30 July 2005, at night Today I went into Osaka for the purpose of taking pictures, but I didn't feel inspired at all. I only took a few shots. Brought along the Olympus-35 SP, and at least finished its first roll. Not too excited about seeing it though, except as a technical test result. I took the Yotsubashi subway line way out toward Osaka Port, but the station I chose (randomly) was a really boring area, and I quickly headed back to Namba, where the scenery is more decrepit. The most interesting spot I found was a kind of mini district of stereo and kimono shops. Odd combination, but in this particular area, that's just what there was. I think I took two pictures. I ate lunch at a place called Sukiya. It's the third player in the great hierarchy of gyudon (stewed beef on rice) chain shops. The biggest by far is Yoshinoya, followed by my favorite, Matsuya, and then Sukiya. I went to Sukiya a long time ago as a test and didn't think much of it. Now it looks like they're trying to change their image. It's a bit more upscale now, with nicer traditional Japanese dishes than the bigger shops, and possibly smaller portions (in the great tradition of upscale restaurants). It was good. ¥350 placated my stomach until dinnertime. I also stopped at a model shop in Namba. They had plastic model kits, train kits, radio control kits, the whole array. It gave me some non-photographic inspiration. I came home and worked on (almost finished) a model of a Honda T360 I started probably a year ago. It's Honda's first truck, and at only 360cc, had a smaller engine than what most Americans consider suitable for a small motorcycle. But it powered a truck, and hauled a lot of crud around, and didn't guzzle gas or block other drivers' views, or tear through your neighborhood at night blaring Billy Ray Cyrus or Mark Chestnut or Two Live Crew from custom speaker boxes. It did what it needed to do without ruining everyone else's life. That's a good truck. Today a man in a much bigger delivery truck nearly ran me over, because he considered that getting to his destination 10 seconds earlier was worth killing a man. Anyway, my plastic model looks really good! I've only broken one part (a windshield wiper). We're going to watch an episode of The Avengers now. How exciting! We watched my all-time favorite episode, The Positive-Negative Man last week. Now for another long-unseen episode, The £50,000 Breakfast, from our latest 2 DVD set.
Kumiko. Before the Ashiya fireworks started.
Photo with Bessa RF 6x9 on Konica Minolta Sinbi 20028 July 2005, early morning It's 2:30am, but I have to stay up a while longer, because I'm taking a pinhole exposure of our balcony view. Pinhole shots take forever at night. I took my Fujifilm camera to the shop on Tuesday as planned. No problem with language. They told me it would cost around ¥9000, which is more than I expected, but less than I am willing to pay. To replace this camera outright would cost about 25,000. I don't want to do that, and I don't like to leave cameras broken. Especially this one, as it's just really nice. I'll get it back next Wednesday. I already have plans for it. I normally use Ektachrome 64T, which is tungsten light balanced, so produces a blue cast in daylight conditions. It's perfect for fireworks, because it reproduces their colors more cleanly. It's just really expensive. I'm thinking of trying the next fireworks with daylight film (much cheaper), and a light blue filter, to simulate tungsten balance. However the Fujifilm Klasse doesn't accept accessory filters, so I've decided to use the last two rolls of expired Ektachrome 200 with it to shoot fireworks. Because of its age, it seems to produce a much cooler (bluer) color balance than it should. I think this could pay off with the fireworks. I need to use it anyway, because it isn't getting any less expired. I got my film back from Ashiya fireworks yesterday, and was dissappointed to find them all pretty dark. I should have been using f8 rather than f11. Next time!
Some of you may be wondering how to leave a comment on Kumiko's journal. It's pretty odd to navigate, but here's how. When you go to her site, you see a lot of small pictures, which are index marks for different entries. The latest entry has a big picture underneath. If you click on the title of that big picture, it loads that entry alone on the page, this time with a comment box underneath. Just above the main comment box are three small boxes. The first is for your name. The second is for a password (choose anything and punch it in). The third is for your own homepage, if you want. Once you've filled in the comment box, click on the pencil icon to submit the comment. Barry, thanks for the beet recipe. We'll try it with our last beets. I'm going to plant more beets (and brussels sprouts) as an autumn harvest crop.
Swirl.
Photo with Bessa RF 6x9 on Agfapan 40026 July 2005, morning The fireworks were really cool, but not quite as good as two years ago. They moved the seating area from a grassy field to a sandy beach, so we had to contend with sand the whole time. We didn't know about it beforehand, so we didn't have a proper blanket to sit on. I'm sure I got some good shots with my Voigtlander, but it was really a pain to wind the film for each shot, in the dark, with no automatic stop, while wanting to watch the show. I think I'll go back to 35mm for my next attempt. Being on the beach with a camera reminded me that my Fujifilm Klasse still has sand in it from Guam. I took it apart and cleaned it as much as I dared, but it wasn't enough, so I'm going to take it to the service center in Osaka this morning. At my Japanese lesson yesterday, we practiced the service counter conversation I'll engage in about 90 minutes from now. In other news: my wife is a geisha. Look at these pictures her friends took last Friday. They went to a Japanese movie theme park in Kyoto and got dressed up for photos. Kumiko makes a much better-looking geisha than all the real geisha we saw at Gion Odori.
A shop selling dried foods in Abenocho, Osaka. I liked their scale.
Photo with Bessa RF 6x9 on Agfapan 40023 July 2005, afternoon Well, this is it: the first day of summer fireworks. We're going to the Ashiya Summer Carnival tonight. We went there two years ago and had a great time. The fireworks are really close to the viewing area, and there's a big open field of well-tended grass, which affords everyone a comfortable seat. They even had live music, albeit crappy, last time, which finished just before the fireworks started. I can't wait to feel that Natsu no Hanabi Taikai atmosphere again. Of course I've loaded up on my favorite fireworks film, Kodak Ektachrome 64T, but this time in medium format. It won't be nearly as convenient as my Contax Aria, but I can't wait to see those big 6x9cm transparencies. It should look really cool. I'll probably shoot about 20% as many shots as I would on 35mm, but that's just the way it works. I'm thinking of stopping into Yodobashi on the way, to buy a small tripod. I don't want to lug my behemoth out there tonight. Yesterday I went with a friend from work, Kevin, to get my Texas driver's license translated. It's the first step toward getting a real driver's license in Japan, and since I learned from Tammie that my international driving permit is void because this is my residence, I want to get a real one. The next step is to familiarize myself with the driving laws, then take a written and driving tests. I probably would have put it off forever, so thanks, Kevin, for pushing me into it. Check out this laundromat:
Cool color scheme in here. This is way down in Osaka near Abenocho.
Photo with Bessa RF 6x9 on Fujichrome Velvia21 July 2005, night Oh man, Kumiko and I have been watching this show on Animal Planet (cable station) about baby animals, and they sure are cute! We watched one with baby tigers the other day, and last night was a baby lynx. How can things be that cute? It's amazing. Guess what...Kumiko has her own web journal now. She's made it through Yahoo. She was inspired by our friend Keiko, of Brian and Keiko fame. Anyway, she's been going strong for the past few days and now I have permission to publish a link to it. We are now a hi-tech couple. I consider myself a low-tech guy because I use old cameras and like old cars and old electric fans and 50s sci-fi, but look at me now. I'm typing away on computer buttons and using a laser mouse. Well, not a laser, but a cool red light. And all while listening to my friend's "podcast". I like his podcast. It's a good podcast. The best podcast I've heard. But he says "podcast" too much on his podcast. This word could quickly become a hated word, like "blog", if people aren't careful. Kumiko isn't home now. She's at her friend's house, so I'm living it up on my own here: updating my journal, drinking Coke, perusing the classic camera forum on Photonet...basically the exact same things I do every night. And finally, for all those who come just to see what a I had for dinner: curry from Kumiko's mom.
Another dog! This time with a decidedly human owner.
Photo at Senri-Chuo monorail station with Voigtlander Bessa RF on Agfapan 10018 July 2005, morning Sausages are coming! Kumiko is cooking them now. That is all.
Cute dog. Voigtlander Bessa RF.16 July 2005, midnight I did it. I went into work on my day off and wrote a report. I work in an area of Toyonaka called Senri-Chuo, which is a relatively new residential/shopping/office area. Everything there is modern, so I was pretty surprised to stumble across a dark, mysterious path leading into a bamboo grove only minutes walk from my office. After I finished the report, I went for a walk with my Bessa. I couldn't find much that interested me enough (doesn't take much actually) to take a shot until I came across that path, and got pretty trigger happy. I discovered that it leads to a shrine and then becomes a regular neighborhood street. As soon as I entered the bamboo though, I was set upon by mosquitos. They were crazy about my English/German/Dutch O-positive. Quite an exotic treat. The reason I was carrying the 6x9 Bessa, rather than the 35mm Olympus, is that the scanner return went better than expected. They let me trade it on the spot for a different model. On top of being broken, I wasn't really satisfied with the Canoscan 8400 I bought on July 1st. It was rather ugly, slower than slow, and the quality of 35mm scans was inexplicably low, although medium format was fine. I kind of regretted buying it anyway, so it was really nice of Yodobashi Camera, I thought, to take back the out-of-box, non-working Canon, and allow me to just trade it in for an Epson GT-X750. And now I'm so glad the Canon stopped working, because this one is so much nicer. It looks cooler, is smaller and lighter, scans much more quickly, has a higher maximum resolution, and it's not broken. I had to pay about 2000 yen ($20) extra with the trade-in. What a deal! I made some additions and aesthetic changes to my special photo site, Moon Station Echo this week. I think it looks better now.
