Robot Attacks!

Robot Attacks!, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Recently I was attacked in my sleep by a small green robot. He sapped my ability to write blog entries, so that's why you haven't heard much from me in the last month. Luckily, I have made a full recovery and plan to re-emerge, complete with photos, bizarre ramblings and useless insights galore.

I know you're excited.

I sure am!

Merry Christmas

Adrift

Jellyfish, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Hey, wow... been awhile, right?

Yeah, I haven't been blogging much lately. I also haven't been home much, haven't been sleeping much, and haven't been keeping track of everything I should be getting done any given day. Wow. Luckily, I think things will settle down a bit in the next week or two, and hopefully a bit more thereafter. I'll keep my fingers crossed for now on those predictions, however, because I think there's a fair chance neither will come true.

This weekend I was in Atlanta to celebrate my brother's completion of his PhD. Click a link to my Flickr photos if you want to see some more pics from that event (I've got a few up now, hope to add more quickly). While I was there we all went to the Georgia Acquarium and this is one of the few pictures I was able to snap (camera battery decided to go kaput!).

Anyway, more soon, for now this is one picture I'm very very happy with.

Taking Time to Think

bike shop 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Ahh... the alliteration of it all!

I have been looking back at photos a bunch lately (see the post about Red below) and I can't believe I never posted this one to my blog. When I took this picture, I had a feeling I really liked it, but over time I've come to realize it could be one of my all time favorites. Andrew is an interesting little character, and one of the things about him I love is the way he gets truly fascinated by things, especially mechanisms.

Watching him that day in the bike shop, he was so unlike many children. I think lots of kids who were along for the ride on their big sister's bike shopping trip would pull the, "I want one too!" card. Not Andrew. He got himself into the shop, and very quickly became interested in the mechanisms of the bikes, the brake levers, the chains and shifters, the way the pedals turned the chain to turn the wheel.

For the 15 minutes we were in the shop he went from one bike to the next, exploring their differences, playing and prodding, very content. Sure, once we all went outside for Emily's test ride, he did want to hop on and test out the bike himself... but while he was playing with those bikes, he was a character truly absorbed. It was a fun thing to watch, and a neat thing to capture.

I also love, in this shot, the way that his bright red shirt plays in a field that is dominated by shades of gray and black.

Old Tricks, New Dog

A lot of recent changes have found me returning to interesting old patterns. I recently moved... twice, actually, and I'm realizing that one old habit I need to break is never quite figuring out how to settle myself into a space. Still, while I'm not yet settled into my new home, I am finding some comfort activities that make me feel new in my old ways.

One, the big one of the day, is that I joined a gym today, and I hope to go regularly to a gym for the first time in years. Now, this is not to say I haven't worked out, but I've done so in a more private setting for the last year or more.

Today I returned to that sweaty semi-social environment where people gather with a collective purpose and move... sometimes in parallel, often in varied patterns, all in a close proximity. It was exhilarating to get off my ass and do this, and I'm very glad I finally did. Signing up and starting to go has been a to-do list item for a couple weeks now.

Going back to the gym is not isolated in its status as a newly re-established old practice of mine that is helping me feel a bit renewed. Another such activity has been a recent re acquaintance with and focus on actively listening my way through the vast collection of music I've compiled in the last few years. In the last few weeks I've found myself pulling out the CD books to discover discs I never uploaded to my ipod (or discs I only uploaded partially and have found myself wanting to hear more of). This has all been a very therapeutic way to spend time, and has had me dreaming up new runs of mix CDs to send to good friends and family and all kinds of other things.

A third activity on the list has been a renewed interest in both photography and Flickr as a venue for photography.

Others I hope to add to the list in the not-too-distant future include reading more, cooking more, finding a church that I like in the area, spending more time outdoors, and signing up for some sort of class by January at the latest.

I have often expressed here my love for turning things on their heads, and this is one entry where I feel the adage I used as a title is really apt. I've been trying some old tricks out for the first time in awhile, and man if they aren't helping me feel, in some small ways, like a bit of new dog.

Woof.

Color

Fall Red 03, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

I recently reviewed all the photos I have up on Flicker looking for photos that included or highlighted the color Red. Doing so was great fun, and shortly after that activity I remembered having recently taken some photos in the neighborhood of fall leaves, including the one above.

There's something I find irresistible about light caught in bright fall leaves... and this jumble of bright red, light in the sky and dark branches is a great example of what I hope to grab when out on a leaf shooting expedition.

Random... I know... but that what this here blog is all about.

Duck Butt

Ducks in the creek 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

After posting a long wordy rant about my new favorite sitcom (wow... not a statement I can make often) I needed to put up a picture as counterbalance. I'm glad I found this one to toss up.

Just some ducks in a Tookany Creek near my mom's house in Philly. Take a couple weekends ago while on a walk one unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon.

On Being a Convert

I was home for Thanksgiving, and among various conversations I had in the course of this Tuesday-through-Sunday visit to Philadelphia many stand out in my memory. One involved how my mother almost was confirmed into the Catholic Church over 3 decades ago. She ended up not only joining the Episcopal Church, but eventually being ordained as a priest in the Episcopal church and is active in ministry to this day. Today, as I return home with many major projects on my plate, one brought me back to thoughts of conversion.

