Fatty Americans

Here’s an attractive infographic showcasing a very unattractive epidemic. Thanks to Joel for posting this on Facebook.

Click image for larger, easier-to-read version.

Portland at Night

My buddy John flew into Portland today from Coeur d’Alene. He’s one of my groomsmen, not to mention a great photographer with a nice camera. So, I felt it painstakingly obvious that we should spend the afternoon at the waterfront by a city he’s never seen.

And, it was great.

His photos turned out amazing, especially when leaving the shutter open and using his zoom. There was a nice, very old gentleman by the water who informed us of the trick, one that we spend quite a while experimenting with.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t resist the temptation to churn out another panoramic of the Portland skyline, especially since this was a new vantage along the river I had yet to view.

As always, click to view it larger.

 
Cars on the Steel Bridge.

Moon over the Steel Bridge.

Subtle Sexuality

I love The Office. This music video is a spinoff from the show.

New Website

I’m pleased to announce the new JakeDonahue.com, version 2.1. Stay tuned, as there will undoubtedly be updates, but this is the new home for everything Jake Donahue: Design, Photos, Portfolios, Blog and Resume.

If it’s by Jake Donahue, then JakeDonahue.com will be the starting point. Of course, this new homepage is only the beginning. I actually borrowed a template to get it started in Adobe Dreamweaber, and I plan on learning both HTML and CSS, not to mention PHP and Flash.

Until then, when I am able to announce the new and improved JakeDonahue.com version 3.0, just go with the flow and let me know what you think (to begin with, I don’t like the bars flanking each side of the main page…).

Nevertheless, at least it’s better than nothing!

Napoleon Dynamite

Holly and I watched that Idahoan movie again yesterday, and I completely forgot how awesome the election dance was. Here it is once more, just because I could watch it every day:

Bindi

Our cat is obsessed with the window in our spare bedroom. But as soon as I enter the room (normally I yell at her to get off my desk), she bolts for the door in a flash, leaving just the moving blinds and papers flying off the desk.

But today, after many failed attempts, I finally caught her in the act:

My new online photo portfolio

Lately, I’ve been working on uploading all my favorite photos to one website. After trying Google’s Picasa and Yahoo’s Flickr (I highly recommend Picasa!), I decided those sites were better for simply storing photos online.

But when it came to sharing, I decided to build a Wordpress site, especially since I already own JakeDonahue.com (which is still being constructed). Eventually all my portfolios will be held there: Design, Writing and Photo – not to mention, this blog.

So, with that in mind, I officially launch my photo portfolio:

www.JakeDonahue.com/Photos

It’s ready before the main site because I want to test out Wordpress, as I’m considering building the entire site through this content management system. What’s more, I tentatively considered moving Jakewood to WP as well, but I’m too much in love with Blogger and the layout I have now.

Nevertheless, here is a screenshot of my new photo site.

He’s baaaaaaack

It wasn’t official until yesterday, but Ken Griffey Jr. is back with the Mariners for one more year (see the ESPN article: Mariners 'tickled pink' with Griffey 1-year deal).

I’m so giddy, it’s gross. But just in case this is his final year in the pros, I plan on buying tickets to the final game of the 2010 season to see his farewell. What’s more, the M’s look better than ever to make a run at the playoffs next season.

Perhaps one more photo sequence like this end his amazing career?

 

Wedding Photographer? Check!

My greatest contribution to our upcoming wedding has been choosing our photographer. And this was no easy decision – I toiled through dozens of portfolios – until I found Benjamin.

He’s a phenomenal wedding photographer, a photojournalist and even a celebrity portraiture artist: From Kobe Bryant, Beck and Woody Allen, to Molly Shannon, Selma Blair and Chelsea Handler. Not to mention shooting for National Geographic, Business Week and the Los Angeles Times.

