Breaking in Brikka

The previous entry gave a brief rundown of receiving the Brikka and running some "break-in" pots. It's pretty obvious that I was excited, but I did want to expand on getting familiar with it.

As I wrote earlier, the Bialetti Brikka 2-cup had to be ordered from Italy. It ordered May 22, was shipped May 29 and the first delivery attempt was June 4. Whoa, that's pretty fast for the actual delivery time. Not sure of the delay in actually shipping it out, but it's not of great concern.

The packaging was a cardboad box of medium strength and durability. You may be able to detect that the right side was somewhat crushed. It didn't affect the product, and I certainly understnad that being delivered through the postal system, gentle handling is not guaranteed.

No duty or taxes were assessed, which didn't particularly surprise me, but was certainly welcome.

The packing material was crumpled newspaper. Since the Brikka itself was in its retail box, this proved to be adequate but not ideal. Given the rough handling in transit, newspaper for packing material didn't give much protection; the retail box had a tear in it, which may be the result of less than ideal packing material. Without a sturdy inner box, the Brikka itself might have been marred if not damaged.

You can't see the tear damage in this shot. But it is an attractive box. I'm storing it away for safekeeping; I don't throw out boxes for appliances.

The 2-cup Brikka is positively tiny. It's a little jewel, IMO. Next to the Turkish grinder, it looks so diminutive you wonder if the amount of café that can be made is worth the effort. More on that later.

The instruction leaflet is packed in the box. Opening up the lid (note the lid has a window in it, something I was not expecting in the 2-cup version,) you find the water measuring cup, a notice tag and a very small quick guide to the use of the Brikka.

While this quick guide has a cute format, what caught my eye was under the "Absolutely Don't Forget" heading. Keep the lid open? That certainly isn't intuitive, but when you follow this guidline you see there isn't any danger of hot, black liquid shooting out and inflicting 2nd degree burns on your face. So this begs the question, why the window in the lid? Granted you need to close the lid when you pour the coffee, but at that point the see-through window doesn't seem to have much utility. Any ideas?

After pouring the correct amount of water into the boil pot, grinding some beans and loading them into the grounds filter, I screwed the receiving chamber onto the boil pot, placed the unit onto the stove and adjusted the flame to not extend beyond the circumferance of the pot. Now it was wait time. The instruction leaflet indicates prep time is 3-4 minutes. I didn't keep exact time, after all I was anxious plus focused on capturing creama production with the camera.

And there it is ... the "pre-produciton run" of Brikka coffee ... with crema indeed! Some comments online have stated that Brikka crema will dissipate quickly, especially if not poured immediately. I didn't notice the former, but the may dissipate quickly in the cup. I say may because I don't own any espresso cups, so poured into a normal-sized coffee cup. My theory is that enlarged surface area of the relatively large diameter of cup will hasten crema dissipation. OK, so there's something I didn't think of when buying the Brikka, grinder, etc.... you really do need proper cups!

The next two preps produced roughly the same results, so the Brikka is now officially prepared for full production. I've purchased some beans from Finger Lakes Coffee, and tomorrow morning will be the first "real" pot. Due to a recent kitchen reno, I couldn't find the sugar when I ran the condition runs, so even if I'd had good beans for that, any taste experience would have been less than optimal. Some people may take their espresso naked (I don't add anything to "regular" coffee), but not me!

The only drawback so far is that amount of cafe produced will be enough for one person. When I have guests, this will be a problem, since the pot has to cool down before you unscrew the two parts. If only the 4-cup model made crema as well as the 2-cupper. Oh well, such are the laws of physics; but so far the results justify the choice. If Santa were to bring me a 4-cup model, I certainly could compare results...

We have crema!

My pot arrived today. Well, the postman rang once yesterday but no one was home, so I picked it up today. More film at 11, but it is a cute little unit! The photos show the first stage of crema production, then the at the end stage.

