Yay! I just received the 2010 Autopano Panobook, and look what I found on page 150!

View the original image here and here.

One of the most charming events we’ve seen this holiday season is the Oakland ZooLights. Periodically, the tens of thousands of Christmas lights are set to music in a dazzling light show. Fun for kids and bah-humbuggers alike!

I love barter. In trade for some web work, I get days at this fabulous house. This works out great for everyone involved, but the biggest beneficiary is definitely me. Its on trips like this that I am reminded how great my friends are and that I have the most wonderful wife in the world. Lucky me!

With temperatures on the bay hovering around 50 degrees, it might not have been an ideal day for a Hornblower Cruise. Nevertheless, the mighty IT team braved the elements and posed for the obligatory group shot.

Kelly, Kerry and Matt take in the view.

I’m trying desperately not to fall onto the great blog trash heap. So, here it is – a new post.

The buzz surrounding last night’s party was all about 200 tons of sand, five swimming pools and “swimwear encouraged”. Hm. Sounds like an indoor beach party, right? Well, the event resembled a beach about as much as I resemble Brad Pitt. Oh – there was sand scattered about the 250,000 square foot industrial space, but that quickly turned to airborne dust as it was trampled by the platform boots of 10,000 grungers. And, aside from the occasional fireball, the giant warehouse was as dark as night. If you imagined yourself sipping a fruity margarita under a fake palm tree on a towel in the sand at this “beach party”, you were sorely disappointed. Still, I do love Oakland. You won’t find parties like this in Burlington, Wisconsin.

Congratulations, Mike and Myrna!

To me, the coolest thing about this reunion is that Kelly’s aunt and uncle were able to round up all of the bridesmaids and groomsmen from their wedding – fifty years ago. Amazing.

Mike and Myrna have this spectacular view from their remote ranch north of tiny Friant, California.

Well, it’s been five months since we returned from Burma, and I’m still looking at the pictures pretty much every day. Luckily, I like looking at pretty pictures of things and places I’ve seen. No matter how good (or bad) you think these images are, they definitely look even better to me, and hopefully, Kelly too.

Photo blogging is a selfish endeavor, but it sure beats the pants off an old-fashioned photo album. Long live the Internets!

I swear that I saw this lovely temple referred to as the “whipped cream temple” somewhere. You can see why. This was one of my favorite temples.

Nearby, we stopped to have a look at the Massive Mingun Bell. Weighing in at 90 tons, it is the world’s largest cast bronze bell.

On the morning of our ninth day in Burma, we took another slow boat ride up the Irrawaddy. This time, our destination was the huge, unfinished Mingun Pahtodawgyi.

If it had been finished, it would have easily been the largest pagoda in Burma – nearly 500 feet tall! In its ruined state, it’s merely the largest pile of bricks in the world. View in Google Maps.

We climbed up to the top to take in the view of the river and the stunning Mya Thein Tan, which will be featured in my next post!

And it looks a lot better “in person” than it does here. It’s nearly five feet tall – the color and sharpness are excellent, and the metallic Fuji Pearl paper really shines! Move your mouse over the image below to compare my PhotoShop visualization with the actual print on the wall.

This beautiful temple is on Sagaing Hill, has a great view of the Irrawaddy River and a fantastic tile floor. We loved the colors and the geometric patterns.

The shot was made by stitching eight images together. The view encompasses a bit more than 180 degrees.