Depoe Bay Trip

It's not that time of year that one usually goes to the coastal areas for a weekender. But that doesn't mean that you can't, hey it's a free country!

Together with very good friends and their families (and pet), we head off to Depoe Bay, OR for a weekend at a beach house. And you'd be surprised, as a lot of people were there too (despite the weather). Booking the beach house was also a challenge. There were a few that we chose, and by the time we started booking, the selections boiled down to just one available unit for that weekend!

The drive was ok and smooth. Weather wasn't really cooperating too much, so it was gloomy and rainy. I drove Yuki, the Mazda, and it's her first long drive (and she did pretty well - 33-34 mpg).

We arrived at the venue Friday night, past 7pm. It was a nice and charming little beach house. I got dibs on the covered garage :-) And also the room above it, which was separate from the main house. It's amazing how the house was 'maximized' to make bedrooms. In the master's bedroom, for example, it had such a big walk-in closet that was converted to a bedroom.


Yeah, no one will be talking a 'walk by the shore' this time of day.
Didn't have to cook that night so we just dove in and ate. Then unpacked a bit and settled down. I wanted to stay up a little late but when I got to my room and lay down on the bed, I fell asleep. And everyone else took a nap early too.

Saturday was the fun packed day. Started off with the kids being my alarm clock and hanging out in my room for a while.

We were able to do most on that day - cooking/bbq, walk along the beach, outlet shopping, emergency grocery runs, photoshoots, lounging in the spa, drinks, karaoke, chats/conversations - good times :) Had it not been raining, we would've easily have had a picnic outside or even by the beach.


The dog and the seaside.
And there was lots of food. Like we were prepared for a 5-day or even a week if we had to.

Despite the weather, we were all having fun. We were all just chilling out and doing stuff. No 'by-the-numbers' agenda, no pressure, no frills, no hangups, no drama (thank goodness...), no party-poopers. If it hadn't been for the wet weather, I'd say it would've qualified as a 'near-perfect' weekend!


We were finally able to enjoy a seaside walk later in the afternoon.
Sunday came, and we all prepared to go. There was a bit of a moment of silence for a while as we started loading our vehicles and prepared to drive off. I guess we all wished we could've stayed longer...

Though, there's Spring and Summer to look forward to, so another round at the beach is imminent. ;)

One final blog note...as the entire experience was very memorable and fun, there's one priceless moment for me during that weekend - a 30-minute "quality chat" with my god daughter, while sitting on the stairs. Just the two of us chatting away about school and slice-of-life things. A very, very, priceless moment for me (and for her too), bar none. :)

Cheers and be safe out there!!

Black Rock Shooter 2010

It is really nice to see things that start from just a simple idea, and then grow into something really awesome and inspiring.

This is probably the case for Black Rock Shooter.


Black Rock Shooter - a.k.a, BRS.
It started out as art drawn by an illustrator/artist named Huke and posted on the web. This was then seen by Ryo (from the band SuperCell), who got inspired by Huke's art, that he used the Miku Vocaloid (software) to create music for it. The two collaborated, and they even made a video of Black Rock Shooter.

Fans started doing their own PVs, like this one which summarizes a bit of Black Rock Shooter's story.

And now, BRS is 'personified' as a 1/8 scale figure by Good Smile Company. It is amazingly sculpted and done, and to see it in actual form is just fascinating.


From paper, to pvc, to DVD - quite an evolution for an original character with a huge following.

Wonder how long it took to create the sculpture?
It doesn't end there either. Black Rock Shooter has now been produced as an official anime, and will be shown in Spring of 2010. Check out the trailer on Youtube (do a search for 'Black Rock Shooter Anime').

I guess that if one really puts his/her mind to it, things can happen. That may not always be the case though. But there will be that chance, that hope, that something awesome will come out even from the simplest of ideas.


That 'Rock Cannon' she's holding probably packs a punch
(and quite heavy too).
The Black Rock Shooter project is a nice example of such a thing. I hope for the project's continued success, and looking forward to the release of the BRS animation this year.

Snow day!

We get snow here rarely and I forgot to blog about it!

So we had a nice flurry here last December, and I thought it would be reminiscent of last year's when we had a 'big one'. Well, for us it was a 'big one', heh heh. Enough that I stayed home for a week as driving is just not worth it, unless you really, really need to do so.

I was supposed to work 1/2 that day (December 29) as I had such a bad headache. But I got caught up with some work, so I ended up going home around 2 o'clock. As I got outside, there it was...snow! Big flakes! But it wasn't sticking yet.

I was thinking about our area and higher elevations, so I hurried out. Good thing the roads were still ok, and closer to our area, snow was sticking and was starting to get slippery (and that made me miss my AWD Subies so much...).


Rin is about 4" high, so we had at least an inch of snow I guess.
When I got home, the white stuff was everywhere, and people were having fun in the snow, including myself!

I walked around, talked to some neighbors, while lugging the camera and taking some shots. Also sent text messages to friends, warning them about the snow and to go home as early as possible. And also to avoid back roads.


Snow continued to fall until later in the evening. Here's Rin on the fence while
enjoying the snow.

Later I got a call from a friend and she asked for my help to check on her daughter at the daycare/school. So off with Squeaks (my 4x4 Cherokee) I went. I also picked up her husband (also a good friend) and we both got to the daycare and everyone was safe and sound.

Snow is a mixed bag - one moment it's so nice, serene and the next it could turn outright dangerous. As long as you keep in mind about the physics of things (i.e., snow = slippery regardless of any kind of traction you have), you'll be fine.

But the problem is again, as always, the other blokes around you who think that having chains and 4x4 means 'teh sticky'. Thank goodness I haven't had to deal with any of those.

In any case, looks like this is our 'snow' for the winter season here in the valley. Could there be another one ready to surprise us? I guess we'll find out when (and if) it gets here. :-)

Cheers!

'Make a Picture'

This phrase stuck to my head when I read it, while looking over some photography sites in the Web.

And it does make sense. Most of the time we just grab our cameras, then point and shoot. Picture in and done, next. It's digital, so no wasted film.

But the moment is the one that can be 'wasted'. For example, an otherwise mundance picture would've been a very nice photograph if one took a second or two to properly compose the shot. Or maybe not have used the flash. Things like that will make a lot of difference in the final picture.

I guess that's why they say 'make a picture', don't just 'take a picture'. In fairness, it won't always apply in photo situations, specially in casual photography. Not everyone will have the time to fiddle or bother with the controls, that's what the auto part is there for!

But for those special shots that you want to take, perhaps it won't hurt keeping options in mind the before you push the shutter release button. There's a caveat too, I guess, since there will be trial and error times. But that's where you learn. And it's digital (no wasted film)! So keep on trying and finding that setting that makes it right. ;P

After all, the pictures you take are all unique moments, and for some cases, it could be a 'once-in-a-lifetime' shot.

Cheers!

Happy New Year of the Tiger 2010

Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year!!

It is the year of the Tiger - which hopefully will start off on a good note. The economy is still reeling but looks to have signs of recovery in the horizon.

There will definitely be challenges but that is a given I guess.

For now, let's look forward, but not forget to look back at the past to serve as a guide and 'lessons learned', to prepare us for the road ahead.

Cheers all and again, a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!! *^_^*