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After several tests, it seems Cora is improving. The biopsies have finally ruled out cancer, pointing instead to a very aggressive bacterium. After almost three weeks of antibiotics, she seems to be starting to be herself again.

Cowboy Junkies

^^ After decades of loving them, I finally got to see them 2 years ago. Will also see them later this year too. Me: went to a nearby town's annual Multi-Cultural Festival. What a time! Great people, gifts, food, and music. Had very good Indian street food, bought a small sculpture from Zimbabwe and mini-paintings from France (now relocated here, a follower of Daniel Venjean). Saw music from people who are from Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, India, Africa, and Haiti. Wonderful time was had, met a few very nice people and had some nice chats with the vendors and some of the musicians. Some pics. In the 5th pic where the Indian woman is dancing, the guy in the red and yellow shirt is a good friend, known him since i was in my lower to mid single-digits. He is the drummer for the African band fronted by the man next to him, seen in the next two after that. For one of the bands, there were two couples - one with a child - who did some very nice salsa dancing!

There is no reason hand-made, point-to-point wiring cannot be done right.

I went on a deep dive through Jacob's photos on FB. These are some shots he took over the years that AFAIK he did not post here: The opposite focal point of this shot (where the gate is in focus and the house is OOF) would be interesting. I think the slight vignetting here is an artifact of the lens, not a software filter.

Detroit pizza a bit further North in Michigan

I think I was being reminded of something I had previously been told. Repeatedly.

Although I'm short on time (I've started renovating my second home), I'm doing some tests with the 70-200mm lens and I photographed this blackbird in my garden. PD. I'm quite bad, I keep trying to improve my technique.

One of my female coworkers on the factory trawler in the Bering Sea loaned me her CD of The Trinity Sessions. Immediately after that two month tour, I searched my favorite Portland, Oregon record store and bought the vinyl. Been a Junkies fan ever since. The album would've been a year old or so at that time, so 89 or 90 ish.

Shit that's bad. I'm sure all those 10% carbon comp resistors add a magical tone...

Not sure if the best place to post, but WTH.... Some background, because I write too much: one of my favorite people in my work life lives in New Zealand. When I and others helped on an ERP project implementation, he sent us a wonderful thank you note, along with a down vest of the company and a polo shirt from the All Blacks team. I've always loved to see videos of Haka's and the like. Also was just a big sucker for and lover of the movie Whale Rider. This one hit in the feels a bit. A lovely tribute to Māori culture by a Grammar School chorus. Bit of the story behind it: https://www.themusicman.uk/maori-culture-choir-celebration/

Viva Mexico!

Heavy Metal: Music from the Motion Picture

Kicked off the summer this weekend with the San Mateo County Fair. A few not terribly inspiring shots below. Leica SL2-S during the day with the softer Light Lens Lab 35mm f/1.4 Double Aspherical "11873" and during night the more modern Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron.

Initial viewing confirms I managed to NOT screw it up. Looks pretty cool.

The amount of dog hair that must be in that condo is making my nose itch. Our second foraging expedition, which was meant to be a dog walk, was a bonanza. Including the One Spear to Rule Them All!

The boys have played four matches in just two days. The national championship is two weeks away, and they're starting to feel the pressure. PD: I've finally been able to try out the 70-200 f2.8L lens.

Always thought Dollar Brand was a way better stage name, but religious considerations etc. RIP.

Just started watching this, it is pretty good with good character development!

This is a recording I made of them in 2001 https://archive.org/details/cj2001-06-29 I’ll process last nights recording this week, I was camping and kayaking this weekend except while I was at the show.

These guys now on vinyl.

^ I enjoyed this too. BTW, Eva Hummingbird is a fictitious character set in 1940's war torn Europe who is a violinist, composer and double agent. The actual producer, composer and violinist is, Ceskie. Vinyl

Unholy carp!

Legends (2026) - 1990's British customs agents enlisted for Thatcher's war on drugs. Quite good & engaging.

https://archive.org/details/cj2026-06-13 Cowboy Junkies Bijou Theater, Knoxville, TN 6/13/2026 DPA 4015gs -> Sonosax SX-M2D2 -> iPhone Front Row Center Balcony

Another Country/Wave group that I really enjoyed back in the day was Lone Justice. Maria McKee had this gritty, ethereal voice that I loved. With a hint of Brenda Lee. Check out Wheels, Reflected and Shelter, but really it's all good. Maria did have a few solo albums as well.

Trinity sessions is one of the best sounding albums I've ever heard. It's why I want to own an old church to use as a recording studio...

