We finished off a nice mother's day evening watching our wedding video. I have tried to avoid watching the video, just the 30 minute highlight version, as much as I could but I surrendered this time round. It is mother's day after all and somehow, somewhere, there is an unwritten rule that states you have to do anything for the mother of your children.
I must admit I enjoyed watching it this time round since we were watching it with our 2 very young children. They had a chance to see what happened 6 years ago, before they were born. They got to see the pictures when mommy and daddy were younger and they kept on pointing us out whenever we appeared in the video. I was much slimmer then ... sigh.
Anyway, while watching the video, I realised, I could count the number of couples who went to the wedding/reception and who are couple no more. Now there was no strange curse from the wedding since I can count more couples who are still a couple and some who have married after. It is interesting to see, however, that a few married couples are divorced and some that are not married are most likely not going to marry each other, ever.
Sure, these things happen. Some relationships do fail for many reasons and we are left with the one we have known the longest or in some cases, both partners are still our friends. The issue now is, can we show any of them the video without bringing up painful memories? Has our wedding video become a sad reminder for some about a relationship that did not work.
There will be some who can watch the video, see their former partner, and not feel anything by it. Who are they? How can we tell, will be able to watch this video?
I must admit it would be punishing enough to make someone sit through someone else wedding video but what if there are those who would like to see the video (probably female) and maybe enjoy it.
It is quite a dilemma to decide on whether to show our friends the video even though an ex-husband is in it or ex-girlfriend. On the other hand, they do not realise how close they were to sit through someone else wedding video.
We also have a 2 hour version of the wedding video which I will save for someone who crosses me.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Photo of the weak
If we look at the history of Photography, it was all about improving the way of capturing a moment in time. If we start at the time when silver halide, film, was used then we will see an amazing evolution from the box camera to our modern day digital camera. I will not elaborate on this change but the tools are not the only significant change in the world of Photography. I must say that our attitudes have changed as well.
Gone are the days when people dressed in their colourful finery's only to have the colour lost in black and white. Gone are the days when each plate or film was precious so you had to sit still for a long time to get the exposure right.
The pose was more or less similar every time. Standing or sitting upright, back straight, no smile, and eyes looking seriously at the camera.
Over the years, the advancement of film and camera technology has seen a change in the way photographs are taken. No longer for the wealthy or journalists. The camera has found it's way to the masses. We recorded out lives with pictures in black & white then colour films. They had their own inherent qualities.
In Black & White, you can see tonal contrasts clearly. The dark shadows against the highlights would provide detail that is not normally noticed by the naked eye.
Colour film is obviously great because of the colours. The snapshot shows history as it happened. The colours reveal themes of long ago. Jeans were blue, bicycles were red, curtains were green (unfortunately).
As the picture aged, it brought out another characteristic. Black & whites became sepia, the coloured pictures faded with a slight sepia tinge but even this was a trait on it's own. Think of pictures from the 70's and you would imagine photos with faded colours. I don't associate any other decade with similar pictures.
Now comes the digital age. No more film, we can select the film speed without having to use up one roll in order to change to a different roll. Just make your selection on the screen and viola, take any picture, any time. ISO 100 on a sunny day and ISO 400 at night on the same memory card.
We have seen many advancements in digital photography technology. Higher megapixels, noise reduction and full frame sensors to name a few. The size and quality of pictures are continually improving at a fast rate..... except in the case of phone cameras.
Most phone cameras are less than 3 megapixels in size. I have heard the arguments about quality not depending on the megapixels but when you are taking a picture with your phone, it would be nice to have the picture bigger than a thumbnail. Even the most popular phone now, the iPhone, has a 2 Megapixel camera!
Why have a camera on a phone? It is obvious that picture quality is not a priority here. Some phones have upped the ante such as the Nokia N95 with it's 5 Megapixel camera but no nobody is rushing to beat it.
To have a camera on the phone has made it convenient for everyone to "record that moment in time". We can take a picture almost anywhere and almost anytime. With this opportunity, what kind of pictures do we get? Thumbnails? Grainy(noisy), blurry, underexposed pictures. In some cases you cannot tell what the picture is about. Is that a person or thing or person's thing???
