Thanks to Zirretta

I have a severe dilemma at the moment. Not counting the winged hamsters pounding on my window with burning torches I realized there are no more books I have to read on my list. I started rereading a favorite of mine, but I seek advice from those that might accidentally stumble onto this site or visit it.

My sister has a great book called Book Lust and it's companion More Book Lust which is more or less a book of literary recommendations for all sorts of genres and interests.

Though I plan to ask her tomorrow if there are any specific recommendations I send my question into the Internet and it's series of tubes, since it's not a dump truck. (Series of tubes full quote [2 minutes long])

From dusty literary classics to sun bleached westerns, pew pew science fiction, "Look upon the land and behold it's power" epics, "Maus"ey graphic novels, steamy romance novels, well maybe not romance novels or any with Fabio as the main character.

Anything you want, those you have read a dozen times or those you have had recommended to you.

With Christmas coming up our family always does a gift exchange with each cousin getting another to give a gift to. Maybe I could write down one of your recommendations. Either way I will be giving the bookstore a Christmas gift of sales this coming month.

Darkness on Black Friday

Note: I wrote this post with breaking news as a source of information. Those familiar with breaking news know that some of it is exaggerated or false. The original post mentioned two women that were killed at a Toys R Us. As the day went forward, it was said by police that two men shot each other inside the store, and there are no other suspects. The post has been updated and currently coincides with news reports. Though things may change as more facts are learned this has still been a dark Black Friday. The original post with changes made is below.

I do not want this blog to become too serious in any way, but I believe some things have gotten out of hand on Black Friday. Black Friday received its name for the enormous amount of sales made the day after Thanksgiving.

Though Black Friday initially received it's name due to a comparison to the chaos that took place during Black Tuesday, the day of the 1929 stock market crash, it now is seen as the day businesses go from no longer have losses (the red) and instead take in the profits (the black) in accounting.

Businesses open very early in the morning, with some offering "door buster" sales around 4 to 5 a.m. A door buster sale turned deadly in New York.

Black Friday has taken on new meaning for me, associated now with sadness and heartache. A 34-year-old male employee at a Wal-Mart in New York's Long Island was killed when the store opened at 5 a.m. A door buster sale actually became one when about 2000 people gathered outside broke down the doors and trampled the employee. Several other employees and shoppers were hurt or taken to the hospital, all because people could not wait to buy the latest piece of junk. The store couldn't even keep it's doors closed and reopened it’s doors only a few hours after blood was spilled next to DVDs of The Incredible Hulk for 9 dollars. I never knew the price of a human life could be bought for such a great deal.

Emergency teams trying to save the man’s life were even pushed around by shoppers trying to grab that last on sale item while the paramedics were trying to save him. Not one person has been charged with any crime; after all, it was a door buster sale. The running of the bulls in Pamplona Spain sounds calmer than this madness. Fourteen people have died since the first running of the bulls in 1910, and as sad as that is, at least they knew what they were getting into and not simply doing their job.

Black Friday was even further stained with the red blood of innocents when two men shot and killed each other shot at a Toys R Us in Palm Desert California. There are no concrete facts yet, but no other suspects are sought and no others were shot. This is just sick. A Tickle-Me-Elmo is never worth a payment of blood.

Toy guns are fine with me, but when someone brings a tool of death into a store designed to fill the dreams of children and kills two people I feel like taking one of those Elmo’s and beating the despicable gunmen and throwing them into Oscar the Grouch's trash can. I am no fan of personal violence, but Black Friday got darker for me today.

Even as I sit here at a Peet's Coffee Shop in a relatively small shopping center I have seen over a dozen police officers wearing bullet proof vests walking around just in case. Two are standing in the Best Buy electronics store and checking bags of shoppers for weapons.

I apologize for the somber post; I wish that I never feel the need to write one again with all my heart. May the families of victims this Black Friday be comforted as we use coupons clipped on Thanksgiving, when we sit down together to enjoy the countless things we are thankful for, knowing that there will be an empty chair this Christmas for some when we pass out presents stained with blood.

Pixels and Yarn

I know it is quite late but I figured I would link some photos I took at the Harvest Carnival on Halloween since I said I would.

I had a great time taking them, unfortunately, I have a very poor flash right now so when it hit nighttime so did many of my photos. I am planning on picking up a Vivitar 285 to use as an external unit. Would have been useful when I caught our dinner running around before we fired up the BBQ.

Sure there are newer and possibly better TTL (Through the lens) flash units out there, but it is hard to beat the 285 or it’s smaller sibling the 283. The 285 has been around since 1972 and I would wager many photographers still carry this workhorse with them. Further, some of the cheapest TTL flash units are more than 200 dollars, and to be honest you need to spend several hundred more for a good one.

A brand new 285hv, which is a rerelease of the original only runs about 80 dollars as well. After 36 years of service Vivitar made only one change worth noting, which is lowering the voltage of the flash so as not to hurt digital cameras.

To make things sweeter the 285 and 283 are manual, and I think most photographers are a whole lot smarter than a tiny little chip inside a TTL flash.

In other news, my sister will be happy to hear that I am getting better at knitting. It feels like I have two left hands, no thumbs, and 8 fingers on each hand some days, but I am nearing the completion of my first piece, considering completion as it being square. If only I was this talented.

Thanks a lot GidgeFlibbit, another one addicted.

One more thing, what set of photos is complete without an angel?

Harvest Carnival

With Halloween around the corner, I will be taking photos at the Harvest Carnival tonight in town. The carnival is designed mainly for kids with everything you would expect to find at a fair. There will be a bungee jump, tons of carnival games, and those cute little trains with the miniature cars for the kids to sit in.

Last year there were many of those inflatable bounce houses with everything from races while you have a bungee cord pulling you back, slides, and Velcro walls that they have you jump into while wearing a matching Velcro suit. And of course, a petting zoo with all those wonderful smelling animals. Last year there was a really tall ferries wheel but I do not know if they have one this year too.

The American Gladiator jousting has always been a favorite of mine. People get really competitive when they are allowed to bash each other with huge foam sticks.


I will be climbing up on top of the climbing walls and take photos as people come up as well. Those usually turn out pretty good.

The people that run the carnival usually have some official photographers, but a friend and I are bringing all our photo gear as well, then giving them copies of all the photo RAWS. I will have copies as well, so I can post up any good ones I get. It is always frustrating taking photos at night though. I do not have a good off-camera flash yet so I have to rely on shutter speed and aperture.

I wonder how many pounds of cotton candy everyone will gobble down tonight.

I'm Back!

Believe it or not, I’m back. Sorry for the extended absence for the past couple months. I realize the only person that reads this is maybe my sister or a few people that accidently come here, but there’s always the hope someone may enjoy it. I have since graduated from college and am looking at a possible job as a civilian journalist with the military.


Staying with earlier posts, I will continue to post photos. I am also rewriting a story I have been playing around with for a while with the help of a friend. When I finish a part that seems decent enough not to be laughed at I’ll put it up here.

In other news, the economy is really swell right now, and unfortunately, it has not been kind to my sister’s attempt to own a house. After living in an apartment they were only meant to be in for a few months they have been under that roof for more than a year. If you read her blog, and you should since it’s great, then you would probably understand her frustration a little. I think Tony the Cat is sabotaging the house purchase. That cat has murder in his eyes, as seen by the scratch marks that his owner is always sporting.


Fear the Tabby

More to come soon, in the meantime here’s a picture of a Howler Monkey.

High key shoot

I was finally able to get back into the studio to do some more photo shoots. Did a high key shot with my neighbor for this one. It was a fun setup for the shoot because I used a giant boom to suspend a light dome over her. The light dome was the biggest one I had in the studio, at about 5 feet wide. That’s when you want to make sure it is firmly attached to the boom. It would probably make my model a little unhappy if a giant light dome fell on her in the middle of the shoot. Working with the lighting packs always worries me during setup. I usually work with a 2000 watt lighting pack and as I am plugging lights into the pack, I always hope I didn’t screw up anywhere. A 2000 watt electrocution probably would hurt a bit. I’ve had the pleasure of getting shocked pretty bad once before and that was an interesting experience. I was welding and arced 30 amps through my hand. I was wearing lambskin gauntlet gloves and lit them on fire. I’ll pass on any more of that. Here’s one of the photos that I took.

Late night noises

We have a new security company at my apartment complex to keep the peace on weekends or any other party time. There are several security companies in town and they picked one of the best ones, so my next-door neighbors might be having parties that end at night and not with the rising sun. Speaking of my neighbors I don’t know how a group of people can party that much. I would say from Thursday to Sunday it’s a party. Beer flows like water, or maybe a river, make that a waterfall, did someone say Niagara?

Thankfully, I can go next door and tell the guys that my room is shaking apart from their speakers and the volume drops for about one minute before someone turns it back up again. Music isn’t that big of a deal but when you are not sure if it’s an earthquake or the bass from the latest copy of a copy of rap music it can be annoying. Over on our side we have weapons of our own.

My roommate recently acquired a trombone. There is only one small problem, he plays the cello, not the trombone. So when it’s really loud he decides to practice the trombone, or at least that’s what we call it. He produces his brass weapon from a case that is so broken and abused you can only imagine how bad the instrument is. Then you see the trombone, and it’s just as bad. Sorry roommate, clean that thing. He brings the trombone to his lips and belts out the worst sounding thing imaginable. Imagine a horn section at an orchestra trying to describe the sound of pain, and there you go. They might be able to reproduce his solo born against the midnight breeze.

I’ve been next door and asked the guys, so, did you hear that noise last night? Yah they say, what in the world are you people doing up there?

Keep away from the sharks

This sign is posted as part of several warnings including rip tides and not turning your back to waves. Somehow, it doesn't seem right though. I can understand playing with some wildlife, but gosh, playing with the sharks sounds flat out dangerous. I don't think people have much say in the matter though. If a shark is out there about to nibble on you, I don’t think it’s going to ask you first. Yum, human drumsticks, high in fat, lacking vitamins though.

Fishing at the pier

I have always liked going out and shooting photos at the beach, and especially on piers. With many people walking up and down there are so many different things going on to shoot. I have posted several photos from piers nearby already but I went out and shot a few more this week at a different pier. I will post one for now. I always like to wonder what the person’s story is that I am taking a photo of. This girl was struggling to fish with the big pole. Casting seemed to be hard because of the guardrail. Climbing up it was probably not the safest either.

War of the pollen

There has been a new front in the war of the pine tree pollen. Not only is the outside of my car covered, as well as my room because I had my window open for a little while last week before I realized it was coming in, but now something new. While the yellow pollen is settling on my car, it has found a wonderful way of attacking me, through the air vents. I started my car this afternoon and the cabin was suddenly filled with billows of yellow pine pollen dust. It was horrible. I even had the pleasure of watching the pollen flowing out of the vents, gosh, when will it end? I wish I could just go up to the trees, shake them hard enough, and get it all over with.