At this moment...
01.31.07
Snowplows plow. After work I decided to go for a run in the snow.
One month down, eleven more to go.
JM reminded me about this, so if you have time, give it a listen (it's enough to make you want to wave your hands up in the air).
01.26.07
A whole bunch of photos from today can be found here (Zerostars in the studio). Enjoy.
01.25.07
01.24.08
I just noticed that I have too many chargers in my life. I have an iPod charger, a cell phone charger, a charger for my gps watch, and a charger for my camera battery.
01.22.08
Today I received my weekly United.com e-fares email and for about two minutes I entertained the idea of going on a quick trip somewhere. But here’s the catch. I no longer have the vacation time like I used to have, and that's a drag. I’d love to fly to Germany for under $500. Really, I’d love to fly anywhere.
Earlier I was thinking about information, and how there seems to be way too much information at our fingertips. But here's the thing, there's always been too much information. The only difference is that we have instant access to all this information.
From Sven Birkerts' The Guttenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age:
The explosion of data — along with general societal secularization and the collapse of what the theorists call the "master narratives" (Christian, Marxist, Freudian, humanist...) — has all but destroyed the premise of understandability. Inundated by perspectives, by lateral vistas of information that stretch in every direction, we no longer accept the possibility of assembling a complete picture. Instead of carrying on the ancient project of philosophy - attempting to discover the "truth" of things — we direct our energies to managing information. The computer, our high-speed, accessing, storing, and sorting tool, appears as a godsend. It increasingly determines what kind of information we are willing to traffic in; if something cannot be written in code and transmitted, it cannot be important.
The old growth forests of philosophy have been logged and the owl of Minevera has fled. Wisdom can only survive as a cultural idea where there is a possibility of vertical consciousness. Wisdom has nothing to do with the gathering or organizing of facts — this is basic. Wisdom is seeing through facts, a penetration to the underlying laws and patterns. It relates the immediate to something larger — to a context, yes, but also to a big picture that refers to human endeavor sub specie aeternitatis, under the aspect of eternity. To see through data, one must have something to see through to. One must believe in the possibility of a comprehensible world. In philosophy this is called the "hermenuetic circle" - one needs the ends to know which means to use, and the means to know which ends are possible. And this assumption of ends is what we have lost. It is one thing to absorb a fact, to situate it alongside other facts in a configuration, and quite another to contemplate that fact at leisure, allowing it to declare its connection with other facts, the thematic destiny, its resonance.
01.20.08
Peak Properties Property Management of Chicago, Illinois are the worst property management company ever. For nearly two months I've been battling with them to fix the windows in my apartment so that I can adequately heat my apartment to a decent temperature. For the amount of money I spend on rent they should be able to take care of any issues. Right now I can't get my apartment above 63 degrees, and this is with an additional space heater running on high. This morning it was 57 degrees when I woke up (minus five degrees outside). When I spoke with Dave, the most useless property manager to ever hold that title, on Monday, he assured me that someone would be out on Thursday to fix the issue. My biggest problem with Dave is the lack of follow through. He tells me one thing, but he's nothing but a liar. He needs to be honest. If they don't want to fix the problem he should tell me and I'll pursue other options. I was also told that the boilers were to be turned back on for the remainder of the Winter. However, nothing has been done.
So, if you've come across this website when searching for information about Peak Properties, my advice is to stay as far away from them as possible. Do not rent any of their properties as they are absolute scum. They will not honor the lease agreement that they make you sign. I find it amazing that they are able to practice business in the state of Illinois.
01.17.08
After work I went for a quick three mile run. It was so cold that my face mask started to freeze to my face.
01.13.07
Just another day in the recording studio, or the many faces of JM...
Today we tracked bass, drums, and percussion (including a dryer door) for a really great new song called Family Tree.
01.12.08
My day in photos...
KK talking about the fish that got away.
I started my Saturday with a haircut. That was followed by me catching the train and going to the Art Institute. I contemplated getting a membership to the Art Institute because I really had a great time, especially in the modern wing. I could have stayed in the Monet room for hours. Klee's Fleeing Ghost was probably my favorite of the day. After the Art Institute I walked to the lake and took a series of photos. Following the lake I grabbed a train to KKs (had a beer at the Metra bar). Then KK, LR, and I took another train and made our way to the Webster Wine Bar. All-in-all it was a really fun day.
I went out with three lenses, a 16mm - 35mm, 24mm - 70mm, and a 50mm. The 16mm - 35mm was probably the only lens that I really needed for the day. However, I wish I had used the 50mm for the accordion musician shot. I had to crank the ISO to 3200, which I normally don't do. Had the 50mm been on I could have kept the ISO at 1600. Oh well.
As I was walking into my apartment building I ran into my neighbor. I thought my electric/heating bill was a bit high. His was $280, which is insane for an apartment this size.
I received a Gorillapod for Christmas. Great present, and what makes it even better is that I found a hotshoe adaptor that can be used with the Gorillapod. Very cool, and only $4.
01.11.08
Tonight I made a cereal box snoot (I used a Kashi box). You can buy fancy ones for $20, or you can make your own for the price of a box of ceral, a bit of Elmer's glue and some black duct tape. A snoot restricts light by forcing it through a tunnel of sorts.
Here's the flash without a snoot:
Here's the flash with a snoot:
Here's what flash without a snoot looks like:
Here's the effect when the snoot is attached:
Listening to:
Volta - Bjork
Somebody Outside - Anna Ternheim
The Name of the Band is The Talking Heads - The Talking Heads
01.10.08
A series of Mr. Burns... I'm trying to get a better grasp of lighting, so these shots deal primarily with hard light and shadows. All shots were taken with a shutter speed of 1/200, an ISO of 200, and with various apertures depending on the amount of flash. I could have slowed the shutter speed to allow for more ambient light, but I wasn't as interested in doing that tonight. Not sure if I nailed the exposure or not.
Here's the set-up.
Since Enid hasn't made an appearance is a while, here's an older shot taken with the G7, flash was off camera. I will say that the G7 looks hilarious with a flash mounted, and not as crazy with a Pocket Wizard in the hot shoe. This was before I got a light meter, so it was me just guessing and playing with the exposure and flash.
On a completely different topic, the 'big guy' that was best eaten by 01/07 has been replaced with a new one.
Listening to:
Homogenic - Bjork
01.09.08
The 'big guy' is still available...
There's also a chili cheese dog with onions in the vending machine.
Listening to:
Buddha of Suburbia - David Bowie
01.08.08
I would have loved to have been a participant in the meeting where they named that sandwich. I'd also love to see the type of person who buys a 'big guy' sandwich from a vending machine. An old coworker used to buy sandwiches from vending machines, but I just can't see him eating this fine example of a sandwich gone bad. If you look closely you can see that it has a best by date of 01/07. I wonder if it'll be in the machine tomorrow.
Listening to:
Pink Flag - Wire
01.07.08
I wrote something earlier, but I've since deleted it all. On my way to work I blasted Trompe Le Monde by The Pixies. Great stuff. On the way home I rocked out to Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime. Operation Mindcrime is such a product of the 90s. Some consider Operation Mindcrime to be a prog-metal classic. I'd rather listen to Saint Etienne. Which reminds me, I ordered the Saint Etienne fan club only box set. I knew being a card carrying member of the Saint Etienne fan club had its perks.
Still, it was fun to listen to Queensryche. Made me think of the time JM, DW and I went to see Queensryche at the Rosemont Horizon. During that tour they played the entire Operation Mindcrime album.