TOP needs to make room and free up some discretionary funds, so I'll be doing a major "closet dump" sometime very soon. We'll be offering late-model, low-use digital cameras at substantial savings, lenses (including a few rare exotics), and film cameras (some fine, some funky) as well as my extensive collection of darkroom equipment. (Please, somebody report this on the APUG and the LFF!) For local buyers, some books and prints will also be on the block.
Please keep an eye out if you're interested.
Mike
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Ann: "I just finished my own closet clear-out a couple of weeks ago. It was liberating, and I feel lighter seeing the empty shelves. The pile of cash in the desk drawer (I used Craigslist) ain't bad, either."
I'll be traveling on Friday so TOP will take Friday off this week instead of Saturday.
Mike
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We have had a death in our family. I will be preoccupied for a couple of days; TOP will return on Friday.
(I will however be at loose ends in the Indianapolis airport at 6:45 this evening—would anyone like to join me there for dinner? You can respond with a comment if you're interested. Please leave a cell phone number. I won't publish it. Plan to bring a couple of prints if you can!)
Please be sure to check out the latest Featured Comments in the previous two posts; many of the comments have raised excellent points and (especially JG's curious experiences) shed light on the peculiar psychology affecting our rather odd, troublesome business.
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TOP will be on hiatus for a day or two. My fellow Americans know what time of year this is....
Back soon!
Mike, whose talents do not include accounting
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john cross: "Can you enlighten us in the rest of the world who have no idea what you mean by that comment?"
Mike replies: Sure. "U.S. persons," which is apparently the current term of art, are required to compute their own tax bills and submit their accounting and remit their payments to Federal and State governments on April 15th (the date can change slightly under various extenuating circumstances).
Naturally this is the subject of many laws. "The United States tax code is complex," Wikipedia states, drily, in one of the great understatements in human history. The article continues, "On January 10, 2010, the then commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Douglas Shulman, told C-SPAN that he uses a tax preparer to do his federal income tax return because he finds the tax code too complex to handle the job himself." To quote a common children's expression, "him and me both."
TOP has been publishing online for 3,375 days and counting, and along the way I've written, by rough but conservative estimate, approximately the word count of 12 100,000-word novels.
It's a hard job, but somebody's gotta be lucky enough to do it. (Photo of me by Zander, who just made the Honor Roll at the University of Wisconsin.)
If you don't contribute any other way and would like to, you can use PayPal to mcjohnston at mac.com...or do some shopping at Amazon, Amazon UK, or B&H Photo for yourself.
I have to be off tomorrow (Wednesday), but I'll post more covers on Thursday morning (that was fun, too—thanks to all concerned. Check the comments if you haven't yet).
—Mike J., Chief Scribe and All-Purpose Factotum (And thank you for reading)
(P.S. Only a relatively small percentage of any website's readers ever make any sort of monetary contribution (not including commenting). I don't know the exact percentage here, but it's between .5 and 4 percent. So if you chip in anything, in any way, you're helping out to a disproportionate extent. Even if you don't do your online shopping through this site's links, you should consider doing it through someone's. I can tell you it really does help.)
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Byron Annis:"Hey Mike, I read your entertaining blog often and certainly feel that it would be appropriate to make a contribution as a token of appreciation. However, I did send you $50 to help with the purchase of your new house and never received anything resembling a thank-you. As far as I am concerned this was a breach of civility. I'm not going to repeat the mistake."
Mike replies: Byron, I apologize for any breach of civility! I hope you simply missed the thank-you, and that you didn't feel it didn't resemble the grateful response you would have appreciated. Here it is again: "Finally, I Get To Say THANK YOU." I assure you it was heartfelt and very sincere!
Thank you again. And thank you for the opportunity to re-post the thank-you post!
Byron replies to Mike: "Thanks for your response to my comment. No good will be served by any back and forth. I really do admire TOP and visit frequently. To confirm my good faith I've subcribed and hope that your blog will continue to thrive for a very long time."
