Just me and Sarah-Jessica Parker hanging out.
Meagan suggested that I add "Theme Thursday" to my blog, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Basically, every Monday you are provided a new subject that you then have to interpret with a photograph and paste it to your site on Thursday. Last week was pretty simple, you just had to take a photo of yourself. This week is a little more difficult, as the theme is "scary." I have a few days yet to find my photo, but deep down I know there is no way I am going to be able to top this:
Image from AFP/Getty Images
Dude, seriously, what the hell happened here? Michael used to be a handsome guy, but now he's something barely recognizable as human. Ordinarily, I wouldn't dream of making fun of how somebody looks, but he made himself look like that! Why? What motivates somebody to self-mutilation? I guess when you've got millions of dollars, and can't figure out what to do with it all, hiring some quack plastic surgeon to hack up your face must seem like a good idea (well, at least until you need a band-aid to keep your nose from falling off).
Well, I didn't run into Michael Jackson or George Bush, so finding something to photograph that is truly scary to me for my Theme Thursday entry wasn't looking very promising!
When I got back from Seattle this evening, I decided to carve out my Halloween pumpkin using a great pattern I found at Zombie Pumpkins... but since it was a design based on Tim Burton's amazing Nightmare Before Christmas, it ended up looking more "cute" than "scary."
Until I turned out the lights...
Now that's pretty darn scary!
The photo theme this week is waiting, which was incredibly easy for me because there is only one thing that I am really waiting on... and that's for Winter to end so that I can start riding my motorcycle again. But to capture that in a snapshot didn't seem very likely until I pulled open my closet this morning and saw this:
Heartbreaking isn't it?
The railroad is doing all kinds of construction on the main crossing here in town. I don't know how long it's going to take but, since I rarely see anybody working there, I'd imagine it's going to be a while. Halfway to work this morning, I remembered about the construction and turned around to use the first crossing (which I usually avoid, because it exits onto a very narrow street). Just as I round the corner, the crossing arms come down... there's no entry into the crossing... and I have my photo for today's theme...
I guess when it comes to trains today, I just can't win.
Hmmm... how to photograph ego? Well, I suppose that yet another picture of my motorcycle would be a good choice. It's so damn cool that it's pretty hard not to get an ego boost from riding it. But the poor thing is in storage for the winter, which doesn't boost my ego at all (hey! it would work that way too!).
So what's left? Well, I suppose that the fact I've been to every Hard Rock Cafe in the US and Canada is kind of an ego boost (well, at least the ones that still exist)...
Most people probably wouldn't care about that, but I think it makes me pretty darn special!
Since I've spent most of the week working and traveling, coming up with a photo for Theme Thursday has been a bit troublesome, especially given that the theme this week is "wild." I mean, just how wild can it get in the airport during holiday travel? Uhhh... wait a second... perhaps I should have looked around a bit more instead of reading James Clavell's Noble House for the tenth time and playing "Final Fantasy Tactics! Anyway, since this is my first trip to Seoul, something that struck me as a little wild is the huge number of Christian churches here, like this massive property outside my hotel window that is dwarfing the 16-story apartment building next to it:
As I was taking my hugely expensive cab ride into the city last night, I noticed little red crosses floating above the city in surprising numbers... at times I could see up to nine within my sphere of vision. Today I found out that every single one of those is a Christian church, and over a quarter of the population in Korea is of the Christian faith. Given the prevalence of Buddhism in Asia, it's wild that Korea should be so different.
I eat for crap! So when Theme Thursday comes around with the theme of eating, I look around to see that the only thing edible in my office is my breakfast of Famous Amos Cookies and an A&W Root Beer. Usually, I am not a pop-drinker (preferring water), but I needed some sugar water to wake me up.
Definitely the breakfast of champions! Sadly, I will probably have the exact same thing for lunch.
This is a placeholder for my Theme Thursday photo. I do have one, but I seem to have lost my USB cable so I can't upload it from my digital camera. Sigh. I'll probably have a chance to look for it on Saturday.
Since I got my new camera, I actually shot quite a few photos that I thought would make a great post for today's "Theme Thursday" of repeating patterns. But it ended up one of the very first photos I took was the one I ended up liking the most...
I think this was probably the third photo I ever took with the camera... I was interested in seeing how the EOS Digital Rebel handled the subtle shading details in my office window blinds. It was just a test, but it made for a pretty cool shot!
Last night when I got home there was a VHS tape somebody loaned me about motorcycles that I wanted to watch, but when I popped it in the VCR nothing would happen. Since I haven't used a videotape in years, I had no idea if the VCR was broke or if something had gone wrong with how the VCR was connected to my receiver.
After pouring through a mass of wires from my Receiver, TV, Tivo, DVD recorder, tape deck, VCR, MiniDisc Recorder, LaserDisc Player, and all the rest, I eventually found out that I had disconnected my VCR at some point to hook up my equally antiquated LaserDisc Player. Odd, because I can't remember the last time I watched an LD. Oh well, it made for an easy Theme Thursday photo!
Behind my apartment complex is a big field with a horse pasture at the end. This time of year I feel somewhat sorry for the horses there because it seems like it would be cold and boring trapped behind those fences...
This horse was so bored that he got all excited to see me taking pictures and decided to wander up and say hello. I check to see if I happen to have a carrot or lump of sugar on me, but I'm afraid it's just my wallet, car keys, and ChapStick today. Sorry about that buddy...
Last in my series of "fences photos" is this shot of a train bridge that's apparently dangerous. As you can tell, we have a bit of a fog happening here this morning...
When I read that the theme for this Thursday was "orange" I thought it would be pretty easy. But then I realized that there is not a lot of orange in my life this time of year... couldn't they have picked this theme in the Fall?? Anyway, just when I was about ready to give up, I was placing my newly acquired Friends: The Complete Sixth Season DVD set on the shelf and something orange caught my attention...
You will notice that as the years progress they show how each of the six characters has changed over time. That's pretty cool! But then look at "Season 4," which is the orange one... they forgot to label it! How in the heck did they not catch this error in the art department is beyond me, because whenever a graphic artist works on a series of items you ALWAYS compare the newest in the series to all the previous pieces to be sure stuff like this doesn't happen. Oh well. Since I do this kind of stuff for a living, I'm sure I'm more sensitive to it than most people.
Putting Friends aside, there is a photo from back in December that I thought of immediately when the word "orange" was put in front of me... it's a photo I took in Chinzan-so park after having dinner with friends in Tokyo. The leaves were so beautiful in shades of orange and red that it was almost painful to look at...
It's pretty tough to match a Japanese maple when the leaves are turning.
When the theme for this Thursday arrived as "unfinished," it was a real mind-bender. There are so many things in my life left unfinished that I didn't really know where to begin. Eventually, I just decided to photograph my long-unfinished comic book project: Void Normal. I had dragged all my notes and pages out of storage this past weekend so that I could take a look and perhaps get inspired to start in on the project again. Once I got everything sorted out, there were 53 pages of art... every single page unfinished in some way or another.
I have lost count of the number of times that I have started and stopped working on this book over the past 20 years. In looking through the pages, I notice that some of them had been re-drawn 3 and 4 times because my drawing style kept evolving and I wanted everything to look the same. Some of the earliest stuff is complete crap, but on the pages dated 1992, things started coming together. Still, compared to the stuff I am drawing now (over a decade later!), it still seems pretty amateurish.
It's amazing that the art has changed so drastically over time, yet the story has remained the exact same. So while the costumes, clothing, and locations seem dated in these older pages, everything else is good to go. I re-read the entire script for all 12 issues and think it is just as timely and powerful now than it has ever been. Hopefully this Summer I will force myself to make some time to scrap everything and start over from page 1. Nothing would make me happier to finally have VN see print in the Spring of 2005!
Today's Theme Thursday had me pretty perplexed. I didn't have any idea what I was going to shoot for desperation. No clue. Nada. I thought that I would just cheat and find an old photo to use, but then I looked on my desk and saw a bit of desperation...
Here's the story: Last Friday I paid off my car 5 months early... it was killing me to make both car and motorcycle payments every month, so I thought it best to just bite the bullet and make the car loan go away. Now I have absolutely no cash. For the next month or so my finances are going to be very tight. In a surge of desperation, I started counting my loose change, and then pulled out my collection of leftover money from my trips abroad. I thought perhaps I could get it all sorted out and exchange it for real money so I could buy food or something.
Unfortunately, though the foreign currency adds up to a tidy sum... not a lot, but enough to buy a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread... I sincerely doubt I will be able to trade in $8 of baht, $5 worth of lira, $4 worth of francs, $15 worth of yen, $2 worth of whatever... because no exchange agency is going to want to mess with such petty sums. Oh well, I guess it makes a good souvenir of my trips (USA currency is so bloody boring compared to other countries).
Perhaps I should start selling my crap on eBay?
I have haven't ridden a bike in ages (now preferring my long-absent motorcycle), and there's still snow on the ground here so practically nobody has their bike out for me to photograph (since snow is still falling across the northlands around the globe, couldn't they have waited another few weeks for this theme?). I know that you are supposed to use a current photo for Theme Thursday, but since that is not possible, I decided to go back in time and find a photo from my distant bike-riding past so I could participate this week.
Damn I was a cute kid. I wonder how things could have gone so terribly wrong?
After a week over in Seattle undergoing repairs, my motorcycle finally arrived home yesterday afternoon... just in time for Theme Thursday! You may be asking "what does Dave's motorcycle have to do with this week's theme of sports?" Glad you asked! But, in order to understand how it all relates, you have to: 1) Know where I live. 2) Know a little bit about the types of motorcycles out there. And 3) Speak German. For the uninitiated, here is a Theme Thursday primer...
I live in the outback wilds of Central Washington State. Here I am surrounded by the majestic Cascade Mountain Range on one side, and the open plains of the Columbia River Basin on the other. So when I decided to purchase a new motorcycle, I wanted to find one that would let me take advantage of both the open road and mountain trails (the map below was taken from the really cool Color Landform Atlas of the USA.
There are several types of motorcycles: Standards, Cruisers, Sportbikes, Touring, Sport Touring, and Dual Sport. Anyway, the type of motorcycle that fits my needs perfectly is the "Dual Sport" which is at home both on the road and in the rough. Once I started looking into the category, it didn't take long for me to decide that I wanted a BMW F650-GS, and that leads us to my Theme Thursday entry...
And now for the bonus round... what does the "GS" stand for in the "F650-GS"??
It is an abbreviation for "Gelände/Strasse" which is German for "Terrain/Street" or yet another way of designating it as a Dual Sport motorcycle. See? This is a Theme Thursday entry after all!
Yikes. I am sure there is something really creative that I could do for a theme like "television" but I have no idea what that my be (and I make it a point to visit the Theme Thursday site only after I have already posted mine). Instead I tried to visualize what comes to mind when I think of "television," and the short answer is that I don't. Once you go Tivo, you'll never go back to live television again. That being the case, I thought I'd take a photo of what I see every time I turn the TV on...
It's really too bad that that came up with such a goofy mascot for such a seriously cool and useful product.
This week has the perfect theme for where I live: beautiful things... Spring has sprung, and there are literally beautiful things everywhere you look. Probably the most obvious are the flowers that are starting to pop up all around. There is a little park across the street from where I work, so there is a canvas of colors painting the world outside my window. A buffet of beautiful things...
Well, okay, you got me... that's all a load of crap. Flowers are okay and everything but, since Elizabeth Hurley doesn't live in the apartment next door, there is only one beautiful thing to me just now...
Big surprise, I know. A pity you are not supposed to use old photos for Theme Thursday... I think the texture photographs I posted yesterday are beautiful things indeed.
The minute this week's Theme Thursday mailing hit my in-box with the subject of heavy metal, I knew exactly what my photographs were going to involve. The back-alleys of my home town here in Cashmere, Washington are filled with all kinds of interesting metal fittings... heavy metal doors, pipes, grates, and bars are everywhere. Most people would probably think that this makes the city look junky, but I think it's actually pretty cool. We've got a post-industrial kind of funk going on that makes an interesting contrast to the "Early American" theme that's decorating the town. My favorite shot from today is of this old fire door that's just been torn out...
Other heavy metal contenders...
My favorite old structure in the entire city is the so-called "Modern Apartments" building that might have actually been modern at one time, but I remain skeptical. Talk about heavy metal... if that concrete and steel balcony should ever fall on anybody, they're dead meat!
Every morning when I ride past that building, I wonder if the typeface for "Modern Apartments" actually exists, or if I should use it as inspiration to create a new typeface of my own. It's so very retro-cool.
I never look at other people's entries for Theme Thursday until I have posted my own... I just don't want to be unduly influenced by somebody else and end up stealing their idea (even subconsciously). So after posting my heavy metal photograph, I took a run through everybody and was surprised to see how many used metal bridges in their shot. That's a pretty good idea, especially if you live in Pittsburgh, because there are some really cool photos to be had there. This one was taken last summer...
Pittsburgh seems to have the image of a dirty old steel town that's truly undeserved, as it is actually a beautiful city.
Of all the Theme Thursday's I've done so far, none have been easier than noise. Directly across the street from my office are the train tracks through town, so all day long I've got painfully loud train whistles blowing noise at me as I am trying to work. I don't seem to notice the trains as much as I used to... unless I am on the phone. Then it's impossible to ignore them since you have to repeat everything several times while screaming so that the other person can hear you.
Taken outside my office door... in the background there, you can see the train speeding through town. Here comes the noise...
And there goes the noise. This time taken across the street. Note that I did not tilt the camera while shooting this (the little building is the one that's crooked)...
Still playing with that Lomoize action in Photoshop here.
As awful as travel has become now-a-days, it's even worse when you are going someplace you really don't want to go to do something you really don't want to do. Of course, for trips like that, everything that can go wrong does go wrong, making a bad situation substantially worse. My frustration began as I arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when, oops, I forgot the reason I loathe flying out of SeaTac... it's filled with idiots.
This has been my view for the past 10 minutes (yes... TEN MINUTES!!). Two cars ahead of me is a moron in an SUV waiting for a carload of geriatric travelers to load up their crap so they can take that parking spot. Problem is, the old people are in no hurry at all, so here we sit while the dumbass SUV makes everybody wait.
Here is the part where I lose it...
JUST AROUND THE CORNER AHEAD... NO MORE THAN TEN SECONDS AWAY... IS A RAMP TO THE NEXT LEVEL WHERE THERE ARE LOADS OF PARKING SPACES AVAILABLE!!! WHY IN THE HELL ARE YOU BLOCKING TRAFFIC FOR TEN MINUTES WHEN YOU COULD HAVE ALREADY PARKED AND WALKED TO THE TERMINAL BY NOW? EXACTLY HOW STUPID ARE YOU?!?
I was going to post an "oops" photo I took of a car that ran into a ditch, but how do I know it was an actual "oops"? Maybe the owner intended to run the car into the ditch. With this photo, however, I can be sure that "OOPS, somebody too stupid to be driving is causing a fifteen-car traffic jam."
Every morning on the way to work I drive by a lilac bush that's stuck in a ditch. Despite her less than ideal location, she's a beautiful vision in purple that transcends her humble roots. It's a rather excellent metaphor for life I think.
I've been doing nothing but working and traveling for the past week, so I was ready to give up on finding time for a Theme Thursday shot this time around. But then, as I was driving back from Seattle this morning, I was thinking to myself how much more interesting the drive would be on my motorcycle because the road over Stevens Pass is nice and twisted. Nothing is more fun on a motorcycle than racing through the "twisties!"
Then, when I started looking around, I noticed that many of the trees have limbs that are all broken and twisted. I guess the heavy winter snows take their toll over the years.
It's not easy being green. Evergreen, that is!
The reception area where I work is just next door to my office. When nobody is at the reception desk, there's a bell for people to ring so they can get assistance. At first it was annoying, but I rarely notice it now. I took this photo a week ago thinking I was going to start contributing to the Mirror Project, but it didn't turn out as I had hoped, so I abandoned it. Still, it does have a nice ring to it...
Of course, since I haven't yet got my blog working, I can't post this entry yet... but it is Thursday, so there you have it.
My photo selection for this week's Theme Thursday occurred to me on the way to work yesterday in Seattle. The "Cadillac Hotel Building" which used to be the location of the "Fenix Underground," one of the city's best nightclubs, was badly damaged by the earthquake in 1991. Eventually the Historic Seattle organization purchased the building and is attempting to fix it up. To keep it from caving in while they work, there is a giant frame built around it to hold the walls up...
It is a rather nice old building (from 1889... making it 115 years old!), so I wish them much success in the repairs.
I'm relatively free of stress and strain because I just don't let it get to me. That being said, there is something about being in any tall building in New York City that is enough to strain your nerves a bit. We just don't have buildings this tall in Cashmere, Washington! This is the somewhat scary view from the 42nd floor of my hotel...
Of course, the honking horns of impatient New York drivers doesn't help. I was greatly amused to see this sign, because asking a New Yorker not to honk is like asking a fish not to swim...
Good bye NYC. :-(
Idespesable? I am of the opinion that nothing in life is truly indispensable... it's thinking like that which keeps me from getting disappointed when something of mine gets lost, stolen, damaged, or blown up. I suppose if I were forced to choose, there are two things that I pretty much must have in order to function: My Apple Macintosh PowerBook G4 and Carmex Lip Balm. The PowerBook holds everything I know, and if it were gone I'd probably be reduced to a blithering idiot (well, more of a blithering idiot). I'm not sure what to make about the Carmex... I think I must be addicted.
Unfortunately, the drug rehabilitation assistance program of the company I work for does not cover Carmex addiction. When I'm up to a jar a day, I'll seek professional help.
I'm back to Seattle for the day. It's kind of amazing how beautiful it is here today... perfectly blue, cloudless skies. Even better, I got to play with my dream lens (the Canon 16mm-35mm ultra-wide zoom) for my camera and now I want one more than ever. This shot is at about 22, so I could go even wider if I wanted...
I tried to post a photo of this totem lady last time, but couldn't get far enough away to fit her all in. With the wide-angle lens, it's a piece of cake...
On the way home, I didn't have to drive, so I goofed around with my new 50mm lens and found that it tears just beautifully when you have the lens set slow while traveling at high speed...
Looks kind of like a Monet doesn't it?
BMW... the ultimate driving machine? That may be true for cars, but I think that it is equally true to state: BMW... the ultimate riding machine! Yargh... it rained yesterday so she's still a bit dirty...
Oh come on... like you didn't see this one coming since the theme was announced last Friday! I am nothing if not predictable.
I first thought that this week's Theme Thursday of "bend" would be a piece of cake because two things immediately came to mind: 1) The three trees in front of the Hometown Market that bend at an odd angle for some unknown reason, and 2) The group of lilies in front of the dentist office that are trapped under a bushy tree and have had to bend as they grow to reach the sunlight. I walk by them often, and have noticed them several times, so no problem right?
Wrong. The trees made for a kind of boring shot, and the lilies could not be photographed at an angle so that you could see how they are all bent over! That's when I remembered that the entire city is built on a bend in the Wenatchee River, and decided to give that a try...
Not the best shot... I don't have my polarizer and it's really the wrong time of day to try and shoot it. Oh well.
Here are my rejected shots...
Note that the telephone pole and the street lamp are straight... the trees really do bend like that, and it's a bit more impressive as you approach them. Kind of sad that nobody attempted to correct this problem as they were growing up, because they're nice, healthy trees otherwise. My guess is that the one on the right got blown over or something, and is now taking the other two with it!
The yellow in these flowers is luminous... almost painful to look at... in real life. A pity that there is only so much a photograph can capture.
While I think the entire concept of "Theme Thursday" is cool... my favorite themes are always those that you don't have to plan. It's spontaneous and perhaps even enlightening. That being said, I have to say that this week is one of my favorites: eye-catcher. Nifty! My plan is to stop typing right now, walk out the front door of my office, then shoot the first three things that catch my eye. Three shots only with no do-overs. Back in a sec...
The minute I stepped out the door, something caught my eye immediately...
I've worked here for over 20 years and have never noticed how the railroad building across the street has one green window. Just one. I don't think I will ever not notice it again, as it is directly facing me every time I leave. The fact that I somehow managed to capture a bird in flight on my first of only three photos just makes this the coolest Theme Thursday ever.
And, for number two... well, duh...
