Big Shout Out to....

well the only 2 people who actually check the blog with any regularity, Jake and someone at Software Enterprises. How do I know these things, cookies, that's how. Anyway thanks to the both of you for keeping an eye on things. I am afraid if I start posting a bunch of stuff people will expect that all the time and you guys know I am all about setting low expectations.

Tybee Island Lighthouse

I took this tonight around 10 pm. It was an 8 sec. exposure but man
what an effect, it almost looks like a cartoon. The only edit to this
photo was the removal of lens flare caused by the moon.

I'm Back!

OK, it has been awhile since I have posted any words so I figured I owed it to the 4 of you who check the blog. So what's been going on? Well the long answer is not much the short answer is nothing. I have had some fun though, I was lucky enough to see Jerry Seinfeld in concert this past Thursday, it was a great show. The other fun I had was joining the "Digital Dark Side" and I got myself a new Nikon D70s digital SLR. I have had it for a few days now and I do like the fact I will save a ton of money on film processing. I have taken about 70 pictures so far but none worth posting yet. Other than that I am looking forward to seeing Widespread Panic on the 21st and 22nd. After that I am heading to Richmond for a few days before coming back to Savannah for May before heading north for camp. I can't wait for camp.

Pelican

Last Week

Last Friday

This Place is Great for Sunsets

Even More Sunsets

More Sunsets

Savannah at Night

Sunset

Another Sunset

More of the Playboy Interview *Updated* (Part 2)

You have kept a low profile the last year, why?
Have I? I hadn't noticed but I know I was out of cell phone range for over 4 months this year and that may feel like an absence to those who talk with me more than they see me, which is most of you. I will admit to also leaving my phone at home or in the car on purpose. I am not a big fan of being always available for people, we live in a world of instant gratification and over time we (I know I have) loose interest and no longer derive the same happiness we once did. Stay with me on this, if I was always available over time the shine wears off, I like to stay fresh.

Past, Present, or Future?
That's easy, since I can't do a thing about two of them, I love that I live in the present. I just wish some times, not often, it wasn't this present. The universe tends to unfold as needed with or without me so I go with it. Of course I could go into the idea that all three happen at the same time but I don't think you would find it interesting.

I have heard you say 2005 was not one of your favorites, is that true?
Yes, I have said that on occasion. I came rolling into '05 from '04 (in the top 5) only to, how can I say this, make a sharp course correction on my journey. While it was very unexpected, my life has been built on changing course. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not. That is what makes life fun, the unexpected. While I admit '05 basically sucked for about 5 months out of the 12 it was not an entire loss.

What about '06?
I seem to do well in the even years so I have a lot of hope for this year. I have enjoyed the first part of '06 for sure, Savannah is great and I have St Patricks Day right around the corner. And you know what the Monty Python boys say? What "Always look on the brightside of life." No, it's - "No one expects the Spanish inquisition."

What is on your iPod?
The two albums I listen most lately are U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" which is the best U2 album since "Joshua Tree" and Green Day's "American Idiot". The Green Day album could be the best I have heard in the last 5 years. Pink Floyd "Animals" and "Wish You Where Here" are staples. I do have a main mix I listen too which is an eclectic mix even by my standards. It al depends on my mood.

You answered my question about God. Does this mean you believe in God?
Yes, but not in the way you would think. I have said before that the only truth is what can be proven mathematically and everything else is just opinion. So I look at "God" as you put it, as truth, that's all. So if I want truth I look to math and in math I find the truth or God to me. I think you may find sometime in the future I will be looked upon as somewhat ahead of my time in this thinking. Then again I could be completely wrong since as of yet I can not prove everything in the know universe mathematically but I will get back to you when I do. I do think sometime the universe may just be an equation on God's chalkboard he is currently working on. Now if I could just come up with some "L. Ron Hubbard" religion scam out of this idea I would be set.

I find your belief structure fascinating, what else is there I don't know?
First I call it "an idea" nothing more. I think one thing people find interesting is this. My math may be off but not by enough that would matter. We are the third rock from a sun (read 1 Star) on the outer edges of the galaxy. There are 6 billion people in this world. There are 100 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. So that means there are aprox. 16.5 stars for each man, woman and child on earth now. I will make it 15 to be easier. Now there are 100 billion galaxies in the known universe. If we make a big but simple assumption that all of these galaxies are like ours, I know they are not but trust me, go with it. So that would mean there are 15 GALAXIES for every man, woman and child on earth. And if my 15 galaxies have 100 billion stars that means I (just me, or you, this works for everyone but just one person) could control 1.5 trillion (1,500,000,000,000) stars. Now I would think only 20% may have or had planets so that leaves me with 300 billion chances for life. Now times that by 6 billion people. That gives us this 18,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 chances for life somewhere out there. Or are we the 1 in 1.8e+21 chance over the last 3.5 billion years. How's your bean now?

Excerpt From My Interview in Playboy (Part 1)

So what have you been up to lately?
I moved to Savannah for the winter in hopes of a warmer winter than last years. I am currently working on a few projects right now but they are in the early stages so there is not much to talk about. I plan on traveling some in the next few months with possible stops in Florida and South Carolina.

What was your best memory of '05?
By far, Camp, everything about about it was great. I am counting the days until camp starts again this summer.

Your worst?
February 15th

There is some talk on the street you are working on a screenplay?
I am not sure where you get your info from but I cannot confirm or deny that. Let me say this, I am working on something that if I can flesh it out may become fun for me, everyone else, that's their issue.

What about the Tabloids linking you romantically with Nicole Kidman earlier this year?
Just because you meet someone in Sydney and have lunch with them then a few dinners in NYC later in the spring does not make us romantically linked. She was going through a tough period in her life and needed some advice. I just happened to fit the bill.

Is there anyone special in your life now?
Yes, me.

What are your plans for the future?
Well I know what I am doing tomorrow and the next day, after that I can't tell you.

Why?
Mainly because I think too many people today focus only on their future and never the present. You give up today to live for tomorrow, not a good way to live, you tend to resent the things you focused on because of the things you gave up to get them. I hope that makes sense to you, it does to me.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Did you not listen to my answer above?

O.K. I get your point, how about what do you hope for?
Well there are a few things I would like to see happen but I like to keep that to myself.

If heaven exists what would you like God to say to you?
Can you take over for a bit I need to have a smoke?

What do you think people overlook these days?
If it can't be proven mathematically it is only opinion.

Mr. Mojo Risin

The movie will begin in five minutes
The mindless voice announced
All those unseated will await the next show

We filed slowly, languidly into the hall
The auditorium was vast and silent
As we seated and were darkened,

the voice continued
The program for this evening is not new
You've seen this entertainment through and through
You've seen your birth, your life and death
You might recall all the rest
Did you have a good world when you died?
Enough to base a movie on?

(Jim Morrision)

What can I say it's 2am and I can't sleep.

My Soundtrack for 2005

I have always thought that you could find out a lot about a person if you asked them to put together a collection of songs that captures either the whole person (hard to do) or a time frame (easier) that can sum up an experience. So that is what I have done. Each will link you to Apple iTunes Music Store (you must have iTunes installed) so you can listen to a thirty second clip of each song. Each one of these songs tells it's own story to me, you also may understand what they mean to me but you may also misinterpret them, be careful about that. The order of the songs also tells me a story but would be hard for you to really get it.

Iron Lion Zion
New York Minute
Maybe Today
The Seventh Stranger
Romeo and Juliet
City of Blinding Lights
Blurry
Save A Prayer
The Killing Moon
Breathe
Everybody Hurts
Mr. Brightside
My Happy Ending
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Mad World
The Sea Refuses No River
Are We The Waiting
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
Beautiful

If you want a copy of it let me know at
sallocca at hotmail dot com (avoiding spambots)
and I will see what I can do for you.

O.K. I'm a Slacker, I know, I know...