I'm hearing from various people that they missed the publication of the Olympus 17mm Crowdsourced Lens Review. It was published in complete form on Monday but did not show up in some feed readers (Feedly for instance).
Perhaps when I do these "reposted" posts, I should also publish a simple notice, like this one, that the repost is up and viewable.
Thanks for your patience as I learn how the system works across the many different platforms people use and see. For the record, the only way to see the complete version of the site is to visit the actual site.
Rumors that Yr. Hmbl. Ed. is becoming an iPhoneographer are greatly exaggerated. I just got a new phone is all, and I don't use it that much as a phone, much less a camera.
No, I like my current Fuji just fine, and need it for the work I want to do, and am planning to add more XF system lenses when I can afford to.
Mike
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I had hoped to have a winner picked for the Keck Photo Contest by now—I had promised the donor of the Hawaiian condo I'd have a name for him by yesterday. And I'm almost there, I really am...
...But people have made it really hard for me. First of all, there were lots of entries. And never have I been involved with any sort of a contest with such high quality entries. The initial sort was a broad "No/Maybe" pass, and the "maybe" pile was higher than the "no" pile! That's never remotely happened before. With every contest I've ever run or judged, and there have been a number, I would say the typical proportion that make it through the initial pass is 1/7 or 1/8. Not this time.
Some people sent three carefully selected pictures that work beautifully together; some sent very well-made prints; L.R. Jasper should teach all of us how prints should be presented; and most of all there are just some wonderful pictures. I could pick three that "go together" beautifully in each of several different genres. I even have to eat some very recent words (written to Moose) because David Boyce sent a print that is almost purely a rectangle of brilliant blue, with just a bit of variation, and I have to admit it really works as a print.
And some of the prints in the "no" pile are very successful, even outstanding photographs...the only problem with them being they're not particularly suitable for a print sale. They're certainly not "rejects" in the conventional sense.
So...I'm trying, I really am. But this is hard.
I'll have a decision soon.
Mike
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The relentless cold is getting a bit oppressive lately. Early yesterday morning it was –15°F (–26°C) here. In that kind of cold, a little wind can really bite. The wind swirls and the dogs have trouble. Lulu's coat is so thin (here's a post with a picture of Lulu) she can barely make it to the end of the driveway and back without discomfort. I wrap her in a silly-looking doggie coat, but it's her feet that give her trouble first.
Lulu under the electric blanket (iPhone snap)
On the other hand, she loves it under my electric blanket in the wintertime. Toasty doggie.
Speaking of animals, there's an old expression about the month of March—that it "comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." My favorite quip at this time of year is that the older I get the more I take that as a promise. I'm waiting avidly for the Lamb of Spring, my brother, my sister, and I want it here before April. Witness!
You listenin', March? I want you to come through for me. Every February, my late friend Phil Davis and his wife Martha would decamp from their Michigan estate for three weeks of balmy sunshine in Cabo San Lucas. Phil would have heartily scorned the term "estate," but he owned 95+ acres near Ann Arbor, so what else would you call it? Woods, fields, paths, and a pond, all theirs. In his later years he resolutely fended off the circling developers. He bought the land just after WWII and was still paying his monthly mortgage on it in the '90s—$79 a month rain or shine.
With Phil gone, doubtless the developers have had their paws on it for a while now. No more fields, no more woods.
Phil suffered from SAD—seasonal affective disorder, which is essentially the "winter blahs" times a thousand. Three weeks of Mexican sunshine broke the northern winter in half for him and made it bearable.
Phil had made most of his money as a professional photographer serving Detroit's automotive industry. A shame that work of his was never collated or collected—I saw some of it, and some of the big dye transfers were remarkably beautiful period pieces.
I'd go to Cabo every winter too if I could. Lacking that opportunity, I'll settle for the promise of that Lamb. What choice have I got? But it better get here before the end of March...like it's supposed to.
