AI's Top Three

I cannot believe that that there are now three left in the American Idol competition. I had predicted last week that Mike Lynch would be the one to leave this week and I was right. He was supposed to have left a few weeks back but was kept by a Save from the judges. I was sorry to see Aaron leave before Mike, though.

Anyway, next week is not going to be a happy time for me. It will either be Lee or Casey who will be eliminated, but my guess is, it will be Casey. He was in the bottom three at least three times, and my prediction is Lee and Crystal will make it to the finale. Unless, there is a big upset and Crystal gets eliminated next week, but that seems highly unlikely. Except for a couple of "bad" weeks, she has consistently been the front runner.

But whatever, because of the clash in the TV schedule with Dancing with the Stars, I have not been able to fully focus on American Idol. I am equally fond of DWTS, and when you have to flip between the two shows .... the judges comments get skipped!

I wished I had access to the East Coast's TV programming so I can watch one program on East Coast's time and the other on West Coast time!

Below,Casey's duet with Big Mike. Love Casey's guitar playing!

Cleaning House vs Photographing Birds

Male House Finch

Yesterday, one of our friends who spent this past weekend camping in the desert with us, spent the night at our home on his way back to Seattle, Washington.

Since we had a guest coming, I decided I'd better vacuum the floor and tidy the house up a bit. I started picking up some of the stuff the kids had left lying on the floor, got Doug to replace the vacuum bag in the vacuum cleaner, and even started vacuuming a bit.

I don't remember what it was that made me stop what I was doing and look out the sliding door. Oh yes, earlier I had seen several birds perching on the fence in the backyard, and one of them had bright red feathers on its head. That must be a male house finch, I thought to myself!

So in the midst of the vacuuming, I took a break to see if the birds were still hanging around the fence. Indeed I saw, the house finch. I left the vacuum cleaner right in the middle of the living room floor, took out my camera, change the lens, picked up my boots, and out the door I went.

I had to wait several minutes before the house finch came back on the fence. I took several pictures but unfortunately, they were not as sharp as I'd like.

Northern Mockingbird

Then the melodious singing of a bird perched on the far end of the fence, attracted my attention. I crouched and bent and made my way to the far end of the backyard. I could identify the bird as a mockingbird. It was whistling away and ignored me as I approached it. Such beautiful singing!

The friend arrived earlier than expected, in fact while I was still out in the backyard, and the living room was only partially cleaned!

Photographing birds is quite an addicting past time! It can distract you from your house cleaning!

Desert Sky

What one way can you photograph an evening desert sky after the sun has set?

With a bit of branch silhouette in the foreground of course!

Happy Mother's Day, y'all!

Desert Sunrise

I woke up very early this morning and went out of the van (no, I did not sleep in the tent) to watch and photograph the sunrise.

This picture was taken with my iPhone camera so I could at least ediit it with an iPhone photo app and upload it to this blog. The quality of the picture is not as good as those taken with my dSLR.

I forgot to bring my tripod and I don't know if the pictures of the crescent moon taken around 4.00 am this morning are any good. Too much shaking. :-)

It's very dry in the desert and I had a nose bleed early this morning. I couldn't go back to sleep. So what better way to spend the time than watch the sun rise?

Camping Trip

We are on our way to Mojave Desert for a long weekend camping trip. In order to be able to do that we had to take the kids out of school. We also had to leave our cat at a pet boarding place. Poor kitty.

It'll be another couple of hours before we get to the desert. It's a warm, dry day but not unbearably so. It gets cool at night.

Along Highway 99, is the California Central Valley, the bread basket of California and the country.

I don't know if there'll be any cell service at the desert so pictures and blog updates of the camping trip from the desert is dependent on the cell service.

Till the next post!

Facing the Wall

That's Denice having to face the wall for five minutes yesterday during lunch break.

Facing the wall for a period of five minutes to thirty minutes (depending on age and degree of infraction) is something that most students at my kids' school have to deal with at one time or another.

I was quite worried about this form of punishment when I first enrolled my kids at their current school. I was worried, especially for Duncan, because I wasn't sure he was able to keep still for five minutes.

Well, I guess both Denice and Duncan have learned to deal with it, because, in Duncan's case, its an almost daily occurrence!



