Flicks

Since we aren't traveling as much this summer, I've had a chance to take in a couple of films that I wouldn't have probably seen. This past weekend I watched 2 movies and unbeknownst to me, they both had a similar theme. They both centered around the World Cup. And not only the world cup but the 1970 World Cup with Brazil and Italy and the 1992 World Cup with Brazil and Germany.

"The Great Match" followed 3 groups of soccer fans as they tried to find a place to watch the finals of the 1992 World Cup. The Amazon forest, the desert of Nigeria and Mongolia were the 3 locales. It was a clever story of people coming together for a common cause (to watch the game) even if they weren't rooting for the same team.

"The year my parents went on vacation" was at the Athens film fest this year, but I didn't get a chance to see it. It was even sponsored by Hillel, but alas, sometimes there are too many movies to see in too little time. When I saw that it was part of the "watch instantly" movies on Netflix, I tuned in. This movie takes place in 1970, a time of political unrest in Brazil. A boy's parents have to flee the country and leave their son with his grandfather. Soccer is life during these times, and Brazil's dominance in the World Cup, again, brings both sides of society together.

So if you have some free time, love soccer, and have Netflix, check out these two movies.

Mid Summer Check up

Not a lot has been going on with us here in Athens. It's been a low key summer so far. We did go to Chubby last weekend, an Ultimate tournament in Cincinnati. We played with some kids from the college team and it was a lot of fun. I've always liked Chubby because it is a well run tournament on great fields that isn't too far from home. The weather was unbelievably hot, but that's the chance you take when we play in mid-July. We did pretty well, going 4-3.

We went to a Copperheads game the other day. It was Christmas in July theme. Even Santa was there. The snakes pulled off a winner in an exciting ninth inning. It was tied 1-1 from the third through bottom of the eighth where the c-heads scored a run making it 2-1 going into the top of the ninth. The first batter hit and easy grounder to second base, but the guy bobbled the ball and missed the throw. Then the second guy hit a double. So there were guys on second and third. The pitcher proceeded to strike out 2 and pop the next three batters. The strike outs were nice. Both batters went out swinging. That's gotta feel good for the pitcher.

Stimulus Check

Woo Hoo! We finally received our stimulus check. Now the economy of Athens will thrive! So now we have to decide how to spend it. Or save it. I must review my list to see my options. Of course, it could go to saving the car. The beemer needs a new transmission. For under a thousand we can get a used one installed. This seems like our best option since, it's hard to find a car as comfy and smooth as the beemer for under a grand. Plus the truck is dead. That's right. Our 1984 Toyota pickup has seen it's last ride. The engine is running great, but the frame has finally rusted through. We will likely scrap it. So if you know anyone who needs a cap for a long bed truck, we'll sell it cheap.

Also, we are making headway on the home front. Details are too ambiguous to explain now, but we've made a breakthrough that we both like. Now we have to see if it's possible.

In the field

Recently, I picked up some extra work by assisting a professor with her research. She is studying the effects of acid mine drainage on the local stream systems. This means I get paid to play in creeks.

The first time I went out in the field, we measured how fast the water was moving. We used a flowmeter that sends an ultrasonic current in to the water to take the measurement. This should not be confused with a Flomometer, which measured the number of shot blocks by Patrick Flomo during the course of his basketball career at OU.

Yesterday, we went out again. This time we stirred up substrate to chase bugs into our nets. Then we take the net (really a screen) over to the bank and pull the bugs off and stick them into ethanol. They die and are identified and counted later.

The first site was above the acid mine impacted area, so we found tons of bugs. We do 3 stirrings and each one took about a half hour to pull all the critters off. The next 4 sites, which were below the site of the mine input, we didn't find much. There is a doser at the mine the injects lime into the stream to neutralize it, but there is still much mineral deposits that seem to effect the habitat.

It was a gray day, but warm enough to wear sandals and shorts. A few times we were in water up past my knees. It has rained a lot here this summer, so the water is still high. In fact we had to stop after 4 sites and didn't get to the other 3. Maybe next week, if the rain will ever quit.

Portraits

Here are some fun photos of Lori and I. This past spring we popped uptown for the International Street fair and stopped by Artifacts for some photos of us in hats and sun-glasses. We had fun trying on everything, and shooting away.


Check out Lo in a big summer hat, perfect for the Kentucky Derby.





Gangsta?






I always feel like a rock-star in shades. The Italians love their sun-glasses. Perhaps it is the mystery of hiding one's eyes, our windows to the soul.







The photos above were taken with our new lens...a Canon 85mm f1.8. It takes nice portraits. Notice the shallow depth of field, which is intentional, and the blurred background. Thus, the emphasis is on the subject matter. Scroll back up and take a second look, its fun. Gangsta.

I will try to post more Portraits of friends and strangers. We have lots of fun photos, so expect some of our future posts to be heavy on the photos, and easy on the text!

Ciao,

xo xo

KB & LG