My GPS Camera Phone

A tragic thing happened when I got home from work. The agave bloom broke in half. (The mother plant is on the left, with the stalk rising up out of the frame. I don’t think I need to point out the top half of the stalk.)

An agave plant across the street had finally bloomed after 35 years of growth. During that time, it had propagated many more plants around it, but no blooms. Unexpectedly, a stalk rose from the center and into the air about 20 feet. It was huge and covered in little flowers-to-be, waiting to show off its rarely seen display, after which it would die with dignity. A single, immense bloom followed by death.

The stalk had to grow through the branches of a well-established cedar before it was in the clear, which normally wouldn’t have been a problem. However, the stalk grew too close to a branch which ended up rubbing against the stalk, eventually weakening it to the point of breaking.

I had planned on posting some photos of this magnificent plant in full bloom, but it is not going to happen. Not naturally, anyway. Nancy suggested that I cut the stalks of unopened blooms and place them in water. Hopefully, the blooms will sense their accelerated death and open up for us, in spite of being separated from the plant.

There was a similar instance of this death blooming in my yard, where a morning glory vine was chewed apart (by a dog) at its base, killing the vine. It seemed as if the vine knew it was going to die, so it expended every bit of stored energy to push out the flowers, a blooming period that lasted about a week. It was truly an amazing thing to see – a dead vine covered in bright blue flowers.

I’ll keep you posted as to the success or failure of the rescued agave blooms, but until then, follow the link below to see a good photo of a similar plant getting ready to bloom. I can assure you, if the buds do open, there will be hundreds of yellow flowers posted here. Then, the mother can admire her work from across the road, knowing that 35 years of waiting was well worth the effort.

More info on Agave americana via Floridata.com

With the huge amount of rain we’ve been getting, I thought it appropriate to post a photo of this storm drain. It’s been busy drinking up the massive runoff from severe thunderstorms that have frequented the area. Thankfully, we aren’t anywhere near the Mississippi River, so flooding is not an issue.

This is also a shot taken from the Nokia 5310 that I’m testing out. I have to say, the camera isn’t spectacular in daylight, but I took some night shots of the kids with sparklers and I was surprised by the results. Come back later this week for the side-by-side camera phone photo comparison between the Nokia 5310 and my Casio G’zOne.  The results are rather interesting.

My children went through Montessori school, which is pretty much a free-form environment for kids to play with lots of educational materials in the form of books, music, art and other fun kid stuff. We were lucky enough to find and be admitted to Flowers Montessori (the best school in the city, in my opinion), which led to our kids getting a big head-start on the basics.

One afternoon while picking up my daughter, I noticed a lot of interesting black-and-white photos hanging on the walls. They looked so artfully done that I started to wonder about the photographer. Then I realized a common trait shared by all of them: the perspective was about thigh-high. Kids, I thought. What a brilliant idea.

Since that day, I have always let both girls take photos from the day they could hold a camera enough for me to trust them. There’s something about a photo taken by a child that evokes a feeling that no adult can capture. Kids take photos of things that the average person wouldn’t think of shooting. A television while it’s on, a toilet, a ceiling fan or the family pet while they’re eating. They bring a real-life quality to photos that professionals work to perfect over their entire careers.

Often, other parents will see my girls running around with my (shiny, expensive, breakable, fragile, non-kid-proof, please-don’t-drop-it) digital camera or camera phone and look at me like I’ve got three heads. However, they also have this look of amazement, at which point I tell them to give it a try with their little hellions kids. “You’ll be surprised,” I tell them.

“Yes,” they reply, with a forced grin. “You’re crazy.” (OK, they think that last part, I’m sure of it.)

The point of this is that kids revel in the light of an adult task, like handling a camera. Teach them to use the wrist/neck strap from the start and a few basic things, then let them go wandering. When they return, sit back and flip through the photos with them. It’s will probably be the most intense conversation you’ve gotten from your child in ages. Doing something like this will also provide your child with an abundance of creative, right-brain activity, which is unfortunately all but phased out of most public schools today.

I’ve decided to run with this on My GPS Camera Phone as a new post theme. There’s two good reasons: 1) read the above and 2) there’s no shortage of photos to post. Additionally, I ask everyone interested to submit your kid’s camera phone photos (or photos from any kid), and I’ll consider posting them.

Of course, you adults can submit camera phone photos as well. E-mail them to photos(at)mygpscameraphone.com and make sure to include the backstory, which will also be posted. You get a photo credit and a linkback to your site. How can you argue with that? Besides, if you don’t submit, I’ll just keep posting my kids’ pictures.

I’ve been working over the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic for about a week now, thanks to the people over at WOM World. My first impressions of this phone and what it can do are much better than that of the 3555, which I had the opportunity to review earlier this month.

I’ve only had a few moments to play with the camera, so I can only say at this point that I’m impressed with the features that the 5310 offers, considering that it’s a camera phone with an identity crisis. In my opinion, the 5310 is desperately trying to be a first-generation iPod Nano, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

I’ve posted a photo from the 5310 as an example of what it can do at maximum resolution (a respectable 1600×1200 pixels) and maximum image quality given poor lighting conditions. The photo was taken during some rain in full auto mode, then cropped and minimally touched up in Photoshop. So far, so good.

Regarding the music part, I have to say that I’m incredibly happy with what I see. The 1GB of expandable memory allows me to load enough music for the day and then play it back through my desktop speakers, a large set of headphones or the ear buds that come with the kit. Given the volume I’ve played the music and the fact that it was driving a hefty pair of headphones, the battery life managed to maintain well within acceptable limits. Obviously, the 5310 isn’t meant to replace your MP3 player, but it sure does a great job at standing-in.

The high resolution display also makes the navigation icons more recognizable, improving the navigation tremendously. I’m still not pleased with the non-intuitive interface, but I can live with it as long as I can see it.

The form factor of this phone is unbelievable. Measuring 1.2″x 4.1″x 0.4″ makes the 5310 almost invisible. Combine this with the microSD card and you’ve got a little powerhouse that can crank out the tunes.

More on the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic in upcoming weeks.

Disclaimer: No compensation was received for this review nor is there any affiliation between T-Mobile/Nokia and this web site. All reviews are based on a trial usage and the statements herein are based on my current mood and/or my personal preferences.

Go ahead, call me crazy. Compare to the original if you want to see the bark for yourself.

Photo credit: Nancy, my awesome wife

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit the Wordless Wednesday HQ.

In this particular case, we’re talking about the cigarette-smoking camel, not the Joeprah. He’s off doing some commercial for Graco in Atlanta, schmoozing it up with the Hollywood types and having himself a little bit of fun. Not a bad gig for being a stay-at-home dad.

While he’s gone, I’ve been entrusted to post on his behalf, which I’m sure will result in a lifetime ban from the Internet. But the bar is high, so I’m hoping that my sarcasm and wit will be enough to at least keep a few readers from wanting to sue him for mental distress caused by mediocre content. If you’re brave enough, go check it out.

But enough about Joe(prah).

Nancy took this picture about six months ago, probably on the University of Florida campus. It’s just a shot of tree bark, right? Well, let’s see if you can locate the head of a camel in there. If you can find it, then you are a visionary beyond your wildest dreams or you’ve been awake too long. It’s in there, trust me. If I have a moment later on, I’ll post an updated photo with the outline. Happy camel hunting!

Welcome Joeprah readers!