ness

..and then there's that too.

What's been clear is that some folks have had it in for Ron for quite a while. It started with mockery and progressed all the way up to plain old nastiness, and it was pretty much non-stop. All along the way I was impressed with his calm responses. He's the good guy in all this.

Ron had some interesting ideas and techniques. I'm gonna miss learning from him.

I'd just add (and, I know you know this Matt), that it is art to be able to see a scene, be there at the right time, compose it correctly, expose it correctly, know what filter will enhance the scene, etc. I really try to get it right at the time of the shot. Most of my pp is cropping and the occasional exposure, contrast or saturation adjustment. The more you get away from the original, the more artifacts you end up with. I haven't used Photoshop in a few years -- most everything I want to accomplish is handled by a good capture, in RAW, with minor PP in Lightroom. You won't be surpised that I'm not a real fan of HDR, will you? MItch: I'd venture a guess that close to 100% of chicks in magazines are enhanced. Nobody wants to see yellow teeth, a zit, wrinkles, or hair on a girl's face.

Sorry to hear that Britts. Like they say, grief is the price we pay for love. I'm sure you've got a ton of great memories. Our oldest Brittany, Molly, is coming up on 11 and I really noticed her slowing down this year. Kinda hard to see.

Hmmm. Last thing I need is another book on the pile, but I may do this anyway. Or Netflix. Or both.

I live 15 minutes the other way. I agree on the tackle -- everything you need for fishing Minnesota, and most of what you need close to home. The gun library, and used gun sections suck me right in. Fly shop is just so-so.

I think that's been Photoshopped to make you look younger. Oh, and the EXIF info says you took it with a Nikon Coolpix S550 on June 12, 2011.

Flatlander means I can see far beyond what you ditch-dwellers can. Anyhoo -- if an old photo in a current report here is used to deceive the reader, it's clearly wrong. If it's to better tell the story of how the day went, well, that's a tad better -- but still questionable enough that I wouldn't do it here without disclosing it. It's pretty routine stuff in publications though.

You mean a report here? No journalistic integrity required to post on here. Using a fake name helps too.

New York Times, National Geographic, Time, Vanity Fair? George Eastman, Elton John, Alice Walton, Walt Disney, the Nelson and Kemper? Dang.

Some interesting thoughts. There isn't really a right answer on the original question. Most people assume photographs capture a 'real' image, but that's just not so. Neither film nor sensors can see as much in a scene as the human eye can. They just can't capture the very darkest and very lightest details. And the interpretation of color is never perfect. Since the beginning of photography people have grappled with these problems, and we still are. With film, you made and exposure and kinda had to live with it. You could tweak things when the print was made by varying the amount of light that hit the photographic paper. You could darken or lighten portions of the print by increasing the length of time light hit a certain part while shading another part with a mask, and vice versa. Different film types had different contrast and saturation properties. 'Kodachrome, gimme the nice bright colors...' was talking about just that. If you shot film, you could get a lot more saturation with that, or Fuji Velvia and Reala. If you shot under incandescent light, you bought another film, or suffered the yellow cast with no way to fix it after the shot. If you had your prints made, you likely had a machine try to adjust it to 'average' when it printed, rather than just take it as it saw the negative. And, remember, you had a meter tell you or your camera how to expose it anyway. Today's sensors are a huge leap forward. The dynamic range (range from darks to lights) are expanding. The sensitivity is increasing exponentially (The top of the line Nikon digitals get 125,000 ISO equivalent; I remember being excited with 400 film) The White Balance allows shooting in all kinds of light from sun to incandescent to sodium to florescent. Photographers have been doing things to make the picture look better all along. Not better than reality -- better than the technology could reproduce. Ansel Adams himself looked at the negative and the print as two separate processes, comparing the negative to a composers score, and the print to the performance. Sooo much room for interpretation in the 'performance'. Great photographers have many of the same skills of great artists. They know composition, pattern, light, color, all that stuff. A great photograph has the elements of a great painting. They are truly art. If you see a photograph and you kinda think, 'Wow' and it makes you want to look at it, you've encountered a great photograph. Whether it be a spectacular moment in time, a beautiful scene you wish you could step into, or anything else that stimulates emotion...that's art. When you understand what makes a great photograph, you appreciate it more. I see 'neat' stuff all the time...things that tickle that 'Wow' button. But, I know enough to see whether it's pure trickery (usually) or a dedicated photographer that put in the time to catch the subject at the perfect moment in time, compose it correctly and get the technical part right. The phony stuff usually exposes itself in one way or another. So, I'm fairly comfortable I can discern between a photoshop creation and a photograph. But not always! When you significantly alter the reality of a scene that is presented as reality, I think there's an obligation to disclose it. I would. But not everyone will -- and you should be a little skeptical if your brain tells you some photo is absolutely AMAZING!

I don't know the Falcon boxes -- may have to give them a look. Plano doesn't seem to be able to make a box with a good, durable latch that stays shut if you bump it around. Also, the boxes with moveable inserts aren't very well made. Dividers slip out of their slots and sometimes need trimming to make them fit. The lid doesn't fit snug down on top of the dividers, so loose hooks will slide over the top, stuff gets snagged, etc.

Sweet, in sooo many ways.

There was just a thread on here a week or two ago about titling and registration, and the guy got steered wrong by the state people answering questions. I think I'd go through the official web sites of the various MO agencies and learn as much as you can before calling anybody. Good luck, and if you've got any pics I'd like to see how you rigged up that pontoon boat.

Saw that, but didn't realize it was Jamesport. That poor kitty is a goner.

Could be an immature Nessie.

I thought it was 'teets' when referring to animals?

I don't think mountain lion attack even makes the top 1,000 dangers to kids. Hell, watching Jersey Shore is more 'dangerous'. Mitch, I was just funnin'. Not calling into question what you said, but mostly directing that toward Laker67's suggestion to shoot the thing. I think it's unfortunate the way this seems to be playing out. Folks have got it in their heads that these things are an imminent danger and that shooting them is ok. There's still folks that say authorities deny their presence. I can see this edging toward hysteria. I don't know what, if any, educational efforts have been put into this around Chesterfield, but I think it'd be nice to see some effort put towards that before it gets out of control.

Gunfire Erupts at Neighborhood Pool Neighbors were in shock today when a large tan animal ran by their neighborhood pool prompting several residents to draw weapons and open fire. "It was like Iwo out there," said Chet Happenz, a longtime resident and World War II veteran. "I don't know what the hell it was, but I know it doesn't belong here. There's kids all around!" Local housewife Tanya Hyde was outspoken in her ridicule of local officials. "That was a mountain lion, and I have to see some action taken before somebody gets killed. These sit-on-their-hands do-nothing people need to fix this." An estimated 35 shots were fired by residents, but the animal appears to have escaped unharmed. No tracks were found as the entire area is paved. Chesterfield Shocked at Killing of Beloved Dog For more than a decade, children at local grade schools were delighted by Benji a loveable yellow Labrador Retriever who frequently visited students and performed a mixture of tricks and service dog tasks. "I love Benji. Why would the bad man do this?" asked a teary-eyed first grader. Benji had been searching for missing child Timmy Norton. It appears Benji had located Timmy in an abandoned well, marked the spot with his dog collar, and was running back home to get help when he was shot multiple times. There are no leads in the case.

Ttransplanted my maters, cukes and some more letuce and cabbage today. Sposta get chilly tonight, so warm-season stuff's covered up. Sowed more chard, beans, radishes, lettuce. Filled some gaps in the beets, radishes and lettuce. Transplanted all the herbs to pots. Extra maters (for the family) and all the peppers back in the cold frame tonight.

I was wondering when someone would bring that up LOL.

Texas holding the conference hostage? Bill Self continually crying? Staying in B12 was a huge risk? KU had no options if B12 fell apart? Conference alignment is critical for a university? No penalty for leaving? C'mon, man. It's hyperbole, spin and half-truths. It is what it is -- greed, plain and simple. Mizzou wanted more, couldn't get it and jumped for the money, flushing your pride, regional ties, traditions, and history. You don't fit down there, you never will. Short-term gain, long term bust. Enjoy the ride.

You knew when KU played MU you were gonna have a game. If one was 0-9 and the other was 9-0, it was still gonna be real fun.It was gonna be packed and it was gonna be the buzz around here all week, where it's about 50-50 KU/MU split. Folks flying their flags, wearing their t-shirts, tails hanging out of their trunks, talking smack at the grocery store, church, work, wherever. 'God help me I do love it so', as Patton said. One of the things I find so annoying about it all is the giddy Mizzou administration and some of the fans. It seems the priorities are just jacked up. But, that's the way sports have become. Compare and contrast:

That sums up the way I feel about it too.