Saturday, September 30, 2006

LIX: What?

© Lani Kai
Trypto: that's a creepy picture, how'd you take it?
Lani Kai: I used my macro lens and closed in to about 2-3 inches away
Lani Kai: and I used flash since I found it on the screen on the back door at dinnertime
Lani Kai: it will eat you if you try to push me into spider webs

LVIII: Hooked on Colorburn

View Source Image
© Trypto
Trypto: I decided to fill it in with black since it was blurry from me not being able to hold still
Trypto: then I made big circular selection centered on the ring
Trypto: feathered the edge by 250 pixels, and filled it with white
Trypto: and that's why it glows there...
Trypto: I used the gradient bucket to fill the ring with red and black
Trypto: and voilà
Lani Kai: I see

Friday, September 29, 2006

LVII: Inner Reflections

©Lani Kai
Trypto: what exactly am I seeing?
Lani Kai: that's the headrest of a seat as reflected in the rear-view mirror
Trypto: didn't you write a letter to ferrari in 11th grade?
Lani Kai: yes
Lani Kai: and they sent me stickers

LVI: Tobey Maguire is a Terrible Actor

© Trypto
Trypto: did you ever see spiderman II?
Lani Kai: no
Lani Kai: I hated the first one
Trypto: well, so did I
Trypto: but it was on HBO a few times

Thursday, September 28, 2006

LV: Pineapple

© Lani Kai
Lani Kai: well, it's definitely not a palm tree
Lani Kai: it's a giant pineapple
Lani Kai: right?
Trypto: it's like I don't even need to be here since you know what I'm going to say

LIV: Existentialist Paradox

© Trypto
Trypto: get it?
Lani Kai: no
Trypto: it's an orange orange
Trypto: =)

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

LIII: Follow the Light

© Lani Kai
Trypto: I would crop it to just the light, and the window by the light
...
Trypto: yes, now the image is easier to read
Trypto: at least, according to my personal design biases
Lani Kai: yeah, I was wondering whether I should totally get rid of the sky
Lani Kai: then I thought cutting off the window might not look good
Lani Kai: but it looks fine

LII: Impulsive

© Trypto
Lani Kai: how much was it?
Trypto: erm, 11 dollars...
Trypto: I'm impulsive
Lani Kai: you could buy a few large bottles for that price...
Trypto: plus a decent breakfast instead of the crap they served

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

LI: Galaxy

© Lani Kai
Trypto: I didn't realize it was water until I read the comment
Trypto: it looked like scar tissue to me
Trypto: or one of those pictures of galaxies
Lani Kai: I actually thought of the latter when I took the picture
Trypto: the angle contributes to that
Lani Kai: right, since they all seem to be depicted at that angle

Monday, September 25, 2006

L: Alone

© Lani Kai
Lani Kai: gosh, no Wisp either today
Lani Kai: so... since co-blogger and guest blogger are absent, it's monologue time!
Lani Kai: this site received zero hits yesterday, which is actually a first...
Lani Kai: usually we get at least one person that clicks on the "Next Blog" link up top and ends up here
Lani Kai: it looks like I'm alone here in more than one respect, then

Sunday, September 24, 2006

XLIX: Flying B

© Lani Kai
Wisp: this is some absurdly redundant design
Wisp: I mean
Wisp: does the creator want wings in the air
Wisp: or grounded wings
Wisp: how overly ornate
Wisp: how overly useless
Lani Kai: ouch

Saturday, September 23, 2006

XLVIII: Loner

© Lani Kai
Wisp: so why did you focus on the 2 ball?
Wisp: it's like the blue ball is the loner on this cool background
Wisp: while the other balls are proud of their warmness
Wisp: what's with that huh? isn't that racist?
Lani Kai: maybe you think that way because YOU'RE racist
Wisp: oh, burned

XLVII: Shoes

© Trypto
Lani Kai: your favorite shoes
Lani Kai: conveniently shipped to you with a USPS flat rate box
Trypto: and my favorite fly infested stream...
Lani Kai: I should have charged you $8.10 like the post office would
Lani Kai: but I suppose you gave me lodging for a night
Lani Kai: and orange juice...
Trypto: and sundry services as tour guide, poker dealer, etc.