And yes, this is Duncan facing the wall for five minutes during lunch break today. Well at least it's ONLY five minutes this time. Last week, he had to face the wall, all of recess!

Tomorrow he has the wall to look forward to as well. This time it will be the whole of recess. His class teacher approached me today as I picked him and Denice up from school. The wall is for "disrespecting" a classmate's mother who took them out for their short break before class was dismissed. He did not do as he was told, and went ahead doing exactly what he was told not to do.

When he got home, all TV viewing priviledges were also withdrawn. Disrespect is a major offence and punishment must befit the "crime".

Stealing a nap

My cat, Nikki, usually spends the day outside. Doug is quite allergic to cats, but sometimes the kids and I let the cat into the house, for a while, especially when Doug is not around.

I let her in this morning so she could have a drink and eat her cat food. She was quite frisky, running and hopping about chasing I don't know what. After she got tired of chasing her tail around she jumped on the sofa and promptly fell asleep.

She shouldn't be sleeping on the sofa because Doug sits on the sofa and you can imagine what can happen .....

I took this picture using an old Olympus manual 50mm F1.8 lens using aperture priority on my dSLR. I saw some pictures by users of the 50mm Canon lenses at Amazon and liked the pictures of the pets they'd taken. Since the cat was already stealing a nap on the sofa, I took out my camera, replaced the lens and took a few pictures of her.

I like the output of the 50mm lens.

Police barred from penis enlargement

(Reuters) - Forget about getting a job as a police officer in Indonesia's Papua if you have had your penis enlarged. You won't get it, according to local media reports citing the Papua police chief.

An applicant "will be asked whether or not his vital organ has been enlarged," said Papua police chief Bekto Suprapto, quoted on local website Kompas.com.

"If he has, he will be considered unfit to join the police or the military."

The ban was applied since the unnatural size causes "hindrance during training," said police spokesman Zainuri Lubis in Jakarta, quoted by news portal Detik.com.

Indonesia's remote easternmost province is home to Papuan tribes, many of whom are known for wearing penis gourds.

A low-level separatist insurgency has waged in the resources-rich part of Indonesia for decades and there is a heavy police and military presence there.

Papuans use a local technique to achieve the enlargement, according to a sexologist quoted by local newspaper Jakarta Globe, wrapping the penis with leaves from the "gatal-gatal" (itchy) tree so that it swells up "like it has been stung by a bee," the expert said.

Story quoted from here.

This story really caught my attention today because the heading in large font was - Police barred from penis enlargement.

Won't a bold headline phrased like that catch your attention as well? Well, my attention was caught alright!

I have watched programs on National Geographic featuring this particular tribe from Papua New Guinea wearing the gourds over their penises. Don't ask me why they do that because I never did find out from the programs I watched. Er, maybe I wasn't paying attention to what the narrator was saying because I was too fascinated and repulsed at the same time from the sight of gourds over penises!

The story about the penis enlargement did make me wonder though. After the effect of the gatal-gatal leaves dissipates, do they rub the leaves again to maintain the size?

Don't these men scratch themselves since the leaves do make them feel itchy? Or is the scratching satisfied, er, er ..... you know what I mean, lah!

I guess these men who had their penis enlarged better look for other jobs since the police force find their package a hindrance!

Ok, that's my odd story for the day!

Will Apple unveil iPhone 4G early after leak?

It's no secret that Apple's been coming out with new iPhone every summer for the past couple of years, but Gizmodo's monster scoop of what appears to be the next-generation iPhone might keep consumers from buying existing models — and at least one Wall Street analyst thinks Apple might react to that possibility by announcing the new iPhone ahead of schedule. Will that really happen, though?

In an e-mail to Cult of Mac, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote that he thinks Apple might "come out" with the fourth-generation iPhone "sooner versus later" thanks to Gizmodo's bombshell scoop last week. Why? Because "it's safe to say, more people are now waiting for the new one," resulting in "a negative" for sales of existing iPhone models in the coming weeks, Munster wrote.

How much earlier? Munster didn't say, but Apple revealed its previous two iPhone models — the 3G and the 3GS — at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference in June, and (up until now, at least) there's no reason to believe Apple will change course this year.

Indeed, the latest round of rumors (based on reports of suspicious-looking bookings at the Moscone Center in San Francisco) pegged June 22 as the day when Apple might take the wraps off its latest iPhone. But Apple hasn't even officially announced the dates for this year's WWDC, much less a date for a new iPhone announcement.

