D90

I think I am not going to get another DSLR any time soon (well there is no but, I still think I am not going to get another DSLR). D90 is like a glorified D80 with video capacity. Or a dumbed down D300 with video. Not that it is bad or anything it's just that it is kind of bland. I was not too excited when it was first introduced last year. Then I got the video bug and I started to look into the Canon HV30 and the current HV40. With the HV models one would have to get an adapter in order to use any SLR 35mm lens to create that dreamy shallow depth of field. The HV40 retails from $799 to $999. And a refurbised HV30 costs close to $500. I have already a handful of Nikon glasses but still it's a sizable outlay considering I also need to upgrade my desktop should I really go ahead to edit HD. Then there is the Nikon D90 which readily uses any Nikkor lenses I already have. I am sure there are differences between shooting a camcorder and using DSLR for video capture. Then I read from NikonRumors that a feature by the name of Reverie was shot entirely in D90. And the cinematographer even came up with a paper to explain how he came about choosing the D90 as opposed to picking the seemingly better specs Canon 5DMkII model, full frame sensor and full 1080p HD for two. Considering most broadcasts either do 720p or 1080i, the 720p that the D90 offers is actually not half as bad. I mean a good video, other than good quality, the editing and story are just as important if not more so. The D90 looks more attractive to me now.

Month In Review

This month everybody kind of just died. If you are still breathing, count your blessings already.

• Shih Kien. The one and only. He was the most loved bad guy in those serious and unintentional funny wuxia black and white features. In those Wong Fei Hung series, in the end, he invariably got beat up by Wong--the always serious and always (self-)righteous good guy played by the late Kwan Tak Hing, and cried for mercy and forgiveness. It was classic Shek Kin. He actually made the good guys look bad. In those days, the characters and the actors are almost indistinguishable.
  
• David Carradine. Everything was in slow motion. He was genuinely campy without the irony. He single-handedly made Kung Fu look bad and good at the same time.
• Ed McMahon. Hereeeeeeeeeeee's Johny. The sidekick that turned to a star.
• Farrah Fawcett. The hair was definitely bigger than the person.
• Michael Jackson. A guy who grew up so fast as a kid so much so that he refused to grow up when he became an adult. He was kind and warm before he was spiteful. His greatness was only matched by his total weirdness. He'd never stop entertaining dead or alive.
  

And they are all dead now.

YouTube Friday

It's hard not to like the guy in the video.

Miscellaneous

Usually picture this good is not taken by me. And it isn't.

UPDATE (11/18/09):
A critical analysis of the picture.
Two heads, two rice bowls, two cups, two napkins, two pairs of chopsticks, two chairs, two reading lamps, two picture frames on the wall.  They all echo one another very nicely.  The foreground has this pair of chopsticks directing our vision to the point of interest, that is the subjects who are naturally interesting.  A slice of domestic playfulness between brothers.

Random Excellence

Template Change

Since you guys have big screens it seems ridiculous to have some fixed width template that doesn't make good use of the real estate of your big screens. So here it is, a blog template that allows automatic stretching across the browser. At the same time, I hope it isn't too much of a chore to pan your head or eyes across the screen. Previously the blogpost is really narrow, so much so that I can't post big pictures but arguably easier to read.

Wimbledon 2009

Sharapova's Balmain jacket made an early exit in the second round. She put up a fight and saved a few match points but in the end no amount of shriekings and fist pumps were enough to save her from a three set defeat to Gisela Dulko from Argentina. The pundits are saying it's the shoulder surgery, not moving well, got a bit rusty on the court. Well, I agree. Once you got injured, you are in for a lot of troubles. Serena Williams on the other hand seems to be moving extremely well on the grass court, nimbly pounding the ball with enormous power.

Even The Biggest Bird Can Fit In Our Pants

R0011235
Originally uploaded by Duke of Aberdeen.

Winners of the following categories ...

Billboards and outdoor advertising.
Corporate identity design.

Mini Rant

My hp6910p continues to underperform or perform just as expected. There is no surprise on the upside only on the downside. I got myself a Kingston SDHC 8 GB card, and just as expected, it won't read it. So no surprise here as the reader only says SD. On another unrelated note, one of the keys on the keyboard just gone bonkers. So when I type, a letter just won't show up like it's supposed to be. I have to press it in a special way. It doesn't sound like a big deal but it actually is. It gets really annoying. On the other hand, my Linux cheapo hardware continues to surprise me on the upside. My super cheapo SOHOUSB reader/writer just reads the 8GB without any problem. And yes, the reader just says SD no HC there but it just swallows the card in whole and gives me an icon on the desktop that says 8.0 GB Media. It just works.

Kodachrome

I am not much of a photographer nor do I have a big collection of gears. I have a meager budget comparing to other big shots out there. You know everything is kind of relative. I have fun, now and then. I succumbed to the romantic vision of yesteryear and I ordered my Kodachrome (not the PKR, just KR) as yet another tribute to good old film photography. If, with any luck, my order actually goes through, I would be a proud owner of the now discontinued emulsion. But who knows? The site was crawling when I placed the order and I don't know if they actually have any stock in house. As most other major photographic super stores have gone out of stock already. And if you were to try eBay, it's just ridiculous. Oh well, everything old is new again. People in some twisted ways are longing for the good old days.

UPDATE 6/24/09: I JUST SAVED MYSELF A BUNDLE

Here is an email I got just now explaining that they actually don't have the inventory. Whoever built their website got lucky. The database doesn't support transaction? I have no clue but apparently something is amiss.

I received your order but unfortunately, we do not have the item in stock. You were allowed to place an order when we were out of stock. The last rolls sold Tuesday afternoon but the web-site was unable to keep up with the item status. I do apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. I will go ahead and cancel the order.

We greatly appreciate you thinking of us for your photographic needs. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding future orders. I hope to be assisting you in the future.

Sincerely,

[redacted]

Wimbledon Waistcoat

R Fed plays a Japanese Kamikaze, sort of ...

Cougars and senior citizens love R Fed, no doubt.

Is there a mirror somewhere? How's my hair?

Maître d': R Fed, please clean up table 10 and booth A complains the egg roll is too small.
R Fed: Gosh, not the egg roll again!

Federer fashion watch.

White military jacket and matching long pants with golden piping. Together with the oversized white headband, he looks very Japanese Kamikaze.

If you think the jacket is kind of ridiculous, wait till you see what's inside. It's a waistcoat, that Federer leaves on when warming up. God forbid, a white waistcoat in a tennis court worn by one of the tennis greats Roger Federer. I mean he is not waiting table, isn't he? It certainly tops Nadal's sleeveless shirt and clam digger pants. If Federer, for any reason messes up in the tournament, it's definitely the hideous waistcoat.

Balmain Jacket ...

Only whiter and tackier.

Nike also carries the military theme into the women's side. Sharopova wears what looks like a $10,000 Balmain jacket except whiter and tackier.

Mixed Signal?

The Dow went down more than 200 points. The pundits are citing economics concerns and other BS as what most pundits are expected to say having known what the direction the market moved. At the same time Goldman is expecting to pay out good bonus to its associates. So I guess the financial market is bouncing back or at least making good money again.

Apple's 3G Ass is selling more than 1 million in its debut weekend and Jobs has a new liver. So that's all good news? No, the stock price takes a beating along with the major market indice and closes down more than two bucks. I think Apple still has good fundamentals in this recession economy with or without Jobs. Another interesting thing to watch is would Apple kowtow to China's security concern if or when asked to install some filtering software like Green Dam to its hardware? Would Apple cry bloody murder or will it just oblige? If Windows machines are made to install whatever god awful filtering software I don't see no reason why Apple or Linux or whatever consumer machines can be exempted in the next phase after Windows machines. As if in the grand tradition of Chinese knockoffs, if you can pirate why buy originals; even the Green Dam filtering software is allegedly developed from stolen proprietary codes from another software company based on California.

Wimbledon 2009

This is a Wimdbledon without Nadal. I think nobody is really happy about it, except maybe some other players. Would Nike be happy about it given it pays Nadal some millions to wear its sports attire? Would the general tennis fans happy about it? Absolutely not. I didn't bother to Google the prize money but it's like Federer is having it in his pocket already. So where is the competition? Andy Murray has a pretty good record against R Fed but then again this is Wimbledon, an event that's kind of bigger than life. Murray still has yet to win a Grand Slam title. It would be interesting to see how well Robin Soderling is holding up in his post French final performance.

The state of American tennis? I think it's going down the toilet. Make it gone down the toilet already. James Blake just got ousted in the first round. I think it's going to take a miracle for Andy Roddick to win. The guy got some talent but I think he is not focused enough. On the court, he is ALWAYS distracted. Always.

Roger Federer just sent Taipei's Lu Yen-Hsun home by beating him in three straight sets.

Miscellaneous

Steve Jobs reportedly had a liver transplant according to the Wall Street Journal. It would be interesting to see how Wall Street responds to this piece of news on Monday. Personally I hope the stock price continues its upward trajectory.

Iran is still embroiled in social unrest as the election is seen to be rigged by the incumbent. Neither the supreme leader nor the security force can convince people to stay home and be good citizens. People are taking it to the streets. Meanwhile twitter is claiming much of the credit or receiving accolades from the mainstream media, in facilitating information outflow from Iran. Twitterati are going to pat themselves in the back for promoting freedom of speech and democracy.

One piece of good news from last week was two journalists Tahir Ludin and David Rohde were able to escape from the Taliban in Afghanistan after being held captive for some seven months. It's a triumph of the human courage and spirit. What's going on with the two US journalists held in North Korea? I hope somebody is doing something to secure their safe return.

Father's Day

Just in case you couldn't make out what the one on the right is, it's a tie-shaped card. The more traditional yellow card is from Alex.



I never thought I would have gotten an A+ for Driving around. Why driving around? I must be lost all the time when I am driving ... and yet I am always calm. I got a B in taking pictures. Oh well, that's an acquired taste. I don't think I run fast at all, not ever. Report card from Mr. Harry. The yellow card is from big brother and so is the Chinese homework.

My kids are still little so they still think I am kind of cool.

Happy face blueberry pancakes and Jimmy Dean sausage from wife.

Heir Apparent

What does this button do?

Sir, this will launch the nuclear warhead.

Good. I like bar-b-que.

Yes, me too, Sir.

The New York Times. Note: The permalink may now require registration.

Cutest Swine Flu Picture Ever

Panic of 2009--Swine flu
Two little piggies from pips
© Mike Clarke/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. Taken from the Nytimes.com

This is the cutest swine flu picture ever. It made the front page of today's New York Times.

Email Pet Peeves

Emails that kind of demand a read receipt. Don't bother, I will never let the sender have the satisfaction. I read the email but I click no when prompted to send receipt.

Emails copied to sender's boss, your boss and a bunch of people who have no relevancy to the matter in hand. Can't we just solve the problem ourselves? Act like a grown-up? Or better, pick up the phone? Or still better, settle it mano a mano.

Emails with a philosophical signature. I don't need any enlightenment from any emails. It's just laughable if not downright annoying.

Emails with excessive formatting. Background, bold, italic, colors. Formatting won't make up for poor contents.

Emails that do bcc.

Re-Reading

Re-reading Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. I think of all the Jin Yong's novels, I like this the best.

Holy . . .

Holy crap! Apple is now shipping its MacBook Pro (previously unibody MacBook is re-branded as MacBook Pro, sly marketing) with a SD slot, a freaking SD card slot, a feature that's as groundbreaking as I don't know, maybe in 2001. But since it's implemented by Apple so it's going to be cool. Also iPhone 3G Ass is having video recording capability, a freaking video recording feature, that's as groundbreaking as I don't know, maybe in 2001. But since it's implemented by Apple so it's going to be cool. The stock has been up ever since taking a beating from the financial tsunami. I wish I had bought some when it was the lowest. Jobs was a no show at the WWDC though he is scheduled to return in June or something.

Federer

Federer, is he the greatest or what?

Soderling who ousted Nadal in the fourth round got soundly beaten by Federer in three straight sets in the French Open Final. Now Federer is tied with Pete Sampras' 14 Grand Slam titles. But Sampras never won at Roland Garros and Federer's run for this year and probably a handful more years is not over yet, Wimbledon and the US Open are just a few months away. And Nadal, due to his perennial knee injuries may not be playing in Wimbledon. There are plenty of good players out there, but, there is always a big but, none plays as consistent as Federer. There is really a good chance that Federer will pass Sampras' record in less than two months with another win on the grass.

Soccer

China's Forgotten Revolution

This is another rip-off from the New York Times. The original article published on May 30 was written by Yu Hua as an Op-Ed and was translated from Chinese to English by Allan Barr.

Alan Dye, Photograph by Stuart Franklin/Magnum Photos

抗戰二十年

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on the student pro-democracy movement in Tiananman Square 1n 1989. This song though not tailor made for this year's commemoration but is eerily apt and the music video just made it obviously so.

So here it is, the anthem for the 20th anniversary of the student pro-democracy movement.

一無所有

The 1989 student movement anthem.

Tonight Show

I can't believe Leno had been with the Tonight Show for 17 years. I always like Leno's opening monologues and I like Letterman's wackiness. Both of them are pretty entertaining with their unique brand of humors and I hate to beat up one or the other.

I have Conan's debut Tonight Show taped or actually DVR'ed. I like the opening how he ran from NYC to LA to host the show. But things went downhills from there. The monologue wasn't funny, it seems forced. And the guest Will Ferrel, he wasn't all that funny either. He has been doing quite well in the box office and I actually paid for some his DVDs when Circuit City went belly up but still him being a guest on Conan's debut wasn't all that entertaining and complementing. The debut show was a bit contrived and the pacing was a bit slow and a bit over run--the Universal lot tram car thing, the Taurus sedan thing.

Conan O'Brien is wacky like Letterman so let's see how the two square off at the 11:30 time slot.

French Open

The Sex Face of R Fed
Just don't come too soon now, the championship final has yet to come
Photo: Michel Euler/Associated Press. From The New York Times online.

Another Sex Face.
Prematurely Dejected after down two sets

© FFT, from Roland Garros online.

The New York Times print edition has the same article but runs a different perhaps more risque picture which is from Clive Brunskill for Getty. I can't seem to find the print version picture online.

More sex face sightings from our beloved tennis stars.

UPDATE 6/3/09: The FFT picture added seems close enough to the picture ran with the NYT print edition.

French Open

Not to take anything away from the Swede because he, Robin Soderling, did play a great match and was relentless but a French Open without Nadal can't be all that satisfying. I think I am not going to see Nadal's pink tennis shirt anytime soon. I am afraid that shirt might have done him in, making him a bit effeminate, less intimidating on the court. The Swede kept saying Nadal was just another player even he sure is not. Gee, I just took a sneak peek at the Roland Garros site, R. Fed almost got ousted by Tommy Haas. He was down two sets before digging himself out to win the match. All the players are tip top and if you aren't giving 110% on the court then you aren't giving 100%. Any match at this point can easily go one way or the other, no matter if you are number one or number two. Our A. Rod just lost, again. American men tennis is over.