Okayama League Newsletter 2009.10

It’s almost time for teams to make playoff runs so let’s talk about the contenders. Tim appears to be in contention for the second spot in the West division but Kevin is hot on his trail. In the East, almost everybody is still in contention but I see Derek and Chris as the favorites. I’m still trying to decide which team I would rather face in the semi-finals.

Saturday is the last day to make a trade so if you are looking to make a move, do it now.

Don’t forget we start Thursday night games this week so don’t forget to set your line-ups earlier.

*Week 9 Review – Highlights from Week 9

Rhett’s WRs let him down again as he was dealt a postseason ending loss. Maybe that 6-4 RB-WR balance has a little to do with it but the few investments Rhett made at WR sure didn’t pan out this season.

AK was able to lock up his win even before the Monday night game with DeAngelo Williams putting up huge numbers. No comeback this week for Dave. White and Tomlinson both laid big turds this week and Dave still has to deal with Slaton. It might get worse if Larry Johnson enters the picture. Dave’s playoff hopes hang in the balance. Rodgers might be this year’s Drew Brees at this rate.

Tim lost to Chris but gets the whammy prize of scoring the second most points this week. Ouch. He ran into a team with 4 guys scoring 20+ points. Even Warner’s heroic effort couldn’t do get Tim this win. Olsen: DAMN! The loss didn’t hurt Tim’s playoff hopes but it helped Chris’. Chris is going to be hard to beat with those RBs scoring like they are.

Derek won a big game against Matt. Instead of being all tied up, this win puts Derek ahead of the pack and puts Matt in a pinch. Derek’s team showed some depth as he won with lots of his players not playing. Matt had enough bench points to win but bench points suck. Bears DST against the Browns = GOOD. Against Warner = BAD.

Brian gets win number 2 against Kevin even though he predicted his own defeat. Congrats to Brian. Michael Turner is getting hot a bit too late to help Brian into the playoffs. And is anyone other than Dave thinking “FUCK you GB”? Everything from GB smells like shit to me other than Rodgers. Kevin would have been all tied up with Tim had he won. That RB situation has to improve for Kevin if he is serious about making the playoffs.

*Best plays and worse plays (yeah, that’s right, not worst, just worse than the best)

Brian went with GB DST over Chargers DST. That should have been the right play but GB sticks like shit. Lost to TB? Fuck you guys.

Both teams got value from Celek/Wallace trade.

*Interview – Thank you Kevin and Rhett for your responses.

Newsletter: What’s going well for your team this season?
Kevin:  Wide receivers.  I have 3 stud WR.

Newsletter: What isn’t going so well?
Kevin:  Running backs, my first and second round pics are not doing well.  All the backups I drafted are now injured and I dropped them on the waiver wire.  Rhett has collected every running back on the waiver wire so I have no depth.

Newsletter: Who’s team do you fear facing the most?
Kevin:  Yours of course, I put up 97pts and lost

Newsletter: What has been the key to your success or the cause of your failures?
Kevin:  This year I am luckier with the strength of schedule, in past years I have had the team that score the most points but cant get a win.  I have a ton of injuries and I am still looking alright.

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most surprising success?
Kevin:  Brett Favre, I picked him up on waivers the 2nd week after Schaub looked like another bust.  He keeps putting up big points so I need to keep him.

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most disappointing?
Kevin:  Definitely Forte.  I picked him with the 5 pick which I thought was a total steal since most websites had him as the 3rd overall pick.  The addition of Cutler seemed like a perfect combination for his success since defenses couldn’t stack the box.  I thought he was in for a huge season.

+++++

Newsletter: What’s going well for your team this season?
Rhett: First of all, let me say how much of an honor it is to be interviewed by the Son of Frank himself. As for my team, not much has been going right. However, Manning and S Jax have been consistent. Owen Daniels was a monster until I lost him for the season. And the Vikings have been known to put some nice points on the board here and there.

Newsletter: What isn’t going so well?
Rhett: Two Words: WIDE RECEIVERS. Steve Smith licks donkey balls. D Jax is boom or bust. And I haven’t gotten much from my waiver wire pick ups. Brian and Chris got the best ones in Austin and Sims-Walker.

Newsletter: Who’s team do you fear facing the most?
Rhett: I fear no one. But I do hate the divisional set up for our league, if I can go off on a tangent. I liked the fact that in previous years I would play everybody at least once. If we could change this going forward, I would highly recommend it.

