I'm a Baby Daddy!

here's my new baby folks....

I have been bitchin' way too long that I want.... nay, NEED a DSLR.... so I figured I'll finally treat myself.... I do, after all, deserve it after surviving this past year and being promoted to another year....

now that I will be retiring it, I thought I'd say thanks to my trusty Sony Cybershot 5.1MP P&S which has served me so well for many years....
I beat it up pretty bad after 5 years, and I must say, don't discount P&S's, this little guy got me some pretty bitchin' shots....



Happy Canada Day to all the Hosers out there....

TECHNORATI TAGS: DSLR

Scenes from Bryant Park

I am on a roll typing an essay about my life story.... feets don't fail me now! The ideas in my head flow in undulating waves of cerebral energy transferring from neuron to neuron down my arms into my fingers, ending up as words and sentences of such eloquent composition on my laptop screen.... out of nowhere comes some loud mouthed girl on her cell phone... she stands within earshot of me bragging to her friend about her awesome office and how they need to meet up for lunch or whatever... I wish you would SHUT UP!... my roll is halted and here I am instead on my blog....

thanks a lot loud mouthed girl (who at this point walks away)....

Yes, I'm blogging to you from a park.... okay, it's not just any park, it's Bryant Park.... right behind the New York Public Library main branch.... what did we ever do without free WiFi and wireless laptops? I don't remember those dark ages anymore, so don't ask.... when the library closes I come here to continue what I'm doing.... what kind of nerd f*@kery am I doing in the New York Public Library you ask?.... that's another blog....

back in the day Bryant Park was a mecca for drug deals and probably wasn't the safest place to be... today there's little kids on the carousel, people playing chess, pétanque, and ping pong, people on laptops, or people just lounging around on the lawn furniture....you can even have your lunch here while a famous pianist plays for you.... oh and yes, there's an occasional person doing drugs....

on this particular night, there seems to be a bevy of hot girls in short skirts walking around... following one of them (don't worry, I'm not a stalker type or anything), I'm led to a big white tent that has consumed the entire lawn of the park.... it's some kind of fashion show.... which explains the bevy of hot girls I guess....

there are a lot of couples making out around me.... I read this on one of the lawn chairs....

stop encouraging them.... someone needs to engrave a lawn chair with "Get a room".... geez why so cynical Angelo?....

a couple approach the couple who were just making out, the asian girl's kinda cute.... I think they're trying to evangelize the fornicators... I have a quick and easy excuse in case they come to me... "I already love Jesus and I'm on a roll with my essay, so I'm sorry, but I don't have time".... luckily when they approach me, they see me typing furiously... from the corner of my eye, I watch them as they hesitate and walk away... phew! I dodged that evangelical bullet....

I buy a falafel and sit down to eat by the fountain.... the big white tent is gone by now.... in the distance there's a stage and the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players sing from the score of the H.M.S. Pinafore.... rock on muther effers! man, I love New York....

I should not have been surprised to see a lot of smokers in a park.... but wait a second, that's not cigarette smoke I smell.... someone has to keep the druggie legacy of Bryant Park alive I guess.... gimme some o' dat you sons of bitches!.... I have to apologize, New York has turned me into a bit of a potty mouth.... which explains the uncontrollable urge to chew on a bar of soap whenever I'm in the shower....

here is the Bargemusic Chamber Ensemble playing Vivaldi's "La Primavera" (Spring), first movement "Allegro"....

they're called Bargemusic because they actually play on a floating barge at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.... check them out if you're looking for chamber music played on water with the Manhattan skyline as the backdrop...

I think I'm pretty much done with my nerd-fest at the New York Public Library for now.... so for my last night in Bryant Park here is the Brooklyn Philharmonic playing a contemporary piece by Daniel Bernard Roumain titled String Quartet No. 5 Rosa Parks "I Made Up My Mind Not To Move"....

one last falafel in Bryant Park under a clear New York autumn night sky, with the Brooklyn Philharmonic playing in the background.... EFF, I love New York....

TECHNORATI TAGS: bryant park, bryant park fall festival, bargemusic chamber ensemble, brooklyn philharmonic, new york city
WHERE IS THIS?: check the map

9-11-2009

It's been eight years....

Earlier today, I listened for Tu Anh Pham's name to be called, and tonight I payed my respects at Ground Zero....

I took the PATH to New Jersey to get a better view of those ghostly Twin Towers, known as "Tribute in Light"....

eternal rest grant unto them and let perpetual light shine upon them....may they rest in peace....

TECHNORATI TAGS: 9-11 2009, new york city

Psychomotor Retardation

I, standing still.... the world whizzing around me, by me, past me.... I try to latch on to someone.... one of those shiny happy people.... but they're traveling at the speed of light.... and I, at the speed of stone, am left behind.... they pass through my solidity like phantoms....
I desperately want to break free from this time warp.... the overwhelming desire to move forward has been welling up inside of me for far too long.... I try to concentrate all of that desire into one foot, so that perhaps, whatever iota of strength I have left in me can take that first step to finally propel me into the mix....
Instead, whatever iota of strength I have left escapes through my pores and dissipates into the ether.... as does my desire, once again, to move....

I refuse to be defeated.... especially by my own self....
I well up again all the desire I can muster.... I try to concentrate all of that desire into one foot, so that perhaps, whatever iota of strength I have left in me can take that first step to finally propel me into the mix....
escapes.... dissipates.... refuses....
I'm so retarded.
TECHNORATI TAGS: grand central terminal during rush hour, new york city

Bombus

When I was in grade 7, Lori-Anne Galati sang me this song as she strummed on her air guitar.... I think of it, and of her whenever I see a bee.... I wonder what ever happened to her...

"Who flies from flower to flower"....

"The bee....

the bee....

l'abeille"....

"Who stings with such force and such power"....

"The bee....

the bee....

l'abeille"....

Sorry, that's all I remember of her song, but please remember to be kind to you local honey bees.... "colony collapse disorder" is claiming about 30% of hives each year in the US alone, and it looks like it's a world-wide phenomenon.... scientists are not yet certain as to the exact cause of the die-off, but believe it may be a combination of factors including pesticide use, lack of adequate nutrition, genetic dilution from the way they've been bred, a mite infestation, fungal, viral and parasitic infections.... the little guys in the pictures are actually bumblebees (Bombus sp.), a close relative of the honey bee, but equally deserving of our respect.... all these busy guys pollinate most of our food sources.... so if their colonies are collapsing, the supply of many of our food sources could theoretically follow... think about that the next time you swat at one unnecessarily....

TECHNORATI TAGS: bombus, bumblebee, bee and crabapple

Testicles

I need to stop bitchin' about how I need a DSLR, but dude! I am so ready for one now.... my old point and shoot 5.1 MP Sony Cyber-Shot just isn't doin' it for me anymore.... not that I don't appreciate all the great shots it's taken for me over the years, but I've played with all it's settings already and I've reached the plateau of it's learning curve... I need more power, more control, more MP's.... as you can see from my sorry attempts at macros....

They're not that bad actually, but they're not great.... I'm ready to learn how to do great... you know the kind of great where you take a picture of a bee pissing on a flower and the droplets of urine are captured splashing against the petals like crystal clear orbs of yellow quicksilver?...

wish me luck on deciding which one to get and then scrounging up the money for it....

Oh, I almost forgot.... about my title.... it's because "ORCHID" is Greek for "testicle".... so like in surgery, when you want to cut off a guy's ball, it's called an "ORCHIectomy".... if you want to cut off both his balls, then it's called "MARRIAGE"... oh sorry!, did I say that out loud?.... I meant "bilateral ORCHIectomy"....

if you want to bring down a boy's un-descended testicle into his scrotum then it's an "ORCHIDopexy".... this is important to protect spermatogenesis and to make early detection of testicular malignancies more feasible as undescended testes are more predisposed to developing cancers compared to normally descended testes...

so now you know.... and knowing is half the battle!

TECHNORATI TAGS: orchid macros, phalaenopsis