Front Bumper Entomology

Ever wonder what happens when you drive 3214 miles through 8 states in late August? I picked up an insect collection that would make an entomologist envious. Here's a sample of the insect world from the following states: Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado.

Up next: A study on the effects of high water pressure on a vehicle.

The Medicine Wheel

High up in the mountains of northern Wyoming is this place called the Medicine Wheel. No one really knows its orgin, but it's long been a spot for prayer and meditation for Native Americans. By long, we're talkin' 7000 years.

I hiked up there today and thought it was pretty awesome. The best way to describe it is some sort of Native American Stonehenge. Some people hike up there just out of curiosity, other to use it for a place of meditation.

Curiosity was my purpose. When I got up there though I was surprised to find myself all alone. The second purpose ended up getting the best of me.

Born to be Mild

Growing up in Wyoming, motorcycles were a pretty big part of my teenage years. Every male in the family owned a bike. Our garage was filled with four to five motorcycles at any one time. I had a motorcycle before I ever had a car.

Sometimes when I go back to visit I get out and ride with my dad. That's him on the right on his fancy BMW. I'm obviously the smart one since I'm wearing the helmet.

Decided to set up the "biker cam" before the ride. Worked pretty darn good, meaning the camera was still there when we got back.

Wyoming is a pretty nice place to ride and I will admit I do miss having my own bike at times.

But why would I buy my own when I can just go to Wyoming and ride for free?

The Druids Were There Serving Cappuccinos...

Not really, but that would've been a nice touch to this piece of very cool modern art in the Nebraska panhandle. Carhenge!

L-I-V-I-N

"Drivin, Drivin, Drivin... Got my troubles on hold."

That's from an old Sammy Hagar favorite and truer words were never spoken. Except I'm really not that troubled.

Armed with my ipod and a bag of Twizzlers, I set out from Wichita last Wednesday and my vacation is only halfway over. The only thing concrete on the agenda was the workshop in Minneapolis. After that... it's where ever the little white car takes me.

Here's how loosely organized my trip is: Last week, I was on the right side of the fold. This week, I'm over on the left.

Typically when I make drives like these, I'm in a hurry to get to the next place. I'm swearing to take my time this trip. Stopping on the side of the road to take pictures... finding the two-lane back roads I've never traveled before.

It's been nice so far. Except I ran out of Twizzlers last night in the Nebraska panhandle

More from Minneapolis

While at the Multimedia News Producers Workshop at the University of Minnesota, we were all sent out onto the streets of Minneapolis to shoot and produce our own video story. Most of the students, including myself, roamed around Dinkytown to find a story. The college neighborhood was ripe with interesting characters.

I settled on Martin Reynolds, a guitar repairman who works right across the street from where Bob Dylan got his start. I knew this place would have tons of natural audio. The faculty and my fellow students gave me great positive feedback on this piece.

I Guess This Settles It

The evidence I've been seeking finally arrived in my inbox over the weekend. Even I can admit, they look pretty dang good together.

But... I also have this video from their wedding and I think you'll see it's obvious that Mr. Haller was a little reluctant to utter the two little words at the alter. He also must have been a bit queasy during the ceremony. He's lookin' a little green.

A Heck of a Nice Surprise

So as I mentioned in the previous post, I'm at the University of Minnesota attending a workshop on how newspapers guys like me can learn to adapt in this changing multimedia world. It's something I feel pretty passionate about so I decided to take it upon myself to make the trip up here and learn as much as I can.

In this morning's introductory session, Nora Paul, the director of New Media Studies at the U of M, by way of the Poynter Institute, is lecturing us on multimedia. What is it, why should we be using it, etc?

So she starts projecting examples on a screen of what she considered good examples of multimedia by newspapers. Mostly the stuff you always hear about: washingtonpost.com, nytimes.com.

Anyway, she starts saying something about this next piece being really touching, and how she thought it was a great example of a natural sound video by a newspaper and next thing you know.... MY OWN VIDEO was playing in front of the class. A piece I did last May about a guy who cared for his wife with Alzheimers.

Unfortunatly, she did mention that she thought the display of the video on our website was pretty poor and went so far as to call it a waste of a really great effort. That was too bad. Next thing I know the class is debating about why that might be the case. I thought about piping up, but my heart was beating pretty hard. I decided to just lay low and enjoy the compliment. I hate tootin my own horn as it is. It's not like me to write a post like this, but dang.... I was really just blown away, and totally reinvigorated. Maybe I'm on to something here. I dunno.

I'd post a link to the video, but I don't think it's on our site anymore.

