This is the first time this plant has bloomed since we bought it last year. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the tag, so I have no idea what it is.
Flower
Posted in Arieanna & Ianiv
I’m multi-tasking through the Photocamp session at Northern Voice 2008, but wanted to capture some of the tips here.
-
Tim Bray on high-end pocket cameras:
- small cameras can be taken everywhere
- pocket cameras will not have all the great featurs of an SLR, but you can get some
- ignore megapixels – more is not better (above 6 is bad) based on limitations of the other parts of the camera
- prime lenses are more versatile
- recommended site: the online photographer
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Alex Waterhouse Hayward
- cloudy days are your friend – you see more shades of color
- do not light your subjects directly – how you light your photographs makes the biggest impact the quality of your final photos
-
Novak Rogic
- HDR – shadow detail
- create a ‘world’ panorama photo with a tripod, a landscape, then stitch together with autostitch
-
Duane Storey
- selling photos via smugmug
-
Miranda Lievers shooting portraits in natural light
- shoot down (more attractive) with soft window light (no hard shadows)
- Doorways also give directional soft light
- sunshine as hair light
- lamp light
- urban light
- if the light is not ideal, change the position of your subject to do something else and catch the light in a more flattering way
- shoot upward in high noon
- change your exposure for creative effect
- use light patterns for artistic compositions
- hard, directional sunlight at sunrise or sunset
- Presentation on flash use from jerkwithacamera.com
Minus a few presentations, and a day later, am now ready to post this. So much for multi-tasking!
Tags: northern voice, northernvoice, nv08, nv 08
We are running a very exciting contest in the Entertainment channel – we are calling it the Entertainment Survivor Challenge. Each blog was divided onto a team, and over the next 8 weeks they will compete as teams (then individually) for a prize.
This past week, the challenge was to put up a post for Valentine’s Day and the team with the most comments won.
Team #1: Couch Potatoes
- 24 Headquarters: Who’s Your 24 Valentine
- Comedy Centric: no participation
- Dance Watcher: Step up 2 the Streets
- Desperate Blog: Pick Your Valentine
- Evening Talk: Conan O’Brien Valentine’s Day Monologue
- FBI Dramas: Criminal Minds’ Sweetest Girl Contest
- Gossip Girls: Unlikely Couples for Valentine’s Day
- Gryffindor Gazette: no participation
- Idol Stalker: Who is Your Ideal Idol Date
- MTV Reality World: Lisa Love Has No Love for the Hills
- Reality Exploits: Big Brother 9
- Science on TV: no participation
- SF Universe: Be My SciFi Valentine
- Simply Dumb: no participation
- Stewie’s Playground: no participation
- Superhero Profiles: Hottest Couples: Crossover Smallville and Heroes
- The 4400 Guide: The 4400 Lets The Count the Ways
- Ugly Betty News: Give an Ugly Betty Valentine
Team #2: TV Addicts
- Approaching Lost: Pick Your Valentine
- CSI: Can Your DNA Help You Find Your Perfect Valentine
- DaytimeTalk: Who is your Valentine’s Dream?
- Disney Society: Pick Your Valentine HSM Stars!
- Fame or Famine: The Ultimate Valentine – Slow Live Jazz
- Film Gecko: Who is your Movie Star Valentine?
- Greys Anatomy: Valentine’s Day Style
- House is Right: Who is the Perfect Valentine for House?
- Medium Dreams: A Valentine for Lee and Romance on a Budget for Allison
- Prison Break Buff: A Prison Break Valentine’s Day
- Reaper News: Reaper Valentine – Best Couple?
- Searching Bones: Which is the Perfect Valentine Couple?
- Showtime Fan: Showtime Valentines
- Soaps on ABC: Which Soaps on ABC Hunk is Your Valentine?
- Style Television: no participation
- Supernatural: Scary Just Got Sexy – Your Favorite Evil Valentines
- Top Model Gossip: no participation
- VH1 Reality World: Who Would Be Your VH1 Valentine?
The Results:
The Couch Potatoes had 142 Comments while the TV Addicts came in as winners with 288 Comments. Simply Dumb and Stewie’s Playground were eliminated from the challenge.
Stay Tuned…
Since I am the editor of the channel, I am not participating in the contest. I will, however, keep the results of the contest up-to-date on GilmoreGirlsNews.
A play-by-play of the results can be found here.
Tags: survivor, survivor challenge, spekked, b5media, b5, entertainment, blog challenge, blogging challenge
Early this morning, a Starbucks on West Broadway and Heather in Vancouver exploded.
At 2:30 am on the morning of February 13th, an explosion in the 600-block of West Broadway in Vancouver leveled several street-level stores, including a Starbucks and Taco Del Mar, and did some damage to the London Drugs across the street. The noise and shock wave awoke residents for many blocks around.
No injuries have been reported, and no structural integrity issues have arisen as a result of the explosion.
Police and fire crews are investigating what caused the explosion and whether or not it was deliberately set. Police Spokesman Constable Tim Fanning said that arson investigators are calling the explosion "suspicious." Eye witnesses are reporting a man running from the area after the explosion. That said, fire investigators are looking into a possible gas leak at Taco Del Mar as the source of the problem.
You can view more photos taken by a local resident here.
Via canada.com, canadian press, aol Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward Tags: starbucks, explosion, vancouver, broadway, fire
WGA Strike is Over
Posted in TVThe Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike is now officially over. After 100 days on strike, 92.5% of WGA members voted to end the strike and go back to work starting tomorrow. Another vote will ratify the deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
“We are profoundly aware of the economic loss these fourteen weeks have created not only for our members but so many other colleagues who work in the television and motion picture industries,” wrote WGA West president Patric Verrone and WGA East president Michael Winship in a letter to members following the vote. “Nonetheless, with the establishment of the WGA jurisdiction over new media and residual formulas based on distributor’s gross revenue (among other gains) we are confident that the results are a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future.”
Late Night shows will be the first to reap the benefits, as writers return (for those shows without private WGA deals) and actors who previously showed solidarity to the striking writers return to the show circuit. Many networks have already announced plans to shoot new episodes for the season. Here is what we know so far of those shows…
Shows returning to production for the season:
- Battlestar Galactica to return to production as early as March
- CSIs will shoot 4-9 episodes each
- Desperate Housewives will get 4-7 new episodes
- Gossip Girl will get 5-6 new episodes
- Supernatural will get 5-6 new episodes
- Grey’s Anatomy will get 4-7 new episodes
- House will shoot 4-6 new episodes
- Lost will get 5 new episodes, totaling 13 (instead of 16) for the season
- Medium will get more
- Moonlight will get a ‘handful’ more
- Reaper will get 5-6 (has 3 yet to air as well)
- Samantha Who? will get 3 new episodes (has some to air as well)
- Ugly Betty will get 4-7 new episodes
Shows not returning to production this season:
- Heroes will not be shooting new episodes this season, as Chapter 3 would be too short. New episodes will defer to next season.
- 24 will be postponed to January 2009
- Aliens in America will air the remaining 8 episodes, but not film the additional 4 ordered for the first season
- Chuck is done for the season
- Pushing Daisies is done until Season 2
For more of which shows are returning and which are not, check TV Guide.
Via broadcasting & cable Tags: wga, wga strike, writers strike, tv, tv strike, new tv, television, television news, broadcast news
Artist: Till Nowak
Take imagination to the next level – imagine a naked bumblebee! This piece of digital art was greated by Till Nowak of Germany. The story behind the work: Bernard the bumblebee wanted to impress his friends. They were bored and switched on the electric shaver. So Bernard shaved off his fur – his friends laughing on, Bernard realized he didn’t like what he saw in the mirror.
Via neatorama Tags: shaved bumblebee, till nowack, art, digital art, cute, funny
There is a business in Ghana that creates custom coffins no other custom shop does. These ‘bespoke’ luxury coffins are created to reflect a person’s life.
From an airplane to a lion to a shoe or a Coke bottle (shown), the shop fills orders for customers all around the world. And has been since the 1950s.
Asked about the most unusual design Doku’s company has been commissioned to produce Doku, without a second’s hesitation, said: "That’s easy, it was back in 1992. A German doctor called us and ordered the womb of a woman."
The company is run by Emmanuel Doku and was started with the inspiration of another called Ataa Owuo. With Ataa’s grandmother died, he realized she had never travelled anywhere during her life. So he made her an airplane coffin "to take her to heaven."
Via Yahoo Tags: coffins, bespoke, custom coffins, doku, ghana
