All posts by wilco

entertainment

average joe

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the new season of average joe is airing. the basic premise of this show is that the average joe who wasn’t selected from season one comes back and he now gets to choose from the girls. a quick twist in the show was presented in the last episode. the women who were picked for adam were not raging beauty queens, but they were still cute and fun people.

some other guys from the first season of average joe were tasked with the job to pick the hottest women they could find to tempt adam to choose beauty over compatibility. when the 5 swimsuit models were presented to adam, he was shocked and conflicted. he remembered how he felt when the hot studs were brought into the show and he didn’t want anyone else to feel like that.

what was admirable was that adam talked to the show’s producers and told him he didn’t think it was fair that these models come into the show. he said that he has a loyalty to the first group of women and it’s just not right to introduce these women to the group. the producers told him that the philosophy of the show is that adam is always the one who is allowed to do what he wants and he has to go with his gut. so adam decided to excuse this new batch of women on account of his loyalty to the first group of women.

i was shocked. after my initial shock, i was quite impressed at adam’s integrity. you just don’t see that very often.

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photographic

lighting equipment

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[url=/image.php?image=/images/2004/0326/IMG_4285.jpg&title=flash+me][/url] [url=/image.php?image=/images/2004/0326/IMG_4292.jpg&title=flash+me][/url]

so my lightning equipment arrived in the mail today. i was pretty excited when it came and i can’t wait to really test it out. i took a few test shots today to play with it a little bit to see how well it works out. i had a hard time trying to figure out exactly what i should get and a large portion of my decision was based on reviews from [url=http://www.the-digital-picture.com]the digital picture[/url] and talking to [url=http://www.tow.com]adam[/url] about some choices that i had.

initially i was going to get the photogenic eclipse 32″ umbrella and 60″ umbrella, similar to the [url=http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Photogenic-Eclipse-Umbrella-Review.aspx]review[/url]. after talking to adam and seeing how big the 32″ umbrella was, i decided that the 32″ umbrella just wasn’t worth it. i was debating between getting one 45″ and one 60″, but ultimately what won me over was the fact that i liked symmetry and so i finally decided to get two 45″ umbrellas.

my initial impression with the umbrella is that they are pretty well constructed. i really like the fact that the wires are covered by the satin panel so that the wires aren’t seen in the reflection. i am definitely the happiest about the umbrellas.

i had a lot of anxiety over the clamps i bought that that holds the umbrellas and flash to the stand. i decided that the lighting setup i wanted to use would leverage the two flashes that i already own. i just don’t think that i want to invest THAT much in my lighting gear unless i’m positive that it is an integral part of my setup. i decided to get the [url=http://www.photoflex.com/photoflex/index.html?products/default.asp?product=LitepanelAccessories&1]photoflex shoe mount multiclamp[/url]. i was disappointed to see that the bogen swivel umbrella adapter required the use of the hot shoe stand so i decided to look elsewhere. i had some anxiety about this mostly because this alternative looked sort of cheap. it’s similar to what [url=http://www.tow.com]adam[/url] uses and his clamp looked pretty worn out and frail after all of his use and i was afraid that the same would happen to mine. so far it looks reasonably sturdy, so let’s hope that it lasts.

the last part was the light stand. i wasn’t sure again which one i wanted to get, but it seems that i have a rather high regard for bogen/manfrotto. because of this, i decided to get the bogen 3361 light stand. it’s an 8′ tall light stand. my biggest concern with this stand is its sturdiness. it’s very lightweight (which is good) but i wonder how easily it’ll tip over outside. i’m thinking about getting some weights of some sort to put on the legs of the stand if i ever use it outside. not sure exactly what that means…i’ve seen commercial products that basically look like sandbags. i’m not sure if that’s the way i want to go or if i want to just jerry-rig some weights whenever i use it. what actually looks pretty cool are some of these weights that are refillable with water. i’ll have to experiment with some gallon sized ziploc bags and see if they are big enough to weigh down the stands a little bit. but for indoor use, they seem quite sufficient.

i realize now, though, that i have so much to learn when it comes to lighting. i’m trying to find more useful tips on lighting online, but i haven’t been particularly impressed with what i’ve found so far. i’m wondering if i have to go buy a book or something. i’m also learning that there is still a lot i have to learn when it comes to portrait photography. where oh where do i begin?

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photographic

more about the beginning of the week

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[url=/image.php?image=/images/2004/0326/IMG_0479.jpg&title=bart+sign][/url]

it seems that i’m beginning to fall quite behind with updating the blog this week. this is sign at the bart station that i went to earlier this week to go to the city. the oakland city center is actually a pretty nice area. when i saw this sign, i thought it was quite a contrast from the rest of the bart area because it’s usually a drab gray…but the tiled walls and this bright blue sign caught my eye for some reason. some other people were looking at me a little oddly when i was taking this picture because…come on now, let’s face it, why would anyone take a picture of this sign?

[url=/image.php?image=/images/2004/0326/IMG_0480.jpg&title=vignette][/url]

one market. that’s where i went. it’s a glorious building and my meeting was with vignette. their offices are pretty posh and there are parts of it that have strong tones of lavishness back from the dot com days. this is where i lived earlier this week. in a conference room at this building. this building also houses microsoft and the del monte headquarters, i believe. pretty neat.

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today's new thing

happy birthday

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happy birthday to me!

thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday today, it means a lot to me that you remembered.

my brother ordered me felt so that my table can now be felt-covered for poker nights. my sister ordered me a reflector to complete my lightning equipment purchases for my camera gear and tomorrow, the umbrella, light stands, and light clamps i ordered are supposed to be shipped to the office. mmmmm, it’s all coming together.

general ramblings

recap

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it has been an exhausting week so far. i’ve been working on preparations for these off-site meetings that the company has me going to. for the past two days i’ve been in san francisco attending 8 hour meetings. it has been exhausting, especially because the meetings start very early in the morning. i’ve been driving to oakland and then taking the BART to the embarcadero station every morning.

i must say that taking BART brings back some memories for me. the last time i took BART with any kind of regularity was back in college. BART was my primary method of transportation back home from college. it hasn’t changed much, but there are cameras now inside the trains to monitor what’s going on. fares have also increased since i last used BART.

but i’ve been exhausted. mentally, physically, and emotionally. these past few weeks have been particularly trying for me and i’ve been in need of some kind of release or relaxation.

on monday i stepped onto the volleyball court for the first time in over a month. it felt good to be able to play again. i definitely am not 100% though and i’ve lost about 3 to 4 inches in my vertical. i’m hoping that over time my ankle will strengthen up and i’ll be able to play again.

last night i spent most of the evening working and preparing for the meeting that i had today. i spent a lot of time and energy getting this stuff prepared and done so that today’s meeting would be more productive.

and today…well, after the meeting, i was hoping to chill out a little and i called thanh to see if she wanted to hang out for a little bit since i was in the city, but it turned out that she had already gone home for the day! go figure! the one day that i’m in the city and she ends up being at home. heh.

and tonight some people had wanted to go out but i just wasn’t up for it. the last couple of weeks have been pretty sad for me and i just don’t feel much in the festive mood to go out. so instead, tonight, i stayed in, took a nap, and spent the evening quietly.

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general ramblings

busy busy

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the last two days i’ve been in a meeting. that’s right: A meeting. monday was the kickoff of an incredibly painful meeting, yesterday was an 8 hour meeting…all day…one meeting…ugh.

anyway, today should be the end of the ridiculously long meetings…at least until friday. so i’ve been busy. hopefully, i’ll be freed up soon.

today's new thing

bro? xanga? eh?

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i can’t believe it. i was just stumbling through the net when i came across a newly formed xanga site. and whose site is it? none other than my brother’s! woah. it’s weird seeing him put his thoughts into words. he needs spell and grammar check pretty bad though. i think it’s a pet peeve of mine to see misspelled words. anyway, it’s definitely interesting to see his mind work.

i wonder if he knows about this page.

i wonder if my family knows about this page.

hmmmmm.

general ramblings

prints!

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well, i haven’t been doing a very good job of working on [url=http://www.ocliw.com/things/photography/theWallProject/]the wall project[/url] since i first started it, so i thought that i’d see if i took any pictures since then that would be wall-worthy.

it turns out that there were quite a few photos that i am reasonably happy with so i decided to spend the evening working on them and printing them up. it’s weird, i bought a nice photo printer and i have ink for it, but i neglect to use it because i feel like the ink is too expensive to waste on prints that aren’t good enough. as a result, i never ended up making prints of anything. weird, huh? so now i’m going on a crazy 25 full-page print job for all of these images that i have queued up.

this makes me want to go take more pictures so i can finish the project. perhaps part of this weekend will be spent doing just that…now, if only i can find somewhere to take pictures…

i need to resume my search for models, i’m about ready to take portraits, but i don’t think that i have any models to take pictures of.

general ramblings

and so it goes

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And So It Goes

In every heart there is a room
A sanctuary safe and strong
To heal the wounds from lovers past
Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones
You answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
My silence is my self defense

And every time I’ve held a rose
It seems I only felt the thorns
And so it goes, and so it goes
And so will you soon I suppose

But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed
It’s just as well for all I’ve seen
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you’re the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you
That’s if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break

And so it goes, and so it goes
And you’re the only one who knows

general ramblings

flashy, flashy!

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last week i had a little accident with my flash. i had tripod mounted the camera and flash and i was taking pictures when i accidentally tripped over my tripod sending it crashing down. the flash snapped off the hot shoe mount on my camera and the plastic hot shoe on the flash broke right off.

i was devastated.

after the initial shock, i finally got around to finding out how one would go about fixing something like this. i went to a few camera stores and it seems to be pretty typical that they will send out the equipment to an authorized canon repair shop and the turnaround time is anywhere between 3 to 6 weeks on average. there is a non-refundable $20 deposit to get an estimate of how much the repair will cost and flash repairs generally run between $60-150. just lovely.

but then i found kamera korner. it’s a tiny shop in san jose that does in-house repairs. their prices are fair, but more importantly their staff is friendly and helpful. a very different staff compared to san jose camera, who i hate. i swear, those salespeople must think that they are doing you a favor by acknowledging your existance. stupid arrogant bastards. it used to be that the only way you can get their attention/respect is if you buy only the best of the best gear and if you buy a lot. anyway, i digress.

kamera korner is a pretty good shop, they buy/sell/repair camera gear for all types of brands. they have a nice vintage selection of cameras both 35mm and medium format. very cool.

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