Day 89: Hot Cup of Java

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4.5, 1/50, ISO 200)

My apologies on being late yet again.  I fell asleep yesterday at around 10 PM and consequently woke up at around 6 AM today.  Ironically, my Statistics class for today was cancelled last week.  Go figure, when I finally start to get enough sleep...

In any case, much of yesterday was dominated by Java programming.  Sadly, it seems as though the Java programming course (Course code: ITM200) is accumulating more than its fair share of casualties from our class; to the point where it seems to me that about half the class is either failing or has dropped the course.  A friend who works at the tutoring centre in my building pointed out that the largest flaw is the order in which material is taught; on top of that I imagine the problem is compounded by the fact that many students opt to not do their assigned lab problems or ask questions.  

Suffice to say, all the programming experience that I've accumulated through university and high school might actually be paying off now.  As such, programming isn't really on my "DANGER!" list.  Still, it is a tragedy to have to watch so many students get turned off or held back in my program because of one course.  At the same time though, it's a bit satisfying to watch some of the slobs with no work ethic and thought they could cruise their way through University get a nice, swift kick in the nuts.

Sometimes Java works in mysterious ways...

Day 88: Coast is Clear

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/400, ISO 200)

Well, for the most part it is at least. Most of the nitty gritty is over, which is great.  All the remains is one report and a programming project.  The former due Wednesday, the latter Tuesday.  Neither looks like it's going to be a major roadblock.  

Took a picture of Wellington Street on the way to Union Station.  Every so often, when the weather is nice or we want to kill some time, those of us that TTC walk with those that take the GO to Union Station - more as a means to just hang around and chat a bit than anything.  Being a nice day, Andrei and I opted for the outdoor route with Justin. As is the case with three guys walking down the street, much of our conversations went aloof; most of which I probably should omit for the purposes of this blog.

In any case, I am probably going to declare the path to exams pretty much open at this point, much like the street in the above photo.  For the record though, I took it whilst crossing south on Yonge; I am not in the middle of a multi-lane one-way street.

Pedestrian vs. Car incidents have been on the rise this year in Toronto, often times with the pedestrian losing.  I'm not that desparate to avoid my exams.

More tomorrow.

Day 87: Keystrokes

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/50, ISO 320)

It's a bit ironic that probably the shortest ever post is titled keystrokes... but hey, life works in mysterious ways, no?  Still typing away at the paper.  More tomorrow.

Day 86: Tick-Tock

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/50, ISO 200, Flash @ -1.0 EV TTL)

Yikes.  Much like the start of the year, my sleeping habbits are somewhat out of whack.  Couldn't sleep yesterday, and ended up getting up at around 9 AM, only to fall asleep again at 11 AM and waking up at 5.  Talk about messed up.  Hopefully things will stabilize after this week.  

Keepin' it short.  Still got a lot of work ahead.

Day 85: In Motion

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/22, 1/50, 1/40, ISO 200, -1.0 EV)

Despite the hecticness of the last week, it doesn't t look like it's going to slow down, as the deadline for another paper looms ahead this coming Monday.  Shot this on the bus ride home today.  I noticed that the window was pretty clean and decided "why not", since the bus was going pretty fast anyway.

Came out better than I had expected.  Tried it with cars too, but there just wasn't enough speed with the cars going parallel to us, not to mention the cars in the other direction being (from a physics perspective) twice as fast.  

Keepin' it short.  Going to be a bit slow this weekend as I plow through the major paper.

Day 84: Grease Monkeys

 Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom!

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/25, ISO 640)

"This assignment sucks" was frequently uttered during our attempt to work through it, often with expletives.  Essentially we had to look at a product called Grease Monkey Wipes and how the marketing factors involved in a hypothetical situation where they would enter into the Canadian market.  The product, a cleaning wipe, did not impress us.  For the record though, I think I would've probably needed a Grease Monkey Wipe at that time to get all the crap off of my face that had built up over the course of the last 30ish hours.

Fast forward a few hours into the wee-hours of the morning, and we're done!  Aside from our presentation for Communication (CMN124), this was probably the other big annoying pain in the ass for us.  So had we not been extremely sleep-deprived (It had been three days since I really slept for more than two hours at a time) we probably would've celebrated.  Alas, I think Andrei's one arm-hug of the wall was the best any one of us could muster.

Street meat at 3 AM! 

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/20, ISO 800)

One particular thing that caught my attention though was the hot dog stand pictured below.  Apparently it is usually there pretty much 24-hours a day.  Although later in the night a van pulled up and the owner slept in that, or so Lindsay told me on her way back to her place on residence. 

