Mirit Ben Nun: Shortness of breath

'Shortness of breath' is not only a sign of physical weakness, it is a metaphor for a mental state of strong desire that knows no repletion; more and more, an unbearable glut, without repose. Mirit Ben Nun's type of work on the other hand requires an abundance of patience. This is a Sisyphean work (requiring hard labor) of marking lines and dots, filling every empty millimeter with brilliant blots. Therefore we are facing a paradox or a logical conflict. A patient and effortful work that stems from an urgent need to cover and fill, to adorn and coat. Her craft of layering reaches a state of a continuous ceremonial ritual.

This ritual digests every object into itself - useful or discarded -- available and ordinary or rare and exceptional -- they submit and devote to the overlay work. Mirit BN gathers scrap off the streets -- cardboard rolls of fabric, assortments of wooden boards and pieces, plates and planks -- and constructs a new link, her own syntax, which she alone is fully responsible for. The new combination -- a type of a sculptural construction -- goes through a process of patching by the act of painting.

In fact Mirit regards her three dimensional objects as a platform for painting, with a uniform continuity, even if it has obstacles, mounds and valleys. These objects beg her to paint, to lay down colors, to set in motion an intricate weave of abstract patterns that at times finds itself wandering the contours of human images and sometimes -- not. In those cases what is left is the monotonous activity of running the patterns, inch by inch, till their absolute coverage, till a short and passing instant of respite and than on again to a new onset.

Next to this assembly of garbage and it's recycling into 'painted sculptures' Mirit offers a surprising reunion between her illustrated objects and so called cheap African sculpture; popular artifacts or articles that are classified in the standard culture as 'primitive'.

This combination emphasizes the difference between her individualistic performance and the collective creation which is translated into cultural clichés. The wood carved image creates a moment of peace within the crowded bustle; an introverted image, without repetitiveness and reverberation. This meeting of strangers testifies that Mirit' work could not be labeled under the ´outsiders art´ category. She is a one woman school who is compelled to do the art work she picked out to perform. Therefore she isn't creating ´an image´ such as the carved wooden statues, but she produces breathless ´emotional jam' whose highest values are color, motion, beauty and plenitude. May it never lack, neither diluted, nor dull for even an instant

Tali Tamir

August 2010

The weakness of medium format digital backs is no more. They can deal with reasonable ISO, with reasonable quality, reasonably often.

I confess. I succumbed. Aren't they pretty?

Mirit Ben Nun: Shortness of breath

'Shortness of breath' is not only a sign of physical weakness, it is a metaphor for a mental state of strong desire that knows no repletion; more and more, an unbearable glut, without repose. Mirit Ben Nun's type of work on the other hand requires an abundance of patience. This is a Sisyphean work (requiring hard labor) of marking lines and dots, filling every empty millimeter with brilliant blots. Therefore we are facing a paradox or a logical conflict. A patient and effortful work that stems from an urgent need to cover and fill, to adorn and coat. Her craft of layering reaches a state of a continuous ceremonial ritual.

This ritual digests every object into itself - useful or discarded -- available and ordinary or rare and exceptional -- they submit and devote to the overlay work. Mirit BN gathers scrap off the streets -- cardboard rolls of fabric, assortments of wooden boards and pieces, plates and planks -- and constructs a new link, her own syntax, which she alone is fully responsible for. The new combination -- a type of a sculptural construction -- goes through a process of patching by the act of painting.

In fact Mirit regards her three dimensional objects as a platform for painting, with a uniform continuity, even if it has obstacles, mounds and valleys. These objects beg her to paint, to lay down colors, to set in motion an intricate weave of abstract patterns that at times finds itself wandering the contours of human images and sometimes -- not. In those cases what is left is the monotonous activity of running the patterns, inch by inch, till their absolute coverage, till a short and passing instant of respite and than on again to a new onset.

Next to this assembly of garbage and it's recycling into 'painted sculptures' Mirit offers a surprising reunion between her illustrated objects and so called cheap African sculpture; popular artifacts or articles that are classified in the standard culture as 'primitive'.

This combination emphasizes the difference between her individualistic performance and the collective creation which is translated into cultural clichés. The wood carved image creates a moment of peace within the crowded bustle; an introverted image, without repetitiveness and reverberation. This meeting of strangers testifies that Mirit' work could not be labeled under the ´outsiders art´ category. She is a one woman school who is compelled to do the art work she picked out to perform. Therefore she isn't creating ´an image´ such as the carved wooden statues, but she produces breathless ´emotional jam' whose highest values are color, motion, beauty and plenitude. May it never lack, neither diluted, nor dull for even an instant

Tali Tamir

August 2010

My OM-2+Zuiko 50/1.4 with OM Winder 1 attached.

The winder has been in the drybox for a very long time. Might want to

give it a test run.

Taken with SE K810i camera phone.

Put through Lightroom 2.0 with 'Cyanotype' present and as usual some

vignette.

Mirit Ben Nun: Shortness of breath

'Shortness of breath' is not only a sign of physical weakness, it is a metaphor for a mental state of strong desire that knows no repletion; more and more, an unbearable glut, without repose. Mirit Ben Nun's type of work on the other hand requires an abundance of patience. This is a Sisyphean work (requiring hard labor) of marking lines and dots, filling every empty millimeter with brilliant blots. Therefore we are facing a paradox or a logical conflict. A patient and effortful work that stems from an urgent need to cover and fill, to adorn and coat. Her craft of layering reaches a state of a continuous ceremonial ritual.

This ritual digests every object into itself - useful or discarded -- available and ordinary or rare and exceptional -- they submit and devote to the overlay work. Mirit BN gathers scrap off the streets -- cardboard rolls of fabric, assortments of wooden boards and pieces, plates and planks -- and constructs a new link, her own syntax, which she alone is fully responsible for. The new combination -- a type of a sculptural construction -- goes through a process of patching by the act of painting.

In fact Mirit regards her three dimensional objects as a platform for painting, with a uniform continuity, even if it has obstacles, mounds and valleys. These objects beg her to paint, to lay down colors, to set in motion an intricate weave of abstract patterns that at times finds itself wandering the contours of human images and sometimes -- not. In those cases what is left is the monotonous activity of running the patterns, inch by inch, till their absolute coverage, till a short and passing instant of respite and than on again to a new onset.

Next to this assembly of garbage and it's recycling into 'painted sculptures' Mirit offers a surprising reunion between her illustrated objects and so called cheap African sculpture; popular artifacts or articles that are classified in the standard culture as 'primitive'.

This combination emphasizes the difference between her individualistic performance and the collective creation which is translated into cultural clichés. The wood carved image creates a moment of peace within the crowded bustle; an introverted image, without repetitiveness and reverberation. This meeting of strangers testifies that Mirit' work could not be labeled under the ´outsiders art´ category. She is a one woman school who is compelled to do the art work she picked out to perform. Therefore she isn't creating ´an image´ such as the carved wooden statues, but she produces breathless ´emotional jam' whose highest values are color, motion, beauty and plenitude. May it never lack, neither diluted, nor dull for even an instant

Tali Tamir

August 2010

I could easily say my kids are my weakness, but honestly he is my true weakness. He has been since we first met when I was 16. When we were younger we went our separate ways, but it's like the old saying: " If you love someone let them free, if they come back its meant to be." Well, we did find one another again 14 years later. There was an intense connection, neither one of us could live without. He's so smart,sweet, fun, hilarious,crazy, charismatic, passionate, and a big giant kid. He is my husband, my true love, best friend, soul mate, and biggest weakness 100%. <3

Mirit Ben Nun: Shortness of breath

'Shortness of breath' is not only a sign of physical weakness, it is a metaphor for a mental state of strong desire that knows no repletion; more and more, an unbearable glut, without repose. Mirit Ben Nun's type of work on the other hand requires an abundance of patience. This is a Sisyphean work (requiring hard labor) of marking lines and dots, filling every empty millimeter with brilliant blots. Therefore we are facing a paradox or a logical conflict. A patient and effortful work that stems from an urgent need to cover and fill, to adorn and coat. Her craft of layering reaches a state of a continuous ceremonial ritual.

This ritual digests every object into itself - useful or discarded -- available and ordinary or rare and exceptional -- they submit and devote to the overlay work. Mirit BN gathers scrap off the streets -- cardboard rolls of fabric, assortments of wooden boards and pieces, plates and planks -- and constructs a new link, her own syntax, which she alone is fully responsible for. The new combination -- a type of a sculptural construction -- goes through a process of patching by the act of painting.

In fact Mirit regards her three dimensional objects as a platform for painting, with a uniform continuity, even if it has obstacles, mounds and valleys. These objects beg her to paint, to lay down colors, to set in motion an intricate weave of abstract patterns that at times finds itself wandering the contours of human images and sometimes -- not. In those cases what is left is the monotonous activity of running the patterns, inch by inch, till their absolute coverage, till a short and passing instant of respite and than on again to a new onset.

Next to this assembly of garbage and it's recycling into 'painted sculptures' Mirit offers a surprising reunion between her illustrated objects and so called cheap African sculpture; popular artifacts or articles that are classified in the standard culture as 'primitive'.

This combination emphasizes the difference between her individualistic performance and the collective creation which is translated into cultural clichés. The wood carved image creates a moment of peace within the crowded bustle; an introverted image, without repetitiveness and reverberation. This meeting of strangers testifies that Mirit' work could not be labeled under the ´outsiders art´ category. She is a one woman school who is compelled to do the art work she picked out to perform. Therefore she isn't creating ´an image´ such as the carved wooden statues, but she produces breathless ´emotional jam' whose highest values are color, motion, beauty and plenitude. May it never lack, neither diluted, nor dull for even an instant

Tali Tamir

August 2010

Sony RX1 User Report.

I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.

The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.

Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.

It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).

Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features

The Price

First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:

Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.

Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.

You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”

In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.

35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2

The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.

While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...

I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.

As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.

Design is about making choices

When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.

So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.

In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.

In use

So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.

Snapshots

As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.

I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.

To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.

Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.

Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.

How I shoot with the RX1

Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.

Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.

So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).

Working within constraints.

The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.

To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.

Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.

I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.

But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.

Pro Tip: Focusing

Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.

Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.

Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.

Carrying.

I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.

Photos meant to be seen as a set. Not to be interpreted as multiple weaknesses, only one.

The Creature Walks Among Us, 1956

youtu.be/cfLKIq8XZ0M?t=2s Full Feature

This is the third "Creature" movie. Universal left their options open at the end of second with the exact same ambiguous ending. While sequels to sequels tend to be poor fare, gill-man fans tend to regard Creature Walks Among Us (CWAU) as being as good as the first.

