Base10Blog
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
 
Street Photo of the Day

img160, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is another shot with the ultrawide 15mm and the Bessa R3a. I love the wild perspective this lens gives. Actually, this is a dim sum place on Elizabeth Street.


 
Random Thoughts

Base10 is on his way to work on a chilly, rainy morning here in Gotham. He must say that this early schedule is going to takke some getting used to. On the agenda today is more data entry for the current project I'm working on. I also have to stop by Borders to see if I can find a textbook to use in the class I'm teaching. I also need to get an ID card before class at CUNY.


 
So Far, So Good

Base10 survived his first economics class last night. I tell you, there is nothing like a three-hour multivariate calculus review. Anyway, I like this professor. He takes a mathematical approach. And I have most of the books he uses. Tonight's class: Macro Theory. Here, we'll probably be going over growth theory.


 
Five Days to XL

Another five days and the big game is upon us. As one commentator pointed out, Seattle leads the NFL or is number two in almost every offensive statistical category. They were the top seed in the NFC and yet, playing the sixth seeded Pittsburgh Steelers, they are still four-point dogs. Talk of momentum aside, Seattle does get robbed of its usual load hometown advantage in Detroit, but still, this team can play. Base10 thinks there might be a tinge of market inefficiency here. Steelers fans are more numerous than Seahawk fans. This is not to put down the 'Hawks, it's just a nod to the fact that the Steelers have a national fan base, while Seattle does not. Now if fans are much more likely to bet based on sentimental reasons, the mere fact that there are more of them would tend to skew the line favoring Pittsburgh. Base10 can understand this. If the Jets were in the Super Bowl, Base10 would probably lay a few dollars on the game, regardless of the line. (Of course, he would do this
legally by flying out to Vegas or using Tradesports.com). He thinks this is what's happening here. The line is the only way to adjust for the imbalance of money on each side.

Mike Holmgren will join the ranks of coaches that have gone to the big game with two different teams. Parcells was one. Are there any others? If Seattle wins, He will be the only coach to have won with two different teams.

On the sentimental side in Pittsburgh, Jerome Bettis is returning to his hometown Detroit for what is likely his last shot at a ring. He is the sentimental favorite, of course. A Super Bowl ring will only add to the resume of this future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.

In other sports news, long-time Met Mike Piazza has signed a $2 million dollar, one-year deal with the Padres. While we certainly wish Mike well, we are startled to see him sign with an NL team as anything other than a DH. Then again, if he can get fifteen homers and catch sixty games, maybe they have something.


Monday, January 30, 2006
 
Liveblogging the Economics Program

Not exactly, but Base10 is waiting for class to begin. Get ready for the exciting world of microeconomic theory! For those celebrating the bordered Hessian everywhere, this class is for you. I was hoping that the first class might lets out early but I've taken this professor before and I doubt that he would. I won't promise more later because my head will likely be spinning with mathematical concepts. Yikes!


 
Photo Thoughts

After two weeks and several rolls of film with the Bessa, Base10 has come to several conclusions. First, I really like the way Ilford and Tri-X film render images. Just stunning, particularly with the Cosina/Voigtlander lenses. While it can't compare to medium format, these particular lens/film combinations are very good.

Second, 35mm photography is not so bad. I have denigrated it in the past, but it is fun. I also don't think it's quite dead yet either. While digital is convenient, it can only produce a tonal range of about 7 stops as opposed to film which can produce several stops more. Digital is more akin to slide film whose tonal range is closer.

Third, I've decided to start souping film, although maybe not right away. I figure I'll buy some chemicals and some containers. I have the tanks and reels. The chemicals can be mixed right before, so the only issue if really the temperature of the developer. I think I even have a dark bag. This might get a little hectic between work and school, but hey, what does it take to process one or two tanks.


Sunday, January 29, 2006
 
Maybe Johnny Cochrane is Available
"Saddam defence team quits trial" - AFP.

Yes, I know he's dead.
 
Iraq's Missing WMD
Why have we not been reading about this story in the MSM? Oh, I remember. Bush lied. What if he didn't?
 
Photo of the Day

img159, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Taken with the Bessa and the C/V 15mm lens using Ilford 3200. Scanned with the Epson 4990.


 
The President's Interview
Base10 just got finished watching the CBS interview of the President on Face the Nation. He was fairly blunt on Iran and the war on terror. He was also quite touching when he talked about Laura and his family. All in all, a pretty good interview.
 
Breaking News
ABC's World News Tonight anchor Bob Woodruff and his cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously injured in Iraq. They were embedded with the US military. Base10's prayers go out to Woodruff and Vogt and their families and to any other American and Iraqi soldiers who may have been hurt in the incident.
 
The Conventional Wisdom
Base10 is watching the shoutfest this morning and is considering what is likely to be the left's talking points on the President's State of the Union speech scheduled for Tuesday. Here's how it goes: the President has pushed democratization in the Middle East but look at the results. All countries that have had elections have shown a tilt to Islamism: Egypt (Muslim Brother hood makes gains), Iraq (Shiite Islamist parties have plurality), Iran (crazy Islamist elected as President), Lebanon (Hezbollah makes inroads in Parliment) and most recently Palestine (Hamas gets majority of legislature). How can we push democracy, they argue, when the results are votes in favor of militant Islam? Bush is misguided. His simplistic view that democracy is good is conflicting with American security interests in the Middle East.

Base10 disagrees. The naysayers are seeing defeat where great gains have been made. Let's take them one by one. The most recent Egyptian election--in spite of being fixed--was the most liberal one they've had in decades. Iraq is in the process of forming a unity govermnet across sectarian lines. Iran's election was a sham that was boycotted by the more secular reformist groups. Lebanon had the first elections more or less free from Syrian influence since the seventies.

Palestine is another question. Hamas victory may not bode well for the peace process but it is too early to tell. One of the results however is the inability going forward of the Palestinian government to deny responsibility for attacks and blame them on fringe groups while simultaneously refusing to do anything about them. They are the state now. Any attack on Israel is an attack by the Palestinian Authority.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
 
Professor Base10?
Base10 is happy to announce that he has been offered a teaching position as an adjunct professor over at one of the graduate programs at John Jay College in CUNY. No more details for now until I get the lay of the land. It's only one class, but I'm really looking forward to it. Now I have to go out and buy suit jackets with patches on the sleeves!
 
Houston Street

img157, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Here are some snapshots I took at Houston Street and the Bowery. This place is pretty interesting. All photos were taken with he Bessa R3a with a 15mm Cosina/Voigtlander lens using Koday Tri-X film.




img156, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This lens is incredibly wide, but it does not couple with the rangefinder. You therefore have to guestimate. In practice this isn't a big deal. The lens is so wide that its depth of field is huge. At f16, if you set the lens at hyperfocal length, you don't even have to focus.




img161, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Note the shadow detail here. This is good example of why Tri-X film was so popular. I think I prefer Tri-X to T-Max. T-Max is technically probably a better emulsion, but I have to say that I think it produces negatives that are too contrasty.


Friday, January 27, 2006
 
Street Photo

subwaystairs2, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is another shot from last Sunday's shoot-from-the-hip digital adventure.


 
Hamas

The punditry is going nuts over the Hamas victory in the recent Palestinian elections. The opinion appears to be in two veins. (There is of course a third view: blame Bush. But we'll ignore those shrill cries here).

On the one hand, Hamas is a group of proven terrorists. Financed by a militant Iran, they will ratchet up the violence against Israel and export terror to other parts of the world. Worst case scenario--civil war in Palestine and a bloody intifada in Israel.

On the other hand, some see this as an opportunity to moderate Hamas. The Palestinian Authority depends on aid from the EU, the US and others. If they retain their terrorist rhetoric thereby losing said aid, they will be hard pressed to run their country. This side believes that political office will force Hamas into recognizing Israel and reforming a corrupt Palestinian government.

Which is it? Base10 thinks this election prevented--at least for the time being--the beginning of a Palestinian civil war. But armed Fatah members are not going to lie down. One of the reasons Fatah did so poorly was that their party is fractured. Fatah should position themselves as a unified opposition that wants peace and prosperity.