Ford for Mayor?  Rob Ford?  No.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 800)

Much of the morning was unventful after we finished.  We finally played a game of Age of Empires, although not really as much as any of us probably wanted.  Some folks were making noise at around 7 or 8 AM though, waving signs and yelling Ford for mayor.  I was unimpressed, save for the fact that a bunch of people picked a pretty crappy time to try and promote something.  Commute home was largely characterized by sleep, as was the rest of the day. 

About halfway through the slew of assignments and what not due before school pretty much ends.  Much of the urgent stuff is over though.  Just couple papers and projects left.

Day 83: C is for Cookie

Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom!

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/50, ISO 400)

I've satisfied my cookie urges for a long, long time.  About a year and a half ago, my friend Dylan brought cookies to a study session for a bunch of us.  The cookies were great, but what really caught my attention was the huge experiment of a cookie that he was gnawing on.  He offered to make me one at a later date, and I've been hounding him ever since about it.  As you can see, he came through.  I barely made it through one and a half.

 

 "No Justin, no."

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/125, ISO 200)

The cookies however, were not the only highlight of the day.  As Wednesday was also the day we (Justin, Andrei, Jelena, KG, and I) were working to complete our Marketing assignment due the next day.  It was relatively extensive, and being the procrastinators that we were we left it to the last minute which ultimately led to an overnight stay at Ryerson. 

"I pointed to the green one!"

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/160, ISO 200)

Of course, despite the looming deadline we totally did not start working on it right away after class finished for the day.  Much of it consisted of making rounds for food, segwaying into other topics, and fighting off the urge to play Age of Empires 3, which has recently become our go-to LAN game.

Working hard, or hardly working?

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/50, ISO 400)

Eventually as the afternoon wound down and we ended up getting kicked out of the Student Lounge that we so often hang out in, we settled for an empty classroom to start work.  It went on for a couple of hours until I broke the productivity cycle by electing to grab some food.  Some others followed suit.  The remainder of the time in that room was marked off with more off-topic discussions, Jelena's departure, Lindsay showing up, and Andrei's phone battery dying. 

Bay Street

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4.5, 1.3, ISO 200)

Of course, no overnight stay would be without some non-candid photography, and as such I took some time during our off-topic ramblings to take some long-exposures.  I had not planned on staying overnight, so I was without my Gorillapod, but the window I was shooting from was fairly recessed into the wall, allowing me plenty of room to sit and use the window to brace my camera (albeit at an angle) while resting my elbow on my leg.  It's as handheld as I'll probably get for a long-exposure.  Suffice to say, I was pretty impressed with the results, given the conditions.

 No lounging around here...

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/50, ISO 640)

At around 10:00 PMish we relocated back to the Student Lounge since there were couches (not that any of us really slept) and more than likely more space for us to work in.  At this point we had begun to really start hammering away at the report and we would do so well into the next day.

More to come.

Day 82: Vroom

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/40, ISO 1000)

Got up early again today... and left within a reasonable amount of time.  In a somewhat nice change of pace to the rest of winter, it was only raining today without much wind.  What caught my attention on the way to the bus stop though weree the cars as they streaked by, spinning up a trail of mist behind them as they went.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/20, ISO 1000)

Since it was raining I had debated not shooting since it meant I'd likely get my camera wet and it'd be a bit of a hassle.  However, it is likely motivation for this project and motivation to not be lazy (I wish this could apply to school too, hehe) that eventually led to me standing at the northeast corner of Kennedy and Steeles snapping pictures of cars going through the intersection as I balanced my umbrella on my shoulder.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/60, ISO 1000)

Unfortunately I have no idea how many people probably wondered who this crazy wierdo guy is taking pictures at the intersection.  I doubt anyone probably thought I was a cop, although those running yellow lights did were really the ones that I kept an eye out for (they go the fastest).  After fumbling around in Aperture Priority Mode for a little bit I realized how silly that might've been and switched to Manual instead.  Cranked up the ISO, opened up and let rip the shutter on Continuous High, panning for both Westbound and Southbound traffic.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/40, ISO 1000)

 In the end it seemed like it was worth it.  I came away with a different set of pictures and experiences that don't usually occur to me.  I almost ended up not even taking these photos.  Life moves fast.  Take it steady, with camera at the ready, and you'll be alright.  You never know where it'll take you.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/40, ISO 1000)

Day 81: The Early Bird

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/6.3, 1/15, ISO 800)

Yum.  Probably the earliest picture I've taken so far.  Got up at 5:00 AM today dark and early. Left the house by 6 AM and was at school by 7:00.  Figuring I had nothing better to do, I opted to take a few snaps from one of the windows from the Ted Rogers School of Management.  I had taken a similar picture before (albeit, not for the blog) one floor up at night with a hastily attached Gorillapod and all.  This one however, was totally handheld, and shot with my D90 of all things.  

