FlickR Photos...

I have been doing some updating on my FlickR page with some of my pics that I have been taking over the past several years. I hope that you enjoy them.

Also, if you live in the Richmond area and love photography, then join the
The Richmond Photography Meetup Group
I just joined and I will tell you how it is.


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New Music out soon.

Well, we have a few new albums coming out this next month. Among these are Front Line Assembly and VNV Nation.

FLA's new album will be out on April 24 and it is titled "Fallout" It will have 3 new tracks as well as nine remixed tracks from previous albums.

01. Unleashed (Mindless Mix by Sebastian R. Komor)

02. Buried Alive (Dj (?) Acucrack Mix by Jason Novak)

03. Beneath The Rubble (Combichrist Remix)

04. Electric Dreams

05. Armageddon

06. Social Enemy (Anti-Social Mix by Jeremy Inkel)

07. Lowlife (Remix by Portion Control)

08. Humanity (Kearley Edit Remix by Dan Kearley)

09. Reprobate (Lowlife) (Remixed by Greg Reely)

10. Domination (Unleashed) (Remixed by Rhys Fulber)

11. The Storm (Covenant Remix)

12. Unconscious

I have followed FLA since 1992 when their album called "Tactical Neural Implant" came out. It was heave synth laden album with incredible synth work and apocalyptic lyrics and awesome samples. Vancouver-based musician Bill Leeb, a founding member of Skinny Puppy, Leeb moved on to form FLA in 1986 with Michael Balch, releasing some cassettes (since released as Total Terror I & II) which paved the way for their 1987 releases: The Initial Command, State of Mind, and Corrosion. In late 1988, they recorded the mini-LP Disorder, since combined with Corrosion and released as Corroded Disorder. Their 1989 release, Gashed Senses and Crossfire, further cemented their popularity in the industrial scene, and prompted their first world tour. By 1990, Balch had departed and Rhys Fulber rounded out the duo.

I have all of their albums. I took some time to collect all of the FLA albums and singles as they span over 25 years. They also have many side projects. The most noted to date being Delerium. With all of the combined albums, I have nearly 80 total! This includes all the side projects as well. A good resource for this band is called Mindphaser.

01. Prelude

02. The Farthest Star

03. Testament

04. Descent

05. Momentum

06. Nemesis

07. Secluded Spaces

08. Illusion

09. Carry You

10. As It Fades
VNV Nation's new album will be out April 10, 2007. The name VNV Nation stands for "Victory Not Vengeance;" a motto that means that one should strive to achieve, not just sit in bitter regret. Their music is IDM (Industrial Dance Music) with a little twist. Ronan Harris's lyrics are a bit different as the are not downtrodden as with most Industrial music, but aver very uplifting and enlightening. I think that their music is a natural progression for that genre. I just got into their music about 6 months ago and I was total blown away by it. The pounding synth bass lines and Trance like melodies with his lyrical content blew me away. I suggest you give them a try, I bet you won’t be disappointed.

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Google Image Ripper

I found this little utility and it works very well. I tried it and did a few searches and it pulled a wide range of pics, some safe for work and some not. If you are like me, this is a handy little tool to have access to. I also tried to incorporate this into my site and it worked.

"The Google Image Ripper which gives you a page of full-sized images grabbed from Google Images results. Just enter a search term and image size (for some reason you can’t just view all sizes), and Image Ripper takes all the search results from Google Images, grabs the actual photo they point to, and displays them on a long single page (pictures along the right). Google Images’ thumbnails often do a very poor job of helping you compare images, so this inelegant solution gives you everything you need to know, just the facts."


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Day and Night Shots

I took most of the pics during the day and night off the Robert E. Lee bridge over Tredegar street. It gave me a good vantage point to shoot Downtown Richmond from the West Side. I hope that everyone enjoys the pics. Shots 1 - 21 were taken here as well as 36 - 48 were shot here as well. The Night shots of the city were made from those sets.