CWAU shares many B-movie weaknesses. It follows formula plot elements that were hallmarks of the first movie, but it also ventures into some new material. This new ground gives CWAU some muscle of its own. The first movie had a tiny bit of science blather about evolution. The second movie didn't bother. The third, however, tried to re-inject some science into the fiction.

Synopsis

A rich scientist mounts an expedition to find the gill-man who has escaped into the Florida swamps. A local fisherman reports being attacked by a man-like "diablo" so they investigate. Using an underwater radar device (not sonar), they track him down to a narrow bayou. Here he attacks their small boat, but is set on fire by spilled gasoline. Badly burned, the gill-man collapses. The scientists take him back aboard their 100' yacht and head for San Francisco. They've bandaged him up (head to toe) and are monitoring his vital signs. During the trip the complex soap opera develops. Dr. Barton (Jeff Morrow) is the rich, but jealous husband. Mrs. Barton (Liegh Snowden) is the blonde babe no longer in love and resentful of her husbands attempts to control her. Dr. Morgan (Rex Reason) is the concerned friend. Jed Grant is the buff playboy helper. Innuendo and misunderstandings keep the pot simmering.

Along the way, the doctors find that gill-man's gills are too badly burned to supply his body with oxygen. An x-ray reveals that he has lungs but that they're collapsed and closed off. They operate to open them. He can breathe air now. They also comment about how the burns have cause the fish-like layer to fall away, and a more human-like layer of skin to develop. Gillman awakens and interrupts Jed forcing himself on Marcia. He then dives into the sea, but must be rescued before he drowns.

Back in San Francisco, Gill is taken to Dr. Barton's estate and put into an electrified pen with some other animals. He looks somewhat longingly to the water's edge, but is docile. When a mountain lion gets into the pen and kills a sheep, Gill kills the big cat. When Dr. Barton pistol-whips Jed and puts the body in Gill's cage (to frame him for the murder), Gill goes nuts, tears up the house looking for Dr. Barton, finally killing him. Gill then wanders off the estate. With everyone in funeral attire, there's a mild suggestion that Dr. Morgan will come to call on the widow Barton when a respectful time has passed. The movie closes with Gill walking down the beach towards the sea. The End.

Once you've gotten into the gill-man saga, the plot of CWAU takes it to a new level which is more thoughtful than simply another monster movie. It's also fun to see the team of Jeff Morrow and Rex Reason again -- two good actors -- who starred in This Island Earth ('54).

The original movie had two gill-man suits -- a smaller one for the underwater shots, and a larger one for the above-water shots. The second movie, Revenge, made two new gill-man suits along the same lines. For the third movie, they didn't put too much into a new gill-man suit. They created a new gill-man head and hands, but dressed him the crude sailcloth shirt and pants so as to not have to make more. For the pre-changed gill-man, they used footage from the first two movies. The only scenes which needed a new gill-man suit was where he attacked the small boat and was burned. These scenes are so quick and dark, that the lower quality Gill-Man III is not apparent.

Arthur Ross, who co-wrote the original opted for a more thoughtful script. Are we what we are because of our genes, or because of our environment? Dr. Barton is excited that the gill-man is becoming more human. The fire burned away his "old self", releasing the new. "Change the metabolism and man will change." Dr. Morgan disagrees. Science can't create a new species. They may have altered gillman's skin, but inside he's the same. As though mankind would not be fit for space travel until he evolved into something better. This is a natural sort of thought for scientism which denies there being any divine element to man. How else to define man? Our human physiology is all we have. This is reminiscent of the premise underlying The Island of Dr. Moreau. Give animals human shape, human features, and they'll become people.

The Nurture part comes where the scientists theorize that the Gill-man as a "new" man will behave good or bad, depending on how he's treated. The assumption of the Tabula Rasa.

A notion floated in the dialogue is that ordinary humans are "built" for the earth and not suitable to space. The scientists pontificate about how the aquatic gill-man was "built" for life in the water. Man, therefore, was "built" for terrestrial life. That build would not work in space, they say. "We all stand at a crossroads between the jungle and the stars." If gill-man could become a new creature, maybe man could too. Since the changed gill-man could not really become human, the inference is that man can't become this Nietzchean over-man either.

Some aspects of CWAU have spiritual parallels. The before-creature is the old "animal" nature -- rash, violent, lustful. The after-creature is the new "human" self. He's no longer lustful or rash. He's violent only as defense. At the end, he's violent but driven by a sense of justice. There's also a parallel to the biblical "fall of man" described in the Book of Genesis, in that the before creature was innocent. He needed no clothes. After the change, he needed clothing. There's also a parallel to New Testament verses which talk of the old man having to die (metaphorically) before the new man could emerge. This adds some twist to the movie's title. Our own struggles with our animal side with our divine. Dr. Barton and Jed Grant are examples of those who gives in to their animal side. Dr. Morgan and even Marcia Barton are examples of people who maintained morality.

Old Home -- Dr. Barton's estate was one of Universal's stock houses. Used in many movies, such as Tarantula

Bottom line? CWAU will appeal to gill-man fans. Since it's not simply a re-remake of the first two "Creature" films, it has some appeal to others too. It's a bit lighter on the action but more cerebral. It's worth a watch.

Better than REVENGE, but nowhere near the glorious heights of the first film (which is really the only CREATURE that you absolutely must see).

Sony RX1 User Report.

I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.

The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.

Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.

It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).

Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features

The Price

First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:

Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.

Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.

You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”

In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.

35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2

The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.

While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...

I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.

As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.

Design is about making choices

When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.

So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.

In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.

In use

So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.

Snapshots

As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.

I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.

To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.

Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.

Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.

How I shoot with the RX1

Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.

Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.

So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).

Working within constraints.

The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.

To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.

Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.

I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.

But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.

Pro Tip: Focusing

Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.

Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.

Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.

Carrying.

I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.

012

CHAPTER VII.

BACK AT SAGAMORE HILL.

The trip of ex-President Roosevelt from Mercy Hospital, Chicago, to his home at Oyster Bay, beginning the morning of October 21 over the Pennsylvania road is described here by one of the correspondents who traveled with him. Under date of October 21, he wrote at Pittsburg, Pa.:

"On a mellow autumn day whose warmth seemed to breathe a tender sympathy, Col. Roosevelt traveled from Chicago today on his way to Oyster Bay on the most extraordinary trip ever undertaken by a candidate for the presidency.

"Unable because of sheer weakness to show himself on the platform of his private car, the stricken Bull Moose leader, with blinds drawn in his stateroom, listened with throbbing heart to the soft murmuring of eager throngs as they clustered at the stations along the way. As the train rolled into Pittsburg tonight the colonel, shaken up by the jostling of the train, meekly confessed to Dr. Alexander Lambert, his New York physician, who with Dr. Scurry Terrell, are making the trip with him, that he was 'tired out.'

"'I'm going to put in a sound night of sleep,' he sighed, 'I'll be all right again in the morning.'

"The bullet nestling in the colonel's chest and the splintered rib gave him more discomfort than the wounded leader had counted on. As the train jolted at times the ex-President experienced piercing pain. But he bore it without a whimper.

"When night came the physicians agreed that although the tumbling of the train had caused the colonel more worry than he would admit, he would suffer no ill effects.

"The ex-President's leisurely jaunt through Ohio, for he is running upon a twenty-four hour train, was in truth an occasion of tragic quiet. The waiting throngs which half anticipated that they would see the plucky third party fighter walk out onto platform of his car, stood in a respectful attitude as they learned that the colonel was unable to see them.

"Almost the whole day the ex-President lay on a soft bed in his state room, reading, or when that grew irksome, dropping into restful slumber. Outside of his family, his stenographer, John Martin and the latter's wife, who boarded the train at Lima, the colonel saw no one. He asked for quiet, feeling himself that he needed to conserve all the strength at his command for the long run to Oyster Bay.

"The ex-President started his jaunt homeward by fooling the newspaper men in Chicago. At Mercy Hospital the tip was allowed to filter out that the colonel would climb into an automobile at the front entrance. Camera men adjusted their machines and a flock of newspaper men waited.

"Instead, the ex-President was wheeled to a side door to an automobile ambulance, into which he pulled himself.

"'I fooled them that time,' chuckled the colonel to Dr. Lambert, who climbed in after him.

"While the colonel was driven to the train, Mrs. Roosevelt, Miss Ethel and Theodore, Jr., took an automobile. So as to avoid the crowd at the Pennsylvania depot, the ambulance was taken to the train by way of a yard, the colonel's private car being drawn up for it. Only a few yardmen were there to salute the colonel as he stepped from the ambulance. They raised their hats and one of them cried:

"'Colonel, good luck to you!' Roosevelt lifted his right hand to his hat and gave a military salute."

Concerning the ex-President's appearance in Madison Square Garden, New York, on the night of October 30, a press dispatch said:

"Bearing no outward sign of the bullet in his breast, Theodore Roosevelt tonight hurled himself back into the campaign at Madison Square Garden. He spoke for forty minutes to the biggest meeting he has ever addressed in New York and to one of the greatest gatherings ever seen in that historic auditorium.

"More than 15,000 men and women welcomed him. Another vast crowd waited all evening outside in the hope that they might catch a word or two from the colonel as he departed. They were disappointed, for his physicians, fearing too great a tax on his strength, refused to permit him to make more than one address.

"The crowd inside cheered for forty minutes when Roosevelt, at twenty minutes past 9 o'clock led his guards into the Garden, climbed the steps to the speaker's gallery and stood before them. Bandannas and American flags waved like a moving forest, the shouts of the crowd and the drumming of thousands of heels on the floor drowned the band and every air that has been sung in the campaign from 'Everybody's Doin' It' to 'Onward, Christian Soldiers,' boomed forth when the enthusiasts, wearied of plain cheering, of mooing like the moose, or of yelling: 'We want Teddy! We want Teddy!'

"The great hall whose galleries and arched ceiling were completely hidden with bunting and huge flags, made a marvelous picture as the colonel, leaning over the speaker's rail, his teeth snapping like a bulldog's, raised his left hand in first greeting.

"For three-quarters of an hour he stood there. Now and then recognizing a friend he would make a dash to the other end of the stand, a distance of twenty feet and wave his hand—always his left—in greeting.

"As he faced first to the left, then to the right, he awakened successive outbursts of cheers, and bandannas and flags were set in motion by sections, till red flushes ran over the crowd like waves.

"The colonel's speech was pitched in a solemn and impressive key. He made no direct allusion to the attack upon him. He made no attack upon any individual among his political foes. He named no names save those of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Jackson.

