I have seen this effect numerous times on digital art websites and thought I would give it a try. The original photo is a photo of mine I took in Pittsburgh last year. I really liked the contrasting shapes of the buildings went together and thought it would look better in black and white. I really wanted to keep the bridge yellow. Having both elements in the piece gave me the idea. I think the point I was making in the piece is the lack of color in the city.
Editor's Note: The other day I received a call from an old associate of mine who I thought was dead, the one-and-only Carlos Sanchez. A while back, he started to tell his story of how he came to the U.S. and his subsequent success. He then just vanished. Carlos was right back in my life with another late night phone call.
Sunlight was shining through the drapes of my motel room in East Los Angeles. I roll over my bed and check the alarm clock. It's 10:05am on a weekday morning during the summer of 1998. Have to get up and meet Horacio on East Beverly Boulevard at 11:30.
The stench of stale cigarette smoke got me up in minutes despite the nagging desire to sleep for a week after all that happened yesterday. I was out the door in less than half an hour. Grabbed a complimentary coffee from the lobby on the way out. I take one sip while waiting at a red light in my old Chevy and quickly realize why its complimentary. "This tastes like goat piss," cursing to myself. "F**ckin Motel 6!" I toss the coffee out my car window.
The cup lands on the sidewalk, right in front of a parked black Honda Civic. The cup hits the ground and coffee splashes on the sidewalk and on the Civic's front bumper and headlights. Whoops. I look past the black Civic and see two well-dressed black dudes exiting the supermarket, heading straight for the car.
This light needs to hurry up. I think they saw me toss the coffee out the window. Could be just paranoia. Can't be sure. I only took two hits from the joint I rolled in the motel room. No time to get into a fight now, I got an appointment I have to keep.
Crap, they're getting real close to the Civic. Come on light, show some green! One of them veers off towards the passenger side, while the one with the Phat Farm shirt heads to the driver's side. Shit, I'm dead. Just then the light turns green. I floor the gas pedal and shoot through the intersection like a rocket.
I got on East Beverly Boulevard, slowing down to read the numbers on the buildings. Horacio told me to meet him at 1040 East Beverly Boulevard. The address was La Hacienda, a shabby Mexican restaurant that served up helpings of nostalgia to Mexicans who were still new to Estados Unidos. Inside there was plain desks and chairs, with a bar on the left as you walked in. Horacio was at the bar drinking a Hieneken and smoking a cigarette.
Wonkette finally explains the popularity of libertarian Republican Ron Paul's candidacy for president. He's part of a secret Canadian conspiracy. Even when I thought the Texas Congressman was being controlled by folks who wanted to bring back the gold standard, I knew it was the Canadians all along.
In memory of one of my favorite tv shows, the Sopranos, coming to an end this past Sunday:
With the Sopranos gone, the list of shows that I must watch every week is now down to three: Simpsons, Family Guy, and Prison Break. No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain is almost in this category, but not quite.
It's been about a month since I came back from my vacation to Vienna, Austria. I finally sat down and documented my travels. Here's a running diary of my trip.
I just stepped off the Washington Flyer bus. I grabbed my oversized duffel bag and made my way into Dulles Airport. It's a hot Wednesday afternoon in May. The long, humid D.C. summer was not far off. I was paranoid about not having enough time to make my flight, having not flow international in almost 15 years. I arrived 2 and half hours before my scheduled departure time. It was in the middle of the afternoon and I think I was just ahead of the crowd. I found my airline's check-in counter after walking about 5 minutes to the other end of the airport.
I saw there was just a few people waiting in line. Excellent. I'll have my bags checked and off to security in no time. Appearances can be deceiving. I should have know better, after my previous experience with a airline check-in counter.
Every time I step into an airport looking to get on a plane, I automatically get tense. I feel it built up as I'm walking to the check-in counter. My walking to the SAS check-in counter on this trip was no different. Five minutes have passed and the small line I was in had still not moved. Looking at the check-in counter in front of me a few feet away, it was obvious. SAS undermanned their check-in counter. My patience, now at a low ebb, after seeing business travellers briskly walk from their own line and getting served ahead of us common folk.
Waiting at the front of the line now, a thought creeped into my head. I wanted to go right up to that check-in counter and start yelling at the middle-aged Scandinavian blonde, "Don't give me no sass!"
I'm still at the front of the line of what seems forever. My patience is nonexistent. A business traveller just left the check-in counter. I see an opening. Can't hesitate, have to go now! I made it to check-in counter before the next business traveller in their special line even had time to react. The middle-aged Scandinavian blonde was in front me, stating in a professional, but slightly annoyed manner, "Sir, I have to check in the business travellers first." As I walked back to my place at the front of the line, I said under my breath, but making sure the people in line could hear it, "It's not like I've been waiting here for 15 minutes."
I started to worry that security was going to be an even longer ordeal. It turned out it wasn't. No matter how many times I do it, I still feel ridiculous taking off my sneakers and putting them through the x-ray machine. All because of one asshole. One person can make a difference, usually the negative way.
I put my shoes back on make my way out of security and into the mall-like concourse near my gate. I was now on a mission to find the supposed Dunkin Donuts store that was located somewhere in this concourse. I received a tip from a gentleman the last time I was here, after the plane was taxing down the runway. I found the Dunkin Donuts in no time. I think I'm developing a sixth sense in locating Dunkin Donuts stores. It's a little slice of home. Their iced coffee is like crack to me. I could drink gallons of that stuff.
I took two Hunter Thompson books out of the library for this long trip. They helped put me in the right mood. SAS made an announcement that boarding for all passengers would commence. I stepped into the plane and thought to myself there's no turning back now.
Came across a post on Michelle Malkin's blog that just made me chuckle. Contained within the post is a scanned talking points paper on the immigration bill from an anoynmous Hill source. The talking points are written by an opponent of the immigration bill that is now floundering in Congress.
The paper gives detailed reasons why the immigration bill failed to pass in the Senate. It describes how the bill proponents, who were mostly the Democratic leadership, along with a few infuential Republicans, subverted the legislative process and were "anti-democratic". The talking points' author describes how the immigration bill proponents conducted "closed-door negotiations" and "Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy blocked Republican attempts to call up amendments more than 12 times over the course of debate."
This is quite alarming. It almost sounds like the same tactics Republicans employed when they had control of Congress. Shocking. I couldn't help but laugh. I just have to say, "what goes around comes around."
I return to my blogging duties after about a month hiatus. I never said I was consistent in providing content for my blog. I do have a good excuse for at least part of my blogging hiatus. More of that in an upcoming post.
I'm at the point now where I'm just sick and tired of all political parties. Doesn't matter who they are. My interest in politics has gone down recently. But I am an unrepentent political junkie, and I still need my fix every once in a while. During my month-long hiatus from blogging, interest in politics was creeping back. I thought, maybe I should reconsider, maybe it's time to look at politics with a new light. To correct this, I found some stories that helped me get back some of that cynicism I thought I lost.
Massachusetts lawmakers plan to honor Tom Finneran. For those who aren't from the Bay State, Tom Finneran was the Tom DeLay of the Massachusetts State House, without the Bible thumping. This Democrat ended his political career under federal investigation. Sound familiar? From the Boston Globe: "A group of old friends and colleagues, led by one of Beacon Hill's most influential lobbyists, Robert F. White, are holding a tribute dinner...where they hope to raise as much as a quarter of a million dollars to help Finneran launch a charitable foundation in his name to support some of his favorite local programs and educational scholarships."
Let's hope one of the scholarship recepients gets to go to law school, gets elected to the State House and becomes an even bigger asshole than Finneran.
Hillary Clinton is now a Midwesterner. First I thought she was from Arkansas. Then somehow she moved to New York and made everyone believe she was practically a native New Yorker. For God's sakes, she had a summer house in the state. Now, I learn that Hillary was a Midwesterner all along. She fooled me again.
From the Washington Post: "Armed with extensive polling data... the Clinton campaign has embarked on an ambitious effort to present the candidate the way they want her to be seen: as a pragmatic Midwesterner with a compelling life story of her own, rather than just the famous, and sometimes polarizing, senator and former first lady most of the country already knows she is."
Come on Obama. Stop messing around and crush her in the polls. Do it for the American political system, but most of all, do it for the children.
