All thanks to Housan Susuki Sensei
My best guess is that I am now into my 3rd week of Shuriken-Jutsu,
which is the practice and study of throwing sharpened objects.
My foundation is in Gung-fu and as soon as I stumbled on this new [to me] martial-art on the internet, I was hooked and wanted to learn all I could.
I have made and throw Bo-Shuriken, which look like chisels as opposed to the Star Shurikens that look like flat sharp stars.
After making many prototypes I’ve setteled in on a style of Bo that I like.
I have hay bales set up for my archery and I now use those to practice my Shuriken-Jutsu.
I believe it is the ‘exactness’ of the throw that has me intrigueged.
The throw is called ‘no-spin’ or better said ‘1/4 spin’ as opposed to what’s called circus throwing which flips and flips all the way to the target.
3 or more weeks into to it and I still struggle in mastering it.
Somedays are better than others, but I am hooked.
Here are some pictures from the web.
I’ll post more on my progress later.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
INFRARED ON A HOT SUNNY DAY
INFRARED ON A HOT SUNNY DAY
Of course digital cameras are cool,
the more you learn about them the more you find to do.
Take FILTERS.
Filters are just simple glass lenses that fit over the camera’s main lens to effect the light coming in.
They darken, color, enlarge etc, however the INFRARED filter blocks all normal light and only allows the infrared spectrum through.
What infrared light is, I don’t know, but the pictures I create with it are dreamy and a little eerie.
The classic infrared shots are of landscapes, where it turns skies a nice dark, and green-leaves to white, but with these portraits, like I said they’re sorta un-earthly.
The originals have a pinkish hue that was removed with PhotoShop, then I did some hand-coloring.
Of course digital cameras are cool,
the more you learn about them the more you find to do.
Take FILTERS.
Filters are just simple glass lenses that fit over the camera’s main lens to effect the light coming in.
They darken, color, enlarge etc, however the INFRARED filter blocks all normal light and only allows the infrared spectrum through.
What infrared light is, I don’t know, but the pictures I create with it are dreamy and a little eerie.
The classic infrared shots are of landscapes, where it turns skies a nice dark, and green-leaves to white, but with these portraits, like I said they’re sorta un-earthly.
The originals have a pinkish hue that was removed with PhotoShop, then I did some hand-coloring.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
THE BRIDGE
Recently I borrowed a DVD called simply “THE BRIDGE”
I, being an assumer, assumed the film was a documentary about the building of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The opening opened with gorgeous scenes of my favorite bridge, the fog and colors that wrap and glow.
Pelicans flew by in groups of 15 and 20 while surfers and sail boarders played in the wind and swells.
The super long lens panned the happy people who strolled the walk ways, reminding me of all the happy faces I have seen each and every time I’ve drivin into the City.
Children wowed, lovers held each other and kissed, joggers jogged, bikers biked,
till one ordinary man stepped onto the top of the rail, lowered himself to the narrow last beam, took a deep breath while looking down to the water, then let go.
The camera blurred as it tried to follow his 250 foot plunge.
I felt a little lost in this WTF? Moment, backed up the DVD and watched him again.
After a while I found that this was a film made by some cat who became obsessed with people who jump from this bridge.
Evidently he read a short article on jumpers and decided to move to San Fran, buy 100,000 dollars of camera and PC equipment and spend the next year scanning the bridge from sun up to sun down hoping, I guess, to film people in that act of suicide.
Interesting , I thought, Him and his friends taking turns, looking at who ever was walking on the bridge, and then trying to decide who to concentrate on,
Who looked most like, or gave off the vibe that they might take the plunge?
ART is hard to describe, But I know it when I see it.
So I played along, as the film showed different people, I would try and guess who would be inclined to stay-or-blow this mortal coil.
So, as a watched then finished this documentary, two things came to the top of my brain.
One, the film never mentioned what a beautiful and exciting way to die this was.
Given that we are all free, and free to make certain choices, I felt it would be an obvious truth to acknowledge, that of the many horrible ways there are to die, or suicide, that on the top of good ways to end-it-all would be flying for a short time at over 100 miles per hour into one of the great waterways of the world.
And the second thing I took from the film was, how good I would be at spotting the next jumper.
I firmly believe that of all the vocations I could choose, “Spotting the next to suicide” is custom built for me.
Even now, as I drive around town, I can spot on the sidewalks of my town the most likely to jump.
In shopping centers or grocery stores I can just look at someone and tell who is on the verge of saying “See ya, don’t wanna be ya, where’s that confounded bridge?”
I, being an assumer, assumed the film was a documentary about the building of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The opening opened with gorgeous scenes of my favorite bridge, the fog and colors that wrap and glow.
Pelicans flew by in groups of 15 and 20 while surfers and sail boarders played in the wind and swells.
The super long lens panned the happy people who strolled the walk ways, reminding me of all the happy faces I have seen each and every time I’ve drivin into the City.
Children wowed, lovers held each other and kissed, joggers jogged, bikers biked,
till one ordinary man stepped onto the top of the rail, lowered himself to the narrow last beam, took a deep breath while looking down to the water, then let go.
The camera blurred as it tried to follow his 250 foot plunge.
I felt a little lost in this WTF? Moment, backed up the DVD and watched him again.
After a while I found that this was a film made by some cat who became obsessed with people who jump from this bridge.
Evidently he read a short article on jumpers and decided to move to San Fran, buy 100,000 dollars of camera and PC equipment and spend the next year scanning the bridge from sun up to sun down hoping, I guess, to film people in that act of suicide.