Full story here.

Well, I hope Apple decides to unveil the iPhone 4G earlier than planned!

Over the weekend, much to my displeasure, my iPhone 3G - the one I took the trouble to jailbreak and unlock - managed to screw itself and was stuck on the Apple logo screen.

There was nothing I could do but to restore it to its original factory setting, which means in the process, the firmware and the base band was updated to the latest versions!

I am so pissed because I won't be able to use the phone in Malaysia during the summer! It is locked to AT&T, which means it won't be able to take the sim cards from any of the cell phone companies in Malaysia.

And that is why, I would be so glad if Apple decides to release the latest iPhone sooner than planned! Geohot, the renowned iPhone hacker, already has the tools for jailbreaking and unlocking the current iPhone firmware and base band. But he won't release it because that would mean Apple would try to patch the exploit before the release of the iPhone 4G.

Grrrr!

Less TV

A male and female Western Bluebird on my satellite dish.

Yesterday I called up Directv to cancel a movie package that I had subscribed to. Doug has been complaining about the cost of the total subscription to Directv! Package, additional movie package, 3 receivers, additional HD cost .... It does add up!

I'd been thinking about canceling the movie package for quite some time now because I hardly watch any of the movies on the movie channels. All the new movies that I watch, I get from Redbox. By the time the movies are available on the movie channels, I'd already watched them.

While I was at it yesterday, I also changed the package that I'd had for a long time. For under $3 more, I get more HD channels. That seemed like a good idea now that I no longer have the movie package. I was offered $5 off to keep the movie package ... I did pause and considered it! Nah. If you think of the annual expense, like I said, it does add up!

Books

When I picked up the photography book, Light and Lighting, that I had reserved online a few weeks ago, the librarian brought to my attention an upcoming course offered by the library. It was a free 3-hour course offered by a professional photographer.

Free sounded good to me! And the fact that the course was going to be conducted by a professional photographer was the clincher for me. The helpful librarian said she could do the online registration for me. Thank you! I don't know how helpful the course is going to be, since it says "beginning digital photography" but, like I said, it's free!

I have 5 books on photography that I borrowed from the library. One that I picked up today, and four that I had renewed twice already! Borrowing from the library sure beats having to pay for them! And I can always borrow them again and again as needed!

My two favorite TV shows.

There are only two shows that I watch with regularity on TV. First, American Idol, and second, Dancing with the Stars.

But recently I added Human Target to that short list. This new series just ended this week, so now it's back to just AI and DWTS. When these two shows end, that's it for me.

Back to American Idol, I only started voting for my favorite, Casey James, this week. I didn't want him to exit as early as Chris Daughtry did in an earlier Season! I would be devastated!

Yesterday, I bought, from iTunes, two recorded versions of Casey James' performances on American Idol - Jealous Guy and Power of Love. I also bought Aaron Kelly's Angie, and The Long and Winding Road. I enjoyed very much Aaron's version of Angie the week he sang it. I remember when the song was a big hit back in the early 70s. I remember corresponding with my best friend, who had moved to Kuching, about the song. Yes, I was already a young teenager in the 70s, in case you don't already know!

The Long and Winding Road is one of my all time favorite songs. He sang both songs really well in the full recorded version.

The thing that bugs me the most about AI and DWTS this season is the clash on Tuesday! Grrrr! I flip between the two channels, and it frustrates me to no end!

School Yard: A Photo Essay

Let's Play!

Race You!

Is that a leak?

A Basket?

I See You!

Pssssttt!

By the Wooden Fence

Too bad

My neighbour and friend dropped by on Sunday afternoon, supposedly to see my camera and macro lens. I do not have a macro lens and I don't know how he got the idea that I had one. Maybe from seeing the close-up pictures that I had shared on Facebook.

Anyway, when he came he had his camera case with him. I couldn't wait to see what film camera he had, and was surprised that it was quite similar (same line but not the same model) to the Minolta auto-focus film camera that I had picked up from my mother-in-law's church thrift store.

Initially my friend thought that I had a Sony dSLR. He had read some where that the Sony dSLR can use the old Minolta auto-focus lens. I had not heard that Sony had actually adapted the Minolta Maxxum cameras and renamed it the Sony Alpha.

