New York April Nyc Meet-up

[Calzone]

Photography related. LOL.

I met this dude Amil (Mil for short) on University near Union Square yesterday. Mil owns a "Boss Hog" which is a trike that utilizes a Chevy 350 V8 for a motor and a turbo 350 for the tranny.

Pretty much a suicide machine. "I love it." Reminded me of my Jeep Scrambler with the Corvette engine. I told Mil that if he wanted he could order a "crate motor" and easily have 350 HP and over 400 foot pounds of torque by essentially installing a Corvette engine on his trike.

So I took some cool shots of a guy who kinda reminds me of myself if I were a black man.

Mil evidently was some president of some bike club on Staten Island. He is kinda personable, and he surprised me by giving me a "Biden" meaning a hug (no nose rubbing).

Kinda reminds me of Dwight, Ignacio's friend, who I met doing the Tour de Bronx. Dwight was a wack job who rides a recumbant that he uses to commute to Brooklyn from the Bronx. I call his rig "The Pancake Machine" because it is kinda low to the ground, and also because it is so easy to get run over by a car, truck or bus.

Interesting to note that Dwight asked me my birthday upon first meeting me. It so happens that we are both Capricorns born on the same day. So I play this up that somehow part of us is like Jesus, yet another part like Elvis, and that we are somehow like a failed research experiment like in the film "Twins" where Arnold and Danny Divito are twins separated at birth, except in this case Dwight is black, and I'm an Asian.

Joe and others will tell you that somehow I seem to draw out the crazies, but how do I draw in people that are remarkably like me?

BTW Dwight's recumebant can do 50 MPH and only has brakes on one wheel. He was eyeing my trick brake lever that can control two pairs of brakes. Know that Dwight relies on strobe lights to prevent from getting "Pancaked."

Anyways Amil, Dwight and I are the real New Yorkers. LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

"Maggie" has an all day shoot with a luxury brand today. At 7:45 AM a car came to pick her up. The shoot is in Tribeca.

There is a possibility of yet another trip to L.A. Seems like she might be part of some episode of a series.

It seems like everyone in the publishing industry vacations over the summer, so now her literary agent has a book proposal to shop around. I was told that basically there is a day set as a deadline and pretty much the biggest offer wins like in an auction. Maggie says then she will have 6 months to write the book. Sometime this spring something big is likely to happen.

So if it were me using my artist sensibility, I see how multitasking compromises and how to best do a good job is to be single minded and concentrate on just doing a good job on one thing without distraction, but it is unlikely Maggie will be able to concentrate because she already has other responsibilities booked.

These responsibilities involve working on a grant and traveling several times. Pretty much IMHO these are not great gigs and are academic. I thought she didn't want to have two jobs; I thought she was retiring; I thought she was going to concentrate on her new carreer. WTF?

I learned from art school that doing things at the last minute end up being a "Spackle Job." I also learned the benefit of concentrating on a single task is the best. I see we live in a world of distracted thinking that makes no sense.

Pretty much I expect her to be a bit overloaded and to be crazed. This is no fun for me... Meanwhile this is retirement for her.

Let's see if Amsterdam happens. Looks like it got bumped into the fall already. Initially was suppose to be late spring, then July...

Cal

 

[Prest_400]

Gear alert: I now believe that Gov't surplus exists and a small camera club is great. They picked up a lot of stuff from an aerial photography group and a school. Huge Dirst enlarger, 15 rolls of aerial film (one is aerochrome and I wonder how the useless of me could cut that to 120...). And at least 16 rolls of 8-10" RC paper. Ilford RC is good, there is even some Kodak stuff.

Gotta spend that HP5, no need to buy paper anymore. Best is that I can cut at a proper ratio for 6x9.

Cal, about Amsterdam I am hoping you get a nice visit. I now shuttle between Nordic and Mediterranean Europe and oftentimes wished I could visit places I overfly. Actually haven't heard very exciting things from the weather, even a Dutch guy I am acquainted despised his cloudy Xmas break at home.

