A run is better than a walk - 3 miles

And also better than no riding at all. Today's weather was FUNKY. I started mowing the lawn and had to quit twice because it began snowing & sleeting. This blew my riding time out the window so I had to settle for a run. I so hate running. At least I got my heart rate up and kept it there for a while. That's what counts in my mind. I don't think I'm really building leg muscles with the how infrequently I run.

Endomondo App

I've been meaning to blog about the Endomondo app I have been using with my iPhone 4s. Maybe you haven't noticed, but usually, when I say how many miles I rode in a blog post, I hyperlink the mileage. If you click the link it will take you to my "work out" at Endomondo.com. What I love about this app... First; it's free. Had to get that out of the way. But other than being free it's incredibly easy to use. You just open the app, select the activity (road riding, running, mountain biking, kitten juggling etc) and off you go. You of course enter your personal information (height & weight) when you initially join Endomondo. The app then tracks your distance, speed, elevation gain & loss and even the calories burned. I've found it to be incredibly accurate. When you're finished riding, you just stop the app (though it can be set to automatically stop after 10 seconds of no movement - and automatically resume when movement is detected again). You can then view your route in satellite or map view just as you would with Google Maps. What's even cooler is that you can then log in, online, and view your statistics, set goals etc. Pretty awesome. I chose to embed today's ride just for kicks. I love it.

Pictures of the day

Just a few images taken on my commute home from work this evening. I am loving the GF2! Also I can't say enough about the Photogene app for the iPad2. I used the app to make the collage below.

Four thirds mobile set-up

An upcoming international business trip has me stoked about what I'm calling my new 4/3 mobile set-up. I'll be spending two weeks in Japan starting this Saturday the 28th, extending to Saturday the 11th. A bunch of research has enabled me to set up my iPad as my principle photo processing machine and shed light on an all new and ultra-practical work flow. Here's how it works: Using Apple's camera connection kit, I'm able to import RAW files from my 4/3 camera. From there I do my post processing via an excellent app called Photogene. Photogene lets me work with my RAW files and adjust a multitude of aspects to include levels & curves, white balance, noise reduction, viewing of EXIF data and modification of meta data and much more. On top of this, it enables me to re-size my files and export them to various places like my blog, Facebook, my Flickr account and even FTP them to my website's server! All of this while keeping my original files untouched for archival purposes.

While I'm in the Land of The Rising Sun, I'll be able to sort and process my photos each evening instead of waiting till I get back to the states!

iPhone picture of the day

iPhone photo of an R32 train at the 168th Street Station,
processed to look like an old Polaroid using the Shake It app.

Lowest platform

There's so much going on these days and I haven't been carrying my DSLR around with me. But I have been taking pictures with my iPhone. Using the phone is better than nothing and keeps my photographer's mind active. Though I can't expose what I see, the way I want to, the phone at least freezes the moment for me. And it really is true what they say: The best camera is the one you have with you at the time. So, with all of the iPhone pictures I've been taking lately, I decided to use my flickr account to hold my "iPhone only" images. I even threw a widget up on the blog here to link to my flickr iPhone account. I'll be using several apps to process the images, like the Shake it app that I used to create the Polaroid effect seen with this image.

This image was snapped at the 145th Street Station while transferring from the D Train to the A Train this past Wednesday night.

Pharcyde commute

When I got home, last night, around 11:30pm I wasn't very tired. I was stoked from having such a great exploratory ride home from midtown. I stayed up playing around in Light Room, processing some images I took during the ride home. Afterward, I roamed the web for a bit and before I knew it, it was 1:00am. Crap! I closed the lap top and hit the sack, doubtful that I'd be able to follow through on my intentions to ride to work in the morning. A nanosecond later, my alarm was blaring and it was 5:30am. I hit the shower, packed my bag and grabbed the bike I had stepped off of only 6 hours ago. When I stepped outside I could tell that it was going to be a great day. I selected a Pharcyde album to listen to and set off through the park, down winding leave covered paths with old hip hop in my ears. The paths dropped me out on Broadway which I took north out of Manhattan, through the Bronx and into Yonkers. I got to work on time and chuckling at the lyrics in Pharcyde's "Ya Mama". My commute to work is a fun 7 mile ride that took me 28 minutes this morning. Click the iPhone screen shot if you want to see the Google Maps route and other info.

