| Roller Derby in Seattle on July 18th (anyone?) |
[Jul. 7th, 2009|12:12 pm] |
We're heading to the seattle area the weekend of July 18th - on sat night we plan to go to the local roller derby competition.
Any of our seattle friends want to experience the fun of women's flat track derby with us?
http://www.ratcityrollergirls.com/
ping me if you want to hook up with us for this - it's a lot of fun.
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| More rants on Roller Derby |
[Jun. 21st, 2009|08:40 am] |
I have to admit for the first time in a while I didn't know how to start one of these journal things. Nothing inciteful, nothing witty, nothing that did not sound like me trying to con people or sell something came to mind. Wishing never to be lumped into the same emotional partition as people who disrupt dinner at my front door with offers of saving my soul from corruption or my rugs from not being deep down clean, I wrote this opener repeatedly both on screen and mentally trying to find the way to begin. In the end, I decided.. just do it.
For those who have not seen me write about it, I've grown quite fond of merging a new found hobby (photography) with a growing addiction (roller derby). (My flickr account has several sets dedicated to the Portland team). Now I know some people disagree with this sport on principle and I won't try to defend it or convince them otherwise. Live and Let live.
For the rest, or those who might oppose it but be open to influence, I direct you to a really good article in the Oregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/O/index.ssf/2009/06/roller_derbys_rough_patch.html
Now this article was timely for me. Yesterday (Sat) I drove for 2 hours to photograph a scrimmage between our team & seattle + centralia. It was small - I think there were maybe 6 non-players from Portland present including myself. Unlike past events where a few hundred show up and things are moving like a machine, I had the chance to really *talk* to more than a few of the Portland rollergirls. They came up to me to get to know me since I am a familiar face with a camera. More than once I heard, "Oh you're Sharkey! I love your pictures we always look for them after the bouts." - That kind of affirmation is pretty darn amazing to me and makes a 2 hour drive worth it.
Then last night my better half pointed me at the above article, and the financial challenges that the Rose City Rollers are facing. It would suck if they lose their standing in the WFTDA because they cannot afford to send the travel team. So while I explore options to help them (I am wondering about if people can donate airline miles to them since they are a 501c3) here's my pitch.
If you live in Portland and have never gone, you should go. This Saturday. June 27th. Me and my better half are going - come with us; we can grab some dinner beforehand, etc.
If you have gone in the past and had fun, go again. In fact find someone(s) who you think might like it who has never gone and convince THEM to go too. Help spread the addiction. :)
Hopefully you are not reading this closing line thinking... wow I really do need this product to make my whites their whitest and bonus, it's a dessert topping too! |
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| Photography Experiment |
[Jun. 10th, 2009|06:51 pm] |
This last weekend I had a terrific opportunity. My photography saga continues along solving some problems, throwing money at others (bought a flash). But this last Sunday I had one of a good day.
For a while now I have been following a flickr group, "Marking Portland". This is an effort to capture pictures of people in PDX with tattoos. I looked through the shots with some fascination as I always have been interested in tats.
But then I was hit with an idea, another of my recent passions, roller derby, has NUMEROUS participants with a wide array of ink. I've been taking pictures for them since January, why not, instead of action shots, stretch my reach a bit and do portraits? (I am sure any experienced photogs are laughing at me right now).
So I bounced this idea of the president of the league and she LOVED it. So this past Sunday we made 2 general callouts.. one to the photographers related to derby, the other to the roller girls. We ended up with 3 distinct "studios": 1 was soft light boxes and a black back drop, the next was a hardcode strobist approach with flashes, focused flashes, etc. The last was an outside studio capitalizing on the natural sunlight. Add 5 photographers and it was an awesome learning experience.
So this week we are going to assemble the shots, put them in a restricted access area for the roller girls to all view, select the best and submit. Even though I am doubtful any of mine compare to the others, the experience and what I learned was well worth being the newb on the block for the event.
Once the pictures are cleared for public.. I'll post a link. |
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| Hacking the system for charity (unthinkkfc) |
[May. 6th, 2009|01:36 pm] |
So today more than few people have sent a link to me about free chicken from KFC.
http://www.unthinkkfc.com/
While looking over the add, you pay sales tax, and can only print 4. But it had me thinking.. what if people who don't eat KFC, or don't need a free meal, printed their 4 coupons and
delivered them to those who do?
Anyone see someone panhandling for cash on their way home?
Know of a place where homeless folks go for food?
Other locations where those who could use, but can't afford it, a hot meal?
Teen runaway shelters?
Yeah it might not be the most nutritionally sound meal on earth but some alternatives are far less appealing.
Food for thought... |
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| Hyperdrive vs netbook... |
[May. 4th, 2009|09:46 am] |
So given that my addiction has taken off in full bloom, i've started to consider ways to really embrace this painfully expensive road to ruin.
I've been tracking some groups that cover roller derby photography and over the last few weeks switched from JPG to RAW format. The real challenge with RAW is the noticeable increase in size of pictures.
Some of the other folks who pursue this hobby recommended the Hyperdrive, a storage device made for fast transfer of pictures from SD cards to the drive.
http://www.hyperdrive.com/
As I started to look at the price for a hyperdrive I had to ask myself.. could a netbook meet the same need and then exceed the potential usage models? I can get one with an SD reader, and the same amount of storage, for around the same price.
The clincher for me was I started to find netbook tablets... this is leading me down a tempting road even further.
I don't buy anything this costly impulsively but it's now on my radar... |
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| Oh god he bought a camera |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|04:01 pm] |
I guess that meatloaf post should have included the fact that it points to a flickr account I set up.
Around December I went ahead and purchased a new SLR camera. It was something I had considered for a while and decided I had been really good all year at not spending a lot of luxuries. After a talk with my mortgage guy, my financial advisor, and the gal who deals with my retirement funds I had made good progress on all of the above so I deserved this.
Camera in hand I decided immediately on 2 topics..
dog shows so I would have something to do with Kati when I was there
derby because I found myself really entertained by the action photography from the bouts
To take pictures @ derby, you must agree to post them publically.
Thus.. pdxsharkey exists now at flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdxsharkey/ |
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| Bacon Weaved BBQ Lacquered Meatloaf |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|03:45 pm] |
So when Kati gave me her meatloaf recipe to make some comfort food I happily obliged. When I made more than expected or needed I had to find a use for he surplus. What can one do to meatloaf when you have bacon and BBQ sauce in the house and 2 encouraging assistants to help?
....
http://tinyurl.com/ddeaw7 |
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| Why I hate MSFT |
[Jan. 29th, 2009|11:57 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  angry | ] |
"Outlook did not start correctly last time. Do you want to start Detect & Repair"
[yes]
"Please wait while windows configures Microsfot Office SharePoint Designer 2007"
WTF!!!!! |
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| New Year. New Hobby |
[Jan. 20th, 2009|12:07 am] |
So late 2008 in the middle of the snowpocalypse in Oregon I decided to reward myself with gear for a new hobby. On one hand there is the dog related events I attend with my better half. On the other hand there is women's flat track roller derby. Something to augment each was what I had in mind when I bought the Canon Rebel XSi camera.
This last weekend, it had it's first field trial at the 3rd largest dog show in the US, the Rose City Classic.
For the truly bored or overly voyeuristic pictures can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Whippet.Madness
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whippet-madness
Yes. 2 URLs. slight different pictures. I am trying each of these share your pictures sites out to see how they compare.
PicasaWeb has some neat free photo-modifying tools and really
at this point to crop em, sharpen them,or do something cool like
black and white really meets my needs. |
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| Las Vegas in August |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|11:09 am] |
We are going to Las Vegas in August, but not for the whole she-bang.
Priorities as they are, we will be there for all of Blackhat & part
of defcon. In Monday, Out Saturday morning (Rollerderby that night
in Portland - championships! www.rosecityrollers.com)
Trying something different this year - staying @ Hooters.
Why Hooters?
No it's not the boobs.. it the pool.
Hooters has a pool that they keep open later than any other
hotel - 10pm (Yeah, not as cool as the Alexis Park *was* -
apparently Alexis landed a fence around all their pools and
now have similar hours).
So for those who are going, drop me a line so I know who to
look for. If ya have not found a place Hooters is 39-69/night
(39 if you don't want to be attached to the casino *gasp*) |
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| 41 years and counting. |
[May. 21st, 2008|12:23 am] |
Frightening revelation to be here for 41 years.
Not exactly a mid life crisis; it's just a sobering thought. |
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| Saturday am Classes |
[Jan. 4th, 2008|04:36 pm] |
So for those in the know who want to go..
PCC saturday classes for your pets:
16048 natural remedies for pets 1/26
16045 pet nutrition 2/23
14616 flower remedies for your animals 3/15
I've registered. Just wish the whippets could come to class! |
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| EVD-doh! |
[Jan. 4th, 2008|04:27 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  confused | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Underworld - Beautiful Burnout | ] |
So the time has come to look at EVDO.
My choices are:
Novatel Merlin S720
Option GT MAX 3.6mb
As I wade through the flood of pages trying to sell me one, I'm not having
much luck with determining what is the difference and which is better.
More research is required but if anyone has advice I am open to suggestions.
Oh yeah, I think I am going to have to go with Sprint. |
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| I miss the hum |
[Dec. 11th, 2007|08:55 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | irritated | ] |
Up until a few weeks ago my office cubicle shared a wall with a lab. A nice lab. I would work alongside the humm of machinery with the occasional trespass by a human who check on the machines. This all came to an abrupt end one friday when I arrived to slamming and crashing as the lab owners were rapidly packing up the place - they were given 1 days notice their lab was moving. Sadly we bid farewell to the hum.
Over the next week the large open lab space was transformed into compressed cubes - so think your worst nightmare in a 6' x 9' space. So between my office and my lab, it's about a 2 cubes (me) to 3 compressed cubes on the other side of the wall.
So moving day arrives - our new neighbors and their stuff arrive and unpack. It's not until 4 hours later (after lunch) that the horror of what has transpired is realized.
I NOW WORK NEXT TO A CALL CENTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The most evil manifestation since poison ivy rashes... scripted conversations, bitter support personnel, the most INNANE conversations amongst them when between phone calls. All of it clearly making its way over the wall.
Perhaps it should be a reminder that I should be thankful for my job.. but now that their scripts are cementing a place in my brain... I fear even my ipod and headphones will not protect me from the madness. |
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| RAPIER 3.2 Released |
[Oct. 30th, 2007|02:47 pm] |
After a month+ of polishing up the stuff my co-author wanted in the release
we finally get to push out the new version of RAPIER to its new home in
Google Code land.
http://code.google.com/p/rapier/downloads/list
I should probably make a few public announcments and such... on my own time
of course :) |
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| "Mommy he has red hair" |
[Oct. 25th, 2007|03:14 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | EVIL | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Awful coffee shop reggae | ] |
So on a whim and a commit, I recently found myself with red hair. For those who have seen it more than a week ago, we are not talking that darker red - it's now a full on Elmo red.
Since doing this, I have been observed by more than one child with even greater fascination than usual - each, devoid of the social graces that come with prolonged exposure to other talking monkeys, audible comments something akin to 'mommy his hair is red' - which often is followed by an embarassed parent shuffling the child away.
So today I find myself in a starbucks waiting on my brakes to be repaired. my table companions are my laptop and a large passion tea - which has a semi-red color. A young blood haired boy takes notice of me... "Mommy.. he has red hair" - the usual apologetic gaze falls upon me. This time I could not resist... tea in hand I look at the child and say deadpan:
"It's what happens if you drink red drinks.."
Insert nervous laugh from mother.. smile from child (who is now probably committed to consuming every red drink til his hair is red)
Life gives you these precious moments with children infrequently.. cherish them.... *evil grin* |
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