Range-rover
Veteran
That's good John, staying with the same, I just did a job last week
and used the Nikon D700 it's really good.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Brooklyn Bike Jumble, basically a bicycle flea market held twice a year in Park Slope will be held this weekend both Saturday and Sunday 10-4 at 5th Avenue and 4th Street.
I'll probably go to shoot and look.
Cal
I'll probably go to shoot and look.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I have a modeling gig that is none paying, but might lead to a big deal involving a big brand.
I don't have a call sheet, but the shoot will be around Memorial Day, so I have about two weeks to pump up. Would be kinda great to loose 5 pounds and weigh in at 155 at 5'9". Not that hard to do.
BTW with shoes I'm 5'10".
Cal
I don't have a call sheet, but the shoot will be around Memorial Day, so I have about two weeks to pump up. Would be kinda great to loose 5 pounds and weigh in at 155 at 5'9". Not that hard to do.
BTW with shoes I'm 5'10".
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Today my boss is off, so for me it is "Bonus Vacation."
I have a book on website building I want to read completely at work, and tonight Christian is kindly going to give me a Wordpress tutorial.
"Maggie" gave me her old Iphone 8. Seems like the battery is self discharging a bit from "Woman Factor" meaning deep cycling and overcharging.
She also gifted me a Macbook Air so I can keep my photography separate. It seems she did not use this computer enough to damage the battery.
Not that I'm a nudist, but finally 70 degree weather is happening where I don't need a jacket. I think I'll try a long ride this weekend on 9W using my Ti IBIS. I likely be the only single speed rider on a mountian bike made urban. I'll just amble along in old man mode going at my own pace. I just need the time in the saddle. Perhaps 4-5-6 hour ride.
I figured out a cool workout I can do at work. The stairwell from my bunker has 52 steps to street level. I ascended and descended the stairs six times in about 5 minutes as a set, and did three sets yesterday.
I can feel that my core tightened up considerably, and my calves today are more limber.
Cal
I have a book on website building I want to read completely at work, and tonight Christian is kindly going to give me a Wordpress tutorial.
"Maggie" gave me her old Iphone 8. Seems like the battery is self discharging a bit from "Woman Factor" meaning deep cycling and overcharging.
She also gifted me a Macbook Air so I can keep my photography separate. It seems she did not use this computer enough to damage the battery.
Not that I'm a nudist, but finally 70 degree weather is happening where I don't need a jacket. I think I'll try a long ride this weekend on 9W using my Ti IBIS. I likely be the only single speed rider on a mountian bike made urban. I'll just amble along in old man mode going at my own pace. I just need the time in the saddle. Perhaps 4-5-6 hour ride.
I figured out a cool workout I can do at work. The stairwell from my bunker has 52 steps to street level. I ascended and descended the stairs six times in about 5 minutes as a set, and did three sets yesterday.
I can feel that my core tightened up considerably, and my calves today are more limber.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I just got word from the Time Machine that my Rolex Sub "No-Date" (Cheap Rolex) has come back from service and I can pick it up. Ran non-stop for nearly 16 years without service.
"Maggie" will be paying the almost $1050.00 bill. Comes with a two year war-N-T. I told them to no polish. Pretty much if I wanted a new watch I would buy one and all the wear and tear I put there I want to remain.
Kinda like a film black paint Leica, if I ever owned one new, why would I want it to look like a new camera after 16 years of use?
Almost done with my crash book reading on websites and Wordpress. Now it dawns on me that I have a visual arts degree, a masters in screenwriting and TV broadcast journalism, and a MFA in creative writing that pretty much I'm well equipt to do a blog/website that is kinda like a magazine.
Know that I paid back already two school loans, but will be paying of a third till I'm 71 years old.
It would be really interesting if all this education finally made me wealthy when I retire. Pretty much my high tech career, working at a Fortune 500 company, working at two different National Labs, and finally at a famous hospital in NYC is like one long performance piece where I played the Asian stereotype, but this is not who I am.
Understand that perhaps I'm a good salesman and combined with just a 6 month vocational training in electronics I did very well. Playing the stereotype was the path of least resistance, and a successful career in the the tough road.
"Ha-ha," I say.
Cal
"Maggie" will be paying the almost $1050.00 bill. Comes with a two year war-N-T. I told them to no polish. Pretty much if I wanted a new watch I would buy one and all the wear and tear I put there I want to remain.
Kinda like a film black paint Leica, if I ever owned one new, why would I want it to look like a new camera after 16 years of use?
Almost done with my crash book reading on websites and Wordpress. Now it dawns on me that I have a visual arts degree, a masters in screenwriting and TV broadcast journalism, and a MFA in creative writing that pretty much I'm well equipt to do a blog/website that is kinda like a magazine.
Know that I paid back already two school loans, but will be paying of a third till I'm 71 years old.
It would be really interesting if all this education finally made me wealthy when I retire. Pretty much my high tech career, working at a Fortune 500 company, working at two different National Labs, and finally at a famous hospital in NYC is like one long performance piece where I played the Asian stereotype, but this is not who I am.
Understand that perhaps I'm a good salesman and combined with just a 6 month vocational training in electronics I did very well. Playing the stereotype was the path of least resistance, and a successful career in the the tough road.
"Ha-ha," I say.
Cal
slowbicycle
Established
Hey Cal, just saw this. How far up 9W are you planning on riding? I'm in Closter, right off of 9W. So if it doesn't encroach too much into your ride time, I'm wondering if you'd like to meet up for a pitstop somewhere along the way? I won't be on a bike, though, hah.
Anyways, let me know.
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
Remember...
Remember...
...that film back I needed?
I made one today.
I went to my usual local camera shop (Lowe's Home Improvement) and got to looking around. Right on the boundary between flooring and lumber I found real wood tongue and groove floor panels. I bought an 8ft one and cut it down to use as the channel for my dark slide. The grooved side is the one I used for the dark slide. The main back/support is a 2'x2' piece of 3/8" finished plywood. The dark slide is a section of a large piece of hardboard with the excess of the grooved flooring acting as a handle for it. I'll post a photo to DIY one of these days.
The whole thing is fitted pretty precisely with countersunk brass screws which will look pretty when I really finish the wood. The back will get a coating of shellac and the part where I'll be loading paper will be painted black.
I will be mosaic tiling a few sheets of 5x7 or 4x5 direct positive paper and exposing this while I make a self-portrait. Even in direct sunlight, I have to stay still for something like 20 minutes.
I still need to get the massive frame of the main body fitted. I'm using a pair of hampers, coated on the inside with plasti-dip to make the cloth light-fast.
Yes, it is a big pinhole, but the reveal is what I'm doing with it, as well as a bunch of other art for this installation as part of my final project for the year.
Phil Forrest
Remember...
...that film back I needed?
I made one today.
I went to my usual local camera shop (Lowe's Home Improvement) and got to looking around. Right on the boundary between flooring and lumber I found real wood tongue and groove floor panels. I bought an 8ft one and cut it down to use as the channel for my dark slide. The grooved side is the one I used for the dark slide. The main back/support is a 2'x2' piece of 3/8" finished plywood. The dark slide is a section of a large piece of hardboard with the excess of the grooved flooring acting as a handle for it. I'll post a photo to DIY one of these days.
The whole thing is fitted pretty precisely with countersunk brass screws which will look pretty when I really finish the wood. The back will get a coating of shellac and the part where I'll be loading paper will be painted black.
I will be mosaic tiling a few sheets of 5x7 or 4x5 direct positive paper and exposing this while I make a self-portrait. Even in direct sunlight, I have to stay still for something like 20 minutes.
I still need to get the massive frame of the main body fitted. I'm using a pair of hampers, coated on the inside with plasti-dip to make the cloth light-fast.
Yes, it is a big pinhole, but the reveal is what I'm doing with it, as well as a bunch of other art for this installation as part of my final project for the year.
Phil Forrest
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phil,
I love pinhole diffraction as an artifact. It is an interesting display of physics.
Back in art school in a sculpture class we had to create "enviornents" and I made a storage room into basically a big camera obscura that our class could fit into. No printing though...
Cal
Prest_400
Multiformat
There is some Agfa Ortho film laying around in the camera club. A while ago I saw a guy in Hawaii posting about how he made a pinhole just with old paper boxes. Giving me some ideas there...
We hit 75F here, 59 degrees north in latitude Northern Europe. I'm thinking of opening up outdoors dipping season soon, and trying out "Holga in a Ziplock" waterproof cases.
But you must have had much more than simply some vocational training in the science wise. One of my gripes with the current system is "requiring" to have long BSc (sometimes may stand for the other B-S meaning) where yes, lots of theory, but no practice. Might be some millenial rant here, but I find that old generations apprentice system was better in some ways.
We hit 75F here, 59 degrees north in latitude Northern Europe. I'm thinking of opening up outdoors dipping season soon, and trying out "Holga in a Ziplock" waterproof cases.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I never made it to either 9W or the Brooklyn Bike Jumble. I thought the e-mail invoice from the Time Machine meant my Rolex was ready to pick up, but that didn't happen either because it was not delivered and still is in transit. Oh-well; oh-well; and oh-well.
I had a deadline of my own. I had three DSW coupons that would expire Sunday, so before the Trump tariffs have the possibility on making sneakers perhaps 25% more expensive I wanted to capitolize on the sich-E-A-tion and load up the truck.
So the Time Machine is on 57th and Madison, I had to pee, so I went to Trump Tower on 5th past the tough guys with machine guns to pee. I walked through Time Square which is an awful place to try and navigate because of the tourists, to get to the DSW on 34th Street.
I bought two pairs of Vans and a pair of Nike trainers for a $110.00, saved $98.00, and got a $20.00 off coupon that is post-dated for a future purchase.
So I only have 13 pairs of sneakers stockpiled. Pretty much the CF in me goes to the clearance racks where things are already marked down 20%, 30% and sometimes 50%. I compound these savings with the coupons, and know that pretty much the selection is eclectic because they are closeouts.
The casher asked me for my phone number and remembered me from about a year ago.
So Joe and others have taken notice of how I tend to draw out all the crazies in NYC, but I saw this young girl at DSW using a mylar blanket to keep warm while trying on my three pairs of sneakers. I asked if she ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon, and learned that her time was under 2 hours. Pretty good.
One thing leads to another and I become an interesting character and I learn all kinds of things about my new friends. The guy is a firefighter who has been in NYC about 15 years, the gal from Penn, and in NYC for only 8 years. She is a Broadway actress with no day-job. They just recently got engaged and they were a wonderful couple and were a pretty pair, both very handsome and good looking.
