Thursday, October 08, 2009

a sweet thank you note from an unexpected guest

Thank you so much for making my final stop so wonderful Kristin,

The french cafe - the pomegranates and learning how to pronounce Guillaume

The view out to the water

The mist rolling in

Cloud purring on me - when you weren't there ; )

Riding on the cable car - the wrong way

Reading the Tao

Freezing outside CBS cause I didn't realize the doors were open

Walking the stripper district and exploring the city lights bookstore

Freezing outside city lights

Our Italian dinner and interesting service personnel...

Red wines

Learning about the men of your life

Sleeping in

Cream cheese and fresh salmon on toast with flax and yoghurt on the side

And of course Numi's lime tea!

Learning how to pronounce lao tze

Celebrating the sale of gloves

And most importantly:

Enjoying the best burritos in the WHOLE World

See you in Rio,

Simon

x

Baby Naoko


Baby Naoko, originally uploaded by jojohead.

My friend Sujata after giving birth to beautiful baby Naoko!

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

that better be one good caipirinha

I bought a ticket to Rio de Janeiro today to celebrate New Year's on Copacabana beach. I'm quite sure that I made the right decision.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

quinn deveaux

I saw Quinn DeVeaux perform solo at Amnesia some time ago, maybe it was last year. He was opening for a band I had been following, The California Honeydrops, and even though he was playing solo, I remembered being impressed by his voice. You could tell he was singing wholeheartedly, without any sign of pretension. He was at the club because he believed in the music he was offering to us. And in turn, we all believed in him. So I signed his mailing list.

Now Quinn has a full band, with three backup singers, and through the weekly emails, I keep seeing that he has more and more shows coming up. I just had a peek at this podcast in which he and his band perform their songs in a studio. It's gorgeous to look at, and even moreso to listen and tap your foot to. Enjoy!

Monday, September 14, 2009

drifting away

P1050157
Cats can be in any position and tune anything out, drifting away into a meditative state. (At this particular moment, she was tuning out the street noise and my rendition of Jacques Brel's Amsterdam.)

Monday, August 24, 2009

self-identified crazy person


I shot this video of myself after a shoot I did with Jessica a few months ago for our film: Forms of Identification.

What do you think? Should I stay in the picture or is this gonna end up on the cutting room floor?

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Drink... Then Drive!

Forget Gas, Batteries — Pee Is New Power Source

* By Eric BLand
MSNBC, July 8, 2009
Straight to the Source

Urine-powered cars, homes and personal electronic devices could be available in six months with new technology developed by scientists from Ohio University.

Using a nickel-based electrode, the scientists can create large amounts of cheap hydrogen from urine that could be burned or used in fuel cells. "One cow can provide enough energy to supply hot water for 19 houses," said Gerardine Botte, a professor at Ohio University developing the technology. "Soldiers in the field could carry their own fuel."

Pee power is based on hydrogen, the most common element in the universe but one that has resisted efforts to produce, store, transport and use economically.

Storing pure hydrogen gas requires high pressure and low temperature. New nanomaterials with high surface areas can adsorb hydrogen, but have yet to be produced on a commercial scale.

Chemically binding hydrogen to other elements, like oxygen to create water, makes it easier to store and transport, but releasing the hydrogen when it's needed usually requires financially prohibitive amounts of electricity.

By attaching hydrogen to another element, nitrogen, Botte and her colleagues realized that they can store hydrogen without the exotic environmental conditions, and then release it with less electricity, 0.037 Volts instead of the 1.23 Volts needed for water.

One molecule of urea, a major component of urine, contains four atoms of hydrogen bonded to two atoms of nitrogen. Stick a special nickel electrode into a pool of urine, apply an electrical current, and hydrogen gas is released.

Botte's current prototype measures 3x3x1 inch and can produce up to 500 milliwatts of power. However, Botte and her colleagues are actively trying to commercialize several larger versions of the technology.

A fuel cell, urine-powered vehicle could theoretically travel 90 miles per gallon. A refrigerator-sized unit could produce one kilowatt of energy for about $5,000, although this price is a rough estimate, says Botte.

"The waste products from say a chicken farm could be used to produce the energy needed to run the farm," said John Stickney, a chemist and professor at the University of Georgia.

Monday, August 10, 2009

à table!


I started a blog (finally) about my other passion: Food.

The blog is designed to help promote my new food project, Ediblease.

This pic is from our pilot shoot. Kara and Úna prepared a delicious cold cucumber soup.