My Decade in Review

Some people have photographic memories but I am not one of them.  Sometimes it's good but most of the time it's bad.

1990 - What did I do?  I don't have a clue
1991 - see 1990
1992 - see 1991
1993 - see 1992
1994 - see 1993
1995 - Got married.  Hooray.  I was out of the market.  A lot of girls were disappointed.  But I was not Jacky Chan so nobody died.  I wasn't even Andy Lau, so I never had the need to keep it a secret from my anybody.
1996 - Happily married.
1997 - My Dad passed away.
1998 - see 1996
1999 - Alex was born.  From husband to husband slash Dad.  It wasn't easy.  People tend to glorify and happitize the arrival of newborns.  Yes it's true, it brings joys but at the same time it's stressful and life altering.
2000 - Getting used to be a Dad.
2001 - Harry was born.  I am a Dad again.
2002 -  see 2000
2003 -  see 2002
2004 - see 2003
2005 - see 2004
2006 - Bad year.
2007 - Awfully bad year.
2008 - see 2005
2009 - see 2005

PS:  1990 - 2009, that's twenty years, two decades, isn't it?  I couldn't even count right the first time.

New Year's Resolutions

I am not going to do it.  Even if I were going to do it I am not going to tell anybody.  Because New Year's resolutions are just something to set myself up for failure.  Since I don't want to fail so I don't want no resolutions anymore.  My resolution is to have no resolution.

Hooray.

PS:  I think I really suck.

iPhone on Steroid

On Jan 26, Apple is going to announce whatever i product that is going to rule the mobile space.  It's most likely a much rumored and anticipated tablet device or essentially an iPhone on steroid that's going to eat Amazon's Kindle for lunch.  If you need reading glasses like a lot of 40ish folks, iPhone may not be such a great ebook platform, but this thing will be.

Apple's stock closed at $211.64.  The stock is going to hit $250 by mid 2010.  You heard it here first.

Disclaimer:  If you lose your underwear by buying Apple stock AAPL, you can't blame it on me.  I own Apple stock and its products.

Yashica Mat-124 G

The re-birth.  I sent it for a quick fix and now it's back.  I have an easier time focusing with it than the Hasselblad.  I think it's a nice camera for medium format.

Summer 2007

Another 35mm Scan

The film is Kodak 400-2TMY, not developed by me.  Scanned using Epson V500, 2400dpi, 16-bit grayscale, USM at medium, Dust Removal medium.  I don't know if that's the optimum especially USM.  I probably should have turned it off all together and just use dust removal.

Ice Skating In The Frozen Pond

Skiing

Serial Number

If the product never ever needs support, then perhaps the serial number is not needed or it can be printed in the back of the product with a font size that needs an enlarging lens to read. Please for Pete's sake, don't ask the serial number or if you do, then put it in the front and have it printed big because not every one can read that 15 alpha numeric characters in minuscule font size.

A Tree On 42nd Street

Scanning film (on the Epson V500) is an exercise in frustration. Somehow I think scanning at 2400dpi and with all adjustments off except dust removal set at medium gives me the best look for black and white.

I can never really save any settings. Even I turned off the Unsharp Mask, it would creep back in automatically. So that's weird and buggy. You can't really name your setting it's automatically named like setting 1, 2 and 3 and so on. But it doesn't work anyway. After Preview, I have to uncheck the adjustment that automatically added by itself but I have to select all before doing that, otherwise, it would only apply on the selected image instead of what I really want which is all the images. I found the software buggy and annoying.

Yashica Mat 124-G

Here's what a graduated neutral density filter would help to give the sky a darker shade of blue.

update: 7/8/2010
GUYS:  Click on the related labels below for more Yashica Mat 124-G.  You have come a long way.

Film Scan

Scanned using an Epson V500, set a 16-bit gray scale and at 2400 dpi.  One thing about scanning is you have to deal with dust and scratch like forever.  Many years ago I scanned using an HP Photo scanner.