"Deliberately avoiding the line of advance, which was punctuated with applause, he appealed for the votes of his auditors for the progressive cause, making no reference to himself and none to his achievements.

"With cheeks thinner than they were before the attack upon him, but with a brilliant color, with figure sturdy and erect, and with a voice that reached to every part of the hall, and never once cracked into the falsetto squeak that often characterizes it, the colonel seemed the picture of health. Not at all while he was speaking did he smile. All his gestures, save one or two were made with his left hand which, being farthest removed from the bullet wound, could be moved with impunity.

"Once or twice toward the end he brought his right hand down with a resounding slap on the rail of the speakers stand, but his face gave no indication that the gesture caused him pain. The flashlights which were set off at intervals during the address he faced without wincing.

"Col. Roosevelt was preceded by Senator Dixon, who presided, by Oscar Straus, candidate for governor in New York, and by Governor Johnson of California."

"Col. Roosevelt's physicians went into his state room to see him soon after the train left Englewood. They found him contentedly reading:

"'Col. Roosevelt is resting well and is very comfortable.'

"So well, indeed, was the ex-President that the doctor said he did not bother to take his pulse and temperature."

Col. Roosevelt arrived at Sagamore Hill at 10 o'clock in the morning of October 22.

When the ex-President's physicians left him at dusk they gave out this bulletin, impressing their insistence that Roosevelt devote himself to solid rest:

"Col. Roosevelt has stood the journey well, but, of course, is tired. The wound is still open and oozing. Rest and quiet are essential to him to avoid possibilities of wound infection. He will be able to see no one tonight. While Col. Roosevelt is extremely anxious to take up the work of the campaign we are not willing to say at this time that that will be possible.

"Jos. A. Blake.

"George E. Brewer.

"Alexander S. Lambert.

"Scurry L. Terrell."

The colonel was brought to Sagamore Hill in an auto from Syasset, L. I., without going to Oyster Bay, in order to avoid any crowd.

Flowers sent to Sagamore Hill by the school children of Nassau county were the only tokens of public welcome for the homecoming.

When he arrived at Sagamore Hill the colonel's wound was dressed and he went to bed at once, with instructions to remain quiet all day. The physicians said the wound showed no ill effects from the trip.

Col. Roosevelt and his secretaries were busy on the train until late in the night of October 21, looking for an old speech of the colonel's on the trusts. This speech had been the basis of recent criticism by William J. Bryan, and after a secretary had unearthed it and Col. Roosevelt had gone over it he said he intended to reply to Mr. Byran's criticism either in a statement or in a speech.

Automobile in Which Ex-President Roosevelt Stood when Shot

Automobile in Which Ex-President Roosevelt Stood when Shot.

Crosses Marked Where Col. Roosevelt and Schrank Stood.

George F. Moss, Owner and Driver of Automobile.

CHAPTER VIII.

ARREST, APPEARS IN COURT.

Within five minutes after he had fired the bullet into ex-President Roosevelt's right side, John Flammang Schrank was on his way in the auto police patrol to the central police station, Milwaukee.

Those who overpowered Schrank were Elbert E. Martin, Capt. A. O. Girard, Col. Cecil Lyon of Texas, Sergeant Albert Murray of the Milwaukee police department and Detectives Harry Ridenour, Louis Hartman and Valentine Skierawski of the Milwaukee police department.

The thousands who were in the vicinity of the shooting clamored for Schrank's life.

Capt. Girard and Sergeant Murray fought off the crowd and literally dragged Schrank into the Hotel Gilpatrick through the main entrance, through the lobby and into the hotel kitchen.

Here Schrank was left in charge of Capt. Girard and Herman Rollfink while Sergeant Murray telephoned the central police station for the auto patrol. Upon its arrival Schrank was hustled into it and taken to the central station.

Schrank having disappeared, the crowd about the hotel hurried to the Auditorium. This vast building was filled to capacity, 9,000, and at least 15,000 were outside unable to even get to the doors, which had been closed and locked by attendants at 8 o'clock.

When Schrank was first questioned at the central station he declined to give his name. Within a short time, however, under supervision of Chief John T. Janssen, he submitted to an examination, which appears in full in another chapter.

Schrank necessarily was roughly handled immediately after firing the shot. He clung to the revolver until it was wrenched from him, and at one time he was beneath a pile of struggling men in the street car tracks immediately in front of Hotel Gilpatrick.

One of the detectives, in his efforts to get hold of Schrank, was carried down with Schrank beneath this struggling mass of men.

When Schrank arrived at the central station he was little the worse for his rough handling, except that his clothing was badly soiled, his collar torn off and his hair disheveled. He looked as though he were glad he had been rescued from the crowd crying for his life.

Searched at the central station the following letter was found in a coat pocket:

"To the People of the United States:

"September 15, 1901—1:30 A.M.

"In a dream I saw President McKinley sit up in his coffin pointing at a man in a monk's attire in whom I recognized Theodore Roosevelt. The dead president said—This is my murderer—avenge my death.

"September 14, 1912—1:30 A.M.

"While writing a poem some one tapped me on the shoulder and said—let not a murderer take the presidential chair, avenge my death. I could clearly see Mr. McKinley's features. Before the Almighty God, I swear that the above written is nothing but the truth.

"So long as Japan could rise to be one of the greatest powers of the world despite her surviving a tradition more than 2,000 years old, as Gen. Nogi demonstrated, it is the duty of the United States of America to see that the third termer be regarded as a traitor to the American cause. Let it be the right and duty of every citizen to forcibly remove a third termer.

"Never let a third term party emblem appear on an official ballot. I am willing to die for my country. God has called me to be his instrument, so help me God.

"Innocent—Guilty."

On a sheet of paper taken from the man when he was searched at the central station, the police found a list of nine hotels where he is supposed to have stopped recently.

The following is the list: Mosely hotel, Charleston, S. C.; Planters hotel, Augusta, Ga.; Childs' hotel, Atlanta, Ga.; Plaza hotel, Birmingham, Ala.; Redmon hotel, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Third Avenue hotel, Rome, Tenn.; Bismark hotel, Nashville, Tenn.; Station hotel, Evansville, Ind., and the Normandy hotel, Louisville, Ky.

At 10:35 o'clock on the morning of October 15 Schrank was taken to District court before Judge N. B. Neelen. He admitted that he had fired the bullet which hit ex-President Roosevelt, and he was bound over to the December term of Municipal court, with bail fixed at $7,500. Bail was later raised to $15,000.

Before Schrank appeared in court District Attorney Winifred C. Zabel said:

"So far as I have been able to determine from several examinations, John Schrank is legally sane," declared District Attorney W. C. Zabel, in discussing Theodore Roosevelt's would-be assassin, yesterday.

"He has a perfect knowledge of right and wrong and realizes that the act he committed was against the law. Medically he may have a slight aberration, but only experts could determine that.

"Schrank will have as fair a trial under the law as any other man. He has been given ample time in which to prepare his case, and, if he does not engage an attorney himself, one will be appointed to defend him."

Schrank expressed no desire to be tried in a hurry. The revolver from which the shot had been fired, together with the shirt and underwear worn by Col. Roosevelt were brought into court and exhibited by Detective Louis Hartman.

At the suggestion of others, Judge Neelen ordered the revolver and bullets taken to Dean R. E. W. Sommers, Marquette university, for chemical analysis to determine whether the bullets were poisoned.

Schrank seemed unconcerned over the crime he had committed.

"You are charged with assault with intent to kill and murder," said District Attorney Zabel. "What do you plead, guilty or not guilty?"

"I am guilty," answered Schrank quietly.

The court then explained to Schrank that he was charged with a serious offense, and had the right to ask for an adjournment and time in which to obtain legal counsel and prepare a defense.

"I understand that," said Schrank. "I plead guilty and waive examination."

"Then you are bound over to the municipal court under bonds of $5,000," said the court. Schrank was then asked if he wanted a speedy trial.

"No, I don't want one at once," was the reply. "I wish to have some time."

"We will give you plenty of time. You will be tried during the December term of the Municipal court."

As Schrank was being led back to the prisoners' "pen," one of the newspaper men standing, remembering that President McKinley died because of a poisoned bullet, reminded the court that it might be well to have the bullets in Schrank's revolver chemically analyzed.

"Oh, if that's the case, it makes it much more serious," said the court. "Infection might set in. I'll raise the bail from $5,000 to $7,500."

A crowd of not more than 200 was seated in the courtroom when Schrank's case was called, the general impression being that he would not be examined before October 16. When his name was called every one in the room pushed forward, and it was necessary for the deputies and policemen to use force to push them back of the railing.

When in the "bullpen" Schrank's fellow prisoners shrank away from him. They knew of his attempt to assassinate the former president, and he was an outcast, even among his own kind.

He was led from the courtroom by Sheriff Arnold and a special corps of deputies, the officials fearing violence, to the county jail, where he was lodged in a cell on the first floor.

Schrank on his arrival in Milwaukee registered at the Argyle hotel, 270 West Water street, and was assigned to room number 1. He paid for his room in advance and was very seldom seen at the hotel thereafter.

His meals, according to the clerk, he took outside. The clerk said the only time the man was seen about the hotel was when he walked in and out.

He was registered under the name of "Albert Ross," which name he has registered under in a number of hotels at which he stopped while following Col. Roosevelt about the country.

Without a tremor in his voice and talking willingly in the central station, Schrank unfolded the fact that he had at one time been engaged to be married to Miss Elsie Ziegler, New York, one of the victims of the General Slocum steamboat disaster, in which over a thousand lives were lost.

As he spoke of the girl his voice softened and his eyes sought the floor of his cell. His lips seemed to quiver slightly, the first evidence of remorse since his arrest.

Asked if the fact that the girl had lost her life during the disaster had anything to do with the act he clenched his hands and with an angry jerk of his head almost shouted his answer to the questioner.

"She had nothing to do with it," he exclaimed. "She was a beautiful girl and I want you to understand that her soul is cleared from any part of this act."

The five sets of finger prints were taken by the police at the request of police departments of other cities.

The warrant under which Schrank was arrested read as follows:

"John Schrank, being then and there armed with a dangerous weapon, to-wit, a loaded revolver, did then and there, unlawfully, wilfully and feloniously make an assault in and upon one, Theodore Roosevelt, with said loaded revolver, with intent, then and there, him, the said Theodore Roosevelt, unlawfully, willingly and feloniously and of his malice aforethought to kill and murder."

The crime with which Schrank still is charged reads as follows:

"Assault with intent to murder or rob. Section 4376. Any person being armed with a dangerous weapon who shall assault another with intent to rob or murder shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than fifteen years nor less than one year."

Mirit Ben Nun: Shortness of breath

'Shortness of breath' is not only a sign of physical weakness, it is a metaphor for a mental state of strong desire that knows no repletion; more and more, an unbearable glut, without repose. Mirit Ben Nun's type of work on the other hand requires an abundance of patience. This is a Sisyphean work (requiring hard labor) of marking lines and dots, filling every empty millimeter with brilliant blots. Therefore we are facing a paradox or a logical conflict. A patient and effortful work that stems from an urgent need to cover and fill, to adorn and coat. Her craft of layering reaches a state of a continuous ceremonial ritual.

This ritual digests every object into itself - useful or discarded -- available and ordinary or rare and exceptional -- they submit and devote to the overlay work. Mirit BN gathers scrap off the streets -- cardboard rolls of fabric, assortments of wooden boards and pieces, plates and planks -- and constructs a new link, her own syntax, which she alone is fully responsible for. The new combination -- a type of a sculptural construction -- goes through a process of patching by the act of painting.

In fact Mirit regards her three dimensional objects as a platform for painting, with a uniform continuity, even if it has obstacles, mounds and valleys. These objects beg her to paint, to lay down colors, to set in motion an intricate weave of abstract patterns that at times finds itself wandering the contours of human images and sometimes -- not. In those cases what is left is the monotonous activity of running the patterns, inch by inch, till their absolute coverage, till a short and passing instant of respite and than on again to a new onset.

Next to this assembly of garbage and it's recycling into 'painted sculptures' Mirit offers a surprising reunion between her illustrated objects and so called cheap African sculpture; popular artifacts or articles that are classified in the standard culture as 'primitive'.

This combination emphasizes the difference between her individualistic performance and the collective creation which is translated into cultural clichés. The wood carved image creates a moment of peace within the crowded bustle; an introverted image, without repetitiveness and reverberation. This meeting of strangers testifies that Mirit' work could not be labeled under the ´outsiders art´ category. She is a one woman school who is compelled to do the art work she picked out to perform. Therefore she isn't creating ´an image´ such as the carved wooden statues, but she produces breathless ´emotional jam' whose highest values are color, motion, beauty and plenitude. May it never lack, neither diluted, nor dull for even an instant

Tali Tamir

August 2010

thegoldensieve.com

A good thing continues

Some six months ago, I posted almost 100 images and a few thoughts I felt were missing from the many existing RX1 reviews. The outpouring of support and interest in that article was very gratifying. When I published, I had used the camera for six full months, enough time to come to a view of its strengths and weaknesses and to produce a small portfolio of good images, but not enough time to see the full picture (pun intended). In the following six months, I have used the camera at least as frequently as in the first six and have produced another small set of good images. It should be noted that my usage of the RX1 in the last six (and especially in the last 3) months has involved less travel and more time with the family and around the house; I will share relatively few of these images but will spend some time sharing my impressions of its functionality for family snapshots as I am sure there is some interest. And let it be said here: one of the primary motivations to purchase the camera was to take more photos with the family, and after one full year I can confidently say: money well spent.

The A7/r game-changer?

In the past six months, Sony have announced and released two full-frame, interchangeable lens cameras that clearly take design cues from the RX1: the A7 and the A7r. These cameras are innovative and highly capable and, as such, are in the midst of taking the photography world by storm. I think they are compelling enough cameras that I wonder whether Sony is wasting its energy continuing to develop further A-mount cameras. Sony deserve credit for a bold strategy—many companies would have been content to allow the success of the the RX1 (and RX1R) generate further sales before pushing further into the white space left unexplored by camera makers with less ambition.This is not the place to detail the relative advantages and disadvantages of the RX1 versus the A7/r except to make the following point. I currently use a Nikon D800 and an RX1: were I to sell both and purchase the A7r + 35mm f/2.8 I would in many ways lose nothing by way of imaging capability or lens compatibility but would pocket the surplus $1250-1750. Indeed this loyal Nikon owner thought long and hard about doing so, which speaks to the strategic importance of these cameras for a company trying to make inroads into a highly concentrated market.Ultimately, I opted to hang onto the two cameras I have (although this decision is one that I revisit time and time again) and continue to use them as I have for the past year. Let me give you a quick flavor of why.

The RX1 is smaller and more discrete

This is a small a point, but my gut reaction to the A7/r was: much smaller than the D800, not as small as the RX1. The EVF atop the A7/r and the larger profile of interchangeable mount lenses means that I would not be able to slip the A7/r into a pocket the way I can the RX1. Further, by virtue of using the EVF and its loud mechanical shutter, the A7/r just isn’t as stealthy as the RX1. Finally, f/2 beats the pants off of f/2.8 at the same or smaller size.At this point, some of you may be saying, “Future Sony releases will allow you to get a body without an EVF and get an f/2 lens that has a slimmer profile, etc, etc.” And that’s just the point: to oversimplify things, the reason I am keeping my RX1 is that Sony currently offers something close to an A7 body without a built-in EVF and with a slimmer profile 35mm f/2.

The D800 has important functional advantages

On the other side of the spectrum, the AF speed of the A7/r just isn’t going to match the D800, especially when the former is equipped with a Nikon lens and F-mount adapter. EVFs cannot yet match the experience of looking through the prism and the lens (I expect they will match soon, but aren’t there yet). What’s more, I have made such an investment in Nikon glass that I can’t yet justify purchasing an adapter for a Sony mount or selling them all for Sony’s offerings (many of which aren’t to market yet).Now, all of these are minor points and I think all of them disappear with an A8r, but they add up to something major: I have two cameras very well suited to two different types of shooting, and I ask myself if I gain or lose by getting something in between—something that wasn’t quite a pocket shooter and something that was quite a DSLR? You can imagine, however, that if I were coming to the market without a D800 and an RX1, that my decision would be far different: dollar for dollar, the A7/r would be a no-brainer.During the moments when I consider selling to grab an A7r, I keep coming back to a thought I had a month or so before the RX1 was announced. At that time I was considering something like the NEX cameras with a ZM 21mm f/2.8 and I said in my head, “I wish someone would make a carry-around camera with a full frame sensor and a fixed 35mm f/2.8 or f/2.” Now you understand how attractive the RX1 is to me and what a ridiculously high bar exists for another camera system to reach.

Okay, so what is different from the last review?

For one, I had an issue with the camera’s AF motor failing to engage and giving me an E61:00 error. I had to send it out to Sony for repairs (via extended warranty and service plan). I detailed my experience with Sony Service here [insert link] and I write to you as a very satisfied customer. That is to say, I have 3 years left on a 4 year + accidental damage warranty and I feel confident enough in that coverage to say that I will have this beauty in working order for at least another 3 years.For two, I’ve spent significantly less time thinking of this camera as a DSLR replacement and have instead started to develop a very different way of shooting with it. The activation barrier to taking a shot with my D800 is quite high. Beyond having to bring a large camera wherever you go and have it in hand, a proper camera takes two hands and full attention to produce an image. I shoot slowly and methodically and often from a tripod with the D800. In contrast, I can pull the RX1 out, pop off the lens cap, line up and take a shot with one hand (often with a toddler in the other). This fosters a totally different type of photography.

My “be-there” camera

The have-everywhere camera that gives DSLR type controls to one-handed shooting lets me pursue images that happen very quickly or images that might not normally meet the standards of “drag-the-DSLR-out-of-the-bag.” Many of those images you’ll see on this post. A full year of shooting and I can say this with great confidence: the RX1 is a terrific mash-up of point-and-shoot and DSLR not just in image quality and features, but primarily in the product it helps me create. To take this thinking a bit further: I find myself even processing images from the RX1 differently than I would from my DSLR. So much so that I have strongly considered starting a tumblr and posting JPEGs directly from the RX1 via my phone or an iPad rather than running the bulk of them through Lightroom, onto Flickr and then on the blog (really this is just a matter of time, stay tuned, and those readers who have experience with tumblr, cloud image storage and editing, etc, etc, please contact me, I want to pick your brain).Put simply, I capture more spontaneous and beautiful “moments” than I might have otherwise. Photography is very much an exercise in “f/8 and be there,” and the RX1 is my go-to “be there” camera.

The family camera

I mentioned earlier that I justified the purchase of the RX1 partly as a camera to be used to document the family moments into which a DSLR doesn’t neatly fit. Over the past year I’ve collected thousands and thousands of family images with the RX1. The cold hard truth is that many of those photos could be better if I’d taken a full DSLR kit with me to the park or the beach or the grocery store each time. The RX1 is a difficult camera to use on a toddler (or any moving subject for that matter); autofocus isn’t as fast as a professional DSLR, it’s difficult to perfectly compose via an LCD (especially in bright sunlight), but despite these shortcomings, it’s been an incredibly useful family camera. There are simply so many beautiful moments where I had the RX1 over my shoulder, ready to go that whatever difficulties exist relative to a DSLR, those pale in comparison to the power of it’s convenience. The best camera is the one in your hand.

Where to go from here.

So what is the value of these RX1 going forward, especially in a world of the A7/r and it’s yet-to-be-born siblings without an EVF and a pancake lens? Frankly, at its current price (which is quite fair when you consider the value of the the body and the lens) I see precious little room for an independent offering versus a mirrorless, interchangeable lens system with the same image quality in a package just as small. That doesn’t mean Sony won’t make an RX2 or an RX1 Mark II (have a look at it’s other product lines to see how many SKUs are maintained despite low demand). Instead, I see the RX1 as a bridge that needed to exist for engineers, managers, and the market to make it to the A7/r and it’s descendants.A Facebook friend recently paid me a great compliment; he said something like, “Justin, via your blog, you’ve sold a ton of RX1 cameras.” Indeed, despite my efforts not to be a salesman, I think he’s right: I have and would continue to recommend this camera.The true value of the RX1 going forward is for those of us who have the thing on our shoulders; and yes, if you have an investment in and a love for a DSLR system, there’s still tremendous value in getting one, slinging it over your shoulder, and heading out into the wide, bright world; A7/r or no, this is just an unbelievably capable camera.

Mirit Ben Nun: Shortness of breath

'Shortness of breath' is not only a sign of physical weakness, it is a metaphor for a mental state of strong desire that knows no repletion; more and more, an unbearable glut, without repose. Mirit Ben Nun's type of work on the other hand requires an abundance of patience. This is a Sisyphean work (requiring hard labor) of marking lines and dots, filling every empty millimeter with brilliant blots. Therefore we are facing a paradox or a logical conflict. A patient and effortful work that stems from an urgent need to cover and fill, to adorn and coat. Her craft of layering reaches a state of a continuous ceremonial ritual.

