Happy New Year

Last week I learned the smell of redwood trees can make me homesick for the Bay Area, which is particularly sad given I wasn't in the Bay Area, but near a small grove of those trees near Sonya's mom's place in Yorba Linda.

Jason's uncles learned they're ready for a few boys of their own.

We were lucky that both our flight out and our flight home weren't affected by storms in Chicago; the day before and the day after each flight had storms so severe flights out of O'Hare were cancelled. California was so much fun to visit, I think we'll go back next month!

Pork!

PORK.

Watch for the cool part at the end.

Ten Percent of Toys Tested were Unsafe

Wow. Just..wow.

Read more about this here.

Granted, this was a small random sampling of toys, but this is ridiculous.

My Sister's Graduation

My sister graduated with a Masters degree last weekend, making me the least educated of my siblings. Given that I have a BA, this is not as bad as it might sound.

The picture is a little dark and grainy, a side effect of what I had to do to get a quick enough shutter speed to not have so much blur. I shot at 1600 ISO, under exposed by 2 stops, and had my aperture open to 2.8.

Volleyball

Last night I went out to join a "Meetup" group for some volleyball in the suburbs. It's safe to say I didn't have quite as much game as I did when I played in Berkeley.

Volleyball was one of those sports I picked up in high school, where I found I could be a pretty good player despite not being tall and not all that strong. I was quick, and had pretty good reflexes, and that carried me a long way. In high school, we'd play at lunchtime on the outdoor concrete basketball courts, and being quick on the ground meant I didn't have to dive as often to dig out a spike.

At Berkeley I actually took an intro volleyball class, and found I had game. Of the four main skills: serve, bump, set, and spike; I was ok with the first two and awful with the others. After that class, I had a fantastic serve, was very good with bumps and sets, and could usually manage a decent spike. I could hang with the players in the level 3 (out of 4) class, which met just after the level 1 class let out. I could consistently hit the back line with my serves, keeping them fast and low with top-spin. It wasn't uncommon for me to score several points in a row just from the other team not being able to handle those serves.

My highlight of Berkeley volleyball happened at the little grass court outside of the CS building. I was working as a TA for a C++ data structure class taught by a theory professor who didn't know C++, and for whatever reason decided he didn't like me. Late in the summer we were both in an "undergraduate vs graduate/instructors" game, and I dug out his spike, got the set back to me, and spiked right at him.

Having the level 3 players think I was in the level 4 class was pretty cool too.

Years later, I coerced some coworkers into an evening league while I was at Scale 8. Most weeks we didn't get enough people to show up and had for forfeit, but we'd play anyway. I was the only one to attend all of the games. On the last week, we had several people show up, and I was the one booted from the team to make room for a guy who was making his first appearance of the season. The other team let me join them (they were short one), and while my coworkers mocked my aggressive play style--diving for digs, covering a lot of the court with quick lateral movement--I helped the other team soundly beat them. And yeah, I got to spike on the new guy who took my spot on the team.

After that, I'd play a few times at the sand court at Yahoo, but my knees don't take well to shifting around in the sand, and I had to give up volleyball for awhile. Last night my body reminded me how I was not in my early 20s anymore. My game had regressed to where it was before I took that class at Berkeley. I had moments where my serve had movement, and times where my bumps and sets were accurate with a soft touch, but the timing of the spike was gone. I did manage to play for two and a half hours, and didn't embarrass myself, but didn't play up to my own expectations.

I'd like to play more often, but it turns out I found this group at the end of their season. Last night was the last game I'd be able to attend for the season. There are other Chicago based groups which play indoor volleyball, but they still play on sand, and my knees still can't handle that.

Kedzie Bridge (again)

I joined a local Meetup photography group to get pictures of the Kedzie Street bridge at twilight. I knew it'd be cold, but I was hoping for some snow falling to add to the picture. It felt like it was about 10 degrees out, and after an hour of waiting for the light to become ideal, I decided I was done for the night.

Afterward it rained, ruining any plans I had to go sledding with Jason the following morning.

Almost winter

After a fairly warm Fall we're starting to consistently get days around or below freezing, but even if we get a whole month of days around 0F, it'll be easier than last winter. Why, you ask? The answer is simple: diapers, or the lack thereof. Yes, no more "this has to go out right now" trips through arctic conditions to get a stinky diaper out to the garbage cans.

DPC: Duotones 3

Late Autumn

We took Jason out to North Pond park to enjoy the last leaves of Fall.

Rats with Fluffy Tails

I was out taking pictures of Jason and Sonya, and let me tell you the city squirrels here are not afraid of people at all.

DPC: Something Old 3

"Memories For Sale"

I actually got through the entire voting period without getting a single comment from any of the 119 people who voted on it.

"We got BUMPED!"

That was Jason's reaction to a minivan rear-ending us on our way home earlier tonight. He hit us hard enough to push me into the car in front of me, even with my foot firmly on the brake. Nobody was hurt, and the minivan was the only vehicle to look like it had been in an accident. There weren't any marks or dings from my tapping of the front car, and just a couple dings on the back hatch door of our SUV. The minivan? It had to be towed. As it hit us its bumper went underneath mine, and my steel frame smashed his grill into his engine. The people in the van had to push it to get it out of the middle of the road.

Iowa Visit

My mom and Bob came out to visit last weekend, and we took a trip up to West Union. Bob had never been there, and it had been about 25 years since my mom's last visit. She even got to sleep in her old room! We took a drive up the Mississippi to Lansing, then back down on the Wisconsin side, and all the trees were showing off their fall colors.

DPC: Macro 4

Not a bug or a flower, and didn't score very well in the contest, but it's a shot I kinda liked.

Don't bet on a pig named "Pork Chop"

We went to Bengston's Pumpkin Farm yesterday, enjoying an unseasonably warm late October outside. Jason had a blast on the various rides at the farm, and we did bring home a few pumpkins to carve up later this week.

Unobstructed View

That "hole" in the building is on the floor where I work, and it was one of two windows on our floor that had to be replaced that day. The night before there were gusts of wind up to 74 mph, and some hail.

Poop Power!

We saw this at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry today. If I didn't have the picture, you'd swear I was making it up.


We saw Sylar in the genetic exhibit, and found a Rancor feeding on newborn chicks!

New Site for Jason

I still make this face in the morning when I have to wake up early for work.

I got all of Jason's pictures copied over from his site on generic.org to his new site, which will be easier for me to maintain.

My Mexican Grandma..

I made a couple more batches of tamales for our October visitors: Sonya's mom and later in the month my mom. Since I had just made a batch of vegan and traditional tamales, I was low on a lot of the basics, like masa flour and corn husks. Chicago is no different than the Bay Area when it comes to getting good deals on those kinds of items, namely avoid the big chain stores and find a Mexican grocery store.

I had to get a lot of items, and only needed to get the corn husks from this particular store. I'm not too bothered being the only person in the store who didn't understand Spanish. That kind of thing doesn't bother me. I found what I wanted to get (at about 1/3 the price of what Jewel or Dominicks/Safeway wanted), and went up to pay. The cashier looked at me, and asked "what are you going to do with those?" as if there was no reason someone like me would need corn husks. I shrugged it off and said I was making tamales. She looked shocked that I knew what a tamale was, let alone that I apparently knew the ethnic secret of making them. I was starting to wonder if I'd get to leave with the husks, and said I learned the recipe from my Mexican Grandma. This seemed to be the right thing to say, though she still shook her head at me as I left with the husks.

And by the way, my tamales are amazing, but she'll never know.

Tamales

It had been awhile since my last batch of tamales, and after a late start I made a "small" batch of about 90 tamales on Saturday. They weren't my best, but other people find even my average tamales to be really good. I took some to Jason's school for his teacher. When I picked him up, I learned his teacher never saw them--the morning teachers ate them all! This is not the first time my tamales have disappeared during delivery.

Jason and I were watching Monday Night Countdown earlier tonight, and they showed a clip of one of Rex Grossman's interceptions. Without any prompting from me, Jason said "Aw, man!" in clear disappointment. He's already a Bears fan.

DPC: Candy

Forgotten Treasure

My latest DPC entry was not well received, falling to 2nd from last out of over 100 images. I tried a minimalist style, just one skittle under a soft light, alone like homeless person under a street light. The skittle's surface gave off a glare that made the color version look too washed out, so I desaturated it.

Ambient Light

Yesterday I had my very first photography class, organized by the Chicago MeetUp social network. Eight of us were split between the Ambient Light and Studio Light. The instructor chose to use nude models, explaining that if we could learn to control light and shadow on something difficult like a nude model, we'd be fine for other subjects. Jill and Irene, the models, were patient with those of us who were new to working with models.

