Toshi's ride pics thread

[binary visions]

You ever use any monopods, Toshi?

[Toshi]

You ever use any monopods, Toshi?
i use my tripod with the legs collapsed sometimes :D . but no, i don't use a monopod: i don't shoot sports/have no need to set up quickly for shots so it's either tripod or no tripod for me.

[binary visions]

Figuring a tripod isn't going to be a viable option when I go on vacation in May, but I'm looking for something that'll give me more stability for my shots.

One of the recommendations at dpreview was to put a rubber band around the legs of my tripod and use that. Seriously. :p :rolleyes:

[Westy]

Figuring a tripod isn't going to be a viable option when I go on vacation in May, but I'm looking for something that'll give me more stability for my shots.

Just tap a hole in the top of your pimp stick for a camera mount. I figure a guy who gets his girlfriend to buy a house and pay for vacations must have a pimp cane.

[Toshi]

http://www.joby.com/gp1.html ?

http://www.joby.com/images/gp1y_04.jpg

[binary visions]

Just tap a hole in the top of your pimp stick for a camera mount. I figure a guy who gets his girlfriend to buy a house and pay for vacations must have a pimp cane.

Pimp sticks are for pvssies. I just keep my pimp hand strong.

Saw those, Toshi, but it's not strong enough for my needs, and would require a conveniently sized tree in a convenient location for every shot I wanted to take.

[Toshi]

my only other suggestion would be to get your doc to prescribe you some beta blockers, heh

:pirate2:

[binary visions]

Good idea. How many stops do you think I could get w/ the beta blockers?

Is that what you're going to start doing when you get your M.D.? Self-medicate to reduce camera shake? :p

[Toshi]

Good idea. How many stops do you think I could get w/ the beta blockers?

Is that what you're going to start doing when you get your M.D.? Self-medicate to reduce camera shake? :p

i bet fraser could pick up 5 stops with the proper medication. old man. :D haha

actually, a few surgeons and many professional musicians use beta-blockers to combat tremor when in the OR or on stage. i have never seen the need myself since i'm a robot.

:monkey:

[Westy]

i bet fraser could pick up 5 stops with the proper medication. old man. :D haha

actually, a few surgeons and many professional musicians use beta-blockers to combat tremor when in the OR or on stage. i have never seen the need myself since i'm a robot.

:monkey:

So do you run pulse supression or just a low velocity loop gain?

[Toshi]

So do you run pulse supression or just a low velocity loop gain?
hmm, say what? you've gone over my head

[Westy]

hmm, say what? you've gone over my head

I figured it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, to go over your head.

Method for preventing stationary vibrations in robotic servo control.

[Toshi]

heh, cool. i'm more like asimo than some industrial jobber (go to :45 into the video)

http://www.hiroiro.com/entry/1344.html

[Westy]

heh, cool. i'm more like asimo than some industrial jobber (go to :45 into the video)

http://www.hiroiro.com/entry/1344.html

D'oh. That is pretty funny, I bet someone got their ass chewed for that one.

I'm sure Asimo uses similar control algorithms.

[binary visions]

heh, cool. i'm more like asimo than some industrial jobber (go to :45 into the video)

http://www.hiroiro.com/entry/1344.html

Saw that one a while ago but the demo at CES was pretty cool. Even had some running.

[mastercycleman]

there was sufficient material left to remachine them, and the problem is fixed. i don't see the issue. (it was also cheaper.)

I figured it might have been done under warranty, but apparently not.

[ALEXIS_DH]

for what its worth, and to add to toshi´s review of the toyota yaris.

after many months of regular commuting boring driving on my econobox, as its mean to be driven, trying to squeeze the most mpg amid stop and go traffic.

a few nights ago at 2am, i was going back home... no traffic at all, empty urban 3 lane streets on the 4 miles from home. the oportunity arose. how would my everyday commute car be?? i got a chuckle by thinking about it.

i decided to see how does the yaris behaves outside its purpose. it was surpringly good.

dry, clean tarmac. started shifting at 5k+.
body roll was noticeable, but pretty good given the purpose of the car. the suspension was AWESOME. dive response was above average when braking, stable solid feel.
the tires (stockers) behaved quite well. decent amount of grip and feedback, NO squealing at all (big surprise there). i tried to break some grip at some point by unsettleting the car mid-turn, the ensuing oversteering was very predictable, short and fun.

but most surpringly (huge surprise imo) its astonishingly neutral (for its purpose) on entry, with a bit uncomfortable tendency to oversteer on exit. although at times it has a weird feel of high moment of inertia around Z. as if you were driving a 5 series or an e class. must be the relatively long wheelbase.

mostly a 2nd-3rd gear trip, a few 50mph bends, some speed bumps, a few potholes and a few easy esses. but mostly 90º turns with short straights. i never hit more than 55-60mph

i´m impressed.

[Toshi]

i feel like i'm back in the working world. i have a desk here, an office, a little ghetto laser printer. and i also have very little to do. it's a shock coming from surgery, being in the hospital running about from 4:30 until 6 or 7, to psychiatry, where i did an hour's worth of work and now am simply killing time.

oh yeah, and it's at the VA so the govt is probably watching everything i do... yikes. hello thought police :waves:

:pirate2:

[Toshi]

this is strangely amusing:

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/research/

(found through PaWN. i was tempted to use my wjh address to sign up just to be snarky)

findings so far:

no preference for laps over nifs
strong automatic preference for thin people over fat people
strong automatic preference for evolution as compared to creation
little or no association between Male and Female with Science and Liberal Arts

[binary visions]

I have a strong automatic preference for thin people over fat people. Strong automatic preference for young people over old people.

Little or no automatic preference between straight and gay people. Little or no automatic preference between dark skin and light skin.

[Toshi]

mwahaha, my latest subject:

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/webIAT/images/apple1.jpg

vs.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/webIAT/images/microsoft5.jpg

"Your data suggest a strong automatic identification with Apple compared to Microsoft."

also:

Your data suggest little to no automatic identification with Tall People compared to Short People.
Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between Vegetables and Meat.
Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for Straight People compared to Gay People. <-- interesting, maybe it was one of my flamboyantly gay college roommates

[binary visions]

Hah!

I stopped taking them, after the first few I started finding it really easy to switch the good/bad association back and forth without it being reflected in my time/errors. Everything was coming out completely neutral.

[Toshi]

yeah, i'm done now, too. those surveys take up too much time. i demand candy and money a la undergrad days to take future tests :D

[Toshi]

first new pics in almost 2 months:

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/exploring%20boise%20-%20february%2017,%202007/Images/IMG_3192.jpg

oblig. myspace style self portrait

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/exploring%20boise%20-%20february%2017,%202007/Images/IMG_3194.jpg

a few more here http://tinyurl.com/393woy

[Toshi]

for some reason i find this clip horribly funny

http://www.gorillamask.net/famguypuke.shtml

/me is 5 years old at heart

[Toshi]

mmm, 11" fresh in the past three days (it's been snowing in town, too). i'll be getting my idaho ski on tomorrow after sleeping in.

i signed up for and worked out at the local ymca today, also, after filling out a form stating that i made 0 dollars (not quite true, but i still would have been FAR below poverty line on just my meager earnings). it's quite posh, go figure.

http://www.bogusbasin.org/snow-report.aspx

[Toshi]

keith, thad, care to chime in on this? http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176316 i'm looking for a FM transmitter...

in other news, the snow was heavy, i was in pain while skiing thanks to my exertions at the ymca the day before with free weights, and then the next day i had some redneck paradoxically driving a toyota pickup follow me into a store and try to provoke me into a fight. what can i say? he pulled out against right of way while looking the other direction AND flipped the bird after i honked, and i just returned him the favor (the finger, not cutting him off -- this was all in a parking lot). the flashy red car and asian appearance surely didn't win me favors in 92.86% white Ada County, idaho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_County,_Idaho). (actually that number is about 6% lower than in pocatello, where i was cooped up for 12 weeks in past months...)

[Toshi]

i think ski season might be winding down. awfully warm here in boise today, and i need to crack down and get some brains processed (literally, not figuratively). the count so far: 2 at whistler, 2 at alpental (3?), 1 at snowbird, 2 at bogus basin. is that it? probably am missing a day or two here or there -- the moral of the story is that 3rd year of med school sucks the life out of ya.

rei's attic sale was a nice diversion today, however: i was planning on getting there bright and early but didn't quite feel up to it when the alarm went off... so instead strolled in at 11 AM and still found a deal: got these shoes ($95, montrail whidbey, except in a tan/leather color not as pictured) for $40

http://www.montrail.com/images/productImages/GM1058_220.jpg

and before y'all pass out from disgust that i bought used, stinky shoes, these were pristine: only worn inside according to the card (with the sole nice and clean to reflect this), and were returned and marked as damaged despite just being the wrong size since the previous dude had heat-molded the insole.

:)

oh, and they don't smell, either. score.

[Toshi]

i just posted another thread-of-limited-interest, on bach's well tempered clavier:

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177414

[Toshi]

pics from today's hike, which was 1:47 as per the "last played times" on my ipod (had it playing the whole time). :D

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/boise%20st.%20patrick's%20day%20hike%20-%20march%2017,%202007/Images/IMG_3216.jpg

i'm thinking of selling the sigma 180 (used for the above shot). i think it'll go up on ebay sometime soon.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/boise%20st.%20patrick's%20day%20hike%20-%20march%2017,%202007/Images/IMG_3220.jpg

you can't really see the long hair in this pic, but the chin scruff is visible. i call it the "old chinese man" look -- just wait until it's a foot long. :pirate2: that's boise in the background, and my hike started at the white building closest to my right eye.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/boise%20st.%20patrick's%20day%20hike%20-%20march%2017,%202007/Images/IMG_3222.jpg

it's great that boise has natural terrain literally right on the outskirts of town. there were many people out hiking, jogging, walking their dogs, slogging uphill in the granny gear, shooting arrows at the archery range, playing with r/c cars on the track next to the public skatepark.