I had to run it at 3/4 capacity 3 times to "break it in", so I used whatever beans I had lying around, which were not espresso/Italian roast. It DOES produce crema, and the flavour is pretty good for break-in period and ordinary beans. I think I lucked out setting the grinder burrs correctly.

I'll post a follow-up with details and will include more photos. So far, a success!

Coffee Unhappiness

Ruined by a Good Espresso Experience

Late last month I visited my best friend, who had purchased a quality burr coffee grinder and a home espresso machine. I have no idea what models they were. All I know is that it was a marvelous experience to have a superb capuccino in the morning or espresso at any time.

So now I am on a mission to transform my coffee-making at home. The Bodum French press I am using is OK, but I don't have the technique dialed in quite yet. But even more than that, I need to have fresh-roasted beans, grind them properly, and probably replace the Bodum, probably with a Chemex for "regular" coffee and to take to work in the Gott, and a pot to make moka. Bialetti is the name in what are called "moka pots". No, it's not espresso, but a true, high quality espresso machine is outside my means at this time. And despite its eccentricies, I would gravitate to La Pavoni, if for no other reason than its sheer beauty and its heritage. The "problem" with La Pavoni is that it is finicky. Using it is a real art, requiring training and practice. I would want hands-on mentoring, and finding that in my small city might be a challenge. And they're not cheap, though they're not the most costly either.

In addition, the Bialetti Brikka 2-cup, which is what I have decided to acquire, is not distributed into this country, so I am trying to find a vendor who can ship to me. The 2-cup is reported to be better than the 4-cup due to the volume of the boil pot, so I won't bother with the easily available 4-cup model. And the 2-cup is on indefinite backorder ... grrrrr. My goal is to have it in place by June 16, when the aforementioned best friend visits here, but it looks like the chances of that are slim.

So for now I will visit the local roasters and select a roaster that is reliable and quality-oriented; I'm planning on purchasing beans as often as twice a week to insure freshness. Eventually I will get a proper grinder, but there's some stick-handling with the household minister of finance to be done first.

Ciao, baby.

Six Years In

After six years of Shrub's absolutely brialliant reign his "wooden" opponent of the 2000 election is looking not only better, (as I always knew him to be) but a helluva lot funnier.

The world is now less secure, the middle east is more fragile, North America is no less dependent on fossil fuel, global warming as a result of fossil fuel dependence, is not only becoming more evident but also more intractable due to the Bush administration's ostrich strategy. The debt load for future generations increases minute-by-minute, political discourse is no longer true discourse, and the politics of sleaze and corruption rules. Thanks a lot fundamentalist right wing. We will not allow you to prevail.

GOTT it?

Due to a power failure at my place of work Friday 3/31, deskside appliances such as my little coffee maker were banned. After considering several options, I decided to simply make coffee at home in the morning and fill a Gott vacuum bottle which I had purchased back in oh, the mid 1980s. I hadn't used it in years, and had to retrieve it from the garage, clean it up, etc.

So Monday morning I make the coffee, fill the Gott, and put it near the front door by my briefcase. Naturally, I don't "see" it when I leave, lending yet more empirical evidence to the understanding that we see with our brains, not our eyes.

So Tuesday morning comes along, and I check the Gott to asses the temperature of the coffee. As I open the stopper, there is a "tshish" as a vacuum is broken, and steam (OK, water vapour) escapes. Hallelujah! I take a sip, and no, it's not truly that hot, but it would be drinkable by some people (such as my wife) who don't like their hot beverages actually hot. So I take it to work and simply nuke my coffee cup when I need to.

Now will someone please tell me why Rubbermaid, who purchased Gott many years ago, discontinued this vacuum bottle? There are still Gott-branded products such as water coolers, etc. But these excellent bottles seem to have been killed off by Rubbermaid. Last year I saw a smaller one at an estate sale and bought it for 50 cents. I haven't used it yet, but whenever I see a Gott I want to buy it. My recent re-introduction to the Gott's tremendous insulating properties "force" me to act on that desire.

Great Sig Line

Seen on RFF:

"Every real Black&White picture has silver lining."