Of course, there is a good result here regardless of the outcome of the election. Once again, an Arab country had a democratic election. We may not like the result, but it showed that the trappings of democracy can hold.

Nobody said democracy was easy.


 
Random Economic Thoughts

Base10 is looking forward to resuming his doctoral studies. He has taken to carrying around Hal Varian's "Microeconomic Theory." Not reading it, mind you. Just carrying it around. Actually, I'm a bit more worried about Macro. Macro was never my strong suit and it is also much more of an unsettled area where opinion does matter. While Micro is interesting in that its principles get applied in new ways, it is more or less theoretically settled.

Macro is certainly more interesting as far as current events. Popular media shows a stunning lack of understanding of basic macro principles. News stories are far too often agenda driven.


 
Friday Morning

Base10 is on his way to work this morning on a chilly but sunny Friday morning here in the Big Apple. He must make a quick stop at Ben Ness before work to get some 35mm rolls done.

Today's agenda looks pretty busy. I will be doing data entry most of the day, but hope to get out of work on time. Base10 will try to post more later.


Thursday, January 26, 2006
 
Dumbest Moments in Business
CNN Business has published it's list of the top 101 dumbest moments in business in 2005. Some are quite funny. Base10's favorite was no. 64 involving JPMorgan Chase:
Blaming a mailing-list vendor for providing bad information, JPMorgan Chase apologizes for sending a form letter about its credit card services to an Arab American man in California addressed to "Palestinian Bomber."

Football fans should check out no. 96:
"I know there are issues with homophobia in the NFL, but it never occurred to me the thing would come to this."

-- Louisiana State University drama professor Leigh Clemons, after attempting to buy a jersey personalized with the last name of former student and New England Patriots defensive back Randall Gay from NFL.com. Upon entering Gay's name in the requisite text box, the league's website informs her that the field should not contain a "naughty word."

Jets fans, check out no. 101:
In September, as the result of a typo in a spreadsheet, Electronic Arts issues an update to Madden NFL 06 that reduces 6-foot-3, 305-pound New York Jets lineman Michael King to a height of 7 inches. The next day, EA fixes the bug -- to a chorus of complaints from customers who enjoyed watching the shin-high blocker get steamrollered by full-size players such as seven-time All-Pro linebacker Derrick Brooks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

 
This is Just Weird
"Robo-pets as good as the real thing: Pet substitutes can lower stress levels in their owners" - PC Magazine.

Via Engadget.
 
Firefly Season 2?
Check out this site and fill in your gorram data to help get more Firefly episodes out.
 
Maria is Out!
Base10's tennis heartthrob was ousted from the Australian Open in the wee hours this morning, losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne.
 
Another Example
Of why we need tort reform.
 
Hamas Wins
Hamas has reportedly won a large majority in the Palestinian legislature. Many are already predicting the end to the peace process. Britain--for its part--is urging Hamas to renounce violence.

Oxblog has an interesting comment: Hamas did not prepare itself to run a government.
It's not clear anyone wanted this, least of all Hamas, who in assuming the administration of the Palestinian national authority's creaking and often corrupt bureaucracy single-handed in a moment when its sole lifeline of European and other international support appears threatened, may just have stumbled into the biggest molasses patch the Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah has ever faced. Unlike the Lib Dems of 1985, Hamas did not go to its constituencies to prepare for government. It had prepared for a coalition, or possibly pristine opposition, but not this.

Latter comment via Instapundit.

UPDATE: More from NRO.
 
What Sports Car Are You?

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!



You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.


Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.


Wednesday, January 25, 2006
 
It's Officially Official

Base10 is once again a student. He is officially back in at the CUNY Graduate Center for doctoral studies in economics. Readers should expect more economics-related posts very soon. (I had better buy more camera equipment before class starts!) Classes start Monday. Micro Theory and Macro Theory, in all likelihood. Base10 can't wait.


 
Sunday's Photos

subwaystairs, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Base10 took this rangefinder style with the EOS 20d at 17mm.


 
Today's Agenda and Random Thoughts on Photography and Other Matters

Base10 is on his way to work right now on a chilly but sunny Wednesday morning. He will likely be a bit busy this afternoon doing some data entry and doing some other work. But hey, this is hump day, right? Whatever.

Base10 took his digital camera out Sunday with an EFS 17-85 lens (curse Canon for having two lens mounts). I wanted to get a feel on how the angle translated to digital. I used the same waist-level shooting style I did with the Bessa--wide open--but using autofocus not hyperfocal length. I also set the sharpness a little high and the contrast a little low. Some images actually came out quite nice, but it obviously pays to have a bubble level. First impressions are that you don't lose that much by going to digital. The 17mm lens was very wide but was even narrower than the 15mm I have on the Bessa. That would be fine for most purposes, and you could even go down to a 12mm if you had to giving you an effective 18mm lens in digital. I also found the perspective intriguing. In DOF mode, image edges that had nearby subjects were tack sharp. I'm also toying with the idea of buying a Canon prime in a shorter focal length like the 24mm f:1.4L or the 35mm f:1.4L. As far as the Bessa results,
the preliminary shots were okay like I wrote Sunday, but I should have four or five rolls done on Friday with slower films to look at other results. I may post a few digitals later.


 
Eleven Days to XL

Base10 looked this morning and the line in Superbowl XL was up to four in some casinos. Seahawks get no respect.


 
Yet Another Example
Of the law of unintended consequences.
 
Google Officially Becomes Evil Overlord
While fighting US efforts to track child pornographers, search giant Google has caved to pressure from China that would exclude sites blacklisted by the Chinese government. Nice.

For this you pay $453 a share?
 
Compare and Contrast
"Report: U.S. was 'outsourcing' torture" - CNN.

"European Inquiry Fails to Confirm Secret CIA Prisons" - Washington Post.
 
Palestinian Elections
Palestinians will engage in democratic parlimentary elections today. The terrorist group Hamas seems poised to capture at least a share of government.

Daniel Pipes disagrees in a big way.

Martin Walker doesn't think it matters,
For anyone concerned for a peaceful future in the Middle East, the poll to watch is not Wednesday`s Palestinian election but an opinion poll presented Tuesday to Israel`s annual Herzliya security conference. It found 77 percent of Israelis pessimistic about the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and only 20 percent holding out any hope of a peace settlement in the next 20 years

The reason for this is simple. The vote to be held Wednesday for the 132 seats on Palestine`s Legislative Council is neither a pretty nor an edifying sight. Elections in themselves are fine things, but the contest between Fatah, the corrupt old rump of Yasser Arafat`s Palestine Liberation Organization, and the extreme Islamists of Hamas is hardly in the finest traditions of Athenian democracy.

Fatah and Hamas are organizations that believe in the suicide bombing of innocent civilians, ruthlessly exploiting young Palestinian zealots who have been convinced or brainwashed that the way to paradise is to slaughter young Israelis. Of the 160 potential suicide bombers who were last year stopped and arrested by Israeli police and army, 29 were identified as coming from Hamas, and 47 from Fatah`s Tanzim group. (There are other groups who dispatch suicide bombers against Israel, including some tragic brain-damaged youngsters who have little idea what they are doing or why.)

Tuesday, January 24, 2006
 
Today's Agenda

Base10 is on the subway on his way to work as he writes this. It is a sunny but quite chilly morning here in Gotham and Base10 likes this kind of weather.

Anyway, today's agenda includes a seemingly endless series of meetings but should be free for some stuff. Base10 would like to get out for some photography this afternoon as well, work permitting. Where to go? Base10 should probably go to the West Side for a change of pace.

Mrs. Base10 has school tonight, so Base10 must fend for himself later. Perhaps there is a hockey game? Mrs. Base10 is taking International Economics along with Operations Management. It's going to be a long semester for Base10.



UPDATE: Indeed there is.
 
Democrats Slipping

Dick Meyer had an interesting column up at CBS News. He reminds the Democrats that their strategy is not working. Going into the 2006 midterm election, the RNC has far more money than the DNC and is relentlessly staying on message about the war on terror and tax cuts. The Democrats were wrong about Howard Dean's ability to raise money at the grassroots level using small donations made over the internet, and Democrats are deceiving themselves if they think that chanting "Bush Lied--People Died" or invoking Jack Abramoff is going to propel them back into control of the House or Senate. Good read.

