Schoolhouse Rock

As a followup to questions I had about NBC's Winter Olympics coverage policy, I saw a NY Times article discussing why the highly publicized US-Canada Olympic hockey matchup was regulated to its sister site, MSNBC, that may be of interest to readers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/sports/olympics/23sandomir.html?hp

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In other news...
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Every so often I'll get a user questioning how I did something. I'm quite the nosey person myself, so I'm not really bothered by it.

Depending on how the question is asked, it can range from benevolent curiosity to annoyance. I usually give the questioner the benefit of the doubt when its asked. That is how I took the question this time around.

I was recently questioned about one of my "iconic" images, "Schoolhouse Rock" (not a Work-safe Image).

Question: It looks like there's a flash above the model and to the right of the camera and another flash at the end of the hall?

Answer: This is all natural light w/ no reflectors. There was a skylight at the top of the building where the beams shined down for about an hour onto the floor before the sun moved & repositioned it higher.

Q: Did you change your white balance to adjust for the florescent lights?

A: No, I didn't need to adjust for the florescent light. The high noon sunbeams on a mid-May afternoon & the direction it came from completely overpowered what little artificial lighting there was.

Beyond minimal cropping, the name stamp at the bottom, a little bit of level adjustments, & spot touches to clean up sensor dust...what you're seeing here is how it came straight out of the camera.

It wasn't really in this case. But it astounds me sometimes how disbelieving some people can be. "You couldn't have possibly done that outside of Photoshop" as if I have anything to gain in lying. What the heck do I care if some random schmuck doesn't believe its the real deal. LOL

All I can do is just tell them the truth & if they don't like it, just shrug my shoulders.

Feel free to comment if you so choose.

Winter Olympics Coverage

For a network that has 4 separate portals to televise the Winter Olympics, I think NBC's live coverage downright pathetic.

They gave a stink back during the Beijing & the Sydney games that their ratings were crappy because of the 10-13 hour time difference (ahead of us). W/ the Vancouver Games, they are 3 hours behind & they have less coverage than than they did in 2000 (Sydney), 2002 (Salt Lake City), 2008 (Beijing).

Disclosure: I was hardly aware of the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, so I cannot say one way or the other in how it was covered.*

Course considering this is the same network that eased out the Late-Night rating leader because "it was his time" (as if there's like an expiration date that does not include death), hired his replacement, made a big tadoo about his arrival, shift the "expired" late-night's leader in a spectacular flop in prime time, only to not only fire them both, but then turn it around like it was the new guy's fault, & thus shift the flopee to his old job, the crappy sports coverage shouldn't surprise me.

Its even more pathetic when said results are plastered all over the news media before the actual event can be seen.

I was hoping to see more of the skiing events because A. I'm kinda a speed junkie, B. its just plain cool to watch, & C. its one of those things that's really cool to watch but am kinda have a phobia about doing it myself (its the breaking a leg thing that would probably happen).


*sigh*

In other news...

This here is Jenny.

She's always had this classy mom-thing going for her. Whenever she'd talk about them (or her husband for that matter), her body language would just light up. They were very endearing moments.

She's also an avid tennis player, so I decided to combine the classiness w/ my trademark randomness to get this shot.



Feel free to opine, critique, whatever. Just please leave a first name so I know who to address, if I choose to do so.

the State Government We Deserve

I was struggling to come up w/ a topic to discuss in my latest blog.

NY Governor Paterson's rumored "shocking revelations" that were to appear in the NY Times, only they never materialized...but Planet Albany & MOFYC did a better job of it than me (& were quicker). The mid-Atlantic snowstorms were considered until I saw the following clip from the Daily Show:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Unusually Large Snowstorm
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

The winner was this link provided initially by MOFYC.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/02/department-of-irony-1.html#more

I just find it ironic that a couple of lawmakers get into a fight about disciplinary action over a guy who was convicted of misdemeanor assault charges for assaulting his girlfriend. I'm not sure if that's referring to (Monserrate) slashing her face w/ a piece of glass or dragging her through a hotel lobby or both.

Its doubly ironic that State Senator Parker was one of only 8 senators who voted "no" for Monserrate's expulsion when he himself pled "not guilty" in a felony assault case working its way through the courts.

