A Suicide Bomber Tried to Kill Me!

Before you panic, let me reassure you. Apollo and I are both okay.

Here's what happened. Early this morning, my building was rocked by an explosion. I slept through it. And the fire alarms. Though to be fair, I had fallen asleep on my couch and was nowhere near my fire alarms which has strobe lights. Apollo woke me. Such a good boy.

My hero.

After several hours of waiting outside, we found what happened. This news article sums it up.

Authorities say six people were hurt, including three police officers, when a person trying to commit suicide sparked a three-alarm fire at a Seven Corners high-rise.

Firefighters were called to the Cavalier Club apartments in the 6200 block of Wilson Boulevard about 7:45 a.m. Saturday for a report of a suicide attempt in a second-floor apartment.

They were waiting nearby for police to arrive when there was a sudden explosion, and fire flashed out of a second-floor apartment, police said.

Police officers broke through a glass window and rescued the man, who suffered serious burns. He was flown by helicopter to Washington Hospital Center, where his condition was unknown late Saturday afternoon.

The blaze quickly went to three alarms, with more than 400 people being evacuated from the complex. It took more than 100 firefighters to douse the blaze.

The officers who rescued the suicidal man suffered smoke inhalation, police said. Two were treated at a nearby hospital and released. One remained hospitalized for observation. Two building residents suffered minor injuries fleeing the blaze.

Most residents were allowed to return to their apartments Saturday afternoon. A few families were displaced due to smoke and water damage, fire investigators said.

Fire officials said the blaze could have been much worse if they had not already been at the scene for the suicide attempt call.

**** Update: Police said the fire started in Apartment 211, and the four men who lived there were left homeless by the blaze. One of them was the seriously injured man. Fire investigators said the apartment is a total loss and the fire was intentionally set.

Scary. What the news didn't say is the rumor that UPDATE: The suicidal man deliberately set off the explosion in an attempt to not only off himself, but also to try set the entire building on fire. I'm very pissed about this. It essentially is an attempted murder/suicide. Why couldn't the guy have picked a less destructive way to go out?

Anyway. The apartment where this occurred is in a different wing from mine. Essentially, on opposite side of the building. Here's the "after" pictures. I couldn't find decent "before" pictures, sorry.

It's completely gutted inside.

Stove in question that was an unwitting tool.

This extinguished was at least 30 yards away. I don't know if it was blown there or thrown.

Around the corner, you can see the damage to the building itself.

All the way from 2nd floor (I know it looks like ground floor,
but this building is on a hill) to the top.

The stark white blinds just struck me.

Apollo is bored by all the commotion.

"Please, no paparazzi!"

"Very well! I'll pose like a hero that I am."

And here's a bad video someone shot using his phone:

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Bubble Challenge - Part 1

KS challenged me to shoot bubbles in a specific condition, and I decided to take her up on it. I opted to do a practice shoot in normal light conditions first for practice, and much to my surprise, it's extraordinarily difficult to catch the bubbles. They move, they dance, float, expand, shrink as I'm blowing them up...and of course, they pop.

The bubble liquid I found, after hunting three different stores, seem to be of low quality. It pops very quickly and doesn't produce long streams of bubbles that I remember from my childhood. I think I'll try making my own later.

Without further ado, here's part one of THE BUBBLE CHALLENGE.

I have no idea what caused those streaks of lights. Very neat though.

Pop! (pity it wasn't in focus)

Almost in focus!

Got it!

Don't be fooled. I ultimately shot about blurry 75 pictures, and probably 25-50 total misses.

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Póg mo thóin

A few people searched to figure out what Póg mo thóin means and how to pronounce it, and my little spy program caught the key words. So I figured it's about time I enlighten ya'all.

Póg mo thóin = Kiss my ass
P-oh-g muh ho-in
The "g" should be a hard g..."guh". A slight variation that might be easier to grapple with: Pog Mahone

I'll have a few new pictures this weekend. Someone gave me a great idea, but it requires a scavenger hunt.

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Storytime

In yesterday's blog, I wrote "May you have all the luck in the world!"

