Over to DC for this Top 200 Photo.

photo #141 is:

This terrifying photo is from a bee box in one of the Smithsonian museums. It was scary being so close to a box stuffed with bees. I just kept thinking about what would happen if they got loose.

Once again we return to Cornell for today’s Top 200 Photo.

photo #142 is:

Until I went to Cornell I didn’t really know anything about Indian culture other than that they were Hindu and had some elephant god. I ended up discoverying Bhangra, Diwali, and Holi. This photo is from the celebration of Holi. We (Danielle, Lisa Lau, Dina, and I) just happened into the court of Annabel Taylor where the celebrations were taking place. Basically it involves throwing colored powder onto each other. That stuff took quite a bit of time to wash off. But, as you can see here, it does lead to some pretty awesome photos.

Back to the 365 Project for this Top 200 Photo.

photo #143 is:

Nearly everyone who does a 365 photo project ends up doing an interpretation of the Seven Deadly Sins. It tends to be really fun to figure out how to depict it. Most people never do the Seven Virtues. This was my depiction of Lust. I want to include here the text I have on the description on flickr.

Back to Cornell for this Top 200 Photo.

photo #144 is:

One thing that all Cornellians should make sure to do is climb the iconic Clocktower. It’s so great to just look out over the entire campus that you spend all day navigating. I climbed it about four or so times and each time I enjoyed looking out over the campus.

To New York City at Christmas time for today’s Top 200 Photos.

photo #145 is:

In 2006 I went, for the first time ever, to go see the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. It was crazy to see so many people there given how cold it was. My takeaway was that the tree always looks bigger in photos and on TV than it does in person. I had a great time during that trip seeing NYC all decorated for Christmas.

To Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn for today’s Top 200 Photos.

photo #146 is:

One of the main bonding activities between my father-in-law and myself (and other members of Danielle’s family) was going fishing. Danielle’s father has almost always owned a boat and used fishing as his method of relaxation. For quite a number of years, I joined him on his Fourth of July fishing trips. Usually along for the ride were Anh Dat and one of Co Sao’s sons. For the most part, no one spoke and we just fished. It’s only because of weird conditions in recent years that I have stopped going. The penultimate time I went, it was actually freezing on the 4th of July (but only over the water). I had to borrow a sweater and I was still freezing. The water was also very choppy and it was the first time I got seasick. The last time I went, the water was so choppy that even Duc started getting seasick. So I skipped a year or two and then he sold the boat, so I haven’t been fishing in a few years. This photo is a panorama of the area where he docked his boat. It was near a movie theatre, Jodan’s Lobster Dock, and a TGIF.

To the midwest for today’s Top 200 Photos.

photo #147 is:

While I worked in P&G they sent all the college seniors to Cincinnati to see the corporate headquarters. One afternoon while the rest of the seniors went out drinking, I went walking around Cincinnati taking photos. This one stood out to me because the idea of anything involving tons of brides or the bridal industry seemed terrifying. I had been primed to think this because of the show Bridezilla.

I wanted to take a look at my music listening habits quarterly to see how each quarter’s stats stack up against the final numbers at the end of the year.  I started off the year listening to some of the new artists I’d bought, then just switched to random listens for the rest of the quarter.

1.  Girl Talk (294 plays) - I discovered Girl Talk at the end of 2010.  I really enjoyed the latest album.  Quickly acquired the rest of his albums.  I enjoy all of them other than the first one.  Listened to each of the albums a few times.  Then when I put my playlist on random, of course a few of them kept coming up because of how many tracks there were. 2. Doctor Octoroc (279 plays) - I got into chip tunes at the end of 2010/beginning 2011 via I Fight Dragons.  That caused me to check out Anamanaguchi, who Dan had been recommending for a while.  Then I came across Doctor Octoroc.  Got his chiptunes version of the Dr Horrible soundtrack and his chiptunes album “After These Messages”.  Enjoyed it for a while.  Quickly tired of it.  I don’t think I’ve listened to it once since the initial push. 3. The Beatles (132 plays) - I went through my Beatles rush in 2010 when I first got all the songs.  The Beatles are in third place solely on the basis of having SO MANY songs that they’re bound to come up often why I’m listening to my entire collection on random. 4. I Fight Dragons (109 plays) - I have all three of their EPs.  One was available for joining the mailing list - the other two I bought.  I really enjoy this group.  They’re a regular rock band that embellishes their sound with chiptunes.  The topics are not as nerdy as you’d expect from a chiptunes band.  They have a good sound, the singer has a good voice, and the songs are good.  I wouldn’t say they’re awesome, but they’re enjoyable enough that I always get happy when their CDs come up in my rotation of CD-Rs are work. 5. Anberlin (89 plays) - I own all their CDs so I’m surprised they didn’t come up more often.  I like all their albums to varying degrees.  I’m partial to their earlier work, although their latest CD had me falling for them again. 6. Relient K (54 plays) - I also own all of their CDs.  Although the first two CDs are awful compared to their later albums, there are still a few songs I enjoy on the first two.  I’m not a big fan of their absolute latest album, it forays a bit more into a country type of sound.  I’ll probably have to listen to previews of their next CD rather than blindly buying it. 7. “Weird Al” Yankovic (49 plays) - I have a ton of his songs, but I often had to skip them to keep from annoying Danielle.  Perhaps now that I’m mostly listening with headphones there’ll be more listens. 8. Billy Joel (43 plays) - nearly all of these plays come from a greatest hits album of his that I bought.  Around this time, I stopped listening at random in order to listen to my newly bought music. 9. Five Iron Frenzy (40 plays) - I’m a huge fan of Five Iron Frenzy, but they’ve fallen to the wayside as I’ve explored other non-ska music recently 10.  MxPx (33 plays) - I hadn’t heard any MxPx music in a long time.  They were one of my favorite bands from middle school through high school.  But I hadn’t listened to any of the three of four albums I own in a long time.  Listening to my collection on random brought them back into my radar. 11. GRITS (33 plays) - all their plays came from listening to my collection on random.  After their second album, I only like selected songs from their further albums. 12. The Hangovers (29 plays) - all from their latest album Three Sails to the Wind.  I really enjoy this album a lot. 13. Anamanaguchi (28 plays) - I really enjoy listening to this group.  It’s weird having groups producing music without vocals nowadays.  But I wonder if this is the future evolution of symphonic music. 14. Tom Lehrer (27 plays) - A great musician who rivals “Weird Al” for making me laugh. 14. ???? (Nobuo Uematsu) (27 plays) - I don’t have any of his solo work.  All these are from Final Fantasy soundtracks.  He is a great composer.  I think some of his songs rival movie soundtracks.

My latest Photojojo photo time capsule is available. All the photos were from my 365 project.

Civ 5 (70 hrs) - In March I fired up Civilization V for the first time since 16 Nov 2010.  What was the catalyst?  My wife asking what happened to all the enthusiasm for the game when it first came out.  Well, as I’ve mentioned before, right after I got the game I played it for a week straight.  Then I went on vacation to the Grand Canyon, to NYC for Halloween, had Thanksgiving and Christmas at my house, and a stronger focus on my webcomic.  Her question reminded me of how much I loved the Civilization franchise.  So I started playing and was reminded of why I loved it so much.  It took me most of the first game to get back into the groove with Civ 5’s new quirks, but I really appreciated the improvements to AI.  Civ V is now my most played game with 117 hours.  (Finally surpassing Civ 4)  Most of that time was added in March as I got sick and spent a few days home.  The achievements in Civ 5 really played a key role in keeping me interested over so many hours.  I did things I never would have done in order to get those achievements and now I have a much better understanding of how best to use those Civilizations.