Vortograph

Vortograph, a photo by olmjohns on Flickr.

So I haven't done a shooting challenge for a while (no challenge the week of Steve Jobs' death, I was too overwhelmed for the 100th shooting challenge, and last week's "leading lines" intrigued me but I couldn't find the time to make a photo).  This week I knew I wanted to do the challenge and I feel I really nailed it.  I love my photo and feel it fits well with the idea of vorticism.  I think it looks like cubist photography.

The Challenge:
Use prisms and mirrors to capture a vortograph.
gizmodo.com/5853520/shooting-challenge-vortographs

My Comment:
I decided right away I was going to do this challenge. It seemed really interesting but I had no prism or mirrored kaleidoscope to use to take the photos with. After scouring the internet for a "vortoscope" to see what form of lens attachment had been used to make these photos, I stumbled across a "how to make your own kaleidoscope." I cut up an old CD into three rectangular pieces and used some paperclips to hold them together into a triangular tube. With the "vortoscope" contraption complete, no onto the photography.
I ended up just holding the vortoscope up to my lens when shooting. After many photos of flowers and leaves, my wife suggested that I try something more abstract. I'm actually proud of my submission this week. It is a shot of my backyard pergola looking into the sky. The vortoscope creates an amazing abstract and angular image. I hope you like it.

Wonderstruck

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
2011
★★★★✰
So I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret last year and enjoyed it thoroughly.  I figured this story should be good too.  It was.  The story is a great at intertwining the story in text and the story in drawings and then how they ultimately combine.  I found the New York "Panorama" fascinating and will definitely make it a stop when I end up going to New York.  In September, during the US Open of tennis held at Flushing Meadows, I had started to research the 1964 World's Fair.  I was interested in the Unisphere and other attractions.  Not much is left from the fair but the Panorama remains.

Mary's Promenade on the Peninsula 5K Results

So I got the results back (actually really fast from the timing company).  I did very well.  Almost top 25% overall.  Imagine what I could have done if I were feeling well?!

Mary's Promenade on the Peninsula 5K

So I ran this race with nearly no prep runs and stuck with a cold for a week.  I ended up running well.  The hill that I thought would kill me didn't.  The last stretch through the mall was at a full sprint.  A guy passed me on my left and I thought I could catch up.  He didn't want me too.  So we had a dash to the finish.  I ended up passing the finish line first!  Woohoo!

The Glass Word

The Glass Word by Kai Meyer
2008
★★★✰✰
So I finally got around to finishing of the "Dark Reflections" trilogy.  I started the series back when I was commuting hours to and from work, listening to books on CD, and the third book hadn't been finished.  This was the first that I actually "read" rather than was "read to."  Turns out one of the character's name is really Junipa and not Juniper as I had thought.  The reader on the CD had a British accent so I had just assumed it was Juniper.
The story was interesting but a little hard to follow.  The previous two books and the battles with Hell were much more interesting than this story surrounding the sphinxes.

I Am Number Four

I Am Number Four directed by D.J. Caruso
2011
★★✰✰✰
So I kind of liked this movie since it was a fun action flick.  Unfortunately it was quite boring at times and the Glee girl was annoying.  They sure left the film open-ended but I don't think they are making a sequel...

Rio

Rio directed by Carlos Saldanha
2011
★★✰✰✰
So I think this was entertaining for my kids but it kind of missed the mark for the parents. Entertaining enough, just not great.