Red Sparrow (2018)

Red Sparrow is the latest female fronted Hollywood thriller with Lawrence playing the title character, a red sparrow or a spy trained and owned by the state, whose trade craft includes the time honored carnal art of seduction.  I have high expectations.

The movie begins with great promise: rapid intercuts between Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) dancing on stage having her femur broken and her counterpart, Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) evading a car chase on foot.  Dominika is a natural and her uncle Vanya Ergovo (Matthia Schonaerts) sees it.  All he does is to nudge her a bit and makes her woke of her hidden talents.  He tips her off her injury is not a result of occupation hazard.  While still on the mend and limping, Dominika takes out the adulterous couple who ended her ballet career with no holds barred rage and violence.  Perhaps her career ending injury is a blessing in disguise,  Jennifer Lawrence or Dominika Egorova is just too well endowed to look like a ballerina.  The first job and then the formal training follow.  Dominika is sent to a "whore school" run by the hooded eyes Matron (Charlotte Rampling) who is cadaverous in appearance and pithy in teaching.  The cadets wear drab wrap skirts, seemingly stolen from Diane von Furstenberg, that are easy to put on and more importantly easier to take off.  Like a good student she excels.   She gets her first overseas gig before she officially finishes her training thanks to General Korchnoi (Jeremy Irons) who is just cadaverous but likes to enjoy putting on more rouge to look more flushed than Matron, which of course only makes him look ridiculous, even more so than his Russian accented English--in the world of Red Sparrow, English is the lingua franca.  Dominika is sent to Budapest to lure her American counterpart so as to root out the mole deep within the Russian intelligence . . . and so she begins her journey as a full fledged red sparrow.

After hiring Lawrence, quite possibly the highest paid female star, the movie just runs out of budget.  So there are hardly any actions, stunts or special effects to speak of.  In one truly potentially R-rated deserving scene where human skin is shaved off, the camera is no where near where the action is and the audience is spared with that gruesome awesomeness because there is no budget for special effects.  The trailer is pretty much all there is, but with far better pacing than the actual movie which at times feels interminable and meandering; it clocks in two hours nineteen minutes.  This red sparrow has great potentials but does not fly high or far.

UNTITLED

News was delivered by butchers and fish mongers in the wet market a day's late but with meat inside.  It was a halcyon time when people recycled without recycling.  The flank steak or red snapper was wrapped in old newspaper tied with a strand of salt water grass.  That's how I discovered news.  Sometimes the section was salacious and often times the section was just news.  Either case I wasn't complaining, not to someone who wielded some cleaver for a living.

"Can I get that section?  Yeah that, yeah that section.   No. That one!"  I don't think so.

UNTITLED

How I read the news stays the same--I still use my eyes and corrective lenses, which, over the years, have evolved excitingly with the much anticipated presbyopia and floaters thrown in rather than just the usual ailments like myopia and astigmatism.

In terms of sources, it's the fake news extraordinaire The New York Times alright.  I have autopay setup so they can just take my money and leave me alone.  I pay and I shall receive, it's always the kind of ideal transactional relationship I aim for.  Most other news especially those trending or shared on FB are genuinely fake news and I take them with a grain of salt and regard them as mostly entertainment, loosely speaking.  For Hong Kong news I just go to Ming Pao, which has changed some what.  One thing I find quite interesting or mildly disturbing is they still put entertainment or show biz news under the section called OL section.  Does it stand for office lady?  I feel marginalized.

News deliverance and consumption have changed a great deal.  What used to be daily dead tree publication has changed to round-the-clock breaking news via the screen--this is how people got hyper tension and heart attack.  A suited man reading and doing origami folds with the Times on his morning commute is a rare sight nowadays.  That suited man's position probably got off-shored to India or Poland.  I still have some of my paper delivered but empirically I don't even think the paper is touched let alone being read, it got picked up, idled and then chucked to recycles.  Sad.  Most news are consumed via a myriad of screens.

The only paper that can't be digitized is the toilet paper.  Long live the toilet paper.

