Thank You Governor

That's who we play tonight.
Okay, with an 's' as in Governors, my old school.
What I really need is a governor.
For my cameras I mean.
At least that's what I'm thinking as I sit and eat my lunch:

Some turkey and mashed potato goodness!
Oh yeah.
Did I tell you the reason I became a teacher is school lunch?
Anyways, we had a volleyball game on Tuesday and much like the football game two of my students managed to melt the flash cards in their respective cameras.
Okay, not quite as many pictures as football, but close.
Seven hundred shots.
Three hundred of which are all bad cause sometimes after warm ups she inadvertently set the shutter speed at one eightieth of a second so everything after that is like looking through a Coke bottle.
The other four hundred shots ain't so good either but they were both new photography students so I guess I can't really blame them.
You know, what they lack in skill they make up in effort.
That's a good thing.
I didn't take too many shots, instead I was making sure they didn't like wander onto the court or anything, but I did manage one picture I like:

I'm gonna try and slow down the shutter a bit to blur the ball rolling back and forth in front of me.
I also fooled around a bit with that image in Photoshop:

Anyways, as I said earlier we're at it again tonight.
Only this time I'm going to make them take like single pictures and not just hold down the shutter and pray and spray.
I wish I could put something on the camera so they can only take like one picture a minute.
Or maybe one picture per hour.
Or something.
The way they're going my camera is going to be like worthless in a about two months.
Well, as long as they are learning something.
Hopefully they'll do better tonight.
I'll be eating a chicken dinner.
So we better win.
If you know what I mean.

Sunday Final

So today was Quest For Bento (QFB) day.
Like the postman I braved gusting winds and hail and snow as I made my Sunday rounds.
Super sonic I was as my piston like legs powered me through traffic!
Okay, not really.
The Prevaricating Garmin was dead so I can exaggerate some.
Okay, a lot.
Anyways, I made a bee line for the bento place and was not disappointed:

It looks funky cause I had to stuff it in my cooler thingy sideways and everything got smooshed.
I got to decide when I'm gonna eat this thing on my rides.
I mean I could eat it on the way back, then I can just cruise on home.
Or I could eat it at the beginning of the ride, like I did today, and just cruise.
All day.
Cause all that food goes right to my legs and I can barely break double digit speeds when I'm done.
Hawaiian Paralysis don't you know.
I was nice to get out and eat leisurely, cause during school something is always happening and lunch is like a race against time.
Still, I manage:

Anyways, after I put that bento away, I sat around for a bit letting the slowness and sleepiness take over.
Then I saw this:

Nothing unusual about a dude taking a shower at the beach.
Hell, I've done it.
Back when I was trying to surf, we would dawn patrol and shower at the beach, soap and all, then head off to work.
This dude though, was brushing his teeth!
File that one in the just when you've thought you've seen it all thingy.
Well I got sort of bored with watching the wahine surfers so I headed off down the beach.
To uncharted territory.
Sort of.
I crossed the bridge into Waikiki proper and the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor.
The Hilton Lagoon:

I worked at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for about a year and a half and the lagoon always puzzled me.
I mean you spend the big bucks and come to Hawaii and you go to a man made lagoon when there's like a real beach twenty yards away.
Then again, I suppose there's no sharks in the lagoon.
We used to call this area the heliport cause it's where they used to land well, helicopters.
Once in a while they use this place in Hawaii Five O for the shrimp wagon shots.
Rainbow Tower:

Lagoon the left, real beach on the right.
Rainbow is older than the rest of the hotel, but the views from the rooms are unprecedented.
Trust me.
Requisite Diamond Head shot:

Ti leaf tied to the bows of canoes for good luck.
This whole area brings back a lot o'memories for me as I used to hang out here a lot.
It's also changed some since back then, you know, in another life.
Back in high school, we used park back here and well, have some cold beverages at night.
Until the yacht people would call the popo and we'd have to leave.
The local constables were more lenient back then.
Ala Wai Yacht Harbor:

I would've stayed and waited for the sun to get lower, but I was getting sleepier by the minute so I headed on home.
Do my planning for the week don't you know.
I'll head on back some other day, especially since I'll only be about a mile or two away.
I'm sort of looking forwards to moving and exploring this whole area, especially since so much has changed.
It was nice to see that one of my old hangouts is still there.
More on that later.

