Author: paultmorrison

Find the Duck Part I

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Rubber Duck has been on the road these days but not to London although a  friend of her’s was spotted on a rooftop there:londonduckCan you find her friend? This next link is a panorama of London. Click Here. This is the largest, deepest, panorama done in the history of the world. It’s big. A gazillion pettabytes or something maybe more. You can scroll and zoom and see everything down to people snoozing naked in their hotel rooms. I haven’t actually found any naked Londoners nor have I found Rubber Duck’s friend but I know the duck is there. On a roof, swimming in a puddle.

Can you find her? If you do, mark the duck with the little marker on the bottom of the photo then post the coordinates. When you drop the marker just click the envelope then select the link and paste into your comments like this:

http://bit.ly/XVxJJl  This is a link to a weird pair of yellow gloves in a tub in a window. Creepy. Zoom out and see how far away the camera was!

First one to find her gets a Rubber Duck autographed GMG limited edition Bumper Sticker.

Part II of this game will be another panorama of find the Rubber Duck but it will be the actual GMG Rubber Duck in a Panorama taken on Cape Ann.

Nemo carves some snow

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My phone froze up and was not accepting finger touches. Maybe my finger didn’t have enough heat. All the wave photos are blown out white. But here is a snap of a backyard drift.  There is a three foot bush sticking out near the bottom. Should have put Rubber Duck in for scale.drift1

End of Nemo2013 in Sandy Bay

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Still blowing. Added the skis to get some perspective but it doen’t work. Those waves are really big. Straitsmouth Lighthouse in the middle somewhere. Into the wind was a beotch. Spread my wings to come back and almost blew past my house.sandybay

Stella doesn’t want to dawdle

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dawdleShe knew she needed some exercise so she ran like a crazy dog up and down the street but after three minutes it was time to go get a treat.

 

Siberian Sea in the harbor

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I hope someone gets a photo of Siberian Sea this close in with a moderately large barge in the morning. Must be a bit calmer seas inside of ten pound with the way the wind is blowing out of the north. My utter respect for crew working the deck on a boat in this weather.

siberiansea

Rubber Duck Escaped to Sunday River

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Rubber Duck likes the Foggy Google (That’s the bar on the mountain.) The actual mountain is behind the little hills in the photo.

srduck2She likes the taps. Duck, Honk, Mohawk.honkersale

 

Logan Horne, Recipient of the Friends of Halibut Point State Park Scholarship

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Logan Horne is the recipient of the Friends of Halibut Point State Park Scholarship. Logan is studying Environmental Science at Westfield State University.

Fred Peterson the Treasurer of the Friends hands over the goods to Logan Horne.  logabhorne

Friends of Halibut Point State Park website

Like them on Facebook: Friends of Halibut Point State Park

No man’s land between Christmas and Spring

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What to do? Savvy shoppers and Rubber Duck knows this is a good time to go shopping. The seasonal shops that stay open through the winter are having sales to clear out stuff before they crank it all up for the season opener. And as Rubber Duck found out at La Provence in Rockport, it’s good stuff. She easily took care of Sue’s birthday going for Rubber Duck yellow serving tray and cheese server as well as a washable mat to make the bathroom cheery.

La Provence, Rockport
La Provence, Rockport

From Bearskin Neck in Rockport to Rocky Neck in Gloucester as well as the West End in between now is the time for locals to go shopping before all those tourists show up.

La La Provence website is Rubber Duck yellow

La La Provence on Facebook

Open Thursdays to Sunday 11AM to 5PM

Big GAAC meeting this Friday, 8:00 PM at the Lanesville Community Center

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Rubber Duck and I are NOT going to this one. REPEAT: ARE NOT GOING. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED ON ACCOUNT OF SNOWMAGEDDON STORM NEMO’S ARRIVAL.

Friday night’s GAAC meeting has been cancelled on account of really really bad weather. Ted Blank’s great talk has been rescheduled to July 12.

