Slinky on a treadmill

Not sure how I didn't link to this before, but it's truly epic.

I feel dizaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Ridiculous, Stupid Fast

Ninja Awesomeness

Happy Tuesday, Nin Jas.

Cat on a Leash

Hilarious.

Thanks to Sherri B. for sharing this and to Jolie W. for posting such awesomeness into the world.

A Map from the Past

The past few months I've been working on an illustrated map for an amusement park in Lumberton, Texas called Adventure Kingdom. As part of my pitch to show the owner what I was envisioning, I referenced the old maps that everyone got when they went to Astroworld.  I had one hanging on my wall when I was a kid, so I could see it well in my head.  That made it necessary to find an old Astroworld map so I could show him.

Thankfully, everything is online now and there's Google image search.  It turns out it wasn't too hard to find what I was looking for.

What surprised me was that there were so many maps- one for just about every operating season that the park was open, starting back in the '60s.  I was fascinated to look at the maps in order and watch the park (and illustration style) change before my eyes.  After Six Flags was purchased by Warner Brothers (in the early '90s, I think), the maps (and the park) started getting less and less awesome, so I didn't download any of those.

But I thought I'd share the maps that I did download.  The 1981 season map is the one I had hanging on my wall, so naturally it's one of my favorites.  Here are some more of my favorites:

1969 

1974

1977

1980

The Origin of the Taco

From Smithsonian.com:

The origins of the taco are really unknown. My theory is that it dates from the 18th century and the silver mines in Mexico, because in those mines the word “taco” referred to the little charges they would use to excavate the ore. These were pieces of paper that they would wrap around gunpowder and insert into the holes they carved in the rock face. When you think about it, a chicken taquito with a good hot sauce is really a lot like a stick of dynamite. The first references [to the taco] in any sort of archive or dictionary come from the end of the 19th century. And one of the first types of tacos described is called tacos de minero—miner’s tacos. So the taco is not necessarily this age-old cultural expression; it’s not a food that goes back to time immemorial.

Fascinating article on the origin of a food that I once despised, but now one of only three foods that I could eat almost every day and not get tired of it (pizza and barbecue are the other two.)

I also never knew the origin of Taco Bell.  That alone is worth sharing this article.

Jumping the Gay Shark

From the DailyMail:

DC Comics plans to reintroduce a character as gay in a future issue, it has been revealed.  

Senior VP Sales Bob Wayne said DiDio’s view ‘had evolved’, comparing the shift to Barack Obama’s recent endorsement of same-sex marriage.  

DiDio did not specify which character would ‘come out’ or in which issue it would be featured. 

But Courtney Simmons, DC Entertainment’s senior vice president of publicity, told ABC News that it would be soon. 

'One of the major iconic DC characters will reveal that he is gay in a storyline in June,' Simmons told the network.

Crap like this... and like this... are the reason I stopped collecting comics. All the blatant political stuff just stole all the joy and fun from it.

Revolution

This fall on NBC...



I can't wait until the day I can buy my season pass on iTunes.  So watching this.

The Wilhelm Scream

From Blastr.com:

The scream itself was first recorded in 1951—by singer and actor Sheb Wooley—for a film called Distant Drums, in which a soldier is bitten by an alligator. Twenty-some-odd years later, sound designer Ben Burtt found the recording (in a can marked "man eaten by alligator") and was so taken with it that he mixed it into a scene in Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope.
Burtt would then proceed to incorporate the Scream—named after a character that uttered it in 1953's The Charge at Feather River, Private Wilhelm—in most every film he worked on for George Lucas or Steven Spielberg, including all the Indiana Jones flicks.

This Is Why I Backup My Backups

...not that I'm working on anything as important as Toy Story 2, mind you...

It's Spelled "Expensive"

Matt and I have been having this discussion as to how to pronounce the word "Leica," as in the camera and optics manufacturer.  At one time, I thought it was pronounced "lisa," but have pronounced it "like-a" for the past couple of years after hearing a bigwhig photographer pronounce it that way in a podcast.

Matt, on the other hand, claims that he had an uncle or a cousin or somebody who actually worked for the company and pronounced it "lay-ka."  So who's right?  Some imaginary uncle/cousin or a big name photographer that I think I remember seeing on some podcast at some time or other?

Since Matt is a habitual liar and not to be believed on such matters, I decided to take matters into my own hands and find out by going to the most trusted source on the internet- Wikipedia.  No help there.  So then I searched some photography forums, where there were crazy pronunciations that I had never even imagined and that would be hard for even a German to pronounce correctly.

So then I got an idea.

I went to leica.com and found their main office support number and called it.  Genius!  And within two seconds, I had the answer.

It's pronounced "Like-a," just as I had claimed.  I called Matt to gloat and he distracted me by talking about other things before our conversation went down a rabbit hole of discussing Peter Gabriel and Genesis albums.

Grasping at Adequacy

I find myself feeling inadequate and a bit hack-ish this morning.

Yesterday, I got the opportunity to work alongside and watch a truly gifted photographic artist, Lauren Larsen.  Seriously- there are photographers, and then there are artists.  The difference is vision and style and grace and poise. She's got all that, and a patient spirit.  And it was a huge honor to get to work with her.

That said, I hadn't actually planned on working with her.  I've been a fan of her work for a couple of years now ever since my buddy, Matt, turned me on to her website (they knew each other in college.)  I've been working toward doing more professional photography, and so I've also been looking at a lot more photography related websites and videos.  But I know that I learn best by doing, not by reading a manual or a tutorial.  So I've been trying to get as much shutter time in as possible lately (until my camera died on me- a story for another time...)  So a few weeks ago, I heeded the advice that a mentor gave me a long time ago: "the way to learn is to watch people who are at the top of their craft and whose work you admire and respect."  I contacted Lauren by e-mail - cold and out of nowhere - to ask her if she would allow me to be her assistant on a shoot sometime.