Sunday Early Edition

Late again.
So the Late Edition is going to be even later.
Than usual.
Not that it's ever posted up usually.
If you know what I mean.
Anyways, yesterday we had a Green Recycling day over at school:

Welcome!
Bring all your crap!
The kids were working hard loading up all that uh, stuff:

Didn't look like we had as much uh, stuff as last year.
Last year we had a humungous mound of uh, stuff in the parking lot, so much that the students couldn't keep up with the loading.
I'll know how they feel as next weekend I'll be moving my uh, stuff.
I perused the bicycles:

You know, just in case.
More uh, stuff.
So I had to go in not to check out the uh, stuff, but to check out my new computers!

Freakin Finally!
I mean it's been like three weeks of school and lemme tell you I was just about out of makin' up uh, stuff to do.
Since the machines came in and I'm moving I brought in my printer, since the class printers are still somewhere in limbo land:

They might be on the way.
Then again, they might not.
Be on the way.
The printers I mean.
Now at least I can actually do some digital photography uh, stuff.
So I got me some flash drives cause I know we are going to be moving some files around:

Really cheap flash drives cause I just expect them to grow legs.
You know, and take a walk.
On their own.
To deter leg growth, I got me some fruit:

More on this later.
After running around today picking up a this and a that and setting up the files for the kids, I'm about ready to get out and go for a ride.
The last ride from the Flat Tire Temporary Command Center as next week I'll be setting up the New Flat Tire Command Center (NFTCC).
I gotta start boxing up my uh, stuff again, hopefully for the last time in a long time.
If you know what I mean.
Right now though, I'm really hungry and I've been thinking about that bento I ate a couple of weeks ago.
So off I go!
Late edition when I return.
Maybe.

Friday Night Lights

I wasn't planning on going to the game last night, but a couple of my students were hot to shoot some pictures and it worked out that they were able to get out on the field with another teacher.
So I loaded up the ole camera bag for them and gave them a quick briefing on shutter speed, ISO and aperture.
I think it all went above their heads.
Maybe.
I mean I've been making them read the camera manuals and it doesn't help that I shoot Nikon and the school is all Canon all the time.  I'm not sure they learned how to use either camera.
Anyways.
Off they went!
I got out of my oil change a little early and the varsity game started late so it was perfect timing.
Another short talk about trying not to get run over and the two girls hit the field.
I spent some time with our old camera and I gotta say, it's just not ready for prime time.
So I went back to the car to grab a real camera.
If you know what I mean.
I would post up pictures of how my new camera did, but I didn't use it; the pictures were taken by the students and I don't have permission to use them.
The pictures I mean.
Ethics and all that don't you know.
I spent most of the night shooting the sidelines and keeping an eyeball on the two girls.
In a safety kind of way.
Anyways, touchdown!

I told myself that this year I'm going to focus more on what's happening on the sidelines.
I'll leave the action pics to the kids.
Sort of.
The good news is that my new camera takes some nice pictures.
The bad news is that between the two of them, they took like five hundred shots.
Five.
Hundred.
Smoke was pouring out of my camera at the end of the night.
I haven't even looked at the school camera.
Which by now, is no longer new either.

One of our trainers watching the action.
This year, our AD has restricted our photographers to the track surrounding the field.
Liability and all that and I sort of agree.
I'm going to make up passes that my students will wear that have their emergency contact info.
You know, just in case.
While the two girls were burning up my flash card, I was patrolling back and forth trying to find a good angle to watch the game:

Which is difficult on the sidelines.
Most of the time, the only way I know what's happening is by the down and yard markers.  If you are really into the game, the sidelines pretty much suck.
Ooops! I need to straighten that photo.
Next game I'm going to try and shoot film, so I might try and get some fast film.
I don't think 400 speed film is going to cut it even though I have a f1.4 lens.
I think the reason I like shooting sports is the challenge.
Subjects are constantly on the move and you never know when a good shot is going to appear.
Volleyball is next week and we'll see if the kids learned anything.
After five hundred plus shots, I sure hope so.
If you know what I mean.
Oh, by the way, we won.

It's Official!

So today was go the seminar day, not an off day but a working day getting some training so that I can teach them kids better.
Mostly it's boring but hey! if I can pick up one idea or new thing it's all good.
Unlike my camera:

That's some light leakage right there, a pretty bad case.
Not to worry though, I'm a gonna take care of that with this:

Got me some anti light leakage stuff.
It's adhesive backed really thin foamy stuff used for the light seals in the back of a camera.
It looks like there are only two seals in there, on the camera I mean, one on each side, but I gotta scrape off the old stuff before putting in the new.
That right there looks like it could fix about a hundred cameras cause them strips are really little and short.
Well I might need it cause:

That's right!
I am certifiably officially out of my mind!
There's your proof right there.
Like I need another camera, I went ahead and got me two more.
Two.
More.
Sometimes I can't believe myself.
I do have a good explanation.
Though.
Really.
Good.

