joedombrowski

[joedombrowski]

Tumblr fail.

Well, I had planned on posting a well formatted, long form article on design that I wrote a while back, but apparently, Tumblr has a max post length nowhere near as long as I need.  I'll be switching blog platforms at some point, I guess...

[joedombrowski]

Goodbye 1992.

A.K.A, the great bathroom update of 2011.  My bathroom hadn't been updated since 1992.  It had light blue paisley wall paper with a bigger paisley border.  Fake gold trim on fake marbled accessories.  Wrapped up in a number, you might call it "1992".

(Full size)

 We finally righted these crimes against humanity.

(Full Size)

1. An overall view of the bathroom

2. For water friendly art, I took printed fabric and wrapped it around canvases.  It adds a nice softness and pop of color to the clean black and white.

3. The Sink area has all new stainless steel and soft touch black accessories, and the switches and outlets were replaced with black Decora models.

4.  I can't decide if I should call this the "Jackson Pol-clock" or the "Jackson Pillock," but either way, it's a canvas that I splattered with paint, then repurposed parts from an old clock to match the new decor.

5. It's a toilet.

[joedombrowski]

Y U No post more?

Sorry to both of you who read this, I've been so busy as of late that I haven't had a moment's time to update the blog.  Stay tuned for more information on TOME, photography papers, and general geekery.

[joedombrowski]

The Summer of Infrared

In my photography, this summer was characterized by infrared photography.  It's one of my favorite styles, and now that I have an IR modified camera, the ease of shooting IR brought these images.

[joedombrowski]

That's the name of the game. And us.

I'm happy to announce today the name of our little team, and confirm the name of our little game.

Team Hakuna Matata consists of:

James Henderson - Producer, Programming

Joe Dombrowski - Lead Design, Sound Design, Level artist

Melissa Dickinson - Character art and animation, Narrative writer

Glen Giurlanda - Programming

[joedombrowski]

Thanks, Capitol One, you're the best.

Recently, one of my credit cards (previously with Chase) was transferred over to Capitol One.  They sent me a new card, so I called up to activate it.  Now, for those of you who are familiar with credit card activation, it's generally an automated system.  You type in your number, and you type in some sort of identifying information.  Alternately, and more common these days, you can even activate with an online form.

But not Capitol One!  No, no... Neither of these methods affords them the opportunity to go through literally (and I'm not exaggerating) 8-10 sales pitches to add services to your account.  I am generally pretty soft spoken about such things, but by the end of it, I asked "How many more sales pitches do I have to say 'no' to before I can move on with my day?"

Imagine my delight when I received a customer satisfaction survey in my email.  I began with great joy, blasting the organization's activation process, clicking next...next...next... Wait, am I really on page 20?  I never finished the survey.

In a few days, they sent me another survey, so I replied to the email saying

"I started the survey once before, to tell you how long and obnoxious the activation process is, but the survey was so long and obnoxious I quit that too."

But at least I know they're actually reading their emails.

"Hello, Thanks for your recent message. We appreciate your feedback. Our goal is to provide all of our customers with the highest level of service, and we sincerely regret that your experience did not represent that goal. Since regular electronic correspondence is not a secure method of contacting us and we wish to protect the integrity of account information, Capital One® prefers to discuss personal and account-specific questions by secure message and telephone rather than by e-mail.  We assure you that all other electronic contact with us such as viewing statements and making payments is secure. Thanks for contacting Capital One®. Best wishes, Capital One"

Capitol One, I hate you.

[joedombrowski]

HSO: Beethoven 9, Opening Night

A brief review:

Disappointing.

A slightly longer review:

Many of you who know me also know my long standing feeling on Hans Graf (Music Director for the Houston Symphony), though they're best described through an anecdote.  Years ago, I took a friend to see Scheherazade for the first time, all the time telling him what a wonderful piece it was.  Forty-five Graf filled minutes later, and he declared the piece boring... until he heard another recording.

That makes what I am about to say very impressive indeed.  Graf's interpretation of Beethoven's masterwork was solid, and at times, novel.  Through exaggerated tempo changes, Graf managed to eke out interest in the piece that, for many, has become just an old standard.  There was nothing ground-breaking, but there was also nothing dire.

The same cannot be said for the orchestra.  Maybe it was opening night weirdness, or maybe symptomatic of something more worrying, but this is not the orchestra I remember leaving when I moved to Baltimore.  Too many tempo changes seemed to catch the strings by surprise, as they phased back and forth with each other and the winds before finally settling in.  Add to that an overzealous chorister who hung loudly into a rest, and a few early entrances, and you begin to have a theme for the night.

This is not to say that the concert was bad.  On the contrary, I felt that it was a competent performance by an orchestra capable of so much more.  Throughout the performance, and especially in the final two movements, large sections were performed excellently.  The problem is that these sections always seemed to be interrupted by some minor error just as I settled back in to listen.

I fully intend to spend many more evenings at the symphony this season, and only hope that this great orchestra will begin acting like itself again.  They're playing Ein Heldenleben later this season, and with William VerMeulen leading the Horns, the Houston Symphony has always done well by Richard Strauss.

I attended the concert at the HSO's Sugar Land series, Thursday September 8, 2011 at Sugar Land Baptist Church.

[joedombrowski]

Imagine Cup: First concept art

The name is tentative, the art is tentative...but I'm too excited about this very first art that I just had to post it.

The idea is to use begin with photography, and make a semi-realistic, painterly style through Photoshop.  This scene is comprised of four photos.

[joedombrowski]

Imagine Cup 2012: I'm in.

Through the Interactive Game Development course at the University of Houston, my small team and I will be competing in this year's Imagine Cup, a development competition for students, sponsored by Microsoft.

I plan on using this blog as a developer diary to document our progress as we move through the competition, so check back here for updates!

[joedombrowski]

A few recent photography events

Since moving back to Houston, I have found myself very active in charity photography, especially at Sugar Land Baptist Church.  Since March, I have shot family portraits for Mothers' Day, Fathers' Day, and Vacation Bible School.  Here are a few highlights from each.

Mothers' and Fathers' Day:

Vacation Bible School:

[joedombrowski]

Welcome to my new home!

It seems you have stumbled upon joedombrowski.com, my new home on the internet.  For years, I called jwdphotography.com home, but as the years went by, my interest widened, and I ended up with a photography page about photography.  And audio.  And video.  And just about everything else, so I packed it all up, and made the move over here.

This blog will contain announcements of photo, audio, and development updates on my site, as well as the random ramblings of a 26 year old musician/photographer/programmer/wanna-be-chef.

Thanks for visiting me here!