Pixels just don't do it, do they?

Scans re-Redux

A Re-do and Some Adjustments

Since I don't have enough experience with scanning chromes I wasn't sure, in light of my disappointment with a "professional" lab's job of scanning some Kodachrome and Elitechrome slides, how high my expectations should be. So I finally took my lunch hour one day and visited a firm that specializes in digital processing and printing. I spent about 15 minutes with the technician, explaining that I just wanted my expectations to be set properly both with initial scan quality and what could be done in post-processing.

What I learned was that I should expect more/better, and that some post-processing adjustments are pretty easy. The latter I picked up from simply observing how he manipulted the that images we opened up; it was like a free mini-lesson in Photoshop.

So at home I practiced some post-processing adjustment and came up with the results posted here.

Atget at George Eastman House

Atget & Rauschenberg

I don't know if this exhibit will travel anywhere other than the International Center of Photography, but if it does come to a space near you, you should see it.

I saw it for the first time at GEH yesterday, and will return next week, and likely again. This is not because the exhibit is so absorbing or brilliant. It is wonderful, especially as GEH plays classicly Parisian music in the exhibit hall and that creates a wonderful atmosphere that is, for me, transporting.

Rather, I will return because I cannot seem to absorb such an exhibit in one visit. I have observed this each time I have been to GEH. Sometimes the presentation and lighting have been irritating (the recent Weston exhibit was disappointing in some respects), but as a lover of photographs, I can't seem to truly appreciate exhibits, especially large ones in just one visit. It is just too much visual information to process.

Rauschenberg's photos are very well seen and executed. Working to a very high level of craft with modern 35mm materials, each photo is visually precise and evocative.

But the Atget prints ... well, they transported me. Ignoring the 70-80 years of change in Paris between the Atget and Rauschenberg photos, Atget's choice of materials were brilliant. I have never before seen albumen prints, I don't think. Even in Atget's time, wet plates and albumen printing were "outdated", but he refused to use more modern materials. That was a brilliant choice. The long exposure times necessary for the wet plates dictated much of Atget's choices, and the nature of those negatives combined with the tonal scale of albumen makes Atget's Paris glow. Given that much of Atget's intent seemed to preserve a Paris that he saw as passing all too quickly, how fortunate he not only chose as he did, but that the images survive to convey not only the Paris of the period, but the atmosphere, the feeling of a great city emerging as well as passing by.

Yesterday there was to be an exhibit tour conducted in French. Sadly, no one knew anything about the tour, and the tour guide never showed. I was really disappointed; being around French in this town is almost non-existant. But the music and exhibit itself made it all better, and there are tours in French scheduled for additional Saturdays, so I will call tomorrow to make sure it was just a one-time mix-up.

Atget links:

http://www.photo-seminars.com/Fame/eugene.htm
http://www.eastman.org/fm/atget/htmlsrc/INDEX.HTML

Tower 51 Cleans up its Act

Cleaning the Tower 51 Viewfinder

Yesterday evening I disassembled the top plate of the Tower 51. As I referenced in an earlier post, the viewfinder of this camera was pretty dirty ... well, filthy is a better word ... so I finally got around to it. Cleaning all the glass surfaces took some time, plus when I removed the accessory shoe (which wasn't really necessary) the assembly that held the RF and VF window glass fell out. The glass elements had to be thoroughly cleaned and re-glued to the bracket (I used epoxy), and reassembling the whole lot caused some frustration until I figured out the order.

I had taken macro shots of the process with my digicam, so getting all the top pieces back together this morning was pretty easy, but the advance assembly caused me some problems, and I had to put everything together twice. It's functional, but not Leica buttery-smooth. Hell, it's not even as smooth as the Olympus 35 SPs.

BUT, the view of the world is so much better now. While the viewfinder is not nearly as bright as the best RFs, it is surprisingly easy to focus. It gives a 1:1 view, I think, and aligning the rangefinder patch is positive.

