2007 September Archive - byteful travel

Back when the leaves were still completely green, I took a bike ride of exploration. As is my habit when taking bike rides, I simply wandered around without a final destination in mind, gliding down the hill and making a right turn down a rocky road this time. The rocky road was long and jiggled the whole bike as I progressed, but I continued on because I knew what was at the end.

I soon reached the eastern dam’s power station, feeling the faint humming sound from the huge transistors resounding in the area. About a year before, I discovered a small path beyond the sand near the power station. I parked my bike in the sand and walked down the short path to the lower shore. The edge of the river reminded me of the ocean, and to my left I could see the old dam roaring in the distance. The shore continued to my right, and I slowly followed it as it became narrow the further I went. I came upon a fallen log lying in the river and sat down on the side above the land.

Sandals

The clean sand seemed to be begging me to take my sandals off. I considered this and decided that it was safe. With the sand firmly beneath my feet now, I began to realize what a peaceful place this really was. I decided to walk into the river and immediate felt much more connected to the Earth and my surroundings. This time, I sat down on the side of the log which was slightly above the water and waded my feet, allowing the surroundings, the breeze, the waves, the scent to begin to heal my busied soul. I sat there for some time in silence.

Photos

I thought it would be a good idea to see if I could capture some of the feel of the place, and began snapping photos in a rather random manner. You may view the photos in the Sandals and Footprints album on the Byteful Gallery. While just a tiny sliver of my experience, the photos herein do capture the feel of that place. I am especially pleased of the final photo, which is at the heading of this article, called “Footprints to the River”. When I returned to my computer, I experimented with exposure and decided to change the photo to black and white. Combined with some inexplicable edge-blur, the photo inspires a sense of longing and hope in me.

In the end, I am so glad that I went beyond my comfort zone and removed my sandals. By opening myself up to feel sand between my toes, I also opened myself up to make a deeper connection with the Earth.

Photos from this trip are in the Byteful Gallery. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just as the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers are.

Enjoy the photos.

What’s a Mashup?

Have you ever listened to a mashup? Most likely you have, but didn’t realize it. A Mashup is a clever way to combine elements of two or more songs into one song, usually creating a completely new feel to the sound. Mashups have been getting more popular recently due to mashup podcasts, the most famous of which is undoubtedly MashupTown.com, which I highly recommend. Once you subscribe, free new mashups arrive at your podcast aggregator automatically. It’s easily one of my favorite podcasts. That’s not to say I’m not picky, though. Some mashups from MashupTown I could go my entire life never hearing again, but a few times a month they release a real gem (the kind of song you play over and over) and the makes it all worthwhile.

Mind Blowing Mashups

I love mashups like Norwegian Recycling’s How Six Songs Collide (which combines Jason Mraz, Howie Day, Five For Fighting, and more to weave a seamless unique ballad of sound), Galvanize the Empire (which is the most amazing Star Wars mashup your ears will ever receive), and Over the Confluence of Giants which combines Under the Influence of Giants, Steely Dan, Queen, David Bowie, and others to create a truly compelling atmosphere that makes me wonder if Marty McFly will pop out from around a corner any minute. And these are just some of the incredible mashups out there on the net.

The Accidental Creation of the First Wallpaper Mashup

Now that you know what a normal mashup is, (and I’ve officially distracted you for two hours while you delve into mashuptown’s website) I can explain what a Wallpaper Mashup is. A wallpaper mashup is the concept of mish-mashing data together in visual form instead of audio form. According to Google, I am the first person to use the term “wallpaper mashup” in a meaningful way, which is somewhat surprising to me. Nonetheless, let it be known that I was the first person to bring this idea to fruition. (No one really owns any concept per se. They mysteriously pop in to people’s heads all the time, but few act on such promptings.)

I stumbled upon this idea by accident when I was playing with Photoshop not long ago. (Ironic how our best discoveries occur when we are not looking.) For some reason, I had two desktop wallpapers (Snowy Sight & Harsh Peak) on separate layers and was playing with blending modes. Suddenly, a rather attractive image popped out at me when I selected a difference blend. In short, I had accidently created a seamless, somewhat pleasing blend of two wallpapers, but it wasn’t “complete”. I promptly saved the file and forgot about it for a few weeks, as is my habit when I plant the seed of a new creation.

A Second Look

When I returned to it a few days ago, I found to my delight that I still found it pleasing to the eye, though it still needed some tweaking. With wacky amounts of hue shifting, curves and other graphical mumbo-jumbo, I finally arrived at a delightfully and eccentrically-soothing final product. I call it Snowy Peak.

Snowy Peak comes in Aglow and Deep flavors for daytime and nighttime, or whenever you like. Above is the Aglow version. The Deep version often helps relax me at night, while the aglow version can help wake me up in the morning. It’s highly psychological. Perhaps I’m nuts, but it’s true for me.

Enjoy!

p.s. Just for kicks, I’ve also added an especially bizarre version that I stumbled on after I created the Deep version. I call it Snowy Peak - Bizzaro.