When the Earthquake Hit

I was in the kitchen when the earthquake hit
It sounded like a heavy truck coming down the street, it was very loud. It was a real roller. Nothing fell off the shelves. It was not very far from where we are, so we felt it really well. It was a moderate but we felt it very strong because we were only about ten miles from where the epicenter was. I wonder what they will call this quake? It was relatively mild compared to the Loma Prieta Quake. I was in San Jose when that one hit too. Sue is at the gym and has not gotten home yet.

Map of Quake Epicenter

Technorati Tags: ssloansjca, San Jose, Earthquake

European Vacation Photos

Europe photos are on line here
I am done. I developed the last three (of 12) rolls of black and white film, scanned them, edited them, mixed them in with the many digital camera photos and have posted them. It has been a long and slow process but I have several hundred photos on line now that chronicle the cruise trip. I hope you like them!

[Photos on Flickr Here]

Technorati Tags: ssloansjca, Analog Photography, Photography, European Vacations

Al Weber on Photography

Al Weber on Traditional Photography and Digital
In March 2006 photographer and conference presenter Al Weber presented at the Silver Conference at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California. I really enjoyed seeing this video of his presentation and I invite you to view it. It speaks about traditional silver "analog" photography and the relationship between it and digital photography. I can really relate to his expression of how it feels to be working in a darkroom.

Memories of Naples

Morning in Naples
Last night I developed my last three rolls of black and white film from our Naples trip and this image was one of the ones in them. What wonderful memories we have from this fantastic trip. I am so glad we went. I am also glad I shot black and white film as well as digital.

Technorati Tags: ssloansjca, Analog Photography, Photography, Naples

Feeling Analog

Feeling kinda Analog
I did something radical on our vacation to Europe. I took a 35mm film camera. Then, I did something even more radical, I only brought black and white film. Of course, as well as shooting analog film I also took a digital camera. I shot a lot more digital than analog. I am very concerned about the ability of digital images to keep for many decades without a lot of work and careful stewardship and backup of the image files. Conventional black and white photos, I have seen, can be neglected for decades, maybe even centuries and still survive long after disk drives have failed and even color analog photos have faded away.

What I discovered though was something else. Black and white film gives you a very different interpretation to a moment than does a digital photo. How the film reacts to light is much different to how a digital sensor does. Yes, you can do things with a digital photo and Photoshop that you cannot with film. But, and heres a mind blower, you can do things with film and under an enlarger that are hard to do in digital. It is all in how it reacts to light. One is not better or worse than the other. They are just different palettes, like comparing oil paint to water based paint. They are different mediums. Another side benefit was after my battery died in my digital camera, I could still make pictures. I even bought a roll of color film in Rome and shot that as my digital was dead after the battery died. (Note: If you are going to shoot only digital, bring backup batteries!)

Once in the airplane on the way to Europe a flight attendant got angry with me. She had asked me to turn off my film camera when we landed. I said I could not. She thought I was being smartellic. I tried to explain to her the camera neither turned on nor off, that my camera was powered by springs. She just could not comprehend of such a thing. It was totally off her radar.

In Europe I saw only one or two other film cameras that were real cameras. I only saw one empty film box on the ground the entire trip. When we went there eight years ago they were everywhere on the ground. But, for now I can still get film and I will continue shooting it. I do not think I will be sorry. But, I think I could be very sorry if I didn't save some memories on black and white film.

Anniversary of my mom's passing

On this day in 1984 my mom died
My father died in 1977 and my mother never quite found herself after that. My mom was a smoker and the records probably show that it was a smoking related illness that killed her. But, she was really already slowly dying a long slow death from a broken heart. My parents grew up as next door neighbors. They lived in Pittsburgh, Kansas. They eloped before my mother was old enough to marry. They ran away from home across the state border to Joplin, Missouri where they married. They lied about her age. My grandma (on my mothers side) went after them. She found the sheriff. When they caught up with my parents my father told the sheriff they had already consummated the marriage. The sheriff then told my grandmother there was nothing he could do about their marriage. That was the law then. So, my dad lied. They did plenty of consummating later though, they had five children of which I am the youngest.

Technorati Tags: Pauline Sloan, Lloyd Sloan, Sloan Family, ssloansjca

What is for lunch?

What Journalism Students are Having for Lunch
In my class today we did a fun assignment. I wanted the students to be able to tell a story on the Internet using video. So I came up with an assignment where they do a short video talking about that they had for lunch, and post it to the class blog. It ended up being a lot of fun and the answers are pretty interesting I think. They did a great job!

Short movie of Jacob

This is a short movie taken the first time we met grandson Jacob. His sister Madison, who recently turned three, can be heard serving tea in the background.

Wet October

Normally this is Fire Season
Typically the first two or three weeks of October are hot and dry, very dry. This is normally our fire season. But, not this year. We have had a very wet and cool October. Heavy rains at times have caused spot flooding on campus. If this is any indication, it will be a long winter this year. That is good, we need the rain.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Boy

Jacob was born when we were away
Then all last week we were sick. So, our first meeting with this cute guy, our grandson, had to wait. Well, the best part of being well was meeting this sweet guy. Jeff and Nicole are lucky parents. First Madison and now Jacob. He is a sweet baby!