Since this is a meterless camera, I figured it's perfect for shooting in really dim light, with Kodak Tri-X pushed to E.I. 12,800, as per merciful's post over on RFF. Yikes, that looks yummy! Don't expect results from my foray into that world soon ... I don't process often, and right now stripping wallpaper in the kitchen is my main occupation.

EDIT: I worked on the film advance some more, and it's better. Still rough, and it takes two strokes to full advance and cock the shutter. Not sure what's wrong, but it's functional.

Sunday morning coffee

The morning was sunny and bright, so I headed to Tim's with the Saturday Toronto Star for coffee, muffin and a leisurely read before diving into painting and stripping of wallpaper.

Finally some weather fit for slow film, so I had loaded up the SP with Ilford Pan F+, which will be processed in Rodinal at 1:100. I want to establish a workflow for a slow film (ASA 50) such as Pan F+ to take advantage of its ability to render a long tonal scale, but maintain contrast. I am rating the film at ASA 40 to ensure shadow detail is retained.
Yeah, I realize it's now "ISO", not ASA. but I'm old enough to cling to the past and be curmudgeonly as well.

Alas, work at home called, so no shooting today.

The Muslim cartoon flap

Over on Decrepit Old Fool, I commented on DOF's "Eat My Shorts" entry regarding the fallout from the publishing and republishing of the cartoon in a Danish and other papers. Some good points are made by DOF, who is a friend of mine. In fact, he's such a good friend that I can tell him to "eat my shorts" when I disagree with him, and we laugh together. DOF is a gun-totin', meat eatin' libertarian (well, I guess he owns a gun, I know he certainly isn't very enamored of gun control,) but he is a smart dude. He's sometimes wrong about stuff that that I'm always right about :) but then, I could be wrong about that.

Anyway, GUYK posted a reply which I think is a reply to my comments, so I've asked for some clarification from him. We'll see if he answers, but from just glancing at his blog, I don't think we'll see eye-to-eye on a lot.

Tower 51

Back in October I bought a Tower 51, a 35mm rangefinder camera sold through Sears in 1954. Sears didn't make any cameras, but had various manufacturers, such as Nicca, Olympus, Mamiya, etc. supplied cameras that were branded "Tower". The Tower 51 was made by Iloca, a German manufacturer. Supposedly the Tower 51 was a re-badging of the Iloca Rapid B, which is also referenced on Karen Nakamura's wonderful site. But my Tower 51 does not have the film advance on the left, as with the Rapid B, rather it is in the "normal" spot, on the right. Matt Denton's Tower 51 is the left-handed version, so there were at least two versions of the Tower 51.

This camera arrived in pretty good condition except that the viewfinder is very dirty. And the film advance feels so rough that I couldn't be sure the film was advancing properly. I threw a roll of Kodak B&W C41 (black and white film but processed in the same chemistry as colour negative film) just to test it. It took me quite a while to get the film developed and scanned to CD, and I wasn't too hopeful.

But, Shazaam! the results were quite good! As a meterless camera, I had to either use an external meter or choose my exposure by the "Sunny 16" rule. Next step is to do a CLA myself. I'm not going to send it out for a cost of $50-80, as I only paid $10 plus shipping. If I screw it up, I'm not out much, but I DO love the lens, a Steinheil Cassar 50mm/f2.8 which seems to be wicked sharp.








For Miss K: Here is a shot of the advance mechanism under the top plate. I have more photos of the disassembly procedure. Let me know if you want me to send them to you.

Scans Redux

Yesterday I picked up the rework of the scans I mentioned what, 5 weeks ago? Seems longer, so with the holidays I guess I shouldn't be too judgmental.

I'll post some JPGs here later; the results are better, but not totally satisfying. Sharpness is a lot better, for the most part, but dynamic range hasn't been retained. One of the contributors to the APUG forum is a photographic engineer and used to work for a major photographic manufactuer here where I live. I asked him if he knew of a better local source for scans. He hasn't been happy either, so bought his own scanner. I'll end up doing the same, but given my "standards" (does that sound self-absorbed?), it won't be cheap. So I'll need to wait until the wallet recovers from the HDTV purchase.

