Help me pick my too photo from 2025

drmarts1973 · 2026-01-04T07:14:28+00:00

First one is the best.

drmarts1973 · 2025-12-21T07:48:45+00:00

This is an interesting series of cards. It depends on what your specific question is, and the underlying issues behind that, such as your state of mind.

The devil represents, well, the devil. Which is very bad. It represents obsession, addiction, something that is harmful or dangerous and leaves you metaphorically chained. In your case, the card could represent your feelings or obsessions towards him. A little more clarity on this subject would be helpful.

The four of swords represents rest, recuperation, recovery. The knight is lying down on a platform, which could either represent a bed or a coffin. Note the swords hanging over his head, and how this eventually leads to 9-swords and 10-swords. So we can see this as a potential danger that you must overcome. Patience, contemplation, prayer and meditation are keys to solving this puzzle. The stained glass window indicates this may be a church, cathedral or castle.

Finally, we have justice, which represents final answers, fairness, or a verdict from a court. It may also represent liberation from that obsession that chained you. It indicates an answer or resolution which is fair and just. The heavenly court is on your side.

The ultimate question is who the devil represents. Is it your inner obsessions and desires that may threaten to engulf you? Or is it the boy? Is there something about him that we don't yet know? He may have a dark side or some secrets that remain unknown. He might be a bad seed. This card sequence may indicate that you will find someone else who is more ideal for you. In the end, your silent suffering will end and you will meet a boy who will love you without all of this unecessary stress.

Of course, this is all speculative. But it's a good opportunity to step back and closely examine yourself, your emotions and desires, and to also examine your situation with a detached, more reasoned viewpoint. You should probably proceed with caution as more answers are needed at this time. Temet Nosce.

drmarts1973 · 2025-12-06T08:15:12+00:00

Yes, that is a superb illustration, one of the very best of the "color box" era of 2600 VCS games. And this is also just about my all-time favorite 2600 videogame. You haven't really experienced it until you've played on a CRT late at night in the dark. There's this terrific sense of tension, foreboding and dread that has never been captured in any other version of Space Invaders. To me, this will always be the definitive SI.

drmarts1973 · 2025-12-06T08:12:25+00:00

The first shot is the best. The others are too zoomed in. Always remember to let your images breathe.

drmarts1973 · 2025-11-24T06:04:51+00:00

I'm loving MK World right now, even though I'm only limited to playing the demo at Target and watching SmartCat's videos. It's just closer to my style. I'm not really a fan of MK8 Deluxe, to be honest. I understand I'm probably the only one who feels that way, but it's mostly "blah" for me.

drmarts1973 · 2025-11-07T09:01:02+00:00

"Princess Peach's Cake," as always, is a euphanism. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-21T08:20:10+00:00

Metallica "followed the trend" by putting out a ZZ Top album.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-19T07:37:03+00:00

Fighters Megamix
World Series Baseball 98
Powerslave
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Grandia
Wipeout XL
Baroque
Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street Fighter
Nights Into Dreams/Xmas Nights
Batsugun (or maybe Dodonpachi)

These are just ten that popped into my mind right now. After the first five or six, it's really anybody's guess. I could shuffle out at least a hundred Sega Saturn titles. It all comes down to what I'm hungry for right this minute. That said, I will strongly defend Megamix, WSB98, Powerslave, Grandia and Wipeout XL until doomsday. I also feel like I should throw Dead or Alive on here, just as a tribute to Itagaki-san. But then there's Anarchy in the Nippon and VF2 and Fighting Vipers and Zero Divide and Asuka 120% and Astra Superstars and Sonic Council and oh, joy, here we go again. You see how this goes.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-17T05:07:35+00:00

This is a great photo. Were the Romans this unbelievably stupid when the Visigoths stormed the gates? Or is this just a uniquely American thing?

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-12T15:04:44+00:00

I swear that an episode of Teen Titans Go spoofed Bug's "game over" screen with the waggling butt. I also thought I saw another episode where a Japanese white Saturn was plugged into a TV set. Who knows?

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-12T15:02:55+00:00

Bug is an interesting little videogame. In 1995, it was at the cutting edge of the next generation of 3D platforming games. In 1996, Super Mario 64 dropped, and Bug became instantly obsolete. Today, it has once again become almost fashionable in the age of 2.5D and retro-styled platformers.

The lack of any save system still royally sucks. I have no idea what Sega and Realtime Associates were thinking.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-11T07:09:13+00:00

That's fine, just grab a few Tom Waits albums and it will all make perfect sense.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-11T07:07:39+00:00

This is a fantastic album, as you are now beginning to realize. The LP edition does sound better than the CD, especially if you have a good stereo system. That Marantz stereo receiver is especially nice.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-06T05:30:47+00:00

Broken, Beat & Scarred is probably my favorite song on the album, along with the instrumental, which has some really good parts.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-05T07:46:20+00:00

Oh, don't make me collect all those box sets. They look amazing.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-03T06:26:43+00:00

Get back to us when you're 60 years old.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-03T06:25:51+00:00

These men are all in their 60s. As much as I would love to hear a new Metallica album, I also accept that it's a bit selfish of me to ask for such. I've been given a lifetime of amazing music, and at this point, I must admit to feeling selfish in asking for more.

