Running Ronin

Puppet & Master: Murray Monster & Joey Mazzarino

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:50:00 +0000

Yesterday it was the end of a rainy day in New York. Madison Square park was half flooded with puddles but finally the sun had started to come out. As I walk home from work, I see this huge blot of orange. You must know from the picture above who it was...

To my disbelief, Sesame Street legend Joey Mazzarino was shooting on location as the Murray Monster.

I almost passed out from the emotion, then started taking photos.

What comes to amaze are two things.

1) How Joey infuses his own expressions into those of the Murray Monster that seems so alive.
2) How the people on the set seem to be genuinely having a ton of fun.

That's how I always imagined Sesame Street (and the Muppets) - great awesome fun all around.

As somebody who actually cried when watching the last Muppets movie, I have to say - this celebrity spotting made my month. And the fact that I had my camera with me was a fortunate coincidence.

The contrast of the nuclear-like orange respect to the surrounding colors is amazing.

Another Murray Monster puppet is getting a hat sown on.

I didnt expect Murray to be so big and so much of him normally off of the screen!

Takes a full crew to make one monster.

The guy with the hat just made me.

Looks like Murray is signing something.

Below are some sequence shots that show how awesome the 1 to 1 relationship between puppet and master is.

Miyazaki's most successful movie you didn't know about

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:10:00 +0000

If you ever thought that "Castle in the Sky" was Miyazaki-San's most successful movie, you were unfortunately (like me) mistaken.

"Princess Mononoke" you say? Wrong.

His most successful movie, to date, is...

Spirited Away.

The movie's list of achievements is incredible. It is:

the first film to gross $200 million worldwide before opening in North America (264MM to be precise of which over 96% overseas).
the first film to finally overtake Titanic at the Japanese box office, becoming the top grossing film in the history of Japanese cinema;
the only anime winner of an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature,
the only winner to be made outside the English-speaking world;
the only traditionally-animated winner of an Academy award for Best Animated Feature.
achieves a whopping 97% fresh tomato score.

However, Rotten Tomato disagrees from the critique point of view - where the clear winner is Kiki's Delivery Service with 100% Fresh Tomato score.

Incredibly, Miyazaki-San's movies average an above 90% fresh tomato score. This is a stunning achievement.

My personal favorites are the Castle of Cagliostro (me Lupin III fan) and Howl's Moving Castle.

So which Myazaki movie are you going to watch tonight? Or are you going to visit Studio Ghibli in Japan soon (here some advice on getting those difficult to find tickets)?

As for these photos, I took them at Studio Ghibli. Post processed them to give them a bit more of a cartoony feel. This photo above was HDR'ed before going into the painterly effect. The below has only the painterly effect. All the original are far below on the post.

The original photos:

A walk through the New York Public Library

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:07:00 +0000

A finally managed to take a peak into New York Public Library. To my surprise, there are actually people studying in here! I thought it was more like a museum, or just a big cool building I remember from Ghostbusters...

Anybody ever gone to study there? Or is there a great library in your town that people normally use for studying?

Walk through Tsukiji

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:54:00 +0000

The motorized trolleys are fast. Some vendors tell you to not take pictures. Others greet you with open arms. Odd shellfish spit seawater from basins, while all around water is spilled, huge tunas (as big as torpedoes) are getting filleted and the smell of the sea rules.

Visiting Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo is a must for any tourist and a right of initiation into sushi. Just keep in mind, the locals are actually working. So check out their rules, and dont get in the way.
You will be definitely run the risk of being over by one of the many motorized trolleys.

But smoking while standing still is fine :)

Looks like a Predator?

Looks even more like a Predator!

Looks like this guy is expert at something - unfortunately I coulkd not get closer. Know what he's doing?

I wonder, do they cut them to look like that?

Already breaded but still alive.

Right name and right shirts to be an Italian restaurant.

Rules for Visiting Tsukiji

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Sun, 05 May 2013 12:53:00 +0000

If you visit Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, read the instructions at the entrance (and the ones that are posted all around the internet).
The images below and above are posted at the entrance to Tsukiji, and they detail quite a few rules that seem to apply to the average national lampoon vacationer.

But basically remember:
1) The locals are at work - so respect their space.
2) Stay out of the way. Cars and trolleys are MOVING.
3) Pay attention to various sorts of spillage.
4) Try to not touch around.

Takeshita Street with ShiftN

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:31:00 +0000

Took these photos of Takeshita street in Harajuku last year. As I used a wide angle lense, you can notice that there is quite some distorsio. I always use ShiftN (my old "how to" is here) to get rid of distorsion. It has a batch processing tool that makes it easy to apply to a variety of photos in a time-effective way.

Please note:
1) I think ShiftN works some 75% of the times. But you need to check your photos to see if you like the automatic output.
2) the best ShiftN results are the most subtle ones. If you get too much cropping and changing to the photos, it becomes weird.
3) The photo at the top of this post was not worked in ShiftN. It is an example, imho, of a photo I prefer as it was. The ShiftN result is the photo at the far bottom of this post.

Download ShiftN for free here.

You ever use ShiftN? Or any other tools to straighten your photos?

Entrance to Takeshita St as is.

Entrance to Takeshita St. with ShiftN.

McDonald's in Harajuku without ShiftN.

McDonald's in Harajuku with ShiftN

No ShiftN

Yes ShiftN

This is the same photo as the one on the top of the post. As you can see ShiftN has done a lot of straightening and cropping. All is nice and straight, but you lose that feeling of the city around you.

Disneyland Survival Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Wed, 01 May 2013 19:22:00 +0000

You're going to Disneyland?!? Hurray! Make sure to pack your camera and take great photos. Also read up on how to survive the experience and make the most out of it. Here are some basic tips from yours truly - my personal Top 4 (just cause I like to Keep things Simple).

1) Stay in a Disney Hotel.

The Paradise Pier or the California Adventure might be pricey, but the benefits stack up. You get early access to the park. You get to park your car closeby. You get to be walking distance from the Park (like 5 minutes for the California Adventure, and 10 for Paradise Pier) to the Hotel. You get to plan some "midday" naps or relaxation moments. You can get rooms with views on the Park from which you can see (from a distance) World of Color or the Fireworks.

Yes, financially it will be a hit. But in the end it will be worth it.

The Cheaper option: go for something like the Anaheim Hilton. Still close enough to be walking distance, and if reserved "right" you can get access to rooms that have a view on the park and from which you can see the fireworks.

2) Bring a backpack and check the Weather.

Its Socal, you should have good weather. But the evenings get chilly. So be prepared and have sunblock for the day and a sweater/jacket for the evening. If you followed advice under point #1, you can ditch your jackets at your close-by hotel till when you need it.

Also bring a good camera! You will want to take photos. And finally bring a couple of snacks, just so you don't fork over too much cash to eat.

3) Do it Right.

That's right - this is a simple principle on how to attack actually visiting the Park and it breaks into 3 suggestions:

Get there early. As early as you can! If you followed rule #1, you will have an extra hour granted to you by your official Disney Hotel.
Hit the Fast Passes: as soon as you get in, rush to get Fast Passes. Check on your map which rides have the fast passes. I personally go straight for the Splash Mountain and Star Tours. Then I go do Space Mountain. But everybody should develop their own system.
Use the Disney Mobile Magic App. It tells you the length of the lines! So no need to walk from Adventureland to Tomorrow Land just to find out that Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters has a 2 hour line.

4) The Park is for Snacks, but Eat your Meals Outside.

As said under Rule #2, take some snack with you, but feel free to indulge in your park favorite snack (mine are the churros). On the other side, avoid having meals in the park.

