look ahead

look ahead
Originally uploaded by cthopper93

So I had a really bad week. Minor falls and impacts accompanied with headaches and broken treasures. I did get to have a great time Friday night watching a midnight showing of the original Friday the 13th at the Kentucky Theater. A giant WooHoo!

2 a.m.

2 a.m.
Originally uploaded by cthopper93

A 2 a.m. trip through downtown Richmond leads to some mysterious places. To me this is one of the creepiest places in Richmond.

twins

twins
Originally uploaded by cthopper93

A shot of the abandoned Twins Motel. I thought it had an eerie feel to it.

running up that hill

running up that hill
Originally uploaded by cthopper93

This is a macro I did yesterday. I was very happy with it.

argon

argon
Originally uploaded by cthopper93

An un-manipulated shot of Tammy that I love.

electrified

electrified
Originally uploaded by cthopper93

This is a manipulation of Tammy that I really love. The people of Flickr are very inspiring. It is a shame about all of the censorship issues.

burst

burst
Originally uploaded by cthopper93

This is one of my favorite macros.

across the universe

across the universe
Originally uploaded by cthopper93

I love long exposure photography.

pistil whip

pistil whip
Originally uploaded by cthopper93

I really love the way this manipulation turned out.

creation falls

creation falls
Originally uploaded by cthopper93.

HDR of Creation Falls found on the Rock Bridge Trail at Red River Gorge. The entire trail was beautiful.

lilac dreams

lilac dreams
Originally uploaded by cthopper93.

A bittersweet story about the lilac tree... It isn't designed to hold up against snow once it starts to bloom. While it was beautiful to capture the flowers holding soft, fragile snowflakes, the event may kill the tree. It is strange to have snow this late in the year, especially after the 80 degree weather from last week that made all the flowers start to bloom. Even though only a 1/4 inch of snow fell around here, it may have done a lot of damage to the local trees and flowers.

night flowery

night flowery
Originally uploaded by cthopper93.

This was a night HDR that I took. I really liked the way it turned out.

tiltawhirl

tiltawhirl
Originally uploaded by cthopper93.

This is one of my first fake tilt-shifts. I love the effect it has on photos.

nightlife

nightlife
Originally uploaded by cthopper93.

Been taking a lot of photos and posting them on flickr lately. This is one of my favorites. A night HDR.

the hypocrite is me

So a couple of weeks have past.  I promised myself not to Wii hunt.  I broke that promise the week before last.  We found a site that gave information about Wii inventory and shipment dates.  We decided to go to Circuit City at open the Sunday before last (1/21/07).  We de-iced the car while sliding down our inclined driveway, and then drove 30 miles to try to capture the elusive wii.  We pulled up to the store and started walking in through the ice storm.  A guy was walking out of the store holding a Wii.  Upon sighting this man Tammy said, "run!" so we ran.  We get to an associate and he tells us that he had just sold the last unit.  I was almost in tears.  Once I made it to the car there was yelling.  The image of the guy walking out of the store with his Wii was etched into my memory.  You could just see the satisfaction on his face.  This is why I had given up the hunt in the first place, disappointment.  The day wasn't all bad.  We ended up going to see Pan's Labyrinth.  While we were very sleep deprived, the film kept our attention.  It is a beautiful modern fairy tale with outstanding music, spectacular special effects and a moving story. 

With that incident being over, I found out our local Wal-Mart was going to be getting a large shipment of Wii's this past Sunday (1/28/06).  I decided come hell or high water I was getting a Wii.  I went at 9pm Saturday night and asked if there was a line for the 12:01 distribution, and there was.  I was about 10th in line.  Thankfully they had 45 so I was able to get my Wii.  It is magnificent.  It is all I expected and more.  I will write more about it later. 

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Zombies!!! and Great Movies come together, again!

Tammy and I played the boardgame Zombies!!! for the second time last night, and we had a blast.  The first time playing was kind of confusing.  It was difficult working out the subtleties.  Some of the rule aren't extraordinarily clear, but if you can master the basic core of rules the rest can be worked out as you play.  Twilight Creations, the company that make the game, has a good FAQ
site that answers most of the questions that may have been left out of the instructions.  You also have the freedom to create any variation you like which we plan on doing once we become even more comfortable with the core rules.  I can't wait to pay with a larger group of people!

While playing the game we watched The Red Queen Kills Seven Times.  We picked this movie up as part of the Emilio Miraglia Killer Queen Box Set.  I have to say the movie was pretty amazing.  Being a huge fan of Dario Argento's movies I have to say this film had the style, colors, and music of a great giallo horror masterpiece.  While the movie was almost as good as an Argento movie it lacked the blood and brutality of the Italian masters films.  Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of blood for the casual viewer, it is just not as abundant as it is with, let's say, Deep Red.