The project I have in mind is one I've been dreaming up for awhile and involves a combination of uploading new music to my almost year-old ipod and creating playlists that I hope will soon feed into a flurry of holiday musical gift giving. Along the way I was also hoping to get myself into the habit of reviewing some disks here and there and posting them to a certain blog... eh hem... this one. What? Who said that!?!!?!?!

Oh wait.

Yeah, I've been posting that thought for how long now? Crapsticks. Anyway, I was working my way through some music today, and I was thinking about when somebody tells you about a band that you've heard about but has never been of interest to you. One example for me is Martin Sexton, who a friend told me about years ago. He's got a very gospel-tinged singer songwriter sound, and one that I really just couldn't get into when I first heard about him. This was back in college, and I was very steeped in a number of types of music very distant from gospelfolk. In September I saw Martin Sexton perform live in New Haven at Toad's. Talk about a conversion. Wow... what a show.

Martin Sexton was not, however, the conversion I sat down to write about. Nor did I intend to write about my mom's religious life. I wanted to write quickly about a new joy in my life, 30 Rock. Until the last month and a half, I entertained a curious dilemma. On one hand, I had my love for Tina Fey, something true and heartfelt... but it was tempered by an ill-conceived notion that 30 Rock simply wasn't that strong as a show. I now am unsure how I came up with such a bizarre idea, but I am glad to say, such craziness is no longer part of my life.

In late October I started watching episodes of the first season via NetFlix, and was hooked right away. I'm now all caught up and seriously frustrated with waiting a week between new episodes. I also dread the prospect of the writer's strike taking away new episodes for a long period. Isn't it bad enough that we're without new Daily Show and Colbert Report?


Supposedly there's a chance the strike could be ending this week... at least the blog over at unitedhollywood.com talks about such rumors today. I say... the end can't come soon enough, and I hope all the writers make a reasonably nice haul out of this whole strange thing being resolved. Imagine... the people who are responsible for all the laughs, all the cleverness wanting a cut of the online $$! Incredible that more major media companies aren't being overthrown by the power and possibility of new avenues.

Along those lines, check out:
www.pandora.com where you can type in songs or bands you like and have a radio station created that will try to match your interests with other similar bands or songs (and you can always veto their choices if you don't like 'em)
www.funnyordie.com which is more-or-less just a comedy focused skin of youtube but they've got some great original content from Will Ferrell and his buddy who started the site.

...and my new discovery of the day:
www.etsy.com where you can see, learn about and purchase all sorts of hand-made goods. It's like a ginormous craft fair that's searchable.

In the Hood

In the Hood, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Who are the people in your neighborhood? Well, on Saturday, the majority of the people in my neighborhood were in some way associated with one or the other of two top Ivy League institutions, as blocks from my house Yale and Harvard's football teams met at the Yale Bowl.

Until Saturday morning I had no idea such an event would be taking place so close to me, and in response I took a little journey around the area. I snapped no great pictures of football action, but many random photos of fall foliage, etc. As I wandered home, I cam across this hood, lost by someone, and left atop a pole near the entrance to Edgewood Park.

I thought the hood was kinda fun, and so here it is, atop my weekend wrap-up posting. I'm hoping to soon follow up with a post about two new albums I've been listening to a bunch. They're two pretty new releases from pretty reliable bands, Wilco and Radiohead.

So stay tuned for that, and in the meantime I hope you had a wonderful weekend yourself. Nate, thanks for coming to visit and helping me discover Rudy's and a bit more familiarity with the ins and outs of New Haven. See you later this week.

Home

tomatoes, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Weekend before last I was in Philly visiting my mom, and one of our activities the Saturday I was there involved disassembling pieces of her garden, in anticipation of winter. We took apart the trellis that held up her tomato plants, among other things. Before that project was done I snapped this photo of a bunch of green and red tomatoes that would soon become compost. I love the veins running through them, and I've got a bunch more pictures like this one that I hope to photoshop soon.

windows with numbers

windows with numbers, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

This is one of an insane number of photos I recently took while wandering around in NYC on the Sunday before Halloween. Life has been a bit of a blur lately, but looking back through that sun-soaked Sunday afternoon of pictures has been a fun pastime for me this evening.

As I wandered that day I spent a good amount of time in Washington Square Park, surrounded by musicians of various kinds:
- A guy who played an upbeat if somewhat repetitive rhythm on a series of buckets, drums, weights, pans, pots, etc.
- There was a group of men with various kinds and sizes of brass instruments anchored by a dude with a drum kit, and occasionally they would seem to go head-to-head with the pots and pans man.
- Across the central fountain was a group headed up by a guy who bore some resemblance to Jimi Hendrix. This somewhat spaced out area was drenched in guitar licks and little else
- Further away from the heart of the park, off closer to the busy streets was a jazz quartet headed up by a trumpet-player who would occasionally play two horns simultaneously, quite the remarkable feat to witness.

Still, for me, there was a lot about that Sunday that had to do with quiet. When I lived in New York for 8 months I felt like I could never find quiet, perhaps because of the constant bustle, perhaps because I couldn't find it within myself. At the time I was actually living in Brooklyn, an area decidedly less frenetic than the section on Midtown where I was wandering this October. Still, there's something about all the human activity that can be like water when you're alone wandering through it. If you're observing, it can all start to feel like a meditation, where you settle yourself to a state of consistency, quiet, stability, and witness what is passing around you without letting it tear you away from your focus point.

I could be way out on a limb here.