In our conversation it came out that I formally was a performance artist and performed at the Joseph Papp Public Theater and Second Stage Theater off Broadway, but pretty much I felt like a talk show host as I got this couple to open up. Pretty much I felt like Oprah.
I got the animated comments from both of them that I should be an actor because of my "cool look."
So I kinda identify with Steve Buscemi, a funny looking guy who is easily remembered. Steve and I went to Valley Stream Central High, we were fraternity brothers, and his house was just up the block three houses away. Pretty much just a goofy guy who was funny.
Not really an exaggeration that in real life I'm kinda animated. When I ran into Christian on First Avenue after work, he reigned me in and prevented me from accidently stabbing some passersby a few times with the spike from my Rapidwinder on my M6 due to my hand gestures.
So my screenwriting education comes into play, and it dawns on me that I could do a spin on "I Love Lucy" except instead of a hot headed Cuban I would play myself: a lazy mellow slacker dude with a fashion blogger girlfriend.
The domestic situation is not that an exaggeration because the world of fashion is rally that crazy.
"Calvin I'm home," Maggie says. LOL.
So not only am I a Drama Queen here on RFF it seems it organically comes out. Christian also thinks the way I interact in public doing photography is somehow performative.
So now that I'm doing all this name dropping, not that I'm J-Lo, but I do kinda have a big butt for a skinny guy. I use to call "Baby-Dog" chubby-butt, but the name also suits me. You know what they say about dawg owners looking like and resembling their pets. Know that "Ham-Dog" thought he was Brad Pitt, and he definitely knew he was good looking.
Women loved him for his looks. He had Beagle face so I also called him Beagle-Face as his ghetto name, but the rest of him was Miniture Pincher with a skinny body and a muscular butt. Another name I called him was "The Evil Beagle."
Cal
I had a deadline of my own. I had three DSW coupons that would expire Sunday, so before the Trump tariffs have the possibility on making sneakers perhaps 25% more expensive I wanted to capitolize on the sich-E-A-tion and load up the truck.
So the Time Machine is on 57th and Madison, I had to pee, so I went to Trump Tower on 5th past the tough guys with machine guns to pee. I walked through Time Square which is an awful place to try and navigate because of the tourists, to get to the DSW on 34th Street.
I bought two pairs of Vans and a pair of Nike trainers for a $110.00, saved $98.00, and got a $20.00 off coupon that is post-dated for a future purchase.
So I only have 13 pairs of sneakers stockpiled. Pretty much the CF in me goes to the clearance racks where things are already marked down 20%, 30% and sometimes 50%. I compound these savings with the coupons, and know that pretty much the selection is eclectic because they are closeouts.
The casher asked me for my phone number and remembered me from about a year ago.
So Joe and others have taken notice of how I tend to draw out all the crazies in NYC, but I saw this young girl at DSW using a mylar blanket to keep warm while trying on my three pairs of sneakers. I asked if she ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon, and learned that her time was under 2 hours. Pretty good.
One thing leads to another and I become an interesting character and I learn all kinds of things about my new friends. The guy is a firefighter who has been in NYC about 15 years, the gal from Penn, and in NYC for only 8 years. She is a Broadway actress with no day-job. They just recently got engaged and they were a wonderful couple and were a pretty pair, both very handsome and good looking.
In our conversation it came out that I formally was a performance artist and performed at the Joseph Papp Public Theater and Second Stage Theater off Broadway, but pretty much I felt like a talk show host as I got this couple to open up. Pretty much I felt like Oprah.
I got the animated comments from both of them that I should be an actor because of my "cool look."
So I kinda identify with Steve Buscemi, a funny looking guy who is easily remembered. Steve and I went to Valley Stream Central High, we were fraternity brothers, and his house was just up the block three houses away. Pretty much just a goofy guy who was funny.
Not really an exaggeration that in real life I'm kinda animated. When I ran into Christian on First Avenue after work, he reigned me in and prevented me from accidently stabbing some passersby a few times with the spike from my Rapidwinder on my M6 due to my hand gestures.
So my screenwriting education comes into play, and it dawns on me that I could do a spin on "I Love Lucy" except instead of a hot headed Cuban I would play myself: a lazy mellow slacker dude with a fashion blogger girlfriend.
The domestic situation is not that an exaggeration because the world of fashion is rally that crazy.
"Calvin I'm home," Maggie says. LOL.
So not only am I a Drama Queen here on RFF it seems it organically comes out. Christian also thinks the way I interact in public doing photography is somehow performative.
So now that I'm doing all this name dropping, not that I'm J-Lo, but I do kinda have a big butt for a skinny guy. I use to call "Baby-Dog" chubby-butt, but the name also suits me. You know what they say about dawg owners looking like and resembling their pets. Know that "Ham-Dog" thought he was Brad Pitt, and he definitely knew he was good looking.
Women loved him for his looks. He had Beagle face so I also called him Beagle-Face as his ghetto name, but the rest of him was Miniture Pincher with a skinny body and a muscular butt. Another name I called him was "The Evil Beagle."
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Jorde,
Truely it was my performance art background that got me my present job as a Cyclotron Engineer, and basically I'm a total poser. The job posted in a tall ad like a skycraper in the New York Times business section required a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering.
At that time I did not even know what a cyclotron was.
