06 Jul 08
Once freed of your steel cage you are thrust into the world to experience a broader existence unfettered by HEPA filters and climate control. Your nose will get a vivid introduction to skunk roadkill and diesel exhaust, but will also revel in bread baking and plants blooming. Your body will feel the thousand tiny impacts of raindrops and absorb the buffeting of the wind. Your skin will feel the gently warming temperature as you crest a hill and drop to the valley floor below. You are no longer huddled behind a wheel disconnected from nature. It's Lawrence of Arabia in Cinerama versus a daguerreotype of a camel.
On my route home from work, right after the 880 exit, is some form of bakery. Either doughnuts or bread. It's commercial and sweet smelling. But every time I exit the freeway, I smell fresh baked goods. Only on a bike.
29 Jun 08
Smash TV
I was out on my usual East Bay weekend route this morning, the one that takes me to Orinda, Bear Creek Road, and Alhambra Valley Road. Two things made it a more eventful ride than it would have otherwise been.
The hunt for a petrol station, when you're a handful of miles from running on fumes, tends to bring awareness of previously untraveled roads, and new found knowledge of where certain roads lead. In the hills, detour signs are apparently left up longer than they need to be.
Also, as I hurtled along Bear Creek Road, I noticed the above smashed up television on the side of the road. A McDonalds bag and bottle full of stones were scattered nearby.
26 Jun 08
Backlog Unblocked
I've had a bit of a photo uploading backlog, which now appears to be all caught up. Going back a month to my Berryessa ride, a couple other rides, a beach birthday, and a couple CC events. Phew!
Since OSX now supports the RAW format my XSi produces, and Aperture now runs smoothly, I have little excuse to create such a backlog again. I just need to continue taking more photos, of course.
22 Jun 08
21 days later, and I just wrapped up LOST season 2. Can I get through the third before the month is out? Possibly, but I'm not going to be determined about it.
There's little point in me dissecting the series, I'm late to the party, and the dissection has been done, several times already). But while lots of things don't, and may never get explained, there is plenty of lore development and character intersection to keep it interesting.
DHARMA and Hanso, what's going on there? There's already been one character intersection between DHARMA and the Oceanic survivors. Two, if you count Desmond and Jack.
An experiment with multiple jointed limbs in the Spore Creature Creator.
02 Jun 08
Big Buck Bunny, the latest open movie, modeled, rendered, and composited entirely with Blender, by the same team as Elephants Dream. Licensed CC BY 3.0.
Great stuff, especially in high-def, easily rivaling Pixar and classic WB Merry Melodies.
01 Jun 08
The plan for today was lightly documenting my week long holiday of exploring the local roads, and areas I'd never ridden. Namely, Berryessa, 9, and the Berkeley hills. My favourite of which being, strangely, the Berkeley hills -- everyone already knows the greatness of Grizzly Peak, but Bear Creek and Alhambra Valley are also awesome rides. Berkeley is also a damn sight closer than the other, terribly interesting and fun, locations.
No, instead, against better judgment, I decided to start watching LOST. I've got a lot of catching up to do, it would seem. Some may think me crazy, but I believe it falls nicely into the post-apocalyptic genre I've been so intently reading lately -- ie, survival after everything is lost, coming to terms with the end of your known world, restructuring society, and fighting weird, unknown monsters, apparently.
I liked Jericho for similar reasons, except that came with conspiracy theories.
Also, darn, another TV show to eat away my precious time. I thought I was done for that, for now, after devouring both seasons of Dexter.
21 May 08
Font development is slow, so it's safe to say this is right on the tail of Meta Serif. Days before Adrian Frutiger's birthday, Linotype has released a serif version of his namesake, based on Meridien with metrics and styles similar to the sans.
Verdana Serif, coming soon.
15 May 08
12 May 08
You exemplify the modern urbanite. You are minimalist in style, committed to "clean lines" and restaurants with names in all lowercase. You aspire to live in an urban loft, and when the lease expires on your Jetta, you plan to get a Prius. Each time you fly, you have someone plant a tree to offset your carbon footprint. Yet, you smoke like a chimney, because it's "Hollywood."
Does Helvetica really mean Environmentalist now? Did I miss the memo? Also, I'd rather have my hydrocarbon spewing, 50mpg motorcycle, than a Prius.