June 19, 2008

Walked by the garden along La Guardia Place. The bees and other bugs were out and about. Took some pictures of them in action. I found a couple of bees wresting each other in a petal of rose. It was pretty intense. I couldn't capture it on video because I wasn't close enough so I took pictures instead. I also took some pictures from the hip of people. I got a few good ones.



I also took a couple of videos of a bee on a flower and a fly on a flower. The video quality isn't great but it should be fine.

May 27, 2008

The morning started off with some rain and then it was hot and humid during the day. In the evening (around 5:30pm) the clouds were starting to gather and the skies looking dangerously gray. It rained and from the looks of it, it was a pretty big rain storm. Luckily, I was underground riding the "E" train home. When I got home, birds were looking for food and the snails and slugs were crawling about. Check out the pictures and videos, especially of the snails. They're not as slow as you think...



Videos of birds after a serious rain fall when all the creepy crawly come out...





Here are some videos of some snails in action. That's right ACTION.

May 15, 2008

I was walking home when I heard this loud screechy chirp. It was really loud and really close. My eyes darted to the origins of the chirp. As I was approaching home, I spotted this bird just hanging out on top of a fence post.

This fence was not high at all and in fact, I was rather surprised to see the bird so close to the ground. There are cats around and that bird could have been a meal for any of the cats that hang out on this street.

The bird saw me but did not fly away. It just continued to chirp loudly as if calling out to another bird. Seeing as the bird didn't not fly away with my presence, I took the opportunity to whip out my camera and take a few pictures. It was getting dark but there was still a bit of sunlight left. I took a few unfocused pictures mainly because I had the camera setting on smart ISO. Then it occurred to me to take a video and capture this bird's chirp. Well, I turned the dial to video, waited for the camera to focus. And as quickly as I tried to get the camera to record video, it stopped because I ran out of disk space and the bird flew off. But despite my slow reflexes and lack of memory, I am posting what I captured. This is a very very short clip. That's when I ran out of space on the memory card.

I think I might get into bird watching. I find myself kind of doing it out of instinct to follow the birds if I see something interesting. Also, there is something about being able to spot a bird and watch it interact al natural because birds tend to fly away. Sort of like a magic trick. Now you see them, now you don't. So, I'm always pleased whenever I am able to capture a bird on digital film and/or video.

May 11, 2008

I have always said that there is always something going on in Union Square. It's pretty amazing. I don't know of any other place in NYC where various events are always taking place almost all the time, especially during the weekend. And the reason I am pointing this out is because of an event that I just happened upon.

On Sunday May 11, 2008 there was an event to recognize the Universal Fulan Dafa Day. A couple of weeks ago, there were Tibetan protesting against China and the 2008 Olympics. I just think it's just amazing how Union Square is used. And it's fitting as it is historically been a location for people to gather and protest some issue of the time. For more information on Union Square, NYC, click here.

Politics aside, I always enjoy watching the dragon and lion dances. I captured them on video and hope you enjoy them.

March 22, 2008

Never a dull moment in Union Square. Apparently there was a protest happening. The protestors were gathered on the sidewalk behind barricade fencing. The were all holding up signs. Most that I saw were about peace, and no war in Iran, and of course, no anti-war protest is without criticism of our President Bush. I think I also saw protest for teachers' union, too. Here are some pictures of the protestors. I will upload some videos I took about their cause and message.

Hit the play button.

Hit the play button.

March 7, 2008

Not a picture today. Instead, a video clip of some construction work on Houston Street. I was heading over to the Whole Foods on Bowery when I heard this loud banging. Everyone was wondering what was going on. Then I saw this excavator hammering a +2" thick steel plate into the ground! It was a loud pounding sound that just resonated painfully into my ear canal.
This was the first time I used the video feature on the camera and that is why the movie ended with a few seconds of sidewalk. One of the construction crew was waving at me. I wasn't sure if he was waving at me to get my attention, (he had apparently noticed me "taking a picture" of them) or if I was not suppose to capture any of this on digital "film" and signaling me to stop.