Wastr

These are the photos I ordered from Flickr.

This is what they sent me.

I only wanted the photos. But because Flickr saw a need to use a 18 x 10 x 6 box full of inflatable garbage, the mail carrier didn't leave it at my door because it was too big. A note was left with an address to a post office in Rockford, 20 minutes away. I signed the redelivery authorization note, but after I forgot to put it in the mail, I lost patience and drove out to Rockford to get my precious prints. When I arrived there, the man behind the counter asked me why I was at the Rockford office to pick up Grand Rapids mail. Apparently my carrier had used the wrong slip, and my package was not there. I had to return to downtown GR to get it. I had totally wasted an hour of my day off and a gallon of gas, thanks to the fact that Flickr uses an obscene amount of packaging, leaving me with a few prints and a big pile of garbage. Thanks Flickr!

Photo Management

La Rambla
Originally uploaded by J.Knecht.

Combing through the back catalogue and posting some never before seen shots on Flickr, with more to come.

Just got a first peek at the latest roll sent to Ofoto, er, Kodak Gallery. Don't you love it when you can't remember what's on the roll? Turns out to be the shots I took in Detroit on a sunny day a few months back. My Spotmatic produces some killer grain, at least when viewed through the Ofoto site, but I'm fed up with those guys. I used to love the fact that I could get a roll processed, get negatives, and have online images to share, but now I can't stand the small size and lack of options with the online image. Compared to what you can do on Flickr, looking at photos on Ofoto is a joke. I've ordered prints from both, and, based off of limited results (1 8 by 10 print) from Flickr, I see no reason to stay with Ofoto. I ordered an archive CD of images (files which, if you ask me, should be available to me with no further charges) and I'll be posting lots of them on Flickr when the disc arrives. Shots going back to 2001.

Click Sights in the links menu to go to Flickr.

Brain Work

It was an impulse buy, which may mean that I have low activity in my pre-frontal cortex. It has changed the way I think about beer, cigarettes, coffee, exercise, sex, work, play, music, blueberries, walnuts, sleep, feet, aroma, dancing, drinking water, soccer, motorcycles, ping pong, juggling, and lots more.

It's a book that I have been devouring since Thursday, and taking notes along the way. It's called Making a Good Brain Great by Dr. Daniel G. Amen. M.D.

The beginning of the book is a terrifying catalog of mental problems and corresponding brain scan images. What does cocaine use do to your brain? How about a concussion?
After seeing the brain scan of an alcoholic, I'll never drink a beer the same way again. As a matter of fact, I was terrified as I recalled freshman year beer binges and even the night of my 30th birthday party which was followed by hangover of a lifetime. My poor brain! What have I done? What can I do now?
The answers are here. The second part of the book contains lots of information on the right foods, the positive effects of exercise, and brain-stimulating activities. I'm excited to eat more blueberries (started this morning!), exercise more consistently, and play guitar, dance, and spend time with others with a renewed sense of purpose - improving my brain!

If you're interested in preserving your sanity as long as possible, do yourself a favor and read this book.

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut

I'm very sad to see him go.

"When the last living thing

has died on account of us,

how poetical it would be

if Earth could say,

in a voice floating up

perhaps

from the floor

of the Grand Canyon,

“It is done.”

People did not like it here."

- Kurt Vonnegut

Louis Theroux and The Phelps Family

Boing Boing featured a post about a lovely BBC show featuring Louis Theroux spending a week with the infamous soldier-picketing fag-hating wackos and near entirety of the cogregation of the Westborough Baptist Church, the Phelps family. I love the way that Theroux registers his disagreement while still remaining completely non-threatening, thereby getting his subjects to open up to him.

Link to Part 1 on You Tube

Science Vs. The Bible MMVII

In the latest shot to the credibility of the good book, archaeologists in Egypt say that they find no evidence of the Biblical Exodus, and very scant evidence of Jews in Egypt at all. The possible geopolitical implications would be siesmic in scope, but we have seen over and over how myth vs. science is a simple popularity contest.

“If they get upset, I don’t care,” Dr. Hawass said. “This is my career as an archaeologist. I should tell them the truth. If the people are upset, that is not my problem.”