A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
Here’s an interesting activity you can do with students using Google Earth. It helps if you use the actual program (or the satellite view in Google Maps) instead of a static image so that students can zoom in and out…
The above Google Earth image is of the Cherrydale Shopping Center in Greenville. Using only clues from the image, can you tell me the following:
Good luck!
I’m no stranger to smart phones. I’ve had a Blackberry for several years now for work. Not being tied to a computer just to get e-mail seems normal now, and as it should be. However, it has it’s good and bad points. I’ve started referring to the device as my “leash” since it keeps me tied to the office where ever I go. Even though it would be useful while I’m out and about exploring, I’ve to where I leave it at home when I’m not on duty. To me, it represents work, and occasionally I’d like to escape. Laura had wanted to get me a new smart phone of my own at Christmas, but that didn’t work out. I recently got a bit of cash from a singing gig, and decided that now might be the time before we start some summer traveling.
After some debate and research, I decided upon the HTC Incredible. Since we are on Verizon the iPhone wasn’t an option. At first I was intrigued by the Palm Pre. I liked its ability to act as a WiFi hub for multiple devices. However, I wasn’t as sure about the availability of apps for Palm. That narrowed it to either the Motorola Droid or the brand new HTC Incredible. While I really liked the Droid’s physical keyboard, the speed and overall specs of the Incredible won out, especially since they were the same price.
I won’t go into a detailed review of the Incredible. Others have done a much better job. However, these are my impressions so far, and my impressions about smart phones in general.
I’ve been accused of having too many gadgets. I confess, I have quite a few. However, I’m not one to rush out and buy the latest just because it’s new. I need to have a purpose for the gadgets that I get – not just so I can have something shiny. Yesterday, however, I met … Read More “The Tech Guru” »
Today was the day. After having them for not quite two years, my braces came off. It was a strange experience, but I’m glad to have moved on to the next phase of this project. Of course, the timing wasn’t great. This was our big concert weekend, and the Hebrew and Italian were sometimes painful … Read More “Metalhead No More” »
This past weekend the Greenville Chorale joined forces with the Greenville Symphony for a concert entitled “Inspiring Voice” featuring the works of Leonard Bernstein and Guiseppi Verdi. It was probably one of the most enjoyable and stirring concerts we’ve done, and I think all went very well. Local music critic Ann Hicks had this to … Read More “The Chorale Does Verdi and Bernstein” »
This is a concert weekend for us. The Greenville Chorale is performing a selection of works by Leonard Bernistein and Giuseppi Verdi. The first performance last night went very well (more on that in a later post).
The repertoire called for some unusual instruments, including two brake drums hit by standard hammers for Verdi’s Anvil Chorus, and a sheet of metal struck to simulate thunder in Verdi’s Witches Chorus from Macbeth.
However, the instrument that really puzzled us and caught our attention was the cimbasso. As shown in the photo at the top of this post, it looks like a cross between a trombone and a tuba. It turns out that is pretty much it’s function, too. It fills a niche by providing an instrument in the bass range of a tuba, but with more of the tonal qualities of a trombone.
Google Earth is now accessible through a browser via the Google Maps page. The plug-in for Google Earth has been available for quite some time now, so this is only a natural progression. On the Maps page there is now an “Earth” view in addition to Map and Satellite. Terrain has been relegated to the … Read More “Google Earth Meets Google Maps” »
I recently received a request for help from one of my readers regarding Google Earth and PowerPoint. The reader wanted to know how to put a Google Earth tour into PowerPoint. This website gets lots of hits from folks wanting to learn how to embed Google Earth into their presentations, but Google hasn’t made it easy. Therefore, I’ve put together a tutorial for one method, but first it might be helpful to clear up a few things.
I’ve already demonstrated how it’s possible to add PowerPoint slides to Google Earth. However, I still get inquiries for the other way around – adding Google Earth to PowerPoint, even though the two points above make it difficult, if not impossible. Well, there are a couple of ways, but they’re not perfect. The first involves just exporting static images from Google Earth and putting those images into your slides. The other involves video screen capture. Here’s how it’s done…
Read More “Adding Google Earth to PowerPoint – Another Method” »
Before Monty Python brought his (in)famous Flying Circus to British TV and film, there was a BBC radio show entitled “I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again” (ISIRTA). The show was pure silliness, and starred David Hatch as the hapless announcer, and also featured voices of John Cleese, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Jo Kendall, and Bill … Read More “I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again” »
Long Branch Pentecostal Holiness Church…
The name is long in our family lore. The church was established by my grandfather in 1911, as were many of the Pentecostal Holiness churches of this area. My father pastored the church for most of the 1960’s, and it is here that I have my earliest memories of church.
The church was small, and our large family made up a sizable bit of the congregation. My father preached and led the singing, and my mother played the piano after Mrs. Annabelle Brown left that position. It was just a tiny, unique country church, but its effect on us was indelible. The place is etched in our memories, and the myths and legends of Long Branch have grown over time, and have been embellished through retelling. So, today, nearly forty years since I last set foot in the church, I decided to see how close those myths were to today’s reality.