Save your money. Seriously. Unless you like horrible acting and a plot so shallow and watery it’s only good for farming pond scum and hatching mosquito larvae.
That’s really all I have to say about that piece of shit.
A New Kind of Jackass
It’s 4 a.m. here, and I was just doing a bit of ego-surfing* before going to bed.
Among the usual pages that pop up in the Google search, such as my pro site, this blog site, various news stories that contain my photos, etc., there is something new.
I noticed a page title in the list that was unfamiliar. Here it is:
That is an unknown page with a caption that is taken from one of my photos that had been posted in my blog. This blog.
I clicked on the link, which led me to a plain page at saiph.info which consisted of a white background with my abridged blog entries displayed in plain black text. After the blog entries, ads had been placed. The blog entries were not clickable at all, meaning they did not lead back to my blog, but the revenue ads were clickable, of course.
Obviously, someone has written a bot that monitors searches and grabs people’s blog entries in order to populate their own revenue ad pages.
Here is a link to the page in question. I performed more searches, and sure enough, in each query, pages like this one appeared. The domain names were different, but the format was all the same. Note that my name appears nowhere on the page as the author, nor do any of the entries link back to my blog. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this some form of plagiarism? They even have their own copyright mark at the bottom of the page. It’s in Polish, so I don’t know what it actually says, but I know I didn’t see my name in there anywhere.
I checked out a few of the domain names at Network Solutions, and they are all registered to names and addresses in Poland. I’m going to fire off a few e-mails, like it’s going to matter. Of course, there’s probably not a damned thing that I can about this, except complain.
*Ego Surfing: entering your own name into search engines to see what pops up.
UPDATE: The guy actually wrote me back immediately, and is removing my content from his site. This may be the first time in history that a complaint e-mail actually accomplished something.
Give me a promotion!
It’s time to test the power of the internet. Will you guys do me a favor?
• Go to google.com and search for “editorial photographer in san antonio”
• Click on my link (it should be on the second or third page – DarrenAbate.com)
• Mutter, “You’re welcome, Darren” under your breath.
Let’s see if it puts me on the front page.
Shot on Fiml™
I’m going to lead the back-to-film revolution, and it will be televised. The first step in Le Grande Scheme is to rebrand film as Fiml™ (borne of a late-night IM typo) and market it as the latest rage in the Retro Analog Revolution, which is also on my list of trends to start. I figure if I write up a really good blog entry that makes it to the front page of digg, I’ll be screeching, “Mission accomplished!” from the deck of an aircraft carrier in no time.
In other news:
•Tomorrow night, thanks to a kind referral from Mark, I will be photographing game 5 of the Spurs/Jazz series for USA Today. Look for me on the TEE-vee. The first loyal follower to e-mail me a screen cap of my ugly mug on the tube gets a free print. Good luck with that.
•I recently photographed a local music duo called Monroe, and after viewing the contact sheets, I just now got around to scanning a few frames.
My focus was off on a few shots, which is unfortunate, since I wasn’t drunk during the shoot. Maybe I was just being lazy. I hope that’s the right excuse. Anyway, I’m not too worried about it; it was only on a few shots, and those are slated for the web anyway.
Check out Monroe if you get a chance. There’s some really good music flowing out of these two.
Here are a few frames:
Monroe
[Mamiya 7 II; 80/4; Kodak 400VC +1]
photo © Darren Abate Photography.
Monroe
[Mamiya 7 II; 80/4; Kodak 400VC +1]
photo © Darren Abate Photography.
Monroe
[Mamiya 7 II; 80/4; Kodak 400VC +1]
photo © Darren Abate Photography.
Monroe
[Mamiya 7 II; 80/4; Kodak 400VC +1]
photo © Darren Abate Photography.
Won’t you gentlemen have a Pepsi?
I’m just coming out of one of my little time-lapse spells, it seems. Every so often, I lose track of a couple weeks of my life when I get sidetracked onto other projects – ones that don’t fit into what I’ll call the “daily routine.”
I’ll try to play catch-up for those of you who are interested.
