And we’re back; and as you can probably tell from the image above, we spent our vacation in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Tara and I arrived in Cannon Beach Monday morning after taking the long (yet scenic) route down the Pacific Coast Highway 101. We had our list of things to see and do, plus, enough room on our itinerary for things we discovered along the way and simple relaxation. The first night was set aside for photographing Haystack Rock during sunset and getting settled in.

The sunset was amazing, though, I wish I could say the same for Tuesday night which turned out to be less than spectacular. After roaming around Haystack Rock looking for just the right angle; I settled upon this vantage point just to the left of the actual sunset so I could capture the color hitting the mist coming off the 235 foot monolith.

On July 18th I uploaded the picture to my Flickr Photostream and in just 4 days, almost 2,000 views, 200 favorites and over 70 comments later; it rose to the number one spot in Flickr’s Explore pool measured in “Interestingness.” It was also featured on the Interestingness Explore page (See Screen Shot).

Back to our trip, here’s a short list of places we stayed, ate at or did and what we would recommend [or not] to friends, family or even strangers (hello random anonymous web surfers)… Enjoy.

The Surfsand Resort

This is where we stayed for our three day trip, the wonderful Surfsand Resort. Very reasonably priced for what you get, this was the first time I had stayed in a room that actually felt like an actual residence. Granted there wasn’t a kitchen (though we did have a refrigerator), the little touches around the room made it feel very comfortable. From the 42 inch LCD TV (and 20 inch LCD in the bathroom), to every light being on a dimmer to the king size Tempur-Pedic mattress… Light fixtures and decorations didn’t feel like the usual “wholesale” pappy crap found in other places; I’m sure I would feel comfortable having many of the items that were in our room displayed in my own home.

The staff were all very helpful, well, minus the gentleman who checked us in. Their wireless internet wasn’t working and when I talked to him about it he gave me the number to some random I.T. guy to troubleshoot the problems the resorts systems were having - with me, over the phone. Listen, I do this crap for a living and I’m on a vacation, he should have just said “I’m very sorry, I’ll have our I.T. person look into it and I will personally call you when it’s working.” But much as I didn’t let one bad apple ruin it for the whole staff, you shouldn’t either. Everyone else we interacted with at the resort was kind, attentive and willing to go above and beyond to make sure our stay was relaxing and comfortable.

The resort is located on the beach about 3oo yards north of Haystack Rock. From our 3rd story room, that wasn’t directly on the beach, we had a full view of the ocean, beach and all 235 feet of Haystack Rock. The town is also fairly small so most all restaurants, rental shops, touristy shops and the almighty cup of coffee are within walking distance from the Surfsand.

Over all, I would highly recommend the Surfsand as the place to stay in Cannon Beach… make sure you have them build you a fire on the beach for sunset.

Link: [http://www.surfsand.com/]

Gower Street Bistro

If you eat at just one place in Cannon Beach, eat here, The Gower Street Bistro located just across the street from the Surfsand. Now anyone who knows me will say that I am a man of simple taste, give me Peanut Butter and Jelly and I’ll be happy for life. But thankfully I have Tara in my life to steer me in the right direction of more palatable choices.

Our first visit, Tara had a salad which was fairly tasty. Though, they could have chopped the meat and cheese into sizes a bit more manageable for a salad. I can honestly say, with out a doubt, I had the best pulled pork sandwich of my life here. So much so that we joked about driving back to Cannon Beach just for the sandwich… it’s amazing. I made sure the waitress knew several times afterward and again when we returned for breakfast.

The second visit was the next morning after we checked out of the Surfsand. Tara had the biggest pile of French Toast I have ever seen, meaning I got to eat a healthy portion of it as well and it definitely tops my list of french toast. In fact it was so good, Tara had a difficult time leaving the rest after she was already full. I had a huge ham, egg and cheese sandwich and swapped my salad (surprise surprise) for potatoes. It was delicious, it’s up there with Macrina’s delectable egg sandwich. (Macrina, another fine eatery that Tara turned me onto)

A great selection of wine, top shelf liquor, relaxing and a great look and feel; The Gower Street Bistro was our favorite place to dine.

Link: [http://www.gowerstreetbistro.com/]

Pizza a’ fetta

Pizaa a’f fetta bills themselves as one of the top fifty pizza restaurants in the country. Something quite odd to claim on your website, I would be more inclined to make such a statement if I were in the top ten or top five… All semantics aside, this is a great spot for lunch or a simple dinner.

This is the first place we ate once we arrived in Cannon Beach. The space is small with only a few tables. The staff were quirky with a sense of humor and very talkative if you invited them in conversation. The pizza was delicious, but I’ll have to give it some time before I rank them on my top fifty list… I’m going to have to bump someone, I just don’t know who yet.

Side note about Pizza a’ fetta; when you walk in the door you might notice two ziploc baggies full of water hanging from the door jam. What I at first thought was some sort of prank does in fact serve a purpose. I asked our waiter what they were for, and he replied “You sir, are the first person to ask.” I found this hard to believe because even passers by seemed to stop and look at the sacks in bewilderment. Apparently, they fool flies into thinking it’s raining in the doorway. And being the smart buggers that they are, they avoid fling into the restaurant for fear of getting wet. It almost makes sense if you think about it; they see thousands of the same object so two baggies of water will look like thousands of baggies of water. And I must say, there was not a fly in the room.

I thought it was all a joke, but a quick Google search says otherwise. Whether it works or not, people have been doing it for years.

Due to the small space, and the deliciousness of their pies, I recommend arriving a little bit earlier than normal for your meal if you plan to dine in. They sell pizza’s by the slice, whole or both to go with some outside seating available.

Link: [http://www.pizza-a-fetta.com/]

Mo’s Chowder

Every gleaming review must have a sour taste, Mo’s is mine. You know you are in the wrong place when the first 25 feet of the restaurant entrance is hawking cheap Cannon Beach souvenirs. But this is a “historic chowder house” that was also featured on Extreme Home Makeover; so we gave it a shot.

I ordered halibut fish ‘n chips and Tara ordered a crab melt. When they arrived it appeared they had both been deep fried in the same vat of fat. My fish and chips were tasteless… that’s all I can say really. I’ve never had a tasteless piece of halibut in my life. Tara’s crab melt was basically a wonder bread grilled cheese with shreds of “who knows what part it came from” crab in the middle.

The only thing great about this place was the view. The food was tasteless and so was the blatant and constant up selling from our waiter. But maybe we are spoiled Seattleites who are used to eating at Ray’s Boat House, Dukes or even Spud’s. This place is for tourists coming from land locked states who don’t know what good sea food is supposed to taste like.

Link: [http://www.moschowder.com/]

Other Bits

Bruces Candy Kitchen, where they make and wrap their own salt water taffy right in front of you. Flavors ranging from watermelon to peanut butter and jelly to peach, all in all I believe they have about twenty five assorted flavors. Other mass varieties of candy and sweets are also available. A great spot to stop in and check out.

Mike’s Bike Shop is a great place to rent Cruisers, a Cruiser Tandem (which is what Tara and I got) and other bikes. They also have new bikes for sale as well as the normal bike shop bits and apparel too. Mike works behind the counter and is a great personality to converse with about local trails, rides or just life in general. Helmets are required (by Mike) if you are riding on the street but not if you are on the beach. Rental times vary depending on the tide too; so if you want to rent that cruiser for a ride down the coastline, plan for low tide or else you are tied to the town streets (which is a great ride too).

Cannon Beach Surf Shop located just next to the Surfsand Resort is a great place to stop in for water sport apparel, toys, surf boards and boogie boards. You can also rent “fun cycles” which can only be used on the sand. With that said, like Mikes Bikes, rental times vary depending on low tide so plan accordingly.

Cannon Beach Farmers Market takes place on Tuesdays 2:00pm to 6:00pm (through September 30th) just across the street from the Surfsand Resort. It’s pretty small but you can find great snacks such as sugar snap peas, chips and salsa, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and the like.

Overall

Tara and I had a great time, we both enjoyed our first trip to the Oregon Coast and spending time relaxing together.  We flew a kite, rode a tandem, tore through the sand on fun cycles, dipped our toes in the water, ate amazing (though at times, not so amazing) food and had a bon-fire on the beach at sun set. We over chlorinated ourselves in the pool, walked forever and a day, bought several pounds of salt water taffy and I turned another year older.

We both definitely want to go back soon… and did I mention that pulled pork sandwich was amazing?

The ever popular Web 2.0 image service Flickr and long time stock photography giant Getty Images announced yesterday that they will soon come together in a joint venture. As a frequent user of Flickr and looking to upgrade my camera (to a Nikon D300) - this is all very, very interesting.

The Flickr Blog states:

You all take remarkable photographs. From documenting momentous change to capturing the small precious moments around you, the Flickr community has been sharing some remarkable photographs for over four years.

Team Flickr has long wanted to create a way to make it easier for those who use photos as a part of their daily business to do so in a way that respects the talent and rights of our members.

The great folks at Getty Images and Flickr are joining forces to create a collection of royalty free, rights ready and rights managed photographs. This announcement is just the first step and there’s a lot to do before we launch. We’ve created a FAQ to address what we think will be the initial questions.

The Getty Image Press release states:

“We are excited and proud to be partnering with Flickr to offer our customers even more choice for their projects. Our customers will be able to select and use the best imagery from a fresh collection of high-quality images chosen by us from Flickr’s diverse and prolific community,” said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images. “Flickr is the ideal partner as we continue to move the imagery industry forward by offering the broadest range of high quality digital content to our customers.”

Getty Images will be the exclusive commercial rights manager of the photos selected to become part of the collection. Flickr members will benefit from Getty Images’ global sales and distribution teams helping to market their images and from Getty Images’ expertise and experience in rights and clearances of visual content. Getty Images’ customers will benefit from the fresh, unique and individualistic perspectives of members within Flickr’s global community.

It’s an interesting move, Getty Images and Flickr are combining for the largest and most comprehensive stock photography library; Flickr currently holds upwards of 2 billion images. Getty will have it’s team of photo editors sift through user authorized Flickr photo streams and select images they feel meets the Getty Image standard and will then offer the image to Getty clients.

So it looks very unlikely that the poorly lit pictures you hosted on Flickr for your Pyrex Bowl eBay auction will have a chance at making the cover of Time Magazine anytime soon. Keep in mind that images shot with sub-par digital cameras may carry less consideration due to their resolution size. The better the resolution and quality - the more likely an image will make it to publication. Getty’s suggested digital camera’s and models are:

• Nikon: D2X, D2Xs, D3, D200, D300
• Cannon: EOS 1D (Mk 1, 2, 2n & 3), 1DS (Mk 1, 2 & 3) 5D, 30D, 40D
• Leica: M8
• Olympus: E3

Though, it is still unsure what Getty’s take on image requirements, quality and resolution from Flickr will actually be.

Depending on individual rights assigned to images, Getty’s clients pay anywhere from $29 to $200,000 for usage rights to an image. For the photographer, this means a check of roughly 20% - 40% of the licensing fee depending on the client’s purchasing terms with Getty. This makes me wonder not just what amateur photographers think about this new opportunity, but what Getty’s current roster of represented professional photographers feel about the deal… Will this dilute the pool of revenue for those who have depended on an exclusive partnership and representation with Getty?

Flickr is stating that the final phase to the venture could take anywhere from a few months to a few years to implement while they design an interface for the Getty editors to navigate through their database. Though, they are hoping to having it online later this year.

Tuesday night Tara and I went to the Can Can in downtown Seattle to watch the up and coming musician Vince Mira. We had read about Vince in Seattle Magazine and saw him perform on Evening Magazine, Ellen and Good Morning America. Both fan’s of Johnny Cash, Tara and I were eager to see Vince Mira perform live.

The Can Can is a small intimate setting located underneath the Pike Place Market. The show was (and is) free but you must make reservations before hand (unless you don’t mind standing room only) because space is limited and they assign you a specific table. Our table was located center stage and just to give you an idea of how “small” and “intimate” this place is; our table over-lapped onto the stage and I could pretty much reach out and touch the microphone stand while leaning back in my chair. Our reservations were for 7:45pm with the show scheduled to start at 8:00pm.

At around 8:45pm Vince took the stage, he is young looking and carries himself with an awkwardly young yet mature demeanor. His speaking voice is soft and gracious; and after a quick sound check he strummed right into his first Johnny Cash cover. As soon as the strings on his Gibson guitar started to resonate through the club, Vince transformed from the young and soft spoken - into a true veteran performer with a deep and rich baritone voice. His voice low, rich and exactly on key with every recording of Johnny Cash I have ever heard. His guitar ability was on par with each note and every lyric was sung with feeling and passion. He wasn’t just covering Johnny Cash songs, the kid was channeling the great Man in Black himself.

The show was a mixture of mostly Cash covers as well as songs by Bob Dylan and Carl Perkins. Though Vince played mostly covers, and was discovered (playing on the street of Pike Place) performing Johnny Cash covers, he also has a few original tunes of his own. These Vince Mira originals are amazingly tight and very well composed tunes. You could definitely feel the Johnny Cash inspiration in his song writing but they contain enough originality and credit to Vince that he really made it his own sound.

Vince flies out to Nashville in August to record his first album at the Johnny Cash - Cash Cabin studio (produced by John Carter Cash). Having already recorded an E.P. at the Cash Cabin, Vince is looking to complete the album and have a release party at the ShowBox in downtown Seattle by mid October. You can catch a performance of Vince Mira at the Can Can or subscribe to his mailing list via VinceMira.com to get all the latest news and upcoming shows information.

