My Flowers 2

Here are a few more images of some of the flowers that I have growing in the front yard.

This one isn't actually a flower but it kind of looks like a flower when i stirred milk in my coffee and took a shot.Some pansies

I have no idea what this one is.

Big purple Annual.

Pictures of My Animals 2

Some more pictures of my cute animals, I got some more images of Mitzie laying on her back and I got images of our Degu (which I didn't have before).

Mitzie lying on her back, she looked right at the camera.

This is the degu and his treat (donuts).

Close-up of the degu and his donut.

Trek In the Ravine

I took a ride down to the Creek Ravine near my house the other day and picked up some interesting images from there.

This is the stream that runs through it

The trail with my bike on it

Rosebud tree

Scenic shot of the ravine

Spring Flowers

So I decided to be cool and upload a large post of pictures today because I missed yesterday, so here is 10 pictures of wilderness fun! Plus I might have a couple more later on tonight from a Ravine near the place I live..

This is our growing Cherry Tree, it is still only a few years old.

This is what a budding flower from a cherry tree looks like

These are domesticated Iris, we plant a lot of them every year and they can grow quite tall if allowed.

One of my favorite plants, this is called a Bleeding-Heart

Given that name because it actually looks like a bleeding heart.

Calibrachoa? I think I spelled that right..

This is a Petunia.

These are some wild flowers so I don't really know their names..

I found this while biking in the Ravine, they slowly turn purple, there is a more purple one in the background.

Maybe someone could enlighten me on what this is? My grandmother says it looks like a Wild Apple plant.

And, I've saved my favorite for last.

This is a Tiger Lily Flower, I took this image a few days ago, I think it's stunning.

I hope you enjoyed my little walk through my backyard! I'll be posting images of my Tiger Lily as it grows, right now it's only about 4 inches tall, even though it looks like godzilla in that picture ;).

My Girlfriend's Grad Banquet.

These are some photos that I took with my camera at my girlfriend's Graduation Banquet on Friday.

This is a circle-shot of me, my girlfriend, and our friend.

My girlfriend and her friend pose.

Another circle shot of us and two of our friends, they didn't come to the banquet.

This is one of our other friends that was there, she had a very nice camera!

Four graduating friends.

My girlfriend and I outside before the banquet.

My girlfriend and her mother, and her mother's friend.

Sunset for Two

Tonight my girlfriend and I decided we would go for a walk and wait for the sun to set - then I could use my Sunset filter on my camera to take some images; after some experimenting I think I finally got some I can be proud of...

This is the first sunset image I took out of many, one of the better ones because you can see a deep-red halo around the sun.

This picture is the same thing but at a -45 degree angle-shot.

This one has a bit of a story to it. We were standing on the field taking images and suddenly the wind kicked up so strong I couldn't even stabilize the camera. My girlfriend said "Why is it doing that?" and I looked to my right, then looked to my left and said "Whoa.". And there it was, one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, the sunset cast a purple hue on an incoming storm cloud!

This is my girlfriend posing for me with some nature in her hair! It's so beautiful with the cloud behind her, it's almost the same colour as her jacket!

This is my girlfriend with a plant in her hair, I told her to do a sexy pose ;).

All-in-all it was a great day and night; despite the hangover from her Grad After party, but good nonetheless.

My Girlfriend's Grad!!

Here are some photo's of my girlfriend's grade 12 grad, they were taken with my Fujifilm FinePix A805 digital camera (8.3 MP).

The image below is my girlfriend and her Aunt.

The image shown below is my girlfriend (middle), her Grandmother (on the left), and her Uncle (on the right).

This image below is my Girlfriend's Grandfather (on the left) and her friend (on the right).

My girlfriend and her Father, shown below.

My girlfriend at a -45 deg. angle shot, shown below.

This image below is my girlfriend before we went to the Grad, she looks beautiful in this image.

This image below is me and my girlfriend, the image was not shot by me.

The image below is my girlfriend before we went into the grad room, she looks pretty in her grad gown and cap (or mortar-board); although the tassel is on the wrong side!! XD

Tonight (May 29, 2009) I will get a chance to go to her banquet, so tomorrow there will be images of her banquet and after party on my blog.

I did learn something interesting at the grad last night, the mortar-board was traditionally given to Graduate students at masonry school (mortar holds building blocks together in a structure); That's why they call it a mortar-board (British) and the name slowly changed to Cap.

Time at the Heritage Festival

I took these pictures last year when I went to the heritage festival here in Edmonton, AB. I have a passion for some martial arts and the demonstrations that took place here were from a Japanese sword-play art called Kenjutsu (Kenjitsu alternate spelling). There are only four images because I took two videos, then the card on my camera was full after that.

Have fun checking them out! (Note: These images are very large (8 MP) so click them for effect!)

The figure below is the main weapon they use in Kenjutsu. It is called a Katana. They are very skilled with this weapon and it takes years of practice before you are even allowed to use it.

The image below is a ceremonial drum they use to signal the beginning and end of practices; it is also designed to help keep the Kata (or choreographed practice) in time. This drum is not only used in Kenjutsu, it is also used in many other Japanese martial arts.

The figure below is an illustration of some of the tools they use to practice. It is called a Tamashigiri Cutting Mat and it is usually bamboo with straw rolled around it; this gives the approximate density of a human limb, the Katana can cut through it easily.

In the image below you can see various shards of Bamboo Mat lying around after being cut. This stuff is thick - a Katana is no toy.

Interestingly enough, Katanas (or samurai swords) are generally rated according to how many bodies it can cut through in one slash. For example, a 3 - bodied sword is more powerful than a 2 - bodied sword. To determine this, a swordsman would perform a Jodan-Giri (downward slash) cut on the hips of 3 cadavers and the inscription on the sword would say 3 - bodies Ryu Guruma (3 - bodies hip cut).

Note: Japanese words are in italics, and I cannot certify the accuracy of these words.

Photos of My Animals

I have one dog and two cats in my household. My dog's name is Teddy, and the two cats are Cinder and Mitzie. Cinder is shown first and Mitzie second. Teddy is around 7 or 8 years old and I think he may be going blind because he barks at random things. Cinder is still young he is a spunky little cat that can be a pest on most occasions. Mitzie is getting old, she is around 15 years old now, and - as you can see from her photo - she obviously doesn't like her picture being taken.