Photography - Simulator

I found this neat little app via IZ Reloaded (source).
It essentially lets one experiment with camera settings and see what happens.
I would have loved to have had this back when I was first learning to take pictures, and when, of course, I had to buy film and have it developed to do so.

 At any rate, it's fun to play with, and even more so if you aren't used to having control over your shots.

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In other news, the format of this blog is going to be changing soon.
Basically, I'm going to turn comments off and add a email link for those who absolutely want to get back to me.

Thanks for reading.
In conclusion, here is a picture of a sleeping kitty:

Music - Worldismarble (Lan Angela Li)

Video blogging and text blogging don't intersect much, and while perfectly understandable, it's s too bad.
Social commentary set aside, I follow a couple video blogs... And I'd like to share some with you!

Meet Lan Angela Li.
Lan is a blossoming filmmaker and has already won a handful of awards including an audience award in a contest hosted by National Geographic and a grand prize in a contest hosted by the US state department that earned her a 3 week stay in Prague studying cinema this past summer.

She now has her own website, and while there isn't much there yet, I'm sure it will grow, and if you're looking to hire a filmmaker, you can reach her there. Her not so secret online headquarters is her youtube channel, called Worldismarble (clickety click here). She has all manner of interesting videos there, but as you can tell by the title of this post, that's not why I'm posting about her.

Lan is a lady of many talents, amongst those, she is also a talented amateur singer/songwriter/composer (Lan's music playlist). Here are three of my favorites songs, I hope you enjoy her voice as much as I do:

Music - Heidi Talbot

There are voices that leave impressions on you... In the late eighties I discovered a band called Cherish the ladies. Yesterday, I heard a voice on a folk webradio... It was one of those "Hey I know that voice" moments, but I couldn't place it.... The song came to an end and they said it was Heidi Talbot. No reaction: I didn't know the name. A few moments websearching later "Ooh, cherish the ladies!" She had gone on to do a solo career I hadn't heard about.
She has a beautiful smoky clear voice that's perfect match for singing folk. If you like Irish music and female singers take look at her myspace (click here).

As usual a youtube video as a foretaste. : j

Music - candryrat records

Candyrat records features some of the better fingerstyle guitarists of this generation (Don Ross, Andy McKee, Antoine Dufour, etc.), many of which can be found in their youtube channel. I never get tired of listening to these wizards play. So here is a link to a youtube playlist that includes a selection from their acoustic talents.
I'll also embed a video so that you can see/hear what I'm getting you into, just in case you aren't already familiar with fingerstyle guitar.

Music - Rue Royale

This is a phenomenal duo I stumbled onto randomly looking up music on myspace.
They do indie/folk music. Beautiful, soft, with a touch of melancholy.
Rue royale, myspace - they have a number of tracks available
Rue royale, their official website - their shop, and two gift tracks
Their album has been spending a fair amount in my player, totally worth it.

Music - Jericho Harp

I have "the album" in my record collection and, for many many years, I have been offhandedly looking for more online... And suddenly there's an uploaded playable version online - glee!
It's very sweet, almost too sweet, but I still dig it just as much! So all you need to do is click on the link to hear what Jericho Harp sounds like.
FYI: it's sweet folk/pop/rock from the United States in the seventies. I recommend starting by "the album".