Friday, September 22, 2006

XLVI: Flames

© Lani Kai
Trypto: oh great
Trypto: a flooower
Trypto: how cliché...
Lani Kai: hush, you
Trypto: I suppose the red counterpoints the blue flowers I posted two days ago
Trypto: it makes me think of a building on fire and the stamens look like people jumping out the windows

XLV: Analyze This

© Trypto
Lani Kai: you left your toast in the toaster a bit too long
Trypto: I actually don't know what it's a picture of
Trypto: I just found it on my camera
Lani Kai: I think it's a picture of a sunset through blinds
Trypto: it looks like an elephant to me

Thursday, September 21, 2006

XLIV: Evil Villain

© Lani Kai
Trypto: that's kind of what I envisioned the booger man to look like
Trypto: green, and shooting a stream of booger from his arm
Trypto: but naked...
Lani Kai: this lighting makes him look rather evil
Lani Kai: I think he looks less evil here
Trypto: if you say so...
Lani Kai: relatively speaking
Trypto: are you saying that being backlit makes someone evil?
Lani Kai: it's actually sidelight
Lani Kai: I think it's the harsher shadows

XLIII: Executive Decisions

© Trypto
Trypto: see how the tables have turned!
Trypto: now it is I who is posting a picture of the pacific ocean!
Lani Kai: hooray for high contrast and saturation
Trypto: and a level horizon
Trypto: among other executive decisions

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

XLII: Hoodlums

© Lani Kai
Trypto: is that what's behind them?
Lani Kai: no, that's a 9V battery
Trypto: I see, the AA's are ganging up on it
Trypto: like a bunch of teenage hoodlums harrassing a poor homeless man on the street
Lani Kai: probably because it has both terminals on one end
Trypto: I can relate to that...

XLI: Feeling Blue

© Trypto
Lani Kai: when I was looking through all the posts yesterday I noticed that my posts tend to have a cool tone while yours are predominantly warm
Trypto: yes, I tend to like warmth
Trypto: but blue is the new sepia

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

XL: Tasty

© Lani Kai
Lani Kai: I like the look it gave me
Trypto: which was?
Lani Kai: well, at first, it was looking somewhere else
Lani Kai: and then it looked up at me and just stared for a few minutes
Trypto: it was probably deciding whether or not to eat you
Lani Kai: I wonder what made it decide against that
Trypto: you're too skinny
Trypto: though I've heard you taste good with barbecue sauce

XXXIX: Guest Who?

© Trypto
Trypto: so yeah, I told Wisp he was going to guest blog if you didn't show up tonight
Trypto: and I think it'll be interesting
...
Wisp: in the original, the bright hues almost make it look as if everything is on fire around the bridge
Wisp: and the bridge is about to be crispy
Trypto: just how I like 'em
Wisp: Kentucky Fried Bridge
Wisp: we do bridge right
Lani Kai: they don't use real bridges

Monday, September 18, 2006

XXXVIII: For a Lack of a Better Word...

©Lani Kai
Trypto: how'd you do the thing with the water?
Lani Kai: the thing?
Trypto: yeah, the thing
Trypto: with the water
Lani Kai: I used a tripod and a long exposure

XXXVII: 7 + 11 = Wee

© Trypto
Trypto: I wonder if anyone noticed there weren't any posts yesterday
Trypto: and if they did, whether they would guess it was because I spent the whole night trying unsuccessfully to intoxicate my coblogger...
Trypto: so you made it home safely?
Lani Kai: yeah
Lani Kai: it took about 3 hours and 45 minutes

Saturday, September 16, 2006

XXXVI: Taxation Without Representation

© Lani Kai
Lani Kai: today was payday
Lani Kai: and I was taxed another $132.89
Trypto: you're such a good citizen
Lani Kai: right
Lani Kai: but I'm not a citizen

XXXV: Physics

© Trypto
Lani Kai: where is this?
Trypto: a narrow hallway in the physics department
Trypto: it's about two feet wide

Friday, September 15, 2006

XXXIV: 75% Off

© Lani Kai
Lani Kai: I picked it up a few years ago at the weird store in the mall which sells a bunch of stuff like this
Lani Kai: the store went out of business today
Lani Kai: it said "75% OFF! TOMORRW [sic] LAST DAY" for about a week
...
Trypto: it's nice how just one of the crosses shows up perfectly in the little structure
Trypto: I think it gives a focal point to the focal point, as it were
Lani Kai: yeah, I just noticed that
Trypto: you're supposed to say that was your plan all along

XXXIII: Edge

© Trypto
Lani Kai: where is this?
Lani Kai: it doesn't look like it leads to a happy place
Trypto: it's on the very edge of campus
Trypto: where no one can hear your screams
...
Trypto: the bushes on the right are where XXI came from
Trypto: there's a part where they're all denuded and spiky

