I think I am evaporating - I have not done anything productive this week. Tower defence, GT3 and ebay surfing do not count as productive activities. In the past, I write blog posts when I had a idle hour or two; now I slowly evaporate in the cold.

Ah yes, ebay. I have confirmed the purchase of a Jupiter 9, a Soviet replica of the magnificent Carl Zeiss Sonnar 85mm f/2.0 lens. I also stupidly placed a bid on another Jupiter 9 lens. I am hoping (a reasonable expectation, really) that someone will outbid me. Otherwise I’d be stuck with two Soviet replicas of the magnificent Carl Zeiss Sonnar 85mm f/2.0.

Yesterday, I got my leave confirmed. Suddenly, the world seemed like a much more cheerful place. The grass appeared greener, the moon looked rounder, the cold rain was pleasant and there were pretty girls everywhere.

Australian International Airshow 2007

7-cylinder radial engine

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Divergence, ∇ ⋅ F/A-18

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F-111
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Show Off

F-111
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Bird Watchers

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Arc

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Nozzles

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Groupe F

As part of the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation; International Swimming Federation) World Championships held in Melbourne, French pyrotechnists Groupe F had a performance in Melbourne.

The fact that fire and water are traditionally seen as opposites (one should see magnesium strips oxydizing while submerged water- it is quite a sight) should not be of concern here.




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I am the Master of Fire

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Worship Me!

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Edited 0015 21 March 07:
In response to the first comment, credit has been given where due and deserving.

Sunday, 1.25 p.m.

“You know about the wedding right?” I asked my aunt.
“Yes, so are you going?” she asked.
“Highly unlikely, I’ve got no money and no leave,” I replied, quoting my usual excuse.
“Yeah, that’s what working life is like.”
“Not fun…”

“The atmosphere will be nice; everyone will be around,” I remarked.
“I’m actually quite tempted to go. I’ll ask my sister and see if she is interested. If she goes then I’ll go. There are no holidays but I guess I can take a few days leave…” my aunt remarked.
I suddenly perk up, “Really? Eh, if you decide to go, do tell me. I’ll fly home too.”

We move on to talk about other things, like how her parents are doing and what her kids have been up to.

“I better go now, the F1 race is starting soon.”
“Ok, bye. Thanks for calling.”
“Remember, if you decide to go, tell me!”



Monday

At work, I email May about my thoughts. "Yes!" was her concise response. I ask her for help checking air ticket prices from Malaysia, she agreed despite her heavy work load. Will do it even if it kills her; not for me, but to make me feel guilty.

I check the amount of leave I have accumulated, and find that I might have just enough to take a week off. Else, I’ll just take a day of unpaid leave.

The travel agent says a 5-week return ticket costs $880. Which I can afford!



This is getting interesting…

Fireworks

Cosina 19-35mm f3.4 - 4.5 with Fuji Superia 200




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A lone figure walked along the race track’s racing line, absently observing the thin layer of rubber deposited on the tarmac. Weaving between the track’s corners like a strip of stretched elastic band, the trail of rubber marked the path which have been travelled most often, and thus the path of minimal resistance.

The moon was up, a thin sliver of light barely discernible between light tufts of clouds.

His aunt would be getting married in 13 days, when the moon would be full. He had applied for 2 weeks of leave, but like in most racing teams, the services of the aerodynamist were critically needed for pre-season development.


Ahh what the hell… this piece of fiction is going nowhere; look exactly the same as the previous one.


***

In recent times, a certain class of events have morphed from mere occurrences to stimulants. They are starting to provoke a weak emotional response.

It’s not exactly disturbing, but I’d rather not be poked.

Pyrotechnics

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The Moomba Water Festival held in Melbourne over the weekend had pyrotechnics. Tripod density along the river banks was preposterous. Oh, here’s a Manfrotto ball-head. And look, there’s a carbon-fibre Velbon over there!

Updates; photos of my new place

Money cannot buy happiness, we all know that (hopefully).

Bargains can give the buyer a transient buzz that mimics happiness, hence the success of the capitalist economy in propogating itself. However, close inspection of this buzz shows that it is very unlike true love, transcendence or enlightenment.