Unlike Disneyland Paris (which has great park food) Disneyland Anaheim food feels like airplane food. Never good and causes gas. So head out to the Disney Village and get something at the Uva Bar or the Earl of Sandwich. Still pricey, but at least on the tastier side.

A few final notes:

If you have kids you might want to read up on some kids oriented survival guides for Disney. Find a few here, here and here. This one I like a lot (here).
If you have limited time, avoid the Park Hopper and visit Disneyland (much cheaper). Its just my two cents, but if you have only 1 day and are choosing between a day only at Disneyland or only at California Adventure, you should always choose Disneyland.
The photos in this post were taken with my Sony Nex-7 during Xmas 2012.

Everybody has a Junk Food Favorite at, mine are the Churros.

Some children might find a Small World to be too creepy for their tastes.

Dont let the clouds fool you. Its SOCAL - you will need some sunblock,

A Small Painting in LACMA

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:53:00 +0000

One place to visit if you are in LA is the LACMA - the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Together with the Getty Center and Villa its probably one of you best LA choices for a great museum excusion.

Had to use ShiftN to straighten this photo (taken with my Nikon D90) cause the distorsion was quite embarassing.

Walk through Brighton - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:44:00 +0000

Almost a year ago I was taking these photos in Brighton (it was actually July).
As you can see, the weather is lovely... No really. It wasnt that bad the day I took these photos. I rained incessantly all the other days. And if you walked too close to the beach, the seagulls tried bombarding you with not-so-tiny gifts that could cause some serious splash damage.

One suggestion when in Brighton: if you like Indian cuisine, you mush eat at the Chili Pickle. It is a wonderful meal and not even that pricey. It is also attached to the MyHotel. While this hotel wins the prize for lamest name of the year, it is also one of the nicest hotels in town. It is less expensive than the Hiltons and whatnot, and definitely much more up to date and in a "quainter" location.

All photos were taken with my Nikon D90 in HDR.

Walk from the Vatican City to the center of Rome

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:13:00 +0000

An afternoon stroll from Saint Peter's in the Vatican City, to Piazza del Popolo, in Rome, Italy. Passing through Prati and Borgo. Love to be in two nations in the same day :)

All photos were taken with my Sony Nex-7, and most with the 2.8/16 wide lens. The Nex-7 lends itself perfectly to good-leisurely photography. As it weighs almost nothing (unlike my Nikon D90).

Photos received deminimis post-processing in Picasa (so nothing nuts) with is readily available to anyone via this link.

Where did you take an afternoon stroll?

Follow me on Twitter here.

Baffled Turkey Meme

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 16:53:00 +0000

I opened explorer today, which is setup for Bing (my chrome is setup for Google :)) and out came this photo of a Turkey being kissed by a Lamb.

... it did make me think of a previous exchange of 30 coins.

And just its meme potential make me have to post this.... :)

Girls of Tokyo Game Show

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:23:00 +0000

Last week I was in Tokyo for Tokyo Game Show 2012. As I was walking the floor I took the chance to test my new Sony Nex 7.
I also wanted to focus on portraits, to see how my 18-200 lens would perform at its minimum f-stop.

What do you think?

A Day in Tokyo in 50 Seconds

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 19:05:00 +0000

Just got back from Tokyo after a week for Tokyo Game Show. Edited this short video on my iPhone 4S while I was on the plane.

This entire video was created using 3 things (all available on your iPhone).
1) Timelapse App to generate the timelapse vidoes.
2) Stock Video App for regular videos.
3) Splice App to edit all together and add in music, titles and transitions.

Still, as great as the iPhone is, it currently does not make me any less angry for all the issues moving to iOS 6 is causing me...

Palinuro Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 01:24:00 +0000

I took this photo in July in Palinuro, in the Cilento Coast. Still not made famous by a movie (like Under the Tuscan Sun with Tuscany and Positano) or an actor buying a huge villa (like George Clooney on Lake Como), the Cilento coast is on the shin of the Italian book, right after the Amalfi coast.

