Amazon Instant Video

Now that I've completely cut the cord and no longer have cable, I'm streaming all kinds of video.  Lots of it from Amazon, and I love all the deals that they offer.  I'm doing this through a Roku box.  All is well, but the one thing I can't do, and would love, is to have the ability to switch between Amazon accounts.  There's more than one person in my household, so the ability to easily switch between the accounts would be great.

The reason is that we all don't have the same things in our video libraries and being able to switch between the accounts would allow us to view items in the different libraries.  This would make streaming all that much better.

Big Finish

Big Finish, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

The annual Fiesta dances begin again tonight. Always a festive and colorful event.  I'm hoping to be able to get out and at least shoot a little.

Empty Path

Empty Path, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

You were right about the future,
our past now so nicely tucked away,
it's too late for more of this...

Chains of love

Chains of love, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Julia lives in a world of doubts,
expressions refrained, emotions veiled,
a heart chained up in fear,
desperately trying to find her voice,
to put the "I don't know" away,
and be free enough to truly express...

Sitting One Out

Sitting One Out, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

His dreams are coming back to him,
true emotions rolling off his tongue,
the hard luck stories begin,
he feels the same,
yet in a different way...

Tune Pull

Tune Pull, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

It's been a thin year on new images for me. The bad economy, along with several other factors have kept from getting out to shoot as much and I'd like to.

The upside has been to use the time to process images that have been sitting untouched for a long time.

Eventually I'll need to replenish my "inventory" and change things up a bit.  Soon, I hope.

Google Plus Photography

Scott Kelby said something interesting on his show The Grid and that is that flickr is dying, and that Google Plus is the brave new world for photographers.

This got me to thinking about it, and I have to say that I don't disagree with his assessment.  I've been very impressed with the digital world that photographers have been building on Google Plus

The imagery is simply stunning, and there's a level of engagement that I've never seen over on flickr.  The Google Plus photography community is friendly, knowledgeable, and inspirational.

This community seems to be growing by leaps and bounds, and my guess is that this is by word of mouth, which is the best kind of endorsement one could wish for.

It's an extremely interactive and encouraging community.  I've watched many a Google Plus Photography hangout in action, and if you don't know what this is, think of it as Skyping with group of your favorite photographers, all willing to share their knowledge and push the art of photography forward.

As much as I like Google Plus, I really don't want to see flickr die.  I've got countless hours devoted to processing and posting images on their site.  I'm hoping that they take the competition as a wake-up call and up their game.  All for the good of the photography community.

The first thing I think flickr can do is beef up the social aspects of their site, and encourage users to share their love of the photographic image.  Right now, the site seems sterile, especially when compared to Google Plus.

Only time will tell how this is going to play out.

Has anyone got any suggestions for flickr?  Feel free to share them in the comments section.

Drive Thru

Drive Thru, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

The cardboard world of castles,
costing fortunes earned in vain...
A future just a foreclosure away
carried on red tides of debt...
politics and greed our swamp of sorrow

three at dusk

three at dusk, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Time is our common ground,
the moments we share,
together and alone...
Our days adding up,
and counting down,
zero on either end,
making what's between the two
all that really matters...
may we spend our time well

Walking the street

Walking the street, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Pavement our fields of paradise,
buildings are forests of decay,
an urban jungle in which we play,
run on deceit  and decadence,
it's no wonder we struggle away

Sum of days

Sum of days, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Sitting through the far too
familiar unnecessary conversations
my vitality takes a blow.

Next week too far away to
think about what I have to say.

Back to my notebook,
always at my fingers,
always under my thumb...

Receiving random thoughts without judgement...

Holding stories for the hollow and lonely,
of Spanish Galleons sailing through the dark night...

Tales carefully refined and sealed over, left in dust and then tossed away....

Just like life, and the sum of days.

my lonely days

my lonely days, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Just a hint of age,
when the light is just so,
eyes red and running,
head ready to explode
from the medicine that's used
to keep the loneliness away
not yet, please....
too too close

Gone in sixty seconds

Gone in sixty seconds, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

The nights we shared,
like stars in the sky,
have dimmed...
they're losing their luster,
and fading away...
it was fun while it lasted,
a wild ride....

Table and Chairs

Table and Chairs, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Sue and Stacy had been here only hours before, in the corner, near the window, just outside the morning was fresh with rain.

The tears in Stacy's eyes mirrored the weather, it was a dreary day and she needed to talk, to escape the crushing weight of despair that had been pushing in on her.

Just days before Stacy had found her mother's suicide note, which instead of answers only brought more questions.  After all these years, struggling to forget a pain that was now sharper than ever.

