Bebo pic

For my wife and friends who like Bebo

From Sculptures

Tulips 2010

This was a fun 1 day vacation. Much good food was consumed. Fine wines were enjoyed

with great friends. The weather was spot on. Cloudy for good pictures, sunny for shopping.

I scored a great year of the tiger shirt. =^.,.^=

Thanks RB and JK for an awesome time.

The trip was based on advice by a great philosopher:

'Life moves pretty fast; and you don't stop and look around once in a while, you're gonna miss it.'"

Tiger Soze

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he
is harmless. -Tiger Soze

Killed it

NOM!
It's so great to have friends with great taste in wine… and friends.

One day escapes are great.

Thank you RB & JK!

Next: off to see tulips

Spring Sakura

The first signs of spring for me are the sakura (cherry blossoms or flowering cherry). I can remember my aunt performing the Japanese song "Sakura" and associate it with spring to this day.

It's spring here

Spring is here if the cherry blossums
are out.

Kitteh: hope and change

that you are going to give me more of that nom milk!

my litterbox!

Playing with a new app and could juuust not resist.

Props to Raine; Hope was her idea.

Symantec = Suck ???

Thought is was funny. In tech. one constantly has a love/hate relationship with software (espec. security) vendors. Sometimes an IT person tips over the edge:

Attention Symantec, makers of the Norton products - you suck. Your website sucks. Your product interface sucks. Your subscription renewal 'process' sucks. The fact that you've decided to hide the Norton Internet Security Add-on pack as a secret download, yet still advertise it as an included feature on the webpage and product box sucks. Your technical support sucks. Your embedded help sucks. Your on-line knowledge base sucks. The fact that you have over-priced your piece of crap product by roughly 300% above what it's actually worth sucks. You are up to your corporate necks in massive suck. If you sucked any more, it is entirely possible that the suck factor in your immediate neighborhood would surpass the Hawking threshold, resulting in an implosion and catastrophic collapse of the local Swartzchild Radius and the formation of a new black hole. I.e. You SUCK! The only reason you are still in business is because you've got a fat, juicy government contract to supply suck to the US Military and other Government Agencies - that and the fact that your chief competitor sucks even worse than you do.

Tigertiger vid

Little cat playing again.

Stalking

I'm not always sure if he is playing or sizing me up for lunch.

I hope its being friendly.

Jan 23. Almos and Bahgira

Almos and Bahgira were being cooperative today. Almos was being friendly and came over to chuff.

Bahgira is getting to be a BIG boy and is somewhere north of 72kg.

TigerTiger Video test

Just to see if i can do it.

The guys are getting bigger

Vitez was busy playing in the mud before I got to the zoo.
Baghira was just tired from playing.

Both are getting bigger, B is 160 lbs. He's gonna be a BIG tiger.

Kitty cast

Little Sanpei/TigerTiger hurt his foot. Here he is with his little
kitty cast on. You wouldn't know it thought. He runs around and
pesters the big cats like nothings wrong.

Little tiger

Ok, I'm a little bored, have a camera handy and am living with a new kitten.
Little Sanpei (tiger tiger) is quite active and entertaining.

The little orange helmet was just too cute to pass up. Sorry Sanpei

SanPei

Run, Sleep, Play... A kitteh's day is never done!

Contact info

Contact info:

Being watched??

From 1206CMZ-Blog

Taj was not feeling particularly energetic today, i think he was being pensive.

From 1206CMZ-Blog

Almos seemed to be watching me..

From 1206CMZ-Blog

I'm not sure if thats a good thing

From 1206CMZ-Blog

Even Vitez seemed to be keeping an eye on me.

I can has tiger

OMG.. My buddy is famous! The tiger, not the baby.


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I wonder if I can get an autograph.

November 11

Yes.. More tigers :-D

Cold and wet day, wet tigers.

Baghira was playing with a small rock, and his brother Vitez was in a very playful mood.

Taj was very camera shy today.

Little faces

Look at these little faces.

Well maybe not so little any more..

Bhagira and Vitez are getting closer to 100 lbs.

Happy Halloween!

Tigers and pumpkins!!!

[ CONTENT OVERRIDE: KILROY2.0 IS HERE!!! ]

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3 Sumatrans, 2 Bengals, 2 Bengal cubs, 170 miles = 1300 pictures.

The first tiger in this set is the new male at Pt. Defiance Zoo. His name is yet to be chosen, I'm voting for Bali. He got some "enrichment items" for his introduction to the public. They included a "Popsicle" and a pumpkin with some hamburger inside. Sadly when he went to investigate the pumpkin, he knocked it into his pool. He seemed to really enjoy the Popsicle, as he drug it up the hill and hid in the shadows with it. The keepers were saying that they will try and get him and Jaya to eventually breed hopefully.

