Both the songs and Waller's piano are just unsurpassed. Wonderful stuff.
(Too bad I couldn't find the studio version on utube, since that one has a great and long piano intro. Otherwise it sounds perfectly like this one though, so I suspect the movie used it for playback.)
Friday, October 17, 2008
Sex on Dubai beach
"Britons jailed, fined for sex on Dubai beach", article. When cultures clash.
Side note: as if the grammar of paper news publications was not bad enough, news outlets even insist on export the attrocious practices to online publications, even though space is not an issue there. Replacing "and" with a comma reduces redability, makes no sense, and saves only three characters.
Side note: as if the grammar of paper news publications was not bad enough, news outlets even insist on export the attrocious practices to online publications, even though space is not an issue there. Replacing "and" with a comma reduces redability, makes no sense, and saves only three characters.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Pat Boone
Somebody once told me I sang like Pat Boone, and of course I took that as a compliment, but I was never really familiar with his work. So when I heard Lisa Simpson say about Ned Flanders' home that it is like their own, but everything has a "creepy Pat Boon-ish quality to it", naturally I had to look him up. Bless YouTube.
I can see what she means. Like myself he's an excellent singer and devilishly handsome, but a bit over-slick and over-wholesome. For instance he is singing "you broke my heart" and "you're to blame" with a huge, happy smile.
(I don't really find him "creepy", but the joke works.)
I can see what she means. Like myself he's an excellent singer and devilishly handsome, but a bit over-slick and over-wholesome. For instance he is singing "you broke my heart" and "you're to blame" with a huge, happy smile.
(I don't really find him "creepy", but the joke works.)
Firefox download issue
For the past few months, both Firefox and Mozilla have refused to download anything. I get this message.
I can't get them to save anywhere else, and it does not help to change permissions for the desktop.
Any ideas?
Damien wrote:
From various internet boards, I gathered this much :
• When starting a download, Firefox first creates a temporary file in a default internet download location, then moves it to the user-specified download folder.
• Apparently, that "default download location" is some obscure system-wide setting which, in your case, still points to the desktop of your deleted account.
• This setting may reportedly be changed by editing some .plist files, or... through the old Internet Explorer's preferences panel.
That did it! Incredible! There was actually this system wide default d/l location, and it is no longer accessible, since there's no longer an "internet" control panel. But the ancient IE has direct access to it...
And it works now!
What a story.
I can't get them to save anywhere else, and it does not help to change permissions for the desktop.
Any ideas?
Damien wrote:
From various internet boards, I gathered this much :
• When starting a download, Firefox first creates a temporary file in a default internet download location, then moves it to the user-specified download folder.
• Apparently, that "default download location" is some obscure system-wide setting which, in your case, still points to the desktop of your deleted account.
• This setting may reportedly be changed by editing some .plist files, or... through the old Internet Explorer's preferences panel.
That did it! Incredible! There was actually this system wide default d/l location, and it is no longer accessible, since there's no longer an "internet" control panel. But the ancient IE has direct access to it...
And it works now!
What a story.
D90 test
I finally got my Nikon D90, been delayed for three weeks.
The camera feels good, and image quality seems really nice, both from the camera and the 18-105 VR zoom lens. Below is a test shot from the middle of the zoom range. (Of course sunshine pictures tend to look sharp.) And here is a zip file (9MB) of the full, un-edited files from short, middle, and long range, straight from the camera.
At 3200 ISO it has grain, but it's finer grain and more pleasant than what my Canon 5D has at 1600 ISO, and until now that camera has been king. (Amongst those I owned.) And the 5D is a full-frame camera, meaning the D90 uses smaller and cheaper lenses.
The camera feels good, and image quality seems really nice, both from the camera and the 18-105 VR zoom lens. Below is a test shot from the middle of the zoom range. (Of course sunshine pictures tend to look sharp.) And here is a zip file (9MB) of the full, un-edited files from short, middle, and long range, straight from the camera.
At 3200 ISO it has grain, but it's finer grain and more pleasant than what my Canon 5D has at 1600 ISO, and until now that camera has been king. (Amongst those I owned.) And the 5D is a full-frame camera, meaning the D90 uses smaller and cheaper lenses.
Topcon Super-D
I just got this camera this morning. Isn't it just beautiful in its own square and heavy way? I just love it.
