Michael Hanscom

Enthusiastic ambivert. Geeky, liberal, friendly, curious, hopepunk; trying to be a good person. (he/him)

Seattle Outtakes Pipe

by

Update: PI staffer Mike Thompson let me know that they’ve just enabled RSS feeds for each individual category within the Big Blog. Each category page (like this one for Seattle Outtakes, for instance) now has an RSS link right at the top of the page. Thanks, Mike!

For some time now, I’ve been following the Seattle Outtakes blog from the PI, where PI photographers would post and discuss images that didn’t make the final cut into the paper for one reason or another (and some photos that were published), along with how they got the shot, techniques, and so on. Really good stuff for a photo bug.

Sadly, Outtakes has now been absorbed into The Big Blog, the PI’s latest addition to their ever-growing linup of weblogs. I’m not sure quite why they made this decision, but I found it rather annoying. As I posted in a comment on their announcement post:

One more vote for keeping Outtakes separate — I watch this one precisely because of my interest in photography, and have really enjoyed the insights into what the PI photographers do. The Big Blog feels too unfocused in tone and too similar to too many other local ‘catchall’ blogs, and it not something I’m likely to check in with regularly…which ends up meaning no Outtakes for me. Pity.

While you can manually check the Outtakes category on The Big Blog, there’s no category-specific RSS feed provided, and there’s just way too much traffic that I’m not terribly interested in for me to bother subscribing to the RSS feed (and even if I did feel like subscribing, it appears to be an excerpts-only feed instead of a full-text feed — one more reason for me not to subscribe).

So…Yahoo Pipes to the (theoretical) rescue. I’ve not actually played with Yahoo Pipes before, but given that it allows you to perform various operations on web data, it seemed like it might be a good potential tool for attempting to regain my Outtakes fix. In theory, if I’ve done this correctly, this pipe should be a Seattle Outtakes RSS feed.

However: I don’t actually know if it’s working correctly yet, and I’m not sure how soon I will…and there’s some potential down-the-road issues with the pipe. Geeky details under the cut…

Read more

True Blood

by

Since I don’t have cable (and have no plans to get cable), I may have to fire up the ol’ BitTorrent downloader for a new HBO show coming out this fall called True Blood. I’ve never heard of it ’till just a few minutes ago, but this blurb caught my eye…

…perhaps a new TV show called “True Blood” might be more to your liking. Starring Anna Paquin, and currently in production, it looks as if one of their characters is going to be outfitted in one of our denim [Utilikilts], according to writer/director Alan Ball (”Six Feet Under”, “American Beauty”, “Grace Under Fire”, etc). The show’s premise is that vampires have finally decided to come out of the proverbial closet, and become members of public society. This causes some consternation for bartender and mind-reader Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), since she can see what the vampires really think…

Anna Paquin, vampires, and Utilikilts in the same show? Sounds to me like it’ll at least be worth checking out an episode or three.

Young men, you don’t have to feel down…

by
Best YMCA... ever!

Best YMCA… ever!, originally uploaded by dyanna.

I’m going to hell for posting this.

In my defense: they’re going to hell for doing this in the first place.

And you’re going to hell for laughing at it.

Dance Off Photoshoot

by

Yesterday morning found me heading out of the house sometime not too long after 8am — horridly early for a Sunday morning — so that I could head down to the Crocodile to hang out with the Dance Off Seattle crew and shoot the dress rehearsal. With roughly a half-dozen teams to get through, we got started at 9am, and spent the next five and a half hours or so letting each team run through their routine a few times while I ran around the floor snapping off shots.

Y’know, it’s amazing how heavy a D70s can get after a few hours! I’d picked up a flash sync cable to allow me to run my flash tethered to the camera (while the D70s/SB-800 combination allows wireless flash syncing, the pre-flash trigger sequence introduces a bit of delay that using the sync cable removes), so I ended up shooting nearly everything with the camera in one hand and the flash in the other. It doesn’t take long at all for that to turn into quite a workout!

While I’m going to be one of two photographers for the actual show, the second photographer couldn’t make it to the rehearsal shoot. Since the organizers of the Dance Off are also contestants, they made sure to stay out of the rehearsal space while the other teams were practicing, so that none of the teams know what the others are doing. This has put me in the rather interesting position of being the only person in Seattle who’s gotten at least a hint as to what each of the different teams are doing, and let me tell you…

…this year’s Dance Off is going to be awesome.

