Puerto Rico!
This photo was taken with my Canon 50D. The photo inside the photo was taken at the fort in Old San Juan by our tour guide. The picture was just... meh... but the photo of the photo is something we'll put on the wall.
Photo of a Photo, Old San Juan
I dropped down this ledge to get a good shot of Suzette, I thought it was a great composure. That photo is further down, but the one you see here is a photo Suzette took looking down the ledge at me as I was composing the shot of her. It was taken with a Point and Shoot Canon SD750.
Here is the photo I was composing in the above shot. I love how the shadow on the wall almost gives you a second perspective on the image.
Up the Ledge
I love this next shot because the silhouette of the palms really grasps the emotion of the scene. This was overlooking a beach from a cliff a couple hundred feet up.
Dark Palms
Downtown Old San Juan. At first I dismissed this shot and it ended up in my discard pile, but the more I looked at it the more I really felt like this was a candid shot of a local and less of a shot of downtown.
Candid Local
These dogs were growling and playing with eachother in this back alley while tourists such as myself were walking by not too far away.
They pay no mind to the tourists until one of them stops with a camera and tripod to take a picture.
Dogs in the Alley
This is where it gets scary. The dogs started running toward me in the middle of my second photo. I waited around for as long as I could until I was in fear for my life and had to snatch up my camera and haul ass.
Turns out they probably just wanted some food, but that doesn't make it less scary.
You can see the blur of the dogs on the left side of the frame.
Dogs in the Face
iPhone 4 and iOS4 – This is why Apple is genius.
When Apple released the original iPhone in January of 2007 they knew exactly what they were doing. They knew where the device would be in three years. The original had a 2 megapixel camera, no flash, impossible to take photos in low light situations, no multitasking capabilities. The 3G model seemed to have have some hardware upgrades, updates to motion sensing but it was more of an iPhone 1.5 than an iPhone 2. The 3GS is where the real marketing genius starts becoming more apparent. Again, the 3GS appeared at the time to be more of what the 3G should have been, making it the iPhone 2, instead of a true 3rd generation device. At this point we still have no flash and no multitasking, however we did get an upgrade on RAM to 256mb and upgraded processing power, but overall the general consensus was that there was not much of a difference.
Now, we have the iPhone 4 and the new iOS4. The iOS4 is the new Operating System shipped with the iPhone 4, and it became available to all previous iPhone 3G and 3GS users (as well as the iPod Touch) today. Right about now you're probably asking me to get to the point. Well here's the marketing genius of it all; Multitasking will only be available to 3GS and iPhone 4 users. Now we understand why they would release the 3GS with upgraded processing power, but very little noticeable difference. 3G and all previous versions of the iPhone will be discontinued. Not only has the release of the iPhone 4 driven sales for brand new devices, it has also driven sales of the 3GS, which will soon be the only previous generation iPhone available. Can't afford an iPhone 4? The 3GS will soon be $99, and it multitasks! (finally) There has been absolutely no reason for them to give us a flash or multitasking until now. The big competition is the Droid Incredible, and the new iPhone has all of the same features as Verizons new devices, and more.
I'm calling it now. iPhone 5; Expandable memory.
There are a ton more differences between the 3GS and the iPhone 4, I have only touched on a couple of them to point out that Apple had a very in depth and layed out marketing strategy. Check out the following videos to learn more.
‘Shutter Island’ Review
One word. Freaking Awesome. That's two words... I'll choose Freaking. Released in February of 2010, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Jackie Earle Haley, and Ted Levine and directed by Martin Scorsese. Seriously.. this isn't one of those films where you list one or two starring actors. Everyone is a great talent. It's actually a difficult one to review or even talk about because there are so many plot twists that it's nearly impossible to not give something away. Shutter Island is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, and here's just a few hints as to what it's about. Criminally insane, nazi's, not really, dead kids, wet wife. Throughout the film there are hints as to how it's going to end and if you have a really keen eye and a knack for plot awareness you might be able to predict how it's going to play out. Some things may be predictable, sure. They can't leave you completely flabbergasted. (Why is it when you're online you use words you wouldn't normally use in everyday conversation?)
DiCaprio is still one of the best of this generation, hands down. I honestly cannot name a film that he has been in that I didn't like.
Honorable mention to Jackie Earle Haley for playing a consistently good maniac. (i.e. Rorschack)
If you have not seen Shutter Island, see it. If you have seen it. Do you think your violence could conquer mine?
Diet Foods: This is why you’re still fat!