In stark contrast to during the day, the streets are quiet and empty.  Barely any people are even in my building at all.  Most folks are either still sleeping or making their way via subway, streetcar, or bus downtown at this hour.  It's a bit of an interesting quietness that falls upon what is normally a very busy street.  Perhaps when it's warmer and I'm not so sleep deprived, I'll take a stroll around the area.  

After all, I could use the exercise.

Day 80: Devil Dogs

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/200, ISO 500)

I think this would've been perfect if Spielburg's name wasn't interfering with the rest of the photo.  Although technically I could've chopped it out via Photoshop.  If you haven't guessed by now, I took a picture of a TV in the house.  Yes!  I've moved up from laptop screens.  

In any case, it is a shot from the intro of The Pacific, an HBO mini-series from the makers of Band of Brothers.  Except this time we're in - you guessed it - the Pacific!  The show follows US Marines during their Pacific campaign in World War II against the Japanese.  Great camera work, audio, acting, the whole nine-yards as far as I'm concerned - mind you I'm not exactly a super-critic.  Definitely going to have to watch it again, since like Band of Brothers you're likely to not catch every detail the first time around.  There are just so many characters to follow! 

Highly recommended.  Even if you've missed the first two episodes, check it out anyway!  It airs Sundays at 9 PM EST on HBO.  Keepin' it short again.  Gotta be up in... an hour and a half.  

Woots.

Day 79: Fruity

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/60, ISO 800)

It's slow for me photography-wise.  School being the primary culprit.  As such, here is more food. 

I'm a fan of mango, as is almost everyone else I know; sans one friend who is unforunate enough to be allergic to it.  It's one of the few fruits that I am willing to tolerate despite it not being ripe, as was the case today.  Generally speaking I prefer my fruits to be solid, and not ripe to the point where it could qualify as mush.  As such, today's mango was definitely a treat.  It was a little sour, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Yeah, it's definitely slow.  Hopefully things will ease up soon, lest you'd like to discover what I eat on a daily basis or see more pictures on my desk. 

Day 78: Atypical

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/11, 1/50, ISO 320)

What a nice day.  Had plenty of sleep from yesterday so the usual two-hour sleep on the morning-of didn't have as adverse an effect as it normally does.  After lecture I grabbed a hearty breakfast to go and set out for my favourite on-campus study spot.  Of the seven-ish hours that I was there, four were actually spent programming.  An hour and a half was sleeping (it was a productive nap!), and the rest gaming/eating.  Not bad.  I had been slacking off all semester so accomplishing something today was somewhat good; although I hope I did not jinx myself for the rest of the weekend; to which I probably just did.

Likewise, the weather has been really nice the last few days, perfect for all those kids on March Break.  Thankfully that's over as well.  I had managed to avoid the March Break swarm ALL week until today when I got on the subway home today, which I found to be loaded with kids and their parents.  Unfortunately this looks like it's going to be a false Spring, with the weather looking like it's going to tank by next week.  Damnit.  I cannot wait when everything turns green.

Seems as though we're going to be heading back to business as usual (Get it?  Business?  Because I'm a Business student... ... ... Winston make joke) next week, for better or for worse.

Day 77: Careful, They're Ruffled!

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/11, 2, ISO 200)

Pretty slow day today, so here be a picture of some good ol' Ketchup chips.  When it comes to snacks like those, I generally only really prefer either original, ketchup (catsup?), or barbecue.  Maybe I'm just a simple person.  Sour cream and onion makes for bad breath anyway.  All dressed isn't too bad either.  No need for any other of those fancy-pants flavours.  Give me simple chips any day...

More tomorrow.

Day 76: The Click

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/8, 1/25, ISO 400, Flash @ -1.0 TTL)

What a day - one that I am glad is over.  At the very least, I can sleep in on Thursday since I've been busy all week, so much so that I slept through dinner and didn't wake up from my nap until around 9 PM.

My presentation for my communications class (CMN124) went a bit longer than I had expected.  A lot longer.  It was supposed to be a maximum seven minutes.  I went for about 11:17.  Whoops.  Still, when it came time general feedback and commentary on notable presentations, I was somewhat surprised that my presentation in spite of it's length was positive and well-received.  Even though I probably just ended up taking a hefty penalty for going over, I imagine the grade will still come out better, perhaps moreso than if I had not gone over; regardless, I remain optimistic about this presentation. 

