biker in the big smoke

hmph

2008-06-30T22:15:00.002-05:00

feeling pretty blue today...not sure if it's girl-related or not. Could be that I just need to get out and hang out with some friends, instead of being home with my parents for so long. I'm gonna try that tomorrow. Hopefully go see Incredible Hulk with a couple buddies, and see if I feel better!

Also gotta fix up Pumpkin. I tried to fix him yesterday but didn't have a wrench with enough leverage! So I gotta go buy a huge monkey wrench!

toad icicle

2008-04-05T22:52:00.003-05:00

This is a completely random post. I just wanted to create a hit in google for the series of words 'toad icicle'.

In other news, the girl I like doesn't want to date me. This keeps on happening to me these days. wtf!

the looks

2008-03-18T10:44:00.001-05:00

Ok, here's another pic from my wanderings in the streets of Toronto. I like that everyone in this picture that has their face towards me is looking right at the camera! They don't look too upset, more slightly amused.

Single Red Hat Seeks Warm Head

2008-03-07T11:48:00.005-05:00

Or SRHSWH.

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. I wonder if anybody still visits my blog at all? I could write whatever inflammatory comments I want here and noone would notice!

Green Giant

2008-01-11T16:52:00.001-05:00

In the basement of Manic Coffee, they have a cool little phone booth with an interesting paintjob and very low telephone.

Watch your step

2008-01-07T21:11:00.000-05:00

Quite the large step from the bottom of this door at the south of the Distillery District, by the parking lot.

Frame of snow

2008-01-06T15:20:00.000-05:00

A picture of the Koffler Centre at U of T, on a snowy New Years Day.

slash

2008-01-05T20:13:00.001-05:00

This is the gap between the boards of the backrest of a park bench, on an icy night, New Years Day.

Crossing snowy bridges

2008-01-04T14:08:00.001-05:00

Another self-portrait, as I'm my most available subject. This is a bridge to one of the U of T building on College across the fountain in the courtyard of the Bahen Centre.

Waiting cold

2008-01-03T21:13:00.000-05:00

On my distillery district walk last week, took this self-portrait in one of the little streets.

Winter cover

2008-01-03T01:12:00.000-05:00

The clothes that branches wear when it snows.

Postcard

2008-01-02T15:11:00.001-05:00

A postcard-like picture of the Distillery District in downtown Toronto.

Truck

2008-01-01T23:04:00.001-05:00

This is an abandoned truck at the distillery district, where I went last week with the Toronto Photography Meetup Group, or TPMG. This is a two minute exposure.

Grand Central!

2007-12-25T02:37:00.000-05:00

This is Grand Central Station in all its grandeur. I took 5 different exposures and overlaid them in photoshop to obtain good detail in all the different regions, both bright and dark. HDR, so to speak. And oh...Merry Christmas (even if you're not Christian...i figure it's still nice to be wished merry Christmas even if it's not your faith. I was happy when a jew in NYC wished me Happy Hannukah!)

Top of the Rock

2007-12-23T17:53:00.000-05:00

This is a composite of three photos of lower Manhattan from the top of the Rockefeller Centre. The beauty of travelling solo and not having anything formally planned is that you can just wait for the nicest day to do things that require good weather!

A funny video

2007-12-18T21:15:00.000-05:00

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-CA&brand=sympatico&vid=f7a5c526-8064-4ec5-9cb0-21a55b9f07f7

Liberty from Battery Park

2007-12-14T21:32:00.000-05:00

On my first full day in New York City I went walking...unfortunately it was also the coldest and windiest day. I was pretty chilly taking this picture. It is a composite of three separate exposures to get good detail in every part of the image.

2007-12-12T00:10:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Taken with a tripod before the security guy told me I couldn't use it. I went on holiday there last week. It was awesome! I saw two of my favourite people, and visited the city. I wish i could be a professional tourist! Hello Lonely Planet?

Iron Bridge

2007-11-27T16:43:00.000-05:00

This is a bridge just south of Bathurst and Front, near the Rock Oasis (my climbing gym). Some post-processing was done to get this effect, obviously.

Cap Art

2007-11-25T21:02:00.000-05:00

This is a composite of the cappuccino that you can get at Manic Coffee, at about 426 College Street West. A friend from mountain biking opened it up recently. It's the best coffee I have ever tasted!

Labs Inc.

2007-11-22T11:04:00.000-05:00

I guess I missed a couple of days...oh well. Here's another photo of my friend's STM. These are all portholes to look at what is going on inside.

Peeler

2007-11-19T21:59:00.000-05:00

My friends were looking to rent out their house...but I think they should repaint the garage!

Burnination

2007-11-18T22:37:00.002-05:00

This is part of the machine that my friend built. It is a 'scanning tunnelling microscope', or STM, which allows you to visualize things as small as atoms! Amazing. Here he is preparing the surface of the silicon wafer that he is going to look at by running a current through it and heating it up a LOT.

All I want for Christmas....

2007-11-17T00:32:00.000-05:00

...are my two front teeth!

Painting

2007-11-14T18:41:00.001-05:00

Another from Frontenac Provincial Park. I think this could almost be like a painting. It's hard to take nice landscape shots in a single photo with a 50mm lens (80mm equivalent on a dSLR). Thank goodness for that bridge, or it would have been really boring.

