You Gotta Hear This: Passion Pit
I stumbled across “Little Secrets” by Passion Pit today and instantly fell in love with this song. It’s a bit of 80’s fun with just a little Mika mixed in. I can’t but help moving to it.
Here’s a video by Jay Diaz featuring the song.
Current Mood:
Silly
Top 100 Science Fiction/Fantasy Shows of all Time
Prepare your Netflix accounts, the gang over at io9 has posted the top 100 sci fi and fantasy shows of all time. It’s a stroll down memory lane for us dorks… I had a Max Headroom t-shirt myself.
I added several series to my Netflix que, especially shows I never got to watch consistently.
Current Mood:
Hyper
Blue Devils take 2009 DCI Championship
Well, we made it back from Indianapolis, and had a great time. While the Blue Devils have never been my favorite corps, I was impressed with their show this year titled “1930″. They performed an encore after the event and we came down to get a closer view (pictured).
Check out the entire series.
Blue Devils encore performance at DCI 2009
Current Mood:
Happy
Off to Indianapolis
We’re off to Indianapolis for the Drum Corps Internationl World Championships tomorrow. It’s are annual “thang”, and I’ll get to try out my new camera this year. Out of the 12 corps that perform, I usually take 200 or so pics that I’ll share here and on flickr.
This will be our 7th year, and I’m like a kid at Christmas… don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight. Marching band has always been a love of mine, and these guys are the best of the best.
I’m ready for the goosebumps…
Current Mood: Hyper
Are We Hard-Wired with the Pentatonic Scale?
Boing Boing posted a video of Bobby McFerrin creating a musical piece from audience participation and Pentatonic Scale. The interesting part is that it’s completely unrehearsed and spontaneous. There seems to be something about the scale that is almost mystical and pervasive in music throughout the world. I’m pretty sure the audience isn’t made up of musicians, either.
To me, it’s just one of those surprising moments when another mystery of the human mind is revealed.
Current Mood:
Curious
Stare Into the Sun
As a lover of funky illustration and good music, I was happy to find this video illustrated by Ian Stevenson with music by James Scott & The Town.
Thanks to Alex over at It’s Nice That
Current Mood:
Moody
Have Camera, Will Travel
My Nikon D70 has been a great camera, but I haven’t taken a single photo since I started having trouble with the shutter release a few months ago. Since then, I’ve been exploring the new cameras from Nikon. I was fixated on the D700, but the new FX full frame format wouldn’t work completely with my DX lenses, and the pro-level full-frame lenses aren’t cheap. Not to mention the $2,700 price tag is a bit daunting for a non-pro hobbyist. I narrowed it down to the D90 – a good hobbyist model with video capabilities, and the D300 – a semi-pro model with much of the same features as the D700, but in the DX format.
I finally settled on the D300. It was a bit pricier than the D90, but with a magnesium body like my D70, it just felt more substantial. It’s much of the reason I chose the Nikon D70 over the equivalent Canon at the time; the Canon just felt cheaper to me.
I also splurged for the Tamron 18-270 mm lens, which will eliminate the need to switch lenses during my upcoming trip to Drum Corps World Championships. I purchased the last generation Tamron 28-300 mm lens last year, and was very unhappy with it. It was incredibly slow when focusing and most of the photos at 300 mm were out of focus and dark. But the good people at Cooter’s Camera (funny name, but worth a visit if you’re in the Dallas area) let me try out the new generation on a D300 and I was pleasantly surprised. The focus was quiet and seemed as smooth and quick as my standard 18-70mm Nikon lens.
Now with the Black Rapid camera strap I got for Christmas, I’m a photography force to be reckoned with. I’m convinced this strap is a must-have for any DSLR camera user who likes to get out and about with their camera, especially walking city streets. If you haven’t seen one, check it out.
So here’s the first photo I took with my new camera from my backyard. I’m happy with the initial quality already. With my D70, I always felt the need to edit the RAW photos, boosting the color, tweaking the exposure, adjusting the contrast. This shot was taken with the JPG Medium setting with no editing other than resizing. One of my goals was to spend less time editing and more time behind the camera. With the same 51 area auto focus and EXPEED image processing as the D700, I think I’ll be a happy camper.
Current Mood: Hyper
A Future Message from the ADHD Council
io9 has shared 3 hilarious future public service announcements:
from io9:
Don’t Talk To Robots, Use Caution With Hyper Speed and Look Out For Time Machines. The more you know, right? Check out these super-informative commercials from the future, and heed their message to you.
Current Mood:
Amused
Ah… Cool, Cool Halloween
by Matthew Kirscht
Last year for Halloween we sat on our front porch sipping wine while the neighborhood parents strolled by with their kids. One of the advantages of living in Dallas is the weather in October. However, with temperatures in the 100’s here in Texas for what seems like years, I’ve forgotten how nice the winters are here.
Luckily, I found Matthew Kirscht’s art that’s inspired by vintage holiday imagery. I love this style, and makes me feel like a kid again (in cooler weather).
Thanks, Kirsten Anderson at Right Some Good
Current Mood: Hyper
Susan Boyle, eat your heart out
Music theater and science…. what more could you want? Here’s everything you need to know about Nano technology.
The Nano Song
What I'm Reading
Planned books:
- Web Design Index 8 (Agile Rabbit Editions) by Unknown
Current books:
-
X-Men: Messiah Complex by Ed Brubaker, Mike Carey, Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Peter David
Recent books:
- X-Men: First Class, Vol. 1: Tomorrow’s Brightest by Jeff Parker
- House of M by Brian Michael Bendis
- Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book One by Bill Willingham
- Soleil: Universal War One Volume 1 Premiere HC (Soleil Universal War) (v. 1) by Denis Bajram
- Dark Wolverine, Vol. 2: My Hero by Marjorie Liu, Daniel Way