Our class was to choose a topic related to Science, Technology, or Information Technology.  Immediately from the get-go I knew I'd do photography.  It was a science afterall and with the advent of digital, a technology as well.  I knew I was going to be talking to group with no photography background, so I tried to keep it as basic as possible, explaining only what I needed to and in not as much detail as I myself would've liked if I were on the receiving end.  Of course, I'm a stickler for details.  This was also the first time that I can recall where I was extremely comfortable with what I was talking about and I wanted to reflect that in my PowerPoint, which I largely ignored save for the use of visual aids.  I just spoke from my head with what I knew and threw in some corny humour every now and then to spice it up.  When I saw my friend Walid give me a five minute gesture I was somewhat in "oh shit" mode because I was barely halfway through my presentation; alas, I tried to keep as cool as possible without rushing through the presentation.

About the only thing that I really regret was not being able to do a live demonstration, which would have been a perfrect conclusion and a means to get the audience further involved.  I probably would've cut down the hefty technology portion that I somewhat shotgunned in last minute too, which probably would've saved me on time.  When I sat down I was a little disappointed that I had gone so far over but was glad that I was able to share my passion with everyone else.

Today was certainly another example of why photography holds such a special place in my life.  When the professor commented on my presentation, she noted that even though it was long, that everything flowed well and that I had spoken with confidence - much to my relief.  I had never done a presentation as well as I had today.  I also saw Parvinder earlier today, who much to my delight was very happy with his photo from yesterday.  At that point in the day I was tired (went to bed at 5 AM, woke up at 6:30) and in somewhat of a 'grrr' mood, but that all didn't really matter, since it was so uplifting to hear how happy he was; "I never look good in photos" he told me.  Clearly that changed.  I didn't get paid for yesterday's Toastmasters shoot, but being told things like this often makes that totally irrelevant.  To make others happy and to be able to capture the moment is what drives my photography.

I live for the click.

"You go out on Friday night
I'll stay in but thats all right
Cause I have found a click to call my own
In crowd out crowd I don't care
Your crowd my crowd we can share
Cause I have found a click to call my own"

Good Charlotte, The Click

Day 75: A Toast...

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 135mm, f/2.8, 1/100, ISO 800)

My friend Parvinder asked me to shoot a Toastmasters Club demonstration today.  He's spearheading an initiative to start a Ryerson University chapter of the club, and this was essentially a kickoff event.  By the looks of it, it went pretty well.  For those unaware, Toastmasters is essentially a club that helps members to develop public speaking and communication skills through presentations and speeches that members present to one another.

Having witnessed the demo, I can see why a lot of those that attended were eager to sign up.  It was a nice ray of positivity in a week that has seen a bunch of my friends drop out of one of our courses and some serious boat-rocking over at the Commerce Times.  Keepin' it short again.  Almost through the weekly hurdles. although the biggest obstacle to come is tomorrow when I have an oral presentation: my first in my two years at university.  More tomorrow.

Day 74: Nickel and Dime'd

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/60, ISO 400)

Yum!  Another glorious start to the week.  Today's post is brought to you by Tim Horton's incompetency! 

So, usually when I go to "Timmies" I grab a doughnut because I don't drink coffee and don't find their cookies or muffins really all that great.  Now, a doughnut costs $0.95 total and I - being coin-conscious - typically pay with a loonie and four nickels.  It seems though that the cashiers in my building happen to be completely dumbfounded whenever I hand them enough change to get a quarter in return.  

Every time save for one occasion that I pay, I get this "wtf" look from the cashier, who then repeats the price of the doughnut, to which I then have to respond that I'm aware of what the price is and that I'd like a quarter in change.  Perhaps I'm being a bit nitpicky, but the fewer coins I have to fumble around smaller than a quarter, the better.  I've never been questioned outside of these two Tim Hortons in similar situations.  Usually the person might pause because they're slightly shocked that I gave them enough change to make their life a little easier, but they handle it with no problems - not the case with these particular Tim Hortons.  

Needless to say, it's fast becoming a everyday annoyance.  Early start tomorrow, so hopefully more later.

Day 73: Spring Forward

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/20, ISO 200, Flash @ TTL)

We've jumped an hour ahead!  Yargh!  Pretty mundane weekend, and the crummy week.

For this shot, I had my D90 and 70-200 sitting on a tripod where my bed is, as well as my flash (with full tungsten gel) sitting on a Gorillapod on the chair in front of my desk.  Looks like it worked to some extent.

Anyway, going to keep it short.  Hopefully more tomorrow.

Day 72: Ch-kew! Ch-kew! W-aawwwwww!

 Bronf and Sumair give Jermaine the stare...

(Nikon D90, 18-55 VR @ 18mm, f/3.5, 1/60, ISO 800)

Contrary to the day's title, I have not gone off the deep end.  Of course, I thinkonly Bronf (pictured left) would understand the joke.  For the perplexed, an explanation shall follow:

Towards the earlier part of the decade, I came across a bunch of cartoons that tended to air on the later side of the night.  Most notably the two that I recall most are Mission Hill and Undergrads.  Neither survived past their first season.  The titular reference comes from a scene in Undergrads, where the owner of a comic shop makes Star Wars noises through a glass door.  Vague?  I know.  You'll just have to watch them for yourself.  They're on YouTube.

Keepin' it short... since today (Sunday) is short too.  More soon.

Day 71: Green With Envy

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 200mm, f/4, 1/100, ISO 800)

There's been a bit of a warm spell here in the GTA, which is nice considering I'm not a big fan of winter, go figure eh?  Being an odd day off meant I woke up at 2:30 PM, rather than the usual 6:00 AM.  After showering, I discovered that it was raining.  Hurray!  We're still in single digit temperatures but at least it ain't the white fluffy stuff.

Don't get me wrong, snow is pretty cool too.  It's made for some nice photos so far, but I just like green more.  Green trees (okay, I admit that at this point, save for coniferous trees all that's green is likely the moss on the trunks), fresh air, not being bundled up under fifty layers of crud.  Not having to hassle oneself with a coat.  I just prefer Spring and Summer more because of the vibrance it brings.  Oh, and the heat. 

I had nothing planned for today, so the moss of all things on the tree caught my eye when I looked out the window.  This was also one of the few times I was really glad I opted for the Sigma.  Shooting portrait-orientation with the lens pressed up against the window for stability allowed me to just edge-out part of the architecture of our backsplit's front-balcony for an unobstructed view.  Huzzah!  Upped clarity and vibrance in Lightroom, as well as cooling it a bit from the Cloudy WB I had set in-camera.

That's it for today (technically yesterday).  More later.

Day 70: Skippy

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5, 1/60, ISO 200, Flash @ TTL -3.0 EV)

So, today totally did not turn out as planned... sort of.  Thus, I present to you more pictures of food!  After a long hiatus, I have once again returned to eating bread (well, technically I have been for the last month or so).  Nothin' like some good ol' PB, although occasionally jam works good too.  Keepin' it short again.  I know, I'm a bit slow this week.  

More tomorrow.

Day 69: Wali Wednesday

(Nikon D90, 18-55 VR @ 22mm, f/3.8, 1/25, ISO 400)

Somewhat of a standard, mundane Wednesday.  Above is a quick snap of my buddy Walid (also known as Wali [Pronounced Wall-E]).  We got a bit bored in Communications class (CMN124).  Still pretty tired, but hopefully tomorrow I'll have something more exciting.

Day 68: Fit for a King

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/25, ISO 400, +0.7 EV)

In a similar fashion several weeks back, a bunch of us headed to Timothy's today.  This time, Justin (pictured above) and Lindsay came as well, along with Andrei, Jelena, and myself.  Good times were had by all, although the conversations were much more lighthearted in nature.  Came away with a few more snaps this time, including the picture you see above.  Don't think I used spot metering for this one, though I probably should've.  Justin's face was still a little bit underexposed when I took a look at it so I added about 0.5EV's worth of dodging on his face.  Probably the easiest dodge and burn job I've ever done.  Again, going to keep it a bit short today. Here's a picture of a brownie as a bit of a bonus.  More hopefully tomorrow (or I suppose, technically today).

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2, 1/40, ISO 500, +0.7 EV)

Day 67: Roll Call

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/200, ISO 400)

Going to keep it short today.  Totally beat from a long day.  Photo above is from the Commerce Times meeting.  I'm sure I was probably the only one that left without a shred of optimism.  No heads were sent rolling.  For me, I didn't really want to ruin the atmosphere.  We had to do a roll call cheer thingy.  Above was one of the potential cheers written by Parvinder, one of the writers.

Going to try and get some sleep tonight.  More tomorrow.

Day 66: The Little Things

 

(Nikon D60, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/60, ISO 800)

In continuance with the post made not too long ago (although techncially meant for Saturday), I'm still fuming about the botched coverage.  Aside from that, there isn't much of an update I guess.

But, every picture has some sort of a story.  Which means I am going to talk about an LCD display.  Yes.  I've hit new lows... hahaha.  Well, needless to say it's something I have enjoyed in my time with the D90 over my D60.  Perhaps it's just a habit, but I always found it more awkward to be gawking at the rear screen to adjust settings rather than the top LCD panel; maybe it has to do with the fact that the camera doesn't really change orientation (just position) when I fiddle around with settings such as WB and ISO on the D90, rather than taking a 90 degree tilt downwards.  

Nonetheless, it remains one of the small things that I enjoy from the D90.  Chief among the ergonomic improvements though is the dedicated buttons.  I actually do set my White Balance manually now, which has cut down somewhat on editing times.  I've also recently set the rear dial to adjust ISO (via the Easy ISO mode) in P/S/A modes, which has only made life even more enjoyable.  I almost never pick up my D60 now, save for being a spare body.  The extra size and weight of the D90 are negligable to me.

Weekly grind kicks off... later today?  Heck, it just might be a three-day week!

Day 65: Coverage

 

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/8, 1/80, ISO 400)

Okay, so I'm two days late... AGAIN.  It suspect this will be a common theme throughout the year.  Nonetheless, even though I am late with the text I am on-time with the pictures!  The photo was taken around lunch time at Yonge and Dundas which is always THE PLACE for many of downtown's numerous personalities at any given time.  Sidewalk artists like these are always pretty damn cool.  I of course, am artistically challenged; I couldn't draw to save my life.  Sure, photography is an art with a different medium, but there are times when the mighty pencil or paintbrush just has more impact.

Of course, someone (and I do mean possibly only ONE) person might be wondering what in the world would I be doing downtown on a Saturday as early as 12:00 PM?  Well, short answer is the Ted Rogers Memorial Conference that I mentioned prior.  Was it worth it?  Sadly, not really.  Myself, another photographer, and two writers - all of us save the extra photographer who had to work in the afternoon/evening - were all itching to cover the gala event that would cap off the conference.  Of course, it wasn't going to be all fun and glory which meant covering some stuff at school first before moving to the Distillery District in the evening.  Guess what part did not happen?  Yup.  All three of us got shafted.  Hard.  

I won't bore you with the details, names, or expletives (also out of some shred of neutrality that I wish to maintain), but I basically woke up at 8 AM for almost nothing, save for providing overkill coverage for an event.  I'm still trying to come to grips with how the three of us got screwed over for assignments that we volunteered for a month in advance.  On top of that I purposely cleared three days (Thursday to Saturday) for this conference.  Out of those three days, I got two hours of real hard shooting done.  Fuming, I came home and ate dinner, then promptly fell asleep until 12 PM Sunday afternoon.

Fatigue is a bitch.

Day 64: Déjà Food

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/11, 1/50, ISO 400, Flash @ TTL, +0.5 EV Post)

You know it, you love it!  Another sandwhich picture.  Elijah and I headed back to the Mutual Street Deli today.  So, I changed it up a slight bit from the last time I posed something from Mutual.  Instead of corned beef, it was Montreal Smoked Meat, and Rye bread instead of bun.  I had a brain fart when it came to the bun.  Rye generally doesn't hold up too well for this much meat.  There's also a bit more food left this time in the photo, as opposed to just the sandwhich.  

Hope I made your mouth water. In any case, I'm going to keep it short.  Heading downtown to shoot a bit for the Commerce Times at the Ted Rogers Memorial Conference.  More later today.

Day 63: Rock'em, Sock'em

 (Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8 1/50, ISO 400, Flash @ TTL -0.3 EV)

Yes.  I bring you a photo about socks.  What can I say?   They were REALLY comfortable!  Granted, I haven't exactly opened a new pair since I was a kid.  Shot an event at school today: The Viola Desmond Day Awards, an event where Ryerson celebrates the efforts of Black Canadian women in the community.  It was certainly an interesting night.   Growing up in Markham, I never really saw many black people on a day-to-day basis.  Sadly, I probably got more exposure about them on the news than in real life.  It really wasn't until when I got to Ryerson two years ago that things really changed.  

I dig the diversity that's present throughout campus.  It's not lopsided; there really isn't an all asian class, or an all caucasian class, or what not.  Okay, so some classes still have a majority, but the minorities are very, very visible.  Certainly much more so than my elementary or high school days.  Quite honestly, it's a nice change of pace; something new that I enjoy and that's comfortable.  Kind of like a new pair of socks.

Yes.  I just equated multiculturalism to socks in some twisted way.  That's what happens at 2:46 AM in the morning.  In any case, it's getting late and I've class in the morning.  More tomorrow.

Day 62: Smokin' Hot

 

Mmmm, mmmm, good!

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5, 1/40, ISO 800)

Not a bad way to end the week.  Okay, so technically the week isn't over but being Wednesday it means the weekly grind is over.  Much of the day was pretty much riddled with naps throughout class and in study rooms.  I think my sleep cycle is messed up now.  I only sleep a few hours at night and end up making it up on the bus, subway, and class which often makes for a distracting combination.  Hopefully it'll get back on track after this weekend.  Aside from a moot Statistics midterm about the only other major highlight was the above pictured sandwhich, which will now occupy the rest of this post.  