Ok, so I got myself an ancient slide projector for $35. Slide photography (which is expensive and difficult to digitise) is now a bit more justified.

And I got an old but perfectly functional CRT monitor for $20. Colours will be displayed more faithfully than on the LCD. Photo editing is now a bit more justified. And I can expand the Windows desktop to span two monitors.


***

Cosina 19-35mm f3.5-4.5 lens with Kodak Max ASA 400 colour negative film

The 19mm’s 90 degree hozontal field of view is preposterous; makes the place look massive. Totally worth the price of film processing and scanning.

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That was when we started moving things in. It's a mess now- 4 notebook computers and wires associated with it; a desktop with its wires and peripherals; a router and its network wires; a TV with connections to a Nintendo Wii, a PS2 and XBox 360; boxes of things, more wires...

Two of the consoles and some of the computing hardware are temporary residents, unfortunately.

The fine-structure of an avian feather

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Supar Takumar 50mm f/1.4 with makeshift extension tube, on ASA 400 Fujicolour film





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Supar Takumar 50mm f/1.4 reverse mounted on Panasonic FZ-30








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Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 reverse mounted on Panasonic FZ-30
Note the preposterous diffraction effects in regions that are out of focus





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A closer view of the previous photograph. Observe the porous core of the main shaft.




A full sized crop of the preceding images, this image gives a resolution of 776 nanometres per pixel.
Viewed on a monitor, it gives an appriximate magnification of 400x.

I'm not dead, just away

Moving house meant I was busy for the whole of last week.

Having recently moved house means I still have no internet connection at home (except for the inconsistent unprotected wireless signal I get to steal from an unsuspecting neighbor).

The new place is nice; has 3 floors (!!!) consisting of bedrooms on Ground; living, dining and kitchen on First; and a tiny area at the top of the stairs and rooftop balcony on Second.


BRB!

Tagged

Within the great zeppelin, its main dining hall was quiet. The lunch rush was over, and those still sitting around were simply enjoying the scenery or talking in muted tones. From high above, a gentle throbbing of propellers reminded travellers that they were not motionless, despite the apparently static columns of clouds outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

At an isolated end of the starboard flor-to-ceilingwindow, a figure hunched over the glass engrossed with the view through his camera. Nearer the centre isle, a long-haired lady tapped on her computer, words flowing from her fingertips to her blog.

Finished with his imaging, the photographer packed his optical instruments and headed towards his cabin. As he walked past the blogger, he drew to an abrupt stop. She looked up at him, their eyes locked for a femto-second.

“OMG, is it really you Obs?” he exclaimed in delight.
“Yee Wei! This is the last place I would imagine meeting you,” she replied, surprised to see a familiar face, “And hush, I’m now known as Politikus.”
“Politikus? Nice. And I call myself Lao Chen for partial anonymity. So, you are on holiday or something?”
“I’m going to the Muse concert!”

He sat down; she pushed the computer aside. It had been years since they last met.



The hours pass, and it was time to attend to other matters. She had yet to complete her post and he had photos to edit.

“I’ll see you at dinner, then,” Lao Chen bade his farewell.
“Wait, I’ve got something interesting here for you,” she stopped him, her hand fumbling about in interior of a large bag.

“Here, take this.”

***

List six weird facts about yourself and then tag another six to do the same. Let them know in their blogs as well as after completing the meme.


1. At work, I mostly make notes and jottings using red pens. Reds give a bit more bang over dull blue or insignificant black.

2. I have far too many red t-shirts.

3. I recently did a load of dark coloured clothes, and it turns out that the pile consisted of 3 black trousers, 4 red t-shirts, a black t-shirt and some black socks.

4. To further coordinate the colours of my laundry, I put in some light coloured items- two pink coloured t-shirts.

5. When I hung them up, they looked rather cute. So I took a few photographs of the absurdity.

6.


The last six people who commented on this blog will be burdened with this little meme:
Albert Ng
Sabrina
Jean
Tan Yee Wei (this is not me; SHE has the exact same name as mine)
Tan Yee Hou
Ah Pek