Lots of things on my mind since 6:30am in mid-December

It’s cold outside. Christmas is creeping in to my December.  We have the smallest Christmas tree we’ve had in decades.  It’s funny, but mostly sad.  I’m hoping it does its job when it’s decorated.

I’m 40% through Harari’s latest book - Nexus, “I just started Part II and excited about the jump to the computer generation and the inevitable concerns about AI” (excerpt from my update on Goodreads).  AI is on my mind as I doomscroll through social media and simultaneously feed the social media algorithms with my own content, wondering if my more regular postings have any unseen, indirect, small impact on my friends’ feeds. In my business world, I work for a large software company that is laser-focused on AI.  I am confident we need to harness AI to increase automation, but luckily the nag of the dystopian what-could-go-wrong scenarios are more fiction than being close to reality.  On technology, I’m comfortable explaining the impacts of post-quantum computing on cryptography - I have to be, it’s important for my customers and long-term data security. The news this week that Google has made massive strides in quantum computing raises the stakes and may be a tipping poing to enhance fundamental encryption algorithms we all use every day.

I like music, I like to have background music tuned to my activities throughout the day.  In my office, I have a small radio that is tuned to CBC Radio 2 and its format aligns quite well with my weekday work patterns.  Right now, sitting in at the kitchen bar, finishing breakfast I have a long-playing YouTube video on the TV - you may have seen these types of videos - I use them a lot.  I prefer jazz tones and some bossa nova with pretty and calming visuals, but also get into dancier content with live? DJs at the mixing table.  I’m sure watching the videos is messing with my YouTube viewer algorithm, like the algorithmic impact of listening to Sleep Sounds on Apple Music.  I’m wondering if this lovely Jazz music I’m listening to right now is a recording or AI generated?  Hold on, hitting Shazam…the result “Postcards: Cozy Bedroom, Cozy Apartment, Cozy Places” - suspicious!

I’m enjoying the NFL. It helps the Detroit Lions are playing so well, but I think I’ve decided that American football is the best sport this side of the Atlantic.  The main reason - every game (and almost every play) matters.  Netflix and Amazon Prime have realized the appeal of in-depth sports documentaries and I often say to new fans of sport, if you’re interested, becoming a fan, docu-series like Drive to Survive (for F1) and Receiver (for football) are superb.

I’ve been up for a few hours now and feel I’ve let my mind flow onto this page and I can get on with the rest of my day.  It’s cold outside.  I’m going for a walk and then a good coffee when I return and get cozy.

Post-walk: a perfect example of There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather, Just Inappropriate Attire.

The topic of social media again

I’ve been on social media platforms for many years.  I don’t recall what came first, was it Facebook or MySpace?  MySpace was founded in 2003, Facebook in 2004 (I joined in 2007), but I’m not sure when I created a MySpace account.  I just logged in but it doesn’t show when I joined! 

I enjoy sharing my life and my thoughts with friends, family and the global internet audience.  I continue to tune my sharing - what I share, on what platform and how often.  I clearly want to participate in lots of places with lots of people, but I struggle with the stagnation on some platforms, privacy matters, and the uncertainty of newer places.  

Meta Facebook (FB).  It remains the place for sharing personal content with friends and family.  

Pros: privacy controls 

Cons: presentation of photos; ads and promoted content in your feed; too many lurkers vs true participants and contributors; trusting your content to Meta.  

Current status: active.  

Meta Instagram (IG/INSTA).   I feel it’s the most common platform for sharing photos publicly, but many users have private accounts.  Designed for (vertical) phone photographers.  

Pros: creativity features, e.g. adding music; sync with FB.

Cons: confusion on different sharing techniques and the associated restrictions on sharing and displaying media; ads and promoted content in your feed; cannot embed links; trusting your content to Meta. 

Current status: active as pjmixer.  

YouTube (YT).   I feel it’s the most common platform for sharing videos publicly. 

Pros: consistent look and feel; ability to have unlisted videos and control sharing.  

Cons: ads; true private videos need viewers to have a YT account; lack of personal feedback for amateurs like me; trusting your content to Google.  

Current status: active.  I predominantly use my pjmixer account and it’s where I share my videos, phil.sewell is just to organize my business playlists.  

X (Twitter).  Still the most common platform for public conversations and reposting articles, but some users have private accounts.  I used to share a lot, but I only go there on occasion these days to see stuff from people and organizations not on Threads.  

Pros: audience and coverage.

Cons: too many reposts without adding to the conversation; trusting your content to X. 

Current status: rare use but still have two accounts - philsewell and pjmixer.  

WhatsApp.  A messaging app that my ultimate frisbee friends treat as social media in our team groups.

Pros: texting and calling people via the internet.

Cons: clunky interface; trusting your phone number and content to Meta. 

Current status: Occasional use for messaging.

Threads.  A newer platform positioned as an alternative to X.  

Pros: Familiar interface; decent presentation of media; feels less cluttered; no ads?; sync with FB and IG.

Cons: I haven’t found a way to create lists or groups; opening links; trusting your content to Meta.

Current status: active as pjmixer.

Flickr.  It’s been around a long time (2004), I joined in 2007 when it was part of Yahoo.  It is now owned my SmugMug and independent from the big monopolies.  I have 13,873 photos on Flickr.

Pros: stats (I have 1.75M views), groups, organizing features, privacy settings.

Cons: public sentiment that it’s old fashioned.   

Current status: active as pjmixer.

Vero.  I’ve used this newer platform quite a lot.  I recall it was optimistically positioned as an alternative to IG.   From my POV, it’s frequented by lots of photographers.  

Pros: high quality presentation features; flexibility, ability to share a variety of content, e.g. music and movie reviews.    

Cons: closed community, i.e. non-intuitive discovery 

Current status: occasional use as pjmixer.

Bluesky.  The hottest tech talk this week for social media.  It promises of independence and freedom, but I’m still learning and not so sure.  

Pros: familiar interface; lots of flexibility.

Cons: lack of participation; needs work to create your connections and feeds.

Current status: I created accounts this week for pjmixer and philsewell.

Nostr.  I found this on the guidance of a photographer, but it’s promise is big and has associations with bitcoin.  It appears to be well architected and de-centralized, but it still requires a good dose of trust.

Pros: independence from a central platform provider, i.e. a company doesn’t own your content, nor controls your profile, connections and experience.  

Cons: techie setup; lack of participation.  

Current status: I created an account this week, my public key is: npub1mp08p6fyu3p0r8psycsgxcgcea9s5xzmx2tcg8ep4nfjpl4wpm6qajzn2s

LinkedIn.  Dominant site for connecting with your business community.  

Pros: Well organized.

Cons: dominance of industry promotional content; most business people are there, but there is inconsistent participation.

Current status: active.

Reddit.  I can’t easily describe it as I don’t use it very often.  Let’s say it is highly democratic opinion and advice site.  It has an interesting popularity voting system, covers a high amount of subjects and has huge amounts of users.

Pros: Strong contribution.

Cons: Unusual, unattractive interface.

Current status: occasional use. 

Pinterest.  I spent some time on this platform a long time ago and then snapped out of it.  It geared toward shiny material things and maybe experiences and is mostly geared toward the shopper, but could be seen as inspiration for creatives.  

Pros: Different, one-of-kind?

Cons: Narrow focus.

Current status: no longer active.  

There are other social media platforms that I’ve never participated in like TikTok, SnapChat, NextDoor and BeReal.  Maybe others could comment on their pros and cons.

Finally, there are some outliers.

Teams.  A Microsoft office messaging and on-line meeting platform that I use daily in my work life and in some situations is being used for social interaction in the workspace.  It has some fun features and it works for me.  I think Slack may have similar features, but I’ve never used it.  Skype and Zoom are used in the workplace and I’d imagine have similar add-on social features.