Meeples

What's a "meeple" you ask? It's a wooden follower piece from a fun game called Carcassonne. My friend Chris is really into games (understatement). I, on the other hand, am not. Or at least, I didn't think I was. My experience with games is short: Pictionary, Monopoly, Risk, Clue... that's about it. None of which I've placed since the 8th or 9th grade. I think that when I expressed my general disinterest in games, Chris took this as a challenge to find a game I'd enjoy. So, last night after work I hopped a train down to his neck of the jungle and found myself standing in front of his collection: A shelf full of intriguing games. Heading into the next room he slapped me on the shoulder and said "Just pick out whatever looks good; I'm interested to see what you pick." I stood studying the boxes with their creative font, design and packaging and began noticing the little icons on the sides of the boxes indicating number of players, average playing time etc. I saw that some boast receipt of gaming awards... I couldn't decide. I'm just not into games. I hadn't made a decision by the time Chris came back and so he pulled a few off the shelf.

We sat down with Carcassonne. Chris informed me that it was a winner of the Spiel des Jahres award in 2001 (German game of the year). It's a tile based game where players draw tiles and place them on the table to create a landscape. Castles, Cloisters, roads and farm areas are established. The players compete for ownership of the establishments by placing a "meeple" on the road/castle/cloister etc. Points are scored by tallying the amount of land or establishments owned when all of the tiles have been placed on the table. Its a lot of fun; I actually found a game that I like! We played a few games in which I was slaughtered, quite mercilessly but I think I'll be able to give Chris a run for his money the next time we play. I've been fiddling around with the Carcassonne iPhone app on and off today.

Smoldering forearms

Last night I went to Brooklyn Boulders (BKB) with Kreuter and his fiancé, Alexandra. Together we wrestled synthetic rock and beat ourselves up for three hours. BKB periodically rearranges the holds on the walls to keep the climbs fresh and challenging. As such, last night, there was a new inverted 5.8 climb that we enjoyed conquering. The crux of this climb puts your back nearly parallel to the floor causing your forearms and fingertips to burst into flames (not really, but sort of). Thankfully, there were plenty of bucket holds, although it still demands a lot of upper body strength. Inverted climbs force your center of gravity out away from the wall giving your forearms a hell of a work out. When I reached the top of the route my forearms were smoldering. Below are a few iPhone pictures from last night. I used the Tiltshift Generator App to selectively blur, adjust saturation & contrast, and apply a slight vignette.

Above from left to right: Myself chalking up before the crux, Kreuter coming down after besting the 5.8 inverted route, Alexandra scaling a 5.7 while Kreuter belays.

Carrying the hiss

So much did I enjoy myself yesterday, that I decided to ride to work again today. Stepping out into the brisk, moist air, it was noticeably darker than yesterday morning. Though I stood on the same patch of sidewalk, in front of my building, looking east, exactly 24 hours ago, I was not greeted by the same awe-inspiring, golden sunrise. Instead, I stood immersed in a foggy, dismally, dank scene, barely able to make out the desaturated cityscape. The brick buildings; devoid of any contrast against the sky with their tops disappearing into heavy grey clouds. Muted streetlights, nearing the end of their shift, gave off a hazy, tired glow. While standing there, I felt the fine mist that hung in the air on my face and exposed calves and made my first decision of the day, not to go back inside for my fender. The streets were wet from the fierce storm that rumbled through in the night and were littered with small limbs and fresh, green leaves. The rich color in the leaves punched through the monochromatic, dream-like ambiance. Pedaling smoothly through the darkness, my tires made a hissing sound on the greasy wet pavement and left a momentary line on the road that would fade over time. The fading line; the only evidence that I had traveled the route. I hissed along through Fort Tryon, down to Broadway and found more people beginning their days. Carrying my hiss north, I crossed the Broadway Bridge into the Bronx, unable to see the canal below through the metal grid work. Peering down at the canal is one of the comfortable familiarities I look forward to when I ride to work. Today I would have to go without. Seven miles later I arrived at work, a bit damp, but energized from the ritual and anticipating an equally satisfying ride home in the evening.