[Toshi]

i just finished off this book

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Omens-Accurate-Prophecies-Nutter/dp/0060853964

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0060853964.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

read the first 50 pages last night (first time reading fiction in a while!) and then the other 350 pages this evening. a thoroughly amusing book it is, and this quest was aided by my strong desire to not go through 128 slices of mri data looking for errors made by a stupid, stupid algorithm that tries to segment the brain into grey and white matter... :(

anyway, it's what, 77? days into 2007, and only now can i chalk up a name under "books of 2007". (see a pattern here? i think i'll be burning books so as to make the balance negative by next year.)

books of 2007:

"Good Omens", gaiman, pratchett

books of 2006:

"dante club"
John Irving's Hotel New Hampshire
The seekers : the story of man's continuing quest to understand his world / Daniel J. Boorstin
The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956 : an experiment in literary investigation / Aleksandr I. Solzhenits

books of 2005:

Keller's Catch-22
Microserfs / by Douglas Coupland
An equal music / Vikram Seth
The lives of a cell : notes of a biology watcher / by Lewis Thomas
The lives of the great composers / Harold C. Schonberg - 627
- Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy - stopped after 50 pages
John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany (very nostalgic for me. i MISS new england.) - stopped after 100 pages
The hero and the crown / Robin McKinley -- stopped after 10 pages
"The Gunslinger", edward dorn - stopped after 50 pages
leo tolstoy, "anna karenina" - stopped after volume 1
"Maid to Order in Hong Kong", nicole constable
"villa incognito" and "another roadside attraction", tom robbins
"Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susannah Clarke 800
salman rushdie, "midnight's children" ~75
douglas coupland, Shampoo Planet 312
paul farmer, "pathologies of power" ~100
"Shadow Divers", robert kurson 376
james clavell, "shogun" 802
"The Golden Ratio", mario livio 320
Jihad vs. McWorld / Benjamin R. Barber 432
"This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind" by Ivan Doig 336
Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow" (discarded after 50something pages)
william gibson, "pattern recognition" 368
"the demon in the freezer", richard preston (AWFULly written) 100ish read
Fear's empire : war, terrorism, and democracy / Benjamin R. Barber 50ish read. too much like jihad vs. mcworld.
"an anthropologist on mars", oliver sacks, 352
tom robbins, "jitterbug perfume" 352

[Toshi]

i just posted the sigma 180 macro for auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110105805091

http://toshiclark.com/forsale/sigma180.jpg

[Toshi]

here's an honest review of the infiniti m35x. it's worth reading even if you have no interest in that particular car because it's by philip greenspun, of mit, photo.net, and traveling to alaska fame.

http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/cars/infiniti-m35

he makes some good points about cars, which i will distill down to the one key point: cars are about as useful as they can be right now. what is needed to make them more than what they are (boxes that carry people +/- leather upholstery) is some combination of personal service a la onstar or internet access and vastly more intelligent programming in car stereos and navi systems, to name two low-hanging pieces of fruit.

[Toshi]

if you're still with me after the m35x review and liked philip greenspun's style then you also might be interested in the other articles on his site. it's an arbitrary starting point, but the early retirement/where to live article is a decent launching point:

http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/where-to-live

although i'm still quite some distance from retirement :D i am going to use his advice as a guide to picking out where i'll apply for residency programs...

[ALEXIS_DH]

if you're still with me after the m35x review and liked philip greenspun's style then you also might be interested in the other articles on his site. it's an arbitrary starting point, but the early retirement/where to live article is a decent launching point:

http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/where-to-live

i love his style.
read pretty much all his website months ago.
the wonders of working 12 hour shifts on sloooooooooow weekends.

since i started to take serious count of my gas mileage (about 24-25mpg on the first tank)... am about halfway on my 2nd tank (same 95 oct rating, different brand and $0.35 per gal more expensive), and it isnt looking much brighter either....

25mpg out of a '07 toyota yaris? :disgust1: :disgust1:

[Toshi]

refer back a page or two to when you described putting your yaris through the paces. drive it like it's a racecar and you'll get that kind of mileage... :pirate2:

on the other hand, did you see in the march mileage thread that i averaged under 15 mpg in my rx-8 for the month? all city jaunts of less than 10 miles + 2 trips up into the mountains for skiing did the trick. even babying it on the freeway on the way home only netted 23 mpg.

[ALEXIS_DH]

refer back a page or two to when you described putting your yaris through the paces. drive it like it's a racecar and you'll get that kind of mileage... :pirate2:

on the other hand, did you see in the march mileage thread that i averaged under 15 mpg in my rx-8 for the month? all city jaunts of less than 10 miles + 2 trips up into the mountains for skiing did the trick. even babying it on the freeway on the way home only netted 23 mpg.

under 15mpg for your car, am impressed.

i dont drive it like that everyday....
just that day, and a few other nights of empty roads when i miss my rx7 and evo6 daily-driver days, and i kinda feel the need to make 3 wheeled turns.

i need to really rev it up to keep up with traffic or pass. the other day i found myself shifting at 4500rpm off a stop light to keep up with an suv next to me :twitch:.
the car, beside the engine, behaves extremely nice in every way... but the 1.3L engine is seriously undersized (and i even read there is an even smalles 1.1 or 1L version in asia :eek:).
its basically the same engine (plus vvti dialed in for extra economy) my previous daily driver (toyota echo) had... although the echo was like 150kg lighter, and slow enough already.
the 1.5L option would have been nicer (although a $3k option, it would have put me in corolla pricing ballpark and doesnt make much economical sense imho). my echo got 30mpg at worst.

my mood is slowly swinging back to forget-about-mpg-and-reliability cars again. the idea of an unbearable impractical car like an slk, z3 or even a 10 year old supercharged clk is chomping my brain out. but then i remeber the $80-90 tank fill ups and weeks long car-less periods of time while a rubber o-ring arrives and silly stuff like that...

most (like 80+%) of my drives are under 5 miles. usually with a couple minutes of warming up. my commute is 2-3 miles. my gf lives 5-6 miles away. short drives in city traffic and summertime A/C are taking their toll.

[Toshi]

scooter? a glorified electric golf cart? a road bike? make your gf drive to where you are? :p

[Toshi]

yo people, help me choose what to see on my abbreviated road trip this summer:

http://ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2493082#post2493082

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/7345%20miles%20of%20america%20-%20summer%202003/Images/16.jpg

[binary visions]

My dad shipped me a bunch of his old Olympus OM equipment. Nice! This was the first camera I ever touched but didn't know he was such a photo geek :D

Zuiko: 200mm f/3.5, 50mm f/1.4, 35-70 f/3.5
Tokina: 70-210 f/4-5.6

Bunch of adapters... Some extension rings, a 2x teleconverter, t-mount for putting it on a telescope...

Cool stuff - I'm pretty excited to play with it. Going to use the 50mm as a reversed macro lens and experiment with that. Just sharing with a fellow photo geek :monkeydance:

[Toshi]

cool stuff indeed. i might have to resort to the reversed 50mm trick myself if the sigma sells.

[binary visions]

Just selling the Sigma for quick cash or do you find yourself not using it?

[narlus]

cool stuff indeed. i might have to resort to the reversed 50mm trick myself if the sigma sells.

i bought a set of Kenko tubes from ebay a couple of weeks ago but have been too busy to goof around w/ them.

[binary visions]

What an interesting technique.

This was taken with the Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 reversed on my Sony. Depth of field is horrendously thin. A longer focal length would be easier to work with (100mm maybe, my 200mm is too long), but it's sure a hell of a lot of magnification! Vignetting is mostly due to me hand holding the 50mm on the front, so it slips around.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/binaryvisions/DSC01842_sm.jpg

[Toshi]

i dig the effect on that shot. what aperture was it? f/24 or f/32 if possible is always key for macro, even if it only increases the depth of field from 1mm to 5 or whatever it may be.

i haven't been using _any_ of my lenses often, but the 180 often didn't make the cut when deciding to pack for a hiking expedition. it is quite large and heavy. and sold for a good price, btw. :)

[binary visions]

It's a little digicam so the best I can do is f/8. I think that shot was at f/5.6, any smaller than that and I couldn't keep it sharp (handheld).

From B&H, along with my adapter for the 50mm, is an off-camera hotshoe adapter & cord for my flash, should help me get that extra DoF in low light.

[Toshi]

ah, but the circle of confusion on the small sensor/short lens combo (assuming it's not some freak model) should make that f/8 or 5.6 equivalent to much more...

random addition. nb: c is the speed of light, of course, that's blue and red shift :D, and the two competitors are chuck norris and the dodge neon srt-4.

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/5596/chucknorrisvssrt4pyro9tw.jpg

[binary visions]

ah, but the circle of confusion on the small sensor/short lens combo (assuming it's not some freak model) should make that f/8 or 5.6 equivalent to much more...

Yep, f/8 under normal circumstances is a virtually infinite depth of field. I'm not sure if even f/32 on an SLR would provide me with any more.

I'll post up another when my adapter and flash equipment arrives, should be a fun learning experience. Focusing on the LCD/EVF is the hardest - not only is that hard w/ any LCD/EVF, but it's an older model so the LCD is small and the EVF is fairly low resolution. I'm getting better, though.

Speaking of Neons, you having a good time with your RX8?