2007-11-13T14:24:00.000-05:00

Here's another picture I took while on my trip to Kingston at Frontenac park. It is made up of 5 vertical images. You can see it bigger here or even bigger here. The great thing about panoramics is that there is a tonne of detail in every part of the picture, because it's more than one picture!

sssnake

2007-11-11T22:55:00.001-05:00

Guess I should do something with this blog. Here's a picture, on a recent trip to Kingston. I went hiking at the Frontenac Provincial Park, and we saw and caught the little guy below. We let him go really fast though, don't worry. It was a 'catch and release'. We saw some way bigger ones later too, but we didn't pick them up, and none of them fit in the palm of a hand. Click on it to see it big. It looks way better.

Funny article

2007-08-30T15:18:00.000-05:00

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/non_doping_cyclists_finish_tour_de

Harry Potter!

2007-08-30T00:32:00.000-05:00

i saw the 5th harry potter movie tonight, and despite some omissions and lack of explanations of certain things, it was overall an enjoyable experience. although i think i could have enjoyed it as much on my tv. has anyone seen bourne ultimatum? should i pay to go see that?

Crazy heart rate

2007-08-29T15:58:00.000-05:00

I just measured my resting heart rate today. Twice in a row, to make sure. Over a full minute, it was 44! Both times! Does that make me a mutant?

Canada Day Streetcar

2007-08-28T10:13:00.001-05:00

On my way home from Harbourfront Centre, on Canada Day (July 1st for any non-Canadians reading). This was the only picture I took all evening, and it has not been altered from the scan. The tilt was on purpose. Check out this in larger size, and other pictures, at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marc_robin/

24 Hour Race Report

2007-08-28T09:53:00.000-05:00

Well, last weekend was the only race I'll be doing all summer (excluding the University Cup races in the fall, which I don't consider summer anymore), and it was a blast! It was a 24 hour relay mountain biking race. My team consisted of 4 other people that I had never met before, but who were super cool and fun, not to mention the other two teams we were hanging out with, who were also really nice. Queen's University people really are quite nice! Anyway, my team was not really competitive (it consisted mainly of 24 hour race beginners, and one who had never raced a bike before), so it went exactly as I expected: I had a fun time relaxing with some nice people, and rode my laps as fast as I could (and I still did 5 laps...any less and I would have been disappointed with myself). My fastest lap wasn't bad, and my last lap was almost the same speed as my first one, and this despite the fact that my stomach was upset the entire weekend. Probably the brown rice was a bad idea...I should have just made plain white rice. I made many trips to the outhouse, including one near-emergency :-P.

Nutrition is incredibly important for these kinds of races...it has to be all very easy to digest, yet contain everything that you need: carbohydrates, protein, and fats, in approximately the correct proportions. The thought with the brown rice was that there was more fibre and good things, so it would be helpful, but apparently I don't digest it well. Most people eat pasta, but I've learned from experience that I don't digest it very well. Other people were eating mostly powerbars, gels, and this 'Ensure' stuff, and that's it....I can't imagine having no real food for an entire race. Bleh!

Ok well that's enough thesis procrastination. I'm writing! The last chapter! :-)

Valuable Lesson

2007-08-16T18:56:00.000-05:00

I learned a good lesson today during my evening ride in the local trails...that is, if you're not having a good ride and you're mind is just not in it properly, then STOP! You will hurt yourself if you keep pushing it!

I am now the proud new owner of some heavily skinned elbows, a slightly warped front wheel, and a lot of frustration! argh.

somewhat better

2007-08-11T22:17:00.000-05:00

Well, I got some sleep last week, and work started to get better. I wrote some results! My results and discussion section is growing! I may graduate yet.

I've been losing some weight recently (not as a result of sickness or anything...on purpose), and my legs are loving me for it! Climbing hills on my bike is easier...I don't get tired as quickly. It's encouraging...If I could lose 10 more lbs, I'd be so fast! and ripped!

Here are some photos I took at my cousin's BBQ a while back.

aw crap

2007-08-07T13:30:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last post. I guess life has just been busy and ordinary...no huge drama to write about. So what brings me here today? Well...I'm super tired because I didn't really sleep all night, and that makes me feel crappy with very little motivation. It's on days like these that I feel like I will never finish this masters, and that I'm eventually just gonna give up. I am so close though. But right now I look at what i've done these past few years, and it feels like it's all crap not worth writing about, or just calculations and experiments that as it turns out were useless, or just wrong and need to be re-done. And now there's a real deadline; I have to be done by the end of August!

And I started reading the last Harry Potter. All i feel like doing is reading that and sleeping.

Crap.

Bonking

2007-07-03T19:03:00.001-05:00

Note to self: bring food on 2+ hour bike rides.

I had to make an emergency pastry stop for an apple turnover, at the kosher bakery on the way home from work that I've often smelled but never visited.

Some News!

2007-07-03T09:34:00.001-05:00

Well, a couple bits of news, after such a long silence.

My sister got engaged!!!!! Congrats to her!

Annnd....the computer at school is broken today, so I can do no work :-(

Photos

2007-06-06T23:05:00.001-05:00

This is not a photo of mine. It's just really cool (and for the record I'm making no profit from it). Bit you should click on teh following links to see it:

Original thread: http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Stunning_High_Res_Photo_of_San_Francisco_After_1906_Earthquke

Original image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/San_Francisco_in_ruin_edit2.jpg

Looking Low over Lover's Leap

2007-04-20T16:34:00.000-05:00

Don't have the energy to write a big blog about the Kentucky trip yet...but til then, here's another pic...Three of my friends looking out over Lover's Leap (which is not far from Natural Bridge...coming soon).

Cold Morning Camp

2007-04-18T23:08:00.000-05:00

Not much to say about this...frozen propane, hence the stove-on-stove action....

Movimento

2007-04-17T10:57:00.000-05:00

The people moving were supposed to be a lot more visible...I guess my exposure time was too long.

Darkness

2007-04-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

This one I got second prize for. I went into a dark bathroom, and had my mom light up my profile with a small flashlight, with the shutter open. The patch of light to the right is the flashlight. I put a red filter on the camera. I think I overexposed it a bit, and also I wish I'd covered up the source of light. I also should have instructed my mom a bit better, since I wanted less of the near side of my face to be lit up.

Snow climbing

2007-04-14T14:11:00.000-05:00

This is a photo of me climbing in a snow storm. It was about 0 degrees C, and although the snow doesn't look that bad, it was blowing damn hard! Here, I was hiding in the little crack up there, warming up my hands to finish the climb. I think I was also in some sort of calory deficit, because it didn't feel like I was only shivering from the cold.

Sensuality

2007-04-14T10:28:00.000-05:00

This was an interesting one...being single, the obvious route for this theme was not possible. So I thought that a photo of someone really enjoying their cappuccino with all their senses might work. I asked a girl at Starbucks if she didn't mind me taking a picture of her drinking (after trying two OTHER coffee shops, but one was closed, and the other was empty! frustrating on a tight time budget!)....It didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped for two reasons, it is underexposed (I was hoping for a more high key image), and I didn't do a good job of directing my subject...I should have given some instruction as to the pose I was looking for.

Family

2007-04-13T16:06:00.000-05:00

This was one of two ideas I had for Family, the other one was to take a picture of my sister's, brother-in-law's, and nephew's shoes (he is 9 months old), but they were not home at the appropriate time! I think it turned out ok, but I don't like the yellow colour cast at all, and this is even adjusted in photoshop!

Global Warming

2007-04-12T21:38:00.000-05:00

This was a very cheesy idea. The flame is not visible enough.

Back from KY

2007-04-11T15:36:00.000-05:00

Back from Kentucky last night...good trip although the weather was annoying.

Now a pun from my punning calendar:

What kind of shoes do frogs wear?

Open Toad!

ba-dum ching!! heehee

Kentucky!!!!

2007-04-05T12:16:00.000-05:00

For the second year in a row, I'm off to Kentucky for some outdoor climbing!!!

Wish us warm....cuz right now the outlook is looking pretty chilly!

Airbus 380 in 7 minutes!

2007-04-03T22:30:00.000-05:00

check this out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbEiHGZtCFA
It's pretty damn cool...what an amazing plane!

Detail

2007-04-03T10:10:00.000-05:00

This was shot for the 'Detail' theme. I didn't have much time, so I just put this paperweight on a little bench outside in the sun. I think the angle wasn't quite right, the skier is not as visible as I'd hoped.

2007-04-01T23:20:00.000-05:00

This was my second choice for the food idea, the first being to find a bunch of pigeons and have them swarm around grabbing some bread crumbs that we would toss. Unfortunately we couldn't find any pigeons. So instead my friend stuffed his face with New York Fries (which is apparently harder than it sounds, logistically). It didn't come out as expected because it seems like the lens hood or something blocked the flash. I was using a super wide angle, so I was actually quite close to his face for this shot.

Downtown

2007-04-01T23:18:00.000-05:00

Ok, here's my submission for the topic Downtown...there was unfortunately a nicer and better photo of a similar subject, which won.

Good Idea

2007-04-01T23:17:00.000-05:00

The last photo I took during the marathon. I was running to the drop off point and was really late....saw this and thought 'meh, good enough'. It's the bike rack for the Community Bike Network, which was a system whereby you could borrow a bike for free for i don't know how long. Too bad it's gone now, it really was a good idea.

Glorious Winter

2007-04-01T23:12:00.000-05:00

Second picture from my Toronto Photo Marathon set. I accidentally pressed the shutter on this, before I was done setting the exposure. Very upsetting, because I think I could have made it much nicer. The idea was to be able to see the people on the right waiting eagerly for the zamboni to be done.

Photo Marathon: Solidarity

2007-03-28T21:44:00.000-05:00

Once again, another somewhat failed image. I think that I zoomed too far out, it would have looked a lot better if the hands were larger in the frame. Also, I might have asked them to separate them a little but I think that might have worked better too. I guess I need to work on how to direct people a bit better and experiment with layouts before I press the shutter. In addition, I'm pretty new to the use of this flash, so it doesn't look quite how I expected it. We had just finished eating at a nice French restaurant, and had some pretty decent Chilean red wine (Malbec), so we were quite festive!

