Since 2009, the retirement home of Shot On Site Photography... the source of the finest sighthound performance images in the world. As of August 1, 2022, the blog will become much more photo-centric. Not only will I post images from the homestead in the foothills of the Little Florida Mountains, and surrounding environs, but also tips about shooting, editing, archiving, software, hardware and more. The political rants will become few and far between (but not eliminated! It is 2022 after all!)
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Bracketology II. Squeakball Version.
Update: 10:25PM CDT: Oh yeah!
Now.. let's boot the Irish out, too!
Update: 3/16/07 6:00PM CDT: Done! I suppose it's too much to ask for Florida and their girly-man to get bounced?
Announcement!
It is with great pleasure that we announce- finally- the website for our "non-canine" images: http://www.shotonsite2.photoreflect.com . The first images are up- currently we are only offering 5x7 in 8x10 acid-free mat, and 8x10 in 11x14 acid-free mat. Soon we hope to have large panoramas (ie the Florida Mountain series in 8 x 20, etc.) and possibly poster sizes, (but first we want to look at them and make sure the quality is what we want.) All images will be signed, and shipped in sealed plastic, "ultra clear" presentation bags.
Please think about our site when it's gift-giving time for the non-dog people in your lives, or when redecorating the den. And pass this information on to those folks who may be interested.
I'm hoping to figure out- maybe with the help of some readers (you know who you are)- how to put a little link to the site on the blog. Images will be added regularly, as we travel the country.
ADDED 1:15 CDT - Well, that was quick. Thanks to Todd B., there's now a link to the new site, just to the right. He must'a known I was talking to him. :)
Someday, in the best of all possible worlds, these will all be on the walls of our coffee house/art gallery, somewhere in New Mexico. Look for us.
Their Own Worst Enemy
Eric Sharp, outdoors writer for the Detroit Free Press, has good advice for all of us in today's column, including this all-important nugget:
"...but 'fair chase' is an emotional concept defined by the human brain, not the laws of nature.
So let's put aside any notion that emotion won't or shouldn't play a role in the future of hunting, or that we hunters can simply ignore the feelings of the great nonhunting mass. They are the people who get to vote on whether we can hunt." (emphasis mine)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
More Coursing.
As long as we're passing movies along, here's some more coursing I found on YouTube. This happens to be Galgos in Spain from a 2005 championship meet. Many who know me know I've coveted a Galgo for years, (even though the houndsmen of the southwest US consider them nothing more than another mixed breed). And if you occasionally root for the hare, (and who doesn't?), watch the move the hare makes at the end of a fairly long course, to escape.
It turns out there are lots of live (and lure) coursing videos on YouTube.. although I guess that shouldn't surprise me. Most are not put there by AR anti-hunting whackos.. but a few are. I wish someone would explain the "Borzoi Wolf Hunt" to me, though. As one commenter wrote: "That was pointless." I'd have to agree.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Outtakes.
That damned rock wedged in the top of the 1000M fjord still creeps me out.
He's also going on another world tour, courtesy of Stride Gum. And we can't even get a damned dog food company to sponsor the Hare Brained Express!
Creedence Said:
Bracketology
And dammit; I'm sticking with, "With a name like Smuckers.... etc".
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
New Mexico Reviewed..
The Campos was apparently the place for us, this year, which is surprising, because we missed it completely last year. We more than made up for it this year, visiting at least 5 times. Might have been 6. The owner, Mr. Campo, is a former chef at the Double Eagle in Old Mesilla, near Las Cruces. He was delivering something to Deming several years ago, liked it, and started his own place. The menu is a fantastic fusion of New Mexican/Southwest/Cajun/Italian... If you can impress JoAnn Van Arsdale (with the Ceviche Zacatecas in this case), you're doing well. Very well, indeed. My favorites ended up being the Skilletini- a sizzling iron utensil filled with pasta, Italian and Cajun sausages, ham, and other tasty, heavily seasoned goodies, and the San Franciscan- one of the best "California" sandwiches I've ever tasted... smoked turkey, cheeses, tomato, green chiles and avocado with a spicy sauce, on very thick and chewy sourdough bread.
When going to The Campos it's best to ignore the ambience. There isn't any, other than the giant gourd on the north wall that's painted to look like a penguin. But we don't go there to be impressed by their interior decorator. The exterior, on the other hand is this masterpiece, which the painter (who's name I didn't get), was working on the whole time we were in Deming. The Campos doesn't have a website.. in fact, none of the places in town do, but you can find some great comments on all of them at ChefMoz.org.
In no particular order, we also went to our old standby, Palma's Italian Grill, a couple of times. Absolutely the best bread dipping sauce around... with excellent fresh bread. The Lasagna was still good, and the Tuscan Salmon was as good as we remembered it.. and still a steal at $9.95. And on Saturdays, the owner/chef still strolls around the dining tables with his wireless microphone, karaokeing Sinatra. You don't find that in the "big city".
El Mirador, is one of the many Mexican restaurants in town, and one that we hadn't visited before, but there always seemed to be lots of vehicles there during their two meals, breakfast and lunch. We had one of each, and they were real good- especially the huevos ranchero. Can't give a review on the menudo, but it looked good as it went by to the table behind us. The restaurant, (or one of the four that the same family owns in Deming), was featured in a 2002 issue of Bon Apetite, but I couldn't find anything online.
