Base10 had a good time in DC over the weekend, but spent the whole day Monday sightseeing all the monuments (something he has never done before). Mrs. Base10 and I then took a nice ride home on Amtrak. Anyway, we're back in NYC and watching the Monday Night Football game right now. More blogging goodness tomorrow, including football, the Libby affair and the nomination of Judge Alito to the Supreme Court.

One more thing. Base10 has gotten the lead in his fantasy league. W00t! He will retain it unless Jeff Reed gets like 25 touchdowns in MNF. More on that tomorrow, and why Joe Theisman should never coach a football team.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:56 PM  0 comments

civicvirtue1, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is an image of a famous work of public art called Civic Virtue. It stands beside Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens. Civic Virtue has an interesting history. It used to sit in City Hall Park, but was banished to Queens by then-Mayor Laguardia because he didn't like it. It was considered rather racy for its time. It depicts a man (representing good government) beating down two evil women (representing coruption). If you'd like to learn more about Civic Virtue, click here.

- posted by Base10 @ 12:44 PM  0 comments

Scowcroft has had no exchanges with Condoleezza Rice, he says, since a dinner nearly two years ago. They argued about Iraq. “She says we’re going to democratize Iraq, and I said, ‘Condi, you’re not going to democratize Iraq,’ and she said, ‘You know, you’re just stuck in the old days,’ and she comes back to this thing that we’ve tolerated an autocratic Middle East for fifty years and so on and so forth.” Goldberg reports, “Then a barely perceptible note of satisfaction entered his voice, and he said, ‘But we’ve had fifty years of peace.’”

A White House spokesman, called to comment on this assertion, said it was “odd.” “If you consider a) America’s 1991 war against Iraq (which General Scowcroft favored); b) the Iraq-Iran war (in which there were a million casualties); c) the conflict in the early 1970s between Jordan and the Palestinians; d) the civil war in Lebanon; e) the four wars between Iraq and Arab nations; and f) the attacks of September 11, 2001 (which were carried out by Islamic radicals who emerged from the broader Middle East)”—that’s something less than fifty years of peace.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:45 AM  0 comments

It is also time to step up lecturing both the American people and the Iraqis on exactly what we are doing in the Sunni Triangle. We have been sleepwalking through the greatest revolutionary movement in the history of the Middle East, as the U.S. military is quietly empowering the once-despised Kurds and Shiites — and along with them women and the other formerly dispossessed of Iraq. In short, the U.S. Marine Corps has done more for global freedom and social justice in two years than has every U.N. peacekeeping mission since the inception of that now-corrupt organization.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:35 AM  0 comments

forestparkpath, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is a picture of a path in Forest Park. I like the old-fashioned lamp posts. This was taken digitally with the EOS. I tried to make the same image with the Speed Graphic but that one sucked failed to meet expectations.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:27 AM  0 comments

trenton, originally uploaded by base10blog.

The best thing about train travel is that you get to see the landscape. This is especially true in the fall.

- posted by Base10 @ 8:50 AM  1 comments

A senior conservative cleric and member of the Expediency Council, Ahmad Nateq-Nouri, who spoke at the ceremony also played down the president's comments, saying: "What the president meant was that we favor a fair and long-lasting peace in Palestine," state media reported.

- posted by Base10 @ 8:18 AM  0 comments

juniperflowercloseup1, originally uploaded by base10blog.

I was in Juniper Park last Sunday (before football of course) trying out the macro capabilities of the Speed Graphic. If you don't use the infinity stops, you can get quite close to your subject. Anyway, these were taken with Kodak color film.

juniperflowercloseup2, originally uploaded by base10blog.

I'm not so happy with the processing of these pictures. There's a lot of dust. This may be due to the fact that color film is machine processed. Remember, Base10 doesn't know much about color photography and color correction. These were auto-adjusted in Photoshop.

There will probably be light blogging today only. Base10 has to get ready for his trip to the "big game" tomorrow.

- posted by Base10 @ 10:33 AM  1 comments

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other global humanitarian groups recently expressed criticism over the slated trial of the mass murderer Saddam Hussein. Such self-appointed auditors of moral excellence were worried that his legal representation was inadequate. Or perhaps they felt the court of the new Iraqi democracy was not quite up to the standards of wigged European judges in The Hague.

Relay those concerns to the nearly 1 million silent souls butchered by Saddam's dictatorship. Once they waited in vain for any such international human-rights organization to stop the murdering. None could or did.

Now these global watchdogs are barking about legalities — once Saddam is in shackles thanks solely to the American military (which, too, is often criticized by the same utopian-minded groups). The new Iraqi government is sanctioned by vote and attuned to global public opinion. Saddam Hussein was neither. So Amnesty International can safely chastise the former for supposed misdemeanors after it did little concrete about the real felonies of the latter.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:39 AM  0 comments

FEW DAYS AGO, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) made a speech urging the U.S., in effect, to get out of Iraq the way we got out of Vietnam.

