Last Days Of April

Every April Betty and I have to file tax returns for seven people, a marathon of sorts.

We crossed the finish line at around 10:00PM Thursday night when we batch submitted all the files via the Internet. In anticipation of my refund, I had placed an order earlier that day for two Pentax lenses, a 12-24mm F4 ultrawide angle zoom, and the 77mm F1.8 Limited, reputed to be one of the best lenses ever produced by any company, bar none. Very, very hard to find in stock to boot. They arrived Friday, from Edmonton. I was impressed by the one-day delivery time, and the store's willingness to price-match.

On Saturday morning, we took Matthew to the doctor's for his immunization and chicken pox shots, in preparation for kindergarten come September. Took it like a man. In the afternoon, the four of us went to Wing Nuts on Main Street for a "small bite" that morphed into our very late lunch, a decadent one at that: deep-fried chicken wings and drumettes (skin-on, of course). Twelve Honey Garlics, twelve Smokehouse BBQs, six Spicy Thai Peanuts, six Jamaican Jerks, two cans of pop, and a side of fries later, we were off to Costco. I bought the latest issue of Men's Health there, probably out of guilt.

Sunday, I went to the Fred Herzog exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery (my second time) with two friends from work. I think they enjoyed the photos. I, for one, enjoyed their company, especially their astute remarks about Herzog's wonderful prints. We did lunch and parted ways.

Damn glad that tax season is over. And oh yes, I won a $300 travel package at work. Can things be any better?—a tax refund, a prize, and the Canucks in the playoffs! (Tongue firmly planted in cheek.)

Spring Collection #2

High School Hip Spring Collection 2007

Glasses—frame by Flexon for Nike, lenses from IRIS Optical, $600, covered by the wife's health care plan, so $0
Jacket—by Club Monaco, approximately $29, bargain shelf
Top—by Somo Athletics, $19 from Costco
Pants—by American Eagle, approximately $30, bargain rack
Watch—by Zodiac (sapphire quartz), $80, the Fossil Factory Outlet, Marysville WA
Sneakers—by Skechers, $50, the Skechers Factory Outlet, Marysville WA

Hair—Eight weeks since the last cut, trying to prove to myself that I can still let my hair grow to the same length and thickness as in my high school days (decades ago!). Proved right, though I'm starting to pull a Richard Gere and tweezers have become my best friend.
Car—by Subaru, six years old with 76 000km and dirty seats
Location—East Vancouver

All-in-all, a much more extravagant clothing year than 2006! The stuff I have on adds up to way too much. I'll have to work on correcting that throughout the coming months.

Boobs (Still In Progress...)

And I don't mean the "simpleton", "blunder", "boob-tube" variety, and certainly nothing to do with the tropical seabird.

Still in progress, been busy filing tax returns......

Vaisakhi Vancouver

I'm glad the weather was good Saturday morning. Otherwise, I would've skipped this year's (and my first) Vaisakhi Parade here in Vancouver. We got to Little India at 11:30AM, just when the police was beginning to close a long strip of Main Street. We circled around till we found a parking spot three blocks away from the corner of Main and 49th, parked, and then hoofed it in.

The first stall—more of a makeshift food table—I visited surprised me. They were handing out plates of some spicey Indian rice. And further down the street, there were samosas, naan bread with chick peas, sweets. All free, unlike the food concessions at every other street festival I've been to. Near 52nd they were literally shoving juice boxes and bottled water into my hands.

Betty mentioned seeing homes literally opening their kitchens doors to serve hot food to passerbys, and concluded that generosity was the operative word of the day. I would have to agree, with the qualification that this generosity was not confined to the material world of food and drink, but applied equally to the spiritual world of kindness: While attempting to make a candid street shot, a woman stopped dead in her tracks and offered to pose with her child, with her smiling husband looking on. Another first. And get this. While I was looking through the viewfinder, carefully composing a vertically-framed shot, which meant I had one elbow high up in the air, I felt a jab near my armpit. A Sikh man in his sixties had quietly come up and was purposely attempting to wreck my concentration by tickling me with his finger!

Sathwick was also there in the throng taking pictures and getting fed, but we never met up. He later commented about how crowded it was.

As for the photography, it was very difficult because of all the people. This was echoed by Sathwick, and in a conversation I had with two D-SLR enthusiasts who were taking a break from the tumult. I didn't talk to them for long, though—smug Canon owners, you know.

Tight head shots was the only viable option, which is how I managed to get this:



As for the parade itself? I missed it altogether. We had to leave by 1:00PM to pick up Betty's sister (who was in from San Francisco) to give her a tour of Robson Street. Maybe next year, if the weather holds.

***

I've been using my cell phone in public more. All I have to do now to become a self-important asshole is to don some business attire.

Coming Soon

Easter Long Weekend

Betty and I took the kids to the fair at Lansdowne Centre. This has become an annual Spring tradition. We were game: I was eager to take some pictures with my new DSLR gear, Betty wanted to get some shopping in at the Winners store, and the kids were excited about the rides. A good time had by all.

Disappointingly, there were few photographic "keepers," especially given the fine weather and the rich colours typical of amusement park equipment and midways (I confess to being a colour junkie, and the more saturated, the better). Here is a paltry sampling.


The fledgling Photo Club at my workplace has "Spring" as its theme this month. I'll try my best to wrangle the above picture as an entry.





We had two extended family outings—turkey dinner at Betty's parents, and a Chinese banquet with my side of the family.

This weekend marks two whole months of financial self-control. My only "luxury" purchases to date have been a half-dozen photo mags. Why this restraint? Yep, you guessed it, all in the cause of some big ticket items: more lenses for the camera, and an Apple iMac!

Things As They Are #1

Camera: Pentax K10D
Lens: Pentax DA 16-45mm F4 @ F9.5
Details: ISO 200, 3s
Support: Manfrotto 055 tripod with Slik SBH-320 ball head
Model Details: No shower/hair wash since going to the gym earlier that morning, i.e., unkempt
Note: Existing light self-portrait

Vancouver International Auto Show

I went to the car show over the weekend principally to take pictures. Because there were so many people milling around the vehicles, my assessment was that closeup shots was the only option. Besides, when it comes to cars, it's all about the lines and curves and details, so I kept to that spirit.

***

I'm letting my hair grow for one more week. It's getting bushy. I intend to make one final environmental self-portrait—meaning in this case a non-studio photographic image of myself at home—of my fading glory days, before all of my hairs fade to white.

***

Two co-workers treated me to a belated birthday lunch today, really nice of them. We went to a company haunt, Seto's Japanese restaurant.

***

The sun was behind just the right kind of cloud on my way to work this morning, looking like a very bright full moon. I've never seen its disk like that before.