Mediterranean Europe IMO is fantastic for retirees. Sadly In Spain there is another construction bubble and they're Californicating parts of undeveloped coastline, villas for rich people that will just live a couple months in.
Though yes, Summers are nice up north, it's hell down in the Med.

 

[Calzone]

Gear alert: I now believe that Gov't surplus exists and a small camera club is great. They picked up a lot of stuff from an aerial photography group and a school. Huge Dirst enlarger, 15 rolls of aerial film (one is aerochrome and I wonder how the useless of me could cut that to 120...). And at least 16 rolls of 8-10" RC paper. Ilford RC is good, there is even some Kodak stuff.

Gotta spend that HP5, no need to buy paper anymore. Best is that I can cut at a proper ratio for 6x9.

Cal, about Amsterdam I am hoping you get a nice visit. I now shuttle between Nordic and Mediterranean Europe and oftentimes wished I could visit places I overfly. Actually haven't heard very exciting things from the weather, even a Dutch guy I am acquainted despised his cloudy Xmas break at home.

Mediterranean Europe IMO is fantastic for retirees. Sadly In Spain there is another construction bubble and they're Californicating parts of undeveloped coastline, villas for rich people that will just live a couple months in.
Though yes, Summers are nice up north, it's hell down in the Med.

Jorde,

I'm cool with hellish temperatures. Hong Kong has a climate like Havana Cuba and genetically I have the small compact body for that type of climate.

"Maggie" though has that white girl genes of Dutch, English and Irish. She has blue eyes. A place like Miami would be bad for her.

Then again I have to avoid polar vortexes and wind chills because of my medical condition.

Barcelona is only about 25% less cost of living than NYC. I need about 30% less to be sustainable. Mad-Rid is 30% less BTW.

I wish Maggie would lay back a little and at least get enough sleep and do things to take care of herself like eat. Pushing hard at her age is not a great idea.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

"Maggie" got home after 6:00 PM yesterday. Evidently they did a lot of shooting using a "green screen" for special effects.

Also this is a big anticipated annual campaign for this luxury brand. Should come out in early May.

Maggie had to do this wearing some crazy high platformed shoes.

Sounds pretty crazy-good.

Cal

 

[Prest_400]

Jorde,

I'm cool with hellish temperatures. Hong Kong has a climate like Havana Cuba and genetically I have the small compact body for that type of climate.

"Maggie" though has that white girl genes of Dutch, English and Irish. She has blue eyes. A place like Miami would be bad for her.

Then again I have to avoid polar vortexes and wind chills because of my medical condition.

Barcelona is only about 25% less cost of living than NYC. I need about 30% less to be sustainable. Mad-Rid is 30% less BTW.

I wish Maggie would lay back a little and at least get enough sleep and do things to take care of herself like eat. Pushing hard at her age is not a great idea.

Cal

I forgot that! I myself would sign up for somewhere that hovered around 68F/20C year round. As of location itself, I'm feeling quite detached toward large cities, and got used to living 35-40mi away in smaller cities. I find small provincial cities with 50-200K pop a good equilibrium. What I like about Europe is that these small cities carry their own history and are not just boring suburbs.

Up here, Stockholm, is a village in comparison to NY or even Barcelona. Good summers with Polar long days but winter is no bueno, although not as bad as portrayed temperature wise. Didn't really go below 10F's this past one.


With Spring I gotta take out the color film for a while. Club said to run an E6 batch so it'd be nice to do some Cherry blossom stuff this next month. Long summer days are counterintuitive with darkroom work however. 😀
Good to basically have all the free RC paper needed. Going into a deeper workshop on printing later this month. An experiment with too contrasty ISO100 film consolidated the adage of learning a combo like kung fu move. I'll stick with HP5 in 120. Might try some of the T grain options just because.
LOL I have no good luck with 35mm in the darkroom.


The problem with Opportunities within fashion, as you said about, is how burning out the industry is. Take it or leave it situation and It's hard to get out of the tornado.

