This is more than a trick. It appears to me to be a significantly better way to think about reshaping a photograph because it doesn't loose any of the original "message of the photograph". In the illustration to the left, notice that the aspect ratio of the photograph has been changed from landscape to portrait -- without loosing any of the balloons of the landscape version. For me, that is the amazing part of this method.
Check out the video below to hear an explanation about how this is done and then go to the website, rsizr.com to try for yourself.
This morning I awoke listening to Chicago by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, written by Graham Nash in 1970. Although it has been 37 years since this was written, I am struck by two things: First, the world has changed since 1970 -- some for the good (the populist Internet) and some for the bad (almost everything done by the G. W. Bush administration). And second, I still believe in the sentiment of the song. Change happens by the actions of lots of people reaching consensus and showing up to demand change. I particularly like the ending of this particular recording which adds a section of people singing the last refrain.
Chicago by Graham Nash sung by CSNY (4:01)
Though your brother's bound and gagged And they've chained him to a chair Won't you please come to Chicago Just to sing
In a land that's known as freedom How can such a thing be fair Won't you please come to Chicago For the help we can bring
We can change the world - Re-arrange the world It's dying - to get better
Politicians sit yourself down, There's nothing for you here Won't you please come to Chicago For a ride
Don't ask Jack to help you Cause he'll turn the other ear Won't you please come to Chicago Or else join the other side
We can change the world - Re-arrange the world It's dying - if you believe in justice It's dying - and if you believe in freedom It's dying - let a man live it's own life It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them Open up the door
Somehow people must be free I hope the day comes soon Won't you please come to Chicago Show your face
From the bottom to the ocean To the mountains of the moon Won't you please come to Chicago No one else can take your place
We can change the world - Re-arrange the world It's dying - if you believe in justice It's dying - and if you believe in freedom It's dying - let a man live it's own life It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them Open up the door We can change the world
Finally, here is a YouTube version that has a lot of the images of the times. I think emphasizes why change was needed in a visceral manner. There is less evidence here that we can change the world. The bits and pieces of the world that were changed can only be seen with the perspective of looking back 30 years and noting things that are for the better today as well as things that are not as good.
Last night while listening to Weekend All Things Considered while driving, I heard a "Reader Assignment" which was to write about a piece of music that has changed your life. The first piece of music that entered my mind was a performance by The Band of Up on Cripple Creek which I heard coming out of the kitchen at an AMC Hut in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Why that tune at that place? Who knows. I'm just reporting what first came into mind. (Of course, as I write this, other pieces of music come to mind: Stravinsky's The Right of Spring, Bob Dylan's Lay Lady Lay, Crosby Stills Nash and Young's Ohio, Mozart's Requiem). But the first thing I thought of was The Band's Up on Cripple Creek.
Of course the hard part is trying to figure out why that song was the first thing to pop into my mind. A little background on the scene. From June 1969 right after I graduated from Yale through June 1971, right before I started at MIT, I worked for two years. One weekend during this period (either Summer of 1969 or Summer of 1970) I hiked with a group of friends in the White Mountains. Our route took us by one of the Appalachian Mountain Club Huts. These huts provide rather comfortable overnight accommodations in picturesque locations along the mountain trails. (We didn't stay in the Hut -- rather camped in tents near the hut -- a lot cheaper).
I remember arriving at the Hut -- the end of our hike for that day -- pretty wiped out. Our usual pattern was to set up our tent for the night and then go explore around the campsite. I decided to just sit back and enjoy the scene from in front of the Hut. In addition to lodging, the crew of the Hut cooks dinner for the paying guests.
The AMC crews were usually larger than life hikers -- people who could carry 80 pound packs along the trail and not seem to get exhausted. Since everything in the Hut had to be carried in and out, this was an essential skill to be on a Hut crew. So, here I was resting after a strenuous hike for me thinking about these guys who seemed to enjoy carrying up at least twice the load that I was carrying, wondering about what was different between them and me.
Shortly, as I am in my contemplative state, I hear, coming out of the kitchen, the sounds of The Band singing Up on Cripple Creek, the perfect song for this location. It just seemed right, and forever after when I hear that song, I think of that beautiful place with its wonderful vista over the mountains.
"When I get off of this mountain You know where I want to go Straight down the mississippi river To the gulf of mexico To lake charles, louisiana Little bessie, a girl that I once knew And she told me just to come on by If theres anything she could do
Up on cripple creek she sends me If I spring a leak she mends me I dont have to speak she defends me A drunkards dream if I ever did see one
Good luck had just stung me To the race track I did go She bet on one horse to win And I bet on another to show Odds were in my favor I had him five to one When that nag to win came around the track Sure enough he had won
I took up all of my winnings and I gave my little bessie half And she tore it up and blew it in my face Just for a laugh Now theres one thing in the whole wide world I sure would like to see Thats when that little love of mine Dips her doughnut in my tea
Now me and my mate were back at the shack We had spike jones on the box She said, I cant take the way he sings But I love to hear him talk Now that just gave my heart a fall To the bottom of my feet And I swore as I took another pull My bessie cant be beat
Now, its hot in california And up north its freezing cold And this living off the road Is getting pretty old So I guess Ill call up my big mama Tell her Ill be rolling in Bet you know, deep down, Im kinda tempted To go and see my bessie again"
What is/was it about this song that I liked hearing wafting out of the kitchen of that Hut? Perhaps it was the contrast between the beautiful serene scene I was looking out on and the honky tonk sounds of the song. Here we were in this wonderful location and the song was talking about all of the things I was going to do "When I get off of this mountain..." (I wish: although I was young, unfortunately my love life was not as robust as the singer of this song). Perhaps it was the concluding lines about "this living off the road is getting pretty old" picking up on my feeling hot and sweaty after a hike and a little bit of artistic exaggeration about who I was. I also just liked the sound of not particularly polished song about a scruffy guy mirroring my image of the Hut crew members.
In any case, it has stuck with me and I remember that scene when ever I hear that song.
Maybe not as life changing as some events, but here, after 40 years, I can remember that moment vividly. There must have been some change going on at that moment.
Technology Review: New Tricks for Online Photo Editing
