It is always amazing to see forests come back to life in the spring. The trees and insects all come alive this time of year, and I wanted to capture some of it. I don’t have much free time now, as I work either at Black’s or my placement every single day for the next month. However, I still like to make time to take pictures.

Here is a Robin I found just off of the walking path hunting for food. It was hoping around for quite a while, finding grubs and worms just under the surface.  It didn’t really seem concerned with me, and posed for this shot!

During my walk on Barrie’s lakeshore, I took a photo of a tree on the shoreline. When I got it back to my computer I noticed how interesting the bark looked. After significantly cropping and rotation the image, and converting it to black & white, the result was this:

I think this is more of my favourite abstract photos, it seems to have to much depth to me. The beauty of having a 21 megapixel camera is I can find things I didn’t see when the camera was in my hands. I want to show you the image that I captured, and the image that I found within it:

I had a great time, even if I was just out in nature for less than an hour today. Its great to get a breath of fresh air and enjoy the changing seasons. Check out the rest of the photos below!

I had posted previously about my adventures in video game music, through the touring concert by the name of Video Games Live. I’ve volunteered at many of their shows, and had a blast every time. One of the co-founders of the concert (also a TV personality and video game composer), Tommy Tallarico, offered to send me an autographed poster from their very first show in 2005. It was sent to me by Mike (his brother) to whom I’m eternally grateful. This is an amazing piece; I framed it the moment I got it home from the post office.

Signatures include:

• Tommy Tallarico (Earthworm Jim, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Metroid Prime, Advent Rising)
• Jack Wall (Myst III, Myst IV, Splinter Cell, Jade Empire)
• Hideo Kojima (Creator of Metal Gear Solid)
• Yuji Naka (Creator of Sonic the Hedgehog)
• Elijah Wood (Actor, Lord of the Rings, Sin City)
• Marty O’Donnell (Halo, Halo 2)
• Nolan Bushnell (Pong, Atari, Chuck E. Cheese)
• Toby Gard (Creator of Lara Croft & Tomb Raider)
• Bill Roper (Warcraft)
• Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia)
• David Jaffe (God of War)
• Dweezil Zappa (Guitarist)
• Doug Tennaple (Earthworm Jim, The Neverhood)
• David Perry (Earthworm Jim, Aladdin, Enter the Matrix)
• Chris Stone (Dragon’s Lair)
• Richard Jacques (Headhunter, Outrun)
• Lorne Lanning (Oddworld Inhabitants)
• Bill Brown (Rainbow Six)
• Michael Giacchino (Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, The Incredibles)
• Nathan McCree (Tomb Raider)
• Gary Coleman (Actor)
• Laura Karpman (Everquest II)
• Christophe Heral (Beyond Good and Evil)
• Tom Salta (Ghost Recon 2)
• Vince Desi (Postal, Postal 2)
• Jason Hayes (Warcraft III, World of Warcraft)
• Gerard Marino (God of War)
• Tim Larkin (Myst)
• Laurie Robinson (Advent Rising, Video Games Live Vocal Soloist / Performer)
• Benoit Grey (Jaws, Video Games Live Orchestrator)

There are some big names in there for sure. Although I’m sure many people reading this are not as into video games as I am, imagine many of your favourite artists getting together to sign a poster, and then giving it to you. Thats how I feel when I look at it, now hanging on the wall in my room.

Thanks VGL! This is probably the best part of my video game collection to date, whcih is saying quite a bit!

Easter weekend was wonderful, and as a true indicator of spring, many flowers had started to bloom. Around aunt Cathy’s yard there were a few varieties to be found, starting with your common dandelion. Here’s the photos, nearly all of which I have not identified. If you recognize any, feel free to give me a shout and I’ll update the image descriptions

Here’s a gallery of photos that I had taken this past Easter weekend. We also celebrated my cousin Paula’s 30th birthday, so it was a great time to have all of the family together! I’ve very happy that everyone was able to be there, it was a lot of fun.

Here’s a cute photo of Paula pulling Ella around in the wagon, I thought this was a great moment.

Many other great moments and poses below!

It has been many years since I spent Easter in Belleville. This year, everyone on my dad’s side of the family was able to get together. It was great! Great food, great company, and plenty of smiles and laughter. This is what family get-togethers are all about, and really makes me appreciate the family that I am part of.

I took some pictures, though I haven’t edited them all yet. Here’s clearly the best of the bunch, and one I’ll likely be framing at some point. Happy Easter!