Untitled.

"I'd rather be where I am than in a grave."

Beastgrip Anamorphic

I can't find any review comparing the Beastgrip anamorphic and the OG moondog lab anamorphic.  Both are selling $175.  But if you were to buy the moondog then you need an adaptor for the Beastgrip.  I don't fully understand why but that's what moondog says.  I am surprised I can't find anything comparing the two.  I am easily surprised.  Most if not all reviews on the Beastgrip anamorphic are pretty much from the company, I don't even think there is a third party review on this.  I imagine the clip-on version of the moondog should have the best alighment as it's clip on, there is no misalignment to fiddle about the vertical and horizontal.  But then since the clip on is pretty much phone specific, so about every two years you are faced with the planned obsolesce, you upgrade the phone you most likely need to update the anamorphic adaptor as well.  Most people aren't made of money.  The screw-on adaptor makes a bit more sense if you are good at aligning the adaptor to the phone's lens.  I am speaking like a true desktop phone videographer as I have absolutely zero experience using the anamorphic adaptor.

記一件發生於2017年的開心事

12/15/2017

Dear Diary,

Just checked my bank account.  My paycheck is there.  Right on time, like clockwork.  I don't know all these freaking deductions and whatnots mean.  But whatever.  Last year I was like I forgot to submit something something like withholding not enough city tax or whatever, I ended up paying penalty, WTF!

12/16/2017

Diary

!!@#$@#$ Verizon FIOS, the set top box kept rebooting itself.  I need to watch my MTV.  Or CNN, I enjoy the anchors' incredulous stuttering when conveying indignations.  Called Verizon, dude sent me a new box via next day FedEx.  Can't fault the dude.  Installed the new box.  Looked like it's working fine.  Then next day, same shit happened again.   Decided to wait to try again in the evening.  Holy moly it worked.  I could never figure out how Verizon works I bet they don't either.  Just send the dude a new box!  I like that approach.

The end is near.   What have I done?  What have I not done?  The perennial question that never yields a satisfactory answer.  I am not getting any younger.  I am running out of battery.

12/30/2017

X:  Sir, can you confirm your phone number?
Y:  Can I ask you something?  Will people actually call me?  I've always put down my number but nobody ever called me?  Will you really call me?
X: Sir, is this the number we can reach you?
Y: Yes.

12/31/2017

Paycheck in the bank!  Yes!
Hello?
This is Dr. Bernstein's office ...
Thank you.

He carefully crossed his legs so his right thigh was resting on his left thigh.  He thought this was a good year.  The doctor called.  Or the doctor's office called.  He placed his hand over his heart, contemplating the new year that was to come in a few hours.



 

我家最舒服的一角

The present is unsavory, the future is unfathomable and most people aren't Karl Lagerfeld.  We can all use some magical nostalgia where terror, real or imaginary, was in a distant past and exists in the confine of the screen and we are safe in the comfort of our own place having a good scare without all the nasty consequences.

A Legacy of Spies is the latest addition to John Le Carré oeuvre.  The term legacy takes on a negative connotation just like the word classic, iPod Classic, legacy software, anyone?  It becomes an euphemism for anything that is dated, past its prime but for some pathetic reason still hanging around.  The protagonist Peter Guillam is one of those legacies.  The past has come back to haunt him, his mentor George Smiley and the Circuit as a whole: they face legal challenges from the offspring of the deceased whose deaths were a direct or indirect consequence of his botched operation.  Legacy revisits that past with immaculate details, mainly in the form of memos and letters, and low key suave just like Smiley.  Legacy can be seen as part of a series as the characters appear in Le Carré previous works.  With Legacy, Le Carré may really retire Smiley as his spook exemplary for good.  It's a loss but all good things must end.

