Tag: flickr

flickr, is it just me?, mixed media, movie musings, photography

300, daylight savings time, flickr musings, and one BRIEF word about AI

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First of all, 300 opens today, and I want to start by saying that I have been waiting for this movie since I heard it was even being made. Needless to say (not to say how it happened, or when I have seen it… tee hee hee), I was completely blown away. The visuals are visceral and intense. The bodies of the men and women in this movie go beyond toned, and into the realm of sculpture. The acting is top notch, and the cinematography is at a minimum breath taking. This movie truly is an orgy for the eyes. The fighting and the special effects used in this movie put much of the other stuff I have seen to shame. I also find it completely fascinating that this is loosely based on a real battle, the Battle of Thermopylae, where king Leonidas, king of Sparta stood to protect his people. These men held an amazing level of courage and insane sense of loyalty, if you ask me, and it is eloquently portrayed in this film. As someone who loved Sin City, knowing that this was based on (as well as worked on by him as well) Frank Miller’s graphic novels of the same title, I was not only excited to see this, I was extremely pleased that the movie delivered, and I loved what I saw. Frank Miller is a force to be reckoned with, and if this is the type of thing we can expect from his projects in the future, I commit to have my eyes and ears peeled to whatever move he makes next. 300 is everything I hoped it could be, and more. The actors are beautiful (seriously, Gerard Butler is hot, but in 300? I mean, goddamn. And you lesbians… Uh, Lena Headey? WOW! She also wins the award for women’s lib in this movie). The fighting is epic. The special effects are unreal. The movie, is a beautiful triumph. Full 6 out of 6 stars (, folks; this one is NOT to be missed. You MUST see this in the theaters for yourself. This is what movies should be like. Wow.

Daylight savings time (DST)… seriously… Why do we do that anymore? I know, I know, gain an hour of daylight in the evening, shift it in the morning later in the year; but based on the headache that it is causing a lot of people this year, I ask, what is the point? There has been a criticism of the importance of this practice since its inception, and I just wonder if this criticism deserves more investigation. I for one don’t think that it serves much of a purpose, because it is really only one hour. Eventually, the day grows longer or shorter, regardless if time jumps forward or backward that one hour. So why worry about it?

Also, I wanted to put the word out, that I created a flickr group called Holy Cow!!!, and hope that you will join me. Now, I usually don’t get that excited about flickr groups and whatnot, but I am excited about this, because I came up with idea, basically, because of the lack of such a group. I think that it is cool to have a flickr group where we can put photos that we find astonishing, and even post those of our own that make us go “holy cow!” when we see them! Isn’t that fun? If you aren’t a member of the group, now’s your chance, go here and join up! I want to see how many people and how many awesome photos we can get involved.

Finally, and I promise this will be brief; HOW IN THE FUCK did Sanjaya Malakar make it into the top 12??!?!?!? I am serious people, I am not trying to be mean to the kid, but he can’t hold a candle to anyone on the show. If you don’t care about American Idol, please disregard this vent, and go on with your day. Thank you.

Well, that’s about it for me. Have a good weekend everyone! I am going to see 300 again tomorrow! You should too!

flickr, movie musings, photography, the catch-all-egory

zodiac and a new lens

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So last night, we went with Barry and Rebekah to check out the newest Jake Gyllenhaal flick, Zodiac. For those of you that know me, know that I love all things Gyllenhaal (Maggie included!), so there was no way I was going to be able to wait for this movie to make its way to DVD. So, I braved the Friday night movie crowds (those of you that know me well, know that I HATE going to the movies on opening night… crowds make me angry), and we managed to have no problem sitting together, thanks to Daniel and Andrew meeting us at the movie, and saving us four chairs. Score!! So just before the movie, when we were eating dinner, Barry mentions that the movie is 2 hours and 40 minutes long… uh, I wasn’t expecting that, but nevertheless, I was excited to see a new Gyllenhaal movie. So we made our way into the theater, settled in, and watched Zodiac. While it definitely was a long movie (seriously, almost 3 hours long, remember!), it was actually really good. There was lots of “thriller” moments, and there was actually a bunch of surprisingly vivid violence in the recreation of the Zodiac’s killings. It really captured the hysteria of the time, being that a mass murderer was just out there killing people, and no one knew who he was or where to look for him. Surprisingly, there was actually quite a bit of humor in the movie, which cut the suspense very nicely. Most of that came from Robert Downey Jr., which was nice and welcome in this serious movie. It was also cool how they followed the reporters and the police as they worked to try and uncover who the killer was before he killed again. Eventually, the police give up, and Jake’s character takes it upon himself to find out who Zodiac is years later, while writing a book about him. Overall, I really liked the movie, and I will definitely get it for our collection when it hits DVD. The only thing that I didn’t really like (even though it was totally necessary), was the continual splicing together of scenes labeled with how much later they were than the previous scene (i.e., 2 months later…). They did that A LOT in the film, and it was a little distracting, but overall, I really liked it. I’ll give it a five out of six (); perhaps another viewing will make that go up, because I get distracted in the theater sometimes, and all that time jumping plus the almost 3 hour movie proved to be a little distracting. Either way, that’s what I thought, now you go see it! [picture from iheartjakemedia.com]

drinks anyone?Other than that, I am completely reeling over my newest purchase; I got a new (very inexpensive) lens for my camera. The lens is a 50mm f1.8, which is awesome, because it has a wicked aperture, allowing me to do awesome DOF things. I am in love with it. I messed around a little yesterday, and got some pretty great pictures. I look forward to learning more and more about it, and hopefully, I will just get better with time. To the right is one of the pictures that I took yesterday (if you want to see it bigger, click on it, and it will take you to the flickr page). What do you think? (you can see the rest on my flickr page) I am impressed with how well this camera handles, and the impressive pictures that come out of it. YAY great purchase!

