Notes from the Upper Peninsula

A not-so-short, but necessary hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:50:00 +0000

UPliving is in somewhat of a hibernation state right now. Our last newsletter that was sent out in July announced the birth of little Isabela Raven. My wife and I maintain this site as a hobby and are devoting most of our time to being proud parents right now. The remainder of 2008 might not see too many features. Although we have another artist feature in the works. And that ice fishing feature is finished. I just didn't want to put it up in the spring...or the summer...not even the fall. I'll post it this December.

We have some exciting ideas for this site. Hopefully, 2009 will get to see all of them.

Down the Ice Fishing Hole

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:15:00 +0000

I think it was the 16th that we went ice fishing. The drive that is usually 15 minutes turned into a 30 minute drive. We arrived at the lake in the middle of an official white out. I lived in Delta county most of my life and I can't remember a winter like this. Even of my 4 years I spent in Houghton I don't think we ever got this much snow. It does come as a relief though. I was starting to wonder if we were losing our winters. As they were becoming less white. Somehow having snow makes the cold more bearable.

As it turns out, we have to go out to the ice shack again. Fish seem to have a case of camera shyness. And what would an ice fishing feature be if we didn't catch a fish. Also, the ice fishing experience doesn't transfer to video too well. So in efforts to not bore the viewers, I'm working on a underwater sequence. Here's a screen shot of the video.

A few updates

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:41:00 +0000

I finally posted a new feature. If you haven't already checked it out, please do..it's in the adventures section. I was sitting on this feature for several months. We are, however, planning to go ice fishing this Saturday, so hopefully I'll post that by the end of this month.

Ingrid and I have also been hard at work revamping her entire website. We started from scratch. The only remains her new site has of her old site are her artworks. It's very cool. Please check it out at ingridartstudio.com.

I've just completed a nice update to UPliving. I made it easier to browse other features. You'll see the feature browser beneath the media gallery.

My hat has got fur on it

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:35:00 +0000

The Wriggler is Shaking His Stuff
Originally uploaded by dailyinvention

It has been below freezing for the majority of two months now and that means the U.P.'s most prized season has returned. Winter! Its a time when any town near a lake doubles in size, driving at excessive speeds down country roads is thought twice about and traction tests are always a good idea, people with 4 wheel drive vehicles acquire new friends and snowmobiles out-numbering cars at a bar is not an uncommon sight.

Yes winter is upon us again. With a new baby on the way, Ingrid and I won't be doing much snowmobiling, but we will be out ice fishing in the near future. Check back in the coming weeks for the feature.

And the heat broke...

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:46:00 +0000

Waves and spray
Originally uploaded by I am Jacques Strappe

We went to a wedding on Saturday in Carney and the temperature was in the 80's. Today it's below 40 with gusting 20 mph winds. I feel like we just returned from Florida without actually going anywhere. We actually did come back from Florida to similar weather in February.

I guess this means that autumn is in full swing and winter will soon be here. Although I still see green leaves on many trees. Poor leaves. They'll soon freeze off before they complete their colorful cycle. It could actually snow today. I've seen full green trees covered with snow. Kinda weird. They die soon after that. Let's see how long this year's leaves can hang on.

U.P. Autumn not giving up

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:36:00 +0000

Spray Falls
Originally uploaded by jensenl

This is actually my runner-up photo for this post. You can see the one I wanted to post here: Champion Mine. I discovered a new feature within Flickr: Some photos can be blocked from blogging. My first choice photo's owner apparently doesn't want people to blog his photos...which makes me like the photo a little less.

It is surprisingly warm for October in the U.P. The color should be almost over and the ground should be covered with leaves, but there are still a few trees that are fully green yet. We might get 4 months of summer this year! Which, if I were to rank the seasons, would be at the bottom of the list. The cooler weather will be welcomed.

Flingin' some anti-aliased DiRT on the XBOX 360

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 16:24:00 +0000

I probably should explain the title for the less geeky before I begin raving about the game. Anti-aliasing is a term used in the digital imaging world that basically means smoothing the edges and blending the colors of digital images. If the dirt was aliased, then it would appear as a bunch of little brown squares.

It took me a while to post it, but I finally edited and exported my DiRT experience. Virtually racing on the Bark River, MI track was quite an experience. Knowing that I've been on the same dirt (not racing unfortunately, but standing) that I'm now racing on in a video game is really cool. Through my job at Mediapro Development, I developed the website for the Bark River International Raceway. So, of course, I had to take the game into work. My co-worker, Nick Jensen, did most of the video work for their site. Most notably, you can view a real world tour of the track with Ben Wandahsega.