Regardless, the mishmash ramshackle front of this building caught my eye, and I love the result for so many reasons. Whether it's the huge block letters of the sign printed one-letter-per-page along the top of the frame, or the taped up window panes below. I love the school buss that's reflected in lower right window of the brilliant blue door. I like the panes of stained glass, such a ceremonial feature that appears here so unceremoniously.

I'm very happy with this picture.

I hope you like it too.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Keene Jackolantern Favorite Pumpkin 2, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

My last post made me realize I should say something about today being Halloween, so I'll say this: I don't know what it's like where you are, but it's a beautiful day here in CT, and it's supposed to get a little warmer in the middle of the day too. Hence, it's perfect weather for all things spooky. Well, maybe it would be better if a thick fog hung over the Long Island Sound, and wind was whipping through the trees, animals howling in the distance, a faint strange electricity of some sort in the air. But you know what? I'll take a sunshiny day. Happy Halloween, above is a pic from last year's Keane NH Pumpkin Festival. That is an event to behold, my friends. I hope to make it back up there soon!

Holidays Closing In

Goeffrey the Giraffe, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Does it count to say that it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas when you see Geoffrey strolling the street outside Toys'R'Us in his red polo? Perhaps not exactly the most direct sign of Christmas, and possibly not even related... maybe he just wanders outside this New York toystore every Sunday afternoon. But he definitely caught my eye, and then I began to notice how most of the people reacting to him were adults, not kids, which is fine. The guy in this photo had just taken a few pictures of the Giraffe himself, and a different toystore employee offered to take his picture with Geoffrey. He had just refused and started to walk away when I snapped this photo.

Snow White and the Witch

Snow White and the Witch, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Spent the day in NYC yesterday and most of the afternoon I wandered through Union Square, Washington Square, and other parts of Manhattan snapping random photos of interesting events. It was a beautiful autumn day, and the sunshine brought out folks, as did events connected to Halloween. This picture is one of a bunch I snapped by the dog walk in Washington Square. Someone had organized a doggie Halloween costume contest there, and this pair were one of the more interesting entries. I didn't really follow all of what was going on with the contest, but snow white and the witch were pretty great. I'll updoad a photo of the guy who dressed his dog as Jackie Onassis soon. There was also a pug that was either some sort of 80's party girl or a ballerina with tons of makeup, either way there were many dogs who appeared to be thinking, "Come on, what the hell did I do to deserve this?"

More soon!

Hope you had a great weekend.

No Swimming

No Swimming, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

I love this sign, posted near one of the pieces of rapids where people are least likely to swim. What is there, 3 or 4 inches of water here? I snapped this photo at Kent Falls State Park in NW Connecticut. The sign is posted not too far from places where water does pool in such a way that you could imagine people swimming, hence I wondered if they could have found a better spot to nail up their warning.

All in all, I think the rocks at the bottom left of the image are my favorite part of this photo!

Lazy Bloggers

leaves changing 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Just take pictures of colorful leaves

Post them

And call it a day

Good thing I'm not one of those.

I write very brief bits of text to go along.

Headed to bed

light in the woods 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Wow... amazing how time can slip away when you're editing photos! I took a slew of pictures like this one in the woods this past weekend, and this is the first I've dropped into photoshop. Honestly I took too many because I see them all and cant decide on any to edit. I'll get around to it. This one came out very nicely, I think.

Friday, here we come!

Color

bright red leaves 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

The last few days have been an abrupt change from the weather we had in CT this weekend. Admittedly, the weekend was bizarre, with temps supposedly into the 90's, but still, we've swooped down into the 60's now with days full of gray skies, intermittent rain, and a general feel of autumn curling its fingers in closer around us.

While walking in the woods this weekend I took a few pictures of leaves, and above is one that includes some amazingly brilliant red leaves. The color on some is almost unbelievably bright. Finding these sorts of colors is one of my favorite fall activities. Since cranking up my photo obsession a bit in the past couple years, I've started paying much closer attention to places where leaves catch light and become illuminated films of color. They're like the gels you see on stage lights when you go to a theater or concert... and one thing that makes for great fun in photos is that they're so often surrounded by other leaves capturing light in completely different ways.

Perhaps this is a boring topic for most, but I like this picture a lot, and I've got a few more like it that I'll be uploading soon.

Weekend Sun

mums and bee 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So it's gotten colder again here in CT after a weekend where it seemed like Summer had returned to us. While it was still warm we spent some good time outside and I took some pictures of things like flowers and bees, etc.

Here's a good one... more on the way!

Out and About

walk in the woods, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Saturday was a great day with a big walk in the woods, a visit to the local apple barn, and a chance for Emily, Lyndsey's neice, to check out some bikes (upcoming birthday).

This shot is from the start of our walk, and as you can see in the top left corner, the morning was a foggy one, but it all burned off within the time we were out walking, and it turned into a warm and beautiful day. Lots of leaves changing. It was great to get some fresh air. Oh, yeah, and I took a zillion pictures. Working on photoshopping some.

We love the MOON!

Lyndsey Andrew Emily Beach, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Because it's good to us.

I like this picture because I think it looks like Lyndsey, Emily & Andrew are walking on the surface of the moon... except for the whole water piece... yeah.

Ladies Talking

Ladies Talking, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

This is another picture I took on our walk this weekend with Stacy and the kids. Lyndsey and Caroline are having a bit of a chat, and the wind is clearly doing some very dramatic stuff with Lyndsey's hair.

Kids' Health or War

Some might say it's not as clear-cut as this, but I think this press release from the Democrats in Congress covers it nicely (great post AMERICAblog). The reality is that literally pouring money at $300M a day into a war either means that Americans get taxed excessively to pay for that or our government is not allowed to provide programs to help the poorest among us.

With GWB simultaneously asking for billions more to pour into the war and threatening to veto a bill that would give health coverage to millions of children we can clearly see the contrast in priorities. Maybe we can pay for the programs we need by sacrificing through shopping. Remember that line? UGH!

Incredible

So there was a story today that I found bizarre, but thanks to the insightful analysis of the story itself and a bit of aftermath Talking Points Memo put it in a context that completely turned my stomach. Take a visit to their analysis of the context for a white house official calling Barak Obama, "intellectually lazy" today, then tell me how this isn't incredibly offensive and disturbing.

Also, this might be a good thing for Obama's campaign, because what could more beautifully illustrate the very thing he says he wants to fight. The white house basically has one of their lackeys sending out an implicitly racist insult against a candidate who is running a campaign all about hope and getting rid of the cynical partisan norm in DC. Would welcome any thoughts on this.

Watching the Water

Watching the Water, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

I love these two ladies in their visors, out to watch the water on a Sunday afternoon. One is wearing crocks, which is also great. Just an enjoyable scene, two old ladies in visors enjoying the sunny afternoon.

Mother and daughter? Buddies? Not so sure.

Dangers of Doo Doo

Dangers of Doo Doo, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Amazing sign... thought it played off well against the red, white & blue.

Swan

Swan, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Abstract... sorta. Another favorite from the last two days of happy returned camera shuttercraziness.

New Favorite

Leaves Turning 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So I took some photos of leaves today, and I like some of them, but I love this one. More photos soon!

I'm still very happy about the return of the camera. Giddy? Sure, you could say that.

A little more

Koi 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

from the afternoon of test shooting with the newly returned camera. Ahhhh it's nice to have it back!

Camera's Back!

Fall Leaves 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Hey! It's been literally weeks since I sent my camera into the shop for some repairs and I guess I finally leaned on Nikon in the right way yesterday because they emailed me in the afternoon to say that they were sending a new lens and overnighting it to me. I guess I finally got through with the whole, "this is a new camera that's broken twice, what are you going to do to help me get back to being a happy customer" line.

Meanwhile, to test it out I took photos of a bunch of random stuff this afternoon. More posts soon.

New Nifty Music Video

Just tried out this funky website called Animoto where you can upload photos and make slideshows a good bit funkier than the ones you can make most other places. I tried it out with some summer vacation pictures... just a quick first attempt, but I think I'll play with this some more in the near future. Enjoy!

Where was I?

John shucks 02, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Oh yes, I was exactly where I've been all along... here in CT, somewhat busy but not crazy busy. Who knows why I haven't been blogging. Oh, well, sure, I did move in the last couple weeks. That takes some time. I'll have to send up a few new photos of the view out over the water from our new apartment. Unfortunately my new camera is have yet more technical difficulties, and is in the shop. I really can't believe i purchased a somewhat pricey Nikon digital camera only to have it fail twice on me in the first two months. UGH!

Meanwhile, the new place is great. I'm there right now with a breeze coming off the water... not a bad environment for working at all.

MORE SOON!
- John

The Return of Politics

It's been awhile since I've blogged about anything political. Today, with the long-called-for and much-anticipated resignation of Alberto Gonzales, I've found reason to bring some political content back. Here's the first of what may be many:

In discussion of possible plans to replace Gonzales, one name that has come up is some dude who used to be Bush's chief of staff in Texas when he was Governor. The idea is not that he would become AG, but instead that Michael Chertoff would, and this dude, Clay Johnson III, would take Chertoff's place. So the funny thing is that it has been reported in the NYT that Mr. Johnson keeps an action figure of George Bush on his desk.

Now, if that isn't bizarre, then I don't really know what bizarre is. What would you do if you had a co-worker or friend who kept an action figure of their boss on their desk?

Happy Monday folks, hope your week is full of good action figure stories... or at least some reasonable action of some sort.

The Return of Josh Ritter

He wasn't gone for long... in fact, not gone at all, but one of my favorite artists all around has returned with a stellar new album (from what I've heard so far). I'm actually judging from the handful of tracks I've heard all the way through. I'm planning on buying it today, so watch here for a more lengthy review later. Until then, if you don't know Josh Ritter, check out this nifty little basement video of one track from the new Album:




Enjoy!

Back from the beach

off on a beach walk, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Well, we're back up north, and Connecticut has gone along with the way it feels to go from the beach back to work and provided a grey and rainy backdrop for our return! It feels like it's October around here. Seriously, what's the the deal with that???

Anyway, the sun and sand was fun... a zillion pictures and a camera that's malfunctioning once again.

More soon!

Making Friends, Beach Style

Lucy and Mr Pinky 02, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Lucy found a wee little crab who she named Mr. Pinky down on the beach yesterday. She hung onto him for quite awhile and introduced her new friend around. After about 10-15 minutes, when Mr. Pinky fell off her arm, she found him scooting around the sand and couldn't convince him to climb back on. She moved on to sand castles. Luckily we got a little documentation of the friendship with Mr. Pinky.

Rockin Out Down South

Lyndsey Guitar Hero, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Wow, it's getting pretty crazy down here... just check out Patrick's Guitar Hero worship in this photo I snapped yesterday. I think this was taken mid-afternoon even... so the evening hadn't even begun!

Good golly.

Out Come The Geysers

Geyser Action 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

A little more superfast vacation photoblogging here... check out one of the most popular pool toys this year: The Gushing Geyser, basically it's a plastic dunce cap with no tip (about a 1" diameter hole at the tip end of the cone) that you thrust downward into the water to shoot out a nice big stream of water.

Many fun games like target practice on the side of the pool and general rain-shower attacks have resulted. Good times. Ah... vacation!

Goin Fishin

Goin Fishin, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

We're down at the beach! She sunshine is awesome... days are quite hot... all is well!

DEPARTURE!

John YEAH, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

What's so special about today, you ask? Well, I'll tell ya.

Today we leave for vacation! Yeah! Sure, bowling is fun, especially when you knock down some pins (as I did before the photo above was snapped).... but even more fun is a week full of beach and lacking any work.

Wow, even typing that inspired a huge sigh of relief. Man, I've been looking forward to taking some time off, and here it comes. Departure is set for 2pm today!

I'll likely be blogging away from the road, if I think about it... but then again, maybe not!

Ninja Cow, it's the new Spider Pig

Ninja Cow 02, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Ok, it's Thursday, I'm having a pretty busy work day and I don't have much to say, so I decided to throw up a picture that speaks for itself. Who doesn't love Ninja Cow? His adversaries, that's who.

Seriously, that's all I've got.

Enjoy your Thursday, and my Ninja Cow picture. Click him to see other entertaining Bowling adventures.

Bigger Pictures, Smaller Title

Recently I've been increasing the degree to which I use my blog as a photoblog, and I started getting a little frustrated that the images I post were smaller than I wanted. So, I decided to just start posting bigger images. You can always click on them and hop over to my flickr page, see versions up to sizes you could use as desktop backgrounds, etc.... but from today forward the images will be slightly larger on the blog itself. So enjoy being able to see slightly more detail right from the start. It's been fun doing a little more with pictures, and I'm hoping to keep it up. Don't be surprised, however, if it dies down a bit next week when I go on vacation. I've got no real blog plans for beach time. Much rather say... spend that time out on the beach!

An Ode to Randomness

thanks for not doing what you are doing, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

I like randomness just as much as the next guy... ok, perhaps a bit more than the next guy. Anyway, whatever the next guy thinks of it, I'm a huge fan.

Over the weekend we were at a local shopping center where I encountered the delicious irony of the sticker on this trash can. Thank you for not overfilling? Littering? WOW! Eureka, if the irony weren't potent enough, I think the dramatic splatter of the orange liquid (is it juice? is it a smoothy of some sort? Is it even organic?) drives it all home.

Moving on, last night was another study in randomness, starting innocently enough with a trip out to grab pizza with Lyndsey, her coworker Liz, and Liz's husband Tim. The pizza was great (always nice to discover a new good pizza joint), we had a good discussion of movies we need to revisit soon (Spaceballs, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Encino Man... ok, maybe not so much on Encino Man)... and then the plan was to meet up with Jill for a drink.

Well, hours later we were hanging out and talking to a local musician about how he has tried to steer clear of the mafia, how he wants to move to Asheville, NC, and upcoming gigs. All-in-all, it was an enjoyable and bizarrely unplanned evening.

Hooray for randomness, irony, music, and Spaceballs.

Happy Wednesday!

Summer Fun

tons o fun, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So, it's a BEAUTIFUL day in Connecticut today, and I just walked outside to drop something in the mailbox and was absolutely blown away. It's been unseasonably cool in the last few days, and today is no exception. The sun is shining, and all is right with the world.

This weekend I did a fair amount of random picture taking, and this collection of wiffle balls and bats is a result of that larger project. Spotting this box of wiffle sets outside a sporting goods store I couldn't help but think about the many days of spring, summer and fall when Matt and I would wander down to the Roland Community Center (the "Rec" which I always spelled "wreck" in my head) and play wiffle ball on the field that now houses a playground. Before we moved up to the rec field we used to play in the Lafferty's backyard, with the back 8 feet of yard or so being, "homerun terrritory."

There was the time that Matt needed stitches after sliding into a rock at 3rd base. There were many many homeruns on the rec field. There was the constant bickering with the Halft family over balls hit into their yard. Ah... wiffle ball.

Perhaps we'll play some at the beach next week!

Inspiration

Lyndsey Bowling 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So Lyndsey and I went bowling Saturday night with a good sized group of friends, and I have to say... a bunch of great pictures came out of the evening.

This picture of Lyndsey is one of my favorites and I've got a crapload of work to do in photoshop to get them and a bunch of other stuff uploaded, but anyway, it was tons of fun, and should make for good blogging material. All in all, the experience made me want to watch the Big Lebowski, join a league, and bowl with friends on a regular basis.

The fun was large enough that it almost completely drowned out the fact that I scored somewhere between the 50s and 70s on each game. Not my proudest bowling outing, that's for sure.

Strange Group

Yard Sale 06
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Last weekend I was home in Philly to visit my Aunt who's in the hospital. While I was down, I helped my mom take a bunch of stuff to a yard sale and hung around for a couple hours, taking random pictures here or there. These guys where hanging out in the 10 cent bin or quarter bin or something like that. I thought they made for a pretty awesome little group shot, and a fine question:

Who will be snapped up first? The Squishy Monkey? Crang, the evil brain? The really creepy cadaver from X-files? Or the Gordon's fisherman candle who looks to have gotten pretty beaten up on his way to the sale. Honestly, I doubt any of these guys are going to fly out of the bargain bin anytime soon, but they do make for a nice Friday visitor.