 

[Calzone]

I forgot that! I myself would sign up for somewhere that hovered around 68F/20C year round. As of location itself, I'm feeling quite detached toward large cities, and got used to living 35-40mi away in smaller cities. I find small provincial cities with 50-200K pop a good equilibrium. What I like about Europe is that these small cities carry their own history and are not just boring suburbs.

Up here, Stockholm, is a village in comparison to NY or even Barcelona. Good summers with Polar long days but winter is no bueno, although not as bad as portrayed temperature wise. Didn't really go below 10F's this past one.


With Spring I gotta take out the color film for a while. Club said to run an E6 batch so it'd be nice to do some Cherry blossom stuff this next month. Long summer days are counterintuitive with darkroom work however. 😀
Good to basically have all the free RC paper needed. Going into a deeper workshop on printing later this month. An experiment with too contrasty ISO100 film consolidated the adage of learning a combo like kung fu move. I'll stick with HP5 in 120. Might try some of the T grain options just because.
LOL I have no good luck with 35mm in the darkroom.


The problem with Opportunities within fashion, as you said about, is how burning out the industry is. Take it or leave it situation and It's hard to get out of the tornado.

Jorde,

In Costa Rica a good part of the country is on a mesa that has 3K feet of altitude. Pretty much the weather is eternal springtime with a rainy season. The rainy season pretty much is expect rain every day for a few hours, but the rest of the day is tropical sunshine.

If the temperature hits 80 degrees F the people whine "It is so hot," and if it goes down to 60 degrees F the locals complain "Its so cold."

It is really great that you have a support group and resources. I would suggest to maximizing exploitation of these resources to the max. You won't regret it.

As far as my printing goes, I'm not sure that I'll be able to sustain what I'm doing when I retire. I have been using my own advice and have been printing as much as possible to exploit my current situation. One day I'll be glad I did.

I think you are right about the boom and bust sich-E-A-tion with fashion. By nature not enduring. It is hard to watch someone though not really taking care of herself. Not happy-happy.

Cal

 

[Prest_400]

Jorde,

In Costa Rica a good part of the country is on a mesa that has 3K feet of altitude. Pretty much the weather is eternal springtime with a rainy season. The rainy season pretty much is expect rain every day for a few hours, but the rest of the day is tropical sunshine.

If the temperature hits 80 degrees F the people whine "It is so hot," and if it goes down to 60 degrees F the locals complain "Its so cold."

It is really great that you have a support group and resources. I would suggest to maximizing exploitation of these resources to the max. You won't regret it.

As far as my printing goes, I'm not sure that I'll be able to sustain what I'm doing when I retire. I have been using my own advice and have been printing as much as possible to exploit my current situation. One day I'll be glad I did.

I think you are right about the boom and bust sich-E-A-tion with fashion. By nature not enduring. It is hard to watch someone though not really taking care of herself. Not happy-happy.

Cal

The Pura Vida, now I know! I think society should veer towards that slower life, you know the story about how unsustainable is western lifestyle. As a young one, I indeed percieve how things have changed and toughened compared to the past generations. I read one of the Mauldin mails from the newsletter saying 75% of the wealth is in "Old" people. Yes!
/rant but I'm finding that it's hard to give even free labor in the form of an internship. Strange times.

UBI and off to Costa Rica 😀



I always put off B&W because better DIY and grab some equipment. It's truly amazing how much stuff has been kept in there. We get some younger kids in too, but I can see how the darkroom requires a special commitment.
The focus indeed is on negatives as "can print later", but will exploit the knowledge. Also works great to know people out of a bubble of a "young and hip" environment.


My mom's very caring and I inherited that characteristic. I tend to think about people quite a lot and sometimes attach too much. Often makes for more fatigue as I worry about causes and people I shouldn't so "Fug it". Of course, for significant ones it's a special and justified worry. Take care of Maggie, it's good to ride the wave however.


I think that my small antisocial core is a reason why I don't tend to do portraiture, it's chasing and dealing with folks that can be hard. Oddly enough I'm one of the most social people in my circle and enjoy it. Ironic.

 

[Calzone]

Jorde,

May I suggest what was taught me in art school. We only did B&W and we stuck with just the basics: either Tri-X or HP5 with D76.