Can you imagine if Republicans gain seats next year?


 
Twelve Days to XL

So begins the official countdown. Anyway, when Base10 looked yesterday, the line on Superbowl XL was the Steelers laying 3.5 against the Seahawks. Seems like a slap at Seattle to me, but the bettors are the ones who judge.

This weekend begins the endless parade of media events to hype the Super Bowl. You know, "All Madden," "Terry's Tough Guys" and the rest. The one good thing is that there is an endless replay of past Super Bowls on ESPN Classic. (It's the only quality time I get with Joe Willie).


Monday, January 23, 2006
 
Doctor Base10?

Well, it looks like I'm in. Base10 has not hear officially, but got an email from the Economics Dept. chair that I should register. First class is on Monday, so I guess I should get to it! I'll probably register at the end of the week. Better get crackin' on differential equations, though.


 
Today's Agenda

Base10 is on his way in on a rainy Monday morning. He has a couple of meetings later and must work on the Patrol Allocation model--his albatross, if you will. (There's an idea. I'm going to print it up and wear it around my neck to see if anybody gets the reference). Blogging will be light until this evening.


 
More on Superbowl XL

So this is it. Two agonizing weeks until football's final moment of glory. What then? Sports fans will once again wander in the desert for the dark months to come. Why?

Actually, Base10 always thought the XFL was a good idea--albeit poorly executed. The opening game of the season got pretty good ratings but they deteriorated after a few weeks. Football in February is great! Why didn't the NFL think of that? The XFL did do a few things well. They eliminated the fair catch rule (but they kept the halo) and they created a "scrum" do decide first possession where your best athlete and their best athlete would race for the ball twenty yards away. What a great idea! An athletic contest being decided by athletic ability. How novel!

But why can't the NFL have a winter league? NFL Europe seems played out. Can we have the same type of thing with younger players in February? Just an idea.

Anyway, we have two teams that are facing each other a week from Sunday: the Seahawks and the Steelers. Both teams are deserving. While the Steelers have been somewhat more successful in the post-season, fans of both teams have been out in the cold as far as championships go. There's no good vs. evil theme to play here like when the Bills would play the Cowboys. Both teams are good, they worked hard, and they are deserving of a win. The Seahawks should be commended for not letting a first round bye let them get complacent. The Steelers look quite formidable given that they are the only team in history to win three straight playoff games on the road to go to the big game. Both teams are firing well on both sides of the ball. Both have a healthy pass/rush mixture. Both are capable of scoring big (Seattle maybe a little more so), and both teams are capable of containing a high scoring team. For the casual fan, Super Bowl XL maybe may not be that great, but rather it could be the sort of boring ball-control game Base10 likes, "Three yards and a cloud of dust. Hee Ha!"

At least there's always the commercials.


 
The Best Thing About Canada
The best thing about Canada's likely turn to the right in today's elections is that it pisses off Michael Moore. Canadian liberals, know that Michael Moore has never backed a winning candidate.
 
Iraqi Elections
The Shiites have won the Iraqi elections but not by enough to form a government on their own. Mohammed at Iraq the Model has some observations about that and the fractured nature of the insurgency:
All are convinced now that solutions lie within politics and negotiations but what concerns us now is that some parties will perhaps keep a high ceiling for their demands. It is true that no single bloc can form a government without forming a coalition with other bloc(s) but the number of seats each bloc got will remain the factor that decides the form of and terms of cooperation despite the calls for forming a government of national unity that overlooks election results and focuses more on dealing with the current challenges and dangers.

Today the supreme judicial board decided to extend the term of the interim national Assembly and interim government for another 3 months after a request submitted by the presidency council, apparently to avoid facing constitutional vacuum.
This decision suggests that forming the government is expected to take quite a lot of time.

The UIA looks excited and seems to be rushing things more than other blocs; yesterday they said they’ve formed to committees to direct talks with the two other major blocs; the Kurdish and the Sunni. The UIA hope they can form the government before the end of February when the reconciliation conference will be due, maybe to avoid external influence from Arab countries-that back the Sunni parties and Allawi-on the process. However, I think the UIA will not make it and will have to come to the conference before the government is in place.

 
Speaking of Condi...
Raplph Peters has some remarks about Ms. Rice's planned reofrms over at the Department of State:
* Diplomats can no longer build careers by hiding behind desks in comfy capitals. They'll have to accept dangerous assignments and serve in hardship posts; develop regional expertise in at least two areas; and speak at least two relevant foreign languages (French waiters need not apply). That ain't going to make Rice popular with diplos accustomed to rotating between Rome and Northwest D.C. on their way to ambassadorships. Yet, it's vital if we're going to convert our failed, 19th-century- model State Department into a useful tool for the 21st century.

* Ouch! Condi really put Paris and Berlin in their places — pointedly noting that "we have nearly the same number of State Department personnel in Germany, a country of 82 million people, that we have in India, a country of 1 billion people." Cancel that order for the big schnitzel, Mr. Ambassador. You're going to be eating some development vindaloo. (Delicious, too, that la Rice smacked down Old Europe just as Jacques Chirac threatened to hurl nukes at terrorists to prove that France remains relevant.)

* Crucially, Condi named China, India, South Africa and Brazil as countries of the future while declaring that an initial 100 diplomatic slots would migrate from Europe immediately to countries that actually matter. More reassignments will follow, with even Moscow demoted to the international enlisted ranks — while Indonesia gets promoted (Double ouch!).

* Cutlass Condi intends to chop off the heads (or at least the careers) of those who wimp out on the dangerous missions and nasty assignments. This is essential. In working with State reps over the years, I met many who knew how to formulate tidy "non-papers"—but only a few who had the guts to go out and get dirty. I encountered some fine ambassadors and staffers, but too many resembled Chinese court eunuchs (one guy in Moscow even looked the part).

 
Mrs. Clinton's Plantation
Shelby Steele has an interesting article about Mrs. Clinton in the Opinion Journal. He argues that Mrs. Clinton's recent remark comparing the Congress to a "plantation" at a celebration for Martin Luther King day actually shows how frightened she is of Condi Rice. He argues that Republican's have an advantage so long as Democrats use blacks only for the politics of resentment:
No one on the current political scene better embodies this Republican advantage than the current secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. The archetype that Ms. Rice represents is "overcoming" rather than grievance. Despite a childhood in the segregated South that might entitle her to a grievance identity, she has clearly chosen that older black American tradition in which blacks neither deny injustice nor allow themselves to be defined by it. This tradition, as Ralph Ellison once put it, "springs not from a desire to deny the harshness of existence but from a will to deal with it as men at their best have always done." And, because Ms. Rice is grounded in this tradition, she is of absolutely no value to modern liberalism or the Democratic Party despite her many talents and achievements. Quite the reverse, she is their worst nightmare. If blacks were to take her example and embrace overcoming rather than grievance, the wound to liberalism would be mortal. It is impossible to imagine Hillary Clinton's "plantation" pandering in a room full of Condi Rices.

Sunday, January 22, 2006
 
The Game is Set

Well, looks like this is the end. For football season, at least. Base10 was watching the games today and was somewhat disappointed. The early game between Denver and Pittsburgh turned out to be a Steeler-dominated slugfest. Denver did however put up a fight. In the late game, the Seahawks completely dominated the Panthers who were never even in contention. Life may be full of disappointments, but let's hope for a good Super Bowl! More thoughts on the SB XL tomorrow.


 
Photo of the Week

img154, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is it. This is a view of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges from the Manhattan side of the East River. This was taken with the Mamiya 7ii using a 50mm wideangle lens and Ilford HP5 film. Go medium format! The Bessa is fun, but it cannot compare to MF results.


 
Bessa Snapshots
Here are some snapshots I took with the Bessa and mainly the Voigtlander 15mm ultrawide. Not too bad, with the caveats noted yesterday. Most photos were taken holding the camera at waist level and the lens set to hyperfocal length.


img149, originally uploaded by base10blog.




img150, originally uploaded by base10blog.




img151, originally uploaded by base10blog.




img153, originally uploaded by base10blog.


