links for 2009-09-02
Posted on 2 September 2009 | No responses
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Strange bugs all over my sister-in-law's garden. Found their picture here.
links for 2009-08-25
Posted on 25 August 2009 | No responses
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I do believe I've got creaky spokes.
links for 2009-08-19
Posted on 19 August 2009 | No responses
links for 2009-08-18
Posted on 18 August 2009 | No responses
links for 2009-08-13
Posted on 13 August 2009 | No responses
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I know some of the guys behind this from my motorcycling days.
links for 2009-08-12
Posted on 12 August 2009 | No responses
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Hope this works out. There's a station outside my office door.
links for 2009-08-11
Posted on 11 August 2009 | No responses
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Some nice retro jersey designs here
Test post
Posted on 19 June 2009 | No responses
Moving hosting platform, so this post should appear on the new platform but not on the old one. Not yet anyway.
Samuel Beckett Bridge, Dublin
Posted on 19 May 2009 | No responses
Samuel Beckett Bridge, Dublin, originally uploaded by Damo B.
(Taken with Nikon D90, 18-200mm lens @ 130mm, ISO 500, f/10, 1/200s)
I just upgraded my camera to a Nikon D90. The old one was a D70s which was fine, but the improved ISO capability of the D90 and general newness of the D90 enticed me to pony up for a new body. Also in the category of ‘cool features to brag about but probably never use’, it does video.
Anyway, I’ve been itching to try it out so I took a diversion on the way to work down to the quays for a look at new Samuel Beckett bridge that’s sitting on a barge at the moment on the Liffey before being opening to traffic in early 2010.
It was a dull, damp morning with very grey sky and river. A good opportunity to play with ISO/aperture and speed.
Convergence
Posted on 27 April 2009 | No responses
I attended a talk by Professor Lawrence Weschler on April 20th, in the Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin. I have to confess that I hadn’t heard of him before but was intrigued by the description of a talk about contagious ideas and images.
Prof. Weschler was discussing ideas from his book : Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences. As 
I understood it, he looks for themes in images that repeat across disciplines and different periods of history. One example was Che Guevara’s body on display and Rembrandt’s anatomy. He talked about the images from Christianity that repeat; crucfixion; madonna and child. Some interesting notes comparing Spiderman movies to these images.
He also writes at http://mcsweeneys.net/ where a convergence contest is hosted. Entrants submit their discoveries for comment and it makes for interesting reading.
I’m not sure how much is making connections fit what you’re looking for in the first place. For example, the popular idea that owners look like their dogs - well, if you go through all the owners for a particular breed you’re bound to find someone that looks close.
But I have an interest in photography and it is intriguing to wonder much my perception of a good photograph a conscious thing, or subconsciously triggered by previous influences.
More interesting I thought was the historical path that images can take. Prof. Weschler described the notion that Christianity story may have succeeded because it encapsulated many human stories into one. Images have been created over the ages within Christian imagery because they allow portrayal of basic human stories and this has been a vehicle to carry them through history. In modern times, we see the images repeated and having influence because they are so ingrained into history and education. This is not a simple system but has feedback as each new generation interprets and creates new art.
I wonder how the speed and breadth of media availability through the internet and modern broadcast media will influence the spread of these ideas. Will they cause dilution through so many creators of content or the opposite as broadcast media reinforces stronger ideas.