July 2005 Entries
Went for a bike ride on Saturday across the George Washington bridge from Manhattan and up the Palisades a bit. All together a great outing. There was one snag getting from Riverside Park to the bike path for the bridge; had to make a detour the long way around the block.
Turns out that was a helpful bit of fate. As we approached the NJ side, where the bridge is still quite high, but over the little bit of low coast there was an emerging commotion. A man had jumped just prior to our arrival. Bystanders were eager to relay the...
If you take the Iraq war down to the core, you will find a deadly simple rational.
We were attacked on 9/11, the White House needed to strike back, show significant force. Afghanistan was too easy a victory. It didn’t do enough to strike enough fear. I won’t spend time caveating this Iraq war statement with endless words on the long term benefits of democracy in the middle east, regime changes, etc. I believe those all to be simply supplementary justifications of a core emotion. There is enough nuance in this argument to keep people talking forever, but check this...
I am 29 years old, born in 1975.
For myself and many, many people my age that I’ve talked to, when world events of childhood are mentioned, the year that comes back again and again and again is 1986.
Sprol (a blog dedicated to using Google Satellite Maps and Google Earth to exploring environmental disasters and such) today has a feature on the Chernobyl meltdown. You saw this coming, the year? 1986.
Let me outline the real common memories that come up:
Space Shuttle Challenger explodes. I can’t overstate the affect this had on us as kids. Many of us were...
The Emily Wilson Experience presents a visual recap of the Northern State show at South Street Seaport. Click image for the full size.
Add NY summer evening heat, a faint fish market odor and rocking hiphop to your sensory cortex while viewing and you’ll get the whole event feel.
Clockwise from top left: Corey & Hesta • Sprout and Spero • set list • import Nike • on stage • glamour
Amazing how busy the Seaport is and I don't know anyone that ever goes there outside of some event like this.
.
.
It is just when things at work aren’t going well (see previous post) that a host of small things collude to ruin your day.
Exhibit A, this email from our facilities people:
I was told by building management that the third elevator on the Broadway side (of the building) will not be repaired until at least the 29th of July because a part has to be manufactured by their vendor. According to building management, the elevators are so old that some parts are no longer stocked by the company that maintains their elevators. They asked me to convey their apologies for the...
As far as I know this is not Photoshopped. Supreme Court nominee’s kid gets DOWN at the press briefing the other day.
Also, what kind of outfit did they put him in? The whole “life was best in the 50’s” theme these Republicans have got going is quite creepy.
[via CityRag]
Wednesday, July 20th • South Street Sea Port • 89 South Street/Pier 17 • New York, NY • FREE SHOW • ALL AGES • 7 pm • with Army of Me • www.northernstate.net
Previous coverage here: northern state cold rocked the party
Over this last trip I did a little unpaid modeling work. I did a “business traveler” and an “Asia hiker”. I developed a character; I named him Sven. Sven is married (see the ring) and was a total primadonna, natch.
This is an outake — the guy in the back ruined it. Photo taken at “the long bar”, Cathay Pacific lounge, Hong Kong airport.
My iTunes dual soundcard tip from back in March seems to be no longer valid with Quicktime 7, at least with the public preview.
They actually removed the ability to select a specific sound device for use by Quicktime. I sent them an email, but Apple, not being a company known for taking feedback, hasn't acknowledged the receipt of my email, let alone addressed it or, gasp, fix the issue.
I’m pretty peeved about the functionality being removed, but a whole not more peeved by the fact that there is nothing I can do about it.
BAR-Honda F1 car to run at Bonneville:
BAR-Honda, at the request of sponsor Lucky Strike, has announced their intention to run one of their Formula 1 cars at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The goal is to run a car that’s as close to F1 specifications as possible, aside from aerodynamic trim and the addition of required safety gear such as a parachute. The run is planned to take place sometime in October, with one of BAR’s junior drivers taking the wheel. The team expects the car will do at least 250 MPH.
…
Read
Cool.[via Autoblog]
Current F1 engines are 3.0 liter V10s. The FIA governing body has decided to move to 2.4 liter V8s or rev-limited V10s in 2006. They site cost-cutting and safety as the rationale, but I’m not thrilled about the change — I worry about the change in engine note.
Cosworth, the ex-Ford engine manufacturer has a little mpeg up on their site of the early version of the new F1 engine revving up to 20,002 rpms. The sound is incredible. You think that it would surely shatter itself in a million pieces at 16,000 by the sound. 20,000 is amazing to hear....
Lamma Island, Hong Kong, China SAR.
Took an opportunity over the weekend to get out to one of the outlying islands of HK for some hiking. On the way to the beach, in a bit of a damp valley, there were these huge spiders everywhere. This was one of the medium sized ones that I could get close enough to for good perspective shot. Upon reflection it might not have been smart to use my Amex because if that spider had made a move for my hand I would have dropped it in a heartbeat and it was headed for...
Bad week for CoreyH.
Thanks to [via Waxy.org]
Not wanting to pay the ridiculous fees charged by the hotel from Hong Kong back to the states, I decided to pack some extra gear and try to find a better way.
Boy howdy this is great.
If you click to see the Flickr version, you can see my annotations that point out what’s what more clearly, but along the bottom of the image are the essential components. I connect the Linksys wireless (and wired) travel router to the hotel’s high speed ethernet connection. Then I attach my Vonage ATA packed up and brought from home and connect a $6...
I just got nauseous (or is it nauseated?) thinking about the long-term damage GWB is about to do with his replacement suggestions for new supremes.
O'Connor to resign from Supreme Court
My work as Emily’s photoshop man continues. Stuff I’ve done lately follows.
Lens Blur: This is useful if you want to emulate depth-of-field, i.e. blur the background, but leave the foreground in focus. This is useful if you take a portrait with a cheap point-and-shoot, but you want to emulate a more sophisticated “pro” look. Photoshop CS2 has a specific lens blur filter for this purpose, but you need to build a depth map to tell it where the foreground is. Photoshop is smart, but not smart enough to do a 3D mapping on its own. I won’t go into all the details, because this...
I’ve been listening to this album quite a bit. Just checked allmusic.com to see if she had any other albums and thought the biography was interesting enough to share with y’all.
Born in the middle of a seven-daughter family with creative and free-spirited parents, Butterfly Boucher's first name was suggested by some divine intervention her mother was experiencing. A picture on an elementary school wall, a print on a dance teacher's leotard, and a 45rpm single of "The Butterfly Song," brought home by one of her other daughters, all pointed to the name. Her father had pursued a professional career...
Leaving Monday for Hong Kong, coming back after ten days. Emily is coming and bringing the full compliment of camera gear so expect pictures.