Pretty much I used a search engine to find out what a cyclotron is. Although I don't have an engineering degree what I did pitch was that I had a U.S. Patent on a 3-D optical corelator, worked for a Fortune 500 Company called Grumman, two different National Labs, and received an education you could not get from a grad school working one-on-one with PhD's doing all kinds of research.
I knew if I got an interview it would be like an audition and if I got an interview I would and could play the part. I got the first interview and then was given a second.
Pretty much I beat out a guy who had a masters from Oxford and cyclotron experience at IBM, but I got the job. Perhaps I am better looking or am taller. LOL.
Also I think being typecast as a model minority/math science genius that the profile gave me a leg up.
Like I said, "I'm a good salesman." LOL. Like a Navy SEAL big testicles and a positive mental attitude goes a long way.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Saturday I had a bit of a tension headache that I think was due to Wordpress overload that made me feel hungover. Friday I had read a book on Website building using Wordpress and that was followed by a tutorial after work from Christian.
A lot of uncertainty is moving me forward, and I don't know if I'll be able to maintain my presence here at the present rate. Like in a game of Chess it is the "endgame" and sometimes there are "forced moves."
The cyclotron I'm responsible for is about 20 years old and has been in operation for 18 years. Vacuum problems suggest that an O-ring is acting like a pressure relief valve where vacuum sometimes sporatically gets compromised.
So at this point the 50 ton machine needs a complete overhaul and it will require about 3/4'ers of million dollars. There is about a six month lead time to manufacture replacement parts and it will take about 3 months to perform all the necessary work to refurbish the machine for perhaps 15 more years of service.
The institution I work for is reluctant to cough up the dough so yesterday was a meeting to basically intergrate me into another group on the main campus so I will enjoy continued employment. My cyclotron if abandoned would be inherited by another academic institution/hospital by default because it is physically located at their site.
So you know me: I'm a lazy slacker, and also because I dislike the way I'm treated at this secondary institution, it is highly unlikely I will rescue or help them out. "Revenge," I say. "Time is the best weapon." "Ha-Ha," I say.
You have to know that my boss, "How-Wierd," is a rigid thinker, a bully, and a tyrant. At 66 years old he is at full retirement age. I'm not the only person who finds him difficult to cope with. He likely is on the way out.
So when I get absorbed into a new group, I can't continue to be the bad boy that I truely am. I'll be watched and monitored and more closely supervised.
So I have a five year sentence till full retirement age. If this happens I likely will have enough money and fixed income to even retire in NYC. "Maggie" BTW wants to stay in NYC for 5 more years also, so I'm kinda locked in.
Plan "B" is to start my website/blog and get some form of income happening, enough to quit my day job. My plan is to have enough funds and income so I don't hve to collect my pensions or Social Security till I'm 70. I already have this bridge if I work to 66. Five years from now if everything works out I'll be able to stay in NYC until I want to leave.
Tonight I have an event. Maggie has a gig that she needs "content" for, whatever that means. I know the client is a big bank and it also involves a credit card. At tonight's event I'm told will be a group of celebs. The event is near Union Square.
I'm wearing my Panerai and my Victorian diamond and my Edwardian diamond. Over 2.5 karats of old mine cut diamonds that are made to bling under gaslight and candle light. In a ghetto kinda way these pinky rings once grace British nobility but now they grace an Asian's hand.
Christian and Karla mentioned how my style is a balanced combination of ghetto and glam. I think this is a good insight. I am scarred by the mark of poverty.
Know that my blog will be somewhat an ethnography, and because Maggie is a celeb the way I reveal personal info will be delicate. I have been living in Spanish Harlem for 9 years, and this is the longest I ever lived in one place in my life. That also includes my childhood.
Some of you guys have been reaching out, which I greatly appreciate. I just wanted everyone to know that there is a lot of uncertainty I have to deal with right now to ensure my continued survival.
Cal
A lot of uncertainty is moving me forward, and I don't know if I'll be able to maintain my presence here at the present rate. Like in a game of Chess it is the "endgame" and sometimes there are "forced moves."
The cyclotron I'm responsible for is about 20 years old and has been in operation for 18 years. Vacuum problems suggest that an O-ring is acting like a pressure relief valve where vacuum sometimes sporatically gets compromised.
So at this point the 50 ton machine needs a complete overhaul and it will require about 3/4'ers of million dollars. There is about a six month lead time to manufacture replacement parts and it will take about 3 months to perform all the necessary work to refurbish the machine for perhaps 15 more years of service.
The institution I work for is reluctant to cough up the dough so yesterday was a meeting to basically intergrate me into another group on the main campus so I will enjoy continued employment. My cyclotron if abandoned would be inherited by another academic institution/hospital by default because it is physically located at their site.
So you know me: I'm a lazy slacker, and also because I dislike the way I'm treated at this secondary institution, it is highly unlikely I will rescue or help them out. "Revenge," I say. "Time is the best weapon." "Ha-Ha," I say.
You have to know that my boss, "How-Wierd," is a rigid thinker, a bully, and a tyrant. At 66 years old he is at full retirement age. I'm not the only person who finds him difficult to cope with. He likely is on the way out.
So when I get absorbed into a new group, I can't continue to be the bad boy that I truely am. I'll be watched and monitored and more closely supervised.
So I have a five year sentence till full retirement age. If this happens I likely will have enough money and fixed income to even retire in NYC. "Maggie" BTW wants to stay in NYC for 5 more years also, so I'm kinda locked in.