Dorm Days Revisited

I'm in Minneapolis right now for a multimedia editors workshops at the University of Minnesota. Video training, basically.

To save myself some cabbage, I opted for a few nights at Centennial Hall here on campus instead of the University Radisson just a few short blocks from here. "Relive Your Dorm Days," was how the workshop sold this option.

Funny... it looks and feels like, a prison cell.

No food. public bathrooms. parked a mile away. Yeah, that was college life alright. I don't miss it.

Still Ain't Convinced

Got these two pictures from Jeff tonight. He claims that's him and Meggan on Longs Peak in Colorado the day after their wedding last week. hmmmm.

A couple of things I'd like to point out about these pictures:

1. No evidence of a wedding ring in either one. Jeff claims to have bought one. He also said he was getting one. I don't see one. This is the friggin' day after they got married. Show off some hardware, people! Sell it!

2. Different clothes in each photo. Must be filers.

3. Jeff looks like a dork. As usual. Actually, in second photo, he looks a lot like his dad. Larry Haller is no dork, just for the record.

4. In photo #2, Meggan is holding a McDonalds Hash Brown in her hand. I know when I see one.

I'm still waiting on a photo that features Jeff actually "getting" married. I'm starting to wonder.

He can't possibly be married. Just not possible. Not the Jeff Haller I know.

Speaking of Hell....

... I learned today that it's also known as Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I always had a feeling hell was somewhere in Oklahoma.

This is me in Hell's media center.

I'm covering the PGA Championships this weekend and for me to tell you it's hot down here would not even begin to do it justice.

It was misery the likes of which I've never experienced. I've truely never been that overheated in my life. I almost had to bow out at one point. My heart wouldn't stop pounding, I ached all over.

It was 101 degrees today but that golf course felt like an oven. Before you lecture me in the comments section about drinking water, know this: I drank 160 ounces on the course today. That's 1.25 gallons. That doesn't count what I had before I walked out the door.

I may look comfortable in this snap, but trust me, I'm not. Carrying all that camera gear around was obviously not helping. This is at the 18th green while I wait for Tiger Woods to finish. It was the first break I had all day.

It's Official. Hell has Frozen Over. Solid

Though I'm still gathering the details, and awaiting photographic proof, It appears to be true.

Jeff Haller is married. (that is no typo)

Now, the details are still sketchy, but here's what I can tell you:

Allegedly, Jeff married Meggan Booker last night (8-9-07) at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. The ceremony was small and was supposedly only witnessed by immediate family members.

Jeff and Meggan have been dating for four years but I've still never met her and cannot confirm that she actually exists. In the pictures Jeff has showed me, she sure does look nice. If she's real, he sure did marry way above what he probably deserves!

Now Jeff tells me that he set up remote cameras to document his own wedding (nerd!) since no photographer was present. He told me by phone this morning that he is running off to go camping and therefore would not be able to email me photos. hmmmm.

In the meantime, I've stolen this rather unflattering photo of him off his own site. That'll teach him.

Now keep in mind that the Stanley Hotel is where Jeff's favorite movie, "Dumb and Dumber" was filmed. It's possible this could all be a joke and Jeff's gone mad thinking he's Jim Carrey and he's awaiting the arrival of Lauren Holly. I wouldn't put it past him.

But if it is true... I'm thrilled for the both of them. Many congratulations!

...and don't you forget it!

I got a new ipod Nano today and it came with a very stern warning etched on the back.

Scenic Frame of Mind

It's no secret that I'm not much of a fan of the scenery in Kansas. I grew up in Wyoming for heaven's sake! Can you blame me? One can hardly stay awake driving across this oversized pancake. If you get lucky, you might see a tornado.

Having said that, I will admit that the drive from Wichita to Manhattan is probably my favorite. No matter your choice of highways (177 or K-15) it's a pretty peaceful drive.

By looking at the tail fin, I'm not the first person who's taken a shot at this windmill along K-15.

Maybe I Should Cut Back on the Coffee

This new multimedia world sure is hard work. It's not just photography anymore. It's video, audio, writing. Whew!.. it wears me out.

Don't worry. I'll get over this time-lapse fascination soon. But I do think this vid is pretty funny.

Return to Greensburg

Made it back to Greensburg for the first time in a couple of months on Thursday.

One could argue that it actually looked better with piles of rubble everywhere. At least with that, you had some means of finding your way around. It used to be that I could identify a building, such as the high school, by its unique brick pile. A house was represented by a particular pile of splintered lumber.

Now it's just slabs of concrete and weeds.

I made a little time lapse video you can watch by clicking on the picture above or on this link. Warning: It gets old pretty fast.