Normanbolditalic. Fresh Whenever.

World of Warcraft: The Alliance

2009-01-21T20:51:00.007-06:00

I'm not trying to start a collection of action figures, but after visiting an Anime store in New York City last Christmas weekend (teenage kids, you see), I can't resist the urge after seeing two Alliance heroes sticking out of the miniature mass of J-pop resin figurettes.

More on World of Warcraft characters and classes here.

Broll Bearmantle, a Night Elf Druid and one of the keepers of the world

Vindicator Marrad, a Draenei Paladin and one of the Guardians of the Holy Light

Megatasking

2009-01-19T23:05:00.001-06:00

Post-processing 2 videos, reclaiming Time Machine space by moving around terrabits across a Mac-PC network, working 5 spreads due in the morning. And suddenly a rattled boy with a nosebleed. Who says there's life after a day job?

Fire in the Sky

2009-01-03T06:56:00.001-06:00

Sunset after a snowstorm. Took this shot from inside the car while waiting for the kids to finish their ice skating. Bigger picture when you click it.

New Year countdown 2009

2009-01-01T21:37:00.000-06:00

New Year 2009 countdown from Norman on Vimeo.

Christmas in Manhattan 2008

2008-12-29T21:32:00.008-06:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

We drove to New York City for an impromptu Christmas weekend in Manhattan. Walked past Fifth Avenue's fantastic holiday display windows; watched the skating crowd and The Tree at the Rockefeller Plaza; looked up in awe at Saks Fifth Avenue's dazzling array of huge snowflake lights dance to the music of "Carol of the Bells"; walked thru Broadway, and finally in Times Square we all sat on the grandstand with the tourist crowd, our conversations drowned in a babel of languages from all over.

Bigger photos here. Click Options to turn on captions.

Christmas lunch

2008-12-25T03:38:00.005-06:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Because we didn't really have a noche buena as the mom had to work. Because we had to stop by for her before going to the midnight mass. Because the mass took almost 2 hours with all the singing, the bishop was officiating. Because the gang was so tired from all that holiday anticipation they just went straight to opening their presents without the planned video. And because the dad, who came from work to cook food for 4 hours went straight to bed with his clothes on.

STAS Christmas Concert 2008

2008-12-20T20:41:00.000-06:00

STAS Christmas Concert 2008 from Norman on Vimeo.

Unlikely movie buddy

2008-11-15T06:06:00.007-06:00

Upon entering the moviehouse to watch Quantum of Solace, the ticket booth attendant chose me to bring this portable monitoring device in exchange for points in my cinema rewards card. I could press Picture or Sound if there were problems with those. But the last two got me curious.

If I press No. 3, would the screening stop and the Piracy police come swarming and scoop up the offender? Or if I pressed no. 4, would they kick out whoever (or whatever) caused the Other Disturbance?

Well, either nothing happened, or I was immersed enough of this title franchise (alright alright, the titles more than the franchise) that I totally forgot about it.

Chucks High Tops

2008-07-26T23:59:00.007-05:00

With her new High Top Chucks.
And her "L**" pose.

She's happy, can't you tell?

And don't forget the assistant to the photographer

** L from her Death Note obsession

2008-07-25T12:43:00.000-05:00

It's hard to get married to your job when your computer has trust issues.

The Night Sitter

2008-07-17T22:39:00.002-05:00

Boy waits for dad outside the laundry room.

2008 Apple Camp

2008-07-15T04:28:00.002-05:00

So I registered the kids to the Apple Summer Camp at Crossgates, a two-week long series of workshops for local kiddie Macheads (which I actually took a 3-day leave for). I also had to have them excused from their regular PAL summer camp.

They chose the iMovie and GarageBand (music mixing) workshops, incidentally to complement Kim's growing multimedia interest and her piano lessons. Nikolai is all for what his Ate wants.

We were a few minutes late for the 9 am start. On our way, I was concerned we won't have much of a session since it's still iPhone fever week. Thankfully the sign out says "No iPhones available today". The resource speakers were Apple store specialists who are mostly in their mid-20s--cool guys who have one of the coolest jobs in the world if you ask another Machead. About a couple of them knew these very faces who come down here almost every weekend.