So this sandwhich is looking like it's going to very much be like a love-it or hate-it sandwhich.  You're either going to be like me and go giddy at the sight of it, or start gagging because it's porky awesomeness makes you want to puke.  So, this sandwhich came from a relatively new restaurant called Smokin' Bones located very close to Dundas Street East and Church (117 Dundas Street East, to be precise).  This sucker regularly goes for $6, although I think someone forgot to take down their 'Opening Specials', since it came to $5.65 with tax... and what a sucker indeed!  Half a pound of pulled pork goodness stuffed in between a bun whose only real purpose is to keep your hands relatively clean.  I say relatively because the oily awesomeness is probably evident by now and firmly ingrained in your minds. 

It's like the sucker crash landed and left a greasy trail!
(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5, 1/50, ISO 800)

Every bite was heaven.  Mind you, this is the third pulled-pork sandwhich of my life.  It's a little pricey, but for a $6 sandwhich you can really get filled up.  It also came with some BBQ sauce splattered over it which only added to the flavour explosion.  Okay, maybe I'm overrating it - but hey, it's really good and relatively cheap for what it does: fill you up.  Is this something you want to be eating everyday?  Probably not, unless you want to die.  I am definitely heading back there to try out the other parts of the menu.  On top of that, Ryerson students get a 15% discount on any regular orders over $6.00.  My kind of people.

Needless to say today's lunch left me with one thought on my mind: I want what they're smoking.

Day 61: If-Then-Else

 

 Good ol' Big Java 3rd Edition.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/200, ISO 200)

Wow.  I seriously thought the level of work would pick up over these last few days.  Alas, that wasn't really the case.  Wrote a programming midterm today in class - probably the most underwhelming programming test I have ever written in my life.  It was for the most part a snap and took relatively little effort to complete.  This would be good and all, except for the fact that this was a test on programming.  The test was entirely multiple choice, which certianly trumps last year's midterm that was partially fill in the blanks.  Hell, at least you still wrote code for the latter!

In some sort of twisted might-not-make-sense way I did enjoy the occasional sitting in a group trying to figure out a Discrete Math lab or a Java lab.  Maybe it was the fact that it had the right mix of productivity, jackassery, and Bollywood movies (the last one courtesy one Shaun Maharaj).  There were definitely some things that I missed from that year.  Granted, given the options at the end of the semester last year, I imagine that if I had stayed then I'd probably be drowning in work that I hardly gave a damn about were I not pushed by my friends to at least finish strong.  Alas, here I am in IT Management, anything but a stones throw from main campus.

Of course, I'm sure all this complaining and reminiscing about doing hard work will come back to bite me in the ass.  Alas, last week's postponed Statistics midterm is coming up tomorrow.  Karma will probably strike back, I've already reached my quota for saying things I'll probably regret in this post. 

if (goodKarma)
   No worries;
else
   Knock on wood and pray for salvation;

Some habits die hard.

Day 60: Nuts For You

(Nikon D90,18-55 VR @ 22mm, f/4, 1/10, ISO 1600)

A pretty slow, sleep-deprived Monday as usual.  Went to the Ginseng studio in the afternoon, although this time around there only Bronf was there.  We went through some video stuff before havnig the conversation broken up by my growling stomach.  It's not like had starved myself prior to coming over; I ate my sandwhich during History class but apparently that was doing very little to curb my discontent crap-factory. 

Having little else at the moment to offer besides water, Bronf motioned over to a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts.  Now to explain what happens next requires a bit of backstory.  See, a few weeks prior Aaron, one of the Ginseng radio hosts decided to make a short 'behind-the-scenes' video in Bronf's basement with the station's camcorder.  In summary, a good portion of it was a running joke about how Aaron likes snacking on a particular brand of nuts - que perverted snickers and jeers!

In any case with that video still fresh in our minds (and me being sleep-deprived) there was a lengthy exchange of nut jokes that I will withhold from posting for the sake of you, the reader.  On the flip-side, they were really good, considering I am not a fan of either chocolate OR nuts; having both is just insane.

Of course, anything tastes good when you're hungry, no?  More tomorrow.

Day 59: Olympics, Eh?

 

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5, 1/50, ISO 640)

Yes, I took another picture of my laptop screen.  I stayed in all day so I didn't really have the opportunity to go take pictures of celebrating downtown fans that clogged Yonge street.  So, unlike the majority of my posts this will probably be a little more text-heavy.  

The Olympics are over.  In some ways, I am a bit sad.  I love this country.  I love it even more having watched the games, and the spontaneous singing of our anthem at both sporting events and on the streets of Vancouver from my house really caught on with me.  The daily crowds of red and white, cheers of  "Go Canada Go", and other broad spectacles of patriotism that swept through this country was a nice uplifting change to the daily news barrage of crime, poverty, and tragedy.  Granted, the beginning 'Games didn't quite hit the ground running; it just hit the ground.