Leahy told the Senate that we cannot win in Iraq. "It has become increasingly apparent that the most powerful army in the world cannot stop a determined insurgency." (U.S. troops, Iraqi troops, long-suffering Iraqi civilians to Leahy: Thanks, senator, we needed that.) And Leahy announced that the president must lay out a public formula to tell the world just when U.S. troops will leave Iraq. Otherwise, Leahy said, he will urge the Senate to choke off the war by refusing to fund it. That's how the U.S. finally lost Vietnam: Congress snuffed out the money. Be warned, senator: If Democrats become the "let's treat Iraq as we treated Vietnam" party, the public will turn away in revulsion, and the Democratic Party will die. It's not in such great shape anyhow.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:39 AM  0 comments

IMG_0710, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Is it a squirrel? I don't know, but it's got a tail. This is a digital image taken in Forest Park two weeks ago. It's actually highly cropped since I don't have a very long lens for the EOS.

- posted by Base10 @ 2:39 PM  2 comments

As Charles Krauthammer predicted on Friday, Harriet Miers withdrew herself from consideration for the Supreme Court this morning based on a dispute over privileged documents the Senate wanted turned over for review. All Base10 can say is, thank you Harriet. The greatest gift you gave your country was stepping aside.

Democrats are no doubt savoring the seeming Bush defeat. Be careful what you wish for. This nomination was defeated by conservatives. The GOP is clamoring for an ideological fight on the eve of the 2006 mid-term elections. Base10 thinks the next nominee will be a Luttig or a Rogers Brown and the conservatives will be galvanized to get him or her in.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:09 AM  0 comments

The White Sox ended their 88 year world series drought last night completing a sweep of the Astros. Good game. Baseball is now over. What will we do?

Well, there's always football. The NCAA has had the good sense recently to have matchups between ranked teams for nationally televised Thursday night games. Tonight pits no. 12 Boston College against no. 3 Virginia Tech.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:09 AM  0 comments

Game three of the World Series was played last night and after a mamoth 14-inning game, the White Sox pulled out a win and they now lead the series 3-0. In tonight's games, the Astros have their back to the wall and need to win or be swept.

What is with the 8:38 PM start? Base10 watched it into the 12th but even he has to go to work. What about all those people who work more traditional hours and have to be in at 8 or 9AM?

Anyway, good game. The Astros dominated most of the game but the Sox came storming back to take the lead. The 'Stros tied it up though and we ended with the longest world series game. Sheesh!

Base10's looking forward to tonight's game. The Sox look like they have it in the bag, unless of course they suffer the greatest collapse in the history of professional sports. No, on second thought, they could only suffer the second greatest collapse.

- posted by Base10 @ 4:05 PM  1 comments

A man dressed as the character was one of three impersonators arrested last week for allegedly harassing tourists for tips after posing for photos on Hollywood Boulevard. Booked with him were people impersonating superhero Mr. Incredible and the dark-hooded character from the horror movie "Scream."

The impersonators said they were taken into custody at gunpoint, handcuffed and paraded on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before stunned tourists and other impersonators. They were charged with misdemeanor "aggressive begging," police said.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:35 AM  0 comments

dragonboats, originally uploaded by base10blog.

I wanted to try the scanner using color film. These are some old negatives I found. They are pictures of the dragon boat races in Flushing Lake I took in 1998(?). Color adjusted using the auto everything functions in Photoshop.

dragon2, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This one looks a little different. I don't know color, so I don't really know what to do with these. But I am amazed that these came out so well.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:26 AM  0 comments

The round table on Fox News Sunday was treating the indictments of Scooter Libby and/or Karl Rove as foregone conclusions. Is this warranted? The grand jury ends Friday unless it is extended. The clock is ticking if indictments are to be brought.

If indictments are brought for the offense of lying under oath or lying to federal officers, it would be interesting to watch Democrats trying to distinguish this from the Clinton case. I can picture it now; lying about a private matter under oath is okay but lying about a work matter is not. (Never mind that having sex with one of your employees in the workplace is in no way private).

And I'll repeat what I've written before. Did Valerie Plame commit an act of misconduct by steering an overseas assignment to her husband? Was she disciplined? Did the "leak" in this case expose misconduct? These questions may not have a clear answer, but is anyone even asking them?

- posted by Base10 @ 2:35 PM  0 comments

Base10 is still sulking about the Jets as he heads to work. Today's weather is dreary, too--good for sulking. It's in the 40's, raining and windy. It really is a good day to simply roll up in bed and stay home. Alas, this is not Base10's fate today. On to work! The Habitrail never stops!

Anyway, Mr. And Mrs. Base10 along with the Base10 Brother will be visiting the Base10 Cousin down in DC this weekend to watch the "big game" between Florida State and Maryland. Frequent readers may recall last year's match-up described here. This year it seems the 'Noles are out for revenge. However, those feisty Terps will not make it easy.

As I reminded readers last year, since Base10 will be staying inside in DC, technically speaking, this weekend he will be a Washington insider.

- posted by Base10 @ 2:35 PM  0 comments

bklybridgeview, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is a view of the Brooklyn Bridge through two of the ramps leading to it. It was taken with the Yashicamat using Ilford and scanned with the Epson 4990. The image was then cropped slightly in Photoshop.

Base10 is still working on a series of South Street Seaport photos, but isn't finished yet. He hopes to have them done this week.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:52 AM  0 comments

Many Sunni Arabs fear that the constitution will create two virtually autonomous and oil-rich mini-states of Kurds in the north and Sunnis in the south, while leaving many Sunnis isolated in poor central and western regions with a weak central government in Baghdad.

Some fear that the Sunni Arab loss in the referendum could influence more of them to join or support Sunni-led insurgents who are launching attacks across the country against Iraq's mostly Shiite and Kurdish government and U.S.-led forces.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:25 AM  0 comments

The media has long since written Iraq off as a “quagmire” and a “debacle.” The war is now hopelessly politicized and has been misrepresented in two national elections. Then we heard that the war’s purpose was either to steal oil (the price actually skyrocketed), enrich Halliburton (in fact, few other conglomerates wished to venture to Iraq), or do Israel’s dirty work (it just withdrew voluntarily from Gaza). Our aims were said to be anything other than to remove the worst dictator in modern memory, allow the Arab world a chance at democracy, and undo the calculus of Middle-Eastern terrorism that is so parasitic on the failures and barbarity of regional autocracies.

The public too is turned off. Perhaps it is the constant media stream of IEDs and suicide bombs — never the news of thousands of new schools, a free and stable Kurdistan, progress in the Shiite south, or any of the other countless positive developments from elections to Saddam’s trial. Polls reveal that the American people care little that, in terms of military history, the removal of Saddam Hussein and the creation of a constitutional government in his place — in less than three years and at the cost of 2000 lives — are still formidable achievements, making the lapses seem minor in comparison to those in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

No, we have now gone too far for all that. And how could we not, after the wild charges of Richard Clarke, Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, and Joe Wilson, the celebrity venom of everyone from Sean Penn to Donald Sutherland, the media revelations of Rathergate, Eason Jordan’s false charges that our military targets journalists, and Newsweek’s falsities about flushed Korans?

Don’t forget either the contributions of U.S. senators such as Dick Durbin (comparing our Guantanamo guards to Nazi, Stalinist, and Cambodian murderers) or Ted Kennedy (claiming Abu Ghraib was reopened for the same Saddam-type atrocities by Americans), who did their small part to libel those who gave freedom to millions. Whatever the good news of this election or the one in December — much less the increasing isolation of the nearby tyrant Assad, the flowering in Lebanon, and the rumbles in the Gulf and Egypt — it won’t make much difference anymore to the American people. They have decided that they are tired of the Middle East and only want to go back to the world before 9/11, forgetting that the easy shoot-a-cruise-missile-at-a-cave strategy ultimately led to the 9/11 attacks.

- posted by Base10 @ 12:37 PM  0 comments

IMG_0726, originally uploaded by base10blog.

I took this last weekend in Forest Park. It was taken digitally with the Canon EOS. Enjoy!

- posted by Base10 @ 12:13 PM  0 comments

There were some great football games yesterday, many of which came down to the wire. For example, Seattle beat Dallas by scoring in the closing seconds winning 13-10. Base10 himself watched the Giants game and they scored on an Eli Manning pass with five seconds on the clock, winning 24-23 against Denver. This is the way football should be played!

Of course, the week is not over. Base10's beloved Jets face the Falcons in Atlanta this evening. While most of the pundits see a Jets loss as a foregone conclusion, I think they might surprise people. If you can contain Michael Vick and force him to pass, they might have a shot. The Jets defense is perfectly capable of keeping them in the game.

In college football Saturday there were a few upsets, particularly Michigan State being upended by Northwestern 49-14. The most spectacular win was perhaps Texas over Texas Tech. Texas dismantled them 52-17.

In baseball, the White Sox took every home-field advantage they could and beat the Cardinals both games. Last nights win was particularly impressive with a grand slam and a late go-ahead homer in the ninth inning alowing Chicago to win 7-6.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:01 AM  0 comments

Base10's photographic adventures took him to Juniper Park to try out some macro photography (and even some color film--gasp!) and to Kew Gardens where he saw a strange type of red bird parked on the lawn in front of Queens Borough Hall. Photos to follow this week. Also, the South Street Seaport photos are nearly complete.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:01 AM  0 comments

Maybe. Charles Krauthammer wrote on Friday that a way for Republicans to reject Miers while giving the President room to save face would be for the Senate to demand work-product she created while the White House Counsel. There is no way the President could do this since it would completely undermine executive privilege. The Senate therefor has a way out.

Why this could actually happen is that Sen. Brownback on Fox New Sunday practically parroted this idea. He said, in effect, that by nominating an insider the President has waived privilege.

WALLACE: Well, let me pick up on that, Senator Brownback, because I know that this week you joined with Senator Lindsey Graham in asking the White House to release some of her work product there.

Are you asking the White House to waive executive privilege, and if they refuse to do so, would that be a deal breaker?

BROWNBACK: Well, I think that's almost a — them providing this type of information from the White House is almost a risk they assume when you nominate a candidate that's from inside the White House.

We need to know if we're going to give advice and consent, and that's our role in this process — it's not a rubber stamp. If we're to give advice and consent, we've got to have a full picture. In the last five years that she's been working, it's in the White House.

Is it a deal breaker or not? I really couldn't put it at that point, but I do think we're going to have to see more information, not attorney-client privilege type information, but more information of the work product that she was involved in, in the White House that's not of a legal nature, but that's of a policy nature.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:01 AM  0 comments

foresthillsstationspeed, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is the Forest Hills LIRR station. This was taken using the Speed Graphic. It is probably the best shot in the lot. Mrs. Base10 liked the old car, too.

foresthillsyashica, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This was the same scene using the Yashicamat. Notice the square format and the greater coverage in the foreground. Notice that the coverage is slightly different. That's because the Speed Graphic has a 125 mm lens which is not quite normal for 6x9 film format.

foresthillseos, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is the same image taken with the EOS digital camera with a 17-85mm lens set at 50mm. Note the much smaller area of coverage since the sensor is not full frame. I realize this is subjective, but I definitely feel the film images have more warmth.

pinesforestparkspeed, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This photo is of the pine barrens in Forest Park at the Myrtle Avenue side. This is a better scan of the image previously posted here. It was taken with the Speed Graphic.

pinesforestparkyashica, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This version was taken with the Yashicamat. Note the greater coverage at the bottom and top of the frame.

pinesforestparkeos, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is the same image taken with the EOS. Once again note the compressed coverage.

