Photo’s from the day

I meet my wife for lunch at Ikea today, partly for lunch, partly to pick up a toy tea set for my daughter’s friend Nina. It’s been raining like non-stop here in socal for like 3 days, and for Pittsburgh that’s nothing, but for California that seemed like the end of days. So we have this mountain in Orange County called Saddleback Mountain and everyone has been freaking out over the amount of snow on it. What’s ironic is that it actually gets snow like once a year, sometimes for a week, sometimes for a few hours, depending on the amount of sun it gets the following week. So I took my camera to get a few pics.

Clouds Galore.

Oh well, maybe tomorrow I’ll have better luck.

We had fun with Tegan at Ikea. Sofie played in smaland while we shopped.
Here are the pictures:

Clouds over Ikea.

Tegan and Amber.

Tegan and Amber with sunlight peeking over Amber’s shoulder.

Amber & Tegan walking through the warehouse.

Tegan taking a sip.

All of my photos are hosted by Flickr , which is probably my favorite site in all of the world. Flickr is magically babelicious. I’ve had a pro account for the past 2 years and have well over a 1000 photo’s on it. I did however let my pro account recently expire, and asked my wife to renew it for me for Christmas. Easy Christmas gift.

Alright next post will be sIFR related.

TV On The Radio has been the music in my ears all day. The first and third album.

Staring at the sun indeed……

Filed under: California, Lomo, Los Angeles, Music, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photography , Adobe, Costa Mesa, Ikea, Landscape, Lightroom 2.0, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photos, Santa Ana, TV on the Radio

My first video on YouTube – Time Lapse of course

Here it is:

It’s nothing special I know, but I was just playing around with my new Pclix having fun.

Filed under: California, Fun List, Music, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photography, Time Lapse, Uncategorized , CA, D80, Nikon, Orange County, Scion, Time Lapse, Vampire Weekend

New Time Lapse @ 6 FPS – T & J Playing Games

I’m not sure what this game is called, but Jim & his family call this game Lagger’s. It was introduced to the family by a man named Bill, and he thinks he is way pro at this game. Jim & I school this guy everytime we play him. Not to gloat, but yeah we whip his ass and it pisses him off.

The Notorious TDPT & J

Best if viewed at the original site:
Vimeo in HD

Filed under: California, Fun List, Introduction, Music, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photography, Time Lapse , Beer, Camera Control Pro, Fun, Games, Music, Nikon D80, Orange County, Time Lapse

My Top 10 Albums of ‘08

10. Vampire Weekend | S/T : Released Jan 28, 08
The Buzz band of ‘08. I have no idea what they’re talking about. maybe because I’ve never been to Boston, but overall fun, catchy album.
Key Tracks: Mansard Roof, Campus & Walcott.

9. Fleet Foxes | S/T: Released June 3, 08
I’m kind of embarrassed this is on here, because they kind of became the Starbucks house band, but there’s no denying these hippies can sing.
Key tracks: White Winter Hymnal, Ragged Wood & Meadowlark.

8. Nas | Untitled : Released July 1, 08
Nas is hands down my favorite MC, and this album is a little disappointing only because he has set the bar so high from jump, it’s hard to live up to those expectations every single album.
Key tracks: Sly Fox, Breathe & Black President.

7. Erykah Badu | New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War : Released Feb 26, 08
I never listen to R&B except old school Jodeci and Mary J. Erykah is another exception. Every single album of her’s is a great great listen. This one also does not disappoint.
Key tracks: The Healer, The Cell & Me.

6. Radiohead | In Rainbows: Released Jan 1, 08
This album would probably be number 1 had it came out later in the year, but it already feels like it’s 3 years old. I can’t add anything new that the critics haven’t already said.
Key tracks: House Of Cards, Nude & Jigsaw Falling Into Place.

5. She & Him | Volume One: Released Mar 18, 08
This is probably my daughters album of the year. Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward create an album that sounds like it was made 50 years ago. All songs written by Zooey except her Smokey Robinson cover.
Key tracks: I Thought I Saw Your Face Today, I Was Made For You & You Really Gotta Hold On Me

4. Kings Of Leon | Only By The Night : Released Sept 23, 08
One song on this album, is better than about 75% of anything you’ll hear on the radio right now. Manhattan is probably the greatest KOL song ever.
Key tracks: Manhattan, Sex On Fire & Revelry.

3. The Roots | Rising Down : Released April 28, 08
Best Hip Hop album of the year. 75 bars is Black Thought ripping everyone a new asshole. More guest stars than I usually like, but after awhile it added a new element that i came to appreciate.
Key tracks: 75 Bars, The Show & Rising Down with Mos Def & Styles P.