Have a great weekend!

Least Appealing Farmstand Ever

Least Appealing Farmstand Ever
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

These signs have been up around the neighborhood lately and they crack me up, because everytime I see them, they make me think of farmstand signs. I'd give an explanation of what they're really up for, but that wouldn't be any fun, now, would it?

Happy Wednesday Randomness!

+John

Greatness for the Summerness

Who doesn't like the right soundtrack to go with their sunnyhappysummermonths? I sure do! That's why it's with great glee that I write today to make mention of a super-hot summertime album I've located. The disc (or download for all ye itunes hipsters) is Return to the Sea by Islands. It was released awhile back and I ignored it, even though Pitchfork really liked it. I came across it recently on somebody's best of all best great summer music lists, and I decided to check it out! Now, I will momentarily get a little more descriptive, but perhaps it will suffice to endorse it by sharing my favorite song title from the album, "Don't call me Whitney, Bobby." (Link is to superfun bizarro video)

Come on... who names their song, "Don't call me Whitney, Bobby"!?!?!!?!?!?! Geniuses, that's who! Anyway, it's upbeat stuff that is riddled with complex layered fun sonic landscapes, and it's just plain enjoyable. It makes me feel like I'm driving my car to some bizarre European beach. So you should check it out and buy 6 copies to give to all your beach bum buddies. Right. Sure. Okay. Happy Monday. Clearly I'm in a weird mood this week.

The 90's

So, as I was working away this morning, my nifty little itunes playlist decided to crank out some Presidents of the United States of America, the song, "Kick out the Jams," to be specific.

Friggin great stuff.

Anyway, busy busy busy these days... such is life.

Hey, if anyone is looking for a fairly good new CD, check out the new Spoon album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Gagagagagagagagaga... it's Good.

Or just pull out your old copy of the Presidents of the USA and re-listen to some 90's classics like Kick out the Jams or perhaps my other favorite of theirs, Naked and Famous.

More Photos of Matt & Mikeo's Wedding!

Matt Mieko Wedding 16
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So last week I got ambitious and photoshopped a bunch more pictures from Matt & Mieko's wedding. I've still got a bunch left over to crop/color correct, and upload... but I'm working my way through. Unfortunately my little point and shoot didn't compensate all that well for the lighting of the space so there's quite a bit of color correcting on most of the images, but I'm making progress.

It's been awhile since I've posted regularly... hoping to shift that a bit in the weeks to come.

More from Random Photo Weekend

58 Obtuse Hill
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So, among many other unremarkable places I wandered through this weekend, I visited Obtuse Hill. Great name. Not much to see, but I did manage to track down a house that had the street name displayed. Hence, you've got evidence that I did, in fact, visit Obtuse Hill.

Hooray for randomness!

Smart Cars! YEAH!

So hopefully by now you have realized that I'm obsessed with Smart Cars. Oh, you didn't realize that? Well, crap. Anyway, it's a fact. I'm obsessed.

I also, on a related note, think that Canadians are generally pretty cool. To connect these two seemingly random tidbits check out this story about a father and daughter traveling cross-country in a Smart Car. They only needed 89 gallons of gas to do so. How 'bout that?

Can't wait to start seeing these beauties scooting around the streets of America!

Thanks for sending, Flev!!!

A Weekend of Random Photography

Used
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So, it was a pretty lazy weekend here in CT. Lyndsey and I stayed put @ home (no travels out of state until Chicago on Thursday) and hence there was good time to make use of the new camera, and use I did make!

Saturday morning we met up with a friend for breakfast and then Adam and I chatted on the phone. While we were chatting Lyndsey went for a walk and since the ladies weren't back by the time I got off the phone I wandered in the nearby neighborhood snapping pictures of random garden gnomes, comic book shops, etc. This picture is one of my favorites in awhile. I like the way that Batman peeks through the U of USED. I've been meaning to photoblog a bit more for months now, and I've come out of the weekend with literally hundreds of images to upload, so consider this image a warning shot!

There's more to come, get ready to catch it or duck and cover.

Good Call

Lazy week... little blogging... Allstar Game tonight! Anyway, here's something cool I just read at Huffington Post: a sort of open letter to Barak Obama, and a letter that I think offers a great idea.

Check it out.

More soon.

Save the Internet & Net Radio

Hey, so here are a couple pet causes of mine lately... but more than being my pet causes, they're very real access issues everybody who cares about free exchange of information should care about. Net neutrality is both advocated and explained in pretty simple terms in the following video.



No such luck with a catchy video for saving Net Radio, but it's as compelling a situation. The case is laid out pretty well as follows:

On March 2, 2007 the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which oversees sound recording royalties paid by Internet radio services, increased Internet radio's royalty burden between 300 and 1200 percent and thereby jeopardized the industry’s future.

At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the CRB ignored the fact that Internet radio royalties were already double what satellite radio pays, and multiplied the royalties even further. The 2005 royalty rate was 7/100 of a penny per song streamed; the 2010 rate will be 19/100 of a penny per song streamed. And for small webcasters that were able to calculate royalties as a percentage of revenue in 2005 – that option was quashed by the CRB, so small webcasters’ royalties will grow exponentially!




