Happy World Photography Day!

I want to wish all photographers and photo industry workers a happy World Photography Day!

In a world where AI is incrementally destroying the photo industry, it is important for us to remember that photography-as a science and an art, was created and nurtured by human beings who wanted to record history, beauty, and create art. Before photographs were possible, there were patintings, and drawing-ONLY. Imagine living in those times before photography, if you saw “evidence” of, say, a newly discovered animal, you had to rely on a drawing created by an artist who may have not actually seen the creature!

Photography, and the photographic process have evolved over the centuries, from the Camers Obscura, to the Daguerreotype. Then on to the portable camers, using glass plate (sometimes with the help of flash powder) onward to the faster and smaller roll films. Soon cameras became a household item, with convenient rolls of film and the possibility to have a home lab in a basement or a closet. Still photography soon made way for the motion picture, bringing entertainment and education to new heights. Even through the birth of the digital era we have had artists and technicians who have created the photography used in advertising, tech manuals, text books, art collections, even in the theatre of war. Today each and every adult likely has a smartphone with a decent camera in their pocket.

Celebrate today by taking a picture. Put some thought in it. Please do not take a selfie or just a random snapshot. Think of it as a work of art. Celebrate our ability to record our world and its surroundings, its people, and life. Celebrate this before some rich person or corporation make photography irrelevant through some AI garbage.

Camp Snap CS-8

I’m sure everyone has seen this really cool motion picture camera that was announced this week: The Camp Snap CS-8. It’s billed as a return to “…a creative experience.”

The unit looks cool kinda like the Yashica SU60-E I used to make film loops with back in the mid 90s. It has some cool features for a digital camera at a decent price point at $149 for preorder. I got really excited and was planning on laying down the bread to order one, that was until I had a hard time finding any specs on their website.

The camera has some groovy features. I really like the gauges on the sides that show battery as well as the one on the opposite side showing the amount of data left on the SD card.

The device looks like a lot of fun, and I really am drawn to the old days when you shot something and you weren’t totally sure what it would look like until it was processed. Unfortunately the site has no specs on the camera, chip, or lens, which brought me to the internets for more research.

What I found was this:

“The CS-8’s lens is a tiny 3.19mm with an f/2 aperture, and a small sensor that prioritizes retro looks over sharpness. The 8x zoom is digital, not optical, so you’ll lose some quality when you zoom. Video resolution is a mystery—some say 4K at 30fps in certain aspect ratios, others 480p. I found the truth to be closer to the latter, especially with the filters applied.”

Which is very unfortunate. I totally get that super 8 was a sub-par format, quality-wise. But today we don’t use home projectors which, when used in living rooms across the country in the 1960s looked pretty good. Even a projector for television doesn’t work the same as a super-8 projector. They all have a higher resolution. It would have been a sweet deal had they provided for a 4k image capture, with size reductions for instagram or tik-tok (nobody cares on those platforms how good it looks since they are only going to see them for a few seconds anyways). Maybe they couldn’t meet that price point with those specs.

Either way, that money is going to stay in my pocket. Bummer….

Death of a New York Doll

Sad to say that David Johansen, former singer of the New York Dolls has died.

The Dolls are one of my favorite bands of all time and I got the opportunity to see them in Los Angeles back in August 28, 2005. They played at the Sunset Junction Street Fair in Silverlake, and the show was AMAZING.

David was and will always be an influence of mine, not only for his music, but for his ability to push the boundaries that society has put on us. He was a true badass, and will be missed.

Johansen with another David. Photo by Bob Gruen.

Sad day for fans of the great artist, David Lynch.

As I’m sure you are aware, we found out that we lost David Lynch today. I’m saddened by this loss, not just because we lost a great American artist, but now we will never get to see completion on a (speculative) 4th season of Twin Peaks. I’ve been asked by friends and colleagues which Lynch film was my favorite, and it would have to be Wild at Heart.

Neo-Noir at its best!

What is wrong with AI

So if you read this blog, you know my opinion on AI, especially used in the creative world.

Today I ran into a post on X, which if you don’t know it USED TO BE TWITTER!!! Anyways, the post is from a science fiction writer and artist who made the obvious claim we are all screaming in our heads.

This is sooooo true. The real reason AI is here is not to make our lives better. It’s to make the ultra rich even richer. And to have AI take the place of an artist, a real hard working, professional artist, this is like that boot stomping on your face Orwell warned us about.

As a lifelong artist, who has been working professionall (as an artist), for the past 27 years, this both sickens and saddens me. Art is truly the most sacred of human expressions. Our first communications as a species started with artists. From caves to pyramids, be it sculptors or photographers, art as an expression has defined us, and affirmed our humanity.

Ms. Maciejewska has encapsulated what we all feel and see as a major blow to our humanity, and for what? So billionaires can make money by stomping out our humanity?

Wiim Streamer

Got myself a lil housewarming gift, a streamer so we can play our (digital) music from any point or device in the house. I looked around at several options and found a sale on the Wiim Pro Plus streamer. I already had the Wii Mini, (I reviewed here) which was a great replacement for my dead Apple Airplay device, the Airport Express (which I loved).

Geez do you ever dust??

The Wiim Pro lets you stream from your own server, you favorite music streamer or your stereo, including a turntable! Now that is slick! It has a AKM4493SEQ DAC up to 768kHz/32-Bit, and ADC for converting analog inputs into digital outputting to 192kHz/24-Bit. My current DAC can be input via coaxial or SPDF. I’m still putting this thing through the hoops so hopefully I can give a better more detailed review in the future.

Unfortunately it has taken me some time to get myself unpacked. My turntable is in a box in the basement, waiting to be played…..

Moving out of PDX....

Titles says it all. My parter and I are moving just 1/2 mile south of the Portland city limits to the city of Milwaukie. This is odd, because I have lived in Oregon for the vast majority of my life and Portland has been my home the entire time (well, I did live in Springfield temporary as a kid).

Many people are exiting Portland, for many reasons. High real estate costs, crime, drugs (everywhere), the list goes on and on. For the first time in decades the population in Portland is in decline. We just moved because we found a great house on a great street and we knew it would not cost us more than what we were renting for.

So bye bye Portland and hello Milwaukie. just 8 blocks from the line and things are a little bit different. Cops seem to patrol here, and garbage comes every week. Air smells nicer (probably from Johnson Creek. But other than that, same same.

Bond Villain!

As a lifelong fan of the James Bond movies, as well as the original Ian Fleming books, I was excited to work on an image of actor Mads Mikkelsen, who appeared as the villain Le Chiffre. Portrait by Jeff Vespa!

RIP Richard Roundtree

Just heard that the man himself, star of Shaft films (among many others), Richard Roundtree has died. I had an opportunity to work on his likeness for the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Photo is below, shot by Jeff Vespa.

I have been a fan of Roundtree’s work since I discovered Blacksploitation films when I was in my 20s. Bummer he passed…..

Can you dig it?

Japanese Kong Poster

While perusing the internets I came across this amazing Japanese poster for King Kong climbing the World Trade Center building. The image speaks for itself….

Amazing artwork by John Berkey!

King Kong Straws by Mego

Mego toy company, who made some of my favorite dolls action figures when I was a kid (Star Trek, Planet of the Apes) apparently made some Kong related toys for the 76 King Kong film. My friend sent me this image of the Kong Straws.

A straw? Really?

Proving that they will market anything! Check out the commercial below, via YouTube:

Polar Lights Kong Kit

The 1960s and 70s brought us kids some sweet horror model kits to stimulate imaginations and inspire young minds. Also to separate our parents money from their wallets…. Polar Lights made some amazing monster diorama kits. Here is a King Kong one. Sure, its for the original RKO picture, but who cares, its cool anyhoo!

There is even a glow in the dark variant, though I am not sure I would like that, a Kong that is not black.

Topps King Kong Trading Cards

I remember these as a kid, and had a few of them, but alas, all are lost to time. Great stills from the 1976 King Kong movie!

Great Packaging!

I did not find any of the stickers when I searched for these online. Wish I had some myself, my toolbox has a perfect place for one!

I have written on here that I have 2 gorilla suits but if I could find one of these, I would have to make it three!. Don’t think I could pull it off though, I lack the physique….

Wish I had this box:

Kong on Cracked

Was more of a Mad guy growing up, but Cracked was great too. Here is a cover with their take on Kong, King Kung.

USB on Peachtree died

Well, I have had a number of snags on the new computer, and the latest is the USB output for the DAC on my Peachtree Audio amplifier has crapped out. I hope this is not from the new machine, though the timing could have been a coincidence. I plugged it into the USB-A port on the Mac Studio and poof-no sound.

Unfortunately the USB card on the Peachtree is not repairable, the card is no longer produced. The nice folks over at Peachtree suggested I connect via optical. Unfortunately Apple does not include an optical output on a $6000 computer!

So I had to order this little doohickey, Douk Audio U2 XMOS XU208 USB to Coaxial/Optical Converter. This switches the USB audio to Optical and now I am back in business! Now I can listen to my trash rock in 24bit/196kHz once again!

Tubes for Amplifiers....where are they made?

So the world is again consumed by some shitty war. For over a year now the Russians have been attacking Ukraine in their illegal attempt to annex that country. Such a waste. Also such a bummer. As an audiophile I realized last year that things may get bad for people who enjoy vintage audio sounds. All amplifiers that use tubes (as opposed to the solid state components) are now a victim of this stupid war. Almost all tubes for HiFi systems are made in Russia.

So not only are the prices going up, many of us simply do not want to do any business with Russia.

Luckily I saw this as a potential problem last year and bought replacement tubs for all of my tube equipment. Prices currently have skyrocketed, and I would hate to have to replace a tube now only to find it costs 200 bucks and that it was coming from Russia.

I hope this conflict ends soon….

Made in Russia? Boooooo!

TourBox

Hey there, if you are looking for a way to expand your access to tools or to find a new way to interface with your computer, then there are a lot of options out there. Recently, I got myself a TourBox Elite. It’s a nice, compact bluetooth capable device with knobs, buttons and rollers. It uses batteries, which you can turn off-unfortunately I forget to do this, so I have had to resort to rechargeable batteries-this puppy eats energy.

The device has a nice feel to it, not just with its buttons and knobs, it is also heavy. I like things to have a little heft to them, I like to know it will stay on my desk if I start to work like an animal! My only gripe is that the power button is on the bottom, where I forget to turn it off. Maybe a light on the top to remind me it is on would help. Check it out!