A Vincent Mounier Photography Blog
We deal in memories
March 5, 2007
It could be said that tourism is based on a combination of factors such as efficient advertising, convenient transportation, a hospitality infrastructure, local attractions, interesting geography and contrasting cultures. The higher these factors are rated, the better our potential as a tourist venue or destination. The product is then supported by outgoing, friendly and knowledgeable staff – thus actually fitting tourism in the service industry – and we usually leave it...
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Candle lighting is cool, but is it green too?
March 1, 2007
I was recently wondering if using candle light as a main household lighting source could be a viable and environmentally friendly alternative. After doing a little research on the web, I found an interesting article with a hilarious - and completely non-scientific - conclusion that I reproduce here: "... But if enjoyment of a candlelit dinner leads a couple to go to bed earlier than usual, they will have saved lighting and heating costs for the later part of that ev...
1:00 am Robson and Bute
February 25, 2007
The streets are wet, reflecting the night in an offset version of itself. Faces are blurry, paces are hurried to places far buried. It’s a time for hunting when predators are preys and the weak grow strong. Alcohol is everywhere, flowing through veins and into brains, pouring out of nightclubs and shooting stars out of control. Strides are hesitant, minds are diluted, hearts easily broken as promises are forgotten.A taxi driver, hailed at the last minute, slams on the br...
The meaning of life
February 25, 2007
Everything in life seems to be a matter of perspective. Things are different seen from above, from below or from the inside. From before and from after. Bird's eye, fisheye, eye level, eyes closed. Are there as many universes as there are points of view? Will the things here ever match the stuff over there that's like, you know, a bunch of different things? Could I be more precise? ;-) "To be is to do" - Socrates "To do is to be" - J.P. Sartre "D...
Thinking Out Loud
February 23, 2007
On passe sa vie à partir, en dehors et en dedans.
On traverse des oh! et des bah!—les premiers créateurs, les seconds générateurs de départs.
On s’éloigne lentement de la famille, on laisse derrière le sourire des amis, on délaisse les lieux qui pourtant nous sont devenus familiers. Le quai d’une gare, un port désert sous les tropiques, la salle d’embarquement d’un aéroport quelque part, ne sont que tremplins et issues de secours. Nous décidons un beau jour de sabord...
Playing Around False Creek
February 19, 2007
From home, a 10 minutes walk takes me to the Aquatic Center False Creek Ferries landing. The funny bathtub-looking boats cross False Creek every few minutes headed for various destinations; I chose the western most one, Museums, to go shoot the sunset - and then walked back to Granville Island to catch the ferry back home. Chilly, windy night. Great skies. And even a fun swell on the 2 minutes crossing. What more could one ask for?
Surviving the dark knights
February 16, 2007
They come in the deepest night, riding tall horses dressed in black metal mesh and aged leather. Their run echoes like an angry wind building up over a desolated plain before throwing itself into the chasms of a narrow canyon. The riders need no armor for they are almost invincible, yet they all wear one, having always done so. But not a glimpse of light gets reflected off of the mighty apparel. Swords are forged out of reddish steel as hard and sharp as black diamonds, ...
Nostalgia
February 12, 2007
What do I do when I miss the underwater realm so much it becomes almost painful? I take a walk to the Vancouver Aquarium, of course. I visit fishes (sic) in cages to forget I live in one. It's a sad visit, always moving, yet always fun. I like to think that if some humans would rather live in an extreme urban environment such as downtown Vancouver, in tall glass aquariums and with all the sacrifices but also the extraordinary advantages it implies, maybe the same goes for ...
Inuksuk
February 11, 2007
This is my new playground, my front backyard. Out for a quick walk at sunset, I strolled along a beach exposed by very low tides. Right across from home is a lonely stone sculpture guarding the bay like a giant transformer watching out for aliens. (This Inuksuk standing by the water of English bay has inspired the 2010 Winter Olympic Games logo; it was given to the city for the 1986 World Expo and has since become a protected site.)
The other side of me
February 9, 2007
My good friend Silvia is traveling through the Peruvian jungle right now and since this is the 21st century, she manages to send some pictures regularly to tease us - sigh. What must have been her surprise when she came across my brother, all the way down in the southern hemisphere, somewhere near Iquitos. Great shot of a fast-moving subject! [Click on the eye to see for yourself]
Failing CSS hacks in IE7
February 7, 2007
The much awaited Internet Explorer 7 browser has now been out for a while and my stats show that up to 30% of IE browser users have upgraded to version 7. The gap between Firefox and IE will probably be bridged and it seems the new IE will do a much better job than its predecessors. I had, however, been quite mad at IE7 since its release because it was making some of my IE6 CSS hacks fail; I couldn't install IE7 on my laptop to work on those issues - not wanting to loos...
Éloge de la fuite en avant
February 4, 2007
O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba taught that in order to achieve control of a situation – or even one’s life – in a spontaneous yet harmonious way, there should be only forward momentum. Aïkido just doe not recognize moving backwards as a suitable course of action. If one needs to go backwards, one is instead to move forward in a circular motion that will lead back where necessary. Granted, that is a subtle distinction. Yet it changes everything.
It also happens to be...