Monthly Archives: February 2007

NYC Pillow fight at Union Square

Posted on February 25, 2007 | Comments Off on NYC Pillow fight at Union Square



Friends??

Originally uploaded by S.D..

Newmindspace organized another massive pillow fight in Union Square park. I can't begin to tell you how much fun this event was. I haven't laughed that hard for that long  in quite some time.  

I drove in and got to the Union Square early to get parking. I was able to scope out some good places to hang out and meet some people before the Pillow Fight actually started. As 2:00pm approached it got pretty crowded and when the whistle blew, the feathers started to fly. My original plan was to take shots from the edge of the crowd with my Nikon D80 and then wander in using my point and shoot camera. Since the point and shoot camera takes too long between shots, I threw caution to the wind and kept using the D80. Wading into the crowd was like walking thru a big mosh pit. Amazingly, I only got hit about a dozen times and that tended to be when someone was taking a wide back swing. Using continuous shooting on my camera, I managed to take over 700 shots. I'm sure lots of them don't show much,  but I'm using DXO Optics 4.1 to batch process the RAW NEF files. It's very good software, supports my camera and lens, and the Batch mode is what convinced me to buy it. For $149, you can't go wrong with it. I have an old PC so I started the batch late last night and it's still going. When it's done, I'll pick out the good ones and post them to Flickr.

For a crazy massive pillow fight, people were very careful not to hit the photographers cameras. Other than a couple of minor hits, the camera survived intact. I ran into Gene in the middle of the crowd, but missed the other NYC Social members that were there.

I posted my shots on Flickr. 

Newmindspace has updated the site with links to Video and Flickr Photos too. I particularly liked  Rocketboom which has a great video of the event, including footage from above. Wish all battles were Pillow Fights…
Wink


Music I'm listening to right Now:
"World" by Five for Fighting from the "Two Lights" Album.

Comments Off on NYC Pillow fight at Union Square

Posted in Cool Stuff, Different

Tagged , ,

Nasa is having a Very Bad day

Posted on February 6, 2007 | Comments Off on Nasa is having a Very Bad day

NasaHeard on the news this morning: Shuttle vet went after woman dating space pilot she coveted. 

Let me see If I can sum up:

  • She's married with three kids.
  • Apparently. has only a working relationship with the other astronaut whom is said to be the victims boyfriend.
  • Drove 950 miles from Houston to Orlando – wearing adult diapers to drive non stop.
  • Disguised herself in a dark wig, glasses and trench coat
  • Confronted the victim in the parking lot of Orlando International Airport.

According to News Accounts, an officer followed Mrs. Nowak and
watched her throw away a bag containing the wig and a BB gun. They also
found a steel mallet, a 4-inch folding knife, rubber tubing, rubber
gloves, $600 in cash, love letters – all in bags and in her car.

NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said that, as of Monday, Mrs. Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged. Even if she beats the attempted kidnapping charge, I think it's safe to say her days as an astronaut are over. Bet all the Astronauts under go a new round of psychological testing because of this.

As the title says: I think Nasa is having a very bad day. There is just No Way to spin this. On the surface, this sounds bizarrely funny, but this is really a serious matter. It ended peacefully, but this could have gone down a lot worse. What do you suppose she would have done with the steel mallet, rubber tubing and knife? Hope she gets help, She needs it.

Bet Jay leno and David Letterman are all over this tonight.

Google News here. 

Music I'm listening to right Now:
"Big Bang Baby" by Stone Temple Pilots from the "Tiny Music…Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop" Album.

Comments Off on Nasa is having a Very Bad day

Posted in Different

Odds and Ends

Posted on February 1, 2007 | Comments Off on Odds and Ends

Danger Aqua Teen Hunger ForceNot much going on so I thought I’d mention things I’ve read about:

  • Possible Darwin Award winners? People are apparently drinking the Hand gels of Sanitizers and getting poisoned. It’s a sad situation when an addiction forces you to do such a thing.
  • Aqua Teen Hunger Scare: 2 men held in Boston for guerrilla marketing. You could get a close up of one here on Flickr. I don’t even know where to begin on this one. Personally, I think
    guerrilla marketing campaigns are more of a nuisance than anything else but I’m hardly an advertising expert. Methinks the city of Boston has Egg on it’s face as these thing have been apparently showing up for a few weeks.
  • Human slingshot on Youtube as shown by Gizmodo.com. It’s all fun and games until someone puts an eye out. It looks funny, but that stunt can go bad in about half a dozen different ways. I don’t recommend it…
  • Exxon Mobil post record profits. Shocking! Two Years running!


Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Dragula” by Rob Zombie from the “The Matrix: Music From The Motion Picture” Album.

Image from the NY Times article.

Comments Off on Odds and Ends

Posted in Different