Voting Results

The votes are in! The polls are closed! It's time to reveal the winner of this week's poll! Huzzah!

Okay, enough hoopla. The winner is... everyone.

Everyone, that is, except Captain America and Wolverine. Apparently nobody likes them because they didn't get any votes.
But other than those two, every option received exactly two votes. What a democracy.

All I can say is I hope that next year's presidential election goes better than this. Imagine if the same thing happened. Each of the candidates would get elected and inaugurated into presidency. That would be crazy! Nothing would get done for the next four years. The only thing happening in the Oval Office would be cat fights between the individual political parties.

Gosh, what a great video that would make.

If you're looking for me, I'll be with my camera in DC. Don't wait up.

Okay, that was kinda dumb. But it was fun - you can't deny that.
Anyway, there's a new poll up regarding this summer's hit blockbusters, so be sure to vote for your favorite flick of the season. Also, if you haven't done so already, go take a look at my Mt. Baden-Powell trip report, featuring lotsa great outdoor pics for all you nature luvas.

All right, I'm done.
Take care, ya'll
T.H. Excellence

Mt. Baden-Powell PhotoBlog

Remember those slam-bang photos I promised in my last post? Well, they're not ready yet. So in the meantime I'll share something else.

So today my dad and I decided we would go hiking up Mt. Baden-Powell, named for Robert Baden-Powell, who founded the Boy Scouts of America. We also happened across a 1,500 year old tree, which was dedicated to Wally Wolden, another fine gentleman with a part in the scouts movement. Aside from that, I don't think anything else was named for anyone.
Okay, enough fooling around. Despite the long arduous trip, the view from the summit was quite beautiful. Looking straight out you could see the clouds over the valley, which was quite awesome because we had traveled under those clouds to get to the trailhead.. To the sides were other tree-lined mountains, and far off behind us was the desert. Made for a great three-hundred-and-sixty degrees panorama!
Fortunately the trip down was better. It's much easier going down than up, of course. By this time the sun had gone down a bit behind the ridge so it was nice and cool, making things very pleasant. Almost made me want to go camping.

Now I know you all are wishing you came too, but since you didn't, I uploaded the wonderful photographs I snapped on the trail. Enjoy the trip!




That's my dad, in case you were wondering.






Yes, I know this picture is very similar to the one above it. Consider it a freebie.
Or perhaps a remake.


Since I'm a film major, I thought I'd attempt to present something in letterbox format.
Why is it called that anyway?


This was the last good shot I was able to get. My camera pretty much just froze up for the entire trip down. I think it had altitude sickness or something. Anyway, the rest of my pics were taken from the inside of my dad's car.


It's amazing how dirty my dad's windshield was before I cleaned it up digitally.
Thank goodness for MacBooks.



On the road again... La lah la la la laaaaH luh la... tum de tum.

Gosh, I wish I knew all the words to that song.

Okay, that's officially the end of the pics. For those of you who love mountains, forests, and all that nature jazz, I hope you enjoyed this post. For those of you who don't, sorry you had to suffer through it. But don't worry - my next PhotoBlog should be a real whiz-banger, featuring those amazing, spectacular, super-awesome pics I promised earlier. If it doesn't, please don't hold it against me.

So for now I'm done. Good night to you all.
Please remember to comment - that way I know somebody's actually looking at this thing.

Hasta la v-ee-sta
T.H. Excellence

PhotoBlog!

Okay folks - it's time for another PhotoBlog entry! This time I've got a culmination of pics shot over the course of the last two days. No sky shots this time, but I did capture some lovely evening photos. Enjoy!







So that's all I have for this round. Sorry this entry was shorter than normal. However, I should be uploading some really great slam-bang shots some time in the near future, so stay tuned.

Farewell
T.H. Excellence

Ratatouille

"Why do they call it that? If you're gonna name a food, you should give it a name that sounds delicious. Ratatouille doesn't sound delicious. It sounds like 'rat' and 'patootie'. 'Rat-patootie', which does not sound delicious."


Believe it or not, those words were going through my head while I was in line for lunch today. Apparently the cafeteria has decided to capitalize on recent movie successes because they served up ratatouille for the midday meal.

Flashback time:
I remember seeing the movie and having a desire to sample that fine French dish at some point in life. For one, it would be a fun adventure. Second, anything with a name like "ratatouille" has to be awesome.

Anyway, since it was available for lunch I decided to indulge in the "adventure" and give it a try. I'm not a big fan of anything that's veggie-related, but I liked it anyway. In my opinion it was actually pretty good. Give it a try yourself if you get the chance.

Okay, I'm done being a food critic. Remember kids - Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille will be served up on DVD November 6th.

Fin
T.H. Excellence

Euro Futon!

Aren't moms great? Mine is. Every once in a while she'll give me something great for no apparent reason. For example, I got home from camp this summer and was surprised with five amazing new superhero shirts and Spider-Man 3 lounge pants (thanks Mom!). More recently (as in today), she discovered a great deal at Target - a black Euro Futon for just over a hundred bucks.
So what is a Euro Futon? Yeah, I don't know either, but it's in my dorm right now and it's really nice. Here's a pic:



Wow. Isn't that something? And it's comfortable too! Now we can stage ancient Greek plays!

Of course, having a new piece of furniture in the room means my quirky roommate must reconfigure the entire room layout.


I think rearranging the furniture could be fun, especially with what he has in mind, but my other roomie doesn't agree. We'll see what happens.

Okay, I'm done. Good night, all. I'm gonna go sleep on my new Euro Futon.

Ka-chow!
T.H. Excellence

A Couple Items of Interest

So right now I have a couple things to share. First of all, I spent a good part of the afternoon going to see Stardust with friends. This was actually the second time I had seen it, but it was still very enjoyable and I definitely recommend it. It's exciting, it's funny, it's romantic. The same style and spirit found in The Princess Bride are present here, yet at the same time the film is fresh and original and unlike anything ever seen before. It's a wonderful way to spend a fantasy-filled afternoon at the movies.
Two quick disclaimers:
1) This film does contain a little risque humor. Risque is a French word, if I recall. I think it means "not good to expose young children to". Just a word of warning.
2) Strange as it may sound, I don't recommend watching the trailer for this movie. Seriously, it's a horrible 2-minute representation of the film. Just risk your ten bucks instead and trust me on this one.

Okay, enough free publicity for Paramount Pictures. Time to move on.

Today was a glorious day. It rained in So-Cal. I noticed it particularly as I was on my way to the movies, and it made me happy. It also made me wish I had my camera to capture the drizzly goodness in all its glory.
By the time the movie was over, unfortunately, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. Nevertheless, the sky was lit up beautifully so I grabbed my camera and got some shots. Here's what I snapped:


I think this one turned out nice with the "Fade Edge" effect.




The sunbeams and reflections turned out nicely in this one.





Okay, that wraps up this blog. Hope you enjoyed the photos, and don't forget to go see Stardust.

Oh, and don't forget to pray for more rain. I'll be ready with my camera this time.

T.H. Excellence signing off

PhotoBlog!

I spent part of yesterday at a park with some friends and took it as an opportunity to take some pictures. This proved not to be the easiest task because the sun kept hiding behind some very thin clouds, leaving me with a bluish color temperature in some of my pictures.. Fortunately I managed to fix said pictures in iPhoto so it looks like the subjects are playing in the sun, not slightly overcast weather.

Okay, enough talk. On with the pics.


I faded the shot above slightly to achieve a vintage-type affect.






I tried really hard, but for some reason I couldn't get the natural lighting I wanted on this pic. Oh well. It looks cool anyway.




This is where the fun begins. I took a couple of pictures and edited them to mix in a coolness factor.

This is the original...


This one's got freakish clouds.


Oh boy! More desaturated vintage pics!


The whole picture's a bit strange, but I think the clouds are the weirdest part. And the coolest part.


This one didn't turn out as well, but hey, I'm still a novice doing a little experimenting.


Black and white shots are fun.


And to conclude with the doctored photos, here's a retake on an earlier shot. In my opinion it turned out the worst, but it's not terrible. Why I saved it for last I don't know.

Okay, here's some cloud shots. Enjoy.

This is what I wanted the weather to be like.


This is what it really looked like.


Okay, so it wasn't that bad.


Last one.

Before I go, here's a couple of shots I took at school a couple days ago.



Alright, those are all the pictures I have for now. I hope you enjoyed taking a look. I know I enjoyed taking the shots, even though the color temperature was bogus and my friends kept throwing athletic equipment at me.

Again, thanks to anyone and everyone who's checked out my blog recently. I really appreciate all the interest that's being shown.

Okay, ta ta for now
T.H. Excellence