The Topcon pro camera line was an underdog, but I think they were good cameras, and this one seems like it. Despite it being an almost 40 year old model, the mechanics feel great, and the finder is huge and bright. A big difference from my other cameras of the same age.
"The Topcon Super represented quite an advance when it was introduced. Meters coupled to the shutter speed dial were nothing new. Meters cross coupled to the shutter and aperture already existed on the Contarex, Miranda Automex and Nikon F. Topcon's big advance was combining all of this in the camera body and reading light through the lens. Again, I'll remind you that Topcon did this in 1963. Most other Japanese manufacturers didn't get TTL metering on the market until 1965-66 and for most of them it was a slower "stop down" style system.
These features were combined in a rather impressive body, too. The camera has the look and feel of having been milled from a block of brass, then chrome plated. Indeed, the quality and quantity of the plating would make a '58 Buick envious! The Super is eminently adaptable, too. The viewfinder is interchangeable, a motor can be added to the bottom and a bulk film back can be attached.
The Super was a legitimate rival to the Nikon F in capability and superior in some features."
- article
How about that: in 2003, Voigtlander made a "tribute camera" to the Topcon!
The Topcon pro camera line was an underdog, but I think they were good cameras, and this one seems like it. Despite it being an almost 40 year old model, the mechanics feel great, and the finder is huge and bright. A big difference from my other cameras of the same age.
"The Topcon Super represented quite an advance when it was introduced. Meters coupled to the shutter speed dial were nothing new. Meters cross coupled to the shutter and aperture already existed on the Contarex, Miranda Automex and Nikon F. Topcon's big advance was combining all of this in the camera body and reading light through the lens. Again, I'll remind you that Topcon did this in 1963. Most other Japanese manufacturers didn't get TTL metering on the market until 1965-66 and for most of them it was a slower "stop down" style system.
These features were combined in a rather impressive body, too. The camera has the look and feel of having been milled from a block of brass, then chrome plated. Indeed, the quality and quantity of the plating would make a '58 Buick envious! The Super is eminently adaptable, too. The viewfinder is interchangeable, a motor can be added to the bottom and a bulk film back can be attached.
The Super was a legitimate rival to the Nikon F in capability and superior in some features."
- article
How about that: in 2003, Voigtlander made a "tribute camera" to the Topcon!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Adobe upgrades
Am I the only one who often has problems when upgrading an Adobe Application?
It's just never simple. Right now it's Photoshop CS4 which just won't accept the serial numbers for either Creative Suite one or two.
The installer only has options for earlier versions of Photoshop, not the full Creative Suite (which I've given up buying since I don't use the other apps anymore). But if having those don't qualify me for an upgrade, I'll go ballistic. I've used a @£!$+*&$!! fortune on Adobe software over the years.
It's just never simple. Right now it's Photoshop CS4 which just won't accept the serial numbers for either Creative Suite one or two.
The installer only has options for earlier versions of Photoshop, not the full Creative Suite (which I've given up buying since I don't use the other apps anymore). But if having those don't qualify me for an upgrade, I'll go ballistic. I've used a @£!$+*&$!! fortune on Adobe software over the years.
Superzoom
Though I have praised the Nikon superzoom, it is undeniable that it's not quite as sharp as shorter zooms. In the corners at big apertures and at the long end, it's not quite fit for the most critical work.
I was wondering whether Canon had made a much better one with their own version which has just arrived, seeing as they sound very proud of it indeed. But it seems the trees don't grow into the heavens, as we say in Denmark.
I was wondering whether Canon had made a much better one with their own version which has just arrived, seeing as they sound very proud of it indeed. But it seems the trees don't grow into the heavens, as we say in Denmark.
Dusk photos
Funny enough I had to turn exposure compensation two steps up in the moon picture. I could understand it if I was using centre-weighted metering, but matrix metering is supposed to compensate for bright light sources. I suspect though that the lamp was just big enough and central enough that the camera's software and database suggested it was the central subject rather than a light source.
On request: one wide version added:
(... I wanted to put in on Flickr, but flickr seems to downscale it to max 1224px wide. And yet I've seen bigger there, what's up?)From today.
Again, do click for full sized version, the textures are great.
I hope my neighbors don't think I'm mental, walking around in the dusk pointing my camera at the ground...
Below, a funny picture. It sort of looks like the ground since the flash flattens things out, but it's actually a bush, and not a big one.
Does anybody like it, or do you find it too messy?
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