In college, I had a friend who owned a 90-something M3. It was that color of yellow that I felt like pretty much every M3 in that era was painted. I was kind of obsessed with the car (until I discovered the Audi S4, hehe). Anyway, I came across this video today and I thought it was pretty cool to see how the design has changed on M3 over the years.
[via]
You may have to be a dude to appreciate the awsome-itude of this one. But I was basically giddy with delight while watching this video of someone drifting a Rolls Royce Phantom through country fields and otherwise generally abusing the automobile. The soundtrack was the icing on the cake. Maybe you will also enjoy the video. Have a great weekend–
[via]
In an apparent effort to get as fat as possible between now and March, I have virtually ceased all cycling activities. I seriously think that I have only ridden 3 or 4 times since the hurricane. That doesn’t stop me from perving on cool biking gear that I see online. I came across this awesome helmet by Ani Surabhi earlier this week. He calls it “Kranium.”
Surabhi developed the helmet as a student at the Royal College of Art. The guts of the helmet are made from corrugated cardboard. In addition to looking ridiculously cool, the helmet can absorb up to three times the the impact as traditional styrofoam helmets.
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) helmets are proven to protect your head only 20% of the time. The Kranium liner has proven to absorb 3 times the amount of impact energy during collision. At the same time, it is 15% lighter than Polystyrene helmets. EPS helmets are made from petroleum based products where are the Kranium liner is made from recycled paper. They have been tested at several test labs across the globe, including TUV in Germany and HPE in the UK. They have been developed for mass production and will be available in the market in December 2012.
Check out the full article on Core77 to learn about how Surabhi initially got the idea from studying woodpeckers. If you are as nerdy as me, you will find it fascinating.
[via]
If you aren’t into the cardboard look, there is always this option.
Yeah, it’s a glow in the dark skate park. How awesome would it be to hit up these bowls at night? I’m obsessed. Next time I’m in Brussels. Hehe.
[via]
I wanted to post these moodyish shots from the weekend. Sunday evening I was able to just chill for a bit near the water to watch the helicopters come and go.
I also want to write a bit about running. A few weeks ago (seven, to be exact) I wrote about about how I was going to be in shape in six weeks. Wellahhhh, I’m not exactly there, but have made a lot of progress. Last weekend, I finished my first double digits run of the year, and felt great afterward. I followed up with 4 the next day and had no problem keeping the pace right around 7mm. I haven’t been as consistent as I would like to be. But I think that with the weather getting nicer, it will be a lot easier. So there is my positive little note to accompany these moody photos.
It has been a busy week. I’m so glad that the weekend is finally here. A few highlights from the last couple of days are:
1. My Olloclip arrived in the mail. I ordered one after reading about it in wired. The image above was one of the first ones that I snapped, while using it. Incidentally, this week I read an article in Wired about Instagram. It made me feel a little better about myself, hahaha.
2. Honest people rule. Yesterday I received a mystery paypal deposit. I was a bit nervous, at first. When I checked into it a bit more, I realized it was from a dude in the UK who I had licensed some photos to in May of 2010 for his postcard biz. A welcome surprise. I had basically just written off getting paid for that one.
Have a great weekend.
Since I have been working out again with some degree of regularity, I have also started recording my personal metrics again. Just for kicks, I pulled up my totals from last year, and compared them to my totals from 2010.
In 2011, I only had 552 total miles, with an average pace of about 7.5 minutes per mile. I have to say that the Garmin reports (above) are not nearly as interesting to look at, as the ones that Nike+ generates (below). But I am willing to give up the fancy graphics for the additional accuracy that Garmin provides. According to my Nike+ stats from 2010, I ran 798 miles with an average pace of just over 7 minutes per mile.
I’m pretty sure that the Nike+ stats are padded resulting from inaccuracy. But I know that I ran a lot more in 2010 than last year. In 2011 I didn’t run at all until March. I took the beginning of January off, this year. But as of last week, I have already racked up a handful of miles in 2012. So, I already have a leg up on last year. Here’s to beating last year’s 552 miles, in 2012.
The tower that I built 5ish years ago finally died when we were out of town over the weekend. I never shut it down. I have fixed it/upgraded it on more occasions than I would like to admit. When I say that it died, I mean that the mother board is toast. At first I thought it was an HD issue. But when I tried to reset the BIOS, and change the boot order, so that I could attempt to restore the windows installation, I was getting gibberish on the BIOS screen. Not awesome.
Redeeming factor: I was planning on buying a new comp this week anyway. I have had it picked out for a few weeks. Just waiting for some overdue funding to come through. In the mean time, I’m using the lappy on the bamboo keyboard setup. If I could just get a pair of bamboo monitors (as Kari and Rae suggested), I would be good for another 5 to 10.
On days like this, I just have to remind myself that there are plenty of people out there who are starving, let alone under-computered. I can deal.
So stoked about this new keyboard/mouse combo. I came across the setup last week, and immediate ordered 2 sets. They arrived today. I immediately swapped out the oem parts at my work desk for the bamboo goods and thoroughly test drove the bamboo for the rest of the afternoon. I have been very pleased, so far.
The tricky thing about seeing something that looks really awesome online, is that there is always a risk it won’t be as awesome as it looks in the photos, when it actually arrives. I’m very pleased to report that there were no such unpleasant surprises, here. The quality appears to be pretty top notch. The only thing that I would change about the keyboard, is that it doesn’t have the little flip-down feet underneath. I’m sure that If I really needed to angle the keyboard, I could rig something up.
The mouse actually had an added bonus. The scroll wheel is back-lit by a blue LED. I love that detail. It has some small metal glide plates on the bottom. They slide perfectly on my formica desk at work. But I may have to get a mouse pad at home. The wood surface of my keyboard tray isn’t quite as smooth. Anyway, for the price, I think that this combo is totally a value. I would definitely recommend picking one up, to anyone who is considering it. You can order them over here, and they ship from California. I also might be giving one away in the near future or offering a promo code (or both). I’ll get back to you as soon as I work out the details. More images below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
…you need to just chill out, go up on the roof and get a shot of the only pink cloud in the sky.
I sort of can’t believe that September is here. I’m so glad that Sept. 11 falls on a weekend this year. Because historically, getting to work on that day has been a joke. I suppose that it wouldn’t matter much this year anyway, since it is smack in the middle of fashion week. I’m getting pretty stoked about FW. My calendar is getting more and more packed by the day. During ’11 spring FW I turned over the 7D’s clicker. In those few days I snapped close to 4000 images, and loved every second of it. The in between shows is what stresses me out.
Anyway, the screen shot above is of part of my August image folder. Yes… I’m a windows nerd. I also still rock a blackberry. Now that Steve Jobs has stepped down, I may venture over to the Mac (dark) side. Only if Mac decides to open up their gigantic tight fist a bit, when it comes to creating/servicing your own builds and custom software/apps. Otherwise, I will most likely continue to be a stick in the microsoft mud.
Back to the matter at hand. Did anyone else* who reads this stuff (besides Bob, Zach and Tammy) shoot anything cool in August? Hit me with links please!
*I’m sure that I left some ppl out. Please forgive.
Get ready for aperture basics, as a part of the photog series, on Monday (probably).
Despite what this may look like, no, I was not hanging out on the set of some forthcoming Daft Punk video. I spent the day Tuesday hanging out with a bunch of scientists. I was basically the only person in the room without a PhD. I’m not going to lie, it was a bit intimidating. But, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to kick it with my good friend Tadd (on the left in the above photo), while he was in town for the day. Throw in some time playing with high speed cameras and lasers? I was basically in nerd heaven. I heard the word “laser” more times in a non-joking context yesterday than I had probably heard before that, my entire life.
I thought I was the only one who drew nerdy diagrams in my notes. Apparently Tadd also does. I had to get a shot of his notebook above.
Here are a couple more looks at the lab.
I’m pretty sure that I chose the wrong profession.
|
|
This is kind of a random post, that will probably only be interesting to me. But, here goes anyway. Some may recall that that one of my good friends moved to Florence fairly recently. It is the same dude that I went on the “man trip” with earlier this year. Anyway, he recently sent me some pretty interesting (if you are e nerd like us) shots from his observations in Florence. The first set is of the tricked out Hyundai pictured above (extra points if you know where the title of this post comes from). When he first sent over the images of the Fiorucci Hyundai, I thought it was a joke. I thought it was like all of those minivans that I see driving around my neighborhood with NoS stickers and fake intake ducts glued onto the hood. But, when I looked into it a little further, Fiorucci really did team up with Hyundai on a model called the i10. How funny is that? …an iconic Italian fashion label choosing a Korean built joke of an automobile to collaborate with. It’s like if Toyota released a Fendi trimmed Prius. Except, not even, because Toyota is more reputable than Hyundai. Anyway, I’m not trying to trash talk those automakers, I’m just trying to highlight the irony of the fact that a designer based in the same country that produces Lamborghini and Ferrari, chose to team up with Hyundai. Bold move. And, super entertaining (if you are a nerd).
Next, we turn to “G. Bianchi” bicycles (not be [although hard not to be] confused with Bianchi). Mike said that he has seen several of these bikes around Florence. When he and I looked into it, we discovered that G. Bianchi is a now defunct brand of bikes that was founded in the 60’s by Giuseppe Bianchi, out of Florence. I doubt that the dude even meant to have his brand confused with the Cycle giant Bianchi (or did he), since it was the guy’s name. Anyway, as most people probably know, “bianchi” just means “white.” It isn’t like the word is super uncommon in Italy (I’m assuming). But, now I kind of want to try to get one of these G. Bianchi bikes, just for novelty’s sake. I really like the quarter length chrome fenders.
|
|
The end.
Photography: M. Cuomo
As promised, here is the dreaded first installation of my weekly running blah on Jake’s Mag.