This ritual digests every object into itself - useful or discarded -- available and ordinary or rare and exceptional -- they submit and devote to the overlay work. Mirit BN gathers scrap off the streets -- cardboard rolls of fabric, assortments of wooden boards and pieces, plates and planks -- and constructs a new link, her own syntax, which she alone is fully responsible for. The new combination -- a type of a sculptural construction -- goes through a process of patching by the act of painting.

In fact Mirit regards her three dimensional objects as a platform for painting, with a uniform continuity, even if it has obstacles, mounds and valleys. These objects beg her to paint, to lay down colors, to set in motion an intricate weave of abstract patterns that at times finds itself wandering the contours of human images and sometimes -- not. In those cases what is left is the monotonous activity of running the patterns, inch by inch, till their absolute coverage, till a short and passing instant of respite and than on again to a new onset.

Next to this assembly of garbage and it's recycling into 'painted sculptures' Mirit offers a surprising reunion between her illustrated objects and so called cheap African sculpture; popular artifacts or articles that are classified in the standard culture as 'primitive'.

This combination emphasizes the difference between her individualistic performance and the collective creation which is translated into cultural clichés. The wood carved image creates a moment of peace within the crowded bustle; an introverted image, without repetitiveness and reverberation. This meeting of strangers testifies that Mirit' work could not be labeled under the ´outsiders art´ category. She is a one woman school who is compelled to do the art work she picked out to perform. Therefore she isn't creating ´an image´ such as the carved wooden statues, but she produces breathless ´emotional jam' whose highest values are color, motion, beauty and plenitude. May it never lack, neither diluted, nor dull for even an instant

Tali Tamir

August 2010

Another wasted night and here I am again

Promises remain just promises and I don't know why

A moment of weakness is a moment of clarity

I know what I want

Why fight the temptation when it's all you've got

When it's all I've ever known

-Barfly from Strung Out

I love this song.

Monday is done. Woohoo!

365 days x 4

"Each time He said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."

2 Corinthians 12:9

I love taking pictures of shoes/feet, but this one actually has a meaning behind it.

This morning, in my church's JV service, called Ground Zero, I got up, in front of a bunch of students, on a mic, and spoke for taking up the offering.

I am terrified of speaking on a mic, or in front of more then five people! But I did it out of obedience, and I'm just so glad I did. Even though my legs were quivering, my stomach flipping, and my hands all clammy.

Real quick, I'll just say I spoke off of Psalm 24:1, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him."

Everything is His, He first blessed us with it, all we have and even our very lives. Mind as well give it back to Him.

A five-dimensional space is a space with five dimensions. If interpreted physically, that is one more than the usual three spatial dimensions and the fourth dimension of time used in relativistic physics.[1] It is an abstraction which occurs frequently in mathematics, where it is a legitimate construct. In physics and mathematics, a sequence of N numbers can be understood to represent a location in an N-dimensional space. Whether or not the universe is five-dimensional is a topic of debate.

Physics[edit]

Much of the early work on five-dimensional space was in an attempt to develop a theory that unifies the four fundamental interactions in nature: strong and weak nuclear forces, gravity and electromagnetism. German mathematician Theodor Kaluza and Swedish physicist Oskar Klein independently developed the Kaluza–Klein theory in 1921, which used the fifth dimension to unify gravity with electromagnetic force. Although their approaches were later found to be at least partially inaccurate, the concept provided a basis for further research over the past century.[1]

To explain why this dimension would not be directly observable, Klein suggested that the fifth dimension would be rolled up into a tiny, compact loop on the order of 10-33 centimeters.[1] Under his reasoning, he envisioned light as a disturbance caused by rippling in the higher dimension just beyond human perception, similar to how fish in a pond can only see shadows of ripples across the surface of the water caused by raindrops.[2] While not detectable, it would indirectly imply a connection between seemingly unrelated forces. The Kaluza–Klein theory experienced a revival in the 1970s due to the emergence of superstring theory and supergravity: the concept that reality is composed of vibrating strands of energy, a postulate only mathematically viable in ten dimensions or more. Superstring theory then evolved into a more generalized approach known as M-theory. M-theory suggested a potentially observable extra dimension in addition to the ten essential dimensions which would allow for the existence of superstrings. The other 10 dimensions are compacted, or "rolled up", to a size below the subatomic level.[1][2] The Kaluza–Klein theory today is seen as essentially a gauge theory, with the gauge being the circle group.[citation needed]

The fifth dimension is difficult to directly observe, though the Large Hadron Collider provides an opportunity to record indirect evidence of its existence.[1] Physicists theorize that collisions of subatomic particles in turn produce new particles as a result of the collision, including a graviton that escapes from the fourth dimension, or brane, leaking off into a five-dimensional bulk.[3] M-theory would explain the weakness of gravity relative to the other fundamental forces of nature, as can be seen, for example, when using a magnet to lift a pin off a table — the magnet is able to overcome the gravitational pull of the entire earth with ease.[1]

Mathematical approaches were developed in the early 20th century that viewed the fifth dimension as a theoretical construct. These theories make reference to Hilbert space, a concept that postulates an infinite number of mathematical dimensions to allow for a limitless number of quantum states. Einstein, Bergmann and Bargmann later tried to extend the four-dimensional spacetime of general relativity into an extra physical dimension to incorporate electromagnetism, though they were unsuccessful.[1] In their 1938 paper, Einstein and Bergmann were among the first to introduce the modern viewpoint that a four-dimensional theory, which coincides with Einstein-Maxwell theory at long distances, is derived from a five-dimensional theory with complete symmetry in all five dimensions. They suggested that electromagnetism resulted from a gravitational field that is “polarized” in the fifth dimension.[4]

The main novelty of Einstein and Bergmann was to seriously consider the fifth dimension as a physical entity, rather than an excuse to combine the metric tensor and electromagnetic potential. But they then reneged, modifying the theory to break its five-dimensional symmetry. Their reasoning, as suggested by Edward Witten, was that the more symmetric version of the theory predicted the existence of a new long range field, one that was both massless and scalar, which would have required a fundamental modification to Einstein's theory of general relativity.[5] Minkowski space and Maxwell's equations in vacuum can be embedded in a five-dimensional Riemann curvature tensor.[citation needed]

In 1993, the physicist Gerard 't Hooft put forward the holographic principle, which explains that the information about an extra dimension is visible as a curvature in a spacetime with one fewer dimension. For example, holograms are three-dimensional pictures placed on a two-dimensional surface, which gives the image a curvature when the observer moves. Similarly, in general relativity, the fourth dimension is manifested in observable three dimensions as the curvature path of a moving infinitesimal (test) particle. 'T Hooft has speculated that the fifth dimension is really the spacetime fabric.[citation needed]

Five-dimensional geometry[edit]

According to Klein’s definition, "a geometry is the study of the invariant properties of a spacetime, under transformations within itself." Therefore, the geometry of the 5th dimension studies the invariant properties of such space-time, as we move within it, expressed in formal equations.[6]

Polytopes[edit]

Main article: 5-polytope

In five or more dimensions, only three regular polytopes exist. In five dimensions, they are:

The 5-simplex of the simplex family, {3,3,3,3}, with 6 vertices, 15 edges, 20 faces (each an equilateral triangle), 15 cells (each a regular tetrahedron), and 6 hypercells (each a 5-cell).

The 5-cube of the hypercube family, {4,3,3,3}, with 32 vertices, 80 edges, 80 faces (each a square), 40 cells (each a cube), and 10 hypercells (each a tesseract).

The 5-orthoplex of the cross polytope family, {3,3,3,4}, with 10 vertices, 40 edges, 80 faces (each a triangle), 80 cells (each a tetrahedron), and 32 hypercells (each a 5-cell).

An important uniform 5-polytope is the 5-demicube, h{4,3,3,3} has half the vertices of the 5-cube (16), bounded by alternating 5-cell and 16-cell hypercells. The expanded or stericated 5-simplex is the vertex figure of the A5 lattice, CDel node 1.pngCDel split1.pngCDel nodes.pngCDel 3ab.pngCDel nodes.pngCDel split2.pngCDel node.png. It and has a doubled symmetry from its symmetric Coxeter diagram. The kissing number of the lattice, 30, is represented in its vertices.[7] The rectified 5-orthoplex is the vertex figure of the D5 lattice, CDel nodes 10ru.pngCDel split2.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel split1.pngCDel nodes.png. Its 40 vertices represent the kissing number of the lattice and the highest for dimension 5.[8]

Regular and semiregular polytopes in five dimensions

(Displayed as orthogonal projections in each Coxeter plane of symmetry)

A5Aut(A5)B5D5

altN=5-simplex

5-simplex

CDel node 1.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.png

{3,3,3,3}5-simplex t04 A4.svg

Stericated 5-simplex

CDel node 1.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node 1.pngaltN=5-cube

5-cube

CDel node 1.pngCDel 4.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.png

{4,3,3,3}altN=5-orthoplex

5-orthoplex

CDel node 1.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 4.pngCDel node.png

{3,3,3,4}altN=rectigied 5-orthoplex

Rectified 5-orthoplex

CDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node 1.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 4.pngCDel node.png

r{3,3,3,4}5-demicube t0 D5.svg

5-demicube

CDel node h.pngCDel 4.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.pngCDel 3.pngCDel node.png

h{4,3,3,3}

Hypersphere[edit]

A hypersphere in 5-space (also called a 4-sphere due to its surface being 4-dimensional) consists of the set of all points in 5-space at a fixed distance r from a central point P. The hypervolume enclosed by this hypersurface is:

V

=

8

π

2

r

5

15

V=\frac{8\pi ^2r^5}{15}

See also[edit]

5-manifold

Gravity

Hypersphere

List of regular 5-polytopes

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-dimensional_space

thegoldensieve.com

A good thing continues

Some six months ago, I posted almost 100 images and a few thoughts I felt were missing from the many existing RX1 reviews. The outpouring of support and interest in that article was very gratifying. When I published, I had used the camera for six full months, enough time to come to a view of its strengths and weaknesses and to produce a small portfolio of good images, but not enough time to see the full picture (pun intended). In the following six months, I have used the camera at least as frequently as in the first six and have produced another small set of good images. It should be noted that my usage of the RX1 in the last six (and especially in the last 3) months has involved less travel and more time with the family and around the house; I will share relatively few of these images but will spend some time sharing my impressions of its functionality for family snapshots as I am sure there is some interest. And let it be said here: one of the primary motivations to purchase the camera was to take more photos with the family, and after one full year I can confidently say: money well spent.

The A7/r game-changer?

In the past six months, Sony have announced and released two full-frame, interchangeable lens cameras that clearly take design cues from the RX1: the A7 and the A7r. These cameras are innovative and highly capable and, as such, are in the midst of taking the photography world by storm. I think they are compelling enough cameras that I wonder whether Sony is wasting its energy continuing to develop further A-mount cameras. Sony deserve credit for a bold strategy—many companies would have been content to allow the success of the the RX1 (and RX1R) generate further sales before pushing further into the white space left unexplored by camera makers with less ambition.This is not the place to detail the relative advantages and disadvantages of the RX1 versus the A7/r except to make the following point. I currently use a Nikon D800 and an RX1: were I to sell both and purchase the A7r + 35mm f/2.8 I would in many ways lose nothing by way of imaging capability or lens compatibility but would pocket the surplus $1250-1750. Indeed this loyal Nikon owner thought long and hard about doing so, which speaks to the strategic importance of these cameras for a company trying to make inroads into a highly concentrated market.Ultimately, I opted to hang onto the two cameras I have (although this decision is one that I revisit time and time again) and continue to use them as I have for the past year. Let me give you a quick flavor of why.

The RX1 is smaller and more discrete

This is a small a point, but my gut reaction to the A7/r was: much smaller than the D800, not as small as the RX1. The EVF atop the A7/r and the larger profile of interchangeable mount lenses means that I would not be able to slip the A7/r into a pocket the way I can the RX1. Further, by virtue of using the EVF and its loud mechanical shutter, the A7/r just isn’t as stealthy as the RX1. Finally, f/2 beats the pants off of f/2.8 at the same or smaller size.At this point, some of you may be saying, “Future Sony releases will allow you to get a body without an EVF and get an f/2 lens that has a slimmer profile, etc, etc.” And that’s just the point: to oversimplify things, the reason I am keeping my RX1 is that Sony currently offers something close to an A7 body without a built-in EVF and with a slimmer profile 35mm f/2.

The D800 has important functional advantages

On the other side of the spectrum, the AF speed of the A7/r just isn’t going to match the D800, especially when the former is equipped with a Nikon lens and F-mount adapter. EVFs cannot yet match the experience of looking through the prism and the lens (I expect they will match soon, but aren’t there yet). What’s more, I have made such an investment in Nikon glass that I can’t yet justify purchasing an adapter for a Sony mount or selling them all for Sony’s offerings (many of which aren’t to market yet).Now, all of these are minor points and I think all of them disappear with an A8r, but they add up to something major: I have two cameras very well suited to two different types of shooting, and I ask myself if I gain or lose by getting something in between—something that wasn’t quite a pocket shooter and something that was quite a DSLR? You can imagine, however, that if I were coming to the market without a D800 and an RX1, that my decision would be far different: dollar for dollar, the A7/r would be a no-brainer.During the moments when I consider selling to grab an A7r, I keep coming back to a thought I had a month or so before the RX1 was announced. At that time I was considering something like the NEX cameras with a ZM 21mm f/2.8 and I said in my head, “I wish someone would make a carry-around camera with a full frame sensor and a fixed 35mm f/2.8 or f/2.” Now you understand how attractive the RX1 is to me and what a ridiculously high bar exists for another camera system to reach.

Okay, so what is different from the last review?

For one, I had an issue with the camera’s AF motor failing to engage and giving me an E61:00 error. I had to send it out to Sony for repairs (via extended warranty and service plan). I detailed my experience with Sony Service here [insert link] and I write to you as a very satisfied customer. That is to say, I have 3 years left on a 4 year + accidental damage warranty and I feel confident enough in that coverage to say that I will have this beauty in working order for at least another 3 years.For two, I’ve spent significantly less time thinking of this camera as a DSLR replacement and have instead started to develop a very different way of shooting with it. The activation barrier to taking a shot with my D800 is quite high. Beyond having to bring a large camera wherever you go and have it in hand, a proper camera takes two hands and full attention to produce an image. I shoot slowly and methodically and often from a tripod with the D800. In contrast, I can pull the RX1 out, pop off the lens cap, line up and take a shot with one hand (often with a toddler in the other). This fosters a totally different type of photography.

My “be-there” camera

The have-everywhere camera that gives DSLR type controls to one-handed shooting lets me pursue images that happen very quickly or images that might not normally meet the standards of “drag-the-DSLR-out-of-the-bag.” Many of those images you’ll see on this post. A full year of shooting and I can say this with great confidence: the RX1 is a terrific mash-up of point-and-shoot and DSLR not just in image quality and features, but primarily in the product it helps me create. To take this thinking a bit further: I find myself even processing images from the RX1 differently than I would from my DSLR. So much so that I have strongly considered starting a tumblr and posting JPEGs directly from the RX1 via my phone or an iPad rather than running the bulk of them through Lightroom, onto Flickr and then on the blog (really this is just a matter of time, stay tuned, and those readers who have experience with tumblr, cloud image storage and editing, etc, etc, please contact me, I want to pick your brain).Put simply, I capture more spontaneous and beautiful “moments” than I might have otherwise. Photography is very much an exercise in “f/8 and be there,” and the RX1 is my go-to “be there” camera.

The family camera

I mentioned earlier that I justified the purchase of the RX1 partly as a camera to be used to document the family moments into which a DSLR doesn’t neatly fit. Over the past year I’ve collected thousands and thousands of family images with the RX1. The cold hard truth is that many of those photos could be better if I’d taken a full DSLR kit with me to the park or the beach or the grocery store each time. The RX1 is a difficult camera to use on a toddler (or any moving subject for that matter); autofocus isn’t as fast as a professional DSLR, it’s difficult to perfectly compose via an LCD (especially in bright sunlight), but despite these shortcomings, it’s been an incredibly useful family camera. There are simply so many beautiful moments where I had the RX1 over my shoulder, ready to go that whatever difficulties exist relative to a DSLR, those pale in comparison to the power of it’s convenience. The best camera is the one in your hand.

Where to go from here.

So what is the value of these RX1 going forward, especially in a world of the A7/r and it’s yet-to-be-born siblings without an EVF and a pancake lens? Frankly, at its current price (which is quite fair when you consider the value of the the body and the lens) I see precious little room for an independent offering versus a mirrorless, interchangeable lens system with the same image quality in a package just as small. That doesn’t mean Sony won’t make an RX2 or an RX1 Mark II (have a look at it’s other product lines to see how many SKUs are maintained despite low demand). Instead, I see the RX1 as a bridge that needed to exist for engineers, managers, and the market to make it to the A7/r and it’s descendants.A Facebook friend recently paid me a great compliment; he said something like, “Justin, via your blog, you’ve sold a ton of RX1 cameras.” Indeed, despite my efforts not to be a salesman, I think he’s right: I have and would continue to recommend this camera.The true value of the RX1 going forward is for those of us who have the thing on our shoulders; and yes, if you have an investment in and a love for a DSLR system, there’s still tremendous value in getting one, slinging it over your shoulder, and heading out into the wide, bright world; A7/r or no, this is just an unbelievably capable camera.

But he said to me,

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ”

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,

so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

That is why, for Christ’s sake,

I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,

in persecutions, in difficulties.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

~ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)

但他對我說：

「我的恩典是夠你用的，因為我的大能在軟弱中得以完全。」

因此，我反而極其樂意地誇耀我的那些軟弱，

好讓基督的能力遮蓋在我身上。

所以，為了基督的緣故，我在那些軟弱中、凌辱中、

艱難中、在逼迫和困苦中，都感到喜悅；

因為我什麼時候軟弱，什麼時候就剛強了。

~ 哥林多後書 12:9-10 (CSBT)

© All Rights Reserved - 2009

The latest member of The League Of Really Bad Superheroes by Calvin Innes

Spider Bloke:

He has all the inherent weaknesses of a spider, so he is prone to being washed down plug holes. He can be easily killed by dropping a book on him. He attracts spiders wherever he goes and often has thousands crawling over his body. He also suffers from Arachnophobia, which you can imagine is a bit of a problem.

Ricky Murdock is the son of prize winning nuclear scientist, Dr Richard Murdock.

Dr Murdock would often take his son along to his laboratories to witness all manor of cruel and inhuman experiments. The experiences left young Ricky traumatized and incredibly shy. He refused to play with other children and spent much of his life locked away in his bedroom, playing with his pet spiders. He amassed a large collection of spiders, big and small and learned as much as he could about each and every one of them.

After annoying his volatile father on one trip to the laboratories, he was placed in a testing room and subjected to hours of radiation while buckets of his pet spiders were thrown at him (Ricky’s obsession with the spiders had often irritated Dr Murdock). Ricky’s father later claimed in a police report that he was simply trying to teach the boy some manners.

Ricky was taken into care and allowed no further contact with his father. He was quickly moved into a care home in Coventry, where he would spend the next four years of his life. Over a period of six months, after his torture, Ricky began experiencing some strange side effects.

The result of the (slightly sick) experiment, was that Ricky had become stricken with all of the weaknesses of a spider. As he took a morning shower, he was washed down the plug hole and out to sea… Later that day a sparrow tried to eat him, and someone dropped a book on his knee, almost killing him.

Read Spider-Bloke’s full biography, and his fellow LORBS members at www.lorbs.com

Flares are in

Imagine festival was back for its 9th year. It is an amazing performing arts theatre in the town centre. Watford is lucky to have some worldwide acts performing each year.

Lance Moi En L'air by Joli Vyann was my favourite performance of the weekend that I saw. Two performers create a connection between each other. A mixture of strength and weakness.

Read more soon on my blog - www.andrewlalchan.com

Earlier this week, Air America Radio made the decision to suspend Randi Rhodes indefinitely for remarks she made about Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton during a stand-up comedy routine in San Francisco two weeks ago.

I couldn't help but be reminded of David Shuster, who was suspended from MSNBC after making an off-the-cuff comment about Chelsea Clinton being "pimped out" by the Clinton campaign. Hillary Clinton then threatened to boycott the network, not only because of Shuster's perceived transgression, but also because of an earlier statement made by Chris Matthews about Bill Clinton's infidelity.

Like Shuster's statement, Rhodes's remarks were purely rhetorical. But the context of the Rhodes case is quite different: her remarks were delivered in a nightclub, as comedy, and were not intended to be broadcast.

Air America's decision strikes me as exceptionally cowardly and misguided. As Janeane Garofalo said in a call to the station during Rhodes's usual time slot on Friday, "I'm sure the decision that was made to suspend her was made out of fear and weakness . . . " I would go even further and wonder if the network higher-ups haven't been intimidated or even threatened by the Clintons.