UPDATE:
I think the film holders of the V500 are pretty atrocious.  I mean they work but it's just not something you expect from a photo scanner.  For $160 or so is it the best they can do?  I mean people buy this for scanning film right?  It's supposed to be good not like an after thought because after all it's marketed as a photo scanner.  If you have 6x6 negative that got cut into 3 frames per strip, I am telling you, the contraption isn't all that great at all, you would have a difficult time putting into the 3-frame strip.  But again it can be done.   The 35mm strip holder is slightly better.  You got to scan two strips of 6-frame at the same time.  You will never get the film flat especially the medium format, but I am not really complaining if I can fit the negative just a bit more efficiently and easily.  On the other hand if you have uncut 120 negative I think it should be a bit easier, I have yet to try that.  If the mechanics of the V700 or the V750 is about the same as that of the V500, then I am glad I didn't go for the pricey ones.  I read some time ago there is some third party film holder I guess I will have to look for them.  OMG, I just checked the price is close to $80 and to pay by PayPal, extra as if the convenience on both sides of the transaction doesn't mean anything.  It probably worths every cent of the $80 but I will hold off for the time being.  The film holder is one half of the price of the scanner.  Does it make sense?  I guess it probably does.

The Fuji Acros 100 seems to be a winner, especially compared against the Kodak 125 PX.

Traffic

On I-87.  Slow moving traffic.

Christmas Breakfast

Robots Xmas

Go St. John's

Santa x 2

Developed Fuji Acros 100

This was the first 135mm black and white I ever developed in more than twenty years.  Everything went well.  I was afraid the roll might have bunched up so I unspooled once before accepting the second load.  I thought my finger could feel the edge but I guess it's just the way the reel was designed, a bit tighter than the 120 reel.  The film came out good.  I used the same formula I used for developing the 120 format PX125 film.

I think I really need a scanner now, probably a new souped up desktop as well.

Field Tested My Nikon FE

I brought my Nikon FE loaded with Fuji Acros 100 for a spin in Kissena Park under the bleak weather that was the first snow storm of the season.  While I almost froze under the punishing sub-zero temperature, my Nikon FE and the MD-12 motor drive were functioning properly.  I bought the camera circa 1984.

The List Shall Go On

The Best Blogs Ever.  Don't just believe any blog recommendations you find online.  They are all bull.  Except the ones here.

If next year you are going to visit one blog and one blog only here is the one
http://laichungleung.blogspot.com

And this one if you think you deserve something crazy, stupid, asinine, unbecoming, then his blogs are for you.  They are pretty revolting, the pictures mostly, so they may or may not be work safe.  You have been warned.

If you want something carefully and meticulously composed, try this one here, the last post was in 2007.

Merry Christmas

This is the handsomest, kindest, nicest Santa I've ever seen in my entire life.

From A..Z

It's this time of the year, Santa is not the only one that's making a list, almost everybody is making a list.

Here are the web sites, from a to z, that pop up at Firefox's smart location bar whenever the letter is pressed.  Admittedly I am not the only one using this Firefox on this notebook.

http://www.aq.com/
http://blog.age.com.hk/
http://c9aimeili.wordpress.com/
[redacted]
[redacted]
http://www.facebook.com/
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
http://newyork.craigslist.org/
http://kenrockwell.com/
http://laichungleung.blogspot.com/
[redacted]
http://www.olegnovikov.com/index.shtml
http://www.olegnovikov.com/index.shtml
[redacted]
http://www.queenslibrary.org/
http://kenrockwell.com/
[redacted]
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/index.html
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/weblog.htm

The redacted ones are too obscene, combustive, and embarrassing to be listed here.

Kindle Is Actually Hot

Could Steve Jobs be wrong?  According to some news somewhere online, Amazon's Kindle is doing just great in this holiday season despite what Jobs proclaimed how wrong Kindle was.  But you know what, you can't believe what the guy said at all.  No iPhone, bam, he gave you the iPhone; no video on iPod, bam, video, even with FM radio thrown in.  So when he said Kindle's conception was flawed at the top what he actually meant was gee we didn't think about that, but heck we might not be much of an inventor but we are a great technology aggregator, we sure know how to put all the parts together and make the whole more important than the sum of its parts and market the living day light out of it.  When that day comes and sure it will albeit a bit late, we will rule, just like the iPhone we put together.  We didn't invent the cell phone but we sure know how to put everything together in a nice little package that has somehow become the most coveted phone ever or at least in 2007 when it was first introduced.