It has been awhile since I have posted but I have good reason. I moved to Savannah, GA. Just after Thanksgiving I left New Jersey and spent about 18 hours in Richmond (sorry Mom) then Savannah the next day. I spent the first 4 days with my friends Jacob and Char before moving into my new bat cave. The place is great, I am south of the city by about 5 minutes in an old neighborhood of houses from the 30's. I am in a converted 1 story carriage house, about 600 sq feet with a small full bath, small kitchen, big den and big bedroom with a nice size closet. I will post some photos when I get everything setup. I got a great deal and it came well furnished. I am the center of the town, as I am 15 min from anywhere from my place. I must say it is nice to have a place of my own again, with the kicker being this place is 6 times the size of "the cabin", man I miss camp.

I did get around to sending out my "holiday" card so I have been busy. If you don't get one this year, all I can say is sorry, I did a very limited run this year . You may laugh now but if you could see the future you would see a descendent of yours on "Antiques Roadshow 2106" being told that if you only had the 2005 card for your highly collective "Sean Allocca Holiday Cards" collection it would be worth twice the estimate of 100 million pesos (yes pesos, don't ask me how but somehow the Mexican peso is the dominate currency in 2106, of course it may be the fact the most of Mexico had moved to the US by 2050 and was backfilled from China but they keep the currency because the Chinese figured out it was the cheapest way to do things but I digress) What I am saying is if you get one hang on to it, your great grand kids will thank you.

So what is next for me? What am I planning on? I know you are all dying to know but the simple truth is I am going to continue to pick up side work when I can and see what happens. It is still very early in what appears to be a 6 month location for me.


Oh yeah, for those of you who may have had a "sean" moment and forgot I turned 38 today don't worry at all about it. I have forgotten more people's birthdays than I can remember which is why I don't worry about it. That is the advantage of getting older, you can't remember what you forget so are you sure you forgot anything? I think not.

A rare sighting of Sean

This is as close to heaven as Jason can get.

More of the 18th

The 18th

Looking from the 18th Tee

The Old Course

St. Andrews

The World Tour has been canceled

Yes you read that correctly. the long of the short of it is this, I have averaged 3.5 hours of sleep a night for the last 5 nights. This is the worst case of insomnia I have had in over 5 years and I can't take it anymore, 3 benedryl 2 hours before bed do nothing. Lunesta (prescription) sucks because it leaves a horrible bitter taste in my mouth all day, it makes water taste bad, milk tastes sour and in general ruins any food I eat. On top of the insomnia I have had a low grade fever for the last 3 days with body aches. So all in all a crappy trip. I did enjoy going to Scotland with Jason, we spent time in St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow. The weather was great for this time of year the first 2 days. I got what I believe will be amazing shots of the "Old Course" at St. Andrews. Jason said I could be here a month this time of year and never get sun like we had that second day. I am excited about that at least. Scotland is very pretty, it's a lot like Ireland in my mind but don't tell a scot that.

So where does this leave me? I am currently in London waiting for my flight back to Newark at 2:40pm (pop, I will be in Chester by 7 pm tonight). I will return to NJ for the weekend and after that I honestly have no idea what is next. Well that may not be entirely true, it maybe time for me to hole up in a cabin in the woods and start work on my manifesto for awhile. I do know this, my passport will not be stamped for some time to come, I'm done with it. Does this mean you are going to get a job, find a place to live and settle down? Let me check the magic 8 ball.....don't count on it. Man is that 8 ball accurate or what.

French Weather Report

I will see how things are in France at the end of the week and see if I just skip France and go straight to Holland

I have made it to London

I got in around 8pm tonight. Jason and I fly out tomorrow around 10 am for Scotland. I got maybe 3 hours of sleep last night so I slept for the first 3 hours of the flight. The choice of breakfast this morning was a standard English breakfast (eggs, sausage (bangers) and a hot tomato slice) or you could get chicken and rice for breakfast. I passed on both, I mean, chicken and rice for breakfast, what's up with that?

That's about all for tonight. I will try and update you tomorrow.

Jefferson went to Paris, Franklin went to Paris. Now, it's my turn, god help the French

I am in the final stages of preparation for the tours second leg in Western Europe. I spent the day rounding up the last of the supplies for the trip. The main things I picked up was the "Top 10" guides for London, Paris, Amsterdam and Scotland. They are pocket guides that give you just the main highlights that should not be missed. They should help with finding the main tourist areas to maximize my time in each city.

