VII – Exploring the se7en deadly sins

Greed. Gluttony. Pride. Lust. Wrath. Sloth.Envy.

We’re all guilty of succumbing to these vices. Being human warrants it. Especially in the world today, the temptation to fall to these ungodly acts is not, by any means, weak.  So why not just give in????  Well thanks to the George Brown College Event Planning students, the public had the opportunity to indulge in a night of guilty pleasures.

But while the public tapped into their darksides, the GBC EP crew was doing quite the opposite. Most people may not know that in contrast to the 7 deadly sins, there are the 7 heavenly virtues.

 Chastity.Temperance.Charity.Diligence.Patience.Kindness.Humility.

From the get-go, this event was planned to aid the people and country of Haiti. The event planners, although at some moments showed some frustration, really should be commended for their hard work and charity.

I was privileged to have been a part of this EPIC event and was honoured to donate my time for such a great cause. Here are the photos I took throughout the night…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ttorralbaphotography/sets/72157623372987169/show/

The Thirsty Scholar

letters, words and lines
without thought are undefined
visions through his eye
turned artworks of the mind

Born unrefined
innocence once was confined
temptation he declined
though, once upon a time

now a fiend he has become
labelled obsessive by some
his journey to the sun
won’t stop until he comes

every ounce he has obtained
every lesson he has gained
enhances his mind frame
at times causing disdain

his path clear yet blurred
his speech clear yet slurred
life shaken and stirred
makes sense but absurd

except his ventures of desire
have created ideas to aspire
thoughts to inspire
the rise of his fire

now the artwork is his mind
has vision without his eyes
life has now been defined
through these letters, words and lines”
““

Stellar Photography…

Just had to share this photo with all of you taken by TchaikovskyCF on DeviantArt.com…

It’s insane what a tripod, remote and sunset can do for you…

A Bitter Revelation

This is just a poem, or should i say, an expression of the heart written by me in one of my dark times.

“A fantasy that I don’t even believe in
altering my every thought
Causing doubt, without a doubt
Mind state gloomy
Like a perfect storm
Leaving my heart cold and damp
Without a source of warmth
Trickery of the heart
Happens ever so easily
Without regard for me
And solitary I stand
Yet surrounded by negativity
Driving me positively insane
Is this the forecast for my future?
NO! Because I have the power to change
I’ve always had the choice
But I was hoping the choice was someone else’s
Simplistic circumstance has never been so complex
Blinded by a pretty face and a lonely heart
I chase the unattainable
With true ambition and false hope
Swimming against the tide
Trying to get from point A to B
But realizing I’m fixed at A
So much push yet steady I stand
An Idle heart for an idle mind
I can’t have that!
The slate is now wiped clean
New beginning stemming from a bitter root
Worthiness is earned
You never even earned my worth
My time not wasted however
I’ve taken from this a lesson learned
Realness can’t be faked
No room in my life for impostors
Cut — You are no longer existent in my realm
I don’t think you ever did
Just a mirage of what I thought was a friend
But my friendly intuition revealed truth
I’ve been real, you’ve just been a reel
Frames of a character playing a role
And so our scene ends
With me walking into the real world
And you walking out of my life”

Dark Mark Photoshoot

This is a random, on-the-fly shoot we did in November. We didn’t even really have a model so Mark, ever so kindly, volunteered to be the subject.

We basically just walked around downtown and found some nice urbanesque spots to capture some “dark” photos.

It also is fitting because Mark has coined himself as “Dark Mark”. It also is Mark’s bday week and this is my shoutout to one of my best friends. I’ve known this guy since 1998. Yeah when P. Diddy was still Puff Daddy and when him and Mase rocked the goggles. Y’all know what i’m talking about. I think I might just bring those back…true story. Happy bday Mark!

So back to it, some of these pics were taking sans flash, using the lighting in the streets (This image on the left was lit by a ghetto ass ATM machine.) Others, we used some Nikon SBs, triggers and some umbrellas to create the lighting we wanted. It was a great experience for me, being a fairly new cat to the photography scene, to see my boys Juan and Charles (check their blogs below) do their thang. This is what I love about being surrounded by people with similar interests; its constantly a learning process.

I have some other photos that I haven’t even began to process but I’m slowly getting to it all. More photoshoots to come as well, and we could always use subjects. If you wanna be a super model for a day, let me know and I’ll make it happen!

WHAT’S GOOD?

So WHAT’S GOOD peoples?

Well, I definitely know WHAT’S GOOD… You know, it’s taken me a long time to take action. The past few years have been stagnant, at best. I turned into one of those fellas that always made excuses for himself. One of those ‘big dreamers, no action’ types. Everything that came out of my mouth was a complaint, even if it came about with great subtlety.

