camera + flickr + blog = fun

So I bought a new camera last week. It was a toss up between a few cameras, but I finally settled on the Canon Powershot A620. I specifically bought this camera for quantity, not quality. Let me splain. I own 2 really nice Canons, a 10D (dslr) and an Elan 7 (slr). I love them both, but they are ginormous. Try rollerblading with a toaster oven strapped around your neck and you’ll have an idea of what I’m talking about.

WaterfallEnter my new camera. The plan is to keep this camera with me at all times. I’m also going to focus less on getting the perfect shot, and more on just getting the shot. If I want to take a portrait of someone or if have the time to use my tripod, then yes, I’ll whip out one of my big guns. But for everyday use this camera is perfect.

Odin (taken by Cam) I also created a new flickr account. This will be the heart and soul of my photoblog. Every picture I take with this little camera will be uploaded to flickr for all to see. I’m not claiming that these pictures will be all that exciting. Some of them may be down right boring. Okay, most of them, but that’s not the point! The point is that they will be there in chronological order from now until I die in 2097. You’ll be able to sort them by tags, groups, dates, or photosets (albums).

Another self portrait On the right sidebar you will always see the last 10 pictures I’ve uploaded to my flickr account. I can change the photostream by changing the tag associated with it. For example, if I use the tag “friends”, the photostream will only show the last pictures I’ve uploaded which I’ve tagged “friends”. Right now there is no tag associated with the photostream so it will show all of my pictures regardless of what I tagged them. But that’s neither here nor there.

You can view my entire photostream anytime by clicking on this icon flickr icon located at the bottom of the sidebar. You can also just click one of the thumbnails also located on the sidebar. And that’s that. Exciting huh? Where are you going?

Let the fun begin…

mm hmm

In the interest of avoiding copyright infringement I should mention that these four pictures were taken by the very creative and talented Cameron Ann. Yes, including the self portrait. Like I said, she’s very creative.


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This guy is incredible

I snagged this from the O’Reilly Radar Blog. This guy really is amazing. He looks like a human equalizer. Make sure to watch the whole thing. It’s worth the full 4 minutes.


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And we’re back…

SUCCESS!! We are now officially using WordPress 2.0. What does this mean for you guys? Absolutely nothing. The upgrade didn’t change anything out here, but the admin dashboard got a complete overhaul. Some nice new features too.

OK, back to work.


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Going down…

I’m upgrading WordPress from 1.5 to 2.0 sometime today. There is a good chance this could go horribly wrong. Cross your fingers. Maybe I’ll see you again.


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Firefly, take two

When I make a mistake, I always admit to it.

See what a great liar I am? The reality is I usually never admit to my mistakes and I bury the truth deep within the bowels of my soul, hoping that no one ever discovers my dark little secret. Alas, I made an error in judgement that I feel I need to address. Back in October I reviewed a movie called Serenity. I stick by my review for the most part. It’s my thoughts about the T.V. show Firefly that I wanted to amend.

As I said in my review, Firefly is the T.V. show leading up to the movie Serenity. I also mentioned that I watched it and hated it. However, I never really gave the show a fair shake. I only watched the first episode, which I read recently was never intended to be the first episode. Fox, in their infinite wisdom, decided to shuffle the order in which the series would be aired. After Serenity came I out I decided to make good on my promise and give the show another chance. I am so glad I did. I rented all the discs from my local video store and watched the entire season in a week. I loved the show so much that I bought the DVD set and watched the entire season again. GEEK! I know, but it could possibly be one of the best sci-fi shows ever. As a matter of fact, I don’t think the term sci-fi best describes this show.

My initial reason for not liking the show was due to its western motif. I’m still not a huge fan of that per se, but the characters Joss Whedon created are so much greater than the environment they are in. The characters in Firefly are so entertaining and interesting (and completely original) that I quickly forgot what it was that turned me off about the show in the first place.

There, I’m glad I got that off my chest. Now I can sleep at night. I’m also half way through season 2 of BSG and I’m loving every second of it. For those of you have not yet seen it, I would highly recommend it. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m afraid I’ve already said too much.


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Cursing in Sci-fi

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you want to let the f-bombs fly but your current surroundings frown upon such activities? Let’s use Chuck E. Cheese as an example. Imagine this if you will; you’re at Chuck E. Cheese coming off the best skee ball game of your life when from across the room you spy a single piece of pizza sitting helplessly on the table. No doubt the last piece of pizza. Naturally you are famished from your victory over the five year old girl who dared challenge your skee ball skills. The same girl that was taunting you ten minutes earlier. She will taunt you no longer.

