For people of my generation (and the younger ones of the previous one) video games are cultural phenomenon no less important to the way our brains work than books, music, or movies.  So it’s no surprise that our music, which has been inspired by books and movies in the past is now being inspired by video games.  What was surprising to me were all the different manifestations this inspiration has taken.

And now we reach the end, THE Top 200 Photo

photo #1 is:

This is from my first Otakon photo shoot - the one I mentioned before in which I had no idea Otakon was even going on until we arrived in Baltimore. He was one of three people I photographed. Why? Because, even though I’d never watched it, I actually knew what InuYasha was. InuYasha is a manga/anime by Rumiko Takahashi, the creator or Ranma ½. Because manga artists tend to have a very recognizable style, I knew it was by her just from the character designs. The main characters look like Ranma and Akane.

The penultimate Top 200 Photo

photo #2 is:

I called this photo Ghetto Shoes because I’ve only seen this type of stuff happen in less well-off neighborhoods. It was a pretty regular site in the neighborhood where I grew up. Thinking about it, it probably happens anywhere there are teens and preteens, but more affluent neighborhoods tend to have their phone and power lines buried. I have absolutely no idea why this photo has 5400 views.

“How do you do?” And shake hands. On this Top 200 Photo

photo #3 is:

I’d been reading online about how awesome the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade was. In 2008 Dina and Brian went and confirmed that it was pretty awesome so Danielle and I decided to go because it was falling on a Saturday in 2009. Eventually we decided we’d go ahead and get dressed up as well. We thought about it for a while and realized that 2009 would be the last year for a while in which it would be original to be a character from Alice in Wonderland since the Tim Burton film was coming out in 2010. So we had Danielle’s mom make us costumes.

The final appearance of these two in this Top 200 photo

photo #4:

And so these two show up once again with 2579 views as of the time I’m writing this (in March). I’m not quite sure what it is about this particular photo of a Soul Eater Cosplay has garnered it more views than the others. It’s technically an inferior photo when compared to the others. Part of the awesome hat on the left is cut off. And the woman on the left has her eyes closed.

The final Cornell-based photo in this Top 200 Photo

photo #5 is:

I think is it bizarre that, as of the time of this writing, nearly 2.5 thousand people have wanted to see a photo of my standing in front of a statue of Ezra Cornell. After Danielle and I got out cap and gown, we thought about what a circus it would be on graduation day. Everyone and their 20 family members would probably be trying to get family photos by all the famous Cornell landmarks. So we went around campus and took a series of photos, most of which are just sitting on my hard drive. One of the ones I took of Danielle ended up becoming her “official” graduation photo. Sometimes I wish I’d done more at Cornell, but I couldn’t have done much more and still graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree.

A geeky Top 200 Photo

photo #6 is:

I got this shirt when I went to visit MIT in 2000. We were on a visit of universities along the East Coast so I could decide where I wanted to apply. I guess it also functioned as the same thing for my brothers because I don’t remember them going on separate college visit trips.

I liked the shirt because it was quirky and had equations on it and mixed with religion. It wasn’t until my Sophomore year at Cornell that I found out these were Maxwell’s Equations. It was such as awesome epiphany when I realized the equations we were studying in class were on my shirt. Since most engineering exams at Cornell were either open book or allowed cheat sheets, I used to wear the shirt during exams as a little joke. It wouldn’t actually have been practical because I would have wasted too much time reading it upside-down. And it was on my front, so it didn’t help my fellow students either. I love this shirt, but it became ridden with holes after all these years and it had to go.

A cross between religion and a school project

photo #7 is:

This is Pope John Mole IV. Back in High School, many moons ago, we had to make stuffed moles when we were learning about moles in Chemistry. They had to be creative, usually revolving around work play with the word mole. This was mine. The idea was completely mine. But my mom actually made it. All throughout elementary school she used to make my science project boards (while I did the actual work). I think this mole she made for me in HS was the last time she helped me with my homework. It’s kinda nostalgia-inducing to think of it that way. While we lived in the apartment, it was on the bookshelf along with a bunch of other knickknacks we had all over the bookshelves.

Another Top 200 Photo

photo #8 is:

This is the reflection photo that started them all. It broke 1000 views in less than a year and was the first one to over-take photo #9 (back when it was my #1 photo). We were just looking for something to do on a boring day. We took out the camera and started experimenting with different ideas. When we finally came up with this idea, we must have tried at least a dozen variations to try and make sure to get it right. It is, to this day, one of my absolute favorite photos.

The penultimate Cornell photo in this Top 200 Photo series

photo #9 is:

This photo is, other than my Last Supper Photo (link), my favorite Photoshopped photo. This photos is my most commented on, my most favorited, my highest position on Explore, and was at one time my most viewed. I took my camera to class and just placed it on my desk. I turned off the flash and just took shot after shot as the professor taught. The title, “he Impression Left On Me by the Offspring of Euler", comes from the fact that he can trace his PhD advisor lineage back to Euler. At the end of the semester I sent him the composition and he loved it.