Knuckledragger

I have been going down the anamorphic rabbit hole for ages now. The more I learn, the less I know. I have discovered some fascinating bits of trivia along the way. This guy's 🇫🇷 accent is something else, but the camera is spectacular in its insanity. Also, Cool Story Bro: the fence at the 4 minute mark in the video is a rather famous one in Paris. A guy I know on Flickr photographed it in 2006 with an 85L. Note the 1/8000 shutter speed. His 5D classic was crying.

Peter Doig built a sound system using parts from old cinemas and then Brian Eno did a DJ set on it.

The official photographer for the president of Poland has a run-in with Larry the cat.

‘Dilbert’ creator Scott Adams dies at 68. He, uh, made some comic strips in the 90s that resonated with office workers.

Reports of gunfire near Venezuela’s presidential palace. File under: Rorge; Ruh-roh.

Fat squirrels and fat(?) cats to follow. Possibly some dupes. Xreffing is a PITA. Squirrel tongue! These shots were taken only a month ago. When there's sufficient snow on the ground, squirrels will eat the berries. I spent new year's eve with 3 octogenarians (one of whom will be turning 90 this year) and 2 cats. Wisely(?) I brought my 85L and iPhone. Gidget vigorously investigating what's going on with Peter's trouser leg. Gidget is a gray card with legs. I've mentioned in the past that I really like the Moment app for iOS. It has great manual white balance. I need to xref what kelvin value I use it in and start using the same on the DSLR. Shot with tungsten white balance and then adjusted in Photoshop. To be fair, Gidget does have a lot of brown in her coat. Molly displaying her usual aggrievement at the presence of humans. Gidget absolutely savaging my knee with all four paws. She didn't draw blood, but it sure felt like it.

So, funny thing...

So, funny thing. I checked the "DJ edits" folder on my server. First of all, the last edit I did was July of 2021. Sadge, as the kids say. Second of all, in there is "Hooverphonic - Mad About You (Live at Koningin Elisabethzaal 2012) (no applause).flac" which I did sometime in late 2014 apparently.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Yesterday was certainly an eventful one ...and not for me, if you take my meaning. Someone posted this meme edit in a discord and I yoinked it on the spot.

*adjusts tinfoil hat* It's not just about stealing Venezuelan oil (and whatever other natural resources that are a bonus). What we're seeing here is an attempt to "stabilize" the world's oil market using Venezuela as a buffer when we destabilize things by attacking Iran.

That reminds me, related to my previous post: I have never, ever been a fan of Destiny's Child, so by default I prefer this version. It's a decent soft rock/almost disco track until the Bee Gees come in, then it's like a solid rocket booster of groove kicked in.

This is my favorite edit. From almost 20 years ago. RIP.

Fall was pretty recent, it was also an eternity ago. I went out with a variety of different lenses, captured the colors and annoyed the local fauna. In 2009 I went to the MV alpaca farm with my (sainted, then-septuagenarian) mother on her birthday. I'm sure I posted a number of those shots at the time. I used the never good 75-300mm consumer zoom, and spent ages in Photoshop, masking, denoising and sharpening. I'm much more lazy less interested in such labor intensive editing these days. We went back to the farm for her birthday this year. I used the also not very good Tamron 28-300mm. So far I've only edited a few shots (see above). Llamas serve as guard animals at the alpaca farm. Gidget the kitty doesn't know or care about "color balance." Molly being characteristically unamused at the presence of humans. This is the only shot I've ever gotten of her where she was lit properly, in-focus and looking at me. Of course, she's glowering. Changes afoot as the Hathaway house. Again with the craptastic Tamron. I haven't used it that much, but it's a bit of a "bad penny" lens. The same taken with my radioactive 1970s Super Takumar 50mm F/1.4. It's crazy how pricey this lens has become. Mine it's not the most desirable version. The very rare first iteration, which proved too expensive to produce, is a collector's bauble at this point. My version isn't that rare, but copies of it have a nasty tendency to yellow (because radioactive.) My copy is bit yellow, but for now that means it has a permanent "warming filter" installed. That makes it ideal for fall colors. Same scene at twilight, taken with my beloved Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 Mark I. Honestly, in spite of all the lenses I own, I could shoot with a 50 the vast majority of the time and be happy. In the parlance of our times *laughs in Henri Cartier-Bresson.* Morning Glory Farm, or as it is known by the younger generation, "MoGlo" had quite a display of pumpkins. Even though I live in walking distance, I only managed to get there once. In my defense, this fall got ball-freezingly cold quickly. My OCD neighbor's yard, taken with the Takumar. It excels at golden hour shots. 17-40mm at the wide end. I used to love the super wide angle look, but a decade and a half of cameraphone photos have made me reverse that stance more or less completely. Now I greatly prefer the telescopic compression that happens at focal lengths greater than 100mm. Same idea with the nifty fifty. Taken at F/5, which is a little silly. In retrospect I should have committed one way or the other and either stopped down significantly or gone full retard at F/1.8. Tune in next time for more fat squirrels, Christmas lights and even some short lived snow. Spoiler alert: The EF 100-400mm is a goddamn bazooka is tiring as all fuck to handhold for any length of time.

The Cure's Perry Bamonte Dead at 65.

Not precisely IDM, but close enough. Exhibit A: Exhibit B: