Hrmm..I think that my expectations were wrong when it came to digital photography. I’d expected things to be very different but in fact it all still comes down to putting light on to media. Sure, there are new terms such as EXIF, white balance and how the lenses don’t match up in their dimentions to exactly what they should be on the film side but pretty much everything else is the same. That’s what I found out when I started to read Miotke’s book. Most everything is about the same and I think that Miotke decided to add more value to what would otherwise be a slim book by moving a bit further afield into composition, which subsequently takes up a good third of the last part of the book.

Do I like the book? Hrmm..hard to say. I found it useful as an intro but Miotke seems to very much lean towards DSLRs. I guess this is natural since most people who use a point-and-shoot digital camera are only interested in getting off that shot and printing it out. They’re not going to be into composition or “creating” a photo. Miotke also seems to skim through topics such as white balance but I don’t know if that is just me or if there isn’t much else to say? I’m also left wondering if this book is useful as a future reference? I’m not sure..I get the feeling that most everything I might need to know is out on the ‘Net somewhere.

The next book that I am really looking forward to is probably a G9-specific book and after I get my Lensmate attachment it’s gonna be shoot shoot shoot.

Bookmark to:

Once again, we join Spiegelman’s PI, John March who is now hired to find a fallen star of a dot.com equity analyst. It turns out that the fellow is missing and it seems that everyone from his ex-wife to business partners are trying to find him for a variety of reasons, most of which are probably detrimental to his health.

The most enjoyable parts of this tale is once again the descriptions of NYC and its environs, Spiegelman could really have a third career as a travel writer if he so chooses. The not-so-enjoyable part is that March is still moody and a bit of a grouch even though he has money in the bank, a hot chickie g/f, and a job he enjoys. Geeze, lighten up fella, it could be a lot worse!

Well, it does become a bit worse at the end but I’ll let you find that out for yourself if you so choose.

Bookmark to:

My good friend GM recommended this new mystery series to me a while back in response to my review of Spiegelman’s Black Maps. One reason I liked Black Maps was that it seemed really grounded in the geography and feel of NYC and Still Life sort of tries to do the same thing but in the Eastern Townships near the Quebec/US border. Now, I’m from Montreal so I figured that this should be interesting.

The storyline is pretty good for a first effort by Penny as everyone tries to determine why an innocent, sweet old lady was murdered in a village where nothing much happens aside from the occasional arts festival. It’s the sort of place where most burnt-out professionals would probably like to spend the rest of their lives making a living with a B&B or a bakery specializing in organic, locally-grown products.

Still Life is marred by a series of mistakes that would not be picked up by anyone who has not lived in Quebec for any significant length of time and it shows that Penny really is a transplanted Torontonian. Here is a short list:

• One of the characters lives in the East End of Montreal and has only ten minutes to get to Bernard in Outremont. It cannot be done unless Penny thinks that East End really means just east of St. Laurent Blvd. To me, East End is akin to St. Leonard, Anjou, Rosemont and so on.
• If you’re driving from Bernard in Outremont and want to take the Champlain Bridge to take the Eastern Townships’ autoroute you do not go over to St. Denis which is opposite of where you want to go. You’re better off taking Van Horne over to the Decarie Expressway south, which then almost spits you out onto the Champlain.
• It’s at least an hr south to the US border from Montreal yet Penny has a suspect driving from Ottawa to the village in two hours. No way! It’s well over 2 hrs to get from Ottawa to Montreal and then you have to take the 40 to the Decarie (15?) down to the Champlain. You’re talking about 4 hours of solid driving.
• There are no Pizza Pizza restaurants in the Eastern Townships.