Great food, great sea towns and great water. Oh and the beautiful "grotta azzurra". Just think twice if you want to go scuba diving on the blue cavern, cause a lot of expert and less-so divers have lost their lives in that treacherous network of underground caverns that make the "grotta azzurra".

Photo was taken with my Nikon D90 - normal shot (no HDR). I touched it up with Topaz Adjust - going for the classid "mild details" preset, then removed noise with Topaz Denoise.

...

6 Reasons why Audible.com is awesome

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 22:40:00 +0000

I listen to audiobooks as much as I can - I seriously fill every waiting/empty moment either with audiobooks or video game social apps. This gives me a chance to read books even when I'm very busy, I'm driving, or I'm simple in a queue.

But even with that in mind, here are 6 reasons for which anybody who loves books should consider subscribing to Audible.com.

1) It's convenient. Books are expensive, audiobooks are even MORE expensive. With a subscription to Audible.com you get to chose 2 books each month, and you pay $23 a month. This breaks down to:

the lowest average prices for audiobooks I've seen out there and a very competitive one even when compared to books (both digital and paper). For example, you could get Mistborn on iTunes for $40, or use 1 of your monthly credits - an equivalent of $11.50.
If books are an average of 10 hours long - you are paying 1 dollar for each hour of entertainment. That is a very competitive place to be, but even better... if you listen to books that are like 30-50 hours long, you really get your bang for the buck.

2) Huge Library. Audible has over 100K titles! And each month you get to choose 2 to listen to!

3) Discounts: on top of extremely low prices, Audible also gives its subscribers access to regular discounts on books that make buying additional books over the 2 allotted ones per month very easy.

4) A great community. The Audible community is also very well knit and offers detailed reviews. I always use them when choosing books that I'm "testing on my skin" (aka, when the book was not referred by a friend). I've never had a bad book when the average rating was above 4 stars! One piece of advice: pay a lot of attention to "narrator reviews" - the book might be a masterpiece, but if the narrator is getting bad reviews it will ruin the book for you.

5) Accessibility. if you have a smartphone, a computer, a iPod or anything you can load MP3s into, you have access to Audible. The website is easy to use, and it makes setting up your listening device just that simple.

6) The perfect solution for staying updated and interesting. In this day and age where we are often busy, we have long commutes or we need to cut out times to workout, it's important to use all the time we have to stay updated. Books are the necessary exercise our brain needs, they keep us up to speed and interesting - but they eat into our already dwindling free time. With Audible you can get books, newspapers, and even univeristy lectures sent directly into your headphones. You dont need to have your hands free, or fiddle with apps, you don't need use your eyes to read. You just need to press play and enjoy.

As for me, I've subscribed to Audible in 2003 and can honestly say the subscription has been worth every penny and has offered me endless entertainment.

If you like books and are not on Audible, I strongly suggest you subscribe. It's a great value proposition and you end up spending so little $$ in terms of "entertainment by the hour" that its well worth it. Their library is well stacked and some books actually have absolutely awesome acting/narrating renditions (like World War Z).

Ethical statement: I get absolutely nothing from anybody for recommending Audible. Its just an awesome product.

Note: Photo at the top was taken in Shibuya Square, October 2011.

Good job, here... Have a coin.

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 00:05:00 +0000

Yes, yes... good job, here... want a coin?

:)

NDR: this is making me laugh so much I'm just parking it here for future uses, like linking it on Facebook comments to people who deserve a bit of sarcasm (myself included :)).

How to get tickets for Studio Ghibli

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 13:04:00 +0000

Studio Ghibli is Hayao Miyazaki's wonderful animation studio and now even a museum in Tokyo. I took the above photo while visiting, its a replica of the colossus from Laputa (Castle in the Sky) and it sits on top of the museum.
Organized like a mini Disneyland, the museum is a small gem and its located in Mitaka (some 15 minutes train from Shibuya station), after a short walk from the Mitaka station to the museum grounds.