I hope that everyone is having a great weekend, and relaxing accordingly. We are going to have a rousing Wii Boxing game this afternoon as our workout, and then hang out with friends tonight and tomorrow night. God, weekends are the best. I wish they lasted longer!!!

blog on blog, flickr, the catch-all-egory

fruity friday

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mix-‘n-match, originally uploaded by duanecmoody.

Hope everyone is having a great end of the week day. I am having some pain in my leg, but other than that… no worries. I thought the fruit was a great way to brighten the day, no?

I am having a hard time dealing with mundane, repetitive tasks today, but then, at least I am getting stuff done, right? I will be happy when it is completed!

Last night, I was up very late, because I got really into updating my dvd library pages and whatnot. I am going to try and get all of my html files into wordpress, mainly because it is much easier to update that way. I do wonder, though, if anyone actually reads that stuff; other than to poke fun at it, that is. Oh well, I love the organization, so I guess it doesn’t really matter, now does it?

What does everyone have planned for this weekend? I am torn between things to do tonight, and I might have to make a choice for the one that I wasn’t planning on, but would make someone else very happy. I am fine with that, though; I just don’t want to let others down. Tomorrow should be relaxing, and I think that I am going to try and come up with new photo ideas… Anyone want to go on a photostroll?

Also, I am loving Lily Allen and Kellie Pickler today; talk about opposites. I am going to see Lily at the Loft on Monday, March 19th if anyone wants to come… we have a little group going, and I think it will be a blast. Oh well, let me know! That’s all for today!

all about me, flickr

the first rung

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first rung, originally uploaded by duanecmoody.

Somedays, it is almost impossible just to grab that first rung and pull yourself up. Today is one of those days. A lot to do, and a big block of anxiety sitting in the way.

What happened to me… I used to be able to handle pressure pretty well. Well, I guess I at least need to reach out for the damn thing and at least give it a go.

Wish me luck.

"pointless", all about me, flickr, the catch-all-egory

a friday free-for-all!

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I am all over the place today! So, in the spirit of that “all over the place” mentality I am currently afflicted by, I thought I would share! Why not, right?! I knew you would agree.

First of all, my car starting making a noise this week. Not a good noise either, it was a “metal on metal” scraping noise coming from the wheels. Shit. Of course, I am a proactive person when it comes to car care (I always get the oil done on time, and I rotate tires and that kind of stuff), so I called Acura and made an appointment for this afternoon. Turns out, it is something to do with brake pads and the rotors, and so I have to have the back ones fixed… the front ones are covered by the warranty for whatever reason. It’s going to be $165, but at least I have two things going FOR me here; the vibration and that awful metal on metal noise when braking will go away, AND, I luckily got my tax return money this week. So, I guess things could be worse. I just can’t wait to see how it drives when it is fixed, especially since they let me borrow a BRAND NEW RDX to drive while I am waiting for my car. That car is NICE, but really, the only thing about it I would want, is the MP3 CD capability, and the audio in jack for my ipod… my car doesn’t have either of those features. Other than that, I am very happy with Bianca, and can’t wait to get her back.

Second, to preface this next thing, let me start by saying that my tattoo guy had me on a stand by list, in case of a cancellation, in order to fix my ankle tattoo. Apparently, this was the quickest way to get in, because he has a massive waiting list (which is totally understandable, because he is amazing)… but I didn’t expect that they would call and be all, “um, can you come in tonight?”. Well, needless to say, I said yes, because I don’t want to have to wait that much longer; especially considering the main reason I went to Russ in the first place, was to get my ankle redone… and I ended up with a half sleeve!!! I probably want to do more with the sleeve in the future, but for now, we are doing ankle work ONLY. I can’t wait to see what he can do with it. The man is a genius with a needle and ink. The appointment tonight shouldn’t be half as painful as my last one (which was all inner arm work, ouch!). I just hope James isn’t too shaken by the sudden change of plans… he doesn’t deal well with that, but in this case, I didn’t have much of a choice. Oh well, I guess we’ll see!

a daffodil's view

Finally, my good friend Deb has talked me into getting a kick ass lens for my camera, because it is pretty much one of the best deal lenses for the Canon EOS cameras… it is a 50mm with f1.8, and it should allow me to enhance the bokeh in my shots (bokeh is the effect in the shot above, where the main object of the photo is sharp, but the background is blurred and softened… but this lens can make it much smoother and more soft). This is the effect in photography that I have learned, and one that I love the most, and I can’t wait to see what this lens can do, because the one that comes with the camera is pretty limited when you want to do more specific and advanced things like this; plus, it is a cheap lens (as I mentioned). I am completely loving this camera, and I am SOOOO glad that I got it. It was totally worth the wait, and I know that I am gushing about it, but I really can’t help it. Mama likes her electronics, kids!!! Also, keep in mind I waited over a year and a half to get this camera, so a little excitement is in order. Be sure to keep an eye on my flickr page, because I can assure you, things are only going to get more interesting. Well, at least I am going to posting a lot more… I have fallen back in love with flickr!

I hope that everyone has a great Friday (what’s left of it), and I hope everyone has a great weekend as well! Expect some commentary on the Oscars on Monday… GO JENNIFER HUDSON!!! WOOO WOOO!