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Archives for June 2003

June 27, 2003

Article: Art From Hell

Following a link in Scoble's Weblog yesterday, I came upon a site that really moved me - as strange, amazing, upsetting and at times downright morbid as it is.

This seemingly innocent-looking young woman, Asya Schween, has produced and posted on her site a series of self-portraits that are equally as vainly narcissistic as they are horridly disturbing. With a sense for imaginary make-up (or a talented make-up-artist friend), creative prop selection, a digital camera, and amazing Photoshop wizardry, she has created a seemingly endless succession of haunting images that could easily rival movie stills from Wes Craven or David Lynch's most ambitious projects. Continued ...

And ah, I see - I'm seemingly not the only one pestering Scoble with requests of turning wheels within Microsoft.

It boils down to this: We all (ok, most of us) rely on MS's software in one way or another. That's just a simple fact. Yet the company seems so gigantic to us, so unapproachable, that if we can't find solutions to our problems, we turn to a) the web community (websites, newsgroups, chat rooms etc), b) Microsoft's website (although I've rarely found anything of true help or interest there - again due to its intimidating vastness), c) our geek friends nearby, or d) we take the desperate measure of paying an expert to help us solve our particular problem.

Truth be told that before Scoble started working at MS, I would have never even dreamed of directly talking to the company. It's kinda like the government - your chances of getting help are so slim, that you'd rather not even bother.

So having someone there in the vast maze of Microsoft-ness who is willing to help, knowing that there is a faint glimmer of hope on the horizon - that's simply invaluable.

I wish Microsoft would put forth an effort to put more people like Scoble into place - people who are community-oriented, who you can trust to make wheels turn when it counts. I bet their respect in the tech community would rise dramatically on the barometer ...

June 26, 2003

Funny. After writing about the thrills of playing non-violent video games in yesterday's blog, the New York Times doubles up on the topic with a related article today on (yes, you guessed it) the joys of casual gaming.

And speaking of playing games for entertainment: my friend Adam up in Toronto has just launched a kick-ass gambling site, NancyNevada.com. I'm usually not very fond of gambling sites - mainly because they either require you to sign up with them right away and give 'em your credit card number on the first registration page, or they force you download their software in order to play the games.

At NancyNevada's on the other hand, there is nothing to download (the games are java-based), and they have a section where you can play their casino-style games for the pure and simple fun of it - and for free. Of course you can play for money too - yet in an unusual twist, the site owners generously dispurse the advice, that while testing their games, they found Blackjack and Pai Gow to have the highest return rates. Way to go! So go check it out, folks. And relieve ol' Adam of some that cash that is bogging him down so terribly...

As a final note: A huge thanks to my buddy Scoble who, as a new Microsoft Evangelist, is already doing the good work, and has tracked down the one guy at MS who can (will?) help me and the rest of the "NMI: Parity Check" error sufferers find a solution to that nasty problem. He's promised to look into it and get back to me within the next two weeks.

June 20, 2003

Ok, as promised, here is a full gallery of images from the Sisters Rodeo.

Unfortunately, security at the event was tight, and they wouldn't let anybody without media clearance close enough to the arena to get the prime shots. So I was confined to shoot from my assigned seat with a 300mm lens. Hope you all enjoy the action nonetheless...

June 23, 2003

Here are a few random links and comments that have accumulated in my frontal lobe over the past few weeks, and that I need to put down on digital ink in order to remember them later and maybe even better the day of an equally random reader:

In today's NYT: A thoroughly enlightening article by David Pogue on Sony's new DVD recorder.

Also, the NYT continues its infatuation in writing about blogs and bloggers. Did the paper fact check all that?

