USPS and UPS

I don't know which is worse.  I guess your experience may vary.

The USPS just finished a postal audit in northern Brooklyn where an office is found guilty I guess.  Maybe it's fun to work there pre-audit.  Now the operation is blown, the good old days are over.

Before USPS has tracking, I think people pay extra for UPS for features like tracking.  Not anymore.  I think the UPS service can be extremely slow, I am not impressed.

Clint Eastwood and Brad Pitt

Growing up, I was exposed to American cinema and that is Eastwood's westerns.  For me, he is the archetype of American rugged good look.  Dude is now in his late 80s and is still cranking out movies one after another like clockwork before and behind the camera.

Few days ago I watched the Golden Globe, Pitt won Best Supporting Actor in Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood, Tarantino's tribute to Hollywood.  It's a very mellow take on that period and Pitt and LDC nailed it.  I went back to the time machine that's Youtube and saw some old clips of Pitt from interviews to paparazzi video clips; dude seems like an easy going guy without some major temper to the gutter press and all.  Anyway who knows the real Pitt.  I saw him in True Romance, Thelma and Louis, Se7en, Fight Club . . .  Dude doesn't make tons of movies but he sure has some good ones like Se7en and Fight Club above.

Need to check out Fight Club again in some bullshit UHD if only my cable and shit arrives one day.

Random thought on suit and tailoring . . .

Now that I am giving some thought on this topic, I actually had suits tailor made.  It was such a long time ago.  Of course that came with being part of the job in the old days.  If I were to spend thousands of dollars on a suit I'd opt for tailor made from beginning to end.  And yet, I saw on Youtube people are just happy to buy a suit from say Tom Ford or other designer brands, that's like a $6,000 dollars suit with free champagne included.  But then the suit is not even well fitted or tailor made for your body and you have to get it altered either in-house or let your own tailor fix it.  I mean come on now?  For me it doesn't make sense at all.  I mean even after the alteration the jacket still pulls in the front; doesn't drape well.  And then the dude opts to narrow the legs more.  I mean OK if you have the body and money by all means.  He sure has the money.

It's generally agreed that it's a faux pas to fasten the bottom button of a jacket.  It just ruins the drape and the movement of the jacket.  And yet, you see it quite often that some dude actually fastens all the buttons.  I mean I saw it in some avant-garde Japanese designer who has her model wear the jacket like so on the runway or for photoshoot.  So rules are made to be broken.  That being said I think it's a good reasoned rule.  I personally wouldn't button up the the bottom button it just looks restrained and constipated.

And then there are questions about the belt.  I mean if you have your shit tailor made do you actually need a belt?  Or you just want it for the look?  Any serious looking pants or suit are sans belt like tuxedo.  But then I don't have any money to have my pants or suits tailor made so some sort of belt is in order . . . .

MacPro 2008 Blu-ray

Got myself a LG Blu-ray player blah blah blah.

Chuck the thing inside the MacPro3,1.  Unfortunately the machine doesn't want to boot.  After some mildly painful troubleshooting, I think it's the power.  I ran a power splitter from one of the 2 4-pin power cable for the EIDE drive.  It is running OKAY as long as only one of the splitter is in use.  Once I plugged the other end to the Blu-ray SATA, the SSD won't boot.  I guess there is no power going there.  I vaguely remember reading somewhere a year or 2 ago something to that effect.  The traditional or old Blu-ray standard is only 1920x1080, but the newer one can go up to double that, i.e. 3840x2160 or called UHD.  Though my monitor only goes up to 2560x1080.

So I ordered a 4pin molex to 12 pin Sata cable.  Let's see if it works.

When I plug the splitter to both the SSD which is my boot and the BR drive, the BR seems to get the power OK as I was able to see the light and open the tray.

Before I proceeded to install the drive, I needed to remove the front plate from the drive which is a bit of a pain as people mentioned it but there was no clear shot as to exactly how it's to be done.  Well I am guilty of that as well.  All I can say is you need to be careful and do not force it.

