Category: photog’s Corner

Here you will find the stuff that shouldn’t be mixed in the other categories but interest me. caveat emptor.

09APR2021 – OCF Update – Life Imitates Art

photog Movie Reviews, OCF Classic Movie Reviews, photog's Corner, Reviews

On such a beautiful day I naturally decided to spend it extracting thorn brambles and Russian olive trees with a shovel and a 6 foot pry bar.  After a couple of hours of sweat and back ache I remembered a line from the movie “Treasure of the Sierra Madre.”

Curtin:  What are you going to do with your hard-earned money old timer when you get back and cash in?

Howard:  I’m getting along in years.  Oh, I can still hold up my end when it comes to a hard day’s work but I ain’t the man I was once, and next year, next month, next week I won’t be the man I am today.  Reckon I’ll find me some quiet place to settle down.  Buy a business maybe … a grocery or a hardware store, and spend the better part of my time reading comic strips and adventure stories.  One thing’s for sure … I ain’t going to go prospecting again and waste my time and money trying to find another gold mine.

I certainly know what Howard was talking about in that scene.

08APR2021 – OCF Update – Vultures, Ringnecks and Hellebores

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Today was just too nice a day to stay indoors.  Camera Girl and I went over to our local forest and communed with the trees and birds and babbling brooks and rippling lakes and so forth and so on.  She planned to head out to the metropolis and purchase the few necessaries that we still can afford and I planned to get out and take a few photos while I was at play in the fields of the Lord.

It is a magnificent sunny day.  Life is bubbling up from every nook and cranny of the New England earth.  But rather than endless shots of ants and worms and spiders I looked for larger subjects.  Unfortunately, the only flowers available are the daffodils that are right now at their ephemeral best and the hellebore flowers which tend to be hard to photograph.  But I did my best with this limited pallet and somewhere down the line they’ll end up in the Photo of the Day.

But I was able to capture one very interesting image.  I found the first snake of the season.  Under a copper sheet that I keep for just such a purpose I found a ringneck snake soaking up the abundant heat that the copper conducted through its surface from the bright sunlight.  It looked like it was getting ready to shed and he stuck around for a minute or two and I was able to get a few shots.

Ringnecks are a very common creature but quite small and secretive.  I enjoy finding any snakes on the property.  I’ve, of course, found any number of eastern garter snakes and brown snakes.  I’ve found a northern water snake and several eastern milk snakes.  But what I’d really like to find is a black rat snake.  This is sort of the apex snake predator of the region.  They aren’t rare enough to even gain the almost obligatory threatened status that the wildlife nazis love to burden us with.  But they aren’t common in my neck of the woods.  They are a jet black here in New England and can theoretically reach seven feet in length although six feet would be a very large specimen nowadays.  They are big enough to easily eat a chipmunk or even a squirrel but mostly they feed on mice and birds that they hunt for in nests.  They are even able to climb up a tree to find baby birds.  Who knows, one day I may find one of these.

But it was good getting out into the world again.  Spring is triumphant.  The spring peepers are making themselves heard in the evening and all sorts of creatures are about.  I could hear geese in the pond one late night after midnight.  And the turkeys showed up about a week ago.  I always love hearing their gobbling even if they themselves are hidden in the brush.  The painted turtles are back in the pond and bullfrogs have begun banjoing during the day.

Last week we had seven black vultures in one of the trees near sunset.  I took some shots from the house which is a good distance away and shooting into the back lit tree wasn’t that good for the quality of the photos but going out would have spooked them for sure.  Stupid vultures.  But those pictures will go up soon too.

So, I’ve got some photos to upload and some plans to make.  I’ve got to put together some kind of blind that will allow me to get candid shots of some of the more skittish birds and animals.  That’ll take some doing so I’ll have to do some research.  But it’s good to be out of the house.