Long story short, if I had owned a Sony Alpha I would have been willing to buy off the three lenses that he had.

Too bad, though.

But I was surprised that he left his camera case and everything in it with me! Make use of whatever you want, he told me. All I wanted from that case was to borrow one lens so I could test whether the Maxxum Minolta camera that I had worked. He didn't say he was giving everything in the case to me, just for me to use!

I am still waiting for the batteries for the camera to arrive (special internet order), so I can't say if my Minolta Maxxum works. I'll just have to wait a little longer to find out.

Wished I had one

One day, at the weekly market parking lot, I parked my dirty mommy mobile next to a little green, and shiny sports car. As I got out of my mini-van, I couldn't help admiring the sleek lines of the sports car.

Did I wish I had a car as beautiful as that? Of course I did! Not that it will be useful with kids in tow! But one can only dream!

Output of an old camera

In my previous post I wrote about my impetuousness. Yes, that impetuousness also led to the bidding and subsequent winning of an old Minolta SLR camera!

I couldn't resist when I saw how cheap the price was, and I rationalized the purchase by saying, hey, since I already have all the manual focus Minolta lenses, why don't I just go ahead and get an SLR camera which I can also use with the lenses? Also, I had never ever owned an SLR camera. Better late than never, eh!



Yesterday, I finally used up the roll of film that I had put inside the Minolta camera. I took it to CVS last night to be developed and I was quite pleased with the photos! There were a few blurry pictures, but overall not bad for someone who has used a SLR camera only a few times in the past.



The color looks a little odd. That could be because the film was Agfa, and that the roll of film had an expiry date in 2004!! That fact alone could be a major reason for the odd color.

Like I said, I am pleased with the camera and how well the pictures turned out. I have just put in a black and white roll of film in the camera and cannot wait to see how the pictures will turn out! I'll use that black and white film for portraiture.

Should be fun!

Impetuous

im·pet·u·ous
   /ɪmˈpɛtʃuəs/
–adjective
1.
of, pertaining to, or characterized by sudden or rash action, emotion, etc.; impulsive: an impetuous decision; an impetuous person.
2.
having great impetus; moving with great force; violent: the impetuous winds. ~ *dictionary.com


Phew! I thought I was compulsive! Impetuous, describes me more aptly!

How so, eh?

Take a look at this! These are used, manual focus lenses, all acquired within the span of two weeks!



While researching on lenses for DSLR cameras I came across information that the old manual lenses can be given a new lease on life with an adapter that fits your particular DSLR camera!

That led to scouting around ebay, bidding, and then more bidding, and then when I lost the bids on the lenses that I thought I had to have, I started looking for places that sell them!

Compulsive or impetuous?

Nah, just your plain, old impetuousness!

Spellling Bee

Last Monday I accompanied Denice and 7 other kids and their parents to a Spelling Bee that was held in Yuba City. The Bee was held in a Christian School there and Denice and one classmate represented Grade 1 for their school.

It wasn't a big Spelling Bee. Nine Christian Schools took part and the grades involved were 1 to 4. All the participating schools, except for one, sent two spellers for the competition. By noon the competition was done with, which was good. I wasn't looking forward to staying around a long while waiting for the thing to end!

It wasn't that long ago that a try-out was held at the kids' school and unfortunately we did not do our part by helping Denice train for the Spelling Bee a lot harder. She does not know how to study on her own. That being the case, she was eliminated in the first round.

Nevertheless, it was a good experience for both Denice and her classmate. Now that they know what is involved in the competition and should they be in the position to represent their school again in the future, they will be more prepared.

Good job all around for the kids participating, though!

Signs of Spring

Last weekend I was in the hills of Los Osos photographing wild flowers. The weather was beautiful and I had a great time looking for the wild flowers to photograph. I did not know the names of the flowers I was photographing, but Doug's brother-in-law has a website where he tries to document some of the flowers that he finds in the hills where he lives. From his photographs, I am now able to identify the flowers that I photographed that weekend.

The fruit and nut trees in my neighbor's orchard are also budding and blooming. Every year I photograph the beautiful flowering trees - an enjoyable activity indeed!

This winter has been a wet and cold one! I am most definitely ready for spring!

Christmas Greetings

From our home to yours -

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!

Have a Blessed Christmas!