Catching Up
Okay, so here's another post. It's been a long time, I know. I want to write a lot more than I do, but just don't do it. I think I get overwhelmed with all of the stuff in my head and freeze up. I think it might help if I schedule time once every couple of days to write. Anyway, I'll start right in with some updates.
1) I'm completely and totally obsessed with Guitar Hero. I'd rate it in the top three gaming experiences I've had as an adult. Katamari and Tony Hawk are the only games that I've ever been as excited about. I've spent the last week getting through all of the songs on the easy level and moved onto the next level late last night. Or did I? I came home tonight to find that my PS2's memory card is corrupted and that all of my efforts have been lost. Arrrrgh!!! Maybe this was meant to be. I won't hate going through the same songs again and should be good enough to teach Guitar Hero lessons by the end of the weekend.
2) School is going really well. For those that don't know, I'm taking a black and white photography/darkroom class at MCAD. I haven't been shooting as much as I'd like, but have spent A LOT of time in the darkroom. It's a great form of therapy for me. There's something medatative about calming about it, but it does brings out my OCD once in awhile.
Next week is the last week of the semester and it will be time to choose another class to take. I'd like to take the next level in their photography series, but think I might opt for a graphic design course over the summer and get back into the darkroom in the fall. I'm not sure that spending lots of time in the darkroom is something I'd be inspired to do during the few good months we have in Minnesota.
3) On the camera front, I bought an old school manual camera last week. It's an Olympus OM-1 with a 50mm lens. I'd like to get a 28mm, but they're going for about $300 at KEH. I could get one for a lot less on eBay, but after a recent experience, which I'll get to next, I'm done buying used camera gear on eBay for awhile.
Okay, about my crappy eBay experience. I guess it's partially my fault for buying a camera from a seller with a very low rating, but the photos of the camera looked great and it was only $100. The camera was described as "very clean" and the seller also claimed that it was looked at by a local camera shop and rated as being in great condition. Long story short: I got the camera and it didn't work, it had a dent in the top, and the lens looked like a petri dish.
After some arguing over email, the seller agreed to take it back and refund my money after giving me the fifth degree and stopping just short of accusing me of running a scam. I FedEx'd it back and all is fine, but I accidentally sent it priority overnight instead of ground, which I noticed when there was a $43 charge on my FedEx account. Ouch! Oh well, the ordeal is over.
4) In large purchase news, I used some money from a freelance project I'm working on to pick up a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens. It was a big decision, but I'm going to make a run at doing a lot more headshots, stock photography, and event work. Plus, I'll be doing the Fringe Festival again (I'm an official staff photographer for them now!). I think I'll get my money's worth.
Okay, that's all for now. More later...
The Grease Trick
Someone stole most of my New York Times this morning. I called for a replacement, but I'm still mad and feel bad that the delivery guy has to come over here again. Next week I might pull one of my dad's old tricks. Read on.
Years ago, when my dad and I lived together after my parent's divorce, someone started stealing our Sunday paper. My dad was upset, but had a plan. The next week, before going to bed on Saturday, he took an old Sunday paper and smeared the inside sections with a lot of grease. He got up early and waited for the paper to arrive. When it did, he quickly went out and swapped the new paper with his custom grease edition. Someone did come by and take that paper. We laughed a lot that day thinking about what their reaction might have been. It was never stolen again.
YouTube
I got obsessed with YouTube this weekend and watched lots of stuff. There are so many great videos to check out, but here are some highlights:
Frat House (Warning: This is shocking and pathetic) - "Before OLD SCHOOL and ROAD TRIP, there was FRAT HOUSE, a documentary about hazing on college campuses by directors Todd Phillips and Andrew Gurland. After winning the Grand Jury Award at 1998's Sundance Film Festival, Gurland and Phillips were deluged with offers and praise, and they sold the film's rights to HBO. But then FRAT HOUSE disappeared. For the past 8 years, HBO has refused to air the film nor will they give it back to the filmmakers to self-distribute."
Werner Herzog Gets Shot During BBC Interview - Not much more to be said about this video. It's quite shocking, but he carries on and gives a great interview. Don't worry, there's nothing gruesome here. He just gets hit by a pellet gun or something by a crazed fan.
Finally, it seems that Diet Coke and Mentos experiments (or should I say experimints?) are all the rage.
Good News/Bad News
I finally got done doing my taxes last night. I use Turbo Tax and it's sooo easy. The good news is that I made enough doing freelance work that I have to pay in this year. The bad news is that I made enough doing freelance work that I have to pay in.
It's All About the Docs
Thank god Netflix has a killer selection of documentaries. For some reason, that's all I'm interested in watching these days. I just can't get myself to sit down to watch a "regular" movie. Recent notables are Cowboy Del Amor and Speedo.
Digital Camera "Fingerprints"
An interesting post on Boing Boing reports that you can tell which camera took any given photo by matching the photo's unique "weak noise-like pattern of pixel-to-pixel non-uniformity," much like determining which gun fired a specific bullet. Very curious.