Newsletter: What has been the key to your success or the cause of your failures?
Rhett: See above comments about Wide Receivers. If I could get some points from them, it would be a totally different team.

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most surprising success?
Rhett: Owen Daniels was. He was the top TE in the league after just being a decent option is years past.

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most disappointing?
Rhett: I know S Jax has been consistent, but he has never blown up when I needed him to. Plus, the Rams blow yet again. That sucks.

In parting, I would just like to say that this league is definitely my most competitive ( I am in 3). I look forward to it every year. Let’s keep this up!!!

*Looking forward

Frankson is up against the only person who has beaten him so far: Tim. This is a BIG game for Tim. Tim can vastly improve his playoff hopes with a win but might get tied up with Kevin if he loses. Warner, Gore and White having huge games are key to Tim’s victory.

Brian will look to put together a winning streak against Derek. Derek can stay ahead of the East with a win. Big game for Derek.

Kevin has been on a 3 game slide and might be feeling like the Giants. Both he and Dave need wins here to improve their playoff runs though Kevin needs it more than Dave does. And both teams have some issues at RB. Last week to fix that with trades.

Chris can help his playoff hopes with a win against AK. His running game seems unstoppable but can he count on his WRs without Boldin healthy? AK has a strong rushing game too and Brady vs. Manning might be some mad points.

Matt’s playoff hopes probably start with a win against Rhett this week. He might have to win out the rest of the season to make it. Rhett’s going to want some payback for last week so watch out Matt.

Rhett mentioned the schedule and divisions this week and I have something to add. I’m OK with the divisions like they are. I think most players play nearly every other team. At worst we play 8 of 9 other teams. Rhett doesn’t play Derek this year in case anyone was wondering. I play everyone but I haven’t checked the whole schedule. More importantly, I think more division games should be schedule for the end of the season instead of the beginning. There aren’t that many games against division opponents for most players in the playoff run where they would be the most interesting. More chances for determining your own destiny directly would be great.

I can see a few teams with trades that scream to be made.

Okayama League Newsletter 2009.8

Week 7 didn’t do a whole lot to the standings. The East Division is still in a holding pattern with lots of 4-3 teams. Only 2 games separates the top from the bottom. It is still anyone’s game there. Time to make some trades!

In the West, Tim beats Kevin to bring them even. Else everything is the same. A lot of distance between last place and first.

There are two and a half weeks before the trade deadline (11.14) so start talking up some trades.

*Week 7 Review – Highlights from Week 7

Frankson kept his win streak going against Brian with the help of Romo and Ryan Grant and the Patriots DST (off the wire). Brian left 76 points on the bench: most notably Palmer and Miles Austin with 29 each.

Rhett was the better 2-4 team as he beat AK in a non-division game. Rhett’s Vikings DST continue to put up consistent points for him. He is all over the waiver wire but the waiver pick ups he started only produced points in the single digits for him this week. Tough break for AK. Ricky Williams went off on the bench while Ronnie Brown was AK’s starter. AK is only 2 games back so he’s still in the hunt.

Dave get’s a big win against Derek, who was leading the division, to bring about a 3 way tie for first. Aaron Rodgers and Steve Slaton help Dave to his win. I have no idea why Braylon Edwards was started over Roddy White, though. Derek was attacked by injuries to his starters Leon Washington and Andre Johnson. Probably would have gotten 12 more points otherwise for the win. Derek also got attacked by Larry Johnson being a horrible human being. Someone needing a good DST (both scored 24 points)  might offer  Derek a trade for a RB…

Chris Donkey punched Matt to win this street fight and to get himself tied for first. Chris got the win with 5 guys on bye or injured and with his whole team contributing. All of Matt’s bench and 5 of his starters put up single figure point totals this game. Both players actually did perfect jobs as coaches.

Tim took down Kevin to get into a two way tie for second place. Westbrook was literally knocked out of the game and killed off Kevin’s hope for a victory. Matt Forte continues to drive Kevin crazy with terrible numbers. Tim was doing even worse at RB with every RB on his team putting up 8 total points. We all missed out on Tim’s offer of Vernon Davis’ 27 points.

*Best plays and worse plays (yeah, that’s right, not worst, just worse than the best)

Tim put Vernon Davis into his starting lineup just as he goes the fuck off. If anyone remembers last week’s word of the week, Kevin’s wiping some of it off now. Tim’s other TE wasn’t even on bye. Nice job.