More photos here

Camp in session: Mixing loops and music tracks for the GarageBand workshop

There were more campers on the 2nd day's Movie workshop.

After the walkthrough, they were all provided videocams and a 24 iMacs to work on.

Freebies: For each camper, there's a shirt, a decal, a field guide, a project book, some patches, and a storyboard template

Girls' night out

2008-07-13T00:58:00.003-05:00

Saturday night out with friends from work.

Otaku: Desu Nōto

2008-07-08T15:33:00.003-05:00

The girl has been obsessed with Death Note, a Japanese manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata, serialized in anime, and released recently as a live action movie.

She discovered the movie had a limited run in the local mall theaters only during the last day of the screening, and reservations-only tickets in Fandango were already sold out.

She sulked for a few days before I got a copy of the video from one of my overseas friends (I've preorderd the DVD which will be released in September), and also got the last copy of the novel from Barnes & Noble (which has already been read 5 times since).

This recent obsession also renewed her interest in multimedia, which peaked last year with her discovery of Windows Movie Maker. Her personal project then was a 3-minute MTV of characters from Naruto with a music bed from one of my Aromabar tracks. After prowling the anime forums, she got curious of Sony's consumer-grade non-linear editing suite, the Vegas.

But I advised her to try Apple's iMovie, as the iMac's 4 gigs RAM is more suited for memory-intensive apps like these. Besides, I am weaning them away from the PC workflow, as I want to use the rig exclusively for gaming, to Nikolai's wide-grinned approval.

She started with iMovie, but found it wanting in transitions; I promised her Final Cut Express in a couple of months, as soon as I get the lump off my throat over the $199 price tag. Meanwhile, she has been doing video mashups from the movie, the anime series, and from comic panels and fan art from the otaku community.

Death Note's L and BB and the rest of its characters became a new religion. And quite unlike her vampire novel/Meg Cabot/Hollywood film classics phase, this one's been going on strong for a few months now.

4th of July

2008-07-05T07:21:00.016-05:00

[ Click on photos to enlarge ]

All images copyright (c) 2008 Normanbolditalic. All rights reserved.

The 32nd annual fireworks extravaganza, officially known as Price Chopper’s Fabulous 4th and Fireworks Festival at the Empire State Plaza draws the biggest local crowd each Independence Day.

Last year's weather prevented us from making it, and I didn't know there was a rain date for something like that. But the day had been spectacular unlike the past few, so there.

I knew not to expect a parking spot by the time we got there around 7, but I still cruised around town anyway, and gingerly at that, because people were carelessly milling about, and lots of detours abound, and I was cursed with the unfortunate unfamiliarity of downtown Albany's twists and turns. We negotiated past traffic lights on hazard while a police cruiser nimbles behind us. I expect to be pulled over anytime, but I suppose traffic regulations were on a holiday too.

Of course we gave up and drove back to our friend's place to park, and walked the five blocks to the festive grounds.

By the time we got there, Price Chopper's president was on stage, said a couple of lines and gave way to the performing bands. We missed Blotto and the Soul Session who performed earlier, and settled just before John Waite, former lead singer of The Babys and Bad English rocked the open house.

I left my gang and looked for a better vantage point after asking ze man in ze uniform where the fireworks would be launched from. I snaked past half-naked college boys splashing in beer foam, young couples making out in the growing dark, and dads and moms shielding their kids from all that adult fun and the throng of humanity as well. I'd been asked not a few times if I was a member of the press, I smiled no, but still had to oblige their requests for a shot or two anyway.

Tearing myself away from the huddled masses, I had a spot waiting for me a few strides to the right of the top bleachers, just before they cordon off the observation deck from the public (reserved for Price Chopper staff, I learned). It had a good view of both the stage and the plaza's reflecting pools. The fireworks lasted almost an hour; I communicated with my family thru text since calling was impossible, met at the museum's entrance, and proceeded to walk our way back to the car and drove smack into (gasp!) my first traffic jam since we moved here two years ago.

