The Fauxlaroid Cafe

The best camera you own is the one you have on you. So while sometimes I wish I had my Holga or my D300 with me everywhere I go, that's just plain not practical. Enter the craptastic iPhone 3G and the Shake It photo app from the app store. Instant Fauxlaroid goodness.

This is a quartet of the Calgary firefighters in action during last week's big Chinatown fire. The blaze started at 4 in the morning, and they were still dousing it by 2 in the afternoon.



Alright, gone skiing for the next two days. Have a great weekend!
-G

The Heart

Ballpoint and Gel Pen ink sketch. I don't do nearly enough sketching anymore... sure feels good to put pen to paper every once in a while.

'MENTALLY RETARDED GOVERNMENT'

Currently on the reading list: Stephen Hawking - A Brief History of Time. I'm a science nerd, whatever. Some people collect stamps. Don't judge.

Today, I was engaged in a rather one sided conversation with a paranoid schizophrenic on the bus home about the dangers of Hanta virus and H1N1 mixing in humans. One sided in that he was essentially yelling slightly incorrect science tidbits at me, whilst I tried to distance myself. Not because I was scared, mind you, but because it was almost humorous and I didn't want to offend him by accidentally laughing. Luckily for me, he arrived at his stop just as his monologue had veered into the extreme territory of how our 'MENTALLY RETARDED GOVERNMENT' (his words, caps to express the volume with which he said them) should really be 'offed'...

Anyways, there's really no point to this story. But I did manage to talk about one of the most intelligent people in the world AND our 'retarded government' in one post. That's gotta be worth something, right?

-G

Macro

Just messing around with my Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 and some extension tubes.

Alberta: Old and Uneducated

An EKOS poll on Canadian support for our political parties has the Conservatives and the Liberals in a virtual tie at 31.5% and 30.9% respectively. Who cares... the statistic that I found the most interesting is this:

'People in Alberta, Canadians 65 and older, and those with a high school education or less are more likely to believe the government is moving in the right direction.'

In other words, the poll found obvious trends in terms of beliefs based on education and demographics. The older you are, or the less educated you are, the more likely you are to believe that the government is doing the right thing. Except if you're Albertan, where we apparently have the same beliefs as the rest of the OLD and UNEDUCATED populace of Canada.

Take that as you will... but to me, it certainly doesn't seem like a good group to be lumped into - OLD (which one could perhaps equate to less forward thinking - no, NOT in Alberta?!), and UNEDUCATED (I'm being a bit harsh here as I agree you don't need a formal higher education to be smart, but you get the idea - and if you don't, well then I'm talking exactly about YOU).

I just read a quote on the notion of why being ignorant is blissful, which seems very fitting in this situation - David Dunning writes, "Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it."

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I hear the hate-mailman coming...

-G

Departures: Nevadan Countryside

As alluded to in a previous post, one of the highlights of visiting Las Vegas was not spent in Vegas, but rather, driving far far away from it. We rented a car (I realize we were in the States, but it was still weird seeing the Thrifty rental lot with ONLY American cars available - all the UGLY ones at that), and had a plan to drive to Boulder city, the Hoover Dam, up through Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and through the Valley of Fire State Park.

Our only problem - the GPS unit we borrowed from my uncle was distinctly patriotic. It just refused to recognize we were in the US. When it finally stoppped picketing, and realized we were in Nevada, NOT Alberta, it sort of went on the fritz rebooting at will. Coupled with Anita's complete inability to decipher anything that remotely resembles a map, we had a hell of a time just getting out of the parking lot of the rent-a-car centre (not even exaggerating here). If this were the Amazing Race, we'd be that dead last couple fighting about who forgot to pack the sandwiches. The only race we'd 'win' would be the one way road to acrimonious divorcehood. And the losers are...

Thankfully, the GPS eventually broke out of its funk (AKA user error), and the turn by turn system eventually guided us onto the Interstate, and we enjoyed the most incredibly scenic drive through the Nevadan desert. Which, incidentally, is full of strange Martian landscapes of red red rock, arches, coulees, and more red rock. Very cool. See for yourself. And as per usual, I don't do landscapes cause I suck at them, hence the endless closeup photos of rocks and their textures.












The very apty named, Elephant Rock.








This set of rock formations was called The Beehives.


This mini mountain wasn't named, but I kept seeing a half sitting, half laying Buddha in it. Buddha rock.

Reading Room Pt. II - Irony

So I've gotten a little further into that book I borrowed from the library, Affluenza. It's really interesting. It is so good, in fact, that the more I read it, the more I feel like I want to buy it, which is ironic considering it's a book that relates materialism and consumer culture to a society wide disease.

And the hypocritical thing about me telling you to read this anti-consumption book, is the fact that I just bought myself a new lens - a prime lens whose focal length I already have one of. I bought me a Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 manual focus lens, which will replace my AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8. And considering I've also got a Voigtlander 58mm f/1.4, I'm not exactly a model spokesperson for NOT needlessly buying things. Oh, the hypocrisy that is my life.

Anita's gonna bludgeon me to a pulp when she sees this, but I really wanted to post a test shot with the new glass. Shot at f/2, 1/100 sec at ISO 640. She was giving herself a facial with some kind of cosmetic rejuvenating softening firming toning cleansing skin mask thingy (not that she needs it, she's got like the softest skin ever)...



G'night folks! Here's hoping I don't get suffocated by a pillow by said wife tonight...