I got me the Nikon D7100 cause it's a crop sensor thingy and I needed a little more length in my lenses cause I'm a football shooting fiend!
Sort of.
It was either this, or get me a Canon lens for the kids and I figured it's my cashola so I might as well get something I can use too.
Besides, I'm racking up way too many actuations on my other camera so this one will be for shooting sports, mostly.
I'm also getting tired of lugging my other camera back and forth to work so I'll leave this one there.
The other is camera is my dream come true.
No really.

I think I've been eyeballing a Nikon FM2 every since there was a FM2.
Black and nasty don't you know.
If you squint yer eyeballs at the other picture you can see I also got me the motor drive.
I mean what's a fully manual camera without a little bit of automation?
You know, so I can blow through a roll of film in like ten seconds.
Seriously though, I've lusted after an FM2 for like forever and since I got a film camera, I figured I  might as well plunge and get the Cadillac.
So to speak.
Lemme tell you though, this is it.
No really.
This.
Is.
It.
Sort of.
The Flat Tire Command Center is moving at the end of the month and I'm a gonna have some major bills now so this is the end of Quest for Camera.
Mercy.
My wallet needs it.
On the other hand, there are a couple more pieces of glass I want, I mean need.
What's the use of having the camera if you don't have the glass?
I like the way you think Mr. Flat.
Thanks.
Maybe.

Sunday Final

The Quest for Really Cheap Film Camera is over.
Kinda.
Today on the ole CL I stepped into a couple of sort of deals.
More on that later.
Anyways after running around some, like to the bank and stuff, I came home and took a nap.
I'm getting back into the work groove and I woke up this morning at my usual 5am time.
Sleepiness came early, like right after lunch.
I got up in the afternoon and decided I needed to get out before I lost the light.
To test the new cameras don't you know.
So off I went!
I never noticed these mounds before:

More accurately I probably noticed them but didn't give them much thought.
Today, I was thinking they look like burial mounds, though I don't know why they would be next to the highway.
There are some other mounds in the medial strip and along the side of the path, but those mounds just look like well, mounds of dirt.
There must be some reason they're there.
I think.
Anyways, it being Sunday and all, I went by some places of worship:

The Holy Temple of the Expressness of Federalness.
I don't pray there too often.

The Church of the Blue Label.
Deliver me from eVil and send me on the path to three day air service!
I donate there regularly.
I rode around cause I had two rolls of film to blow so I was taking pictures of just about everything:

I talked to this dude Wilson for a bit and it turns out he has a famous movie star cousin.
He looked tired.
One thing is for sure, shooting film makes you think twice about what you're taking pictures of.
I mean now it cost like money to make your pictures and you can't just go around shooting everything.
I also tend to shoot faster with digital, sometimes making mistakes as I pray and spray.
With film, you have to think about your settings, especially since these cameras are mostly manual.
Oh, the cameras!

I ran into a dude who was selling both and I probably paid a little too much for them.
The cherry pie wasn't part of the deal.
It's just there for some color.
That zoom is like old school and is pretty much worthless.
The Nikon came with a 55 f2.8 Micro that cleaned up pretty well.
The Canon is real find.
It was clean all around and came with a 50 f1.4 that's a bit foggy.
I'll try to play doctor and clean the front element but I'm not hopeful.
As long as I don't step down too much it should be okay.
Oh and it also came with a flash.
Not that I use flash.
Still it's something that the kids can play around with, maybe learn something by seeing how it was done back in the not so olden days.
Well okay, it was pretty much in the olden days to them.
Anyways, I'll take em to school tomorrow and see they are received.
With open arms I hope.
Now, lemme take a look at that foggy lens.
Call me Doctor.
Doctor Flat Tire.
Oh yeah.