Feel free to post critiques...keeping in mind that I only had ONE shot at each of these images! And also, I'm not just showing the good, but also the bad and the ugly :-)

City Sickness

2007-03-27T12:58:00.000-05:00

Today was supposed to be an energetic and productive day. But for one reason or another, I have zero energy and drive. It may be just that I haven't slept well (this new drug makes it FEEL like I'm sleeping well, but I wake up unrefreshed), but I also feel crowded by this big city and its millions of people.

In an effort to relieve this malaise, I decided to go and try to find some peace and quiet somewhere nearby, eat lunch, and enjoy the sunshine to hopefully boost my morale a little. I went to Bellevue Park in Kensington and it was pretty good; trees, not too many people, kids playing in the playground in the distance. There was a nice big bench completely empty, waiting just for me. These two biker-type dudes eventually came and took a piece, which was fine, they were pretty quiet. But then an entire family of 5, with 3 noisy annoying little kids came and sat down on the other side. GAH! Way to ruin a perfectly quiet spot. So I went to find something that would appeal to me for lunch (which I found in the form of 2 falafel sandwiches, that really hit the spot perfectly...not too heavy not too light). I came back, and the family was still there, so I sat somewhere else to eat.

After all this, I still didn't feel great. I think I really need to get out of the city or something. It is oppressive. I need some real peace...I need to finish my stupid masters and have that over with. Maybe my trip to Kentucky will help me out? Refresh my mind for the last push towards the finish line? Let's hope so.

Photo Marathon Pics: Self-Sustainable

2007-03-26T23:09:00.000-05:00

In no particular order I will start posting my photo marathon photos, one per day, starting with Self-Sustainable. I won second prize for this photo.

Done and done

2007-03-22T12:27:00.000-05:00

Today was the last day of my clinical drug trial! I may not have mentioned it before on here, but I've been a guinea pig for a new insomnia drug, that is apparently already approved and in use in Europe, but just needs approval by the big drug administrations here. What was involved was taking a drug every day and calling in every morning after I woke up to an automated survey thing. Quite the pain in the ass. Also, I had to go and sleep in their sleep clinic for 6 nights, in three two-night sessions, over the course of the study, and that was even more of a pain in the ass since I had to return during the day twice, making it quite difficult to do any work.

For now it is done though, and on top of that they paid me a nice compensation fee, $1050 to be exact! That pays for my visa bills and my trip to Kentucky in April! And to help me sleep, I've been given a prescription for another drug that will hopefully knock me out nicely.

Another depressing day

2007-03-21T19:40:00.000-05:00

When you're working on a computer program and all you can do is wait for a result, because otherwise you'd have to take a different course of action, you tend to have a lot of time to think. And unfortunately, at the moment, thinking is slightly depressing.

It may sound from this blog as though I'm super depressed all the time, when in fact I'm not actually, I'm generally a happy and optimistic guy, but there are certain things about my life that depress me, and since nothing else is going on, I write about that. I would love to have funny events occur to me all the time, or happy things to write about that aren't just daily events I enjoy like biking or climbing or taking pictures, but these things are just not there, so I write about what makes me sad.

On a happier note, with respect to work, it seems that my filtering scheme is pretty much conservative (most people won't get this, but it basically means mass is conserved!). This is good news. The other good thing is that I worked out a cost estimate for my trip to Kentucky, and it seems like it's going to be around $170 or less, which is pretty cheap for 6 days.

My weekend

2007-03-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

Another boring update. I will make it as concise as possible. My weekend was fun.

Friday: went out for dinner and listened to a band at Sneaky Dee's with some good friends.

Saturday worked out, went salsa dancing, got drunk with some friends

Sunday woke up late (still a bit tipsy but not hungover!), worked a bit, wrote emails, relaxed, dinner with family.

End over End

2007-03-15T10:45:00.000-05:00

I'm feelin' out of luck
Maybe I just feel too much
That old familiar touch
Will always stain my skin
The good in everyone
The ties we left undone
The heart that moves your blood
All the things that bring me right back here
Once again
Wait
Stop me so I can begin
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Whenever I feel in the mood I'm in right now, I listen to the Foo Fighters, especially the In Your Honor album. The lyrics and melodies strike a chord.

Another rough night

2007-03-15T10:09:00.000-05:00

The new bed I got is super comfy. But that doesn't stop me from waking up in the middle of the night and not falling asleep again for 2 hours or so, my mind preoccupied and imagining all sorts of depressing things. And now, my thoughts are scattered, flipping from topic to topic, unable to settle onto one thing, let alone what they really NEED to settle on.

My work is going to take forever at this rate.

hung up

2007-03-13T08:42:00.000-05:00

Last night I went ice skating with my 'friend' JY (the girl I was dating who just wants to be friends). I hadn't seen her in a month or so, and it was of course fun. But what I didn't expect was to still have butterflies for the hour leading up to meeting her...argh. I think I still like her in a way that's more than just friends. Another friend (let's call her MG) recommends that I stop seeing her. This might be good advice, if I want to avoid feeling like this every time we meet, but at the same time, she's cool and I like hanging out with her. I hope that I can one day see her as just a friend....cuz the way I feel right now, if she tells me at some point she's met this other guy that she really likes, I will feel like crap.

MG also says girls suck. :-P

My weekend

2007-03-12T14:24:00.000-05:00

I guess I have nothing too interesting to say, besides that I had a pretty good weekend. Friday night I went ice skating with some friends Saturday morning I worked out, went salsa dancing for the first time in months, and then at night I forget what I did, but it was fun. Yesterday, I finally got a new bed! It's about time, my bed is probably 25+ years old. This new one is SOOO comfortable, I get it tomorrow, and I can't wait to try it out. Queen size too! Then in the evening I met with a couple that wants me to take pictures of their wedding! How exciting! Then I went and played poker with some friends right after...and believe it or not I won! I got pretty lucky I guess, and also the stakes were not too high so people were taking more risks than usual, but it was still pretty satisfying since I've only really played 5 or 6 times in my life! I made 20$, 15$ of which went to the purchase of some biking socks that my friend bought me a couple weeks ago at the bike show.

So anyway...I like poker now! :-D

GS

Pan's Labyrinth

2007-03-04T22:56:00.000-05:00

Today I saw a movie that was amazing, it was 'Pan's Labyrinth'. It is the best movie I've seen in a long time. It had great cinematography, amazing characters, good acting, good special effects...and was overall just a really good story very well told. Even the music was great; I'm downloading the soundtrack as I write this! It is somewhat violent at times, and a bit graphic, but it doesn't detract from the film.

Anyway, I highly recommend this film... GO and SEE IT!

Must write

2007-03-01T10:57:00.000-05:00

I haven't slept properly in 5 nights. I can't think straight, and I get some strange tension headache which can only be cured with an hour of light biking.

But I still have to write my damn thesis.

Damn them and their placebo! I'm wasting my time with this drug trial.

Sleepy

2007-02-28T12:36:00.000-05:00

I think I'm back on the placebo again...I haven't slept well in a few nights. Very frustrating. I wish they would just give me the real drugs! ARGH. It makes it hard to work and converse with people when you haven't slept properly in days.

Missing the open spaces

2007-02-27T18:22:00.000-05:00

I realized today, first while looking at pictures of Toronto online, and then as I walked to and from the coffee shop, that I am sick of the city. So many of the photos that I looked at all seem so cluttered with human crap, that one in which there was something natural and untouched was a breath of fresh air, even something as simple as a field of freshly fallen snow. On the walk I felt surrounded by so many metallic and concrete things; everything around me was manufactured.

We are surrounded by so many artifical manmade objects. There are no real open spaces anywhere it seems. All I want to do right now is go somewhere quiet that has been either untouched by us, or at the very least is not something made in a factory.

Photo Marathon #2

2007-02-21T16:17:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was my second Toronto Photo Marathon, and was even more fun than the first somehow. I think I was just way more relaxed about it, and my approach was different. Last year, we just wandered around town looking for pictures for each subject, whereas this time I spent a lot more time just figuring out ahead of time what I would do for each one, and it turned out to be more fun. I even experimented with painting with light! That is something I will definitely do something more of. I also rented an awesome 17-40 mm lens for the weekend which turned out to be VERY VERY useful. Anyway, here were the topics, and what I took for each one. If you have any interesting ideas for them, I would be more than happy to try them again! :-D
1) Downtown
- Wide angle of tall buildings reaching to the sky in the financial district

2) Food
- A photo of RoadRash with LOTS of fries in his mouth and a crazy look

3) Glorious Winter
- Skaters at Nathan Phillips Square anticipating the end of the Zamboni's ice cleaning (with zamboni in the picture, and city hall in the background, and the NPS arches overhead)

4) Movement
- city hall again, with skaters zooming by (long exposure)

5) Self-Sustainable
- A picture of Newton's Balls!

6) Solidarity
- I had 5 friends link hands tight in a small circle, and I was on the ground pointing the camera upwards...I think it'll look cool, with the super wide angle lens I was using.

7) Family
- I put 5 toothbrushes in a cup radiating outwards in a cup, and took a photo of them from straight above...I think it'll look kinda neat.

8) Sensuality
- this one was a challenge...I ended up asking a pretty girl in a coffee shop to sip a nice cup of cappuccino as if she were really enjoying it, and shot in really close on the drink and her lower face, with nice lighting from the window.

9) Darkness
- this was my light painting experiment, I went into my dark bathroom, and opened up the shutter, with a red filter on. I turned my head in profile to the camera, and had my mom light up the opposite side of my face with a a flashlight, in an attempt to get just the silhouette of my face, with the rest of the photo black.

10) Detail
- for christmas I got this glass paperweight with a skier in bubbles inside it, and I put it in the sun so that it was creating nice light beams on a nice red felt bench, and the bubbles were sparkling...using my macro lens of course.

11) Global warming
- I bought an inflatable globe, and had my mom hold it, and one of those BBQ lighters lit underneath. In retrospect i should have stayed with my original idea of putting a scarf and a toque on the globe and taken a picture of that, I think it would have been funnier. I may still take that photo!

12) Good Idea
- Initially I was going to take a picture of the 'We Recycle' sign on the edge of a recycling box, but at the last minute I forgot and just took a picture of the yellow CBN bike rack...the bike rack that belongs to the free yellow bicycles you could get just to ride around for a day for free. It was a good idea that is unfortunately now defunct.

Anyway, it would be fun to continue with these themes and take more. In particular I think I'm going to play around with global warming for a bit.

I also went over the weekend to Le Select Bistro, for dinner with my school friends. It was really good! The duck was yummy as were the beans and potatoes. The soup was decent. The Creme Brulee was very nice, light with the perfect amount of carbonized sugar on the top, and not overpoweringly flavoured. The wine was a Malbec from somewhere in South America, and was really good.

Snow!

2007-02-14T13:08:00.000-05:00

It snowed all night last night! 20 cms of nice fluffy white stuff! I wish I lived in the mountains, this would be good skiing snow...SUPER light and fluffy and airy.

Note to self: Avoid large greasy lunches

2007-02-09T19:01:00.000-05:00

The Indian food I had for lunch today completely knocked me out for hte rest of the day...such an amazing sedative effect! Maybe I should eat Indian food in the evening more often, might help me sleep! :-P

Pun Today

2007-02-07T09:24:00.000-05:00

From my joke calendar:

A pony walks into a bar and says,
"Bartender, may I have a drink?"
The bartender says, "What? I can't hear you. Speak up!"
"May I please have a drink?"
"What? I can't understand you. Clear your throat!"
"Could I please have a drink?"
"Now listen, if I can't hear you, I can't serve you"
"I'm sorry, but I'm just a little hoarse."

heehee...

The word is final...

2007-02-05T23:00:00.000-05:00

Just friends :-(

It's going to be rough...

And also, 74.112.104.#....Who are you?!

Recovery

2007-02-04T15:17:00.000-05:00

Today is my recovery day. Yesterday I did absolutely nothing; I was a useless vegetable. I watched hours of stupid TV and browsed Facebook. Last night, I was finally able to get to sleep alright, and STAY asleep for long enough to feel more rested in the morning... what a relief! If I hadn't, I would have been so frustrated today. As it is, I still don't have the energy to actually do anything productive...I can't seem to focus on my work, and noone is free to go climbing with me! Boo hoo hoo :-P

Anyway...guess I should continue procrastinating.
GS

sleeep....want sleeeeeep

2007-02-03T17:03:00.000-05:00

argh...my insomnia is still here. After 3 nights of poor sleep, I was totally exhausted last night. I went to bed at a nice reasonably time, and ALMOST fell asleep...just then, I woke up, and couldn't sleep again for the rest of the night. so, that's like 8 hours lying in bed wishing I would fall asleep soon. As a result, I cancelled my ice climbing plans, and I'm incapable of doing anything useful. My words don't come out straight, and I have a hard time typing. I was chopping some nuts, and as I picked up the measuring cup to see if there were enough, i fumbled and nearly dropped the whole thing on the floor!

It's totally debilitating. I wish that drug company whose new drug I'm trying would stop giving me a placebo already. Bastards.

Just Friends?

2007-01-30T15:32:00.000-05:00

I don't think I want that...

:-(

2007-01-29T09:27:00.000-05:00

Had a serious talk with JY last night..unfortunately it seems that we don't have the same expectations. She doesn't really have time for the kind of relationship that I want. All she wants is to just hang out once in a while, slowly getting to know me, more as a friend though. Bah. I'm not angry or anything, actually I'm glad she came out and said it. I can't say that I'm too surprised either. I'm just quite disappointed.

bah

2007-01-27T12:18:00.000-05:00

My plans with J cancelled...AGAIN! So frustrating. Things keep on coming up for her at the last minute. Today a friend of hers really needs help with organizing something out in Mississauga, which is apparently urgent. Last time she really needed to get some work done late. It almost seems like the only reason she calls me is to cancel plans.

My day of exciting things now ruined. :-(

OMG!

2007-01-24T21:32:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I'm saying this...but, like, I LIKE American Idol..

like...OMG!

ROFLMAO...lol lol

like

No Photochop

2007-01-07T22:57:00.000-05:00

Following one of the comments on one of the last images, I've decided to post some un-photoshopped versions of two of them.

For this picture I lightened most of the image a little bit, except for the parts in and around the white waterfall, highlighted certain specific parts like the bubbles in the water and the brighter branches on the trees or the roots, adjusted the curves to bring up the contrast a bit, and finally adjusted the colours in the bluish parts of the water to emphasize that a little bit.

Here, I increased contrast and brightness to the right of the river and in the foreground with curves, and increased the overall brightness of the entire image with levels....all things that can easily be done in a real darkroom. :-)

And lastly, a suggested crop of the Jura Panorama photo. I think the house really adds something, but the composition of that image is a bit off somehow.

Opinions?

2007-01-07T11:58:00.000-05:00

This is a two-image panoramic photo of a valley in France, in the Jura region I believe. It's not the nicest photo I don't think, but I think it might be significantly improved with some cropping, and I was hoping the 2 or 3 people who read this might be able to give me some ideas on that! :-)

To keep the blog active...

2007-01-07T01:22:00.000-05:00

Again at Sahalie Fall, a different area, closer to the falls I think...

This time, a photo!

2006-12-31T10:31:00.000-05:00

This is just downstream of 'Sahalie Falls' in the Willamette region of Oregon, on the McKenzie River.

Good Heavens, a Photo!