I seem to have a lot of work coming up, but I don’t really remember getting it (not that I’m complaining). This Saturday, I’ll be shooting for the Spurs during game three against the Phoenix Suns at the AT&T Center, which I’m looking forward to. With the exception of last time, I’ve managed to worm my way into working in some sort of photo capacity during every one of the Spurs’ trips to the Finals. Don’t expect me to post any photos, though. As some of you may already know, the NBAE rules their copyright with an iron fist.
I am also working as director of photography on another indie film in Austin, called Villain 101, which is why I haven’t been posting many – or any – photos lately. I do have some photo shoots coming up though, so eventually there will be more stills goodness. I’ll see what I can come up with.
Some Photos from the Lost Night in Vegas
My last blog entry detailed my lost night at McCarran International Airport in Vegas, and the adventurous taxi ride that got me there. Here are some photos to go along with the story!
This is what I looked like at the start of the night, after coming to several disturbing realizations about the near future. I’m not going to show you the photo I made of myself in the morning.
[Leica M6; Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.5 ASPH]
Photo © Darren Abate
McCarran Sleeper
[Leica M6; Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.5 ASPH]
My plan of action was to find the only bench in the airport with a power outlet and good WiFi reception. I am proud to say that my mission was accomplished within fifteen minutes. As an added bonus, it was also next to the restrooms as well as a Starbucks. That’s no surprise though, since those things are everywhere. Starbucks, I mean.
The girl in the photo above spent some time passed out on the floor across from me, and didn’t even wake up when the guy with the steam cleaner came by to do the carpet.
This is Gary, from Iowa. He was an overnighter as well. Thanks to him, I now know all about how 3M window film is made. Personally, I think it should be featured in an episode of How It’s Made. It’s an interesting process.
[Leica M6; Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.5 ASPH]
Photo © Darren Abate
You see some strange things in an airport, late at night. I don’t know how tired one has to be to leave their shoes behind, but evidently, it is possible.
[Leica M6; Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.5 ASPH]
Photo © Darren Abate
Some people are too anal for their own good, or for the good of others. I doubt anyone benefits from knowing that this is Sink #1. Also, it is probably evident by now that the bathroom was one of the few places I ventured, for fear of losing my bench.
[Leica M6; Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.5 ASPH]
Photo © Darren Abate
Here is another view of our sleeping friend. Multiple quick frames possible thanks to Mr. Abrahamsson.
[Leica M6; Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.5 ASPH]
Photo © Darren Abate
I’m Stuck at McCarran!
We join our humble narrator (me) seven hours into a fourteen-hour layover at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. He has not slept, although he has eaten – luckily, McCarran offers a Mexican restaurant that serves not-so-bad tacos.
Now, to exit third-person.
Actually, it isn’t a layover as much as it is a fuck-up. I thought I had left the NAB expo with plenty of time to check in and go through security, but as luck – the bad kind – would have it, a nasty traffic accident had caused the closure of the airport exit, in both directions of the freeway, and traffic was just shitty enough to make me late for my flight. Bad luck indeed, but not as bad for me as it was for the poor jokers in that accident, that is certain. Actually, I didn’t see the wreck, but I heard it was a wreck. Whatever it was, though, it was bad enough to close the exits far enough away from the event that it wasn’t even visible.
I have to hand it to the cab driver, though. He gave it his all. He knew his passengers were in a hurry and he did everything short of engaging a secret Hyperdrive to get us to the airport on time. Honking his horn, making illegal lane changes, driving on the shoulder, passing on the right, cutting into turn lanes, making illegal u-turns, rushing yellow lights, you name it – he was gonna fucking get us there, no matter how many motorists he had to piss off and endanger. Yes, he actually did every one of those things, at least once, and to his credit, he actually did get me to the airport on time in the sense that I got there before my plane took off – a half-hour before – but not before they had terminated check-in for my flight.
I couldn’t pronounce his name, but his acts of selfless heroism in the line of traffic warrant the creation of an official Transportation Medal that should be awarded to him and him alone. After its casting, the mold should be destroyed.
And get this: He felt so bad about not being able to get us to the airport in the appropriate amount of time, he didn’t even make us pay him the full fare! As we were nearing McCarran, he put his hand over the meter and told us not to worry about it; just to give him whatever we thought was fair, to compensate for a delay which was entirely not his fault.
