Happy Belated Halloween

I had a roll of film in my fridge that had been sitting around since early November. I decided to finally get it processed a couple of days ago and look what I found on it:

Not too shabby even thought the focus is slightly off from camera shake.

I had a low speed film loaded with the intention of getting some decent daylight portraits, but when I saw my lady dressed like this for a Halloween shindig I couldn't resist getting her to strike a couple of poses. Unfortunately we were on our way out the door so I didn't want to take the time to set up the tripod. I'm kicking myself for it now.

On a positive note, I'm sure I'll remember this lesson the next time I'm tempted to cut corners.

Tis The Season

You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up

Or can you?

The BBC scores points with me again with this piece on the world's tallest man saving the lives of 2 Dolphins at a Fushtin aquarium. It seems they swallowed some plastic shards and the only way to extract them was to have Bao Xishun (a Mongolian herdsman), reach in and pull them out. He happens to be Guiness' "Tallest Living Man" at 2.36m (or 7ft 8.95in).

This may be the closest to comic books that real life gets. You have a noticeably extraordinary person, who uses what makes him unique to save the life of something else. Be it human, animal, or scantily clad, purple skinned, alien whore-maiden . It doesn't really matter.

Sounds like the core of every superhero story I ever read. It probably won't be enough to save us from Batman, but it's inspiring nonetheless.

Bruce Wayne: Russian Secret Service

So I'm browsing through headlines today when I come across this article from BBC News. It's a report on former KGB operatives attaining positions of authority in the Putin administration in Russia. I figured it was worth a look. There's been very little Russian intrigue in the news since the end of the Cold War. I kinda miss it.

But that's not what brings me before you today. Accompanying the article was this photo:

It's a picture of President Putin touring a new FSB headquarters in Moscow. Notice anything oddly familiar about the symbol on the floor?

Now all I'm saying is, if the implied Russian threat from the associated BBC article means anything, the West is totally in for a major ass kicking this time around. They have Batman working for them. What have we got? Keanu Reeves? I'm sorry, but "There is no Batarang" is not gonna stop the thing from slicing your face in half douchebag.

I'm thinking Rumsfeld picked the perfect time to resign. In fact it just might be the reason. I have no trouble imagining him seeing this, saying "fuck that", and just walking out of his office.

UPDATE: Sean from Film Junk sent me this link showing a more deatiled view of the logo on the floor.

Accidents Happen

I figured it was about time I shared another photo.

I was out on the front porch with my lady one night, pointing my camera at her and threatening to take unflattering pictures. I had no real intention of pressing the shutter release. I had no flash and the ambient lighting was pretty much nonexistent. I goofed and snapped a shot anyway.

I had the aperture open as wide as it could go, but the shutter speed was still completely unreasonable for a handheld shot. I was surprised as hell that anything was even recognizable when I got the roll developed, and frankly I've become rather fond of this picture.

It's still one of my favourites. It isn't brilliant, or even original, but it serves to remind me that sometimes mistakes can be quite rewarding.

Transient Possession 3

I whipped up a new mix CD for my car today and thought I'd share the joy. CD's for my car tend to be evolving mixes. I tire of some songs much faster than others, so inevitably a few tracks on new discs are shared with its predecessor.

Here's the new track list:

1. Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
2. TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
3. Controller Controller - Bruised, Broken, Beaten
4. The Thermals - St. Rosa and the Swallows
5. The Kills - At the Back of the Shell
6. Chocolate Watchband - Let's Talk About Girls
7. Love - My Little Red Book
8. The White Stripes - Hello Operator
9. The Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
10. Metric - Dead Disco
11. Of Montreal - Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider
12. The Dears - The Second Part
13. The Pixies - Hey
14. White Whale - The Admiral
15. The Velvet Underground - Rock & Roll
16. The Vaselines - Jesus Don't Want Me For a Sunbeam
17. Badly Drawn Boy - Cause a Rockslide
18. Machine Go Boom - Parents
19. The Clash - The Card Cheat
20. Mobius Band - The Loving Sounds of Static

Now the reason I titled it Transient Possession 3 is becuase I decided one day that whenever I make a new disc for the car, I'd give the old one away. I figured this time I'd let anyone who reads this have dibs on it of you're interested. I don't mind mailing it out and if you don't want to give up a home address, give me a PO box or work address or something.

Leave a comment or email me at the address listed above. I won't tell you what's on the one I'm sending though. I like to surprise people.

...And To Your Left, You'll See The Giant Freaking Monolith

I came across this little gem of a story in the Washington Post today and it set my little geeky heart to fluttering. NASA officially announced plans to set up a permanent moon base.

NASA unveiled plans yesterday to set up a small and ultimately self-sustaining settlement of astronauts at the south pole of the moon sometime around 2020 -- the first step in an ambitious plan to resume manned exploration of the solar system.

The long-awaited proposal envisions initial stays of a week by four-person crews, followed by gradually longer visits until power and other supplies are in place to make a permanent presence possible by 2024.

A friggin' moon base man! I don't think I need to explain just why this is unbelievably cool. I know that renewed efforts at manned eploration of the moon is old news and this inevitable step has been foretold for some time now, but the official announcement coupled with this graphic from the New York Times depicting a rough layout of one of the prime pieces of lunar real estate being considered just got me pumped.

The only real question left in my mind (aside from the obvious question of defending our newfound territory against the mighty Unicron), is when can I start moving my stuff in?

Hogtown

Looks like I've been carelessly neglecting my personal space again. Sorry about that, but I've been in Toronto all weekend and therefore separated from my precious RSS reader.

I came up here to attend my girlfriends staff Christmas party last night. It was interesting, if a little uncomfortable. I definitely won't knock a free meal, but we got stuck at a table with Al Roker's exact double. Dude even sounded like him. It was kind of creepy.

Anyway I'll be heading back home tonight, so I'll make every effort to find something interesting when I get back so I can offer up my unwarranted opinion on it. Unless of course, the world has stopped functioning in my absence. I'm just vain enough to believe that.

Ciao for now beautiful people.