Over the River and through the Woods, to Grandma’s House We Go

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Finally, life is returning to normal.  But today I’ll skip the rants about why it isn’t.  I’ll celebrate life instead.  Camera Girl is cooking a spoon roast and humming and even singing slightly as she goes through the rituals that precede the magical food that will appear on time on the dining room table today.  There are potatoes and asparagus and corn and mushrooms and gravy and buttered rolls and of course the roast.  And pies and cakes have been baked and I know there will be ice cream to go along with that pie.  And of course there will be chocolate for the little girl who will be old enough this year to really know what’s going on.

And today is sunny and it will be warm enough to go outside and walk around and look for bugs and flowers and birds and look at the trees and the sky and play catch with a ball and pet the rabbit (alias bunny-hop-hop or Petey).  And we can sit around and talk about the barbecue that will be happening in May once it’s warm enough for the tables to be outside and the pool will be opened and we can have the rest of the family with us too.  That will be another milestone.

But today is for enjoying today.  New England forgot to provide one last, end of March, nor’easter snowstorm so the ground is pretty dry now and fit for walking and running and having a catch so today is a wonderful opportunity to declare the world is open for living again.

And as Kazantzakis said through his character Zorba this Easter dinner can’t be wasted,

“We ate and drank for some time in silence. The wind carried up to us, like the droning of bees, the distant, passionate notes of the lyre. Christ was being reborn again on the village terraces. The paschal lamb and the Easter cakes were being transformed into love-songs.

When Zorba had eaten and drunk quite copiously, he put his hand to his big hairy ear. “The lyre … ‘he murmured. “They’re dancing in the village.’ He stood up suddenly. The wine had gone to his head.

‘What ever are we doing here, all alone, like a pair of cuckoos? Let’s go and dance! Aren’t you sorry for the lamb we’ve been eating? Are you going to let it fizzle out into nothing, like that? Come on! Turn it into song and dance! Zorba is reborn!’ ‘Wait a minute, Zorba, you idiot, are you crazy?’

‘Honestly, boss, I don’t care! But I’m sorry for the lamb, and I’m sorry for the red eggs, the Easter cakes and the cream cheese! If I’d just scoffed a few bits of bread and some olives, I’d say: “Oh, let’s go to sleep; I don’t need to go celebrating!” Olives and bread are nothing, are they? What can you expect from them? But, let me tell you, it’s a sin to waste food like that! Come on, let’s celebrate the Resurrection, boss!’ ‘I don’t feel like it today. You go – you can dance for me as well.’ Zorba took my arm and pulled me up.

‘Christ is reborn, my friend! Ah! if only I was as young as you! I’d throw myself headlong into everything! Headlong into work, wine, love – everything, and I’d fear neither God nor devil! That’s youth for you!’

‘It’s the lamb talking, Zorba! It’s turned wild inside you, changed into a wolf!’

“The lamb’s changed into Zorba, that’s all, and Zorba’s talking to you!”

 

So I’ll take Zorba’s advice and put the Easter feast to good use.  I’ll celebrate the Resurrection and spring and new life and old life and I’ll put off Biden and woke ignoramuses and even the dissident right for another day.

Happy Easter.

04APR2021 – Easter Sunday – Doubting Thomas

photog Current Events, OCF, photog's Corner, Religion

John 20 / 24-29

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus ), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Happy Easter Christians.  Find some joy today.  The madness is just static.  Ignore it for the sake of the day.

April Fool’s Day 2021 – Joe Biden’s Patron Saint’s Day

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Good morning my long-suffering readers.  What a momentous day.  Today at any time, any announcement by the press or the Dementia Administration will be indistinguishable from an April Fool’s Day joke.  If today they announced they were going to send a billion dollars, tax free to any and all left-handed Somali tuba players living in Fargo, North Dakota would you be absolutely certain it was a joke?  Actually, there is one exception.  If they say they are going to do anything sensible we’ll know that is a joke.

Recognizing that this is such a special occasion for the Left I think I will use today to only look at the bright side.  After all there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.  I will search high and low for good news.  I don’t promise to find anything to say but at least I’ll make the effort.

Seriously, I think we’re all now well aware of the soup we’re in.  Beating the dead horse is not only subject to the law of diminishing returns but it also isn’t any fun for you to read or me to write.  I won’t ignore horrible things that need to be commented on and I will provide whatever commentary on the idiocy of our rulers when that seems to accomplish something useful, even if that useful thing is only humor.  After all laughter is a positive good.

But I’m going to have to start accentuating the positive.  And maybe that means I’ll have to make up stuff myself.  I like the picture of the day and the quote of the day because I have control over what I post.  I can find something that I think will impact people in a good way.  I don’t post the wit and wisdom of Joe Biden or Barack Obama.  I won’t showcase photos of transgender drag queen story hour.  There are plenty of good and beautiful things in this imperfect and confused world and nothing says I have to look for the ugly and the depraved.

Spring is upon us.  Stuff is starting to sprout and I’ve already seen hellebore flowers and daffodils and the forsythia is about bloom.  Yesterday my two-year-old granddaughter went out into the garden and found some “darling” worms.  The world is loaded up with miracles and wonder.  Concentrating on George Floyd and Joe Biden is a sucker’s game.  I just read a report that said that cities like New York and Chicago are doomed because they’re now too expensive.  Good!  I left New York City about thirty-five years ago and it was the best decision of my life.  And now I see why.  Human beings are like any other life form we follow the gradients that increase pleasure and decrease pain.  We naturally go toward the good and flee the evil.  A place that either purposefully or mistakenly inflicts pain on its inhabitants doesn’t encourage those people to stay.  The riots of last summer on top of the COVID captivity were like some kind of laboratory experiment to see how quickly the largest city in North America could destroy itself.  It worked perfectly.

So, let’s look for the good in this.  Make it a point to live where the people aren’t crazy.  When you look for a school for your kids ask them to show you the books and the lesson plans, they use for social studies.  Ask them if they have content on transgenderism and ask them if they mention white privilege.  Be smart and be careful.  You may have to pay more money to find a good school or you may have to home school your children.  Well, kids are an expensive investment.  You should protect your investment.  But look at the upside too.  If your kids are going to a school that has your values then it’s more likely that you’ll enjoy being around the teachers and the other parents.  Maybe not all of them.  But the odds will be with you instead of against you.

Well. that’s enough.  No April Fool’s Day surprises from me today.  Just a surprising new outlook.  Even a fool can find something to smile about in April.

28MAR2021 – OCF Update – The Expedition to the Great Eastern Glacier

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As you may know I am a climate heretic.  I not so much dismiss global warming as I cheer it on.  Living in the frozen hell of New England I look forward to the day when I may roam around my yard in early February in my speedo.  Unaccountably my neighbors aren’t as keen on my idea.

Be that as it may, the National Geographic Society contracted with me to fly aerial reconnaissance over the Great Eastern Glacier.  Since it is located in my front yard I agreed after the usual haggling over remuneration.  Here is that photo.

I marveled at its majesty and after landing on it and planting my flag I flew back to base.  Nature is truly humbling to behold.

 

Later I reconnoitered around the yard to see if anything was stirring.  During the week Camera Girl related running into the mallards on the pond and salamanders in her garden mulch but I saw none of these critters.  But in one of the gardens that my predecessor planted but that was swallowed up in the bramble area over time a few stray daffodils have already sprouted.

 

Whereas our planting is still getting started

 

And the reindeer moss is recovered from its winter funk.