I dare you to find another cabbie who would do that.
You may have noticed that I’ve been using words like “we” and “us” and “Hyperdrive” in reference to my taxi cab adventure. That’s because I was lucky enough to split the cab with a few other guys, so it wasn’t nearly as traumatic as it could have been. At least I wasn’t alone.
Hyperdrive? Yes, Hyperdrive. Two of the guys I split the cab with were from Skywalker Sound. They were ahead of me in line to pick up their checked bags, and since they too were in a hurry to get to the airport, we split fare on the cab since we didn’t have time to wait for the convention shuttle bus.
They were really cool dudes. I got a card from one of them, so maybe – just maybe – on my next film project, I’ll have access to some really good sound engineers to polish the final tracks. I made it a point to make sure that Skywalker Sound does indeed work on indies. He offered to give me a tour of the facilities the next time I’m in the Bay Area. You can be damned sure I’ll take him up on that offer should the chance present itself.
I don’t know who the third split-fare guy was, but he was even more relaxed about missing his flight than I was.
At the airport, I began to get my hopes up as I was talking to the curbside check-in dude because he told me I might make my flight if I go inside and “talk to that young lady at the booth.” In front of me in that line was a woman who was pulling crap out of her suitcase in a desperate attempt to drop weight so she wouldn’t have to pay a fifty-dollar overweight luggage fee. Super.
Soon, I spoke with the young lady, and she told me that no, actually, I was SOL, and that there was no way in hell I was going to make my plane (my words, not hers – she was much nicer about it).
I then spoke with a very nice ticket agent who transferred me to the next available flight, which was fourteen hours later. Truth-be-told, there was actually a non-stop flight available on another airline in just a couple hours but, to me, it wasn’t worth the 350.00 airfare plus the forfeiture of the 200.00 I had already spent on the existing ticket, which was non-refundable. Call me cheap if you want to, but I would rather spend a night in an airport and save nearly six hundred bucks. She didn’t even charge me a change fee. Nice lady.
Looking at the bright side, at least I’ve been able to catch up on a crap-load of ancient e-mails that needed returning.
On the way to NAB
There is something about airports that compels me to write. I’m penning this as I sit at Gate 33, at San Antonio International, waiting to board my flight to Vegas.
I’m not sure what it is; maybe it’s the forced attention paid to so many people’s lives at once that sends my mind into some inquisitive state, making me want to pay attention to everyone around me. I want to know their stories, and wonder where they’re going.
We’re all going somewhere, but only at airports do you find so many people all going somewhere at the same time, and thanks to the diligent folks in homeland security, they are all cranky.
I don’t fly often, but at least this time I wised up and wore sandals through the security line instead of the hook and loop hiking boots that made me so angry the last time I had to partially disrobe in public, feeling awkward, the same way a grade-school student feels when he has to drop his pants so the school nurse can look at his skinned knee. Hey, look at me! I’m standing in my socks, and now I have to take off my belt as well!
Airport security could potentially be the exhibitionist’s wet dream. Hell, if you like to put on a show AND have a ring in your cock, and you have never taken a commercial flight, get off your ass and down to the airport. I’m sure the ever-diligent TSA screeners will show no mercy as they make you drop trou and free Prince Albert.
I’m not trying to pee all over the airport security peeps, but let’s be honest and admit that any high school student with a slight gift for logistics could design a better-flowing system than what is in place now.
Oops, i accidentally brought my BIG bottle of saline solution, so now I have to check my bag so the TSA can go through my shit. I should have hidden a dog turd in one of my shoes; there was a fresh one in my back yard today. I named it Steamy.
I have strayed far from my original point. That doesn’t matter, though, because I may have forgotten it anyway. I’m in Phoenix now, at Skyharbor airport, waiting to board my connecting flight to Vegas. I forgot to mention my reason for traveling, and that is to attend the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) convention in Las Vegas. NAB is the largest broadcasting trade show on the planet, but that has never stopped me from not going. This is my first time at NAB, and I’m really excited. The trade show is great, but I’m more interested right now in the industry parties. Sunday night, it will be Newtek, followed by Avid, and then on Monday nigh it’s Panasonic. I think we’re scheduled to crash a couple more as well, but I can’t remember right now.