This movie was brought to us by a company I am going to be keeping my eye on called NoShame who also release the great Italian film Dark Waters that Tammy reviewed on VOX a few months ago.  They have great potential, and so far I have been really happy with the movies I have seen from the company.

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Finished

So today we wake up at 9am...  For most people that is pretty realistic, maybe even late, but for Tammy and myself it is very uncommon.  We work night shift.  We wake up at about noon, go to work from 2pm - 5pm and return home from work midnight or later.  We come home, eat, and veg out for the rest of the night.  It is impossible for us to get to sleep right after work so we end up staying up late.  So we wake up at 9am this morning to make it to Toys R Us at open.  We did this because last weekend an associate gave us a *wink* "hint" that it would be beneficial to make the 30 mile trek today to try to obtain the elusive Wii.  We get up, get ready and on a few hours sleep make the journey hoping it will be our last attempt.  We get to Toys R Us and ask an associate in the game department about todays shipment and about the Wii and to our dismay she screeches at us, "No, we don't have em and they never tell us when they are coming."  This is the response I have received for 3 solid weeks now.  The tone of this particular response just hits me at the wrong place.   I understand that these people are as tired of answering the same questions as I am asking them, but come on, it is your job.  You are being payed to answer my question.  I am polite in asking, please return the courtesy.  So anyway, we search the area further.  All the other retail stores are sold out and do not know when to expect them.  I am done.  I am no longer searching.  Tammy and I have both spent way too much time and energy on this hunt.  If Nintendo doesn't want to ship enough units to meet demand that is their business.  I am just going to sit back and wait for them to casually enter the stores when I will say, "Oh! Look there!  It is a Wii that hasn't been sold to an employee of the store.  Ten people aren't gathered around the game case to fight me for it...  Shopkeep!  Please fetch me that Wii!"  Until then I will ignore my hunting instinct and enjoy the board game I ended up buying today, Zombies!!! from Twilight Creations. 

I hope it is as fun as the Wii.  We will see!

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Wii hunt

After my last several weeks of futility I want to start a campaign.  Why hunt for a Wii when you could be playing Warcraft?  Maybe this campaign will distract enough hungry gamers long enough so I can get my hands on a Wii.  I will start making posters and place them all over town.

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Robert Anton Wilson needs help

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

It turns out tragedy has struck the life of one of the most inspirational authors of our time.


Monthly contributions of $50.00 or more will be greatly appreciated.
All monies will go directly to Robert and can be sent to his PayPal
address olgaceline@gmail.com. You can also send a check to RAW c/o
Futique Trust, P.O. Box 3561, Santa Cruz, Ca 95063.

Hard Candy

Every now and then a film comes along that truly makes you appreciate the craft of film making. This movie is one of them. I had seen a trailer for Hard Candy earlier this year, and while impressed, I had not expected just how wonderful this movie would end up being. From the trailer I had gathered the elements of this original plot. Guy picks up underage girl on internet, twist... girl is the predator. The plot had me interested enough to pick up the movie, but the delivery was enough to make me adore it.

The movie starts of in an internet chat room where flirtations are exchanged between our two main characters. A meeting is established and the film begins in a coffee shop. From this point on we are put into a constant exchange of interesting dialogue between two very believable, captivating characters.

Hayley, played by Ellen Page, is a very mature, intelligent teenager who ends up going home with her online friend Jeff, a photographer in his 30's, played by Patrick Wilson. From the moment they enter Jeff's home the tension and chemistry between the characters evolves from subtle teases to psychological torment. It is a delight to see a relationship like this built between the characters and the audience. I tend to believe character development is one of the most lacking qualities in modern film. Most of the time I find myself (especially with the horror and suspense genre) not caring about the characters that are presented to me. They are typically one dimensional creatures that have no depth or interesting qualities. These characters are solid, intelligent people with multi-dimensional motives that the actors deliver with the greatest of ease.

Beyond the characters is the cinematography. From the very beginning of the movie you can see the care put into each frame. The colors come across so vivid and vibrant it feels as though you are standing with the actors witnessing every scene. It turns out that, "The digital color grade was affected by a specially built system designed and operated at the Moving Picture Company by Jean Clement Soret (famous for his transformation of digital video into filmic colour in Danny Boyles 28 Days Later.)" to quote the films website. The light is reflected perfectly on every texture drawing notice to subtle clues and ideas placed like easter eggs through the movie. Each item presented through the movie encourages thought and speculations of the next action. Each action that occurs, in turn, makes you question the consequence to come later. In these ways the sets and setting act like a character in and of itself. All together these elements add up to an uneasy tone that follows the film from beginning to end.

Director David Slade has given us a true masterpiece with this film. I find it difficult to find a flaw in this moving piece of art. I cannot recommend it highly enough.