Parlay the Parrot, the Red Sox Bullpen Goodluck Charm

Continuing with the Boston Red Sox opening day countdown…we have an interesting little story about a parrot name Parlay.

Parlay the Parrot is the Red Sox bullpen’s good luck charm. A stuffed parrot, Parlay was a gift from Boston Red Sox reliever Mike Timlin’s wife four months prior to their epic 2007 ALCS battle. Rumor has it that around the time of Parlay’s arrival, Red Sox relief pitchers began referring to themselves as a bunch of pirates. The bullpen was quickly nicknamed the Black Pearl and each reliever took a pirate nickname and so Parlay seemed like a logical addition to the crew. 

However, just after the Red Sox clinched Game Seven of the ALCS, Parlay the Parrot went missing. This may sound ridiculous, but for the Red Sox bullpen this was no laughing matter. Who in their right mind would feel good about heading to the World Series minus their good-luck-charm stuffed Parrot? Hideki Okajima was apparently beside himself since his pre-game routine included touching the parrot for good luck. Thankfully enough, the Pirate was returned by two local college students who claimed to have “found” Parlay in their freezer.

And this is where the story gets murky. As a general rule of thumb, I typically don’t believe much of what college kids have to say, even less from those who come up with a ridiculous excuse like this one. In the freezer? And to make the story even more ridiculous, these guys were given tickets to Game Six and Game Seven as a “reward.” As Karma would have it, there was no Game Six or Game Seven. The Red Sox won the 2007 World Series in 4 games.

Regardless of how it all happened (and who knows, the college kids may actually be heroes) all of Red Sox Nation should feel confident as we head into the 2009 season that Parlay the Parror is where he belongs.  

I snapped this photo of Parlay during pre-game warm-ups before Game Seven of the 2007 American League Championship Series — the final and deciding game between the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians for a ticket to the 2007 World Series.  The Red Sox won Game Seven in dramatic fashion, but that’s not the story.

Six More Days…

Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: Nikon 55-200mm VR
Focal Length: 200mm
ISO: 400
Aperture: F7.1

 

Fenway Park, Home of the Boston Red Sox

One week. That’s all Red Sox Nation has left to wait until the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox take the field at Fenway Park for opening day 2009. For those not aware, the first pitch is at 2:05pm.

Although this photo show’s Manny Ramirez — an overpaid greedy bum that now plagues another team’s locker room — and his quest for home run number 499 — which he did not achieve at this at bat — one can’t help but get excited. Kevin Youkilis as seen on the bottom of the frame is enough to fire me up. Also to note, the left field scoreboard –just below the famed Green Monster — shows the Red Sox trailing the Tampa Bay (who?) Devil Rays in the AL East standing, which is something I hope to never again have to endure. Tampa is well suited in last place. 

Regardless of petty emotions and sarcastic commentary, the 2009 Red Sox season, the April 6th Opening Day Ceremonies at Fenway Park and the 162 game journey for October will surely be a year to look forward to. 

For tricks on buying Red Sox tickets without waiting in long lines or paying a dime over face value, please consider my good friend’s Red Sox Blog. 

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 18-200mm VR
Focal Length: 72mm
ISO: 200
Aperture: F/5

 

Sampler, Amherst Brewing Company

This past Saturday, I visited the Amherst Brewing Company in Western Massachusetts. The ABC opened in 1997 as a full service brew pub in the college town of Amherst MA, home of the University of Massachusetts. The Amherst Brewing Company is a ten-barrel brewery producing some of the regions best Ales and Lagers.

I was tempted by the four beer samples seen in the above photo;

1. Two Sisters Imperial Stout (6.7% ABV)- a dark chocolaty imperial stout named after two Russian sisters adopted by the Brewery’s owners and winner of a Gold medal at the 2008 and 2006 Great International Beer Festival.
2. Patch Porter (5.4% ABV) - a robust American style porter, brewed with roasted and chocolate malts 
3. Cascade IPA  (5.3% ABV)-  a house favorite with a medium body and big hop flavor and a winner of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the Great International Beer Festival in 2007, 2006 and 2004 respectively. 
4. E.S.B (5.4% ABV)-  the Amherst Brewing Company’s take on an extra special bitter, dry hopped with Oregon Goldings providing a distinct hoppy aroma and bitter finish. Winner of the 2007 Great International Beer Festival Silver medal. 

I will attest, each of these were very good and if hard pressed to pick a winner I would have to go with the Two Sisters Imperial Stout. Although the Cascade I.P.A. is a close 2nd. 

Cheers.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 50mm F1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 200
Aperture: F/2

Springtime

Just a friendly reminder of spring. This photo was taken in the spring months of 2008 in the Boston Public Gardens — founded in 1837 as the country’s first Botanical Garden encompassing 24 acres adjacent to the Boston Common. 

This flower was captured with a Nikon D300 and a fixed aperture 50mm Nikon lens with lots of Bokeh. 

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 50mm f/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 200
Aperture: F1.8

Imperial Stout Aged In Bourbon Barrels, BBC

This photo of Imperial Stout aging in used Bourbon barrels was taken in December 2008, while on a tour of the Berkshire Brewing Company in South Deerfield in Western Massachusetts. For the beer enthusiasts that are not aware, the Berkshire Brewing Company — more affectionately referred to simply as the BBC — was founded in 1994. Their goal is producing clean and fresh well-balanced ales and lagers. The BBC brews in small batches — roughly 620 gallons — and is capable of producing 420 barrels (13,020 gallons) per week. The entire selection of Berkshire Brewing Company beers are unfiltered and unpasteurized, with no chemicals or preservatives added. The BBC currently produce nine year round styles of beer. 

The Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout is a special series from the BBC. This Imperial Stout was aged for a full nine months in old Oak barrels from the Buffalo Trace whiskey and bourbon distillery. Oddly, I saw the beer aging back in December and was lucky enough to stumble upon a batch in Needham, MA this past week. Needless to say, the beer was fantastic and a very interesting mix of bourbon and stout flavors.  

Consider this fantastic review by my good friends at DrinkCraftBeer.com if you don’t believe me. 

I edited this photograph mainly in Lightroom 2 with some exposure adjustments, clarity and a bit of saturation tweaks to individual color channels. A Match Color adjustment, some lens vignetting and some smart sharpening in Photoshop CS3 and voila. 

I’m at the BBC today for a tour, so perhaps a follow up post will follow soon. 

Update: Another fantastic barrel aged beer is the Oak Aged Unearthly India Pale Ale by the Southern Tier Brewing Company.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 50mm F1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Aperture: F2

The Dome at First Church of Christ, Scientist

I took this photo the other night on my excursion to the Christian Science Park. A 25 second, tripod-assisted photo, this is my 2nd post in as many days from the First Church of Christ, Scientist. The other post was a daytime capture from last summer, titled simply First Church of Christ, Scientist

The Christian Science Park is a great place to capture photographs and I hope to get back soon. The original church was designed by architect I.M. Pei.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 18-200mm VR 
Focal Length: 150mm
ISO: 200
Aperture: F7
Exposure: 25 seconds

Jamaica Plain, Anderson Park

What is Larz Anderson Park?

Larz Anderson Park is located in Brookline, MA and is comprised of roughly 64 wooded, landscaped and waterscaped acres. The park is proudly listed on the National Register of Historic Places — an official list maintained by the US government of public sites deemed worthy of preservation. 

I remember taking this sometime in the summer of 2008, just after picking up a new Nikon 50mm F1.8 for my Nikon D300. I was experimenting with large aperture settings, something that was new to me. The narrow depth of field provided by the Nikon 50mm F1.8 is something that I’ve come to enjoy, both for low light situations and scenes where Bokeh is intended. 

This was, I believe a single exposure HDR that I rendered from a single RAW file. Today I touched it up a bit in Adobe Photoshop CS3. Some exposure increase, a bit of Lens Vignetting, a touch of Smart Sharpen and a minor S-Curve added to the RGB channel. The final touch — as I seem to utilize ever increasingly — was a neutralized Match Color adjustment, bumping up the luminance, the color intensity and 80% fade. For those unfamiliar with the Match Color adjustment, it can be found under Edit–>Adjustments–>Match Color in Photoshop CS3. It does wonders for ridding a good shot of color wash. 

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 50mm F1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 200
Aperture: F1.8

First Church of Christ, Scientist

The photograph seen here was taken last summer when wandering around the Back Bay neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts.

Some historical tidbits, the First Church of Christ, Scientist was completed in the 1960s and designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei. The church is located on the 14 acre Christian Science Plaza near the Prudential Complex along Huntington Ave in Boston’s Back Bay. The First Church of Christ, Scientist is the Mother Church and administrative headquarters of the much larger Christian Science Church, founded in 1879 by Mary Baker Eddy. 

The original church was built in 1894 and the large domed Mother Church Extension (seen here in this Photoblog post) was added in 1906. The Christian Science plaza as it appears today was designed by Araldo A. Cossutta, then-partner of I. M. Pei, and was completed in the 1970s. The complex features the domed Church, a large administrative building for the Christian Science Church, and a reflecting pool and large colonnade with fountain.  The Prudential Tower is visible in the upper left. 

A friend and I found ourselves down within the Plaza of the Church of Christ, Scientist last night looking for some good shots. It’s really a beautiful spot for photography, although daytime is much better. The lighting was difficult last night with all the various bright lights, so I’m not sure many good shots will result from our trip. I live a few blocks away and find this a great place for many interesting shots. I hope to add a few other vantage points sometime soon. 

There’s no HDR here, just a single exposure run through Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS3.  I made basic Lightroom 2 edits; lots of Clarity and some saturation adjustments. I then worked in some adjustments with Photoshop; Exposure tweak, RBG curves, some Lens Vignetting and Match Color adjustments. Finished with some minor layer masking to bring out some red in the bricks and to accentuate the green in the windows.  

I added a second photograph from the Christian Science Park in my March 27th photoblog post, Church of Christ Scientist, The Dome at Night

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 18-200mm VR
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 200
Aperture: F7

MBTA T Sign, Newton Center

Snapped this photo on my way to work this morning. This is the Newton Centre MBTA Green Line stop in Newton Massachusetts. The focal point is some massive electrical cables spanning the rail tracks giving this a unique depth of field.

A bit of history, the Newton Centre MBTA station is a rapid-transit, surface level station stop on the Massachusett’s Bay Transportation Authority’s Green Line “D” Branch.  The Newton Centre station opened July 4th, 1959. The actual station was formerly part of the Charles River Railroad, opening in 1852 and designed by H. H. Richardson and utilized mainly by the Boston and Albany Railroad. 

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 18-200mm VR
Focal Length: 200mm
ISO: 200
Aperture: 9

A multiple, three-exposure handheld HDR panorama of Downtown Boston.

The Intercontinental Hotel is the red building on the left. South Station is visible just left of center on the horizon. The Federal Reserve building and One Financial are the two buildings in the center, respectively left and right. The Boston Fire Department is the red building on the right side.

HDR Panorama :: Boston, MA