I spent an exhausting day touring the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). For some reason I can trek continuously for 12 hours at a stretch with no problems but am left with an aching back and blistered feet after an 8-hour trade show. My focus at the show is all things robotic. The robot pictured above is by far the creepiest one I have ever seen. It is an animatronic “communication” robot that features facial gestures and movements that are very human-like but not quite. It is the not quite part that makes this thing very disconcerting to be around. The day is coming when such a robot will be mistaken for a human and despite my love of technology, I am not sure that is something I want to witness.
It was not a great day for aerial photography as I flew from Boston to Las Vegas but I did manage a nice shot of the mouth of the Charles River. After arriving at my hotel, I had an opportunity to reconnect with a former Truevision colleague who I have not seen in 21 years. He has been photographing the deserts of the world for the last three years and has created an exquisite collection of beautiful one of a kind images. He was kind enough to share his post processing workflow with me as we reviewed selections from his portfolio. My work responsibilities limited our time together but we made arrangements to meet in Death Valley National Park for a day of shooting together later in the wee
For twenty years I attended the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) trade show in Las Vegas. Let’s just say that it is one of my least favorite travel destinations and yet that is where I am headed tomorrow. I will be attending CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, for the rest of the week where I will be surveying whats new on the competitive and technology horizons and meeting with colleagues. I will have new posts when I return on Sunday.
It was with mixed emotions that Jeanine and I dropped Kyle off at the airport early this morning. He is returning to Santa Clara University where he will resume his senior year after spending a gap semester at home with us. We are pleased that he took a break to focus on his future and that he has decided to add a computer science minor to his finance degree. On the other hand, we have really enjoyed the extended visit with him and are going to miss him more than usual this time. The hectic scene at the airport thwarted my effort to get a decent photo of him as he was leaving.
Today’s photo features Maya following precisely in her friend’s footsteps as she navigated an inch of slushy snow and frigid temperatures in a pair of flip-flops and shorts. Why does a child attempt winter snow traversal in flip-flops and shorts? That is a very good question for which I have no good answer.
A visit to the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in search of a bald eagle recently spotted there netted an altogether unexpected photographic outcome. When it became apparent that the eagle was hanging out elsewhere, I walked down to the Concord River whose banks were lined with some of the most interesting ice formations I have ever seen. The combination of temperatures vacillating around the freezing point and a gradually decreasing river height resulted in fascinating patterns and ice structures.
As rare as the ice formations were, I encountered something even more surprising after having ventured a mile into the refuge. Understand, for context, that during the entire course of my two hour visit, I only encountered a half dozen people willing to brave the sub-freezing temperatures, and most of them within a few hundred yards of the parking lot. Just as I reached the furthest extent of the trail I was on, I noticed, approaching from the opposite direction, two human figures. Soon it became apparent that one was on crutches and a second later I realized it was Nico with his friend Raz. I estimate the probability of this chance occurrence as roughly equal to the likelihood of running into Jeanine at a fast food restaurant, one in a million.
The holidays are never as happy without a visit from Jeanine’s sister, Susan, and we were fortunate that she was joined this year by her friends Ikey and Jean. Before moving to Concord, our Christmas holiday was spent with Jeanine’s other sister, Lauren, and her family in Indianapolis. We are lucky to have lived so close to one or the other since starting our family. On my side of the family, only my mother and sister, Alissa, live within driving distance. It would be nice to one year spend the holidays with my other sister, Mayela, who lives in North Carolina and my brother, Mark, who lives in Minnesota.
It was back to work for me today but not before bidding farewell to our Vermont house guests and capturing a group portrait.
There is something wonderful about the start of a new year. For me it is a time of infinite possibilities and fortified resolve. With each passing year, I find myself increasinlgy motivated to live deliberately and in balance with the people and world around me. Today I will take the first steps in the journey that is the rest of my life. Some of these steps will cover familiar ground but I hope that many more will lead me in new and as yet unexplored directions.
Jeanine’s recent decision to purchase a deep fryer can, I believe, be directly traced to our breakfast menu this morning. Behold the beignet. These powdered sugar dusted fried doughnuts have their origins in France but migrated to New Orleans in the 18th century where they are often featured in Creole cuisine. A questionable choice to start a healthy new year, there were no objections heard over the munching sounds that quickly consumed the delicious fritters.
By evening, after a day filled with various card and dice games, the family once again found itself organized around food preparation in the kitchen. Kyle is seen here sautéing lobster tails and shrimp to be served over bow-tie pasta being cooked by Nicolai while Jeanine prepared a kale salad with fresh lemon, anchovy, croutons and candied pecans. Yummy!
