Pinhole Pictures

So, Kaylia gave me a pinhole camera kit for my birthday last year.  A pinhole camera, for the unaware, is a light-proof box in which you can put film, with a small (usually around 0.2 millimeter) hole (AKA, the pinhole) on the side opposite the film which can be opened and closed with a manual shutter.  The pinhole allows light in to expose the film, but the lack of a lens means that the images all have a "soft" quality - not simply unfocused, but unfocused in a particular way.  However, unlike a standard lens camera, where there is a finite field of focus (anything within that field is in focus, anything out of it is not), the pinhole camera has essentially an infinite field of focus, so everything might be fuzzy, but it is all equally fuzzy.

Anyway, these qualities make for some interesting images, and I have been having fun with it.  So, with that in mind, and seeing as how I don't have time this week to write anything more expansive, here's some examples of the photos that I have been taking.  You may notice the orange blotches in some of the outdoors photos - that's light leakage, places where the box is letting in too much light under certain circumstances, and I am trying to fix it.  Also, the fridge photo - the blur of light is due to the exposure taking half an hour, and people walking in and out opening and closing the fridge door - it's a neat effect, I just want to learn to control it better.

Dead of Winter, Mark 2

If you, kind reader, will permit me to talk hobbies for an entry, I want to plug a friend's event.

This last weekend, I attended the second annual Dead of Winter Horror Invitational, a role-playing game convention held in the Brookdale Lodge, an allegedly haunted hotel in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Last year's event was a blast, so I was eager for this years, and I have to say that the event didn't disappoint. The players were brought by invitation and chosen by Matt Steele who picked those who he felt would play a good game and entertain each other as well as themselves. If the people at the game tables that I attended are any indication, he chose well.

Matt shows off the tumor that he removed from a Venezuelan farmer's stomach using nothing by an Exact-o knife and a roll of "Fruit by the Foot".

Okay, for those unfamiliar with the term, a role playing game is best described as a type of interactive fiction or storytelling. It's a game in which one player (usually called the Game Master, although there are other titles as well) develops a rough story outline and populates it with minor characters. The other players play the parts of the story's central protagonasts (or, sometimes, antagonists) which are represented by both the player's performance and by a set of attributes (usually, though not always, numbers representing skills and abilities) on a characetr sheet. All site around a table and the Game Master narrates general events and the actions of the minor characters, and the players narrate the actions of their characters. When there is a conflict (the players want their characters to do something difficult, the players want their characters to do something in oppoisition to the Game Master-controlled characters, or the one player's character wants to do something against another player's character) then the rules of the game are invoked in order to settle the conflict, which usually involves comparison of attributes and/or dice rolling in order to determine the outcome. These games reflect genres of fiction, and as a result come in nearly every genre (though fantasy and science fiction are probably dominant, while genres such as romance and drama are present but uncommon). The genre reflected at this convention was horror, usually supernatural horror although other types were also represented.

The venue for such a convention could not have been better. As noted, the Brookdale Lodge is allegedly haunted, and is a damn creepy place even without the ghost stories. It is in the redwoods, along a mountain highway. Although the location is very accessible from both Santa Cruz and San Jose, the topography and the forest make it appear isolated. The hotel is in considerably better condition than it was last year, and therefore didn't seem to be actively trying to kill us but is still rather run-down and therefore a bit unnerving.

The victims gather in the hotel bar.

The first night, there were no games, but everyone met in the hotel bar and socialized. The first year, I found this a bit awkward, but this year, I knew more people (we all remembered each other from last year, and everyone was friendly and welcoming) and the first evening was alot of fun. We sat about, talking and joking, and feeling a sense of comeraderie that only a geeky hobby such as ours can bring.

Jack looks dapper, the rest of us schlubs didn't bother to change after work.

We played in the Log Cabin, which is, well, a log cabin connected to the rest of the hotel by means of a wodden hallway/tunnel next to the brook room. It is poorly insulated, but has a huge fireplace. Last year, the fireplace was malfunctioning, and so we were frequently unable to heat the room, and there was a major storm, meaning that we all had to be bundled up to play. This year, however, the weather was better AND the fireplace worked meaning that we were never cold, were usually quite comfortable, and on a couple of occasions were even uncomfortably warm.