A whole bunch of people pulled waiver wire DSTs and were rewarded with big points. Frankson, Kevin and Tim all hit 20+ DST points this week off the wire.

*Weekly poll

There were no clear winners to the worse first round pick poll.

Most of the league was disturbed by last week’s Newsletter picture.

*Interview

[Brian didn’t respond to the request.]

*Looking forward

The regular season is halfway done. The trade deadline is nearly upon us. The East division is all bunched up and folks are jockeying for second place in the West.

Frankson’s Chinese People are in a rematch with Kevin. Kevin can secure second place with a win from himself and Rhett.

Chris and Dave fight for leadership in the East.

AK will try to beat Derek to stay 2 games out or lose and move 3 games back.

Brian and Matt are in a non-division game.

Rhett will try to beat Tim and hope they fall into a 3 way tie for second if Kevin loses. If Kevin wins and Rhett loses, Rhett is going to be pretty far behind. Tim can secure second place with a win and a loss by Kevin.

Some guys don’t seem to be working the waiver wire hard enough.

Is it me or does it seem like DSTs are scoring a lot of points this season.

Okayama League Newsletter 2009.7

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Jizz (v.) to squirt hot spunk all over something.

Jizz is the word of the week as there was jizzing in each and every game. Let’s take a look at the action. We will also see what happened to all those 3-2 and 2-3 teams

*Week 6 Review – Highlights from Week 6

Frankson squared off against AK in the week’s only close game. Both teams put up good performances with most of the points not left on the bench. In this game, Brady jizzed all over some Chinese people. They still can’t get it out of their hair it was so bad. Surely Frankson expected 30 points from Brady but 39 resulted in the coach yelling “WHAT THE FUCK!!!” four times. AK could have gotten the win if he played Holmes over Moss but Frankson left Ray Rice and his 30 points on the bench.

Congratulations to Brian for his first victory of the season. Tim shouldn’t feel bad for getting jizzed on by Brian’s team. They have been waiting to unload for a long time. Tim should feel bad for his whole team scoring 64 points (bench inclusive).

Dave got jizzed on by Matt’s team with Brees taking the lead squirt. Dave left 82 points on his bench. Reports indicate that Dave was trying to save them points up for next week’s game.

Derek showed why he was voted strongest 2-2 team by jizzing all over Chris. Hard to win when Moss gets 30 points and you leave 85 points on the bench. The Donkey Punchers look to work on their coaching skills starting next week.

In our final game, Kevin took the biggest jizz of all right into Rhett’s eyes. His whole damn team, save for Forte, took turns unloading on Rhett. 144 points worth. Think that’s the highest. Rhett was not available for comment as he didn’t want any to get into his mouth.

*Best plays and worse plays (yeah, that’s right, not worst, just worse than the best)

Props to Kevin for perfect coaching. He didn’t leave anything on the bench. Even if he hadn’t dropped Sydney Rice right before the games started, his 176 yards wouldn’t have been better than the WRs he did start. Boo at Dave and Chris for leaving 80+ points each on the bench.

*Weekly poll

Four out of 7 voters think Rhett is kicking ass on the waiver wires. Nearly half of Rhett’s team is off the wire so I would agree.

*Interview

This week we interview coach Frankson and his Chinese. It’s easier getting the format down if I interview myself this week but look forward to replying to interview questions next week.

Newsletter: What’s going well for your team this season?

Frankson: My team is scoring points. I’ve had a LOT of close games so I’ve needed every point my guys have been getting. I had a pretty good draft and most of my guys panned out. I thought I had pretty good depth at RB and WR.

Newsletter: What isn’t going so well?

Frankson: I’ve had little success playing pick the DST of the week. I’m a bit shaky at QB. Romo is inconsistent and my backup is even more inconsistent. Some of the depth I thought I had at WR and RB kind of didn’t pan out. It’s harder to pick up guys off the waiver wire when you have the last pick but I can’t complain about that.

Newsletter: Who’s team do you fear facing the most?

Frankson: Kevin. He is scoring lots of points. His opponents aren’t scoring that much against him. And he is winning. I play him again Week 8.

Newsletter: What has been the key to your success or the cause of your failures?

Frankson: I’ve been making moves on the waiver wire. They aren’t obvious successes but they win me games. I hated letting go of Hasselbeck but he was hurt and I needed those points Garrard put on that one game for the win. Smelled a bad game out of Romo. Dave picked Hasselbeck up and got a ton of points. I have been looking at Burleson and Sims-Walker all season. I picked up Burleson and Sims-Walker went nuts. But the next week I started Burleson and I needed those points he scored.

