Archive | July, 2010

Can Someone Answer Some Questions About Japan?

By on July 31, 2010 in japan, Miscellaneous

I don’t often end up on Yahoo! Answers (has anyone ever found a decent answer to anything there?), but, for some reason, found myself landing on a page there quite a few months ago: a list of questions about Japan put together because the person posting them is “writing a story that I guess in a way is like a manga, but no pictures, and of course, it takes place in Japan.”

Yes, “of course”.

And what, exactly, does “like a manga, but no pictures” mean?

Anyway, here is the list (I thought about blurring the icon and name to protect the innocent, but, hey, it’s posted on Yahoo! Answers for all to search and see):

Clearly, this is where we all chime in with the old adage “Write what you know”.

I’m pretty loose in my application of the “write what you know” approach – I think great things can be written about places one’s never physically visited, but, obviously, you know, that would require RESEARCH.

I’m not sure which of these made me laugh the hardest, but I can definitely say that, when reading #17, I did mentally answer: “No, thankfully, we are not all subject to the shockingly crappy cell phone service that some of you lucky U.S. subscribers suffer.”

When I went back to get the link for this blog post, I discovered that a few people had actually taken the time to answer the questions in a friendly, helpful, way.

Of course, when I went back, I had to click on another link for more hilarity:

Oh, don’t worry, ChiefOfAzns, you’ll be just fine when you embark on your globetrotting adventure…

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Tokyo: Dark & Light

By on July 29, 2010 in Photography

I walked in the door this evening and, even before feeding Sumi (which is the first thing that gets done because he’s a very demanding cat), I caught a glimpse of a patch of light in the storm clouds. The city lights were coming on and I knew the window of opportunity was 10 minutes maximum before it all changed.

This is the main thing I love about living up high: I’ve become a real sky watcher. I’ve always loved looking at the sky (who doesn’t, really?), but I can’t say I was such a keen observer of the sky until I really got into photography in a serious way.

As your eye become more trained, little changes in light levels begin to leap out at you and you begin to see opportunities that exist for very short periods of time; there is a lot of carpe diem in the process or you miss an opportunity you might never have again.

I highly doubt, for example, that I will ever look out my window and see this again:

Giant cloud looms

So, this evening was, again, a dash for the tripod and the right lens with an excited cat weaving between the legs of the tripod and tripping me up (eager because he’s been alone all day and he thinks we are now playing a “chase-the-tripod-legs” game) in order to get a shot of one little patch of light almost directly above the towers that now flank Tokyo Station’s Yaesu Exit (click on photo for a better view):

Not quite night, as the city lights come on and daylight seeps through the clouds...

For the technically curious: 3 exposures at ISO 200; 30mm, f/11 taken with a Canon 50D and a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM (a kick-ass lens for the cost).

And this, by the way, is my lovely assistant:

Sumi the Russian Blue gawks - his usual "Who, me...?" stare

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