That reminded me of a particular time when my car, my old Audi, broke down. It happened about two years ago and probably was one of the worst breakdowns I ever had. It's a good example of what that blessing is all about. Here's what happened.

It was a cold, wet day and I'd gone down to D.C. for a job interview and to visit a friend. When I decided to leave, my car had trouble starting so my friend pulled out a portable jump-starter and we got my car going. Thinking that the problem was probably just the rain -- my car had a history of being hard to start in wet weather -- I proceeded to drive home. The engine sounded rough, but it was running. I figured I'd just try keep my foot on the gas and drive straight to the auto shop when I got home. About 45 minutes later, I ran into some traffic...there was an accident up ahead.

I remember considering briefly to pull over and wait for the traffic to clear, but decided to stick it out. The traffic slowed to a stop. I had to slow to idle...And my car died. Shit. I was at the midpoint of my trip - nowhere near home, and my friend was almost an hour behind me.

I hit the emergency light button, got out and started looking for someone with a portable jumper. Luckily someone was willing to help out, and we got my car restarted. Just then, the traffic was starting to move and I hopped back in. At this point, I knew something was very wrong with the car. I didn't think I'd make it to the next exit, but was hoping I could keep the car from dying if I could keep my foot on the gas. The technique worked until a few minutes later, when the traffic slowed again to a stop. The car died. Again.

To make matters worse, I'd forgotten the car charger for my pager, and the battery had died too (great timing), which meant I couldn't use the AIM relay to call someone.

Out of the car into the freezing rain, I ran around asking if anyone'd help me move the car off the road onto the left shoulder and call the AAA for a tow. Luckily, a good samaritian was willing to help out and we pushed the steel car onto the shoulder.

After an hour of waiting, the tow truck finally came and he tried to start my car, and declared what I already suspected: It's the battery. Off we went to Autozone, and when we arrived, much to my dismay, it was closed. I asked the guy to take me to the Pep Boys that we'd passed on the way. We arrived just before 8 o'clock, and I ran inside and asked for a battery. Eighty bucks later, I had a battery for my car. Then the cashier asked me, "Do you have the tools to install this?"

My stunned reply: "It doesn't snap in?" I really thought it was like regular battery...just pop it in, snap it in place, and lo and behold, I had a working car. No such luck. Shit. And they were closing at eight -- we were in a tiny town and apparently noone was open past eight or nine.

The cashier told me to go auto repair section and see if anyone was still there. Luckily there was one mechanic still there, cleaning up. "Please please help!"

I could see him hesitate. "Look, I'll give you twenty bucks if you help me. It's all I have in cash right now. If you don't help, I'll be stuck sleeping in the car until the store opens in the morning. I have noone near me. Everyone I know is either in Harrisburg or in DC."

"Ok ok," he grudgingly agreed. And fifteen minutes later, he had installed the battery and refused to take my money. The car started just fine and although it was still rough, it wasn't stalling and dying whenever it idled.

Looking back, I was pretty lucky. If I had passed that midpoint and the car died before I got to Harrisburg, I'd be much worse off. There's a long stretch of highway where there are very few towns or any traffic at all. It would've been long wait for help and a long, expensive tow.

Luck was on my side; I was both lucky and unlucky that day.

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Happy New Year!

May you have all the luck in the world!

This is a sort of an Irish blessing. It specifically doesn't say good/bad luck, just "luck." You can't have good without the bad.

Things I have learned this weekend:

• I make a bad fake-gambler
• It is possible to get $11,000 in debt playing Vegas solitaire. I think it's rigged.
  
  
• Apollo likes to sleep behind the vertical blinds
  
  
• It is possible to get sick of pizza (which works in my favor - see below).
  
  
• When Apollo gets new balls, he goes bonkers and consequently drives me nuts because he keeps losing the balls.
• Being a neutered male, I shouldn't be surprised that he's obsessed about his balls
  
  
• It is possible for me to get bored enough to start making lists.

