Jeff Keller's Blog « Because everyone else is doing it…

Six Flags Magic Mountain trip photos

Nov 26th

It was just like old times earlier today, when my friend Ashley and I went to Magic Mountain, just like we used to do several years ago. We rode some new rides as well as some old favorites. The sleeper hit was probably Apocalypse (formerly Terminator: Salvation), and Tatsu and X2 were newer rides that we enjoyed, as well. Below are some photos from the trip!

: X2 – much smoother than the original and just as intense. I spent most of the ride trying to keep my glasses from falling off!

: Tatsu, an amazing flying coaster

: Tatsu train approaching

: What a ride…

: The second time we rode we got the front row, and it was well worth it.

: More Tatsu

: The Sky Tower with Tatsu track in the foreground

: World’s tallest and fastest ear-bruising stand-up coaster, Riddler’s Revenge

: We didn’t ride Superman due to the lines and short park operating hours.

: More Superman

: Apocalypse (formerly Terminator- Salvation) is a fantastic two year-old wooden coaster.

: I’ve never been on a wooden coaster that gave an “out of control” sensation as this one.

: The new Green Lantern vertical coaster (note how the cars are on the sides of the track). Didn’t ride.

: Riddler’s Revenge with the moon

: Superman at night

: Goliath entry at night

A trip to the 2011 LA Auto Show

Nov 25th

Posted by Jeff Keller in General

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Long-time readers of this blog may recall that every year, my dad and I go to the car show in San Francisco. Over the summer, my parents moved down to Southern California, so that was no longer possible. Thankfully, the much more impressive LA Auto Show is at the same time, so we went on Black Friday to check out the latest models. Below are the most interesting cars that I saw at the show:

: A3 e-tron concept

: Audi e-tron Spyder

: And the back…

: R8 GT Spyder

: Sigh… maybe one day

: Audi S7 – love it

: Back of the S7

: Audi TT-RS

: Back of the plug-in Prius

: New Lexus GS is a lot sportier

: Lexus LF-A

: Honda Fit EV

: Two new BMW electric cars

: Small…

: And sporty

: Coda electric car

: They had the build quality of something from Eastern Europe

: Coda electric platform

: Ford C-Max Energi

: Ford Focus EV

: A very yellow Land Rover concept

: Hideous new Mini

: It’s a two-seater and ugggly

: Hot Wheels Edition Camaro

: Sportier version of the Mitsubishi iMiEV

: Sportier version of the Mitsubishi iMiEV

: Love the “woodie”

: Brand new BMW M5

: Subaru concept

: Nissan Murano convertible (!)

: This crazy Kia concept has rear view cameras instead of mirrors

: You can see the screen for the right “mirror” in this photo

: Volvo concept with suicide doors

: Beautiful Jaguar C-X16

: Back view

: Very rare (25 cars-yr) Jaguar XKR-S roadster

: Back of the XK-RS

: Aston Martin

: Retro Cadillac concept

: Takes you back to the 60s

: Not that I was around in the 60s

: New Porsche Panamera GTS (still ugly)

Bonus panorama from NYC

Nov 7th

Posted by Jeff Keller in New York - Oct 2011

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I took this panorama of one of the reflecting pools at the World Trade Center. Definitely a solemn place (though not everyone there seemed to think so). Love the Sweep Panorama feature on the NEX-7 that makes shots like this easy.

A trip to New York City

Nov 7th

Posted by Jeff Keller in New York - Oct 2011

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I went out to New York for PhotoPlus Expo at the end of October. I didn’t spend much time at the expo, so I had plenty of time to sightsee. The only problem was the “Noreaster” which blew in on Saturday. Walking around in the blowing snow was something this native Californian is not used to!

Anyhow, here are my favorite photos, all taken with the Sony Alpha NEX-7:

: Empire State Building

: Someone help me out here…

: 1 World Trade Center

: One of the two reflecting pools at the 9-11 Memorial

: My artsy shot

: Close-up

: Look at the base of 1 WTC — they’re not messing around

: World Financial Center

: Fortress Wall Street

: Federal Hall Nat’l Monument

: Grand Central Station

: Fountain in Bryant Park

: Big ol’ skating rink in Bryant Park

: NY’s original outdoor rink (I think) in Rockefeller Plaza

: Rockefeller Center

: Radio City Music Hall, of course

: Nice art in the lobby of the Empire State Building

: Looking south toward Lower Manhattan

: Times Square and Rockefeller Center

: Chrysler Building and beyond

: Looking toward the top of the Empire State Building

: Snowing in midtown in late October!

: I decided to walk around Central Park in the snow. Bad idea.

: Everyone decided to go to museums…

: There’s supposed to be a lake behind this fence.

: Snow on the Chrysler Building

: Love the architecture in NY

: This piece used to be at the WTC. It now sits in Battery Park in its damaged state.

: Leaving lower Manhattan

: Brooklyn and Manhattan (?) bridges

: You can see 1 WTC going up

: You all know this one

A few Disneyland/DCA photos

Oct 20th

Posted by Jeff Keller in Disneyland - Oct 2011

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I spent a day at the DL Resort with my mom (who now lives in Southern California), to show her all the new stuff! The only new thing I got to see was The Little Mermaid which, while well done, seemed a bit rushed in the story department. At least the line is short!

Otherwise it was a very crowded Monday (year round schools were apparently on break), and fairly hot too. In other words, we didn’t get a lot done.

Here are my photos from the day, taken with the Sony NEX-7.