Above: Arriving at the office, getting ready for a day of work.

Check out Guitar George... he knows all the chords.

I rolled out of bed late this morning at 5:50 and almost bailed on my plan to ride to work. However, a speedy shower and quick hustle around the dimly lit apartment bought me some time. I tossed the bare essentials (work polo, deodorant & shoes) in my bag, and threw a leg over my road bike at 6:22. In front of my building, with the golden-orange glow of sunrise lining the cityscape to the east, I selected Dire Straits for this morning's commute. The weather was ideally brisk and I settled into a comfortable rhythm as I rolled north through the Bronx. By the time I reached work I was on track five, Private Investigations, of their "Best of" album. Although, when I stopped in Fort Tryon to take the picture below I did restart Sultans of Swing. How could I not? My road bike works remarkably well, despite having a completely worn out drive train. Albeit shark-toothed, the teeth on my chainrings and cassette mesh wonderfully with my stretched chain and amount to a perfectly harmonized trio of buttery smooth shifting excellence. I used the Runmeter iPhone app to clock my time and mileage, click the screenshot at right to take a look-see.

Picture of the day

iPhone panorama from a trip to an abandoned theater several weeks ago.

Running

I started running this week. I picked up some running shoes, shorts, socks and began reading about running on a few websites and forums. I'm feeling pretty energized from the runs; I sense a change in my attitude during the day and especially right after a run. (I guess its true what they say about activity enduced endorphins) I'm not running far yet. In fact, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I only ran 1.39mi, 1.68mi and 2.12mi respectively. My goal is to be able to run 4 miles comfortably.

One thing that's been a lot of help to me is the Runmeter App for the iPhone. It uses global positioning to track my mileage, pace, elevation et cetera. I can then email a Google map of my route to myself and friends and there is even an option to update my Face Book status with my run or even Tweet it. The app also provides an overview of your running history so that you can view your runs on a calender to compare daily activity. Moreover you can even export all of your data in excel format! This is good stuff!

Got my fix

I felt great all day today. A little sore in the legs but it was a good feeling. Even had a really productive day at work to boot. My friend Kreuter wasn't able to climb at Brooklyn Boulders this evening so I wound up headed home from work at 4:00 with intentions of getting a light spin in before it got dark. As I was walking back to phattire headquarters I bumped into Chris who happened to be free for a ride and so we put rubber to pavement again this evening. I decided to take the fixed gear out because it's been neglected for a while now. While riding I reminisced about the days in Baltimore when I'd hit the county roads on this bike. I have much love for this machine.

Having showered and guzzled a couple of glasses of water (and Emergen-C) I'm quickly whipping off this blog entry while Mozart's 4th violin concerto plays. Time to head out and grab some food at New Leaf.

<--- At left: A quick iPhone snap from the ride cheesed out with the Photoshop app.

Iphone panorama app

Above: 190th Street Station on the A line panorama

Yesterday I downloaded the Pano App for the Iphone. It's not perfect but does a decent job and is fun and easy to use. If you take your time you can create some fun panoramic images like the one above. The quality of the stitch relies heavily on your ability to accurately frame each shot in relation to the previous one taken. The app provides a transparent copy of the previous image on the display to help you align edges while taking your photos. Stay tuned for more Iphone pano's in the future. Good stuff.

Photoshop App for Iphone

I feel the need to give praise to the Photoshop Iphone app. With several fun effects, borders and image processing tools, you can turn your 3 megapixle Iphone images into something a bit more impressive. (Granted, they're still low resolution, high ISO snaps) Using this app in conjunction with the Blogpress app provides a lot more versatility for mobile bloggers. Below are a couple of interesting snaps that I processed on my phone and FTP'd to my site's server for posting.

Above: A homeless man on the corner of 103rd & Broadway combs his hair in a piece of broken mirror.

Above: A quick snap shot of my favorite subway car (R38).