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most surprising success?

Frankson: Ray Rice. I’ve been looking at him since last season. The Ravens weren’t so strong offensively but this year they have been good. I still haven’t managed to start him though.

Newsletter: Which of your guys has been the most disappointing?

Frankson: Ryan Grant. I keep starting this fucker over Ray Rice and he keeps sucking.

*Looking forward

Next week Tim will try to extend his 3 game losing streak against Kevin. The Punchers face off with the winner gets not to have a losing record. Frankson will try to make sure Brian’s sole win remains that way. Derek against Dave. Is Derek’s team going to prove the poll right? Rhett’s going to try to wipe the jizz from his eyes and win against AK. Watch out for Brady. That fucker will jizz all over you!

Lot’s of 3-3 teams in the East Division and it’s really close over there.

Okayama League Newsletter 2009.6

I’m unemployed so I’m going to add some color to our little league. A weekly newsletter if I can manage to keep doing it.

*Week 5 Review – Highlights from Week 5

Frankson’s Chinese sits at the top with a 4-1 record. To what does he owe his success? Looks like plain dumb luck. Kevin had lots of fight left in him even with 6 of his players on bye.

Elsewhere, Rhett defeats Brian to give Brian a big 0-5 hole, riding the Vikings DST and Peyton Manning (the only 2 guys scoring any points on his 2 wins). Brian needs to string some wins along really fast here. Cmon Brian. Stop leaving all them points on your bench!

Derek, voted strongest of the 2-2 teams, beats up on Matt. Matt scores 49 points, 19 on his bench. Must have been a bye week for most of his good players.

Chris beats AK even though he continues to bench Cedric Benson and even though Chris got blindsided by Mike Sims-Walker sitting out the game. Benson is having this crazy assed season but Chris has only started him once. Maybe someone should make Chris an offer for his overachieving bench-warmer. AK was seen beating himself in the head by local law enforcement though they declined to intervene.

Dave’s team has been on a huge upswing these last 3 weeks and walks in Tim’s team while they were dancing in front of the mirror. Then they proceed to beat the dancers to pulp. Dave’s team has been going off a lot lately so Matt better watch out this week. Nice pick up on Hasselbeck, though you didn’t need him to win.

*Best plays and worse plays (yeah, that’s right, not worst, just worse than the best)

Dave picking up Hasselbeck off the wire for 27 points. Brian benching Turner and his 27 points.

*Weekly poll

Derek was voted best 2-2 team. I think Derek has strong starters but his bench isn’t as strong. Especially at RB. But you don’t need your bench to score, just your starters.

*Looking forward

Chinese people will try to beat the ’47ers to go 5-1. Brady is probably going to jizz all over the Titans so this might be rough.

Brian faces Tim during Tim’s 5 guys on bye week. Brian, it’s now or never!

Matt’s going try to stop Dave’s winning streak.

Chris is going to try to show Derek that he has the best 2-2 team.

Kevin will try to show Rhett that all those waiver wire moves don’t matter.

5 teams are now 3-2 and 4-2 is a hell of a lot better than 3-3.

Ticket worksheet

[HIS USA] 11.16.09 – 2.10.10 ORD -> KIX $625 tax inc. @ NWA

  • JR Train to Fukuyama (5.5 hours) Â¥4780
  • JR Train JR Kanku Rapid 22:32 to Osaka Umeda 23:35 Â¥1160
  • Bus 11.17.09 Osaka Eki 24:00 -> Fukuyama 05:00 Â¥2800 [MAP] @ Sakurabashiguchi 桜橋口
  • Total $625+ Â¥9500 = ~719
 MONDAY    - 16 NOV 09
  NORTHWST AIR 7219 ECONOMY        EQUIP-DC-9 JET
  DEPART TERMINAL- 2
  LV:CHICAGO/OHARE     907A       NONSTOP        MILES-  334  CONFIRMED
  AR:MPLS/ST PAUL     1045A       ELAPSED TIME- 1:38
  ARRIVAL TERMINAL-LINDBERGH        AIRLINE LOCATOR:NW -MQWPYH
                                  SEAT-16D