This was my first attempt at recording video game footage. For some reason I think the gurus at IGN have a better system than mine. The only way I could figure it out was to play the game on my video recorder's huge 2.7 inch LCD panel. It was a little straining on the eyes, but it actually didn't affect my game play too much.

Well, I think Blogger needs to work on their video uploading process... I uploaded the video to YouTube:

Off Road Racing at Bark River

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 02:49:00 +0000

Johnny Greaves at Bark River
Originally uploaded by bluepxmedia

When you live in a rural part of the country, sometimes you catch yourself pulling in. Actually, that might be true wherever you live. It is not necessarily bad, but we tend to think that the world is happening out there and doesn't have much to do with us. I'm not talking about the war in the Middle East or starving third world countries or the deforestation of the rainforests...no, I'm talking about cool stuff like movies and video games. We watch them..we play them, but rarely is our tucked away region ever in them.

The Lions Club of Bark River Michigan has been bringing off road racing to the U.P. for over 30 years. I can only imagine what it must've been like back then...probably reminiscent of NASCAR beginnings. Now some of these drivers are world famous. At the Bark River track, you can walk through the pits and say hi to Johnny Greaves or Carl Renezeder.

The Bark River track finally got its claim to video game fame in the XBOX 360 title DiRT by Codemasters. The game is sold out in our area...it can't be found anywhere. Ingrid and I drove to Grand Rapids and I managed to get my hands on one. I borrowed my step-brother's 360 and I unlocked the Pro-4 series on the Bark River track in under two hours. That probably isn't all that great, but I had fun doing it.

In a few days I'll post my actual in game footage racing in Johnny Greaves' Toyota TRD Forest County Potawatomi Tundra on the Bark River track!

Hot Air Balloon Rides in Escanaba

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 14:41:00 +0000

This is an experience Ingrid nor I have had yet. A company out of Ohio, Goldfish Hot Air Balloon, was invited by OSF hospital along with other major Delta County players. A friend of ours, April Durow, was lucky enough to partake in an untethered ride one afternoon for one of their test flights. She let us post the video here in the notes section. Click here to watch the video.

You'll get a bird's eye view of the Chip-In Casino, some deer running through a field, a glimpse of Escanaba...a deer blind. Yeah, for as exciting as views from an air balloon might be, I cut the 16 minute video down to three and a half.

April was telling us that the basket actually brushed some trees when they were coming in for a landing. I don't know...I might take the chance if I ever get the opportunity, but they were pretty high. I'm not sure how high, but high enough to care about it. The only thing between you and peril is a little basket, albeit a very secure basket, but still a basket.

Fair Week in the U.P.

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 03:08:00 +0000

The U.P. State Fair was held this week in Escanaba. Last year, Ingrid and I went twice. Once was for the sights and the food and the (un)usual fair experience. The second time was strictly for the chicken teriyaki with tempura. It was actually only I that went to the fair, paid the admission fee, went straight to the vendor, bought the two meals and went home to have dinner with Ingrid. So this year that was the first place we went.

This year was a little bit different. The company Ingrid works for, Woerpel Images, had a booth in the exhibition building for the magazine that they publish, the Upper Peninsula Magazine. We had thousands of copies to hand out. At times we didn't let people pass by the booth without a magazine. It was free, has beautiful photos and cool stories...why wouldn't they want one?

We missed the Miracle of Life event this year again. When we were there Thursday, the cow had been mooing (either from pain or frustration from all the people watching her give birth) so much that she was hoarse. I thought it was funny that the cow was hoarse...Ingrid didn't share my sense of humor. Then on Friday when we went back to the Miracle of Life tent, there was a scraggly little calf in her pen.

For me the fair is definitely about the food. This is my all time favorite: There's this booth that's by the exhibition building..been there for years. They serve Italian sausages in some kind of deep fried bun..the taste is amazing!

What are these notes from the U.P.?

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 01:48:00 +0000

I really don't know yet. I guess they will be just that: brief points or ramblings or observations or whatever from people living in (or who have a connection with) the Upper Peninsula.

We have some stuff that would be cool to show on this site, but doesn't fit in the three main sections of neighbors, storytellers and adventures. For instance, events don't really fit in adventures because that section was meant to show things people could do anytime. Also, as you might have noticed, it takes a lot of time to post a new feature. If we go somewhere and want to post our experience on UPliving, we can do it here instead of making a whole feature for it.

I plan to invite authors around the U.P. to contribute their notes. The invitation is open to anyone who is interested in sharing their experiences in the U.P. Please contact me.