A little about Lensbaby

When I get tired of taking the same photos over and over, I put a Lensbaby on the front of my camera. It’s the ultimate “fun” lens:

The baby has arrived!

The Baby has arrived!
Mountain View, California

Nikon D70, Lensbaby 2.0, Tokina .45x macro
1/50 sec @ f/2.0, iso 800, 50mm (75mm)

A lot of people stop and ask me what that funky thing is on my camera. Now that I have a Nikon D200, I let them have a go at it. They “get it” pretty quickly on the D200, though I wouldn’t risk it with a Nikon D70.

I love my baby!

[Find out more (with photos) after the jump.]Continue reading

A body is meant to be seen…

Seen while getting some brandy for my apples…

A body is meant to be seen…

A body is meant to be seen…
Safeway, Sunnyvale, California

Lumix DMC-LX1
unprocessed raw
1/13 sec @ f/2.8, iso 200, 6.3mm (28mm)

“Like the starlet, a bottle of good Merlot is generally soft, sensuous, and uncomplicated—offering the ripe, jammy fullness of a fine Cabernet Sauvingnon without its complexity or tannic backbite. It is the wine equivalent of Monroe’s sultry, dulcet voice signing “Happy birthday, Mr. President.”—not intellectually engaging but a delight nonetheless.”
—Mark Oldman, “Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine

Hmm, sounds a lot like my conference talks. Which, coincidentally, are about the only time I get to drink merlot.

[more random thoughts after the jump]Continue reading

Zugster Custom bags

I’m not too sure where this belongs, but a website mentions a custom bag manufacturer: Zugster bags. These are real custom, made-to-order messenger bags right down to the pockets, pads, and the stitching.

Yes, it’s expensive and the wait is going to be like three months but flipping through these bags gives me a big smile:

Zero Per Gallon-3

Derek’s “Heart of Pennsylvania” bag next to Jonny5’s Baileyworks with zeropergallon.com patch. These bags highlight two things close to my heart: Western Pennsylvania and bicycling.

I mention this because they are using Flickr for hosting images of these bags as they’re created. Here is the set for their messenger bag line.
Continue reading

Torture as a negotiable virtue

“A civility that considers torture a negotiable virtue is a civility long past redemption.

I will take my values real but rough, and leave ‘values’ of a David Broder or David Brooks where they lie — abandoned in the name of centrist balance, hollowed from disuse, weakened so as not to offend or provoke.

I would rather face God with this voice than the other.”
—Hunter, commenter on “Why I’m mad: An open letter to David Broder from a fellow journalist” defending “vituperative, foul-mouthed bloggers on the left”

The linked article, from Will Bunch, a senior writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, is also a great read.Continue reading

An unlikely vehicle

“Ned Lamont is an unlikely vehicle. It’s always unlikely people who turn history. It must be God has a funny sense of humor. In my imagination, I see the meeting in heaven when they say it’s time to really deal with this war: ‘We need a messenger to send to the Democratic Party.’ And an angel says, ‘I got this guy in Connecticut, a real goofy, rich Greenwich, Connecticut, white guy who in Harlem would be like Gomer Pyle. Let’s make him the candidate.I can see everyone falling down laughing. And look where we are this morning. I tell you one thing: I don’t think Joe Lieberman is laughing. No matter how this night ends, he ain’t laughing. They’re gonna have to rethink the whole centrist strategy. Democrats everywhere are going to have to rethink their strategy. It’s just amazing.”
—Reverend Al Sharpton, quoted in “The Kiss of Death

I think this quote because God has a sense of humor.Continue reading

Which side of history will you be on?

“This is about honest government. This is about preserving our civil liberties. This is about separation of church and state. This is about competence. Anyone that doesn’t have grave doubts about this administration after these past six years is not interested in anything but power.

This is a defining moment in American history. Which way are we going to go? Are we going to let our fear of terrorism turn us into something our forefathers would not recognize? Or will we come to our senses and realize that we have faced much more dangerous threats in the past and we survived without giving up all of our civil liberties?

Which side of history will you be on?”
—Proud Liberal, comment on Balloon Juice