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Click to enlarge. Nikon D90 on tripod, three bracketed shots, f8, 1/750 sec, ISO 200. Processed in Photomatix Merge-to-32-bit Plugin and Lightroom.

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“X” Marks the Spot

There’s something about cactus and thorny things that gets my attention. On my last morning in Sedona last month we went out to the Boynton Canyon Vortex early in the morning. We had already been to the Bell Rock and Airport vortexes to receive their energy. Just like the others, the hike was minimal to get from the parking lot to where “X” marks the spot on the vortex map.

Just a side note, ever since the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, I’ve been suspicious of maps where “X” marks the spot, because supposedly it never really does. It’s as if a pirate just put it there to throw off everybody after his booty.

After sitting in the energy of the vortex meditating awhile the sun was getting higher and hotter. I started scouting around and was drawn to these Ocotillo plants up on the side of the rock. These happened to be really heathy ones with nice bright green leaves which were backlit by the sun and just glowed around the tentacle arms of the cactus stretching aimlessly in the air.  It was very peaceful in the still morning air of the desert.

iPhone Videography

Yesterday’s post was about Cruella, the all-woman heavy metal band here in the Bay Area.  They are good and I even have thought of a little niche they could fill which might be a huge draw for people.. but it could also not work out.  I guess, like anything, it comes down to who is running the show and how committed the group is to success with their music.  Maybe this rock & roll thing is just a weekend diversion from their day jobs to let off a little steam and possibly there is no huge desire for a career change.  Check out what I saw on the guitarist, Mary Cary’s, Facebook page… her day job is doing SEO.  Hmmmmm….. SEO or rock & roll?  She doesn’t look geeky.  I think she’d rather be a rocker because she really wails on it.

So while I had my iphone out I also ran off some video of them.  You can see that they are high energy and got the crowd up on their feet and into it too.  This video was edited in iMovie on my iPad late last night while I sat in bed.  iMovie is an easy app to string clips together and add titles, but falls short of allowing much more creative output.  For example, you can’t split the audio & video tracks.  That’s a pretty simple maneuver for desktop video editing and iMovie for iPad just hasn’t gotten there yet.  There is a long way for video editing on the iPad to evolve, and it will. I really wanted that for this video and there are other apps that will do it but, then those other apps aren’t as easy to use, etc.  It’s a trade off, like everything else in life.  Hope you enjoy the video of Cruella.