Archive for January, 2009

I hate it when that happens…

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

On a different note, I’ve been gone for a while, furloughing it in the mountains on California. For those who don’t know (I didn’t!) a furlough is mandatory, unpaid leave. Gannet is making all employees take one week off before the end of the first quarter in March, so I took advantage of that and got the hell out of town. Photos of that trip are in the works. 

Obviously the town is in Cardinals mode. Everyone is still pretty shocked about the whole thing. Here’s a nice article from the LA Times that sort of captures the weirdness of it all. 

“Arguably the worst professional sports franchise in this country’s history is going to be a participant in its biggest sporting event. The oldest continuously run pro football franchise in the country will have a chance to win its first championship in 61 years, and its third championship in 110 years. An organization so cheap it once charged players the Federal Express cost of mailing their contracts is playing in the richest sporting event in the country. A team so poorly run it once gave players only one pair of socks per season is playing in the most popular sporting event in the country. The Arizona Cardinals are in the Super Bowl.”

And while I haven’t had time to jump on the bandwagon with a Larry Fitzgerald jersey, I’m feelin’ it. 

I did get a nice surprise at work when I came in and saw Adobe CS3 had been installed.

I could’ve done a few concerts last week, but I was on furlough, and there seem to be strict rules about that, as in you can’t be inside the building, near the building, answering calls from the building, or email from coworkers and such. So I didn’t know how that would work out, shooting a concert for work while on furlough. I’m pretty sure that would’ve been a no-no. Hopefully I’ll get something soon to get out of this rut. 

And finally, an amazing video from the Mercury News on the slums of India. Loved the overall photography of the video. Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire? Good movie.

Oh and GO CARDS!!!

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John Smallwood from the Philadelphia Daily News says…

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

“The Eagles can’t lose, because the fabric of reality will not allow the Arizona Cardinals to rip such a huge hole in it by advancing to Super Bowl XLIII. It’s simply not the Cardinals’ time. Theirs will come at Super Bowl XLVI in 2012 – that’s the year some ancient prophecies say the universe will collapse on itself and the Earth will be sucked into a giant black hole.”

Dear Mr. Small-wood: 

YOU can suck it. 

 

*Photo by Matt York/AP

Posted in Amazing!, Arizona, Celebration | No Comments »

License plate inspiration

Sunday, January 11th, 2009

A few weeks ago I did this graphic explaining how, from now on, frames around cars’ license plates cannot obscure the word “Arizona” at the top of the plate. This is another one of these ridiculous money-making scams that the lovely state of Arizona has decided to adopt. Do not get me started on the photo speeding cameras. 

Wrong— you’re a bad Arizonian. 

Wrong— I’m calling Sheriff Joe. I hope you like camping, because he’s got a spot for you in Tent City. 

Right— Now go drive on our roads so we can catch you speeding on camera and fine you outrageous amounts of money for a violation that a live police officer would have never pulled you let alone ticketed you for. 

“If a witness can tell us that a vehicle has an Arizona plate because they can clearly see it, that helps us immensely,” said Harold Sanders, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Yes, because the purple cactus is so overused by other states. 

You see, here in Arizona, we care about the details. I feel much safer knowing that valuable police resources are being spent patrolling the streets for license plate frame criminals. Interestingly enough, at the beginning of December, half of the 26 cars in the Arizona Senate parking lot had illegal frames around their plates.

At any rate, while I was working on that graphic, I was inspired by the Arizona plate, and well, I’m a sucker for grungy Photoshop brushes, so that’s how the new banner/masthead came about. I also thought the font was slightly “western” looking without being too obvious and corny. I’m thinking I could’ve done a bit more with the typography, like a stroke or a shadow or some sort. Eh, I can always update. 

Posted in Arizona, Graphics, Random | 6 Comments »

Oh, right, it’s 2009

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

Coming out of school, you’d like to hold on to this idea of working at something you love, or at least like. Then you get a job and you continue to hold on to this idea of growth and mentoring that you experienced with your professors.

And then it hits you. When push comes to shove, you truly are just a pawn. And why shouldn’t you be? Nobody owes you anything, and nobody is going to be looking out for you. It makes total sense. It still sucks to realize that you’re one of the many people go through life working a job that merely pays the bills yet fulfill no dreams, no passions, no excitement. I always had an idea that this was the norm, but I wanted to be the exception. Always trying to be the exception seems to lead to a lifetime of disappointment. 

Who knows what 2009 has in store. If I knew what I wanted out of it, I could tell you how it can get better or worst. But I don’t know what I want out of the next 12 months. Ideally, I would be living in Venice (Italy, not California, though I’m sure it’s lovely there too) making a living out of eating bread, cheese and gelato, taking photos and/or listening to music.  I could go on, but you don’t come here for my writing, so here’s someone else’s (sorry, no photos, I was just posting so you see I’m alive).

Remains of the Day

It’s an interesting article about a subject I never thought an article needed writing about. It talks about what has happened, or will happen, to the identified remains of some of the 9/11 hijackers. Here’s an excerpt… 

In June 2002, Miller, the Pennsylvania coroner, received a 4 a.m. phone call from a man in Lebanon who claimed he was the uncle of one of the hijackers. The man wanted to know why his nephew’s remains hadn’t been returned. “And I said, ‘Well, we’re not sure which one’s which’,” Miller recalls. “If he had any DNA material he could send me, I could cross-match like we did for the passengers and crew. Then I pointed out the FBI had custody of the remains—and that was the end of it.” Would Miller have made the effort? He says the FBI has the final say, but as for him: “Absolutely,” he says. “They are human beings that have passed away in the commonwealth just like my great granddad. I can’t arbitrarily say who I will apply the law to … The Good Lord will sort out their deeds.”

 

And on a final note. I helped my dad get a blog like this, so he can post his travel photos from years past. He’s still working on his computer skills, so wish him well! His site is at www.domingolapadula.com. 

Posted in Random | 6 Comments »