Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Blossoms outside of Burrard skytrain station.

Cherry Blossoms outside of Burrard skytrain station.
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It was rainy so this was about the only time I could get any photos without a million other people snapping pictures at the same time. And even then by the end of my tyrannical reign people were swarming the area in droves to pick up whatever photos i'd missed.

I'm not sure what happens if I upload a landscape picture with this layout

A close shot of some flowers mid march

A close shot of some flowers mid march
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I think when I redid the site I forgot that occasionally people take photos in landscape. By people, I mean me. So I'll post one of the last photos I took the other day and see if I break the layout!

Mossytimes

A picture of a mossy stump playing with depth of field

A picture of a mossy stump playing with depth of field
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Still more photos of spring renewal pushing through.

Spring desktop

Quick shot of a tree budding

Quick shot of a tree budding
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I got another quick shot to post up here. I made it a little darker in hopes that it would make a good desktop image.

Sproing Went Spring

Tiny Dirt Flowers!

Tiny Dirt Flowers!
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On my lovely health walk I found tiny little flowers. Objects in the photo may be smaller than they appear.

Spring Has Sprung

The trees are budding!

The trees are budding!
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After a long harsh(?) winter the trees are starting to bud, the birds are looking menacing and it was sunny again today so I went out to take some pictures.

More Spirograph!

Another Spirograph picture taken the same day

Another Spirograph picture taken the same day
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This is the second that I'm posting, more of a traditional spirograph picture but taken the exact same way as the last.

Thing a day(?) Day 4

Playing Spirograph with a slow shutter speed and a light on a string

Playing Spirograph with a slow shutter speed and a light on a string
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I decided to play Spirograph but since I don't have a Spirograph I had to make do with a lit, some dental floss and a camera.

I set the camera to a really slow shutter speed (but varied it a few times since it gives different results) and a really small aperture. At that point I sat the camera on a tiny tripod, I then wanted to tie a flashlight to the ceiling to dangle over the camera.

WHO OWNS STRING THESE DAYS?!? Not me that's who, but I have dental floss! I figured that would make do so I could tie a flashlight to the ceiling over the camera.

SERIOUSLY, who has a hook in the right place when you need it? I don't, I had to find a way to tie a flashlight to the middle of my flat ceiling so I tied the dental floss from the curtains in my room to the sprinkler across the room, pulled it taught enough to ti off the flashlight. Then it was picture takin' time. Here's one!


Thing a day(?) Day 4

I decided to play Spirograph but since I don't have a Spirograph I had to make do with a lit, some dental floss and a camera.

I set the camera to a really slow shutter speed (but varied it a few times since it gives different results) and a really small aperture. At that point I sat the camera on a tiny tripod, I then wanted to tie a flashlight to the ceiling to dangle over the camera.

WHO OWNS STRING THESE DAYS?!? Not me that's who, but I have dental floss! I figured that would make do so I could tie a flashlight to the ceiling over the camera.

SERIOUSLY, who has a hook in the right place when you need it? I don't, I had to find a way to tie a flashlight to the middle of my flat ceiling so I tied the dental floss from the curtains in my room to the sprinkler across the room, pulled it taught enough to ti off the flashlight. Then it was picture takin' time. Here's one!


Thing a Day(?) Day 3

What Would Jason Do?

What Would Jason Do?
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Some days you have to ask yourself... Who would go to the trouble of thinking this up, printing out these stickers, plastering them around the city and then based on the sentiment, no matter how awesome this person may be: are you brave enough to meet them?

Thing a Day(?) Day 2

Dubnium inside Esoteric Taken in 2000

Dubnium inside Esoteric Taken in 2000
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Sometimes you look back and you think: Holy crap, Time FLEW.
That's right, it seems like only yesterday that Senior Coconut had an album on record store shelves.

Thing a day(?) Day 1

AUTONOMOUS ROBOT

AUTONOMOUS ROBOT
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This warning poster was found as I was walking home so I snapped a photo of it. I think the warning should be shared with everyone. I have a tendancy to change my route when walking home for just this very reason. I like to find new interesting things and I feel the need to trow the robots off my trail.

NOT ENOUGH RAM TO PROCESS TRICKERY
or love.

Why am I still awake?

Steam rising off lights in a cold rain - Taken with an Olympus Camedia c2500l back in 2003 (at least)

Steam rising off lights in a cold rain - Taken with an Olympus Camedia c2500l back in 2003 (at least)
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I had my first day of actual work at the new job today. I guess a call center is a call center. I have a bunch still to learn until I'm completely confident but for the time being at least I'm reasonably comfortable.

The call center environment is a little disheartening though. After the last job of doing web programming on my own schedule the rigorous structure is quite different. There's also the call center age gap. I feel like most of the people who get into this kind of gig are generally young. I'm getting to be the weird old guy. All that's left is to grow a crazy walrus moustache and I'm a Richard.

On that note I decided to choose a picture I took ages ago since I still haven't started carrying my camera around with me. At the very least I've been feeling a lot more creative again lately. I guess there's still something to be said about hanging out with "the kids these days" after all.


Can I get a wat-wat-er?

d60 w/flash & sweet timing

d60 w/flash & sweet timing
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There is a marked discrepancy between my intentions to post regularly and my ability to post regularly. I've been lax, what with several months elapsing between posts.

RECTIFY!

UPDATE: I've moved twice since the last post and I use the term loosely. I've been in Vancouver roughly 3 years now and I'm finally a real boy! I went and lived on Oxygen's couch for 2 months. Which, even under the strict fascist regime imposed (I had to put on pants when she expected guests... I KNOW RIGHT?!?), was pretty nice of me to do. Most brother's I know are hardly even civil to their sisters.

Now however I have an actual apartment, I pay rent. I know what you're thinking: How "bougie" of me. I assure you, however, my quality of life has already improved. While I do miss the fat sacks of cash money that I could throw around when I had 100% disposable income I am already mostly back to the way things used to be.

I've gotten a new job, which is a little disappointing since the last one was the proverbial "bomb", but this actually looks like a fun diversion. Then again it's like falling off a bike, i'm already back on track with doodling while bored and trying to find new and interesting ways to amuse myself. It's not long before I'm back to getting into trouble for taking apart cubicles and building Rube Goldberg devices.

I fully intend to post some photos of the new "crib" and now that Vanadium is out here I have almost all of my old toys. That's right, the payphone is being put to good use. The main thing is: I have a double sized fold-out super comfortable couch for anyone who wants to come visit. I'm just saying is all...


I'm having quite a bit of fun with this new layout.

This was taken with the Olympus Camedia 2500L ages ago

This was taken with the Olympus Camedia 2500L ages ago
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I've been having fun with the new chemwar layout. I've put together an RSS feed, a sitemap and all that crap, now I want to post most stuff, I haven't gotten a lot of new photos to post though so I'm putting together a few of my older pics to post. What fun!

Do you like to drink?

Startup screen

Startup screen
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Hey, do you like drinking games? Do you occasionally find yourself out with a couple of friends who would like to play a drinking game but you don't have the right materials?

BOY are you in luck!

I've decided to try developing a couple drinking games for the iPhone so that you can play your favs with a 600$ phone instead of having to splurge for a $1.00 deck of cards!
You're welcome.

Add this handy webapp to your iPhone/Touch homescreen to get the full effect!

If you have any feedback, let me know!


Come Play With Us...

Inspired by The Shining

Inspired by The Shining
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So, I went out to Montana for a wedding at the start of the month. When we checked into the hotel I immediately thought of taking this shot. Fortunately the bridal party was pretty agreeable and I was able to steal people away before the reception and after the ceremony to get this shot.

Fireworks Festival From Kits

Fireworks always just look like fireworks in photos.

Fireworks always just look like fireworks in photos.
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I wandered out to see the fireworks at Kits beach, I decided on this photo since Most of the photos just look like fireworks. I didn't have a tripod with me so I didn't have the greatest shots and I'm too jittery for much more.

Let's Get Sorted

DriveWall? WheelWall? Cruise Control?

DriveWall? WheelWall? Cruise Control?
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I'm now settling into my new temp digs while I try to locate another job and or school. It's fun and exciting, I'm going to have to try and snap a few photos so that I can document the ADVENTURE!

Ctrl-Alt-Deplete

Walking home. Pre-Olympics

Walking home. Pre-Olympics
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I'm rebuilding the site slowly getting things back on track.

A word of warning: I'm hoping to go over some of the techniques and tricks I found and developed over the last two years of web development. I found quite a few helpful tricks. I'll try to include a pretty picture so that you non-technical types can still be entertained. That won't be happening terribly soon though.

Keep an eye on this space for further updates.


The Last 2 Years

A photo of the moon taken with my Nikon D60 & 70-200mm

A photo of the moon taken with my Nikon D60 & 70-200mm
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The site was on a temporary hiatus. Here's the skinny: I was finally overwhelmed by spam robuts. I tore the site down in a fit of passionate rage (That's right ladies, rawr) with the intentions of rebuilding and then got a little sidetracked with work. It was at this point that I decided I should take a little time to decide where I wanted the site to go. Afterall, Facebook now exists and that was chemwar's original function.

I'm still on the fence as to chemwar's final iteration but I happen to have a little free time so I figure why not try writing a blog again? They're still super popular right?

A quick recap: I was working developing an inventory system for a warehouse, developing an eBay listing system and a way to synchronize our inventory between eBay and Shopify. Right when the whole thing was coming to fruition the carpet was pulled out from underneath the operation and so now I'm looking for something new to occupy my time.

So it goes right?