7.31.2009

What's left


I drove by what's left of MSA Hospital tonight, and it's just a pile of rubble.

Things the MSA Hospital reminds me of:

1. Glass removed from my right foot (three times - same accident).
2. Tonsils removed, and subsequent hemorrhaging, and triple cauterization.
3. Countless sprained ankles (I thought they were broken, okay?)
4. Ben's almost broken face after falling on the hearth with his nose leading the way (thank goodness for the blanket on his head).
5. Mom's hemorrhaging foot after amplifier accident.
6. Dad nearly barfing after visiting Mom with her foot covered (I love him but how he survived Mom's three pregnancies I'll never know).

That's all I can think of right now, but I hope the new hospital sees our family less than MSA did.

Pentax K200D
Pentax DA 18-55mm lens (@23mm)
f4
ISO 100
1/250 sec.

7.30.2009

Slurpee on a hot day


I love a slurpee on a hot day. I don't care what's in it, or how much lard is holding it together, or whatever. They could make it out of baby seals and arsenic and I'd still buy it. It's like some kind of frozen, sweetened crack.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/200 sec.

7.29.2009

It's all over, people...


I can't help thinking of "The Simpsons" episode where Homer, while waiting for the destruction of Springfield by a comet, says, "It's times like these I wish I was a praying man."

And then Reverend Lovejoy runs down the street yelling, "It's all over people! We haven't got a prayer!"

Pentax K200D
Pentax DA 18-55mm lens (@28mm)
f4
ISO 100
1/50 sec.

7.28.2009

Pregnant


Don't worry - this is not a subtle way of informing anyone that we're having another little Bergen. I liked the shot - that is all.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 1000
1/13 sec.

7.27.2009

Amazing


How sweet the sound.

Pentax K200D
Chinon 50mm lens
f1.4
ISO 1000
1/30 sec.
No flash (hence the ISO)

7.25.2009

Thunderhead


Well, from sunny day in White Rock (see yesterday) to the end times. Wheee...

Pentax K200D (RAW+)
Pentax DA 18-55mm lens (@18mm)
f3.5
ISO 100
1/80 sec.

7.24.2009

Pier


There are days when I feel like the support posts for the pier, holding up the weight of thousands of people.

Other days I feel like one of the posts on the left. Read into it what you will.

Pentax K200D
Pentax DA 18-55mm lens (@18mm) + CPL
f3.5
ISO 100
1/160 sec.

7.23.2009

Hannah and Horsey


Every now and again I am reminded that my little baby girl is not my little baby girl anymore.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/250 sec.

7.22.2009

Pensive Ben


I get to wake up to his footsteps every morning, to his demands for chocolate milk while he watches "Phineas and Ferb".

I am so lucky.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/125 sec.

btw, thanks, Alison, for the backyard waterpark today.

7.21.2009

The elder


This is a man who is yawning.

Or...

This is a man who has found a scorpion in his boxers the hard way.

Or...

This is a man who has just realized that he forgot to file his tax return.

Or...

This is a man has just woken up to find his friends gave him a makeover while he slept.

Or... (you fill in the blanks).

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/60 sec.

7.20.2009

Go!


If you start as well as you can, you don't have to work to catch up.

Lane 4 ultimately won this race.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/320 sec.

7.19.2009

Happy


Apparently, when you're protecting a temple and you're happy, this is what you look like.

I don't know that I've ever thought of this pose when I was supremely happy.

No.

No, I have not.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/80 sec.

7.18.2009

No Lifeguard


When I was a kid, I would have thrown sand at this sign too.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/500 sec.

7.17.2009

Scratchin' my ear


So this guy is the "Scratched Ear Lohan". I found him sitting outside the temple next to the parking lot of the Buddhist Temple in Richmond. He is one of the eighteen "Lohans" of Buddhism. Lohans act as protectors of temples.

He's scratching his ear because during his life he taught about the importance of having purity of hearing in order to find peace and quiet.

I wonder if he could help my kids listen better?

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/80 sec.

7.16.2009

Man-made beauty


I'm listening to Senses Fail (The Priest and the Matador) and thinking. I love the way this car looks, but don't we all spend a little too much time taking care of what things look like on the outside? I think so.

Frickin' beautiful car, though.

Pentax K200D
Pentax DA 18-55mm lens (@18mm)
f3.5
ISO 100
1/40 sec.

7.15.2009

BelAir


This is a 1957 Chevy BelAir. I always wanted one of these when I was younger, with some notions of speeding down a street with the tires smoking, with my girlfriend tucked in by my side, and my reputation on the line.

Tonight I talked to my Dad about this car and it turns out the BelAir is to Chevrolet as the Civic is to Honda. This was the economy class of Chevrolet.

It feels so great when nostalgia gets maimed by reality.

Pentax K200D
Pentax DA 18-55mm lens (@32mm)
f4.5
ISO 100
1/50 sec.

