A Long And Winding Road

Happy Birthday Bri!!!!!

A Drizzle Or A Storm

I am ironically in the middle of a thick book about the 1918-19 influenza pandemic, as we sit here in the hazy early stages of what will either be another pandemic or a fizzled-out close call with another H1N1 variant.

The influenza virus is a masterwork of evolution. It's a rapidly-evolving RNA virus that can recombine and mutate so fast that no two people truly have the "same" flu. It's this rapid churning that keeps the flu one step ahead of our immune systems at every point, and requires new vaccines every year. It's why you never retain immunity to the Flu like you do for Measles and Chicken Pox.

Many people die of conventional flu strains every year, but what makes this 2009 strain different is that it is a new one, never seen before in humans. Very few people will therefore have immunity to it. And that is when the flu virus can really take off. And worse, the strain it most closely resembles is the H1N1 "Spanish Flu".

The 1918 "Spanish Flu"* virus started out fast and mild but by its second wave it was a lethal globe-traveling killer that caused the worst epidemic in human history, worse even than the Black Death. Most estimates say between 50 and 200 million people were killed by this virus in a very short time frame. And death typically came in the form of a terrible acute pneumonia that consolidated in the lungs of its victims, stopping oxygen absorption and turning their skin blue before drowning them alive.

It was widely noted at the time that the 1918 flu strangely wiped out people in the prime of their lives with more ferocity than it did the weak. It is now known that this was because it killed by starting an immune cascade known as a Cytokine Storm, an immune over-reaction that turned healthy immune systems into a liability and spared many infantile and elderly victims its full fury.

Although there is no vaccine for this new flu, we have many tools available to us today that were absent in 1918. From powerful anti-viral drugs to near-instant global communication, to an encyclopedic understanding of the flu, we're much wiser in the ways if infectious disease. And governments around the world are on high alert.

More people will die, for sure. But my hope is that this strain ends in a drizzle and not a storm.

* Incidentally, "Spanish Flu" did not come from Spain, in fact it very likely came from Kansas. But most of the world was in the middle of the Great War and news of anything negative was automatically suppressed by the various governments. Since Spain was neutral in WWI, it's press was wide open and flu news reports were readily available, so most people assumed Spain was the origin. Talk about a bad rap.

Over The River And Through Royal Oak...

...to Grampapa's house she goes!

Papa

It was Heather's Papa's birthday last weekend! Happy 78, Papa! Still goin' 'round like a record!

All Wrapped Up

A Ring And A Tattoo

Irascible At Three

Happy Birthday Coco!!!

Here's a photo I took on my patio in Hermosillo Mexico the day I found her, when she was only about two months old. She had just enjoyed a flea-bath and a yummy dinner and was starting to feel like herself again.

Getting Carded

Here is the near-final draft for my new business card design. I wanted to update my company pallete with some "in" colors and a more modern layout.

What do you think?

Front Side:



Back Side:

Dot & Dash

.... .- .--. .--. -.-- -... .. .-. - .... -.. .- -.-- --..-- ... .- -- ..- . .-.. -- --- .-. ... .

Haircuts & Butterflies

Madison and HB got haircuts yesterday. And we went shopping and I picked out some new clothes for my daughter. Here's her favorite, her new butterfly dress and butterfly flip flops!

After Two Babies

I wish I looked this good after two babies!

Why?

Madison has officially entered the age of "Why?". Everything now is "Why?".

"Madison, take your dish to the sink."

"Why?"

"I took that picture for daddy"

"Why?"

"Maddie, please be careful with that"

"Why?"

Carl Sagan used to say it's important to answer all of your child's many questions as honestly and thoroughly as possible ... except when they are in the "Why?" phase. That phase, he said, is just your child's way of testing their power over you.

Pins & Pan-X

It's World Pinhole Camera Day! So get out your last roll of expired 120 film and an oatmeal box or spam can and get to work!

I made a pinhole camera in the 7th grade and took some shots, but I don't recall ever seeing any of the results. I'd like to try again someday, before the film is all gone.

A Wide-Track Bye Bye

It looks like Pontiac, the brand that is generally credited with the invention of the modern "Muscle Car" in the form of the 1964 Tempest GTO, will be killed off.

I'll be sorry to see it go, as I was when Plymouth went away. Two brands that once made exciting cars for a more carefree time. I'll miss you guys.

Oldsmobile, not so much.

Full-Speed Towards The Weekend!

More From The Ledge

A Wedding Dress With Tap Shoes? Why Not?

Chroma Key Me

"Can you see me now?"

The things people do to make movies.

A Thousand Millions

The iTunes App Store is about to deal out it's 1 billionth app download, maybe even today.

Looking back, it seems I'm only responsible for a few hundred of those. But I haven't checked Zach's iPod Touch lately...

Third Stone From The Sun

Happy Earth Day, Earth! That's a beautiful Africa you've got there, and you wear it well.

House Call

While we're on the subject of Laurence, another interesting story comes to mind that I want to capture here.

In France, when you get sick, the doctor comes to your house, like they used to do here before HMOs and PPOM's came around.