This is the bride whose wedding Lauren Larsen
allowed me to help her shoot and an example of
Lauren's amazing work.

laurenlarsenblog.com

To my surprise, she graciously agreed.  When I offered, I really meant that I wanted to carry her gear or get her coffee or whatever just so I could watch her work.  I wanted to see her process and how she did things - everyone has their own way of doing things.  Lauren sent me a list of dates of upcoming shoots.  Unfortunately, the only date that I had available was yesterday ... Sunday ... Mother's Day (DUHN DUHN DUUUUUUHN!)  I was hesitant to ask Kristi to cut in on her Mother's Day, but when I told her about the dates, she actually suggested that I pick that date.  More proof, folks, that I'm married to the best woman ever.  She knew what a great opportunity this would be for me and how excited I was.

So Saturday, the day before the shoot, I got an e-mail from Lauren.  I had sent her a list of questions, one of which was, "what should I bring with me?"  She told me to bring my gear and sent a shot list that included me shooting some detail shots and side shots.  I think I wet myself thrice.  I would be shooting a wedding with Lauren Larsen, not just watching?  Hooooly crap.

I should back up and say at this point that I've only assisted in shooting a wedding once before.  It was several years ago, and I didn't know squat about photography.  Not really, anyway.  I think I might've had the camera on a fully automatic mode the whole time.  I'm not proud of that.  At the end of the night, I handed over the camera and never saw the images, but it's probably for the best.  I probably don't want to see those images.  I shudder just thinking about how bad they probably were.  Ugh.

laurenlarsenblog.com

So I showed up on Sunday for the shoot and met Lauren and her assistant, Christine- her real assistant- the person who was doing what I thought I was going to be doing.  Awkward.  We spoke briefly about the upcoming day and then got to shooting at the bride's house.  I'm pretty sure I just followed Lauren and Christine around for the first 20 minutes or so before I even took the first photo.  While Lauren shot photos of the wedding dress in the bride's back yard, I realized I wasn't actually, you know, doing anything.  So the first shot I got was of the family dog.  Pretty appropriate, I'd say.

Things got better as I felt a little more comfortable.  Watching Lauren work was simply amazing- she just made everything look so... effortless.  I tried to shoot what Lauren directed me to and not to duplicate her shots.  But sometimes I found myself going after her to try to frame up a shot that she had just gotten, just so I could try to see through my camera what she had just captured.  I didn't shoot any of those- I just wanted to try to see with her eye while we were still in the moment.

Throughout the day, I found myself struggling just to get the shots I was seeing.  I love to capture glimpses of people's real personality- most people only show it in short bursts, anyway.  And for some reason, I was having a really tough time.  I always seemed to be just a split second late for a lot of great shots.  That's not to say that I didn't get some great shots (okay, what I think, for me, are some great shots...)  I just wasn't getting them as quickly and as consistently as I'd hoped.  But then, that's why photographers often shoot thousands of photos at a wedding or other event.  But that's another thing that impressed me about Lauren- she was very meticulous and measured and deliberate in what she chose to shoot.  I, on the other hand, was panicking and shooting anything that looked like it might be meaningful or relevant.  The candles on the windowsill?  Shot it. The Bridal Suite door sign?  Shot it.  Some iron work sculpture that was holding presents?  Shot it.  Lauren was like a photographic Seal Team Six to my Barney Fife.  Watching her work, I felt wholly inadequate.  But that's what I was there for- to watch her work.  If I could already do anything remotely close to what she does - as well as she does it - well, I'd be shooting all over the world, too.

More ridiculously - and frustratingly, impossibly beautiful portraiture by
Lauren Larsen.

laurenlarsenblog.com

Later in the evening she mentioned to me that it takes a lot of weddings under your belt before you really get a good feel for the pace and what to shoot.  That verbal pat on the head made me feel a little less a retarded monkey with a camera.  A little.

Lauren was very patient with me, and for that I'm thankful.  I think she could sense my nervousness.  I just hope that I was able to get some shots that reflect what a special day it was for the couple getting married.  I have no idea if she'll even let any of my images out of quarantine from her hard drive.  I'm not even sure if she'll let them on there in the first place for fear of infecting the beautiful images sharing surrounding bits and bytes.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I received yesterday and that God has given me the drive to try to pursue these new creative ventures, even if the talent is still in the mail somewhere.  Hopefully, it'll get there someday and I will be able to tackle a wedding or a portrait shoot without doubting my ability and secretly fearing that everyone will think that I'm a hack.  Someday.  Maybe.  Hopefully.

I hope that I get to work with - or for - Lauren again at some point in the future.  I truly enjoyed my day and went home absolutely exhausted.  I went to sleep last night thankful just for the opportunity to work alongside such an amazing artist.  Thank you, Lauren, for allowing me to share in the day.  And thank you, especially, to Kristi for being so understanding about my quest to grow as an artist as to give up half of Mother's Day to allow me to try.

What is a Hipster?

Evolving is Just Another Word for Pandering

From the Weekly Standard:

In fact, Obama has not “evolved”—he has changed his position whenever his political fortunes required him to do so. Running for the Illinois state senate from a trendy area of Chicago in 1996, he was for gay marriage. “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages,” he wrote in answer to a questionnaire back then. In 2004, he was running for the U.S. Senate and needed to appeal to voters statewide. So he evolved, and favored civil unions but opposed homosexual “marriage.” In 2008, running for president, he said, “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage.” Now in 2012, facing a tough reelection campaign where he needs energized supporters of gay “marriage” and has disappointed them with his refusal to give them his support, he is for it. To paraphrase John Kerry, he was for it before he was against it before he was for it again.