Thoughts on Digital Photography from a Film Luddite

I recently exchanged an email with my good friend Decrepitoldfool (aka DOF) regarding the state of analog/film cameras in the past year. I forwarded some thoughts by Tom Abrahamsson on the year past, in which he celebrated the release of many new lenses for rangefinder cameras, and the release of new RF bodies from Cosina and none other than Zeiss, the new Zeiss Ikon using the Leica M mount.

DOF replied that he was working on a blog entry on film vs. digital from a broader perspective. This prompted me to put together some of my thoughts in reply. Partly I was simply expressing myself as thoughts flowed, and partly I was happy to give DOF food for thought.

So, here is what I wrote. I'm not trying to steal his thunder, and I don't want to spark a film vs. digital debate. If anything, I see the advantages of digital being thwarted by inferior industrial design. OK, it's not just inferior, it's just plain stupid and idiotic.

Look at what Perez said about film and current digital cameras; he envisions image capture in glasses, jewelry, anything wearable. Huh? Technically achievable, but apart from spies, what consumers really want it? Most consumers can't operate the arcane digital interfaces that Kodak and others are giving them. 80-90% of a camera's capability are wrapped in a shround of menu/symbol mystery. Just when the interface is understood, a totally new generation/paradigm comes along. And... How will you frame image in your engagement-ring-cam?

What drove photography both as a hobby and as a profession was the stability of the controls interface that dovetailed with advances in lenses (the camera itself advanced only insigificantly) and film technology. I could pick up my OM-1 and transfer the knowledge of its control to an older Asahiflex IIa (pre Pentax/Spotmatic) or to a newer OM-2 or OM-4. Or a Leica, etc.

Now if I own a Kodak digicam and switch to a Fuji, Canon, Olympus, etc., it is much harder to re-learn the interface. Not impossible, but relatively fewer will do so than with film, and the remainder will use their cameras less. Given that the consumer digicam industry is built on product churn and repurchasing relatively frequently (the upward trend in total sales can't continue forever), this is a stupid thing. When equipment sales plateau, consumable revenue becomes even more important. Can the manufacturers entice users to regularly consume paper and ink to print their own images? I'm not so sure the current state of printing technology is acceptable, both in terms of ease of production and cost. My lord, I'd much rather have casual snaps printed at the corner grocery store on good quality Fuji or Kodak materials.

Cameraphones are "the thing" right now, but I haven't quite figured out how the component manufacturers can make good money with them. The real revenue goes to to the wireless service providers. If Zeiss provides lenses for a Nokia cameraphone, does Zeiss get a percentage on every image transmitted? Does Kodak get a cut on each transmission by virtue of supplying the sensor in a Motorola phone?

Interesting times, but my Olympus 35 SPs have a spotmeter and my head can do matrix metering calculations. Betcha I can't get that in a cameraphone.

Another problem is that photofinishers have been moribund in providing good service and being innovative. I'd post some ideas here, but they might actually make sense and be valuable. Hmmm.

Recreating a Room

A move (local only) is in the near future, so getting the house de-cluttered (Lord, where DID all the stuff come from?), painted and repaired is absolutely necessary. This weekend the living room got painted and a lot of unnecessary shit was either tossed or boxed up. New paint (from a pale blue to Glidden's "Water Chestnut") went on the walls, and all the furniture was totally rearranged so that the room was "opened up". The new TV was installed on a coffee table and placed into a corner, with the components on the shelf below. Looks cool.

So, what about the TV? I'm happy. The only problems I had were:

1. It appeared that the component inputs weren't working.

2. I tried to get ahold of Syntax support to no avail. Their technical support call queue kicks you out after a very few minutes, forcing you to select an option from the IVR. If you go to the operator, you're often as not on hold and then have to back to the IVR for another ineffectual selection.

