Sunset above Mauna Kea

The upper reaches of Mauna Kea are usually above the clouds, but occasionally high clouds get quite a bit of color after the sun drops behind the mountain's numerous cinder cones or pu'u. This photo was taken from near the mid-level facilities above 9,000 feet, across a "saddle" ridge between two cinder cones. It's a 1/10-second f/4 exposure from a Canon PowerShot S20.

K-Tel Presents...

Did you watch the "9-11 Commission" hearings on C-SPAN?

Did you miss some "episodes" that you really wish you'd seen?

Don't worry! C-SPAN, Audible and Apple's iTunes Music Store now bring you the 9-11 Commission hearings in audiobook form!

Featuring the stars you know and love - Powell, Rice, Rumsfeld, Tenet, Reno, Ashcroft, Freeh, Albright, Bloomberg, Clark, Giuliani, Berger, Ridge, Cohen - and many, many more.

Performing such hits as "Staff Statement No. 16: Outline of the 9-11 Plot" and "NYC Panel Three."

This collection features 38 tracks with over TWO DAYS of audio! Not available in any store! Not even available on TV as 48 CD's or cassettes (but don't worry, I'm sure someone will do it)!

And all this great, classic audio is yours for a great price! Not $99.99! Not $49.99! Not even $19.99!

No, it's all yours, FREE. As in "free beer" and "free speech."

Look for the link on the Audible.com homepage, or search for "9-11 Commission" in iTunes.

Stay tuned for the inevitable dance remixes!

Here be Dragons

For those who haven't met her yet, this is Lizzy, a Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) that lives at the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo. She's a regular at the petting zoo, and I take her picture pretty often. This was shot with my Canon EOS Elan 7 35mm SLR, using a +4 diopter close-up lens and Kodak's C-41 process black and white ISO 400 film. I didn't remember that I had black and white film in the camera at the time, but even if Lizzy looks less colorful than usual this way, I liked the detail.

It's that time of year.

Yeah. My birthday. The 21st of July. 33, this time around. So what do I want?

Well, there are some things that always make the list.

World peace would be nice. I keep asking for it, and everybody keeps getting me other stuff. Maybe if you all team up, you can get it for me?

I haven't been known to refuse cash. Especially not lately. Predictable cash flow is high on my list of wants right now. Even if it's from a job.

Other than that, it's mostly about "the vision thing." Optics, you know?

I'd like a Canon EOS-1D Mark II digital SLR body. But oh, those are $4500 or so. The EOS-10D, similar to my 35mm Elan SLR, is only about $1500. But... yeah, I'd settle for a Digital Rebel (EOS-300D) that's only around $800.

Did I mention I'm listing the expensive things first?

Next most expensive is the Canon EF 75-300mm IS zoom lens. That's the image-stabilized one. The IS lens on one of my digital cameras spoiled me. This is probably around $400, give or take some.

Then there's "a telescope." I'm a little unclear on this, really, since I might be traveling for work and wouldn't be able to take it with me. Orion's $199 XT 4.5 dobsonian-mount newtonian is a good one that everyone in my family could easily use, but if it were just for me, I'd want something with a manual equatorial mount that could be upgraded to motor drive down the road. So... maybe just send money and let me worry about which one to get. :)

Then there's the Oberwerk 9x60 binoculars, which are about $100-$120.

Oh, and one other thing... George W. Bush, I know you probably don't remember me, since we haven't seen each other since November of 2000 and things were pretty hectic back then, but if you're reading this, I was thinking it'd be really cool if you could take a break from the whole D.C. scene for a while and come out here. I know you really like vacations, and you haven't really gotten any quality time out here during the last few years. Bring the family and Mr. Cheney along - he can relax, and I'll take you and the Secret Service guys hiking, snorkeling and stuff. Leave John McCain and Colin Powell in charge - they'll take good care of the country while you're away. No need to hurry back... several months should be about long enough...