Plan "B" is to start my website/blog and get some form of income happening, enough to quit my day job. My plan is to have enough funds and income so I don't hve to collect my pensions or Social Security till I'm 70. I already have this bridge if I work to 66. Five years from now if everything works out I'll be able to stay in NYC until I want to leave.
Tonight I have an event. Maggie has a gig that she needs "content" for, whatever that means. I know the client is a big bank and it also involves a credit card. At tonight's event I'm told will be a group of celebs. The event is near Union Square.
I'm wearing my Panerai and my Victorian diamond and my Edwardian diamond. Over 2.5 karats of old mine cut diamonds that are made to bling under gaslight and candle light. In a ghetto kinda way these pinky rings once grace British nobility but now they grace an Asian's hand.
Christian and Karla mentioned how my style is a balanced combination of ghetto and glam. I think this is a good insight. I am scarred by the mark of poverty.
Know that my blog will be somewhat an ethnography, and because Maggie is a celeb the way I reveal personal info will be delicate. I have been living in Spanish Harlem for 9 years, and this is the longest I ever lived in one place in my life. That also includes my childhood.
Some of you guys have been reaching out, which I greatly appreciate. I just wanted everyone to know that there is a lot of uncertainty I have to deal with right now to ensure my continued survival.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
The world is not that big.
I got the heads up that I'll be photographing "Maggie" tonight with Eli Manning (Giant's Quarterback and Superbowl Champion), Sterling Shepard (Giants Wide Reciever), and Liam Payne the British singer.
It will be interesting shooting Maggie, who is only 5'2" with two football players.
Cal
I got the heads up that I'll be photographing "Maggie" tonight with Eli Manning (Giant's Quarterback and Superbowl Champion), Sterling Shepard (Giants Wide Reciever), and Liam Payne the British singer.
It will be interesting shooting Maggie, who is only 5'2" with two football players.
Cal
MrFujicaman
Well-known
Maggie must have some platform shoes lying around the apartment....
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
MFM,
"Maggie" is so short and small that I appear to be like a football player in stature, and I'm only 5'9" (barefoot) and weigh 160 pounds.
Even with platformed shoes she will look tiny.
A few times when a follower meets her for the first time and the shock that she is not so tall in real life they blurt out, "You are short." LOL. Kinda funny, but also rude.
The ghetto and glam motif seems like my "branding." LOL.
Wonder if Eli will be wearing his Superbowl ring? I'm wearing my ghetto rings.
Kinda funny that I bought a Kaepernick Jersey in a kid's size 14-16 and it fits me, a 61 year old man. Pretty much I have the body of a 15 year old.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I was surprised that Sterling Shepard was not a big guy at all, in fact I might be taller than him, granted he is a powerfully built man.
Another surprise was his wife, supermodel Channel Iman, who definitely is tall. "Call me shorty," I say. Pretty much a woman that is perfection as far as looks go. Wow and double wow.
It was interesting at Eli Manning's stage of his career that he was not so please to be at this event, although I did get some shots of him looking content. On the selfie line he actually did not seem present.
So this event is to promote the new subway "Tap and Pay" system that currently is being installed and is in a test phase.
So I shot with the Iphone (photo and video) as well as with my SL. Pretty much it was awkward trying to do three things at once.
I had time before the event, so I walked from the Upper East Side down to Union Square that took me an hour and ten minutes. Know that I walked 3 miles to go to work in the morning, and all together I likely walked 9-10 miles carrying mt 5 1/2 pound SL.
Maggie earlier in the day had a shoot and was gifted thousands of dollars worth of clothes. Basically all the clothes they dressed her in for the shooting and interview. She wore this dress from that shoot which was a nice print.
My unstable work situation remains unsettled, but the harsh reality is my institution/employer cannot so easily abandon my cyclotron or a neighboring large institution. It would be awkward and damaging, so in all likelyhood things might not happen in such a drastic or rapid manner.
Politics and diplomacy suggest that my institution will continue to phase out the commitment, and that the 3/4'ers of a million dollars to rebuild the machine would come from the institution that will get gifted the cyclotron when abandoned. I say it might take up to a year to come up for a plan to be negociated, as decisions from large institutions take time and never are quick or decisive.
The rebuild has a 6 month lead time to manufacture replacement parts and for procurement of materials and parts. The actual rebuild will take about 3 months, so figure another year with any delay. Realize that the maker of my machine is building, installing, and rebuilding other machines around the world. Basically they are busy and have prior commitments.
So after the machine is rebuilt then it would be the time to hire new people for training as replacements for "How Weird" and me. There are only about 1000 cyclotrons in the world today, and finding such very highly specialized workers is not so easy.
So perhaps a practical approach that is realistic and not openly hostile between two neighboring large institutions is about a three year "phase out."
One institution gets rid of a liability and resposibility; and the other institution gets basically a refurbished cyclotron for little money that is good to go for perhaps 15 more years. Pretty much both institutions eventually get what they want, and in the meantime I get about three more years.
If this wishful thinking works out, I get what I likely need. I'll be 64 1/2 and will have 23 years of service on my pension. Close enough for early retirement.
The "Q" factor is if the machine suffers a "sudden death." the long lead time might create a convenient exit for my institution. Pretty much and "Oh-well" moment. Realize this could happen at any time. Next milestone for me is August 20th to complete another year of service. Twenty years on my pension.
