Despite my sad devotion to that ancient religion of silver-based analog photography, I've found a nifty little digital camera that I've been carrying with me everywhere of late.

My new friend is the Canon PowerShot SD950 IS. It takes still images up to 12.1 megapixels in resolution and also records high-quality video that isn't too shabby.

I hadn't even intended to record a podcast that day. My goal was only to test the SD950 in macro mode on some flowers in Jefferson Park. (See the example at right.)

While playing with the menu, however, I discovered a feature that will come in handy for real run-and-gun podcasting: The SD950 can record reasonably good audio. So, I decided to use the camera's digital voice recorder to create this podcast.

I recorded the sound as I stood next to the flowering tree whose pink flowers I'd just photographed. (The background noise is from traffic on Lawrence Avenue.) We're not talking high-quality sound, but it's acceptable enough to get the job done.

That job involved a totally on-the-fly reminiscence about my grandfather's observation that "the vegetable kingdom does not waste time."

And, indeed, it does not.

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