I was in the Ambient Light group. We did use a modeling light, since the room was very dark otherwise. Even so, I found I had to set my ISO to 800, and open my lens to f/1.6 to f/1.8. Some of my 170 pictures turned out very well, and will find their way online soon.

Week 1 in the NFL

I watched most of the Bears/Chargers game, and the Bears are going to really miss Thomas Jones. Cedric Benson, even in the preseason, looks hesitant behind the line, and lacks the burst of Jones. I think the Bears will still win the NFC North, but it might be with just 9 wins.

Patrick Willis looks like he'll be a dominating linebacker for a very long time. Good pick by the 49ers.

In FantasyLand, I got absolutely crushed in my normal league, got knocked out in the survivor league (thanks, Miami), but my Loser League overcame the strong game of Lamont Jordan. My scrubs were so bad, most of them won't be starting next week.

Jason's Pictures

I'm well aware that the website I have for my son can be very slow, and most of that is the fault of my webhosting service. Dreamhost is fine for email, online disk, and a remote shell, but having it host a site using Gallery has been getting to me. I'm looking into writing a web gallery template for Aperture, and posting static pages of pictures. This might take me awhile, given life's other priorities.

Finally..

It's been a long summer. The only baseball team I follow, the Oakland A's, have been reduced to "playing out the string" for some time now. I have no interest in the local teams, though it is sometimes fun to read about Ozzie Guillen cry about his team's woes. But now, it's Football Season.

Go Bears!

I've thrown myself into three fantasy football leagues: a "normal" one hosted by Yahoo, a "pick a loser" survivor league (also hosted by Yahoo), and I've set up a Fantasy Scrubs League. I've been playing Madden 07 on my Wii (which has much better feel than Madden 08), and I'm ready to enjoy some real games.

Totally Random Predictions: Division Winners
NFC West: Seattle Seahawks
NFC North: Chicago Bears
NFC East: Philadelpha Eagles
NFC South: New Orleans Saints
AFC West: San Diego Chargers
AFC North: Baltimore Ravens
AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC South: Indianapolis Colts

Superbowl: Colts defeat the Eagles

New Deck!

Summer may be pretty much over, but we finally got a new deck installed on our fourth floor balcony. The old one sported too many warped boards and foot-killing nail heads. Like our neighbors on the other row of townhouses, we went with composite wood, and had the builder build is a garden box too. It's too late to be planting vegetables, but we'll get set up for next spring. We should get nice weather the next couple of months, perfect for barbeques and random gatherings.

Lunar Eclipse!

My friends at DPC reminded me about the lunar eclipse happening on Tuesday. I'll be out with my camera, hoping to get a shot of it. If any turn out, I'll add them to my DPC portfolio and post the best one here.

EDIT: There was too much cloud cover to see the moon turn red, though I did see the Earth's shadow pass over the moon.

DPC: Urban Landscape 2

Kedzie Street Bridge

This shot became my new personal best at DPC, finishing in 7th place out of 174 entries. Clicking on the image will take you to the DPC page.

Football Thoughts

Last night's win for the Bears over the Colts does not make up for their loss in the Superbowl. It's PRESEASON! Hello?? Scores from preseason games are meaningless. The games basically exist to give coaches game situations in which they can evaluate the talent on their roster, particularly those players who are not likely to start real games. Sure, the starters are on the field for maybe a few plays, but that's more about shaking off the offseason rust than any real attempt at trying to win. It's not a real game.

On the Wii, Madden 07 is a superior game to Madden 08. Yeah, Costco had Madden 08 (for cheaper than Madden 07!) and I couldn't resist. Besides the seemingly random redefinition of the controller settings, EA Sports removed a lot of the Wii-ness from how players interact with the game. For example, in Madden 07 to pick a player to control you simply point at him and press 'A'. In Madden 08, you need to press 'A' until the player you want is highlighted, and if you overshoot you have to go through all 11 players again, and hope the play hasn't started before you're ready. In general, the "point and click" interface of Madden 07 has been replaced with a more cumbersome controller pad.

Real football starts soon. I'm set up in a fantasy league, and a "pick the loser" survivor league. My Cal Bears flag is ready to be proudly displayed for my no good Notre Dame alumni neighbors to see. NFL predictions coming soon.

DPC: Triumph

I meant to get this up earlier. The picture did alright in the challenge, but I ended up washing the contrast out too much in Photoshop.

Poisoning Kids Keeps Costs Down!