Brent Budowsky also weighed in:

Randi Rhodes has been a bulwark of honor and courage and valor in speaking truth about what's happening in the country...from speaking out against the war, the wiretapping, the torture, to her support for veterans (as an Air Force veteran herself). This is a precious gift to progressive radio, and a precious gift to American democracy.

Rhodes is a true original, entirely self taught, very good on her feet; she knows her stuff cold and can out-argue anyone. She is an important voice and she shouldn't be silenced.

update

I meant to update this a long time ago but never got around to it. The day after the most important election in American history seems like as good a time to do it as any.

Randi Rhodes ultimately wasn't silenced, couldn't be silenced. Since mid-April she has been broadcasting on NovaM Radio, and I've been subscribing to her podcasts since day one. She is better than ever, stronger than ever. Unbridled. And we owe her a lot. She is incredibly brilliant and gutsy; a force; a national treasure.

I had a moment of weakness and ended up pre-ordering Pokémon Legends: Arceus because of the stupid pre-order bonus that Amazon was offering. There are a variety of bonuses you can get with your pre-order from various vendors. The only other notable one was a set of three art cards from GameStop but the outfits […]

www.fbtb.net/video-games/nintendo-switch/2022/01/17/pokem...

I have a weakness for great drummers, and he is one.

Recorded in London in March and April 1970. That was, as far as I know, during his time beating the drums for Zappa, but with different musicians.

I am not sure if "Blue Whale" is the name of the record or the name of his band. Or both.

The album includes an interesting version of Willie the Pimp.

This is a re-issue on Charly Records, I bought it in 1979. Information about the creator of the cover photo and design is rather cryptic. The back sleeve just says "Photo: X".

Willing to Fight

Willie the Pimp

It's Your Turn

Days

Going Home

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My boyfriend gave me a Marine Corps shirt today, this is what it says on the back:)

Mirit Ben Nun: Shortness of breath

'Shortness of breath' is not only a sign of physical weakness, it is a metaphor for a mental state of strong desire that knows no repletion; more and more, an unbearable glut, without repose. Mirit Ben Nun's type of work on the other hand requires an abundance of patience. This is a Sisyphean work (requiring hard labor) of marking lines and dots, filling every empty millimeter with brilliant blots. Therefore we are facing a paradox or a logical conflict. A patient and effortful work that stems from an urgent need to cover and fill, to adorn and coat. Her craft of layering reaches a state of a continuous ceremonial ritual.

This ritual digests every object into itself - useful or discarded -- available and ordinary or rare and exceptional -- they submit and devote to the overlay work. Mirit BN gathers scrap off the streets -- cardboard rolls of fabric, assortments of wooden boards and pieces, plates and planks -- and constructs a new link, her own syntax, which she alone is fully responsible for. The new combination -- a type of a sculptural construction -- goes through a process of patching by the act of painting.

In fact Mirit regards her three dimensional objects as a platform for painting, with a uniform continuity, even if it has obstacles, mounds and valleys. These objects beg her to paint, to lay down colors, to set in motion an intricate weave of abstract patterns that at times finds itself wandering the contours of human images and sometimes -- not. In those cases what is left is the monotonous activity of running the patterns, inch by inch, till their absolute coverage, till a short and passing instant of respite and than on again to a new onset.

Next to this assembly of garbage and it's recycling into 'painted sculptures' Mirit offers a surprising reunion between her illustrated objects and so called cheap African sculpture; popular artifacts or articles that are classified in the standard culture as 'primitive'.

This combination emphasizes the difference between her individualistic performance and the collective creation which is translated into cultural clichés. The wood carved image creates a moment of peace within the crowded bustle; an introverted image, without repetitiveness and reverberation. This meeting of strangers testifies that Mirit' work could not be labeled under the ´outsiders art´ category. She is a one woman school who is compelled to do the art work she picked out to perform. Therefore she isn't creating ´an image´ such as the carved wooden statues, but she produces breathless ´emotional jam' whose highest values are color, motion, beauty and plenitude. May it never lack, neither diluted, nor dull for even an instant

Tali Tamir

August 2010

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The program collects films that are asking the same questions: What was here before? And how can you show it if it’s not there anymore? When and how did absence turn into presence? Does it always do that?

It also connects places in East and West, New York, Berlin and Warsaw. Shanghai and Venice. Not only through images, but also through the people who made the films (and are in them): For them, 1984 had been fiction and 1989 a reality. They are from a generation that has been producing images and sounds before and after the Berlin Wall, in East and West, until today.

Program runtime is 62 minutes.

a-b-city by Dieter Hormel and Brigitte Bühler

BRD 1985, 8 minutes, digital projection

Accompanied by a score using music of Pere Ubu and Einstürzende Neubauten, a-b-city revolves around West-Berlin’s psychodelic atmosphere. Brigitte Bühler and Dieter Hormel, who were renown for their fast paced and skillfully edited Super-8 clips, mix TV images and time-lapse shots of nightly streets, drifting clouds, and a men continuously jumping in front of the Berlin Wall, bringing about an impression of the enclosed city that constantly shifts between ecstasis and depression. (Text: Florian Wüst)

Haunt No. 1-3 by Niklas Goldbach

2007, 2 minutes, digital projection

Haunt No. 1, Video Loop, 35 sec., Stereo

Assistance: Daniel Reuter

Haunt No. 2, Video Loop, 28 sec., Stereo

Assistance: Viktor Neumann

Haunt No. 3, Video Loop, 36 sec., Stereo

Assistance: Viktor Neumann

The video triptych focuses on the historical background and the future of up to now abandoned places in Berlin’s former working-class district Prenzlauer Berg where the gentrification process is almost accomplished.

5 lessons and 9 questions about Chinatown by Shelly Silver

USA, 2009, 10 minutes, digital projection

You live somewhere, walk down the same street 50, 100, 10,000 times, each time taking in fragments, but never fully registering THE PLACE. Years, decades go by and you continue,unseeing, possibly unseen. A building comes down, and before the next one is up you ask yourself ‘what used to be there?’ You are only vaguely aware of the district’s shifting patterns and the sense that, since the 19th century, wave after wave of inhabitants have moved through and transformed these alleyways, tenements, stoops and shops.

10 square blocks, past, present, future, time, light, movement, immigration, exclusion, gentrification, racism, history, China, America, 3 languages, 13 voices, 152 years, 17,820 frames, 9 minutes, 54 seconds, 9 questions, 5 lessons, Chinatown.

View Excerpt

Former East/Former West by Shelly Silver

USA, 1994, excerpt 10-15 minutes digital projection

Made up of hundreds of street interviews done in Berlin two years after the Reunification, FORMER EAST/FORMER WEST is a vital, surprisingly open, and at times disturbing documentary. Silver questions the very notion of a shared language, focusing on changing definitions of words for political and economic systems – democracy, freedom, capitalism, socialism, nationality and history.

Magnetic [eye] Berlin by Gunter Krüger

Germany, 2007 / 08, excerpt 10 minutes, digital projection

Since 1997, Gunter Krüger has been archiving media fragments which he finds on the street – broken audiotapes, scraps of VHS and discarded compact discs. At the location he records additional filmic notes.

In the second part of the “Magnetic [eye]” series, “Magnetic [eye] Berlin”, a selection of media fragments forms a portrait of his living space. The film is designed as a generative structure, i.e. there is no final version.

In 2007 and 2008, three different playlists were made, each varying in both the selection of the media fragments as well as their compilation. By integrating new modules, new playlists with predefined running times can be created for each screening.

Nullpanorama by Martin Ebner

Germany, 2003, 1 minute, digital projection

The ascent and decent of an advertiser’s captive balloon over the roofs of the capital.

Proprio Aperto by Judith Hopf, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Florian Zeyfang

Germany / USA, 2005, 6 minutes, digital projection

The single channel video and installation work PROPRIO APERTO, which was first presented in February 2005 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in the exhibition, “Universal Experience: Art, Life and the Tourist’s Eye,” shows a walk taken through the giardini, the grounds of the Venice Biennale, in winter.

The conversations that took place there among Judith Hopf, Natascha Sadr-Hadhighian and Florian Zeyfang result in a text that circles around landscapes of ruin, ghosts and the Dasein in cultural hegemony. The images — actually photographs — are presented in slow pans, and the various levels of destruction of the pavilion come more and more into the center.

The tone of voice and language congenially conveys the suitably contemplative mood during the walk, which carries over to the spectator.

The Rooms (excerpt) by Tim Blue and Paul Rowley

USA 2010, 5 minutes, digital projection

With rich sound design and diverse formats, THE ROOMS is an experimental study of an abandoned world that somehow continues to operate. This excerpt feautures the HAU 1 / Hebbel am Ufer, a historical theater in Berlin, that turned into a cultural space for contemporary experimental and innovative theater and performance art (HAU 1).

We will be strong in our weakness. Notes from the first congress of the Jewish Renaissance in Poland.Performance by Yael Bartana with Susanne Sachsse and Slawomir Sierakowski

Israel/Netherlands/Poland, 2010, 15 minutes, digital video projection

Jewish Renaissance movement in Poland, Tel-Aviv/Amsterdam/Warsaw

Stefanie Schulte Strathaus is a film and video curator who lives and works in Berlin. She is Co-Director of Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art (with Milena Gregor and Birgit Kohler) and Member of the selection committee of the Berlinale Forum and founding director of Forum Expanded, a new section of the Berlin International Film Festival which negotiates the boundaries of cinema. Her curatorial work comprises numerous film programs, retrospectives and exhibitions, among them Michael Snow, Guy Maddin, Heinz Emigholz, Birgit Hein, Ulrike Ottinger, Stephen Dwoskin and many others. She recently co-curated (with Susanne Sachsse and Marc Siegel) LIVE FILM! JACK SMITH! Five Flaming Days in A Rented World (October 2009).

Her texts have been published in Frauen und Film, The Moving Image, Texte zur Kunst, Ästhetik & Kommunikation, Schriftenreihe Kinemathek as well as in various festival and exhibition catalogues. She is the editor of: Kinemathekheft Nr. 93: Germaine Dulac (with Sabine Nessel and Heide Schlüpmann), Berlin 2002; “The Memo Book. Films, Videos and Installations by Matthias Müller”, Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2005; “The Primal Scene: Christine Noll Brinckmann. Films and Texts”, Berlin: arsenal edition, 2008; “Who says concrete doesn’t burn, have you tried? West Berlin Film in the ’80s” (with Florian Wüst), Berlin: arsenal edition, 2008. www.arsenal-berlin.de

Paul Rowley was born 1971 in Dublin. He has worked for more than ten years as a filmmaker and visual artist.