So the biggest idea was drilling home consistency. Once you got exposure where a roll of 36 had 36 good negatives that were properly exposed from there it was just fine tuning to optimize them further.

In printing pretty much once set up for one print changing to another negative pretty much did not require drastic changes because of consistency.

So after a while my professor told me to begin printing with just a number 2 straight graded paper, and try to make negatives that are optimized for straight printing on just that one grade of paper.

I leaned how to maximize image capture and pretty much made negatives that I could straight print without burning or dodging.

Making good negatives makes printing easy.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Medicinal Hamburgers: One of the unintended consequences of eating a good diet for me is dry skin. Pretty much I eat little fat, and even though I eat nuts and abundant amounts of olive oil and avocados, I get dry skin that is itchy and inflamed.

Pretty much moisturizing helps, but is no cure. This past week I get woken up from the inflamation, and the burning is uncomfortable.

About 20 years ago I use to eat Big Macs with fries supersized everyday at lunch at work. Pretty much I ate lots of greasy foods and my skin as a result was soft. Moisturizer I say.

Seems that at the doctor's my blood work indicated that I have the right body chemistry for a fatty diet. Even though I would eat eggs every day I had low good numbers and proportions of cholesterol. I have the low blood pressure and low pulse also.

So today I have decided to eat Medicinal Hamburgers for lunch and dinner to relieve my dry skin.

I read a book called "Eating Right For Your Blood Type" by Dr. Adamo. He used his father's patient records ( Adamo's father was a MD) as a data base and drew a correlation that tied anthopology to the evolution of blood type. This also was transposed over into personality profiling which I found fascinating.

So I'm B+ which is a rare blood type, about 5%. In Japan on a job application a question that would be asked is blood type, and if B+ an applicant would be fast tracked into management.

In anthropology B+ is stated to have evolved when man first domesticated animals. Pretty much the best diet for B+ is cited as fatty meats and dairy which pretty much I can thrive on, but this is not what the AMA suggests for a healthy heart and low blood pressure.

So the personality and body type lends itself for aggressive behaviors and leadership qualities. Like a shepard a person who might care for a flock and will defend and protect say sheep or goats.

So what makes no sense is that Canton is not a place for herding like say Mongolia, or the Mideast. Canton was part of the "Silk Road" and represented a sea route. Not sure what a DNA test might reveal, but I wonder.

Looking forward to lunch. Greasy food.

At Grumman this engineer named Mike bluntly says, "Cal you are so skinny," and I respond, "Mike your are short, fat and bald."

Mike smiles at me and says, "I didn't mean to offend," and I say, "Neither did I." LOL.

Why do people love me? LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Lunch was about 1600 calories.

It generally takes about a day for the "moisturizer" to reach the surface of my skin. A slight time delay of sorts.

Pretty funny when woman would ask what I used as a beauty product for such soft skin and I told them, "McDonald's Supersized meals." LOL.

Pretty much like a baby's skin.

From biking pretty much I learned to be a binge eater. Eating a one pound box of pasta in one sitting is easy. Eating all eight slices of a large pizza, no problem.

The key is don't do this every day, unless you are training hard.

Tonight will be a grass fed burger at this place John and I favored on the UES.

Cal

 

[MrFujicaman]

Cal, try Avon's "Silicone Glove". When I worked for a plumber in 86-87, we used that, because the acid flux used for soldiering copper pipe tears your hands up big time. Silicon Glove worked better than anything else to heal our hands.

 

[Calzone]

Cal, try Avon's "Silicone Glove". When I worked for a plumber in 86-87, we used that, because the acid flux used for soldiering copper pipe tears your hands up big time. Silicon Glove worked better than anything else to heal our hands.

MFM,

Thanks for the tip.

You have to know that many of use photographers are also cronic hand washers.

I'm sure tomorrow I will likely see and feel results.

The grass fed burger is a half pounder. The MacDonalds Smokey Bacon Cheese double I had was really good also.