It has become so easy to carry a phone with a camera rather than a proper camera that so many pictures are originating from this. The worst part about this is that the pictures are shared. I have seen numerous Facebook albums with blurry or underexposed pictures of people. You can hardly make out a person much less the face. Have we become so complacent that we are willing to accept it as an actual picture of somebody? Facebook does not even enable us to zoom in on a picture so how can we see what that "thumbnail" is all about?
Are we taking pictures for granted and just snapping away as much as we can? Has the digital medium made each picture worth less than a thousand words that we just take as much as we can since it has become so cheap? I have seen shared photos in which a photo looks almost exactly the same as another except for the eyes looking in another direction for the second shot. Keep the first shot! Why have similar photos?
I am not asking for Professional pictures, heaven knows I am far from making them. I just want to see pictures that do tell a thousand words. When the desire to take a good picture exists then so will the desire to use a tool to allow that. Imagine a digital SLR that allows you to make and receive calls. I shudder to think....
Gone are the days when people dressed in their colourful finery's only to have the colour lost in black and white. Gone are the days when each plate or film was precious so you had to sit still for a long time to get the exposure right.
The pose was more or less similar every time. Standing or sitting upright, back straight, no smile, and eyes looking seriously at the camera.
Over the years, the advancement of film and camera technology has seen a change in the way photographs are taken. No longer for the wealthy or journalists. The camera has found it's way to the masses. We recorded out lives with pictures in black & white then colour films. They had their own inherent qualities.
In Black & White, you can see tonal contrasts clearly. The dark shadows against the highlights would provide detail that is not normally noticed by the naked eye.
Colour film is obviously great because of the colours. The snapshot shows history as it happened. The colours reveal themes of long ago. Jeans were blue, bicycles were red, curtains were green (unfortunately).
As the picture aged, it brought out another characteristic. Black & whites became sepia, the coloured pictures faded with a slight sepia tinge but even this was a trait on it's own. Think of pictures from the 70's and you would imagine photos with faded colours. I don't associate any other decade with similar pictures.
Now comes the digital age. No more film, we can select the film speed without having to use up one roll in order to change to a different roll. Just make your selection on the screen and viola, take any picture, any time. ISO 100 on a sunny day and ISO 400 at night on the same memory card.
We have seen many advancements in digital photography technology. Higher megapixels, noise reduction and full frame sensors to name a few. The size and quality of pictures are continually improving at a fast rate..... except in the case of phone cameras.
Most phone cameras are less than 3 megapixels in size. I have heard the arguments about quality not depending on the megapixels but when you are taking a picture with your phone, it would be nice to have the picture bigger than a thumbnail. Even the most popular phone now, the iPhone, has a 2 Megapixel camera!
Why have a camera on a phone? It is obvious that picture quality is not a priority here. Some phones have upped the ante such as the Nokia N95 with it's 5 Megapixel camera but no nobody is rushing to beat it.
To have a camera on the phone has made it convenient for everyone to "record that moment in time". We can take a picture almost anywhere and almost anytime. With this opportunity, what kind of pictures do we get? Thumbnails? Grainy(noisy), blurry, underexposed pictures. In some cases you cannot tell what the picture is about. Is that a person or thing or person's thing???
It has become so easy to carry a phone with a camera rather than a proper camera that so many pictures are originating from this. The worst part about this is that the pictures are shared. I have seen numerous Facebook albums with blurry or underexposed pictures of people. You can hardly make out a person much less the face. Have we become so complacent that we are willing to accept it as an actual picture of somebody? Facebook does not even enable us to zoom in on a picture so how can we see what that "thumbnail" is all about?
Are we taking pictures for granted and just snapping away as much as we can? Has the digital medium made each picture worth less than a thousand words that we just take as much as we can since it has become so cheap? I have seen shared photos in which a photo looks almost exactly the same as another except for the eyes looking in another direction for the second shot. Keep the first shot! Why have similar photos?
I am not asking for Professional pictures, heaven knows I am far from making them. I just want to see pictures that do tell a thousand words. When the desire to take a good picture exists then so will the desire to use a tool to allow that. Imagine a digital SLR that allows you to make and receive calls. I shudder to think....
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Watch your decibels
A funny thing happened on the train the other day. As I sat down on the afternoon train, on my way home, a young woman came up beside the guy sitting in front of me. She tapped him on the shoulder and said, yelling a little out loud, "Could you please turn turn the volume down!". This was followed by hand gestures pushing downward. The international symbol for 'turn the volume down'.
The guy was listening to his music device (Ipod perhaps), at a very high volume. So high, I could almost make out a little tune against the loud static noise coming out of it. He must have had the volume at a level which is sure to make him permanently deaf in a years time. It was so loud that in the silence of a stationary train, I could hear a hissing noise coming out of his ears.
He turned down the volume and apologised politely. The lady then proceeded back to hear seat which was a row behind me on the other side of the aisle.
She must have some really sensitive ears. Had the train been moving along then we probably would not have heard anything. The noise from the earphones would be drowned out by the loud roar of the train. If people started chatting in a normal tone, I would not have noticed the earphones. Even before she approached the guy, I did not notice. I guess I'm used to the buzz coming out of loud earphones, unlike some people.
By concidence, I read in the news, recently, about a clamp down on noisy commuters. People talking loudly on mobile phones (I totally agree, spare me the gory details), having loud conversations (agree, I don't want to know about him or her) and the loud ipods/mp3 player/music device (Loud?). Seriously, how loud can they be for passive listeners, if the earphones are not attached to our ears. It would be extremely loud for those listening since they want it that way. Gives the listener a feeling of being in a moving rave party just before going to work.
Must we have a library atmosphere when riding in trains. Must we have a quiet meditative atmosphere. Preapre for the work ahead. It might become so quiet one day that no one would want to speak for fear of reprisals. Commuters just blankly stare at the back of someone's head. Just sit there, quietly waiting for the train to take you to your destination, sit still like robots. Shhh....
I don't have an ipod/mp3 player/music device. I don't listen to music but I do read a little on the train. I agree that noise levels should be kept to a minimum but what is the minimum for a music devic? If someone wants to listen to music so loud that their ears bleed, I don't mind as long as mine don't. I don't think they have invented earphones loud enough for other people to hear as well as the person wearing it. The noise can be a nnoying and distracting but so is everything else around us and the beauty of it is that it makes everyday a little different. One day you have complete silence but on another day, noisy chatter or noisy earphone static.
I hate to be riding on totally silent trains everyday. The silence would be deafening.
The guy was listening to his music device (Ipod perhaps), at a very high volume. So high, I could almost make out a little tune against the loud static noise coming out of it. He must have had the volume at a level which is sure to make him permanently deaf in a years time. It was so loud that in the silence of a stationary train, I could hear a hissing noise coming out of his ears.
He turned down the volume and apologised politely. The lady then proceeded back to hear seat which was a row behind me on the other side of the aisle.
She must have some really sensitive ears. Had the train been moving along then we probably would not have heard anything. The noise from the earphones would be drowned out by the loud roar of the train. If people started chatting in a normal tone, I would not have noticed the earphones. Even before she approached the guy, I did not notice. I guess I'm used to the buzz coming out of loud earphones, unlike some people.
By concidence, I read in the news, recently, about a clamp down on noisy commuters. People talking loudly on mobile phones (I totally agree, spare me the gory details), having loud conversations (agree, I don't want to know about him or her) and the loud ipods/mp3 player/music device (Loud?). Seriously, how loud can they be for passive listeners, if the earphones are not attached to our ears. It would be extremely loud for those listening since they want it that way. Gives the listener a feeling of being in a moving rave party just before going to work.
Must we have a library atmosphere when riding in trains. Must we have a quiet meditative atmosphere. Preapre for the work ahead. It might become so quiet one day that no one would want to speak for fear of reprisals. Commuters just blankly stare at the back of someone's head. Just sit there, quietly waiting for the train to take you to your destination, sit still like robots. Shhh....
I don't have an ipod/mp3 player/music device. I don't listen to music but I do read a little on the train. I agree that noise levels should be kept to a minimum but what is the minimum for a music devic? If someone wants to listen to music so loud that their ears bleed, I don't mind as long as mine don't. I don't think they have invented earphones loud enough for other people to hear as well as the person wearing it. The noise can be a nnoying and distracting but so is everything else around us and the beauty of it is that it makes everyday a little different. One day you have complete silence but on another day, noisy chatter or noisy earphone static.
I hate to be riding on totally silent trains everyday. The silence would be deafening.
Friday, April 18, 2008
28 Minutes of Adrenaline
No lunchtime indoor soccer competition for this season :-(
This was the highlight of my working week. Struggle through Monday to get to Tuesday. Tuesday morning flies by and then it's time. Get changed, meet some friends and head for the game.
This is for a mixed indoor soccer competition held during lunch. This is Futsal, as in Futbol Sala, hall football, indoor soccer the way the South Americans play it. Mind you the game might be slightly different in that we are not as skilled as the Brazillians, game is not a spectacular nor fast but still fun altogether.
This should not be confused with the other form of indoor football which involves kicking an extremely large, furry tennis ball on astro turf. We play on a hard court which is also used as a basketball court. Actually the board tends to get in the way sometimes but if the ball goes in the hoop it counts as a point, NOT!
I play a mixed team, at least 1 female player during the game at all times, 5 a side, and a goal scored by a female player counts as 2 points. This is to encourage guys to pass to the gals and to show the goal keeper how bad he is since he could not even stop a ball kicked by a girl!
Two 14 minute halves, and 2 minutes break in between to rest and discuss tactics or just rest after all, 14 minutes of adrenaline pumping action can be quite tiring.
For this season, it's a new team which means teamwork is a foreign word. I have been playing every season and at least half the team would change. In fact, ever since I started, 5 seasons ago, I am the only one left from the original team. I know what you are asking and the answer is, NO! I bathe everyday and use deodorant regularly. I started the league with a friend who had to quit the comp since he moved to another company, which is not in the local area, but in another country. The airfare to play a lunchtime comp is just not economically viable. There's also jet lag before the game.
Historically, my team has never been in the best position at the points ladder. Mainly second last. We did go up this time though, 3rd from last place. This was after winning 1 game by default, winning 1 game properly (5-1) and having 2 teams that did worse than us even though one of them beat us during a match.
The question now is, WHY! Why keep playing when you can't win? Why waste all that energy for nothing. Why go through the sorrow of defeat? I guess it's because during that 28 minutes of game time, there's always that little bit of hope. That hope that somehow we will the match no matter what. We must always feel positive no matter what. Even when there's only a minute left and we're down by 8 points, there's always that little bit of hope that by some unbelievable miracle we could squeeze in 8 points in 60 seconds.
Then reality set's in. Even the late Mother Teresa could not perform this miracle so the referee blows his whistle and we shake hands with the victor being the good sports people we are. We catch a cab back in our sweaty team uniform, (I bet the driver regret picking us up), and discuss tactics for next week's game. The weekly cycle.
28 minutes of excitement and now I will not be having it for 3 months! What to do? Have lunch in front of the laptop and read the daily news and perhaps think about tactics for the next season. At least I have my Saturday soccer games to satisfy my craving but that will be another story....
This was the highlight of my working week. Struggle through Monday to get to Tuesday. Tuesday morning flies by and then it's time. Get changed, meet some friends and head for the game.
This is for a mixed indoor soccer competition held during lunch. This is Futsal, as in Futbol Sala, hall football, indoor soccer the way the South Americans play it. Mind you the game might be slightly different in that we are not as skilled as the Brazillians, game is not a spectacular nor fast but still fun altogether.
This should not be confused with the other form of indoor football which involves kicking an extremely large, furry tennis ball on astro turf. We play on a hard court which is also used as a basketball court. Actually the board tends to get in the way sometimes but if the ball goes in the hoop it counts as a point, NOT!
I play a mixed team, at least 1 female player during the game at all times, 5 a side, and a goal scored by a female player counts as 2 points. This is to encourage guys to pass to the gals and to show the goal keeper how bad he is since he could not even stop a ball kicked by a girl!
Two 14 minute halves, and 2 minutes break in between to rest and discuss tactics or just rest after all, 14 minutes of adrenaline pumping action can be quite tiring.
For this season, it's a new team which means teamwork is a foreign word. I have been playing every season and at least half the team would change. In fact, ever since I started, 5 seasons ago, I am the only one left from the original team. I know what you are asking and the answer is, NO! I bathe everyday and use deodorant regularly. I started the league with a friend who had to quit the comp since he moved to another company, which is not in the local area, but in another country. The airfare to play a lunchtime comp is just not economically viable. There's also jet lag before the game.
Historically, my team has never been in the best position at the points ladder. Mainly second last. We did go up this time though, 3rd from last place. This was after winning 1 game by default, winning 1 game properly (5-1) and having 2 teams that did worse than us even though one of them beat us during a match.
The question now is, WHY! Why keep playing when you can't win? Why waste all that energy for nothing. Why go through the sorrow of defeat? I guess it's because during that 28 minutes of game time, there's always that little bit of hope. That hope that somehow we will the match no matter what. We must always feel positive no matter what. Even when there's only a minute left and we're down by 8 points, there's always that little bit of hope that by some unbelievable miracle we could squeeze in 8 points in 60 seconds.
Then reality set's in. Even the late Mother Teresa could not perform this miracle so the referee blows his whistle and we shake hands with the victor being the good sports people we are. We catch a cab back in our sweaty team uniform, (I bet the driver regret picking us up), and discuss tactics for next week's game. The weekly cycle.
28 minutes of excitement and now I will not be having it for 3 months! What to do? Have lunch in front of the laptop and read the daily news and perhaps think about tactics for the next season. At least I have my Saturday soccer games to satisfy my craving but that will be another story....
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
2 Cups of Heaven a Day
I love coffee!
I struggle through work before my first cup of 1 large cappuccino (no sugar-real coffee drinkers have no sugar) from my favourite deli, "Food I Love" at Mc Mahons point.
I refuse to buy the coffee at the over priced restaurant next door but would rather cross the street and walk a few more steps to the deli. I have politely declined offers of a coffee from colleagues because I know they would buy next door. Call me a coffee snob but I consider it a sacrilege to knowingly drink bad coffee. Fool me once shame you, fool me again... you know how it goes.
The first cup will last me until the early afternoon and then I will need another hit around 3 pm. This completes my daily coffee cycle. 2 cups of heaven a day. Sometimes I feel like I go to work just to have my coffee fix.
If a company needed a way to keep employees loyal and motivated, keep the office near a good cafe.
Coffee is not just for weekdays. I enjoy my cup of coffee on Saturday and Sunday mornings courtesy of my Sunbeam, $100, k-mart return. I get my beans from many sources, Food I love, Campos, Toby's Estate or Cups n' Coffee. It takes 5-10 mins preparation then 20 minutes cleaning. 30 minutes of labour for 1 cup of coffee!!! Have to move next door to a good cafe. Weekends - at least 1 cup of coffee unless I am near a cafe.
Coffee, where would we be without you? In bed, I would say....
I struggle through work before my first cup of 1 large cappuccino (no sugar-real coffee drinkers have no sugar) from my favourite deli, "Food I Love" at Mc Mahons point.
I refuse to buy the coffee at the over priced restaurant next door but would rather cross the street and walk a few more steps to the deli. I have politely declined offers of a coffee from colleagues because I know they would buy next door. Call me a coffee snob but I consider it a sacrilege to knowingly drink bad coffee. Fool me once shame you, fool me again... you know how it goes.
The first cup will last me until the early afternoon and then I will need another hit around 3 pm. This completes my daily coffee cycle. 2 cups of heaven a day. Sometimes I feel like I go to work just to have my coffee fix.
If a company needed a way to keep employees loyal and motivated, keep the office near a good cafe.
Coffee is not just for weekdays. I enjoy my cup of coffee on Saturday and Sunday mornings courtesy of my Sunbeam, $100, k-mart return. I get my beans from many sources, Food I love, Campos, Toby's Estate or Cups n' Coffee. It takes 5-10 mins preparation then 20 minutes cleaning. 30 minutes of labour for 1 cup of coffee!!! Have to move next door to a good cafe. Weekends - at least 1 cup of coffee unless I am near a cafe.
Coffee, where would we be without you? In bed, I would say....
Monday, April 14, 2008
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