Mike
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Paul richardson: "I'm with you. I live next to Lowell, Massachusetts, and read online yesterday that we've had more snow than any city in the US. And it's been routinely below zero. Throw in a twenty or thirty mile an hour wind and it's a frozen hell. I can't take much more. Nor can anyone else."
David Zivic: "I have lived in Cabo San Lucas for 19 years and in February and March we locals wear long pants and socks and take a jacket to go out in the evenings. Early the other morning I actually turned the heater on in the car, after finding the controls, on the way to early surf fishing. (Sorry, no ice fishing here.) The tourists, on the other hand, are all in shorts and sandals with tank tops, wallowing in the tropical weather. Have a nice day!"
Brendon: "I read this and smiled. I live in Perth, Western Australia, and the same is true here, but just the other way around. The summer heat has been oppressive, and every soul here is begging for autumn! Only +28°C here today, so we have a reprieve, but Tuesday we are expecting 39°C again...the heat drains all inspiration from me too. It is a case of 'inside with the aircon on full blast.' Fingers crossed the lamb arrives mid-March."
latent_image: "Mike, I think this says it all. (For my American friends, +1 is +1 degree Celsius or 1 degree above the freezing point.)"
Steven Palmer: "Hey, Mike, can we have more photography related articles, please? I don't mind some off topic stuff, and actually like most of it, but lately real photography related posts have been a bit thin on the ground. I don't consider putting up a photograph and link and then talking about other stuff a photography post and a short post about a photography book that's for sale is a bit of a stretch too. By the way, are Ctein and your other occasional writers coming back? I think TOP is the poorer without their contributions. Just a humble request from a longtime reader."
Dogman: "You've hit the sweet spots recently, Mike. I'm passionate about photography, a fan of Liszt's solo piano compositions and a collector of knives, albeit pocket knives instead of kitchen knives. And then there was the information on a better cup of coffee—all recommendations I fully endorse since coffee is another of my favorite endeavors. Great stuff."
There's one of the conundrums of blogging in the proverbial nutshell. As you can see from the above, "You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time."
The words are most often ascribed to Abraham Lincoln, who replaced the word "please" with the word "fool." However, the formulation is originally by John Lydgate of Bury St. Edmunds, born in Lidgate, Suffolk, an English monk and prodigiously prolific poet who lived c. 1370–c. 1451.
It's certainly an interesting issue, and one I struggle with all the time. It's complicated by the fact that not only must I try to consider what you might want to read, I also have to take into account what I am interested in.
Speaking of which, thanks for the advice on knives. My girlfriend is a great* cook, and is trying to interest me in that.
Gearheadism is helping; I bought a discontinued 8" Zwilling J.A. Henckels Five Star Chef's Knife off eBay (S. has one like it and I like the handle), a Wüsthof Classic 3-1/2-Inch Paring Knife (the old knife I have is a Wal-Mart knockoff of that) and I'll continue to use my Wüsthof Classic 10-Inch Bread Knife (a long-ago gift—thanks, Mom!) because there's nothing wrong with it.
Damn, and now I've gone and made yet another non-photographic post. Good thing there are gear websites out there, not to mention my own favorite photography blog (and bête noire), PetaPixel. Sorry, Steven...but never fear, I only buy kitchen knives every quarter-century or so. They last a long time.
Mike (Thanks to Steven and Dogman)
* She thinks merely "good," but I stick by "great."
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The Lazy Aussie: "I really started appreciating the off topic stuff when I realised TOP is not a photography blog, but a blog about a guy who runs a photography blog. And that's why it's so good."
Robert Roaldi: "What you could do is, every three or four blog entries, say something controversial like 'B&W photography is more manly than colour' or 'Brand x is for wimps, brand y is for real men.' The frenzy will last for days during which you can then slip in some pieces about stereo speakers or Minnesota Fats or 'What's the longest time you spent looking at a photograph?' Appreciation of one thing leads to appreciation of other things. More thinking is good."
