don't need but would like to have, and can include momentos, books, jewelry, objects of sentimental value, and so on and so forth.

Hmmmm.... Let's see...

1. My laptop and the CD's that contain my digital pics would be my first pick because well... pictures are irreplaceable, and I would also want to be able to continue to blog and e-mail if possible. (Oh, and I'm figuring my cell phone was one of the 'essentials <g>)

2. The box that has my printed pictures in it along with my picture albums. (Since I live in Florida, Land of the Hurricaines, my pictures and picture albums are already stored in a plastic sealed container!)

3. As many of the 'collectables' that we have gathered in our travels that I can wrap up and stick in a storage container. These run the gamut of everything from statues to stuffed animals.

Everything else is replaceable....

Extra Credit: Have you ever been evacuated?

I live in Florida on a coast, but I have never actually been evacuated. So far the hurricaines have missed us here.... <keeping fingers crossed and knocking on wood!>

TAGGED!

O.k.... I've been tagged by by Sandi over at Life is Full of Surprises to play to most recent of the memes that are wandering thru J-land. So, without further ado....

Sandi says this is how we play:

What you do is go into your archives and find your 23rd Entry..scroll to your 5th line entry...and put it here:

If I counted right this is it, and it came with a cute little kitty pic.

because the stories are usually along the lines of the "Truth is Stranger Than Fiction"

<LOL> Typical strange blathering from me. If you want to read the full article (with links), go here

Edit: I know we are supposed to 'tag' 5 more people now, so if you haven't played... consider yourself tagged <g>.