Misha shopping

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

Valley of Fire

The same morning I went off-roading at Nellis Dunes, I drove out the this state park. The rocks are a stunning hue of red-orange. And many of them have native american petroglyphs (which are carved as opposed to painted like a pictograph).

The Midnight Meat Train

It's a very gory horror film with more than a few recognizable actors.  I rented it because it's based on a short story by Clive Barker.  I know anything that guy writes is going to be a trip.

And it is a trip.   I don't have much to complain about.  The movie was horror through and through with an interesting twist in the end.  It also left me thinking about it when it was over (if you watch it, look for the name of the last train station.)

They did some wild things with the cinematography.  Stuff I haven't seen in a movie before.  I came away with some very disturbing images - and not just because of the graphics, but because of the horror of the circumstance.  It's not "torture porn"; it's way better than that.

It's not the greatest movie ever made; but it's definitely worth the rent even just too see the special fx.

(note: the unrated version has a cartoonish amount of blood. Japanese director, go figure.)

Wheelin @ Nellis Dunes

Offroad at Nellis Dunes

During the week in Vegas, I went out one morning to drive on the hills at the Nellis Dunes recreation area. 

Rambo (2008)

I was sceptical going in.  The fourth movie in a series is seldom good.  But I have to say, it didn't disappoint.  If you liked the other Rambo movies, you'll like this one too.  Probably a lot.

Also, it's the goriest war movie I've ever seen.  Gorier than Saving Private Ryan.  But it's done in a way that looks excessive instead of realistic.  Which is to say, it's quite spectacular.  It looks real.  If you're squeamish, you may want to give this one a pass.  You'll be hiding your eyes through half of it.

It's a great final chapter to the John Rambo story.

Dagmar and Misha on Fremont St

We "experienced" Fremont Street in Las Vegas.  My mother-in-law, Dagmar, is happy to hold Misha anytime.

The flash fill is from the on-camera flash, and I have the exposure set to manual to make sure the ambient light from the background comes through.  The lens I have mounted is very slow.  I couldn't get the focus I wanted, so I applied some tricks in my favorite photo editor.  The foreground is isolated, and a blur gradient is applied to the background to simulate a fast lens.

Lions at Play

Lions At Play

While in vegas we stopped at the MGM Grande to view the lions. It's a pretty cool exhibit. It has a glass tunnel that you can walk through to get a full view of the lions. The standing lion is trying to entice the other into playing.