Blogs and personal websites.  If you have something to say, you perhaps write a blog post or create your own website.  Like an opinion piece in a newspaper a well written post on a current topic could create a debate, invite comments and even go viral.  For a long period of time I wrote regular blog posts across a wide variety of topics, including images and videos.  A few friends provide comments and I have to delete unwelcome comments now and again.  If I have something more substantial to share, I put in here.  Like this post.

Email.  Well, some might say it was the first form of social media.  It was a way to communicate one-on-one, but as soon as someone added other addressees or created a distribution list, an email could quickly create a long thread of discussion.   

  

If you’ve read this far, thank you.  You may wonder what I’m doing today with all these options.  It changes week to week, but it goes something like this.

New thoughts about social media

Why do we share things on social media?  

I thought the the term “social media” came from the early days of Facebook where the prompt said “Phil is…”.  Since 2009, it now says “what’s on your mind?”  https://talkingpointsmemo.com/idealab/facebook-tests-new-status-prompt-questions-how-are-you-feeling#. But from Samual Stroud, the term has older origins to the days of AOL.  https://www.giraffesocialmedia.co.uk/who-coined-the-term-social-media-first/#:~:text=In%201997%2C%20Ted%20Leonsis%2C%20was,which%20being%20AOL%20Instant%20Messenger.

At its simplest, social media is the way many people communicate today.  Think about it this way.  You’re invited to a party and you just got back from a European vacation.  It’s natural that you want to share your stories with friends and maybe even new acquaintances at the party.  You may even take out a photograph to share.  Or maybe even further back - the postcard.  When you were on vacation, you’d write your impressions of a new place on the back of a pretty picture of your vacation spot and mail it to a single person.  Are there people that would go to a party and not tell their friends why they haven’t been around for a few weeks?  That’s kind of weird, right?  You may say it’s even anti-social not to share what you’ve been doing.  Ok, if you don’t got to parties or don’t have friends, this may not be for you.  

Some people use a “trick” in social settings.  They ask you “how was your weekend?”  Many people ask this out of true interest or are simply being polite.  But some may hope that after you share your story, you ask them about their weekend which they’d love to tell you all about (and oh, by the way, they just happen to have some photos to share).  I apologize as a keen storyteller, after telling my story, I often forget to ask the initiator “thanks for asking, and how was your weekend?”.  I see some people on social media simply post “how’s your day?”.   It may not be fair to all, but I’d guess that may be a similar strategy for people wanting to (politely) share their story.

This is a stretch - when some of us log into our social media platform of choice, are we not asking the question “what’s new”?  We may not ask it directly, but we’re here aren’t we, we came to the party, what did we expect?  We want to see what’s new with our close friends, old friends, new acquaintances and maybe even strangers.  Then, when we’ve made the rounds, we’re comfortable sharing [in case you were wondering], this happened on my weekend (and here are a few photos that I took to remember it).

I feel that social media is an amplified digital version of traditional social meetings and gatherings.  It’s a new form of communication that lets us connect with friends and with strangers beyond the limits of physical proximity.  But, the social contract is delicate - I confess, I don’t appreciate all of its finer points and I can dominate a conversation at times or accidentally offend some people.  Digital amplification on social media can potentially create more serious issues or bigger embarrassment for some people.  I don’t have the new rules, but there are some commonly accepted guidelines for social media.  You need to carefully monitor your frequency of communication.  You need to be conscious of the amount of information you share.  And just like an office party, you cannot talk about sex, religion or money.  

I take a huge amount of photos of many subjects.  I record my impressions and ideas on video.  I travel quite a lot.  I have some friends that have the interest and time to see my longer-form stories while others like to get a glimpse into what Phil’s been up to.  I’m trying to be careful how much I share, but there’s lots more if you’d like to sit down.

Epilogue - remember that guy that used to come to all the parties with a mixed tape of all the new tunes he wants to share, what’s he doing now on social media?

Just in time - my movie reviews on the day of the Oscars

I've really enjoyed the diversity of this year's Oscar best picture nominees.  I've been lucky to have seen all of the 10 films, including 4 in the last week.  I rated most of these films highly because of the depth of character complexity - sometimes relating to real people, other times - beautiful creations that are three dimensional.  Most are wonderful cinematic productions and a feast for the eyes that create a rich visual background for super storytelling. But, I'm sorry, Oppenheimer should not win.  No one would be unhappy if The Holdovers won and some may dare to say Poor Things is worthy of the top prize.

Best to worst:

1. Poor Things
2. The Holdovers
3. Anatomy of a Fall
4. Killers of the Flower Moon
5. Past Lives
6. Maestro
7. American Fiction
8. Oppenheimer
9. Barbie
10. The Zone of Interest

Poor Things

Loved it.  Like what - the chaos of Moulin Rouge + the artistry of Wes Anderson + the poetry of a Woody Allen character?  Stunning visuals.  Superb performances - Emma Stone is my pick for Oscar’s best actress.  Loved the dance scene, and the scene on deck of the ship, and Paris, and the end.  Beautiful adaptation of the book that I assume was a master class in imagination - my pick for Oscar's adapted screenplay.  As it says “a fantastical tale” but one with lots of lessons for humans wandering this crazy blue orb.  Mark Ruffalo is my pick for Oscar’s best supporting actor.  9/10.  

The Holdovers

Wonderful in every way.  Superb acting for multi-dimensional complex characters.   Lessons and love.  Characters and comedy.  Da’vine Joy Randolph is my pick for Oscar’s best supporting actress.   The only big movie of the year I watched twice.  9/10 

Anatomy of a Fall

I was glued from the opening scene with the beautiful border collie played by Messi. A terrific story and my pick for Oscar's best original screenplay (just pipping The Holdovers).  Perfect pacing throughout and felt the language switching added to the tension.  Magnificent performance by Sandra Hüller and 15 year-old Milo Machado-Graner.  Stunning location shots and cinematography.  So many elements contributed to a highly-entertaining movie.  8/10

Killers of the Flower Moon

Superb movie making, cinematography, sound, costume, soundtrack and directing.  Martin Scorsese is my pick for Oscar’s best director.  A very powerful story.  I loved DeNiro’s jail cell words about people will forget.  It was long but massive actors can keep your attention.   DiCaprio was superb - completely convincing portrayal of a tragic? slow-minded fool.  I sadly didn’t know it was based on a true story.   Superb cast with a few interesting cast members from the music world that I missed: Jason Isbell as Bill Smith, Peter Yorn as Acie Kirby and Jack White.  8/10

Past Lives

Cinematic visions galore.  Loved the tone and mood.  A simple, familiar story made more acute by the cultural (and language) differences.  Carefully acted on a delicate edge of sensitivity.  More artistic than I expected - in a wonderful welcome way.  8/10

Maestro

The scene in the cathedral was one of my favourites of the year - breathtaking. Cooper completely transformed for this role and gave us a beautiful memory of a music lover - Bradley Cooper is my pick for Oscar’s best actor.  Mulligan’s performance was also superb - perhaps creating the best duo performance of the Oscar year.  The revelation of complex characters always creates a great movie for me.  7/10

American Fiction

I came out thinking it was a decent movie but not Oscar worthy.  Then my wife explained what the movie was really about.  It was meta.  Then it became brilliant.  But I missed it.  I was the internal audience.  7/10

Oppenheimer

Torn on this one. Acting was superb - Downey Jr. was dazzling.  Cinematography was great.  But it was massively complex with so many characters.  Important from a historical point of view. 7/10   

Barbie

Fun, but way too silly to have any chance of making a serious point.  Musical bits were cringe worthy.  I’m man enough to admit I had to look up the meaning of patriarchy.  Loved McKinnon’s whackiness.  BUT, it's my pick for Oscar's best song.  6/10. 

The Zone of Interest

A strange film and hard-going - I don’t really understand why it’s nominated.  I did appreciate the cinematography, its premise and some shocking scenes.  Just hours before watching it, I'd seen Sandra Hüller in Anatomy of a Fall - I didn't know she was also in this film -I recognized her quite quickly.  The cut to a scene from today was perhaps its most concrete element and made the point. 5/10

I’m way behind in posting movie reviews, but here are a few that have been nominated for awards in 2023

 In order of my favourites…

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Incredible filmmaking.  A true hero’s journey.  Very bizarre at times.  Crazy crazy scenes.  SFX and fight scenes WOW.  So much to absorb, ingest and enjoy.   You could consider it massively complex but the messages it delivers is simply spot on.  A multi-course journey for your eyes and ears.  I get quantum and multiverse theory, but I didn’t buy into the rocks. I’m buzzing.  Perhaps Tarantino-like but with magnificent Asian taste.  Bonkers.  Every feeling all at once.  Nothing matters and everything matters.  Life paradox.  9/10.

Elvis

Really, really well done.  Modernized, fast paced version of the King’s rise to fame under the guided hand of a snowman.   It definitely reminded me of the style of Moulin Rouge and only now found it out it was the same director Baz Luhrmann.  8/10

Top Gun: Maverick

Even on a small Air Canada screen, the action was still magnificent.  Except for the expected melodrama and close to “jump the shark” story manoeuvres, the rest was perfect.  I’m man enough to say I bought in and my emotions were along for the warp speed ride.  I had heard about the accuracy (or lack of) the flight sequences so I’ll have to now do a little more research (lots of real pilot comments that suggest a lot of it was possible, if not realistic). Regardless, very impressive production, great cast, cool music and all around great fun.  8/10

The Fabelmans

I loved the story and Michelle Williams’ portrayal was mesmerizing.  But it was the filmmaking of the filmmaking that I really enjoyed.  Capturing the joy of film within a film.  Solid old-time movie with strong modern, complex themes of family and a personal journey.  7/10

Original notes that are a little cryptic now:

New release

Storytelling within moviemaking

Moviemaking = storytelling

Colour, framing, moments, editing

Very meta

Banshees of Inisherin

I liked it but for the wrong reasons.  Superb acting, magnificent cinematography.  Humour was a cruel joke.  I thought it may have been making sense but quickly turned horribly tragic.  The complete opposite of Everything Everywhere All at Once but Jenny the donkey was an adorable touch. 7/10

Turning Red 

Loved the Toronto connection and found the Chinese heritage interesting.  Fun, cute and superb rich animation.  Very cool to find out a friend taught the director Domee Shi at Sheridan College. 7/10

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Superb cast, production design and sets.  Craig was incredible again, Norton was a superb baddy addition, and Monae was delightful.  Lots of fun all around and a satisfying mystery.  7/10

The Batman

Very long very slow.  Cool style was just enough for 6/10. 

2022, Best of... (Music)

20 tracks that caught my attention and were in regular rotation in 2022.

Saw two of them live in 2022 and another three I've seen live in the past.

15 with male singers and 8 with female singers.

10 British acts, 6 American acts, and 4 Canadian acts.

Mostly beats and pop with a little alternative, hip hop and one country track.

Note that there are a few cheats (released earlier, but found in 2022) and alternate video versions to my official list on Apple Music.

On YouTube - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr6cXkv59iLKpaYJFpliys7YzEWi2VqFx

On Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/2022-best-of/pl.u-V9Dgkbkf7WLRZ

OpenAI

First test of chat.openai.com.  

PS: Explain why soccer is better than American football

There are many reasons why some people might prefer soccer to American football, and these reasons are largely a matter of personal preference. Here are a few potential arguments for why soccer might be considered "better" than American football:

Continuous play: One of the main differences between soccer and American football is that soccer is played continuously, with only a few breaks for substitutions and injuries. This can make the game feel more fast-paced and exciting to some people.

Fewer stoppages: Because there are fewer breaks in the action, soccer games tend to be shorter than American football games. This can make it easier for fans to follow the game, as they don't have to wait as long for the action to resume.

Simplicity: Some people might prefer soccer because it is a relatively simple game, with only a few basic rules to understand. American football, on the other hand, can be more complex and difficult to follow for those who are not familiar with the sport.

Worldwide popularity: Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, with a global following that dwarfs that of American football. This means that there are more opportunities to watch and play the sport, and that the best players in the world are typically more well-known and celebrated than their American football counterparts.

Again, these are just a few potential reasons why someone might prefer soccer to American football, and there are many other factors that could sway someone's opinion in either direction. Ultimately, the choice between these two sports is a matter of personal preference.

SUPERB.

The English patient without the plums

 

Fall colours are trying hard to say things are fine

But my poor toes remain a pain of mine

Herding cats and Tetris priorities at work

Air Canada lounge access doesn’t feel much of a perk

Unfinished thoughts and loose ends plague my sleep

Overthinking everything, can’t stop going deep

Canine concerns stress us more than him

It doesn’t help when the mornings are so dim

Gaps feel longer between highlights

But less arguments and fights

Too much of many media joys

Equals no good reason for new toys

Getting words out on the page

Triggered by turning a new age

A quicker way to post

I've got quite quite a backlog of movie reviews and other random ramblings I want to get onto this blog, but I find the blogger.com interface slows down my workflow. So lookie here - this post was created by simply sending an email to a special blogger account. It says I can add images easily too - how's this quickie?

The Queen and The Monarchy

First, I was greatly saddened eleven days ago when I heard her majesty Queen Elizabeth II had died.  I had a fondness for her and saw her as a symbol of my great homeland.  

I saw her in person just once when I was a boy in England.  I recall the public event at Coventry’s railway station but don’t remember what she looked like on that day.  My mother recalls she wore a green outfit and her complexion and smile were beautiful.

Clearly, Britain has an ancient history filled with horrid times - but it is also my home and I am proud to call myself an Englishman. A lot of that history was tied to past kings and queens, but I believe our Queen was different, modern and kind.  I truly believe that she embraced her role and did serve our nation with exceptional fortitude.  I thank her for all she has done for Britain in her 70 years reign as Queen.  

There is no doubt that the pomp and ceremony is rare in today’s common world.  But I like it.  It connects me to history.   

And for now, as it has been for my entire life, I am a royalist. I respect the monarchy, King Charles III and will gladly sing God Save the King when the England football take the field in Qatar and when other less important national moments occur.  I have been impressed by what I’ve heard from the King in recent days - a stately grace with which he immediately steps into his new role, but with a modern, perhaps more relaxed nature - I guess he’s had a lot of time to prepare himself for this time.  I feel he’ll be a good King and appears that he is already being warmly accepted, and maybe over time, even loved by Britons and the royalist public of the Commonwealth.

Only one of my work colleagues initially mentioned the Queen’s death and offered his condolences.  He admits he wasn’t certain of my standing, but he took a chance and I thanked him for his words and recognizing the magnitude of the Queen’s death.  For similar reasons I have not brought up the Queen’s death in my work meetings.   I did not want to hear any negative comments or possibly, cruel jokes at this sad time.  A few days after her death a second colleague offered his kind condolences and another person in the meeting with a little less ceremony suggested that her long life should be celebrated - I have to agree.

Although I have very faint memories of my grandmother, the feeling I have for the late Queen is almost like losing a dear grandmother.  Her monarchy could be seen as the imagined matriarchy of our family.  England represents family to me and I will miss The Queen.  

Today, on the day of her funeral, I signed the book of condolence at Toronto’s City Hall.  I wrote - You will be missed dearly by the people of Britain, Canada and The Commonwealth. On behalf of my English family, thank you, you are what makes England beautiful.  

I'm a wide angle kind of guy

I gravitate to taking photos with a focal length (cropped sensor) from super wide (10mm) to 18mm.  I know because I checked (in Lightroom) and I wanted it to be wide.     

The world is a big place and I like to take it all in (portraits of people and isolated action may be an exception).  

The new lens I have me eye on is the latest Fujinon 18mm f1.4. The focal range should optically reduce the shallow depth of field effects of such a wide aperture and closing down a few stops to its ideal sweet spot may strike a magical balance of speed (light) and a pleasing depth of field.   What does it say about my view of the world where I’m drawn to a wide field of view but also have a feeling that a more focused subject may be valuable?

I often feel I’m somewhat of a polymath and feel torn trying to decide my favourite style of photography or even giving preference to a specific domain where I feel I contribute the most.   

I wrote these words:

Drawn to the world that is wide

Less corner places to hide

more to see in the city frame

Even glimpses of an old flame

big-time performance stages

tempting blank white pages

All that it could contain

Way beyond memory lane

A soft focal point of thought

Specialization of some sort

Something new emerges over there

Even more tempting things to share

Pivot to the next wide urban shot

Seems this story repeats quite a lot

Landscapes require more depth of field

Fuzzy Patterns becoming less congealed 

To form a representation of life

A Polymath understanding its strife

And then put them in a video:

Photographer’s frivolous fillings

My new camera bag is arriving tomorrow.  I’m excited.  I like organizing stuff and I have a lot of camera gear.  I’m constantly having to move bits and pieces from one bag to another and often discover I’ve forgotten something when I’m “on location”.  On the weekend trip shoot at the Beaches I forgot my audio adaptor for my action camera.  I once had everything organized, ready to go for a week away and I forgot my entire camera bag - well that’s another problem.

I like to research purchases and I spent way too much time shopping for a new camera bag.  I won’t list all the options here and I’m not going to talk about the bag I’ve decided on just yet.  But I thought I should organize my thoughts first it terms of what will go in the bag.  Yes, it should be quite a bit bigger than my current bag, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to fit everything in it.  And if I did, it would be very heavy and impractical for my local photo excursions.

First and the simplest decision - the camera(s) - the Fuji XT-4 and the DJI Osmo Action

Lenses - how many?  The 50-150mm is the best lens I have and the biggest, it belongs in the bag, but it may be removed if I’m really aiming to travel light and/or when I know exactly what I’m going to be shooting.  The 18-55mm kit lens and the 10-20mm super wide are my urban and landscape go-to lenses.  The 35mm is superb and compact, but it’s usually on my older XT-1 for walking around the neighbourhood.  A maybe.  The 56mm is great but I don’t use it that often.  I purchased it more for portraits, but it would be interesting to see how I’d use it in the field.  A maybe.  The fisheye lens?  It’s a Nikon mount and I have the Nikon-Fuji adapter on it, so it’s not that small.  But it’s fun and would definitely be a nice option to have more readily available.  I’ll give it a spot in the new bag.

Accessories: I have three filters, two variable neutral density (ND) for video work (another thing I forgot on the weekend) and a soft glow that I keep forgetting about.  I have two Smallrig cages and a Smallrig grip that I’m not certain about.  The one cage for the XT-4 is quite large and specific for video work.  It’s maybe and it would be a good test of the size of the bag as it’s a weird shape.  The Smallrig grip is usually on the XT-4 so that stays and the other cage is for the action camera for vlogging which I hope to do more of - so, yes.  There is the 2x Fuji lens adapter  - small but not a biggy to leave behind.  There’s also the close-up tubes - mostly for home project - so I can leave them out.  The Rode microphone - yes, but the lavalier mic and extra long audio cable maybe not.    The DJI iPhone gimbal - hmm, I havent’ used it in a while, so probably not, especially since I added the DJI action camera to the kit.  Cleaners and the puffer go in.  Extra SD cards go in.  Let’s not forget the Peak Design camera strap (I often do).  The flash and and LED light panel I’ll leave out unless a portrait session is planned - which may be the case this weekend when I visit my parents to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.  

I’ll probably have the small gorilla pod strapped to the side and find room for the folding selfie stick for the action camera in side somewhere.  There are a also few action camera mounts and one for iPhone that always come in handy.

Now there are other important accessories in a smaller Peak Design gadget bag, so the question is - do I move the important bits (e.g. extra batteries) into the new bag and do I put the whole gadget bag in the newer bag.  We’ll see.

Don’t worry, I don’t think I want to do a What’s in my bag Vlog, but this kind of gave me a game plan for tomorrow.  Happy shooting folks.

Burnt Time

First, I have to thank Alex Kilbee for some “timely” advice about finding photographic inspiration from everyday things around the house.  A part of his recent video (https://youtu.be/UTeeptpaRNc) talks about combining two subjects for even greater affect.  We had guests for dinner last night and I was asked if I could make a fire.  This morning, there are a few logs remaining in the fireplace that didn’t completely burn.  The idea to contrast the logs with a very different object came to mind and a few neurons fired in the right order and I grabbed my stainless steel ESQ Movado timepiece from my bedroom.  I thought the colour tones would be similar but the hard, glossy, man-made textures would provide a strong contrast to the organic burnt bark and ash.

I have photographed some of my favourite things in the past.  The idea is for photographic appreciation of some of the wonderful things I own in a way that may help suppress the desire to always wish for more.

I bought this watch from a local jewelry store for my 50th birthday.  The design of the watch is a little unusual as it only has the numbers 1 thru 6 on its face.  So the way I see it and explain that detail to those interested, is that I no longer count the years after 50! 

So, what about the title?  One of my common sayings is Today is a New Day (https://youtu.be/S0Quv_jVkY0) - we can’t change the past, so there’s little value in worrying about it.  Sure, we can learn from the past, but I like to approach each day afresh.  So, in one way, we can consider the past burnt out.  That being said, I put a lot of effort into recording events with photography and film and really enjoy remembering past experiences.  

And lastly, today marks 10 years at work selling Voltage Data Privacy & Protection solutions.  The company has gone through 3 different acquisitions and mergers, but I’m happy to be part of the Voltage family and contributing to its global success.

The photo wasn’t difficult to capture, although I did change lenses three times before settling on my 18-55mm f2.8-4 with my Fuji XT-4.  I didn’t go to the trouble of adding any artificial light, but I wanted a sharp image without high ISO, so I used my tripod and shot it with a delayed shutter.  I did take another shot with a little wider aperture to have a fast shutter speed and freeze the small second had a little better, but it left parts of the face out of focus.  so this final shot is f7.1 with a shutter speed of 1.3sec.  It didn’t require a lot of editing and I kept with the Fuji Pro Neg Std film simulation of the jpeg rather than working with the raw version. 

I considered a tighter, portrait orientation, but I prefer this version with the separation of the other log in the background.  I think there’s a sense of time being on the edge, a few millimeters away from being lost to the past.

Early morning coincidence - archival

I’m up very early on a Sunday morning.  I had some things bumbling to the surface of my sleep and decided to get up.  I’m on my iPad and reviewing some notes on my video [project] workflow.  Any part of any good workflow (or in my professional world - data management lifecycle) is archival.  When we are finished with something, we should archive it, not just get rid of it or “bin it” as the say in England, but remove it from your main workspace, declutter it, saving something valuable in a safe place.

We started watching a movie last night and I wanted to check out some details on IMDB so I opened the app and the splash page / open banner on IMDB is a trailer for a new Netflix movie called Archive 81.  I watched the trailer - looks good and scary.

Good morning.  Now back to what I was working on.

(Quick follow on.  Like many coincidences, the rabbit hole can keep going.  I noticed an actor in the IMDB listing for The Greatest Showman (the movie we were watching last night) and he looked like an actor I saw in the trailer for Archive 81.  But I was wrong, the supporting actor in the the trailer was Martin Donavan.  And he also was in Tenet.  And guess what, as we were browsing some TV last night, we watched a small scene from Tenet and talked a little about it.  A little six degrees of Kevin Bacon this morning, bacon…)