Principal Focus

Sunset Tree

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 04:08:18 GMT

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California

To those who "left their heart in San Francisco" ...

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 02:33:31 GMT

... I think I found it, in case you want it back.

Union Square, San Francisco, California

It's a small world after all

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 05:42:01 GMT

Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York

Pillow Fight @ Union Square

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 04:54:21 GMT

These are from a few months ago... I just found the flash card they were on.

Caption reads: "Karma is a Bitch"

Union Square, New York

What was Hemingway thinking?

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 02:49:50 GMT

I saw somebody reading The Sun Also Rises on the subway today, and here's what occurred to me: given that Hemingway once said that happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing he knows, don't you think it's ironic that most of his book are so damn depressing?

I mean by and large people seek to preserve things that are valuable and rare, rather than destroy them....

Precious and fragile things
Need special handling
My god what have we done to you?
-- Precious, Depeche Mode

4th of July

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 04:14:14 GMT

Somewhere over the East River, New York

Loew's Jersey Theatre

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 15:13:47 GMT

Loew's Jersey Theatre, Jersey City

Atomic Deathray

Mon, 14 May 2007 03:09:11 GMT

So... who can guess what these things are?
Hint, they draw 150 Amps @ 50V each, and have watercooling (the black cylinders on the floor).

VisualDNA

Tue, 08 May 2007 05:12:36 GMT

Alright, this is kind of silly, but kind of neat.

(You have to click to reveal the embedded object.)

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Send In The Cavalry

Sun, 06 May 2007 20:16:06 GMT

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Pearls of Poetry

Thu, 03 May 2007 20:30:37 GMT

If light were dark and dark were light
The moon a black hole in the blaze of night
A raven's wing as bright as tin
Then you, my love, would be darker than sin.

becomes...

if ((light eq dark) && (dark eq light) && ($blaze_of_night{moon} == black_hole) && ($ravens_wing{bright} == $tin{bright})) { my $love = $you = $sin{darkness} + 1; };

You have to keep in mind that the $foo{bar} syntax in Perl is not a function call, but a map access, kind of like foo[bar] in C++, can thus be read as "bar in foo" or "foo's bar".

Brilliant! (source)

Dialogue EP

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 19:21:05 GMT

One of my favorite bands, Stochastic Theory, has released an EP titled Dialogue for free download. Their debut album, Soliloquy, was so good, that I, for one, am buying (and not downloading) their new album, Opposite Extremes.
From the Amazon review:

Opposite Extremes is the second full-length disc from Madison, WI's STOCHASTIC THEORY, blending influences from everywhere from NEW ORDER to MESH to THE POSTAL SERVICE. This is electro-pop with an indie-rock edge, balancing dancefloor appeal with increasingly complex rhythms and arrangements accompanied by project founder Chuck Spencer's introspective lyrics.

And I couldn't agree more. I think the lyrics are some of the most emotionally charged and raw that I have ever encountered.

All the things we thought we wanted
All the things we sought to prove
Slowly faded into nothing
Taking four years of our youth

I wish could say I saw you
I wish we could share that lie
Since I never really knew you
I can't even say goodbye

-- Shared Lies, Stochastic Theory

The EP consists mostly of heavily remixed tracks, but the one original song on it, Here, should give you an idea of what genuine Stochastic Theory sound is like. Enjoy the rest of the songs for the lyrics.

Get it here directly. Or from the band's site.

Lanterns

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 02:06:49 GMT

Between multiple-exposure HDR and extensive perspective correction, this is probably my most technically advanced shot yet.

The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, New York

The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 01:34:58 GMT

And we return to our regularly scheduled broadcasting...

The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, New York

Brahms @ Lincoln Center

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 03:19:50 GMT

I was invited to hear the New York Philharmonic play an all-Brahms program at the Avery Fisher Hall of the Lincoln Center (their home turf). Although, as far as classical music goes, I tend to like the composers of the Romantic period best, I don't really know Brahms' work. But the orchestra and soloists were fantastic, so it was still a pleasure to experience.

