Readings

I picked up The Best American Travel Writing 2004 on my way home from work yesterday. Normally I wouldn't even consider such a book, it being too unfocused with short pieces that are published in magazines and on the net. It was just that there's not a lot in the way of exciting travel books out there right now, at least not at the local borders. If you're into Italy (see post on Tuscan stuff), then you're set but if you want a good book about Patagonia, the list is short and I've covered the majority of it (or in the case of the local Borders, all of it). I've read three stories now and I have to say they are really really good. The main reason I got the book is because the table of contents lists a story by Tim Cahill, who is relatively funny, and certainly a better writer than his buddy Robert Young Pelton who is awful! More importantly the story is about a trip to Patagonia. Of course, that was the first one I read. It was great. Immediately after that I read The Screenwriter's Vacation by Richie Chevat. I thought it was hilarious. You can read it online too. Some other stuff at the McSweeneys.net site is good too so I'm adding it my list of links.

BIKE MESSENGER WEDGED INTO 8-INCH GAP

"It's the street. It's really narrow for an avenue, and then you've got to dodge all these potholes and all these big trucks and buses, too. It's crazy," said messenger Curtis Carr.

What is it with people who ride around on two wheels thinking the rules of the road and, in some cases, the laws of physics don't apply to them? Around here there are a lot of hardcore cyclists who ride in packs, taking up a whole lane of the street. Ok, you're driving 1/4 the speed limit but it's legal. It's when you pull up to a red light, pause, and then drive straight through it that annoys the rest of us. A red light is not a stop sign! I guess we're lucky bikes aren't allowed on the interstate to do wheelies with all the stupid superbikers. I originally thought this sort of behaviour was limited to Athens, but it appears it's a general attitude among two-wheelers.

Blog Spam The Next Big Annoyance?

See previous post's comment:

'Thought & Humor' said...

Thought I would stop in to say, "Hi"!!!

Howdy
'Thought & Humor'
Cyber Humor
http://ilovehowdy.blogspot.com/
Harvard Humor Club
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Harvard_Humor_Club/

I'm always glad when one of the millions (billions?) of people who visit this blog (hi mom!) leave a comment but the above is nothing more than a random invitation to visit some humor blog I've never heard of. A quick google search shows that this is not a normal passerby but a blog spammer who says "Hi!!!" on blogs throughout the Blogosphere.

Is this sort of spam going to become more common? Relevent comments only please.

Bike Around The World

Like-minded Mission Control brought to my attention a British guy who has been riding his bike around the world since 2001. He hopes to end his trip in Istanbul in 2006.


Obligatory lomo shot. This has nothing to do with Istanbul or biking.

Controversial Average Bowling Scores

I took time out of my busy social life to compile the average scores for the Wednesday night bowling gathering. Unfortunately, the guy who takes the score photos conveniently (and consistently) chops off the names of the players so my compilation and final average is for ONLY THOSE GAMES FOR WHICH I COULD SEE WHO SCORED. That means the average for some players was over more games than others but the numbers seem consistent with what see on the lanes. So here's the breakdown:

Me 145
Pookie BadMuffin 147.16 (almost a half-perfect game)
RunsOnSumatra 130.67 (including his recent wins)
Joe 137 (despite his recent losses)
Kishan 115.67

To be sure, those include the highest scores (215 by P.Muffin, and 180 by myself) but the do not include some scores, which helps some and hurts others but I don't think its really enough to matter either way.

A Second Attempt

I decided to try the lomo effect again, this time using a handy lomo script for the Gimp. The results are much closer to what I want:

Super Mariacapella

Kishan sent me this link to an acapella group singing famous Nintendo theme music!

There's still time if anybody wants to go. July.

"Coffee is good for you. It's the caffeine in it. Caffeine, we are here. Caffeine puts a man on her horse and a woman in his grave."

Pseudo-Lomo Technique Experiments

I know I've always said I'm opposed to image editing with the intent of changing the perception of an original photograph but I've been intrigued by the photographs taken with Lomo cameras and was about to buy one (or three). It occured to me that the Lomo coloring might be emulated using the Gimp. I found a recipe for it on Flickr and decided to give it a go:


An original image taken just last weekend in Charleston.


The same image, pseudo-lomotized.


An original image taken yesterday in Aiken.


Again, pseudo-lomotized.

It's an interesting effect. You can see it gives a whole new character to the first image. The second isn't affected as much, which surprised me, I thought it would be the better of the two. I guess with the fisheye and these effects I'm finally turning away from "pure" photography. It's a slippery slope, from simple photographer to annoying photo-artiste. I'm almost disgusted with myself. Almost. To get an even more Lomo-esque effect I will have to try some of the fisheye photos. Their darker edges should make them all the more Lomo.

6. Was Weird Al related to "Polka King" Frankie Yankovic?

No.

Also.

(Answers to questions raised about trivial pursuit questions tonight)