I wish you all a very merry Christmas or whatever!
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A friend just wrote to me:
"Just reading on Slate about the Swedish (evidently it's a Danish thing too?) custom of watching a 1958 Disney cartoon special for Christmas."
Yes! We watched that every year. (There's a great spillover inside Scandinavia in culture and traditions.)
It's pretty amazing that Disney got away with that, since seeing it with adult eyes, it's blatant promotional material for the films... and I'll bet the TV stations even pay to show it! Good gig if you can get it! (One of my girl friends wanted to get a big carboard Marlboro Man she saw in a clothing store. They told her no, since they had paid good money to get it. Good grief!)
But it's no wonder that the audience loves it, because it really has many of the greatest cartoon scenes of the twentieth century, including such stuff as the famous music/dance scene from Snow White. Wonderful stuff.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Free bulbs
My power supplier (Npower) just sent me four free energy-efficient light bulbs. And it seems to all their other customers as well.
Wow, there's a fresh business approach. What's next, restaurants giving away free appetite-suppressing pills? :-)
Wow, there's a fresh business approach. What's next, restaurants giving away free appetite-suppressing pills? :-)
My own time
"... He's not recognized in his own time... Oh! I would love to not be recognized in my own time!" - Phoebe on Friends
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Snowman
So this evening it was snowing very prettily, and I joined my neighbors Shelley (blonde) and Jen in the backyard to admire it. Jen commented that it was good snowman snow, and of course there was no way out, we had to make one. For me it was the first time I've made one in over 30 years, I think. Good fun.
Once we'd established that the girls meant the two lower balls to be his legs, Shelley and I independently came up with the big feet.
I'm not proud to say I'm the one who gave him a dong.
I am proud of the face I gave him, inspired by the Easter Island figures. Sadly in the time I took to fetch the camera, Shelley was inspired by the Rocky movies, and his pretty face was gone. :-(
They don't teach impulse control in the schools these days? :-)
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Panasonic G1, kit zoom, build-in flash. Slight levels and color correction in Photoshop, and shadows-correction, all the white in the middle had made the girls and background very dark.
... Funny phenom, by the way, that the hollows, like his mouth, which normally would be darker, are the lightest areas in the photos, because the areas act like a parabolic reflector to the direct flash.
Here's something I don't understand about modern automatic cameras, especially those who measure off the main sensor: while they usually do a very good job, sometimes, like here, you see pictures were the shadows are under-exposed, and yet there's plenty of room above the highlights (there was until I levels-corrected these). Why the heck does the camera not simply expose so the whole picture fits in the histogram? It has all the data to do that.
Once we'd established that the girls meant the two lower balls to be his legs, Shelley and I independently came up with the big feet.
I'm not proud to say I'm the one who gave him a dong.
I am proud of the face I gave him, inspired by the Easter Island figures. Sadly in the time I took to fetch the camera, Shelley was inspired by the Rocky movies, and his pretty face was gone. :-(
They don't teach impulse control in the schools these days? :-)
-------
Panasonic G1, kit zoom, build-in flash. Slight levels and color correction in Photoshop, and shadows-correction, all the white in the middle had made the girls and background very dark.
... Funny phenom, by the way, that the hollows, like his mouth, which normally would be darker, are the lightest areas in the photos, because the areas act like a parabolic reflector to the direct flash.
Here's something I don't understand about modern automatic cameras, especially those who measure off the main sensor: while they usually do a very good job, sometimes, like here, you see pictures were the shadows are under-exposed, and yet there's plenty of room above the highlights (there was until I levels-corrected these). Why the heck does the camera not simply expose so the whole picture fits in the histogram? It has all the data to do that.
Sheep on the road
[Thanks to Greg]
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The one below just reminds me how very boring most towns on the earth look.
Poor Tiger
... I am this close to just filtering my email to remove all references to Tiger Woods.
You know, I used to blame the press for the delight in "propping them up and then shooting them down"... But now I suspect that it's really something deep in all of us who loves to see somebody take a hard fall.
You know, I used to blame the press for the delight in "propping them up and then shooting them down"... But now I suspect that it's really something deep in all of us who loves to see somebody take a hard fall.
The Foaming Cat
My ol' net friend John Farr, an ususual and personal writer, writes about an injured cat. Warning, it's really repulsive, don't start reading it if you might not want to finish it.
Small diffuser (updated)
Here's a quick trial of the small diffuser I bought, for popup flashes.
Here's without diffuser. Hard light. (See the diffuser in front. The black part fits in the hot-shoe.)
Below, here's with diffuser. About a 40mm-e zoom setting. Somewhat softened. But no replacement for professional flash solutions.
Below: with diffuser, but the lens zoomed out to 28mm-equivalent, the diffuser does not cover that wide angle. Not on the Pana G1 anyway, it would depend on how far the front of the flash is from the hot-shoe and thus the diffuser itself.
Update: Mark mentions the LumiQuest ProMax Pocket Bouncer, it seems very promising. Although reviews are mixed: many are very enthusiastic, but some do say that the softening effect is minimal, that it still looks like direct flash. And looking at the smallish surface area, I can believe that it's at least limited.
Here's without diffuser. Hard light. (See the diffuser in front. The black part fits in the hot-shoe.)
Below, here's with diffuser. About a 40mm-e zoom setting. Somewhat softened. But no replacement for professional flash solutions.
Below: with diffuser, but the lens zoomed out to 28mm-equivalent, the diffuser does not cover that wide angle. Not on the Pana G1 anyway, it would depend on how far the front of the flash is from the hot-shoe and thus the diffuser itself.
Update: Mark mentions the LumiQuest ProMax Pocket Bouncer, it seems very promising. Although reviews are mixed: many are very enthusiastic, but some do say that the softening effect is minimal, that it still looks like direct flash. And looking at the smallish surface area, I can believe that it's at least limited.Sukiho said:
As far as small diffusers go nothing beats a sheet of A4 paper and some sellotape.
Verizon’s New Motto: Why Not Be Evil?
Verizon’s New Motto: Why Not Be Evil?, short blog post.
"I don’t know. Maybe Verizon heard that there were six people left on Earth who didn’t have a reason to dislike it."
Pogue is funny. I've loved him since 1995 when I first read Macintosh for Dummies by him.
"I don’t know. Maybe Verizon heard that there were six people left on Earth who didn’t have a reason to dislike it."
Pogue is funny. I've loved him since 1995 when I first read Macintosh for Dummies by him.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Prince William spends night on London streets
[Thanks to TCGirl]
Prince William spends night on London streets, article.Hats off, I don't think I could do it.
Xmas Snow, photos from today
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Technique: much as I love the Panasonic GF1 with the sharp and compact 20mm lens (40mm-e), these were taken with the G1 with the kit zoom. The kit zoom is sharp, also compact and flexible, and is stabilized. Also, the tiltable screen on the G1 is very helpful in changing the height of your viewpoint, both above your head, and all the way to the ground without having to lie down in mud or snow. I find this camera is my "default" camera for flexible all-round shooting.
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