Note: This is not a cooking blog and I don’t purport to have any cooking skills. If you’re looking for amazing recipes, check out Two Little Chefs, a great cooking resource run by my incredible sister-in-law Caroline and her friend Kelly.

As with most fine cuisine, ingredients are key; this root beer float is no exception. We used A&W Root Beer and Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream. Don’t even consider using another root beer or ice cream. The results just won’t be the same.

The first step is to add a couple spoonfuls of ice cream to the glass. Some people like to chill their glasses in the freezer beforehand, but this step is optional.

Next, add a small amount of root beer to cover the ice cream.

Mix the two together with a spoon until there is a nice chunky mixture. This is where the magic happens, so don’t skip this step.

Add a few more spoonfuls of ice cream to the cup.

Continue adding root beer until the cup is nearly full. You can either eat the foam or spoon it from the cup into the sink. Now enjoy the best root beer float you’ve ever made! And thanks Dad for finally sharing this important life lesson with me.

If you’re interested in purchasing this theme, please use the following code for a $10 dollar discount off the original price of $179:
CHRLEWIS232

The price might seem a little high, but if you consider the time saved by not having to look for an appropriate theme and the extensive customization that possible, it’s really quite a deal.

Here’s a short introductory video that Jared produced:

The other day I was handed a non-booting 2006 model MacBook running OS X 10.4 and asked to see if it could be fixed.  Right off the bat I knew this thing was going to be trouble.  Upon boot, the classic Apple chime would sound, but the screen would only display a folder icon with a flashing question mark.  A quick Google search revealed an Apple Support article that suggested the computer couldn’t find the software on the hard drive and just needed to be reminded where the operating system is located.  There were several methods provided to fix this, such as booting with the system restore disc, using the start-up manager to select the hard drive and resetting the PRAM.

I tried using the restore disc, but the combo drive would attempt to read it and then eject the disc.  Also, resetting the PRAM didn’t work and the Macbook doesn’t have a start-up manager, which is only available on some older models.  Another trick up my sleeve was to attempt to access the MacBook’s hard disk using Firewire target mode, but that also proved futile.  I came to the conclusion that both the HDD and combo drive were broken.  How they managed to die simultaneously, I’ll never know.

With this information in hand, I visited Newegg, my favorite computer component store and ordered up a new 160GB Western Digital hard drive as well as two 1 GB Kingston memory sticks.  Fortunately, I ordered soon enough in the day and they were able to ship overnight, with my order arriving at 11:27 a.m. the very next day.  Way to go Newegg and FedEx!!!

Accessing the MacBook’s hard drive and memory slots are very simple and Apple even provides instructions online.  Inserting the new components was straightforward enough, but how to install the operating system without a functioning combo drive and no access to an external DVD drive?  Firewire Target mode of course and that’s why so many people are disappointed to see Apple has eliminated the Firewire ports from the latest MacBook.

The computer I was using as the host is an older G5 running OS X 10.5.  Using the G5’s DVD drive with the MacBook’s original restore discs failed, due I think, to the fact the MacBook uses an Intel processor and the G5 uses the older PowerPC chip.  Next I used a retail version of OS X 10.5 and selected the MacBook’s new hard drive as the target.  The install process worked like a charm…albeit a little long at around 2 hours.

My next step was to reinstall the iLife suite from the restore discs, but at first that didn’t work, because Apple has a small software program that checks whether the restore discs are for same model computer.  Since I was using the G5 DVD drive to attempt the install on the MacBook, the program recognized the incompatibility and wouldn’t let me complete the install.

After a little brainstorming, I realized that I could create an ISO of the disc and copy that over Firewire to the MacBook.  There is a handy little tool in OS X called Disk Utility App that does just that. To create an ISO from a CD/DVD run Disk Utility and select “CD/DVD Master” as the image format. The resulting file will have a .cdr extension. Just rename .cdr to .iso and you have a functioning ISO of the CD or DVD.

Next, I copied over the file to the MacBook’s hard drive and then used the following command in terminal to mount the disc:

hdiutil mount filename.iso

Filename.iso should be replaced with the name of the actual file. But it worked and I was able to reinstall the old iLife suite on the fresh OS X 10.5 install, thereby giving the MacBook and new lease on life. As for the old hard drive, well, it’s dead and gave the dreaded clicking noise when I attempted to read it using an external USB to HDD adapter. Let’s hope the user was faithful at running backups.

While much can be written about this trip, like how we rented a two-door Ford Mustang after our friend’s minivan broke down and crammed 4 people including large packs into it while the other five and their gear were in an Accord, or how we sloshed though a very wet landscape, or the odd combination of juvenile jokes that were told around the campfire that night, I really just want to share some photos from the trip, which ranks for me as one of the best backpacking adventures I’ve ever experienced. Thanks to everyone who came along and shared alike in the fun and troubles.

source: maps.google.com

After the aforementioned car trouble, we were greeted by this rainbow when we arrived at the trailhead.

