First of all, check out this great pink haired lady from PatriX on Flickr. It is from her Berlin set. So I assume that it is somewhere in Berlin. I have no idea who the artist is. Anyway, I really like it.

Second: Tomorrow is All Points West. Reagan and I are pretty pumped about it, and hoping for blue skies. We were pretty bummed that Beastie Boys had to cancel, but pretty stoked that Jay-Z is filling in.

When I was buying our tickets, earlier this week (FYI ticketmaster is the devil), This was the Capcha that I got when I was checking out. What the crap? Hahahaha.

The Grouch. This guy is frequently collaborating with Murs, Eligh, Zion I etc.. He has a good organic Hip-hop flow. Grouch doesn’t really have a traditional Hip hop dialect. He pronounces the letter “R” in his lyrics, for example. Grouch tends to get a bit political sometimes, with the lyrics. Some of his stuff, I absolutely love. Some of it, I can’t stand. I first heard his music playing over in the overhead speakers at an indoor skate park, that doesn’t exist anymore. After a couple of songs, I had to go ask the guys running the place who the artist was. Grouch has a new album out, it’s called “Show you the World.” I really like most of the stuff on it. I have been listening to it for about a week straight. The song I’m sharing is called “The Bay to LA,” featuring Murs. It isn’t my favorite song on the album. But, it is nice and clean. Plus, it is pretty good. Bend an ear.

I have been doing pretty well about fighting the urge to write about motorcycle racing lately. But today, I couldn’t resist. The British Grand Prix in Donington Park, Sunday was one for the books. The race was wet, but not super wet. It was just rainy enough to keep a steady flow of crashes going, but not wet enough to give an advantage to anyone who pitted and switched to wet weather tires. Lorenzo crashed out while leading. Tony Elias crashed out while leading. With inside of 10 laps to go, Rossi had opened up a 13 second gap between himself and the rider in 3rd. The rookie Andre Dovizioso was only a second or so off of Rossi’s time, following his lines.

With about 6 laps to go Rossi, lowsided into the grass. Since he has created such a large advantage at the front, he was able to pick up his bike and get back in the race, in 9th position. He finished 6th! What the crap?! Rossi never fails to entertain. And since the next guy down the order, as far as world championship points go, is Lorenzo (who crashed out), Rossi increased his point margin as well. Dovizioso went on to win his first GP race. DePuniet and Edwards joined him on the podium. Complete results here.

[photo: Motogp.com]

Reagan and I decided to continue with the picnic theme today. After hanging out with Piper this morning, we packed lunches and the hammock, then headed down to the park. We were there long enough to catch some rays, before it clouded up. We made it home just before it started pouring.

Click on any of the thumbs above or below to view photos larger.

^—–Reagan sitting in an old cannon installation on Governor’s Island

Reagan read this great article in Time Out NY, earlier this month about Governor’s Island. I had been reading random things about it on Gothamist for the past couple of months as well. We finally decided to check it out today. When I say check it out, we really went for it. We rode our bikes from our house, to the Battery Maritime Terminal (took the ferry to the island) did a lap on our bikes and rode home. It was probably a little over 30 miles total. Reagan was resisting a little on the way back, but ultimately pulled through. She still looked great too.

^—Reagan riding through Riverside Park in the evening.

She is especially tough, being that in honor of the NYC Triathlon happening tomorrow, we also logged a few miles running this morning, as well. She didn’t quite make it through the movie tonight and had to head to bed early, but I don’t really blame her.

^—–Chillin’ on a bench in Colonel’s Row on Governor’s Island (timer shot).

On the way back, I was putting the camera back in my basket, after shooting a few shots of Reagan, in Riverside Park, when this really nice lady offered to take a photo of us together. Notice how I am totally sticky and beat-down. Notice how Reagan looks looks fresh as a daisy. Totally typical.

^—-Riding through Riverside Park, taken by a very kind lady, out for a walk with her kids.

Here for the rest of the photos.

I know that the weekend isn’t even over yet. But I just thought that I would let everyone know that Piper is still doing awesome, and as cute as ever. We had a really good time with her today. She didn’t even puke once. They had just switched her from trache collar back to the vent before we arrived.

