Van Halen 2012 Tour Announced

Well it’s about time that Van Halen gets back together and heads out on tour! This is a must-see concert. I can’t wait to hear the music from their new album.

Enjoy this concert promotion video!

If you are a fan of Van Halen you might remember that the original Jump music video was shot hand-held on a 16mm film movie camera.

 

Click the link to see the video in HD: Van Halen – Jump [HD]

Chili’s Queso Dip

1 16oz. box Velveeta cheese

1 15oz. can Hormel no-bean chili

3/4 C of milk (Vary the amount depending on the consistency you prefer.)

1/2 t ground cumin

1/2 t ground cayenne pepper

1 T paprika

Cut Velveeta cheese into 1″ cubes

Combine all ingredients in a small Crockpot set on high.

Stir every 15 minutes until cheese is melted, then set the Crockpot on low.

 

FYI The photo shows ingredients for a double batch

Tip: Use a Reynolds SlowCooker Liner for easy cleanup!

Bernotas Symphonic Band

This video highlights the 2009 Bernotas Symphonic Band:

The symphonic band & jazz band compete at Music in the Parks in St. Louis, MO.

White Sox game National Anthem audition/demo.

Chicago White Sox game May 22, 2009, events surrounding the National Anthem performance.

This video was part of the year-end band banquet, highlighting final band events leading up to Cynthia Zimmerman’s retirement.

Click here to see the Bernotas band perform the National Anthem at the White Sox game.

Camaro Time Splice

2011 Chevy Camaro Hot Wheels Time Splice

This is a mashup of my video and the time splice created by 27 Canon DSLR cameras.

Vote for the original Chevy Camaro Time splice at the 2011 Chicago Auto Show Here

How’s it done?
This photograph shows the camera setup to create these time splice images.

Click picture to embiggen

Time-Splice (bullet-time) special-effect images were made popular in the feature film “The Matrix”

The Chicago Automobile Show is held annually in February at McCormick Place, covering an impressive 1,300,000 sq ft with nearly 1000 vehicles on display.

Google Scooby Doo-dle for Halloween

This Halloween Google treats us to five nifty Scooby Doo themed images.

Here is a sample of one of the images. Head on over to Google’s search page to see the rest.

Halloween Google Doodle

Running The Chicago Marathon 10-10-10

I’m running the Chicago Marathon tomorrow. Actually this is my third marathon. No I’m not actually running the 26.2 mile race. But the spectator-race does require a lot of walking and running to catch the various modes of public transpiration to travel throughout the city. So that makes it a marathon of it’s own kind.

To take a page from the marathon runners handbook, I too will eat a pre race carb-loaded dinner and head to bed extra early Saturday night.

If your not sure what route the racers take for their 26.2 mile run through the city, check out this Chicago Marathon map.

There are about six people that I setup runner tracking text messages to be sent to my cell phone. This has never worked very well for me in past Chicago Marathon races, but I’ve activated it again this year. Hopefully this tracking will assist me in locating friends as they run past amongst the masses of people.

For those of you not going into Chicago tomorrow to cheer on friends, you can track my location from this page. I’ll temporarily activate Google Latitude (location mapping application) on my BlackBerry. This will place my location on the following Google map in real-time. Cool stuff! Just click on the link below the map to view a full screen version.

I will be joined in this day-long adventure by veteran Chicago Marathon runner (2007, 2008) Margie (she’s my sister too)!

To view a larger map click here.

It’ll be interesting to see the results of where was and how far I traveled. I will write a follow up post with that information.

Update:
Now that the race is done, the Google Latitude maps were replaced with static images.

Three Oaks Recreation Area – Grand Opening

I attended the dedication ceremony of Crystal Lake’s new park Three Oaks Recreation Area. The 462 acre recreation area opened at 6:30AM on October 1, 2010.

After photographing the ceremony  I spent a few hours exploring and taking photos around the site.



Copyright © 2010 Ernie Hagenow, All Rights Reserved

City Council members join in unveiling the bronze dedication plaque.



Copyright © 2010 Ernie Hagenow, All Rights Reserved

On the west end of the Lake House is a nice zero-depth splashpark.

What College Bowl is the Best?

One Man Band, Foreplay/Long Time

This guy is amazing! His cover of the Boston song Foreplay / Long Time is right on.

Bernotas Band perform the National Anthem

The award winning Symphonic Band from Richard F Bernotas Middle School in Crystal Lake, IL perform the National Anthem at US. Cellular Field before the Chicago White Sox Game on May 22, 2009.

Band director Cynthia Zimmerman (a huge White Sox fan) was elated to direct the symphonic band at a Sox game. This was the last time after 29 years of service, the retiring band director would direct a performance of the symphonic band.

The Chicago White Sox Defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0.