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Sometimes I get thirsty. Click for motion (700kb).

I have already posted a link to this video of Stethen Colbert and Neil deGrasse Tyson discussing tons of sciency things on the Twitters, the G+’s, and the Facebooks, but for my own nefarious reasons (read: so I can always have a place to find it), I am posting it here as well.

The description from the video is thus:

A discussion about science, society, and the universe with Stephen Colbert, who is out of character, at the Kimberley Academy in Montclair, New Jersey.

What that doesn’t tell you is that the discussion is both incredibly enlightening and funny, and that if I had to pitch a show right now it would be one that both Stephen and Neil co-hosted where they talk about how things work. Unfortunately, that won’t happen, but the good news is that my fantasy show won’t keep Neil from his more important work.

Neil’s passion for science and conviction for learning is very gripping, and if you want a perfect example of that, watch the last question giving from the audience from 1:12:00 on. It’s fantastic.

So sit back, relax, and maybe even give a hit or two to this video’s origin as well.

The Fuzzy Lights one might need some resizing for it to look its best, but I will leave that up to you because I am really lazy.

Click the image for the motion.

I had a chance this afternoon to observe the goings on in the OccupyOKC movement happening in downtown Oklahoma City. I was able to speak with a few of the folks in and around the area regarding the movement, and armed with my trusty camera, took the images below.

As I walked through the camp snapping images, I invariably came in contact with some of the protestors that have set up camp in the Robert S. Kerr Park. I spoke at length with a woman named Boston who explained to me how the area was set up and discussed her thoughts on the movement. She told me that she had been in the area every day that the occupy movement had been going on there. The group is currently paying $55 per day for the permit to stay in the park. Since they have been there, they have begun to feed and shelter some of the local homeless as well.

Like the other movements around the country and around the world, there was no single person that lead anything in the group, but a consensus seemed as though it was formed on what to do during the day. Also like the other movements, no prevailing message was the center of attention over others. What I gathered from my discussion and through signage, though, was that there was certainly a great deal of frustration with the division of wealth and the money bouncing around in the government, sentiments shared among all of the Occupy groups.

On my way out of the camp, I spoke to a construction worker on a project within viewing range of the protests. I asked him what he had seen and if he had any general thoughts on the Occupy movement. He mentioned that he had noticed dwindling numbers in activists over the last few days, noting that the past Thursday seemed to have the most, with dozens showing up. While the un-unified nature of the movement works to the advantage of getting multiple messages across, it doesn’t necessarily convey a sense of focus to the masses. This worker told me he didn’t know if simply staying downtown for multiple days was what “occupying” was all about, or if there was something more to it. We agreed that camping in the park was part of the whole, but not the whole itself in terms of getting the message across. The last point we discussed regarding the numbers on display in OKC versus other cities is the fact that our cost of living is so much less than the more developed cities that have much larger groups of activists. He didn’t say that that was the main reason for the low numbers in his opinion, but that it could certainly be a contributing factor.

All in all, it was a very interesting afternoon. One of the Occupiers asked if I wanted to take more photos of the group and their activities. That remains to be seen, due to my schedule. I would, though, like to see how things look in the late afternoons and night times when more people can get aways from work to gather, so I might go back later this week.

Click on the image to see the motion. This one is almost 5mb, so be patient.

Upon hearing some music echoing around the buildings, I made my way down to the Myriad Gardens to find a concert going on with a huge mass of people jostling about. Apparently the Gardens is pretty much finished, so far as it looked, and they were holding a “Festival on the Green” to celebrate. I am excited to see more shows there.

The group in question, for those curious, is the Oklahoma City Smug group. Now, if you were to simply speak this name in passive conversation, the connotation that might come up in the minds of your audience would be that of a group of latte sipping, Vespa driving, tight jean wearing, thick glasses having hipsters holding Polaroid Instant cameras to attempt to replicate Instagram filters. Well, your audience would be wrong in that assumption. The “Smug” here comes from ties with Smugmug, a great resource for photographers to sell and manage their images. So if you happened so come across this group and turned away because of the name, I can guarantee that no one at this meeting wore a scarf and a V-neck while talking about how using a DSLR was selling out.

The topic at hand for the evening was, as you might guess by this point, shooting in low light or night using the existing light around you. The group leader (Holly Baumann) handed out some informational sheets on how to do just that using manual settings, and for a bit over an hour we all meandered around the Paseo District hoping to not be hit by cars while simultaneously hoping cars would get in our shots for that fun streaking effect. Then we all went to the bar and had some food and drink.

If you live in or around OKC and are hoping to meet some like minded people regarding photography, I would recommend trying out this group. They seem to have a gathering about once a month and cover a range of topics.