[Toshi]

the rx-8 is still working out ok. i was planning to put it through its paces officially at the autox this weekend, but finding out that i'm on call cruelly squashed those plans. it still seems as it did before: a very precise-handling, low car that's faster than most cars, certainly, but not violently fast. i've had a couple of people take pictures of it or pause besides it to gawk when driving around town and on the freeway. :)

[Toshi]

alexis, did you see this?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9178761914513537949

"50 years of onboard F1"

also, www.rap-cat.com has a somewhat amusing commercial (videos -> commercial). people in the south are weiiiird if they go for this stuff, let alone a restaurant named "checkers"

[ALEXIS_DH]

alexis, did you see this?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9178761914513537949

"50 years of onboard F1"

also, www.rap-cat.com has a somewhat amusing commercial (videos -> commercial). people in the south are weiiiird if they go for this stuff, let alone a restaurant named "checkers"

the whole 39 minutes. amazing.
but more amazingly, i knew the model of almost every car, and recognized almost every track, and where the braking points, apexes and turn-in for all the corners.... hmmmm, it seems i´ve been playing racing games a bit too much.

i´ve eaten at checkers, and more than once. and i gotta admit the burger it wasnt so bad, besides the fact checkers are favorite places of loitering for crackheads and the like.

[Toshi]

while waiting for the bus post-call this afternoon i saw an unfamiliar sight: 3 college age guys trying out their le parkour style moves on some wide concrete handrails. we all must have looked similarly goofy on late night urban rides :D

http://www.mcphee.com/pixlarge/11674.jpg

[Toshi]

new pics from the seattle art museum sculpture gallery

http://tinyurl.com/26df6a

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/sculpture%20park%20-%20april%206,%202007/Images/IMG_3236.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/sculpture%20park%20-%20april%206,%202007/Images/IMG_3243.jpg

[Toshi]

here's an interesting article about a famous classical violinist who played in street clothes in a metro station in dc... and was basically ignored.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html?hpid=topnews

moral of the story: america is filled with rubes.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p301/GTRsleeper/2mwz2v5.gif

[skatetokil]

here's an interesting article about a famous classical violinist who played in street clothes in a metro station in dc... and was basically ignored.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html?hpid=topnews

moral of the story: america is filled with rubes.

Especially the federal district in DC. Its like hollywood for ugly people. Doe-eyed noobs arrive by the busload every day expecting to be appointed to interesting and powerful positions only to become soulless mid level paper pushers in the Department of Expensive and Unnecessary Bull****.

[ALEXIS_DH]

here's an interesting article about a famous classical violinist who played in street clothes in a metro station in dc... and was basically ignored.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html?hpid=topnews

moral of the story: america is filled with rubes.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p301/GTRsleeper/2mwz2v5.gif

i dont think there are many common places where he woud have fared much better.

btw, disturbingly funny gif!

[Toshi]

woot: in my first autox outing with the rx-8 i was right up there contending for the lead. i ran street tire class with my car's B stock pax index, and ended up sandwiched by two A Stock cars in 2nd place, with my indexed time 0.02 seconds off from first. 0.02 seconds over just shy of a minute is way less than the fudge factor inherent in the relative softness/weakness of the A Stock vs. B Stock pax indices, so i'm going to call this one a tie.*

:)

* the sanctioning body that put on this race actually does treat it this way, essentially: instead of giving 15 points for 1st place, 10 for 2nd or something like that they give 100.000 for first and then 99.999 if you were 0.001% off from the front runner's time, 90.000 if you were 10% off the winning time, and so forth. that'd mean i'd get a 99.99965 for the day assuming i did the math correctly.

in case any of you are totally lost with this "pax index" talk, it's a method of comparing times between different classes of cars based on how fast they go when driven by regional and local winners in the last year's events.

http://www.scca-chicago.com/solo/indexes/rtp2007.html

SS 0.848
AS 0.838
BS 0.828
CS 0.822
DS 0.804
ES 0.812
FS 0.809
GS 0.803
HS 0.789
what the above-quoted bit means is that to get the indexed time for a B Stock car like my RX-8 you multiply the actual ("raw") time by 0.828. to get the same for an H Stock car like a non-S mini cooper you'd multiply it by 0.789, etc.

[Toshi]

da results: http://www.bscc.net/content/view/95/10/#T

so i was slightly wrong: 1st place was a D Street Prepared car (a mini), and 3rd and 4th instead were the A Stock S2000s... plus i only got 99.957 points, not 99.999. grr. heh

[narlus]

go speed racer!

:D

[Toshi]

here's a page with a sampling of illustrations and photos by one of my friends from middle school. through chance and the forces of nerd-dom, which causes similarly-minded people to converge at predetermined locations, she ended up at berkeley entomology grad school. this happens to be the same program that one of my undergrad roommates is at now, thus the connection.

http://rydia.net/trilobite/sf/2006folio.html

http://rydia.net/trilobite/sf/pictures/snakeflysaloon.jpg

http://rydia.net/trilobite/sf/pictures/fancy-beetle-1.jpg

http://rydia.net/trilobite/sf/2006folio.html

[Toshi]

knowing me, i probably posted this a few months back already, but if not...

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4/badazzcr/DSC00618.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4/badazzcr/DSC00674.jpg

read about the build here: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1043903

it's a one lap of america racer, and will be competing in the economy car class. :devil: . somehow i think it will be a contender: 464 whp as per the dyno graph on the second page of the linked thread, ~2400# race weight with fluids and cage, also from the thread.

[Toshi]

more pics from the sculpture park, this time with the sigma 12-24 vs. the canon 28/1.8 i used last time:

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/another%20look%20at%20the%20sculpture%20park%20-%20april%2022,%202007/Images/IMG_3259.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/another%20look%20at%20the%20sculpture%20park%20-%20april%2022,%202007/Images/IMG_3252.jpg

more here: http://tinyurl.com/379uz9

[WTGPhoben]

Looks like I stopped getting email reminders again... (note I haven't been here in at least a month). Pleanty of updates to come, but the most biking related news is:

I'm doing the TransRockies Challenge Again! (and this time we're racing it). I've got a new partner (George, one of the Harvard Cycling coaches) and training has begun, which includes racing most of the root66 races (www.root66raceseries.com).

[Toshi]

coolness. what class are you in, expert men?

[WTGPhoben]

Racing sport for now, but I took 2nd in the first race where the guy who won was an expert (sandbagger), so I might upgrade if I get a little stronger.

[Toshi]

here's a puzzle for y'all

come up with the number 22 using four 9s. that is you can use 9, 99, and apply sqrt, factorial, addition, multiplication, division, etc. to your heart's content. 9^2 would not be allowed since that's a 2, but 9*9 would be...

an example, with the number 79:

(sqrt(9)!)!/9 - (9/9)
(3!)!/9 - 1
6!/9 - 1
720/9 - 1, voila

another example, with the number 64:

(sqrt(9)!/sqrt(9))^(sqrt((sqrt(9) * sqrt(9))!)
(3!/3)^(sqrt(9)!)
2^(3!), voila

a friend and i tried to come up with such answers for the numbers 0 through 100. we came up short 18 answers, the first of which is number 22 as above. solve it for us! :D

[Toshi]

here's a pretty sweet free site:

http://jott.com/

the idea: set up an account, call their toll-free number from your cell, and then send an automatically transcribed email to yourself or anyone in your address book. it seems like the ideal way to, well, jot down that thought that you had on the road.

:)

it also nicely complements www.youmail.com , which gives you free voicemail forwarded to email as a wav attachment, with a supplementary web interface to store/delete/forward to other email accounts. you can also call and push buttons on your phone a la standard voicemail.

another nifty youmail feature is being able to record custom greetings for all of your friends. if anna calls me, the voicemail says "hi anna, leave me a message", etc.

[Toshi]

from a local guy who shoots autox events:

http://fakelag.net/gallery/v/events/race/

coolness (from the link):

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/25173-2/DSC_1593.jpg

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/25258-2/DSC_1728.jpg

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/25108-2/DSC_1557.jpg

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/25103-2/DSC_1554.jpg

somebody buy that man some droop travel!

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/25033-2/DSC_1496.jpg

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/25008-2/DSC_1477.jpg

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/24968-2/DSC_1452.jpg

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/24903-2/DSC_1407.jpg

nice panning...

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/24818-2/DSC_1349.jpg

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/24723-2/DSC_1286.jpg

the guy could really use some self-control in not posting every single shot he snapped tho. there are many nice ones in there, but within a sea of images.

[narlus]

your editing job was nice...good shots!

[Toshi]

for those of you who read the washington post article on joshua bell playing the bach chaconne, it's partita #2 in d min bwv 1004, track 5 in this set of excellent recordings by thomas zehetmair:

http://download.yousendit.com/1BBBE4EA16E159F9

the article, for reference:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

and from the article:

Bell decided to begin with "Chaconne" from Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No. 2 in D Minor. Bell calls it "not just one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any man in history. It's a spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect. Plus, it was written for a solo violin, so I won't be cheating with some half-assed version."

Bell didn't say it, but Bach's "Chaconne" is also considered one of the most difficult violin pieces to master. Many try; few succeed. It's exhaustingly long -- 14 minutes -- and consists entirely of a single, succinct musical progression repeated in dozens of variations to create a dauntingly complex architecture of sound. Composed around 1720, on the eve of the European Enlightenment, it is said to be a celebration of the breadth of human possibility.

If Bell's encomium to "Chaconne" seems overly effusive, consider this from the 19th-century composer Johannes Brahms, in a letter to Clara Schumann: "On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind."

So, that's the piece Bell started with.

i'll be posting another link with more of his sonatas and partitas later today.

[Toshi]

quarter tone music (ligeti "ramifications" and a movement from bartok's string quartet #6):

http://download.yousendit.com/8C453E9558335E9D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_tone

and, as promised above, the second installment of zehetmair playing bach:

http://www.yousendit.com/download/WUJiMWZPK3hveE0wTVE9PQ

[ALEXIS_DH]

from a local guy who shoots autox events:

http://fakelag.net/gallery/d/25103-2/DSC_1554.jpg
somebody buy that man some droop travel!



do all corrados do that????

i´ve seen a couple corrados a local auto-x´, and both of them do that almost all the time.:shocked:
i thought it was the drivers.
they must really suck as people say.

[Toshi]

i think that particular corrado's problem was not nearly enough droop travel (cheap coilovers is my guess), along with super soft front spring rates and a wimpy swaybar. the droop travel is pretty much inexcusable.

[Westy]

As far as I know all VW's of that era did 3 wheel action, at least they did stock.

[Toshi]

got in a full weekend of autox out in pocatello, idaho. pocatello is an amazingly dry place, by the way, to the point that my not-so-fledgling-anymore goatee decided to spazz out a la john dorian's hair in "scrubs"...

anyway, the autox itself: $30 for two days, or 14 runs. i ran b stock, as there is no street tire class out away from civilization.

the front runner in the class was a 2007 rx-8 driven by brian coulson, who placed #24/36 in nationals (http://scca.com/Event/Result.asp?Ref2=339) in an nearly identical rx-8. he was on kumho v710s and handily beat me down. to his credit he is quite a driver, as i can attest after a ride, has a nicely set up car (see below), and has been autoxing for 8 years. we'll see how the pax results turn out but he'll be up there in the top 5 for sure with his times.

next up was a 2004 rx-8, about 2.7s back to the best of my knowledge with yours truly campaigning in his 3rd season behind the wheel.

to my credit, 2.7s is not half bad at all given street tires vs. 710s, stock swaybar and shocks vs. big bar + koni adjustables, and the less-tangible factors like full exhaust vs. catback turndown and touring model (my car: sunroof, HIDs, fog lamps) vs. base (~50 lb lighter).

i think i was the fastest car there on street tires... we'll see if the results prove me to be a liar. :) i was about 2.5s faster than the C6 vette next to me tooling around on ridiculous looking BFG G-force meats, but i don't know how the rest of the street tire field played out.

behind me on both days was a 1992 mr2 turbo, shod with Toyo RA-1s (a "hard" R-comp, halfway between my street tires and the 710s), and with a driver with 2 years experience. his car felt strong and grippy, but had poorly controlled body motions thanks to 15 year old shocks. for most of the weekend i was about 2.5s ahead of him, but he pulled to within 0.6s on the final run.

finally, on the first day we were joined by a novice driver on his first time out in a 2004 rx-8. he was frankly quite awful. kids, DON'T DRIVE WITH ONE HAND ON THE WHEEL AND THE OTHER ON THE SHIFTER. it makes you jerky, and jerkiness means either that you spin or that you're driving so far below the limit that it doesn't matter. he was about 6 seconds off my pace, and that's a fair comparison since our cars are set up identically (stock vs. stock, street tires, with his base model ~50 lbs lighter than mine to boot). however, i think he had fun, and i hope he joins the regular autoxing ranks, if only to provide cannon fodder for me when i run idaho events

:D

other highlights of the weekend besides my street tire heroics :homer: include getting rides in brian's 710-clad rx-8, a 710-clad Evo IX that ended up winning A Stock, a 710-clad C6 corvette that was just behind the evo in AS, and in the MR2 and the novice's RX-8 mentioned above.

that's a lot of seat time for $30, not to mention the free instruction i got from brian and others...

[Toshi]

hike ("ride") pics from today: http://tinyurl.com/26nfjr

this was a ~2h hike starting right from my condo's doorstep (the trailhead isn't more than 1000 feet away). there were a ton of people on the main trail, and at least 4 others on the spur that climbed up to the butte. jackson rocks that way. :)

a sample or two:

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/crystal%20butte%20hike%20-%20may%208,%202007/Images/IMG_3285.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/crystal%20butte%20hike%20-%20may%208,%202007/Images/IMG_3288.jpg

[Toshi]

any comments on this plan? unfortunately both the start and end dates are constrained, and my travel companion hasn't seen yellowstone. i'll continue on the road, visiting parents/japanese relatives in oregon until july 6th or so. (so basically i'll be on the road constantly from june 15 [finishing this last rotation in jackson, wyoming, heading to see my sister get married, then launching on this second road trip] to july 6, yikes)

http://tjclark.ath.cx/images/miscellaneous/desktop%20pics%20and%20screenshots/latejuneroadtripnarrow.png

update: it's now extended another day, with the extra being alloted[sp?] to yellowstone

[Toshi]

on autox:

http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets.html

really thought provoking link: those serious about the sport take it very seriously. it also provides more motive for me keeping my RX-8 stock, besides the fact that extra wheels/V710s are expensive and a pain to store and carry around, as changing things without the ability to quantify the effects of the change is a recipe for frustration if not disaster. such quantification would include dynoing shock absorbers and data acquisition at the minimum. for that matter, such data acquisition would be really beneficial in setting up dh bikes, given that it's such a black art as of yet even despite/due to dw's best efforts at both explaining and obfuscating in the interest of driving up sales... :homer:

basically i'll refine the driver until i can do things right, that is with analysis, and that point is far off in terms of time, motivation, and money. for now it's enough of a kick for me to beat up on slower drivers in my class who have superior equipment (tires), and to compete in street tire class and make a run for the money when possible (ie, around seattle). :)

[Toshi]

new pics from schwabacher road and blacktail butte in and around grand teton national park:

http://tinyurl.com/yvcue4

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20schwabacher%20road%20and%20blacktail%20butte%20-%20may%2012,%202007/Images/IMG_3312.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20schwabacher%20road%20and%20blacktail%20butte%20-%20may%2012,%202007/Images/IMG_3303.jpg

click here to open a quicktime vr in quicktime player (http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20schwabacher%20road%20and%20blacktail%20butte%20-%20may%2012,%202007/Pages/hike.html) -- set it to full screen and enjoy. :)

[Toshi]

new pics from jenny lake, hidden falls, and inspiration point in grand teton NP. no qtvr or panos today, just 10 miles on the trail with a ton of deadfall. i'm tired of climbing over spiky trees.

http://tinyurl.com/2p5zmk

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20jenny%20lake,%20hidden%20falls,%20inspiration%2 0point%20-%20may%2013,%202007/Images/IMG_3371.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20jenny%20lake,%20hidden%20falls,%20inspiration%2 0point%20-%20may%2013,%202007/Images/IMG_3364.jpg
my sensor's all dirty again...

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20jenny%20lake,%20hidden%20falls,%20inspiration%2 0point%20-%20may%2013,%202007/Images/IMG_3349.jpg

[Toshi]

i just contemplated driving 5+ hours each way to get two days of autox in at miller motorsports park in slc... then i realized that that's a stupid idea. :D it might be worth it if they had an indexed street tire class, but they don't so it'd be a ton of driving for an off the pace finish. bah.

[Toshi]

any comments on this plan? unfortunately both the start and end dates are constrained, and my travel companion hasn't seen yellowstone. i'll continue on the road, visiting parents/japanese relatives in oregon until july 6th or so. (so basically i'll be on the road constantly from june 15 [finishing this last rotation in jackson, wyoming, heading to see my sister get married, then launching on this second road trip] to july 6, yikes)

http://tjclark.ath.cx/images/miscellaneous/desktop%20pics%20and%20screenshots/latejuneroadtripnarrow.png

update: it's now extended another day, with the extra being alloted[sp?] to yellowstone
a different look at the same itinerary. yikes.

http://toshiclark.com/images/miscellaneous/random/RoadtripMap.jpg

[Toshi]

have 20 minutes to spare along with an appreciation for group b rally cars and finely crafted bits of metal? this 311 (!) page photoset on a finnish restoration of a 1984 toyota celica group b rally car is amazing...

http://www.mat.fi/project1984toyotacelicaturbo.htm

it makes me want to build a kit car at some point in my life, to truly grasp the complexity of it all. :)

http://cache.jalopnik.com/images/2006/06/caterham_superlight.jpg

[Toshi]

this dude is my hero:

Picked up a new racecar this weekend
Ended up selling the WRX to justify it but I think it'll be a bit more fun in the long run.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/cooleyjb/Blackhawk%204-07/_JBC1656.jpg

[Toshi]

after being on for 9 straight days and working like a dog this weekend i took a much-needed day off. :)

phelps lake, grand teton NP

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20phelps%20lake%20-%20may%2023,%202007/Images/IMG_3384.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20phelps%20lake%20-%20may%2023,%202007/Images/IMG_3385.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20phelps%20lake%20-%20may%2023,%202007/Images/IMG_3389.jpg

two more here: http://tinyurl.com/2q9juc

[Toshi]

played in a parade (on a trailer, not marching!) with the local community band today:

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/jackson%20hole%20community%20band%20parade%20-%20may%2026,%202007/Images/IMG_3403.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/jackson%20hole%20community%20band%20parade%20-%20may%2026,%202007/Images/IMG_3407.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/jackson%20hole%20community%20band%20parade%20-%20may%2026,%202007/Images/IMG_3420.jpg

the rest here: http://tinyurl.com/29ebq4

[Toshi]

have you all seen this?

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t185/zachdank/k1.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t185/zachdank/alex6.jpg

built by a RMer. insane.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174083

[Toshi]

another day, another hike: taggart and bradley lakes

http://tinyurl.com/yrswtd

the cliché taggart lake shot:

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20taggart%20and%20bradley%20lakes%20-%20may%2027,%202007/Images/IMG_3424.jpg

bradley lake pano:

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20taggart%20and%20bradley%20lakes%20-%20may%2027,%202007/Images/bradleylake.jpg

[Toshi]

http://i11.tinypic.com/66tx4eg.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/132/369348534_005aa68b83_o.jpg

very cool: tube frame, 3 rotor, mazda sanctioned and supported.

2-14 Mazda RX8 (Prep 2)
2-14.1 20B Cosmo three rotor (Mazda Spec parts). 2.0 liter, 9.7 compression ratio,
3-52mm throttle bodies, maximum of 6 injectors, maximum fuel pressure 4.2 bar,
intake manifold is free. Call Grand American for parts list 386 947 6681
2-14.2 Minimum weight 2200 lbs
2-14.3 Six-speed transmission.
2-14.4 Maximum body width is 73.5 inches.
2-14.5 Front tire 280 /640/18
2-14.6 Engine set-back 5.125 inches from spindle centerline to 1st spark plug.
2-14.7 Complete rear wing height w/ end plates cannot exceed roof height.
2-14.8 Fuel capacity 24 gallons May use oil in fuel
2-14.9 Allowed larger/higher exhaust position .
2-14.10 Tire sizes are 280/640R18 front and 295/660R18 rear

it's the 3rd car to go by in this clip, the high pitched one (other cars are the Daytona Prototypes, different class):

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t20/Trackhorx8/th_MVI_1608.jpg (http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t20/Trackhorx8/?action=view&current=MVI_1608.flv)

[Toshi]

i hiked from colter bay to hermitage point today. about 10 miles in total with the side trips i did, both planned and inadvertently. (let's just say that trail marking could be improved…)

http://tinyurl.com/2dxnxs

a few highlights:

mt moran:
http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20colter%20bay,%20hermitage%20point%20-%20may%2028,%202007/Images/IMG_3477.jpg

colter bay:
http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20colter%20bay,%20hermitage%20point%20-%20may%2028,%202007/Images/IMG_3446.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20colter%20bay,%20hermitage%20point%20-%20may%2028,%202007/Images/IMG_3473.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20colter%20bay,%20hermitage%20point%20-%20may%2028,%202007/Images/reflection.jpg

[Barbaton]

Toshi. I have provided photographic evidence:

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2558850#post2558850

:picsstfu: :busted:

[Toshi]

Toshi. I have provided photographic evidence:

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2558850#post2558850

:picsstfu: :busted:
replied. :monkeydance:

[Toshi]

alexis, you should like this, a pro driver taking a 1967 Mclaren M6B Can-Am car around Infineon/Sears Point. 600 hp.

this first is a video from a camera mounted on the engine cover, with the last/fast lap starting at around 4:30. note the water pump looking thing in the center of the frame: that's the throttle linkage. :eek:
http://www.justracing.com/galleries/displayimage.php?pos=-4482

a few more views, in-car and facing the driver: http://www.justracing.com/galleries/displayimage.php?pos=-4481 . note the other, legit racecar just being left in the dust on the straights...

the driver's thoughts: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18253338&postcount=38

pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/garysheehan.com/1968McLarenM6B

[skatetokil]

ok, since this seems to be the place for fast cars, if you were going to pick up a fun vehicle for under 10 grand, what would you buy? I'd like something that can actually seat 4 even if its a 2 door. I'll take good handling and mileage over a huge engine.


I've been looking for a low mileage 95 Acura Legend GS (sports suspension, hot engine, 6 speed stick etc) or the Legend 2 door coupe from 93-95 but I haven't found the right one yet.

[Toshi]

ok, since this seems to be the place for fast cars, if you were going to pick up a fun vehicle for under 10 grand, what would you buy? I'd like something that can actually seat 4 even if its a 2 door. I'll take good handling and mileage over a huge engine.

I've been looking for a low mileage 95 Acura Legend GS (sports suspension, hot engine, 6 speed stick etc) or the Legend 2 door coupe from 93-95 but I haven't found the right one yet.
the legend would be fun, but it's fwd. from my car list that i used when picking out my ride (see http://toshiclark.com/images/miscellaneous/random/carlist1111.png and http://toshiclark.com/images/miscellaneous/random/carlist1112.png ):

1999 subaru 2.5RS
1999 toyota celica
2002 mazda protegé5, or a protegé sedan for that matter
1996 nissan 300zx 2+2
1990/oldschool VW GTI, not any of the later, bloated models tho
1989-1991 honda civic si -- double wishbones, right around ~2100 lbs, what's not to like?

[Toshi]

i got up at 3 AM to catch the sunrise at oxbow bend, made famous by ansel adams way back when.

http://tinyurl.com/22na6n

the first image at the link will open up quicktime player, with a time lapse movie of the sunrise.

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20dawn%20at%20oxbow%20bend,%20teton%20overlook%20-%20june%202,%202007/Images/IMG_3524.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20dawn%20at%20oxbow%20bend,%20teton%20overlook%20-%20june%202,%202007/Images/IMG_3549.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20dawn%20at%20oxbow%20bend,%20teton%20overlook%20-%20june%202,%202007/Images/IMG_3564.jpg

[Toshi]

i hiked around at teton pass today.

http://tinyurl.com/yvw7l6

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/teton%20pass%20-%20june%203,%202007/Images/IMG_3576.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/teton%20pass%20-%20june%203,%202007/Images/IMG_3571.jpg

(this above shot sort of reminds me of this one from japan: http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/japan/all/Pages/0.html )

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/teton%20pass%20-%20june%203,%202007/Images/IMG_3575.jpg

[ALEXIS_DH]

alexis, you should like this, a pro driver taking a 1967 Mclaren M6B Can-Am car around Infineon/Sears Point. 600 hp.

this first is a video from a camera mounted on the engine cover, with the last/fast lap starting at around 4:30. note the water pump looking thing in the center of the frame: that's the throttle linkage. :eek:
http://www.justracing.com/galleries/displayimage.php?pos=-4482

a few more views, in-car and facing the driver: http://www.justracing.com/galleries/displayimage.php?pos=-4481 . note the other, legit racecar just being left in the dust on the straights...

the driver's thoughts: http://www.justracing.com/galleries/displayimage.php?pos=-4481

pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/garysheehan.com/1968McLarenM6B

:drool: awesome video.

fun trivia. back in the good ol´days (mid 60s, just before the military regime), my grand-dad had a 2 friends who raced cars and had mclarens (ford powered. ex can-am maybe?) and another one who had a porsche 906. imagine having a car like that in your garage.
the fellas are in their 80s right now. the 906 was shipped to ecuador when the lefty military junta came to power. :( otherwise it would probably have stayed in his garage next to a shelby that survived the lefties.

[Toshi]

i've decided to go for a new look to my photos, which i'll try out on the big batch coming up from the roadtrip.

old look, which i would describe as:
a) having an intentionally limited range of luminance, albeit with many curve shifts in the midrange to make things look more dramatic
b) being deliberately supersaturated in certain colors, blue for skies certainly, reds, oranges, warm browns
c) the general impression is of color first, not line or contrast. this stems from my long-standing belief that, if possible, the scene should have detail in both highlights and shadows, and that limited dynamic range often is a cheap photoshop gimmick (taking the levels down to 220 for the white point, etc.)

example of the current look:

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20taggart%20and%20bradley%20lakes%20-%20may%2027,%202007/Images/bradleylake.jpg

i came up with the idea for this new look while walking by some large-format b&w landscape work plastered on the hallways here in the hospital (at the foot of the tetons, so naturally of them).

the look is very different on those shots, color vs. no color notwithstanding, and leads me to question whether the human eye can see more local contrast and dynamic range when color is not the main element. (i could come up with a handwavy physiological rationale for this, given that rods are useful in much lower light than cones, but i think that rods are inactive at most reasonable light levels so it's probably untrue.)

nevertheless, the effect is real, and i see a new look that i want to shoot for on the road trip, one that will not depend on supersaturated skies for its visual "pop":
a) i'll optimize luminance first, and will sacrifice shadow detail if necessary in order to maintain a good mapping of the lighter shades (ie, will not map a large range onto a small domain)
b) color will not be added in as a gimmick (think the cheesy black and white grass with yellow flower type of shot)
c) instead i'll aim for a more watery, sub-realistic level of color, with tone tweaks. the wateriness will be to let the luminance detail be realized

this may all look worse on screen at small resolutions, but i have high hopes for larger shots and prints this way.

:lighten:

[Toshi]

i hiked up paintbrush canyon today. while i was aiming for 12.8 miles with a goodly amount of vertical (2535 ft) i came up about a mile short as there was much snow on the trail at higher elevations.

http://tinyurl.com/3c4a6f

still in the "old style", paintbrush canyon:
http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20paintbrush%20canyon%20-%20june%209,%202007/Images/paintbrushcanyon.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20paintbrush%20canyon%20-%20june%209,%202007/Images/IMG_3631.jpg

a shot in the "new style":

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/grand%20teton%20NP%20-%20paintbrush%20canyon%20-%20june%209,%202007/Images/IMG_3589.jpg

[Westy]

i hiked up paintbrush canyon today. while i was aiming for 12.8 miles with a goodly amount of vertical (2535 ft) i came up about a mile short as there was much snow on the trail at higher elevations.






Awesome stuff, I am very jealous.

Last year I went through paintbrush on the end of a 6 day trip. I was happy to be going down it and not up. I was there in August and there was still a lot of snow and the scariest most unstable scree field I have ever been on. I don't know nothin bout no fancy photography but I wished I had a wider angle lense. I did spend an hour waiting for good lighting conditions on the last picture but it was one damn fine hour.

Here is some of what you missed from the top of paintbrush.


http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i285/wallingmj/teton/resizepaintbrushDSCF0963.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i285/wallingmj/teton/resizepaintbrushDSCF0965.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i285/wallingmj/teton/resizepaintbrushDSCF0994.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i285/wallingmj/teton/resizepaintbrushDSCF1005.jpg

[Toshi]

great stuff, westy. did you ever post on RM about this trip? i would recommend a lounge photowhore thread if not :D

(you'll see one from me in the next few days for sure as i pick out my favorites from these 6 weeks in wyoming)

[Toshi]

this is cool:

http://www.headphone.com/technical/product-measurements/build-a-graph.php?graphID%5B0%5D=249&graphID%5B1%5D=303&graphID%5B2%5D=3&graphID%5B3%5D=255&graphType=0&buttonSelection=Compare+Headphones
http://i19.tinypic.com/6h6idzk.png

[Toshi]

http://www.teamjamoto.com/dixeregionpage.htm#v8301600

oops (rx-7 loses not 1 wheel, but all 4 at an autox)

[Westy]

great stuff, westy. did you ever post on RM about this trip? i would recommend a lounge photowhore thread if not :D

(you'll see one from me in the next few days for sure as i pick out my favorites from these 6 weeks in wyoming)

I posted one at some point but can no longer find it, maybe it was just a GMT installment. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your shots.

[Toshi]

a photowhore thread was promised, and now delivered:

my life in Wyoming through photos (http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2573373)

the only real content not found here and there in the last few pages of this thread is a link to positively huge versions of a few panoramas:

http://tinyurl.com/2mfuxd

[Barbaton]

Toshi, you'll appreciate this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW0B1sipLBI

[Toshi]

Toshi, you'll appreciate this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW0B1sipLBI
that's plain weird. :D

pics will come slowly, but here's the first batch. note the color/luminance tweaking in line with my manifesto above... yes, this is how zion looks DEsaturated.

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/road%20trip%202007/

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/road%20trip%202007/zion%20NP%20-%20kolob%20canyons/Images/IMG_3640.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/road%20trip%202007/zion%20NP%20-%20kolob%20canyons/Images/IMG_3647.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/road%20trip%202007/zion%20NP%20-%20kolob%20canyons/Images/IMG_3646.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/road%20trip%202007/zion%20NP%20-%20angels%20landing,%20emerald%20pools/Images/IMG_3656.jpg
http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/road%20trip%202007/zion%20NP%20-%20angels%20landing,%20emerald%20pools/Images/IMG_3663.jpg

[Toshi]

a few notes:

i have seen the jesusphone, and it rocks. as soon as i figure out how to reflash and debrain my 770 i'll be posting a number of things on eBay:

Nokia 770 internet tablet
iPod Video 30 GB
Motorola RAZR v3, locked to t-mobile

needless to say, the iPhone is a bunch smaller in my pocket than the above combination, and works way better, too. trying to use google maps was always an exercise in futility on the 770 even when wifi was available, yet it works beautifully on the iPhone.

ok, enough of that.

i also did my first track day/HPDE today (high performance driver education). it's a whole different experience from autocross, and a lot scarier: committing to turn in at 115 mph on a blind corner takes some guts, and backing out isn't an option since lifting the throttle mid turn is exactly what causes one to spin...

i think i'll be sticking mostly to autocross in the future. entry fees are much more affordable, and i find the challenge of the clock more satisfying than trying to perfect one's line with all manner of distractions (other cars of vastly different classes) out there. to illustrate the variety of cars on the track at once, we had a bone stock kia spectra as well as a SCCA T1-spec Viper with full cage, hoosiers, etc.

[Toshi]

i just finished posting the rest of the photos here:

http://tinyurl.com/22jsjk

i'll save the actual images + descriptions for the forthcoming lounge photowhore thread. here are two cool qtvrs tho, view them full screen in quicktime player for best effect:

http://tinyurl.com/3bpsnw
http://tinyurl.com/2jj9lk

note that the code that opens up the qtvrs in quicktime player does NOT work in safari 3 beta. works otherwise.

[Toshi]

the promised lounge thread on the road trip, comment there:

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2599118

[Toshi]

for auction since i bought an iPhone :) , all with $0.01 starting bids and no reserve:

iPod Video 30 GB Black
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110147914548

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110147912603

Motorola RAZR V3, locked to T-Mobile
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110147908193

photos of the respective items:

http://toshiclark.com/forsale/iPodVideo.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/forsale/Nokia770.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/forsale/RAZR.jpg

[Toshi]

for auction since i bought an iPhone :) , all with $0.01 starting bids and no reserve:

iPod Video 30 GB Black
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110147914548

from the above page, question answered by yours truly

Question & Answer Answered On

Q: hi i bidded on your item and just wanted to tell you that i really need an ipod and i wanted to ask you if you could plz sell me the ipod for 2.00 Jul-10-07

A: Please use proper English, and please stay in school. Both the syntax and the content of your post make you seem retarded. NO, I WILL NOT SELL YOU THE IPOD FOR 2 DOLLARS. Have a nice day.
:cheers:

yes, i am a jerk. heh.

[Toshi]

wrt the road trip photos, toshiclark.com did just a hair over 2 GB of traffic on 7/10/07. that's a lot of people :)

[narlus]

for auction since i bought an iPhone :) ,

you got suckered in to an iPhone? :disgust1:

[WTGPhoben]

you got suckered in to an iPhone? :disgust1:

zing!

[Toshi]

you got suckered in to an iPhone? :disgust1:

i don't need exchange access, but having email and web access on the road is very helpful. i don't have a laptop. the iphone does the job of the devices i had been using, only it does them better. what's not to like?

:lighten:

[Toshi]

this is an amusing look at the logos of terrorist organizations from a graphic designer's perspective:

http://www.ironicsans.com/2007/07/terrorist_organization_logos.html

[Toshi]

i had my RX-8 detailed yesterday after many thousands of miles traversing dusty, dusty country. and check out two of the cars i spied also getting detailed at the shop ( www.mirrorworksdetail.com ):

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/1219/img0028dl2.th.jpg (http://img147.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0028dl2.jpg)http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3718/img0029qi7.th.jpg (http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0029qi7.jpg)
for the non-car nerds that'd be the following two cars:

Lamborghini LM002 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_LM002)

Lamborghini Diablo GT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_diablo_gt)

[Toshi]

so my ebay auctions ended today:

razr: $46 -- i bought it for negative $25, i think, thanks to amazon.com + rebates galore

nokia 770: $152.50 -- i bought it for $300 iirc, might have been $250 after rebate. in any case woot.com cleared out a bunch for $120 or so so this was a highly acceptable price from a seller's perspective :D

iPod Video 30 gb: $205. i bought this particular one for $240, thanks to edu 10% and trade-in of dead, old 1st gen ipod 10% discounts.

overall: SCORE. trading up to an iPhone by paying a $200 differential from the old devices is a whole lot easier to swallow, no? i know some of you hecklers will be hard to convince, but my inner apple apologist must rationalize at all costs ;)

[Toshi]

have any of you guys tried out Simplify Media? i have no connection to it, and just want others to use it so i can sample their music and tie up everyones' bandwidth :D

lounge thread on it that i just posted:

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184733

[Toshi]

now THIS is sweet. urban motorcycle trials. none of the bike-trials hopping business, just pure style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCy9nrchqFI

wow.

[Toshi]

I won B Stock at my first autocross with the Kumho V710 R-comps. See NWR-scca.org/solo, Event #6 Results, Stock 2. It sure would be nice if I could cut and paste that URL, you hear me, Apple? Anyway, I took the victory on the last run by the slim margin of 0.067 seconds. Go me, heh.

In other news, I'm in the airport on the way to LA for Step 2 CS after having taken Step 2 CK on Friday, but Thad is probably the only person reading who knows what they are or cares

:D

[WTGPhoben]

I won B Stock at my first autocross with the Kumho V710 R-comps. See NWR-scca.org/solo, Event #6 Results, Stock 2. It sure would be nice if I could cut and paste that URL, you hear me, Apple? Anyway, I took the victory on the last run by the slim margin of 0.067 seconds. Go me, heh.

In other news, I'm in the airport on the way to LA for Step 2 CS after having taken Step 2 CK on Friday, but Thad is probably the only person reading who knows what they are or cares

:D

Congrats!

Frustrated by your iphone?

[Fool]

Somebody missed you while you were away...

http://www.lastnightsparty.com/midsummer/slides/IMG_9028.html

[Toshi]

keith, no, not really, but I would like apple to keep on improving it. It is unmeasurably more useable than the 770 was, especially when limited to GPRS

Fool: an excellent find :D

[Toshi]

i finally did it: i flooded my RX-8. grr. oh well, at least the tow and service will both be courtesy of mazda, and this will "save" me $100 by missing a trackday.

[ALEXIS_DH]

interesting fact that buries the idilic notion i had about the 2004-2005 2.5L US spec sti, dropping it from its high horse.

the japanese spec, even with the 0.5L smaller engine is way faster. apparently according to one of my subaru all-knowing friends, the heads suck balls.
and the japanese does 12.8-12.7 quarter miles runs bone stock.

[Toshi]

the japanese cars do not run that fast stock. that's a load of BS until timeslips prove it. :D

but yes, the US heads are not ideal, and giving up 1000+ revs at the top end hurts it further. neither is the suspension geometry ideal. have i mentioned that recently? heh

[Toshi]

Somebody missed you while you were away...

http://www.lastnightsparty.com/midsummer/slides/IMG_9028.html

so i took another look at this just now, and noticed that there's a bucket with dollar bills and a bottle of lotion in it?! why didn't i notice this bucket before, and what's the story? :brows: :banana:

[ALEXIS_DH]

the japanese cars do not run that fast stock. that's a load of BS until timeslips prove it. :D

but yes, the US heads are not ideal, and giving up 1000+ revs at the top end hurts it further. neither is the suspension geometry ideal. have i mentioned that recently? heh

i saw it over the weekend. could not believe it either until i talked to the owner and checked under the hood and confirmed thru mutual acquintances the car had indeed nothing else.
one did 12.70 with a 0.17 reaction time. (luis guillermo chavez´sti), had a downpipe and exhaust. nothing else (i´m pretty sure). 12.8 stock seems very plausible.

note there is a 11.50 wrx, but it a 1999. those are the fastest subarus of them all.

http://www.clubimprezaturbo.com/Docs/Actividades_CopaSubaru2007/Files/CS2007-3_CM_Resultados.XLS

[Toshi]

i still don't believe it. bad timing lights? downhill track? 50 mph tailwind? heh.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=80479

[Toshi]

anyone reading this on facebook? scrabulous is quite amusing: scrabble using the facebook platform. here's an amusing game that i'm playing with a fellow undergrad buddy now at u minn med school. note the upper right of the board, which are the last two words played:

http://i13.tinypic.com/5060951.png

[Toshi]

i didn't win at this week's autocross. grr. stupid me, for coning on all of my runs.

in other news, here is a gallery i whipped together of shots from the road trip reprocessed in the "old style":

http://tinyurl.com/2umj7m

an example of the supersaturated sky treatment as compared with the new look:

http://tjclark.ath.cx/images/miscellaneous/road%20trip%202007%20reprocessed/Images/IMG_3660.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/road%20trip%202007/zion%20NP%20-%20angels%20landing,%20emerald%20pools/Images/IMG_3660.jpg

[binary visions]

I think there's a good place for both of those looks. Frankly, if the scene has a lot of good color in it, I like to see that color processed and brought out, not toned down (e.g. your example, I like the first one better).

If there is poor color and good texture, though, the desaturation is very appealing. A prime example, I like the original of the deer with the blown highlights and desaturated color because the texture of the image is so appealing.

[Toshi]

interesting. i agree that each photo bears some thought as to which look would suit it more, but largely i prefer the new look.

more examples can be found over at my parallel thread on cameracourage.com :

http://cameracourage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10963#10963

[Toshi]

i finally did it: i flooded my RX-8. grr. oh well, at least the tow and service will both be courtesy of mazda, and this will "save" me $100 by missing a trackday.

the resolution of this story was that the car was in the shop for 24 hours after a free tow by mazda roadside assistance, and it received a new starter, battery, and 4 sparkplugs. all free. i'm still having an idle thought or two of selling it after the warranty runs out, but that'll certainly not happen before i get my money's worth out of/120 runs in on my fancypants V710 race tires... for reference, i currently have 8 runs on them.

[binary visions]

I just noticed the second deer picture. When I was referring to the preference I had for the new style, it was for the shot of the startled doe.

Conversely, I think there is absolutely no comparison for the shot of the buck. The older style with better color contrast is, IMO, a far superior image. The new style of processing just looks like you took it in the harsh noon light. Anyway, just my $0.02 - just like any art, photography appeals differently to everyone.

Want to share any of your PP techniques? I am still relatively new at doing any serious processing of images - most of what I do is relegated to some shadow/highlight tweaking, contrast and sharpening. If an image warrants it, I'll separate it out into layers and work with masks but that's about it.

[Toshi]

i agree with you about the buck, but that image received extra attention beyond the basics of the old style, in particular turning the reds way up and the yellows and greens way down. the grass bugged me a lot until i did that, and you can't judge the new/old style based on that image because the turning down of the grass' intensity is a new style trick applied out of context, as it were.

whew, long sentence. :D

all of this is accomplished on the .cr2/raw files directly using Adobe Lightroom. things i mess with a lot are:

white balance and tint
black point
contrast, both on the contrast slider and in the global tone curve: linear/medium/strong contrast
vibrance
saturation

the real work is usually done with the basic curves editor, again still within Lightroom: the prototypical "old image" would have highlights pulled back, lights pulled way back, darks bumped up, and shadows left more or less alone: in other words, things were clustered in the middle of the luminance range. i haven't done enough shots in the new style to have a real feel for it.

this is the image we're talking about:

http://tjclark.ath.cx/images/miscellaneous/road%20trip%202007%20reprocessed/Images/IMG_3887.jpg

[Toshi]

i'm taking off for a short trip to the coast, but before i leave here are two random, amusing images both seen on gizmodo today:

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7183/picture1pj4.png

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/2333/picture2pk1.png

[Toshi]

so i'm doing a microsoft playtest this weekend. 10-5 on both days, yikes. and they're getting cheap on their reimbursement items: has to be four different items and the big ticket stuff (office pro 2007 etc.) isn't there. oh well, still better financially than spending money racing...

so what should i pick from this list, assuming eBay will be its immediate destination?

MICROSOFT USABILITY GRATUITY LIST (as of 06/27/07):
All software products are available on CD only, unless otherwise noted.

PC GAMES

Rated E (6+) Special Requirements SRP
Combat Flight Simulator 3 $30.00
Flight Sim X: Deluxe edition $70.00
Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection $20.00
Zoo Tycoon 2 $20.00
Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure expansion $25.00
Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species expansion $25.00
Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania expansion $25.00
Zoo Tycoon 2: Zoo Keeper Collection $40.00


Rated T (13+) Special Requirements SRP
Age of Empires II: Gold Edition $30.00
Age of Empires 3 $50.00
Age of Empires 3: War Chiefs expansion $50.00
Age of Mythology: Gold Edition $20.00
Rise of Legends $40.00
Rise of Nations: Gold Edition $30.00

Rated M (17+) Special Requirements SRP
Dungeon Siege 2 $30.00
Fable: The Lost Chapters $30.00
Halo $20.00

XBOX 360 GAMES

Rated E (6+) Special Requirements SRP
Viva Piñata! $50.00
Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged $50.00

Rated E (10+) Special Requirements SRP
Fuzion Frenzy 2 $50.00
Project Gotham Racing 3 $30.00

Rated T (13+) Special Requirements SRP
Kameo: Elements of Power $30.00

Rated M (17+) Special Requirements SRP
Crackdown $60.00
Gears of War $60.00
Perfect Dark Zero $30.00
Tenchu Z $60.00


XBOX GAMES

Rated E (6+) Special Requirements SRP
Forza Motorsport $20.00
Fuzion Frenzy $10.00
OutRun 2 $20.00
Project Gotham Racing $10.00
Project Gotham Racing 2 $10.00

Rated T (13+) Special Requirements SRP
Mech Assault $10.00
Mech Assault 2: Lone Wolf $20.00
Voodoo Vince $20.00

Rated M (17+) Special Requirements SRP
Conker: Live & Reloaded $20.00
Fable $20.00
Fable: The Lost Chapters $40.00
Halo $20.00
Halo 2 $30.00
Halo 2: Multiplayer Map Pack $20.00
Jade Empire $20.00
Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes $30.00

BUSINESS AND HOME PRODUCTIVITY SRP
Access 2007 $239.00
Digital Image Suite 2006 $100.00
Excel 2003: Upgrade edition $109.00
FrontPage 2003 $199.00
Money Home and Business 2007 $90.00
MS Student 2007 $70.00
Outlook 2003 $109.00
PowerPoint 2003: upgrade edition $109.00
Publisher 2003 $169.00
Visio Standard 2003: upgrade edition $100.00
Windows Live One Care $50.00
Word 2007 $239.00

MICROSOFT OPERATING SYSTEMS SRP
Vista Home Premium Edition $240.00

my initial thought is to just go by dollar value: Vista, Word, Excel, Publisher?

[binary visions]

Assuming you have no interest in anything on that list, I'd do exactly that - get the 4 most expensive and sell 'em. They aren't obscure programs so they should go on eBay with no issue.

By dollar value, you'd go Vista, Word, Access, Frontpage

[Toshi]

Assuming you have no interest in anything on that list, I'd do exactly that - get the 4 most expensive and sell 'em. They aren't obscure programs so they should go on eBay with no issue.

By dollar value, you'd go Vista, Word, Access, Frontpage

should i use the same $0.01 starting bid, no reserve strategy? the last time i did a playtest (actually a usability study but same difference) i eBayed Office Pro 2003, and it went quickly using a sane Buy It Now price. hmm

[binary visions]

No idea, I don't eBay that much. I hate reserves, personally, and just start the item at a certain minimum that guarantees I won't get completely screwed.

For you, these are free. So, yeah, I'd say $0.01 w/ no reserve would work out well.

[Toshi]

i realize this is a strange venue for a such a request but i figure that i have a well-educated contingent of readers that check in on this thread at least occasionally. with that said, i'd appreciate feedback on this, my personal statement for residency applications. (the basic level of information that should be included can be found at http://www.medstudent.ucla.edu/current/fourthyear/default.cfm?pgID=169 if you're not familiar with such statements. they should be in a conversational/narrative style but not as "cute" or cheesy as your college application essay was, perhaps.)


>>>>> begin draft

My focus has always been on the brain, and this focus has led me to choose radiology. As an undergraduate I considered pursuing graduate studies in Cognitive Neuroscience after being involved with a fMRI/TMS/EEG project, but ultimately decided that medical training would offer me the most freedom in working with human subjects. Once in medical school I considered neurosurgery as a career, but soon came to the conclusion that studying the brain and its function using structural and functional imaging was the more elegant solution. Although my 3-dimensional echocardiography research project through the University of Washington's Medical Scientist Research Training Program did not involve brain imaging directly, it allowed me to become familiar with the geometrical and statistical methods used in imaging research and provided the opportunity to be published as first author in a peer reviewed journal. My current involvement with the University of Washington's Neuropsychiatry Imaging Group on a project analyzing MRI data of the brains of children with autism over time has cemented my desire to go into academic medicine.

In order to learn more about clinical radiology have spoken extensively with my father, a practicing diagnostic radiologist, and have spent time in the reading room whenever possible during the 3rd year required clerkships. Furthermore, I am planning on taking four months of radiology clerkships this upcoming year, including a month dedicated to a voxel-based morphometry project with the Neuropsychiatry Imaging Group. I have also done extensive reading of the radiology literature, with a particular eye on the mathematics underlying the correction of MRI data for magnet inhomogeneity.

What I am looking for is a residency program strong in both training residents for clinical practice and in preparing them for an academic career. Following residency training I would like to pursue a fellowship in MRI imaging of the central nervous system, continue to be involved in development of visualization software, and possibly engage in development of novel MRI tracers to illuminate various tissues' functional capabilities. Thus, an established program involving collaboration within the school would be beneficial, especially between the Radiology, Bioengineering, and Applied Mathematics departments.

I grew up as my father went through his medical training, and spent the formative years of my life in New York City watching him study endless textbooks. More recently I earned my undergraduate degree in Computer Science at Harvard University, and proudly greeted my sister as Dr. Clark after her 2006 graduation from University of Michigan Medical School. Currently she is undertaking a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado.

My outside activities reveal an interest in applied physics as well as theoretical physics as demonstrated through imaging research. Acoustics is represented by my ongoing involvement with community orchestras, a brass quintet, and in the freelance trumpet playing that I do around Seattle, while kinetics in its various guises is represented by skiing, catamaran sailing with the Washington Yacht Club, and amateur automobile racing with the Sports Car Club of America.

>>>>>> enddraft

[ALEXIS_DH]

i realize this is a strange venue for a such a request but i figure that i have a well-educated contingent of readers that check in on this thread at least occasionally. with that said, i'd appreciate feedback on this, my personal statement for residency applications. (the basic level of information that should be included can be found at http://www.medstudent.ucla.edu/current/fourthyear/default.cfm?pgID=169 if you're not familiar with such statements. they should be in a conversational/narrative style but not as "cute" or cheesy as your college application essay was, perhaps.)


>>>>> begin draft

My focus has always been on the brain, and this focus has led me to choose radiology. As an undergraduate I considered pursuing graduate studies in Cognitive Neuroscience after being involved with a fMRI/TMS/EEG project, but ultimately decided that medical training would offer me the most freedom in working with human subjects. Once in medical school I considered neurosurgery as a career, but soon came to the conclusion that studying the brain and its function using structural and functional imaging was the more elegant solution. Although my 3-dimensional echocardiography research project through the University of Washington's Medical Scientist Research Training Program did not involve brain imaging directly, it allowed me to become familiar with the geometrical and statistical methods used in imaging research and provided the opportunity to be published as first author in a peer reviewed journal. My current involvement with the University of Washington's Neuropsychiatry Imaging Group on a project analyzing MRI data of the brains of children with autism over time has cemented my desire to go into academic medicine.

In order to learn more about clinical radiology have spoken extensively with my father, a practicing diagnostic radiologist, and have spent time in the reading room whenever possible during the 3rd year required clerkships. Furthermore, I am planning on taking four months of radiology clerkships this upcoming year, including a month dedicated to a voxel-based morphometry project with the Neuropsychiatry Imaging Group. I have also done extensive reading of the radiology literature, with a particular eye on the mathematics underlying the correction of MRI data for magnet inhomogeneity.

What I am looking for is a residency program strong in both training residents for clinical practice and in preparing them for an academic career. Following residency training I would like to pursue a fellowship in MRI imaging of the central nervous system, continue to be involved in development of visualization software, and possibly engage in development of novel MRI tracers to illuminate various tissues' functional capabilities. Thus, an established program involving collaboration within the school would be beneficial, especially between the Radiology, Bioengineering, and Applied Mathematics departments.

I grew up as my father went through his medical training, and spent the formative years of my life in New York City watching him study endless textbooks. More recently I earned my undergraduate degree in Computer Science at Harvard University, and proudly greeted my sister as Dr. Clark after her 2006 graduation from University of Michigan Medical School. Currently she is undertaking a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado.

My outside activities reveal an interest in applied physics as well as theoretical physics as demonstrated through imaging research. Acoustics is represented by my ongoing involvement with community orchestras, a brass quintet, and in the freelance trumpet playing that I do around Seattle, while kinetics in its various guises is represented by skiing, catamaran sailing with the Washington Yacht Club, and amateur automobile racing with the Sports Car Club of America.

>>>>>> enddraft

the other day i stuck a q-tip so deep in my ear, i started seeing in funny colors.

[Toshi]

the other day i stuck a q-tip so deep in my ear, i started seeing in funny colors.

:clue:

on a different subject, this sounds interesting, especially the promised commuter version:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/electrobike/zero-x-electric-motorcycle-is-fast-eco+friendly-usb-compatible-285995.php


and here's a current draft of my statement, for those wondering how such things progress:

>>>>> begin personal statement draft 3/revised opening

My focus has always been on the inner workings of the brain, and this focus has led me to choose radiology. As an undergraduate I considered pursuing graduate studies in Cognitive Neuroscience after being involved with a fMRI/TMS/EEG project, but ultimately decided that medical training would offer me the most freedom in working with human subjects. Once in medical school I considered neurosurgery, but became intrigued by the possibility of studying the brain in a non-invasive manner using complementary structural and functional imaging techniques. My current involvement with the University of Washington's Neuropsychiatry Imaging Group on a project analyzing MRI data of the brains of children with autism over time has cemented my desire to go into academic medicine so as to be able to combine basic science and clinical medicine in a synergistic way to diagnose and treat mental disorders.

In order to learn more about clinical radiology I have spoken extensively with my father, a practicing diagnostic radiologist, and have spent time in the reading room whenever possible during the 3rd year required clerkships. Furthermore, I am planning on taking four months of radiology clerkships this upcoming year, including a month dedicated to a voxel-based morphometry project with the Neuropsychiatry Imaging Group. I have also done extensive reading of the radiology literature, with a particular eye on the mathematics underlying the correction of MRI data for magnet inhomogeneity. Although my 3-dimensional echocardiography research project through the University of Washington's Medical Scientist Research Training Program did not involve radiology or brain imaging directly, it allowed me to become familiar with the geometrical and statistical methods used in imaging research and provided the opportunity to be published as first author in a peer reviewed journal (Clark TJ et al, Physiological Measurement 2006).

What I am looking for is a residency program strong in both training residents for clinical practice and in preparing them for an academic career. Following residency training I would like to pursue a fellowship in MRI imaging of the central nervous system, continue to be involved in development of visualization software, and possibly engage in development of novel MRI tracers to illuminate various tissues' functional capabilities. Thus, an established program involving collaboration within the school would be beneficial, especially between the Radiology, Bioengineering, and Applied Mathematics departments.

My outside activities reveal an interest in applied physics as well as theoretical physics as demonstrated through imaging research. My interests in imaging and optics are represented by my efforts as a dedicated amateur photographer, acoustics is represented by my ongoing involvement as a trumpet player and composer with community orchestras and a brass quintet, and kinetics in its various guises is represented by skiing, sailing, and amateur automobile racing with the Sports Car Club of America. I grew up as my father went through his medical training, and spent the formative years of my life in New York City watching him study endless textbooks. More recently I earned my undergraduate degree in Computer Science at Harvard University, and proudly greeted my sister as Dr. Clark after her 2006 graduation from University of Michigan Medical School. Currently she is undertaking a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado. As a result, I have ties to many regions of the country and am actively considering residency programs located both within and outside of the Pacific Northwest.

[Toshi]

buy me!

Word2007 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=110156724885&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=001)(twocopies)

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[ALEXIS_DH]

buy me!

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FrontPage 2003 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=110156727079&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=001)

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i see you have made great progress towards doctor-calligraphy...

[Toshi]

my handwriting's always been that way, actually. uh, it reflects that i'm iconoclastic and artistic. yes, that's it. :D

[Toshi]

and here's a current draft of my statement, for those wondering how such things progress:

>>>>> begin personal statement draft 3/revised opening

more progression:

>>>>> begin personal statement draft 6

My focus has always been on the inner workings of the brain, and this focus has led me to choose radiology. After being involved as an undergraduate with an fMRI/TMS/EEG project investigating regions of co-activation and -deactivation in judgment vs. perception tasks I considered pursuing graduate studies in Cognitive Neuroscience. Ultimately, I decided that medical training would offer me the most freedom in working with people. Once in medical school I considered neurosurgery, but became intrigued by the possibility of studying the brain in a non-invasive manner using complementary structural and functional imaging techniques. Thus, my academic interest in the brain led me to radiology.

My my desire to go into academic medicine has been cemented by my current involvement on a project with the University of Washington's Neuropsychiatry Imaging Group. We are analyzing MRI data of the brains of children with autism over time, so as to be able to combine basic science and clinical medicine in a synergistic way to diagnose and treat neuropsychiatric disorders.

To learn more about clinical radiology I have pursued several options. I have spoken extensively with my father, a practicing diagnostic radiologist. I have also spent time in the reading room whenever possible during the 3rd year required clerkships. Furthermore, I am planning on taking four months of radiology clerkships during the 2007-2008 school year, including a month dedicated to a voxel-based morphometry project with the Neuropsychiatry Imaging Group. I have read the radiology literature extensively, with a particular eye on the mathematics underlying the correction of MRI data for magnet inhomogeneity. Finally, I have become familiarizedwith the geometrical and statistical methods used in imaging research through my involvement in the University of Washington's Medical Scientist Research Training Program. Although my 3-dimensional echocardiography research did not involve radiology or brain imaging directly, it allowed me to accomplish the above and provided the opportunity to be published as first author in a peer reviewed journal (Clark TJ et al, Physiological Measurement 2006).

My outside activities reveal interests in app