bosskii

Target can no longer lord her lens over us, because it is apparently back in stock everywhere. Rejoice, DX users!

Fact: Any shitty day can be remedied by the inclusion of this video by the foremost thinker of our times.

Sunday is always Music Day. I've already got about a dozen albums either purchased or downloading (did you know Marcy Playground had a new disc out? Neither did I. Andy Yorke too. Weeee), but I need more. You lot generally have good taste, so throw some bands at me. I will listen to anything all the way through at least twice, even if it's terrible metal. There will be weeping afterwards, but hey, I'll do it.

Here's also to hoping this entry doesn't get cyberstalked. Erm.

This is a little note for you photo people out there. You probably already knew, but I just learned about it. Adorama has a very nice stock of both used gear and refurbished gear for very nice prices. I got $150 off my starter macro lens which is pretty cool. I could have knocked another $100 off my 70-300 there too if I had paid attention, but oh well. Refurb stuff is held up to higher standards than the initial pressings, so you can expect quality for fewer dollars.

Speaking of the 70-300, I've been trying to get together a few example shots but the weather/bird selection hasn't been cooperating. Suffice to say that it's sexy.

That's about all I have for now. I did get my rejection email from the job I mentioned a while back, but that was expected. This week will probably find a lot more applications going out, so I'm trying to stay positive about the whole thing. Not being up four hours before I have to wake up because I'm so annoyed/angry about going in would sure be nice!

If you are ever looking through the Watch Now section on Netflix and see Masters of Horror: Takashi Miike's Imprint and think "Hmm, maybe I should watch that", go do something more helpful like slamming your head in to a wall for an hour or maybe just pulling your fingernails out. What I am saying here is that it would be a bad decision for you.

I just watched Cloverfield for the first time. I can't really forgive myself for not seeing this in the theater. On the plus side, whenever I kind of want to see a movie in the theater but am not really sure, I'll go now.

Dear Musical Groups Whom I Enjoy,

I am an adult listener with actual money and disposable income. I do not use fake dollars or allowance money or hope that Mommy will buy me your disc when we go to the mall on Saturday. I have money readily available to throw at you and buy all of your shit if I so desire. I can go to concerts, I can download radio show podcasts on which you were a guest, I can do all of these things. What I can't do is GO TO FUCKING MYSPACE to get an update on what you are doing or what you are releasing. Make a goddamn webpage and pay some kid :tenbux: to make it not give me a seizure. Use Blogger. Use your web provider's default. Do something other than use Myspace. Myspace is a site apparently dedicated to making me NOT give you my money. Please, think of my money.

Your willing partial patron,

bosskii

(PS: Check out Hooded Fang, just not on Myspace)

Edit: Actually, use this CBC page which is almost as annoying as Myspace but not quite. Search for Hooded Fang because it won't let me direct link for some reason.

I cannot express how exciting it is to be in full-on knowledge acquisition mode again. I get home from work and I'm either reading books and blogs, looking at photos trying to find faults or gain information, watching video seminars, basically just grabbing any little particles of experience and inspiration that I can get. I spend my day looking for angles or trying to judge light and color.

Of course, you might say "Chris, you don't post many pictures. All reading and no bursting is useless!" I've read this a lot so far from various sources and I have to say it's insane. Some pictures, some knowledge, some pictures, some knowledge...this is the way to go. I took 700 pictures this weekend and didn't hate eight of them. I learned a ton about what exactly I did wrong that I wasn't picking up at the time because I was trying to keep up with my guides. I wouldn't have known all of what was wrong with them, however, without the previous week's worth of study. On the other hand, maybe I am just talking away nerding out. I'm okay with either.

This brings me to the point of this post, which I am making instead of talking about acts of God and my stomach that have kept the playlist entries to a minimum or my increasingly delirious search for a job and relocation to an area where things actually happen. I was looking through some people's older pics on Flickr to pick up information and realized that it was really fucking creepy. I feel like I'm spying. I know people aren't putting up their photos in the hope that nobody else sees them, but jesus. I'm just trying to learn to light faces, I swear I'm not stalking your sisters, Internet!

from yesterday's Sports Guy Mailbag

Q: Who wins a Smile-Off between Larry Fitzgerald and Dwight Howard?
-- Andrea B., Boston

SG: America.

Looks like I'm behind. Incoming link spam!

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In other news, Pilar Díaz is pure fun in musical form. She's also the recipient of my first corrupted mp3 download off of Amazon. Hopefully they will replace it for me soon! Also it's cold and I have far, far too much stuff to do. I wish I could play indie games, watch KelbyTraining videos, put in apps, take pictures, study photo books/blogs, finally get my ass back in to the Spanish language, exercise and cook all at the same time. Life would be so simple then!

If my work was any more retarded, I would be doing sociology experiments.

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The new Pete Yorn song is absolutely fucking horrid. Why, Pete, WHYYYYYY?

Here is yesterday's walk. Tonight is this week's off day. Eight pounds down, a billion more to do.

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NBA cool cats Steve Nash and Baron Davis get their Step Brothers on

I got my new Zune! It rocks, it's blue, it has an ox with a phonograph coming out of a horn with birds flying around it. Zune Originals for life, screw iPods.

I actually just used the new Blue October album as my playlist tonight, clocking in right at forty-nine minutes. I am certainly digging it, although I see how a lot of people might not.

LordV is my hero.

I went out aiming to shoot birds and bugs today. What I neglected to remember was that neither are really out yet. I did find some places I want to shoot wider than what I was carrying, so I suppose in the end it was a net plus. I also realized that my cheapo zoom lens is probably not going to get me what I want, but I'm not really sitting on the cash to pick up a macro lens (next purchase though) or a better zoom. Photography, you are a cruel mistress.

I spent a good two hours reading photo blogs to cheer me up after these petty realizations. The nice thing about the internet is that you get to learn from people whose day-to-day knowledge previously would have only been available to a select few. You probably know Joe McNally from his book The Moment It Clicks and his new book The Hot Shoe Diaries, but you aren't going to get the same throwaway stuff that you get on the blog. The same goes for Moose Peterson whose papers you could read but it's not quite the same as listening to him update you on gear and seeing his daily shots that might not make it in to a book or magazine. It's awesome stuff.

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Argh, my poor Hilltoppers just lost to stupidass Gonzaga. Freeeee throooooows. Oh well, first year for Ken, not so shabby. WKU basketball is just going to keep getting better. I wish I had the quote from the ESPN preview of the game where one of the Gonzaga assholes said they didn't consider WKU a mid-major. Good Lord. I know I sound petty, but my school has gone from somewhere I was ashamed to attend when I started to somewhere I am very proud to have been graduated from when I left. I didn't attend many sporting events when I was going there because we weren't taking them seriously. Now that we are, I feel pretty strongly about it. It's nice to have that passion, because I was definitely missing it.

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A day off of work means back to walking in the daytime, which is nice. Thursday saw no walking, but to be fair I also passed out for three hours and then twelve more hours so the only walking done then was in my dreams.

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In other news, every movie with Dwight Yoakam in it is 100% more awesome. Keep that in mind. You should also check out Bajofondo's album Mar Dulce because it is excellent. It was the Amazon daily special forty-eight or so hours ago and was worth far more than the $2.11 I paid for it.

Apparently none of the software I own can read and/or convert my D90 files. Kick ass. This has capped off an angry day with more angry.

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I tend to eat when I'm depressed, so I made up for a shitty day at work by cheating on my (incredibly lax) diet. Luckily, I got screwed by said decision when I went walking today. Lesson learned, Pavlov would be proud.

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I found a buyer for my D40 and have a D90 on the way! It should arrive tomorrow! I am very excited! EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!

What remains to be seen is if I can get all these awesome insect pictures I want as spring/summer commence without my dog destroying my camera. Stay tuned!

Preview: there will be at least one picture of me almost being killed by a black widow. I will also harass all ants within a mile radius, molest all cow killers I see and will probably be guilty of multiple counts of spider web destruction. Attempts to catch june bug fields will be met with complete failure and tobaccohoppers (grasshoppers who love to eat the old wacky tobacky and thus spit like this are serious dip addicts) will take the year off.