Of course, it didn't occur to me that I was calling during CES, the holy grail of trade shows for a company in this market. Once I realized this, I sort of understood what was going on, BUT the operator (once I got ahold of her) could have explained.

Email didn't work very well either, and I resorted to multiple email submissions and then emailing the PR contact at the parent company, which I found via a company press release.

Bottom line, I got the problem resolved, but it took far too long. Minus for customer service.

As far as performance goes, however, I am very happy. Image quality is very good, with the factory defaults being quite good. Yes, I've tweaked it a bit, but all the settings are easy to get to via the menu system. I do not have any high def content yet (another story), but SD images are not bad for an LCD/fixed pitch display which has to convert.

The most surprising discovery is the audio performance. I don't expect very good sound on a TV. No, it's not true HiFi, but it's actually quite good for a TV monitor. There are quite a few effect settings, most of which (all but one) are hokey, but with no EQ setting or on "pop", sound quality is better than average by far ... at least in my experience. The audio out is fixed, meaning you need to control volume via whatever amp/receiver it is feeding. It makes sense, but since I can't program my satellite receiver remote to control our current receiver, it's a PITA having to have 3 remotes.

I hope to have HD content by Saturday evening for HNIC. That's when I'll be able to better judge video performance, especially how it handles motion. The set has "Super in Plane Switching" (Super IPS) to minimize smear of fast-moving images such as a puck on the ice.

All-in-all, so far I can recommend this set. Time will tell regarding reliability, but the build quality seems very high, on a par with major brand names.

New TV

I've been lusting after an HDTV for a couple of years now. I'd been living with a Sony 27" stereo dinosaur since about 1996. It was pretty spiffy at the time, having S Video input, and in 2001 I bought a JVC SVHS tape deck to compliment it and the satellite receiver which had S-video output.

Everything was was fine until I got married and we made the decision to use live in her house and sell mine. The layout of the living room is long and narrow, with a fireplace at one end and the main entrance at the other. So the only place to put the TV is along a long wall, with a sofa against the opposite wall.

The result is a crowded room if you have a coffee table in front of the couch. That 27" TV isn't big by today's standards, but a CRT set is deep, so the footprint isn't really good for a smaller room.

The solution? Flat screen of course! I used this argument on my wife for a long time ... "It will save space!" I repeated over and over. Plus, I had upgraded my satellite receiver to a High Def model, largely because the slightly larger dish that came with it meant I might improve my signal strength.

I have been watching reviews and comments on the Olevia brand of LCD TVs from Syntax Groups for almost two years. An "off" brand, it was cheaper by a wide margin that competing brands with similar specs. But I was wary, of course. And even the lower price point was still too for quite some time.

On Christmas day, however, I saw that the LT32HVE model was on sale on radioshack.com and had a $300 rebate. I was wary of having something this expensive shipped to my house. Obviously I'd want to be there to receive it, but arranging that would be something of a hassle. So I waited to the next day and went to a local Radio Shack to see if they had stock. They don't stock TVs that large, but they did say I could have it shipped there as long as I picked it up promptly, as they had limited storage.

So I went home and ordered it. A 10% off offer was no longer available :( but it was still a good deal.

It arrived on the January 3. Today I received a DVI cable to use as the connection from the receiver and the picture is closer to optimal than with S-video. But I don't have high def programming downloaded to the receiver yet (another story), so I can't really give a valid review. Once I get that sorted, I'll post some comments. One thing I have noticed is that the control of colour temp is very good. Watching HDIC right now, the flesh tones are right on, reds are not over saturated; the balance is very good.

Hockey Day in Canada (HDIC)

One of my other passions is hockey. The Stanley Cup is the epitome of a championship ... four rounds, 7 games each round, at the end of a grueling 82-game regular schedule. Men play hurt, come up huge, skate on pure grit and adrenalin.

But the real story of hockey is not just the NHL, the AHL, or other pro leagues. It is the Junior teams and those "below". A couple of years ago, driving along highway 18 in January in western New York, I passed a bunch of kids playing pond hockey in a farmer's field. Classic across Canada, more rare in the US. It was a magical moment for me, just seeing those kids out there having pure fun.