One of the great aspects of this area is that the natural environment and landscape is significantly different than all the other backpacking trips I’ve taken in the George Washington National Forest and Shenandoah National Park.

Here’s an inset of the small sign below the trail marker, which warns of possible live unexploded ordnance from WWII testing.

Back in my days as a scout, one summer my friend and I were at Camp Steiner in the Uintah Mountains working on our canoeing merit badge. One of the skills to learn was tipping a canoe over, righting it and then climbing in. In warm water with a functioning canoe, this is doable. The problem was, we had neither. Camp Steiner is known as the camp with the coldest lake in the Uintah’s and our canoe was missing the Styrofoam flotation from one end of the canoe. Subsequently, when we tipped the canoe over, one end immediate sank leaving the other end sticking out of the water looking suspiciously like a shark fin and there we were left floating in the middle of the lake. Unsure what to do, we floated until an instructor saw our predicament and told us to swim to shore.

Well, that’s a long story leading up to the point of this post, but one of the skills I wanted to help the scouts learn was photography. I arranged a class where we discussed the aspects of photography, camera equipment and then we scheduled a photo competition, photographing some of the national monuments in D.C.

The boys had a great time and I think they learned a lot. One aspect I tried to stress to them is to find a different or unique angle and use framing to vary what would otherwise be an ordinary image.

The following are images I took with a little Canon compact shooter and are my attempt at showing a different look. One of the advantages of a smaller cheaper camera over a larger, heaver and expensive digital SLR is that I would never hold my SLR a few centimeters above the Tidal Basin, like in this shot.

One of the many waterfalls at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. I balanced the camera on one of the rocks and set the shutter to delay for this longer exposure image.

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial as seen from across the Tidal Basin. Once again a longer shutter speed, balancing the camera on the sidewalk.

My little subject here had a lot of fun running around the open grassy area, even doing “tricks”.

Sometimes opportunities literally jump into your lap and other times a little legwork is required. One fine Fall morning, as I was sitting in my photojournalism course, an announcement was made by my Professor Jim Fisher, and my ears perked up. As some may remember, Salt Lake City was preparing for for the 2002 Winter Olympics, which were coming the following January. The announcement I heard in class that piqued my interest was that the Utah Governor’s Office was looking for some student photographers to help document the Olympic games, the travels and meetings of Governor Michael Leavitt and Lieutenant Governor Olene S. Walker.

At the time I was working as a photographer for the Daily Utah Chronicle and had also taken several photography classes at the U of U and thought this would be an awesome experience. Classes at the U wouldn’t resume until after the Olympics and I figured what better way to spend the time than traveling with the Governor, attending Olympic events and meeting political figures and the athletes, all the while pursuing my passion of photography. So I gathered up a few portfolio images, submitted my work, later interviewed and was subsequently accepted as one of four photographers for the Governor’s office.

For too long I’ve had what I felt was a unique selection of photos from the 2002 Winter Olympic that just sat on my hard drive, but this blog will finally give me a place to share these. For the next little while, I’ll post about some of the events I attended and the experiences I had. So back to the start of the post, I do think this opportunity did jump into my lap, but also required a little work, as well. I was so glad that I took a chance and applied.

Please note that these photos belong to the State of Utah, but permission was granted to the photographers for display in portfolio, which I’m claiming these Olympic posts to be. These may not be copied or redistributed.

One of the interesting things the Olympic committee did to Salt Lake City was to hang these massive banners on some of the larger office buildings in the downtown area. This particular banner hung on a University of Utah building near Rice-Eccles where both the opening and closing ceremonies where held. In a later post I’ll show an aerial view of the downtown with these banners.

On the Capitol grounds, an artist erected a large fluorescent American flag, which made for some interesting photo opportunities.

Another decoration aspect employed by the Olympic committee was to install a set of large Olympic rings on the mountainside behind the Capitol. It made for a pretty impressive sight and backdrop.

After dialing the number I worked my way through a short phone tree and quickly reached a very helpful and friendly sales rep. I explained my problem, he searched through the product parts manual and found my part. The good news: it cost a mere 50 cents. The bad news, and this was to be expected: shipping would cost $4.50. But I readily agreed so as to have this useful lens back in my arsenal.

Despite the screw’s diminutive size, it arrived in a box that could hold several thousand of the screws. Sadly, I tossed the box, but here’s a shot of the screw finding a new home in my lens.

On a side note, it would appear filter/glass cleaning might be in order.