Steve L.: "I love the off topic stuff. I didn't know stand-up desks existed until I read about them here. I bought one and it's transformed my 54-year-old legs. I'm like a new man. Thanks Mike."
A big thanks to David McRaney of You Are Not So Smart for namechecking me and TOP in his TEDx Talk (at around the 9:30 mark). There goes another minute of my allotted 15 minutes of fame, for sure.
The talk is about Survivor Bias and is excellent, especially if you're not already familiar with the idea. His story about the bomber and the statistician is a great one.
I always think of Survivor Bias when they interview centenarians for the secret of living so long and they say things like "you should smoke a cigar every day" or "I drink one shot of bourbon first thing every morning." We learn a lot more by studying what killed all the people who don't live to 100.
David did a nice job with the talk, too. I wish I could do that. I'm not good at public speaking.
Mike (Thanks to Doug Nelson)
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Kenneth Tanaka: "'Survivorship bias' is also a hazard in financial market analyses. Someone back-testing an equity investment model, for example, might find themselves inadvertently working with a data set composed only of stocks (companies) that remained in existence throughout the period of the test. Of course this is a rookie error, but the ranks of 'financial analysts' are continuously brimming with shiny new rookies. What's more, easy and relatively inexpensive access to datasets via the Internet often makes it easy to overlook such a pitfall. Fun facts to know and tell."
Wayne: "As statistics and quantification have become the rule of the day in virtual everything in life these days, I purchased a text, written in the '40s, by a gentleman named Miller, on the basics of statistical analysis. I did not get too far into the book when I stumbled on Mr. Millers explanation that statistics essentially have their genesis in the fact that operations do grow to the point where management through personal/individual attention is no longer possible. I still reflect on that statement.
"This TEDx talk congeals Miller's statement to some degree for me: when applied to human events, statistical analysis is simply a record of available/gathered history; the same human shortcoming that brought about the need for statistics can still exist within the statistics. Big stuff may be missing. Mastery of the math is no guarantee to success.
"Sorry, this is a big subject for me, I may never fully grasp it.... But it fascinates me. Thanks for the link."
DavidB: "Years ago I took an avalanche awareness course. The instructor commented that it was important, when in the moving snow, to 'swim' upwards to the surface. I asked how you know which way is up? He responded that all the survivors he had interviewed knew which way was up. I asked, what about the ones that didn't survive? He was astonished at my question as he had never considered it."
Just a brief thank you to everyone who commented on the two "scenic" posts. So many thoughtful comments and such a wide and interesting variety of perspectives. It reminds me to mention that Internet discussions are never deciding anything—we're not seeking to become a "community of belief" that has a doctrine that must be adhered to. Agreement, especially enforced agreement, is never the point. Discussion of art and practices, of experiences and aesthetics, are almost the opposite of that—they're collections of insights from which each individual can pick and choose. When someone says something that resonates for you, that sticks in your mind, then perhaps it's something you're ready to hear, a "hand up" for your own evolving thoughts, an insight that could help; when another person says something you think is wrong or that leaves you cold, no harm's done. The insights that miss are the way you get to the insights that help. To the nourishing kernels amongst the chaff.
I always try to pick a few representative comments to promote to "featured" status, adding them to the post, for people who don't want or don't have time to read all the comments. But I could have picked just as long a list of entirely different comments, there were so many good ones. I enjoyed the discussion.
Mike
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Unfortunately I have writer's block again today. I have a quotation from Boswell's Life of Johnson taped to my computer (it has been with me through several computers and has survived my move); it says "A man may write at any time if he will set himself doggedly to it." What Dr. Johnson fails to mention is that his maladies and afflictions left him lacking doggedness on many occasions. I don't mean to claim anything in common with Dr. Johnson, but my doggedness has deserted me this morning.
While I'm missing in action, you might try visiting Robert Kalman's work. I've enjoyed looking through these this morning, although you really need to look through, and read, a pretty good subset of them to get the experience. Marek Fogiel suggested it.
Robert Kalman, Another view of Sasha
Anyway, my apologies, but I am giving up for now; I'll re-apply myself this afternoon and see what happens and, failing that, will try again tomorrow.
All best, Yr. Hmbl. Host (Thanks to Marek)
Oh, and if you want to read Boswell, I suggest Osgood's abridgement, which can be had for the Kindle for a very well spent $3.03.
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I mentioned the other day that I'd be listing some "photobooks of interest," but I forgot that the interval between Christmas and New Year's Day is a holiday week for a lot of people and our traffic goes down for the week. Since book posts require a fair amount of research I think I'll put them off until more people are reading again.
If you're here and reading this week, count yourself a hardcore fan, and thanks!
Mike
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Our "Ten Best Digital Cameras" list, which was a rolling post that took several days to complete, is now all finished. Take a look if you haven't already.
Let us know what you think, but do note the astute comment made by our friend Ken Tanaka: "Any of [those] cameras would be a #1 for its owner."
Mike
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GX7. Reader Larry "Oldbro" Jasper provided the racquetballs as a gift for the doggies. They are indeed indestructible—Butters carries his around (when I let him) and graws determinedly on it in a concerted attempt to show love through obliteration, but to no avail—the racquetballs are impervious. Both dogs (including old Lulu!) have made spectacular flying catches in their indoor play yard a.k.a. the basement office.
Second, print sale starts today at noon. I'm very enamored of the print—can't get enough of it. Come back at noon and see the image! (Or a pale insufficient JPEG of it. I'll write about the print vs. JPEG tomorrow.)
Mike (Thanks to Larry)
P.S. Don't ask why the speakers are not hooked up. It is a very sad thing.
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Happy to say that the Keck Contest prints are beginning to show up. Here's the deal on timing: I'd really like you to get yours in the mail by the 20th at the latest, but the bottom line is that I need to receive them by the 30th. I really have to get to work on the selection process in early January, so I need them all here by then. The real cutoff is that if your prints get here after the 30th, they'll have missed the initial edit stage and I don't think it's fair to go back and mix "fresh" prints that are new to my eyes with prints I've already seen several times, so I'm going to set aside anything I receive after the 30th.
Hope that helps you plan.
Mike
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I know everyody on earth is asking something similar today, and I csn't hope to compete, but I thought I should at least try. For whatever reason, this past November was TOP's worst earnings month in three years. Probably because I actually need money right now, and to be needy is to take a stick and poke karma in the eye. She doesn't like it.
Only if you're going to be shopping there anyway.
Thanks for reading, in any case.
Mike
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As you know I never hit this very hard, but from time to time I must channel Ken Rockwell and play hardball—and force you to buy yourself a present.
Yes, I know it's hard, but how I get paid is when you buy cool stuff as presents for yourself through my links. It doesn't come out of your pocket—B&H and Amazon kindly share their profits with me. (Evidently they think I'm a nice guy. I think that's why they do it.)
I'm not picking on you. All TOP readers are compelled to indulge themselves in something nice once in a while. A book from Amazon, a lens from B&H Photo...but really, whatever you want. A pair of toasty warm shoes, an exercise bike, a Sony Playstation. It doesn't matter, as long as you choose it and buy it on the same visit originating from TOP.
A little-known fact is that it doesn't have to be something expensive. Amazon plays a numbers game—the more items ordered, the higher a percentage they kick back to me. So if it's just lenscap or a Kindle e-book, you have still done your part.
And yes, I'm sorry, but you have to do this*. Tell your spouse I forced you to, and you didn't have any choice. (Practice your sorrowful face in the mirror first.) I'll take the blame.
(And if you are going to do this this season or have done it in the past, thank you.)
Mike
P.S. And by the way, my girlfriend had me cranking away on one of those things in the picture above at 5:30 this morning, and I liked it. What is this strange place where I find myself?
*Okay, not really. Please, though?
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, which can be had for the Kindle for a very well spent $3.03.