Boarding now. Gotta run.
Advice for the Peep Wars
If you find yourself conducting bracketed peep wars on Easter Sunday, as many of us non-religious types do, let me offer you some advice for next year. If you are out of toothpicks and decide instead to use sharpened match sticks for lances, be sure to cut off the match head before you place your jousters in the microwave.
This is a public service announcement from me to you, because, honestly, I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get the smell of sulfur and burned marshmallow out of my house, and I want to save you the trouble if at all possible.
Here’s a frame grab of the carnage:
New Photos and Ramblings for April 4, 2007
Oh man, where do I start? It’s been a while since my last post – the last post with some meat on it, any way. I’ll start with this week and work my way back, I guess.
I had an all-day shoot with the up-and-coming Rich O’Toole Band. Keep an eye (or ear) on them; they’re going to be very famous, very soon. With a new album produced by the ineffable Mack Damon, Rich’s first single is #4 on the Texas radio charts, and the next single is guaranteed to hit #1.
There are many good shots, but I think this is my favorite image from the day:
The Rich O’Toole Band, photographed by Darren Abate in San Antonio, Texas.
[Canon EOS-5D; Canon EF 50/1.2 L]
Note the creamy goodness of the new Canon 50mm f/1.2L. Yeah, it’s the perfect companion to the magnificent 85/1.2L II, which will be presenting its own brand of sweet nougat center later in this post. Right here, as a matter-of-fact:
Rich O’Toole, of the Rich O’Toole Band, photographed by Darren Abate in San Antonio, Texas.
[Canon EOS-5D; Canon EF 85/1.2 L II]
I can’t stop gushing about the Canon 5D, either. It never stops amazing me. I have only two major complaints about the camera: it’s slow, and the AF system could use a juicing. After the button is pressed, the lag is far too great, and if you happen to be switching to the 5D after using a Mark II earlier in the day, the lag is downright painful. A 3400.00 body shouldn’t be that slow, and it also shouldn’t feature the same array of AF points that are found in the 20D. It needs more points for detailed AF work. Sometimes, especially when shooting wide open at f/1.2, it’s better if you don’t have to recompose your shot after focus is achieved.
In other news, there were six freakin’ hockey games in the AT&T Center last week, which is another reason why I haven’t updated my blog in a while. Busy. As. Hell. There was a lot of good hockey, though, which included a win over the Omaha Knights, a team that usually has our number. In fact, SA had lost to them two nights before. It’s nice having them in town though, because it’s always good to see their coach, Scott Allen, who was the San Antonio head coach a few years back. He has to be one of the nicest guys in hockey.
Joel Perrault of the San Antonio Rampage slides into Omaha Knights netminder Brent Krahn.
[Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Canon EF 300/2.8 L IS]
In this particular game, the Rampage skated out and immediately lit up Omaha netminder Curtis McElhinney for three goals, which led to him getting pulled in favor of backup goalie Brent Krahn, who used to play for San Antonio. This was surprising, considering the fact that McElhinney is currently rated as something like the number three goalie in the American Hockey League. He must have been having an off night, unlike SA’s Yanick Lehoux, who tallied a hat trick.
Some more hockey goodness:
Don MacLean and a Rochester goon.
[Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Canon EF 300/2.8 L IS]
Ryan Flinn puts the knuckles to Peoria’s Zack FitzGerald.
[Canon EOS-1D Mark II; Canon EF 300/2.8 L IS]
Last month saw a lot of political subject matter, with a few 2008 presidential candidates making stops in San Antonio, including this guy:
2008 presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich
photo © Darren Abate/WireImage.com
2008 presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich
photo © Darren Abate/WireImage.com
John Edwards also made an early campaign stop in San Antonio, at the historic Sunset Station Depot:
2008 presidential candidate John Edwards
photo © Darren Abate/WireImage.com
The political stuff has died down for now, but I’m expecting it to pick up again a little later in the year. In today’s modern age of instant information, I’m not sure why the candidates have decided to start their heavy campaigning a full nineteen months before the election. I predict that things will be a little more subdued until it gets a little closer to go-time.
That’s it for now. I need to head out to deliver some prints to a client.
Mahalo.