The walk from Mitaka station to the Museum.

However, if you want to buy tickets to Studio Ghibli you will find that it's not that easy.
The "purchase procedures" are listed on the official website, here. However, the instruction can be quite daunting and a bit of a pain, especially if you dont want to waste time figuring out which "official" travel agency has these tickets and/or if they are far away from your dwelling.
But you get 1 useful piece of information: the ticket is made of 2 parts: a "passport and voucher" and a "movie ticket."

The "passport and voucher" will get you into the museum.
The movie ticket (image below) will get you into a short movie viewing inside the museum.

With this in mind, the other thing to understand is that the ticket should cost 1000 Yen per person. Which is currently around $12.

If you lookup online travel agencies, they will ask for +$70 per person, and give you the tickets and a guide. But if you want to be a bit more thrifty, here is a very simple way to get your tickets I used last time I went to Tokyo. I know, its a no brainer... but I hadnt thought of it till then :)

1) Email the concierge of the hotel you will be staying in Japan.
2) Ask them to buy the number of tickets you want.
3) Tell them the time slot you want to reserve for (there should be a slot at every hour starting at 10AM, but dont quote me on that).
4) They might ask you for a 5% commission on the sales.
5) Get your tickets at check-in.

Keeping in mind that the reservations are mandatory, and that they go away pretty quick (I never managed to get tickets with only 3 or 4 day lead times), you will want to make your reservations in advance.

Another way to buy the tickets easily is if you have a friend in Tokyo - just call him up and ask him to buy the tickets at a Lawson convenience store (a Japanese 7/11 - they are everywhere).

As for photos, here are the few photos I managed to take while I last visited.

While the place is MAGICAL, a serious bummer is that they have designated spots for photos and you end up missing out on most of the good stuff.

The bridge in Mitaka's Park:

The ticket to the movie.

Details of a fountain with cats.

The cafe menu.

Another statue of the Laputa colossus.

Expert Panel: Top Video Game Trailers

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:50:00 +0000

So I asked some of my friends from the videogame industry which were the top trailers they loved both in terms of music choice and in terms of editing/graphical quality (for the time they launched).

Here is the result.

Hands down, all thought that Dead Island's trailer was the best they had seen in a long time.
It creates and emotional connection with the game that few trailers (or even movies) manage to put together.
The remaining trailers are in no particular order, but all industry veterans agreed that they kick ass. Interesting enough, most nominations are for Ubisoft, Microsoft and 2K/Take2 games.

What seems like a common thread is the ability for all the trailers on this to create an emotional tie with the viewer.
Winner - Dead Island:

RUNNER UPS:

1) Assassin's Creed: Lonely Souls

2) Gears of War: Mad World

3) Dawn of War: Hometown

4) The Last of Us

5) GTA: San Andreas

6) Modern Warfare 2

7) Assassin's Creed 2

8) Bioshock

9) Halo: Reach

10) Red Dead Redemption

11) Transformers, War for Cybertron

Which one is your favorite? Would you add to the list?

Piccadilly Circus after a storm

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 23:38:00 +0000

Weather in the UK sucks, but at least you get some awesome clouds out of it - enough said :)

Odaiba Gundam RX-78

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 08:00:00 +0000

The life-sized Gundam RX-78 in Odaiba is quite spectacular. I really cant convey how "real" it looks, and how many memories of watching TV as a kid back in the early 80s during my "italian summers" it brought back.

Still wonder if tech for a "Mobile Suit" like Gundam will ever exist or if it makes sense. The Japanese version of anthropomorphic combat vehicles is much in line with Gundam (even if I do prefer Zaku's) and Macross, while western sensibilities seem to favor Mechs, which pretty much are tanks with legs.

The aesthetics of Japanese robots is also inspired by samurai armors, and sometimes even western medieval armors. Also, they use weapons...like giant versions of cannons, machine guns and swords. Western mechs have weapons integrated in their system.

So...to really go into geek talk; what makes more sense?

Pro-Gundam: Interchangeable weapons means that a giant robot can get a reload on the fly, just by having a new loaded weapon given to him. Also, one robot can be good for many situations (snipers, sprayers, etc)
Pro-Gundam: hands are useful to have (and make the interchangeable weapons .easier to believe).
Pro-Mech: is their really need for a head and "eyes"? Wouldnt it make more sense that sensors for the pilot be all over the body.
Pro-Gundam: if a neural-piloting system were devised (plug in Matrix style), then it might make sense that a human pilot would need to relate to certain anthropomorphic shapes of the vessel it is piloting, hence hands, legs, head and whatnot could make sense.
Pro-Mech: more realistic in a "tank-like" piloting system.
Pro-Mech: seems more in line with a leap forward from current technology. Imagine how scary a tank that has legs and can jump would be...
Pro-Mech: integrated weapons are also more consistent with current tech, with loadouts being somewhat modular.
Pro-Gundam: japanese robots look cooler. And the mechs that look cool, are sort of going in Gundam's direction.

What else would you add? And do you agree?

To check out how the giant Gundam was made, see Danny Choo's post, here.

Ciao Nonna...

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 10:29:00 +0000

We should all have one person who knows how to bless us despite the evidence, Grandmother was that person to me.
- Phyllis Theroux

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever.
- Author Unknown

In loving memory of my beloved Nonna.

Life-sized Gundam details are amazing!

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 22:59:00 +0000

The photo above is just a teaser... Can you recognize the detail? (see response at the bottom of the page).

As you might have understood, I went to visit the 1:1 Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo. It really looks ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. It is as if the "old school" Gundam RX78 piloted by Amuro Rei (known in Italy as Peter Ray, btw) had just landed. Thank god they chose to make the statue of the RX78, cause none of the newer ones have ever matched its beauty.
Expect more Gundam HDR photos as soon as I have time to process them!

Answer: The above is a detail of the Mobile Suit's knee - seen from behind.

Piazza Cavour Spring Evening

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 23:44:00 +0000

A few photos from a spring evening in Piazza Cavour in Rome, Italy. The "Teatro Adriano" is actually a movie theater. As you can see from the top right billboard, Wrath of the Titans (Furia dei Titani) is showing :)

As usual, all photos were taken with my Nikon D90. I just found out I damages the lens... btw. Sad day.

About Piazza Cavour, here is a blurb for the tourists:

Moving away from St Peter's along Via Crescenzio, you come to Piazza Cavour. It is surrounded by buildings, including the massive Palace of Justice, the theatre-auditorium Adriano, and the Valdese church. The square is decorated with flowers and palm trees and has become more popular over recent years as a result of the annual book fair which was moved here from Castel Sant'Angelo. The monument in the centre, dedicated to the famous statesman, Camillo Benso, Count Cavour, was inaugurated in 1895 in the presence of the royal family.

Photo break during dinner in Malmo

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 17:28:00 +0000

Took These photos while in Malmo for a business trip. I was actually finishing dinner when the sun started setting, so I really quickly excused myself and ran around for 15 minutes taking photos :)

All were taken with my usual Nikon D90.

The Big Ben from Trafalgar Square

noreply@blogger.com (Rocco Scandizzo) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:57:00 +0000

Took this shot of the Big Ben from Trafalgar square using my Nikon D90 and its stock 55-200 lens. Zoomed out pretty much to the max. I did some mild post processing (especially to denoise the shot) and some layering so that the face of the clock would show its details.

As for those who are fans of the Big Ben, you might want to learn more about it striking Thirteen o'Clock.

For those who know nothing (like John Snow) - you might want to read up on it at wikipedia and then take the Big Ben Trivia Test :)