Category: photography

With fall arriving soon, light is leaving us earlier. Now it makes more sense to stay in during the evenings and sit in front of a screen, or scribble on a piece of paper, or whatever.
As anyone who knows me knows, I am someone who welcomes change. This is as much for my reference as anyone else that may be wondering why they don’t see me out as much anymore. It’s a time of transition so here is what is on my plate:

• Daytime: BC Stats – Analyst
• Evenings: A competition (which I can’t elaborate on right now), finite mathematics, Kuba Oms remix, Above and Beyond remix, branding for a friend’s project, ongoing fitness at The Y, and tennis.

The above photo was taken on Hornby Island this summer. At night, we walked on the massive sandy beach at Tribune Bay. Bioluminescent algae lit up our footsteps, and the flashing branched out like sheet lightning in sand. It was perfect.
I’m looking forward to seeing what autumn moments will come to stand out in similar, yet their own, ways.

“No one is irreplaceable, but he is about as close as they come.” – Former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

“As you know, Jack was a musician — he was quite a natural one at that. And we always talked about getting together to jam. But it seemed we were both always too busy. I will always regret the jam session that never was.” – Stephen Harper.

“I am deeply saddened by the untimely death of Jack Layton. Collectively, Canadian hearts are breaking. Jack will always be remembered for his unfailing love of Canada and his dedication to this country and its citizens.” – Green party Leader Elizabeth May.

“After Question Period, the lobby is a crowded, rowdy place, full of MP’s, staffers, guests, standing around, plotting, drinking cups of tea or coffee, talking on cellphones or the phones by the chairs. I see this scene and I see Jack on crutches, his face moist with sweat and his complexion pale, powering his way through this crowd, cantilevering his body on crutches, taking the weight on his shoulders, moving towards his caucus area in the lobby. It is an image of a man struggling, in the middle of a crowd, to prevail, to make it through. What I remember best is his smile: cheerful, jaunty and buoyant. The smile was an inspiration, then and now.” – Michael Ignatieff

“He was a man of great generosity. We would see each other of the gym, and he was always happiest after seeing his granddaughter, Beatrice, who he talked about all the time. I’m filled with great sadness.” – Gilles Duceppe

“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” – Jack Layton’s last letter to Canadians.

With the passing of Jack Layton, there’s no doubt it’s a sad day for Canada in many senses. I’m not big on getting political on my blog – I think the democratic process is important, but I am not convinced my specific opinions would be relevant to everyone.
That said, Jack was an exceptional leader – and I mean that not in the political party sense, but as a leader of all politicians – a group which many youth and Canadians in general had a tough time trusting or even accessing as people. Jack re-humanized a profession that has put itself through a lot of dark and nasty stuff – those who count on it to enable change also had to go through that dark and nasty stuff.
I am certain that some of the truly great leaders of tomorrow will be compared to JL.

A good friend of mine once said that if you’re good enough at what you do, people start doing your marketing for you.
Certainly that is true in the case of the Vancouver Canucks.
Their regular season was full of hard work, gelling, out-skilling and out-working their opponents. Their game has consisted of their own agenda, but that agenda also involves cracking their opponents at their own game, whatever game they may have.

Now it’s the part of the season where they find themselves competing for the Stanley Cup. I remember watching in 1994, which ended in a riot, but I prefer to remember how exciting that playoff run was. This one has been just as exciting and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. I don’t know how this Stanley Cup Final series will pan out (this is why we all watch – because we do not know), but one thing is for certain: they have been incredibly entertaining, and then some.
I opted out of getting cable for the playoffs, and instead decided that a more social experience at the neighbourhood pub would be worth exploring. I’ve been watching at The Beagle in Cook Street Village, watching with another good friend fairly consistently, and it’s been an excellent experience. I hope that, one year, AppleTV will add an NHL app (like they just picked up for some other major league sports), but for now I am very happy being a part of the community in the village.

I haven’t used my Technics 1200 MKIIIs in quite a while. Not more than a handful of times since I moved back to Victoria. A few factors have been involved:

• Shopping for vinyl had gotten expensive long ago
• Shopping for vinyl I liked had become impossible except online
• Living in a wooden framed building meant I couldn’t play music loud (that’s probably okay)
• The music I was excited to play was available digitally and at perfect quality (.WAV is pretty damn good to begin with)

So when the offer came for the turntables earlier this week, it made complete sense to sell them. And sell them I did, to my old friend Tim, who had in fact taught me how to DJ in the first place. Now they’re in good hands, and they’ll be used a lot more than I ever did in the last several years. There’s no sense sitting on a depreciating asset if you are deriving no utility from it. The most utility I would say I was getting out of them was that they were a very fashionable interior accessory. But they’re slightly way too good to just be that.

Speaking of Tim, he now hosts an internet podcast named Control Freq Radio, which he runs with a bunch of awesome people (including the voice of all that is good, Ben Malcolm). I was lucky enough to be their first guest as AFK. The tracklisting looks like this:

1. Bent – Beautiful Otherness (Tom Middleton remix) [G&E Analogue]
2. Andy Chatterley and Behrouz – Lost in Translation (Timo Maas remix) [Franz Franz]
3. Omid 16B – Bites Without Teeth (Late Night Dub) [SexOnWax recordings]
4. Faithless – Not Going Home (Eric Prydz remix) [Ultra]
5. AFK – Megatech (Original Mix) [Unsigned]
6. Beatman and Ludmilla – Couldn’t Sleep (Shiloh remix) [Aurium Recordings]
7. Radiohead – Reckoner (Henry Saiz Vocal Mantra remix) [Unreleased]

The episode MP3 is available for download here:
AFK – Control Freq Radio Guest Mix 2011 – right-click or control-click, save file as whatever you like.
My mix begins about 15 minutes in, after they feature a few new tracks for you to check out. I encourage you to give those ones a listen, I heard a couple I really liked in there. You’ll see that my new track (Megatech) is in after the Faithless track. Hope you enjoy it!

As the Times Colonist duly noted, Alzu’s has closed it’s doors for good.
For better or worse, I knew what Alzu’s was. It was a 24 hour restaurant on Bay Street. Lets get one thing out of the way to begin with: Alzu’s was not fine dining. Are we good with that? Let’s proceed.
Victoria’s seen only a handful of 24 hour restaurants. QVs (still open, but not all night), Paul’s Motor Inn (same deal), Denny’s (still does as advertised), etc. As a night owl, a DJ who plays the latest of late night gigs, and a general coffee-consumer at non-traditional hours, I knew Alzu’s fairly well.
Alzu’s was home to all sorts of clientele. Headbangers from Langford, taxi drivers from all over town, skaters, Victoria’s version of thugs, some folks who were true believers that they were Vampires, World of Warcraft (or whatever online game – take your pick), and us, the pre-internet internet nerds.
I once saw Alzu himself in the restaurant. I asked if I could take his photo. He was confused as to why I would ever want to do that – it likely didn’t occur to him that his name was part of our freenet culture.
I wonder if the ownership of Alzu’s realized they were being talked about on the Victoria Freenet’s IRC (Internet Relay Chat) in the mid-nineties by a bunch of teenagers. We liked it because it wasn’t Denny’s, and it was pretty laid back and comically accessible. We knew the safe and unsafe menu items, we knew when the post-bar rush zoo would occur, and we would not likely be seen there when other things were open. But at night it was one of only a few options, and the ordinariness of a family restaurant was what attracted us to the place at night.
There was a waiter there that we referred to as Dave Babych, the ex Canucks hockey player, but he was not at all Dave Babych. His similarity was somewhat uncanny, at least it was to us, over and over again at 3 or 4 in the morning. He had a laugh that we believe he laughed at while laughing. Why do I bring this up? Because Alzu’s was that kind of place – home to characters.
If I went through my unposted digital archives, I could find quite a bit to post to an Alzu’s museum. Instead, I’ll leave you with this image to remember it by:

