Ideas and thoughts

I haven't been able to be much of a couch potato lately, what with all the wedding organising going on and due dates for work deliverables shouting out "you've forgotten about me!"

I haven't, dear deliverables.

So some part of my brain, the part that likes to be a couch potato, came upon an idea at lunch time. How about creating a device that replaced your dreams with your Netflix queue, or the contents of your DVR while you slept? Then, your dreams wouldn't be dreams anymore but rather what you wanted to be watching while sitting on the couch, but of course you don't have the time to do that anymore... but you do while you sleep!

But then I decided that would be a silly idea. You'd forget what happened in the movie half an hour after you woke up.

I like watching Glee. I like watching musicals. I liked being a part of one in high school. I think I've watched "Grease" too many times to admit. I think I've admitted too much.

Have I mentioned that I really like Inca Kola? I really like it. There. Thank you to Adriana for locating the diet version today, and for buying two six-packs. The diet is really quite difficult to find. The great thing is that the diet and normal versions taste exactly the same, so I can drink a six pack of diet in one night and not have the Wii balance board scold me in the morning.

I think that's the end of my ideas and thoughts for today. I think I'll drink another Inca Kola.

Being shagged by a parrot

I found this gem earlier today on my BBC youtube feed, and I just cannot stop watching it. The 'look' on the bird's face, the awesome Englishman commentary... it's just fantastic.

STS-128 launch

It finally launched! Adriana and I spent the better part of a week trying to see this thing lift off (weather problems, followed by a valve problem), but it was completely worth it. This was a night launch, and while it was much 'shorter' than a day launch, it was soooo much prettier. A shuttle launch still is, by far, the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Click on the image below to go to the set.



Here is my favourite picture from the set, the solid booster separation. You could only just barely see this, and somehow I was able to get enough pixels to remember it by.

More space-rock, please.

I love me some space-rock. Muse is my favourite band by bloody far, and anyone who knows me just ... knows that. I discovered today an unsigned band from New Zealand called "Battle Circus", and they sound so much like Muse that I love them too. Here is one of their videos.



They have an EP out which is quite good, and are working on an album which is scheduled to be released later this year. Check out their website for links to facebook, twitter, whatever: http://www.battlecircus.com/

The hermit crabs

Here are photos of the six hermit crabs I've been looking after, along with a photo of the setup I used to take the photos.















The whole hermit crab set is here.

The active hermit crab

While my friend was away on vacation, I got the opportunity to look after his hermit crabs. I had also recently purchased an intervalometer for my DSLR camera, so I could do time-lapse photography. The video below shows a rough test of that, with each frame 8 seconds apart. There are quite a few things that need to be fixed for my next attempt. I have to fix the depth of field so more of the tank is in focus, the ambient lighting could be a bit better, I have to cut down the reflections on the front of the tank (perhaps a light source from behind), fix the white balance, and not move around when the photos are being taken. That final point is what makes some frames darker than the rest.

Anyway, more about the hermit crabs. I have two tanks, three crabs in each. The crab you see moving about here has ADD, I think. It just doesn't stop moving. Every now and then I see the other crabs moving about, but I haven't seen any of them use the 'hamster' wheel like this one does.

Photos and videos from Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction

The Nine Inch Nails set is here.
The Jane's Addiction set is here.

I can't really express how seriously awesome that night was. NIN were just damn amazing. It also makes quite a difference when posting these pictures to the appropriate groups on Flickr, here is the latest view-count graph of all my photos...

Quite possibly the best game ever

You can't beat a game with a title "Robot Dinosaurs That Shoot Beams When They Roar". You just can't.

http://www.arcadebomb.com/play/robot_dinosaurs_that_shoot_beams_when_they_roar.html

Misseri Studio

I just completely stumbled across this on Youtube. Misseri Studio were the creators of a great deal of the short 5 minute programs that were shown on ABC in Oz when I was growing up. Don't remember any of their stuff? Here is an example:



Go there. Now.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MISSERISTUDIO

Farewell, wisdom teeth.

I just had all my wisdom teeth removed. Before being injected with the novocaine, I attempted to see how low I could get my pulse. I guess I did an ok job, hovering around the mid 60s, especially since I was freaking out a little.

The whole procedure took 45 mins, with three straight pulls and one impacted (soft flesh, so it hadn't come right through yet). I remember the dentist saying "now you're going to feel good", and then after that, being wheelchaired out to the car.

Here is my tribute song to the moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nBOROExwE0

Piano song, Movement 1

I posted this to my facebook profile a few days ago. Here is the info:

Originally composed on a Kawai ES3 (I love that Piano), pumped via USB-MIDI into my computer running Cubase Studio 4, re-converted to piano choones using Synthogy's Ivory Grand Piano, normalised and converted to MP3 using Audacity. Still can't think of a proper name for it. Sorry if it auto-plays, I don't know how to stop that with this app (actually, I've disabled it for now until I get a better solution).

The Snuggie

Fulfill your Monk-like desires.

It's a damselfly, not a dragonfly.

This post was wrong. I was surfing Wikipedia and found that a damselfly's wings run parallel to its body. A dragonfly's wings are perpendicular, like on the one I found out the front of our place a while ago:

 

Peru photos - part three - Cusco!

Here are the photos from the Cusco region of Peru, which includes Cusco itself, surrounding ruins and towns and of course, Machu Picchu.

Link to photo set.


Machu Picchu HDR
Originally uploaded by daecks

Llama!
Originally uploaded by daecks

Peru photos - part two - Ica!

Here are photos from the region of Peru called "Ica", which includes the coastal sites of Paracas and the Nazca lines.

The set is here.


Sealion
Originally uploaded by daecks

Spider deja vu
Originally uploaded by daecks

Peru photos - part one - Lima!

Photos and some videos taken in and around Lima are now online in Flickr. There are more to come from Ica (Nasca lines) and Cusco (many Inca ruins).

Click here to visit the set.



Indian Market
Originally uploaded by daecks


Rainbow fountain
Originally uploaded by daecks

Berklee music project

For my latest online Berklee music course, we had to create background music and effects for a movie scene out of a video game. I did mine for a scene from Aeon Flux. Here 'tis, with the music track only...

Little dragonfly

Little dragonfly
Originally uploaded by daecks

This little guy was hanging off a Staghorn leaf just outside our place.

Brown Anole

Brown Anole
Originally uploaded by daecks

Another example of the critters found around where I live. This one would return every night to the same spot to rest. For scale, the head would be a little under 1cm long.

Kiss me

Kiss me
Originally uploaded by daecks

This was out on our terrace the other day. I have no idea what species of frog this is, somewhat due to the tail protrusion.