2006-12-31T01:01:00.000-05:00

After the last post I realized that it wasn't enough to describe what a nice evening I have had today. At 5 I met up with JY, and cleared everything up, and felt much much happier. I then went to Spring Rolls, a (whitewashed) thai restaurant chain, to meet up with a bunch of friends from undergrad...that was very pleasant. While there, I noticed someone poking their head in the front door of the place, and it was my ex- ex- with whom I'm still quite good friends! So that was really nice, we chatted for a bit...she is still just as pretty as ever! :-P Then after dinner and dessert, I walked and talked with one of my best friends from undergrad, which was so nice. Some people are such good friends that you can not see them or talk to them for months on end, and then see them again and it seems like no time has gone by and everything is great.

And finally, since I'm in a good mood, and I haven't posted a photo on here for a long time, here's a nice pic I took in Oregon.

Well, I was going to post a photo, but for some reason blogger won't let me. I thought google was good damnit!

resolution

2006-12-31T00:38:00.000-05:00

So I talked to JY about my concerns and it was all explained...so everything is fine and I have nothing to worry about. Possibly my past experience with ex-boyfriend of girlfriend has given me a jaded view of ex-boyfriends....

Phew

Confused

2006-12-30T11:31:00.000-05:00

Alright, so my blog has returned to the purpose for which it was begun...to write down my confusion. I can't tell what the girl I'm dating (let's call her...JY for now) is thinking! I hadn't seen her since last Sunday, and so she invited me to go to a fancy restaurant with her friends. We ate, then went to a bar, then back to her place to play board games. It was fun! Near the end (at about 3 AM!) someone knocked on their front door, and it was a friend of theirs (we'll call him K)...which was odd because they live in a condo with a doorman, and the dude was let in automatically. So all of a sudden there seemed to be a bit of commotion between JY and her roommate L, and JY decided she was really tired and wanted to go to bed right away, and shuffled me out the door really fast...with barely a kiss...I have a feeling that K was an ex-boyfriend of hers, but I'm not sure. So it's quite worrisome.

And to top it off, I got home at 4 am, and couldn't really sleep...in part because my heart was skipping beats like every two minutes! AAAAH...i'm gonna have a heart attack or something.

Confused and tired
GSM

nice weekend

2006-12-11T12:35:00.000-05:00

My sister came home from Australia Saturday, so the day was spent with the family, which was nice (although my family argues a lot, so it can be quite annoying at times, and I was tired and cranky which didn't help.) Then Sunday we had brunch, and then at 4 I went shopping for suits....not for me. Roaming the mall looking for clothing for someone else may sound incredibly boring, but the company more than made up for it, because I was shopping with the one causing me butterflies! She thought that my expert male opinion might be useful in picking a suit that looks good on her...heh. And while I don't claim to have an expert opinion on clothing, I think I can claim to be an expert male :-P

GSM

New Trainer!

2006-12-10T13:01:00.000-05:00

I just got a new bike trainer (one of those things that allows you to put your bike on a stand indoors and train), for 240$ + tax! 40% off! It is an amazing deal! Now maybe i can bike every day, stay in shape, and get some good sleep :P

In other news, try this funny cute game:
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/bells.htm

ciao
GSM

Butterflies...

2006-12-05T12:07:00.000-05:00

I have them :-)

Overheard in Toronto

2006-11-30T11:13:00.000-05:00

Two guys are walking down the street, and they see a sign in front of a store.

Guy #1: Whoa, 24$ for 3 pairs of knee socks....how can you go wrong?
Guy #2: How can you go right?

In my playlist

2006-11-27T17:29:00.000-05:00

Here is what is on my playlist today, in the order in which they were added:

The Tragically Hip
Johnny Cash
The Postal Service
Portishead
Death cab for cutie
Neil Young
Neko Case
Jamiroquai
Duke Ellington
Lionel Hampton
Ella Fitzgerlad
Benny Goodman
Madonna
Muse
No Doubt
ATB

The new tragically hip is so good!!!!!

sick..AGAIN!

2006-11-19T17:09:00.000-05:00

I got sick again last friday. A MASSIVELY sore throat that started late in the day, and was killing me all the next day, even at the Wine and Cheese party I went to in the evening. And this is only about a week after the last symptoms of the last cold disappeared! ARGH!!! I got some Cold FX yesterday, and maybe it's working, because the sore throat felt better this morning, and all I have now is a clogged nose. I still feel very drained. I wonder if that's the effect of Cold FX: it makes you really tired but helps you kill off the bugs better?

I have no new photos recently either, I haven't been doing any shooting at all. So boring right now...no climbing cuz I'm sick and tired, no photos cuz...Toronto is ugly, no mountain biking cuz it's cold...BOOOOOO...no girlfriend to cheer me up :-(

I feel somewhat down right now...

good day

2006-11-14T00:02:00.000-05:00

Three things today were great:

The leftovers from my party....no making lunch! Just heat and serve.

My program worked! I figured out I was forgetting to do something, and now it seems to work ok. The next step is to set up the final case that I need to run, and then write the thesis!

I went climbing, and finally completed two climbs that I'd been unable to do on previous attempts! Now my fingers are roughed up and my muscles are sore....what a great feeling! :-D

GSM

What do I like?

2006-11-12T22:49:00.000-05:00

My dad was talking to me today, suggesting that I start thinking now about what kind of job I would like to look for when I'm done my masters...and to look in an area I think I would like. So the question is, WHAT do I like? It is difficult.

I think what I would really like is a job where social interaction is a large part of it, but I would still like to have some technical aspect. But then again, what I REALLY like is photography.

AAAAH

first i gotta finish my masters.

Party

2006-11-12T17:48:00.000-05:00

The party went well last night...ended quite early (1AM or so) which gave lots of time to clean up and not be totally exhausted. It was great fun...and I know at least two people went home together! heehee...The Sangria was quite nice, although it could have been sweeter. I think the ratio of 1/4 cup sugar per 750ml bottle of wine really is the right quantity. I put a bit less than that this time. Today I went climbing with my friend Naked Man, and we were so tired we barely did anything at all, even though I slept til noon!

In other news, I also saw that my ex went on a trip with her ex ex (the guy before me...) and a couple other people. This made me kinda upset, because I know he is bad news...he's a freaky psycho stalker. I don't think I will be able to talk to her now, knowing that she still can't seem to stop doing things with that guy. So sad...lost a potentially good friend.

Climb

2006-11-11T00:43:00.000-05:00

I went climbing today for the third time this week...I failed in my attempt to do a 5.11c, but did manage to do a 5.11b that I had failed at some time ago. I also did a 5.11a. I guess all the chinups and eating less is paying off, hopefully I'll get up to doing 5.11cs and ds consistently.

I also made a Sangria just now...here's my recipe:

2 litres dry red wine (el cheapo)
~3/4 cup sugar
3 or 4 shots of rum (or brandy, but I use rum usually)
2-3 oranges, peeled and sliced to bite size
2-3 apples, peeled and sliced to bite size
2-3 limes, blahblahblah
2-3 lemons, blahblah
~ 20 strawberries, washed, de-stemmed, and sliced in 'rings'
1/2 cantaloupe, cut into bite sizes
Some Club Soda

Pour the wine into a big punch bowl. Add sugar and stir until it's dissolved. Add the shots of rum. Add all the fruit. Let soak overnight, covered, in the fridge. Just before serving, add some club soda, to take a bit of the edge off and add some carbonation. If you want add some ice, but I don't, usually cuz the punch bowls are practically overflowing w/o the club soda anyway!

It is SOOO good. I used to leave the orange, lemon, and lime peels mostly on ( I would cut off strips of rind around the fruit) but decided to try without them as it added a slightly bitter flavour, and also made them unpleasant to eat.

Anyway, looking forward to drinking it tomorrow, as well as all the food people will be bringing to the mountain biking team banquet (which once again is at my house). There will be a LOT of people coming, at least 27, and probably more.

I also realized today that it is almost exactly a year since I met Mel, my ex... too bad that it had to end :-S.

ciaociao
GSM

hello?

2006-11-08T23:22:00.000-05:00

Does anyone still read this?

It's been sooo long since I've posted...I've even started listening to Johnny Cash since I last posted!

I will re-start slowly...

Today, I was on the ONLY streetcar in Toronto that talks, announcing the stops automatically! TWICE!!! (It didn't talk twice...I caught it twice in a row!) For people that live in other modern cities, this might not seem so remarkable...however the Toronto streetcars look like this:

So hearing an automatic stop announcement was quite unexpected and a contrast...the streetcar driver compared it to putting GPS in a Ford Model T!

That was the excitement for the the day. Hopefully I will start blogging a bit more.

ciaociao
GSM

Dessert!

2006-09-28T20:27:00.000-05:00

The stitching job is not great, but it's hard to do when you're taking photos in a circle of a square subject, and you don't really know the real proper panoramic taking techniques! It looks WAY better large, so please click on it.

Dear Blog

2006-09-28T18:39:00.000-05:00

feels like ages since I've posted, and I feel I've been neglecting you, poor blog. I hope you haven't missed me too much. I'm sorry I haven't posted anything interesting recently; your insides must be feeling quite tired of the same boring diet all the time. In any case, I just thought I'd apologize for the lack of interestingness...unfortunately I don't get the feeling it's going to change any time soon! But there are a few morsels for you to digest on.

On Saturday I will be working at my first wedding! Although I'm not getting paid for this one, hopefully the photographer dude will realize I'm not a moron and will hire me afterwards...so if anything it's a bit of pocket money, and some photographic experience. Oddly enough he and I have some stuff in common; he used to rock climb and now road bikes...and obviously the photography thing.

As usual at this time of year the University Cup is going on, and this time aorund I'm pretty out of shape. I've been doing what I can to fitten up (if that is even a word), mostly by riding up a lot of hills...and it seems to be working. I should really do this all summer. It seems to be a very time-effective way of getting stronger!

A final little morsel: I went on a date the other day. With someone I met online no less! It was alright. I was fairly nervous, since it seemed like we had TONS in common, which we do. I'm not sure about the chemistry though, I think I will have to give her a few more dates and see how things go. I think chemistry is one of the most important things for a relationship, if not THE most important.

Anyway, Blog, I hope you are not as starving as before.

Bon Appetit
GSM

Balconies

2006-09-22T16:32:00.000-05:00