Pretty much getting laid off could be an opportunity. Pretty much a forced move where I would have to recreate myself. Navy SEAL survival training is to have a positive spin to create a "positive mental attitude." The training promotes that survival is 95% maintaining a positive mental attitude.
A SEAL might be by himself behind enemy lines, cold, hungry, and without ammo, but he might say to himself, "I'm not injured or bleeding."
Cal
Another surprise was his wife, supermodel Channel Iman, who definitely is tall. "Call me shorty," I say. Pretty much a woman that is perfection as far as looks go. Wow and double wow.
It was interesting at Eli Manning's stage of his career that he was not so please to be at this event, although I did get some shots of him looking content. On the selfie line he actually did not seem present.
So this event is to promote the new subway "Tap and Pay" system that currently is being installed and is in a test phase.
So I shot with the Iphone (photo and video) as well as with my SL. Pretty much it was awkward trying to do three things at once.
I had time before the event, so I walked from the Upper East Side down to Union Square that took me an hour and ten minutes. Know that I walked 3 miles to go to work in the morning, and all together I likely walked 9-10 miles carrying mt 5 1/2 pound SL.
Maggie earlier in the day had a shoot and was gifted thousands of dollars worth of clothes. Basically all the clothes they dressed her in for the shooting and interview. She wore this dress from that shoot which was a nice print.
My unstable work situation remains unsettled, but the harsh reality is my institution/employer cannot so easily abandon my cyclotron or a neighboring large institution. It would be awkward and damaging, so in all likelyhood things might not happen in such a drastic or rapid manner.
Politics and diplomacy suggest that my institution will continue to phase out the commitment, and that the 3/4'ers of a million dollars to rebuild the machine would come from the institution that will get gifted the cyclotron when abandoned. I say it might take up to a year to come up for a plan to be negociated, as decisions from large institutions take time and never are quick or decisive.
The rebuild has a 6 month lead time to manufacture replacement parts and for procurement of materials and parts. The actual rebuild will take about 3 months, so figure another year with any delay. Realize that the maker of my machine is building, installing, and rebuilding other machines around the world. Basically they are busy and have prior commitments.
So after the machine is rebuilt then it would be the time to hire new people for training as replacements for "How Weird" and me. There are only about 1000 cyclotrons in the world today, and finding such very highly specialized workers is not so easy.
So perhaps a practical approach that is realistic and not openly hostile between two neighboring large institutions is about a three year "phase out."
One institution gets rid of a liability and resposibility; and the other institution gets basically a refurbished cyclotron for little money that is good to go for perhaps 15 more years. Pretty much both institutions eventually get what they want, and in the meantime I get about three more years.
If this wishful thinking works out, I get what I likely need. I'll be 64 1/2 and will have 23 years of service on my pension. Close enough for early retirement.
The "Q" factor is if the machine suffers a "sudden death." the long lead time might create a convenient exit for my institution. Pretty much and "Oh-well" moment. Realize this could happen at any time. Next milestone for me is August 20th to complete another year of service. Twenty years on my pension.
Pretty much getting laid off could be an opportunity. Pretty much a forced move where I would have to recreate myself. Navy SEAL survival training is to have a positive spin to create a "positive mental attitude." The training promotes that survival is 95% maintaining a positive mental attitude.
A SEAL might be by himself behind enemy lines, cold, hungry, and without ammo, but he might say to himself, "I'm not injured or bleeding."
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Today I'll be walking home with a backpack filled with liters of 18.2 Megaohm water (chemically pure water) from my reverse osmosis stup in my lab. I also have to do some food shopping so this will be a form of weight bearing exercise that is good for my bones.
This water makes a great stop bath and also is used for diluting developers and my fixer. I believe it makes a difference.
I looked at and studied my negatives for Kodak 5222. Looks like for high contrast lighting Diafine does a great job at 4+4 and ISO 400, but for low contrast and diffused lighting I like DDX 1+4 for 10 minutes with only 3 inversions at 500 ISO.
The next test will be 5222 at 200 ISO pull with DDX 1+14.
I only have a handful of Tri-X and HP5 in 135 left, but I have about 40 rolls of FP4 in 135. The goal here is to narrow it down perhaps to only 5222 to be able to drill it down to: 400 ISO high contrast; 500 ISO normal and low contrast; and 200 ISO pull to kill some shutter speed.
Plan "B" is FP4 at 50 and 125 ISO if needed. What would be best is just go 5222 all the way.
Pretty much simplifying 135 for blasting away.
Cal
This water makes a great stop bath and also is used for diluting developers and my fixer. I believe it makes a difference.
I looked at and studied my negatives for Kodak 5222. Looks like for high contrast lighting Diafine does a great job at 4+4 and ISO 400, but for low contrast and diffused lighting I like DDX 1+4 for 10 minutes with only 3 inversions at 500 ISO.
The next test will be 5222 at 200 ISO pull with DDX 1+14.
I only have a handful of Tri-X and HP5 in 135 left, but I have about 40 rolls of FP4 in 135. The goal here is to narrow it down perhaps to only 5222 to be able to drill it down to: 400 ISO high contrast; 500 ISO normal and low contrast; and 200 ISO pull to kill some shutter speed.
Plan "B" is FP4 at 50 and 125 ISO if needed. What would be best is just go 5222 all the way.
Pretty much simplifying 135 for blasting away.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Ignacio just e-mailed me about the Westchester Mountain Bike Festival in Peekskill New York. I'm saving the date Sunday June 9th.