A name that always popped up in the polls on who has the best green chile cheeseburger, was the local (or regional?) fast food chain, Blake's Lottaburger, and since, coursing our dogs aside, green chiles are a big reason we keep going back to New Mexico, we thought we'd better give it a try. And it was damned good for fast food!
The night before the Pack Hunt, we met a couple of other hound folk, and Dutch and his family, at the Holiday Inn, so we finally were forced to eat at the Prime Rib Grill. I forget what I ate. It was a Holiday Inn, after all.
And on a memorable Saturday night, we drove to Silver City to meet with Dutch, Cherie, and Buddy, and Susan Trow (visiting from Canada), and we drove to even further altitudes to the Buckhorn Saloon & Opera House, in Pinos Altos. Entering into the saloon portion, built in the 1860's, we were warmed by a huge potbelly stove. We went to our linened and silvered table and enjoyed some of the best steaks anywhere- we had he special, New York Strip, smothered in melted cheese and, what else?, green chiles. It was all the more tasty, as it turned out, Susan wanted to buy! We relented. You never have to twist my arm much.
Our last week was in Roswell, and I can't tell much about the local cuisine; we ate at Chili's one night because we had gotten some gift cards for Christmas, and the Golden Corral on another night because, well... we just think the GC is a cut above most other steak buffet places. You ought to try it sometime.. especially for the dessert bar! I almost forgot- we did eat at a small chain steakhouse, The Cattle Baron, following the Saturday hunt. A memorable salad bar, and for some reason, I chose to have blackened Halibut- at a steak place. Was good, though. We also met for the draw on Saturday and Sunday at a former Denny's, now christened, The Cover Up Cafe. Very good breakfasts and free coffee with a meal.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Headlines That Just Catch Your Eye
Here's A Plan...
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Park in the Suburbs...
...Drive into town, in a real "town" car. Shot On Site at "The Ranch" Escapees RV Park, Lakewood, NM.
They're Doing It Again...
"That’s our Boston: from proud birthplace of the American Revolution to a city of drooling idiots just blowin’ shit up."
Read all about it here.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
The Schedule...
Yeah, us too. But our 6 week vacation in New Mexico is nearly over, and not a moment too soon, because we're broke. It's time to make some money to pay the bills. So here's the schedule for the next couple of months:
- March 3-4 AAWC Hutto, TX
- March 10-11 WGRA Boswell, OK
- March 17-18 LSWC Ferris, TX
- March 22 GCA Ferris, TX*
- March 24-25 #OPEN# (Possibly NOTRA, Boswell)
- March 31-April 1 #OPEN# (Possibly LGRA, Iowa)
- April 7-8 IGCA Valley Center, KS*
- April 14-15 BCOSW Belvidere, IL
- April 22-28 SDCA Specialty, Fontana, NC
- May 5-6 OKIGO, Fairborn, OH
- May 12-13 #OPEN# (Possibly OB NOTRA, Indiana)
- May 20 Silken Specialty, Gray Summit, MO
- May 26-28 #OPEN#
- June 2-3 ASFA II Farmington, MN
- June 5-8 SCOA Specialty, Lexington, KY
*Pending approval of organizers
Lots of choices after that... we'll just have to see how it plays out.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
60 Year Old Solos Navajo Bill Hill Summit.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Image of the Day
I decided to be greedy, and take one of the Border Patrol luggage tags. There were lots of fun things in there, including a Fuji single use camera with a couple of shots left. So I took a self portrait. This is a lot of fun, and today- a lot of work!
Geocaching
I mentioned my new handheld GPS receiver in the post about Dutch's hunts, where it helped guide the hunters on a methodical, efficient path. It worked very well. A popular activity for people with these devices is called Geocaching , (pronounced Geo-cashing). All over the world people have placed little boxes and packets of trinkets, and log books and other ephemera, in out of the way places. They then put the coordinates on geocaching websites.. which look something like this, along with hints, and a little description of the location. Once armed with this knowledge, you grab your GPSr, (ours looks like this), hop in your car, (or 4WD vehicle as the case may be), and head out for the cache location.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Dutch's Hunts.
People are whining.. actually only one person is whining (LOL), about not seeing any results from the Pack Hunt and Desert Hare Classic. Having just finished my article for Performance Sighthound Journal, and hitting "send", I really don't want to cut myself off at the paycheck, so you won't see any details here. But I will say they were fun, we had plenty to eat and imbibe, and we used our GPS receiver for the first time to plot an organized, methodical trek. It seemed to work well. The above is the track, and waypoints ("HAR-" is jackrabbits jumped and coursed, "NC-" is, of course, "no course") for the Desert Hare Classic. We found the "glory hole" and we worked it!
The weekend's big winners were Dutch, and Chris M. For how they did it, you have to buy the magazine!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Copy Cats?
Can Photographers Be Plagiarists? (warning: brief nudity.... that ought to increase the click-count).
Is it plagiarism? Judging from the amount of trampled earth, and lack vegetation between the trail and the subject, I'd say no. It's just appreciation of a nice image by probably hundreds- if not thousands- of photographers- amateurs, professionals, semi-professionals, and just plain tourists.