RIP Old fella...

You'll be missed, Gold...

It's said that there are a few true constants and life, among which Death and Taxes are two chiefly of which even the most gifted, wealthy, or luckiest of us would eventually fall in defeat to.

In this particular instance, I woke up earlier today to the news that the oldest pet we have had in the house, a Persian-mix male cat by the name Goldwin (aka Gold for short), had succumbed to old age. He was around 15 years old, and it seem that we've had him around for ages (since the late 90s) and the typical lifespan for a breed like him is typically 12 years give or take a few years.

I've always thought its somewhat clichéd that people would say that one should cherish those around you while they're still there. Even though Gold was a grumpy somewhat aloof fella typical in that cat-sorta way, he was considered an extension of the family especially since he's been around for nearly half of my own lifetime.

So there I was, looking for a suitable photo for a simple "In Memoriam" photo to the old fella, then I realised, how few I had taken of him recently. the one you see hear, is probably the latest I took with my Nikon, and that was in mid-May of this year. He hadn't lost as much weight as he had towards the end and still looked rather "regal" as someone had commented on seeing this tribute photo.

To say his passing was a total shock would be inaccurate, as I had just remarked to myself this past weekend after observing him sleeping, how thin he had gotten to the extent that his bones and spine were showing, that perhaps he hadn't much long to go. Still it is shocking to the senses, and at least I hear that he didn't have a protracted struggle, though hearing how he struggled and gasped for breath just as he was passing, it would've been heart breaking to have witnessed first-hand, had I seen it myself. I guess I don't handle death too well. It was a similar deal with my paternal grandma when she passed on just over 2 years ago.

My takeaway from all this is, don't take what you have around you for granted (as clichéd it might be) , especially the loved ones you still have with you, have some fun, make some memories, take some photos/videos coz you'll never know what might happen tomorrow, or how your world might change while you slept.

Steve McCurry's One-Minute Masterclass 'Don't forget to say hello'

Too many people seem to forget that photography has everything to do about what's around the photographe, especially the people whom often are subjects in our photos. Its about making connections, and humanising the moment whenever possible. Obviously some candids would require a shoot first and smile and connect later, but still, the connection is something thats to be made, and perhaps open doors to future opportunities to more subjects and so forth...

Too many people who fancy themselves photographers often de-humanise this relationship either due to shyness, inability to connect, pride/overconfidence in the self-absorption of the pursuit of that killer shot or just plain laziness.

All three can be overcome, if a concerted effort is made so by the person in question. But as with most things and people nowadays, too many just look for the "shortcut" to the destination, without paying the price of the journey.

Firefly Behind the Scenes

Really seems like the crew really loved and had a connection to the Serenity

America's Got Talent - Ryan Andreas - In The Arms Of The Angel

Nice Raspy quality to his singing voice.. but I dunno if its the nerves plus he's projecting it, or if its his actual singing voice...

graphics

Can You Fall In Love with This Beautiful Girl?

This is Eguchi Aimi. She's the latest member of Japanese pop band AKB48 and a very lovely girl. But Eguchi Aimi is not what she seems. This Sunday, she shocked all her fans revealing her dark secret. You must watch this.

Look at this video closely. You can see the seven members of AKB48 advertising some Japanese candy. Among them, center stage, is the lovely girl that you can see in the gallery and on top, Eguchi Aimi. She looks just like the others, all big eyes, juicy lips, perfect cheeks, cute chin, blinding smile and angelical look. Look at her sing. So cute.

The great pretender

The fact is that yes, she looks exactly like the others. Literally. The big eyes, the juicy lips, the perfect cheeks, the cute chin, the blinding smile and the angelical look belong to the other six member of AKB48. Eguchi Aimi is not a real person, she has been composed in a computer using parts from her fellow band members. Her fans, who are legion, just learned about it this week, when this shocking video demonstrating the process, was published in YouTube. They just couldn't believe it and you won't believe it either:

Make sure to watch it full screen, because the synthesis and post-production work that have gone into Eguchi is simply uncanny. Taking 150 gigabytes of memory, she's the perfect example of the world we are headed to, in which men and machine, "reality" and "reality" will collide in a new way that would make humans blend into the digital world and the digital world come into flesh and bones.

And while the Eguchi Aimi phenomenon may be just anecdotical, the fact that a synthetic creation has been able to make their fans to have crushes and feelings without them never realizing she was a figment of someone's imagination, a digital mutant mix, is not a simple anecdote. That's very real. When people perceive such a being as real, and that being causes an emotive response in them, then that makes that character part of reality. It has an tangible impact on their worlds. The physical world which, at the end of the day, is just synthesized by our brains from our senses (which are just arbitrary signal input devices).

What's real is real

View the gallery

The fact is that all this is not science fiction anymore. It's science. And just a matter of time before there's a huge jump that puts together synthetic lifeforms out of the screen and into the physical world. "A new world of machines and possibilities!" as Dalí said in his futurist manifesto.

As we walk into this new world, I can't help but to ask myself: Would I be able to fall in love with a synthetic being? Would you? And what will happen then, when humans and digitals collide and merge in our world and their world?

I know. This is not new. It's been the subject of movies and books for most of the 20th century. Heck, you can even find the same themes in classic greek mythology. But literature and film is one thing. Watching it happening right in front of you is quite different.

All I can think about is that I hope that I live long enough to watch it all happen. Even if it all ends in a clusterfuck of destruction, it is going to be a lot of fun.

via gizmodo.com

Ok, the tech behind this is pretty cool & yet scary to some extent too...

http://genez.posterous.com email

'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' Birdman Featurette HD

THIS is pretty badass... it ain't CGI effects... they really have people "flyin" in wingsuits around Chicago...

Appendix A

Appendix A, a photo by AxisGrid on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

One afternoon when I was 10 years old, my mom sent me upstairs to clean my perpetually cluttered bedroom. As was my usual custom, I spent the first hour or two playing with the various toys and books I uncovered while moving the piles of junk from one corner to another. An hour later, I was doubled over in pain, running a fever and vomiting. This continued through the night and into the next day, during which time I had hours to wonder whether this was God's way of punishing me for never cleaning my room, and how long I'd be grounded when I got well and Mom discovered the mess around my bed was still more or less intact.

Except I didn't get well. Twenty-four hours later I took the first and only ambulance ride of my life to Pheonixville Hospital, where the doctors scratched their head over my blood counts and temperature. Apparently I had every classic symptom of appendicitis except the primary one - I was hurting in the wrong spot. Three days later, Dr. Waldorf burst into the room where my parents were watching helplessly as I clung to the bed rails, moaning in agony.

"Well, we have two options. We could open her up right down the middle and have a poke around," he said as he mimed unzipping a zipper from neck to waist, "or we could go in with the traditional incision and hope for the best."

Thank god my parents listened to their instinct. Eight days later I was released with a clean bill of health, an armful of new toys and an intestine two inches shorter than before. But the best part? My mom cleaned my room while I was gone!

Kids view on Life!!! Gotta Love it!!!