Now I have a reason to put together my Ti Basso. Blue Mountain Park is suppose to have some of the best technical single track in the northeast.
Cal
Now I have a reason to put together my Ti Basso. Blue Mountain Park is suppose to have some of the best technical single track in the northeast.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
The weighted 3 mile walk loaded with a backpack full of water and then groceries was a good exercise.
Today I have the backpack again filled with empties. Hopefully the rain clears so I can do the weighted walk again.
I looked at my negatives last night and took notes of how to tweak both exposure and development for the remaining FP4 I have in 135. This will be useful for utilizing the 120 FP4 stockpile I have.
Sadly Acros at 100 ISO looks superb and I have one roll of 135 that Fidel gifted me, and I have about 20 rolls of Acros in 120.
Seems like my prior exposures and development using FP4 are a little underexposed, so I will adjust the ISO lower. I think 125 ISO (box speed) with Diafine 4+4 and only 100 ISO DDX 1+4 for 10 minutes with only three inversions per minute. With the Diafine I minimize aggitation and only do 2 inversions per minute.
Interesting with some films like Acros and FP4 basically I shoot box speed with Diafine.
The shadow detail is impressive with Acros: kinda like HDR but film. The negatives have mucho detail, the midrange of medium format, and huge dynamic range of a larger format.
Hopefully I can replicate much of the Acros look with FP4.
Seems like I like the look of Ilford films slightly pulled. All my future development of Ilford films looks to be pointing in that direction using DDX, a very active and strong developer that I chose for limiting development times.
I also utilize a strong developer to expand a mild compensating effect (reducing and compressing contrast) by somewhat mildly simulating a "stand development" effect via minimizing aggitation and by adding development time to extend to full development.
The Ferrainia P30 I had finally dialed in, but I only got 50 ISO with Diafine 4+4. At 50 ISO I get this metalic sheen in the midrange and the contrast is already built into the negative for E-Z-P-Z straight printing without any burning or dodging. I have one more roll of P30 for testing. This film has a novel look and might have a future with me.
At this point I feel I have mucho control and a vision in my negatives. It will be interesting when I scale the 35mm results into 120 using FP4 (100 ISO DDX, 125 ISO Diafine), HP5, Delta 400 ( HP5 and Delta 400 both at 320 ISO DDX), and Tri-X (800 ISO Diafine, 400 ISO DDX).
Diafine has a dramatic compensating effect that requires high contrast for proper negative densities, but DDX is more of a normal developer that I utilize in a compensating manner.
Pretty much I'm using my decades of experience to recreate myself. Kinda interesting how my film images kinda look digital in sharpness, reduced fine grain, high resolution. The ideal look of my negatives is pretty much HDR film that transcends format (my 35mm negatives resemble medium format in detail and tonality).
I'll be bringing some negatives as examples to the Meet-Up. Also for Joe I'll bring some respooling and bulk loading bits and pieces since we are bulking up on 800 foot rolls of 5222.
Cal
Today I have the backpack again filled with empties. Hopefully the rain clears so I can do the weighted walk again.
I looked at my negatives last night and took notes of how to tweak both exposure and development for the remaining FP4 I have in 135. This will be useful for utilizing the 120 FP4 stockpile I have.
Sadly Acros at 100 ISO looks superb and I have one roll of 135 that Fidel gifted me, and I have about 20 rolls of Acros in 120.
Seems like my prior exposures and development using FP4 are a little underexposed, so I will adjust the ISO lower. I think 125 ISO (box speed) with Diafine 4+4 and only 100 ISO DDX 1+4 for 10 minutes with only three inversions per minute. With the Diafine I minimize aggitation and only do 2 inversions per minute.
Interesting with some films like Acros and FP4 basically I shoot box speed with Diafine.
The shadow detail is impressive with Acros: kinda like HDR but film. The negatives have mucho detail, the midrange of medium format, and huge dynamic range of a larger format.
Hopefully I can replicate much of the Acros look with FP4.
Seems like I like the look of Ilford films slightly pulled. All my future development of Ilford films looks to be pointing in that direction using DDX, a very active and strong developer that I chose for limiting development times.
I also utilize a strong developer to expand a mild compensating effect (reducing and compressing contrast) by somewhat mildly simulating a "stand development" effect via minimizing aggitation and by adding development time to extend to full development.
The Ferrainia P30 I had finally dialed in, but I only got 50 ISO with Diafine 4+4. At 50 ISO I get this metalic sheen in the midrange and the contrast is already built into the negative for E-Z-P-Z straight printing without any burning or dodging. I have one more roll of P30 for testing. This film has a novel look and might have a future with me.
At this point I feel I have mucho control and a vision in my negatives. It will be interesting when I scale the 35mm results into 120 using FP4 (100 ISO DDX, 125 ISO Diafine), HP5, Delta 400 ( HP5 and Delta 400 both at 320 ISO DDX), and Tri-X (800 ISO Diafine, 400 ISO DDX).
Diafine has a dramatic compensating effect that requires high contrast for proper negative densities, but DDX is more of a normal developer that I utilize in a compensating manner.
Pretty much I'm using my decades of experience to recreate myself. Kinda interesting how my film images kinda look digital in sharpness, reduced fine grain, high resolution. The ideal look of my negatives is pretty much HDR film that transcends format (my 35mm negatives resemble medium format in detail and tonality).