It looked like she was about to fall asleep for her nap. But she sprang to life as soon as she hear her mom’s voice. As can be seen above, she was rockin’ some seriously cute little piggy tails today. I’m already looking forward to hanging out with her again tomorrow.

More photos are here.

Friday night, I was in Central Park shooting this race, when I passed by the croquet garden near Sheep’s Meadow. There was this dude out there playing all by himself. Just practicing his shot, I guess. Anyway, I stopped and talked to him for a while (after sneaking a few shots of him). It turns out that the Parks Dept. gives out permits to play croquet on the lawn there. Apparently there is also a New York City Croquet club. Needless to say, I was pretty stoked to learn about that. Monday nights, the club hosts the garden for public entry. From what the guy said, they give lessons and everything.

Oh yeah, I got a new lense this week. It is a 30mm f/1.4. I used it pretty much all evening. I love it.  One more shot of the croquet garden:

There was a great section in this month’s issue of Wired, called “How to Behave: New Rules for Highly Evolved Humans.” The article discusses all types of tech related etiquette, like texting during parties, leaving your handheld on the bar, etc.. But, my favorite is the one about the bluetooth headsets. Thank you thank you thank you, for validating us, on this one. Where some have attempted to make them fashion accessories (plating them with precious metals, and slapping labels on them), Wired calls it how it is. The blurb is penned by Maren Jinett. I believe that Jinett hits the nail on the head, here:

Perhaps spending your formative years watching The Six Million Dollar Man and RoboCop gave you the mistaken impression that upgrading your body with electronics is the height of cool. Let’s be clear: Walking around with a Bluetooth device in your ear is pure douchebaggery. There is no excuse for it.

Oh man. douchebaggery? Hahahahah. Well stated. It is a pretty good sign that something is bad form, when even the hardcore geeks can recognize it. I mean, the bluetooth is a great tool, if you have to be on the phone while driving, or juggling babies, or something. But when ever I see people just wearing them around town, I can’t help but automatically assume that their personality is exactly like the bluetooth guy in Breaking Bad, who cuts off Walter White in the bank parking lot.

Building plastic models of airplanes and cars was one of my favorite hobbies as a young lad. I’m sure that it was for a lot of kids. I was especially stoked, if the model had some sort of functionality. Like if the propeller could turn, on the plane I was building. Or, in the case of cars, if the wheels could turn. Well, this would have been my dream come true. It is a DIY 35mm camera, plastic model style.

Following in the lo-fi analog trend of Holga and Blackbird, this beauty is made by Superheadz. It can be ordered from (dare I say it?) that “urban” store.

The first one caught my eye because it is about a guy who lives in a cave in Moab. It’s called “Could you survive without money? Meet the guy who does.” It was in the latest issue of Details. It is basically about a guy named Daniel Suelo who used to be a college professor before swearing off modern capitalism, and reverting to living off of the land.

The author follows Suelo around Moab, documenting the way that he subsists from dumpster diving, eating road kill, and sleeping in a cave.

I confess that the main reason that I was interested in the article is because it involves Moab. Frankly, I would be very surprised if Suelo is the only guy in Moab who lives in a cave. As I was reading it, I thought that his ideas also probably seem pretty tame compared to some of the other philosophies that abound in that region. It certainly is a beautiful place to be homeless though.

I also thought that the idea of swearing off money was an interesting one. It is a quick read, so even if you hate it, you won’t be wasting more than a few minutes. Christopher Ketcham is the author. The photo is by Mark Heithoff. Here is the link.

The next article that really grabbed me, this week is called “Never Forget,” by Michael Patemiti. The article ran in the latest issue of GQ. I am not sure how to best describe this article. I want to call it deeply disturbing, but it is also a heart-breaker. Definitely only read it, if you have a strong stomach. The story details the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia during the reign of the Khmer Rouge.

The author focuses on one labor camp specifically, called S-21, where roughly 15,000 Cambodians were tortured and murdered. The story also catches up a couple of the seven people who survived the camp, as well as telling the story of the former Khmer Rouge operative who was in charge of running the camp.

I definitely recommend this story, not only as an extremely moving story, but as a fantastic piece of journalism. Here is the link.