- posted by Base10 @ 2:17 PM  0 comments

forestprimevalcolor, originally uploaded by base10blog.

The beauty of the RAW format in digital photography is that it retains all the graphic infomation in the file even if you have used a digital filter or shot in B&W. It's therefore easy to go back and change it. This image had it's color added back in and the auto-everything color tools were applied in Photoshop. I have no idea how to do color in Photoshop. Personally, I think the color photo is rather pedestrian.

southstreetseaportclean, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Do-Over!

- posted by Base10 @ 1:58 PM  1 comments

policelaunch, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Base10 was off from work today and took the opportunity to learn more about his scanner. He learned a lot and will be posting an extensive series of South Street Seaport photos tomorrow along with the comparison images from all of my cameras. To maintain interest, check out this image of a police launch. Film rocks. I have to say that medium format or higher film when scanned seems to really beat digital, at least as far as B&W.

- posted by Base10 @ 6:33 PM  1 comments

pinesforestpark, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This image was taken with the Speed Graphic with T-Max 400 in Forest Park and scanned. I don't like the quality. I think I should work on it more. Base10 also plans to display comparison shots between his three cameras.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:37 AM  0 comments

Rory Carrol, a reporter for the left-wing anti-American tabloid the British Guardian was released by "insurgent" hostage takers thirty-six hours after being kidnapped in Iraq.

Aside from the fact that it helps to work for a dictator-loving rag like The Guardian. Too bad Daniel Pearl could not have benefited from the reputation of his newspaper.

The irony though is that Carroll penned an article last month complaining that American soldiers were the biggest danger to them. I wonder if Mr. Carroll thinks that's true now. After all, he was imprisoned by "insurgents" and "militants" not "kidnappers" and "terrorists" was he not?

- posted by Base10 @ 11:24 AM  0 comments

Overheard in Ryan's Sports Bar near the Seaport on Wednesday. Two college kids were talking as CNN is on and the TV mentions hurricane Wilma. One of them remarks, "I wonder if Bush is going to be prepared for this one?"

His friend chuckled and replied, "Yeah, Bush is such an idiot!"

The first student then notices that the broadcast has shifted to the trial of Saddam Hussein. He asks his friend, "Have you been following the Saddam trial. It started today."

The other student replied, "Really! Where's the trial?"

And Bush is an idiot.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:24 AM  0 comments

Well I know it's a hurricane, but you have to be grateful to Mother Nature if she gives you an extra football game. As it stands now, the Chiefs-Miami game scheduled for Sunday is being moved up to this evening because of the approach of hurricane Wilma. Hopefully, there are no broadcast or blackout issues and the game will be nationally televised.

In the college world, last night the Terrapins struggled valiantly against mighty No. 3 Virginia Tech. Although the Terps were cruising for an upset victory going into halftime after holding VT 7-3, they just couldn't keep up, losing 28-9 in the end.

In hockey, the Rangers lost to the Islanders 5-4 but Base10 didn't watch the game.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:24 AM  0 comments

southstreetseaport, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is an image of the South Street Seaport during the constant rain last week. It was taken on Ilford HP5 film using the Yashicamat. The negative was scanned with the Epson 4990 and spotted in Photoshop.

I like the image. It evokes old London to me. I also like the look of Ilford film on this one.

- posted by Base10 @ 12:48 PM  0 comments

In yesterday's NY Post, Mark Cannizzaro was outright dismissive of the Jets having a five-hundred season--let alone a playoff birth. He saw the Buffalo loss as the critical one of the season. I don't agree with that, but I do think a win this weekend against Atlanta is essential. Let's hope our boys can put up a good fight on Monday night.

In baseball news, the embattled Astros finally clinched a World Series berth by beating the Cardinals 5-1. The World Series begins Saturday night. Base10 has no particular rooting interest. Both teams are very deserving. If anything, I'd like to see the a White Sox win out of a sense of nostalgia.

In hockey, the Rangers lost to the Islanders in a shootout. Base10 really wishes he knew more about hockey (and judging by the Jets playing abilities, he may get the opportunity this year) since it is such a fast moving sport. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching a game, but I don't really understand it. It seems sort of like soccer except it's played on ice with skate by men with big sticks and helmets.

In other baseball news, can you feel the love in the Bronx? Yankees manager Joe Torre announced that he will be back to manage the Yankees for the last two years of his contract, ending speculation that Steinbrenner was going after Lou Pinella to replace him. The fate of Yankees GM Brian Cashman however, is still open to question.

Links later, when I get to work.

- posted by Base10 @ 12:13 PM  0 comments

A New York Sun editorial remarks on the gift for metaphor of New York's other senator, Chuck "The Knife" Schumer:

No sooner had [former] Senators [Connie] Mack and [John] Breaux unleashed their ideas on making the federal tax code more simple and fair than Senator Schumer unsheathed his rusty old dagger, describing the idea of eliminating the federal deduction for state and local taxes as "a dagger to the heart of the people of New York." Voters might be inclined to listen -- except for the fact that Mr. Schumer sees a dagger virtually everywhere he looks.

