Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Black Sheep - The Choice is Yours

Engine engine number 9, on the New York transit line, if my train falls off the track, pick it up pick it up pick it up!

At 2:03 theres a cat. haha

Monday, March 28, 2011

Skateboard Basketball

I saw this kid at the park about a week ago. He was making it most of the time. I thought maybe it was catching on. Maybe there is a league of skateboard/basketball players.

Then I found a bunch of trick shots by the DC skate team.
Rob Dyrdek is in this one. You may have seen him make some crazy shots on his show Fantasy Factory.
By the way, Season four starts on April 4th and Big Black is back!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Pic of the Day || March 22nd, 2011

We saw this little turtle trying to catch some of the last rays of sunshine of the day at Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Japanese Magic Show

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81360086/

I thought this was really cool and creative.

Do you know what a Looxcie is?

Do you know what a Looxcie is? Do you even know how to pronounce it? Well now I do. 

A Looxcie, pronounced Look-see, is a bluetooth/camera that wraps around your ear just like a regular bluetooth headset. The developers wanted to create something that would allow you to video record whatever you see so that you  never miss a moment. 
By working with your smartphone, the Looxcie continuously records 4 to 5 hours of footage and allows you to save 30 second clips if you experience something that just happened, say your child's first steps or a roller coaster ride.

About three and a half weeks ago I found this thing called a Looxcie on Facebook. I saw they were having a contest and I thought, "Heck, why not? What do I have to lose?" So I entered the contest not thinking much of it or that I would ever win in a million years. 

For the contest you were asked to write a short story about a moment you wished you had on video. I sat there and thought for a moment. I figured the first time I met Samantha would be something I would want to have on camera so I wrote about that. I would hate to rub this in your face with PDA galore but it's true!

We first met on the basketball court at UCSC. I thought it was a pretty cool moment but I never thought the judges for the contest would like it as well. So I gave the contest entry my information along with the story and forgot about it.

Well, about 10 days later I get an email from a lady named Kimberly. She tells me I have won a Looxcie and that I need to respond to confirm that I am not related to anyone at the company, so I responded half skeptical and half excited. After I respond she wrote back and asked me to confirm my address and tells me that the Looxcie will be sent out to me on Monday and that they will post my entry on their Facebook page.



Hecka crazy! But I was so excited.

So Today, March 19th, 2011, I received the Looxcie!
The package was like "HAY!"


Well that was awesome! First time I have won a no purchase neccessary contest. I don't really have a use for this thing though. It only works with iphones and Androids thus far, so..... anyone interested?

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Graffiti Canvas

This is sort of a ongoing Graffiti wall.
If you are ever at my house and want to tag this, by all means do it!

My friend Sean V. gave me this idea. I'm pretty sure I could point out where he tagged if you asked me to.... at least for now. When I can, I plan to get bigger canvases and perhaps some spray to try all that craziness. 

Some call graffiti a crime and some call it art. It really is both. Graffiti done right can be visually amazing or it can be a terrible eye-sore.  Such is life really. There is a whole lot of ugly out there, but many things can be beautiful. 
Try to focus on the good.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

People I'd like to meet.

Baron Davis: He seems like a genuinely good person. I can't say that I know this to be true but from watching him on the court to hearing about what he does off it. I will go as far to say he is someone I look up to. He tries to stay connected with his fans through social networks and has his own projects that he works on (Li Ning). He is all about the team and I feel that he has the right attitude and mentality out there no matter who he is playing for. He is competitive but at the same time he doesn't take life too seriously.
Adam Sandler: Another cat that doesn't take life too seriously. This man is hilarious and I know not everyone likes him but I do. I was raised with Adam Sandler though. My cousin and my brother would always listen to his comedy albums and naturally I loved them too. If you haven't listened to them you should.
Stan and Judy's Kid
They're all gonna laugh at you!
What's your name?
What the hell happened to me?


So who would you like to meet? 

The Windup Girl

In a future Thailand struggling against gened plagues and rising seas, the most important elements of life are the calories needed to stay alive. But as iron-fisted food corporations, flawed rulers, and an impure army of environmental defenders fight to impose their views on this world, an unlikely girl—who could be the next step in human evolution—fights for the right to simply live as she wants.
(Link below SFSignal)


I can't find a bad review of this book:
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2009/09/review-the-windup-girl-by-paolo-bacigalupi/


EnergyBulletin.net:
http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2011-01-17/book-review-paolo-bacigalupis-windup-girl


I liked this book as well. It had an interesting plot and got progressively more intense until the very last page. I recommend it. You can borrow it if you wish! Just let me know.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Jam Session

So sometimes Sam and I have impromptu jam sessions. Here is some of that magic.

I'd love to have more jam sessions with any of you guys. 
I know you play instruments because a lot of you were in band in high school.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Swim Team Cypher

Ill.

Briones Hike 2.4.2011


Met some stranger at the summit. 
He tried to be friendly but we weren't having it. 
It was pretty awkward but it shouldn't have been.

It was a pretty long hike. Yeah, I'm going to sleep well tonite. I earned this one =)

Light Art

Ever since the first time I discovered that this was possible I have been obsessed with making light art. I really wish I had a Digital SLR but they live outside the budget of an unemployed person (Me).
All you have to do is set your camera so that it opens the shutter for an extended period of time. Usually, for photos taken in daylight, the shutter is only open for about 1/60th of a second. My camera has a mode called starry night and it allows you to take long exposure pictures. The only intervals are 15, 30 and 60 seconds, but with a digital SLR you have a much better range of different times. You can even set it to "bulb" which will allow you to keep the shutter open as long as you press the shutter button.

 I took this in Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills. I took it with my camera and moved around flashing my friend's DSLR camera's flash to get the orbs shown above.
 This was taken a long time ago on a camera that had no mode for long exposures. All it had was a high sensitivity mode which kept the shutter open for no more than 1 second probably. It is all I had to work with at the time.
 Now after you understand how it works you can get real creative. There is no limit to the possibilities it just takes some practice. 
 And maybe a little luck sometimes.
I discovered you can "write on walls" with light. 
It was a pretty awesome discovery for me.

I do what I can with the resources I have and, for the most part, I get by. When I get the money saved up I will get a DSLR and hopefully I can provide some awesome light art.

127 Hours the story of Aron Ralston



I really enjoyed this film. I just saw it just now and had to write a little bit about it. I think it is a crazy story and it made me squirm at times and flinch a little. I was scared at points even though this is not a scary movie. I kinda knew the plot going in but that didn't really ruin anything for me. Maybe I am being biased because I like James Franco but I thought it was both entertaining and a pretty cool story.

I liked some of the soundtrack, too. I love soundtracks sometimes. Sometimes the soundtrack can make or break the movie. Yet, still other times the soundtrack doesn't help or harm the movie. I think that the soundtrack was complimentary to this film.

It's probably not the kind of theatrical music that one bus driver would listen to at UCSC though.

All in all I enjoyed this one. I like the fact that he does what I do. I go out sometimes and look for adventure and bring a few things along like a camera and my sketch book and a book and my hunting knife, maybe my harmonica and some water. Just go out and see what is out there. See other people like me maybe. I don't know what I will find but that is the whole idea of adventure. I hope the weather is fair tomorrow because after seeing this film I definitely want to go out and explore some more.

Anyway just thought that I would share my thoughts on this film.