Jaya is in this set as well. She was being photogenic as usual, if not a little shy, hiding in the back of the 2nd enclosure.

Java was mostly hiding in the shade of a third enclosure. I got only a few pictures of him and only one worth posting.

I won't post the rest of this set just yet, per request.

More fall color

And sometimes the fall color is just everywhere.

I should keep my camera on me at all times. Of course, if I did that it would take me hours to get to my next client appointment every day.

Well, today it was just easier to take pictures in the backyard.

Click on the pictures to see the full size versions.

October 17th.

Todays visit was pretty wet. Storm cleared long enough to allow a few pictures.
Almos was in the Phase I enclosure and was cooperative.

The cubs Bhagira and Vitez were brought into the glass enclosed area and were playing and talking to Almos and the Cougar Nashi. Bhagira was running back and forth and Nashi was following him.

October 11th.

I didn't realize any of these would come out. I was lucky enough to get a few pictures of Nashi the Cougar.
It seems that it was a very snoozy day for the tigers Taj and Almos. Nashi was so alert because he had just been given his enrichment treats. You can see some hamburger hidden in the enclosure.

Windoze 7 for my work laptop.

Well, work just gave me a new drive with win7. YAAAWN.
Friends are having win7 rollout parties to get free copies.

Its pretty vista, new significant new gadgets. Seems every so slightly faster.
On the flip side, IE seems ever so less stable. Perhaps it was the AJAX page i was pulling up.

Color me unimpressed.

CMZ 3-Oct-09

The big guys are still being tempted into their new enclosure. Their big tiger ball was moved down the connecting tunnel, which Almos retrieved and brought back to the phase 1 area.

Since Almos and Taj are still happy in their current area, their little friends get to play in the larger phase 2 enclosure.

Tail of 2 Tigers and 2 Cubs

September 26th, Tale of 2 Tigers event at Cougar Mountain Zoo.

Taj and Almos were to be introduced to their new enclosure. Unfortunately, they didn't cooperate. I think there was a little stage fright goin' on. The ever-creative curator Robyn, had a plan B. The cubs Vitez and Bhagira got to go play in the new enclosure, as did all of us visitors. There are some pictures in the sequence.

Rough Play

These big boys play rough.
When their paw connect, you can hear the thwap.
They are connecting, but without claw extended.
I could only imagine if they were serious what would happen.
At the end of combat, they groom each other.

CMZ 12-Sep-09

To get good at photography, take pictures of the same type of subject.

Java from Point Defiance Zoo (Tacoma)

I have not been to PDZA very often. I will be going more this year as my sweet wife got me a membership.

Sunday, Java was out, so pictures of him:

Vitez and Baghira Tiger cubs

Yes, more pictures of the tiger cubs.
Vitez is the little royal white, and Baghira is the standard orange cub.

Too cute to not post.

Tiger cubs attempt zoo-break

Tigers are crafty little creatures. On a recent trip to Cougar Mountain Zoo I captured photographic evidence to prove this hypothesis.

Watch as these two 11 week old cubs plan and execute an escape attempt.

Ever wary zoo general curator Robyn Barfoot, foiled said attempt.

UPDATE: 8-Sep-2k9 Enlarged to 600x400 slide show

Encounter with a Bengal Tiger

Once in a lifetime...
Hardly! I will do this again if I am able.

His "nickname" is Titan, he does not yet have a formal name. There is a contest the zoo is putting on to give him an official name. Tigers deserve names that befit them.

Very playful little guy (18kg) at 11 weeks. The fur isn't soft like a kitten, but slightly wiry. Under the fur, its all muscle. Sasha said he was doing the "tigger" thing today, bounding around. At just under 3 months old he is definitely a tiger. The experience was very much like playing with a 10-12 month old German Shepard puppy. You KNOW he is powerful, and must respect him (he deserves that).

Robyn's friendly reminder "18 claws and 30 teeth" rings in my ears. He did charge me a few times and brushed me with his paw, his claws retracted. He knows that he is just playing with me, the stuffted toy will not fare so well.

Tiger Cubs - August 8, 2009

These little guys are too photogenic.

All 20 lbs, 18 claws and 30 teeth. (Thanks Robyn)

On Tuesday I get to play with the orange one. They don't have names yet.

Cubs

The new cubs at Cougar Mtn Zoo are just too adorable to not photograph.

Baby Tiger Cubs.. The cute.. it burns!

 

gogo dancer

Yes. That's the name on the side of the plane.

What would Stephen Colbert say?

New video posted to youtube

Just posted a new video to you tube from the shoot today.

Wild Tigers.

I would love comments, and criticisms.


Click the title of the post or view it in the youtube video viewer below "Wild Tigers"
"

My Tiger Videos

Almos is 2 years old and almost 400 lb.s

A sample of the photos taken at Cougar Mountain Zoo.