           -
  NORTHWST AIR  321 ECONOMY        EQUIP-BOEING 747 JET
  DEPART TERMINAL- LINDBERGH
  LV:MPLS/ST PAUL     1240P       NONSTOP        MILES- 5950  CONFIRMED
  AR:TOKYO/NARITA      430P       ELAPSED TIME-12:50  ARVL DATE-17 NOV
  ARRIVAL TERMINAL-1                AIRLINE LOCATOR:NW -MQWPYH
  DINNER-BREAKFAST                SEAT-62G

 TUESDAY   - 17 NOV 09
  NORTHWST AIR  327 ECONOMY        EQUIP-BOEING 757 JET
  DEPART TERMINAL- 1
  LV:TOKYO/NARITA      730P       NONSTOP        MILES-  306  CONFIRMED
  AR:OSAKA/KANSAI      920P       ELAPSED TIME- 1:50
                                    AIRLINE LOCATOR:NW -MQWPYH
                                  SEAT-35D

 WEDNESDAY - 10 FEB 10
  NORTHWST AIR  326 ECONOMY        EQUIP-PLANE CHANGE
  LV:OSAKA/KANSAI     1115A       ONE STOP       MILES- 5413  CONFIRMED
  AR:SAN FRANCISCO     830A       ELAPSED TIME-14:15
  ARRIVAL TERMINAL-INTERNATIONAL    AIRLINE LOCATOR:NW -MQWPYH
  DINNER-BREAKFAST

 WEDNESDAY - 10 FEB 10
  NORTHWST AIR 2356 ECONOMY        EQUIP-AIRBUS A319 JET
  DEPART TERMINAL- 1
  LV:SAN FRANCISCO    1000A       NONSTOP        MILES- 1589  CONFIRMED
  AR:MPLS/ST PAUL      341P       ELAPSED TIME- 3:41
  ARRIVAL TERMINAL-LINDBERGH        AIRLINE LOCATOR:NW -MQWPYH
  FOOD TO PURCHASE

           -
  NORTHWST AIR 2115 ECONOMY        EQUIP-AIRBUS A319 JET
  DEPART TERMINAL- LINDBERGH
  LV:MPLS/ST PAUL      505P       NONSTOP        MILES-  334  CONFIRMED
  AR:CHICAGO/OHARE     630P       ELAPSED TIME- 1:25
  ARRIVAL TERMINAL-2                AIRLINE LOCATOR:NW -MQWPYH

Revisiting games

I searched high and low for a game that would play well enough on my netbook and would be enjoyable for me. I tried Wizardry 8 but while it seems like the right kind of game, I really really do want tactical combat of some sort. I tried some old adventures with SCUMMVM but I couldn’t get into Full Throttle. And it doesn’t support Grim Fandango either. I tried the StarCon 2 clone The Ur-Quan Masters but while it was nostalgic, I don’t really want an adventure game. It is awesome that it’s out there though. I even tried some Tekken Tag on a console.

Now I’m playing Jagged Alliance 2 and I’m really enjoying it. The engine is downright ancient. But it runs well on my netbook. And because modding is continuing, there are some nice campaigns available and some amazing upgrades to the engine. This is pretty much what I wanted to play. I have a party that I have good control over. I have skills that improve and items that improve. Of course I have tactical combat. The best tactical combat I’ve encountered in a game. Shame that progress on development is so damn slow and that while it is great that many things are being developed in other languages (the community is very wide), I can’t play Polish or Russian games! Arg!

I kind of want to revisit ToEE and Arcanum. I actually bought the latter but never finished it. Both games have ongoing modding but Arcanum seems to be seeing more benefit from that. Arcanum even seems to have a any resolution mod. Perfect for a netbook. And one day, I will get a computer that can play Vampire: The Masquerade. Someday.