It has become my habit to close out each year with a post featuring a favorite, previously unpublished photo. This one was from a series intended for use on our holiday card but I opted for a pair that only included the kids. 2014 has been a great year for the Calabria family and we are thankful for our health and happiness. Between Nicolai’s gap year and Kyle’s gap semester we have been united under one roof for more time than in recent years, something I am going to miss. Kyle has decided to add a computer science minor to his finance major and returns to Santa Clara University this weekend to complete his senior year. Nicolai leaves for Colorado College mid-January to pick up with his fifth block. Fortunately we get to hold onto Maya for a couple more years. The kid’s rang in the new year at parties with their friends while Jeanine and I enjoyed dining out with her sister, Susan, and family friend Jean Cass at the Vine Brook Tavern in Lexington.
From our family to yours, we wish you joy and good health in the coming year.
Two years ago in August of 2014, Jeanine and I made a whirlwind tour of south central Alaska. Our eleven day adventure took us to more spectacular destinations than I would have imagined possible. We crossed Prince William Sound by ferry, explored the quaint town of Cordova, drove deep into the Copper River Delta, hiked to the summit of Mount Eyak, kayaked to the Shoup Glacier out of Valdez, camped at Wonder Lake in Denali National Park, explored the rustic town of Talkeetna, flew around Mount McKinley and landed on Ruth Glacier, went ice-climbing on the Matanuska glacier, flew by seaplane to the Katmai National Park where we hung out with the costal brown bears (grizzlies). For several months now I have been preparing a photo journal of our exploits and have finally completed the book (best viewed using the full screen option – icon with four arrows pointing outward).
We returned home from New York to a nice article in the Concord Journal that was published last week. I am also posting a photo from this weekend of my mother with a rather impish look about her and my niece, Rachael.
The last game that I will be posting from the 2014 Amputee Soccer World Cup match features the USA against Turkey. The Turkish squad includes professional players who participate in a thriving league in that country. In order to gain a better bracket in the tournament the Turks intentionally lost their first game against Japan. Unfortunately, the US did not realize this at the time and we chose to model our game plan on the “winning” Japanese strategy. Even so, the US team did very well against a very strong opponent which eventually placed third in the tournament. Many thanks to Maya who was the videographer for the match.
This post wraps up my coverage of the 2014 games and we are all looking forward to the next World Cup in 2016. There is also talk of an Americas Cup in 2015 which may come to pass. The folks at Coca-Cola published a nice follow up piece on the World Cup which can be found by following this link.
Widely regarded as the best example of only 20 remaining inland pine barrens in the world, Jeanine and I enjoyed a 3.5 mile hike through the Albany Pine Brush this morning. Located 5 minutes from my sister’s house, it was the perfect location to work off some of last night’s feast. We then joined the rest of the family at the movie theater where we saw “The Imitation Game” which I cannot recommend highly enough. Even more enjoyable was the conversation time with the kids during our post movie left-over meal. Each shared perspectives on their educations and future plans. The 3.5 hour return drive to Concord passed quickly as we all listened to our favorite NPR programs.
We drove to Albany, NY in time to join my mother and sister, Alissa, for lunch at the Reel Seafood Company, owned by long time friends of the family. Next we visited the Atria Crossgate Independent Living Center where my mother is currently living. She gave us the grand tour and introduced us to many of her new friends during happy hour. We finished the day, five minutes away, at my sister’s house where we enjoyed a grand holiday feast.
I managed a few stealth portraits including nephew John William, niece Rachael and Kyle, sporting a nicely filled in and trimmed beard.
This Christmas we tried a new approach to gift giving. Each member of the family was anonomously assigned a Secret Santa responsible for providing a gift to just that individual. Maya took it upon herself to organize the matchings using Elfster.com. This approach was deemed a great success, cutting down on the amount of shopping for everyone and giving us more time to spend with each other. Stockings this year were stuffed by all members of the family in another well received refinement. No changes to our breakfast popover and grapefruit tradition to start the morning or to our late afternoon Christmas dinner, this year featuring a delicious beef tenderloin.
This Christmas has been subject to evolving family traditions. Normally, we dine out at Chang An’s Chinese restaurant with friends before attending the candlelight service at our church. Since Jeanine will spend a good part of Christmas day in the kitchen, this has been a nice way to give her a respite from cooking. This year the kids briefly entertained the notion of preparing a meal themselves but this morphed into a take-out order from Chang An’s as their enthusiasm waned and hunger grew. They did, however, assume full responsibility for making Zeppole Balls when we returned from church, a tradition that I venture to guess they will continue with their own families one day.
With the family all together and Christmas around the corner, there is much to be thankful for at the Calabria household. We are all healthy and pursuing our passions. We have been blessed with good fortune, great friends, and a loving family. Looking ahead to 2015, it is exciting to imagine what new chapters will be written in the Calabria journal even as we pause to enjoy the serenity of the moment.
Each Monday my Vimeo weekly file size limitation resets allowing me to upload and post new full-match videos from the 2014 Amputee World Cup. Next week I will post USA vs. Turkey for the final installment.
Much of today was spent preparing for an intergenerational holiday party for the friends of our kids and their families. Jeanine cooked up a storm while the kids and I were assigned various tasks to get the house ready. The menu included lobster bisque, shrimp cocktails, gravalax (Swedish cured salmon), skewered tortellinis, Calabria meatballs with lingonberries, cranberry and pear topped puff pastry encrusted brie, pigs-in-a-blanket, and chocolate fondue.
As if this was not enough to eat, Maya was quite adamant that we introduce her friends to Zeppole Balls. She supervised dough preparation and took our new deep fryer machine on its maiden voyage with perfect results. I was in charge of honey basting, sprinkle application, and extensive quality control taste testing. Something special happens when you have a party with people of many ages who all share something in common; they engage with one another. Maya announced afterwards that this party was to become a new annual tradition.
Despite rather frigid temperatures, I decided to go for a nature walk this afternoon. Most wildlife had the good sense to be snuggled up somewhere sheltered from the wind. Spotting not a single creature, I was headed back to my car when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed this Barred Owl flying through the trees. When it landed, I approached as close as possible for this shot.
The one downside of our trip to Mexico is that Jeanine and I missed this year’s iRobot Holiday party with the Dropkick Murphys as headliners. Fortunately, I/we were able to attend many departmental and staff parties this week. Last night we dined with the leadership of our Home Business Unit at Brazilian Steak House, Fogo de Chao. This, after I joined members of our Defense & Security Business Unit for a French Toast breakfast and potluck lunch earlier in the day. The Engineering Department’s luncheon, held today, featured an Italian buffet and was held in our newly created common area which is proving to be a great addition to our facility.
Another 2014 Amputee World Cup match is up and posted. Kyle was the videographer for this match and did a great job. File size limits on Vimeo will not allow me to post another game until next week.
I returned today from a 3 day business trip to Pasadena. Nothing breaks up the long flight better than an opportunity to photograph the southwest from 35,000 feet. It never ceases to amaze me how spectacular the terrain is in this part of the country.
We owe Maya a great debt of gratitude for videotaping the entire World Cup soccer match between the USA and Japan. She was perched atop a 6 foot high two tier shooting platform affording her an unobstructed view of the game. In addition to standing on her feet for more than an hour under the intense Mexican sun, she had to sacrifice watching the game which is not possible if you are diligently framing and following the action. Maya did a great job and I hope she knows how much we all appreciate the work she did on behalf of her brother and the US team.
I completed editing all the World Cup videos that we shot in Mexico over the weekend. This includes full games with Japan, Turkey, Poland, and Germany. Unfortunately, my Vimeo account has a bandwidth restriction which will limit how quickly I can upload these. The video above is a highlight reel of Nicolai and is only about two and half minutes long. Maya shot all the footage of Japan and Turkey, Kyle shot Poland and parts of Mexico, and I did Germany. Sad to say but both the kids did a better job than I did. We were all hoping that the US games would be webcast but that was not the case. I know many folks are very anxious to see the full games and I am working as quick as I can to post them.
I have spent virtually the entire weekend post processing photos and videos from the World Cup trip to Mexico. I would have remained inside the entire time if not for my obligation to deliver Maya and her friend Abby to their futsal game in Brookline. While they were warming up, I ventured out and discovered Larz Anderson Park Pond and had time for a few photos before the sun set. This park is very photogenic and I must remember to visit again for a more complete examination.
Once a year, I attempt to corral the kids for a family holiday card photo. Normally, we like to send one out with the whole family in the shot, but this image of just the kids is my favorite of the bunch.
I recently purchased a camera that is capable of shooting 4K UHDTV video which I used to capture a cliff diver in Mazatlan last week. Each frame is the equivalent of an 8 MP still image which means I can step through action footage and extract a pretty decent photo from exactly the moment of peak interest. I predict that sports photography as it is done today will be forever changed by this new technology. I hope to post the full video sometime next week.
From each game there usually emerges one signature image. This one from the friendly against Mexico is one of my favorites containing all the elements I look for in great sports photos. This volley from near mid-field missed the upper right corner by two inches. When I get around to posting videos, there is a nice sequence showing the entire play.
I am happy to be home, even with sub-freezing temperatures and snow, but not thrilled with the prospect of processing some 5000 photos I took while in Mexico. My goal is to down-select to less than 1000 before posting in a web album. Compounded by a mountain of work back at the office, I expect this process will take the better part of a week.
Until then I will be posting a couple of images from the trip that did not make it onto the blog. I love this one of Señorita Maya taken while she was conducting an ice cube melting experiment with the straw in the foreground.
I would not say the past week has been anything close to relaxing but there is nowhere else in the world I would have rather been than here with family. We are very much looking forward to our return today but will never forget the great time we had here. The Group E banner shown above was “liberated” from a lamp post by Nicolai as a present to coach Lambert. It was signed by all the players and I know it is a gift he will cherish forever.
This website is dedicated to sharing, with family and friends, the day-to-day adventures of the Calabria family.