Botanical Beach is located in Juan De Fuca Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, really close to Port Renfrew. Port Renfrew is one of the first places I remember going camping with my family, and I remember buying some really terrible Gatorade Gum while I was there – it was called “Gator Gum” and I discovered that, yes, even something as seemingly indestructible as gum has a half-life. Also, we caught fish on the beach and cooked them over campfires. It was rad.
We didn’t bother with the town on this particular trip – we drove from Victoria straight to Botanical Beach.
I remember a wrecked school bus crashed down near the beach at some point. That or I am mis-remembering. I was quite young when we last went. Was that ever there? Does anyone remember? I didn’t see it there. I looked for it.
Maybe I dreamt it.
In any case, the lighting was great, and as you’ll see, the ocean was pretty active that day. The mountains you’ll see across the water are in the United States, the north west tip of the northwestern Washington state. The map below can elucidate relative positions.

View botanical beach in a larger map
Anyway, here are some photos:

I’ve had a great year – from career, to school, to family, and friends, 2010 was a banner year in almost every regard. I became clearer about what I want out of life, what I can actually get, and I challenged myself on both my assumptions about life around me, and also life inside of me. Of course, no one can truly do this on their own, because as much as assumptions, ability to challenge, and re-evaluate come from inside ourselves, they also come from those around us – what we value as groups, beliefs, ambitions, and so on.
A few events in 2010 reminded me that life is short, it’s precious, and people shouldn’t wonder where they stand around you. I fundamentally believe in this.
A week or two ago, I had several of my closest friends over at my parents for some home cooked goodness – my mom’s Indian food is one of my favourite things. My intention was to get those people together who have had a particular positive influence in my life and thank them for it. Some of them inspired me to push further in my degree, some pushed me to closely examine what I want out of a career, and some enabled me to closely examine what I want out of my life, and act on it. No, this was not a marketing pitch for anything. I brought them together to give them a simple message: “I appreciate you, and you matter to me.” That is all the night was about.
It felt great, and I cannot believe I never did it before. Due to logistics, not everyone that I would want to be there could be there, but most of the core group could be there. Many people account for the difference between a good life (as I could have) and a great life (which I do have) and I am deeply thankful for it.
Happy 1/1/11! We continue..

Tonight I went out around midnight with my dSLR and a tripod and found a patch of snow around the Burns Monument in Beacon Hill Park. The last time I shot this statue was 5 years and 9 days ago. Back then I just called the monument “Drooling lion.” In those days, the internets was smaller and had less old stuff on it. Also, my interest level was lower than it is now, for whatever reason I don’t know.

Here’s some background on the monument for anyone who is curious:

On November 10, 1900, the Burns Monument was unveiled. The subscribers of the “monument erected to the memory of Robert Burns” presented a Resolution dated November 9, 1900, transferring the monument to the City. The Resolution stipulated that the City must “forever maintain and keep the same as a Monument and Fountain for the benefit of inhabitants of Victoria.” Mayor Hayward acknowledged the gift and read out the conditions. He said, however, that “municipal law forbade anticipating the future or placing burdens on those coming after us.” He assured the group that “authorities would always be pleased to preserve this loving tribute…” (Colonist, November 11, 1900) – Source: beaconhillparkhistory.org

In the photo you’ll see I did some effects in the actual shot itself. That is me painting in 3 dimensions with a bright LED while the 25 second exposure finished. You can’t see me because I was dressed in black, and you don’t see the absence of light in a long time exposure, especially in the presence of captured light.

Today (after I sleep) will be the day that Victoria decides on a new city councilor, as well as the fate of the Johnson Street Bridge.
The bridge issue has been argued about a significant amount locally. It’s actually pretty entertaining and we have almost enough material for our own version of Almost Live. (Remember that?) Not quite, though.
Here are some basic facts:

• Federal funding for a replacement bridge has been applied for
• Federal funding for maintenance on the existing bridge can also be applied for by the city
• A new bridge costs more than maintaining the existing bridge, ceteris paribus
• I like new things
• I like old things

The notion about how unfortunate it would be to squander applied-for financing is illogical, since the financing was for a decision that was not properly made – hence the referendum now. In the future, perhaps our city will learn to apply for things in a logical order, lest they get their application time snagged in their own fallacy of sunk costs. Not tenable.
Cart before the horse – but would Victoria have it any other way? Go vote and decide!