I am always suspect of movies or shows that make children as their main characters.  I think it's just an easy way to gain sympathy and is borderline exploitative.  Spielberg's E.T.:  the Extra Terrestrial is the pinnacle of this kind of success or exploitation.  There is no doubt in my mind, Netflix's Stranger Things is in the same vein as E.T.   You have a suburban setting in yesteryear with a bunch of adorable kids running around riding bikes.  The similarity is uncanny and is as much as a homage as it's formulaic.  That being said I like the series.  Above anything else, it's about unconditional and unwavering friendship we yearn for but almost forgot.  What's not to like?  And of course Eggo too.  The show has catapulted some young actors into early stardom: the star Millie Bobby Brown graces the cover of Interview magazine, and resuscitated the fading career of Winona Ryder whom I think is just being herself in the show.  With great success comes more seasons and episodes and the danger of overstaying its welcome with sub par material.  Super natural sci-fi sometimes is just a polite way of saying male bovine excrement.

Mindhunter is one long movie in episodes.  Since The Silence of the Lambs, serial killers have gone mainstream and it's a dime a dozen.  What sets Mindhunter apart and above is the stunning visual and the nuanced multilayered audio.  The opening sequence really set things up and foretells what it is to come visually and aurally.  Mindhunter is the story of the nascent Behavioral Science Department of the FBI in the 70s.  The production is charming and the dialogue is smart.  Wendy Carr, the psychology professor played by Anna Torv has such an inflection that I imagine is what East Coast intelligentsia sounds like.  One thing I don't quite understand is why agent Holden Ford wears a double vented suit jacket.  I think it's too showy and European a sartorial choice for an FBI agent unless Ford is someone who likes to play against type, which I don't think is the intent of the show.

Back in the 70s and early 80s there was no pervasive computing but pervasive smoking.  Both shows are like fifty minute cigarette commercials without the actual commercials.  I certainly prefer any Russian intrigue limited to a page in the novel and sociopaths in the big house than in the White House.  The reality is just too much to bear.  Ignorance is bliss and then you die.

Coffee or tea

"Coffee or tea?"

I put the cup on the tray and the air attendant poured the tea into the cup.  Not a drop was spilled.

I dunked the cookies into the tea to soften their blow to my rotten teeth.  It was a madeleine moment.  It was tea from a thermal flask, very proletariat, very matter of fact, just like breathing.  You finished your dinner you poured yourself a glassful of tea whose name remained unknown whose quality unquestioned.  It was just tea brewed in a thermal flask.  It wasn't until much later that I found out there were different names to different teas.  During an overnight camping trip, two of my friends were sophisticated and urbane beyond my imagination.  They brewed tea at night.  Not just any nameless tea in a dreary thermal flask but tea that has a name, an English name no less.  The Lipton tea, in its gauze little bags of glory, ever so sophisticated, together with milk and sugar, soothingly and warmly transitioned me from a child to a bona fide young adult that night.

"Coffee or tea?"

I put the cup on the tray and he deftly poured coffee into the cup.  He was a professional.  I skipped the granular sugar and just added the single serving milk to complete the beverage.  Sugar is like poison in today's ever quest for healthier diet.  A coffee is a coffee is a coffee so long as it's hot but not scorching hot.  The baby behind me started to cry again.  It didn't bother me, not more so than air travel or people who seemed very bothered by baby crying.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as we start our descent, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and all carry-on luggage is stowed underneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. Thank you."

At my age, I only come home for either a good reason or a bad reason.

PhotoPlus Expo 2017

I can't remember when I started to go to Photo expo.  There used to be a PC Expo but it's long gone.  When I do something long enough it takes on some extra meaning.  Look at the pictures I took years ago, I could really see the changes over time, not just the industry but myself.  Kodak used to give out free film and then they stopped and then they didn't even bother to show up because they bankrupted or something.  Fuji used to give away film as well.  But they don't bother anymore.  Now they shift their products more on cameras and lenses at least at the expo.  Nikon, Canon and now Sony are the big three in the expo.  Sony is like making some big move in the expo, the space got bigger or at least as big as Canon and Nikon.

Blade Runner and some random thoughts

With the passage of time and the filtration of memory, Blade Runner(1982) has acquired certain mythical sheen in the annals of sci-fi film making.  Blade Runner 2049(2017) further cements and reaffirms the original Blade Runner's inimitable status.

I saw Blade Runner in a theatre when it was first released in 1982.  I was a child (and a pathological liar).  Then many years later in the late 80s I sort of saw it again in the City of Light.  Unbeknownst to me, Deckard became French speaking, a language so foreign to me it might as well be Martian.  I am not sure if I sat through the entire movie listening to Deckard speak French, if I did I wouldn't understand a word uttered from his throat.

I didn't seek out to watch it again until recently when I found out there is a sequel in the offing, I am very susceptible to marketing.  I sought out some pieces of the 1982 Blade Runner on YouTube and then finally in one piece on on-demand what they call the director's or is it the final cut?

Here are some random thoughts.

The cinematic universe of Blade Runner is as futuristic as it's familiar--there are flying vehicles, pay phones with video screens, people continue to hate their job and yearn for retirement; smoking and drinking are common though the former is much restricted in public space than it's depicted on screen.  The cinematic visuals set high water mark for future neo-noirs.  Much ink has been spilled on K's coat in BR 2049.  It's a nice coat apparently.  But Deckard's trench coat just makes more sense evidently as the dystopia that is called LA is perpetually drizzling or pouring.  A trench coat is functional in addition to being detective like.  (As an aside, I think Brad Pitt's Se7en is as much about serial killer as it's about his neck tie, white shirt and trench coat.)  Notice Deckard wears neck ties, a glorified leash in any hierarchical work place, including the LAPD.  The mysterious Gaff and the independently well-off Tyrell prefer bow tie only.  Not only Deckard wears neck ties but they match his print shirts which also echo his apartment's wall tiles, themselves inspired by the Ennis House which in turn was inspired by Mayan architecture.  Deckard's wardrobe is understatedly wild.  K's sartorial choice: a great coat and a monochromatic black pull over.  They are basic like Gap nothing wrong yet nothing to write home about either.

The future can be off or unreal but humanity can't be, even for replicants.  Tyrell says and I paraphrase, the goal is to make replicants more human than human.  He has succeeded beyond his wildest dream. In the final showdown between Deckard and nexus 6 Roy Batty, instead of letting gravity kill Deckard, Batty grabs his arm and pulls him back to the roof top saving Deckard's life: simultaneously and demonstratively showing forgiveness and compassion, two human traits make human human though at times in short supply when it comes to Tyrell or Deckard to the replicants.

When inspector Bryant cajoled and coerced Deckard out of his retirement he says "... He's not good enough, not good as you. I need you, Deck ...  I need the old Blade Runner, I need your magic."  I concur.

Blade Runner 2049

In the New York Times' anatomy of a scene, director Denis Villeneuve painstakingly narrates the scene where Ryan Gosling's K or Joe is about to find and meet his screen forbear, the original Blade Runner Deckard, played by Harrison Ford.  Villeneuve informs us that he reminds Gosling to walk slower, how the garden of giant naked statures of boobs or whatever is designed by some guy, and the sound effect of the buzzing bees and how very careful he selects the music and hence the significance of it for that scene so on and so forth.  Without his explanations, me philistine wouldn't be able to enjoy his movie.

None of this really matters to me except Gosling sure keeps walking slower and slower the entire movie, which is quite an effective way of putting me to sleep.  Thanks to caffeine and the upright cheap seat, I was able to stay half awake through out this 3-hour plus long snooze fest disaster that is called Blade Runner 2049.

In general I am OK or even like Gosling's phlegmatic puppy faced performance.  I imagine it is even an apt for his character, a meek replicant, android, a non human who can't say no to an order.  Ford plays a caricature of his own character whom he played some thirty five years ago.  Ford nowadays just plays any characters he used to play with some mirthless smirks and call it a performance or a day.  I can't wait to see him play Han Solo in the never ending upcoming Star War Episode XXX.

Blade Runner 2049 is pretty much over when it kills off its most potentially interesting character Sapper played by Dave Baustista in the first fifteen minutes of the film.  Me waited thirty five years for this.  Thanks to Denis Villeneuve, the same director who brought us Arrival (2016)-duh!

Stan Ray

I always like a double front or double knee.  So I finally got myself one.  Wow, it's going to be twice as durable.

When you buy online for apparels, you are still pretty much live in the dark ages.  Most, I say most retailers won't give out the actual measurements.  They figure they rather process more returns I guess.  It would give you the size like 34x32.  You know, I know, and everybody knows the 34 is not the garment measurement.  So it's a guess.

It's YKK, my friend, sign of good quality.  The pull is not extra large or anything, so don't pull with your gloved hand.  Not supposed to anyway.  Unlike a jacket's or outergarment's.

The hickory is more expensive but the loop in the back is missing.  No loop there.  Both designs don't have back yoke above the back pockets.  But I do appreciate the the number of belt loops, not just one in the center but one above the pocket on each side.  So you feel properly belted.  I personally think that's the way it's supposed to be.  The loop is long enough to accommodate wider belt which is a good thing.  Some work pants have narrow belt loops for narrow belts, what's that about?

Nikon SB-800

My first outing using the newly acquired SB-800.  It was 100% AA battery powered so it had a hard time keeping up with the action.  You use what you have, that's about it.  (I bought a Godox PB-960 just so I can shoot my finger off without the wait or the change of AA batteries)  This wasn't done with the high speed sync I bought the flash for.  I think I was shooting more like 1/30 and panned with the action.

This one was done with high speed sync probably 1/1000s.

When you have a flash you end up shooting everything with flash.

EDIT 8/21/2017:
subsequently, I shot the SB-800 with power pack PB-960 hoping that there's virtually no wait to recycle.  Alas, there is.  Between shots the flash ready light was blinking so the flash was capable to go off but whether the exposure was "correct" was entirely a different story.  I tried to use Manual and turned it down to 1/2 and 1/4 but still the recycle is more than instantaneous.  If memories and anecdotes serve me well then I really think the 120J cycle faster whenever it's not at 1/1 power on power pack.  I love my 120J except when it comes to packing and transporting from A to B.  The freaking bare tube and the reflector are just too cumbersome.  Otherwise I think the light is pretty nice, sure it's all subjective, but I think what you believe is important.

EDIT 7/30/2018
the so called NX cable that came with the PB-960 was faulty for sure.  No power was drawn from the pac and hence the recycle time was slow as it was drawn from the 4AA cells.  I just bought another cable and now the setup works as it should and the cycle time is much faster even when I tested it out on manual 1/1 full power.  The NX cable I guess has poor quality control and it just fell below spec as the original was very iffy and most of the time it simply didn't work.  I hope this newer one works and works consistently and for a long time.

Godox or God Ox PB960, Sunpak 120J, Nikon SB-800

The Chinese name is actually literally God Ox.  What a strong brand.

As a owner of two good old Sunpak 120J's, I always want some power pack.  Even I have the original pack in form but not in substance.  I use some rechargeable battery to power the pack.  It's a bit cumbersome I have a separate branded charger to charge the battery and when fully charged I put it back into the holder.  You probably don't know what I am talking about.  I am too lazy to take any pictures.

Universal Smart Charger.  Not just phone could be smart.

Not all sync cords are created equal.  Some are obviously better.  The one on the right is better, which is a Paramount cable by the way.  The one on the left is the original Sunpak cable that has bad contact with the PC outlet on the D810 camera.  Bad.  I think the locking one is the best but I have yet to try one.

My SB-600 is kind of broken, the battery door has bad contacts when I don't use reputable branded batteries.  I think there is some play to the battery door which can result in bad connection with some batteries.  The hot shoe is cracked and the knocking pin is ruined.

And so I bought a SB-800 which is similar but better than the SB-600.  It accepts external battery pack.  It provides more option and plays.

I did some research and in the end, I bought the Godox PB960 pack with a cable for Nikon.  The connection as I understood it is a Quantum cable connection.  Though I can't find any affirmation online that the Godox PB960 can work with the Sunpak 120J I decided to give it a try.  Lucky me I was able to find a Quantum CS4 cable connecting the PB960 to the 120J.

The items arrived and everything just works.

Moving on to some other distractions.

Recap: now I can power two 120J with external powerpacks which definitely provide more flashes and much faster recycle time.  Or I can shoot my SB-800 using high speed sync with instantaneous recycle time, almost.

UPDATE:
7/23/2018
Something is not right when the power pack is attached to the Nikon SB-800.  Initially I thought it just worked.  But I guess it's iffy actually.  Because the SB-800 needs 4AA even when it's supposed to be powered by the pack, so even when the SB-800 is not getting the power from the pack I wouldn't know or it wasn't obvious when the AA are in good power.  Many months ago when I knew the 4AA were running low and then it became apparent that the pack was not powering the SB-800.
My feeling is it's the cable or the ProPac NX cable.  I watched a YouTube video which was similar to what I experience.  Though initially I thought if I power the ProPac and then the SB-800 in that particular everything would work.  It does work but then it is iffy.  Sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't.  I tried 1/1 manual mode so the SB-800 which uses the most power and more noticeable in the cycling time when it draws from the pack or when it draws from the 4AA.  When the SB-800 actually draws power from the pack, I can see the cycling time is faster and the pack's red ready light actually goes dark for a second when it's getting ready for the SB-800.  When the SB-800 is drawing power from its own 4AA (even when it's attached to the pack), the cycling time takes much longer and the ready light on the pack doesn't goes dark at all.
I am debating if I should buy a quantum cable or paramount cable or simply take a chance with another Godox ProPac NX cable.  There is a possiblity that the SB-800 is the culprit but I doubt it.

NIKON, QUANTUM, GODOX, BACKUP, NAS, RAID

It's not hard to get distracted at all.

I can easily spend hours and hours on those items.

I can never have enough storage space.  I can never fully understand backup, mirror, RAID 0 and RAID 1, RSYNC, JBOD.  Just when I thought RAID 1 is a good idea then maybe not.  My USB external hard drive is very iffy.  I can't be sure if the hard drive is the culprit or the enclosure or the computer.  Sometimes I see it and more often than not, I don't see it.  Can I even trust it?  Would a NAS serve me better?  Or just another piece of hardware I need to baby sit going forward?  Nothing runs itself.  It always needs some intervention.  Should I get a NAS harddrive for a NAS when I know I won't do RAID?  Would NAS be a good file server, fast enough?  Does it even matter?  5400 or 7200 rpm?

At the end of the day, I usually end up not knowing where my files are.

Should I get a power pack for my flashes?  I can look at them for hours and days.  What cable should I get?  What power pack should I get?  Are they compatible with my good old Sunpak 120J and Nikon SB-800?  Would the power pack toast them all?  Is Godox good or good enough?

Whenever I feel like I need the distraction I look those things up.

Relaxed Fit

I have my quirks.

I am no fan of slim or skinny fit jeans for the simple reason that I basically am too thick read fat and too old to wear any.  I can't stand any jeans that market as relaxed fit.  What is that?  If I want to feel relaxed, I wear sweat pants.  Why do you need to feel relaxed when you wear a pair of jeans?  Plus isn't relaxed more of an attitude than a fit?  I just wear them regular fit jeans loose; that would be my "relaxed fit" jeans.  I think relaxed fit is an oxymoron.

Lifestyle, Danner, and Nikkor

I have a vague sense of what lifestyle means.  Nothing too negative but nothing too positive here.

I notice Danner, the boots manufacturer actually lists some or actually many of its boots under the Lifestyle banner.  For me that's a questionable classification.  Lifestyle as in fake, wanna be?  I think it's really a brave move.  I mean I wear biker jacket and I don't even own a bike.  I wear tennis shoes and I don't even play tennis (not anymore).  But to explicitly state your products as lifestyle I think it's a brave move especially considering Danner, I think, has a history of manufacturing genuine goods for the military and the like of hunters and gatherers from way back.  For me, lifestyle is almost like a dirty word.

While I am on this topic and in the spirit of one always needs to find something to complain about ...
I can't help but notice NikonUSA likes to classify their lenses into categories, not objectively by focal length or zoom range or max f/stop, but PEOPLE & EVENTS, SPORTS & ACTION, NATURE & WILDLIFE, MACRO & CLOSE-UP, VIDEO, AND SPECIAL PURPOSE.  To me, the only category that kind of makes sense is MACRO & CLOSE-UP.

Optex England 16:9 No 5086

This is an anamorphic adapter that can squeeze the picture from 4:3 to 16:9 or from 16:9 to 16x4/3:9.

I put this adapter in front of my Nikon taking lenses.  Basically I have a hard time getting any subject focused.  Despite what I read or my impression of what I read, this adapter is supposed to work best with longer lenses.  Not my experience.  I have tried my 50mm and 105mm lenses.  And it's just impossible to focus at any distance.  The image just goes blur and won't align.  The only exception is my 28mm AIS f/2 lens.  For some reason, I am able to focus with this image taking lens, I mean not great but better than any lens I have.  The camera I use for this is my Nikon D7000 camera which is a cropped 1.5x sensor.  I applied my hack to it so it has a higher bit rate.  I think the hack site is down or forever gone so I don't know nor do I remember what exactly the hack is.  I don't know the upside of the hack.  The downsides are the file is bigger and I can't play the footage on the camera.

I got this Optex thing a while back and I really think it's border line garbage for my intended anamorphic use as I can't really focus on the thing, not on center not on the edges, not with most lenses.  It doesn't work well with my D810 full frame at all.  The only combination that works is the D7000 and 28mm f/2 lens.  And even that it's not great.  The image is a bit fuzzy and there is no detail to speak of.  I don't remember how much I paid for it.  But I think it is much less than the real thing or even comes close to the more popular model.  So perhaps the price is fair.

The video software that can desqueeze the footage and I have experience on are Final Cut Pro X, Hand Brake and DaVinci Resolve.  I mean I got it to work without fully understanding how it works.

Alien: Covenant

Alien: Covenant is a tacit admission that the current cinema lacks imagination and courage to make a better sci-fi movie.

I am old so no doubt I will say I remember once upon a time in Aliens (1986), when the crew needs to seal the door, they actually do it like welding the doors shut with some big weld gun like with lots of muscle, grunting and urgency.  Now Alien: Covenant, the very miscast female protagonist Daniels played by Katherine Waterston just shouts out "Mother, close the door" as in calling out the space craft's omni present computer to just shut the door behind her.  That's convenient but where is the action, tension and urgency?  None really.  I try pretty hard to stay awake during the entire movie.  In the end, Ridley Scott jumps the shark and has this stupid shower scene.  I feel like that's it.  No doubt it's a bad movie.  Anytime you see a shower scene like in Hurt Locker (2008), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), it can't be any good, the scene if not the entire movie.  Shower scenes are just corny unless by Hitchcock or something.  And of course, this one is of no exception.

When you are old and becoming a curmudgeon, you wonder if you can ever enjoy a movie again.  Alien:  Covenant unfortunately confirms that you simply can't.

Anything new is just old, but not as good not even close.

Some deep thoughts

I like the combination of my D810 and the Nikkor 16-35 f/4, and together with my Sunpak 120J.  For some reason, I don't quite like the D810 with the Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8.

I am still shooting with my D700.  I like the small file size.  But the lack of detail becomes quite apparent when compared to the D810 files.  I like it better with the 70-200 f/2.8

There are always people who take better pictures than you.

The only edge to have is you work harder and smarter.  And if you can't work smarter because of inherently stupid then you just need to work harder.