Saturday, January 21, 2006
 
Phebe's Has Gone Upscale

Mrs. Base10 and I were wandering around the East Village this afternoon when we wandered into Phebe's. Phebe's was once the absolutely cheapest dive bar in Manhattan. It has, for better of worse, gone mainstream. Down the block from CBGB's, Phebe's was the place you went drinking before (or where you went when you got thrown out). It had a kickin' jukebox, a pool table in the backroom and going to the bathroom was like oberving an experiment in social engineering. No more. It's actually quite nice, but the pool table is gone and the bathroom was spotless. The most disturbing thing is that I had my first beer in this place before some of the employees and patrons were born.


 
Thoughts on the Bessa

Base10 has some observations on hisnew Bessa R3a. First, it's a good little film camera. It has a nice build and a neat retro look (especially with chrome lenses). The back did inexplicably pop open on the first roll I put through it, but I'll take the hit for that. The back seems to close tightly on further examination. The lenses seem very good, although you can't actually see through them. They seem to be very solidly made. My only complaint is that the screwmount-to-M-mount adapter doesn't seem that sturdy. It dsoesn't click into place as well as the natural M-mount lenses and can indeed be removed without pressing the lens release. This seems to be a function of the adapter, not the lens. I have to experiment with the more.

My second set of comments concern the film format. The first set of negatives confirm what's good (and bad) about the 35mm format. First, it is nice to be able to take exposures with reckless abandon. It can lead to experimentation and ultimately some interesting shots. It is refreshing to be able to blow through an entire roll just for one shot. Second, the camera is very small. If your goal is candids and street shots, like I've said before it's hard to use medium format. My first roll was shot mainly from the hip at hyperfocal length eliminating the need for focusing. The perspective was interesting.

Now for the bad. My first roll was Ilford 3200. I wanted to see how the camera performed in low light. Many of the subway shots were interesting, but this film is just too fast. The grain is very visible. Not bad, of course if that's the effect you're going for, but I'll stick with HP5 for now. And of course, it's not medium format. There is considerably less to do with the negative as far as cropping goes. Once again, I don't want to generalize too much when I've only seen one roll of super-fast B&W film that was fogged because the back opened.

Then there's dust and scratches. Maybe it's just me, but I'm becoming less and less tolerant of dust and scratches.The smaller film area seems to make them more obvious to me. I may start souping my own negatives soon.

TRhat's all for now. Right now, I'm going downtown to meet Mrs. Base10 who has to register for school. I'm armed with the Bessa and all it's lenses along with the remains of a second roll of Ilford 3200, a roll of color, and two rolls of Tri-X (hows that to get a retro look). More later.


Friday, January 20, 2006
 
Happy Friday!

Base10 is of to work on a rather nice Friday. It is sunny but a bit chilly here in Gotham but it is certainly fine weather for the season. Base10 is in early to complete an assignment he promised yesterday, but is sure he'll have it done lickety split.

Today's agenda also looks a bit busy. Base10 has meetings in the afternoon and must finish some things before the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, Base10 is looking forward to it. This Sunday's games should be the best of the season even while being its swan song. For those uninterested in football, Friday has hockey, too.

In a follow-up to yesterday's item about new head coach Eric Mangini, it looks like the Jets are cleaning their coaching house. Defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson is gone and off to greener pastures. In a surprise move, Mangini has retained Mike Heimmerdinger as offensive coordinator. The fate of Mike Westhoff is still undecided, but it looks like he may stay as well. Mangini did hire a bunch of other assistants as well. While I very much doubt the Jets will do anything next year, let's hope for progress and a platform to build on for the year after.


 
Threats from Osama

Osama bin Laden released another audio tape yesterday. He reports that attacks against America are imminent. They just haven't been carried out yet because of preparation issues. He's starting to talk like the UN--perhaps al Qaeda will form a Commission to study the matter of attack preparation. In any event, he claims US security measures have not thwarted any attacks. He must have forgotten about Jose Padilla.

Osama also offered a truce to the West. Apparently, if we withdraw and leave Afghanistan and Iraq to their own devices, al Qaeda is willing to step up to the plate and help in the reconstruction effort. How multilateral of them! In exchange, they will not attack us (except the US and Israel, which are Satan). We can take their word for this because their religion requires that they not lie. This is interesting because apparently thatvsame religion permits the wholesale slaughter of thousands of innocents. While I'm sure some on the looney left will jump on the chance to make nice with Osama, the White House reiterated that we do not negotiate with terrorist. Indeed, we kill them. Hopefully in as painful a manner as possible.

The timing of this message is curious. The recent CIA bombing raid in Pakistan must have killed some very high-ranking al Qaeda people. Bin Laden has not made a public statement in over a year. Why now, if not to prove to his followers that he is alive?


 
Hillary's Turn Right

In a speech at the Wilson Center, Hillary Clinton condemned the Administration's policy on Iran. She warned of the dire threat of Iranian nuclear proliferation and said that the Administration was wrong in pursuing multilateral negotiations through our European allies England, France and Germany. She demanded immediate UN sanctions.

While Mrs. Clinton is correct about the toothlessness of our so-called allies across the pond, doesn't this go against the Demcrat's position that the US should not go it alone in ventures like Iraq? Iraq and Iran stand as polar opposites: in Iraq, the US led the effort and ignored the world criticism. Iraq is now counting the votes of its first parlimentary government. In Iran, the US followed all the policies urged upon them by the left: multilateralism that worked closely with our traditional European allies and only used force with UN approval. The result: Iran is on the verge of developing a working nuke. This result will happen sooner or later in spite of optimistic "estimates" that Iran is still several years away. Will it take a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv to force the UN and EU to act?

In any event, it is curious that Mrs. Clinton has pitched her national defense tent to the hawkish right of the President on Iran. Does shw rightfully consider pandering to the anti-war left as a waste of time if you want to get elected President?


Thursday, January 19, 2006
 
Coach Mangini

Base10 read about Eric Mangini's induction as head coat. I have to say although he was short on specifics, he made a nice statement. He said (to paraphrase) there is no secret to success in the NFL, it is all a matter of hard work and attention to detail. Wise words indeed.

Some pundits have criticized Mangini since his only head coaching experience was with a semi-pro American-rules football team in Australia in his final year in college. Critics should take not that he won the championship that year. Mangini is also responsible for the scouting of Ben Graham, the Jets punter.

Mangini faces some challenges. The Jets defense should remain relatively intact. The biggest question is the fate of John Abraham. Mangini, being a defensive guy, should be okay on that side of the ball. He should make every effort to keep Mike Westhoff on as special teams coordinator, but that may not be in the cards. The offensive side of the ball, there are more problems. The key problem is naturally Chad Pennington and the offensive line. But this may be insoluble--at least for this year. I can't imagine the Jets cutting him and his cap effect is enormous. The line is the key really. This opens up the running and passing game. This also may not be solvable this year.

Should the Jets draft a quarterback or a running back? Good question. I don't think they are able to grab the stars in this year's draft, but there are prospects later than the first round. Frankly, I think there are QB free agents out there that can play a ball-control offense.


 
Photography Thoughts. Again!

Base10 was thinking about his brief stop on the East Side Monday as well as his occasionally spotty performance with his "Photo of the Day" feature. Base10 is thinking of a "Photo of the Week" instead. The PAW would represent the best thing I shoot all week long. So, basically, I force myself to go out and use the camera from Sunday through Thursday. I drop the film off Friday morning and pick it up Friday night. I pick and choose photos and edit them on Saturday selecting one for the PAW. (Base10 will of course publish dopey snapshots whenever the mood strikes him). This would serve to make a photo special rather than just taking one for the sake of having something to post. The PAW would be the best work I'd done in the prior week.

Base10 does like his Mamiya 7ii. However, there is no cool leather case for it. It is just a bit too big to carry it around on your neck. Wonderful lenses though. I can't wait to see what Monday's excursion wrought.

Base10 did finally get a 35mm rangefinder. Not the multi-thousand dollar Leica. More like the reasonably priced Bessa R3a. Base10 also got some Voigtlander lenses: the 50mm f1.5, the 40mm f1.4, and the 15mm f4.5. The tests I've read on these lenses make them out to be great--especially for the price--likening them to last-generation Leica glass. I took the camera with me this morning to try to get some candids on the subway. So far, so good. I'll try to break out the ultrawide this afternoon.