A 2003 plan for flexible work schedules instead of overtime? "A dagger to the heart of the middle class," Mr. Schumer said, according to the Associated Press. A 2002 plan by federal regulators to urge Wall Street firms to establish backup facilities outside New York City? A "dagger pointed at the heart of New York," Mr. Schumer said, according to the Daily News. High gas prices? "A dagger at the heart of our economy," Mr. Schumer said in 2000, according to the New York Times. A unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood would be "a dagger through the heart of the peace process," Mr. Schumer said in 2000, according to the Agence France Presse.

Hate crimes "put a dagger in the heart of what America is all about," Mr. Schumer said in 1999, according to USA Today. A proposal to change the federal transportation funding formula was "a dagger pointed at" New York and California, Mr. Schumer said in 1999, according to the Washington Post. School vouchers? "Daggers that plunge into the heart of what is the American way," Mr. Schumer said in May 1999, according to the New York Post. Cuts in federal student aid? "A dagger to New York's college students," Mr. Schumer told Newsday in 1995.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Mr. Schumer sees daggers more often than a four-eyed knife thrower looking through a kaleidoscope.

We're trying to imagine Schumer's reaction to the latest revelation of Harriet Miers's abortion views: Miss Miers, I worry that your extreme antichoice position is the tip of an iceberg, an iceberg that is a dagger pointed at the heart of the mainstream. The sheer entertainment of watching Schumer go on like this is almost enough to make us hope the Miers nomination lasts long enough to make it to the Judiciary Committee.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:39 AM  0 comments

I got more film from the Ben Ness lab I mentioned earlier. The contacts were fine. Once again, missed exposures and black-bear-in-a-cave shots are entirely my fault. I got one roll of 6x6 from the Yashica done and two rolls from the Speed Graphic. These were the comparison shots, so I'll be posting them soon. I did notice something with the SG. There was considerable flare on some shots, but not others. I think this may be due to keeping the darkslide out too long, or maybe failing to use a lens hood. I was also having trouble with the Graflock back and I think once or twice the film back wasn't attached properly. I think I'm going to run a controlled roll through the camera to check that for light leaks. There were several good shots, though, so I'm not too concerned just yet.

Anyway, about the lab, they were true to their word. The film and contacts were ready by 6PM and they stay open until 8PM so I can pick them up after work. I haven't really examined the negatives just yet, but if the contacts are any indication, they'll be just fine.

Looks like I have a lot of scanning to do.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:36 AM  0 comments

Base10 used a new lab for some B&W processing. They seemed pretty good, although they were not cheap ($16 for developing and a contact sheet per roll of 120). I do have to say that they did quality work. The film was cut, but into sleeves and the contact was nicely done. It's called 68 Degrees and it's on Canal and Broadway. Base10 wants to try a couple of other labs, too. Ben Ness in the Village is a little cheaper and has faster turn-around times. (They're website says in by 12 out by 6). There's also another lab in the West Village called M&V Labs that specializes in B&W. They're very intriguing in that they offer several workshops throughout the year. Base10 might even attend one of these soon with Mrs. Base10--he could use a refresher course in processing.

Unfortunately, Base10's talents leave something to be desired. I dropped off three rolls of 120 that I shot through the Yashicamat. Some of them look interesting, but I have to say that on the whole, I was disappointed. I'm going to try to do some scans tonight to see what I can salvage. I guess you have to do experimentation to find a creative style that suits you. Back to the drawing board!

At least there's no rush to go buy obscenely expensive medium format gear now. Mrs. Base10 will be pleased. I still might buy some not-so-obscenely-expensive large format camera gear, though.

- posted by Base10 @ 12:25 PM  0 comments

Can things get any worse for Base10's beloved Jets? Several media sources are reporting that the Jets center, perenial Pro-Bowler Kevin Mawae, is out for the season after an injury in Sunday's game against Buffalo. Stick a fork in us. We're done.

In other sports news, San Fransisco head coach Mike Nolan is showing that he has complete faith in rookie quarterback Alex Smith. San Fran traded former starter Tim Rattay to the Buccs yesterday before the deadline. Conversely, the Buccs are showing that they have no confidence in backup Chris Simms. They signed Rattay after Brian Griese went down Sunday and the job fell to Simms. In fairness to Jon Gruden, I haven't seen any specifics about who will start yet.

Meanwhile, in St Louis, there's no word on whether Marc Bulger will play this Sunday. Base10's fantasy status is not so bad as the Jets, however. He has backups! Base10 can always play Eli Manning or Carson Palmer.

There was very little in sports last night, except for preseason NBA. (Definitely not my bag. What could be worse than an actual NBA game? A preseason one, of course)! Tonight, however, Houston continues their quest for the World Series as they face the Cards at St. Louis. I don't know why everybody is so down on Houston. All the pundits are saying they're doomed and will lose the series. Guys, they're still winning! Leading 3-2 is not the worst place to be. (The worst place to be is 0-3, by definition). I'll probably watch the game tonight.

Links later when I get to work.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:32 AM  0 comments

IMG_0709, originally uploaded by base10blog.

