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Blue sky normally means instant death to snow in Ashland, but we were treated to a rare spectacle in late February. Today (March 9) Grizzly Peak, although still snow capped, looked a bit green and we hit 60 degrees, a sure sign that Spring is not far away.
When the temperature falls below freezing, is ice cream really what you crave? Probably not, but in the summer there are far more people at this ice cream parlor in Ashland. It was called BJ’s until about six years ago. I think Zoey is the name of the “new” owner. They still serve BJ’s ice cream (from Florence, Oregon).
The Ashland Independent Film Festival is just around the corner. This will be the 10th year for the annual festival. Most showings take place in the art-deco Varsity Theatre, pictured here, in downtown Ashland. The neon lights have been burning brightly on this theater since 1937.
After much debate and shopping, I finally bit the bullet (sort of) and purchased a tripod. I say “sort of” because instead of buying what I intended (a “normal” $100 or so tripod that is a pain to carry around, fully set up, and then put away) I bought one that weighs less than my small camera, is less than a foot long, extends to almost four feet, and can be fully set up and put away in about four seconds. Even though most reviewers on amazon give it poor reviews, I’m digging my Targus TG-42TT 42-Inch Travel Tripod.
Someday I may get the real thing, just like someday I may actually purchase a DSLR, but for now portability and usability weigh heavier on my priority list. Will they ever make a DSLR smaller than my TZ10 or LX3? I doubt it. Maybe I won’t be “upgrading” after all. Going bigger and heavier is a downgrade, in my opinion, as it means I won’t bring it with me much and when I do I’ll be wishing I had something smaller and lighter.
Anyway, I picked up the Targus for under $20 and couldn’t be happier. I took the tripod and my LX3 out for some test shots a couple nights back. It had been snowing most of the day, but you can’t really see the snow in this photo of the Ashland Springs Hotel. I’ll have to try this photo again in December when the hotel has its Christmas lights up.
For the last few days you had your choice of skating (per the blue sign), skiing, snow shoeing, or snow booting it through Lithia Park. I chose the latter although the others sounded funner.
The buildings in the background are part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
I love living in a college town. I’ve mentioned speakers at SOU before. Tonight I went to a really, really good one. Phil Zuckerman spoke about religion in Denmark and Sweden. I’ll be back in Denmark this summer so as a former religionist, and someone who finds the nearly complete lack of religion in Scandinavian countries (and Japan), where the quality of life and happiness of the populations is superior to the far more religious countries, I find this topic to be very interesting.
On top of that, Zuckerman is a very animated and enjoyable speaker to listen to. If he can write as well as he speaks his books must be good. I’m going to check out his most recent work, Society Without God. He mentioned this evening that his next book is on apostates. Too bad we didn’t meet before tonight or I could have been in his next book.
Anyway, you don’t want to miss Zuckerman if he comes to your town. Here is a small taste:
Our “false spring” of the past few weeks appears to be over. After at least a dozen days in the past three weeks of 50 degrees or more, including one or two that went over 60 degrees, it may be a while before we see 50 degrees again.
We’ve been having some nice sunrises recently.
Ashland is most famous for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. However, with so many actors in town, its small-town feel, and its picturesque backdrops, Ashland has also been featured in a number of movies (for instance Calvin Marshall and Coraline). David Fincher (famous director of movies like Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to name just a few) went to Ashland High School. So I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to wake up last week to a film being made right next door.
This view of the Talented Animals van was from my driveway. The normally empty street was packed with cars, vans, and filming equipment being loaded into my next-door-neighbor’s house. My neighbor happens to be a production manager in the film industry so, again, I wasn’t that surprised.
They are filming a movie called “Walk-In” which is based on the book Summer’s Path, written by Scott Blum–also from Ashland.
I don’t know where all the ducks are in this recent photo, but usually the upper duck pond in Lithia Park is teaming with them. Since returning from Japan, I’ve noticed the duck pond to also be well stocked with koi. Also, the water is no longer green. When did these things happen?