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Archive for June 21st, 2007

I continued my quest into historical sites with an interesting past and kept with my ghost story theme. Best Ghost Tales starts off in a similar fashion as Ghosts from the Coast by giving a little background of a particular location and then describing what may or may not be some ghost like activity.

Again, the actual idea of ghosts at any given place is pretty irrelevant. I’m more concerned with the events that surround it. For example, Tombstone AZ was exciting because of what went on there. Mercer house is interesting because of the mystery surrounding it. The idea of ghosts merely makes the reading more entertaining.

We start off with some historical locations and some suspicious events which may or may not have actually occurred. As for actual ghost stories there is far too much, what really happened remains a mystery. Zepke tries to make a mountain out of a molehill at almost every turn. By taking a simple story she interjects wild suppositions about what might or could have happened. Very little is actually based on fact. The book seems to be caught in trying to oversell a location and its history. I kept feeling she was trying to make the story larger than life by adding her own interpretations and adding – are the noises caused by this, or by this, or by this, or maybe even this… It seems almost a desperate ploy to try and make the story “scary”.

It does however offer some interesting places to visit and gives details on how to get there, a website or phone number to call. Many sites are now museums, part of the national register or are maintained by a historic society.

As a book on ghost stories it’s marginal at best. But it does offer some colorful history and a few interesting places to visit.

There is a South Carolina version, but I’m not sure I’ll be racing out to get that one. So far, the only moaning and wailing has been me trying to get through these…

You can read more about the book here:

11.1 high zoom ratio lens is designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras and incorporates Sigma’s original OS (Optical Stabilizer) technology.

MSRP: $820.00

This sounds like it could be a fantastic travel lens! I don’t think it would be fast enough as a sports lens by any means, but with such a wide range I can easily see its use a lens for backpacking to keep the weight down and minimize the amount of lens changes.

This compares with their previous version of the lens, but adds the benefit of Image Stabilization. I’ll be anxious to read the reviews on this lens. I’m curious to see if it might be a catch all lens for future trips.

You can read the full specs of the new lens here:

Popular Photography also put out their Imaging software choices. Not surprising, Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture top the charts.

Also listed of course is Photoshop CS3, Corel Painter, Nik Sharpener, Alien Skin Blow Up, DxO Film Pack, Photoshop Elements, Corel Paint Shop Pro and many others.

It’s an impressive list of editors, plug-ins and tools. Plenty of choices, plenty of effects, plenty of money to spend!

Read the full article here: