Soulriders 5.0: Legend of the Unending Games

Who doesn't have a digital camera, these days, anyway?  So, thinking we all see interesting/amusing things, let's post them here:

This guy cut me off in traffic (no, really, his custom plate, it made me laugh!):

(http://soulriders.net/brian/images/potd001.jpg)

I took this during a moment of stop-and-go traffic; hilariously, I forgot to disable the flash on my camera-phone, which seemed to spook this guy.  Oops. >_>;;

I tried to snap a picture of an interesting cloud verge on the way in, spilling over the coastal range from SF, but I couldn't get a good shot while driving.  I took a not-quite-as-good-as-I-hoped shot from the parking garage at work; I found some interesting foreground elements to make up for that.  Mmm, my composition is still way off. :p

Cloud verge over the mountains:



Here's some pictures from the last time I went to Davenport (found them while I was clearing out old photos).  This is on the northern cliff, facing south (I performed a marriage ceremony on that beach once, nearly a decade ago now):



Here's turning around and walking to the back of the promontory (so, this is a view off the north side of the northern cliff):



Incidentally, if anyone is curious as to more shots from Davenport, lemme know now, because I just don't visit that often....  Scaling the southern cliff is really tricky, and I plan to go in the evening -- so probably not going to take any shots from up there. Hope you enjoyed~!

I took these today on the way in to work.

There's a story to go with them (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,2212.msg1025837.html#new)....

(http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd005.jpg)

Obligatory (you'll have to look really closely: DOUBLE RAINBOW!
(http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd006.jpg)

You need a better lens filter, sir!

Unless you're using a phone or pocket camera. Then carry on.

It's from my HTC Inspire, which is a pretty decent camera, for a phone.  Unfortunately, both of these shots are in the rain (there is a rainbow, after all) and through the less-than-perfectly-cleaned windows of my car while I was driving. :\

The second one, you can actually see the arc of my steering wheel reflected in the window, almost paralleling the second arc of the rainbow. :p

I was actually talking about the shots you took on the 30th.

Oooh.  Those I just reduced the quality because I had only MS paint and didn't want 1.5 MB pictures.

I was actually referring to the fact that the colors would have benefited from a UV filter. They'd be much more alive. The photos themselves are pretty good, but thay lack a certain warmth.

Hmm. I'll have to see if that can be adjusted in the future, then.

If you're not shooting from an SLR camera, the chances of correcting that are unlikely at best. If so, don't worry about it. If you ARE using SLR, you can pick up a cheap filter for $8-10 at any Best Buy.

Mm.  Sounds like I'm gonna need to get a bit more serious and buy a better camera in coming months.  Good suggestions for that?

Nikon or Canon. Olympus isn't quite able to hack it, and Sony is TERRIBLE. I'm a Canon man myself. Looking at getting a t2i within the next few months. I encourage you to do some research. A good site I have used for years is http://www.dpreview.com

What's the cost of that?  As an amateur I'm not looking to spend much.

We moved offices today; I have twice as much deskspace now.  Here's my new cube:
[spoiler]
(http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd007.jpg)

Really need to decorate it with ... stuff.

Of any kind. ._.

Not in frame: Two monitors with no mounting equipment (on the empty desk to my right), a server motherboard (in box) that we have no idea what to do with, and the secondary vinegar bottle.  Also, a vast number of screws from an older desk.  Not ... sure what to do with those yet.

Sweet desk!

Canon t3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830120506

Ranges from $550-600 for the basic kit, which'll do everything you want it to do (probably). The price is a bit of a kicker, yeah, but it'll last you a long-ass time and take some supreme pictures.

Yeah, I think I'm going to go lower-end than that.  I realize it means not-so-perfect pictures, but I think I'd rather practice on something cheaper and figure out how into this I really am before throwing that much money into it. :x

Can you suggest anything that (with decent accessories) would be around 200$ max?  This is probably asking for the best of a bad lot, but....

I have a Nikon D40 which was the entry-level DSLR from Nikon two years ago. I'd be happy to let you borrow it for a few weeks to give it a test drive.

The only chance in hell you have of getting a good DSLR for $200ish is to buy older used kit, though.

You might want to look into the "Micro 4/3rds" cameras, which are more in the area of $400 new. They're not quite as good as a SLR, but still pretty good, and much smaller.

Realistically, used may not be the worst option ... that just seems like an awful lot to blow on a camera, when every portable device I use except my gameboy has a camera built in (and if I got a DSi...).

Alright.  If you're up for lending that, I'd love to give it a shot.  Will need to take some pictures of my new apartment anyway.  So, Jon let's chat offline about meeting up on Saturday for lunch; judging by the little reminder at the bottom of the page, I gotta treat you to something anyway.  ;)

We're not talking just talking about raw megapixels here. We're talking about how smart the sensor is and how good the lens quality is. My step-father has a D40 and it's still pretty damn good.

Okay, got a hook for my hat and some other stuff.  Happy day~!

(Yes, I stole the drawers from the empty desk next to mine for security:)

Brian, I took these at the Chicago Botanical Gardens with a Nikon D40 last year. Check them out. My favorites are the bell tower ones. :D

http://imageshack.us/g/833/dsc0052it.jpg/

For Brian:

(http://i55.tinypic.com/263vkvt.jpg)

What did I ever do to you guys, anyway?

What, you don't like it? I thought Mami was your favorite magical girl! Well have a snowman of her and stuff! =p

On a different note:
(http://i52.tinypic.com/1z9o5l.jpg)

HAhahaha....

Alright.  I'll try and upload some of the pictures I got from Davenport, trying out the camera Jon lent me tomorrow.

Anyway, on the Mami thing:

She is my favorite character from Madoka.  However ... it's getting kind of old that everyone makes a running gag of trying to piss me off by linking pictures of her decapitated.  In fact ... it's actually starting to work.  Post your Mami picks -- go nuts.  That is absolutely not a problem.

But why do I need to be called out every time?  Cor's a fan of Mami, too, and I don't see him being mocked for it.

Anyway....

I think the hair curls are what impressed me the most about the snow.  That's gotta take some work.

...wish it snowed around here....

What's with the decapitation theme?

Warning 1: NSFW adverts.  Update your adblocker.

Warning 2: Here there be spoilers.

http://danbooru.donmai.us/wiki/show?title=mami_mogu_mogu

Quote from: Brian on October 18, 2011, 02:31:40 AMBut why do I need to be called out every time?  Cor's a fan of Mami, too, and I don't see him being mocked for it.

People do those sort of things for reactions. You're awesome and charismatic in your way, so your reactions get pursued. If it really bothers you, just studiously ignore it until people give up the ghost.

...o_O;

Sometimes asking is enough too. First, I usually do stop doing something I know is annoying if I'm asked. Second, I wasn't aware this bugged Brian. I didn't call out anybody when I posted the 'theater ticket' pic for example and Brian's coment -there- implied amusement regarding the topic. I simply figured it might be enjoyed again.

Those are the only two cases where I can honestly recall referencing the decapitation thing so I'd like to assume that this was more a 'broke the camel's back' thing than specifically aimed at me. I probably wouldn't have said anythting on the matter (what does one -say- when being told you're mocking them? 'Sorry?' I'm honestly not since I wasn't trying to), but I felt like clarifying after Ko's post.

You're just one of many who teased brian about that.  Anyhow, shall this get back onto amateur photography?

Or do I gotta get out my camera? =D

Cuz I will.  And it'll be horrible.  You guys will totally regret it.

Quote from: Merc on October 19, 2011, 02:51:34 PM
Sometimes asking is enough too. First, I usually do stop doing something I know is annoying if I'm asked. Second, I wasn't aware this bugged Brian. I didn't call out anybody when I posted the 'theater ticket' pic for example and Brian's coment -there- implied amusement regarding the topic. I simply figured it might be enjoyed again.

Sorry; it's just a coincidence.  Individually, Drac, Rat, and a few others have teased me about it, so it's totally a buildup of all of it.

Unintentionally -- I'm sure everyone thought it was clever, and didn't realize from my PoV it was kind of ... a lot of the same thing.  (Really, I _do_ need to get around to writing that happier ending for her (nevermind the canon!)... after Sympathy).  Okay, getting back on topic, there were some ama~zing 'god beams' this morning, but traffic was moving too swiftly for me to get a good picture until they had mostly dwindled.

Heh, 'good picture'.  Well, here's an adequate one, since it's with my phone, not the camera Jon lent me (okay, I really _do_ need to get those pictures online >_<).

Anywho:



Edit: Added second image.

Mmmm, sunshafts.

I lawled:

(http://soulriders.net/brian/images/potd012.jpg)

Should maybe also crosspost in cosplay? ;)

Some driver -- started behind me, cut across three lanes of traffic, and then cut back in front of me.  For the two miles I'm on the highway, I never need to leave the exit lane, so this was remarkably obvious.

At first I was very  -_-

Then I looked at the lettering on her trunk when we were at a stoplight.

(http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd013.jpg)

And then I was fairly  ^_^

Took off slightly early to head to my parents' place tonight (family tech support, ugh), so I had time to stop and snap a picture of the sunset - we actually had a fairly decent one, they've been a bit dull of late.

Okay, getting back to this; I borrowed Jon's digital camera instead of using my cell phone camera for a bit, and then took a trip to Davenport to try it out.  I'll be posting the images over the next few days/weeks.

Here's a condemned building that college kids used to tear pieces off to start bonfires on the beach (now in reasonable size!):

More walking through Davenport, away from the beach to see if there are any good shots.

This is a sidewalk:

The only church in town:

Now that I've taken a photo, I will return on May 16th, 2015, just to see what's going on:

Let's see ... continuing the Davenport expedition:

Standing on the lawn in front of the church, looking southeast:

Trying to frame the tree for a good composition (not sure how well I did, honestly) facing generally southwest:

Butterflies are difficult subjects, but this does demonstrate the might of the borrowed camera:

And now we cross the highway.

From the train tracks (pretty happy with this one):

That gate ... is going to take a lot of work to open:

Northern cliff, looking south and slightly inland:

Same cliff, looking south and more to sea:

A profusion of coastal shots ensue:

The cliff the other shots were taken from the top of:

A closeup of the cliffside--  What used to be here, I wonder?:

From the top of the cliff facing north once more:

A profusion of coastal shots ensue:

Tree (didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped):

View of another cliff from the top:

And the same cliff from the bottom:

Quick break from the current trend for my new roommate:

Comfortably tablet-sized... cats sure know where to sit to get your attention.

Looks like it could be a Maine Coon, but it's hard to say from the picture. Anyway, a very beautiful cat, congratulations on finding a roommate! ^ω^

Well, Shamisen is a rescue cat, so we're not sure of his breed.  He could very well be a Maine Coon!

Kitty!

Oh, fine ... here's a picture of him in my hat:

My co-workers (my boss, actually) got me a mug to replace my old one:

Quote from: Brian on December 23, 2011, 07:01:15 PM
Oh, fine ... here's a picture of him in my hat:

Spoiler: ShowHide

(http://www.pishoque.net/brian/images/shamisen2.jpg)

Probably entirely worth cleaning the fur off afterwards. :p

Kitty!

Yeesh.  I really need to get back to the beach pictures.  But by request (guy gets a lot of attention!) here's another picture of my roommate:

Keeping this thread alive, here's a few:

Sky just after sunset over the apartment building near my place:

An amusing license plate on the drive to work:

And showing how much he's grown over the two months I've had him, compare this against the image of him curled up on the iPad.  Here's Shami next to it, pondering his strategy for the game I got him:

While we're on that subject, I got him a chew-toy -- one that was supposed to last for a good while, and clean his teeth while he chewed on it.  Worked a bit too well:

Quote from: Brian on February 27, 2012, 02:10:11 PM
While we're on that subject, I got him a chew-toy -- one that was supposed to last for a good while, and clean his teeth while he chewed on it.  Worked a bit too well:

At least he didn't bat it under the refrigerator.

He only bats things under the stove.  Which was real fun, when he launched his collar down there, and it took some minor dis-assembly to retrieve.

That's an awesome sunset picture, Brian. Really nice, I like the purple.

I'm not positive, but I think Hal was over when I took it. :p

Really glad the colors turned out!

I do recall you taking at least one sunset picture while I was there, although I don't know if it was that specific one. Check the date!

Also, I find it somewhat amusing. An entire week in California, most of it spent hanging out with Drac and Brian, and I took zero pictures of either one of them.