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Technique: Using a tripod, I switched on manual, locked at 18 mm, ISO 100, manual focus to infinity, and set Av from f/11 to f/13. I used a remote shutter release to varying exposures of 4 seconds to bulb, covering the lens with a black 4x5" foamboard after each burst is complete, opening again as another one or two fires, then wait for the burst and light trails, cover the lens again and so on. I rotated, cropped, corrected barrel distortion and soften some noise in Photoshop. Otherwise, what we saw is what you get.

More photos here [Turn on captions for info]

There are only 7 kinds of blog posts

2008-06-06T15:50:00.003-05:00

Luckily for me, there's only one reason to give up blogging:
I don't have anything to say

There are only 7 kinds of blog posts.

The hood

2008-05-13T22:56:00.021-05:00

[ Click on images to view bigger pics ]

The one time I deemed it safe to explore the hood with the camera was last Sunday's Tulip festival. We parked 5 blocks out, near a friend's place, and walked the way to Washington Park. Along the way...

An abandoned building, across which the city government is constructing a small town square, cobblestoned and closed to cars, and featuring roadside cafes, weekend bazaars and street entertainers.

Bike stand

Closed kid's park at Morris. Inside, the thick overgrowth has taken over the playground structures.

Speaking of the Tulip Festival, we were there for a few hours. We missed the Spin Doctors on Saturday because I had to be good and finish a job.

So Sunday it was, for the kids--a chance not to miss the great bouncy and to try the various kiddie cool activities, and for me--to sample the variety of international street food.

(And yes, enough of the tulips already)

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Update: I just remembered we had more pictures last year.

Crossing pedestrians

2008-05-08T11:26:00.008-05:00

Today, I almost killed a man.

It's the usual weekday. I get off work and take the shuttle to the parking lot, which by the way, is farther than if I just walked home. I drive off to pick up the kids in a friend's place, then homeward bound, following the side streets that isolate the hospital complex from the rest of the city.

About this time, street parking is already a dense gridlock, leaving just enough wiggle room for a CRV to navigate what's left of the road. For a new driver like me a year ago, this took some getting used to. Now, the car is already an extension of the senses, and driving has become a thoughtless exercise that I welcome after the mental labor from the eight hours past.

I made a cruising beeline thru the three stop lights on green all the way a couple of blocks before I make the turn.

At South Lake and Morris doing 35, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man on a bike at the junction box slow down and turned his attention to the stop light. I continued my course when suddenly he took off.

My tires burned concrete for a few meters, and screeched to a halt exactly 2 feet from his right side before he stopped to look up and realize his mistake: it is a one-way street, and YES dude, it is the wrongest place to be looking the wrong way. The white man drove off white-faced more than his usual, sucking in the profanities thrown his way by everybody in that street. Except me who was speechless in gratitude that nobody was following me. And I could've run him over, and that would've been messy. I could've paid the $100 ER admission fee, and crap, I would've been late for my home movies. At least I'm positive the witnesses wouldn't say it's my fault.

And so I wanted to be genuinely ruffled, but I was not. Because I've seen it a lot of times. Some of these people do not respect the stop lights in the side streets, and believe that the pedestrian yield law is the golden rule everywhere. They parallel park and get off the driver side without so much as glancing at their side mirrors to scan incoming traffic. I've seen some walk out of the sidewalks and spill into the road without regard, as if the lights would turn red in their favor, and that there's always enough time to hit the brakes.

This morning coming to work, I spotted some punk do his tires lying in his back and with legs out in the street, forgetting completely that he's not in his garage. I had to tap the horn to announce my passing presence and he, of course, gave me the WTF look.

In here, the pedestrian is king of the road, and more often than not, to a fault.

Today I almost killed a man. He probably might not deserve it, but I'm sure that shook him up, didn't it? I understand people want to go out, cus it's just beautiful out there. But I just hope everybody would be alert enough before climbing into a bike, donning on their iPods, and go riding like the wind.

Because somebody like me just might take their breath away.

Freshly-minted Catholic

2008-05-04T08:36:00.016-05:00

Nikolai and the celebration of his First Holy Eucharist yesterday morning.

