October 12, 2010

(2010-10-11) President Clinton visits Binghamton, NY

On Monday October 11th 2010, President Clinton (42nd president of The United States) traveled to Binghamton, NY in support of U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey.
In 2000, President Clinton (while in office) stopped briefly at Johnson City in support of his wife, Hillary Clinton, who was engaged in a winning campaign for the U.S. Senate.


William Jefferson Clinton 42nd President of The United States

The visit of President Clinton was announced only two days in advance. I thought it would be great to be there.
The online newspaper stated that the appearance would be at the Holiday Inn Arena, I assumed that it was the hockey stadium.
To my surprise, it was in the Grand Ballroom in the Holiday Inn. As I sat at my desk and read this, I thought that I may as well try but, it is going to fill up almost instantly since there was a 900 person maximum occupancy.
I had the slightest amount of difficulty parking as the Holiday Inn parking lot was full. Within five minutes I was parked only two blocks away on Washington Street. As I walked toward the Holiday Inn, I saw the line extending from the building but, not too far back. I asked if anyone knew how many people were in front of us and someone responded that one of the ushers indicated that we were within the maximum occupancy of the ball room.
Everyone in line was in a jovial mood, I started to realize that I was going to be at a presidential visit. I had two cameras and an extra 2gb micro SD card. At this point, I was excited. A usher came along and asked all of us if we wanted to wear a lapel sticker in support of Maurice Hinchey; the whole line was labeled and ready!
As the line moved forward into the ballroom, we found that we were in position to observe the podium quite clearly, I took a few practice photographs before the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner. Mayor Matthew T. Ryan of Binghamton,NY made a brief introduction as did Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo of the 126th Assembly District of New York.
Finally, the big introduction was made as President Clinton and Maurice Hinchey waked into the grand ballroom. The crowd was ecstatic as the cheers and applause were waves deep founded appreciation.


Approximately 900 enthusiastic people are present.

President Clinton has a exceptional ability to project his perspective in a clear, reinforced manor. Before The President started speaking, there wasn't too much air conditioning. It was great to hear his voice as the cool air blew down on me.






I actually took a good exit photograph!


From The White House Office during the Clinton Years

1997-08-15

August 16, 2010

Walking In Broome County, NY

On Saturday August 14th 2010, I was invited to Greenwood Park to have a picnic dinner with my parents and some friends of the family.
I was excited because, this was the opportunity that I was hoping for as I could walk 16.5 miles from Endicott, NY to the park in the town of Nanticoke, NY.
I started off at about 08:00 (am). I took photographs the entire distance.


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The best photographs were captured later in the morning, toward the afternoon.
The camera that I used did not have a functioning LCD viewer so, I had to use whatever experience I had to guess the optimal position and settings for the photographs.
My total yield was about 30% less and the overall tone of each photograph is less that I would have preferred.
Usually, I am never more than 7 miles from my home. At this photograph, I was over 14 miles from home. I had a backpack on with about 1 gallon of water, I only used a small amount of it.

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I am less than one mile from the park and, I feel pretty darn good about almost being there. I suppose that this is about the best shape I will be in.


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This is just a peaceful moment in time while floating on water.