Miti

Foggy Morning

Finally Got My Kindle To Play MP3

The navigation is HELL (can you imagine using ALT-F to go to the next track), but finally I can listen to music using my Kindle (I hate to juggle iPod with it). After all, life is not too bad when you can listen to Kate Royal in bed.

A Single Man

Though Tom Ford's "A Single Man" sometimes gives you the feel of more style than substance, you won't mind it because you know the style is from the hand of a master. Beautifully shot, with an impeccable choice of cast and pitch perfect soundtrack, the movie reminds me Stephen Daldry's "The Hours". Like "The Hours", the main events of the movie happened in a single day*. In fact, nothing much had happened, just life as usual, a few moments of truth, then the movie came to an end. Yet, that seems to be enough. After all, isn't it for the moment of truth, the moment of feeling truly alive, that we go to movies?

* Christopher Isherwood certainly had "Mrs Dalloway" in mind when he wrote the book.

Rodent Eats My Car!!!

Forget about dog eating your homework, apparently rodents can eat your car. No, not the whole car, but enough to make it unsafe to drive. This morning I heard some unusual engine noise, thinking of the recent Toyota recall (though I am driving a Honda), I immediately sent my car in for a service. The result? One of the belt connecting the engine was eating by the rodent (fortunately it was not totally broken). How did they know? Apparently rodents also like to eat snails and there were a bunch of empty snail shells besides my engine. The technician said he had seen rodents do more damage than this. (It made me shudder.) Guess I have to send Mitti out to guard the car from now on.

HOME

In the beginning of Wim Wenders's movie "Wings of Desire", two angels looked down at this world. They talked about seeing it from its creation, seeing it through the eons. They talked about the follies of men. Watching "HOME" is liking looking at our world through the eyes of the angels. The HD camera (also used in documentary "Planet Earth") gives us incredible zooming capability, allowing us to watch animals up-close from high above without their notice. It is so clear, so steady. We are indeed looking at our world with unflinching eyes. Yet, what will we do? Which angel will we be (if you have watched "Wings of Desire")? The one who stays aloof? Or the one who comes down.

Who's The New Cover Girl of Vogue?

Not a reader of Vogue, but I can't resist to take a peek with Tina Fey on the cover. (Save your money, there is a picture of Ms. Fey at 5 or 10 that is cute, but the writing is pretty boring, but who's buying Vogue for its writing anyway?) One thing in this video does catch my attention, the photographer is using a D3X!

Jack Dykinga Goes Digital

I was surprised to read from this month's Outdoor Photographer that Jack Dykinga, a famous landscape photographer who firmly declared no need to switch from his large format 4x5 view camera to digital just 2 years ago, is now using a Nikon D3 and D3X. Hmmm, if even a master of a 4x5 view camera is now switching to digital, the last bastion has fallen, the era of traditional film camera has truly come to an end.
True, there are still a few landscape photographers left. Joe Cornish is still using his 4x5 Ebony, but he's already going dual systems. It seems, its just a matter of time.
Never a film photographer, I don't feel nostalgic, but I still find most of the landscape photos shot by digital cameras lack the deep and rich color of Fuji Velvia. The color purple never feels right; indigo always becomes blue. The mystery in the color blue seems to be gone. OK, maybe I am "color shifted" by Velvia. Maybe that's what they are supposed to look like. But, just like the colors in the oil painting, will "Girl with a Pearl Earring" look the same if Vermeer was using colors directly from tin tubes?

So You Think Your Job Is Stressful

I felt bad. My job was too stressful: crazy working hours, issues occurring at any moment, and a manager who went hysterical whenever a problem happened. To relax, I decided to watch DVD of "the hurt locker" while I ate dinner. Five minutes into the movie I realized: compared to these bomb disarmers my job felt like a vacation in Hawaii. Damn, I should have chosen a different movie.

P.S. Kathryn Bigelow is really a master of suspense and may well become the first female director to win an Oscar.

All Good Things Come To An End

So far 2010 seems to be "work, work, and more work" to me. My life has almost become a never ending weekday. Worse, I noticed the nice and beautiful waitress I had befriended with was gone since I was back from Taiwan. Why? Oh, Why? All the good things come to an end and the bad one never seems to die?