In this post, I cover some Big Brother from three different continents, The Memoirs, some upcoming TV reviews, some Simon & Garfunkel, some HDR photography and more!
A completely unpredictable weekend of posting and activity has lead me to work on some other things yesterday. For the amount of new readers that I have, I have decided to post a short introduction to The Memoirs. This post can also be seen as a continuing photographical revue of recent HDR photography from the HDR flickr pool. If you want to know more about HDR photography, please consult this article and the others in this series.
A short introduction for new readers
Welcome to The Memoirs, I am your host, Range.
I write about photography, robots, social issues and entertainment on this blog. I am an aspiring speculative fiction writer as well. I work in the financial sector and have before been involved with design, web, software and graphic based.
On The Memoirs, you will find featured photographers in each daily post. You will find video logs, podcasts that are right now in production, as well as the few that have been produced fully already. You will find my short stories and series of articles. And you will find my photos.
I live in Montreal Canada for the moment. I am moving to Vancouver BC in September.
Feel free to navigate the different sections of this blog. I write between 25000 and 50000 words a week on this blog. Participate in the comments. Some of my more successful articles have been written because of reader comments.
Interact and above all, enjoy.
I saw this great picture of Matt Mullenweg from WordPress on Chartreuse, I felt I had to include it. He looks like a man with a purpose. I have to remember how that felt like.
I had read about Zooomr before, but they are on the verge of releasing their 2.0 version. It was supposed to be released yesterday, but they have received some DOS based attacks on their site. Zooomr is pioneered by an 18 year old software designer Kris Tate. Now that is impressive. It is finally online again.
It’s through some interest of my own and the interest of the readers (that is you in particular, that’s right, you, the person reading these lines) that I have posted a recap article on HDR photography. I am a detail oriented individual, and I like analyzing things. So HDR photography with long exposure photography is right up my alley. I can’t wait to try it out in the coming months when I get my DSLR.
My essay on money seemed to stir up some feelings and opinions on your behalf. It’s a controversial issue I believe, one that you have to think about for yourself. I used to be obsessed by the acquisition of wealth, especially since I manage wealth for other people. I was never rich, but I did have a yuppyish lifestyle, with a cool car, a cool condo, a cool dog and a cool wife.
When money is no longer an issue, what happens?
I’m looking forward to the August 1st relaunch of ThoughMechanics. They are going to include different channels and writers to start the transformation of ThoughtMechanics into a web portal. They are ranked in the top 20 of Technorait top 100 blogs. It is a good way of diversifying their “product”. They are also redesigning the whole blog.
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
Wired editor Anderson declares the death of “common culture”—and insists that it’s for the best. Why don’t we all watch the same TV shows, like we used to? Because not long ago, “we had fewer alternatives to compete for our screen attention,” he writes. Smash hits have existed largely because of scarcity: with a finite number of bookstore shelves and theaters and Wal-Mart CD racks, “it’s only sensible to fill them with the titles that will sell best.” Today, Web sites and online retailers offer seemingly infinite inventory, and the result is the “shattering of the mainstream into a zillion different cultural shards.” These “countless niches” are market opportunities for those who cast a wide net and de-emphasize the search for blockbusters. It’s a provocative analysis and almost certainly on target—though Anderson’s assurances that these principles are equally applicable outside the media and entertainment industries are not entirely convincing. The book overuses its examples from Google, Rhapsody, iTunes, Amazon, Netflix and eBay, and it doesn’t help that most of the charts of “Long Tail” curves look the same. But Anderson manages to explain a murky trend in clear language, giving entrepreneurs and the rest of us plenty to think about.
Chris Anderson continues what he started in his book. His blog is also a good way of checking up on his articles and ideas.
Congdon on MSNBC
Big Brother Australia
Darren was evicted from BBAU. He was really getting annoying.
The noms:
David had 7 Nominations
Chris had 4 Nominations
Camilla has 3 Nominations
Krystal had 2 Nominations
Claire had 2 Nominations
Max had 2 Nominations
Jamie had 1 Nomination
So initially David, Camilla and Chris were up.
Jamie then took 3 points off Camilla.
So Camilla went from 3 nominations to 0 nominations.
As such new revised nominations are:
David, Krystal, Claire, Max and Chris
From what I read, the next two evictions are double ones.
Big Brother UK
Nikki got evicted, as last reported, BBUK. The house is still reeling from the eviction night. Jayne disobeyed the rules again, and BB switched off the hot water. Looks like Jayne will be nominated next Monday and will most probably leave.
The housemates are without regular hot water, without the bath, without the swimming pool, without a shopping budget, meaning they are only on staples. All this because of Jayne. I observed her during the back to school task this weekend, and I could see that she was faking her burps, burping on purpose. Anyone who can burp on purpose knows what a provoked burp looks like and Jayne does this on purpose.
Big Brother USA
Janelle on slop in the food competition
It just reminds me of prison food.
So looks like Janelle is a jailbird or had some form of contact with the corrections system in the USA.
Simon & Garfunkel
For some reason I’m thinking about Simon & Garfunkel. I keep thinking on why they split up. The reason is probably because I keep hearing Bright Eyes from Watership Down every week. The song was released for the animated movie of Watership Down and was performed by Art Garfunkel. It was an immensely popular song in the UK, selling over 1 million records in 1979.
The Sound of Silence is my favorite from them. The Graduate was such a good movie too. That’s what I think off when I see them in my mind. I tried researching on why they split up, but never really got any good answers. I also think about the movie Carnal Knowledge that featured Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel and Candace Bergen.
From what I read, it looks like the 2nd break up happened because of Garfunkel’s acting career with Mike Nichols. They have reunited throughout the years, most recently in 2004 for a series of sold out concerts titled Old Friends.
Upcoming TV shows
There has been a flurry of upcoming shows available. From Heroes to Traveler, these pilots show the new fall schedules from the broadcasting companies.
I finished watching Heroes. It was an interesting show. I was surprised how international the cast was, but I guess that NBC learned that from ABC’s Lost. I was most surprised to see that the Indian professor came from the same part of India that my parents came from.
The show is about normal everyday people who discover that they have super powers. It is quite strange for an American TV show. It is in the vein of the new superhero movies, but it takes a different approach to the subject. It is like watching the genesis of a superhero team. It reminds me of Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol.
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memoirs on a rainy day 
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