[Click here to see more photos]

Yesterday at JACC

We had a great time presenting at JACC
What a thrill and honor it was presenting at yesterday's Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) Northern California meeting at SJSU. It was standing room only in the room. We had a limited amount of time so I had to rush through this PowerPoint. If folks would like to view it at a slower pace, here it is in PDF format. To save file space I have not encapsulated the videos. Links to them are in this PDF.

Some folks asked, how do I get started using emerging technology? In my opinion the place to start is to start a blog. No matter what it is about, start. It can be about your friends and family. It doesn't matter (in fact that can be the best place to start) blogging is as easy as doing email! Set aside a couple of minutes every day. You have to use the tools regularly in my humble opinion (IMHO). Besides, sending a daily email to the world every day can be a real gift to your future generations and to yourself a few years from now.

Then, I recommend you start reading. Here is a brief reading list to get you started:

• We The Media; Dan Gillmor
• The Innovator's Dilemma; Clayton Christensen
• The Cluetrain Manifesto; Chris Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger
• Naked Conversations; Robert Scoble, Shel Israel
• The World is Flat; Thomas Friedman
• Smart Mobs; Howard Rheingold

Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
~Steve

The heart of the union

The heart of the union
While it is easy to get caught up in hearing the wonderful speeches at the big union meetings like General Council by labor leaders like Andy Stern and politicians like Dennis Kucinich. Yes, that is all great, but the real heart of our union is those many many activists who donate their time and do the hard work without fame or monetary reward. It is folks like Frank and Kathryn and our SJSU labor reps like Jeff, Dennis and Vera and so very many more other unpaid volunteers at all our campuses that make our union work. It is these folks who are the heart of the union and who we all owe a huge debt to. They all deserve our thanks and our admiration because they are all good people who give us so much. Because they all care about us; we have a union.

[See More General Council Photos here on Flickr]

Steve's birthday today

Son Steve's Birthday
Today my eldest son, Steve turned 31. It seems amazing to have a son in his thirties. Steve is doing well and is living just east of Seattle with his wife Luci and their kids. Steve is working at Boeing. I wish we could be with them today. They are all very much in our thoughts. Happy birthday son!

Bells of Amalfi

Amalfi Bells, September 23, 2007
When we were walking through Amalfi the bells started ringing. It was amazing. While the bells rang Jolyce crossed the street, scooters raced by and a three wheel Piaggio Ape [“Ape” (pronounced "a-pé") is the Italian for “bee”] vehicle approached. This video is available above in Quicktime format.

Piano Bar Fun

You have lost that loving feeling
A guest on our cruise ship has a wonderful time in the piano bar. It is available above in Quicktime format.

Amalfi Coast Tour, September 23

Andy Stern

For me one of the most exciting things about General Council is hearing the stirring speeches given there. Andy Stern is the president of the Service Employees International Union, the largest and fastest growing union in the United States and Canada. He is also an author and I read his book, A Country That Works. It is a great book.

I am not at General Council or work today. I became ill on our vacation and after working long hours at GC over the weekend I ended up sleeping 13.5 hours last night. I guess I crashed.

General Council 2007

I am at General Council 2007
General Council is the big bi-annual convention of state employees in California. It is a very big deal. In is a huge coincidence that it is happening this year in San Jose. Because it is such a big deal it attracts a lot of attention, especially in an election year. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich and SEIU President Andy Stearn spoke to General Council 2007 on the subject of universal medical coverage. This is a very important issue for our country and we as a nation need to find a way to provide coverage for our citizens. I took a lot of pictures today and am really happy with this photo:

Back in the USA

Back in the USA
Here we are back in the USA. I am now at a union convention covering it for our union. I am jet lagged and sick, but am happy with the memories I have!

We are back in the USA

Mobile Phone Post via SMS: It is hard to believe we are not in Europe anymore, but we are not. Right now we are in Chicago at O'Hare waiting for our flight home. Just yesterday we were at the Vatican.

Leaving Rome

Mobile Phone Post via SMS: We are at the airport in Rome. We board in about an hour. Everybody has gone their own way now.

Sick in Rome

Just as Sue was sick in Katakolon, Greece I am sick today
I have a wicked sore throat and just feel pretty miserable. Today we went to the Sistine Chapel. Then Sue went shopping and I went to the BandB we are staying at. It has a computer I ccan post on so here I am. The European keyboard is strange but I can make it work. The default language is Italian, which is kinda funny. But, I was able to log onto blogger in English. We are off the ship and tomorrow we fly home. It has been a wonderful vacation and it is hard to believe it is almost over. I have five memory cards of photos plus about 9 rolls of exposed 35mm film! See you soon!

Great day in Rome

MobilePost
Mobile Phone Post via SMS: Today we had a great day in the Vatican and Rome. I have a wicked sore throat though.

We are in Rome

Cameraphone, The coliseum
Mobile Phone Post via SMS: What an awesome place. It is amazing to think of all the history this place has seen. We had a great time touring the Roman Forum and came back via the Vatican. Finally, pictmessaging is working again and I can post photos. Hurray!

Back where we began

Mobile Phone Post via SMS: We are back at our debarkation point. The group of us are heading into Rome today.

Under the Tuscan Sun

Mobile Phone Post via SMS: We spent the day in Tuscany, mostly at this wonderful hilltop winery in the Chianti region. We had great food and awesome wine. Life is good.

On another tour bus

Mobile Phone Post via SMS: We are in bus driving thru Italy to Tuscany.