These Are NOT Camera Shy Carnies.

I'm having a good feeling about this season.

The Cobra

I'm watching 2 of the guys holding the seat and casually ask how much it weighs and they look at each other and heft it a little and decide maybe 200 lbs, then, while trying to align it, the 3rd guy just CLIMBS ON and starts using some tools on it.

One of the 2 holding it looks over and says "Now it's 400 lbs."

Earning My In

Bear and his crew

Blue

More here.

Carnies 2008 Day 2

Known as 'Hour 2' to me.

More here.

gkirlin on this, not quite, the occasion of his 6th birthday

"I *LOVE* early birthday presents" - gkirlin, birthday philosopher.

And because gkirlin has a following in several correctional facilities through the state: gkirlin

Modern Pastry

The most over photographed sign in Boston. NOW BRILLIANTLY REWORKED!

The BellyCam®. It's just APPEARS a foot or so closer to the product than say the FaceCam®, I think you know what I'm denying.

My cashier was quick but not as much so as her friend.

Tiramisu AND WATER! Ordering a Diet Coke gets you laughed back out onto Hanover Street.

I'd Be Lying If I Said This Didn't Make Me Feel Better - Western Digital Corp updated.

Click to see all the juicy goodness.

There is your 15 bucks worth of customer service Western Digital Corp!

*Update* On what I have learned by all this. When you mention the name of a company on your blog the chances are good the mention will end up on a page like this. AND IT BRINGS A LOT OF NEW TRAFFIC, mostly from different URLs all over the country....

FOLLOWED RELATIVELY QUICKLY BY LOTS OF TRAFFIC from...say....A VERY SPECIFIC URL, if you know what I'm saying. Now I'm no expert in external hard drives, but MY HUNCH is that you could make BETTER ONES if you spent LESS TIME looking around The Thing of the Moment and MORE TIME providing customer servicethat SHOULD be FREE instead of 15 bucks per call.

Hey Western Digital, now that I have your cauliflowered ear, guess when I THINK I paid for that level of customer service.

WHEN I BOUGHT THE STUPID DRIVE!

Western Digital External Hard Drives

Do yourselves a favor....

Never, ever, ever buy one of these for backing up data.

Ever.

You are welcome.

The Carnies 2008!

That's right, after a 2 year hiatus The Carnies have returned and I have returned to THEM. I know..you are thinking to yourselves, "You mean this hasn't been done in 2 years and we are STILL sick of it?" That's RIGHT Gentle Viewers!

So what is different this time you ask? Are you going to cull photos? Maybe THINK before you shoot? NooOOooo...

Well...ok, I'll cull a little and think a little and post most stuff to flickr.

But THIS time I'll be using DSLRs, Crazy Wide Angle Lenses, Lensbabies, TtVs, Holgamods, Point and Shoot movies!

Everything you've came to know and love here at The Thing of the Moment.

(For the rest of you Carnie hatin' bastards, I'll see you in MidAugust!)

Hey! Iron Workers Like To Be Photographed, Too, Ya Know.

I thought this guy was coming over to run my ass out but he just asked what I was doing and then said 'Hey, send me one' and struck the pose.

So I gave him some The Thing of the Moment cards (NO NOT MOO CARDS) and later I see him showing them to a buddy and demonstrates his pose (although...see above. :))

The buddy takes the card, gives a quick look around to find your lowly and humble photographic servant and...

BOOM! VOGUE! :)

Dance, Be Happy, Chew Gum.

Rarararararaarararar!

Opportunity Found, Then Lost, Then Found Again.

So I'm wandering around Hanover Street in Boston and taking photos of storefronts and not really having any idea of what I SHOULD be taking and then I notice someone NOT WEARING A BASEBALL CAP, SHORTS or SANDALS! LOOK!

So I think...what the hell, I've asked people to do WORSE, so I ask if she wouldn't mind me taking a photo of her in front of this place. And she sort of laughs to her husband seen on the right and just walks inside without saying anything. So I'm like...Ok, fine...no big deal...and look down the street for something else.

Then she yells out, "Ok do I just walk out or what? Tell me when you are ready." How cool is that?

Her husband again thought the whole thing was pretty funny and I thought I got some GREAT shots until I got home and noticed the OPTHER people. GAH! The shots were RUINED. WHat's the deal wiuth the baby sling in the Crocodile Hunter hat? The woman getting more gelato would NORMALLY be a subject of her own, but not this time.

But then..with a little cropping, shoot salvaged. Well...close enough.

The Gold Dome of The Massachusetts State House Thing in HDR

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

just kidding...I *STILL* have too much dignity to do HDR.

And that's not a LOT.

How Can You Not Buy Fruit From These Guys?

Somebody does!

Camera Sense

Yeah, she has it.

Halal Meat

My Car Feels Like The Space Shuttle At Night

And you KNOW Shuttle Astronauts listen to Shane McGowan.

Feeding the Gulls: A Play in 4 Acts

Q. "Does The Wide Angle Really Distort As Much As You Say?"

A. Yeah, a little.

The Wrong Way To Photograph Horses and Riders

I can't help it. I love the distortion of the wide angle lens over a decent photo.

But apparently the ears are supposed to be forward and the legs are supposed to be something or other.

Here is the right way by Debbie Patterson (who also knows the sort of speech pathologist I am as well as horse photographer): Unbridled Photography

You Know, I Wasn't That Hungry Before

But they ALWAYS get me with the advertising.

I Could Have Done This All Day

But then, I had the easy job.

It Could Have Been Worse

She could have been telling me to 'Get Some Gas' or 'Go To Mass'.

The Central Penobscot Regional Green Print or Another Example That I have No Idea What People Want

Several months ago Gentle Viewer and Fellow Enraged Person Who is Paying Attention Brown wrote and asked for a few photos of the Bangor area to illustrate a small brochure for a local project by The Trust for Public Land.

So I dug into my archives and showed him a folder of, maybe 75 photos, and he very kindly used 6. Not one was in the selection of 75. Heh heh.

Anyway....go the the Central Penobscot Regional Greenprint page and read more about it. I'm pro GreenSpace but I'm also pro Big Box Stores having lived in a Green Space that didn't have any, but these people are voices of reason.

You can also download a PDF of the brochure featuring the above sweet jkirlin photos and photos by Jerry Monkman and Lindsey Marston. PDFs of my autograph available by request.

A Stunning Coincidence

Why post 4 slightly different images of the same building you ask?

BECAUSE THEY ARE 4 SHOTS OF SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT BUILDINGS

Either that or I EASILY get disoriented in Boston.

The Thing of the Moment's Word of Warning Regarding Condiments

If your mustard and ketchup comes in tiny single use bottles rather than little foil packets, make sure you check the menu prices BEFORE ordering.

That's all I'm saying.

Submitted to Macroday: Condiments

Introducing The SteeringWheelPod®

Unless Novilla from my insurance company sees these then it's the
"PulledOverAndGentlySetOnTheHoodOfMyCarWithTheFlashersOnPod®"

Cornhenge!

I don't ask why, I just take the pictures.

Actually, this year it might be Potatohenge. Squashhenge? I'll stop and ask next week.

Note To Self, Next Time, Before You Shoot...

CLEAN the garbage can.