One Upgrade After the Other

This last month has been an expensive one.  I bought myself a brand new suit, I've spent more on my car than I'd care to admit, and now after several nights of frustration I've gone ahead and replaced the CPU for my editing suite.  On the positive side of things, these were all worth while expenses that needed to be addressed.  On the downside, they were all worth while expenses that had to be addressed immediately within just a few weeks of each other. Ouch!

This is really about my editing suite though.  The issues with my computer started just a few days ago, but became increasingly worse very quickly.  It was either my video card or motherboard that was failing, and after a few hours of research on the cost for replacements I decided that I should just put my money towards an overall system upgrade.  I'd been toying with this idea over the summer, but temporarily shelved it when my Jag began crying for some new parts.  

I purchased my last computer late in the summer of 2008, and it was really just at the beginning of this year that I began overhauling my existing setup.  New software soon followed, and I added a laptop to my arsenal in the spring.  Now here I am in the fall and I've shelled out more money yet again for my PC.  This time I opted for a more powerful six-core processor and a more robust video card.  I'm genuinely happy about the increased performance I can expect while editing more intensive projects, but still, this wasn't the plan and if my old system hadn't crapped out I would've been fine with it for another year.

Aside from the pain of being forced to make the decision to upgrade now, the transition was actually easier than it had ever been.  Having all of my files, photos, music, and past projects archived on my various hard drives, upgrading simply meant reinstalling a few key programs.  Everything else I was able to access off of my drives just as I did before so there wasn't really that much to do.

I know this is really an investment in the work I do, and were it not for the professional editing I have to complete I probably would've made an excuse to live off of my laptop for awhile.  But, here's hoping I can now get around to writing something about how awesome the editing suite I've been upgrading all year finally is!  I could really use a silver lining right about now.

Abandoned Movie Theatres

I've always had a fascination with abandoned places (see Bombay Beach, the North Shore Motel or the North Shore Yacht Club).  There's something romantic and mysterious about places that were once popular and thriving and then thinking about what must have happened that ultimately lead to their demise.

For a long time I've collected images of abandoned places simply because I was so intrigued by them.  I can't take credit for any of these stunning photographs and I wish I could remember where they came from, but they're a collection of abandoned movie palaces, theatres, and vintage cinemas.  These pictures make me think about what films where shown there over the years, how many people must have sat in those seats, and about the reasons these amazing places were left to decay.  I wonder what these movie theatres look like now, and if any of them have been saved or simply gotten worse. 

If you find abandoned locations as mesmerizing as I do you should check out the site, How to be a Retronaut.  Their abandoned category features all kinds of forgotten locations and objects that will have you surfing for hours.  They even posted about an abandoned New York movie theatre, which I recognize one of these images from.  It's all really cool and engrossing stuff. 

Around Town Photography

I shot the following images over the last few weeks and finally got around to sorting through some of them.  More than I have in the past, I feel like I've started to make a habit of snapping up random scenes when the weather suited it or if I knew I'd be in a different part of town. These passing glimpses not only give me new inspiration when it comes to my photography, but they also make me look at where I'm living in a new light. This little city in the prairies only seems to get more interesting.