Gear Reviews, Tech & Photography
I saw this amazing video today on Vimeo. These guys go up to the top or a large mountain and then ride their longboards down the hill at speeds of over 40mph. All the time while avoiding cars, and passing the camera between them. It is a well produced film and quite worth its 10 min run time. Make sure to watch it in HD by going to the Vimeo website with the link below. Turn HD ON, Scaling OFF, and watch it in full screen.
Adam Kimmel presents: Claremont HD from adam kimmel on Vimeo.
I recently got back from a family vacation in Las Vegas. For me this vacation was extra special because it was over my 21st birthday. We flew out on my birthday and upon arriving we checked into our hotel (Ti). We had some great food over the 4 days we were there, amazing Mexican at Isla, some good Vietnamese noodle soup, Thai food at The Lotus of Siam, Some great sandwiches at Canters deli in Ti.
Gambling was interesting. I am not really a big card player and stayed away from the tables so I would leave with some money. However I found the slot machines fun. Nickel slots were great. You could put in a dollar and play for a while. The first day I put in a dollar and my mom and I played. I cashed out at $5 because we went to eat dinner. Little did I know I should have stopped here and not played anymore for the trip. I ended up spending that $5 playing slots for quite a while. Over all I ended up $-4. Not too bad because my mom ended up winning a fairly significant sum from nickel slots. Over all the family came out in positive territory.
Shows in Vegas are great. If I ever go back to Vegas I will definitely go see some more shows. We saw Wayne Brady. He had a comedy/variety show that was great. Everyone was laughing and he would pull people up on stage and base that act on the answers they provided. It was a lot of fun and a good value for the money.
Hoover Dam was really neat. Despite temps that were well into the triple digits it was fun. We were able to go down inside the dam to see some of the huge pipes that feed the massive hydroelectric generators. I was also able to take some of the best panoramic photos that I have ever taken of the dam and Lake Mead.
Below you will find many photos from the trip. Mostly the photos are of Hoover Dam and of the Strip on the flight home. Be sure to check out the gallery for more photos. Enjoy.
Hoover Dam Panoramic
Lake from the Dam Panoramic
Lake Mead Panoramic
Lake Mead HDR
Inside Hoover Dam
Hotel Ti
The Strip from the air
The Strip from the air
Downtown Las Vegas
Show Girl Fun
I have needed to update the blog for a long time and just got around to it today. Over the past few months I have taken some photos of a friend’s 1st gen RX-7 and more recently we had a 3rd gen RX-7 join us for some rolling shots. A handful of images really turned out well. Here are some of the results. More can be seen in the gallery.
On a side note I have started programming this year’s animated Christmas Light Show.
This past week I built an AMB labs Mini3 headphone amplifier for my Sennheiser HD595 headphones. The amp is still burning in but so far I am very impressed. It really helps when playing audio through my computer and especially through my iPod. The build was very fun. I soldered my first surface mount components. I also built it first time around correctly with no problems. The case is also great. So far I am very impressed. Here are some pictures of the finished project.
I am not a frequent reader of Dilbert but for some reason I read todays. One I thought it was funny, 2 it has felt like I have been in this situation before. I like helping people fix there tech stuff that is broken or not working right. Don’t get me wrong I like helping people it just feels like sometimes your being used to fix their stuff and once it works you never or rarely hear from them again. Oh well. See the comic strip below.
Click on the comic to make it larger
I ran across a cool website the other day. www.muxtape.com It allows you to upload 12 of your own MP3 files of songs you like and put them in any order you choose. You end up creating your own mix tape but in a digital sense. Its has RSS built in so once you find some one you like watch their feed to see what new music they add. The site is a great way to share music with your friends and online communities. Check out the site and upload your own songs to create your own MuxTape.
I have been very busy and have forgot to update the blog. The Christmas lights are down and we have begun designing next years. Keep an eye out here and at www.liquidretro.net/lightshow for more info.
I have lots of photos to update the blog with but this will take a few posts to do it. Keep coming back for new ones. I will try and post more regularly.
Last week a very good friend of mine asked me to take some photos of her, I’ve always wanted someone, who I like, to be my model for the day. She asked, and I said yes. The results turned out quite beautiful, she was very happy with the photos. It was a really relaxing day, taking photos, eating Mexican food, topping it off with cheese cake, and spending time with friends.
The photos below have gotten great response on Fred Miranda and other Photography forums. Look for more photos like this in the future especially when it gets warm out.
Here are 2 galleries that contain more of the processed images.
My animated Christmas light display is up. It took several weekends to get up and get everything tweaked. It was stressful but its not up and running. For more information on the display go visit its website at http://www.liquidretro.net/lightshow/ View the video below of the entire performance.
This years songs are Tran-Siberian Orchestra – Sarajevo 12/24, Tran-Siberian Orchestra – A Mad Russian Christmas.