Corn girl was all over, and a little hammered too...

at least the cary has no flammable wool tuning elements.

Would like to try.

New Space doc dropped.

There is some amp porn included. Checking out the recent Vienna show. Lot more ribbon/electrostatic than I would have expected.

Pardon My French by Eva Hummingbird (2026) https://open.qobuz.com/album/vecdu49h53cl8 Example: New to me - I really liked this series of vignettes by Eva, mostly violin based, but not strictly.

It flew off the WWE headquarters. That is entirely too on the nose.

Up in Maine, found out my next door neighbor went to the ER for a bad nosebleed. Visited her there, ended up keeping her company for almost 3 hours. Brought her home, then dog-watched these wonderful pups (2 Samoyeds and a 5-month old Golden - I THINK it's a blend with something else, l but not sure). At one point, she had 4 full-grown Samoyeds in her ~1100 sq ft condo!! She saw an ENT last night in Portland Maine and he helped a lot more than the local ER.....will find out today of the final prognosis & plan.

Foraged some wild asparagus from across the street

This is a pretty cool take on a console system....could also go in Amp Porn but I like the wood on this one.

Brit Friends Childrens Grad Party Desserts, and nice cup of tea. A Congrat to each of the Grads and their parents. #PassageOfTime

I'm going to try my hand at timelapse photography next week for work. So. 40000mAH external and a dummy internal are on the way for the A7IV for the 6000 or so images I'll need to capture across the 36hr exercise. Here's to hoping it's not a bunch of wasted effort. Suggestions/hints/tips are welcome.

Counterpoint to my paean of primes: Modern zooms can be really good. Last fall I bought a stack of lenses from an MV photographer who had gone mirrorless. The least interesting but most useful of the bunch was the 24-70mm F/2.8L II. It's the perfect "walk around" focal range and a vast improvement of the original model (which was more than a bit of a dog.) Also pictured is the 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6L IS II which is an impressive and massive beast, but also a great way to blow copious amount of dust into one's camera body. I took all of the following with the 24-70. It's been so long since I've posted photos in this thread that we're going all the way back to last Christmas. I'll win no awards for framing on this one (especially on a stationary object) but in spite of my snapshotesque abilities with the viewfinder, I really like the the look of this shot. 30 seconds at F/22, ISO200. I really needed to do shots significantly longer than 30 seconds, and I was too stubborn to raise the ISO. At this point I had not been able to locate my remote cable. Blissfully, the remote I bought for my 30D in 2006 works with the 5D IV. This coming Christmas I can do multi-minute exposures. This is the house my father grew up in. It has a big Cyrano De Bergerac portico that juts out into an already narrow sidewalk. For something like 150 years it has served as an inconvenience to all passers-by. I love it. Cool Story Bro: My grandparents were the last private family to live in the house. After they moved out in 1940s, it became a law office and of course it's been a retail shop for decades at this point. Right next to the Vineyard Haven ferry slip. Not pictured: the December wind ripping across the harbor and through my jacket. I will cheerfully take the same picture over and over again, in different weather an lighting conditions. Happy sledders enjoying the first snow of the season. Later afternoon sun on Sweetened Water Farm. There's that patch of woods again. The calm before the blizzard. The aftermath. Ideal lighting conditions at the Oak Bluffs harbor. Still shooting that 1980s car commercial. All good things must come to an end.

@blessingx - yes, very much a potayto/potahto scenario but I often find myself in fixed shooting positions where zoom is a huge benefit. Granted, I've been shooting 90% with the 70-200 these days for kids sports but when I'm doing landscape stuff for work the 12-24 is indispensable. The 24-70 has made rare but meaningful appearances for things like semi-formals or proms. A lot of $$ for not much use but live and learn.

Nice @n_maher! The 30 fps is glorious. How do you like it thus far? Drove up to NYC to help Julie move out as she finished her 3rd year rotations for medical school. Exceptionally difficult light in the parking under the building. The A7 did quite well here, I think. Taken with a Batis 85/1.8. Stopped by in Virginia to visit with my sister and tried playing with the Batis 135/2.8. Failed miserably but got a somewhat cool extremely close crop. In color.

I decided that it was time for a proper camera to capture the kids. My iPhone appears to have over-processed the shit out of this photo of the photo-taking tool.

It's an interesting unit Not the sharpest thing in the world, but it focuses quickly. The out of focus areas are warm and fuzzy, so it has good bork-eh. Probably best used outdoors.