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Children in Public
Recent stories about local store policies regarding unruly children have brought up many debates on how children should be brought up and whether the childless should have a say on how others raise kids, and even talk of the poor editorial quality of the New York Times. Here's Cinnamon's report of her fact-checking with the bookstore referenced in the NYT article.
I add my two cents with this sign I saw on the door of Thee Fish Bowl pet store in Evanston. "Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy."
And if you aren't able to handle your child's tantrum in public, try this approach.
Photo links
Optimize performance in Photoshop (Mac OS)
How-to turn a digital camera into an IR-camera This is a serious geek hack, invloving camera surgery. There are lots of other sites that illustrate the results you'll get with a filter in front of the lens, rather than in front of the sensor inside the camera. Follow Pixel Dude's links about IR and Pixalagogo's IR instructions for some Nikons.
Popular Science's Best of What's New 2005 Photography category.
A couple of stories about the Pakistan Earthquake from two photojournalists.
Postscript to Allerton Park
I mentioned the mystery of the Gorilla Carrying off a Woman statue missing from a path in the woods of Allerton. Thanks to Google Print, I found a little more info. The statue, and its companion, Bear and Man of the Stone Age were done in 1887 and 1885, respectively, by Emmanuel Frémiet. Both statues have been in the Krannert Art Museum in the University of Illinois, and in a traveling exhibition, but are now in storage at the park, waiting permanent installation. I found this info in A Guide to Art at the University of Illinois, 1995.
Allerton Park
A few people have noted my new masthead photo - it's the Sun Singer statue at Allerton Park, in Monticello IL. The park was a private estate willed to the University of Illinois. Anyone in Illinois really should make the trip to this free park to see its formal gardens and sculptures with miles of trails alongside the Sangamon river.
The statue itself has an interesting history - Robert Allerton wanted a smaller version of a statue he saw in Stockholm, so he commissioned the original artist to make one that he could put in the courtyard of his house. But the artist misunderstood, did a full size one, and Allerton got this huge naked guy.
There is one mystery I haven't ever solved. Way back when I went to colege, we made the trip to the park and one of our favorite things was a statue in the middle of the woods of a gorilla carrying off a maiden. It's gone now. I've asked, and the pretend never to have heard of it. I'm not sure whether it's been sold, moved or stolen.
Here are some more photos of the park.
The have a bit of a deer problem in the park.