Listen to a selection of covers and original songs by Vince Mira via my featured muxtape: http://featured.muxtape.com/

But try to see him live, you won’t be disappointed.

Photo Credit: flickr.com/begley under Creative Commons License

Straight from my home town; A story about a young girl named Micah; her dream to be a ballerina and how Make A Wish Foundation, Just for Kicks School of Dance and Pacific Northwest Ballet made it all come true.

Micah has spent most of her life in a wheel chair with the condition Spinal Muscular Atrophy. She has been interested in Ballet since she could speak and takes dance classes, in her wheel chair, at Just for Kicks School of Dance in Port Orchard, Washington.

Via the Kitsap Sun:

Make-A-Wish wanted to go even further in fulfilling Micah’s wish, and arranged for her to sit in on a Pacific Northwest Ballet dress rehearsal.

She was able to meet all of the members of the professional Seattle ballet company, and she even spent time alone with two of the performers. The company’s dress shop made her a cape and flower crown to take home.

A week later, Bleil-Geiselman, Micah and her family attended a performance, where Micah was invited on stage to receive a pair of toe shoes and to become an “honorary” ballerina.

How cool is that!?

You can catch Micah’s dance recital, to the song she chose called “In my own little corner,” at South Kitsap High School on June 28 & 29 at 12:30pm.

Read the full story… (and to view video and images)

I like Golf just a bit more than I like basketball. I have long believed and said that [Pro] Basketball is a waste of a good hardwood floor. So, with that said, you now know my feelings for Golf… I can appreciate a good lawn.

I found myself watching the U.S. Open a few days ago and became hypnotized by the ability of Tiger Woods. The man is unbelievable. I often like to cheer for the under dog, in this case Rocco Mediate, who was so far out of being expected to contend that he had to win a sudden death match just to qualify to play in the US Open. The man was beyond being a long shot to win it, he was pretty much just another name on the roster as filler. Rocco ended up surprising everyone with his performance and by the end of the day he finished as the leader and presumptive winner so long as Tiger Woods didn’t pull off a miracle before he finished.

As much as I wanted Rocco to win, the Under Dog to beat the legendary Tiger Woods… I find myself wanting to cheer for Tiger as well. The man is amazing, he plays with an intensity and focus second to none. Though, he manages to carry himself in a way that he doesn’t seem to fully realize just how good he really is. At times it seems he even surprises himself after sinking an unbelievable shot. He has the ability to become a better player when it counts the most - he thrives in the pressure of the moment.

The 2008 US Open is going down as the best US Open in history and some annalists are calling it Tigers best game he’s ever played; a game he played with a bad knee which aggravated him with every swing of the club. A come from behind tie, not only on the last shot of regulation, but doing it again in the next days play-off to force another round of sudden death with a few amazing shots through-out the match. It wasn’t just a testament to Tiger’s will to win, but also to Rocco’s will to win as well.

Congratulations to Tiger Woods on his exciting come from behind win and to Rocco Mediate for doing what nobody could have even scripted him to do. He held his own with class and almost pulled off an amazing win with an amazing performance. This is one of the rare times that second place will be remembered just as much as the one who won it all.

Some may have caught the Seattle PI article on June 5th in regards to an absurd ban on bon fires at two popular Seattle beaches, Alki and Golden Gardens. It was reported that the Seattle City Parks Staff would make a second attempt at banning bon fires by bringing it to a vote at the Parks Board Meeting that Thursday, citing:

The overall policy question for the Board is whether it is good policy for Seattle Parks to continue public beach fires when the carbon … emissions produced by thousands of beach fires per year contributes to global warming.

Really? Let’s throw a few more buzz words to accelerate our agenda shall we? Global Warming, Green House Gases, Poisonous Gases, Going Green, Hybrid, Footprint, Carbon Off Sets, Organic and my favorite: Fear Mongering. Let’s ignore the bigger issues because, in the end, we all know the down fall to civilization as we know it are the bon fires at two Seattle beaches; so let’s go after that first.

It didn’t work in 2004 when the community rallied a petition to over turn the ban and it isn’t going to happen now either. For one, I doubt people would stand for it, especially given that summer is (hopefully) right around the corner. But as posted on the Seattle PI blog yesterday, bon fires are safe but concerns about illegal activity were at the forefront of discussions.

… Parks staff said there’s still a problem at Golden Gardens and at Alki - illegal behavior, People are parking illegally, drinking, leaving litter around, mainly at Golden Gardens.

