Exciting
Posted: June 19, 2010 Filed under: Adventures in art, Adventures in Life, current events, home, music, nature, Photography, Spring | Tags: A Prairie Home Companion, Blossom, flowers, football, moon, radio, soccer, World Cup 11 Comments
Is it just me or does soccer (as we call it here in the U.S.; football to the rest of the world) seem even more exciting when the announcers are speaking in Spanish? As some of my regular visitors may recall, M and I do not subscribe to cable television services. Cable internet, yes. Cable television, no. We don’t watch enough television to make it worth our while or money. Having cable might get us into the bad habit of watching enough (or too much). The bonus to not having cable is that when there is a high-profile sporting event that M wants to watch, we go out and watch it in a local bar or pub with a bunch of other people (usually strangers) which makes it much more fun.
The only sporting event that I follow is the World Cup. We don’t need cable television service for that as we can pick up Univision over the air. I do not speak Spanish or understand more than a few words here and there. Every four years I keep thinking some of the language might sink in as I watch the football/soccer games on Univision. So far, no luck. That makes it a little difficult when calls are made and I can’t understand what the announcer is saying. That happened to me yesterday while watching Slovenia vs. USA and they didn’t count one of the goals. I had to get online when the game ended and look it up. But it always sounds so exciting compared to the American and British announcers on ESPN (who sometimes sound as though they’re watching golf instead of soccer/football). And when the announcer yells GOOOOAAAALLLL!!!!! it’s pretty darn amazing. That guy must have an incredible set of lungs.
The plan for today, if all goes well, is to go strawberry picking at Hilgert’s this afternoon and then it’s off to Blossom for A Prairie Home Companion with friends. We’ll be picnicking and sitting on the lawn this year. No VIP tickets as we did in 2008. That’s okay. I like sitting on the lawn. It’s live radio. I don’t need to see what’s going on (although it was fascinating to be able to watch it from front row seats and I’m glad I got the chance to do so).
(Thursday’s moon)
Life in the Bogs 
these are some really cool photos.
I really like the two flower one
Thank you, Artswebshow. 🙂 And thank you for stopping by and commenting.
I watch the Univision coverage as well because it’s in HD and ESPN is not on my cable plan.
Love your lilies, they grow well in Florida.
Thanks, Brian. 🙂
I bet the lilies love it in Florida. They only tolerate it here in the secondary snowbelt of northeast Ohio. I’m pretty sure they know we need the lift their color and beauty bring to us.
Picking strawberries and Prairie Home Companion! Life doesn’t get any better than that, does it? I love you pics…but know absolutely nothing about soccer/football so can’t comment on that!
That’s okay, Kathy. I don’t really know much about soccer/football either. That makes it even more fun to be watching it on a channel where they all speak Spanish. I know a little bit (very little) from when my youngest son played soccer, but I have begun to accept that I will never understand what they mean by “off sides.”
Picking and strawberries and A Prairie Home Companion go together so well, don’t they? Like peanut butter and jelly or sweet pickles and Swiss cheese. 😀
Such gorgeous color!! And – I especially love the moon!!!
Thank you, Marcie. The moon shot was spontaneous and pure luck. 🙂
The flowers are so beautiful! And I’m fascinated by the moon photo – did you take it with the strongest zoom imaginable? (Sorry, I don’t know much about cameras). The craters and shadows are incredible!
Thank you, Joanne. To be honest, I don’t know much about cameras either. I’m still learning and there is a lot to be learned. That shot of the moon was a lucky one. I stepped outside, looked up, clicked and hoped for the best. I’m still learning how to use my new camera and I couldn’t for the life of me remember the “rules” on photographing the moon other than treating it like the bright light it is (in other words, don’t use a nighttime setting). I did zoom in a bit but not at the strongest zoom setting I have because I wasn’t using a tripod (which means any shake — and there is always shake no matter how still you think your hands might be even when holding your breath — would ruin the picture if zoomed in too close). Instead, I cropped it after uploading it to “zoom in” a little.
I was so surprised by how well it came out that I used it for my desktop photo for a day or two. My husband saw it and thought I nicked it from the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) website. Funny man. 😀
Looking “up” paid off again! Your husband must have been very proud of you, you did extremely well with that photo!
The “man in the moon” was smiling on you that night. 😀