No it's Forest Park and it't right in the middle of Queens. Another photo from last weekend's park excursion. Image taken with the Canon EOS and cleaned up slightly in Photoshop. This was taken from the trails as you enter the Park from the Metropolitan Avenue side.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:26 AM  1 comments

There is, to say the least, a heavy presumption that Ms. Miers, though undoubtedly possessed of many sterling qualities, is not qualified to be on the Supreme Court. It is not just that she has no known experience with constitutional law and no known opinions on judicial philosophy. It is worse than that. As president of the Texas Bar Association, she wrote columns for the association's journal. David Brooks of the New York Times examined those columns. He reports, with supporting examples, that the quality of her thought and writing demonstrates absolutely no "ability to write clearly and argue incisively."

The administration's defense of the nomination is pathetic: Ms. Miers was a bar association president (a nonqualification for anyone familiar with the bureaucratic service that leads to such presidencies); she shares Mr. Bush's judicial philosophy (which seems to consist of bromides about "strict construction" and the like); and she is, as an evangelical Christian, deeply religious. That last, along with her contributions to pro-life causes, is designed to suggest that she does not like Roe v. Wade, though it certainly does not necessarily mean that she would vote to overturn that constitutional travesty.

- posted by Base10 @ 8:45 AM  0 comments

IMG_0708, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Base10 took this photo on his trip to Forest Park with Mrs. Base10 over the weekend. This is a store on Metropolitan Avenue in Queens. Believe it or not, Base10's mother used to work here when Base10 was a kid. Metropolitan Ave. has an interesting feel to it. It's low rise buildings and forties architecture harken back to a simpler time. This image was taken digitally with the Canon EOS and altered slightly in Photoshop.

- posted by Base10 @ 2:30 PM  1 comments

St. Louis beat Houston last night 5-4 with a heartbreaking three-run homer in the ninth. Heartbreaking for Houston at least. The NLCS will now go to a sixth game as the ALCS Champion White Sox get a nice rest. Maybe a massage, too.

Base10 had his own heartbreak last night as well. Needing a paltry twenty points to take the lead in his fantasy league, he went into last night's MNF game with Rams QB Marc Bulger starting. Twenty points? Are you kidding? The is the Rams against the Colts! They're going to go to the air so much Bulger should get fifty points.

Alas, it was not to be. Marc Bulger was knocked out of the game with a sprained shoulder in the first quarter. No word yet this morning on the extent of the injury. So after a promising 17-0 start, the Rams got beaten 45-28. The Colts are now the only undefeated team at 6-0. The '72 Dolphins are not yet worried.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:23 AM  0 comments

img034, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Base10 dragged Mrs. Base10 to Forrest Park on Saturday and captured many good shots. He tried taking the same image with the two film cameras and with the digital. We'll see how they turn out. In the mean time, here are the bottom of the barrel images from the last batch. This one and the next are from Union Square.

img035, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This one I exposed wrong. The bright asphault caused the people to be in shadow. I used the shadow/highlight tool in Photoshop to being out the shadow detail and then sepia toned the image.

img036, originally uploaded by base10blog.

These are leftover images from Gantry State Park. Just some ducks.

img037, originally uploaded by base10blog.

I'm very happy with the scanner output. You can see grain before you see pixelation when you enlarge the image. I wonder what it would look like if you used grainless film like X-Pan?

img038, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is the stylized outfielder that adorns Shea Stadium. This was taken with Ilford.

- posted by Base10 @ 1:20 PM  0 comments

There is little joy in Mudville today. Base10's beloved Jets were trounced by the Buffalo Bills yesterday. Oh the humanity! It is clear that our team has a long way to go.

The bad: The offense just couldn't produce. Vinny took a beating in the first half and threw for a coyuple of picks. You just can't win that way. The defense--the unit that made Tampa Bay look lifeless last week--clearly took a step backward. Guys, did you practice tackling during the week? How can Willis McGahee run wild on you with eight or nine guys in the box?

The good: Justin McCairens actually remembered how to catch the ball rather than let it sail through his hands. Vinny connected with him several times. Curtis Martin also had a great game rushing for triple digits for the first time this year.

The good news is that, at least for now, the division loss isn't devastating. New England and Buffalo are now 3-3 while Miami and the Jets are 2-4. The division is there for the taking, so it's not time to panic just yet.

Next week the Jets play Atlanta. I am certainly not looking forward to playing what is shaping up to be the hottest team in the NFC next week, but they're not unstoppable either. If the Jets "D" from a week ago shows up, we might have a shot. Then we go into the bye week to reassess.

In other football news, our crosstown cousins the New York Giants lost a squeaker to Dallas at Texas Stadium. Base10 wonders though, was there some rule he missed? Dallas could have taken an intentional safety to insure that they didn't give the ball back to the Giants in the waining minutes. Instead, they punt out of their own endzone and give the Jints good field position. The Giants tie up the game and send it into OT. Although Dallas eventually wins, why didn't they avoid OT by taking the safety. Some speculate that Parcels would not do this under any circumstances. But Base10 remembers that Parcels ordered Neil O'Donnell to do just this in his first season with the Jets. Unless there's an obscure rule that Base10 isn't aware of, this was a foolish decision on the part of Parcels.