Regulations do not allow shooting videos during the event, or take pictures outside of our designated pews, hence the limited opportunities for personal documentation.

More photos here.

'
He's the Norboy daw. Little Norman. Get it? I say, while you're at it, why not Norbit, a bit of Norman then.

Posing with Pinoy classmates

Fr. Vincent Ciotoli officiated the celebration; principal Sr. Patricia Houlihan and teacher Ms. Laurange introduces them from the podium.

Contemplating his faith or the future? Or his faith in the future?

I hope you know what you're doing, boy

We need a recent ID picture, so...

April celebs

2008-04-24T17:50:00.011-05:00

Spring is on high, people and their pets are getting out in the sun, and from my office overlooking the main thoroughfare, I am not only seeing a lot of leaves sprouting in the trees, I'm seeing a lot of skin in the grass too. Said office window looks out to two college complexes, so the target demographics is just about consistent. Imagine what it looks like in the park this weekend.

Anyway.

Let's talk about last weekend; a twin celebration for mine and J, who remember our birthdays as three days apart in mid-April. We decided that it's a solid excuse to get friends together (read: enough of keeping cases of leftover beer already) after the dreary detachments of winter.

But let's see, can two bday celebs really celebrate as cheaply as one?

More photos

New York Winter 2008

2008-02-23T11:48:00.023-06:00

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles.

- The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Arriving at Liberty Island

I know. There's nothing more romantic than watching birds feeding on junk food.

Junk food junkies

A monumental bronze eagle, sculpted by Albino Manca (1898–1976) and set on a pedestal of polished black granite, grips a laurel wreath over a wave--signifying the act of mourning at the watery grave, is the centerpiece of the East Coast Memorial.

Land of The Giants

Rockefeller Center, up to the roof deck where I took panoramas of Manhattan.

A statue by Paul Manship

Prometheus by Paul Manship

Broadway & 42nd

Taking a breather at McDonalds in Times Square

Times Square at night

Toys R Us Times Square, where we took a ride in their 3-storey indoor Ferris Wheel

By the African Plains at The Bronx Zoo

By the African Plains at The Bronx Zoo

Entrance to the Zoo Center

Inside the Monkey House

Wild dogs playing

By the Avenue of the Elms at Central Park

Birds discussing the news

The Pond at Central Park South

The Wollman Memorial Rink with Midtown Manhattan in the background

General Sherman Tecumseh's Statue at Central Park South & 5th Avenue

Jose Marti monument at Central Park South

View the complete slideshow @ Flickr

All images copyright (c) 2008 Normanbolditalic. All rights reserved.

This is New York City

2008-02-23T11:35:00.007-06:00

Midtown Manhattan from the Rockefeller Center

Uptown Manhattan from the Rockefeller Center rooftop

Midtown Manhattan from the Rockefeller Center rooftop

Manhattan and Ellis Island from Liberty Island

All images copyright (c) 2008 Normanbolditalic. All rights reserved.

The old and the new

2008-01-25T06:25:00.005-06:00

The old and the new
Originally uploaded by Normanbolditalic.

A 70s microfilm viewer and a new model copier. Just like the 70-year-old receptionist and the 22-year-old records keeper, our office is a mix bag of the old and new.

Handyboy

2008-01-25T06:25:00.001-06:00

Handyboy
Originally uploaded by Normanbolditalic.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. A young DIYer puts together a race track he got as a gift from his Mama's friend.

The morning after

2007-12-31T11:45:00.001-06:00

Deadweight like these cause local power outages and fatal accidents

Ditto with large branches that give way to the bearing weight onto the hapless vehicle underneath. Not good without a garage these days.

Apartment maintenance clears out the sidewalks and their snow plowers rake the driveways in and around the buildings. At 8 am, the adjacent roads to the main thoroughfares are still waiting to be cleared up. Tonight, the expected snow emergency will take effect, where parking is allowed only on the side of the odd numbered- houses for 24 hours, then it's on to the other side. On the average, more than 500 cars get towed this way on the first day, and about as much the next day.