She still remembers her mother waiting on these very tables, and now mostly empty chairs.

Snow and Road

Snow and Road, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Bridging seasons,
from here to there,
crossing boundaries,
traveling thru time...
such are memories,
not truly yours,
nor truly mine...

Dead Media

Dead Media, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Discarded and left behind, as it should be.  It's a new era, with technology leading the charge.  Change has always been a constant, you can count on that.... and human nature being what it is, you can count on that too.  And perhaps, just perhaps, a rising tide doesn't doesn't lift all boats.

Picked

Picked, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Abundance is something we often take for granted, much like love...
It's the things we don't have that we seem to appreciate...

a few trees left

a few trees left, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Urban paradise is nothing more than a few sticks we call trees and a handful of flowers.  We've been removed from nature for so long that we fail to understand it, or our place in the grand scheme of things.

It's the source of our folly.  A seed of our undoing.

Kindle Publishing

I'm becoming more and more fascinated with ebooks, and the changes taking place in the world of publishing.  We've got the Amazon Kindle to thank for this.  This device was the game changer.

I do almost all of my reading now on my Kindle, and I don't like the idea of carrying around a book, not at all.

This is something that surprises me as I still love books, but I don't buy paper books anymore.  No way.  They take up too much space, are too heavy and cumbersome, and more or less are just a burden.

Ebooks are a different story.  I've got hundreds of them on my Kindle.  I can make notes, search, share, post, tweet, etc.  Digital books are interactive.

Lately I've been helping my mom out a lot, she's getting up there in years, and we spend a lot of time talking mainly about old family stories.  One of her big loves is reading, but also writing.  She's been keeping journals her whole life.  In them are more or less her life history, poems, stories, and the highs and lows of life.

So, I asked her if she'd be interested in publishing any of this in ebook format.  She was very interested, though the technology is just a bit too much for her.

She's game, so I've got to get up to speed on how to proceed with this project.

In the meantime, she now has a blog http://mafroggy.blogspot.com/ that she's been using to float some of her writing and see if there's an interest for it.

Between blogs and ebooks there world is wide open for people to tell their stories like never before.

I think it's great that we can get some of her work out there while she's still around.  She's thrilled, and that makes me happy.

I'd love to hear from folks who've got done the epublishing road.  Any tips would be appreciated.  Leave them as comments.

Publishing is now a fluid medium, and changing all the time.

We live in interesting times, for sure.

A world of words

A world of words, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

When dreams fade away,
and night overtakes the day,
who'll remember the things we say?

Airplay

Recently I purchased a new Apple TV in order to access and stream movie content I've purchased from iTunes to my television.  All part of this summer's cord cutting project.

No more cable for me.  This has worked out great.

Part of the plan to dump cable included getting an Apple TV, which now allows you access to Netflix, something my first Apple TV didn't.

All fine and dandy.  This unit has worked perfectly.  It's simple and easy to use.

Since purchasing this nifty little gadget I've been noticing and odd icon on my iPhone when I use the YouTube app that wasn't there before, so I tapped on it.

Turns out was an icon that gave me the ability to stream the content over to my television via the Apple TV.

Once I enable this option on the Apple TV  under settings, my media could be pushed from phone to tv.  Simple.

This is a great feature.  I love it.  It's simple and easy, and expands the possibilities of the Apple TV beyond expectations.

Oh... fun too.

Where freedom lies

Where freedom lies, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Until our last breath,
we still seek it out,
haunted by dreams,
stuck in dead-ends,
we had the key all along,
always, within our hearts...
That's where freedom lives...
away from a world of lies

Travel Weary

Travel Weary, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

I'm not going to live with memories,
I'm giving them all away,
there's no yesterday,
no tomorrow either...
only now, only today...
a simple song, a simple melody,
time an elusive ether,
an illusion, a waste...

Chained Ride

Chained Ride, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Life goes full circle
and you really haven't
gone anywhere at all
just ashes to ashes in the end
with very little in between
the way it's always been

Risk Management

Risk Management, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

It's the money that blinds,
seeing nothing with open eyes...
the map, our lives
so straight and smooth
over every bump
along the way...
unaccomplished legions

Rolling Stones @ 50

Happy fiftieth anniversary to the Rolling Stones.  They have brought so much joy, to so many, with their five decades of great music.

Congrats boys!

Lost opportunity

Lost opportunity, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

We are nothing
ghosts without souls
We are nothing
rotting flesh on broken bones
We are nothing
naked and cold
We are nothing
frail and exposed

Bubbles

Bubbles, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

My morning elixir,
robust and strong,
pushes the night away,
and brings the morning on..

