Gone

The sculptures didn’t survive very long this year. A blanket of snow dumped on them last weekend and snow is warm, it started melting them down pretty quickly.

The city crews came in yesterday and put them out of their misery. That pile of snow was once nine pieces of great Art. Tourist’s passing through now, would have no clue…

Published
Categorized as Winterfest 2

Mobile Apps

Over the last few months I’ve been writing state of the art mobile browser apps using JQuery Mobile and HTML5. If I’ve made your eyes glaze over when referencing these terms and you really just want to see cool photos from around the valley, I’m sorry. Photos should be back tomorrow and I’ll see you then. No offense, I understand :-)

Now, if your still here, I’ve put together a montage of my recent Mobile Apps, wrapped up in frames that you can play with. Click on the Title of an app to open the full browser page and then run it on your smart phone or tablet to see it in action.

You can also access the montage by clicking Mobile Apps under Functions, anytime →

I’ve isolated the Mobile Apps link here if you wish to continue…

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Categorized as Android

Stephs Driveway

Another snow picture in the dark! This was taken tonight after the snow plow guy hit the driveway earlier today and Steph polished it off with the big shovel.

I suppose it would be somewhat difficult to get to work otherwise… :-)

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Categorized as House

Liquid Light

I noticed this amazing effect tonight as the light from the family room flowed out onto the deck and over the berm in a liquid fashion. I took this dark grainy shot through the double-paned kitchen window and converted it into a painting…

Here’s the original shot from the kitchen window…

SlideShow (Liquid Light)

Bus Blanket

It’s said that snow makes a good blanket in cold weather. My regular bus spent three days at base over the weekend working on it’s blanket. Then I come along on Monday, crank her up and strip the covers off her. It’s tough being a bus!

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Categorized as The Bus

Hammered

Yea, I know, what’s new. Just when you can see the wood on the deck and the green on the trees, the Rockies dump on you.

This was a clear deck yesterday and as of 1800 today there’s 8 inches of fresh on the hot tub, and it’s still snowing and blowing.

Oh well, the resort’s doing good, the skiers are happy, and I get to go drive in this stuff tomorrow. Everything is as it should be while January settles down…

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Categorized as House

Free TV

My TV experience is out of the corner of my left eye on an old small tube TV. We get HDTV content from over the air and it looks great, just truncated. I’ve created a convoluted set of amplifiers and tuners hooked up to the World Wide Air that clips off the outside edges. I can’t see the scores on the football games, but at least it’s free…

I love my TV setup. I have a coax cable that runs down through the crawl space and out to my digital antenna sitting in the snow by the underground propane tank. We get CBS, ABC, FOX, CW and a bunch of public television content. I also have a ROKU box hooked up to my internet connection, along with Netflix, and the world is my oyster.

The picture is incredible on my old tube TV. Why would anyone pay for cable?

I also have a coax line running under the house to the big TV in the family room where Steph can watch movies to her hearts content on NetFlix, for $7.99 a month.

What can I say but sweet! Our stupid Dish Network bill was approaching $80 bucks a month before I canceled it a couple years back…

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Categorized as House

Heart Warmed

I’ve been feeling really cruddy all week, just can’t seem to shake this stuff. You know, sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug. But something happened today that warmed my heart and I’d like to share it with you.

I’ve been transporting three little kids daily to pre-school in Driggs, Taylor (Summers daughter) and the Ortiz brothers (the ones that got me sick :-). I’ve been hearing the excitement in their chatter as we pass the Ice Sculptures on the way to their school.

Today I picked up a really old guy named Mack, along with the kids, going to Senior Meals at the Community Center (where the Sculptures are at). As I pulled in and escorted Mack to the door, and idea hatched.

I walked back to the open passenger door and said to the kids, unbuckle your seat-belts, leave your backpacks on the bus, and let’s go see the sculptures!

They didn’t hesitate a second, jumped off the bus and we began a quick tour. We moved from piece to piece, they dove inside the Hobbit House and the play igloo, all the time I’m urging them on, come on guys, we’ve only got a couple of minutes.