I’m currently working through one of the Hal Higdon training programs (below).
|
Week
|
Mon
|
Tue
|
Wed
|
Thur
|
Fri
|
Sat
|
Sun
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 m run | 5 m run | 3 m run | 3 x hill | rest | 5 m pace |
10
|
|
| 3 m run | 5 m run | 3 m run | 30 Tem | rest | 5 m run |
11
|
|
| 3 m run | 6 m run | 3 m run | 4 x 800 | rest | 6 m pace |
8
|
|
| 3 m run | 6 m run | 3 m run | 4 x hill | rest | 6 m pace |
13
|
|
| 3 m run | 7 m run | 3 m run | 35 Tem | rest | 7 m run | 14 | |
| 3 m run | 7 m run | 3 m run | 5 x 800 | rest | 7 m pace |
10
|
|
| 3 m run | 8 m run | 4 m run | 5 x hill | rest | 8 m pace |
16
|
|
| 3 m run | 8 m run | 4 m run | 40 Tem | rest | 8 m run |
17
|
|
| 3 m run | 9 m run | 4 m run | 6 x 800 | rest | 9 m pace |
12
|
|
| 3 m run | 9 m run | 4 m run | 6 x hill | rest | 9 m pace |
19
|
|
| 4 m run | 10 m run | 5 m run | 45 Tem | rest | 10 m run |
20
|
|
| 4 m run | 6 m run | 5 m run | 7 x 800 | rest | 6 m pace |
12
|
|
| 4 m run | 10 m run | 5 m run | 7 x hill | rest | 10 m pace |
20
|
|
| 5 m run | 6 m run | 5 m run | 45 tem | rest | 6 m run |
12
|
|
| 5 m run | 10 m run | 5 m run | 8 x 800 | rest | 10 m pace |
20
|
|
| 5 m run | 8 m run | 5 m run | 6 x hill | rest | 4 m pace |
12
|
|
| 4 m run | 6 m run | 4 m run | 30 Tem | rest | 4 m run |
8
|
|
| 3 m run | 4 x 400 | 2 m run | rest | rest | 2 m run |
race
|
This week, was week 8, of 18. I can’t believe that after next week I will be half way through. It’s kind of crazy/frightening, especially considering the fact that I have been fairly half-hearted about training this year. I left off after week 5, since I missed both of the long runs for weeks 6 and 7. Anyway, here is a recap of this week’s efforts:
|
Week
|
Mon
|
Tue
|
Wed
|
Thur
|
Fri
|
Sat
|
Sun
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
goal
|
3 m run | 8 m run | 4 m run | 40 Tem | rest | 8 m run |
17
|
|
| actual | skipped | 7 m run | 7.3 m run | 38:40 tem | rest | 8 m run |
Overall, I have to give myself a grade of about a B, for this week. Even though I skipped Monday, and came up short on Tues (I forgot to check how far I was supposed to go), I made up for it on Wed, with a handful of extra miles. I was also pretty happy with the way that I was able to do as Hal suggested and instead of zoning out for the tempo run, do some “associating.” Associating basically means that instead of just throwing it on autopilot and shuffling along at an 8m/m pace, pay attention to my speed, my body, etc.. By taking Hal’s advice, I was able to do my tempo run at a pace that is close to what I want to be running in Oct. I has similar results on Saturday. I capped off the running week with a change of venue, and did some laps in Central Park. The weather was mid-70’s and the early morning shade made for a super pleasant run.
Here is what is on deck for next week:
|
Week
|
Mon
|
Tue
|
Wed
|
Thur
|
Fri
|
Sat
|
Sun
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 m run | 9 m run | 4 m run | 6 x 800 | rest | 9 m pace |
12
|
The other day, I was shooting this thing at the new agnes b, store in SoHo. They are rotating art installations through the store there, and are currently featuring the work pictured above (among other items). Anyway, the PR person who organizes these openings is a really cool lady. At the last one that I went to, I ended up talking to the woman for at least a half hour.
The other night when I showed up, I walked over to say hi and she leaned in for the cheek kiss. PS, this is totally normal practice for this scene. I grew up doing handshakes and high-fives. And I have to admit that I was a bit caught off guard when I first moved to NY and people were doing the cheek kiss thing. I was like, “what is this, France or something?” But over the years I have grown accustomed to it, and even tried to learn how to do it without being totally awkward. But the problem is, I can’t.
My friend Mike, who was born and raised in southern CT has the greeting down pat. He makes it look so easy. I really envy that. When I was in Spain recently, some of our friends there, even gave me some pointers, on how not to mess it up so badly. But inevitably, every time someone opts to do the cheek kiss thing with me, I either end up giving an accidental headbutt, or else actually planting one on the cheek (you are supposed to kiss the air).
So, I apologize to the very nice PR girl and countless others over the years who have been the recipients of my poorly executed attempts at the cheek kiss greeting. One of these days, hopefully I can get it down. Maybe I’ll watch some instructional youtube videos.