I read this interview snippet yesterday, but had a hard time expressing my disgust with this right wing rhetoric in words. Watching the video clip, to make sure I got the full context, only makes it more frustrating. How does the host not challenge this idiotic statement??

I used to think that if a particular fast food chain knew it would raise their stock price by a nickel, they'd happily put rat poison in kids' meals. My pessimistic views weren't all that far off.

In other rants:

• A church cancels a service for a fallen soldier, because he was gay.
  
• People looking to our founding fathers to justify America is a christian nation need to do a little more homework.
  

Madden 08

As you are probably well aware, or at least you should be, Madden 08 was released today. I'm still enjoying Madden 07 on those rare nights when I have some time to spend in front of the Wii, but the compelling reason for me to get the new game is for the new rosters. I don't play it online, or have the time to play through a full season, but Marshawn Lynch is on the Bills now! I'd resort the teams and put all the Cal players on the Bears team. I'm pretty sure I could trade Rex Grossman for Aaron Rodgers straight up, but I might have to sacrifice a lot to get Lynch. Throw in Deltha O'Neal, J.J. Arrington, Tony Gonzalez, and a few others, and I'd be set. But, since lack of playing time is still a problem, I probably won't get Madden 08 until sometime after Madden 09 comes out.

I Scream, You Scream...

On Sunday I got to attend a 6 hour Latosa Escrima class taught by Grandmaster Rene Latosa himself. Unlike other grandmasters (well, the one other grandmaster) I've taken classes from directly, Mr Latosa teaches well. The class covered the range from first program beginners to a group reaching for their first technician level (well above a blackbelt in a traditional martial art). Since I don't train all that often out here in Chicago though, I was extremely sore afterward, and that doesn't include my twisted ankle or the six or so spots where I got hit with a stick.

My ever so helpful coworkers offered to hit me with a stick next time so I don't have to travel all the way to California next time I get the urge for escrima..

I am inspired to continue practicing what I can out here, and if I'm lucky I can get one of my neighbors interested enough to be a training partner for me. Jason's still a bit too young to be learning how to hit people with a stick, but when he's ready I'll be there to teach him.

Escrima: More fun than you can shake a stick at!

Pinch Hitter 2

Go play Pinch Hitter 2, but be warned it's both highly frustrating and addictive. I'm currently trying to get through task 8.

Down at the Track

I took Jason with me to the Company Picnic at Arlington Park. We had to park far in the back of the lot, and walk literally halfway around the outer edge of the track, passed people in "preferred" parking looking down their noses at us, to get to the right tent. The food was pretty good though, and while I'm not much for betting (and didn't win anything with the company's $2 vouchers), it was kind of neat to watch the horses sprint by us. Unlike the other kids there, Jason remembered to bring some toys, since it's pretty boring between races if you're not trying to place bets. He had a good time, which let me relax and enjoy myself too. Thanks to Archelon (my employer) for arranging this event.

When Dad Gives you a Lemon..

I found this video through one of the random RSS feeds I read. I remember doing this to Jason back when he was a little over a year old. The faces he made were hillarious, and he ate the whole lemon wedge! Sure, the made faces with each bite, but he wasn't going to let that get in the way of his snack.

No Kids on Planes?

Recent news of families being kicked off planes because their kids were coughing or talking aggravates me, but not as much as some of comments appended to these stories from people who believe kids shouldn't be allowed on planes at all! This elitist, snobbish attitude that buying an airline ticket is a luxury, and any kid violating the old "children should be seen and not heard" nonsense completely ruins everything.  And if some flight attendant tells me "can't you give him any Benadryl?" I'll do my best Cheney impersonation and tell him to "Go Fuck Yourself!"

Well, if kids shouldn't be on planes, maybe we can bar some other people who make flying miserable for me:

• People who try to claim their huge suitcase is a "carry-on" item, when it barely fits in the overhead bin.  If you're trying to bring something bigger than a backpack, check it in!
• Jerks who reach over passed their armrests and elbow me, usually while their snoring soundly asleep.  If it's too much to ask for you to keep to your own personal space, take the bus next time!
• Similarly, if you can't keep your feet out of my foot area, you don't belong on a plane.  Common courtesy people!
• Inconsiderate dweebs who insist on turning on the spotlight on a late night flight while the rest of the passengers are trying to rest and relax (while being mindful of the physical space of those seated around them).
• Slobs who are either gassy or have foul breath.  We could really screen both types at the boarding gate.  That's just what I want on a 4 hour flight: some ass passing gas the whole time.  Got digestive problems?  Too bad!

The sad reality is that an airplane cramps several people together into a tight space for a long time, and you just need to accept that some of those people are going to be different from you.  Some kids handle flying really well (I've been lucky that way), but some have problems on take offs and landings, and some don't like to fly at all.  It's not a picnic for the parents either.  If you want everyone kissing your ass when you fly, pay for a private jet.

Football Fix

During the NFL's offseason, finding interesting things to satisfy my need for football can be as tricky as finding real science in Kentucky--there isn't a lot available. News about players having trouble with negotiating contracts, obeying the law, or not making boneheaded decisions doesn't quench my football thirst. From the draft to the first preseason game, there's only noise and posturing, and even that comes in taunting blips.

I did find a site that explained some football statistics, and not just the mostly meaningless ones normally tracked by most sports pages. Much like how baseball has evolved from comparing just batting average and RBIs to more accurate WARP3 and VORP, statistical scientists at Football Outsiders have found ways to break down a football game into events which allow for better comparisons of players, offense and defense units, and teams. Their explanations are clear, and they acknowledge known shortcomings with their current model.

Additionally, they feature detailed breakdowns of particular plays actually run during the season, explaining how they worked (or didn't work), and how they could be improved. This is the kind of thing I absolutely crave. It's the kind of thing that makes me go through the tutorials on Madden Football each release so I can listen to John Madden describe how each block is set up, and the primary role of each receiving route.

Navy Pier Fireworks: Take 2

This time we camped out just outside of Navy Pier, on a grassy stretch just outside of the crowded areas. I figured no matter where the fireworks were launched from, we'd be able to see them. They weren't launched all that high, and luckily for us there was a break between the trees near us so we could see the whole show.


Jason was much more impressed this time, and afterward he got muchas smooches from a 6 year old señorita. This was no quick peck on the cheek, but looked to be the kind of kiss he shouldn't get until he's a surly high school student--a get a room kind of kiss. And just like that, she was gone.

Fireworks: Take 1

Waiting for the fireworks, we got this visual treat. That's the John Hancock building on the right.


This was the view we had from North Ave beach, where the fireworks were not launched from Navy Pier, disappointing the thousands of us waiting for the show.


Looking out from our neighbor's deck, we had a better skyline for the fireworks, but they were still too far away to be spectacular. To the left of the burst is the Sears Tower.


This Wednesday, if the skies are clear, I'll take Jason out to Grant Park to try to gete a better view of the fireworks show.

iBlog!

I totally wrote this on my iPhone! The family and I are at North Ave Beach, looking down at Navy Pier waiting for the fireworks. It's a little cloudy, and the wind is blowing toward us, so the conditions aren't ideal for fireworks photography. If I do get any decent shots, I'll post them online.

Edit: I'm so not writing this on my iPhone.. Unfortunately, the conditions for getting pictures of the fireworks could not have been worse. Instead of being launched over Navy Pier, where people could see them from all along the lake, the organizers launched them from further inland (the beach maybe? Grant Park?) and only a few could be seen above the buildings which blocked our view. Given that there were at least a few thousand people waiting with us on the north side, having the fireworks show so restricted was clearly unexpected. Not only was the show bad, but it started to rain toward the end of it, and we had quite a trek to get to our car.

My son enjoyed it though. It was his first fireworks show and he'd clap each time he saw one. I'll have to take him out for another fireworks show, but find a spot where he'll be able to see what's going on.

Big Weekend

Friday was my wife's birthday, and I had spent the previous few nights making tamales and other goodies for her party. My tamales are so good they've caused family strife when their own family's recipe fails to measure up. Some of the party guests came specifically for the tamales!

My coworkers gave me no end of grief for not standing in line at the Apple store for an iPhone, claiming it'd be months that I'd have to wait if I didn't get one that day. But woe upon them, after my wife's party I dropped in at the Apple store downtown, and picked one up, and didn't even have to wait in a line! My wife played with the phone during the day today, and decided she really does want one, but now the Apple store is sold out..

Third World Infrastructure

Blogger Rick Perlstein has been keeping track of sinkholes caused by old water lines, which have not been maintained and are well beyond their designed life. Local counties, lacking the money to do anything about these problems, have passed the bill to homeowners when they can. These types of sinkholes are entirely preventable.

iPhone Dilemma

After making me wait for months, Apple is going to make their iPhone available this Friday. I'm already a Cingular customer, and for where I'm at in Chicago I tend to get decent coverage, so the lack of carrier choice will just mean Cingular won't have any real incentive to provide good customer service.