After somehow managing to tear myself away from looking at my motorcycle, my eye caught a vivid patch of green illuminated by the sun against a blue sky...
No, not the best shot ever... but it is a bit of an eye-catcher. I'd like to pop on a polarizing filter, run outside, and shoot this one again, but that would be cheating. Sometimes it's fun to follow rules (especially when you set them for yourself).
After the easy Theme Thursday last week, I suppose it's no accident that this week's theme is a bit more difficult. I mean, what do you shoot for cliché? This time I almost surrendered and took a look at the TT web site so I could see how other photographers were tackling it, but I consider that "cheating," and decided to tough it out. That's when it occurred to me that I live amongst the tree-lined streets of small-town America... a cliché unto itself...
All we need to complete the picture are children running down the sidewalks playing, but I suppose they are all inside staring at the television and rotting their minds with video games... and who can blame them? The weather is just too beautiful to spend any time outside today.
This is the first Theme Thursday that I have actively planned for, which is kind of cool. Given the theme of wings, I made an effort to be sure that each of my three flights on Monday were seated next to the window, behind the wings of the plane. Since I had my new wide-angle lens with me, it was pretty easy to ensure that the wings were in every shot along my journey.
Leaving the small airport at Wenatchee, Washington...
Passing Mt. Rainier on the way to Seattle (Mt. St. Helens is in the back on the right... and perhaps that is Mt. Adams back on the left?)...
Leaving Seattle, and passing over Mercer Island after a plane change...
Leaving Boise, Idaho after another plane change (and asking for a seat on the opposite side of the plane)...
And approaching my destination of Salt Lake City, Utah (where six years of drought seem to be taking its toll)...
Usually, I would not have to take three flights... I can get a direct flight out of Seattle to Salt Lake City. But, because of the Independence Day holiday, flights were full and it was far cheaper to make a quick stop in Boise (which is along the way anyway).
What the-? This week's subject is cotton?!? I haven't a clue. I suppose that I could take a photograph of a bunch of Q-Tips or my underwear or something. I'd run out into a cotton field, but I don't think they grow any of that around here. I guess a shot of my boxer shorts it is! Unless... how about something cotton-like instead? Like clouds perhaps?
Ah, now that's kind of nice isn't it?
Happiness is returning from nearly four weeks of traveling and being able to ride your motorcycle again Sadness is only getting to ride it for three days before having to put it back into storage for even more traveling. Sadness is knowing that very soon I will be missing the view from behind my grips...
Everything with me comes back to my motorcycle doesn't it? I suppose to some people, that's a bit of sadness right there. It does, however, make me feel a little better knowing that I am leaving for vacation rather than work this time.
Eh, that's a lie. It wouldn't matter if I were sipping champagne with Elizabeth Hurley in the south of France after a weekend of sweet lovin', I would still be a little sad if my motorcycle weren't there.
As I am on vacation, I don't want to be found, I am quite happy to be lost. However, while organizing my photographs last night, I found something interesting in one of the shots. Apparently, I have a lucky knack for capturing things flying through a scene (like this on a previous Theme Thursday). This time, it would seem I have managed to photography a falling star and never even noticed (it's in the upper-left as I zoom in)...
Since there's no vapor trail, I'm assuming it's not a plane. Unless... you don't think... hmmm. Let's zoom in a bit closer and enhance the image...
Holy cats! The Robinsons from Lost in Space have finally found their way home!!
Cor blimey guv, the shift box is on the wrong side of the bloody car!!
I chickened out... Perry get's to drive whilst we're in the U.K.!
We're in the middle of a heat-wave here, regularly topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Compounding our misery is the fact that the nearby canyons are on fire, filling the sky with smoke and blotting out the sun. When I woke this morning, all I could see was a bright red spot in a world of gray... you couldn't see any of the hills and mountains that surround us.
As of this afternoon, the fires are only 25% contained. One firefighter has been killed in a helicopter crash. The fires are spreading further into the canyons that are bone-dry. It's not a pretty picture.
Still, some things are getting better. Yesterday these hills were covered in flames now, thanks to the efforts of some very brave people, they're just smoldering...
Fortunately, no major structures have been lost yet. I can only hope that no more lives are lost as well.
So now we wait and thirst for rain.
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