One that got away

This morning while waiting for a ride, I saw a gnarled old lady with a walking stick, wearing one of those brown dresses with a stampita round the waist you often see devotees of the Black Nazarene or the Sacred Heart, wear. She was walking hunched and slowly on the service road of the South Super Highway. On the road, not on the sidewalk. I took out the camera and lined up a shot, set depth of field, focus, exposure--I was ready to go. But in the shot was a Jollibee sign, so I waited for her to pass so I could get her as she was walking away from me. It was perfect. South-bound road was surprisingly empty, she was still on the sidewalk, the road rising in front of her, the lamposts providing a great one-point perspective to infinity. The clouds were gray, and the pollution added some mist; great atmosphere. (Sure, there was a Metrobank sign in the shot, but you can't have it all.) It was like she was walking in the gray mist to eternity. I readjusted focus, aperture, exposure. I was ready to take the shot, waiting, waiting for just the right moment. Then a car parked right next to the shuttle and ruined everything. Meanwhile, the old lady moved to the sidewalk. If I had a digital camera, I wouldve just taken pictures, click-click-click, and see if anything came out right, readjust, then click-click-click. No such luxury with the film camera since you have to spend time thinking about it. At least I do. I expect as I get the hang of it, lining up a shot would be second nature.

I'm no film snob. I think digital photography is real photography in a different medium and eventually I'll be getting a digital camera. But Ijust love my new, old, clunky Olympus OM2n. It makes the sweetest sound when you press that shutter button. Action's so smooth unlike the old Russian Zenit I used once. That camera released the shutter with a jolt, so it's practically useless for long exposures unless you had a really steady tripod. I shot the first roll of film with the OM2n the moment I got it, and as expected, most of the pictures looked like crap since I kept trying to experiment with it. The second roll was better. That's the thing with film photography; you learn as you go since you'll have to wait for the prints to see if you got it right. It's pretty exciting, the anticipation. Taking pictures with film forces me to think about my shots now--there's no turning back when you press that shutter release--so whereas my first 2 rolls were gone in an instant, I'm still on my third roll (36 shots) which is a week old and has about 16 more shots to go. Developing these babies aint cheap.

The kids are showing an interest in photography, too. They want a camera of their own seeing how much fun Im having with mine. Should provide for a great father-daughter activity.

Live long and prosper

That Picto-Personality Test thing I blogged about a couple of days ago had this to say about me:

You are romantic, and when you are with your partner you like to woo them with your imagination.

Romantic eh? I hereby submit a snippet of conversation between myself and a female pal. I invite you, dear readers, to guess who is saying what.

Person A: What I'm after is a romantic relationship.
Person B: Hm. I graduated high school a long time ago so I no longer believe in that myth. A relationship should be based on logic and reason.
Person A: But there are issues in a relationship that only the heart can understand.
Person B: Then such issues are irrelevant.

The Pac-Man

Every politician, every actor-politician, every actor, every news reader, every news writer, has been hailing Manny Pacqiao's victory over Erik Morales as a triumph of the Filipino people. Everybody wants to bask in the reflected glow of the Pacman. The president of the republic, in a phone call ringside--Hello, Manny in the exact same tone of voice she used with Hello, Garci--couldn't resist getting her piece of the victory, too. "Alam kong mananalo ka kasi nagdasal ako." Well, thank you, Mrs. President. If it weren't for your prayer, Manny Pacquiao would have lost. We know God listens to you and not to Vicente Fox. A triumph of the Filipino people, eh? I ask you, if Manny lost, would it have been a defeat of the Filipino people? Exactly. The victory was Manny's and Manny's alone. It was his hard work that did it and he owes nothing to the president, to the government, nor to the media hangers-on who're milking this phenomenon for all its worth. He did it on his own, and this is what we should celebrate. Celebrate Manny without getting on his already tired shoulders.

Terraforming the news

"So you're going to London?," I asked a colleague from Nanjing when I was there a couple of years back.

"Yes. Next week," she said. It was to be her first trip outside China and she feels a bit nervous.

"Don't worry about it. London's just like Nanjing," I said. British colleague looks up from his keyboard, wide-eyed. "They're both cities," I continued, deadpan. "Yes, and there's people in it," Brit bloke joins in. Nanjing colleague didn't get it, though. Language barrier. Or is it humor barrier? Maybe they laugh at different things and deadpan attempts at humor isn't one of them. Anyway...

I was reminded of this story by a news item I read that says scientists using the microlensing technique have found the smallest Earth-like planet outside our solar system. "An international team of astronomers has found the smallest Earth-like planet yet outside our Solar System." Earth-like! That means there are trees in it, too. And beaches. And weirdos trying to be the next American idol. Holy mother of pearl! I read the full article.

Turns out the planet, with the unlikely name of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, is five times the earth's mass, and is so cold you'd see your words, in bold-face Times Roman, fall frozen on the ground the moment they leave your mouth when you speak. The article later admits, rather sheepishly since it knows it's guilty of sucking us in, that the planet "may therefore resemble a more massive version of Pluto." So it's not so Earth-like at all, is it? It's just a cheap publicity stunt to get us interested, eh? What, funding for more research running low? Shame.

"We found a planet! And it's just like earth!"

"No kidding."

"Yes. It's a planet, too."

The project

One of my missions on this planet is to ensure that these two girls don't lose their sense of wonder. The strategy is to lead by example. It's fun. It gives me an excuse to climb trees and catch spiders.

It's time for the fastest growing quiz sensation...

The Picto-Personality Test You are a person who is incredibly tranquil and values peace above all else. When alone, you appreciate being able to do nothing if you want to, and setting your own pace for things. You are romantic, and when you are with your partner you like to woo them with your imagination. In the future you will be happy and live richly.

Take this Test at QuizGalaxy.com

Ev'rybody's talking about
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism,
Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, That-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m
All we are saying is give peace a chance... la la laaaa

Ludd me do

I had a rite of passage of sorts. Yesterday I made my first on-line purchase. Bought a used Olympus OM-2n camera on eBay. I've always wanted an SLR and fortunately, a lot of hobbyists are unloading part of their collections and switching over to digital photography. There were digital cameras on sale, too. A 5 megapixel CMOS digicam was being sold at 4,700.00 pesos. Quite a bargain, but I figured digital cameras would be with us for a long, long time, and film photography would slowly fade away and become the sole domain of artists and hobbyists. I figured film photography has a few more years left before it acquires a cult status and would jack up prices for collectibles like the classic OM-2. But that's not really why I bought it. I can say I bought it because I wanted to take pictures that I can control. I didnt want a fully automatic point-and-shoot that churns out "perfect" pictures everytime. But that's not quite it, either.

Remember when CDs first came out and everybody heralded it as the ultimate in audio technology? Rich sounds in a medium that would last forever, it was supposed to make vinyl obsolete. Well it turns out that analog recordings on vinyl sound much better than digital recordings and guess what? CD's would probably last you 10 years before that laser thingie causes the medium to deteriorate. In the meantime, collectors still have copies of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album playing perfectly after 40 years. Same goes for eBooks. Your best bet is still to collect books on paper. There still are books in museums that are a thousand years old. MP3s? The way they compress the whole thing is to sample the digital files even worse than they do CDs and cut off sounds beyond the range of human hearing, the very thing that gives recorded music its warmth and "live-ness." It'll do in a pinch, but really, do you want to collect or enjoy music that way? Relaxing in your favorite lounge chair with a glass of wine, and then slipping on your iPod? MP3 is for the morning commute and nothing else, a job it does well.

If you look at the OM-2n I bought, you won't be surprised that it's over 20 years old. It's solidly built, heavy and reassuring. You could brain somebody with it. Fortunately I found a hobbyist who knows how to take care of his equipment. He even took time to meet me and show me how to use the camera properly, an old fashioned way of selling things. I showed the camera to an officemate who's also a hobbyist and he was amazed at the pristine condition it was in. Not a scratch anywhere. The leather case is pretty much beat up, but that's ok. It just means that the machine has been put to use and has given its owner lots of good times. For the price I bought it with, I wouldn't be able to buy a simple, mostly plastic, point-and-shoot digital camera that won't be able to do half what the OM-2 could. It's only advantage is you can immediately see what your picture looks like. Perfect for the I-want-it-and-I-want-it-now generation. "I don't care. Just give it to me now."

Maybe I find the digital world a bit offensive. It represents a philosophy that's all flash and no substance. It makes promises it doesn't keep and lulls us into a false sense of security. They market it as an improvement, but really, all it is is convenient, if anything. The internet hasn't changed anything. All it did is make things faster. And when you're heading towards Armageddon, you don't want to get there in a hurry. Civilization doesn't move forward with convenience. It moves forward with patience and attention to the finer things. I'm all for that.