Davin Greenwell

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!

I’ve decided to get rid of OS X and install Ubuntu! Just kidding. I’d like to see some conversion numbers on this effort..

Steps to update davingreenwell.com with a photo:

1. Take photo with dSLR
2. Go home
3. Download photo to computer, catalogue
4. Select photo to post in Photoshop, do stuff to photo
5. Resize photo, export
6. Upload to Moveable Type
7. Create entry and categorize
8. Save, Publish, Rebuild

Steps to update flickr, tumblr or facebook with a photo:

1. Go to (flickr, tumblr or facebook) app
2. Choose photo to upload from common image library OR take photo inside the app
3. Press upload, and the application will resize it to the proper size at the same time.

Besides just being a shorter list, the second list does not include item #2 from the first list. As you can imagine, my desire to go home to update a website about being out is not very high. And so, mobile applications for content management gain relevance.
Of particular note: Why not just update davingreenwell.com through Movable Type’s mobile web interface? Answer: There’s no image upload field in the iPhone version of Safari, so Six Apart could not build that in. However, there is nothing stopping Six Apart from making an iPhone app. Apps seem to have no problem with resizing and sending photos away for publishing.
Trend significance: As updating websites via content management systems has become an integral part of communications, a natively mobile application to do so will make the most out of hardware and interface, resulting in websites and portals of information that are more readily used by those with a stake in activity. In this regard, WordPress’ iOS app has excelled far beyond Movable Type’s web app in mobile relevance.
So what does all this mean?
If I want to continue to update my website and divorce myself from the relatively ancient desktop way of doing things, I have to move from Movable Type to WordPress, or abandon photos. Is there another solution?

A lot has changed.
Again.
Lets see:

• At the end of August I left Smallbox Software after 4+ years. Great people, great experience, time well spent.
• In September, I started full time courses to finish off a BBA in Marketing Communications Management. I am challenging one course, doing 3 courses at Camosun College, and one at the University of Athabasca. Mostly it is International Business. I quite like it.
• I’m planning on moving and gaining some experience working abroad. I want more diversity in my resume and why not gain it from some new (to me) part of the world? No reason not to. Every reason to do so. I’m doing it.
• I just finished producing a new Jets Overhead remix. Anand did *3* remixes for them. I just had time to do 1. But I’m very happy with it and I’m pumped to get it mastered. Mastering makes a massive difference in dance music. I don’t think it’s very easy to understand unless you do some side-by-side comparisons and then try mixing them live. The difference blows me away.
• Next on the remix schedule is DB Clifford – one of his new tracks off his yet-to-be-released new album Feet Above The Ground. Great album, I’m really excited to get my hands on the studio parts.

That is it for now. Thought I’d make the blog about something other than Trinidad photos – which are great – but also a lot of work. As a side note, next time I go there, I want to make it to Tobago. I wonder if I can sail there?

So I drove down the west coast of Trinidad and found this lake made up of tar. It’s called Pitch Lake in La Brea. Good story eh?

Much like its neighbour to the north, Mayaro Bay is sparse in visitors. It’s fairly far out of the way, but the roads are actually quite good with the exception of a few patches. For some reason these roads were made fairly well. I’m guessing it has something to do with the business present in the south eastern corner of Trinidad.

A bunch of you probably already know how I feel about the oil industry. The southern coasts of Trinidad are peppered with these offshore rigs, and the “remember to buckle up” public safety signs literally have BP’s logo on them as part of their outreach program. It’s fairly ingrained into society there.
It’s a bit spooky to be perfectly clear. I acknowledge the sad irony of flying somewhere to criticize an oil industry. Having done so over top of the Gulf of Mexico and seeing the Deepwater Horizon disaster first hand (it was quite visible from 30,000 feet, as the Lady Gaga impersonator pointed out to me), the severity of consequences of bad business protocol really sunk in. It’s a catastrophe with our own desires coupled with corporate irresponsibility to blame. None of the oil in the water had or has made it to Trinidad yet. Hopefully it remains that way, but Trinidad is at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico so I suppose we’ll see.
Here are a few more observations regarding Mayaro Bay. The villages along the coast seemed fairly well spaced out and not cramped, and there were many small businesses spotted along the drive. I am assuming this is partly due to the oil industry being nearby and the area being far away from truly urban areas – a combination of land, remoteness, and money.

Eventually we reached the south eastern corner of the country after an hour more, found a bunch of oil refineries, and then got to a part of the road which we were advised was not passable, and so we turned around and went east towards Rio Claro, Tableland, Princes Town, and finding San Fernando on the west coast of the island, taking the highway north back to Port of Spain / San Juan. The distances were not all that great, however winding roads and road conditions mean one must budget more time than expected for a trip like this. We left the Port of Spain area around 11:30 AM and got back around 7 PM with a few stops along the way – but we didn’t stay much more than an hour in any of the two places – Mayaro Bay and Manzanilla Beach.