For The Sake of Clarity - The Digital Tavern

Reds. Photography. And Blogs.

Allan — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:18:48 +0000

And those behind many of such tea parties efforts to make the current administrations efforts to move the economy, improve healthcare and fight the war on terror appear like "Bolshevik Plots," might take a few hours of their day and take a trip back in time and reflect. ... My upgrade is on the way and I'm confident that once and for all this will put those still hanging on to Adobe's LightRoom effort will ultimately give in and recognize the superior tools, advanced features and ease of use that has been the case as Aperture has matured over the last three years.

Baja California. History. Water. Endangered. And Great Photography.

Allan — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:53:12 +0000

Imagine California more than 150 years ago. Until Spain recognized Mexico’s sovereignty in 1821, California was a Spanish colony. This colony was separted by two missionary factions. In the North, Alta California was governed by the Franciscan missions and to the south Baja California was under Frandiscon mission rule. But the young sovereign Mexico soon had its hands full when [...]

Yet Another Reflection – 9/11

Allan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:40:43 +0000

I’ll never forget. You won’t. They won’t. And in the rare case of memory lapse, the media won’t let you.

Today’s long list of errands forced me to burn fossil fuel by driving around. I opted to listen to the radio, rather than my iPod. There’s plenty of talk about remembering what happened eight years ago today. Our president made comments. [...]

Things Classic. Heritage. And What’s New Anyway?

Allan — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:17:16 +0000

I guess I’ve been out of it. Well, at least out of this country. For three years. Wandering the byways of distant locales in search of some truth I already believed but needed to prove to myself, dodging erudite donkeys while avoiding potholes and pitfalls of solo adventure travel, lots has changed around here – in California – in the USA. [...]

Taking MacJournal For A Spin As A Blog Client/Front End

Allan — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:32:59 +0000

While it’s been long since I’ve posted to The Digital Tavern, today someone suggested I explore using MacJournal. So this is my first test blog.

Here I insert an image…. but I wonder how I can tell MacJournal where to put the file when uploading?

After my test, I find that I can insert an image and it uploads correctly, [...]

Social Sites Surpass Email Usage

Allan — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:59:14 +0000

Social networking and blogging have become more popular than sending email, according to a new report from Nielsen.

More than two-thirds (67%) of the global online population now goes online to visit social networks and blogs.

“Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience,” says John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen Online.

“While two-thirds of the global online population already [...]

Soothsayers: Ides of March….Days of Doom…or ?

Allan — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:36:24 +0000

“The Ides of March are come,” Julius Caesar tells the soothsayer who warned him to heed the pending doom on 15 March 44BC.

“Aye,” the soothsayer said as he glared into Caesar’s triumphant eyes, “but they are not gone.”

It was later that day that Caesar, in the shadows of the theater at Pompeii was brutally executed by his senators who believed [...]

Rugby, San Diego & The Price of Beer.

Allan — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:42:45 +0000

I was grateful that my long-time Kiwi friend and Rugby aficionado Stefano invited me to attend the IRB World Series USA Sevens – the largest Rugby even in North America. I joined him several years ago at what then was my first even Rugby event. As live team spors goes, Rugby garners about as much airtime on the sports channels as [...]

Eisele Syrah

Allan — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:10:30 +0000

Mobile Blogging from here.

Andrew Murray Vineyards. 2000 Roasted Slope. Syrah.
If not a bit extracted with a tinge of a
Joseph Phelps Vineyards Insignia Day – May 19, 2002
Despite the fact that it rained for the entire 4
Syrah.
I love Syrah.. More and more people are drinking it.
Crystal Wine Glass Magnate Josef Riedel Dies
Thanks to Pete who pointed [...]

Aging California Wine & Friday the 13th.

Allan — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:58:51 +0000

Some historians peg the superstition to the thirteen people who attended the Last Supper (neither Jesus nor Judas came out of that one OK), but ancient Babylon's Code of Hammurabi omits the number 13 in its list of law [...] ... Wall Street's superstitions about Friday the 13th continued through 1925, when the New York Times noted that people "would no more buy or sell a share of stock today than they would walk under a ladder or kick a black cat out of their path."

The Joy of Photography.

