I just got back from my first trip to Germany. We visited Frankfurt and Munich, and did a lot of exploring throughout Bavaria. Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip — you can see the whole set on my Flickr page.
Germany 2009
I’ve been following Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki on Twitter lately and finding out all kinds of great Phillies tidbits that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about. Did you know Shane has been using Matt Stairs’ bat? I guess you can’t blame him with how Stairs has been hitting lately.
Anyway, I noticed during tonight’s game that the team also has an official Twitter account. This got me wondering who else out there is using Twitter… and it turns out there are some interesting ones. Check out the list below… I’m pretty sure these are all the real deal, but you never know.
@tzolecki / Todd Zolecki
@philaphillies / Phillies Official Twitter
@THE_REAL_WHEELS / Chris Wheeler
@G_Sarge_M / Gary Matthews “Sarge”
@T_mac_on_TV / Tom McCarthy
@chaddurbin / Chad Durbin
Still no Scott Franzke or Larry Anderson, although I’m not sure LA knows how to operate a computer anyway. There are lots more for all the Phillies blogs as well, but these are the best ones. If you know of any others, let me know in the comments and I’ll add it to the list for everyone… or just send me a tweet!
Edit: @philaphillies says the 3 broadcasters’ twitter accounts are fakes!
Now that the weather is warming up, my friends and I are getting excited about getting back out on the trail for some backpacking. Pennsylvania is a great place for hiking… great state parks, remote areas in the north and west parts of the state, and of course the Appalachian Trail. There are so many places to choose from that it can be kind of overwhelming. Luckily I’ve found a bunch of resources online to help out, not only with choosing a hike but also planning and preparing for it.
The go-to resource for me is the DCNR website. This site has information on all the state parks, trails, and forests in Pennsylvania, as well as detailed maps of each. All of the maps are free to download and are available as PDF’s, so you can easily print them out and carry them with you on the trail. On our last hike through Michaux State Forest two weeks ago, I downloaded the map, zoomed in on the area where we were hiking and then took a screenshot. That way, I had a nice, small yet easy to read map that covered the exact trails we were going to take. I printed that screenshot and tucked it into my map pouch on my pack, and we used it frequently the entire time we were out there.
There are some really great sites run by hikers themselves as well. For the Michaux hike I also printed a map and trail notes from Mid-Atlantic Hikes. This is a great site that has lots of hikes listed all over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Each hike has detailed trail notes, photos of the area, and a nice map with contours, which is pretty essential for knowing where you are when you’re on the trail. A similar site is PA Hikes, which has just as much information, if not as many hikes. (more…)
Yesterday I was doing my usual surfing and I rediscovered the Hype Machine’s Top 50 Albums of 2008 list. I remember seeing this when it came out back in January (and scoffing at the thought of the very average Fleet Foxes at #1). Putting that aside, I realized in hindsight how good of a list it was. Half of my personal ‘08 favorites are on there, as well as a bunch of my runners-up like R.E.M. and Beck. Not only that, but the five albums that are dominating my iPod at the moment are all on this list. It makes me wonder what else I missed… I’m definitely going to have to go through this list one more time…
Anyway, here are the five great albums I missed from 2008. I am loving all of them so much now that they each could have easily found a spot in my top ten, if only I had discovered them earlier. Click on the album cover to go to Amazon and listen to my favorite song from each.
I was in San Diego for a week at the end of February… the pictures have been on my Flickr page for a while now but I figured I’d post a favorite here too. This is one of the vendor carts in Old Town, selling all kinds of gimmicky junk to tourists. The colorful blankets did make for a good picture, at least.
San Diego is a lot different than cities on the east coast, but once I settled in I really enjoyed myself. I didn’t have a car so I rode the trollies and buses everywhere, which ended up being pretty entertaining. I actually found myself looking forward to the next bus ride… hard to believe. Thanks to public transport though, I did get to see all the hot spots, including Balboa Park, the Zoo, La Jolla, Pacific Beach, and a few other places. Staying in Old Town didn’t give me many local options for nightlife, but just about any point in the city was one bus ride away.
If I had to give just one tip for anyone heading to San Diego, I would say definitely get yourself to Pacific Beach for at least half a day. Lay on the beach, test the waters, then head in a few blocks and find The Tap Room which has over 50 Southern California microbrews from places like Stone, Port, and Ballast Point. Fantastic.
Oh, and don’t listen to the naysayers… the Zoo is definitely worth it, even with the crowds. There isn’t another one like it.
The rest of my photos are online at my Flickr page, as always.
San Diego 2009
I went down to Middle Creek WMA over the weekend to see the snow geese starting to come in. Every Spring they come in by the thousands to Middle Creek, but with the warmer weather some showed up early. They estimate that there was 40 or 50 thousand there when I was, but I have no idea how they come up with that number… I’d like to meet the guy in charge of “counting” them.
Anyway supposedly they see more than twice this many geese down there at the peak, but it was pretty impressive as it was. At one point I was watching a couple bald eagles soaring over the lake, as they approached the water all the geese took off at once in a rising wave of white feathers. Really something to see, even if you’re not into this stuff like I am.
I plan on going back in a few weeks to see them again, but at this point I was just looking for any sign of spring that I could find, even if it is only February.
Check out the rest of my Middle Creek pictures on my Flickr page, and Think Spring!