(All photos, of course, will on embargo until after the show — no spoilers from me, kids!)

If you didn’t make it to last year’s Dance Off, I’d suggest hitting the videos page on their site, or checking out Propadata Films‘ video podcasts of all of last year’s performers, available either as an RSS feed or through iTunes, and there’s also my photoset from last year. Some of the same teams are returning, some new teams have signed on, and all of them…well, they knew that they were going to have to bring it. And oh, it has been broughten!

And as I mentioned before, last year was sold out and people had to be turned away at the door. The Crocodile looks to have a larger capacity, but don’t delay too long — tickets are only $7, and you can snag them online now. The show’s this Thursday evening, Aug. 2nd at the Crocodile. Be there!

Deacon John Hanscom

by
2002_010107july0149

2002_010107july0149, originally uploaded by johnhanscom.

Many congratulations to my dad, who was ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church this last Wednesday evening!

Dad’s always been incredibly well versed in religious matters, and has had his friends and family suggesting for years that he should pursue ordination. He started on this path a few years ago, and it’s great to see this happen.

Yay dad! :)

End of an Era: No more Weekly World News

by

Quite possibly my all-time favorite tabloid, the Weekly World News, is shutting down.

American Media has decided to suspend publication of Weekly World News, both the print publication and the web site. No reason was given at press time, although reliable sources do tell us that management turned down at least one offer to buy the publication.

The weekly supermarket tabloid—known as the home of “Bat Boy” and other less-than-probable stories—has long had staffing connections with the science fiction, fantasy, and horror fields.

Apparently, this came as a surprise to the employees.

Bob Greenberger, an editor with Weekly World News, reports on his blog that he and the rest of the staff were called into a meeting about noon on Friday where they were “told the Board of Directors has chosen to close Weekly World News. The reasons given make no sense. We’re stunned and shell-shocked. We’re to stay on through August 3, finishing the reprint issues and then we’re done. A glorious, funny, odd publication, born in 1979, will go out with a whimper and all I can think is that something’s going on that they’re not telling us because it just doesn’t make sense.”

Silencio!

by

And here begins a 48-hour-ish period of self-imposed exile from the ‘net. Due to time’s slow march around the globe, Muggles across the world are already diving into the final year of adventures at Hogwarts, and while Prairie and I will be receiving our copies tomorrow (thanks to the express owls dispatched from Amazon), due to a prior engagement (a wedding that I’m assisting with photography duties for), we won’t actually be able to read them until Sunday (as Prairie is being kind enough to wait until we can read our copies — one for each of us — together).

So — while we may check e-mail accounts — all else is off limits, to prevent any possible spoiler trolls sneaking past and ruining the fun.

Until we’re done, then…

Dance Off 2007 is Coming!

by

Dance Off 2007Last year, entirely on a whim, Prairie and I went to Dance Off 2006 and had an absolute blast. During the show, I took a few photos, and sent the link off to the Dance Off crew. Turns out they liked them…in fact, they liked them so much that this year, I’m one of two official photographers for the event!

This year’s Dance Off is coming soon — just two weeks away! This year it’ll be held at the Crocodile on August 2nd at 8pm, and it’d be a good idea to buy your tickets now, as last year’s show sold out.

Dance Off is an annual dance battle for those who have the heart and soul of a dancer, but lack the training and talent of a dancer.

Each summer, teams of dancers band together and choreograph awesomely bad routines with which to enter the battle realm. They perform these routines for a drunken audience who determine the best of the worst for that year.

After the votes are tallied, a winner is crowned and an insane dance party rages into the night.

Does this sound like fun to you? Then be prepared each August for Dance Off to rock your face!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

by

Prairie and I went out to see the latest Potter movie last Sunday, and quite enjoyed it — in fact, this may be our current favorite (with number two battling for the prime spot in Prairie’s eyes). While many people have found it a bit rushed, I was impressed with how well they were able to compress such a long book into the span of just over a couple hours. To me, it felt fast, but not necessarily rushed. As Prairie and I have spent a couple days thinking back on it, we’re both pretty satisfied with this latest entry, and what few issues we have with the film fall pretty solidly into the realm of nitpicking, rather than actual issues.

Nitpicks (good things and bad, actually) under the cut (spoilers and all)…

Read more