2. TV On The Radio | Dear Science : Released April 28, 08
TVOTR and KOL are probably the most consistent band putting out music nowadays. Dear Science is near perfection. They might also be the most off putting band that’s able to sell tickets to shows and sell merchandise at the rate that they do, but I’m beginning to think that they might also be the band nowadays that people say they like just to look cool. Bright Eyes, Death Cab and the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s were also victim’s of this hipster curse. This album is also impossible to pigeon hole as well, due to the soundscape being all over the place. Call it abstract, but I think it’s more confusing than that. I call it dope.
Key tracks: Family Tree, Dancing Choose, Stork & Owl, Golden Age, Red Dress & Halfway Home.

1. The Last Shadow Puppets | Age Of The Understatement : Released May 6, 08
This album is number one because I probably listened to it more than any other album that came out this year. Fronted by The Arctic Monkey’s & The Little Flames lead singers, they channel The Kinks, The Monkees and craft pop ditty’s your momma can listen to.
Key tracks: Standing Next To You, Calm Like You, The Meeting Place & My Mistakes Were Made For You.

Honorable Mentions:
Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue
Conor Oberst – Self Titled
The Cool Kids – The Bake Sale
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Tanya Morgan – The Bridge
Q-Tip – The Renaissance

Q-Tip’s album is amazing, but I just got it yesterday, so I don’t know if I’ll still love it in a week.

I did my list a little earlier than usual because I got other shit to do.

enjoy your holidays.

Filed under: Current List, Fun List, Music, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , List, Music, Hip Hop, Top 10, Indie, Rock, College, End Of Year, Jenny Lewis

My Top 3 Favorites as of 10/13/08

These last 2 weeks have been a huge adjustment period for me, and getting time to take pictures and post the story behind it is something I haven’t been able to factor into my everyday life. So I figured I’d post my favorites of the last two weeks.

I’ll start with reading material.

Blogs
1. Mudflats: Recently nominated Best Political Blog from bloggers choice awards.
2. The Consumerists I’ve found out quite a bit of money saving tips and also tons of info regarding the recent collapse of our wonderful economy.
3. LifeHacker : Geek blog about DIY tech projects, and hacks for Gmail and other cool tools.

Websites
1. Hulu : Website that airs the latest TV Show’s from Fox, NBC and Comedy Central. I’ll never miss the Office, It’s Always Sunny, Daily Show or King Of The Hill again.
2. Flickr : Still an all time favorite. Flickr is KING!!
3. Surf The Channel – Dexter : I’m addicted to Dexter, and this has all the episodes.

Music
First let me say that iTunes has this new Genius playlist option and it really works well. I’m not gonna list albums because lately I’ve been listening to random playlists.

Artist first – Song title second

1. El-P – Deep Space 9mm : Off the Fantastic Damage LP
2. Justice – Planisphere Pts. 1-4 : Created for a fashion show. It sounds amazing.
3. Rilo Kiley – Someone Else’s Clothes (Acoustic) – Off of the Live @ Fingerprints EP

Podcasts
1. Real Time With Bill Maher : People either love or hate Bill Maher, but our views on religion are very similar and he usually has both sides of the political spectrum represented on his talk show.
2. This American Life : Stories from around the U.S.
3. NPR Wait Wait..Don’t Tell Me: Political satire from a live venue in front of a studio audience.

So that kinda sums up all my interests right now. Enjoy.

It’s Santa Ana Winds time, and the Southland is on fire again. LA, San Diego, Ventura & San Bernadino counties all have fires right now. Hopefully it will be over quick.

This time last year I took some pictures from the Foothill Ranch fire here in Orange County.
Here are 2:

Good night everyone…

Filed under: Books, California, Current List, Fun List, Los Angeles, Music, Orange County, Photography, Random Thoughts, Thoughts on Movies, Uncategorized , Photo, Politics, Fire, List, Blog, Favorites, Santa Ana Winds, Podcasts

Real Life Breakdancing Ninja’s..

If there is one regret in my life, it’s I wish I took the time to learn how to BREAKDANCE . When I was a kid growing up in Santa Ana, I went to a elementary school called Heritage and during my 3rd grade year, everyone was way into Breakdancing. Beat Street and Breakin’ was huge, and everyone would Breakdance on card board boxes at lunch, try flips in the grass, bug out, and just try anything that was Breakdance related. I loved public schools.

I can honestly say that when I see Breakdancers on piers and public places dancing, I’m genuinely jealous.

