January 08, 2006
January 05, 2006
The Cheesiest City
The folks at flickr/pittsburgh are an interesting group. The members are impressive photographers and are usually up to something like the regular Exposure showings at Z Lounge, or just having a drink somewhere. One of the members commented on how impressed he was with the group. I'm not sure what makes the best flickr group, but I did collect some data on flickr city groups.
As of 5:30 p.m., January 5, 2006:
City, Photos, Members
Chicago, 6032, 686
Cincinnati, 1202, 82
Pittsburgh, 1708, 245
Seattle, 5252, 670
Phoenix, 191, 31
Santa Fe, 308, 43
Portland, Me., 170, 23
Boston, 584, 94
Rochester, 723, 73
Philadelphia, 4160, 371
Cleveland, 848, 107
Atlanta, 5602, 388
Fort Worth, 267, 38
St. Louis, 542, 46
January 02, 2006
Groove Pilgrims' Debut
The Groove Pilgrims, a rhythm and blues combo, consisting of Jeff Ritter, guitar; Marty Levine, drums; Ron Gaydos, keyboards; and me, bass, will be appearing in public for the first time at PD's Pub in Squirrel Hill. Here's a sample of us playing Smack Dab in the Middle. It sound like Blue Cheer to me, kind of heavy, but it gets across the idea we're a fun band.
January 01, 2006
A Photo Widget and Some Resolutions
On Thursday, I saw the Pixar show at the Museum of Modern Art. Some of it was informative, some of it was inspiring, and some it was kind of scary in a kind of we're-making-reality-for-you corporate way. For the exhibit, Pixar created a movie showing -- among many other things -- the Bugs' Life landscape and through some sort of Photoshop tool breaking up the landscape into various layers, which reminded me of Carol Barton's pop-ups of an amusement park. So I took a photo and tried to create a paper theater-looking landscape using a knife, a glue stick and a few pieces of cardboard. The quick and dirty result looks more impressive than this photo, but I can see how a person can have lots of fun creating dramatic landscapes in a pseudo-3-D display.
If I try a similar project, I'll use a bigger photo, a sharper knife, and try harder to try to find a landscape without a deciduous tree.
Other things I'll resolve to do include the following:
* Write more letters;
* Create a number of demonstration projects;
* Recycle more;
* Get rid of stuff I don't want any more;
* Save energy, especially by insulating our house, which is the moral equivalent of an SUV;
* Walk more;
* and eat much better, which I hope will help me lose some of the ten or so pounds gained in the last month.