Japan – Likes / Dislikes

Likes

  1. Photography – Photography is so common here that folks like myself, hauling around a huge SLR, don’t even get a second look. Part of that is Japanese culture but part of it is a general acceptance of photography and its geekdom. Or at least toleration. Another part of it is the low crime rate.
  2. Women’s fashions – Women wear nice clothes. Be they short skirts and short shorts to the heel to whatever fashion it happens to be. Most, and that is nearly everyone, females dress nicely. Very put together. Always some kind of “look”. And often the fashions are very revealing. Fishnets are seen in the wild.
  3. Enthusiasm – Nothing wrong with enthusiasm here. Folks get excited for uncool things and that’s fine. Get all riled up and try hard for some festival? Sure. You like trains? You can tell every one about it.
  4. Festivals – Japanese people love festivals. There is always some excuse for it. Summer. Cherry blossoms. Fireworks. Snow. Whatever. There is probably a festival for it. These festivals always have food stalls with overpriced food and often people in costumes (or at least dressed for the occasion).
  5. Food – Sushi, sashimi, ramen (tonkotsu, shio, miso, shoyu), “hamburg”, udon, shabu-shabu
  6. Travel – Travel is easy in Japan. Really easy even without a car. But not without high cost, usually.
  7. Schoolgirls
  8. Tissue – People give out free tissue on the street all the time.
  9. Women – Japanese women are very attractive.
  10. Health care – Dental and medical.
  11. Sales tax – Sales tax is included by default with the displayed sales price. Much more meaningful and useful than trying to do the math in my head in the States.
  12. Riding a bike for transportation – fast if you aren’t going far. Can park anywhere. cheap to maintain.
  13. Mobile email – My cell phone has real internet email. Not texting.
  14. Brick and mortar stores – Internet shopping exists in Japan. But because there are specialty stores, real ones, that don’t just exist in one city, I’m not sure enthusiast only shop at Internet stores here. I think real stores have value and so far they co-exist in Japan. Is that because folks here don’t like Internet shopping as much as they do ‘real shopping’? Japanese people sure do love shopping. I don’t know. But as there are ways other than credit card to pay for stuff here (and not crap like Paypal either), Internet shopping is in many ways easier. Shipping is faster too since it is a small country but not necessarily cheaper. I also like stores like 100 Yen stores. Daiso for example. They sell quality goods and such a wide variety. Dollar stores in America pale. And photo print stores like Kitamura are very useful and reasonably easy to find even in smaller cities. Sure, the prices aren’t as low as Walmart but they kind of do offer some kind of expertise or at the least, specialization.

Dislikes

  1. Men’s fashions – Bunch of sissy ass looking bitches.
  2. Rudeness – Out on the street, without accountability, Japanese folks are nearly as rude as Chinese folks. Sure no one spits on the street but people sure do pee a lot. And “excuse me” is rare. In a situation with accountability, the story changes. Some of the most polite people in the world then. This change in behavior due to the situation irks me.
  3. Make-up – Japanese women love their make up. So much of it. Every single day.
  4. Business – It is a wonder how businesses survive in Japan at all. Employees as slaves. Optimize the inefficiency.
  5. Travel prices – Air, sea, land, auto, train, expressways any and every method is expensive
  6. Sexy – Japanese women are attractive but often in a clinical way. There isn’t the kind of “hotness” you might find with latinas. Much more doll-like.
  7. Riding a bike for transportation – no storage, passengers, weather protection.
  8. Japanese cyclist – They suck at riding a bike and they all ride on the sidewalk and there are hordes of them.

UniWB

I’ve decided to try using UniWB for my D3 and D200 to get a more useful color histogram while shooting. This was a bitch to install. Tracking down the proper WB files to load. Figuring out how to install a custom flat tone curve. Getting it setup with the right picture controls on the D3. Figuring out how to load a new custom tone curve on the D200 (since I used to use a different one). Understanding why I want to use UniWB. Figuring out how this will affect my post processing. (I can no longer do RAW+JPG because the jpgs now look like shit. I have to batch a new set of jpgs from the RAWs for proofs.)

I’m also moving to AdobeRGB in camera. This will affect how my automation in Photoshop works. I will need to change my actions. I need to figure out what I’m going to do about CS4 too. I don’t want to but I really, really should. I also noticed that the software side of digital is suck ass. From having to upgrade Photoshop and upgrading workflows and upgrading the RAW developer and Camera Control software… Not only the cost but the learning curve.

As for UniWB, I think this will improve my shooting. Perhaps not by a lot but it puts me more in control of my exposure. And I think I understand what my camera is doing more now. It also makes a lot more work for me. Certainly not point and shoot. I don’t know how my D70 is going to handle the new workflow… if I ever even go back to using it at all. Might switch my 3rd body to a D40.

Earthquake in Japan

I think I felt my first earthquake. It took me a while but I think it was indeed an earthquake. I was awaken, and that rarely, rarely happens, and felt some shaking. It wasn’t a lot of shaking so I went back to sleep. The next day, I checked http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/ where there is information on Japanese quakes and maps and such.

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The time is about right and it would have been about a 2 here in Okayama so I think I felt it.

It is ironic that I missed a quake that should have been felt in Chicago, where quakes don’t happen and that it took this long for me to feel one here in Japan.