15 July 2005, morning We just returned from the garden. Still pretty muddy, but not slushy muddy. I planted the Argentinian pepper which has been growing too slowly on our balcony, and I transplanted another pepper plant which was sprouting from the side of a row from some leftover seed from last year, and finally I transplanted the tiny sage plant which was languishing on the balcony. Today's a day off, but I think I have to go in to the office and write a report which I forgot to finish. I also have to take my new scanner back to the shop because it just stopped working. That's a pain because it's pretty heavy to carry around and it means I'll be without a scanner for possibly weeks. I need to scan. It's my life. I still have my Minolta 35mm film scanner, so I'll just have to switch into 35mm mode for a while. I've been carrying around my Voigtlander Bessa 6x9, and getting to know it really well, so I hate to stop using it, but I'm not patient enough to have medium format negatives lying around unscanned for 2 weeks, and too cheap to have prints made at the shop. Luckily I have a new 35mm rangefinder camera, just came in last week, to replace the defunct Yashica Lynx. This one is an Olympus 35 SP, which has a weird exposure meter using EV numbers rather than f-stops, but that's okay. It has a really nice 7-element Zuiko lens and it's the only fixed lens rangefinder ever made with a built-in spot meter. This camera is 60s era, probably a bit later than the Yashica. I like it. But I haven't seen any of the photos yet. It still has its first roll inside because I've been fascinated by the Bessa.
My Olympus-35 SP taken with my Ricoh Caplio RX.13 July 2005, night I have to attend an 8-hour meeting tomorrow. Sounds like exquisite torture. 8 hours of brainstorm, break into small groups, break into pairs, complete a useless task, report back to the group, brainstorm a list of ways to make me work harder and pay me less, a list of ways to pay everyone else less, etc. Or possibly just 8 hours of sit there and listen and be told how to work harder, skirt the labor laws, and get payed less, which I might prefer. We finally had a dry morning and were able to get to the garden after about a week of rainy days. It was overgrown with weeds. I made a good harvest of goya, though lots of it was getting to be overripe. The ground is still pooled up with rain, so we slid around in the mud while we pulled weeds and picked goya. I'll make more Okinawan food tomorrow, same dish as I made for lunch 4 days ago, goya champuru. I never get tired of it, and now we have some Spam (the meat, not the email), so I can make champuru like the Okinawans do. Apparently the US Army introduced Spam to the island and it caught on in a big way. I've been experimenting with Spam a bit, because Kumiko picked up a six-pack at Costco recently. It tastes better than I remember.
At Kumiko's parents' place, before the kabuki boat ride.9 July 2005, morning I cooked a lasagna last night and Kumiko made this awesome marinated eggplant dish, and we had some friends over for dinner. I spent a few hours in the afternoon putting together the lasagna and grating to pulp a bunch of beets, potatoes and carrots for borscht. The lasagna turned out pretty tasty, but the borscht boiled down to burned paste while I was in the shower. I forgot to turn off the fire. Anyway, we had a nice time last night with Brian, Keiko, Mark and Yoko, and talked on the subjects of Star Wars and idiots we've worked with. It was fun. Thanks to all of you for coming over. Today it's raining again. But I think I'll go out and take some rainy pics. I don't want to stay inside another day. After everyone left last night, we watched "Supersize Me" on DVD, which made me ashamed of my eating habits. I have to cut way down on Coke, and stop eating lunch at Lotteria, a fast food burger place near my office with really nice burgers. I don't trust them entirely, although from the taste, their food can't be as processed and offensive as McDonalds. We had a completely vegetarian meal last night, except for jello, which is made from bones. It reminded me of my vegetarian days, which ended about 8 years ago. I didn't eat meat for about 7 years. It was bacon that brought me back. In that 7th year, I started cheating a bit, ignoring the clear fact that the vegetable fried rice had pork in it, eating fish in moderation, turning a blind eye to animal fat, etc. Basically I'd lost the will to be vigilent about my diet. Conviction had relaxed to simple habit, and one morning my friend Dae Kim made bacon for breakfast, and that was the end. I had to have some, because bacon is the king of all meats. Who can deny that? After that it was a free-for-all, and the great barbecue awakening, which was the fattest period in my life. My friends Ernesto, Jill, Dae, Mike, and Tom, in conjunction with a host of satellite friends, got hooked on barbecue in Austin, Texas, a place which is rich beyond any other, I believe, in barbecue goodness. Ernesto and I were probably the most hard-core though, once devising a ratings system and venturing into smaller, less popular restaurants on a voyage of food discovery. My favorites were: 1.pork sausage at a place near my office downtown on 11th Street east of I35, name forgotten, but something simple, like "Sam's", 2.brisket at this place way out in the country, name forgotten, 3.chicken at Artz Rib House on Congress Ave., 4.bbq pork sandwich at Ruby's, near UT campus, 5.ribs at that place near my office, 6. side dishes at a place called Stubb's. Austin would be a good place to try the Atkin's diet. Think I'll get my act together now, and go outside.
a summer kimono out to dry in Kobe, taken with Voigtlander 6x96 July 2005, morning Rain, rain. It's been raining for the past week or so. Today it's cloudy, but so far none of the wet stuff. We haven't been to the garden in several days because it's been so wet. Looking forward to seeing some mega-growth. The okra is really coming along now, as well as the goya. And the beets have all but finished their run. There must be about a dozen ready to pull up now, but we've had no chance to get to them. I'm researching photo contests this morning. I've never entered one.
pinhole camera: empty bottles behind the takoyaki shop
