Feb 28th pic!

"Who let the dogs out?"

Seriously!? When I came home today I found a stray dog just hanging out in my front yard!...I wasn't sure If I should open the garage door, what if it ran inside? So I just waited till it ran away. 

The pic above is a HW assignment from Eva...after confessing that I didn't have any ideas for Sunday's picadai she suggested shadow puppets. I'm hoping I get a passing grade!

"Hand's free"

In case you were thinking..."What a loser! couldn't even take a shadow puppet pic without getting his damn hand out of the frame!...why the hell does this guy still have a blog!!?" ...Calm down, the hand in front of the camera was intentional....In my opinion it adds more character to the pic, the second pic is a testament to how lame a shadow puppet pic would be if it were just normal. I'd hate to show you how boring a shadow puppet pic would be if there were no hands involved at all!

Feb 27th Pic!

"Iron"

Pre-Workout regimen today included 2 See's Candy and water. Workout, 5 Mile Run, Biceps, Back and Abs. Post Work out includes, In-N-Out with V8...then gratuitous amounts of ICB's! (Irish Car Bombs) Rinse and repeat on Sunday!

Feb 26th Pic!

"Halo Moon"

A contribution by Pete! A Halo Moon in San Jose!

Feb 25th Pic!

"Chris Vs. My Camera"

As I write this I'm in terrible pain...eating Wasabi coated peas from Trader Joe's is not a good idea. They're delicious but the Wasabi coating is uneven and varies pea to pea, as a Quality Control manager I take particular offense to this. I just bit into a pea that was 95% Wasabi and 5% Pea, the optimal Pea to Wasabi ratio is 5% Wasabi and 95% Pea. I'm usually happy with 80-20 ratio at best. I highly recommend the Wasabi coated Pea's from Joe's but just be careful because it's like a crack addition that can make you cry at times. 

The objective of the pic above was the capture the Tennis ball in motion, i.e the ball in Mid-air and in perfect focus, while Chris in the background out of focus. You may be shocked to find out that the pic above is not the pic I described, in fact if you look closely there isn't even a ball in the pic! ...I know you're blown away! I took only 4 pics before I realized I'd just rather kick some ass at Tennis (which I did, before we got kicked out) than spend 2 hours trying to get that shot and possibly break my lens. 

Speaking of Lenses, there are new cameras coming out that don't use Mirrors like traditional DSLR's, and one can still use their current glass (stock of lenses) to outfit the new cameras via adapters. The new technology is being dubbed EVIL (no joke!). The Camera companies say that most posers (me) only use kit lenses (the lens that comes with the camera) and don't generally upgrade, so they only need these smaller cameras that shoot higher resolution.  

...you just learned something about technology today, you're welcome! ...you can print and frame this as your diploma cuz you've just been schooled....I'm done now. 

Wired article on death of DSLR Camera Tech :(     Also Google DSLR vs EVIL and you'll find more info.

If that's not your cup of tea here is a link to the review of the movie "Valentines Day" By Roger Ebert  :)

Feb 24th Pic!

"ACE!"

Tennis at the park...there was a High School marching band practicing a few courts over....these High School kids seem younger and younger every year. When I was in HS everyone seemed so damn normal, now they look like elementary school kids, who by these standards are probably microscopic ;)

The band was playing their fight songs the whole time Eva and I were playing, on paper fight music while playing tennis sounds like it could be fun but in theory it's really damn annoying.

Feb 23rd Pic!

"30 Minute Meals by Eva"

Such a good cook that she can make curry without even looking at the skillet. Speaking of the skillet...It's a Le Creuset cast iron skillet, the bright orange is considered iconic for the brand and it's been around for 85 years! It's the gold standard.....so next time you want to say something is really nice you can say "Those purple Uggs are up to Le Creuset standard" or they're the "Le Crueset of shoes" as in gold standard of shoes. Word. 

Feb 22nd Pic!