Now the last thing I picked up may turn out to help me or just piss the French off more. I downloaded an audiobook titked "In-Flight French" and it claims to be able to teach me the 100 most used words that will get you by in France. It is about an hour so I will try and listen to it at least 10 times before I get to France. I have been told that if you can say some basic greetings, phrases and questions the French will be more apt to speak to me in english. I will test this theory and let you know how that works out. My biggest fear is since it took 4 years to get through Spanish 1 (there is a whole story to those 4 years but I don't want to get into it here), ten hours may not be enough. I am going to give it my best, I don't want to do anything that makes the French hate Americans more.

High Surf at the Jersey Shore

Check out the photos.

I am having issues posting directly to the blog.

Distance Traveling

Distance Traveling now Available

Have you ever wanted to travel for long periods of time but could never get away? Have you dreamed of taking all the pictures you could want and bring back cheap T-shirts and great stories to share with your friends? Well now you don't have to worry anymore. I am available for "Distance Traveling". What is distance traveling you ask? Well to put it simply, I do all the work while you enjoy my daily web updates of your trip. You tell me where you want to go, what you want to see and what you would like to experience and I will handle the rest.

Let me give you an example of a sample 7 day trip in Europe:

Day 1 - Arrive London (am) spend day seeing the sights you have asked to see. I will post photos and a journal that evening including photos of the double decker bus sight seeing trip you asked me to do.

Day 2 - London, spend day going around to as much of London as I can, finishing with an evening at the theater taking in a show for you. Updated web page that evening

Day 3 - Chunnel to Paris, France with stop over in Normandy for the late morning till late afternoon. Continue to Paris then spend the evening photographing the city at night. Web update that evening.

Day 4 - Paris, spend day as you wish. Web update that evening.

Day 5 - Paris to Holland, spend the day in Paris until I board a train for the night to Amsterdam. No update due train rides and internet access don't mix all that well.

Day 6 - Arrive Amsterdam (am), spend day seeing sights such as Anne Franks house, the canals, the cafes. Spend night photographing the city at night including the red light district (all the sin one could photograph without the guilt or confessional visits). No update due to lateness involved in trying to get authentic feel of a city like Amsterdam for you. It's nights like this that produce the better stories.

Day 7 Awake (pm) still in Amsterdam. I hope. The final day and final update from the road.

So now the trip is over, what's left to be done? I then spend a few days just getting all forms of media used on the trip in order. I will put it all together how ever you would like. Just want Hi-Res digital photos sent to you on DVD? No problem, that's the least expensive way to go. Or you could custom design your media experience a la carte. DVD slide show with music? No problem. DVD video along with the slide show? You know it, no problem.

The big savings is passed onto you. Because I am just one person who can travel both light and cheaply and I pass that savings on to you. Think about it, I can stay in a motel for $70 outside a city where you and your companion would rather say in the city at $170 - $200 a night. Big savings there. What about meals? I can eat on the cheap, how about you and you friend. My dinner bill comes to $15 -$20 when yours comes to $150 -$200. More savings I pass on to you. So what can someone expect pay for a trip like this if you do it instead of you and your husband or wife.

Flight to London from New York in coach.

Me:$450.00
You: $900.00 or more depending on your current location or unless you normally fly business or first the savings are tremendous.

Meals for 7 day.

Me: $250 -$300
You: $700 - $1000

Lodging

Me: around $70 per day may vary from city to city.
You: From $150 - $300 per night

As you can see by these few examples just how much you could save by sending me instead. I will be offering a wide range of services including the Xtreme Trip (I will do all the scary things you don't want too. Bungy, skydiving, etc) Digital and 35mm film photography, digital video, an audio diary of the trip as I experence it. I will be happy to discuss any special requests or if you want a photographer to shadow you on your actual trip as a private trip photographer.

If you have any questions or would like to setup a trip let me know email distancetraveling at yahoo dot com (trying to avoid spam)