Aarrgghhh…I almost emailed the author to offer her some editing help. hehehe I think that these are just minor mistakes but it does detract from the plot when you sit there nitpicking. Please get an editor who’s lived in Quebec!!! I’m going to read the next two in the series and decide…

Bookmark to:

About a month ago, I picked up a new Canon Powershot G9 digital camera and it’s really interesting how when you buy what I call a “lead” or “keystone” product there’s always a whole universe of accessories or attendant products for it. Sometimes, it’s not so noticeable as when you buy a personal computer or a bike but at other times it really is such as when you buy a Palm Pilot (Palm III in my case) and you get your styli, your screen protectors, your cases and so on. Or when you buy an iPod and you have your speakers, your cases and so on.

Once again, I’m seeing this with the G9 where I’ve just ordered a Gordy string wrist strap (I hate the neck strap since it always seems to be all over the place and you never know where the camera is when you’re grabbing for it in a bag or jacket pocket.) and a couple of lens adapters, filter, grip and so on in order to protect and enhance the camera’s usability from Lensmate. You think to yourself when you’re choosing a nice digital point and shoot camera that you’re not going to spend a lot more but then the bill starts spiraling upwards as you tack on the goodies. I guess there is just that much more incentive to move beyond cat pics.

Bookmark to:

At times, I wish that Ballantine Books (the publisher) of this series would simply put out an omnibus of this series and let us read it all in one shot rather than waiting while it comes out in dribs and drabs. That may interfere with their plans (so I suppose) to milk their audience with each volume, though.

At this point, Jacen Solo is now attempting to regain the initiative by resorting to the rather low tactic of holding his own daughter hostage. It’s a long story folks but still pretty fascinating as we see loose ends being tied up and things being revealed as both sides maneuver to see who is going to have the upper hand. We all know that the good guys are going to win out but it’s still a very pleasant ride.

I still wish that there was an omnibus, though.

Bookmark to:

Yesterday night was the last of nine classes for the bike repair course held by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and I have to say that it went by a lot quicker than I had expected. This is a testament to the fun that we (I am assuming here!) all had in learning the basic skills needed to fix our bikes. The course is not something that will allow you to go really deep into the intricacies of your bike but it will give you the basics needed to potentially identify problems, fix most of the ones you are likely to encounter and allow you to understand the lingo of the bike shop’s mechanic.

Narayana (Nani) Reddy proved to be an excellent teacher and certainly knew his stuff. I’m very surprised at the number of people who decided to skip classes here and there. It’s just not worth it if you’re paying that amount of cash and not doing it. As for myself, I’m tempted to take the course all over again if I were to get a new bike but more than likely I will probably look into taking the more advanced Park Tools’ courses offered by local bike shops. We will see.

In the end, am really glad to have taken this course, learnt quite a lot and met quite a few nice people.

Bookmark to:

I had posted a new thread in the IBikeTO website about my interest in a Critical Manners’ ride and gotten a swift response. One of which was that we should ride together through reds for safety and which is what Critical Mass does. I’m thinking…for safety? What is this? Schooling behaviour? I’ve ridden over 21,000 kms in the last five years and only once had a close call when a taxi driver did not look to his left when he was making a right turn.

Another response was that following the traffic laws won’t get us any smiles. I don’t know but I’ve always felt that polite behaviour with a smile usually paves the way. In any case, if the poster had bothered to read the SFGate article, the Critical Manners’ riders certainly got their share of smiles.

I really don’t want to hear from drivers about how cyclists weave in and out of traffic and basically ignore traffic laws. That makes the rest of us look bad and fosters ill-feelings. I don’t like it when I see it and I am sometimes scared to stop at reds because I don’t know if the bicyclist(s) coming up behind me are going to rear-end me since they think I am going to go through.

Being safe on the roads as far as I am concerned is making sure that you are as visible as possible (I want to set up even more of a “cocoon of light” with Dinotte or other lights soon), act in a predictable manner, signal all of your intentions and treat everyone else out there as a threat.

Oh, before I forget, on BikeForums.net I’ve gotten a couple of good responses so it all balances out. It’s a Yin-Yang thing.

Bookmark to: