The Little Princess

As promised here are the photos of the most important part of Thanksgiving :).  Big shout outs go to Ting who took all the good pictures that follow.  She should be in line to buy a 40d as soon as she accepts one of her job offers. 

This series are ones that involve the baby in case you did not catch that theme yet.  For those that don't know her name is Calla, a namesake to the store and she is my niece.  She also happens to be the most giggly, happy, beautiful baby I know and we had a great time over Thanksgiving with her.  She is coming back soon after a road trip of Portland and I cannot wait to have her here again.

The night she got in she mostly just passed out but was still mighty cute in her jesus christ pose:

The next day when we got to play with her a little more she showed her intrinsic cuteness although I think the hat might have helped a little bit:

We then took a field trip to check out the store so she could see her namesake:

And she loved it.  She was in full on photogenic form:

Winning over all inhabitants of the store with cuteness:

Or with coercion:

She also got to visit the lake and stare at other babies as if she might swallow them.  If you haven't noticed she is a little large for her size (tall not wide) so I tend to think she is sizing up the other babies when she sees them:

We also got some studio time with her and her dad (Not really but I am not sure how we got this light) when we were leaving:

That was a lot for a day so we retired to the house to play a very serious game of risk that you will see soon.

The next day we lounged on the air bed in the middle of the living room which became the hang out zone for all mammals, human and other:

G ma got in some giggles and hugs in one of the best photos of the week:

Later Morgan decided to dress her up with a barrette for her non-existent hair which led to another one of my favorite pics:

The next day was spent walking around Discovery Park with her stuck in her sling which she is getting a little too big for:

But she still managed to ass out and was woken up unceremoniously in the car with her hairs messed up and marks on her forehead:

That night we celebrated a little early Christmas which was fun and also happened to be her first.  She was a more interested in the paper than the presents which was pretty cute (although she probably could have just sat there and been cute):

But she will look cute when she wears the same clothes as her dad:

         

As usual you can find more here. 

Blow Out

Getting a little more abstract with it today.  This was the sunset and way over exposed.  I really like these sorts of photos but my guess is that most do not but feel free to let me know your opinion.

Frosty The Snow Ornament

The focus is a little off.  I would have preferred it to be more centered as opposed to nearer the top but c'est la vie.

The Mad Beat Of The Drums

Got it down to 88 photos now and have all the baby ones converted and perhaps put up tonight.  We will see.

In the mean time here is some Brazilian carnivale music I heard on the interweb that might be the most awesome thing I have ever heard.  It is all drums and all awesome.  Seriously, this is the bees knees.

BatukAxé (Marcus Santos' Bateria) by gregzinho

Here is a description of the music from the most Brazilian person I know:

Axe is a type of music from the North East of Brasil where you visited i believe.  More specifically Salvador, Bahia.  It is the principal music played in "their" carnaval which is celebrated in a much different way that the Carnaval from Rio and Sao Paulo.  Their carnaval consistes of trio eletricos (electric trains) which are big trucks with stages mounted on top where Axe bands play music all night and the people - millions - follow the cars in a drunk, dancing, singing, fucking stupor for 5 days straight.  its crazy-ness and the wildest carnaval party in brazil which is saying alot.  Most tourists only go to the Rio Carnaval and think that is the greatest party on earth.  It doesn't compare to the Bahia one.  The Rio one is all show and performance and big costumes.  The bahia one is about music and partying hard - the crowd is also much younger. 

Late at night in an industrial district:

Whoop Whoop Is The Sound Of The Traffic Cop

I was focusing on focus (hahahahahahaha) in this series of shots and happy with how it turned out.  Now I just need to get bolder about taking photos of more interesting subject matter like the guy sitting beneath the Dick's table.

Light Reading

Looks like the patent I was on the application for many years ago finally got approved.  It is interesting to note how my thinking on this has changed in those years.  When I applied for it I was really excited and thought it was a good idea.  I am still glad I went through the process but now am pretty firmly in the patents are the devil camp.  Especially the idea of patenting an idea, seems wrong on many different levels.  I would say anyone is free to use this patent but as I sold my soul to work when I signed up they own it instead of me.

Careful of the dragon:

365 Up In Here

I am still wading through my 889 photos from Thanksgiving and the associated family fun but I was reading a post today that made me decide to start up 365 again and just to warn you it is probably gone to be mostly of stuff in the house as I am hesitant to take this camera to work and back still.  having said that if you have any feedback on the photos let me know.

The 1000 unit risk chip:

Looking at this now I think I would change the background as the difference between the shelf and the wall is a little distracting.

The Last Of The Trips

Still going through Thanksgiving pics so another catch up post.

Luke had his wedding less than a week after Adam's which meant it was the last trip Yachi and I would take for the summer to see a wedding.

NYC is always fun and this time we got to hang out with more people and do slightly more touristy things even though we were staying in the middle of nowhere Queens.

At the wedding which was outside and beautiful:

 

The newly married couple:

Getting the groove on at the party:

 

Not sure what is going on here but at least we caught it on film:

One of the many obligatory chugs.  The good thing about hanging out with UMich people is you know there is going to be a lot of this.  The bad part of hanging out with UMich people is you know there is going to be a lot of this:

After the wedding we headed back to the happy couple's apartment for an after party which was a choice I probably would not have made if them.  Woo ended up passed out on the marital bed so I am not sure where they slept.  Brett also convinced Brad to take some absurd number of shots of Absinthe to prove to Luke's Stuyvesant crew that UMich people could drink.  It ended up being a blast.

We spent the next day walking over to Chelsea from Queens to catch some lunch and saw some sites along the way.  Everyone should know what this is from or go check 30 Rock right now:

 

Yachi's first time in Times Square:

Outside our hotel in Queens:

Sharing The Pain

Last weekend I met up with Tim and Ann for the anti-passing prop 8 parade.  I think there was a more succinct name but it is escaping me right now.  I was impressed with the amount of families there.  It was also good catching up with Tim and Ann.  I brought the camera with me and here are some of my favorite photos from the day.

This was at the beginning and one of my favorites:

The guy's jacket has a cross on it so you know I am going to like it:

Tim and Anne walking up the street:

Further down Pine with one of the better signs:

This was probably the best picture which really showed how many people there were.  I am not sure of the exact number but it looked like it stretched from Westlake Center to Broadway at one point:

A true patriot :):

A little confrontation:

 

Additional pics are here.

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

It won't let me embed it but everyone should check this video out.  It would have been crazy to see James Brown at the top of his game.  This is him live in Paris (I am assuming as it has French credits).  His energy is amazing.  Perhaps he truly was the hardest working man in show business.

I know I promised pics and those will come soon but I have finally had a chance to catch up on 250+ blog posts on random music blogs I try to read and this is some of the best stuff I found that I thought a wider audience might like (Booyaa backhanded compliment!).

Pic of the day:

A silhouette of Tim loosing all his money at cards.

Something To Brighten Up Your Day

Not sure if it is the song or the dancing but made me smile.

Pic for the day:

Throwing the big switch.

The Second Of The Photo Shoots

I finally went through all the random shots I had taken over the last couple of weeks and put them up.  As I am trying to limit my learning to the camera none of these are photoshopped or changed much.  I got the white balance I liked and cropped but that is primarily it.

It always amazes me how much cats like boxes and since most of the time I have to play around with the camera is at home, they end up being what I focus on.

They kept jumping into the box onto one another but I was unable to get that so instead you just get the eyes:

Yachi is another favorite choice of picture material even though I am playing with fire when taking shots of her as she is not too fond of the camera.

This was after a hard day for both of them:

 

And this is me taking shots of my toes in memoriam of some movie that I cannot remember and my external brain is failing as well:

There are more here.

The First Of The Season

For whatever reason this past summer was the one of weddings.  I guess all of my friends made the same decision at approximately the same time.  Anyways that led to 9 weddings this year.  This was the first that Yachi and I went anywhere for.  Adam got married in LA which meant it was my first chance to hang out there.  I was excited as it was the first time I got to see my friend Brett in a ridiculous amount of time and it is always good to see Adam, Brad and Jivs.

The wedding was gorgeous and the weekend was a blast.  I am still not sure I would live in LA but it was a good place to visit.

Yachi and I got all gussied up for the rehearsal dinner which was awesome:

Where we caught up with the happy couple:

And headed to a bar afterwards where we saw John C. Reilly and the most awesome paintings I have seen in a bathroom:

The next day we spent walking around Rodeo Drive with friends where Brad found his dream car:

And then we all got ready for the event.  Here is the married couple:

And the rest of us all dressed up:

The reception was great.  They had a photo machine and scrapbook table which really brought out the competition in Brad and Sara.  Also I spoke to Adam later and they got all the pics that were taking on the machine on a CD and he said there were a fair amount of pics that people had not turned in, ranging from the bartenders taking pics of themselves to some more risque fare.

Our table decorations:

 

And us all hanging out:

Posing:

Here are more pics.