Chris

like simon cowell ... i agree with the following: "There’s something fascinating watching and hearing somebody who is obviously useless, but believes for whatever reason that they’re incredible. I find it addictive.” yes, mr. cowell, many of us feel the same fucking way, mate. for fucking sure.

i take fucking issue when someone says "I've been shooting live performances since I worked at a newspaper in the 1980s." okay. where's the fucking work? lets see it. just like that guy at onlinephotographer who does reviews yet posts the most visually boring and mundane photos anyone with a quarter-of-an-eye could be reasonably expected to make.

there are art donkeys. there are photo donkeys. i guess there are music donkeys, too, but i thought they worked at amoeba.

listen to this "I had a newspaper guy arrested once for shooting an F4 in a blimp at a concert. It disturbs the audience if it makes any sound at all." wanker actually called ot have someone arrested? lets see the fucking arrest report. would love to know the time and date and place this happened. i call bullshit.

how about this shit "On movie sets we put cameras into dedicated, padded sound-proof housings called "blimps." wanker, please admit that you're not part of the "we" who actually use this type of equipment.

i now really get a feeling for who his audience is: really sterile engineering types who have absolutely no photographic talent whatsoever.

amazing what a bad day of traffic can do for my fucking mood. why is it that something like this will happen, a detection change of someone's webpage is noticed, i look and ... find a gem.

how about how wank talks about using a leica in shooting a philharmonic performance: "Someone shooting even a quiet Leica rangefinder 100 feet away causes enough clatter to drive most serious listeners crazy." really. that's funny. because when i was talking to another photographer at a london event we talked about leicas. his friend, Alberto Venzago, claimed that it was a prerequisite to shoot for the london symphony orchestra that they utilize a leica. interesting. (sorry that link is a cached link from the old leica site but it proves my point)

someone who actually knows what the fuck they're talking about and what the fucking they're doing, photographically speaking, of course, confirmed what i'd heard before. hmm...

"wank says" should be just that "what wank says," not what is reality but what he says.

honestly, it's funny. i don't give a fuck if people think i have a loud dirty fucking mouth. i don't care if people disagree with things i've written in the past and ... no doubt the future.

i find -- and i don't mean for this to be pretentious -- but i find ... that most people who are the most vocal detractors have the shittiest body of work one can possibly fathom making. then again, i actually respect the fact they post something for everyone to see. it's hard to lie when you actually publish photos alongside something you're spouting off about.

like if darren was to write something about doing a photo reportage about different religions. motherfuckerhasthephotostoproveit. if his friend paul was to publish something about making photos at a tennis tournament, he has the fucking photos to prove he knows what the fuck he's talking about.

i love when people think i swear too much.

that p.c.-cocktail-crowd-society-bullshit is just that ... bullshit.

i want real.

i want truth.

both reasons no one should ever visit wanker or that other guy ... but ... at least they're entertaining in that they think they're experts and it's almost painfully funny to read how good they think they are.

in hollywood it's sport because there are so many horribly untalented people here. in the context of them, though, hearing why we should vote for this candidate or that candidate is even more laughable.

between hitting "save as draft," which with uber i highly suggest, and this sentence i was on the phone with ryan and i was telling him about this whole "how you're supposed to shoot a symphony" and actually having been told by "someone who really knows" that the london symphony's photographer uses leica gear ... and who the fuck would write what they did ... he says, "that's written by someone really hateful about the fact other people have way more talent than he does."

so true.

anyway ... so ... got a new tool to use ...


nhat and i bought this together. it's an old polaroid 110b rangefinder which has been converted to use polaroid pack film.


fuck the scanner.

not literally.


yes, that's a rodenstock lens.

and, when folded, it's pretty small...


pretty light, too. i mean ... the top shutter speed is 1/300th with an aperture range from like f/4.5 to f/32. not bad.

sorry nhat ... wanted to drop it off before the weekend for you but ... you guys are on the westside. :(

and going to the westside sucks. ;)

okay ... hope everyone's weeks are going well. mine ... well ... someone close to me was diagnosed with something scary and, well, honestly, i'm not sure how to process it. i'm sure it'll get better because i'm armed with much more information and have faith in the medical community. sucks hearing what i heard before espresso. or maybe i had espresso. don't remember.

made seeing a reality star fix a drink inside another type of beverage container for someone recently out of rehab. but ... i'm not saying who.

was funny, though.

like fucking funny.

cheers from the overcast los angeles.

edit: just too fucking good:


after watching that you have to go to defamer and read about disney's thinking.

seriously, if i did 'shrooms, i would eat them and go to see that film.