You Ain't Never Seen Anything Like This.

You might think you've seen inspired, artistic, or even athletic bike riding. But you ain't never seen nuthin' like this. You watch the X-Games and see these overgrown adolescents on their BMX bikes, and they do the big air, end-over-end, jumps and spins, but just watch what this young lady does... on a normal bicycle! She rides it every which way except upside down. (That would be impossible... right?)

I found this on a blog called "Bike Hugger", (I know, it's a bit warmer and fuzzier than I like), while looking for more nuanced information on the Tour de France than I can get from friends' blogs. It's a decent blog, despite the name, and I may link it, eventually. I'll have to give it a little time to ripen.

Prepare to be amazed.

It's OK... He Activated the Cloaking Device!

This story appeals to me on so many levels. I'm a photographer, I like cars (and trucks), and I've been partial to Ford products ever since a second grade trip to Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI.

I'm not going to even give you a hint.. you gotta go there and RTWT. It's too funny. (Or scary, if you're the photographer.)

New & Improved!

Seems like this is the day to learn new things to do with the blog.. I've now added a short blogroll... (come on, impress me, people! I want to make it longer). You'll find it below the archives, near the bottom of the sidebar. (On the right side). It doesn't include things like Kausfiles, Huffington Post, etc., as everybody knows how to find those sites.. these are some of my favorites. Have at it.

The "Express" Feed

I wasn't even aware of this, but this blog is available as a news "feed". You can subscribe to read it whenever it's updated on your Yahoo, or Google, or MSN, or whatever homepage, or even, apparently, on your cell phone or PDA. How cool. I just added it to my Yahoo home page so I can keep up on what I write. (That's a joke, son). Just enter the following URL into your subscription search box: http://shotonsite.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Click here to see if your favorite newsreader is "atom-enabled".

Note: This is not RSS but is similar. I may switch to RSS at a later date, and will let you know.

Who are the Bloggers? Who Knows? Pew Knows.

So, Pew Research does more than just tell us how low your president's popularity numbers have sunk... (and I'll bet they sink lower after yesterday's veto- but that's another story for another day).

Their Pew Internet & American Life Project recently completed a phone poll of a few thousand internet users, and a separate, smaller poll of bloggers to tell us who we are. And it seems most of us are,

" focused on describing their personal experiences to a relatively small audience of readers and that only a small proportion focus their coverage on politics, media, government, or technology. Blogs, the survey finds, are as individual as the people who keep them. However, most bloggers are primarily interested in creative, personal expression – documenting individual experiences, sharing practical knowledge, or just keeping in touch with friends and family."

That pretty well sums up my intent. Well, that and keeping the old tip jar full. I see that's doing as well as the old Google ads! I'm relieved.

You can read the entire Pew report in PDF format here. You can also click back to the Internet & American Life home page and take the poll. Quite interesting.

So... why do you blog?

Holiday RV Park Flora

Having showed you some of the fauna of the campground, (the toad), here are some of the flora. These were taken in May, I think, when you could still walk the trails without dressing for full combat with the most carnivorous of the fauna: deerflies & mosquitos.

This is the trillium. A true harbinger of Spring in Michigan.














Apple blossoms.

More Balloon Fest Highlights

Cool stuff- like the Mitchell B-25






The Jackson Antique Tractor Club..










..and a cool quartet of precision flying WWII trainers. All in all, a fun afternoon.