I am not going to buy a Leica (at least not yet). It is just dopey to spend that kind of money unless you know you're going to use the camera. This way, if I find that 35mm RF photography is not for me, I haven't spent too much.

On the other hand, if I do like it I have several obvious upgrade paths. There always is, of course, a new or refurbished Leica M (current version is the MP). But of course there are also used M6's and M3's as well. Then there's digital. The Epson RD-1 is basically a Bessa with a digital sensor. It is similarly priced to the Leica and I have read very positive reviews.


 
Murphy's Law

Base10 had a harrowing day yesterday trying to straighten out his admissions status at CUNY. It seems that anything that could have possibly gone wrong did in fact go wrong. Let's hope it works, though. As it stands now, I should be able to register next week for classes that start a week from this coming Monday. I'm looking forward to it. Anyway, in spite of my ordeal, the train is on the track.


Tuesday, January 17, 2006
 
Last Night

Base10 took off a little early yesterday to meet Mrs. Base10 who was off for the holiday. We had a pretty good time. Before it got dark, Base10 managed to get some grand shots of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges where they meet in Brooklyn. These were taken with the Mamiya 7ii and will probably be available for posting in the near future.

Afterwards, Mrs. Base10 and I had dinner at Theresa, a polish restaurant on 1st. Ave. It was, unfortunately, not as good as I remember.

Highlighting the evening was a visit to DBA's, a beer bar also on 1st. DBA's is one of the few bars in NYC that has handdrawn ales and is a virtual temple for fine beers. Anyway, we had a couple of "Old Slug Porters" that were handdrawn and absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, after the second one it felt like nap time. Good stuff.


 
Football Recap

Because of yesterday's tech setback, Base10 lost his insightful comments on Sunday's football games. Here we go again:

Sunday's games, Base10 must admit, were far better than the lackluster performances on display Saturday. Sunday's games proved quite exciting. The early game featured Indy at home against the Steelers. The Steelers ultimately prevailed 21-18 but were victimized by a slew of bad calls including the reversal of a game-winning interception by the Steelers secondary and an absurd non-call during a Steelers drive. Now Base10 does not have a vested interest in either team--and indeed would like to see Payton Manning get a ring--but the officiating in that game was awful. One expects these kind of home-town calls in college games but not in the pros. Several players defied fines and openly questioned the impartiality of the officials. Base10 has to admit that as a casual observer that it sure looked that way to him. It seemed that every questionable call helped to keeps the Colts in the game. Indeed the score does not reflect how dominant Pittsburgh really was. Their run-ballanced offense
kept the Colts offense off the field and the Steelers defense did the job when they did get out.

The league should really address this issue. If there is blown credibility in how the NFL handles it's post-season tournament--even just the appearance of it--in the eyes of fans, the league becomes little more than professional wrestling or Vince McMahan's XFL. Commissioner, it's your move.

Just one more comment on this. The television coverage of the game if anything, added to the perception of bias. It seemed to me that the announcers had a carefully written script that had the Colts dominating. Unfortunately, the Steelers didn't cooperate and play the game the announcers wanted.

Let's not forget the late game. The Panthers beat the Bears at Soldier field 29-21 in what was also an exciting game. What began for the Bears as a Cinderella season, ended in defeat. One can't help but think however that 'Da Bears will be back next year. But they clearly have to straighten out the quarterback situation.

So what does this give us? Two teams with first round bye's went down in flames: the Bears and the Colts. This leaves Seattle and Denver still standing against the upstart Panthers and Steelers, respectively, in the Conference Championships. Sunday should be a pretty good day, but alas, it is the end of the season.

After Sunday--which has traditionally been Base10's favorite day of football during the year--also signals the season's end. The following Sunday has no game. (Curse who who ever came up with the idea for this break). The Sunday after that has the Super Bowl. Sometimes (especially in recent years) the Supper Bowl is an exciting game, but often it is a blowout that is more about the TV production than the game. The following Sunday features the Pro Bowl, football's equivalent of post-coital cuddling. That's it. Nothing until the first week of April when the league throw us a lifeline and holds the draft.

Oh, there will be other sports to hold our interest. The Winter Olympics starts soon after football ends. March Madness begins right after the Olympics. And pitchers and cartchers report to Spring training in a few weeks so baseball is right around the corner. In addition, a revitalized NHL will be playing all winter and spring. But nothing is quite like football, and Base10 will miss it like he misses it every year.


 
Deficits
This article appeared in yesterday's NY Post:
Like a person packing on pounds, the U.S. keeps adding to its flabby budget deficits, endangering the nation's economic health and the pocketbooks of ordinary Americans.

Here's the worry: Persistent deficits will lead to higher borrowing costs for consumers and companies, slowing economic activity.

As Uncle Sam seeks to borrow ever more to finance those deficits, rates on Treasury securities would rise to entice investors. That would push up other interest rates, such as home mortgages, many auto loans, some home equity lines of credit and some credit cards.

"That's the pocketbook risk to the American consumer," said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com, an online financial service.


There was a graphic in the article (not on the website)that showed growing deficit figures in nominal amounts and using an inaccurate scale. Is the deficit large as a percentage of GDP? Judge for yourself, but the 2004 Budget was 3.6% of GDP, not far outside the historic average. You won't however find that figure in the first article.
 
Looks LIke This is It
The Jets hired Eric Mangini to be their new head coach yesterday. Base10 is a little surprised that the Jets would make such a bold move. Mangini, the former defensive coordinator in New England, is now the youngest head coach in the NFL. Base10 is intrigued by Mangini. Aside from the obvious help he will be when we play New England, it's nice to see the Jets willing to take a flyer on a young and presumably creative head coach that is willing to try new things. But Jet fans, make no mistake. We will be travelling through the desert for a year or two at least before we hit the playoffs again. This is a new coach who will likely hire new coordinators and will almost certainly clean house and cap space this year. Base10 agrees with this approach of taking all your medicine at once, but expect a San Francisco-like year next year. More on this later.
 
Hitchens on Iraq
Over at Slate, Christopher Hitchens has his usual erudite comments on the situation in Iraq and once again shows how the media is consistently getting it wrong:
[T]he regular media caricature of Iraqi society is not even a parody. It is very common indeed to find mixed and intermarried families, and these loyalties and allegiances outweigh anything that can be mustered by a Jordanian jailbird who has bet everything on trying to ignite a sectarian war. Second, it means in the not very long run that the so-called insurgency can be politically isolated and militarily defeated. It already operates within a minority of a minority and is largely directed by unpopular outsiders. Politically, it is the Khmer Rouge plus the Mafia—not the Viet Cong. And unlike the Khmer Rouge, it has no chance at all of taking the major cities. Nor, apart from the relatively weak Syrian regime, does it have a hinterland or a friendly neutral territory to use for resupply. And its zealots are now being killed by nationalist and secular, as well as clerical, guerrillas. (In Kurdistan, the Zarqawi riffraff don't even try; there is a real people's army there, and it has a short way with fascists. It also fights on the coalition side.) In counterinsurgency terms, this is curtains for al-Qaida.

Which is my third point. If all goes even reasonably well, and if a combination of elections and prosperity is enough to draw more mainstream Sunnis into politics and away from Baathist nostalgia, it will have been proved that Bin-Ladenism can be taken on—and openly defeated—in a major Middle Eastern country. And not just defeated but discredited. Humiliated. Is there anyone who does not think that this is a historic prize worth having? Worth fighting for, in fact?

 
In Case You're Wondering What Al Gore is Doing These Days
"Gore Says Bush Wiretapping Could be Impeachable Offense" - ABC News.

Seriously, Al Gore is the best thing that has happened for Republicans before the midterm elections.



 
An Explanation
Martin Luther

Martin Luther King

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday!
 
Tech Blues
Base10 is a little dissapointed in his network. Apparently when the evil telecommunication overlords at Verizon make commercials about the size of their "network" it doesn't actually apply to real customers. Yesterday, Base10 made some posts on his PDA-phone but could not connect to the EVDO network to post them. He tried all day (and in several locations) but to no avail. Finally in desparation, Base10 did a hard reset--thereby losing contacts--and even that didn't work. So, email is gone, contacts are gone, and the phone won't connect to the internet. Until I get back to Queens, and then it works. Thanks Verizon! Good network.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
 
Photo of the Day

junctionblvdwinter, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is Junction Boulevard facing north. NYC is suffering from a winter blast right now. It snowed overnight (with more expected) and it is freakin' cold. High speed winds are producing wind-chills in the single digits (with maybe the negative digits tonight). This was taken with the EOS 20d using the 70-200L lens. Cropped and histogram adjusted to soften the shadows.


 
And You Thought You Could Only Buy the Brooklyn Bridge
"Willis Avenue Bridge Up For Grabs For Just $1" - NY1.
 
A LIttle Off the Mark
"U.S. missile targets No. 2 leader in Al Qaeda" - Chicageo Tribune.

Recent reports are that Zawahiri was not there during the missile strike. Too bad. Maybe next time. In any event, in spite of the al-Jazeera inspired protests, Base10 suggests that any village that harbors high ranking al-Qaeda members by blown up--regardless of whether said members are actually present at the time.
 
This is Disturbing
"Two Drugs Rendered Useless Against Flu Virus" - LA Times.
 
Retarded
I wonder? If they knew the gun was fake, why did they call the police? Why not just take it away?
 
Playoff Football
Although not the stuff of legends, Saturday's NFL games where pretty good. Base10's predicted upset--the Washington Redskins over the Seattle Seahawks--did not occur. Although in it until the end, the 'Hawks won 20-10. In the late game, Denver beat New Endland 27-13. Base10 is looking forward to today's matchups, especially the Carolina-Bears game at four.
 
Soldier Gives Murtha What For
Check out this clip from the Beltway Boys where Sgt. Mark Seavey tells off Democratic Congressmen John "I Will Do Anything For A CNN Soundbite" Murtha and Jim "It's All the Jew's Fault" Moran. Particularly, note the outstandingly lame response by Moran.

(via Instapundit).
Friday, January 13, 2006
 
Off to Work

Base10 is on the subway on his way to work and is hoping for a more efficient commute than yesterday. It is a foggy morning today in the Big Apple, but also a mild 55 degrees. Not too bad, really.

Base10 has some things at work that will carry him through the afternoon, so blogging is unlikely for the rest of the day.

What will the weekend have in store? Base10 would like to get out and do some photography on Saturday, possibly at Rockaway or the Brooklyn side of the East River.

Base10 is still toying with the idea of getting another rangefinder camera. The Bessa R3A made by Cosina/Voigtlander looks interesting and is very inexpensive. The lenses that this company makes also seem terrific for the price--something like one-third to one-quarter of the price of Leica lenses. Should I buy one? It certainly won't break the bank--even if I got one Leica or Zeiss lens to go along with it. But 35mm film photography is something I swore off. Otherwise, why get all that medium format gear?

The only justification really is convenience. I'm beginning to realize that if you actually want to carry a camera around with you all the time, it should be small and light-weight. And if you want a camera to carry around that's unobtrusive, carry a rangefinder.

If that's the logic, why not go Leica? You can make a good case for this. The Leicas retain their value. If you do buy one, you could sell it later for pretty much what you paid for it. But I'm not ready for a Leica just yet. It seems to me that this is the camera you carry if you are a foreign correspondent on assignment or if you are a rich dentist with a lot of money to throw around taking snapshots. Plus I don't buy into the whole Leica mystique. A camera is a box that separates film from light. The lens is what counts. When I read Leica users comparing their 35mm negatives to 4x5 quality, I laugh.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love to own one. And if you kept it on a shelf you could argue it's an investment. But I would want to use it.

No diatribe today. Base10 will have his application in to be readmitted to CUNY on Monday. Hopefully, this will work out. Base10 has already begun his mathematics review and is up to rudimentary matrix algebra. This leaves calculus and constrained optimization over the weekend. Joy!

Base10 will perhaps post more after work.


 
Is it Just Me?
Or is this program faintly reminiscent of the Andromeda Strain?
 
So Long, Captain!
Mark Messier was honored last night by the Rangers prior to their game with Edmonton. Here is the Times account. It was very touching. Messier was crying like a baby as he was greeted by the crowd and met with the 1994 Stanley Cup team. The Rangers capped the evening by beating the Oilers 5-4 in the first few seconds in OT.
 
The Only Way You'll Get This Pastrami Sandwich,
Is by prying it out of my cold dead hands.

No thanks Mr. Mayor.
 
More Coaching Changes
The wonderfully named Mike Mularkey, head coach of the Buffalo Bills, surprised the football world by announcing his resignation. It is especially surprising given that he had three years left on his contract. Interesting.
 
More Evidence
This is yet another example of why the death penalty works.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
 
The Economist on Judge Alito
The Economist, in its usual cheeky style, has some thoughts on the Alito hearing. Specifically, it notes the exchange between Judge Alito and bloviating Senator Ted Kennedy:
Ted Kennedy is deeply troubled by the ethics of the Supreme Court nominee. Between 2001 and 2006, Samuel Alito, who is currently an appeals court judge, accepted $7,684,423 in “donations” from special interests who perhaps wanted the law tweaked in their favour. That included $28,000 from defence contractors, $42,200 from drug firms and a whopping $745,373 from lawyers and law firms.

No, wait. Those are Senator Kennedy's conflicts of interest—or, rather, a brief excerpt from a long list compiled by the Centre for Responsive Politics. The lapse for which the senator berated Mr Alito was considerably less clear-cut.

To avoid conflicts of interest, Judge Alito invests most of his savings in mutual funds, rather than individual firms that might appear before him. He does it through an investment company called Vanguard. Though no rule required this, he promised, when nominated to the appeals court in 1990, that he would disqualify himself from cases involving Vanguard. Twelve years later, such a case came up, but he forgot to recuse himself. When he realised his mistake, he recused himself from a fresh appeal. No one claims that he stood to benefit from his judgment.

The Democrats are showing themselves to be their own worst enemy. Base10's prediction is that Judge Alito will be confirmed 75-25. Remember, this is an official prediction!
 
Work and Football

Base10 is having a harrowing morning so far. Train service from his house was suspended so he decided to walk to the "7" train up on Roosevelt Avenue. Now it is a balmy 56 degrees, so the prospect of a morning walk is not so bad, but still this means I'll be in work an houir late and won't be getting home until later either. Thanks, MTA!

Anyway, football fans should gear up for a good bunch of weekend games. On Saturday at 4:30, Washington faces Seattle at Seattle. Curiously, Seattle papers are eschewing the word "Redskins" and using instead the term "Washington" to describe Joe Gibbs' charges in spite of the possible confusion that will ensue because Seattle also plays in "Washington." With Seattle laying 9 the last time Base10 looked, this game is in fact my pick for upset of the week.

At 8:00 on Saturday, look forward to what will likely be the game of the week: New England @ Denver. We can only hope for snow! As much as pundits are praising New England, Base10 predicts Denver will walk away with it.

In Sunday's action, the Steelers play @ Indy at 1:00. While the Steelers can put up a good fight, I think Indy will ultimately take it. At 4:00, the Panthers play @ Chicago in another hope-for-snow extravaganza. This should be a pretty good game too, but figure it to be a low scoring defensive struggle.

Last week's games were decidedly bad. The Giants got stomped on by Carolina Sunday dashing our hopes of a Manning v. Manning Super Bowl this year. Likewise, the Cincinnati game turned into a blowout after halftime largely because Carson Palmer went down during the first possession with a knee injury. (Base10 hopes he'll be okay for next year--he has him in fantasy). Saturday's games were no better with the low wattage matchup between Washington and Tamba Bay and the blowout of Jacksonville by New England.

Enough of this. Base10 is liveblogging from the "7" train and will post later...


 
Mad Mullahs
Radical Britich Muslim terrorist imam Abu Hamza al Masri is on trial in London and jurors heard his sermons and the fact that he had a ten-volume terrorism manual. What do you think jurors will think?
"Imagine you have only one small knife ... you have to stab him here and there until he bleeds to death, until he dies," al-Masri said on the tape played for jurors at London's Central Criminal Court. The speech was delivered in late 1997 or early 1998, prosecutor David Perry told jurors.

On the videotape, al-Masri tells his audience that some elements of Western society must be considered legitimate targets of violence.

"Every place of iniquity, every brothel ... for the victorious party is a target," al-Masri said as he sat behind a table draped with a banner marked "Al-Jihad."

I'm sure they'll undertand it in the context it was meant.



"It's not Craw -- it's Craw!"

 
Has Anyone Found Harry Belafonte's Mind?
The Houston Chronicle on Hugo Chavez and Harry Belafonte:
Harry Belafonte was in Caracas on a UNICEF goodwill ambassador visit, where he offered an outlandish characterization of President George W. Bush as a "tyrant" and "terrorist."

Among rational Americans, even the president's harshest critics were repulsed by Belafonte's stunning televised outburst. "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people ... support your revolution," the 78-year-old Belafonte told Chavez.

Day-O!
 
Hostel Acts
James P. Pinkerton over at Newsday bemoans the new Quentin Tarantino gore-fest Hostel and the fact that is is making quite a bit of money. He argues:
What does it say about American culture that "Hostel," the No. 1 movie in the country this past week, is about sexually sadistic torturing and killing?

By itself, that particular film-financial factoid isn't so big a deal, but the reality of American society behind it isn't encouraging: It can't be a good sign that the old story of the damsel in distress, rescued at the last minute, has been changed into that of a damsel being bloodied, mutilated and then killed. That trend deserves some comment - and maybe a little backlash.

Variety described "Hostel" as "unhinged gruesomeness." Director Eli Roth explained to Salon.com that he got the idea for the movie from a Thai Web site that purported to offer an online pay-for-kill experience. He said there were "guys out there who are bored with doing drugs" and bedding prostitutes. "Nothing touches them anymore, so they start looking for the ultimate high. Paying to kill someone, to torture them."

OK, but what's the social impact of such a movie? Will such a cinematic depiction convince some viewers that it's "normal" to have such thoughts? Will some be encouraged to copy what they see on celluloid?

And what of the larger social impact? The Web site horrormovies.ca observes, "It is merciless with the torture, the violence, & the sex. I guarantee you will walk out of this film trusting no one." That is, "Hostel" will make you hostile.

Pinkerton concludes:
[F]or all the barbarism of the past, there were, at the same time, powerful and prevalent cultural antidotes. Romances of knighthood and chivalry, for instance, summoned impressionable young people to uphold values such as restraint and, if necessary, sacrifice to a higher cause.

A new film, Tristan & Isolde, which opens tomorrow, seeks to revive that spirit. The Tristan story - a love triangle in which Beauty yields to Duty - has inspired great art through the ages, most notably Richard Wagner's 1859 opera. Alas, the new movie will not likely be part of any future artistic pantheon.

But at least Tristan tries. Unlike many movies these days, Tristan doesn't seek to profit from the gleeful depiction of human beings being tortured and slaughtered.

Now Base10's memory may be faulty and he is aware that there are multiple versions of the legend, but didn't T&I end with Tristan being mortally wounded by King Mark? As I recall, Isolde then comforts Tristan as he lay dying and pledges her undying love. As a result, Tristan then crushes her to death with his dying strength. Pinkerton may have a point about Hostel, but T&I doesn't illustrate it.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
 
Republicans and Immigration
Morton Kondracke has some common sense advice on immigration for Republicans over at RCP. The problem, I think, is that when Democrats combine a Republican backed guest-workers program with claims, however spurious, of real wage decline, it's tough for Republicans to speak honestly about this issue. The fact is that an immigration guest worker program may be the only thing that keeps Social Security afloat.
 
Judge Alito Hearings
Base10 hasn't been paying enough attention to the confirmation hearings as he should. Indications are, so far, that the good judge is doing quite well.
 
Who Shall Lead the House?
George Will has an interesting take on who should take Tom Delay's place as House Majority Leader. The candidates are Roy Blunt and John Boehner. He suggests looking at one salient fact:
Roy Blunt of Missouri, the man who was selected, not elected, to replace DeLay, is a champion of earmarks as a form of constituent service. If, as one member says, "the problem is not just DeLay but 'DeLay Inc.' " Blunt is not the solution. So far -- the field may expand -- the choice for majority leader is between Blunt and John Boehner of Ohio. A salient fact: In 15 years in the House, Boehner has never put an earmark in an appropriations or transportation bill.

Well that was easy. I know who I want.
 
Paestinian Elections
Al-Ahram, an Egyptian weekly paper, has an interesting article about the upcoming elections in Palestine. It is an interesting article, but note that MEMRI has some negative things to say about Al-Ahram. In any event, Hamas seems poised to make strong gains.
 
Big Tech News
Apple debuted some new machines at MacWorld. The big news? The new Macs have dual-core Intel processors and the line includes a laptop. Smoking!
 
Nuclear Iran?
James Robbins has some interesting analysis over at NRO about what could happen if Iran went nuclear and the worrisome trend by US analysts that this wouldn't be so bad:
I am not concerned about whether or not the Iranians will be deterred. I am worried that the United States will be deterred. Even if the Iranians never use their nuclear weapons, they will have made themselves immune from attack. That would be just fine if they were likely to mind their own business. However, Iran has a long track record of fomenting instability in the region, particularly through terrorist surrogates. Furthermore, the regime in power has made it clear that they are intent on increasing the threats to their neighbors, particularly Israel and Saudi Arabia. They do not like us very much either.

Now add nuclear weapons to the equation. Forget the “nuke Tel Aviv” scenario, that is child’s play. Which is not to say they would not do it, in time they probably would. But the proponents of Middle East MAD are much too focused on the high end of the equation. Nuclear weapons are not most effective when lobbed between nuclear powers; they are best used as leverage to augment military actions in the conventional or unconventional realm by arming countries with the threat of escalation.

Interesting read.
 
Photo of the Day

leaf, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Taken with the EOS using the 70-200L lens.


Tuesday, January 10, 2006
 
Once Again Ahead of the Curve
Base10 suggested here that Russ Tice, a discredited NSA employee, was the source for the Times NSA eavesdropping story. Base10 however dismissed this idea here because, well, after you do a little research, Tice appears to be out of his mind. Now ABC News had picked up on the idea. When bloggers and other reporters start digging into Tice's background, the Times will have a lot of questions to answer.
 
Loser of the Week
And the loser of the week award goes to...

Marcus Vick. After being thrown off of his NCAA football team at Virginia Tech, Marcus Vick--the scrambling brother of NFL star Michael Vick--was arrested for weapons possession in Virginia where he resides. Apparently, Vick was involved in an altercation with some teens in a McDonald's restaurant when he pulled the weapon. Vick had been thrown off the team at Virginia Tech for spiking a defensive player in the calf with his cleats after being tackled. Do you think Mr. Vick may have some anger management issues? That a boy, Marcus! Prove to the NFL that you are mature enough to handle being a professional quarterback. In any event, his recent behavior has certainly lowered his place in the draft and already cost him millions of dollars in bonus money.
 
Can You Say, "Midlife Crisis?"
GM has reintroduced the Camaro muscle car as a concept car today at the International Auto Show. Popular with twenty-somethings back in the seventies, and indeed, the Camaro was the symbolic muscle car of Base10's youth. Who is the target market for this car? Why those self same youths who have now grown gray or bald. The new Camaro has some power, too. It sports a 6 liter, 400 horsepower engine with a six-speed manual transmission. This is obviously not being marketed to the same people that buy hybrids.
 
He's Not Feeling So Well Here at Home, Either.
"Is God dead in Europe?" - USA Today.
 
Real Wages
Once again showing his ability to be ahead of the curve, Base10 wrote about the disparity between real wages and real compesation here a few days ago. Now Tech Central Station is getting in on the act! Actually, the TCS article explains the issue very well and is worth a read. While real wages have remained stagnant, real compensation has been growing pretty steadily. The next time a Democrat talks about a decline in real wages, ask him what the Democratic Party plans to do about the spiralling health care costs that are soaking up a greater and greater percentage of employee compensation. Tort reform, anyone? Will the Democrats abandon the trial lawyers?
 