You quicken your pace to ensure your dominance over the little slice of heaven that awaits you. Blinded by delight, you bustle through the crowd with a blatant disregard for gracefulness. When out of nowhere, bam, you stub your toe on the coin dispensing machine. I’m not talking about a light graze of the big toe here. I’m talking about the stub to end all stubs. The kind that sends shock waves through your body. So what do you do? Bottle it up? No, that’s a one way ticket to serial killerville. And screaming words like “HECK” or “SUGAR” just don’t cut it. In fact sometimes it makes you even more angry for saying something so stupid. Well don’t fret little one because I have a solution for you. Allow me to let you in on a little secret that sci-fi writers have used for years to baffle and confuse the TV censors while still maintaining the power and audacity of the curse word. I truly believe that we can use this same formula in real life situations.

Below, I’ve compiled a small list of curse words used in popular science fiction TV shows and movies. These words used to be reserved for the geek elite. Oxymoron you say? I think not. Try these words in any real life situation and feel the satisfaction you receive while at the same time preserving your self-respect.

  • Goram - from the T.V. show Firefly - A very nice word to add to your arsenal.
  • Ruttin - from the T.V. show Firefly - Another word I really enjoy tossing around.
  • Frag - from the T.V. show Babylon 5 - Not bad, but there are too many other meanings for Frag.
  • Dren - from the T.V. show Farscape - You’ll find that this word adds a bit of color to any conversation.
  • Frell - from the T.V. show Firefly - Be careful with this one, it’s very powerful.
  • Nerf Herder - from the movie Star Wars - I’m not sure these are actually considered curse words, but I am sure you don’t want to be called one.
  • Frak - from the T.V. show Battlestar Galactica - My personal favorite. I frak’n use it all the time.

Commit these pseudo swears to memory and you will never be caught in that awkward curse-free position again. Not at Chuck E. Cheese, not at Disney World, not even in your sons kindergarten class.

“Stop throwing the frakking playdough Tommy.”

See how easy it is, and fulfilling. But don’t stop reading yet, I saved the best for last. I actually created the ultimate curse word and I plan to unveil it right here, right now, on this website. It wasn’t easy, in fact it’s still in the beta testing phase, so I take no responsibility if anything were to go wrong. Use it wisely and responsibly my friends. Are you ready for it? Can you take the suspense?

wait for it
WAIT FOR IT
-=CRUNK=-

Wow. This my friends is the swiss army knife of curse words. It’s compact, and yet delivers a powerful punch. Hate your job? Crunk it! Have a problem with me? Crunk you! Hit your thumb with a hammer? Son of a Crunk! Perhaps you like to talk dirty to your lady friends. Hey baby, you look Crunkolicous!….. Snap!

Now I know this word has other meanings in the world of slang, but none so profound as what I’m offering. I mean come on, drunk and high? Crunk? Please! This word is far to intense for such a lame definition. But consider what I’m trying to create.

It’s bold enough to stop your target in it’s tracks, and yet subtle enough to fly under most radars. Let me give you a real life example I use at work.

{phone ringing}

Me >>
Hello, how can I help you?

Customer >>
Yeah, how do you justify the fact that your prices are much higher than your competitors? Maybe I’ll just take my business elsewhere.

Me >>
Listen, what the crunk to you want from me!! We need to make some crunkin money too you know. Crunk It!

Customer >>
{silence}

At this point the customer is disoriented. He is trying to comprehend what just happened. Let’s continue.

Me >>
Listen Sir, I’m sorry about my outburst and I see your point. Perhaps we should just forget this call ever took place.

Customer >>
Oh, umm, okay. Thank you. I really appreciate it. I’ll send my payment in right away.

Me >>
Not a problem. Have a nice day sir.

Customer >>
Thank you, you too.

Me >>
………crunk

Customer >>
{silence}

Me >>
//click//

As you can see, “Crunk” is a very useful word for all kinds of situations. Feel free to use the above as a template. But that’s not all, if you act now I’ll throw in my level 2 curse word Schmint. This versatile word can be used as a stand-alone swear:

“It smells like schmint in here!!”

Or used in combination with others:

“You crunking son of a schmint!”

See how the two words complement each other so well. With a little practice you can put together more complex sentences like the one below:

“I frakked the crunk out of that schminter!”

Ouch. A little warning though, don’t try something like this until you’ve mastered the art of sci-fi cursing. We don’t want any accidents.

Now that you have the basic formula for success, go out into the world and put it to practice. Good luck to you all. And always remember our motto, “Is that crunk I smell?” “When in doubt, crunk it!” “May the Schmint be with you.”. Well, we don’t really have a motto, but good luck anyways.


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