Thursday, September 14, 2006

XXXII: Hotel, California

© Lani Kai
Trypto: condos by the beach?
Lani Kai: it's actually a hotel
...
Lani Kai: I'm sure you remember the time we went climbing rocks by the beach and my parking permit expired
Trypto: actually, I don't
Lani Kai: you or Alex insisted that there would be a nice cove on the other side of the rocks at the north end of the beach
Lani Kai: so we went climbing over rocks on bare feet and ended up not finding anything
Trypto: [inspirational comment about the journey being more important than the destination]

XXXI: Spare Time

© Trypto
Lani Kai: who is this?
Trypto: my aunt
Lani Kai: the one who has a rolls royce?
Trypto: among other vehicles...
Trypto: chinese opera is her job
Trypto: but she runs a multinational furniture company in her spare time

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

XXX: Your Head A Splode

© Lani Kai
Trypto: is that woman wearing a red hat?
Trypto: or is her head exploding
Lani Kai: red hat
Trypto: it's quite ugly
Trypto: you should let her know that

XXIX: DEFGH

© Trypto
Lani Kai: cool, we got a comment from some unknown being
Trypto: heh, "some unknown being"
Lani Kai: that's another way to say "canadian"
...
Lani Kai: so why did you choose marlboro?
Trypto: I dunno, most people do

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

XXVIII: Fountain of Life

©Lani Kai
Trypto: heehee
Lani Kai: that fountain is actually in the background of yesterday's picture
Lani Kai: but go on, say what you want to say
Lani Kai: no need to be shy
Trypto: what with your spurting phallic imagery, pictures of roses, and purple skies
Trypto: it's amusing, is all...
Trypto: I mean, I'm supposed to be the gay one

Monday, September 11, 2006

XXVII: Five Years

© Trypto
Trypto: what were you doing on September 11th?
Lani Kai: ummm
Lani Kai:
I first heard all that stuff on the radio when I was going to school
Lani Kai: and then we had marching band practice
Lani Kai: as usual
Trypto: it was a cold morning, as I recall
Trypto: but a warm afternoon...

XXVI: Purple Town

© Lani Kai
Trypto: the sky is purple!
Trypto: how did you do that?
Lani Kai: well, my camera has what are called "PictureStyles" which let you adjust sharpness, contrast, saturation, and color tone in-camera
Lani Kai: for this I chose "twilight"

XXV: ISO 400

© Trypto
Trypto: I wasn't going to take any pictures today since I was barfing and hallucinating
Trypto: but I decided to take a stroll through campus
Lani Kai: did that make you feel any better?
Trypto: no

Sunday, September 10, 2006

XXIV: F/2.8

© Lani Kai
Lani Kai: the camera allows for a view that is normally unachievable with the human eye
Lani Kai: for example, the shot here demonstrates a shallow depth of field
Lani Kai: a blurred background makes distracting elements less distracting
Lani Kai: the curvature of the cup provides an interesting contrast with the straight lines of the chair in the background
Lani Kai: as for the diagonal line on the right side, you wouldn't guess those are chop sticks if I didn't tell you

XXIII: Academia

© Trypto
Trypto: they have the lights turned off during the summer

Saturday, September 09, 2006

XXII: Ars Photographica

©Lani Kai
Lani Kai: ok, so you might think this is dumb...
Lani Kai: I shot black and white film today
Trypto: if it was because they were just lying around and you didn't feel like finding anything remotely interesting, yes that would be dumb
Trypto: but if you were commenting on the supreme irony of taking a color picture with a digital camera of black and white film...
Trypto: then I guess that's marginally amusing

XXI: Title Goes Here

© Trypto
Lani Kai: the french fry containers at burger king are called "fry pods" now
Trypto: is that an official term?
Lani Kai: there's a little trademark sign next to the name
Trypto: phillip morris should register "die pods" for cigarette packs
Trypto: and gucci, "buy pods" for their purses...
Trypto: and drug dealers "high pods" for the baggies of cocaine

Friday, September 08, 2006

XX: Glowsticks

© Lani Kai
Lani Kai: I took these by the house next door
Trypto: spying on their weeds?
Trypto: with your giant camera, they probably though you were a stalker
Trypto: ...or a real estate appraiser, photographing comparables
...
Lani Kai: I like the lighting
Trypto: yeah, it makes those thingies glow
Trypto: whatever the fuck they're called

XIX: Insert Cocaine Joke

© Trypto
Lani Kai: perhaps they are being hanged
Trypto: hm, the shoes hung from the telephone wire like convicted thieves outside a castle
Trypto: wishing they could touch the asphalt once again

Trypto:
the grass

Lani Kai: the earth they had become so accustomed to feeling
Trypto: I guess to a shoe, the sky would be hell...