Rent the movie IGBY GOES DOWN on DVD. It's quite possibly the most interesting and delightful film I have seen all year. Having watched it twice in a row (once alone, once with a friend), I was going to write a lengthy review with all kinds of references to J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye (a book I thoroughly despise, but who's main character Holden bears a striking resemblance to the deliciously lovable Igby). Yet, that review hasn't completely formulated itself in my brain, so maybe later. In the meantime, go rent the movie. Susan Sarandon's performance as Igby's pill-popping, psycho-maniac mother Mimi is outstanding, as is newcomer Kieran Culkin's as confused teenager Igby (also worth seeing in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys).

You can thank me later.

June 25, 2003

I've been playing the video game Primal on a PlayStation 2 over at a friend's house recently.

Never having been a huge video game buff (I've only played Unreal Tournament, Luigi's Mansion, and The Seventh Guest extensively), I was surprised and delighted to see how far games and game graphics have come in recent years. And not just in reference to the fancy animation - but also to the content. Primal really is an interactive mini-movie, with cool characters, entertaining puzzles, and unexpected plot twists.

And unlike Unreal Tournament, Primal is more than just an exercise in unloading your various high-powered weapons at your unfortunate oppenents (and having the dubious pleasure of seeing them splatter on the floor in a spray of blood and guts) - Primal appeals more to the aestetic eye and the keen wit of the player. Granted, there is combat (you have to fight all kinds of monsters as you try and solve a single huge problem in each of the four game worlds) and it can be a bit bloody at times, but compared to most FPS (First-Person-Shooter) games, it is mild.

The real reason I got hooked on Primal though (and am now itching to get my own PlayStation) is the simple fact that it's not just a game, but a delicious escape into a realm, where none of your real-world worries matter. The game is so stimulating and so involved, that putting the joystick down and turning off the PlayStation makes you feel like a traitor to the quest you were just on for the past hours (ok - many, many hours).

True - the puzzles are a bit too easy, and the combat is less than challenging. But who really cares about all that, when you have such cool locations to explore and the movie-interludes are so entertaining. In the end, it's all about the eye candy.

June 18, 2003

Image of the Day:

[Steer Wrestling]

Last Sunday, I visited the well-known Sisters Rodeo. One of the most impressive competitions was the steer wrestling. More images from the rodeo will get posted tomorrow.

June 17, 2003

Image of the Day

[Mt. Bachelor with Lilly Pond]

Lilly Pond in front of Mount Bachelor, as seen from Hosmer Lake, Oregon.

June 16, 2003

Random image of the day:

[Antigua Streetscene]

A streetscene from the ancient city of Antigua in Guatemala

June 13, 2003

Today, I have a little bedtime story for my readers.

A few years ago, I spent a couple of weeks at the beach house of a relative in Olympia, Washington State. The house had a breathtaking view of the ocean, the coast line, and a snow-covered Mount Rainier. One morning, as I sat on the deck, taking in the view, I noticed an otter foraging for food in the rocky shallows nearby. I grabbed my camera, and raced down the steep stairs to the beach.

Without giving me so much of a side glance, the otter swam around no more than 30 feet from me. He seemed so focused on catching a meal, that he completely ignored me.

Casually snapping away, I watched him for a while, but things started to get a whole lot more interesting, when he finally caught a fish and dragged his catch onto a raft nearby.

See the little picture story that ensued...

June 12, 2003

Ok, as promised, here are some more images from the Balloons over Bend event last weekend.

June 10, 2003

It's been way too nice weatherwise lately as that I could have justified spending my time in front of the computer.

Guilt has driven me however to go ahead and post at least an Image of the Day for my valued readers.

It's a panorama shot from a local event last weekend: the first annual Balloons over Bend.

Getting up at the ungodly hour of 4am on Saturday, I drove into town to catch the inflating and launching of the balloons in the golden morning light. And indeed - like huge magical mushrooms, they grew from their flat selves into a dazzling assembly of scintillating colors, popping up from the green of the football field, and up and up into the blue summer sky over Bend.

It was a thrill to see, and well worth rolling out of bed early for. The evening lighting ceremony of six of the balloons in downtown Bend was, while terribly uncoordinated, interesting too, and if my images turned out, some more balloon pics will get posted here in the very near future.