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.