You can click on the link above to learn more or take action on saving Net Radio.

Happy 4th of July

Patriotic Sky
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Well, Lyndsey, Jane and Brad are out to get some corn from a local farm.

Chester Ellis, Chester Bonnaccorsi and I are chillin.

So I thought I would post this heart-wearming flag-waving, god-fearing, apple-pie and big-mac eating true blue American freakin picture. I took it over the weekend, and I'll admit I dodged the flag a wee bit in ye olde Photoshoppe.

Happy 4th of July!

Tryout for Little Miss Sunshine

07
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So I went to the eye doctor today, and they dilated my pupils for my exam. In such a state, when I got home I could do very little, except of course take rediculous self-portraits. There are a dozen posted on flickr here. I recommend watching them in slideshow format.

Funny that my left eye is much more dilated than the right.

Intimidating, right?

Fox Noise Gets Sued

So a school administrator in Maine is suing Fox News Channel because they repeated on air as fact news that was completely false. Apparently their source was a site not unlike the Onion. The site is called Associated Content. If you want detail on this, you can check the article here.

The sad thing about this is that after Fox tossed this piece into their echo chamber the result was that wingnuts from all over creation started calling the school, the administrator's home, sending hate mail, etc. Great move nutjobs.

Thanks for being what sucks about America.

Sure, some might say it's great that nutters can be entitled to act as nutty as they like without interference or any recourse. In this case, it looks like the drum leader of the nut parade might just pay a price for kicking off the festivities. Good deal. Happy 4th of July folks! Let freedom ring.

Sex, not cats

Dragonflies 03
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Dragonfly sex, that is. So judging from their position and the fact that I know squat about biology I could be off on the whole sex thing, but I was continuing to experiment with my new camera this afternoon and captured a zillion and a half pictures of these two dragonflies flying around on each others backs.

I was pretty happy with at least four of the 1.5 zillion, so I posted them to flickr. I also wanted to prove I could take pictures of non-furry animals.

That last piece is a lie really, the thought of proving something never really crossed my mind until I was writing this rambling somewhat pointless post.

Nate, this one's for you!

Chester Bonnaccorsi
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Awhile back Nate suggested that I may have been treading a little too close to a line called, "cat lady" by taking too many photos of the family cats (and posting them with somewhat rediculous stories). To be perfectly honest, he had a good point. Sad to say it, but regardless of the validity of such warnings, I still find the animals a good subject for photographic fun. Hence, it should come as no surprise that one of the first photos I've uploaded from my 180 picture weekend of fun with a new camera is... that's right (you've already seen it), Chester the cat.

The week is off to a great start, with beautiful weather outside, lots of good pics from the weekend, and a whole lot of work to dig into!

Cheers

New Camera Giddiness

Second Day Sky
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So... I got a new camera this weekend, and I literally don't quite know what to do with myself or it. I've been running around taking pictures frantically and randomly since I got home with it and charged the battery Saturday evening.

The adventures so far have been somewhat hilarious... including the fact that I probably at some point need to tone down my photo quality settings because I'm fairly certian I don't need to take every shot with the set-up such that it creates a 3 megabite jpeg. Yeah. A little excessive? Perhaps.

Anyway, that's all, really for now. That and I'm giddy. Did I say that already?

Romney Hates Animals

Wow... this is nauseating, but um... wait, no, just nauseating.

It's funny because it was a family joke of ours growing up... someone misbehaving in the car? Strap 'em to the roof!

Holy crap, a Presidential candidate did that to their pet, and for whatever reason, we all now know about his insanity. Can't wait to hear some explanations for this ridiculousness.

Griffey returns to the sounds of Journey's, "Open Arms"

Leave it to baseball to knock me out of my political blogging rut here. It's been a week with lots of political crap to blather about. Wait, that's every week, right? Anyway, not everyday do you catch up with this kind of story:

A Welcome Sight, Griffey Returns to Seattle

If you grew up in the 90's loving baseball like I did, well, then you need to read it. If not, you will likely still enjoy it. Regardless, here's a little preview:


"There's a wonderful "Seinfeld" bit in which Jerry says that because players change teams so often, fans find themselves rooting for the uniform and not the athlete. "When you root for a team these days," he says, "you're mostly rooting for laundry." This is almost always the case. But Seattle fans were most definitely not rooting for laundry over the weekend. They were rooting for the player."

Enjoy

Jon Stewart Vs. Dick Cheney

Who do you think will win? I mean, Jon Stewart is cool and all, but Dick Cheney has the whole super-evil thing going for him.

Daily Show Coverage of the Cheney Redonkulousness.

Save Internet Radio

The record companies like to rake in money, and your government wants to help them do so hand-over-fist. There's a shift that's supposed to take place mid-July of this year that would in effect make it incredibly difficult for many internet radio providers to keep doing what they do. Why? Because the change in law/rules about internet radio would dramatically increase the amount of money an internet radio outfit has to pay the record companies every time they play a song.

Bottom line: the pending changes would line the pockets of record execs. Don't be fooled by anyone who wants to tell you this has anything to do with paying artists for their work. I for one am fairly certain this is far from related to that. The big loser, anyone who wants to tune into the internet and catch some of the variety that record companies and corporate radio has all-but whitewashed from broadcast radio.

So, if you're a big fan of top 40 and really care to hear nothing else, forget you ever read this post. Otherwise, visit here to take action:

http://www.savenetradio.org/act_now/index.html

OR here to learn more:

http://www.kurthanson.com/dos/

Thanks, Adam, for bringing this to my attention.