Thursday, September 07, 2006

XVIII: Extraterrestrial

© Lani Kai
Trypto: lemme guess
Trypto: the silicon based skeleton of some giant evil insect that lives on Venus
Lani Kai: how did you know?
Lani Kai: I found it at a little gift shop on Balboa Island
Lani Kai: apparently they trade with the natives of Venus
Trypto: Venusians love Balboa Island

XVII: Just There

© Trypto
Lani Kai: they were just there?
Trypto: like someone had a boxful and dumped them all on the ground
Trypto: so I got down and took a few pictures

Trypto: they remind me of maggots
Trypto: but cute, fluffy maggots

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

XVI: Up, Up, and Away

©Lani Kai
Lani Kai: I find it difficult to take pictures of birds in flight with a good background; in most cases it's just an empty sky
Lani Kai: or a bunch of trees which drown out the subject
Lani Kai: in this picture I was able to capture the seagull with the sky as a background, yet include the palm tree to make the image more interesting
Lani Kai: I really like how the shape of the seagull complements the shape of the palm tree
Lani Kai: if this had been taken just a split second later, the seagull would have had a cluttered, green background

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

XV: A Nice, Firm...Composition

© Trypto
Lani Kai: so is the rear end all smooth and shiny because everyone touches it?
Trypto: that's what I surmise
Trypto: check out the awesome diagonal
Trypto: it's sexy
Lani Kai: yeah, I like the composition
Lani Kai: what's the statue looking at?
Trypto: it was an enclosed courtyard, I'm not sure what she's looking at
Trypto: or why she's naked
Lani Kai: well, that could be said of many statues

XIV: La Vacance

©Lani Kai
Trypto: are you going to crop it at all?
Lani Kai: I was thinking maybe into like a panorama
Trypto: taking advantage of the strong horizontal of the beach
Trypto: it has nice colors
Trypto: but no one seems to be in the water
Trypto: were there sharks that day?
Lani Kai: well, it was taken in March, so it was rather cold
Trypto: and sharky, I bet

Monday, September 04, 2006

XIII: The New World

© Trypto
Lani Kai: I drove all the way up to rancho santa margarita yesterday
Trypto: what are the natives like up there?
Trypto: do they sacrifice children to the sun god?
Lani Kai: I'm not sure
Lani Kai: a police car followed me for about ten minutes
Trypto: did you plant the flag of our king in their heathen soil?
Trypto: claim this...santa margarita...for portugal?
Lani Kai: no, but I shall return with reinforcements
Trypto: also try to spread smallpox

XII: Mastermind

© Lani Kai
Lani Kai: looks like it's my turn to go at this alone today
Lani Kai: so these locks are holding a gate to a post
Lani Kai: I'm pretty sure it would be easier and less expensive if they just went to Home Depot and bought a foot of chain and ONE lock...
Lani Kai: but I guess someone didn't want to take the easy way out
Lani Kai: or the City of Laguna Beach had a pile of locks sitting around
Lani Kai: where do they keep all the keys for these anyway?

Sunday, September 03, 2006

XI: Zoom Zoom

© Lani Kai
Lani Kai: CAR magazine voted this the coolest car ever in May of 2004
Trypto: what did you think of Cars the movie?
Lani Kai: I didn't see it
Lani Kai: the last time I saw a movie that had anything remotely to do with cars was the French movie Taxi
Trypto: why don't you watch car movies?
Trypto: it seems logical to watch movies about the things you're interested in
Trypto: I watch poker movies and movies where people kill their roommates
Lani Kai: I guess there haven't been many movies about the cars I'm interested in
Lani Kai: The Fast and the Furious doesn't cut it
Trypto: I watched The Fast and the Furious cause Paul Walker is dreamy

X: Flying Solo

© Trypto
Trypto: my coblogger hasn't been online all day...
Trypto: so um, this is some graffitti in a stairwell in the Architecture building
Trypto: the text bubbles, from left to right, read:
Trypto: "Art for artFUCK's sake."
Trypto: "Ceci n'est pas un zèbre."
Trypto: and "Post-it Modernism."
Trypto: to be honest, they were indecipherable, I just made those up
Trypto: it's hard to be snarky by oneself...