 

 

So while I failed to witness the legendary mating ritual of the Southern New England Sasquatch that I had hoped to report on, nevertheless, much was achieved.  I was able to obtain measurements that prove categorically that the Great Eastern Glacier is certain to last for at least another 5,000 years.  Ice cores taken at a depth of 2.8 miles below the surface show that the legendary Kingdom of the Mole-Men has installed refrigeration equipment that will preclude any loss in glacial volume indefinitely.  Based on this data I am planning to construct a saw mill to provided cubed ice for the inhabitants of Papua New Guinea.  Since time immemorial the aboriginal highland inhabitants have been forced to drink their traditional summertime beverage mu-ba-bu at ambient temperature which in Papua New Guinea can be north of 110 degrees F.  Mu-ba-bu is a variety of fermented human brain fluid.  Predictably it has a very limited shelf life at ambient temperatures so access to really good cubed ice will be a revolution for the average Papua New Guinea house wife in regard to making the mu-ba-bu budget stretch.

Can An Old Dog Learn a New Trick and Then Teach It to a Pup

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For Christmas I bought my granddaughter a nice little Yamaha keyboard when she showed interest in music.  So far she seems uninterested in even a simple scale on the keys.  But I noticed that one of her favorite cartoons, Masha and the Bear had a piano song that she enjoyed.  This cartoon about a retired Russian circus bear and a Russian-American Girl both living in Alaska is perhaps the only thing on television for small children that doesn’t enrage me.

To try and interest her in learning I’m trying to teach myself to play the tune on the keyboard to attract her to the instrument.

Progress is slow.  I don’t read music fluently so I of course went to the internet for support.  This silly little YouTube clip actually helped.  I wrote the note letters onto a sheet of paper and bought some stickers for the keys with the letters on them.  I have now mastered two thirds of that ditty down below and it has caught her attention.  I’m hoping my two year old granddaughter will consider me a modern day but slightly older Mozart and follow my lead.  Time will tell.

On Killing Off Fictional Family

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I’m working on a fantasy story.  And I’m at the point in the origin phase where the protagonist needs a crisis to propel him into a new and horrible life.  And I’m wavering between some deus ex machina scooping him out of his normal life or a horrible injustice killing off one or more of his family.

And the funny thing is I feel bad about killing off his kin.  I mean, they’re good people and they’ve never done anything to me and all things being equal I might need them later.  So, I’m vacillating and trying to thread the needle.  Can I just kill off his father?  But I kind of need him for later.  How about his mother?  The murder of his mother would be a great catalyst.  There’s guilt and rage and despair and hunger for revenge and all sorts of mixed emotions.  That could work well.  But it feels like a cheap trick.

I could kill off his newlywed sister.  It’s going to happen at the wedding reception anyway.  But that’s even more conflicted.  There’s the bride groom and the other sisters and then the parents won’t be distracted by one of them dying so the protagonist will be dealing with all kinds of messy emotional baggage.  Everyone will be whining for a hundred pages and I don’t need that.

I’m planning some kind of mob hit.  I’m undecided between a shotgun blast coming out of the reception or a bomb thrown through the window.  Either way it’s not ideal.  Very messy.  Definitely not the beautiful death.

So, as you can see there won’t be any easy way to write this.  All kinds of angst and messy follow-on consequences.  But let’s face it, murdered family has been a great plot device since Cain killed Abel.  I’m already trying to work my way through a father with conflicted feelings about the son whom he loves but who is responsible for the death of his wife.  That’s got all kinds of possibilities.  As I said I need the father around later and his grudging cooperation in some plot devices would add a nice amount of resistance to some scenes that would otherwise lose all tension.

So, she has to go.  But I am grateful for her part up to this point and I will give her a nice close-up scene before the finale.  She’ll get to talk to her son and they will share something personal before I finish her off.  Then she’ll upstage her oldest daughter’s wedding.  What mother could ask for more than that?

So, as you can see, for me the characters in my story take on a life of their own and I have to think carefully before I bring anyone in.  The butterfly effect is in full effect and especially when my character has a very long-life span, I have to be careful about cutting off all descendants of present characters because I might need their grandchildren or even great grandchildren at some point.