Will Eat Chicken Instead
"Russians Are Urged to Avoid Turkey" - Moscow Times.
Monday, January 09, 2006
 
Off to Work

Base10 is riding the subway into work on what can only be described as a balmy Monday moning here in New York City. Base10 managed to get in some posts before leaving and unfortunately will likely be busy later.

Base10 has much academic things to do. He is psyched about the pospect of returning to the doctoral economics program but realizes he must do some major preparatrions--particularly his mathematical skills. Hey, it's one thing knowing rudimentary calculus, it is quite another explaining constrained optimization using a bordered Hessian with derivatives and matrix algebra. I also have to brush up on basic models in Micro- and Macro-. And I mean basic in the PhD sense. The ones you first get hit with in class like the seven equation Keynesian macro model.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. I'll be taking advanced micro and macro theory this spring. Next semester, I'll take the two-part cycle in advanced econometrics. If I can take a finance course and a course in economic history along with that, I'll have most of my required credits. With any luck I can take the first comps in the fall.

Anyway, things to work on:

- differential equations and phase diagrams.

- constrained optimization.

- calculus of variations.

- linear programming.

- optimal control theory.

Base10 predicts that he will become quite boring in the coming months.


 
Photo of the Day

exhales, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Taken digitally with the Canon EOS 20d and the 70-200L lens. Enjoy.


 
A Warning to Democrats
Time Magazine's Joe Klein offers a warning to Democrats. He thinks wrong-headed approaches to national security will do them in:
The latest version of the absolutely necessary Patriot Act, which updates the laws regulating the war on terrorism and contains civil-liberties improvements over the first edition, was nearly killed by a stampede of Senate Democrats. Most polls indicate that a strong majority of Americans favor the act, and I suspect that a strong majority would favor the NSA program as well, if its details were declassified and made known.

In fact, liberal Democrats are about as far from the American mainstream on these issues as Republicans were when they invaded the privacy of Terri Schiavo's family in the right-to-die case last year.

But there is a difference. National security is a far more important issue, and until the Democrats make clear that they will err on the side of aggressiveness in the war against al-Qaeda, they will probably not regain the majority in Congress or the country.

 
Elections in North America
Michael Barone has an interesting analysis (reprinted in RCP) about upcoming elections in Mexico and Canada. It's actually pretty interesting. Most Americas--Base10 included--just sort of think that Canada and Mexico are there, and not that they have parties and elections just like us.
 
Pathetic
The bloviating senator from Massachusetts held a press conference expressing his views on Judge Alito on Friday morning. He suggested among other things that Barry Goldwater won the 1964 presidential election and Alito was a Goldwater supporter. The good senator had to be reminded that Judge Alito was 14 years-old at the time.

This reporter noted that Kennedy also criticized Judge Alito for being a "lifetime federal employee." A strange accusation indeed from someone who has never to this writer's knowledge been gainfully employed as anything other than a federal employee.
 
John Fund and Fiscal Restraint
John Fund over at the Opinion Journal thinks that the Abramoff scandal will hurt Republicans badly if they do not enact spending reform. This is an interesting take on the story and this may be a way for the GOP to turn the tables and use this issue to its advantage. Think, spending reform and ethics reform in the same legislaive session! It could happen.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
 
For This We Need Economists
"New Year Could Bring Economic Changes" - AP Economics Writer.
 
Subway Fun
Here's a kind of clever website where you can generate your own personalized NYC Subway service notice. Pretty cool.
 
VDH Sounds Conciliatory
The good Professor Hansen has an open letter to Europe. He sounds quite conciliatory. We do, after all, have more in common than not. Hansen writes:
Even in this debased era of multiculturalism that misleads our youth into thinking no culture can be worse than the West, we all know in our hearts the truth that we live by and the lie that we profess — that the critic of the West would rather have his heart repaired in Berlin than in Guatemala or be a Muslim in Paris rather than a Christian in Riyadh, or a woman or homosexual in Amsterdam than in Iran, or run a newspaper in Stockholm rather than in Havana, or drink the water in Luxembourg rather than in Uganda, or object to his government in Italy rather than in China or North Korea. Radical Muslims damn Europe and praise Allah — but whenever possible from Europe rather than inside Libya, Syria, or Iran.

Good read.
 
Photo of the Day

img141, originally uploaded by base10blog.

Continuing with Depth of field studies, at f/22 Base10 got vast DOF with the Crown Graphic. I'm very happy with it, but I don't think this camera is for everyone. (I keep forgetting to focus after composing). Anyway, this is the same as the last color image. It was taken with Fuji 400 daylight film and scanned with the Epson 4990.


 
Wildcard Weekend Update
Washington Beat Tampa Bay 17-10 yesterday in a decidedly defensive game. Washington only 120 yards of total offense. Hey, a win is a win. They will be facing Seattle at Seattle next week. The late game last night turned into a blowout. New England destroyed Jacksonville 28-3. Base10 is looking forward to the games today.
 
Google at CES
Base10 hasn't been paying much attention to the CES in Vegas--it seems to me to be lots and lots of digital cameras. But Google's presentation was intriguing. Google is launching a couple of initiatives: first, they will be marketing videos of NBA games and classic TV shows from CBS; second, they also introduced Google Pack, an online downloadable software suite available for Google users. The first development is pretty tame. It's really just jumping on the bandwagon of online video. The second development is huge. It is a direct hit against Microsoft. Google has been rumored to be developing a low-price PC. Google Pack would fit right into this strategy. Base10 checked out the downloads here. There's nothing new here, really. Google Earth, Firefox with the Google Toolbar, etc. But the framework is there to expand. Interesting.
 
It's Never Too Early
It's never too early to start shopping for Valentine's Day gifts. Here's a fine gift to give to your significant other for the holiday.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
 
Liveblogging Wildcard Weekend

Washington just emerged victorious against Tampa Bay in the first of the wildcard games. It was a really good defensive struggle. Final 17-10 with TB driving with a little more than one minute left. Chris Simms on fourth-and-ten throws an interception after turning the ball over on downs in the last possession. Good game. Here we go into thje Jax-NE game in a few moments. Enjy sports fans!


 
Later
Base10 is going out to do some Tai Chi and get some brunch--and find a spot to watch the football games. He will try to post some more later.
 
Who to Believe?
"56 percent of respondents in an AP-Ipsos poll said the government should be required to first get a court warrant to eavesdrop on the overseas calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens when those communications are believed to be tied to terrorism." - LA Times.

"Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans believe the National Security Agency (NSA) should be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 23% disagree." - Rasmussan Reports.
 
Photo of the Day

img136, originally uploaded by base10blog.

This is an image of Queens Boulevard and 63rd Drive. Base10 was playing around with hyperfocal length on the Crown Graphic 6x9. This was taken at f/22 to maximize depth of field. This was taken using Ilford HP5 and scanned with the Epson 4990.


 
Today's Games
Wildcard Weekend is upon us! The featured games today should be pretty good. The Redskins play the Buccs in Tampa Bay at 4:30 in what should be a good matchup between offensive teams. Click here for a preview. Later at 8:00, Jacksonville plays New England at Foxboro. Click here for that preview. Base10 will probably be rooting for Jax, since Jacksonville is his adopted hometown--sort of--especially when they play hated New England.

In other football news, Bears coach Lovie Smith won the NFL's Coach of the Year honors beating out his former mentor Tony Dungy. Base10 thinks it is well deserved since any NFL coach named "Lovie" must be really good at their job.

In NCAAF news, Marcus Vick, Virginia Tech QB and brother to NFL QB Michael Vick, was kicked off the team for unsportsmanlike conduct during the Gator Bowl. Vick stomped on the calf of a defensive player after he got up from a tackle then claimed to have apologized when he did not. Vick will likely turn pro, but such conduct doesn't do anything for his draft status.

Finally, Superbowl planners have decided to end an age restriction limiting halftime dancers to be 45 years-old or younger. Apparently, planners realized that many young people don't even know who the aged Mick Jagger and crew is, let alone want to dance to their music.
 
Big News
Base10's meeting yesterday went very well. (See last post). Base10 does have some news. He will in all likelihood be continuing PhD studies in economics starting at the end of the month. Base10 may have really big news soon if some other things work out, but it's a little too early to post it yet.

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