i posted a set of macro shots from my trip to montana de oro, mostly flowers. fuji's finepix z1 takes fantastic close ups but sucks at portraits and landscapes. i'm still debating if i should return it.
schmeebot suffered a short death but it didn't stop me from posting pictures. i've been taking full advantage of the z1's macro capabilities; i shove the camera within two inches of every flower* i see. there's no guessing when this novelty will wear off.
*if you have an account with flickr, click on all sizes above the picture for the full effect.
wela (short for abuela) is g's grandma. i find it charming that, while wela knows no english, half her list is made of spanglish. also, isn't it curious that kleenex (clinex) is universal but ziploc (balzas chicas para sanguiches) isn't?
good thing g's dad explained and translated the listed items. otherwise we would still be wandering costco looking for espinacas.
i have been listening all manners of podcasts. i was messing around in itunes and unintentionally clicked on the education category. unintentional because, come on, education? like, no way!!!!
i am now subscribed to 53 podcasts. i haven't listened to all of them yet but i am loving these so far.
1. let's start with my all time favorite, knitwit: very little knitting content but great stories. funny, down to earth, ego-free, and best of all, no annoying speech habits. podcast after my own heart.
2. wait wait don't tell me: i love paula poundstone. best episode like, ever? is the one recorded on 26 feb 2006 in salt lake city, utah. other npr podcasts i recommend: on words with john ciardi, driveway moments, and this i believe.
3. jim hightower: i heard his commentary regularly on npr in sf. it's not available around here for some reason. segments are short but insightful, putting satirical spins on current events. he bashes the bush administration almost daily. with a southern accent, no less.
4. ben lee: eloquent even when bantering. i'm not sure if it's because he takes english seriously or because i have such low expectations for the pop generation. may be it's the accent. even his casual writing is lyrical.
5. amateur traveler, trailcast, and hikecast. i get camping in kansas, too, except they are video clips, not audio. i discovered these last weekend when i fancied reviewing sb hiking trails by podcast. holly has been proposing that we co-host a podcast. doesn't look like it will happen. because? if we did? me and her would, uh, gab? about, like, nothing? oh, and maybe? like, some knitting?
6. french for beginners: how much i am loving this podcast. surprising because i have never been a fan of the french. once i saw the album art (picture above), i had to give it a try. i downloaded it initially for comic relief. but then i noticed that the lessons are supplied with pdfs. seeing the words spelled out really brings it home for me. i am so gonna learn french, people!!!!*
yeah, so that's all the podcasts i have enjoyed so far. i will be sure to report more as i go along. and if holly and i ever get a podcast going, i will be sure never to tell you.
* okay, this manner of speech/writing obviously requires me to learn english. again. and take it seriously. why not by podcasts? i am proud to admit that i am a subscriber to english as a second language (no website available. irony?), english idioms and slang, awesome vocabulary, and the word nerds. i hope one of them covers the usage of exclamation points.
resized but untouched original
27 july 2006 at 8:36 am
i found a new subject to test the macro capacity of the z1. unfortunately it doesn't work on the iris as well as it does flowers. the best focus i could get of jg's eye is at four inches away, not at the usual two inches i get for flowers.
cropped to actual pixels
note the dome in the skyline
nothing is sharp except may be the reflected eyelashes. i want to think that the z1 can do better. i wonder if macro would work at a closer distance if it wasn't so foggy outside.