Some of the Day shots were taken on the East Side of the city in the Church Hill region and i took a great percentage of them from Jefferson Park. Shots 20 - 34 were taken here and also the Rich Pan 2 & 3 were made from those shots.



You can go and see all the pics at this link: Pic Page




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Our Website

I have updated the Website ton ight with some new stuf and also the Pic Page as well.

Go an take a look at it...

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My New Bike...

Gary Fisher Wahoo Disk

Here are the specs:
Main frame
Gold Series 6061 T6 internally and externally butted aluminum Genesis Geometry
Fork
RockShox Dart 1 w/preload 100mm travel
Headset
Aheadset semi-cartridge
Crank
Shimano M341 42/32/22
Pedals
Alloy platform
Front derailleur
Shimano Acera
Rear derailleur
Shimano Deore
Shifters
Shimano EF50
Cassette
Shimano HG50 11-32 8 speed
Front wheel
Shimano M65 disc hubs Bontrager Ranger Disc rims
Rear wheel
Shimano M65 disc hubs Bontrager Ranger Disc rims
Front Tire
Bontrager Jones XR 26x2.25
Rear tire
Bontrager Jones XR 26x2.2
Front brake
Shimano M465 mechanical disc
Rear brake
Shimano M465 mechanical disc
Handlebar
Bontrager Crowbar Sport 25mm rise
Stem
Bontrager Sport 10d
Saddle
CRZ+ HC Sport - 2006
Seatpost
Bontrager Sport

I purchased it from Agee's Bicycle
11020 Midlothian Turnpike
Richmond , VA 23235-4710 804-794-6754
I am very pleased with their service and I have to bring the bike back in one month for a Tune-up that is free of charge. They were very nice and considerate to me and very helpful in purchasing this bike.



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300 Spartans Vs. Iran (Persia)

I went to the movies last night and I saw The 300. It was an incredible show!! I remember going to see The Lord Of The Rings and thinking that this was amazing what they did with CGI (Computer Generated Images). Well, The 300 Have upped the bar on that note. The battle scenes were amazing and the backgrounds looked like it was a comic book. All other shows of this genre will and should be jugged by this movie.

Now, this being a “true" account of a battle that took place circa 480BC, you have to take this movie with "a grain of salt" as the saying goes. Persia, what is now called Iran, has taken offense to this movie.

In an article written by the BBC; "Javad Shamqadri, a cultural advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said it was "plundering Iran's historic past and insulting this civilization". He branded the film "psychological warfare" against Tehran and its people. But Iranian culture was strong enough to withstand the assault, Mr. Shamqadri said."

If we got pissed of about every movie or book that written about the USA and our wars and culture, we would have waged war on every freaking country especially France for making insults about us. I mean, if they get pissed about getting their asses beaten by a little island country some 2400 years ago, I just wonder what they think about the movie “Alexander” which showed the Macedonian general easily conquering the Persian Empire.

Is it our faults that 300 men killed 70,000 + of their best warriors and that they were finally beaten and pushed back after the full force of the combined Greek forces lead by the Spartan army. They are just having issues dealing with the Sanctions that are going to be placed on them and the world’s displeasure with their testing and going forward with their Nuclear program. The are just lashing out any way they can to make the USA look like the Evil Empire.

I mean, come on guys, It is a FREAKING MOVIE and it was a comic book before that and then 2400 years ago, it was happening! All anyone has to do is go and look up about the Spartans and you can see and read about it. I looked it up on Wikipedia and it told the story, but in much greater detail than what the movie went into. Are they going now try to get pissed at the owner(s) of Wikipedia? Will they say that "psychological warfare" is being wagged on them by that website also? It is free information that is most likely taught in Greece because it is part of their history.

When a movie about our on Civil war comes out, we don't get all pissed off at the producers for making an adaptation and their perception of that event. We don't say that someone is wagging a new war on our history and running a “SMEAR CAMPAIGN” on the North or South. We are not trying to Smear the good country of Iran, but merely trying to make a few dollars to line our pockets with. This is America, The land of the Free and the home of the Brave! We all love to make money and it if a few toes are stepped on, well it happens...

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