I'll be bringing some negatives as examples to the Meet-Up. Also for Joe I'll bring some respooling and bulk loading bits and pieces since we are bulking up on 800 foot rolls of 5222.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
The weighted 3 mile walk loaded with a backpack full of water and then groceries was a good exercise.
Today I have the backpack again filled with empties. Hopefully the rain clears so I can do the weighted walk again.
I looked at my negatives last night and took notes of how to tweak both exposure and development for the remaining FP4 I have in 135. This will be useful for utilizing the 120 FP4 stockpile I have.
Sadly Acros at 100 ISO looks superb and I have one roll of 135 that Fidel gifted me, and I have about 20 rolls of Acros in 120.
Seems like my prior exposures and development using FP4 are a little underexposed, so I will adjust the ISO lower. I think 125 ISO (box speed) with Diafine 4+4 and only 100 ISO DDX 1+4 for 10 minutes with only three inversions per minute. With the Diafine I minimize aggitation and only do 2 inversions per minute.
Interesting with some films like Acros and FP4 basically I shoot box speed with Diafine.
The shadow detail is impressive with Acros: kinda like HDR but film. The negatives have mucho detail, the midrange of medium format, and huge dynamic range of a larger format.
Hopefully I can replicate much of the Acros look with FP4.
Seems like I like the look of Ilford films slightly pulled. All my future development of Ilford films looks to be pointing in that direction using DDX, a very active and strong developer that I chose for limiting development times.
I also utilize a strong developer to expand a mild compensating effect (reducing and compressing contrast) by somewhat mildly simulating a "stand development" effect via minimizing aggitation and by adding development time to extend development.
The Ferrainia P30 I had finally dialed in, but I only got 50 ISO with Diafine 4+4. At 50 ISO I get this metalic sheen in the midrange and the contrast is already built into the negative for E-Z-P-Z straight printing without any burning or dodging.
At this point I feel I have mucho control and a vision in my negatives. It will be interesting when I scale the 35mm results into 120 using FP4 (100 ISO DDX, 125 ISO Diafine), HP5, Delta 400 ( HP5 and Delta 400 both at 320 ISO DDX), and Tri-X (800 ISO Diafine, 400 ISO DDX).
Diafine has a dramatic compensating effect that requires high contrast for proper negative densities, but DDX is more of a normal developer that I utilize in a compensating manner.
Pretty much I'm using my decades of experience to recreate myself. Kinda interesting how my film images kinda look digital in sharpness, reduced fine grain, high resolution. The ideal look of my negatives is pretty much HDR film that transcends format (my 35mm negatives resemble medium format in detail and tonality).
I'll be bringing some negatives as examples to the Meet-Up. Also for Joe I'll bring some respooling and bulk loading bits and pieces since we are bulking up on 800 foot rolls of 5222.
Cal
Today I have the backpack again filled with empties. Hopefully the rain clears so I can do the weighted walk again.
I looked at my negatives last night and took notes of how to tweak both exposure and development for the remaining FP4 I have in 135. This will be useful for utilizing the 120 FP4 stockpile I have.
Sadly Acros at 100 ISO looks superb and I have one roll of 135 that Fidel gifted me, and I have about 20 rolls of Acros in 120.
Seems like my prior exposures and development using FP4 are a little underexposed, so I will adjust the ISO lower. I think 125 ISO (box speed) with Diafine 4+4 and only 100 ISO DDX 1+4 for 10 minutes with only three inversions per minute. With the Diafine I minimize aggitation and only do 2 inversions per minute.
Interesting with some films like Acros and FP4 basically I shoot box speed with Diafine.
The shadow detail is impressive with Acros: kinda like HDR but film. The negatives have mucho detail, the midrange of medium format, and huge dynamic range of a larger format.
Hopefully I can replicate much of the Acros look with FP4.
Seems like I like the look of Ilford films slightly pulled. All my future development of Ilford films looks to be pointing in that direction using DDX, a very active and strong developer that I chose for limiting development times.
I also utilize a strong developer to expand a mild compensating effect (reducing and compressing contrast) by somewhat mildly simulating a "stand development" effect via minimizing aggitation and by adding development time to extend development.
The Ferrainia P30 I had finally dialed in, but I only got 50 ISO with Diafine 4+4. At 50 ISO I get this metalic sheen in the midrange and the contrast is already built into the negative for E-Z-P-Z straight printing without any burning or dodging.
At this point I feel I have mucho control and a vision in my negatives. It will be interesting when I scale the 35mm results into 120 using FP4 (100 ISO DDX, 125 ISO Diafine), HP5, Delta 400 ( HP5 and Delta 400 both at 320 ISO DDX), and Tri-X (800 ISO Diafine, 400 ISO DDX).
Diafine has a dramatic compensating effect that requires high contrast for proper negative densities, but DDX is more of a normal developer that I utilize in a compensating manner.
Pretty much I'm using my decades of experience to recreate myself. Kinda interesting how my film images kinda look digital in sharpness, reduced fine grain, high resolution. The ideal look of my negatives is pretty much HDR film that transcends format (my 35mm negatives resemble medium format in detail and tonality).
I'll be bringing some negatives as examples to the Meet-Up. Also for Joe I'll bring some respooling and bulk loading bits and pieces since we are bulking up on 800 foot rolls of 5222.
Cal