And on that note, here's a boiled down list of my resolutions - some of these are carryovers from last year:

1. Improve photography skills
   
2. Take a couple editing classes
3. Start looking for a new job, both locally and later in the year, out West
4. Find a couple more climbing partners in addition to the one I already climb with
5. Climb a 5.10 route
   
6. Stop dressing like I'm still in college
7. And a classic: Get fit. Sub-goal - to run 5 miles without stopping.
   
8. Eat healthier/stop relying on pre-processed food for meals
9. Take a real vacation out of town somewhere that I actually have to pay for myself instead of being cheap and staying at home.
10. Be happy and be strong enough to change things if I'm not happy with something

Ok, the last one isn't a really resolution, but I put it on there anyway.

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Rain rain go away

It's dreary, gray and rainy here. I've spent nearly one and half days on my couch channel surfing instead of doing anything constructive.

I should be...take your pick:
1. Dancing in the rain
2. Cleaning/packing (hopefully find a new place soon)
3. Reading a book
4. All of above

I've been watching reruns of "What to Not Wear", and I find the concept of the show really appealing. Except the part where Stacey and Clinton makes fun of the poor, hapless victim behind her back. They fly you to NYC, give you a gift credit card to the tune of $5,000 and help you shop for clothes. I hate shopping, so the idea of having someone help me figure out what looks good on me AND giving me money is very appealing. Of course, I'd probably try cheat and use the CC on something else like camera gear. That's part of why I'm bad at dressing...I don't know what to buy, so I go the easy route and buy what I'd rather have - toys.

Someone nominate me. Really.

Please?

I've also decided that Sci-Fi really needs new people in charge. I'm getting tired of seeing the same old movie for the hundreth time in a week. I know there are hundreds, if not thousands, of sci-fi/fantasy movies out there. Let's show the other ones once in awhile, eh?

Here's a list to help you out, on an off-chance that a Sci-Fi manager/producer/director sees this:
Spaceballs
Alien flicks (except for the most recent two)
Red Sonja (or any other B flicks made during this decade other than Kull the Warrior)
Star Wars
Star Trek flicks (don't just show them when a new one is being released - randomize the timing a bit)
The Cave
The Descent
Godzilla
Starship Trooper
Lost in Space
Indiana Jones flicks
Etc.

Please?

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Commercial Photography

Whadda think? Do I have a shot at commercial photography?

I think this one would look better on a colored background. Oh well.

Decided to test out my new flash (thanks, Santa!). Verdict: I definitely need a diffuser and/or reflector for close-up work. Although I did like the silvering effect in the first picture. It's a neat mistake.

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Almost New Year's!

With two consecutive short weeks and one of my coworkers being out, it's been insane at work. I come home and collapse. All I could manage to do is take Apollo on semi-satisfactory walks. I had hoped to use the Christmas break to rest up but it wasn't very relaxing. But it's almost over! And this weekend will be relaxing. I hope to get some more photographs up on here tonight/tomorrow.

New Year's, for me, is probably the most important holiday. I've almost always spent it alone, during my adulthood, and I enjoy it immensely. It's a time of boozing, eating and introspective pondering. I use this time to reflect on the past years and decide on my plans for the next year.

Expect a (boring?) post on that in the next few days.

Here's a couple photos in payment.

*snicker* Love his expression in this yawn.

Finally! Apollo's finished bed!

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Light Painting

A couple weeks ago, I read about this technique called light painting. It's when you photograph in "B" mode (bulb) which, basically, lets you hold the shutter down as long as you like. Ideally whatever you're shooting will be dark, and you illuminate certain areas with a flashlight, strobe, or whatever. A source of light.

I was intrigued and wanted to try it out.

Here's a practice try.

Cut-glass pitcher

Martini glass - one of my all-time favorite drinks.
I admit, it's James Bond's influence.

Old drinking glass

Apollo's beloved ducky

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A Shot in the Dark

I want to try something for photography. But I need to figure out the answers to these questions first:

1. Will a BB gun shooting beebees break wineglasses?
2. Will my neighbors hear the BB gun firing?
3. Will they call the cops?
4. Will I get in trouble for shooting a BB gun in an apartment complex and need bail money?

Maybe I better think of another way to break the wineglasses.

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