My sacrifice!

It’s weird how we never notice what lyrics of a song are telling us until we can feel the same way than the songwritter did he wrote them. That’s when we really listen to the music, feel it and relate to it. And here is an example, which made me think.

“I’m Just A Kid” by Simple Plan

I woke up it was 7
I waited till 11
Just to figure out that no one would call
I think i got a lot of friends but I don’t hear from them
What’s another night all alone?
When your spending everyday on your own
And here it goes

[Chorus:]
I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare
I’m just a kid, I know that its not fair
Nobody cares, cause I’m alone and the world is
Having more fun than me
Tonight…

And maybe when the night is dead, I’ll crawl into my bed
Staring at these 4 walls again
I’ll try to think about the last time, I had a good time
Everyone’s got somewhere to go
And they’re gonna leave me here on my own and here it goes

I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare
I’m just a kid, I know that its not fair
Nobody cares, cause I’m alone and the world is
Having more fun than me

What the hell is wrong with me?
Don’t fit in with anybody
How did this happen to me?
Wide awake I’m bored and I can’t fall asleep
And every night is the worst night ever

I’m just a kid [repeat x5]

I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare
I’m just a kid, I know that its not fair
Nobody cares, cause I’m alone and the world is
Nobody wants to be alone in the world.

I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare
I’m just a kid, I know that its not fair
Nobody cares, cause I’m alone and the world is
Nobody wants to be alone in the world
Nobody cares, cause I’m alone and the world is
Having more fun than me tonight

I’m all alone tonight
Nobody cares tonight
Cause I’m just a kid tonight

The student application period for this years edition of GSoC started today. A lot of new mentoring organizations were accepted this year, but Kiberpipa did not get in. And more surprisingly, neither did Django Project (my last years’ mentors). Too bad. I had a lot of fun with my project.

On that note… I’ve started to “port” my slightly outdated contribution to Django to make it work with current code base in trunk. I’ve spent quite some time figuring out how to merge current trunk to my branch, that was last merged to almost six months ago. And after everything I tried, svnmerge came to rescue. Now I believe that I have my branch up to date and what is left is to test my application and see if it still works. But that is another posts’ story…

Sometimes people just leave you hanging. And it leaves you thinking. But sometimes one just has to say “f**k you all” and go and enjoy it! And so I did.

Yesterday I went to a concert in Mediapark Cvetlicarna in Ljubljana, Slovenija. It was first after a very long time (if I don’t count my friends’ “Doctors & Losers” a month ago). And the artist was the reason enough. Tommy Emmanuel, one of the best acoustic guitar players I’ve ever heard! Dag introduced his music to me about 4 months ago and when I heard Tommy will be playing in Ljubljana I was ecstatic! And when I heard that the scheduled concert a month ago was canceled I was equally disappointed. But then yesterdays date was announced and I couldn’t wait.

After both Dag and Bostjan let me hanging alone with the ticket I decided I’ll use this concert for practice in concert photography. I’ve packed all my gear (which ended up a bit obsolete) and headed for the venue. At the ticket desk I politely asked about the photography rules and was given the specs: no flash, first three songs up-close, then from way back. Fair enough, considering I was not accredited or anything. When I got in I took out my gear and tried a few different angels, lenses, etc. The plan was to get the up-close shots from the right side of the stage and then “retreat” to the VIP level to get to the “high ground” and use my 200-400mm Tokina lens. Well, easier said than done.

Just after a few minutes I’ve spotted “The Pros” - professional photojournalists - gathering in the middle of the room and slowly advancing toward the stage. I thought it may be wise to follow their lead but not get to close to the “battle ground”. So I ended up in about 4th row, in the center of the stage. Which was one of the best positions I could be at. You see, the Pros in the front were “bounced” back after 3 songs. And I wasn’t! :) The forth row was far enough not to be spotted by security and close enough for 135mm lens to be effective. Victory! The only problem I had was the classic applied Murphy Law : “the tallest guy in the room has to stand in the first row right before your lens.”

I’ll be posting pictures of the concert on my photo blog FailedGuideDog Photography for the next few days, so you might want to check it out now and then.