7.14.2009

It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)


Doo-wop doo-wop doo-wop doo-wop doo-wop doo-wop doo-wop doo-wah.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/200

7.13.2009

On the rocks...


How is it that playground designers are both the best and worst people? They design "rocks" to climb with handholds and everything that makes it feel authentic and give children the time of their lives climbing up and down. Then they take all the fun out of the teeter-totter. I remember fracturing my tailbone regularly because my "friend" stepped off the teeter-totter and dropped me on my arse. Now, that was fun and children today will miss out on that fun. Plus it was a good lesson to learn: you can't trust anyone with the safety of your butt.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/640 sec.

7.12.2009

Artificial Sky


I love the vibrant colours, the bright green of the leaves and the pink of the flowers.

Also, I'm red-green colourblind.

Pentax K200D
Pentax DA 18-55mm lens (@18mm)
f22
ISO 100
1/4 sec.

Also, I'm pulling your proverbial leg. I switched the original to B&W in PS CS4. Hopefully you figured that out.

7.11.2009


I took three or four shots of this scene, and in each photo the two guys on the far stairs were perfectly in focus, while everyone else was not. I wonder what they could be talking about for two or three minutes that would require such full attention that they did not move whilst it was discussed.

Hey, look. I used the word "whilst". I don't know that I've ever used that word.

Pentax K200D
Pentax DA 18-55mm lens (@18mm)
f22
ISO 100
1/6 sec.

7.10.2009

Stalking...or returning books?


Three things I like about this photo:
1. This guy is thinking about something that just sprained a part of his brain that he didn't know about; hence, the head tilt.

2. The girl in the shadow is probably just returning books, but I like to think that she is secretly following the "sprain-brain" and uses the windows on all the buildings to keep ninja-like track of him.

3. The open door of the library suggests that these two may have an opportunity to get together in the future. It's like a symbol of the suggestion of their as-yet unknown love.

Also, I may need counseling.

Just saying.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 200
1/80

B&W, curves in PS (CS4)

7.09.2009

Happy Anniversary!


Happy Anniversary, Hil! I can't believe it's been 15 years since we went to McDonald's for dinner after our reception and freaked out the poor girl who took our order. Thanks for putting up with my doltishness, my weirdness, my volubility, my loquaciousness. You deserve some kind of medal.

Uh, I'm not sure what the vine maple at SFU has to do with our anniversary, but, uh, let's say it's some profound symbol of my love, or something.

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 200
1/800 sec.

7.08.2009

The wait


I wonder if the three young people in a blur realize just how fast their lives are going.

The days feel longer, but the years are shorter.

Pentax K200D
DA 18-55mm lens (@18mm)
f22
ISO 100
1/6 sec.

btw, the title for this post comes from my having to wait while my carpool partner finished up organizing the last of the exams that I've helped mark for the last five days. I had some time to kill so I went out into the "mall" that separates the WAC Bennett Library and the Maggie Benston building and stalked SFU students, or just took pictures of them without their permission. I sound creepy. Time to sleep.

7.07.2009

Red chair loves blue garbage can


Red chair knew it was only a matter of time before the blue garbage can noticed him.

And so he waits...

Pentax K200D
Sears 135mm lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/125 sec.

7.05.2009

Stepping up




I marked 357 essays today, and had to escape the marking session for at least a few minutes, so I sat near the fountain (west of the library) and took pictures of the steps that lead up to the AQ.

I love Erickson's architecture, theoretically, but when I have to walk all those steps just to get lunch, theory meets cold hard practicality.

In that match, theory loses.

Pentax K200D
(new!) Sears MC 135mm prime lens
f2.8
ISO 100
1/800

7.03.2009

Ellwood Park


Hannah and I went out on July 1st around 7:30 in the morning and took pictures in Ellwood Park. She decided to be a pioneer and took a little-used path that led to a dead-end. On that path, she was bitten on the leg by a mosquito. That mosquito bite, seeing as how she's allergic to bug-bites in general, turned into a second kneecap by the end of the day...

...all because a little bug went ka-choo!

Pentax K200D
DA 18-55mm lens (@35mm)
f4.5
ISO 100
1/640 sec.

btw, the ka-choo bug is a Seussian "butterfly effect" story. That's where my mind went.

B15


I was reminded of photographs from the 1960's in a LIFE magazine coffee table book at my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jake's house when I saw this photo in my shots from yesterday's Canada Day parade.

Nostalgia just creeps up from behind, doesn't it?

Pentax K200D
Sigma 70-210mm lens (@210mm)
f4
ISO 100
1/160 sec.

7.01.2009

Cool...


He's not waving, even though he's in a parade. He's holding the Pepsi like he doesn't care that he's holding it. He looks like people regularly line streets to see him walk. He might be the most "down-to-earth" guy you'll ever meet, but today he was the coolest cat to ever make his way down the middle of South Fraser Way.

Awesome...

Pentax K200D
Sigma 70-210mm lens (@210mm)
f4
ISO 100
1/80