Since I can't get the machine to boot if the drive is power plugged in so I can't really test it yet.  Judging from what I read, this model with the 1.02 firmware may just even read the UHD BR disc as well.

UPDATE 1/11/2020:
I am happy to report that, what I thought was right.  The 4-pin molex won't split power.  With separate adapter to the SATA to the SSD and the BR drive, both of them work now.

Genuine Leather

Genuine Leather as a specific designation is rather misleading in my mind.  You think it's a good thing but it's not.  In the world of leather, it's in the lower echelon if quality is the major concern.  Full grain is the preferred type.

Then there is the fake leather that marketed as high end alternative for those who like the look of leather but despise the animal component of the leather.  It doesn't necessarily mean they are cheap as marketing can turn this into a positive.

IBM and T

I know one shouldn't trade based on emotions.  But then again "should" is a word I despise.

Schott

Schott 141 in 42 and 44.  I think the 44 has better leather.  No two cows are the same.  The 141 has excellent leather.  It's I believe what's called the cafe racer.  The jacket has very clean lines more traditional symmetric zipper opening in the front body.  Football underarm and back gussets for ease of movement and keep the sleeves from riding up when arms outstretched riding in the wild for real.  I am a poser but it helps the sleeve stay up long when riding the subway grabbing the ring.

Schott car coat.  I don't think it has a model number and I don't bother to look for that little white flag under some pocket now.  This is my first Schott I bought I think from the Chinatown Canal Jeans Company long long time ago.  I remember I spent forever trying on to decide this or another model.  The two pockets in the front have a flap.  So they are really pockets.  I tend to use them as hand warmers.  And over time, the flap just got out of shape permanently.

Schott 125.  This was an eBay find.  The seller was in Canada and it didn't even list it as a Schott so the price was low by any standard.  The coat was in good condition.  It is a size 46 so it looks kind of big and short.  It's the more traditional biker jacket with asymmetric front zipper opening with epaulettes and chrome zippers all over the place.   The leather is a bit thinner and more pliable than the 141.  The detachable is permanently detached and was missing.  What a shame.

Schott 741N size 42.  Another eBay found.  This is a peacoat or pea jacket in leather with diamond quilting.  The front side slanted pockets have no flaps so they are hand warmers to me.  It has an inside chest pocket over the heart on the left hand side.  None of the pockets feel deep and secured.  I am paranoid like this.  That's why I love all those zippers from 141, and 125 or the flaps from the car coat.

From what I read, Marlon Brando wore a Perfecto 618 and added a star on the epaulettes.  The original Perfecto is the 613 that came with the star.

Nowadays Schott makes a dizzying numbers of Perfectos with various cuts and different sizing between models and within the same models over the years.  So that begs the question of what're the exact dimensions?  I wonder why they kind of keep the measurements a secret (OK, their forum company spoke person Gail doesn't hesitate to give out dimensions or direct people to the right party to ask but it would be nice for them to list them on their website upfront.  it helps people getting the correct size, reduce the number of returns or exchange, come on).  It's especially annoying when eBay sellers don't list the measurements or the most important measurement, i.e. the chest.  Again, does size 42 mean anything, sure, but an actual measurement would be even better, much better.  I always wonder why some sellers take this so lightly or even measure them ever so indifferently or carelessly.

When I was younger I thought the 613, 618 or 118 are just too much in the sense that all the zippers and all; things are always too much for me.  That's why I opted the 141.  Now I think well who cares.  A Perfecto is it.

Soundsticks II

This is my latest fascination.  I think this is by no means any fantastic speakers.  I saw a set on eBay sold for $16.1 + shipping around $30.  I am willing to pay around $50 for it.  But I just let it slip as I am not in a position to buy any junk.

For comparison, a pair of AirPods Pro sells for $249.

John Wick Chapter 3

The story of John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum ("if you seek peace, prepare for war" says the film's character Winston) picks up where 2 left off .  Wick is seen running in his ever slightly bowed gait with his nameless pit bull in tow, seeking refuge in the evening Big Apple while rain is pelting down making his artfully unkempt hair and unshaved face even more alluring.  The opening scene is as beautiful as it's dizzily kaleidoscopic.

Wick proves a book is mightier than a knife.  But then not everyone can stomach the virtue and wisdom that comes with a big book.  The first fight was launched inside the reference section of the New York Public Library.  When Wick force-feeds Alexander Afanasyev's Russian fable on Ernest, another assassin who can't wait to collect the 14 million bounty on Wick, the book proves too much for Ernest to devour.  There is a little continuity problem as Wick is seen using his both hands grappling and hence sans book but then immediately after with the book in hand.  Of course, I can see this only with the benefit of replay and freeze frame.  Using a big book or a pencil as a lethal weapon is not new, as I recall both La Femme Nikita and Jason Bourne use them way before Wick.  The movie is in essence a platform for setting up Wick to fight with horses, motorbikes, daggers, a pencil and a book and of course many guns, in the most mundane and extreme situations.

Wick always fights in a suit with a properly knotted tie no less.  The first two I think because he has to go to a high end nightclub or a gala so he has to dress the part or else what I don't actually know.  Given that he does a lot of running and kicking, I wonder if he sticks to the more dressy but slippery leather soles or the rubber ones that provide better grip but look less dressy.  Wick as a professional contract killer reminds me of Vincent, a role played by Tom Cruise in a movie called Collateral.  Vincent is very business like in his attire and demeanor.  Both have memorable fight scenes in a club as well as on a train.  Cruise' Vincent unfortunately got killed off in his first and also last only movie appearance.  It's such an underrated movie.  Who knows, maybe Vincent was part of the High Table universe.

As John Wick progresses onto this third instalment, it becomes more elaborate in its world building, i.e. more ridiculous it becomes.  It demands a high level of suspension of belief.  It's like the whole New York City is run by the High Table.  More troublesome is the fact that the film becomes self aware of how cool the Wick character is.  Even the villains are head over heels John Wick so much so that they aren't going to kill him given the chance.  It makes the movie less believable even in its own world.  I think the supporting cast like the Bowery King and Winston could just dial down their coolness a tad bit.  The Adjudicator as a villain is insufferable as what skill set does she possess anyway.  The most down to earth character is still Reeves' Wick.  There is no self awareness the way Reeves plays the character.  If anything I think he always plays the character as is and nobody can deliver dialogues like him.  His last word uttered, when asked by the Bowery King, "You pissed, John?  Are you?" was "Yeah." Reeves' deliverance is always a bit flat, a bit monotone, a bit peculiar with a straight face.

The story of John Wick is like a triptych, the second one is the most balanced and prominence one in action, story and mythology without overdoing them.  With John Wick being pissed and alive, I am sure there is a fourth one in the work.

PhotoPlus Expo 2019

Canon and Nikon are still the twin tent poles of the event.  Nikon still gives out their signature yellow shopping bags but there aren't that many freebies to take home, not like a decade or so ago.  There are still candies and pens to grab but that's pretty much about it.  This year there was popcorn and that's new.

This year the exhibition id doesn't come with a plastic sleeve and I think there's a good move.  You don't need a plastic sleeve.

I played with the D5, some Nikkor glasses.  I am an old man so I don't really get too excited with the Z cameras.  Still I picked up the Fuji cameras; the GFX 100 and a couple others.  I got my hand on the Olympus I like the feel of it but it's a micro 4/3, so it's good on the long end, but not so much on the wide angle end, plus the depth of field is not what it is with full frame; it's part psychology part reality but I would concede chances are I can't tell the difference just by looking at the pictures.  For me, the DSLR still feels faster.  Notice I say feel.  There were instances I didn't know if the cameras were taking pictures or not.  I guess I didn't get the setting right.  I can still feel the shutter if it's shooting fast.

GOOGLEFINANCE

I wonder if GOOGLEFINANCE can return the long name of the ticker symbol.  So far I can't find anything.  The attribute sure can return price and many others but no long name of the ticker, why?  It's not like everybody knows what AAPL stands for, right?

UPDATE: 12/17/2019
I found out it's undocumented.  What a surprise.
=googlefinance(C5,"name")

Xcode 11.1

I wasn't able to download and install Xcode 11 after Catalina.

It would download but unable to install, tried many times, but just a waste of bandwidth.

In the end, I deleted the existing Xcode version, do a restart of the mac, then do a download and install, success.

Apple, why are you screwing up?

Free Space macOS style

Sometimes you aren't aware of a problem until it becomes a problem.

Normally I notice my hard drive or OK, SSD space by going to the About This Mac, then Storage.  This is where I am happy when I see lots of free space.  Didn't care about Disk Util until I need to do some more low level job like formatting a new hard drive or a SSD.

Finally I noticed there was a vast difference between what's reported in Storage than what's reported in Disk Util.  What matters to me is Disk Util as when I tried to install Catalina there it complains I don't have enough space.  This is a WTF moment for me.  Disk Storage clearly has enough space while Disk Util is barely not enough.

After much Googling, I found a way, which is kind of counter intuitive, I went ahead and created numerous large files and then deleted them.  I don't quite understand what I was doing but in the end it worked.

From what I understand it has to do with iCloud and optimisation.  So I had to deactivate them when I did the create and delete files trick.

-----

Also, I just also noticed I can't update Xcode, it would download and install and fail in the end.  Again I searched and found out I am not alone on this.  Yet another mystery.

Groceries

Once upon a time before the refrigerator becomes ubiquitous, grocery shopping was such a daily chore.  Back in those days in the early seventies and prior, it was mostly wet markets, where one shopped for livestock like poultry and fish, meats and all kinds of vegetables.  A local slaughter house was not even that far way.  Now I still shop more than once a week, in part, because I don't have a huge fridge as I don't have a huge kitchen as I don't have a huge abode as I don't have lots of money.  Also I need to shop Chinese so I end up shopping in multiple locations and quite often on separate days.  Grocery shopping can be quite numbing or in some way therapeutic.  You push a shopping cart, load it up and then you go.  Is it the right item at the right price?  That's about it.

10.14.6 Sup Update 2

9/26/2019

The supplemental update didn't fix the VLC problem.  Oh well.  I am sure it fixed other problems that probably didn't affect me or affected me without me even aware of it.

Brightburn (2019)

Brightburn tells a story that is all too familiar to parents: one day our sweet little buddy has grown to become a complete stranger much to our dismay and disappointment.  Except it is much worse in the case as depicted in Brightburn.  Brendon Breyer is a foundling, just like Clark Kent aka Superman, who is literally an illegal alien or in modern parlance an undocumented immigrant, from outer space.  Both have loving American parents and possess preternatural powers.  However, the similarities end there.  Clark Kent has successfully assimilated to be a full blown American hero while Brendan Breyer, when hit by puberty, his deep seated alien traits manifest themselves as behaviors that are at odds with anybody or anything that is moral, legal or simply wholesome.  He has no qualms lying, hurting and killing people.  On-screen pint-sized hero or villain is not new but still very much a novelty and mildly disturbing and potentially entertaining, especially in R rated features saturated with gruesome violence.  Brendon Breyer, played by Jackson Dunn, has a physiognomy that is as American as white bread or in other words he could just be any other young male shooters in rural America.  His psychosis oscillates between quietly apathetic and aggressively belligerent.  The young Dunn pretty very much nailed the character as an alienated youngster who are fast becoming and has indeed become a mass murderer.  I enjoy this movie for its everted Superman mythology and the restrained storytelling and its rather limited and yet effective gory scenes.

iPhone SE

iPhone SE is the little iPhone that still can.  It just refuses to go obsolete.  I just got it upgraded to the latest iOS 13.  Meanwhile the iPhone 6 is forever left behind in iOS 12.4.1.  When shooting the iPhone SE, I am able to shoot 4K while the iPhone 6 is stuck at 1080p, both running Filmic Pro.  I myself got the impression that the 6 is a newer and better phone I guess I am mistaken; I am mistaken as I don't go to double check with Google and Apple for their specifications.

My everyday phone is the iPhone8 Plus, I love its size but loathed its weight.  With failing eyesight a bigger screen definitely helps, but the weight hurts my wrist and neck.  the 8 Plus is like 10 times and 100 times heavier than the 6 and SE respectively.

The iPhone development has slowed down.  The latest iPhone 11 is a fine machine I am sure.  A souped up version of it is $1,449.

macOS 10.14.6 macpro3,1 internal speaker disappears

After the second supplemental updates, I found out the internal speaker is missing.  That's it no longer shows on the Sound.  I don't know if it's just a coincident or not.

I tried to reset the whatever RAM by pressing the Alt Command P R keys when restarting, and you know how that is:  I can never be sure if I indeed hitting the keys at the right time given the fact that I am using the wireless Bluetooth keyboard and a non supported GPU.

Anyway, no luck with any of the resets I performed.  The machine connects with the Samsung Bluetooth speaker OK, just like before.  (One of the very odd things from day 1 is say I turned on the speaker and the machine connects for a second then it would immediately drops the connection and the video would get congested so much so Youtube thought there is a internet connection issue, well there is indeed a connection issue.  At that point I have to manually connect the BT speaker.  But this is just an aside.)

Hopefully money can work around this problem.  I ordered a CR2032 3V battery.  Maybe the existing one lost its power but even so I don't think it affects the presence or absence of the internal speaker.  But I just like to buy stuff.  Another prong of attack to this problem is I bought a USB mic and headphone jack adapter.  The latter solution hopefully can work around the problem.

UPDATE:
Apparently, or not so apparently, after the Supplemental updates, I need to manually do the patch updates because my whole macpro3,1 is a hack in order to upgrade to 10.14.6.  In the past, the dosdude patch would do a prompt automagically but not this time.  So after scratching my head for some hours I finally remember ahhh maybe I need to do that manually.  Unfortunately I placed the order to get some hardwares and hopefully the cancellation can go through.  After re-installing all the patches, the headphone port, internal speakers all work as they should be.  Magic.

VLC on MacOS 10.14.6

After 2 Supplemental Updates from Apple, VLC still acts weird.  The menu graphics are torn when the VLC player is active on screen.  VLC has become very usable until the 10.14.6 as it plays mkv files and can scale or crop video into my LG 2560x1080 screen.  Too bad VLC is screwed up now.  A search on Google says this is not an individual isolated experience, it does affect a certain user base who uses NVIDIA graphics.  VLC believes it's the implementation of the macOS that wreaks havoc on the screen.

UPDATE 1/9/2020
VLC hasn't had an update to address this issue as I think it's considered a problem with Apple's OS.  In the indefinite wisdom of the internet, somebody in November updated the thread regarding this issue and gave us the work around, just uncheck the whatever Display transparency in the System Pref, and viola, the issue goes away.  No matter torn screen graphics.

macOS 10.14.6 on MacPro3,1

Thing should have gone a bit smoother if only I took a bit more time preparing.

Since last time, I have changed my file system to APFS which allows normal software update via Apple.

As such I just needed to download and restart to install.  Or so I thought.

I was basically taking a chance as I didn't put back the stock GPU.

So when it reboot, nothing kind of happened.  I tried holding Alt, or Command R to get under the hood.  I tried a few times.  I am using bluetooth keyboard and touchpad so they can be a bit iffy when doing the bootup and holding down keys kind of operation.  But apparently it can be done.  I suppose the bluetooth connection is pretty low level and is connected right away without the OS fully loaded so you can work on it right away.

Since I couldn't boot up so actually got my old macOS USB drive and boot with Alt down and boot to base macOS.  I used Time Machine to go back to 10.14.5.

I got everything running and I made sure I removed the non native GPU and put the stock GPU back before I started my download, install and reboot route.

It seems like I need to remove the USB drive, or I am not sure as I thought unless you hold down Alt otherwise it doesn't matter.

In any event I was able to boot back into the user login screen.  And the patch program automatically asked to update the patches.  Then reboot.

After everything works like I am sure it's the latest 10.14.6, then I powered down, removed the stock GPU card and put back the newer more powerful but not natively supported GPU.

It was on my third trial that everything worked.