About my long absence

Hello, everyone.

I apologize for taking such a long hiatus in this place. I've had a serious writer block for a long time, just can't find much to talk about in such a long passage. But anyways here's a few things I'd like to address:

1. Someone anonymous user has taken my recent blog entries and posting them as if they wrote it and they're taking credit for what was indeed my own work
2. I know the US Government is cracking down on theft of intellectual property but I feel like t they way it's being done is very broad and there's no clear standard on what constitutes copyright infringement, for example a child singing to a copyrighted song on a online video isn't considered as such.
3. The photographs that will be posted here from this point on will have a copyrighted symbol in the appropriate corners of the photo. (I wish I didn't have to do that, but I'm not cool with other people taking other people's stuff and being credited that way)
4. Cyber-bullying has been a rampant problems for years, and has been rampant especially over these last few months, especially when people take words out of context or misunderstood what's being said.

With that being said, that's all I can think of for now.

Vivitar 3815

Believe it or not, this is the camera I use to take most of my photographs nowadays. I got this as a gift from my dad a few years back. While this camera takes decent photos in sunlight, it does a sub-par job when it comes to other settings like taking underground shots of the subways. As you can see in this blog, most of my photographs come from this camera. I am thinking about purchasing a new camera (kinda wished I had a new camera when my birthday rolled around this month but that wasn't the case, but I'm okay with that)

My budget doesn't call for a new digital camera anytime soon, but I did use my sister's Canon Powershot.

This was the camera I was borrowing from my older sister for a few instances last year. It's a great camera, except that the one I was borrowing had a lot of fogging issues. It was even more noticeable when I was taking photos of the underground subways last summer and winter. I would like to get myself this camera, but for now my budget doesn't call for it this year. I would like a camera that would perform better than this Vivitar that I currently have but as of right now this Vivitar camera has enough memory to hold

1. 30 photographs (1600X1400 pixels)
2. 101 photographs (600 x 400 pixels)

When I was using the camera, I was made fun of by other people because they thought I had a $2 camera or something like that. To me it was better than nothing. Whatever I have I'll use it for now. I'm not really desperate for a new digital camera but I really need to improve my photographs and while I might be made fun of at times, I'm not going to let that stop me from snapping away.

My Baseball cap collection as of today.

Today, I have some baseball caps that I will display, but first here's a list of the caps that I have from each team (not just baseball)

1. Atlanta Braves
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Chicago Cubs (2)
4. Chicago White Sox (2)
5. Colorado Rockies (2)
6. Cincinnati Reds (2)
7. Florida Marlins
8. Houston Astros
9. L.A.Dodgers
10. Minnesota Twins (2)
11. Milwaukee Brewers (2)
12. New York Mets (2)
13. New York Yankees (3)
14. Oakland Athletics (3)
15. Pittsburgh Pirates (2)
16. St Louis Cardinals
17. Toronto Blue Jays
18. Washington Nationals
19. New York Giants
20. New York Knickerbockers

Here are some photos of them (some aren't that great in quality)

Baseball caps: The trend

The cost of a good-shaped baseball cap these days are going up. For New Era's popular Baseball caps, the current recommended price has gone up to $34.99 just for one now. I have not purchased a baseball cap since March of this year. When I first started collecting baseball caps in 2004, the same ones (which were made of wool back then, now made of polyester) were only $25 a piece.

Here's a sample list of the average recommended prices for baseball caps

1. 2004 Fitted caps: $24.99. Adjustable caps: $16.99
2. 2007 Fitted caps: $29.99. Adjustable caps: $18.00
3. 2009 Fitted caps $31.00. Adjustable caps: $20
4. 2010 Fitted caps: $31.99. Adjustable caps: $21
5. 2011 Fitted caps: $34.99. Adjustable caps: $24

Now I'm not complaining about the rising prices of baseball caps, but I have seen the trend in which baseball caps have taken in the past few years since the years I have collected them. Back then the fitted caps were and still popular today, however, the prices have gone up, due to the material being used, from the switch from wool to polyester for Major League Baseball players.Here's another thing to watch out when purchasing baseball caps: Try to purchase them at stores, and make sure the caps are the real ones. Do not settle for fake caps, that sell for like $5-10 dollars. You'll know when the baseball cap is fake when:

1. The logo looks distorted, such as the MLB logo or team logo.
2. The Authentic sports sticker is not on the cap
3. The price looks too good to be true.

The real baseball caps can be purchased at:

1. Modell's
2. Dick's sporting goods
3. Foot Locker
4. New Era Flagship stores
5. General sports and clothing stores

Anyways, hope this helps.

Brighton/Coney Island Boardwalk surface change

If anyone has noticed walking along the Brighton Beach/Coney Island boardwalk, there are some changes to some parts of the surface. I took these photographs of the asphalt surfaces along the boardwalk last November. Isn't boardwalk surfaces supposed to be made of wood and nothing else? In my opinion I think it might help a little bit. The wooden planks were falling apart in some areas so repairing the boardwalk was a very good decision by the city's part. The asphalt surfaces will only be on small portions of the boardwalk in the southern tip of Brooklyn.

Anyways I'll get to the photographs now...

Note the surface differences.



Again, I have taken these photos last November, right now the construction work along this area has been completed.

World Trade Center site as of September 2011

The World Trade Center site has undergone some rebuilding during the 10 years after the attacks on the Two Buildings 10 years earlier. I took a visit to that site early this month. Here are some of the images taken from my digital camera. (I think I need a new one soon, but anyways enjoy these for now).

The Freedom tower (One World Trade Center) in the ongoing construction of the complex will be the tallest building when completed and memorials of where the original one and two World Trade Center buildings stood will be placed at the footprints of the towers.

As of this posting, the Freedom tower looks more than halfway done.

And here is the World Financial Center. The buildings visible are Two World Financial Center (round top) and Three World Financial Center (triangular top)

That's all for now.

long hiatus

Sorry for the long hiatus on this blog, I have been very busy with plenty of things this year. I'll get you up to date on what has gone on this year.

1. New York City has had a 13 day heat wave (I think it was that long)
2. Some parts of the city had to evacuate due to a Hurricane in late August, (flooding did happen in some parts of the city.

Anyways, I do apologize again, short entry, but at least it's better than nothing.