More photos of tigers

Mexico

Wow.. Great trip.

Hard to get used to less than 70 degrees and sunny.

Rainbow

The Tigers at Cougar Mountain Zoo

A while ago I discovered the tigers Taj and Almos at the Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah. I met the zoo's director Robyn, and yesterday we were talking about Taj and Almos.

The Zoo is in the middle of a construction project to build an much larger outdoor enclosure for the 2 existing tigers and hopes to get 2 more cubs later this year. Due to the rising construction costs and the economy, they are still short around $40,000 to ensure the completion of the project. The new enclosure will be better for these 2 growing young tigers, and will leave the existing space for the new cubs.

I would love to help them in some small way. If anyone reading this would like copies of any of my photographs (full resolution), I am happy to trade them for a donation to the zoo.

Shit HeadEry

A blog, social space by a friend of mine.
A place to read and write rants among other things.
Pretty funny stuff.

Tiger Logo

From a gift box Raine got me

Football day

Appologies to all of my regular readers (Dianne) for the dearth of
posts.

Today is playoff day. A trip to the "local" watering hole for nachos
and football. No seahawks here sadly.

Hopefully the fog will clear and we will get sun in Puyallup.

Well. Smoke break over. I'd better get back to the nachos.

Is that enough Diane?

Winter Storm - Dec. 2008

It was quite the little snow storm for this area. Just a flurry to my friends in Utah and Alberta. Seattle and the surrounds are not as prepared as those places. It does paint a beautiful landscape.

Fall red

I love my DSLR. I also am amazed at my iPhone cam

Palin 2008 Campaign Rap: Red, White and MILF

I have not decided whether this is a joke or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evafgvrMci8

Those pesky internets

Funny how everything spoken into the record by public people, like senators, gets captured and posted to the internet:

Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, the amendment before the Senate is a very simple one. It restricts the use of campaign funds for inherently personal purposes. The
amendment would restrict individuals from using campaign funds for such things as home mortgage payments, clothing purchases, noncampaign automobile expenses,
country club memberships, and vacations or other trips that are noncampaign in nature.


Source Library of Congress (thomas.loc.gov)
103rd congress, congressional record
CONGRESSIONAL SPENDING LIMIT AND ELECTION REFORM ACT OF 1993

Dear reader, how many hockey moms shop at Sax?

Fall color 2008

Fall color pictures taken today.

Click here for the slide show Fall Color 2008

http://lance.hirakawa.googlepages.com/fall2008color

iPhone image manipulation

Love ezimba for the iPhone.

Just the guys

Just the guys

Click the link for pictures of 3 male tigers.

The broad perspective

My Canadian friend Jeremy posted this http://www.fluffontheinternet.com/pivot/entry.php?id=373 item on his blog about the TrooperGate reporting.

News here in the US is getting more and more sensationalistic on all sides. The volume and smoke surrounding the election is getting worse. I would encourage people to read all 3 articles to get a better perspective.

On thing that mitigates this is getting new from multiple sources, as well as getting it delivered that way all the time. I really like http://news.google.com/ The google Reader allows you get this type of news daily. Any feed reader can accomplish this.

Zoo Safari

View Album

Get your own

I took 1600 pictures, here are the best 42.

Election

Wow.

Breaking news: Palin abused her power as Gov. in the Monegan firing. Big surprise there.
She claims that she didn't get to talk to the investigation.. AFTER refusing to testify/speak to the investigation.. wow, really?

McCain has to talk his voters down, after people have been yelling "Terrorist" and "Kill Him" at McCain and Palin campaign rallies. He had to take the microphone away from a woman who called Obama an arab. Having to explain that Obama is a good man, and you "don't have to fear him".

Wow.

Call me not very surprised that McCain voters don't already know this. I am surprised that he is having to talk them down. Now, I am NOT implying that all conservatives / McCain followers are stupid or racist. There are however a large number who are one or both. People who are paying attention to the "Who is the real Obama?" nonsense and not the economic meltdown. Anyone who yells "Kill Him" at a campaign rally is both stupid and racist.

Hello???!!! The Secret service protects both McCain and Obama. I would imagine the Secret service would pay attention to those type of things.

New DVDs

We just got the new Iron Man DVD.

They were good enough to include a whole DVD of special features and a few hidden scenes. What was disappointing was that there was no iPod version of the movie. I see on iTunes that they will be selling that for another $14. I am quite disappointed. Transcoding another of copy of the movie and including it on the 2nd (special feature disk) is something i would have expected.

This disk we were going to buy anyway. Based on the popularity of the movie (servers that support the blue-ray version crashed in the first 2 days) i'm not very surprised they didnt include it and will charge an additional fee to get the ipod version.

I won't however condsider buying DVD's without ipod versions included as a special feature.

Do you hear me movie companies? :-P Fork over the additional content.