The log cabin was rather cozy. Too bad it's floor and walls were coated in maple syrup residue

In all, the better hotel conditions and the nice weather were not the boon that they would be for most events. Given that this was a horror game convention, the spooky atmosphere was heightened by the storms and dilapidated hotel last year, and these set the stage perfectly for the ghost stories and monster tales that our games were based around. Weirdly, this was an event where the atmosphere benefited from what would be bad conditions for every other kind of event. However the organizer did everything that he could to create an appropriate atmosphere (set it during the darkest time of the year in an hotel with a reputation for creepiness, and invite Game Masters and players who have a proven record of being able to evoke good atmosphere from their games) and the weather was going to cooperate or not regardless of what he did. In other words, the organizer did good but the weather gods are bastards.

Okay, smart-ass comments aside, the fireplace was one of the best things for building atmosphere, and I was glad to have it.

The games were an interesting mix, and while some worked better than others, and based on what I saw and heard I don't think that there was a dud in the mix - the worst that can be said about any game was that it was well constructed and run, which at most events would be high praise. I played in three this year. The first was a game run by my friend Mike, who took what was essentially a super hero story and overlaid it with a tale of ghostly revenge for a good, creepy story. Our characters were able to effect the outcome, but against the threat that we faced, we were less powerful than characters of our sorts would generally be expected to be. The end result was a solid, well-paced, suspenseful game in which we were forced to think our way around problems that our characters would normally just pound their way through. Mike is a talented Game Master, and this fact was evident in his entry.

In keeping with the horror theme of the con, Mike explains that disruptive players will be dismembered and buried beneath the floorboards.

The next game in which I played was a science fiction/humor game called HOL (for Human Occupied Landfill). The game's setting establishes that the players are prisoners (for anything from being framed for minor infractions to actually being horrible depraved criminals) who have been sentenced to live on a planet that is also used as the galaxy's garbage dump. Robotic cameras wander the landscape broadcasting the character's misery to the rest of the galaxy for their amusement. The game master created "terrain" for the game miniatures (many games use small models to illustrated where characters are and what they are doing) by dumping a trash can out on the table. The players included myself, the organizer Matt Steele, two long-time Bay Area gaming convention players/game masters, and the designers of the game Cthullutech and a social-networking/gaming website (EDIT - it's up and running and looking for folks, so go here). The game was hysterically fun, each of us playing some sort of weird reject with next-to-useless equipment having to negotiate a truly weird setting. In the end, one character used his abilities to play rock music to lure monsters away from us, another used the giant hamster-ball in which his character was trapped to get close enough to investigate a mysterious substance and help deal with it, my character mocked the laws of physics into submission, another made heavy artillery out of a radio, and another surrendered to the evil force we faced in order to distract it while the rest of us blew it to where it came from. The game had what was clearly intended to be horror elements, but the out-right gonzo lunacy of the game diluted them to where the game was more slapstick comedy than anything else. Alot of fun, and good work by the Game Master, but possibly not what the event was intended to be about.

It started with just a bit of garbage.

But we added to it over the course of the evening.

And then it threatened to encroach on the rest of the event.

The third (and final) game in which I played was interesting, but disturbing. It was set during the Eastern Front of WWII (see here for information on why this was so disturbing). The Game Master used a game system that is designed to imitate George Romero-style zombie stories. He also dropped hints that the Russians had been doing experiments to resuscitate dead soldiers, and one of the player characters was given a background narrative that had him having seen these resuscitated soldiers. Our characters were soldiers fighting in the eastern war. In the end, the zombie sightings were revealed to be the product of a soldier suffering from mental breakdown, and the game master put us into situations where simply trying to reduce the harm to innocent civilians led our characters to become paranoid tools of a man with a vendetta. Afterwards, the Game Master explained that he wanted the players to be confronted with the fact that neither the Soviets nor the Germans were monsters, but were humans in a situations and living under political leadership that fed on and rewarded the worst human traits - in other words, were we unlucky enough to be born in Germany or russia in the 1920s, then by the 1940s we would have been the ones committing the acts that as 21st century people we can look on in disgust. The leadership of both Hitler and Stalin and their inner circles was, indeed, evil, but most soldiers were just trying to survive and were swept up in the chaos that ensued when Hitler and Stalin made eastern Europe their personal dueling grounds. All of the players left the session deeply disturbed and truly horrified. The Game Master put it this way: there is no horror worse than what humans can do to each other, because we all have the potential to be monsters if we are not careful.