The technical glitches during the Opening Cermonies and the death of the Georgan luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was really not the way to start off a worldwide event.  Nor was Canada's slow start, although Alex Bilodeau wasn't kidding when he said that there was more to come, and came it did.  Canada literally exploded with gold medals in the last week, finishing it with a climactic overtime win in Men's Hockey.  The closing ceremonies were thankfully free of technical glitches, but I personally did not really enjoy the musical performances; most of which were from bands that I thought were long past their prime and didn't really embody the Canadian identity.  

Perhaps my one major gripe was the immense flak that the opening and closing cermonies caught from many of my peers.  Bad music and technical glitch aisde, I don't think there was really much to be griefing over.  If anything, I enjoyed the fact that we opted to NOT take "OMG FIREWORKS EVERYWHERE AND SEIZURE-INDUCING LASER FLASHING LIGHT SHOW PEW PEW PEW LOUD MUSIC PEW PEW PEW PEW".  I thought the projections that they put on were a nice and refreshing touch, along with the largely Canadian theme that went with many of the performances.  I personally dug the displays of Canadian culture that pretty much permeated much of the ceremonies.  Some might disagree or think that it was boring, but I think it was important to show the world who we are as Canadians, or poke fun at what they think we are and that doing so doesn't have to involve pyrotechnics or massive amounts of bass.  Besides, what other country is going to have tap-dancers on fire, make folk music sound really awesome, or have Michael J. Fox talk about poutine and back bacon? 

I will conclude with some thoughts in six words (in no particular order):

Team Canada: Slow start, great finish, gold hoarding
Alex Bilodeau: First Canadian gold medalist, fortune teller
Curling: Holy shit, what an awesome sport
Joannie Rochette: Perseverence in the face of tragedy
Sidney Crosby: Saves nation from rioting hockey fans
Short Track Speed Skating: Dominated by Asians - Chinese, Koreans, Ohno
Jon Montgomery: Win gold, win pitcher of beer
Charles Hamelin: Mesmerizing beard, skates sideways to gold
Own The Podium: Not quite, owned gold as alternative
Opening Ceremonies: Erectile disfunction, flaming tapdancers, cool lights
Closing Ceremonies: Sorry about the bad music world
Canada Men's Hockey: Cutting it close, don't you think?
Canada Women's Hockey: Drink, smoke, celebrate; You deserved it
John Furlong: Elementary students can speak better French
Norwegian Curling Team: Silver for Curling, Gold for pants
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir: Incredible performance, my mind is blown
Yu-Na Kim: Awesome skate, damn you Brian Orser
Petra Majdič: Breaks ribs, punctures lung, wins bronze
Cypress Mountain: Many spills, but not enough snow
Two-Man Luge: Man on Man? No thank you
Japadog: Long lines, I want one now
I Believe: Overplayed, but made for decent montages
Sven Kramer: Fucked over by coach on lane change
Olympic Mittens: Appears on Oprah, consumers rabidly purchase

Day 58: Behind the Mask

 

(Nikon D90, 18-55 VR @ 26mm, f/5, 1/5, Flash @ Manual 1/8th -1/3 EV Power)

Okay, I'm technically two days late with this.  Sorry, but I got caught up in the climactic conclusion that was the Olympics.  Saturday was a pretty busy day on top of that.  In the morning/early afternoon I had completed my last day at work, ever.  I was glad I was able to finish it on a high point though - this was a pretty good batch of kids.

Went home to relax for a few hours and ended up watching Jasey Jay Anderson in Men's Parallel Giant Slalom and the Canadian men in Men's Team Pursuit both win gold.  Shortly after I headed downtown to shoot the RUTV Masquerade Launch Party.  Took a whole bunch, but the evening got off the a pretty slow start; I poked around for some photos during the first bit of dinner, but eventually stopped because I don't believe pictures of people eating are very flattering, nor do I believe the photo is really worth barging into multiple conversations, but that's me.  

The real fun started once the dancing did.  Needless to say, they cranked the music up really loud to the point where I could only hear people who shouted into my ear.  Essentially I circled the dance floor like a shark, striking when necessary.  Most people who realized in time they were being photographed posed, which was nice.  Despite running with flash, I wanted to keep shutter speeds down so as to capture the ambiet lighting (even though there wasn't much).  I wanted to keep as much of the mood intact as possible, and perfectly lit subjects and background are far from what went on in that room.  The flash was more there to freeze action.  I'd say it worked out pretty well.  Got home at around 1:00ish, and was for the most part, dead tired but happy to learn that our Men's Curling team added another gold to Canada's rapidly growing pile. 

All in all, a good day indeed.