:Six Feet Under… and then some.

It was an unusually quiet Christmas.

No great displays of fireworks, not a lot of lights, nor fanfare.  Didn’t even encounter a whole lot of carollers this year.  Heck, It didn’t (and still doesn’t) feel like December at all!

Sigh. 

I’m pretty certain that this lack of atmosphere isn’t due to my own perception (or lack thereof).  After all, "no fireworks" is still no fireworks.  Besides, for the past few years -  even though I personally wouldn’t feel all christmas-y - I’d still notice some general cheer in the air.  This year was definitely more subdued.

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WANTED: One day trip.  Just one day trip before the official start of my gainful employment in government service.

Interestingly, I’m banking on something  Glenn said.  He was talking to
the RTO - who himself is a certified diver - and the RTO said that he’d
like to make dive trips a regular thing.  Well, if the guy can take the
residents out on things like ultra-light glider flights, then I don’t
think diving is too far a stretch.  Still, I wont hold my breath until
It actually happens.  Just like my salary

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I watched Stardust the other day.  I bet it would’ve been great on the big screen.  Never read the book, but loved the film.  Still, when I looked up the synopsis on-line, I was surprised by several changes the screenplay had over the book - the more salient points being that Tristran dies in the end, and Captain Shakespeare wasn’t as fun as De Niro was.
But perhaps the dumbest thing that’s bugging me now is the fact that the story supposedly takes place around 1856, but De Niro’s character was listening to Offenbach’s Galop Infernal, which was first played in 1858.

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I finally got it!  Got my  own 50mm prime lens :D  At f1.8, its a pretty fast lens with clear images, and shooting wide open, it has great bokeh.  Yep yep, its time for portrait shots
I have to congratulate myself on this purchase for another reason:  I was able to overcome my junkyard instincts.  I was trolling through hidalgo street looking for a deal when I actually came across the Mk1 version of my lens.  Now the reason I got excited about this was the Mk1 has a metal mount, unlike the palstic bayonet mount in my new lens.  It also has a focusing index on the barrel - another feature lost on the current version.  It had two major drawbacks though:

1. Its autofocus wasn’t working.
2. It had some cracks in the inner lenses (how those occured only goodness knows).

Now, surprisingly, this wasn’t enough to initially disuade me.  The Mk1 is such a collector’s item (and can cost up to $150-200) that people on eBay would purchase a busted one and replace the internals with those of a Mk2.  Having previous experience working on my own lenses, I thought this would be a viable option…  And at half the price of a new Mk2, would’ve been a sweet deal!  What i intended to do was to use the focusing motor/assembly from my old 35-80mm EF lens.  Unfortunately, taking some test shots with the lens (even with the AF indicator beep) revealed that the scratches in the lens were too much to overcome, and there were a lot of internal reflections causing a lot of haze in the photos.  Which left me with the option of replacing the internals.  Then of course I realized that I didn’t have a Mk2 to cannibalize.  So after much hee-hawing in the area (and due to the rainy weather,walking around with soggy feet), I just decided to stick with my brand spanking new Mk2 lens.  Damn the lack of a metal mount or a focusing index.  At least the AF works, and it’s crystal clear, mint, and under warranty

Now, all I need is a new camera bag.  My old one is looking ratty, and since now I have to lug around two lenses^*, I’ll need something a little better looking.

^*(after all, what’s the point of an SLR if you’ve only got one lens…   )

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Currently on my lust list:  a surgical loupe.

There’s no getting around this one - no possible quick fixes, or easy DIY options.  Thought of getting a cheapo $150 dollar loupe from eBay, but seeing no way of individually adjusting diopters, I guess only real surgical loupes will do.  At 24K pesos for a Nietz, its kinda a big chunk of change.  Makes me wanna kick myself in the ass for not getting a Keeler loupe back in 2005 for 10K from an ophthalmologist who was leaving the country.
Hmmm… anyone out there with a 4x loupe that you wanna get rid of, give me a call

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