His critically acclaimed feature documentary Seaview, which he co-directed with Nicky Gogan, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and has toured festivals internationally since.

Together with David Phillips, Paul completed a collection of films to accompany a live performance of John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes, premiered at The Stone in New York in collaboration with pianist Emily Manzo. They recently completed a 60 screen permanent video installation in the international terminal at LAX airport.

Paul was artist in residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida with Gillian Wearing, and has received many awards from the Irish Arts Council for his work since 1997. He was a fellow at the Macdowell Artist Colony in New Hampshire, and the Bogliasco Foundation, Italy. He was awarded a residency at the Experimental Television Center in New York, which led to a grant from NYCSA, the New York State Council for the Arts. He lives in Dublin and Brooklyn.

See also www.condensate.net and www.stillfilms.org

Shelly Silver is a New York based artist utilizing video, film and photography. Her work, which spans a wide range of subject matter and genres, explores the personal and societal relations that connect and restrict us; the indirect routes of pleasure and desire; the stories that are told about us and the stories we construct about ourselves.

Silver’s work has been exhibited and broadcast widely throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. Screenings and installations have been mounted by venues such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the International Center of Photography in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Yokohama Museum, the Pompidou Center, the Kyoto Museum, the London Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Museo Reina Sofia, and the London, Singapore, New York, Moscow, and Berlin film festivals. Her work has been broadcast on BBC/England, PBS/USA, Arte, Planete/Europe, RTE/Ireland, SWR/Germany, and Atenor/Spain. Silver’s numerous fellowships and grants include awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the NEA, NYSCA, NYFA, the DAAD, the Jerome Foundation, the Japan Foundation and Anonymous was a Woman. She is based in New York where she is an Associate Professor of Visual Arts in the School of the Arts, Columbia University.

...they come suddenly sometimes.

whttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoLIaJ7Mcssww.youtube.com...

Michael Franks has a way of bringing passionate without color

With color may b a health hazzard .

:-)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

The Bv 316 was a tailless twin jet fighter designed by Blohm & Voss as a replacement for the Me 262 fighter. The design of the Bv P.216 was begun in the summer of 1943 and was intended as an overall improvement to the Messerschmitt Me 262. The biggest weakness of the Me 262 were its unreliable and weak Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 turbojets, delivering only 8.8 kN (1,980 lbf) each.

Luftwaffe pilots were sceptical at first, but found the Bv 316 to be a trustworthy weapon platform. The first machines were allocated to bases in southern Germany and Austria, where the fighters helped to protect oil fields in Bulgaria in mid 1946.

General characteristics:

Crew: One

Length: 8,17 m (26 ft 9 1/4 in)

Wingspan: 11,40 m (37 ft 4 1/2 in)

Height: 3,49 m (11 ft 5 1/4 in)

Wing area: 29,11 m² (313,4 sq ft)

Empty weight: 5.046 kg (11,125 lb)

Loaded weight: 6.894 kg (15.198 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 18.152 lb (8.234 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Heinkel HeS 011A turbojets, each rated at 12,01 kN (1.300 kg/2.866 lb)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1.006 km/h (625 mph, 548 knots)

Stall speed: 200 km/h (124 mph, 108 knots)

Range: 2.400 km (1,522 mi)

Service ceiling: 15.100 m (49.600 ft) at combat weight

Rate of climb: 45,72 m/s (9.000 ft/min) at sea level

Wing loading: 236.7 kg/m² (49.4 lb/ft²)

lift-to-drag: 15.1

Thrust/weight: 0,42

Armament:*

4× fixed 30mm MK 108 cannons in the nose

Underfuselage and wing hardpoints for a total ordnance of 1.500 kg (3.303 lb),

including bombs of up to 1.000 kg (2.202 lb) caliber, drop tanks or unguided rockets

The kit and its assembly:

I wonder why this conversion stunt has not been done before or more often, because it's such an obvious move?

There had been several tailless Blohm & Voss designs, ranging from a small jet fighter (an alternative to the He 162, which was chosen as Volksjäger) to a heavily armed, two engine, three seat night fighter with 14m wing span. If you take a look at sketches of these aircraft, the overall simlarity of the later F-86 is obvious, despite its conventional layout. So I thought that a whiffy B&V design on this basis should be easy - and it actually is!

The basis is the vintage Matchbox F-86A from 1976, chosen because of its simplicity and basically good fit. The major steps include cutting off the tail just behind the wings' trailing edge, as well as a part of the dorsal section and the wings outside of the flaps.

In order to create a more dynamic look and stay true to the original Dr. Vogt designs I attached the wings with a slight dihedral, while the recessed outer wings received a recognizable anhedral - mounted on slender pylons that are actually pieces of sprue.

On top of that some donation parts were added:

* The fins are stabilizers from an Italeri A-4M Skyhawk

* The F-86's bubble canopy was replaced with the canopy and cockpit section from a Revell Me 262

* An Airfix pilot was added

* The engines come from a Dougram mecha kit (a 1:48 hovercraft!)

* The landing gear struts belong to a Hobby Boss Me 262

* The main wheels come from an Italeri IAI Kfir

The new canopy was added for a more "German" and less modern look. It meant massive body work, but it blends in well. The are behind the cockpit had to be sculpted anew, too, and creating a good transition to the two jet exhauts from above and below was not easy.

The F-86 air intake was also modified: the characteristic upper lip with the radar range finder had to go and I implanted a vertical splitter inside, plus a wall of dark foamed plastics that blocks light from the cockpit and sight onto the lead that was hidden around the cockpit.

For armament I filled the original six 0.5" machine guns and drilled two pairs of new, bigger openings for MK 108 cannons in the same place. Later, pieces of hollow steel needles were added as cannon muzzles. As an extra I added an underfuselage pylon for a drop tank and attachment points for eight scratched WGr 21 launch tubes.

Painting and markings:

How to paint a Luft '46 aircraft? The color spectrum is limited, and I wanted a "different" look. Dedicated ugliness was intended. So I came, after some browsing, across an obscure and heavily debated color for the lower sides, called (more or less inofficially) RLM 84. It's a greenish grey, much like the RAF Sky, that was used on some late Luftwaffe aircraft - maybe a primer color, or a field mix? Anyway, it would yield that odd look that I was looking for, and I used a mix of Humbrol 90 with some RLM 02, slightly darker and greenish than Sky.

In order to emphasize the overall strange color effect I decided to paint the upper surfaces in a uniform RLM 81 (Braunviolett), and add field camouflage in the form of patches/mottle in RLM 81 and RLM 02 on the flanks and on the wings. RLM 02 was not in use as camouflage paint in late WWII anymore, but I am certain that it was still around, and it matches the overall greenish look of the aircraft well.

For an even more field duty look I added details in different colors/tones. The slats' undersides received a grey primer finish, while the flaps and rudders were painted RLM 76 from below and in a slightly different shade of RLM 81 from above (Humbrol 155), as if they had been replaced or the aircraft had been built from different components and jostled into service.

All interior surfaces were painted in very dark grey (RLM 66), and various shades of Metallizer were used around the exhausts, the cannons and under the wings where the WGr 21 launch tubes are located.

After a light black ink wash and some shading the decals were applied - puzzled together from various sheets and in a minimalistic style.

6/2/2012 - saturday.

this is something totally different but it's also really personal.

i think i'm not a very strong person, i'm shy, i don't talk a lot and i might have the smallest self-confidence you've ever seen.

photography helps me to feel better in my body.

and you help me to believe in myself. thank you. <3

YOU HAVE TO VIEW THIS ON BLACK. SERIOUSLY.

and if you want to make me happy happy happy, like my facebook page :)

and yes, it's still difficult to take such pictures without my dearly beloved remote. haha

i tried..

© eva.photography all my photos may not be blogged or used in any way without my written permission!

Facebook | my tumblr | my blog

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT)

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B-24M-5-FO s/n 44-50536 "One Weakness" from the 68th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. Scrapped at Kingman AAF Arizona on Jan. 2,1946.

Though Grumman had a good aircraft in the turboprop Gulfstream I, it was clear by the mid-1960s that the future of executive transports was jet-powered. A host of new small business jets were coming into service from Cessna, Learjet, Lockheed, and North American, and Grumman needed to keep up. As a result, the company began development of its own "bizjet," the Gulfstream II.

The new aircraft bore almost no resemblance to its turboprop predecessor; only the forward fuselage was the same. Finding the right kind of jet engine was an obstacle, as turbojets were too noisy and smoky, but Grumman settled on the Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan for powerplant. A swept wing offered superb performance; the wing was based on Grumman's A-6 Intruder attack aircraft. Interiors were left to customer preference.

The Gulfstream II was immediately a hit with buyers, and 256 would be built. The basic design would also become the basis for the even more successful Gulfstream series, such as the Gulfstream III and IV and G.550. Ironically, one of the Gulfstream IIs weaknesses was engine noise, and those aircraft not equipped with hushkits have been withdrawn from service. A number are still in service.

The registration number of this Gulfstream II reveals its former owner--actor John Travolta. Built in 1970, N492JT was originally N711DP and flew with Mid-Western Airlines. It then was sold to the Teamsters and flew union officials (including Jimmy Hoffa, before his disappearance in 1975) around the country from 1972 to 1986. Travolta bought it after that, and flew N492JT until 2000; it was part of a fleet that included three Gulfstreams, a Bombardier Challenger, a Boeing 727, and his most famous acquisition, a 707.

Travolta donated N492JT to the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Georgia in 2012; it is named "Jettson" in honor of his son Jett Travolta, who died unexpectedly in 2009. As it is the only non-military aircraft on display at the Museum of Aviation, it is not listed on the museum's website.

好喜歡木蘭(辛夷)的花型和色澤，但第一次偶然看到卻熊熊不知道該怎麼拍。

一樣囉~ 亂拍@@

This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report: www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-94

DOD FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: Actions Under Way Need to Be Successfully Completed to Address Long-standing Funds Control Weaknesses

This is actualy several pics that i put together to create one word. Form my year in pics i wanted to add a theam so im going with Superman.

A good view of the heart - the baby's only weakness.

One of many pictures in an exhibition inside St Andrew's Church, Cheddar in which children were asked to name things they were good and bad at. This one by Lucy made me smile. She declared herself good at art, writing, music and cooking but was more specific in listing her weak points. just doing murder-mystery spreadsheet documents in Excel. Not a major drawback in life I guess. She could have added 'doing speech bubbles' as a weakness, it is clearly better to add the bubble after all the speech words have been written down!