I'm considering doing a photo tour of haunted locales in Illinois this summer. What do you guys think? Cool? Dumb?

Do it!

San Francisco trip pics!

Lodgings were obtained in the home city of Drac and Brian; the sign says it all:



They have a pretty nifty looking courthouse building there, too:



No pictures of humans, but I did get to meet Brian's kitten Shami:


(he's a helper)


I took a couple of trips into the city itself and walked (and walked and walked and walked). My route the first time was this, more or less: http://g.co/maps/ehtms

San Francisco's hills can get rather ridiculous, though:



Bad enough when the streets go straight up, but I'm not sure this is an improvement:



I was actually surprised at the number of impressive-looking churches there:





There's plenty of other neat-looking old buildings, too:








I have only one picture to post of Chinatown. I took more, but none of them can top this one:


I did pick up a cool wall scroll while I was there, though.


Japantown was also nifty, but more for the shopping than the picture opportunities. I did get a couple, though:



Also picked up a nice teaset while I was there:


And on the last day, I did get to see some really nice views in the hills and by the coast:




And finally, on the way home, the best possible way to see Albuquerque:

Glad you had fun out here, Hal :)

I woke up to find out that Shami was showing his appreciation for the easy-to-remove safety collar I have him wear:

There was an eclipse yesterday!  Naturally, I didn't have a filter or any good equipment prepared, but I tried taking a few shots anyway.  Without the proper gear, I know my camera wouldn't capture a good direct image, but I suspected that the lens flare, if the camera were angled right, might show a bit of it -- and it did!  So, the sun looks like a blazing ball of fire (though the corona is a bit more distinct than I'd expect), but the lens flare demonstrates some of the occultation.

I'd guess ambient lighting dropped by around 40%, since we weren't in the path of totality (pity).  It'd been about fifteen twenty five years since I had last seen an eclipse -- shadow castings worked remarkably well.  Got to show a few to Drac.  I was astounded by the number of people who tried to stare straight at the sun while it was going on, and felt like a nuisance, telling them not to and showing them how to make a pinhole projector with their hands.

Anyway, I captured some more shots, which I'll see if any are better later.  Here's a quick one that I liked:

Saw this on the bus ride home (hence, apologies for the poor quality).



Made me think of the endless troubles Brian has with Shami.

Saw this yesterday on the way back from ye olde sushi hut.  The question ... can you ride ... THIS:

Drac got a new bookshelf to replace the cheap one I had been using:

Nice Lunar 2 boxset. Still got the pendant?

Yeah, couldn't see a reason to take it out, really....

Turned an old piece of costume into a wall hanging.  Really livens up my room, and was a nice excuse to do some sewing.  Hardly use that skill, which is a bit of a shame, since I went through the trouble to learn it:

Also, finally got around to hanging that picture Jon gave me for my birthday.  Man, that looks nice!  Thanks, Jon. :)

Wish I were still able to believe these:

This one's a bit large and not good quality, but I found it amusing.  Something I encountered while building the new system:

Saw this on the drive to work:



There's no base in that direction ... they were headed to SFO.  Raises questions.

Edit: Oh, I'm not the only one who noticed:

http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2012/06/13/whats-the-deal-with-those-military-helicopters-flying-over-san-francisco/

A short turned bus forced me to take a detour through St. Clair West station this morning. Someone had scratched off part of the wayfinding signage with mildly catchy results.

Ran into traffic on the way home a few days ago:



And here's a picture of Shami from a month or two ago.  Remember that picture where he fit inside the hat?

Kitty.

He's about a year old now?

Yeah, just over a year.  I think he was five and a half months old when I got him at the end of December, so....

Special ironic/unfunny evidence edition (I'm posting them to my website and sending the link to the police officer who took down the details and made a record for me):

These images are at full, gratuitous size for the benefit of the police, so be aware they're practically unviewable.

http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd046.jpg (http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd046.jpg)

http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd047.jpg (http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd047.jpg)

http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd048.jpg (http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd048.jpg)

http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd049.jpg (http://www.soulriders.net/brian/images/potd049.jpg)

Edit: Instead of putting them in the post, just open the links in new tabs and let your browser resize.  Somewhat more elegant.