Sunday Early Edition

So yesterday I went in to work to well, work on some things.
Not that there's much to work on since my room has nothing in it.
Well, that's what I was working on, the nothingness.
Seems our school budget isn't going to be budgeted until the beginning of next month.
Not good news as since my room is a new room, most of the stuff that I need will come from this year's budget.
So far, I have been scrounging cameras from the other class and trying to make up useful lessons that don't need cameras or computers.
Which is sort of difficult since this is like a digital photography class.
Except now, I got a film camera.
More on that later.
So anyways, I went in to work to think about what I'm going to do this week as I'm sort of running out of options.
What's up with all these cars?
The parking lot was packed!
On a Saturday!
Seems we had a convention of sorts:

Robotics!
Teams from all over the island were working on their well, robot skilz!
I don't know when robot season starts but it must be soon.
The bots have to do a bunch of maneuvers like pick up balls and knock balls down etc.

I don't think it was a real competition although I did see a rankings thing scrolling on a screen.
It looks like they were just sort of practicing, under real conditions kinda thing.
I was going to volunteer to help our team out but those kids are at it every day and I just can't commit the time.
Changing oil three times a week and all that don't you know.
I'm starting to think that a transplant might be a good thing after all.
So anyways, I go up to my empty room and sit in my plush leather medium back chair and put my legs up on my empty desk.
Sort.
I mean my desk is sort of empty:

More paper weights.
The kids I got don't even know what  3.5 floppy is.
I need an Apple Quicktime to round out my collection.
Which is growing:

I really like that one.
A Zeiss Ikon Contina circa 1955.
I may have to find one that actually works.
That one sort of does, but the aperture and shutter rings are a bit sticky.
Well I was staring at that camera thinking about whether or not I should go searching on the eVilness for a nice tested working one when I got an idea.
Let the kids shoot film!
Okay, not all of them cause at last count I got about a hundred and thirty of them, but the kids in the advanced class.
They are supposed to know all about camera settings and stuff and they're like already bored just sitting around.
I still got some time with the beginning kids cause they don't know what the hell they're supposed to be doing and everything is new to them.
The advanced kids though are like ready to go out and document the world and I feel bad that I don't have anything for them to document the world with.
So today, I'm off to find another film camera.
Quest for Really Cheap Film Camera (QFRCFC!)!
I figure this should hold me until I get my computers hopefully late this week.
I can do some demonstrations with the beginning classes, maybe let them shoot a few frames.
Meanwhile I have to go and review all my purchase orders and submit them based upon priority and need.
I swear if getting my stuff takes any longer I'm going to take some clay into class and have them make pinch pots.
Okay, not really.
Well, maybe.

Mixed Bag

Well.
A couple of things I found out about film processing.
You can do it one hour, which is a good thing, but they can't do black and white, not the real kind.
So I guess if I want to use Tri X or something, I gotta find someplace else to process it.
You get your negatives back, which are scanned and put on a disc.
The negatives I mean, which is another good thing.
Total cost for pictures (24) and disc is around nine bucks, which ain't that bad.
That Canon AT-1 I got seems to be okay.
Sort of.

Two night shots, the top one has some noise.
Same thing happened during the day:

The top image also shows what looks like some light leakage in the body, either that or it's a really bad flare.
Close up, the lens isn't so bad:

I've got to be careful about focus and depth of field though as my eyeballs aren't like everyone else's eyeballs and you can't adjust the viewfinder.
There's more evidence of some light leaking into the body, though it doesn't show up on all the pictures.
I'm gonna order me some light seal thingys and see if that cleans it up.
I gotta say though, I'm wondering if there's a place for film nowadays, some kind of niche it fills.
I'm not sure, especially since shooting with black and white will be problematic.
Photography analog is not like music analog where you can sort of tell there's a difference.
I wanted to say the images look "warmer," sort of how LP records sound warmer, but actually if you are like me and scrutinize stuff, going back to film may not be a good thing.
Especially since all the different films that used to be available aren't anymore and you can't pick and chose your favorite flavor.
I also forgot just how noisy film can be!
Actually I like noise, but only when using black and white.
There's also no control over post production, you get what you get, no PP adjustments like in digital.
I must say though, there is a certain romance about shooting a manual camera with film.
Sort of like riding a steel bicycle with Campagnolo on it: technology has moved on, but it still does what it's suppose to do.
Having to set the aperture and shutter before taking a shot, oh and don't forget to focus, was hard to get back to even though it was de rigueur once upon a time.
I dunno, there's something about manually advancing that film and seeing things spin and hearing that shutter chock! that's very nostalgic and natural.
Like going back to a childhood home, it's familiar yet so different.
For now it's more of a novelty.
I'll shoot a couple of more rolls (remember saying that?) and see what happens.
One thing is for sure, this is one camera I won't worry about when riding my bicycle.
I mean the Flat Tire Earth Machine.
Don't you know.

