How cool it this? a group of photographers got together and used an aircraft hangar as a GIANT pinhole camera to create the worlds largest black and white photograph. I would love to see this in person, so cool!

heres a link

I have launched a new mini-site and I was going to wait a few more days to announce it officially but I have decided that I want to go ahead and get it out there and make it known to everyone here. The site is a photoblog that I will hopefully be updating once each day. The time of day that I actually get around to posting will change depending on my day so don't try and set your clock to the update cycle or anything but I do hope to get a new photo up each day.

I had an older site that I had set up for friends and family where I posted photos that I may not have normally shared publicly. Mostly snapshots from my every day life, at work, traveling, sitting around, anything really. I liked to post a little comment or story or thought with each set of new photos and I really enjoyed doing it. The system I used to update it was very flawed however and so I stopped using it not to long after I had started it. Ever since I have wanted to get a simple photo blog going. Something for those shots I mentioned a moment ago, the everyday ones that I may not want to devote a whole post to here or may not want to post as a desktop for whatever reason.

in the new site you will hopefully see mostly recent photos but I will throw in the occasional older photo if I don't have something new to share. I am using a great bit of web software called pixel post to organize and do all the thinking for me so all I have to do to post is press a couple of buttons and type out a description. Simple is a good thing for a project like this and I am more than excited to announce it to all of you.

On the page you can leave comments on photos which I welcome you do, in fact, i encourage it! If you read something in a comment I have made about the image feel free to start a discussion with your thoughts on the subject. I would love to see it get some feedback and spark some ideas or something of the sort. For instance, if you see an image that you are just dying to see made into a desktop then please speak up and leave a comment and I will see what I can do.

The navigation is very simple I think, there is the home page with the newest photo and on each photo page you can click either the comments link above the image of the "photo info & comments link below the image to call forth the image description and comment field. There is a link there below the image notes to close that area should you not want to post anything but would like to read what I have written about a photo. You can navigate forwards and backwards through photos by either clicking the current image to go back or simply use the previous/next links in the white area below the image. There is also a browse page link at the top where you can see thumbnails of all photos posted and an about page which im sure you can figure out.

So that's that, my newest project is online and ready to go. I have two more in the pipeline that I can not wait to announce and get moving on but you will just have to wait for that time to come. So till next time, enjoy the photoblog and I will see you again here soon!

The new sites address is light.twistedsun.net

Yes, this is another one of those annoying posts where I talk about not posting. I think its best to look at it as a post where I can talk about what I have been up to as of late. Well, I have been busy working shows for a long while but this week has slowed quite a bit and has given me a chance to get caught up with a couple of things that I needed to do like some other web projects and relaxing a bit and other such lonely escapades. Any of you remember that trip I took out to Utah and the South Western US? Remember how my car was broken into in San Fransisco? Well, the insurance money has finally come in from that stolen camera gear, camping equipment, clothing, and plenty of other things that I miss having around. So I am in the process of buying back a couple of camera things and camping stuff that I will post about sometime because I like to share the things that I get because I put so much time researching products before I buy them that It makes sense to share what I have learned through all that research. Anyways, it will be good to have some of my stolen things back in place in my life.

So, John, what about your photography, what the hell happened here? Where are all the beautiful desktops and the like?? Well I have been cameraless for a couple of weeks after letting my brother borrow my 5d for a trip to an island somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico but its back in my hands and ready to shoot for me again. Funny how much I missed having it around. So I will start shooting again here soon and get some new desktops up. Also, I will be starting a new photo blog soon. Something I started to do a while back for friends and family but I think that this time I am going to make it public. Should be fun I think. And then there is the other web project I still have all the intentions in the world of getting on its feet one of these days so who knows when that might pop into existence.

Well, thats all for now, ill talk to everyone again soon.

Here is something I have been wanting to post about for quite some time now and I am finally just now getting around to making a couple of minutes to get it out of my head and onto the blog here. I wanted to post about a new(ish) project by Yongfook, an english guy living in Japan working on web development. Its called Open Source Food and it is his personal side project outside of his paying work because he loves food and cooking. Well, I like to think that I like to cook as well and I have found plenty of good recipes and ideas while digging through the site.

It takes the whole web 2.0 idea of an online application and asks users to post recipes to share with the world. It all works in a wonderfully organized way and the site is really easy to navigate. Its worth a look even if you don't fancy yourself a cook. Here are a couple of recipes that I have come across today that looked good to me...

Tags: food, web2.0, cooking, nothing, else, to, post, at, the, moment

At this point the term podcast and the idea behind it has safely settled into most internet users vocabulary but I am wondering how many people put them to use or even know how many great shows there are out there. I set off to do a little research for this write up and find some good music podcasts for you guys to check out that I listen to but ended up finding a lot more worth mentioning as well. These days you can find music, news, cartoons, language lessons, travel help, personal confessions, and all sorts of other types of shows. The podcasting world is easily as diverse as the world of blogging and shows no signs of slowing down.

So here are a few recommended channels to look through and give a shot... (please note that some links point to itunes. also, the links at the ti)

KEXP 90.3FM
This is a seattle based radio station that has a wonderful set of podcasts available featuring great new music and in studio performances from a great list of musicians. Their Song of the Day (iTunes link) podcast is a great way to discover new artists in a totally legal way and the in studio performance podcast (itunes link) has a really impressive list of performers!

KRCW
This is another college radio station that has made many of their radio shows available as downloadable podcasts. They feature many different news shows as well as one of my recent favorites, Morning Becomes Eclectic which is a great music show.

NPR
The National Public Radio network has a huge amount of shows available as podcasts these days and hosts a show I like to listen to from time to time This American Life (iTunes link)

Slate Magazine
Tons of great news shows.

A few other random podcasts that I listen to... ( all iTunes links)
Of Rice and Zen - Soaking wet with witty british humor. Created by an english teacher in Japan.
XLR8R - Weekly podcast from the mostly electronic music magazine of the same name that features great new music.
Tokyo Calling - A good example of the more personal side of podcasting. Always something interesting to be found.
Misadventures in Taiwan - Always manages to make me laugh in some way or another, I can't remember how I found it...
Trans Pacific Radio (not itunes link)- News and discussions about modern Japan. A really well done show!

There are many others around and maybe from time to time I will post something about other shows ive been listening to, I think I mostly just wanted to post about these few recent favorite places to go for news and music so hopefully some of you found some interesting shows to check out!

So much good music has fallen into my lap recently I dont know where to begin. In an effort to keep these posts a little shorter I may hold off on a couple of things until next time. Anyways, on with the show.


Elliott Smith - New Moon

I would have to admit that an Elliott Smith album was what made me love music so much. I can't even remember how long ago it was but the album that turned me was his album XO. At the time I listened to music but did not really know of this world of music below the surface of the magazines and TV, well, not aside from They Might Be Giants but thats a whole different story all together. XO ended up being my gateway drug to a long standing addiction of seeking out the the best music I could find and through the years I have learned so much and heard so many wonderful songs. But my connection with Elliott's music digs a little deeper than this. His music has always somehow connected with me in a way that extends beyond simply hearing a good song. Myself along with countless other Elliott Smith fans have found peace in his song writing and presence as a musician. Well, years go by and I end up buying and listening to all the music by him that I could find and even had the chance to see him live a couple of times before the dreadful day that he took his own life in a way I still have trouble imagining happening, stabbing himself in the chest... Before he passed he had been working on an album which was finished and released and many wondered if that was the last they would ever hear of his music. Fans, using the internet, connected and shared bootlegs of shows and occasionally found old demo recordings of unreleased music. In comes New Moon. This album is a collection of unreleased music and alternate versions of songs that many people have been wishing for for the past couple of years. The music is mostly from his best years as a songwriter and its a beautiful collection of music weather you are a fan of his music or not. Don't miss out on this two disc collection. Also, it may be good to note that sales of this album generate money for charity...

Sweet Adeline (the official unofficial Elliott Smith site for years now) iTunes link here.

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Feist - The Reminder

For a good week or two I found that this was all I could listen to. On first listen I didn't really like it at all but after my friend Val mentioned to me that she liked it and thought it was good I decided to give it another go and listened from start to finnish and found that I loved it from start to finnish. Im not sure why I was hesitant at first. The music explores all sorts of different territory and goes from more upbeat songs with a band to very minimal slower songs. The singing and lyrics are what drew me in when I started to listen closer. I would write a "for fans of" thing or something here but I hate those things, good music is good music and does not need to be compared to other things. The only reason I could think of to do it would be to give you an idea of what to expect but why would I do that? These days there are countless places to preview music, even buy a single song and see if you like it soooo. That said, here are some links.

Official Site. iTunes link.

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Matthew Dear - Asa Breed

After getting into Mather Dears other project, Audion, these past months I noticed a new album by Matthew Dear appear on the iTunes store and thought I would give it a go so I did what any person with plenty of money lying around that he knows he shouldn't be spending (trying to get to europe this year) should do, I bought the album. At first I did not know what to make of it, It seemed kind of empty and half way finished but I gave it more of a chance and there were a couple of songs that sank in and opened the whole album up for me. Those songs were Don and Sheri and Pom Pom. Don and Sheri I think is just genius and Pom Pom found its way into my liking because of his talk of how tricky love can be. The lyrics all started to click and I started to find that he happened to be a pretty good songwriter. The music is all pretty dance based but minimal in production like most of his music is but I find that it really works. So this album has been on repeat for the past couple of weeks now and I still cant seem to get enough of it. My only complaint is that some of the songs feel bit short and at least a couple have fade outs which is a pet peeve of mine, I just think its a cheep way to end a track. Still though, the great music makes up for this mino detail.

Artist site / iTunes link
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Cornelius - Sensuous

I had been waiting and waiting to get my hands on this release and I finally have it. Ever since falling in love with his album Point I have wanted more. With his newest album (which has actually been available in Japan for a year already) he has not taken his music an any dramatic new direction. I find that this album is like a more calm, focused Point. There is some great music on here, lots of acoustic sounds but with an electronic musicians sensibility (haha, such a fancy reviewers word there...) To get an idea of the music on here you must hear my current favorite track from the album which is called "Music." In fact, here, try it on for size, it just happens to be the sample track on the labels page for the album. Another album you dont want to miss...

artist site. iTunes Link

Surely most of you know that I love music and some of you may know that I host a radio show on a local collage station and I thought I would give it a little write up here for anyone interested. My show is on Tuesdays from 1-3pm Eastern US Time, not sure which time zone that is technically is but post in the comments if you know. You can access the radio stations live stream by visiting www.wuag.net or just click here to download the stream file to your streaming radio app of choice...

It is a standard rotation show which means I choose 8 songs each hour from a pre selected group of about 100 new cds that get regularly played during the daytime hours at the station. So 8 songs an hour I am a bit restricted but it gets more fun when I break away from those boundaries a bit and play some things I bring along with me to play.

If you do listen in to hear me make a silly fool of myself on the radio leave a comment here and let me know what you thought!