Funny pictures tomorrow, I promise. :)

Damn, he keyed the hell out of your car.

Belated, but something more amusing.

Traffic in the city:



A surprise inside a box that was shipped to me at work:



Amusingly named eatery in the city while we were headed to see Les Miserables:

First of all, Shami is very good at hiding:



Loch Ness quality image of something that I saw this morning:



Better quality images:

Traffic:



Shami remains very good at hiding:



Area panhandlers are really stepping up their game:



The Jack-o-lanterns that Drac and I carved:

Fucking pumpkin drunks. They just can't stop themselves.

But it's a fun and easy design.  Looks creative, requires almost no effort ... I've done it three times now. :p

These first two images are of what I've had removed lately.  They are probably kinda gruesome to some viewers, and you may want to skip them.



And this is from a few years ago (note they had to cut one in half to get it out) sterilized via chemical bath (no idea what):



The extra tissue attached to both is bone (with some calcified gum on the lower, as well).[/spoiler]

Now that that's behind us, a shot of the Palace of Fine Arts:



And another:

All I'm gonna say is ow. Glad I have good teeth.

Sunrise in Fairbanks, Alaska.  The sun rose, then moved behind the mountains again shortly after this shot:



This is as high as it gets:



Here, you can see that the people of Fairbanks are amazingly progressive -- everyone has an electric car!



Nah, they're actually just engine-block warmers.  If you don't have access to one, then the thing to do is to leave your car idling and unattended while you go inside for whatever.  No, seriously!

At a glance, the founder of Fairbanks was evidently Bill Murray.  You learn something new every day!

Here's a shot of Wally after about 5 minutes of being outside our hotel:



Here's a somewhat blurred twilight shot -- nearly an hour after sunset/



This was being read by one of the girls in the Japanese tour group we ran into in Chena.

No, not that Twilight....



My hair froze once we got out of the hotsprings.



But at that temperature, it's not that surprising.



Incidentally, Chena is hugely popular with Japanese tourists.

Walking around in Fairbanks....

Didn't expect to run into that here:



They're on to me.



Just about the dumbest pool hall I've ever heard of.  Cute, though.



This poem/image is inside the Co-op, which is sort of a small indoor mall.  It's very central to Fairbanks, though -- probably the biggest shopping center they have.  It is only a city of 35,000 people, after all.

Shami remains good at hiding:

I question their sincerity:



Mostly because:



But this means ... somewhere, Kyubei is free.

Shami gets no breakfast today, and this is why:

(http://i.imgur.com/QjQNFnT.jpg)

/me goes to fetch a traffic cop and some superglue...

... wait, wha?

That is lovely.

Quote from: alethiophile on October 28, 2013, 12:05:53 AM
That is lovely.

I've seen a bunch of these odd/mistaken traffic signs around Toronto by now. Admonishing "PEDESRITIANS" to not do whatever, or such.

This is the first one that's merited being immortalized in photo, though.

(http://i.imgur.com/RDTBMZL.jpg)

Ah, the perils of attempting Dark-Arts-y political manipulation on a campus full of snarky college students.

Context which may or may not be interesting or required:


Huh.
/me struggles with syntax, gives up. If there's a way to make it display smaller, I can't find it.

I feel like a picture is missing? :)

Ah, there we go :3

(http://i58.tinypic.com/24vigi1.jpg)

I was doing a minor home improvement effort in my closet (aka, I just added two shelves) so that I could better stack my games.

Still need to do the other side, that way I can distribute the games even better, but it's already an improvement from when I just had them all over my closet in dangerously leaning stacks. That's essentially all of my board games, if anyone's curious.

...minus any games on pre-order or kickstarted anyway, hence the 'essentially'. <_<;

Grainy photo since it was with iphone, so here's a list of games for anybody curious:

I am so jealous. Do you get to play them with any regularity? Letmelivemyboardgamefantasiesthroughyou.

Not as much as I used to, though that's my own fault.

There are a fair number of board game meetups that gather on a weekly basis around Houston, but I've only been going recently to one that meets on Sundays on a sporadic basis, and cutting out early to make it to Neph's FFd6 game on time.

To be fair, I'd gotten just a little 'gamed out' so to speak after going to a Saturday one for close to a year, since the saturday one is from 11am until 10pm.