I was watching the "Today Show" this morning as I was getting ready for work and was able to catch enough of a story called "Which Diet Foods Exaggerate Claims?" to nearly enrage me. These "Diet Foods" are frozen "Lean Cuisine" type meals. Precooked and frozen, shipped to the masses who eat this crap and expect to lose weight. They go on to bash these companies for being up to 20% off on their food labels. "Why?" asked one woman interviewed. While I hate to defend food manufacturers (notice I didn't say growers) here is an analogy to help you understand.
Make a salad tonight. (If you don't know how to make a salad this article is for you) Then tomorrow night, make another salad. Do you think both salads had the same amount of calories? No, they don't. Certain things need to be taken into account, such as amount of dressing, if you used chicken in your salad, did you use the exact same amount? Does the chicken have the exact same fat content? If you use spinach instead of lettuce are the leaves the same size? There is no way to properly determine exactly how many calories are going to be in the box you take home, and so these companies have to print averaged numbers on the labels, they can't test every individual box before it ships. Okay, enough defending...
There is one really good way you could eliminate this problem. I'm going to let you in on this secret. This is going to help you lose weight, keep it off, be healthy. STOP EATING FROZEN AND PRE-PACKAGED FOOD! CARDIO! BE ACTIVE! You want to lose weight? Stop relying on companies to make healthy choices for you. (And while you're at it, stop letting school teachers parent your children and stop letting the TV be your baby sitter) Take your health into your own hands. Go buy celery, carrots, lettuce, fresh chicken, fish. Better yet, grow it yourself and teach your kids that food doesn't come from a grocery store, stop this downward spiral of unhealthy food decisions before another generation grows up on happy meals and hot pockets.
"Treadmills aren't cheap and neither are gym memberships!" True but shoes are a necessity and you probably already have those. Chances are you have a sidewalk in your neighborhood. Hydrate, throw on your shoes and introduce them to the sidewalk, that's free.
"Eating healthy isn't cheap!" And excuses are a dime a dozen, so stop spending your dimes on excuses (Read: triple mocha frappa latte) and buy a tomato.
One woman from the story this morning was so surprised by these findings. "I eat those frequently, very often actually. Maybe that's why my weight has stayed the same." No kidding lady... or maybe the starbucks is catching up to you. This is no laughing matter, this is a society issue and the only ones that can fix it are us. It's not hard to eat healthy. Let's get back to basics. Think about what your great grandparents probably ate. Eat that. Now think about the kinds of activities they probably did. Don't go trying to find cows to milk, or fences to mend, but think about how active the average person must have been 100-200 years ago, before obesity was an issue. Try to be about that active 2-3 times a week and you'll be in better shape a year from now than you are now, I promise you that.
1968 Ford Mustang: The Beginning
In 1968 my grandmother who lived in Mobile, AL at the time bought a gold 1968 Mustang coupe with a 289 cubic inch V8 and a black ragtop. To the left is the earliest photo we had of the mustang in it's mostly original state. Notice the oversized rear tires? It's safe to say my Dad had started driving it at this point.
By 1970 my Dad had started driving the mustang as his first car. Shortly afterwards he met my mom. I grew up hearing stories about the mustang from around this time. Chasing jack rabbits in the field was one of the favorite stories for my grandmother to tell me. My dad swears it was someone else. Jumping the railroad tracks? That was probably not someone else. Only the rabbits and the tracks know the truth.
To the right is a photo taken of my dad driving the mustang to the lake with a group of friends piled in. The photo was taken from my uncles Hemi Cuda.
Below is one of my favorite photos of the mustang, aside from breaking my first cardinal rule of not climbing, touching, breathing on or sneezing near my car, this photo reminds me of the song 1979 by the Smashing Pumpkins. Even though it was roughly 1968 or 1969.
In 1976 my dad bought a white 1972 Mach1. For a while my mom and dad drove both cars, driving the 68 now and then until about 1980 when the 68 mustang was parked in my grandmothers garage with the intentions of fixing it up with some paint, some engine work, etc... Unfortunately that is where the mustang sits to this day in gray primer, dry rotted tires, and a completely siezed 289 cubic inch paperweight.
In september of 2010 we are taking a trip to Oklahoma and I am bringing my unicorn home to restore it. I might cry.
Here's my dad working on the mustang. This is shortly after he got back from the Air Force. This is where the car sits today, minus the paint.
He used to work on the car Monday through Friday and race for pinks on the weekends. We still own the car, so it's safe to say it didn't lose very often. I grew up with those stories too. It's probably because of all of those stories that I grew up with a love for cars.
Stay tuned for more 'Mustang Chronicles' coming soon.