Bare Knuckle Politics

Did you realize that Dick Cheney was not part of the executive branch of our government? He argues that on odd Tuesdays, Thursdays, and whenever else he makes a secret hand movement he magically is not part of the executive branch... or actually he just generally wants to be considered whatever is expedient, at any given moment. At such expedient moments he will fluctuate between acting as President of the Senate and occasionally moonlighting as Captain Kangaroo (that last bit is unconfirmed, but I think it will eventually come to light).

Anyway, in a kick-ass response along the lines of, "Well, if that's the way you want it," Rahm Emanuel has introduced a motion to limit Mr. Cheney's funding to the funding set aside for his non-executive activities... which should drastically limit the massive staff he has, etc.

You know, I'll be honest. It's pretty ugly, but it makes me smile. The slimy bastard deserves to take some heat for his ridiculousness... and it's frankly long overdue. To my eye Dick Cheney is a dangerous man.

Fun related links:

• TPMCafe's article Rahm's Moment
• Salon War Room's blurb, "Tit for Tat"
  

More Interesting Than the You Tube Stare

I think if anyone takes a fair appraisal of the current state of political debate surrounding Iraq, they'll come away feeling like the staked out sides ring so hollow it's maddening. I know that I often feel frustrated and annoyed by the fact that supposed leaders are selling us analysis that is on its face just simple, if not completely backwards and wrong.

Anyway, it's funny that in a presidential race that's so bizarrely early, mind-numbing and sure to be protracted you really need the bizarro candidates to get anything said. Case in point:

Mike Gravel's Commentary on Huffington Post this week.

His article has to do with ways that Senator Clinton (as I hear it's most appropriate to address her) scares him, and the reason I re-post it to my blog is this: I share his fear of her, and the reasons for it. I also think that he's got good reason (as he points out) to fear any number of the other candidates who share adjacent views, make similar statements, etc.

I think there's a real failure of will to face down just how difficult this Iraq mess is, certainly from the current administration, but also from the Democrats. Perhaps this results from the fact that calling it as ugly as it really is, would come off sounding incredibly pessimistic next to the Tony Snows and Bill O'really?s of the world... but I dunno. I could be blathering now. Anyway, no solutions really, just a moment where I felt like the crazy guy who throws rocks in the water (wait for it... wait for it) had some interesting bits to contribute to the discourse.

Now Hear This

So nobody should be surprised to hear that America's radio waves are dominated by conservatives spewing ickiness... I'm sure not, but here's a study that drives home the point:

I saw it in this article on Crooks & Liars

Now THAT's what I'm talking about

I've been telling people that I think a really strong case any candidate for President should make given the climate in DC these days is to say clearly and loudly, "My administration will be about competence, objectivity, professionalism, etc." or something along those lines. As though designed to appeal directly to me and folks who think in similar ways, here is a very inspiring article from the Boston Globe regarding recent comments by Obama.

Here you go, the article is here.

And here's a quote from it (from Obama):

"It's easy to be cynical -- to believe that change isn't possible; that the odds are too great; that this year is bound to be no different from the last. But I also know what I've seen and what I've done," he said. "I know that for me, reform isn't just the rhetoric of a campaign; it's been a cause of my career."

I saw the article on Democratic Underground... and I recommend checking it out highly. This is the kind of thing candidates should be talking about, namely REAL reform that will have an impact on making government work well. People can squabble all they want over how much government should be involved in this or that, but my thing is this: whatever the government does, it should aim to do extremely well.

Some people act like business is somehow specially endowed with the capability of achieving lofty goals like efficiency, innovation, etc. by nature of competition, but I think this notion is crap. Accepting this argument completely undermines the idea of a government in the first place by in effect saying that anything government does is damned to be mediocre from the start. I believe competition has a value and a place, but also that society can build institutions designed to demand excellence in both execution and results. Anyway, let's get outside crap arguments and stay in the realm of talking about achievable reforms that we should all rally behind.

Cheers, and happy Friday.

Gazing through the Flowers

Matt Mieko Wedding 15
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So... at Matt & Mikeo's wedding Lyndsey came up with a brilliant plan. There were these fun floral centerpieces on the tables... and we convinced many people to have their picture taken peeking through them... as though they were in the midst of an overgrown... well, flower patch.

Here's the first of a few I intend to blog up a storm with, so STAY TUNED for that excitement!!!

Newsish Enough for you?

How long will it be before either of these get mainstream media coverage:

Cheney Exempts His Office from Protecting Classified Info

Giuliani blows off the Iraq Study Group to make some quick cash at Speaking Engagements


Just wondering!

Wedding Photography

Matt Mieko Wedding 12
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

A couple weeks back (Memorial Day weekend, to be exact) I wandered up North with Lyndsey to attend the wedding of my good friend and college roommate Matt and his bride Mieko. It was a great weekend in which I snapped ridiculous numbers of photos... many of which were sadly compromised by my camera's inability to deal all that well with low-light conditions.

Still, many good pictures did emerge, and I'm slowly but steadily working on Photoshopping them to color correct, crop, etc. Above is a fun picture that shows Matt & Mieko's gift table. On it they had photos they got taken in Japan where they were both wearing traditional kimonos. I've got about 15 pictures up on Flickr now... and you can check them out by clicking on the link below this picture.