Going Backwards

No, not my tires again.
I'm still going forwards on the path of least resistance.
I think.
Sometimes it feels like I got a flat.
Could be just my legs.
If you know what I mean.
No, I am going back in time with photography:

I had put together a PowerPoint on the history of photography for the kids, one that showed all kinds of  oldfangled cameras and stuff, but I thought it would be cool for them to actually be able to hold and touch some of these antique/vintage gems.
Besides, I needed some paper weights since I got a nice cool sometimes persistant breeze that comes through that window with a view.
So I've been busy.
Oh the eVilness!
I just can't seem to stay away!

The good news is that I'll be getting my purple star by the end of the year.
Maybe.
Anyways, you'd be surprised how many of these instamatic type thingys are floating around out there.
I even got me a some GAGILLION year old film!
Then, this morning, I was scanning the ole CL and what did I find?
Well it I had to drive like 20 miles to find out and I ripped off the seller but I got me this:

The film advance didn't work and the shutter wouldn't fire so I told the dude it was probably bricked.
I also couldn't get the aperture to move and the lens was all dirty so I was going to pass.
Ten bucks? asks the dude.
Uh, okay, I says.
Driving home I was thinking boy, these paper weights are getting sort of expensive.
Back at the Command Center I ran the camera through the central computer and found out that there was a chance all it needed was a battery.
So off the to battery place I go and as I paid for it I installed it and voila!
Shutter fires and film advance advances!
Sorry seller dude.
I lied.

So I got me some film since I was standing at the counter anyways:

The camera is full manual which is why I couldn't understand why nothing worked.
It does have a light meter though I'm not sure how accurate it still is.
I'm about to find out!
I gotta say it's been a while since I've shot film and I'm all giddy about seeing what this camera can do.
I'm going to order me some TriX black and white film and run it through the paces.
Of course I have to take the same image with my digital to compare, you know, just for fun.
At least I got something to do this weekend since I'm off today via state holiday.
Admissions Day or something of the sort though I think it's actually supposed to be the 21st.
If I shoot the roll now, maybe I can get my pictures back tomorrow.
Off I go!

Sunday Final

I'm sad.
I'm also sleepy.
More on this later.
So it's final.
The guy who's living in my new place came over to see this place and we'll soon be switching places.
Moving.
Again.
I can hardly wait.
I mean that both seriously and sarcastically.
Anyways, after he left I figured I should get out a bit and look for some lunch.
So off I went!

It was a beautiful day, considering we got some storms a coming and going.
If you squint yer eyeballs you can see some piracy going on there.
I also watched this guy clean his boat a bit:

At first I though boy, it must be a pain having to clean your boat all the time.
Then I thought that on a day like this, it ain't so bad.
If you know what I mean.
Actually I came down to Kewalo Basin looking for a fishing boat that sunk last night.
It was nowhere in sight so either they already raised it or the harbor is pretty deep.
Anyways, I was getting hungry so I headed towards work:

We were hosting a volleyball tournament this weekend so I was hitting up the concession for some shoyu chicken.
That's soy sauce to you folks on the Continent.
I remember once when I was shorter, we spent a good ten minutes asking a waitress in Utah to bring some shoyu for our fish.
Soy sauce.
This is the sad part cause they were all sold out!
Talk about disappointed!
Thankfully they weren't sold out of this:

Cause lemme tell you, it was hot out there!
I also ate/drank a red one.
With a hotdog.
I watched the first games, and we lost so I was more sad and more hungry.
So off I went!
Quest for Food (QFF).
I picked something up along the way and headed back to the beach:

Can't believe I found an empty table.
To eat this:

A bento which consisted of some bobby cue beef, chicken, some kind of fish and piece of Spam.
Bento comes from Japanese sugar workers who packed their lunches in boxes.
Now it means any mixed lunch with rice sans gravy.
Sort of.
As I ate I watched this older gentleman patch his net:

This is something that used to be seen frequently being done in front yards and at well, the park.
Now the laws against net fishing have changed and I suppose it's becoming a lost art.
That's a throw net he's working on.
After looking at that picture again, he's not patching, he's making.
Anyways, after I ate that bento, I got sleepy.
Hawaiian paralysis.
I started thinking that the throw net would make a pretty nice hammock.
That's the sleepy part.
I headed on home.
At about 2.7 mph.
With the wind.
Okay, not really.
Okay, sort of.
Anyways, I gotta start packing.
After I take a nap.