Blaceberry Misadventure ...

It's kind of hard to read any article from The New Yorker on a Blackberry Tour 9630.  The three-column layout doesn't sit well with the 2.6" 480x360 screen and yet I don't find any reasonable work around like RSS to just read the damn thing without scrolling left and right every second like crazy.  And I have yet successfully installed Google App on the device.  The device just hangs whenever I go to Allow Application Permissions.  It then requires a nasty reboot which takes much longer than the previous Blackberry I had.

How do I judge the device?  If it can't install Google Mobile App then it's inferior.  Searching online doesn't get much help either.

NOTE:  Gee I can't even spell right, wtf is Blaceberry?  I don't even know.

UPDATE:
I think Google Voice is probably the culprit.  The installation was "alright" in the end.  I don't know exactly what happened, like usual, but the apps seemed to have to be installed one by one or so.  But every time when voice is involved like search by voice, a dialog prompting to Allow or Deny would totally lock up the device.  I have to remove the battery in order to reset the thing.  I don't know any other way.  Again, a search online doesn't get much help either.  Meaning the solution to Allow permissions doesn't help because not all permissions are "allowable" maybe that's where lies the problem.

So Sweet

Do you get fucking tired of reading comments like this, So Sweet then followed by half a dozen exclamation points.  I got fucking tired of that.  Just so you know.

Unmanly Listening Behavior Unveiled

The New York Times just confirmed what I have long suspected: many men, are secretly loving Celine Dion and cartoons more than they are willing to admit; proclaiming their love to classical and jazz while they are actually in love with soft rock like tunes from Air Supply.  We are a nation of big grown pussies listening to effusive love songs and watching cartoons even we are no longer seven year olds--think this week's box office record smashing, crowd pleasing Avatar (but grown men draw the line on puppet show movies, nobody went to see Wes Anderson's fantastic Fantastic Mr. Fox, sad).  And worse, some men actually are blaming their wives for their unmanly radio listening behavior.

The New York Times has the full article on this sad unmanly behavior.

Negative

I shall continue to post crap.

This is a negative scan from my super duper all in one photo-copy-printer-scanner.  If you want to buy me an Epson V750, please let me know.  The above is just a negative scan with color inverted done in GIMP.  The quality is astoundingly bad.  I hope it's just the scan and not the negative itself because that would be bad, really bad.

Straight Razor Shave Experience Update

WARNING:  YET ANOTHER BORING POST

I have been keeping the scales dry and clean.  The Maas cream was able to remove 99% of the patina formed on the blade, it now still has a tiny microscopic dot there which doesn't seem to get any worse.  I am anal retentive but not to the extent that it bothers me (OKAY, just a tiny little bit).  I usually shave at night as I don't have time to fuss in the morning.  I am the last one to take the shower so I have no problem leaving the razor sort of to dry in the bathroom as there won't be any additional steam from any more shower.  The following day, I store the razor away from the bathroom to avoid moisture from showers.

The soaps I got from eBay were bad despite good service and allegedly made from all natural stuff.  I could never got a nice lather out of them, at least the two that I tried and they left my skin uncomfortable.  The one I got from another vendor seems far better.  I am able to whip some nice lather out of it and it doesn't irritate.  Before I never know what real lather feels like.  I had equated lather with suds.  How wrong was I?  With the good soap I don't really need after shave lotion or balm though I am sure I can use some but it doesn't bother me even if I don't.

Stropping is not all that difficult even with a 2-inch wide stop.  Naturally I am making an x motion pulling and pushing the blade on the strop.  It's no biggie, at least that's what I thought.  I did make a few nicks on the strop initially.  I should have slowed down a bit in the beginning.  I was not in a race why bothered to act like proficient while I was just starting out.