GAAC

At the February 8th meeting of the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club, GAAC favorite Ted Blank will speak to us about the Curiosity Mars rover! The Curiosity rover and the Mars Science Laboratory it carries are the most expensive, most complex instruments ever sent to the surface of another planet. In addition to great pictures, Curiosity is now returning cutting-edge science data for the first time. Join NASA Solar System Ambassador Ted Blank for an in-depth look at the news and photos “just in from Mars”! GAAC meets on the second Friday of every month at the Lanesville Community Center, at 8:00 pm. There are no dues or fees, and everyone is welcome. You can learn more about us at http://gaac.us or on our Facebook page, at http://facebook.com/gaacpage

More Chamber of Commerce

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Oops, Rubber Duck told Ed the rolls were a food challenge.FoodChallenge

What I like about this island, the natives are so staid and honor decorum. All photos after this were a blur of 200 napkins.instigators

Fifteen minutes earlier Joey was helping unload the last boat. Cleans up pretty good.dapper

This Morning’s Sunrise: How Not to Shoot Panorama Part II

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Tide and time wait for no man and that includes the sun. If the webpage says sunrise is 7:00 AM on the dot then you better be out there before that to get the rich colors. I was trotting down the Atlantic Path at 6:59 AM enjoying the sunrise but before I could get the iPhone out BAM!  Still working without a tripod although I did line the horizon up on the panorama arrow onscreen which helped calm down the wavy horizon a bit. More after the break …sunrisepartIII just downloaded some good photos of the Edwardo Coronation Saturday night. Wait for my 2:30 PM regular post time for the shot of Sistah Felicia with tambourine over her head (did the lead singer hand it over voluntarily?) with Ron Gilson cutting a rug on the dance floor swinging a tablecloth over his head. I may be exaggerating but not by much.

 

How Not to Take a Panorama

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Use an iPhone, don’t use a tripod, don’t use a leveler. Because if you do your horizon gets all lumpy and out of sorts. (Click to embiggen.)

But a little fairy tells me a GMG contributor is going to have some cool panoramas within a month.

Hoop Pole Cove
Hoop Pole Cove

I may be an idiot but I’m not stupid!

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While enjoying a Fisherman’s brew at Stone’s Pub this fall with Ed, he introduces me to Brian O’Connor aka brianmoc. Since I have seen way too many photos and mp3 movies of Brian reeling in very large striped bass while standing on a wet rock I mention that since I grew up in graniteless Woods Hole fishing I was finding it a challenge fishing from rocks at Andrews Point and I ask for advice. He told me I had to be an idiot if I fished those rocks without wearing a pair of corkers. I prefer not to be an idiot so I asked what a corker was. He spelled it out to me. Korkers with a K. So I asked Santa for a pair and I finally got to try them out even though I didn’t have a rod in my hand.

krokersBrian was right, I was an idiot. Fortunately, my idiocy was curable. These things are nothing short of awesome. Low tide I walked directly across multiple bands of dry and wet strips of grey, green, black, slimy, greasy rocks like I was Spiderman. I even tried out the icy rocks.  Not a problem.

Details: the ones pictured are strap on “Rocktrax Plus Korkers“. 28 carbide steel points in each foot. The boots are a pair I picked up at Olympia Sports (Gloucester Crossing) in a two for one sale they had and I think now they are going to be married to my korkers.

Warning: I feel invincible with these on but as you can see I do try to keep my stupidity from killing me so I take all the advice I can get. I know that these will help me from slipping on the axle grease that grows on the rocks around here but it will not protect me from getting  nailed by that rogue wave and getting tossed in the drink if I don’t pay attention. So even with these on, be careful out there. Brian’s exact advice was, “never turn your back on the water.”

Rubber Duck is not pictured since her korkers have not arrived.

Craig Kimberley’s Take II on Fashion Shows

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I searched the web and was unable to get a clear shot of who was modeling for The Building Center of Gloucester but I was able to get the unedited versions of the other two.

pkm33

please-kill-this-guy

Rubber Duck’s Sistah Goes Skiing

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Mount Sunapee Ski Resort just a two hour drive from Gloucester. Leave at 6:30AM and that leaves you with a half hour to buy a ticket, get your boots on and be the first on the lift. This Wednesday it was half price Wednesday (no idea if they do it every Wednesday) so even if you bail like RD’s sistah and hit the bar at noon for a Blue Moon it’s still a deal.rdsisterwent skiingRubber Duck stayed home. Still recovering from the New Year’s plunge.

 

Joanie On A Pony

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Rubber Duck: “So when they installed Joanie did the town fathers consider that fact that every visitor to Gloucester’s first impression would be a very large horse’s ass or was it so Joanie could salute the Legion Hall?”

Kevin the Panda: “Sounds like a win win Rubber.”

joanieonapony

Toodeloos Kevin Safe and Sound

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Kevin is back in front of Toodeloos enjoying his perpetual tea party. Rubber Duck was so happy to see him back she brought some of her friends by.

KevinRD

All of Kevin’s stuffing seems to be in the right place and except for a touch of lipstick on his collar none the worse for wear. Actually Kevin’s fur seems a little shinier than it was yesterday and when asked where he was all night he just grins.