Ben Alman » Photo

finally!

Ben Alman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:51:21 -0800

january 1, 2009. mark this day in your calendar, people. for this is not only the first day of the new year, but also the day that jeremy finally ordered up that D700 that he's been talking about, pretty much constantly, since it was announced six months ago. but this day, jeremy isn't the only happy one, as you can see from the photo..

why is kristin happy? well, because she now gets a substantial camera upgrade, replacing her aging once-owned-by-jeremy D70 with the substantially more awesome up-until-five-minutes-ago-owned-by-jeremy D200. and just as he replaced his D70 with the D200 a few years ago, now kristin gets to do the same. the cycle is complete, the prophecy fulfilled.

so, jeremy is happy, and kristin is also happy. but you may have noticed that they aren't the only smiling faces in this photo, no sir! robyn and craig (and i) are also happy. if you're thinking "why, ben? why are they also happy?" i'll tell you! we're especially happy because we don't have to listen to jeremy talk about how he really, really needs to buy the D700 anymore. double-yay!

but seriously, we're all happy for both kristin and jeremy. this is like, on the office, when jim and pam finally get together after awkwardly dancing around each other for three seasons.. except without dwight, and with cameras (yes, i know that the office is filmed with cameras. stop being pedantic. that's not what i meant, and you know it)

i just wish that i had brought my D300 to take this momentous photo, although the canon sd880 performed wonderfully, so i can't really complain

sarah and craig (and robyn)

Ben Alman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:51:06 -0800

craig brought his special lady friend sarah over for the new year's eve festivities. i hear she's really good at wii, but that's just the word on the street. to be honest, i wasn't really paying attention when people were playing, i was too busy boozing it up and eating all of kristin's awesome puff-pastry appetizers. anyways.. sarah, are those like, gang signs?

dan and michelle

Ben Alman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:50:53 -0800

well, from left to right, it's really michelle and dan.. but you know how, when you think of a couple, you always say one name first? at least i do, i always say dan and michelle, never michelle and dan. you know, i wonder if robyn says michelle and dan. i'll go ask her... ok, i asked, and she says dan and michelle too. michelle, don't read anything into this. we love you, actually, probably more than dan. dan, now it's all out in the open, i'm sorry, but you know how it goes.. anyways, yeah, about those favors i was going to ask you.. we're still cool, right?

anyways, maybe it's not a male-female thing, but something to do with the number of syllables in the names. or maybe it's just whoever you met first. maybe we'll never know. maybe you already know, and it's just me that doesn't know. that wouldn't exactly surprise me. either way, happy new year, dan and michelle! (oh yeah, and everyone else, too)

jeremy and kristin

Ben Alman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:50:39 -0800

and very special thanks to our good friends jeremy and kristin, for throwing a wonderful new year's eve party at their new house. you guys rock!

me and robyn

Ben Alman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:50:19 -0800

i really didn't want to deal with my D300, so i left it at home and brought my new canon sd880 ultra-compact camera, which actually worked out quite well. especially for hand-held self portraits, like this one, where the D300 would simply be impossible to hold

happy new year!

Ben Alman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:50:02 -0800

we all got together this year at jeremy and kristin's house to ring in the new year. there were tasty appetizers and snacks, gallons of booze, and wii party games.. oh, and good friends. pretty much everything you could ask for. cheers, val!

dan's axe

Ben Alman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:49:44 -0800

dan came to jeremy and kristin's new year's eve party prepared. prepared to kick some ass at guitar hero, of course

pangea media holiday party 2008

Ben Alman — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:25:45 -0800

so we all got together for some good times in the westin copley place "presidential suite" this evening.. there was a bathtub full of beer, more hard liquor than could possibly be consumed (even by 50 ravenous partygoers), appetizers, sushi, pizza.. you name it.

after an awful lot of drinking, we got started with the yankee swap, where many people's dreams came true, andrew got stuck with a staples "easy button" and i won a cool domo toy. (sweet—well, for me at least.. not for andrew, who got totally hosed)

unfortunately, robyn and i had to leave before the LCR game got rolling, because she has to get an early start tomorrow morning (work, lame). i'm sure that as i write this, people are still playing LCR and boozing it up.. but i'm off to bed now!

(photo by robyn alman)

sunset at 36000 feet

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:18:43 -0800

the plane flight back to logan airport was relatively uneventful, which is always a good thing.. except for a one hour delay while they fixed the radio. you know, rebooting a computer is something i'm quite familiar with, but rebooting a plane.. well, i wasn't particularly thrilled that they needed to do that. either way, the jetblue guys got it all taken care of, and we made it home in one piece

and for our trouble, they gave us all a free in-flight movie, so i watched stepbrothers, which was an absolutely retarded movie that had me laughing out loud more than once. it was pretty awesome (for free)

honestly though, i can't complain about the delay, because otherwise we might have landed before i was able to take this great sunset photo

crazy taxi

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:18:26 -0800

on the way back to the airport, we managed to get the huge cab with the "luxury" suspension. well, i'm sure the suspension provided a silky-smooth ride ten years ago when the car was new, but for our journey to the airport we got a cross between the "moon walk simulator" and "deep sea ocean waves" suspension experience. sure, you don't feel the road.. instead, you feel the road magnified by a factor of thirty combined with just enough weightlessness to make your stomach wake up and say "i so hate you right now"

on a side note.. once we were on the highway in heavy traffic, for no reason that i could see, the driver started playing with his windshield wipers (instead of paying any attention to the traffic), which proceeded to spasm unpredictably for a few minutes, despite his attempts to control them by incessantly clicking the controls back and forth. in the end, he just gave up and left the wipers where they were, in the middle of the window.. like _/_/_

the ride went something like this: thump .. thump .. whoooosh .. whoooooosh (stomach churning) .. thump .. whoooosh (more stomach churning) .. click .. squeak squeak .. click .. squeak .. click .. click .. squeakclickclick squeak clicksqueak clickclick click squeak clicksqueak clickclickclick squ-click .. whooooosh (ugh, stomach hates me) .. thump .. whoooooosh (etc)

mreow?

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:18:13 -0800

robyn and i were relaxing in the comfortable evening air, right outside of hotel el convento in old san juan. i was smoking my pipe, and she was trying to smoke a vanilla-flavored cigar (don't ask me how that went) when she spotted this not-quite-feral kitty roaming the courtyard. trepidation turned first to simple curiosity, then finally to playful frolicking when she realized that the cat wasn't going to eat her face. yay for kitties!

hotel el convento

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:18:00 -0800

robyn booked this fantastic hotel in old san juan for the duration of our stay there. when we arrived, we found out that they had problems with rain damage in our room, but they went out of their way to fix it all up for us (thanks, judith!). fortunately, we found out that el morro was right around the corner, so we had that (among other things) to occupy ourselves with while we waited. the atmosphere and service (and honor bar) were great, the room was very nice, breakfast was tasty, and it was within walking distance to everything in old san juan. what more could you ask for?

bacardi superior, pt. 2

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:17:43 -0800

one of two shots of a rather gigantic stack of rum bottles at the bacardi distillery in puerto rico

bacardi superior, pt. 1

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:17:24 -0800

one of two shots of a rather gigantic stack of rum bottles at the bacardi distillery in puerto rico

happy robyn

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:17:05 -0800

after touring the bacardi distillery, robyn couldn't have been happier. she fulfilled a lifelong dream, took some cool photos and drank some free rum. not to mention that this all happened in the midst of a relaxing vacation with me. sweet!

reserva limitada

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:16:49 -0800

this golden brown bottle of bacardi rum has been aged for between ten and sixteen years and will set you back only $100. well, that's the suggested retail price. in the official bacardi store, they've slashed the price down to a far more reasonable $85. it is a limited edition, and they say that you can only buy it in the caribbean, so if you want to get your rum on, you might want to head down there with a pocketful of green. of course, it's no captain morgan private stock or olde sint maarten island rum liqueur, so i'm going to have to pass (for now)

bartender

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:16:30 -0800

robyn's favorite part of the bacardi tour was when the bartender explained a bit of the history of bacardi rum and then proceeeded to show off some of the most popular rum-based mixed drinks, like the mojito and cuba libre. and what kind of rum do you make these drinks with? well, bacardi rum of course (which is available in our gift shop, conveniently located just after this demonstration)

helicopter earrings

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:16:16 -0800

if you're like me, you're probably thinking "wow, all those times i thought about inventing helicopter earrings, and i never did it, and now someone else has done it, and i've lost my chance at fame and fortune," but you're not like me, so you just think it's weird. whatever, dude

bacardi

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:16:02 -0800

the well-manicured grounds of the bacardi rum distillery in cataño.. where the greens are green, the blues are blue, and the rum is distilled, apparently (gotta love the polarizing filter for shots like this)

100 (percent) proof

Ben Alman — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:15:45 -0800

this photo is for robyn's parents, who for one reason or another have never been able to tour the bacardi distillery in puerto rico, despite multiple attempts. joan and rich, we did indeed make it to the bacardi distillery. it was open, we toured it, we drank some rum, and the herzog-bacardi curse has now officially been lifted