In other sports news, in what was the finest college football game of the week, USC won a squeaker in South Bend against Notre Dame. It was a great game pitting two former Jets coaches against each other. Ironically, the game was decided by a fake spike in the last seconds of regulation. USC remains undefeated. In another upset, Penn state was beaten by Michigan in the waning seconds handing Joe Pa his first loss of the season. The other major upset of the week was Florida State being beaten by Virginia (coincidentaly led by Al Groh, another ex-Jet coach). All is not lost for FSU (see shameless praise for Bobby Bowden here). It seems to me that if USC takes a loss at some point in the season, the Championship picture gets considerably murky.

In baseball news, the Chicago White Sox are going to the World Series for the first time since the 50's. Houston won as well and needs one more to clinch their spot. Base10 rapidly loses interest in baseball most years, but even he will be cheering the White Sox. They haven't won since 1917 and almost ruined baseball in the Black Sox scandal. A storied franchise to say the least.

Links to follow when I get to work.

- posted by Base10 @ 12:53 PM  1 comments

Base10 just put the picks in. It's a tough week to chose:
Cowboys -3.5
Jets +3
Panthers +1
Saints +5.5
Vikings +3
Chiefs -6
Bengals -3
Steelers -3
Browns +5.5
Dolphins +5.5
Broncos -3
Raiders +2
Texans +9.5
Rams +13.5

Last week we did 7 of 13 (one push). This brings our total to 37 of 72 (2 pushes). As always credit for successful selections go to the Base10 Buddy while blame for losers go to Base10.

- posted by Base10 @ 1:38 PM  0 comments

iraqelection, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This photo is better than anything Base10 could come up with. Voting in Iraq has concluded and the votes are being counted. There is cautious optimism about the constitution being approved. Turnout appears to be about 60% and is very high, even among Sunnis. That's good news. Click here for some analysis at Powerline.com. Click here for a Yahoo slideshow.

- posted by Base10 @ 10:24 AM  0 comments

img026, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is Union Square Park. It was taken with T-Max using the Yashicamat and scanned with the Epson 4990 into grayscale. Pretty sharp output, I have to say. It's nothing artistic or anything, I just liked the way the sunlight shown through the trees. This was taken on a spectacular fall day, and I've been yearning for this since it's been raining.

Union Square is one of NYC's historic locations. Unfortunately, it's also been at various times hot-bed of communists, socialists and anarchists. Click here and here if you'd like to learn more about Union Square.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:31 AM  1 comments

The syndrome seems to cause disorientation, sudden irrelevant or counter-productive outbursts — about religion or loyalty, for example — and even strange paranoid delusions in which a perfidious cabal of right-wing "elitists" at the Federalist Society — as opposed to the Cheez Wiz-sucking Joe Six-Packs who really make up its rank and file — are secretly trying to prevent female corporate lawyers of the evangelical faith from being anything but moms, schoolmarms or, uh, White House counsels. "This far and no farther!" declare the Federalist phantasms, "keep 'em barefoot and in the West Wing."

- posted by Base10 @ 9:08 AM  0 comments

[S]uch criticism comes from a high official of an administration that witnessed on its watch the Iranian-hostage debacle, the disastrous rescue mission, the tragicomic odyssey of the terminally ill shah, the first and last Western Olympic boycott, oil hikes even higher in real dollars than the present spikes, Communist infiltration into Central America, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Cambodian holocaust, a gloomy acceptance that perpetual parity with the Soviet Union was the hope of the day, the realism that cemented our ties with corrupt autocracies in the Middle East (Orwellian sales of F-15 warplanes to the Saudis minus their extras), and the hard-to-achieve simultaneous high unemployment, high inflation, and high interest rates, Mr. Brzezinski is at least a valuable barometer of the current pessimism over events such as September 11.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:03 AM  0 comments

In another part of the city, a separate dismounted commando operation took place with another SPTT led by Major James Yount. To his surprise as they returned to their gun trucks, people were dancing in the street with the commandos. Some were shouting “there are two terrorists in that house over there.” Others cried out “mister, come see the room where the terrorists killed many people.” The crowd was jubilant. Iraqis were finally there to protect Iraqis. The commandos, dancing with the people, AK-47s held high, chanted the Arabic phrases familiar to our advisors, “leader, give us your orders and see what we can do” and “where are the terrorists now?” Major Yount beamed as he described the scene, “it was like being at a rock concert.”

- posted by Base10 @ 8:55 AM  0 comments

img032, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is Union Square Park. This image was taken on T-Max with the Yashicamat. It was scanned as a color negative and sepia toning was added in Photoshop.

- posted by Base10 @ 12:17 PM  0 comments

Today New York City is quite messy. We're getting hit with quite a bit of rain and it doesn't look like it's going to stop until the weekend. This sort of puts the brakes on plans to practice photography in the morning before work. I do have a B&W lab I want to check out in Chinatown, but it doesn't make sense to go there with just one roll. I suppose I could go out if the rain eases up at lunch...

In any event, Base10 wants to try something. I'd like to take the same normal focal length image on the digital, the Yashica and the Speed Graphic, then scan both the film and contact sheets and compare all of the digital images. Then I'll be the geek carrying three cameras in Forest Park! Who's afraid to look silly for art's sake? I suspect it will prove that film and digital are like apples and oranges--two distinct but equally good things.

We had a discussion at work last night about film being dead. Base10 thinks that may be true for the 35mm consumer market, but thinks medium and large format will keep going strong for another generation at least. I say this for two reasons:

1. Digital sensors will surely get cheaper, but the resulting file sizes will become higher and higher. It's one thing to work with a 2mb jpeg. It is quite another to work with an 800mb RAW image from a scan back. How many images like this can you store and manipulate without workstation-level computer equiptment?