When Laurence first moved here she came down with the flu and promptly called up her doctor's office and told them in broken English that she was sick and required the doctor to come over immediately. Then she started reciting the address to the startled receptionist over the phone.

It took quite a while for the poor girl to understand that she was going to have to somehow get herself to the doctor's office, something she'd never done before, or even considered.

The Glass Monster

In case you've ever wondered how crazy lenses can get on the ultra high-end, here it is. The "small" lens in this picture is a Canon 800mm beast that would normally stand out in a crowd like Andre The Giant at daycare. It's almost twice the size of the lenses they use at football games.

But seen here dwarfing the 800 is the granddaddy of all SLR lenses, the world's largest autofocus lens, a fire-breathing 1200mm monster that can make out distinct facial features at one mile away and weighs 36 pounds.

The Canon 1200mm lens shown here is no longer in production, but even when it was there were only two of these bad boys made per year, and no more than 20 were ever made. The price tag? A cool $120,000. Used. Even when they were in production the thing was difficult to get, there was an 18 month wait because it took at least a year to "grow" a single-crystal fluorite lens blank that large, and griding it was very slow. And to top it off, the lenses were all made and assembled entirely by hand.

Handholding this lens in actual use is impossible of course, it requires a solid tripod (or two) and it's not for indoor use because the closest distance it can focus is 50 feet away. Notice that the big Canon 1Ds Mark III camera attached to it looks like a child's toy.

So what would a lens like this be used for? Generally it's used in sports photography for scenes that are inaccessible to the photographer, such as horse racing from the far side of the track, and certain Olympic events like ski jumping. I imagine it would be good for surfing photography too.

It's price puts it beyond most amateurs, one source at Canon said most customers had "Agency" in their names. It is known that two are owned by Sports Illustrated, Canon Professional Services owns two, several governments have them, and National Geographic owns one. Oh, and a couple of "wealthy individuals" decided to plunk down their milk money for the bragging rights.

I showed this to Heather and the first thing she said was "No, you can't have one."

So Close

I was to Paris on a business trip once and one of our fellow travelers was a woman who was from the area and she was invaluable helping us get around. Laurence had a very heavy French accent and would often pronounce English words in a most hilarious manner, which was ok with us because her English was much better than our French.

Another guy on our trip named Paul who was from the states and worked with Laurence was a Mormon, and I mention that because it matters here.

One evening while Paul was in the next room, we were goofing around (yes, it was THAT trip), and someone called someone else a moron loudly. Laurence went white as a ghost and her eyes became like saucers. She lowered her voice and said in her loudest whisper:

"Shhh! Do not say such a thing, because I just found out that PAUL is a moron!"

Jules, Pirate

Dancing In The Rough

Here are a few more "rough drafts" from the dance shoot. I will be polishing these up soon, removing background imperfections, extending the material on the walls and floor (dancers like to move around), balancing the color and contrast, and "hand-burning" the edges before I have them printed.

I just wanted to share a few with you in this early stage...

(P.S. - you might recognize the little bride!)

Children, Chillin'

Madison takes in a relaxing evening at The Lotus after the Saturday photo shoot.

Riding In The Hood

Light Years

The portable computer has come a long, long way since 1981.

A Studio Weekend

This was a completely exhausting and thoroughly thrilling weekend. We did a big two-day portrait shoot for a dance studio and worked about 7 hours each day plus travel. I was up to my neck in pink tutus and sparkles.

It all went very well and we raked in money by the bushel-full from the ever-proud parents and grandparents. The equipment worked flawlessly, and my lovely wife did an AWESOME job processing orders and taking payments. She even handled the credit card sales with cool competence. Dina was a great help in posing the girls, as I know next to nothing about any of the major forms of dance or their associated geometries. Before this weekend I couldn't tell the Five Arabesques from the Seven Dwarves except by counting them.

My subjects were all wonderful, and seemed to share the same stage fright...except the Janda girls of course, who are used to being photographed and always ham it up for the camera. The girls ranged in age from about three to well into high school. Even though I rarely had to change the lighting setup, I made sure to pop the Sekonic meter for every girl because it makes them feel like supermodels.

The previous photographer who did this annual event was pretty rigid in her methods and did two shots per girl, in two different poses. I shot more pictures than she did and we tried more poses, and even did some action shots which turned out phenomenally cool thanks in no small part to the lightning-fast focus lock and shooting response of the mighty 5D Mk II.

I'll be posting some shots from the weekend as I go through them all. Here's one to get you started...we all loved this little girl. She was all attitude and unlike almost every other subject, she knew EXACTLY what poses she wanted to do.

In The Post-Modern Household

You know you're living in the post-modern era when your two-year-old daughter sees an ironing board set up in the hallway, stops short, and shouts:

"Mom!!! What's THAT?!?!?!?"

Welcome To 30-Something

Happy Birthday Lindsay!!!

Scenes From The Park On A Thursday Evening

I Have A Splitting Headache Today

It's bad. Not sure what to compare it to though.