On January 7th, CBC will broadcast Hockey Day in Canada (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hdic2006/), a celebration of the game at the grassroots level. I'll sit in front of my new LCD TV, eating homemade chipotle chili, watching kids in Stephenville, Newfoundland play the game and adore heroes like Wendell Clark, Don Cherry and Darcy Tucker. And there will be other stories all across Canada that will literally bring tears to my eyes. I'll record it to DVD (I've recorded past years' broadcasts on tape; now I'm "with it") so I can cry again later.

This stuff is purity of life.

Scan Disappointment

Monday I picked up the CD of the K64 and some E6 scans. Very disappointing. Most of the K64 scans were very soft (unsharp, but beyond the typical digital softness), density was off (overall level was too low), etc. Some of the E6 scans are very sub-par as well. Back I go tomorrow to have many of them redone.

I realize there's a difference between scanning negatives and slides. But this is a QC issue. A professional lab shouldn't let such work out the door.

Hence, no new images to post yet.

More retro/film shots coming

Or .... Mama don't take my Kodachrome away.

The shots in the "Recent Photos" entry were, as I stated, made on Fuji Reala 100 film, a colour negative product. In the other Olympus 35SP, I had Kodachrome 64 loaded. Kodachrome is my favourite film, all-time. Kodachrome 25 was the best, but it is sadly gone. Except rolls or "bricks" of rolls that have been frozen and are now offered for sale on eBay for more money than I can justify without having a professional assignment to pay for it.

So now only Kodachrome 64 and Kodachrome 200 are left, and who knows how long those will last. Kodak may announce its demise at any time. Living only a couple of miles from the Yellow Father's head office, I should be down there daily with a picket sign stating "Save film! (well, at least K64, and PLEASE bring back Panatomic X)". Yeah, like the new Kodak CEO, who came over from that photo giant HP will smile and NOT have me removed from the front of their premises.

Anyway, some of the K64 shots are at the lab being scanned, so I'll be able to post a comparison with the first (the horizontal) shot. Most people will yawn, but when I look at an original Kodachrome slide (not a scanned image on a computer), I get real calm. OMmmmmm.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving. American style. In the Midwest.

We did it again. Went to the Midwest to spend a couple of days surrounding Murkin Thanksgiving with family. Now, I love my parents. And I love my siblings and their children. But love doesn't mean complete comfort level, of course. For a person who grew up in the "heartland" of the Excited States but who is now extremely uncomfortable with the values and lifestyle thereof, I sometimes question why I return and subject myself to discomfort.

The easy answer, of course, is that my parents aren't getting any younger. . . not that I am, either, of course. And while it means a lot to them for us to visit from time to time (especially since long travel isn't something they do as often as they used to,) seeing them and spending some time before they move on is important to me.

So what about the discomfort? Where does it come from? First, the what.

Attitudes, beliefs and behaviour of some of my family members. Some things really cause me pain. Illiberal, judgmental attitudes ... the negative point-of-view that is either explicit or lurking, waiting in the wings. Writing people totally off because they hold views or have lifestyles that are very different.

But why should this bother me so much? In point of fact, I've been somewhat depressed as a result since returning. I even had to get out of the house today to get some solitude. It had nothing to do with my wife, I just needed some solitude.

The why, I think, has to do with attachment. In Buddhist belief and understanding, attachment is at the root of suffering. Or at least, that's my understanding. I have only the most rudimentary understanding of Buddhism, but it is an understanding I will be seeking to expand.

Basically, it seems that being attached to a thing or being, in either a positive or negative way, is what can cause suffering. It is being invested in that object or being such that its nature or actions have a power over one, thus having a type of control.

As a final note, my spiritual views are informed by what I have called "Native American spirituality". I'm not sure that's an accurate or even appropriate term. I see great synergy between that perspective and Buddhism. It will be interesting to see how this develops.