This was a valid lesson regarding morality, and if you view these not as games but as forms of storytelling (which they arguably are), then to use it as an essentially educational tool in this way is valid. However, we had all come to use them as games, and while potentially valuable, this was heavier than anyone had anticipated. So, I don't know what to make of the experience. I do think, however, that should I ever teach history (which could happen), I may take a lesson from this in trying to teach about war and war crimes.


So, to wrap it up, the last gaming experience aside, it was a fun event. I am very glad that I went, and I plan on attending next year. Hopefully the weather will be a bit more hostile next time. Regardless, as I know a couple of the other attendees read this, it was good to see everyone, and I look forward to next time.

If the readers will grant me just a bit more patience, while everyone that I met was fantastic, my memory for names is poor, so I want to say that everyone was a pleasure to meet and game with. I would like to acknowledge a few specific people who returned from last years and who really made the con especially enjoyable for me: Mike Ripley, whose gaming group I was in and whose company I miss, it was good to see him; the always gracious Matt DeHayes, and his girlfriend Nicole, I hope to get to spend a bit more time talking with them next time around; Shannon MacNamara, who is quite possibly one of the friendliest people I have ever met; Jack Young, who injected a sense of class into whatever part of the proceedings he was near; Mr. Grau and Mr. Muldoon, who were pitch-perfect for the HOL game and a hell of a lot of fun; Kris Miller (new this year, but memorable) the physicist/professional telescope operator/game convention impresario, and really interesting, cool guy; and of course, the host, Matt Steele, who made the event a success two years running - here's looking at year 3.

B Movie Love

Intermission from Glenn Beck's pseudo archaeological meanderings, I'll get back to it tomorrow...

I had a conversation with someone recently in which I tried to explain my love of B movies. They insisted that I simply liked laughing at other people's work, and that it was essentially a cruel endeavor. I disagree. Yes, there are some films that should simply be laughed at, but there are some that should be seen because they are simply so astoundingly odd that there is a great joy in seeing other people's very weird imaginations at work. You're definitely laughing with and not at the film's creators.

Basically, a movie that is simply bad is...well...bad, and not fun to watch. a movie that is bad but imaginative, well, that makes for great entertainment.

Consider the following screen captures from the movie Champions of Justice, and consider that the movie takes place in a world where things like what you see below are perfectly normal.



Taken from www.badmovies.org



I give no explanation, because the movie doesn't give one. The filmmakers want to take you on a trip to wackyland, where masked Mexican wrestlers are the only thing that stands between order and chaos. It's silly, it's fun, and while it's bad, it's a kind of bad that everyone can enjoy, and I seriously doubt that anyone involved in the production would begrudge me my enjoyment of this sort of thing.

So, next time that you think your local bad movie lover is simply sneering at other people, consider that maybe they are actually getting something good and fun out of the movie.

Okay, off this soapbox, and tomorrow I'll be back on my usual soapbox.

Gaming in a Haunted Hotel

My two main hobbies are Role-Playing Games and collecting ghost stories. So, this past weekend, I had a rare opportunity to combine the two by taking part in my friend Matt Steele's Dead of Winter gaming mini-convention at the Brookdale Lodge in Felton, in the mountains of Santa Cruz County.

It was a fuckin' blast! Loads of fun were had by all, and I am really hoping that it happens again next year.

The hotel itself is reputed to be haunted, and it can be a damn creepy place under normal circumstances. We happened to be there during a large winter storm, and so it was even weirder a place than normal.

The Brookdale lodge is a conglomeration of several different buildings - three buildings containing hotel rooms and a few shops, the lodge itself which contains the hotel's lobby, a strange room below the hotel's swimming pool through which you can watch swimmers (when the pool is open) - kinda' a voyeur's creepy dream, really - a stage, two bars (only one of which is currently open), and the brook room - a large (and formerly opulent) dining room built above a creek channel, with the creek visible (and audible) from all parts of the room. The last building is a log cabin that has been connected to the rest of the building by a hallway. Our games took place in the log cabin, with four tables set out and a a group of players surrounding each table. For a convention-newbie such as myself, this was ideal - all of the players were there by invitation, and each of them was an excellent player, leading to some of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I have ever had. I tried some new games, and was pleased with both their ease-of play and their overall effect, and my fellow players were a fun, friendly bunch who were nothing short of amazing to game with.

Matt set up a great event, and his long-time partner Lisa deserves a lot of credit for keeping things running smoothly even when matters began to go awry. The general feeling amongst the players was that if Lisa was around, the situation was well in hand and all would be well - we were all very, very grateful.

And things did go wonderfully awry (no sarcasm, it really was great). The theme of the mini-con was horror games - every game ran had a horror plot line, most of them with a supernatural bent. In the storm, we quickly discovered that portions of the Lodge's roof and ceiling have gone missing over the years (though thankfully not in our play area) and water poured inside and pooled on the ground in many of the rooms. Some of the walls had experienced excessive rot from years of neglect, and water and cold air came in through them. The end result was that, between the ghost stories already in circulation about the place and the lodge's decrepit state, the place was creepy as hell and really fed the mood for running horror games.

Towards the end of the first game session on Saturday, the lights went out. We were able to continue with sufficient light between flashlights and the daylight that made it in through the locked window shutters, but with sunset approaching, we needed to do something. Luckily, Lisa and a few of the attendees quickly gathered electric camp lanterns and candles and began to bring some light into the gaming room, even if only in small pools at each table.

For any other event, the loss of electrical power and a decrepit building would have been a detriment. For this event, it was a boon. The reduced lighting, added to by the fact that we had to pass in the dark through one of the allegedly more haunted rooms to get to or from the gaming room, added to the surreal, creepy feel. The damp under our feet when we walked into or out of the gaming room added to the on-edge feeling essential to a good ghost story (and by extension, a good horror game). The games became more fun, and the attendees more excited. When power was restored around midnight, many of the attendees demanded that the lights be turned off near their tables to preserve the atmosphere that had built up during the evening.

It was, to put it simply, fucking awesome.

While there, I naturally went about looking for things to add to the ghost stories that I have collected for this place. There were a few other visitors, not related to the gaming con, who were there specifically to stay at a haunted hotel, included a pair of teenagers and the mother of one of them who were there as a sixteenth birthday present. They reported hearing voices and then a crash from an empty room - not unusual for a building with weird acoustics, a gaming convention, and a deteriorating roof, but they were good and spooked (it probably helped that some of my fellow gamers took to jumping out at people in the dark).

I also took a number of photos in the darkened lodge, such as:







And here's an interesting set. Both of these were taking in the Brook Room, less than 30 seconds apart. I have no idea why one has fog over it and the other doesn't. My girlfriend suggests that the foggy photo may have captured my breath (it was very cold, and out breath was condensing), and I suppose that this is a perfectly plausible explanation.





While it likely has a pretty simple explanation, seeing this appear on my camera's view screen on a dark and rainy night was an eerie experience.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I hope that this happens again next year, as I would love to game these people again.

Hitler Was a Geek

Okay, so probably only a few of you will find this funny, as it pertains to a hobby that a small (but growing) segment of the population has. But I thought it was hilarious, and if you are a table-top gamer, you may find it funny as well.

Object Photos

The building at 5-Points in Santa Cruz

So, I am going to be working out of town for a couple of days starting tommorrow, but in the meantime, I thought I'd post more photos. I had previously posted photos of people and of landscapes, this time it is photos I have taken of objects. If you don't like them, and I can't say that I blame you there, then pretend that they are paparazzi photos of celebrities. In fact, I'll offer two sets of comments on each photo, one describing what it is, and one for those pretending that it's something else.