W/ low lives as our elected officials combined w/ the NY State Legislature having a higher incumbency rating than Communist China, maybe its the governing body we the voters deserve.

*sigh*

In other news...

This is Corey taken near one of my outdoor haunts sometime this past Fall.



Feel free to opine, critique, whatever. Just please leave at least a name so I can address you if I choose to reply.

Transformers 2 Review

There are some movies where after you are finished watching them, you come away thinking git was time well spent.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen leaves a lot to be desired. I wasn't expecting Oscar material but I was hoping for some entertainment that would keep me distracted for a couple hours. Unfortunately, Director Michael Bay couldn't even do that. The movie was one of the most vomit-wretching flicks I've suffered through in sometime.

There are some movies that can totally sustain themselves on special effects alone (like the Tomb Raider franchise) or whose plot is so incoherant it keeps you in your seat just so you can have the gratification of have the mystery revealed (like Mission: Impossible 1). Transformers 2 was not one of them.

There was no first act. Way to many new characters that were never named. There was no glimpse of building up for the second act, nor did the creators make us care. The McGuffin, the object that means everything to the characters & drives their actions but means next to nothing for the audience, was nonexistant. When a movie spends over 15 minutes w/o releasing their foot off the gas pedal (that's not the movie's climax) & never allowing us to understand why they're fighting, its just not promising.

I gave up after the first 70 minutes. The movie might be a worthwhile movie to watch while high (especially w/ all the crazy robot creatures that transform back & forth) but even that's a stretch. About the only thing that I found remotely interesting was the Shia LeBouf/Megan Fox relationship on the rocks & the tension it creates but even that was not enough to salvage this piece of schlock.

I honestly feel dumber from having watched this movie.

*sigh*

In other news...

I unofficially call this one "the Unintentional Weston":



If you have not done so already, I encourage you to vote for my image here:

http://poststar.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=13077&s=2587904&i=1#SD

I think you can do it once every 24 hours or something like that. I'd be greatly appreciated. :)

Beyond that, feel free to opine, critique, whatever. Just please leave at least a first name so I know who I am addressing, should I wish to reply.

Winter Wonderland Contest

Hey Everyone,

If you could do me a favor & vote for this image, "Winter at the Feeder Canal":



...over at the Post-Star's Winter Wonderland Contest, it'd be greatly appreciate. I'm the very first entry on the first page.

For the record, you have to register your login in the contest section even if you've already registered w/ the regular site (like if you wanted to comment on news stories).

Any help would be appreciated.

Relativity

This week has been blistering cold here in Northern NY. I could complain but then I remember that I've survived through 5 Potsdam winters & am reminded that I've had worse.

I had an outdoor shoot scheduled this weekend & had to cancel. I didn't even want to walk the 10-15 paces there was to warm up the car. Thankfully, the model had the "what were we thinking" line of thoughts that I was. So we rescheduled.

I think the same way during the summertime. Surviving through 2 Okinawa summers where the temperatures routinely reached 95 & 100 while it was so humid there was literally no difference between the sun & the shade certainly puts things into perspective. However I WILL complain about the rain if need be. That's my exception to the rule. :-)

I try & remember (in 99% of the situations I find myself in) that no matter how crappy I THINK my life is, there's always someone out there who is in a worse situation than me. I'm just thankful I'm not them. Yes, its quite gallows humorous but it works for me.

Everything is relative. Its like the therapist scene from Woody Allen's "Annie Hall." Woody & Diane are seeing their therapists (split screen). The therapists ask them both how often they have sex. Diane answer, "All the time like 3 times a week." While Woody replies, "Practically never, like 3 times a week."

Again, everything's relative. :-)

*sigh*

In other news, speaking of all things relative...

This here is Nancy.

The idea in my head was to messify her up because I'm always doing her "pretty" or "presentable". Wife-beater, fishnets, undies, boots were mentioned & left it at that w/ her to come up w/ the rest. She came out looking like she does below. It was NOT remotely what I had in my head but, considering everything is relative (particularly when said idea is vague to begin w/), it was still workable & admittedly, I liked it better than whatever I had in my head. Go figure.



Feel free to comment, opine, slam, whatever. Just leave a name so I know who I am addressing if need be.