Many more miles

Many more miles, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

following random thoughts,
and mixed emotions,
across years, up hills,
and around bends...
this we chase for many more miles...

Choices

Choices, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Childhood play yards
looked at thru the memory glass
red dot in the backgroud
a glancing look, another year past
recalling things buried in twists of gray
they're still the same
stopped in a reflective way
seeing it, feeling it
strong again
everything over,
everything at last
Oh! never again
I won't let them pass
the second is over
red turns green
rolling forward
burning gas

Nothing left to say

Nothing left to say, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

The irony of a narrow and sheet thin NYT reporting the the changing phone industry wasn't lost on me, or anyone else in the group of people with me.

In fact the newspaper industry, and New York Times in particular became the topic of our morning conversation.

Phone companies are adapting, and quickly, to new technology and a changing consumer base.  The NYT on the other hand is nothing but a shell of its former self, still thinking it's somehow important.  It isn't, we know that, they're still denying it, and the silly dance continues.

When the time comes a lot of people will be reading the obit of the NYT on their mobile devices.....

So, New York Times:  Hello?  Is anyone there?  I've got some news for you.... you're dying.

Imagine words

Imagine words, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

If words could express the things I tried to say,
perhaps you'd still be with me here today...

but they failed to convey the things I felt,
you leaving me, loneliness the hand they dealt...

My heart barbed and bleeding, it hurts,
dazed, imagining words to cure this curse...

Chatter

Chatter, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Odds are we really had nothing much to say,
we just liked the company of good friends...
small distractions before we headed away.

Fade into a bad dream

Fade into a bad dream, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

The folds of her mind had become a maze,
and endless loop of yesterdays...
unable to seperate fact from fiction,
fully tasked with simple decisions... 
at a loss for words and names,
paranoia the daily game...
all is not as it seems,
as life fades into a bad dream....

all she has left

all she has left, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Yesterday was one of the most uneventful Independence Days in years. It was so overcast all day, that we ended up seeing never any sunshine.

The was scarcely a soul around, and no indication of any type of celebration.  I guess folks just aren't feeling that festive, can't say I blame them.

Who wants to dwell on the loss of freedom? 

Ready to blow

Ready to blow, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

In our imaginations we're free,
but those thoughts aren't reality,
we've all but given away our liberty,
to live in fear and misery...

An open letter to Google

Dear Google:

I was devastated to learn that you're getting rid of iGoogle, actually more than devastated, I feel betrayed.

I'm not blaming you for wanting to focus on products that generate revenue for you, that's what you're in business to do.

It's just that losing iGoogle is a huge blow to many of us who are locked in cubicles and have very little, if any, control over the computing environments we work in.

Our desktops are locked down.  We don't have any say over what software we use or what browsers.  Chrome?  Firefox?  No way!  Try IE7, and Office 2003 running on XP service pack 2... Nope, I'm not kidding.

Watch a YouTube video, even ones that are work related?  Nope... Have to do that on my iPhone.

iGoogle is my connection to the outside world.  It allows me a small slice of individuality, and lets me in a small fashion feel that there's world beyond my cubicle walls (which I call 3:00 A.M. Iowa, because I don't know if it is day or night, sunny or rainy, you'd never know I was steps away from the California coast).

My beloved iGoogle has been a lifeline to me, and I'm sure to many others as well.

From my iGoogle home page I can get my gmail, the weather outside, the time of day, news (how do you think I found out you were killing my beloved iGoolge?), tide information, find out when the sunsets, my calendar, etc.  iGoogle gives me access to things important to me, and to many others.  It is one of the only ways to break free from group think lowest common denominator work environments.

There are thousands of us in this situation, and we have no other options.

It pains me to no end to find out that iGoogle is going away.

It's like hearing your best friend has cancer and only months to live.

Is there any small chance to keep iGoogle around?

Connection Failed

Connection Failed, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

It happens everyday,
we reach out and fail...
there's no one to hear
all the things we have to say...

Scribe by trade

Scribe by trade, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

Leveling this thumb to get out of an impossible night.

Tired....

Caught in the rain, trying to get home and warm away the stiffness that sets-in from the cold.  Roy's troubles were only just beginning...

Hitting the shower

Hitting the shower, a photo by Damian Gadal on Flickr.

The temperature slowly rose
the water ran from face to toes
slowly I begin to melt
sliding down the drain
with the warm morning rain
refreshing is how it felt
giving strength to slowly rise
opening eyes
pushing thru the door
finishing the day before