Cal

 

[MrBern]

Cal,
A little CBS report on the Play it Loud exhibit at the Met
https://youtu.be/j6rsgAjYBf4

 

[Calzone]

Cal,
A little CBS report on the Play it Loud exhibit at the Met
https://youtu.be/j6rsgAjYBf4

Bernard,

Thanks for the link.

I had thought this show was about 130 guitars, but it is about a lot more.

BTW my friend Cris was invited by John Monteleon to be his guest for some Gala about Jazz Guitars at the MET that was a few years ago.

John Monteleon is considered "the man" meaning the number one archtop guitar builder in the world. So far in guitar history there have been only three: John D'Angelico; Jimmy D'Aquisto; and John Monteleon.

In D'Angelico's lifetime he only built about 1.1K guitars. In DAquisto's lifetime he only built about 800. Monteleon is now in his seventies, and back in 2004 I took notice that my friend Cris was being "groomed" by Monteleon and a big guitar dealer named Larry Wexler at a guitar show as the next "the man."

So pretty much I had insider information. Know that guitars at this level are five and six figures. Monteleon has two waiting lists: the first one is seven years and this is really just a waiting list to place an order; the second waiting list is where it gets serious and a half down payment is required as a non refundable deposit.

So the worry is that Monteleon is in his 70's and the wait for your guitar might be a few years more once you lay down your deposit. Know that when D'Aquisto died some guitars had not been finished.

So back in 2004 I bought a Mirabella (Heritage requires that to be "the man" is you have to be Italian) one of the first ones. Today a Cris Mirabella "Trap-Door" guitar has a base price of around $40K and up and there is a long waiting list.

Also back in 2004 I speculated and gave Cris the opportunity of a "commission" in that in a way I was being a "patron" like back in the day centuries ago. For a few years I sent what would be like a monthly car payment to have a guitar built. The deal was a blank slate, and the value added for me was that I would get a very special guitar basically for "no-money."

At the Met they put together a show called the "Blue Guitars." This rich guy name Scott Chinnery was the founder of GNC and was a former body builder made millionair. At first he asked D'Aquisto to build a "Blue Guitar" and supplied a can of blue lacquer paint. He asked Monteleon and Benedeto to do the same; and other high end arch top makers joined in this competition of the best of the best.

It became a showdown of sorts; one that Cris was not part of; so in a way I was asking Cris to build me a "Blue Guitar" after the fact. These Blue Guitars are now in the permanent collection of the Smithstonian.

Within a year Cris built a prototype called "Carmela" because it featured a brown burst finish. It had a pair of side soundholes that could be opened and closed, and on the top one of the soundholes also could be opened and closed. Pretty much the "Q" of the soundbox could be tuned.

So Carmela is a 17 inch wide guitar, but my Blue Guitar has evolved. It will be an 18 inch guitar and will be a "Blonde" meaning a clear natural finish. Cris also named her "Jane" after Jane Mansfield because Jane will be a "Big Blonde."

The woods were hard to get and are UBER select. The back and sides I am told is maple that has a figure of shattered glass, the top has "bear claw" which has figure that looks like a bear clawed the wood. The neck blank is from Jimmy D'Aquisto's estate.

Know that getting wood wide enough not to have "wings" to add the required width for an 18 inch guitar with this level of figure was particularly challenging.

So basically so far I have waited over 15 years for this guitar to be built. My friend Dave says the longer I wait the better the guitar will be made.

You also have to understand that Cris has handled and repaired many of the D'Angelicos and D'Aquistos over the decades. John Monteleon does not have the time to repair his own guitars for his customers and sends them to Cris for repair because his backlog is too big for new guitars.

Also for those on the waiting lists John tells them if the can't wait go see Cris.

So in a way I am a big insider in this world, at least with Cris. Cris certainly is the next "the man."

Cal

 

[Calzone]

A shot I took of "Maggie" in a subway car got 23K likes within 8 hours and over 30K likes in 18 hours.

I shot it F2.8 and about 1/15 second at ISO 400. Waited for a stop to avoid train induced movement. The SL is a heavy camera and that helps.