The dilemma isn't really if I'll get an iPhone, but when. See, Friday is also my wife's birthday, and while I really want an iPhone, I'm not too keen on sleeping on the couch for the next few months. I expect the stores in Chicago will be sold out in about 12 minutes, and an iPhone will be more difficult than a Nintendo Wii to acquire. I'm hoping that when I go to Rockford the next day that there might be one or two in a Cingular store out there.

Perry Family Reunion

A group of great grandkids is called a mess of great grandkids...

This weekend my mom's side of the family got together for the big reunion in Oklahoma City. Two years ago Uncle Jim put it on his shoulders to make a reunion happen, since many of us hadn't seen each other in nearly 25 years. Now we meet up every other year, down in Oklahoma where most of the family lives.

Most embarrassing moment? I was swimming in the hotel pool, underwater, and swam face first into the wall. I got a pretty nasty cut on the bridge of my nose, and a nose bleed as well.

Southern Baptists Reject Science!

Well, this isn't exactly news to anyone, but specifically they've voted on global warming, ignoring evidence and rejecting scientific findings.

In other news, the Chicago Field Museum will host a Darwin exhibit, countering the efforts of the Creationism amusement park, er-- "museum". Creationism makes everything so easy! How old is that old fossil? Can't be more than 6000 years old! Carbon dating? That the devil trying to trick you! Mathematicians, don't feel left out; according to the bible, pi is exactly 3!

Cicadas!

Should my son one day decide to study entomology, it will be because of a deeply rooted need for revenge, after what happened today. Our part of Chicago was amazingly lacking in any cicadas, despite this being the year they come out, so we took a trip to a forest preserve a ways south. As we got off the highway, we could hear their buzzing over the noise of the car, the air conditioner, and the radio! I knew these bugs didn't sting or bite, but they are fairly big (about two inches long) and very loud. Jason was wary as he left the car, and wasn't as eager as other kids to go poke these creatures, but tolerated following me around so I could take some pictures. About ten yards down the trail however, he suffered an attack of extreme heebeegeebees--screaming and shaking uncontrolably. Being a father first and photographer second, I scooped him up and ran him back to the one place safe from the bugs: the scorching hot interior of the car. Thus ended our foray into nature.

DPC Free Study from FAnime

I withheld this picture from FAnime from my online gallery, and entered it in a Free Study challenge on dpchallenge. It scored well enough, but I felt it should have landed a 5.8 or 5.9. I think the thing on her arm says "lifeguard," but I never did find out.

Perfection Averted

Yesterday, Curt Schilling nearly threw a perfect game against the Oakland A's, as the Red Sox tried to avoid getting swept. The perfect game ended when the Sox short stop made an error (though if it wasn't a hit or a walk, why does it end a pitcher's performance from being perfect?), but Curt took his no-hitter into the 9th inning. The hosts on ESPN radio gave a bit of play by play for the last inning, and with 2 outs Shannon Stewart hit a solid single.

How could this have ended better? The score was only 1-0, so any strategy that might get one run should be considered. Given that this is Curt Shilling though, the best ending would have been for Shannon Stewart to bunt for a single, ending the no-hit bid in a way that would have really pissed Curt off and made him lose his cool. Mark Ellis, the next hitter, takes a poorly placed fastball over the wall, and the A's win 2-1.

Of course, it didn't happen that way. Curt kept himself together after the single, and Mark Ellis popped out, and the Sox won 1-0. The A's did take 3 out of 4 from the best team in baseball, and might start to make up some of the ground against the division leading Angels.

Super Monkey Ball (Wii)

I got an early Father's Day present: Super Monkey Ball for the Wii. The game seems to be a natural fit for the Wii's controller interface; as the controller is angled so is the environment. There are 50 mini-games, all unlocked and ready for group play, and the main game isn't too shabby either. The only drawback is the music is a little obnoxious.

FAnime Pictures are up!

My pictures from FAnime are on my photography website.

Her Honest Opinion

I shared a link I found to Children's Books from BBSpot, and my friend Joanna replied:

oh geez, you're just a package of all that's wrong!

Good to see I haven't lost my touch.

