Blog Blender

Risk Everything

A user, riskeverything, on Reddit, responded to a thread, entitled “What small decision did you make that altered the entire course of your life?” with the story of his handle.  It spans three continents and involves London’s Big Ben clock tower.

I go to London and on first day I went to big ben. I want to get the standard tourist shot – me and BB (cheezy but I am an australian and it is the other side of the world!). Was about to ask this guy to take my photo and he lay down on the grass and shut his eyes.

I turned to the nearest person. It was a girl reading a paper and asked her to take my photo.

That was the easy part.

PJH Studios artwork, Portrait of a sun

PJH Studios

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  • Risk Everything

    A user, riskeverything, on Reddit, responded to a thread, entitled “What small decision did you make that altered the entire course of your life?” with the story of his handle.  It spans three continents and involves London’s Big Ben clock tower. I go to London and on first day I went to big ben. I…

  • Dan Wells – Mr. Monster

    The second book of the I Am Not a Serial Killer series, Mr. Monster, begins shortly after the first.  John Wayne Clever still harbors feelings of a sociopath after killing the demon, Mr. Crowley.  John’s life seems to be copacetic for the moment, and improving with the growth of his relationship with Brooke as a…

  • Favorite 2010 albums

    2010 was a great year for music with great releases from many artists and bands and across genres. I didn’t get to listen to everything that the kids at Stereogum, Pitchfork or your local newspaper get to sample, but I managed to pick 6 albums as my favorites. Not necessarily the best, but albums that…

  • Disney, masters of theme park operations

    Disney has theme park logistics down to a nimble operation that monitors all aspects of a park. They use a combination of weather reports, historical records, airline and hotel reservations to predict park capacity, but once the Magic Kindom opens, ride queues, cash registers at in park restaurants, foot traffic in particular areas are all…

  • Joe McNally knows sugar plums

    Ballerinas are all the rage at the moment. Black Swan, New York Times critic Alastair Maccaulay stating that one dancer, Jenifer Ringer, “eaten one sugar plum too many” for a recent production of the Nutcracker. And now Joe McNally, famed photographer, comes to her defense. Joe took portraits of Jenifer with a giant, 40×80 Polaroid…

  • True Grit (2010)

    True Grit, as remade by the Coen Brothers, is ok. It’s less hokey than the original with John Wayne, but plods along with a series of events strung together. Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn works well as he fully embraces the character, and Hailee Steinfeld plays the spunky Mattie Ross with conviction. I think the…

  • My songs of 2010

    Below is the track listing for my 2010 songs. By no means is it exhaustive, but I focused on the songs and albums I listened to. I also left out quite a bit of music I did listen to, notably Arcade Fire, Band of Horses and Sufjan. The ordering is only a track listing and…

  • My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West

    Kanye’s got the beats, the rhymes the ego and the vision to pull off an album like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy full of so many themes. From the self introspection (Monster, Lost in the World), to class (Power, Runaway), to misogyny (So Appalled, Hell of a Life) to politics (Who Will Survive in America).…

  • Those Were the Days – Dolly Parton

    Those Were the Days by Dolly Parton is a trubute/cover album of Dolly performing other artists’ songs. At 12 tracks, all have countrified, Dolly arrangements that play well with her style toe tapping music. Me and Bobby McGee (with Kris Kristofferson), Crimson and Clover (with Tommy Jones) and Turn, Turn, Turn are stand outs.

  • Don’t Take My Picture – Craig Alesse

    Don’t Take My Picture by Craig Alesse is a good photography 101 for the family shutterbug who likes to take snapshots at all the family events, but get a little better at getting those shots. Topics covered include composition, lighting, group shots and how to put all these tools together to see a good shot.…