I used to just shave with the grain or across the grain, but I am doing the against the grain more so now.  But still the underside area between the chin and the jaw on both sides of the face are like the most difficult parts for against the grain shave.

I am able to use my non dominant hand to shave, that is my left hand shaves my left face without cutting up my face.  But still most of the time I use my right hand for against the grain shave.

Black And White From Yashica Mat-124 G

WARNING:  ANOTHER VERY BORING POST

I redeemed myself.  I shot a roll of 125PX earlier and I developed it when I got home.  I am now washing the film in the washbasin, once it hit 30 minutes, I will give a one-minute photo-flo bath and hang it up to dry.  I just peeked at the first few frames and they looked good, at least I didn't introduce any kinks while I loaded the film onto the steel reel.

Okay, I just finished everything.  I hung up the roll and I noticed something.  The square image, unfortunately, shifted just a tiny little bit to the left with emulsion side facing away and the first frame at the bottom.  What it means is the bump on the bottom of the camera caused a shift of the back ever so slightly that the image no longer stays on the dead center of the roll.  As the image is actually upside down when in the camera, so I think the back has shifted a bit to the left pulling the film with it.  The problem is more pronounced in the middle of the roll as the edge of the image ever so slightly touches the Kodak code on the edge.  I don't know if it merits a trip to the repairman, the last time I got a quote from a well known repairman I didn't do it.  It was expensive though I am quite sure it's gonna be worth it.  I may want to check earlier negative see if it has the problem, because honestly I don't know for sure if this is a pre-existing condition or not.

Another thing I notice, though not really related to the Yashica, but it's more a general 120 roll film thing.  So far I have been leaving the tape that tapes the film and the backing paper on the film when developing, I just ripped the backing paper from it and taped it back on the glossy side of the film.  On second thought after having developed four rolls, I think it might not be such a good idea to leave it there, especially the practice of taping it back on the film.  It tends to retain the chemicals, the next time I better rip the tape off, if not the whole tape at least the part left after the backing paper is off.  It's not a major problem but I can see it can be a potential problem.  I saw bluish liquid dripping down from the tape area, even the thirty-minute wash didn't remove those chemicals trapped in the taped area.  The film should be free from chemicals after the wash.  Next time I should rip the tape off completely.

Just shot another roll of 125PX

 Yet another boring post.

Just shot a roll of Kodak 125PX.  I am keeping my finger crossed as I am not sure how light tight my Yashica
Mat-124G is anymore since I discovered a small bump at the tripod socket months ago.  I shot with the case on thinking that it should protect the camera better.  My hunch is it's still tight but I will have to develop the film to find out.  This time around I will be careful in loading onto the reel to avoid any kinks.

While I am at it, I might as well tell you my experience with the Yashica Mat 124G as compared to my Hasselblad 500C/M.  For the viewfinder, I think both my Hasselblad and Yashica are kind of difficult to focus comparing to my Nikon eye level viewfinders.  If you are young, healthy and have good eye sight and don't need reading glasses then you will do just fine looking through the waist level viewfinder.  I am actually OKAY with the laterally reversed image.  While I find the Yashica's magnifying lens helpful when focusing, the same can't be said about my Hasselblad's.  Well's it's just my experience.  I bought a battery for the Yashica once, but it went dead very fast I think after a roll of film or so.  I don't know for sure if the meter went bad or the battery actually went out.  In any event, I am using the sunny 16 rule and totally forget about the meter.  The same with the Hasselblad though sometimes I carry my FE for metering purpose.

Film Developing

My boring posts continue.

For my black and white film developing, I use Kodak chemicals.

For the developer I use HC-110, dilute 1:49, basically a recipe I found from J Brunner.  I think it works out pretty well though I have never printed any of my negative and I only developed three rolls of 120 so far.  It's really non experience experience.
For the stop bath, I use Indicator Stop Bath, dilute per instruction.  I believe you don't even need to use it, you can use water in lieu of it.
For the fixer, I use the Kodafix Solution, dilute per instruction.  I just fix it for 4 minutes, I don't know.  The instruction says 2 to 4 minutes.  I go for 4 minutes.
Then I wash the film in my sink for 30 minutes and put the film together with the reel back to the steel tank full of water and finish it with a drop of Kodak Photoflo for 1 minute.
Hang dry.

Film Developing Misadventure

I did my black and white developing last night. Last time I was being meticulous and uber careful. Perhaps I wasn't as careful as I should have been, so I messed up this second time. The film was loaded crooked so a few frames touched each other and didn't come out right as they were under developed. I really should have double checked once I finished loading, but I didn't I thought I just did an excellent job in loading the film in one go. And the error occurred in the last mile, I mean the very last section of the film or the beginning of the roll. I am pretty disappointed with myself.

One of the discovery when taking pictures with the last roll was I can get 13 frames out of a roll of 120 film in my 6x6 Hasselblad. It probably doesn't mean much but it's fun to experiment though not so great in filing the negative in a 3 by 4 sheet. I think if I am able to advance past the 12th frame, I am able to press the shutter just by resetting the frame counter. I think I did get the 13th frame but unfortunately I lost the very first frame by loading the film crooked toward the very end.

I need to shoot another 120 soon. I just need to do that right to get the feel good feeling back.

Google Phone

Or Nexus One. Google finally ate its words and admitted that it's testing its own brand of Google phone, a device made by Taiwan's HTC that Google has absolute control over its design, which is a departure from what Google has been doing so far, partnering with handset makers by providing the Android OS. Google by having its own hardware is not only competing with the iPhone but also with its partners' contraptions. Engadget shows some pictures of the supposedly Nexus One which again looks very similar to iPhone, so there isn't any wow factor in its appearance in my opinion. It just seems almost impossible to top the iPhone's aesthetic as of now. No handset manufacturers manage to design any phone significantly different from that of iPhone (or they don't even want to especially the knockoffs). I think it's just a testament to iPhone's game changing and much coveted design. Google is believed to sell the devices unlocked, without subsidy from the carriers, as early as January next year. If you are in the market for a new smartphone (like there is a dumbphone) you may want to hold your horses. Because the Nexus One might just be the one non-iPhone smartphone that you have been waiting for all your life.

Friday Outing

Severe winter weather alert: you got nothing better to do, stay home, save money, avoid the temptation from all cameras digital or analog.

Yesterday, I submitted to my temptation and took a trip to B&H despite the freezing weather. But my trip was well timed, yesterday was Friday and it only opened till 1PM so I knew I wouldn't get lost in the playland or blackhole for too long. I ended up buying just a couple of black and white film from Fuji and nothing else. I actually have pretty well self control when discretionary spending is concerned. I played with a Pentax 6x7. I think it is hand holdable despite its massive size. The viewfinder is just like a regular eye level viewfinder of a 35mm SLR so I have no problem focusing even manually with my far sighted vision. I find it very difficult to focus directly on the matte focusing screen using the only waist level finder on my Hasselblad 500C/M because of my far sighted vision. Since I was at it, I also picked up a D700 with a 85mm f1.4. The lens was like on steroid with massive front elements and super sized girth. I am not really in the market for a camera or a D700 but I noticed the price is now around $2400. I think I once mentioned that if the price comes down to $2000, I might pull the trigger. Let's see if I am crazy enough in the next six months or so.

Week in Review

Now that Tiger Woods is retiring, not really but just saying, and you would think he can play golf like most well-heeled retirees do. No. Woods took a page from Edison Chen's playbook, he is taking an indefinite break from professional golf. I just think he should continue to play as much as he is allowed. Sure he should take care of his family and kids but being a hidden tiger really doesn't do him, the golf industry and the economy any good in my opinion. Just come out, do an interview, make a public apology on TV, patch up with his wife and move on to play golf.

It took Mr. James Cameron some 15 years to wrap up Avatar. I bet Apple Daily's journalmation team can do it in 15 hours flat, after all, their specialty is also fantasy animation. What a waste of 15 years. Just call up Jimmy, he will get it done. I have been able to avoid Titanic since 1997 for some twelve years. Avatar shall get the same treatment.