2. Hard drive capacities are beginning to reach a functional limit. Toshiba will soon be producing vertical-bit plattens. While this might increase hard drive capacity four-fold, this looks like the 'brick wall' for this the most commonly used storage technology. Compare this to a 4x5 film image. I can store a thousand images in a three-ring binder. This is the analogue equivalent of 500 gigs if scanned and saved at the highest possible resolution. What's cheaper?

I'm sure that eventually we'll have super-fast super-small, high-capacity digital storage based on some other technology at some point in the future. But if history is repeated, it will start as an immensely expensive technology competing with other expensive technologies only one of which will be adopted by the consumer market causing it to have a rapid price drop. In the meantime, there's still film.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:55 AM  0 comments

As I write this on the subway, I feel much safer after learning that the subway bomb scare was just a hoax. There have been some real incidents that are alarming. In Oklahoma outside of a packed OU football game, a student blew himself up. It also appears that he had some Islamic extremist ties and went to the same mosque as one of the Sept. 11 bombers. Far more disturbing is the fact that the media has gotten all worked up over an alarm issued by the feds that they didn't even consider credible and no major news agency seems to be digging into this story.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:55 AM  0 comments

img028, originally uploaded by base10blog.

No rats today. Sorry. But here are some subway pics. There is something about photos of the subway in B&W. The cool tones of the image make it interesting. This is the Southbound platform of the "R" train in Queens. It was taken with Yashicamat using T-Max film and ambient light and scanned with the Epson 4990.

img027, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Here is your typical train-is-coming perspective shot. I thought this was taken at hyperfocal length, but maybe I was mistaken since the train is blurry. It might be due to the movement as well.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:55 AM  0 comments

img030, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Now that I've got the scanner I can post some film images. This is the view of Shea Stadium from the "7" train platform. It was taken with the Speed Graphic using Ilford film and scanned using the Epson 4990. This one is in focus, something I cannot say about all of the output from the Speed. It could be a number of things: the film is not flat, the rangefinder is off, or the infinity stops are wrong. (I suppose it also might be that my tired old eyes are off, but that's so ridiculous that it's not even worth mentioning). MY guess is the rangefinder, which does seem to reach slightly different results than what's on the focus scale. I will use the ground glass to focus next time to see if the results improve.

- posted by Base10 @ 2:19 PM  1 comments

Our uptown cousins, the New York Yankees, were defeated in game five of the ALDCS by the Angels last night. Base10 did not watch the game but reminds Met fans not to harbor the kind of shadenfreud that makes baseball fandom difficult in this town. The Yanks are great athletes, and they had a terrific run at the end. Let's be good sports and wish them well. I'm sure if the situation were reversed, all the Yankee fans would be offering a handshake and a kind word to Met fans today. Sure they would.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:17 AM  0 comments

You know, even as a Republican, you have to like Ed Koch. He has a piece today in RCP about the President's 'War on Terror' speech. Koch points out that the New York Times insisted on hectoring Bush over the speech without one word of condemnation against the terrorists that would exterminate non-Muslims for the sake of some extremist vision of a future Caliphate. Good read.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:17 AM  0 comments

Base10 apologizes for not posting the picks earlier. Anyway, Base10 did the pickin' this week and did okay. The Base10 Buddy is under the weather after surgury. Here goes:

Jets (+3)
Bear (+o)
Packers (-3)
Seahawks (+3)
Pat (+3)
Bills (-2.5)
Ravens (+1.5)
Titans (+3)
49ers (+14.5)
Panthers (-2.5)
Eagles (-3)
Redskins (+7)
Bengals (+3)
Chargers (-3)

Base10 got 6 of 14 last week. Not including this weeks game, Base10 is 30-59 (one push). As always, winning picks are the responsibility of the Base10 Buddy. Base10 is responsible for picking the losers.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:17 AM  0 comments

Great game. Chargers take the lead in the fourth quarter. Steelers come back and regain the lead with a field goal. As a result of outstanding clock management and a commitment to the run, Chargers have no chance to get the ball back.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:17 AM  0 comments

img003, originally uploaded by base10blog.

So I went and got the scanner. Pretty good too. These images were taken with the Speed Graphic using the 6x9 back. They were taken in Flushing Meadow Park. This is the view in front of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

img004, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is a view of Flushing lake. Note that these are film images that have been scanned. Base10 has previously posted digital versions of some of these images.

img010, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is a view of the New York Pavilion.

img009, originally uploaded by base10blog.

And this is back at the lake.

img016, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This picture of the Unisphere and the next few images were taken with the 6x6 back so they have a square format.

img017, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is getting closer to the Unisphere. I'm not satisfied with the focusing on the Speed Graphic. I think the settings for the rangefinder might be off. I'm use the ground glass next time.

img015, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is getting closer to the base of the sphere.

img014, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is the top of the New York Pavilion peeking out from behind the trees. The moon in the picture didn't come out.

img006, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This image and the next were taken in 6x6 format at Gantry Park in Long Island City with the Yashicamat. Note how much sharper the images are.

img007, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is the view of Manhattan from Gantry Park. Note that these images were taken using T-Max while the 6x9's were taken using Ilford film. That may account for some of the softness of the images.

- posted by Base10 @ 7:04 PM  1 comments