Well of course, anyone who frequents these two locations has witnessed the shear disregard to any park rules, regulations or city laws. I’m all for people having a good time, but one of my biggest pet peeves (no pun intended) is when you let your animal roam the park crapping everywhere and harassing others when the leash rules are clearly posted. Other common occurrences are underage drinking, open containers, littering and the occasional drug use. All of which I don’t have that much of a beef with besides the littering, find some personal responsibility people - pick up your trash.

Board members, though, said the department ought to consider going after the illegal behavior. And one board member, Jackie Ramels, former president of the Alki Community Council, wasn’t sure restricting bonfires would do anything about illegal behavior.

“Kids are still going to come and drink, even without the fires,” she said.

What I find amazing is that at no time have I ever seen a police officer or park ranger walking the beat and making their presence known. They don’t need to start slapping cuffs on everyone and making every one’s life miserable. But if they were there showing a presence it would take care of the ten percent that screw it up for the rest of us when the Rangers aren’t looking.

Congratulations to Senator Barack Obama, the first African American to receive a presidential nomination for the United States of America.

It was a long tough campaign, spent mostly at odds with Senator Hillary Clinton. With such a long drawn out and, at times, heated battle between the Democratic candidates; only the next few months will tell us if it hurt the party or if it helped their chances of re-claiming the White House.

Obama has an interesting appeal to not just those of his chosen political party, but to conservatives Republicans as well. Though he is one of the more left wing candidates it is a testament to the climate in the country and what we might all need. It isn’t just the platform of change that he has chosen to represent but it is change that represents him in return. He is charismatic, eloquent and he inspires the human race. Most of all, he isn’t a Clinton and he isn’t a Bush; both of which have been in the White House in one way or another for the past two decades.

Now, as McCain said today, there is a difference between good change and bad change. Obama has a decent shot at the White House - he is in position and has a great chance at doing some good, but it’s all down to if the changes he makes (not just represents) is the right change and if it’s the one we all actually need.

This is not to say I endorse one candidate or another, but I am looking forward this coming election season for I am one of those undecided voters. We have two candidates who are complete opposites from each other, who have never been in the white house and are both appealing to choose as our countries next president. That said, Obama will definitely make it a lot easier to not vote for him if he chooses, or is pressured into choosing, Hillary Clinton to run as his Vice President. Having Clinton take the VP ticket is the type of action that would push swing voters in the other direction.

Did you know every sweater Mr. Rogers wore on his show was knitted by his mother? Sure, Mr. Rogers was a staple development factor for millions of children growing up, but not many are aware of just how awesome this man was. An article over at Mental Floss highlights many of the reasons Mr. Rogers was the perfect neighbor. Here are a few of my favorites…

Even everyday thugs can’t resist his wholesome charm and even fear wronging him.

According to a TV Guide piece on him, Fred Rogers drove a plain old Impala for years. One day, however, the car was stolen from the street near the TV station. When Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by every newspaper, radio and media outlet around town. Amazingly, within 48 hours the car was left in the exact spot where it was taken from, with an apology on the dashboard. It read, “If we’d known it was yours, we never would have taken it.”

He lived a life causing others to burst into spontaneous song.

Once while rushing to a New York meeting, there were no cabs available, so Rogers and one of his colleagues hopped on the subway. Esquire reported that the car was filled with people, and they assumed they wouldn’t be noticed. But when the crowd spotted Rogers, they all simultaneously burst into song, chanting “It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood.” The result made Rogers smile wide.

Getting it right, every time, for the children.

He was a perfectionist, and disliked ad libbing. He felt he owed it to children to make sure every word on his show was thought out.

Someone we should all admire and aspire to more like…

Mister Rogers was known as one of the toughest interviews because he’d often befriend reporters, asking them tons of questions, taking pictures of them, compiling an album for them at the end of their time together, and calling them after to check in on them and hear about their families. He wasn’t concerned with himself, and genuinely loved hearing the life stories of others. Amazingly, it wasn’t just with reporters. Once, on a fancy trip up to a PBS exec’s house, he heard the limo driver was going to wait outside for 2 hours, so he insisted the driver come in and join them (which flustered the host). On the way back, Rogers sat up front, and when he learned that they were passing the driver’s home on the way, he asked if they could stop in to meet his family. According to the driver, it was one of the best nights of his life—the house supposedly lit up when Rogers arrived, and he played jazz piano and bantered with them late into the night. Further, like with the reporters, Rogers sent him notes and kept in touch with the driver for the rest of his life.

Discover more great tidbits about this great man by reading the full article at Mental Floss.