NCBC EM vs KM Soccer Game

I never grew up playing soccer... too much running. Last Sunday confirmed that. Soccer is fun, but a lot of running and fighting a constant urge to use my hands.
anyways...i borrowed a 70-200mm f4.0 Canon L lens from a co-worker to shoot most of these pics. instead of posting one by one.. you guessed it.. collage.. so here are the players:



and what's playing a game if no one's watching??? here are the spectators.. or some of them.. i love shooting pics of kids more than anything :)

Burrrrrittttttooooooo...mmmm

what's the best type of food? FREE of course!!! a continuation of last Friday... while at dinner at Hana Japan, I met Nate's wife Saadia, who happens to work for Chipotle corporate. They are 2 of the nicest people that came out to celebrate Tracy's bday.

anyways... i received 2 coupons for burritos/tacos, bowls etc. so... i decided to try it out today...



So here was my order: 1 steak burrito, double the meat, with Guac, everything on it...


wowza. right!??!?! total.. for the burrito.. $11.37. for free!!!! wow, this really is America..
Thanks Saadia for the coupons!

Hana Japan

Everyone is familiar with the famous name: Beni Hana and the good food and entertainment that comes along with the experience.

I've never been to a teppanyaki style restaurant like this before, but this last Saturday was my first. We went to Hana Japan in Dublin to celebrate Tracy turning a quarter century, aka. 25.. still a baby yeah??

anyways.. this was a jam-packed night... started with soup and salad.. then our chef came out. he was a Mongolian chef who had only been working there for 4 months, but he was pretty good. From making volcanoes out of onions, to spinning eggs and knives, to throwing shrimp into everyone of our mouths.. it was an experience.



Later in the night, we went to a next door bar and there was Karaoke.
Gigi and Tracy with some Heart "Alone", me singing some Neil Diamond and Archies... no pics of that, perhaps some video in the future.

anyways.. a preview of what's to come.. an interesting Chipotle Story. to be continued...

Need to Take a Photoshop/Lightroom Class

So, I've been messing around with some Photoshop and Lightroom to further my obsession with photography. I took some pics of the kids at various churches and messed around with them... as you can tell, I need to take some classes, because I could not do to the photo what I exactly intended. But still, some came out ok in my eyes.

Here they are.. the cute lovable kids (btw, taking pics of kids is actually kinda hard)

Jimmy Choo Photog Contest

you, your shoes and #72.

Below was my first work, didn't like.. here's what I submitted.

(PLEASE VOTE) http://www.jimmychoo72.com/

or...

i think mine is under tahn. title: "Black and white = simple"

Here's what it looks like.

Jimmy Choo Photog Contest

So i was reading Ang's blog (as i usually do to start my day) and she had posted about this contest. combine you, your shoe and the number 72 into a photo...

Here's what i came up with. Tell me what you think. There are 4 pics total (i took more, but narrowed down to this one pic with different effects)

remember, this was all done out of fun and just at my desk while i digest my lunch. i just took the shoes off my feet and began thinking about some shots. so here we go.

the original:


some black and white effects:


opposing colors:


and some green background:


Any comments??

it's the Best.. i love it

Living in CA, you miss out on a very important thing... THE GREAT FOOD outside this great state... let me tell you.. i love to eat.. so let me tell you about the greatest hot dog I have ever eaten.. It's called a JapaDog. There are 2 stands in Vancouver, and the line is crazy. Luckily, we got there real early and didn't have to wait. These guys know how to make hotdogs. in fact, i ate one, walked for an hour and ate another. THAT GOOD. if you dont believe me, take a look at the pic below.



great hotdogs...thought that deserved it's own collage. HAHA

anyways.. moving on.. to Seattle.. what can i say? first starbucks, pikes fish market, people who throw fish around at eachother, the space needle.... but my favorite.. THE BEST mac and cheese i have ever had... the best. well at $10 bucks a pop, it should be pretty good.

take a look



no more collages as i'm not very good at them anyways.. not like ANG... but anyways.. here are some more pics...

*my favorite chinese Food. we ate this twice.. XLB. Xiao Lung Bao? the soup dumplings. mmmmm and of course we spoiled ourselves with the Crab.




right? looks good huh...

did i mention the best Ramen also?
wowza..



these guys have the broth boiling all day, cook the noodles fresh and it all comes together beautifully.

and we ended our trip back in Seattle. Sadly our trip came to an end, but not without eating the best Pizza I have ever eaten... Whoa.. 1.5 hr wait at 9:00pm? well worth it. Serious Pie really is serious.


Well, i'm not much of a writer and i'm getting tired of typing.. so here is the last pic i will leave yall with...(if you ping me, i can link you to my Picassa, tons of pics there; you can see the whole trip)

I called this my "Wowza Shot" no tripod. :)

Some R &R

Hellllllooooooo Vancouver... wowza.. free upgrade to a room with a view.. can i schmooze or can i schmooze.. BTW.. this pic was taken with NO TRIPOD.. haha.. how about a garbage can on top of table. the Ice bucket on top of the can, then the room service binder, then the camera with a towel under the lens to stabilize.. is that thinking outside the box or what?!?!?! anyways.. this is just a preview of many posts to come.. here's what to expect....
1. Best Pizza i've ever had
2. Best Hotdog i've ever had
3. Best Chinese Food i've ever had
4. Best Ramen i've ever had
5. you get the point.. i ate and ate and ate..

be ready.. cuz tomorrow will be oodles of posts! Peace