And now I’ve awaken. My mind is running. My heart is pumping. My emotions are in check. My eyes are open. My drive – unstoppable. I’ve learned something folks. Life will not serve you success on a silver, metaphorical platter. I used to feel that by being a good person, God would grant me all my hopes and dreams. Yes, I think good people will be rewarded by God at some point, but time is not waiting for that moment to arrive. The seconds, minutes, hours and days breeze by like they were never there to begin with.

So I’d like to introduce you to a by-product of my inspiration, and the inspiration of my collective. What’s Good Ent., meet the blogworld. Blogworld, meet What’s Good Ent. No I did not put this group of gentlemen together. We all kind of just came together through common passions and a desire to succeed. In contrast to that all too familiar phrase “Great minds think alike”, I like to think our “Artistic minds think nothing alike”. This phrase explains so much when thinking about why I feel What’s Good Ent. will succeed. Each one of us brings a skill, a talent, a gift to the symbolic table of success.

Ok enough typing. P90X ruined me and now it even hurts to type. Day 1 –  done. Day 2 – too soon. Day 90 – far but well worth the torture.

So if you wanna know WHAT’S GOOD?  holla!

I got some Grade A Beef

LOL… Giggitty giggitty goo!

Ok all jokes aside. I got a serious issue to vent about and it may very well affect a lot of you. As you may know, I’m a devout advocate of what some may call the ‘cellular crack’ or the all too familiar name ‘CrackBerry’. For all you iPhone users, get on the BBM tip. LOL, no seriously though – it’s the greatest invention EVER. Ok, so back to the rant…

I HATE TRACKBALLS – With an absolute passion!

Oh how glorious it would be to wake up one morning, pick up my phone and run my thumb over a smooth surface. Have my cursor move to the rhythm of my fingerprint, following their every push and pull ultimately getting what I want. Dreaming has never been so bittersweet.

Instead, I spend my valuable time licking my finger to hopefully create some sort of traction in the trackball mechanism just to move down one contact or scroll down two lines to read the rest of a text message. I even took rubbing alcohol too it, used too much, and that almost resulted in the sudden demise of my bb screen. I’ve even disassembled my Bold to fight the lint monsters hiding under my trackball. This is when I discovered that my trackball light wasn’t broken, but eclipsed by the dirt built up in its way. So I cleaned it out, and was so excited to get full trackball functionality back just to find that my progress had been minimal at best. It did help but not in the proportions I had initially hoped.

So, to all you out there feeling the same anguish and pain, I salute you. Hopefully, the Bold 2 makes its way into our pockets one day soon.

Til next time you BBM heads.

Here’s a little help too….

Musical thoughts….

So I’ve been looking for some good music lately, you know, to tickle my eardrums, but all I can seem to find are oldies. Oldies being anything from the 50′s up until music started becoming random sounds put together by way of computers.  Please don’t misunderstand – I’m not bashing on music created through the advanced technology we have access to today, but I am bashing the lack of creativity produced. The music industry has put business and money in the forefront, while the music itself has been given secondary priority. But I’m on  a mission. I am out to find quality music and make people aware that there are soulful, consious and talented artists still roaming the earth.  I’m hoping to do these kind of reviews bi-weekly so keep your ears open.

Robin Thicke
Sex Therapy

Now, if you like neo-soul/RnB, fusion between the old and new school, this is definitely the album for you. I feel that it touches on the important elements of soul music – instrumentation, harmonization, diversity and of course SOUL. This is what makes Alan Thicke’s son so appealing to the masses (LOL had to do it – Growing Pains!!!). He refuses to compromise his artistic integrity and always provides the realest version of himself as an artist everytime. You can’t help but feel that through in his music. I’d list my favourite tracks, but to be quite honest, picking one would be wrong. Put your ear to the speakers and take a close listen.

Track List:

01. Mrs. Sexy
02. Sex Therapy
03. Meiplé (feat. Jay-Z)
04. Make U Love Me
05. It’s In The Mornin’” (feat. Snoop Dogg)
06. Shakin’ It 4 Daddy (feat. Nicki Minaj)
07. Elevatas (feat. KiD CudDi)
08. Rollacoasta (feat. Estelle)
09. Million Dollar Baby (feat. Jazmine Sullivan)
10. 2 Luv Birds
11 .Jus Right
12. Diamonds (feat. Game)

……oh and just to throw it back….

Jokes right? LOL

Reinventing Tristan

Wow.  It feels good. It feels good get back to my passions. It feels good to have an outlet for self expression. It feels good to think, create and aspire. It feels good to elavate my train of thought, pushing it higher than it’s been in a long time.  It feels good to grow and mature, in ways I used to neglect. It feels good to dream again. It feels good to be alive.

It feels good just to feel good again.

Be a witness to the re-evolution of Me.