First off is this image of one of the "natural bridge" hollows carved out of the sandstone at Lighthouse beach in Santa Cruz.

or

Here we see Mary Kate and Ashley Olson visiting "Stan the Man", their favorite crack dealer. Although other dealers offer equal quality at lower prices, Mary Kate and Ashley believe in loyalty, and so they keep coming back to Stan.




Next up is a photo of birds occupying a railing at a park in Santa Cruz. I saw them ont he rail, realized this was a great picture, and managed ot get a shot before they all flew away.

or

Here is an image of Keanu Reeves with his new agent, arguably the most powerful agent a celebrity could have, Satan. Despite his tremendous influence and power, Satan doesn't demand too large a cut of his star's earnings, instead opting to lead them down the road to temptation and thus entrap them eternally. All in all, it's a win-win situation.




This next photo is in colcor, despite the fact that it looks as if it is black-and-white. It's a picture of a dry portion of the bed of the LExington Reservoir near Los Gatos, CA. I was walking around the reservoir looking for photo opportunities, when I noticed the cracking pattern of the dry bed.

or

Here we see a retro photo of Betty Davis back in her hey-day. Note the red on her lips - that's not cosmetics, it's the blood of a baby she has devoured. She says that bathing in the blood of innocents is what keeps her skin vibrant and beautiful. Oh Betty, you card!




I was working on a project in Watsonville, and drove by this building on my way home. In balck-and-white on an overcast day, it looked both fascinating and rather creepy.

or

This is Richard Simmon's new home, the upper floor is his living quarters, and the lower floor is where a group of obese accolytes run on treadmills to power the city of Los Angeles as overlord Richard walsk the floor and encourages them with cheerful words, oldies music, and a cat-o-nine tails.




Finally, there is this one. I was doing powerline surveys (to ensure that work on some power lines would not damage archaeological sites) near Fresno, and while walking underneath them, I became interested in their structure. So, I snapped this shot, which looks to me like some sort of demented industrial spiderweb.

or

And so we bid this look at our favorite celebrities farewell with a shot of Julia Roberts passed out in a gutter, a bottle of jack Daniels in one hand and a package of expired tortillas in the other. Please join us next time on Lifestyles of the Big and Decadent!

Photos Galore

Because I have an ego the size of the Monterey Bay and I like tooting my own horn (really, why else would I be keeping this blog), I thought I'd show the fruits of one of my hobbies (no, not the tooting of my horn - I keep those fruits private). I usually have a camera in my car, and while I am in no way a professional quality photographer (hell, I don't even have a particularly good camera), I have managed to get some shots that I am proud of. I don't take too many pictures of people, because I'm not very good at it, but I like the ones in this post. Such as:

This one of Scott, Kirin, and Salome listening to music at a coffee shop. I like the rather screwed-up symmetry of the image, three people, and the photo is centered on one of them, which should create good symmetry, but because Salome is leaning forward, it doesn't quite work.

Or how about this one - Scott's explaining something, and Stacy is looking thoroughly unimpressed...



Again, a slightly screwed-up symmetry, this one due to the fact that Scott is partially out of the frame and I'm taking the picture from an odd angle relative to them, and I kind of like that.

I have no idea who this person is, but when I saw her leaning against the wall of the coffee shop, I figured it would make a good photo:
In this case, I like the fact that she is clearly unaware that her picture is being taken (actually, that's the case for all of these photos), and she clearly has other things on her mind. Add to that the fact that the photos is taken through a window, and I am looking over someone's shoulder (note the newspaper in the corner of the screen), and I think it makes for an interesting image.


Then there's vanishing points, which I make alot of use of when I am not photographing people, but are difficult to capture with people. However, this photo of Jeff and Scott watching miniature car races at the Santa Cruz County Fair came off nicely.



And finally, an image of Scott at a supposedly haunted hotel in Brookdale, off of Highway 9.



And that's all for now...though I am trying to figure out why Scott is in so many of my pictures. Probably because he seems oblivious to his surroundings, and therefore doesn't notice or pose when I pull the camera out.