Interesting , I thought, Him and his friends taking turns, looking at who ever was walking on the bridge, and then trying to decide who to concentrate on,
Who looked most like, or gave off the vibe that they might take the plunge?
ART is hard to describe, But I know it when I see it.
So I played along, as the film showed different people, I would try and guess who would be inclined to stay-or-blow this mortal coil.
So, as a watched then finished this documentary, two things came to the top of my brain.
One, the film never mentioned what a beautiful and exciting way to die this was.
Given that we are all free, and free to make certain choices, I felt it would be an obvious truth to acknowledge, that of the many horrible ways there are to die, or suicide, that on the top of good ways to end-it-all would be flying for a short time at over 100 miles per hour into one of the great waterways of the world.
And the second thing I took from the film was, how good I would be at spotting the next jumper.
I firmly believe that of all the vocations I could choose, “Spotting the next to suicide” is custom built for me.
Even now, as I drive around town, I can spot on the sidewalks of my town the most likely to jump.
In shopping centers or grocery stores I can just look at someone and tell who is on the verge of saying “See ya, don’t wanna be ya, where’s that confounded bridge?”
NEW EYES
NEW EYES
I’m not sure if it’s called a trick or technique or system or procedure or approach,
but one of the first and best “Blah blahs” I’ve ever learned was to set finished projects aside for awhile before calling them truly finished.
It’s the old story of loving one’s babies.
No matter how ugly, smelly or just plain disgusting your prodginy may be, the fact that he/she/it is yours makes it beautiful and perfect to you.
So, some teacher of mine said once,
“Set it aside for how ever long it takes so you can see it with new and impartial eyes.”
This was good and useful advice and I have no doubt that this technique is used by many many artists.
But that’s not really what I wanted to write about today
{Humm, but I just did, so I’ll go with it]
Recently I found some pictures I had made, and then forgot all about.
The new-eye-thing worked and I felt I could really judge the quality of the pictures, and critique them each with a pure and just heart.
I’ll post them here now, with pride.
I’m not sure if it’s called a trick or technique or system or procedure or approach,
but one of the first and best “Blah blahs” I’ve ever learned was to set finished projects aside for awhile before calling them truly finished.
It’s the old story of loving one’s babies.
No matter how ugly, smelly or just plain disgusting your prodginy may be, the fact that he/she/it is yours makes it beautiful and perfect to you.
So, some teacher of mine said once,
“Set it aside for how ever long it takes so you can see it with new and impartial eyes.”
This was good and useful advice and I have no doubt that this technique is used by many many artists.
But that’s not really what I wanted to write about today
{Humm, but I just did, so I’ll go with it]
Recently I found some pictures I had made, and then forgot all about.
The new-eye-thing worked and I felt I could really judge the quality of the pictures, and critique them each with a pure and just heart.
I’ll post them here now, with pride.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
‘John London’s Inferno’
Finally, after 2 years I found pod casts of
‘John London’s Inferno’ that I can download.
Finding them was like Christmas morning.
Great and funny radio talk show.
It was broadcast out of San Fran
till John offered money to anyone who would kill Penn Jillet.
So I guess the station fired him.
But now I found 2 sites where I can hear, or down load old shows.
http://www.dirpodcast.com/podcasts/index.php?iid=8011
Click on download, save to disk
Only two will download at a time ,
about 30MB each
‘John London’s Inferno’ that I can download.
Finding them was like Christmas morning.
Great and funny radio talk show.
It was broadcast out of San Fran
till John offered money to anyone who would kill Penn Jillet.
So I guess the station fired him.
But now I found 2 sites where I can hear, or down load old shows.
http://www.dirpodcast.com/podcasts/index.php?iid=8011
Click on download, save to disk
Only two will download at a time ,
about 30MB each
Friday, June 13, 2008
BODY SCAPES
BODY SCAPES.
Of the many different types of Photography
[ sorry, I’m to tired to list them]
BodyScapes are perhaps my favorite.
If not my favorite,
at least they are the ones that caught my eye and made me want invest the time
to learn this wacky art form.
Seemingly simple, I found they were, and are still, a technical challenge.
And they use 'all there is to use':
lens selection,
Focal length,
lighting temperature and direction,
backgrounds,
and many are slow speed so Tri-pods are a must.
I don’t do many landscapes, but I imagine the difficulties are much the same.
Of the many different types of Photography
[ sorry, I’m to tired to list them]
BodyScapes are perhaps my favorite.
If not my favorite,
at least they are the ones that caught my eye and made me want invest the time
to learn this wacky art form.
Seemingly simple, I found they were, and are still, a technical challenge.
And they use 'all there is to use':
lens selection,
Focal length,
lighting temperature and direction,
backgrounds,
and many are slow speed so Tri-pods are a must.
I don’t do many landscapes, but I imagine the difficulties are much the same.
Monday, June 9, 2008
COWBOY\GIRL
Here’s the newest from my ‘ cowgirl’ series.
'A simple prop, to occupy my mind’
Seems the white shirt, jeans, cowboy hat and pretty girl occupied my mind for a while now.
Luck, chance, boredom or divine intervention lead me to these props,
but the second I saw them in the view finder,
I knew it worked.
Simple is good... Ain’t that the truth..
'A simple prop, to occupy my mind’
Seems the white shirt, jeans, cowboy hat and pretty girl occupied my mind for a while now.
Luck, chance, boredom or divine intervention lead me to these props,
but the second I saw them in the view finder,
I knew it worked.
Simple is good... Ain’t that the truth..
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