Allan — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:38:50 +0000

As many of you know, one of my lifelong passions is photography. Primarily using “still” cameras, though I do like to wade in the tepid waters of digital video. I was a very early adopter of one of the first photo-sharing social network-ish sites, Flickr. Then I played with Shutterfly,the original Ofoto (now owned by Kodak for Kodak Gallery), Google’s Picasa, Photo [...]

What’s With The iPhone?

Allan — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:27:02 +0000

I’ve had my iPhone for about five months. I love it. Has it changed my life? No. Has it made somethings easier? Yes. Has it saved me time? Not really. It actually costs me more time. Yeah. I’m addicted to it. I say that with caveats. And sometime in the future, I’ll present a more comprehensive critique.

One thing for sure [...]

1977 Trefethen Cabernet Sauvignon

Allan — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:44:51 +0000

Last weekend I was surprised by a visit of my good friend, mountain climber, travel companion and legend Mr. Tim Amos. For the 16 hours he spent in Southern California, we tried to take advantage of our time together. First stop was a visit to my wine cellar (storage facility) in Irvine. Culling from the more than 1,000 bottles I’ve [...]

The Tavern’s Back – Update: Look, Feel & Platform

Allan — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 01:54:58 +0000

Remember “The Digital Tavern“? This is the blog I started in 2002 before anyone knew blogs or blogging. There are seven years of my ramblings on music, wine, marketing, macintosh and of course my favorite, travelogs. But I couldn’t keep up two blogs while riding a motorcycle around the world. So The Digital Tavern was neglected. Sure I posted stuff [...]

YouTube On The Prowl

Allan — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:35:34 +0000

I’ve got a few video composites from my motorcycle trip around the world posted on my WorldRider account on YouTube. About a week ago I received a notification from YouTube, ironically the message was in Portuguese, that my “Riding Bolivia” piece included copyrighted material and that it had been blocked from further playback:

Prezado(a) worldrider,

Vídeo desativado

Um detentor de direitos autorais afirmou que possui [...]

Twitter Terrorists

Allan — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:08:10 +0000

Well, they just couldn’t leave well enough alone. This from Fox News:

The U.S. Army is flagging the popular blogging service Twitter as a potential terrorist tool, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported Sunday.

A recently released report by the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion contains a chapter entitled “Potential for Terrorist Use of Twitter,” which expresses concern over the increasing use of [...]

Back to Sudan? Almost. The Almighty Temple of Abu Simbel

Allan — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:35:38 +0000

Egypt is the land of Pharaohs. Home to some of the oldest and most well preserved archaeological sites in the world. And it’s no wonder. Wit the massive Sahara desert to the west and the Red Sea to the east, Mediterranean to the north, it was very in accessible in ancient times. So while the shifting sands of the deserts [...]

Sudan: When It Comes To Desert, I think of Sudan.

Allan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:34:41 +0000

Once you cross the Nile River and head north out of Khartoum things turn desolate. Come to think of it riding into Khartoum from the south things were pretty desolate. But strategically located at the confluence of the Blue and While Nile rivers, Khartoum is capital to the largest (in size) country in Africa. And while north of here by [...]

The Donkey Did It.

Allan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:26:41 +0000

Southern plains of Ethiopia. Below a new traditional home under construction.

As I moved to make time to get to Awasa I noticed groups of women carrying large round ceramic containers colored brown and with a narrow top and ringlet handles tied to their backs. The rounded belly shape seemed awkward and uncomfortable, but hundreds of women for miles carried these [...]

Ripped Off in Kenya & The Amazing Return

Allan — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:27:50 +0000

What was supposed to be an early start for the Ethiopian border crossing now was looking to be a mid-afternoon departure. First things first. I had to get the bike unloaded from the lorry. My preference was to unload it somewhere away from the hustle and bustle of this Kenya border town. Getting both the bike and I suited for [...]

Indian Food & Genocide, An Unlikely Mix.

Allan — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:29:14 +0000

He was very formal, personal and service oriented if not a slightly meek. When he brought me a bottle of the local beer in a 330ml bottle, I admitted my surprise. Most beer in Africa is served in 500- 1.0L bottles. Rarely does one find what we are accustomed to in the US: the equivalent to a 12oz can or [...]