What I thought to be kind of a fun way to spice up the home screen on the iPhone thanks to the recent iPhone 1.1.3 Firmware Update.

View a little more information on the Flickr page.

A short film I made for my Intro to Film class. I apologize for the white streak throughout most of it– the Bolex I was using I guess had an issue with some sort of screw.

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This past week I’ve had two large assignments surrounding the idea of lighting in photography and film. The first assignment was my photography one, in which I designed and constructed a Ringlight for my photos. A ringlight is a piece of equipment (in this case, a colander, a small plastic bowl, some cardboard, a bit of foil, and a ton of duct tape) that throws light onto your subject in a ring form. This is done to minimize any sort of shadows on the subject’s face.

I followed these instructions, but had to compensate for the fact that I had almost no tools. Instead of drilling holes of any sort, I had to heat my colander and plastic bowl over the stove first, then thwack at it with the sharp end of a hammer. I did this during one of the World Series game (Woo! Go Sox!) and definitely looked like an idiot. I must say though, I was a bit surprised when my downstairs neighbor came and knocked on my door complaining about the banging and asked if I could do it “during the commercials.” I understood.

So, I took some photos with it on both film and digital. The film ones came out beautifully, but sadly they are drying right now. Here are some of the digital ones:

And here’s the ringlight in a reflection of my mirror (with me as a dork):

To see more, check out the Flickr set I made for it.

Meanwhile, for my FILM 1 class, we were assigned to do a lighting test project using a Bolex camera with 16mm TRI-X Reversal film. If you don’t know what any of that means, it doesn’t really matter. Basically we (my group and I) shot this on a film camera– one of those dealies with the cranking and the filming!

We had to light the scene (duh. it’s a lighting test), and do it at different contrast ratios. It’s pretty evident in the (relatively successful) outcome:

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Lighting is fun, huh?

After getting request upon request upon request to add Facebook applications, I finally found one that has proved to be interesting. It’s called the Compare People app, and it does just that: compares people. Basically, anytime you go to the application, you get 50 matches of two of your friends on Facebook, and you tell them which one is, for example:

• more likely to win in a fight
• has a better taste in music
• more fashionable
• hotter
• someone you’d rather kiss

And the list goes on and on. The ratings all get tallied up, and in the end, you are awarded certain placement within your group of friends (and, privately, with your entire networks).

I just discovered this interesting application, so I had yet to see where my fellows on Facebook had placed me. When I looked, I was understanding, surprised, startled, and humbled. Here are some of the best:

The ones I assumed/hoped I could win

I spent a good deal of time perfecting profile pictures. It’s a hobby, right?

The ones I assumed I would lose

Yes. They’re all 0%— for a reason!

The ones I was greatly flattered by

I was actually told this first one the other day, and I don’t really get it, but I’m flattered nonetheless. However, some of these make absolutely no sense. Am I friends with four deaf people? Four odd-taste people? And who in their right mind called me cuddly? Have you seen how bony I am?

Finally, the ones that were out of the blue

The first one is just kind of odd. As far as the second one is concerned, I didn’t think that pre-schoolers could join Facebook, add this application, and get compared as such to me. And the last two– how the hell didn’t I win those? Huh?

This application really makes you think. Hard. About why you’d be such a great father, and how you can become crazier to clench the award.

I leave you with the following. Clearly I am the best father figure in all of Apple, Inc:

I just don’t get it…

I was looking through my photos in Lightroom the other day, reminiscing about the different things I’ve done and experienced over the past year and a half or so, when I just started holding down the right arrow key. I zipped through all of my photos, revealing my last year or so in just a couple minutes. Little animations and cool effects appeared as I did it; things I wouldn’t've noticed before.

Anyway, enough outlining it– here’s the video.

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Charity

My good buddy Daniel left for China about a month ago, and asked me to design him a site so he could easily share his photos with his friends and family. Daniel and I go back to my year at UPS, when we were in photo services together (we took photos for the school paper). He had told me how much he liked my photos and wished he could get the same kind of look as mine. He had a Canon, and soon decided to scrap it for a Nikon D80.

The thing I don’t think he realized was that he’s an incredible photographer.

Anyway, I designed him a website as a very simplistic portal to his photographic adventure in Asia. So far, his photos have been nothing less than outstanding. What’s so incredible about them is they almost all look as though Daniel had sat there, waiting for the perfect opportunity to arise, and took them. Some of them are gorgeously colorful and vibrant, and others are perfectly neutral. Some have incredible detail, and some are wildly abstract.

Whatever the case is, take a look. You’ll be happy you checked him out.

Daniel Adler @ Adlerography

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Naftali’s world famous pamcakes.

Naftali. How can I describe him with words? Well, besides making awesome artwork, intriguing computer games, mindblowing 3d animation, and deciding to live near me in Rhode Island, Naftali makes excellent pamcakes.

No, seriously, they’re incredible. The other night, Naftali snuck over to my house at about 1:30 AM and we made the most excellent pamcakes one can eat. After snapping a few shots while preparing the batter, I noticed how the plate used to hold the pamcakes right off of the griddle stayed empty. There was no table preparation or silverware to be seen–it was straight from the pan into the stomach. Well, I guess there was a bit of chewing, enjoying, and swallowing in addition somewhere in there.

After 30 pamcakes and a half gallon of milk, I asked Naftali if I could share his recipe of pamcakes on the interweb.

“Can I share your recipe online, or is it some sort of secret family heirloom pamcake recipe? I mean, I respect it if you’d like to keep it for special occasions.”

“I got it from The Joy of Cooking.”

1 ½ c flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbs sugar
1 ¾ tsp powder
2 eggs
3 tbs butter
1 - 1 ¼ c milk

Whisk eggs and add in milk and melted butter. Stir dry ingredients then add egg, milk, and butter mix. Fry on griddle until golden brown. Chocolate chips encouraged but optional. Serve in-hand with gigantic glasses of milk.

Gonna put it on tha’ bread
I’m gonna eat that bread.
White bread, wheat bread
I’m gonna eat that bread.

Thanks, Taylor.

Clint is a professional moped rider & fixer-upper

My buddy Clint got in contact with me the other day, asking me to ride mopeds with me on Friday. It didn’t take me long to respond, “of course! sounds like fun.”

Clint’s got this awesome apartment in downtown Milwaukee which he’s affectionately dubbed “The Fortress.” An old shoe company, The Fortress is a lofted building with lots of room, old wood plank floors, and an excellent old elevator, complete with aging lights and buttons. However, we didn’t touch the elevator yet– that was for things that couldn’t get up or down stairs– we walked up. Needless to say, my newly-toned calves were more than ready for the task.

Entering his apartment revealed a few colorful old hair dryer chairs, a fridge in the middle of the room, a bunch of cool technology projects, a lighting kit, and his prize possession: a total of four mopeds– one for each color of the rainbow. A red Sachs, an orange Honda Express, a green older bike for which I didn’t get the model name, and a blue Tomos; all vintage scooters from the 1970s. See, what Clint does is buy these beautiful mopeds at cheap prices as they’re beaten up and usually not working. He then takes the time and effort to repair them into working condition, spending anywhere between $5 and $600 in total (initial purchase & reworking) for each bike.

After an in-depth discussion on technology and hacking the Milwaukee Transit TV System, it was time to head out. Our destination? South-side Milwaukee. Clint and I took “the most legit” ‘peds: the red Sachs and the orange Honda Express, respectively. Using the ancient elevator, we headed out and I experienced what Clint explained earlier as “riding a barstool at 25 miles per hour.”

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