FAnime Recap

This last weekend I was in San Jose, CA, for FAnime. Having registered in February, I did not have to spend a lot of time in line to get my badge, and got a cool looking badge too. After that, I was on the prowl with my camera looking for impressive costumes for the rest of the weekend. I did actually sit down to watch some anime, and found a couple that I liked, but for me actually watching anime is secondary to testing my photography in the grueling conditions of the convention.

If I were to create circumstances to improve the photography conditions, I'd have someone managing a backdrop, someone else holding a reflector to bounce light back to the subject, and a couple of flash umbrellas and soft boxes to shine a nice even light on my subject. The cosplayers would be patient, and have a general idea of how to pose. In reality though, the cosplayers, while willing to have their pictures taken, are not usually willing to concede more than a simple pose at their current location, minimizing their time distracted by any particular photographer. This meant having random people and objects in the background, no extra light besides my camera flash, and nobody else helping me out. The light inside the convention was dark with a yellow/orange cast, sometimes with glare from large windows. Outside, buildings blocked the "good" light in the early morning and late afternoon. Most of my pictures have a candid feel to them, with all of the distractive elements in the background, but it also gives some context to the event.

Of the anime conventions I've attended, I prefer FAnime. It's much smaller than Anime Expo in L.A. or Anime Central in Chicago, but there were plenty of people in costume to keep me occupied. San Jose is local for my friends in California, which makes them much more likely to attend. The staff are ambivalent to photographers, unlike the open hostility shown by the staff at Anime Central. My friends who care tell me that FAnime tends to get newer anime than the other larger conventions, as distributors use FAnime as a test market for their newer imports. The only drawback to the smaller conventions is that not as many vendors ply their wares. There are often several anime conventions for any given holiday weekend across the U.S., and the larger conventions offer better economic incentive for vendors to attend.

Still, it was a fun weekend, and I'm looking forward to coming about again next year. Maybe I'll be a little more selective, and pick out cosplayers who are willing to work with me a bit, and enlist one of my friends to hold a reflector board.

Chicago DPC GTG

Five of us from DPC met to take pictures together around downtown Chicago. "Strangeghost" and I camped out, apparently in violation of a police order, outside of the Adler Planetarium to get shots of the sunrise lighting up Chicago's skyline. At the much more human hour of 9am, the rest of the group assembled and we spent the next few hours wandering about as an unruly mob, taking pictures of everything. Some of my better ones are in my DPC Portfolio.

FAnime

FAnime is next week! While I enjoy some of the anime, my real motivation to attend these types of events is to take pictures of people in costumes. The only people who don't like the rampant orgy of photography are some of the staff who think that stopping for a couple seconds to snap a picture disrespects them personally.

For this year's event, I got a Demb Flash Diffuser and a new bracket. I'm pleased with the results of my early tests. The diffuser gives a nice fill flash in addition to the directional bounced main flash, and the bracket is very light yet study.

Windy City Madness

Over at Windy City Gridiron, WCG writes:

Could it be that third string QB, Kyle Orton's job is on the line? The guy who as a rookie won 10 games.

Gah, why do people credit the QB for the win?? Looking back at Orton's stats for that year, he was awful! The Bears won those games in spite of Orton's poor play. A quick trip to Yahoo's stats for the 2005 season shows just how bad Orton performed.

QB Rating: 59.7, last in the league
Completion Percent 51.6%, 2nd from last, but not by much
Yards per Attempt: 5.1, last in the league among starters!

And on top of that add on 13 interceptions and 12 fumbles. This is not a person you want running your team's offense.

As a team, the 2005 Chicago Bears were next to last in passing offense (measured in yards per game and 3rd down conversion percentage), but in the upper third for rushing yards per game. The rushing stat is a little more impressive given that teams didn't have to worry about Orton completing any passes longer than a few yards. I think part of Grossman's great start last season was that opponents didn't think any Bears QB could throw a deep pass, and crowded the line. The 2005 Bears did well because their defense played very well (tops in points allowed per game).

Chickenfoot??

Chickenfoot is the creation of Jhonen Vasquez, a character mentioned in the series Invader Zim. While the entire series is very good, the Chickenfoot episode alone is worth purchasing the full set. BUY THOSE DVDS!

I'm transitioning from my poorly maintained blogs on 360 and iWeb. We'll see how well this one survives. While I still have some loyalties for Yahoo, having worked on its search engine technology for a few years, I have to admit the iGoogle setup is pretty sweet, and it works with Safari.