Trivia that matter
My new toy camera arrived today. It cost about half as much as the little Canon I got about five years ago and is more than twice as capable. The images are 4,000 by 3,000 pixels, which is larger than those my DSLR takes. The picture above is cropped but otherwise unaltered; click on it to see it at actual size. The image quality is remarkable for the price. The flowers are dahlberg daisies; each daisy is about 3/4″ across.
[flowplayer src=’http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/cc28.mp4′ width=640 height=480]
The music is Danny Gatton’s “Cruisin’ Deuces.”
I finally finished going through all the pictures from Costume-Con 28.
Update: here are the 400 or so best shots in a slide show. The music is Danny Gatton’s “Cruisin’ Deuces.”
[flowplayer src=’http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/cc28.mp4′ width=640 height=480]
I finally finished going through my Costume-Con pictures. The full gallery is here; there are 984 pictures in 3 albums. Selected photos are below the fold.
Continue reading “Steampunk, Camelotter and the Nairobi Trio”
Spotted at Costume-Con 28:
Update: I’ve uploaded the first batch of pictures here.
*****
Don’t waste your money and time on Hollywood drivel. Watch The Secret of Kells instead.
I’m home from Costume-Con 28 with over 1500 pictures to review and edit. Like this one:
Update: I’ve uploaded the first batch of pictures here.
Update 2: I’ve uploaded more. All the Costume-Con galleries will be here.
Waiting for me when I got home from work today.
The Kwanzan (or “Kanzan”) cherry (Prunus serrulata) was at peak bloom today at the botanical garden.
I visited Botanica again this afternoon and took a lot of pictures, which I’ll upload to my gallery later. On the way home I spotted a couple of other noteworthy floral displays: a Chinese empress tree, above, and a wisteria.
I spent the weekend in Atchison. Here are a few of the pictures I snapped.
… so if I want to post a picture of a Lenten Rose, I’d better do it today.
This is a good year for flowering trees such as magnolias:
It’s blossom-gazing time, with sakura blooming in Japan. I did a little blossom-gazing myself yesterday at the local botanical garden, which has a few flowering cherries. Wichita had enough serious cold weather this past winter to trigger profuse bloom. Instead of a blue tarp, I brought my camera.
I arrived one windy day too late to catch this one at its prime.
Horticulturally, this year is running about three weeks slower than last year. Plants that were in full bloom a year ago are just coming into bud now. Nevertheless, I did find some color yesterday on my first visit to Botanica this year.
You may think that putting dancers in black costumes on a black stage with minimal lighting is very dramatic, but for photographers it is a nightmare.
Life is complicated these days, and anime is low priority. I’ve heard good things about Kimi ni Todoke — I gather that the protagonist is Aspie-ish, which could be interesting, handled well — and I plan to download it when I see a batch torrent. Otherwise, though, nothing else recent looks worth the time.
A few random notes:
Via Pete, here’s a look at a deluxe Russian edition of Haibane Renmei.
Many in the otakusphere have been writing about the decade in anime. Uh, guys, you’re jumping the gun. Just as 2000 was the last year of the 20th century, 2010 is the tenth year of the first decade of the no-longer-new century, not the first of the second decade.
Disappointing musical news: Kayo is leaving Polysics. The band apparently will continue to tour and record, but it won’t be the same without her robotic persona and bleepy synths. Who else can possibly shake the pompons in “Peach Pie on the Beach”?
I bought myself a Christmas present, the basic edition of Filter Forge. It’s something like Reaktor for graphic artists: you can download thousands of filters made by other users, or you can roll your own from the tools provided (if you get a fuller version). There are a couple of examples below the fold. Warning: they’re based on a snapshot of myself, and I am not cute. Once you see them, you can’t unsee them.