"Hyper-drive"

Sis had a layover in PHX on her return trip...she was more than willing to be my Picadai subject, Thanks! 

The pic is of her staring at the flight status reports, this shot took a while to get because SOMEONE was using my camera last night and I did not realize my settings were changed :)  ...but once I got the camera back to my settings it was a lot easier. 

Since I was at the airport I feel obligated to tell you to go watch "Up In the Air" a good movie. In terms of good stories that take place in an airport, you don't have many choices...The Terminal, Wings (TV Show), Die Hard 2...I can't think of any chick flicks that take place at the airport (I know my audience)...I'm sure Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts or Renne Zelwegger have a movie out there that takes place at an airport...I can't think of one off the top of my head. 

P.S. Gwenneth Paltrow has a movie, View from the Top..or something like that...I saw in HS because Mike Myers was in it right after he did Austin Powers, but the movie was NO GOOD...don't watch it! Oh and Kelly Bundy (Christina Applegate) was in it too...that was almost worth it.

Feb 21st Pic!

"Chewed up and Spit out!"

Edemame shells at Geisha a-go-go. Also have pic's of the sushi but this was better. An Eva contribution...she didn't get to vandalize this pic with her name because it was taken on my camera :) 

"It comes in a 750ml bottle" 

Outside Kashmerez, a wine cellar/bar in Scottsdale. They had a live band that played pretty decent music. The female lead sounded like a man when she spoke, but sang like a chick, not sure how she does that but she should try to talk like a chick too. I took this pic btw, most of the shaky night time pics are by me...on second thought I should've let Eva take this pic....I took 7 shots of this door and this was the least shaky one and I don't even smoke!

Feb 20th Pic!

"SHAFT!"

Mine Shaft, I think....at Hanny's in Downtown Phoenix. Had dinner at Hanny's before going to the Phoenix Symphony. The Symphony was cool, but I kept thinking if they took requests on what songs to play I'd yell "Imperial March" - Star Wars! Followed by the Indiana Jones Theme! ....and the best part was during the intermission I found a flier for a Star Wars Symphony for next month!

I'm going!...I'm cultured now, I eat with a fork and enjoy my Star Wars in Symphony.  

Feb 19th Pic!

"Whipped Sky"

Eva went UFO hunting today looking for well...UFO's, the pics above are her contributions. Sadly no UFO's or even airplanes. ET doesn't wake up early enough these days :( 

"Cold Mountain"

As the name on the pic suggests, an Eva contribution. Her photographing abilities have merged with her hiking skills. If a Venn diagram were drawn for hiking and photography, the pic above would represent the middle instersecting part. 

J/K about the UFO's, they're really weather balloons. 

Feb 18th Pic!

"Follow the yellow brick road"

Located at the Mesa Art center in downtown Mesa! Eva and I visited during my lunch break today to check out the Paul Nicklen Polar exhibit. The guy has some cool pics that you can purchase for $850! Frame not included. 

 

"ZA"

The sun was shining brightly in my face :( but there were a lot of cool modern fixtures at the Mesa art center, I did not expect to see something cool in Mesa!

Feb 17th Pic!

"Well Red"

A selection of books from my bookshelf...this was supposed to be all my Business lit but somehow it got polluted by others. I'd write reviews for all the books here but I'm afraid I skimmed most of them, and only read about 50-60% of them all the way through.

Feb 16th Pic!

"Cobbled"

Lined up some of my shoes today...pretty standard pic. I realized I need to keep a journal for all the photo ideas I get so that on days like today when I'm exhausted I can just bust out my journal and snap a pic!

Need...sleep...now

Feb 15th Pic!

"Walk the Line"

Downtown Scottsdale Art-walk line.  It's a place where there are a ton of art galleries, but no photo galleries.

If someone were to open a photo gallery there, it would make pretty good money!...someone.

"Art"

Hey it's subjective! Eva's contribution.

"$200"

The price is for the amount of effort Eva spent in getting this pic! Bee's just aren't the most cooperative subjects!

Feb 14th Pic!

"I'm GR8"

Happy Valentines Day! ....good this this blog is picadai and drawadai, after two tries I finally got the stick figure right. The left arm is slightly shorter but that's depth perception, if you disagree you're depth perception is off. It's too bad they don't have books on drawing stick figures...I'd write one but I'd need to buy one first, it's one of those what comes first the Chicken or the egg problems. 

A good resource for stick figure drawings www.xkcd.com ...a geeky/funny comic strip. 

Enough about stick figures....Happy V-Day!  

Feb 13th Pic!

"Man Made"

A small irrigation stream behind my house. I thought about balancing on the edges and getting a pic that was perfectly center but realized the chances of me falling in were a 100%. The water was only 1-2 feet deep but my swimming skills are so great that I'd probably drown.

FYI...I made all comments anonymous now, so anyone can post freely :)

Feb 12th Pic!

"Big Ball"

This was one of my first Tennis rackets given to me by my uncle...never played with it, my dad was nice enough to buy me a graphite one before I really started to play. Now the "Net King" hangs on my wall as an antique, and the graphite one my dad bought is probably decomposing in some land fill...or maybe it's been recycled and ended up as a part of the space shuttle, or some old lady's hip...the opportunities for my old Tennis racket are endless.

Feb 11th Pic!

"Is that Chicken?"

My sister, who happens to be a full blown vegetarian (Yes, the family is disappointed) was nice enough to visit so I took her to a Vegan restaurant in Phoenix (Green). The place has a cool decor but I didn't feel the need to be a dork during lunch and snap a few hundred pics! 

According to us the car doors on the wall belong to VW Beetles. Nothing says vegan like old German car doors decorating your walls! They also make Vegan soft serves and one serving can feed 3 people! 

Also notice the chairs....I picked the table thinking "Cool our chairs have racing stripes, Badass!" turns out our chairs were so old they had to tape them together so they won't fall apart. :( 

This pic was not digitally altered!

Feb 10th Pic!

"If you skared go to Church" - Ice Cube

I've always been curious what goes on in those places, is it really like in the movies? If I ever get up early enough on Sundays I'd rather be running or praying at the alter of Roger Goodell depending on the time of the year. 

In the pic above I'm pretty sure there's an UFO (do I put "an" or "a" before UFO? It's a vowel but it doesn't sound right). It's a streaking light to the left, I think it's just a flight that got caught during a long exposure but I'll throw this one out to conspiracy theorists out there.  

P.S. UFO's can be something other than glowing orbs...that's so 1998! ;) (Watch Phoenix Lights, a "ground breaking" documentary on UFO's in Phoenix..If you last longer than 20mins fill me in)

"Play the guitar like a rubberduckin riot" - 311

Guest submission by Pete! I like how the guitar looks in the light from the lighter.

Feb 9th Pic!

"The Happening"

Sick and tired of me taking credit for her pic's the artist took considerable action. (Smiley face) 

Keep in mind if I had gotten the pic above in one shot I would have my name would be plastered over the pic in bright red! I usually take 500 pics of the same thing in hopes that ONE pic will turn out nice. The pic title is in reference to the M.Night movie that came out in 07 or 08 with Mark Wahlberg. The premise of the movie is that the environment is pissed off at us and the trees decide to release toxins that make us kill ourselves. The movie was a commercial flop, and so-so critical praise. The trees above look a little menacing but green tint gives it a friendly vibe, "come hang out we wont kill you!".

Tree's like me I drive a Prius. I've had a smug look on my face since 08!

"The Entrance"

Ok it's really not an entrance, but it looks like when one is about to enter prison and they take once last look back...I would imagine it would look something like this! 

Whatever...try coming up with damn titles to random pic's everyday! ...you'll have to agree it's a lot better than "The Trees" and "The Overpass thing with fences or something"

Feb 8th Pic!

"Dinner!"

On the menu today, Protein & Carbs!....Pasta with Turkey burger! After a weekend of eating at odd times today I got back to my regular eating schedule! Stomach feels a million times better. 

When I first heard about the 365 days picture project, the article suggested you took pic's of your food everyday till you get comfortable. Since I bought Turkey burgers I guess I can just re-post this pic for the next 4 days at least!  Don't worry about it being boring I'll take the same pic from a different angle, I have a feeling it looks better from the burger end!

Feb 7th Pic!

 

"When the Saints Go Marching In"

Eva playing "When the Saints GO Marching In" in honor of the Saints Superbowl win! Ironically, she couldn't practice on the Piano today because of a Superbowl party!

Eva is also famous for her fast piano playing style, her fingers cannot be captured on film.

Feb 6th Pic!

"Urban Sprawl"

This pic was taken more than 35 feet away from my house, after the last few lame pics (guest contributions not included) I put up I decided to go on a little "hike" and take a pic of the city. The little development in the pic is surrounded by farms and constant construction. I thought I had it bad! Can't wait to take some pics in the summer the light will be great till 8pm!

Feb 5th Pic!

"Juan Valdez 2.0"

Guest pic by Eva. A Cowboy on Tempe town lake, AZ is a red state...so yes we have cowboys! 

"Pimpin' on 2 Wheels"

Feb 4th Pic!

"Pants on the Chair"

During the "shoot" today I learned that it get's pretty chilly in my house ;) 

Saw a movie today and it was a drama that dealt with some heavy topics, but during the entire movie I could only think about two things. 

1. A trailer featuring a movie with James McAvoy came on (The Last Station) and the first half of the movie all I could think of was "This guy was in that Angelina Jolie movie recently with guns and stuff...they bend bullet paths...." So I thought of all the words that would describe a movie with bullets, Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy. After mentally running through the plot of the entire movie it finally came to me, the movie was "Wanted". Then I became sad that I was watching a presumably much better movie and I was thinking about "Wanted"...FML

2. In the movie I was watching (A Single Man), the male lead does not wear a belt the entire time, BUT his shirt always stays tucked, doesn't even seem bothered by the fact that the belt is missing! I on the other hand have to tuck my shirt in at least once an hour even while wearing a belt which I pick at the whole day! I guess I need to buy me a pair of movie pants and shirt. 

    "Menace to AZ" 

J/k Kelly, hope you enjoyed stomping all over our piles of rock that look like mountains/hills.

Feb 3rd Pic!

"The Bizness End!"

My golf game is so sick, I'll take on anyone...2 conditions apply. 

1. You've never played golf

2. You've never heard of golf

I'm not too picky about the order of my rules, but you must satisfy both before I agree to play you. In fact I prefer you be generally be horrible at all sports. 

In all seriousness I realized what the problem with my golf game is besides the fact that I can't play, majority of the issues stem from the fact that I can't hold my club steady long enough to even take a proper pic.

Note: UofA cap in the background! Go CATS! (not one Tiger comment!)

Feb 2nd Pic!

"Budda"

LOST the final season starts in 12mins...this is a little figurine my sister gave me a while ago. LOST in 11mins! LOST!!!!!

Feb 1st Pic!

"Phoenix"

Went to see Phoenix play at the Marquee theater in Tempe with Eva. It was awesome! they had just won a Grammy the night before and they killed it today. 

Late post today but since they didn't allow my DSLR into the show (and no way in hell am I going to be the dork with a DSLR at a concert!) I had to settle for the blackberry pics. Hopefully the first and only time I'll be putting up such low-res pics. 

We were pretty close to the stage. We got there just in time for the main act, missed Sea Wolf the opening act, so did 80% of the people there I think. Phoenix  is a Alt Pop band and they're from Paris, France. Their song 1901 is used in the Cadillac commercials and the lead singer is married to Sophia Coppola (Director or Lost in Translation, and poorly miscast as Michael Corleone's daughter in Godfather III). Knowledge is power!