Also, I always wished I was a ninja. My buddy Steve , my cousin Leon and I would always do flips and play fight in my front yard, but Steve was always better at ninja shit. Steve would run up to my fence, and land into a somersault and Leon and I were just blown the fuck away…Steve was a real life ninja as far we were concerned.

15 minute Breaktime..Aqua Teen Hunger Force is on.

O.K. I’m back. That was some funny shit, Shake and Carl deep fried a whole cow, with cheese in the middle. That’s banana’s.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah. Breakdancing and Ninja’s. Also when I was little, Voltron was king. Not Go-Bots, they were lame, but Voltron was pretty badass.
I always wanted a Voltron lion. The red one.

I’m done. Below are pictures.

Here’s the house I lived in for 2 years, grades 4th and 5th. The fence is the one Steve would run and flip over…

Here’s a picture of the 10 yard line from Carter’s last game at San Clemente high school.

What the hell does the 10 yard line have to do with ninja shit? Well to be honest, nothing.

Leave me a comment telling me about your ninja moves..I’ll mail a brownie to anyone who tells me a story about a real life Breakdancing ninja. I mean a real one..Breakdancing Ninjas are so badasssss!!

Filed under: California, Fun List, Music, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photography, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , 80's, Art, Breakdance, Childhood, Culture, Entertainment, Family, Friends, Home, Humor, Life, Ninja, People, Personal Random, Photography, Photos, Santa Ana, School, Toy's, Voltron

Frames & White Walls.

I’ve been looking at some of the pictures I’ve taken over the last couple years, and I know that I’m no professional, but some of them are I think, wall hangers. Meaning you could hang them on your wall and people might think you paid some money for them.

Well, we are on the move again, and I told my wife that there will be no more painting, that we will be printing up quite a bit of pictures of the kids and the such and hanging on them all over the house.

Well, I’ve uploaded a few pictures to Flickr to check out prices and sizing and was kinda disappointed on the options. I’m going to have to find a camera shop near my new residence to manually take my pictures in and view quality and pricing options.

Here’s one:

Here’s another:

De La Soul The Impossible Mission is in constant rotation right now…

Filed under: California, Fun List, Music, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photography, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized , Adobe Lightroom, De La Soul, Flickr, Frames, Moving, Music, Nikon D80, Online, Painting, Photography, Photos, Printing, Thoughts

Mashing on the Motorway: The Remix

more about "Mashing On The Motorway: The Remix

Since my newly acquired knowledge of Adobe After Effects, I decided to redo this little time lapse, by ramping up the FPS to 30 and changing the song. It went from 1:45 to 20 seconds.

Song: PE – Lost At Birth

Taken from the 11th floor of the Woodland Hills Marriott.

Filed under: California, Music, Nikon D80, Photography, Time Lapse, Uncategorized , Time Lapse, Time Lapse Night Photography Nikon D80 Los Angeles Wood

Target Parking Lot: Updated

I took this picture a while back and decided to update it with a new one with a higher F-Stop.

Chad told me that if you shoot closer to F22 that it makes the street lights have that Star effect, while 50 told me go ahead switch the style up, and if they hate then let ‘em hate and watch the money pile up. That might be a little over your head, but don’t worry you can catch on later.

Here is the update at an F16 stop:

See, all the street lights look like stars. Not the one’s in Hollywood, but the ones we used to draw in art class in the 3rd grade. The things that I keep learning about photography just keep amazing me.

Also, Steve & his wife Jen told me that this old picture I took of the EMB in S.F. looked a little fake, or at least it look like I saturated the sky a little. I took it as a compliment actually. Thank you Grambau’s!

That’s 100% untouched.

Also, I’m way overdosed on Vimeo & LCD Sound System right now. I love everything about that site and the Sound of Silver album.

Bye for now.

Filed under: California, Introduction, Music, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photography, Uncategorized , Adobe, EMB, LCD Sound System, Lightroom, Long Exposure, Night, Nikon D80, Orange County, Parking, Shot, Target, Vimeo

Irvine Spectrum 5 FPS

Went to the Irvine Spectrum with the Wife and it gave me an idea of something I want to do. Just need the time though….

more about "Irvine Spectrum

The first photo-motion I’ve done in Adobe After Effects, I just need to learn how to import music into the sequence.

This is kind of fun..

Song by Sufjan Stevens – Chicago

Filed under: California, Fun List, Music, Nikon D80, Orange County, Photography, Time Lapse, Uncategorized , California, Irvine, Music, Nikon D80, Orange County, Stop-Motion, Sufjan Stevens