New Blog

Two iPhone photos using the Pano App, which makes panoramas out of subsequent photos, matching them together. These used three photos (you can use more) and if you look closely you can tell it is not an exact match. Not only that, it's quite hard to hold a steady hand, while trying to match up the end of one photo to the beginning of another, and then holding still to take the next photo. It's a great App. Clearly much practice and patience is needed.

As you can see below, the glass bottles line up pretty well, but two tomatoes look a bit bosomy.

Number One Son suggested VB do a daily blog with just photos. VB has been giving this some thought for awhile, but just couldn't figure out exactly how (or what excuse to use). The City Daily Photo, which appealed to VB had a few drawbacks. First of all, a Cairo centric blog ( Cairo/ Giza Daily Photo,) had already been claimed. Besides, VB's not in Cairo all the time. VB couldn't do a daily photo on her Podunk Connecticut town, as it's a bucolic small, vegetative (literally - we have humans here who are vegetating at this moment!) town with not too much going on (the Association VB lives in, is another matter altogether - vegetative with a very bad, Rush Limbaugh / Glenn Beck attitude.) And, as much as she was enticed by the idea, she figured it was out of the picture. She basically does not stay in one place long enough to account for, and account as a "city photographer" (this little town doesn't account for a city, to begin with.)

Then VB read a few books, which she wrapped her little brain around. First, cause she hasn't read any in "hard copy" for quite awhile, she completed, Republican Gomorrah: Inside The Movement That Shattered The Party. If you look close enough, you'll see it on the bookshelf.

And, as much as VB loves non-fiction (in particular) political/historical/cooking books, she bought two photo oriented books which gave her a new perspective.

One is: The Best Camera Is The One That's With you, iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis. The book is filled with photos and praise for the iPhone camera. It is a camera you can take with you everywhere. Then, after reading photojojo! insanely great photo projects and diy ideas, by Amit Gupta and Kelly Jensen, VB realized she could actually do a daily photo without being anywhere at all (anywhere important, and that's an important feature). Thus, after checking out Project 365: How to Take a Photo a Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way, and other Photo365 sites, VB decided this is a possibility after all. According to the book (and site):

"Project 365 is about: taking one photo every day for a year."

So that's VB's goal.

VB posted a photo she took in DC as a baby step on her new blog: Vagabondblogger's Project 365, but the official Day 1 is today.

Come by and visit. VB will still be maintaining this blog for Funkengroovin items, rants, and whatever else she's been doing so far.

Islam On Capitol Hill

Our day started out great. The weather had cooled about ten degrees, with a threat of rain. We took our umbrellas. We were on our way to The Capitol Building. We walked from a Foggy Bottom hotel to the Ellipse, where we relieved ourselves (well, at least VB did) and sat while enjoying the sights, such as the one below. Segways can be rented to tour the Capitol. Something we didn't know, but became apparent after seeing numerous nerdy people on them, all over the place.

Below: A geek on a Segway taking a photo of the geese, no doubt, as there was really nothing else there. Would VB lie to you? Believe me you, things change from just plain strange to outrageous on this day.



VB wanted to walk to The Capitol Building for two reasons: (1) She had never seen it before, from the Mall view - close-up and personal; (2) We were informed by our Pakistani doorman that a major Jumaa pray-in event was scheduled, and 50,000 Muslims were to be there at 1:00 PM on Friday! VB performed her usual Google search and found Islam On Capitol Hill, with all the details. That's a got-to-see thing. A be-in for any Muslim worth their snuff. Sort of like a March On Washington for Muslims. Amazed, VB had settled on walking down there to view the event. And, as we all know, nothing goes as planned.

First there were the protesters. As we approached The Capitol, this is what we saw, below.

Question: When do they start burning the crosses?


As we got closer, the protesters were gathered at strategic points (of course) to annoy all who passed by, and particularly Muslims attending this event. The speaker below reminded VB of the protesters at the Republican National Convention, 2004, in New York City. All these people are comparable to the God Hates Fags group, from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas headed by Fred Phelps. Apparently God hates all those who don't agree with Mr. Phelps. All these protesters are more concerned with what happens after death, than how we conduct ourselves during our lifetime.

From The Washington Post, Muslim Prayers at Capitol Stir Protests: "The event, called "Islam on Capitol Hill," is designed to highlight how U.S. Muslims can coexist with their fellow Americans. Hassen Abdellah, the lead organizer of the event, called on people to come to the Capitol to "pray for peace and understanding between America and its Muslim community.""

"But this week, some conservative Christians have called the event a threat to Christian values."

Here (below) the megaphone for one of the protesting groups.


We crossed the street towards The Capitol, and it looked blocked off, so we turned around. This is the group with the above mentioned megaphone. What caught VB's attention was the "Jail To The Chief" banner. Yep! That's got religion (ahem, racism) written all over it!


Below - This is about twenty minutes before the Jumaa Prayers are to begin, and the attendance looks small.


We sit for awhile, as we've walked at least two miles from Foggy Bottom. Some of the attendees (below) gather at the Capitol Reflection Pool to dress (and possibly wash their feet?) Meanwhile, some Christian Indians (South Asian) decide to try to convert us from our fallen away lives to saving our souls - that's what matters the most you know - saving souls. They don't want us to get Left Behind.


Below - A few attendees, in bright dishdashas, cross the street towards The Capitol Building.


Below - Protesters on another corner - arguing.


Below - VB climbs onto the wall around the Reflection Pool for a better shot.


Below - The view behind VB. You can clearly see the Washington Monument straight ahead, with the National Book Fair tent in front, and the Smithsonian Castle protruding to the left. It's quite a sight.


Below - The two most annoying people in the universe this day. They persisted in standing at the corner where most prayer attendees were dropped off, screeching into a megaphone sins, should people not follow the one, the only, Jesus Christ. Pathetic that these people don't understand that Islam views Jesus as a prophet, as well. Oh, and that fornication sin with the special coloring - how in hell would we have any embryos or unborn babes to save if people didn't fornicate, and furthermore, perhaps this sad soul's parents should have had safe sex, or no sex at all!



Below - A video VB took with her new iPhone. She personally heard the guy with the megaphone declare, as he pointed across the street toward the prayer meeting, "This is a declaration of waaaar!" The video is rather boring, since he tamed his rhetoric down to mediocre religious punditry once he got on to his megaphone. Still, it was annoying - very, very annoying. At one point VB heard a police officer declare, "All those people (protesters), are ex-child offenders, wife abusers, alcoholics, and / or drug addicts." That was nice! No that was actually sweet!




Below - As we cross the street, this man is holding signs and declares, "I'm here in peace. You'll get no argument." Why does VB not trust him?


Then, just as we pass him, the toxic group appears - the ones that accost you, argue with you, and try to stop you, and eventually make you so angry you want to smite them (like with your umbrella)! We passed right by, while they were in the midst of arguments with other passers by, as you can see below.


We finally figured out (duh) that we could just walk right in to the prayer meeting ourselves - which we did. This photo below is from inside the lines, up close (but not too close) and personal (not really). The Boss Man was pushing VB to leave as we had another engagement. The prayer meeting was running late - very late - like forty-five minutes late.


Below - One of the Indian Christians predicted that he thought the crowd would swell to five thousand people for the meet. He said they had quite a good publicity show. Really? VB only knew of it a couple of days before, and no news agencies seemed to be covering it at all.

VB's last shot from the wall, before leaving, and there's no way this crowd will make fifty thousand, much less five thousand! Sad but true. According to the Washington Post, which has a great video at the link, and the only news outlet that seemed to care enough to even mention this event, At Capitol, a Day of Muslim Prayer and Unity: "Nearly 3,000 people gathered on the west lawn of the Capitol on Friday for a mass Muslim prayer service that was part religion and part pep rally for the beleaguered U.S. Muslim community.""We wanted to bring people out to show you don't need to fear America," said Imam Ali Jaaber of Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth N.J., the service's main organizer. At the same time, he said, he wanted to remind non-Muslims that "we are decent Muslims. We work; we pay taxes. We are Muslims who truly love this country.""

Across the street from the service, Christian protesters gathered with banners, crosses and anti-Islamic messages. One group, which stood next to a 10-foot-tall wooden cross and two giant wooden tablets depicting the Ten Commandments, was led by the Rev. Flip Benham of Concord, N.C.

"I would suggest you convert to Christ!" Benham shouted over a megaphone. Islam "forces its dogma down your throat." A few Christian protesters gathered at the rear of the Muslim crowd, holding Bibles and praying.

At one point, organizers asked them to tone it down.

"We would never come to a prayer meeting that you have to make a disturbance," Hamad Chebli, imam of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey, said from the lectern. "Please show us some respect. This is a sacred moment. Just as your Sunday is sacred, our Friday is sacred.""

VB says, "Amen!"

Below: The belligerence doesn't end, as we try to leave.


We walked around the way we arrived. This is the view from the other side of the Capitol Building, as we depart.



Below: More photos of some of the attendees.




And VB wonders, where the hell is Louis Farrakhan?

Old Tractors and a Skillet Toss

Two weeks ago we went to "Farm Fest" at Hilltop Farm in Suffield, CT. They had a tractor parade (check out the photos below), and a Women's Skillet Toss, among other activities. Okay, so those were the two main attractions for VB. While VB was there she found out why so many of the tobacco fields had been plowed under starting in July - Tobacco fungus took hold. We've had so much rain here in Connecticut this year, it seemed as though April never ended. According to the agricultural specialist, tobacco likes it dry, with a scant amount of rain. And this year was not good at all in that respect. Thus, no tobacco photos this year, except for a few VB posted on flickr from early in the season.

(Below): Photos from Farmfest 2009.














Check out the video VB made of the Women's Skillet Toss. VB's still working on her video making skills. She made this version, then another close up with cropped photos. She then decided she liked this one better, but it took several days (attempts) for it to load onto YouTube properly. VB planned on posting this last week, but due to the circumstances with the video, it's late. And, rather than load up fifty million photos, she thought this was better.

The first woman, in the blue shirt is the yearly winner and she started off well ahead of everyone else. We left before it concluded, but enjoyed watching (and almost getting hit by a flying skillet - twice). The skillets weigh eight pounds each, and each woman had a very distinctive style of throwing. If you watch closely, you can see the skillet flying in almost every photo, and detect which one came flying our way (she's aiming it right at us.)


SKILLET TOSS:

iPhone Apps

Two weeks ago we changed mobile carriers and went with iPhones. VB wasn't so enthusiastic, but the kids were dying to get them, and The Boss Man loved his, so VB got stuck with one too. Well, she's addicted, particularly to the Photo Apps. Below are examples of what VB's three favorites are like.

COLORSPLASH:

The Colorsplash is a bit difficult to work with. It changes your original to a black and white. You can then go in and paint one object to stand out. Skinny fingers are pretty much a requirement, even though you can change the size of the paintbrush. (VB's no damn good at this one.)

LOMO:

The Lomo is great. As with real Lomo photos they're grainy and have off colors.

Original:



LC-A Normal:



Redscale:


Black & White:

CameraBag:

CameraBag has got to be VB's favorite so far. The photos are pretty clean, and you can flip through to see numerous transformations.

Original:



Helga:



Lolo:



Magazine:



Mono:




1962:



1974:



Cinema:



Infrared:



Fisheye:


More of VB's favorite Apps are: 2 Across (crossword puzzle app), FlightTrack (airline tracking app), Amazon.com, Camera Zoom, Yelp (for finding places to eat), KitchenCalc (converts to and from UK and US measurements).