Absurd Singularity

My mother told us about a family of cats that suddenly showed up in her backyard and lo and behold, I caught sight of them late in the afternoon.

I first saw the mother chilling out on the ledge. She would look at me whenever she heard my shutter go off. Just your typical gray tabby. Not sure if she was abandoned but I do remember we had cat sightings going a decade or so back so maybe there is a family of wild cats roaming our neighborhood.

After a little while the mother jumped off the ledge and headed off towards our neighbors yard. Then this kitten appeared from the other side of the ledge. S/he immediately jumped back down after catching sight of me when I took this shot.

Intrigued, my mother and I took a closer look at our wall back there to see where this family was staying and discovered that there were 2 holes in the back side of the wall where they were hiding out in. Just 2 kittens and their mom. So I camped out on top of the wall a good distance away to see if I could get some shots. This kitten would stick his head out and then duck back in when he caught site of me.

Eventually I moved to a closer position that gave me a clear shot of their hideaway. The two holes seemed to be connected in the back. But it's definitely a good hideout for them as you wouldn't even suspect they were there unless you were looking for them.

The two siblings would take turns peeking out. They knew I was still there and didn't seem to be overly afraid but wouldn't come out while I was there.

With the sun setting too quickly I took a last few shots and left them alone. Hopefully we didn't scare the mother away and she'll come back for her kids. Wonder how long they'll stay here and what they're eating.

Some of you have been asking so Erin set up a couple of baby registries. Listed after the break...

Just a few photos taken over the weekend:

Been reading Murakami's latest book, Kafka on the Shore, while stuck in jury duty and as usual, a good quotable line (or paragraph in this case). Two characters discussing people who lack imagination:

"Narrow minds devoid of imagination. Intolerance, theories cut off from reality, empty terminology, usurped ideals, inflexible systems. Those are the things that really frighten me. What I absolutely fear and loathe. Of course it's important to know what's right and what's wrong. Individual errors in judgment can usually be corrected. As long as you have the courage to admit mistakes, things can be turned around. But intolerant, narrow minds with no imagination are like parasites that transform the host, change form, and continue to thrive. They're a lost cause, and I don't want anyone like that coming in here. I wish I could just laugh off people like that, but I can't."

Just a quick snap of my current dSLR setup. It's pretty much complete. Maybe one final lens that I'd like (Canon 90mm TS-E) but it's more of a specialty lens that I can hold off on 'til much later. Anyway, starting from left to right:

First Row:
    • Canon BG-E3 Battery Grip
    • Canon Digital Rebel XTi
    • Canon Speedlite 580EX Flash
    • Canon ST-E2 Transmitter
    • Canon EF 1.4x II Teleconverter

Second Row:
    • Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM
    • Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
    • Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
    • Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
    • Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
    • Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Only things not pictured here are my monopod and tripod.

Anyhoo, been a bit tardy in blogging lately cause lots of crap going on (namely me being on a jury panel and my water heater flooding the hell out of everything) so will catch up on that stuff later.

Earlier this afternoon a whole cavalcade of horse-mounted police sauntered past our office, going north on Greenwich Street. Of course, it just had to happen on a day when I didn't bring my camera. Couple of my co-workers and I ventured outside to take a look. We never found out what the heck it was for but there were police from all over, not just NY.

As anyone who has spent enough time in Central Park can tell you, where there are horses, there's inevitably horse doo doo. They had obviously taken this into account however as a fleet of 3 street cleaners brought up the rear. Unfortunately, street cleaners aren't exactly outfitted to handle big chunks of crap on the street so all they wound up doing is mashing the stuff into the pavement, sprinkling it with water and leaving a still noticeable streak in the road. I guess no one makes pooper scooper's for street cleaners.

At the request of Erin's cousin, we spent part of an afternoon checking out the Nintendo World store down by Rockefeller Center. I also figured we could make our first trip to the fabled 5th Avenue Apple Store since we were in the general vicinity.

Not exactly sure what this thing they were putting up at the eastern border of Rockefeller Center. But it sure was shiny.

Took us a little while to find the store because it's not in the central Rockefeller Center area, rather a block south on 48th. Upon entering the first section you come to is for Nintendo DS stuff.

I know there are some hardcore Nintendo fans out there but to pay $500 for one of these jewel-encrusted ones is even a bit too much for me. Then again, if it was a jewel-encrusted camera... no, even I wouldn't get it then. =p

The central area of the first floor was a pit encircled with and containing multiple DS units where you can try out a whole bunch of different games for it. Here I'm engrossed in a new release that I'm embarrassed to say is called Cooking Mama. In it, you uh, cook stuff. But it's a great example of the type of games Nintendo can come up with when you have a touchpad and stylus at your disposal. Erin thought it was hysterical and at $19.99 new, may be worth a pick up.

Prior to coming to the store, I had read that they were accepting pre-orders for the upcoming Nintendo Wii. I wasn't really planning on pre-ordering but I figured since I was there I might as well ask about it. According to this fella that I was talking to, they would be getting TONS of units. He specifically said that he had no idea where Engadget got the information that they only had 300 or so slots for preorders as he had not heard anything about it and had personally taken about 30 preorders that day before me. So I preordered one. The new control system looks interesting enough, the price was right, and I figured if they actually have a shortage of them in the beginning (although I kinda doubt this), I could keep an eye out on eBay prices and sell it if it was high enough to be worthwhile. ;-)

Halfway up the stairs to the second floor the wall is taken up by this prominent logo. This pic is just to show Erin's cousin that we were actually there. ;-p

Stepping out of the elevator on the second floor you're met with this view. A whole bunch of giant displays arranged cylindrically. The displays are pretty unique too. Not just the typical plasma or LCD monitor. Not sure what the heck these things are, they just look like a really thin display sandwiched between 2 pieces of plastic. The displays themselves looked nice but glare was terrible.

The second floor of the store is mostly clothing and accessories but the Gamecube section is up here as well. Off to the side is the little area where you can try out some of the Gamecube games. Only 3 seats is not really enough but oh well.

Anyway, I'll post the Apple Store pics a bit later...

After leaving Nintendo World we continued onwards to the Fifth Avenue Apple Store. The location is quite nice, situated in an open plaza surrounded by benches, tables and chairs where visitors can take a break from either shopping the length of Fifth Ave or ambling around Central Park. Unfortunately, knowing this, the entire sidewalk in front of the cube is lined up nose to nose with hot dog/pretzel/shish-ka-bob/refreshment vendors which spew a pretty impressive amount of smoke into the air around the glass cube. Apple's cleaning costs must be freakin' astronomical.

Constant stream of visitors even at 5 in the afternoon on a Sunday. And as been reported previously, the glass elevator, while looking pretty cool, seems to be also rather temperamental as it was once again, not open for public use.

The spiral stairway was rather nice too. Entering the store itself revealed, well, a typical Apple Store. Clean and simply laid out, it was larger than what I was expecting. Only difference I noticed is that they seem to have a bigger bag selection here than in the other stores I've been to.

I really like the design of the stairway/elevator structure as well as the open space around it. Think they did a very nice job. Now if they could only make the elevator a bit more reliable...

I could probably stand down in the store and look upwards all day. Especially with a nice sky.

Overall it definitely is the most impressive looking Apple Store that I've seen. A good amount of security around although I think someone can still chuck a rock at the glass cube and take off without being caught if they were fast enough. But they probably have tons of security cameras pointed at the thing too. Anyway, definitely worth a visit if you're in the city; I'm sure it's probably more of a tourist attraction than a computer store.