A Vincent Mounier Photography Blog

Picasa, Chrome - Techie News and Big Brother
September 3, 2008
This is the 21st century. Not so long ago, that number was synonymous with science-fiction. The world was changing slowly enough that it would take a century for things to become fully weird and enhanced to the point of seeming magical.Now our science-fiction horizon has shrunk to a few decades. And even as I write this, new discoveries are made and technologies released that make the present amazingly fleeting and regularly spark flashes of wonders and magic in real-tim...
False alarm on False Creek
September 3, 2008
I thought it might have been the sunset of the century. I rushed out and ran to the C-shuttle stop only to find a notice of route deviation. So I went to the False Creek Ferries' landing but it was Sunday and they were no longer crossing to the bottom of False Creek. I ran back up the hill and caught a bus on Davie. But once on board I realized we were going the wrong way, north almost to Burrard Inlet before turning east and eventually back south on Main. It's because o...
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August 31, 2008
Not much to say. It's hard to complain when widespread devastation is lurking in other people's lives. And yet. I can't live their life for them. But I must live mine in the most honorable and giving way I can. The fact that I am shooting mostly sunsets, looking westward at the fleeting light and feeling darkness creep up behind me, is just a geographical coincidence. In effect, the opposite always happens. Light invariably comes in from the east and it's westward that t...
Gustav - Part 2
August 31, 2008
I should have known better. As soon as it had cleared Jamaica, Gustav roared to life and has now become a strong Category 4, just about to make landfall in Cuba with wind gusts of 160 kts, or 288 km/h! Cubans are going to suffer dearly through that one, and then there's Louisiana. Some things never change. First erratic reports from Little Cayman are much worse than I'd hoped. It seems the dive boats broke their storm moorings and ended up on the beach, all docks have b...
2008 Hurricane Season - Meet Gustav
August 28, 2008
It's that time of the year, yet again. My heart goes out to all those who live in the tropics. And as Tropical Storm Gustav gathers strength and heads west across the Caribbean, many hearts in the Cayman Islands will remember Ivan and sink a little, and many, many more in New Orleans will think of Katrina and drown. Gustav isn't a monster, thank God. It's currently cruising along westward at about 4 kts with a pressure of 983 mb and winds gusting at 75 kts. Expected to ...
Amazing macro work
August 26, 2008
In this very dark hour, I have chosen not to dwell on the difficulty of the moment - because in the end I am still the luckiest guy on Earth - but rather to concentrate on things that inspire me. Well, I just found one. I have never been too impressed by macro photography and usually find bugs creepy. I know a cat who eats them. But there are people who photograph them, with various degrees of success. The following has made me rethink everything I thought I knew about m...
All of us sleepers must awaken
August 24, 2008
My favourite blog recently talked about the Evil Corn Giant and corn-fed beef. It got me thinking about the Meatrix, which I hadn't watched in a while. So I decided to post the link again, because the Meatrix is all around us. Of course, it's much funnier if you are an unconditional fan of the first (and only) movie of the original trilogy.
Waterloo on a trail
August 24, 2008
I pride myself on being fit. I steadily run my 10.5K twice a week. I work out. I eat well. I usually nurture dreams of grandeur and think no reasonable challenge is a match for my stamina. I'm almost my own hero. And today, at the apogee of my illusions, I hit a brick wall on a trail. Or rather, the trail hit me with everything it had and left me to struggle my way back through the deep puddle of my arrogance like a crippled invalid. My three-and-a-half most cherished r...
Pulsating
August 23, 2008
Darkness rains on troubled days, its drops slowly wetting each hour like as many poisoned pearls sliding down wet sticky hair, headed for the corners of a helpless mouth closed shut to swallow the unavoidable scream that lets air hiss in, along with the poison and a certitude that doubt remains for the time being and long after.But then always the light bursts in, like Galadriel's, and its unflinching rays begin a trembling dance, dissolving the madness and reaching for ...
Consecration of butter
August 23, 2008
I recently stumbled upon a very interesting article reevaluating the importance of fat in our diet. It's long and at times quite technical, but well worth reading. Like any other source of information, it should be cross-referenced and not necessarily taken for granted as is. But it makes a solid argument in favour - yes, you read well - in favour of cholesterol, and of eating butter. Of course, as you might already know, I'm a little biased here. I love butter. And I am...
Lynn Creek unsuspended
August 20, 2008
Lynn Canyon Park is probably the most extraordinarily beautiful, most accessible spot in the Greater Vancouver, if not the entire Lower Mainland. But it's also relatively small and on summer week-ends, the crowd tends to get overwhelming. With Twin Falls downstream, the Suspension Bridge in the middle and 30 Ft. Pool upstream, all within a 20 minute walk, options are a bit limited and one must be willing to share the creek's stunning emerald water with many others...Surp...
The Grouse Mountain paragliding joke
August 19, 2008
This year's Grouse Mountain Fly-in was held on August 9th. I didn't attend, not being able to meet the experience requirements. [sound of grinding teeth] Besides, I hold a serious grudge against the people controlling paragliding up there. They seem to have established a very cozy nest and obviously want to keep it private and secluded. They charge $199 for a 20 minute tandem flight (I can rent a solo Cessna for what, about half that price? And for a full hour!) and if you...