CVS decided to extend the usage of there campaign another year, so they are paying a pretty big fee for the second year. Maggie has to do nothing. Kaa-Ching. One year from that L.A. trip. That went fast.

The medicinal Hamburgers went well. I might extend the dose today. My skin seems luminous and has a glow about it. I slept a lot better last night. The inflammation seems to be receding rapidly.

Pretty much what is promoted as a healthy diet for others seems like poison to me. I seem to thrive of fatty greasy foods, dairy and eggs. Seems not to effect my blood work in a negative way. So I guess some of us are just born as carnivores.

The burger at Burger-Fi is grass fed. No hormones or antibiotics either. Pretty much does no harm.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Cal,
There is a reason that humans have eyes on the front of our heads and accurate stereoscopic vision. For targeting. We're omnivores but part of that omnivorous diet is meat that must be hunted. With regard to evolution, If we were meant to be herbivores, our eyes would probably be closer to our temples, our gait more of a hunched or even four-legged one, our mandibles positioned to open more downwards towards plants on the ground and we'd have teeth which only would be used for grinding up cellulose.
Not me.
Give me a New York strip, about an inch thick, seared on both sides and stuck in an oven for 5 minutes. I want to know that the flesh I'm eating was once alive, not possibly the sole of a streets department worker's boot.

Phil Forrest

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Real last call

Real last call

Ok, folks, all the pieces are in place and I'm putting this out one more time in case anyone wants to get in on the film order from big yellow.

Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

Ok, folks, all the pieces are in place and I'm putting this out one more time in case anyone wants to get in on the film order from big yellow.

Phil Forrest

So far it is Joe and I are the only ones taking up Phil's kind offer.

I'll be Paypaling Phil shortly. $183.00 for 400 feet of Kodak 5222.

This film is old school and silver rich. Has exceptional exposure lattitude. I get 400-500 ISO with Diafine. Rated by Kodak at 250 ISO.

A remarkable film. I love it better than Tri-X.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Cal,
There is a reason that humans have eyes on the front of our heads and accurate stereoscopic vision. For targeting. We're omnivores but part of that omnivorous diet is meat that must be hunted. With regard to evolution, If we were meant to be herbivores, our eyes would probably be closer to our temples, our gait more of a hunched or even four-legged one, our mandibles positioned to open more downwards towards plants on the ground and we'd have teeth which only would be used for grinding up cellulose.
Not me.
Give me a New York strip, about an inch thick, seared on both sides and stuck in an oven for 5 minutes. I want to know that the flesh I'm eating was once alive, not possibly the sole of a streets department worker's boot.

Phil Forrest

Phil,

I'm not a big fan of Jeff Bezos, but Whole Foods sells grass fed ground beef for $6.99 a pound. Grass fed beef has mucho Omega 3's and less fat that normal ground beef. I'm having two half pound burgers for lunch today that I cooked on my George Foreman grill.

Yesterday went for a 3 1/2 hour ride. I just wanted to do a long ride to get some time in the saddle. I rode my 3X1 Steel IBIS that weighs 22 pounds, and went to Highbridge Park exploring. Remind me to never go there ever again. The mountain bike trails were littered with glass and syringes. Pretty much a miracle I didn't get a flat.

So then I crossed the George Washington Bridge into Jersey and headed north on Route 9W. I would not call the long inclines hills because they lacked steepness. Pretty much just long grades of smooth asphalt. Made it up about 10 miles north of the bridge before I had to head home.

Kinda proud that I have leg strength. I did pretty good for the first long ride of the season and was impressed with myself. I saw mucho Colnago's, and I was the only guy riding a fat tire bike on 9W. I actually got some looks by all the roadies because of my mountain bike.

My goal is to ride to Bear Mountain State Park as my weekend long ride. Not sure if the hills on 9W ever get steep, but if they are just long climbs I could likely do it with my Ti IBIS single speed with 63 gear inches. The steel IBIS has 63 gear inches as high gear.

Attacking the hills as intervals will be good for me. Not too hard to get to the GWB from my apartment. Pretty much a straight shot up Saint Nickolas.

Cal