Curious observation though - every time I would close my eyes and really concentrate on the music, images of spirals would come unbidden to my mind's eye. At first I was rather puzzled by this phenomenon, but I suppose one explanation could be that it is created by the rhythm. Since the orchestra was predominantly strings, most of the time the natural motion of the bow creates a somewhat of a back-and-forth pattern in the music, and that is what I think I was picking up on.

Maximillian Cohen: "My new hypothesis: If we're built from Spirals while living in a giant Spiral, then is it possible that everything we put our hands to is infused with the Spiral?"
-- Pi

1.5 seconds of fame

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:53:17 GMT

http://www.google.com/events/nyagency/index.html

See anything familiar?

Also, apparently, some of my photography was included in the default Google Photo Screensaver photo feed, although I cannot verify this claim as it does not run on Linux.

VNV Nation + And One Concert

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 04:31:14 GMT

... whereupon I get branded gay in spite of my insistence to the contrary.

So I went to VNV concert today. I can't say that VNV Nation is still my favorite band, but to a large degree they served as my segway into the whole electronic/industrial scene, so I have rather fond memories of them. The opening band was And One, which I also know and like. The concert itself was rather as I expected. Both VNV's and And One's live performances are very different from their studio stuff and I much prefer the later. I don't think it is just a question of familiarity either. Their vocalists just aren't that great live. But the crowd was energetic, and I rather enjoyed it overall.

The following noteworthy conversation also took place:

(after dancing with a spectacular, but drunk blond girl at the insistence of her friend)

Girl 2: Are you gay?
Me: No.
Girl 2: Would you like to **** my beautiful blond friend?
Me: No, thanks.
Girl 2: Why not?!
Me: She is too drunk!
Girl 2: So? That's ok!
Me: Not for me!
Girl 2: .... I'll just tell her you're gay.

In this picture stands a man
Far away, alone and distant
Like a solitary field
In some nameless foreign land.
All around him points of light
Start to dim and cease transmitting
Shadows fell on futile games
And then there was nothing more.
-- Solitary, VNV Nation

What do Guitar Hero and World Of Warcraft have in common?

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 19:21:42 GMT

So... somebody finally convinced me to give Guitar Hero a try. And while I have to admit it is kind of fun, I've also realized what it is about that game that has always bothered me.

I guess fundamentally it comes down to one thing - there is absolutely no strategy involved. Essentially it is a competition of muscle memory, not wits: you cannot do any better by playing smarter. The only way to become better at it, is to invest more time into it. Remind you of any other game that has been in the news a lot lately? In World of Warcraft, to get to level 70 and get your epic flying mount (or whatever, I don't really know anything about it), you need to invest countless hours of grunt work (or pay real money for a buffed character on ebay). And until you both hit the level cap, somebody who is willing to sink more time into the game is always going to be better than you.

I realize WoW does have some strategic elements (raids, etc), and that is what a lot of people like. But there are games that allow you to enjoy this aspect without investing your life into leveling. For example, from what I hear, in Guild Wars, you can hit the maximum level in a single day of doing stupid quests, and you can concentrate on the fun parts of the game thereafter. Or my personal favorite, DotA, shares a lot of the battle mechanics, and thus strategy, with WoW (except it's not first person, and you are fighting real people and not computers), while having a very definite game lifespan (about an hour).

I guess the following quotation comes to mind when thinking of those kinds of games Never argue with an idiot, he'll drag you down to his level and beat you on experience., and hence you will not find me playing any of them.

Legos!

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 02:44:33 GMT

Wow?? I talked to the guy who made this thing... he's damn hardcore about Legos! He also brought in a couple dozen tubs of random Lego pieces for people to play with. Fun.

Click for a larger version to see the detail.

OMLG!

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:25:56 GMT

The Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel

Friends of old

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:56:31 GMT

Wow, I have some crazy looking friends!

It was nice meeting you again, guys.

Skytower

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 05:23:33 GMT

Auckland, New Zealand

Central Park At Night

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:44:46 GMT

Central Park, New York

Manhattan Night Skyline

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 03:15:23 GMT

Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn

Canadian Clay And Glass Gallery

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 03:29:38 GMT

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada