Until Confirmed

Videos That Make You Go WTF

ToCA — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 02:04:42 +0000

This isn’t going to be a post with a lot of writing. It’s going to mostly consist of you saying, “WTF Internet?”

To start we have Tonje Langeteig’s “I Don’t Want to be a Crappy Housewife”

Second is the Tommy Seebach Band with their song Apache. Seriously, wtf.

I laughed a lot and there is music in it. AND THEN ADAM WENT TO CHINA

I used to be scared of a Terminator situation where robots took over. Not anymore.

Umm… Go hard Eastern Europe.

Speaking of Eastern Europe, here’s some Albanian Tron!

I’m having too much fun tonight.

A new start.

ToCA — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 07:07:52 +0000

And so comes the end of a chapter in my life. Macklin has been my home for the last eighteen years, but now I am going to be a British Columbian. Its strange to know that this is the end of my days here. It’s almost like being in purgatory where I both anticipate and dread my new life.

Leaving behind my friends will be hard. Leaving my perfect girlfriend behind will be even harder. It will be terrible. At least I will have photography and hopefully school to distract me.

More updates later.

The Sun Who Sets

ToCA — Mon, 09 May 2011 06:35:11 +0000

I love this photo. I don’t know what it is about it, but every time I look at it I feel inspired and alive. It feels alive, warm, natural, smooth all at once.

What Inspires You?

ToCA — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 06:17:54 +0000

Rush of Life - Kodie Beckley

Inspiration is key to any design project. There is not a chance that someone can come up with a beautiful, innovative piece of design without a tad of inspiration. My question to you is this: What inspires you?

For me, inspiration comes from music and photography. Photography has always been my favourite hobby and has found a special place in my life. Everywhere I go I take not only my camera, but all of my filters, lenses, tripods, etc. I’ve also recently acquired a film camera as well. Through the lens I can see things I would ordinarily miss. Lines make themselves apparent, curves twist on forever.

Music, however, helps me more than photography does when I actually get to sitting down and designing. Depending on the piece, the music changes. If I need something minimal and light, usually I listen to classical music, acoustic music, or even minimal electronic. However, for projects with a little more life to them I love to use punk rock as fuel. To me, no other music can sum up the feeling of being alive more than punk. Even for a design that is mostly clean, punk rock shows itself through the way I stroke my pen across the tablet. It allows me to breathe personality into a creation. No other music allows me to let go of what I am comfortable doing and just dive into a design headfirst and hope for the best.

And you know what? Those usually turn out better anyway. So I ask you, what is your inspiration fuel?

Focus

ToCA — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:45:06 +0000

Howdy all of my non-existent readers!

Well, how’s it all been? Good, great! Glad. I’m here tonight/this morning to tell you all about the shift in focus of this blog. I won’t be deleting any posts, but I will be taking most future ones in a new direction. I won’t be blogging about songs stuck in my head, or things I think are cool (unless they have to do with this blog’s purpose). I’ll be using Twitter and Facebook for that.

I want to focus this blog 100% towards photography and design. I want to keep it as updated as possible to try and maximize my online profile and portfolio.

Anywho, bedtime. I’ve had a great St. Paddy’s day.

You’re all great.

-Kodie

Tron iPhone/iPod Background

ToCA — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:43:22 +0000

Slainte

ToCA — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 05:05:39 +0000

The word slainte is from the Gaelic language. It means health or healing. Lately I’ve been able to identify with my Irish ancestry more and more, so I found it appropriate to name my first recorded song in Irish.

Download my brand new song “Slainte” here!

The entirety of the song was created in FL Studio 9, saved into three formats: OGG Vorbis, WAV, and MP3. I’ve uploaded the MP3 and album art to go along with this post.

Gorillapod

ToCA — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 07:39:11 +0000

I’m loving my new Joby Gorillapod. I have a Gorillapod SLR-Zoom model. I prompted to go for the SLR-Zoom since I plan on upgrading lenses after graduation and taking photography more seriously than I currently do.

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, 30 Second shutter speed, F/18, Focal Length at 23mm, ISO 100.

More after the break.

The Gorillapod by Joby is an extremely practical concept, using bendable legs to allow the tripod to find a shape for any situation. It uses connected spheres to allow the bending and each sphere has a rubber rim around the circumference, with the foot being an almost entirely rubber ball.

This allows you to take your DSLR nearly anywhere and still get a steady shot. From my own personal experience, this thing is great. Being able to take long exposure shots without lugging around a huge tripod is amazing.

Did I mention this thing will stick ANYWHERE? It truly is the be all, end all of portable tripods. Whether it be a fence alongside the highway, a signpost, folds in tree bark, or even the side mirror of your car, the Joby Gorillapod can bend in a way that will fit your needs.

The following, along with the lead image, were all taken with my Joby Gorillapod SLR-Zoom.

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, 30 Second shutter speed, F/18, Focal Length at 32mm, ISO 100.

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, 30 Second shutter speed, F/18, Focal Length at 18mm, ISO 100.

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, 1/4 Second shutter speed, F/25, Focal Length at 35mm, ISO 100.

I Have J-Pop Stuck in My Head

ToCA — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:52:36 +0000

I have the song NIGHT OF FIRE by HINOI Team feat. Korikki stuck in my head. Video after the break.

Enjoy.

Tablets versus Netbooks

ToCA — Thu, 20 May 2010 14:59:45 +0000

There has been much debate about the benefits of tablets versus netbooks, and I hope to provide a thoughtful comment on the subject.

I may be biased since I own a netbook and do not own a tablet, but the reason for my lack of a tablet is only because I have not seen a tablet that I am interested in.

My netbook is many things to me. It is a media consumption device, portable enough to be taken from home to school, school to work, and work to wherever Thirsty Thursday is being held. It’s built in webcam allows me to video chat with my ex-pat father, my friends away from home, and after a few drinks I like to set it on a table across the room and gather everyone into the frame for a good round of Chatroulette. I take all of my school notes on it (I’m a faster typist), I do basic Photoshop for Yearbook, and I can write HTML code on it. It has enough storage space that I can load it up with all my media needs, and has enough memory to multitask somewhat effectively.

The current generation of tablets is dissapointing to me. Apple’s iPad feels like an oversized iPod touch. It is stuck running a locked down operating system and has little appeal other than the few magazine apps for it. Microsoft’s Courier project was extremely promising with dual screens and stylus input, but alas, it was canned. HP’s HP Slate, which was to run Windows 7, looked promising but was also cancelled. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it is Notion Ink who is making a promising tablet. With multitouch input, swivelling camera, trackpad, and the choice between Ubuntu and Android, it looks like a great competitor to the iPad.

Though there may be some great alternatives to the iPad,
nothing will oust it as the top tablet until Google finally releases a Chrome OS tablet.