twitter

19 April, 2010

Spring in Toronto


Well, at least, spring in High Park.

On the western edge of High Park, you can find a grove of cherry trees that blossom every year, if on a vastly smaller scale than their Japanese progenitors.

The trees were a gift from the Japanese embassy in 1959; more information can be found at the High Park website.

This past Saturday, I got up bright and early and headed over via transit. It was a good thing that I started as early as I did as the weather turned increasingly blustery, ending the excursion with rain, wind and sleet.

One of the projects that I have been playing with is making tilt-shift and tilt-shift / stop-motion images and videos. This sort of explains why I've not been posting a whole lot lately.

In effect, while I have been shooting a lot, it's mostly just 'stock' images, as I need themes and stories to work the videos and images into. It's been a great learning experience.

Which is the polite way of saying, it's been frustrating as all bloody hell. ;-) Most of the challenges have been technical in nature, and I've mostly got them ironed out, but I will state that still image editing and video editing are areas that have their own unique skills, applications and (most annoyingly) languages. If you started off speaking Photoshop and are learning Sony Vegas... frustration.

Anyhow, give me a week or so and I'll hopefully have something posted from the Cherry Blossom Shoot; until then you'll have to make do with the still capture from my iPhone. :-)

Regards,

Mark

14 April, 2010

Charest & Cheney

I had to do a double-take the other day when I saw this image of Quebec Premier Jean Charest on an article in the National Post.


Granted, he was having a bad week, and I feel for him. The whole Quebec/Judge/Donor thing is a bit on the off side of credibility, and it will be interesting to see what the outcome of the inquiry is. Granted, it's Quebec politics, but still, even the Liberal party wouldn't be that stupid... would they? *sound of crickets chirping*

All very interesting, but still and all, the reason for my post was that the image resonated with me for some reason... and then I remembered a picture of Dick Cheney.


'Nuff Said. ;-)

Regards,

Mark







01 March, 2010

Olympic Gold


The Other epicentre
Originally uploaded by MMT1972
Downtown Toronto on Sunday night! :-)

28 December, 2009

Bloggus Interuptus... 2009 = Annus Horribus

Definitely fallen down off the blogging wagon over the past several months... er, ok. Year.

I think that we can all say, "Yeah! We're almost out of the Oughts! or Aughts! Or whatever in the heck they ended up being called!"

So in the vein of 'Tis the season and all that retrospective stuff... see you on the other side. ;-) It can only get better, damnit.

Relieved Regards,

Imp;-)

10 September, 2009

Yonge & Dundas

One day at Yonge & Dundas, Toronto, ON from Mark Turuk on Vimeo.

05 September, 2009

Vimeo Test

blue boat II from Mark Turuk on Vimeo.

01 September, 2009

Ashbridges Bay Yacht Club


Ashbridges Bay Yacht Club
Originally uploaded by MMT1972
First day with the new lens...

21 July, 2009

obligatory pet shot


obligatory pet shot
Originally uploaded by MMT1972
new camera test.

01 May, 2009

Not that I'm paranoid... 'cause I'm not. Really.

.... but damn all that end-of-the-world science fiction stuff I'm so fond of reading.

So, I spent 1.5 hours updating my go-to-hell kit, which while it doesn't involve safety from Zombies (no assault rifles, cross bows or shotguns), it should suffice to keep me fed and hydrated in the event of Very Bad Things happening (with the caveat that I'm in an urban population area of 3 mil +, so in a true societal failure, I had better not still be here).

Food (canned, dried, frozen) for:
6 weeks if power / water remain.
4 weeks if water remains.
2 weeks if forced to use stored water.

Diesel for 2,000 km, at optimal mileage, if bug-out needs to occur.

Medical Kit; including anti-diarrhea meds, water purification, anti-bacterial, bleach, etc.

Sleeping Bag, flashlights, axe, knives, flashlights, candles, batteries; general camping gear.

A sub-set of all of the above sans diesel, pre-packed in case on-foot or on-bicycle exodus required.

Cat food, 4 weeks supply. Hey, he's not a bad cat, and deserves a fighting chance at the end-of-the-world.

So, it's not paranoia, it's just common sense.

And it was much fun freaking out the clerk at Canadian Tire and Loblaws, this afternoon. :-D

Given where I live... I wish I had a boat, damnit.

07 April, 2009

ThinkGeek :: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

ThinkGeek :: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Wow.