The smiles on their faces were truly priceless and I knew as a professional driver that this was a break from protocol, but totally worth it. I got them back on the bus and we arrived at the school three minutes late. They were still smiling as they left the bus :-)

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Categorized as The Bus

Musher

I spotted this musher truck from Alaska on Hwy 33 yesterday, heading down to the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race which kicks off tomorrow in Jackson.

This is a pretty cool truck with the sleds on top and the dogs inside!

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Categorized as The Bus

Ice Carved

I don’t know if I initially missed Hoffman’s ice sculpture at the rear of the Winterfest event, or if he created it after the fact, in honor of the Japanese sculptor Mizuno.

There’s quite a back-story here. Michael Hoffman lost his son George, along with his house and his ice carving tools, in a tragic fire in Victor last year.

A famous Japanese ice sculptor, who was Michael’s hero, sent him his own personal tools to compete this year. Quite the story.



Roses in honor of George were placed on his Winterfest entry right after the event…

Update: After reading the above info card I realize the ice-carving was a live event that occurred after we left on Saturday. That’s why I missed it!

SlideShow (Ice Carved)

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Categorized as Winterfest 2

Laid Back

Pipers belly is a wonderland of color and texture. She was soaking up the sun in the family room on Sunday and seemed to enjoy posing for me.

Have I mentioned I really love this cat?






SlideShow (Laid Back)

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Categorized as Piper

Contrail

I was waiting for my Community School kids this morning when a high flying jet layed a contrail over the Tetons. It also happened to be where the sun was coming up.

Here’s a closer look…

On the way to Victor about 10 minutes later I took this shot.

Four hours later it’s on the opposite side of the valley.
The first shot was at 8:10 and the last shot at 12:45. Not only did it hold it’s shape but another jet was flying through it. Fascinating…

SlideShow (Contrail)

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Categorized as The Bus

Finished

Here’s my final 23 shots of this years Winterfest. I didn’t include my favorite sculpture Helpin Pa here, since there’s a Post for it…

Update: Helpin Pa placed 1st, Water Horse 2nd and King Kong 3rd.

Winged Spirit


Phoenix


Yeti



Snow Angel – Snow Devil


Peace Through Service


Hobbit House

King Kong (3rd Place)



Medusa


Water Horse (2nd Place)



Some play areas for the kids.


I was somewhat disappointed by last years winning teams entry Medusa but overall they were terrific! This project is now over for me and I’ll update who won, tomorrow.

SlideShow (Finished)

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Categorized as Winterfest 2

Helpin Pa

What you’re seeing here is the probable winner of our 2013 Winterfest Snow Sculpting contest. I could be wrong, as they all turned out amazing, but this one, up close and personal, was stunning. Note the attention to detail…

I started this Saturday morning having breakfast at O’Rourkes with Steph and my sister. Afterwards we headed over to the sculpture area, took a bunch of photos, and voted for our favorite. The three of us voted for Helpin Pa as did several other people I know as I peeked at their ballots.

The announcement of the winner will occur tomorrow. In the meantime, I grabbed some great shots today of the other sculptures which I’m sure you will enjoy. Stay tuned!

I’m working sick here, (damn the sneezing, hacking Ortiz brothers on their way to pre-school last week…). I’m well into my third organic whipped cinnamon honey lemon and brandy, and a batch of homemade free-range chicken soup is simmering on the stove, while Steph and sis are down in Idaho Falls.



Drop by here tomorrow for the rest of the photos, and the contest’s conclusion.

SlideShow (Helpin Pa)

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Categorized as Winterfest 2

Sun Shades

The Sun came out yesterday and the artists had to scramble for tarps to protect their work. Temps are hovering between 0° and 15° but the Sun is the enemy on days like this.




Some artists said what the hell, who needs tarps!

SlideShow (Sun Shades)

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Categorized as Winterfest 2