The Future of Journalism: Journalmation

Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. might have seen the future when he proclaimed nobody reads anymore when asked about his opinion on Amazon's Kindle, an electronic reader, but it is Jimmy Lai of another Apple, that's Apple Daily, who brought you the future today:  the convergence of journalism and animation, or what I call Journalmation(TM)--man, you heard it here first.  Think bad journalism coupled with even badder animation and you will get the picture.  Apple Daily's latest journalmation on seriously boring serial adulterer Tiger Woods has got the athlete by the balls and has taken the world by storm.  Sure, the rest of the press industry, those that are bleeding loss and dying, are ridiculing the bad cartoon but hey it got more than two millions views on YouTube which really compares favorably to the HD trailer of James Cameron's over-hyped Avatar, also a fantasy drama mixing cartoon with real people, considering the latter is probably a $500 million dollar production.  Barbara Walters has her list of most fascinating people, and I sure got mine too.  Jimmy Lai, Tiger Woods and David Letterman make my list, not only are they fascinating, they are sleazily fascinating which is obviously more fascinating than simply fascinating.

Paralysis By Analysis

I don't build my computer every three months or six months or even every three years.  The last time I built something from the ground up so to speak was more than seven years ago when single core AMD Athlon 1.4GHz was respectable.  Fast forward to 2009 and a quick trip to newegg, AMD AM3 is the top dog and Intel i7 is the top of the very top as far as desktop build is concerned.  Once the kind of processor is decided, then the case, the kind of motherboard, the memory.  If I opt for micro ATX case, then what I gain on space saving, I lose out on choices of motherboard and expandability.  And even for individual components, there are always mixed reviews, the more you read it the more confused you got.  And it can get numbingly complicated.  But I guess at some point I just need to pull the trigger (or totally give up) as there isn't one perfect computer, there got to be some compromise.  Even I sound like I am a bit frustrated, but I still think I will enjoy more by building my own computer than simply buying one online or from a store.  It's just too easy.

On Skechers

It's my opinion that Skechers makes the most ugliest shoes you can possibly find on Earth.  If they are not ugly, they simply don't make them.  So rest assured, every pair of Sketchers is ugly as hell.  Look at their spoke models: Britney Spears when she was on her downward death spiral, and Jessica Simpson, the embodiments of all things uncool and unhip.  I think it used to to LA Gear and now it's Skechers.  I suppose every generation deserves an ugly pair of kicks.  A quick search confirms what I suspected, Skechers is the evil twin of LA Gear.

I Have An Affair With Tiger Woods

No.  Just kidding.  But that's basically what's happening.  Women everywhere, no men yet, are coming out of the woodwork to claim a piece of Tiger's club.  All of a sudden the world's most boring sportsman in the most boring sport, that's if you count walking around a sport, unbored himself to become a serial adulterer. His perfidious behavior is really a matter between his wife and himself but the public, myself included, has a vested interest in public humiliation and salacious details of the rich and famous.  We all like to see Tiger make a public apology, even he did nothing remotely harmful to us except boring us to death.

Typewriter

I am so old that not only do I know what a typewriter is, I actually used one both at school and at work.  That's how old I am.  When I first learned how to type, a typewriter was the tool I used not any fancy keyboard attached to any computer.  I pretty much self taught myself with some help from my sister and her textbook.  I remember I brought a typewriter with me all the way from Hong Kong when I first came to New York.  I thought gee everybody needs a typewriter and it's the present and future of writing.  A piece of paper, a qwerty keyboard and a lot of hammers rising and falling, mechanically and magically.  I wonder where it is now.

Award winning American writer Cormac McCarthy is auctioning off his old typewriter which had been used for his writings including among many others "No Country For Old Man" and "The Road," both have been adapted for the big screen.  For most people a typewriter isn't practical any more but I guess for some, and there are always some, it's the only way to work.

PS:  The NYT story has been slashdotted.