But his wedding photos are even more stunning. I didn’t know the exact traits I wanted in a wedding photographer, but I knew what I didn’t want: fake, cheesey posed shots or cliché traditional close-ups. After the countless websites and portfolio’s I’d seen, I began to give up hope and narrowed down a small list that I would consider settling on.

But then, thank god, there came Ben’s wedding portfolio. (His wedding portfolio is Flash, so no reposts here. But check out the site here.) Here’s a screenshot of his homepage.

What’s more, his personality meshed absolutely perfect with Holly’s and mine. He’s going to dive into our wedding with the same fervor as us, and even said he wished the wedding was sooner (he’s excited already).

Since I can’t copy any of his wedding stuff, I’ll share some of the other photos I found on his Facebook profile’s photo album:

Yeah. That’s Kobe Bryant!

 
Host of E’s “Chelsea Lately” Chelsea Handler.

 
And of course, Woody Allen!

Awards

So the one year I clean up and snag a chunk of awards from the College Media Advisors’ annual design competition, Best of Collegiate Design, they stop publishing the book of winners.

But of course.

After 16 years of printing this damn publication, they stop when I make it. Supposedly, instead of the book they normally give away, all the winners receive a certificate. How cute.

However, they did make a slideshow that showcases all the winners. And that’s OK, because they only reason I ever liked the book was to see what other colleges are doing. I love flipping through and getting ideas and see who’s used some of mine.

Oh well, at least I won this year. And by that, I mean I made it into the book. And by that, I mean I made it five times! With close to 1300 entries from almost 80 colleges and universities, I’m pretty stoked to say the least.

So all is well in the land of Jakewood –- at least for now.

Here are the awards I won and the pages with them. By far the greatest success in my collegiate career concerning all things design is winning first place in the nameplate category. I spent more than a year designing the template for The Sentinel’s current nameplate, so winning that was huge for me.
 

NAMEPLATE: 1st Place

 

HEADLINE PRESENTATION: 2nd Place

 

SPORTS PAGE: 3rd Place

 

INFO GRAPHIC: 4th Place

 

 

PHOTO PAGE SPREAD: 4th Place

University of Texas

One thing I looked forward to more than most things in Austin was the University of Texas, home of the Longhorns. Their football team is currently ranked second in the country, and I was begging the BCS Gods they might be playing at home last weekend.

Alas, they were at Oklahoma State.

Nevertheless, Nils and I still wanted to see if we might get inside the stadium. So, with Loren, Mike and Paul, we trekked toward the 102,000-seat football cathedral on our last day in town.

Surprisingly, the front doors to the main office at the stadium were open. We went through every door that was open once inside, up every flight of stairs until we realized Nils was gone. Five minutes later, he returned, and motioned for us to follow him.

Apparently he fell into the PR office and weaseled one of the PR guys to give us a tour of the press box. And just like that, we were in.

Here’s the panorama I got from inside the stadium:

 
As always, click to view it larger.

Bat in the airport

We had two hours to kill once we got to Austin’s airport before heading home Sunday afternoon. Low and behold, we weren’t away from the bats just yet: There was a winged demon waiting for us inside the terminal. The first time we saw it fly by, I snapped pictures like the paparazzi. Enough so that one of the airport employees asked me to stop, saying “You’re flash is blinding everyone around here.” (It was incredibly hard for me not to simply say, “Then don’t look at it!”)

Needless to say, people were freaked. After all, this bat was swooping around like it owned the damn airport, dodging people left and right by inches from the floor to just above their heads. The next time it came around, I stubbornly obliged with that airport employee’s demands and settled for the picture I already shot – but video doesn’t produce a flash.

When the bats come out at night

It’s said that 1.5 million bats inhabit the underside of downtown Austin’s Congress Street Bridge. Every night from spring though fall they take off into the sunset as night arrives, and hordes of people gather to watch. Here’s a video clip and picture I took of them all leaving:

 

Crowds line the bridge both above and below waiting for the bats. 

 
Over a million bats heading down the river.

Stragglers left behind.