And finally, this action is meant to cut off his normal life and send him forward into a future where many of his actions are going to appear to him to be pretty evil.  To make that happen I’ll need something to disorient his moral compass.  The random brutal death of someone who symbolizes normalcy and happiness to him is just about right.  Add in a feeling that he is culpable in the death and I think I can work that into a tragic figure.  Will Shakespeare, hold my beer.

25FEB2021 – OCF Update

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Yesterday I cranked out a few thousand words to a story I’m working on and it felt great!  Nothing but positive energy.  Writing about something with no relation to Leftists or Wokeness was absolutely rejuvenating.  So I’m going to start writing a little fiction everyday.

Spring is starting to make some headway here at the compound.  I actually left the snow on the lower driveway this last snowfall and it’s melting sloppily on its own.  This is big.  By the end of February my back is usually pretty beat up.  And because of this I’ve been very slow to ramp up my use of the rower but with the specter of snow removal slowly receding in to the rear view mirror I will start building up on the rowing.

One of the negative effects of the spring season is the reappearance of the black bears in the area.  Last year they flattened Camera Girl’s beloved bird feeding pole.

This year she has vowed to pre-emptively take in the feeders when the local animal control warnings go out.  We shall see.

And at long last the replacement part for Camera Girl’s beloved dishwasher has arrived from Wuhan, China. It took three months for the part to arrive.  Something about interruptions at the factory.  Whatever.  There is much rejoicing and  the repairman will be declared a Hero of the Motherland and our next dog is sure to be named after him.

So as you can see my mood is ebullient and even the prospect of Dementia Joe declaring another fatwa against me and mine just isn’t getting the job done today.  Pretty soon the crocuses will be crocussing and the daffodils will be doing whatever daffodils do and I can get out with my beloved Sony A7 III and my beloved Sony 90mm F/2.8 macro lens and all will be right with the world.

 

Huzzah!

photog’s Corner – Surviving Winter – Exercise – Rower

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Normally Camera Girl and I like to go for a daily hike through the local State Park.  It’s pretty scenic with a lake, pond, streams, tree covered hills and wildlife.  But in the last week or so we have returned to the usual New England winter condition.  There will be a foot or more of snow on the ground for the next few weeks so that will put a damper on our hike.  And that hike was more than just recreation.  It was part of the exercise that we really need this time of year.  Snow removal is less harmful to your body if you maintain good muscle tone.

We have a treadmill and an exercise bike but I despise both of these devices passionately.  I have a lat machine and I’ll do calisthenics but it’s hard to get a meaningful aerobic workout this way without some pretty serious exertion.

Many years ago my father had told me that rowing was a good aerobic exercise that didn’t wear out the knees and hips.  There was a rower at a gym that I had access to at work at one time.  And it was a good machine to use but using it at work was inconvenient.  So I was pretty sure that a home rower was the right choice for me.

A couple of months ago I did a search into what rowing machine would be a good choice.  After looking at several types and several manufacturers I settled on the flywheel air rowing machine type and the Concept 2 brand as the best quality out there.  The problem was that they were only made in one factory in Vermont and the COVID madness had effectively slowed the output to a trickle.  So there was a two month waiting list to get one.

Well last week it finally showed up and I was like a kid at Christmas assembling it.

It didn’t take much time or effort and before I knew it I was using it and I was very, very pleased with the experience and the results.  The unit is well made and sturdy.  It really is a painless workout and it eats up calories relatively quickly and painlessly.  Where I’ve set it up I can look out onto the yard and relax my mind.  Next I’ll set up some music in the area and I’ll be in nirvana.  I even got Camera girl to try it out and she was unexpectedly very interested.  So it looks like we’ll come out of the winter hibernation more or less intact.

If you’re looking for an aerobic machine for the home and can afford the relatively hefty price tag ($900 plus tax and shipping) I can recommend this model.  If you are cautious wait a few months and I’ll update this review for any possible problems.