Note: Today or maybe tomorrow, FailedGuideDog Photography will be changing servers on my host and may thus be unavailable for a period of time. Do not give up. It will be up shortly.

Now, a few words about the concert itself…
The opening act was by Saso from Prekmurje (if I remember correctly) who showed the crowd how can Slovenian music sound when played in a Tommy Emmanuel fashion. Quite interesting and Saso was a pleasant surprise too!

After that, Tommy came to the stage and the crowd went wild! In short - it was a blast!!! This guy can play, drum, bass, fingerpick, pluck and do whatever with his guitar and it will sound great! The sounds he can get out of his acoustic guitars are just amazing! Something my father would surely appreciate. And besides that, he can play acoustic blues like no other I’ve heard live! Truly, a treat!

In the middle of the concert Tommy surprised everyone - he invited his fiancee Lizzie Watkins to join him on stage. And while I was expecting a slightly middle-aged woman, Lizzie took my breath away. She is young and beautiful. And looks half his age! Good for you, Tommy! ;)
And besides that, she can sing beautifully! They make a very nice couple!

After a few songs with Lizzie, Tommy played his “aboriginally inspired” Initiation piece. A little scary, full of reverb and unearthly sounds, this song put the crowd in a bit of depression. Fortunately, nothing a few “delta 12-bar blues” songs couldn’t repair!

The performance was topped by Tommy and Saso blues improvisation and two encore songs. Very effective and powerful show. I left musically content, as well as creatively fulfilled. I would recommend to everyone to go and see this guy play! It is something you’ll never forget. Almost like a Iztok Mlakar’s live performance - priceless.

non-L vs. L

And I can tell you, it is real. And not just for lenses, but all photo hardware. Sometimes I would kill for an EOS 5D, but then I am reminded that I could do much worse as what I have (20D).

For example, today I tried out the “new and shiny” EOS 400D. Well, compared to 20D is like a high-tech toy. It’s half the size, feels fragile, plastic, settings are shown on a oversized LCD (as opposed to a low-power-consuming LED indicators), M mode is a hassle without separate controls for aperture and time, etc.

As far as the lenses goes… there are two kinds I prefer: Canon brand and old russian/german primes. And there’s a good reason. Canon brand lenses have proven to me that they are worth every Tolar I paid for them. Sharp, good construction, IS, very fast AF, etc. I had a lot less luck with i.e. Tamron.
And when primes are concerned… there is NO WAY you can get more for your money with any other lenses than old M42- or K-mount lenses! I have two (a Helios 44-2 58mm f/2; Tokina 200mm f/3.5; + 2x converter) which I have from my early photography days with Zenit ET. And since I bought a M42->EOS mount converter so I can use them on the Canon I am blown away! I find myself in constant lookout for excellent M42 primes now (I have one eye on this Zenitar 15mm f/2.8 fisheye :) ).

Taken with Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 (source: FGDP)

Back to the image… (which I shamelessly stole from DPChallenge thread)
Canon L-series lenses are supposed to be the “creme de la creme” of Canon lenses and are thus out of most amateurs’ budget (starting at about 1500 Eur). This way L lenses got their “Rolls-Royce” status and anyone who uses one is considered “a professional”.

So when you get into a crowd of photographers at an event or concert and you start noticing the “dark red”-circled lenses all around you… I don’t care how much confidence you have in your skills, you DO feel overpowered and underequiped. And you start acting that way too… giving the others more space, letting them to get to better shots, etc.

And that is when peer pressure really starts to suck… :(

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I did it! I passed the ORA1 exam today!

The grade doesn’t really matter in this case, what’s more important is that I’ve finally passed a exam. After two years of bad luck I did it! And it feels soooo goood! I’m still shaking! Adrenalin rushes are the best drug ever! :)

Anyway, the important thing is that I am one exam closer to finishing this god forsaken year!

Interesting fact: I’ve never attended any lectures or lab hours for this course. :)

“If you can feel comfortable not knowing, you can learn anything. Anything!
And if not… then you’ve stopped before you’ve began.”