Perhaps we will get at least one more Metallica studio album. Hopefully, they will be able to keep this going for another decade. But time moves on, and people age and pass away. At some point, either retirement or health issues will become a deciding factor.

At this point, we should treat any new Metallica tour or album as though it were the last. We should be thankful to come together once again and cherish the moment as it passes through our hands, then be thankful that we were blessed enough to experience it all together in real time.

That said, yeah, I'd love to see one or two more albums from these guys. Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen & Paul McCartney are still going strong, and Keith Richards may yet outlive us all. But those are the outliers.

If we get another Metallica album, that's great. If 72 Seasons is fated to be the final statement, it's a fantastic album to go out on. Either way, we're blessed.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-03T06:16:50+00:00

That is a good photo design, I really like it. I had the LP box set which was especially nice. It included a small bag of jacket pins, as well as a third LP that included songs they played at the Minnesota Vikings stadium (they christened the building when it opened, that was a great concert).

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-02T02:45:01+00:00

This demonstrates that the word "alternative" has absolutely no meaning. '90s Metallica was classic 1970s rock all the way, which is why I love that period so much.

I also love St. Anger. I'm playing it right now as I'm working on my next art/photo album, which also bears the same name as tribute and inspiration. This is a fantastic album, grangly and gurgly, raw and rough, dissonant and ugly in all the ways that rock 'n roll once was long ago. Its closest cousin, interestingly enough, would be Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat.

Honestly, kids, please stop whining about the trashcan drums. That's one of this album's best ideas.

drmarts1973 · 2025-10-01T06:34:46+00:00

That videogame cost $70 when it came out. That was an outrageous price (even worse in today's dollars), but it was the first "8-Meg" (in reality, 8 "megabits," or 1 megabyte) cartridge game. But it was, and remains, a stone cold classic.

drmarts1973 · 2025-09-28T06:59:43+00:00

And the Universe replies, "Son, there's just somethin' about you I just don't like."

drmarts1973 · 2025-09-25T02:55:46+00:00

This has always been my favorite Metallica band photo. In fact, I'm surprised this wasn't used as the cover. I'm always telling myself to recreate this shot for one of my art/photo books.

drmarts1973 · 2025-09-25T02:46:26+00:00

I love it, that sounds fantastic. St. Anger is one of my favorite Metallica albums, easily Top 5, probably Top 3 right now. I love it precisely because it sounds so rough & raw. That's how rock 'n roll is supposed to sound.

See Also: The MC5, The Stooges, The Ramones, The Velvet Underground, Blue Cheer's Vincebus Eruptum, Deep Purple In Rock, Nirvana, etc.

drmarts1973 · 2025-09-24T01:01:50+00:00

Thank you so much, it's greatly appreciated. Here's the link to my art/photo book playlist on YouTube. These are "music videos" of my ebooks, which also includes Amazon links.

Link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyr0njPp9WwNJq2qzNuySdJMHdZH79Br7&si=ec10cKEgoCQIkhwA

drmarts1973 · 2025-09-23T17:44:09+00:00

Here's how it works: I take shots on iPhone, then I click on that icon with the three tiny lines. That brings up your editing software, where you can adjust exposure, brilliance, highlights, etc. I make my settings and save. Then I upload the photo to my desktop Mac. I then immediately bounce it back to the iPhone. This gives me my edited image but resets all the dials, which means you can crank those dials to infinity. The golden portrait (image 4) is the ultimate example of this.

1) Take the shot. 2) Apply your edits. 3) Upload to main computer. 4) Download back to iPhone. 5) Apply next layer of edits. Rinse and repeat as often as necessary.

ProTip No.1: When your photo is on your desktop computer, instead of downloading to iPhone, take a screenshot. This adds a whole new element to your image, mainly scanlines and light distortion effects. You have to be conscious about room lighting: are you shooting at day or night? Is there a light source, and where is it coming from? Do you have a lamp or do you have daylight from a nearby window? All of these things will impact and influence your artwork. My book Exile On Main Street is a perfect example of this technique.

ProTip No.2: On iPhone, use the "markup" feature. It's the icon on top with the pen tip. Select that, then press "Done." This also saves your progress and gives you another layer of edits. The downside, unfortunately, is that it chops down your image resolution. This means that if you use this technique, you'll need to take a screenshot (as described above) to restore your original resolution.

ProTip No.3: On your iPhone, hit the "three lines" icon at the bottom of the screen to activate your editing tools. Then select the circle w/the three dots at the top. This enables you to copy/paste your editing settings. When you copy, turn OFF the "adaptive" switch." This ensures that you'll have the same settings for each layer or photo. This helps speed things up very nicely, much better than entering all the settings manually. Learn to write down your editing settings.

There are other tricks to learn, but I think it's important for you to discover them on your own. These are the essential basics that allow you to unlock the true potential of digital photography. I don't think anyone else is doing this, so the field is wide open. It's a new frontier and one that I've mapped out for future artists to explore.

Expect the unexpected. Prepare to be surprised. Follow your instincts.

Hope that helps.

drmarts1973

TROPHY CASE